It's been a while!

2011
The beginning of this year has been an amazing adventure for the Barker family! In one of my previous blogs I had written that Kevin had gotten strep throat. For about two days he was in misery. We finally made a trip to see our family physician and he got shots and antibiotics. We all sighed in relief when the next day approached and he was feeling better... THEN SUDDENLY (said like they do in a movie when the narrator is way over dramatic about the upcoming event) I get the familiar tickle in the back of my throat and chills that can only be explained as the dreaded FEEEVER! I decided that in my best intrest I should go to the doctor just to make sure I wasnt getting strep too.
By the time I arrived at the doctors office I utterly could not function. Walking inside to see the doctor was a miracle, but somehow I made it in, my throat was swabbed and sure enough! STREP! Whoopie.. I walked out and made a B-line the the pharmacy. Just my luck everyone in Big Spring and their kids and their kids kids were there.. Somehow my brain kept repeating the song I sang in bible class when I was young " On a day like this (clap clap) on a day like this (clap clap) on a day like this.. I NEED THE LORD TO HELP ME!! I finally made it out of the pharmacy with my meds in hand! I was pumped and ready to get home and lay down.. Then suddenly I remembered that I had set an appointment with my Optomologist because I had a pretty bad infection in my eye the day before. I would have cancelled, but this doctor is really hard to schedule with and my eye was threatening to pop itself out of the socket.. I got in the Traverse, buckled up, hunched into my seat and cried. Im sure the elderly man beside me thought I was having a mental breakdown. At this moment he was probably not far off..  I finally sucked it up, wiped my tears and started towards the eye doctor. I got inside and checked in... Just to make a long story short I waited for and hour and half to see him.. Im still praising the Father that He got me through this amazingly hard day.
About three days went by and it was Kevin's day to go back to work. He was still not back to normal so he decided to take a few more days off.  Not only to take care of himself, but me too! Bless his heart! We finally recoperated and decided to make the trip to Texarkana with him! 

WEDDIN' TIME!
My brother in law and his sweet fiance' Ashley had been planning to tie the knot for quite sometime and they asked me to be the photographer! Quickly the day approached! I woke up early and Ali Jo and I made our way to Midland to help the bride get ready and take more pictures! The wedding was beautiful and I wish them botht the best and most wonderful days to come!! As for pictures at weddings? I dont think they are my thing.. I think I am going to just stick to families and engagment pictures!! It was such a fun experience however!

DUN DUN DUN! 
Another week passes and Kevin goes back to work. The day he leaves the babies and I start running fevers. These are not just low graders these are 103's and below. The pediatricians diagnosis was RSV all around. Even me! Abbigail had RSV and a touch of pneumonia so we quarentined ourselves in the house and spent an agonizing week sick as little puppies can get! Nebulizer treatments, Tylenol, Motrin, antibiotics, fluids, cough syrup.. repeat. I was exhausted to say the least.  Thank goodness for my inlaws and parents! They were both so much help with soup, juice, disefectants and love we finally got back on our feet! 

America's Got Talent
This has got to be the most exciting news of the year by far. Six O' Clock news let me Lauren Barker know that they would be holding a talent contest at the Music City Mall in Odessa. The winner would get a trip (all expense paid) to Houston to try out for Americas Got Talent. The top 5 runners up would get the same just not the free part.. They also get to perform at the halftime show during the Odessa Roughnecks football game! eek! Not quite the Superbowl, but I'm not quite Beyonce.. My Father in law and I got up early on Saturday morning and were the first to arrive at the competition. I was VERY FIRST TO SING! I wasn't too thrilled that I was first. I always want to be last to impress if ya know what I mean. I sang my heart out in front of 150 plus people and three judges.  The judges were news anchors from the local stations including Telemundo and a representative from the Roughnecks football team. I was so nervous the judges were practically celebrities to me! Afterall I have never met anyone famous in my life! 52 other hopefuls followed my lead and almost three hours later it was over and the votes were tallied! Nervously I sat on the edge of my chair as the announcer named all the winners! No. I didnt get first. but I DID GET FOURTH! I didnt care what place I got! First place or not I was going to Houston!! I get to try out in front of the producers of America's Got Talent! HOLLA! So.. On February 12th and 13th I go to Houston (where Kevin happens to be working) and try out! I have to nail this!! My whole life I have played this over and over in my head and now it has finally became a reality! 
 I have prayed continuously that the Lord only open doors that he sees fit for me and my sweet family.  I have also prayed that if I dont make it that I am happy with the descision He has made for me! He says in Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future! So I am putting it all in my awesome Heavenly Fathers hands!

Holden Uganda

This touching story has not left my mind every since it was introduced to me. Chet and Sarah Erwin delivered a baby boy in August that had already gone to be with Jesus. In his honor they decided to begin drilling water wells in Uganda. Their goal was to drill 9 wells for the nine months that sweet Holden was with them. They are on well #6 as we speak!! Praise God! Even though Holden had a short life. His loss has allowed others to live. I have never gotten the opportunity to meet Sarah or Chet, but their story has been so very touching! Ali Jo was born just two weeks before Holden was born and my heart aches along with them. It is so uplifting to know that through tragedy hope can be built! 

This story of the water well makes me think of our Lord. The water that flows from the wells in Uganda is like the gift of salvation and eternal life that flows from above!   HE is our living water! As long as we put Him first in our lives we shall have victory and never thirst! Numbers 105:41 says "He opened the rock, and water gushed out; like a river it flowed in the desert." How exciting to know that He is our rock!

Please visit HoldenUganda.org and donate to this wonderful organization!

Acapella - Water from the well

The Twilight Zone and Strep throat

Kevin and I were excited to find out that the SYFY channel was playing the Twilight Zone all night last night! Kevin and I are about 60 at heart and enjoy watching the "oldies." If anyone has ever watched these episodes they are kind of addictive. Therefore him and I stayed up until about 3 watching them. Yesterday we both were fighting a pretty mean case of the allergies so we kinda locked ourselves in the house. As 3 o clock in the morning rolled around Kevin realized that it really wasnt just allergies, but the start of Strep throat!! YAY!! (said with all the sarcasm in the world). Running 101 with body aches and just an all over since that death is lurking around the corner, he has opted to sit this one out today.  

My job as the wife and mom is to keep the others away, keep myself from getting sick and ensure that my husband gets everything he needs. I also have to keep a can of Lysol attached to my hand and follow him around. Have you ever seen the Lysol commercial where the kiddo comes home from school and reaches for the phone that is covered in green bacteria? That is percisely what I imagine when one of us gets sick. I am praying that my kiddos dont get this and that Kevin starts feeling a lot better by the time he has to go to work tomorrow. He will be traveling to Texarkana and then to Baytown, Texas. I was thinking about going with him, but at this point it may just be harder on him if we were to join. We have officially kicked off the New Year with the ball dropping and Strep throat! Hopefully this isnt a reflection of the rest of 2011! :)  

Happy New Year!

 Can you hardly believe that 2010 has already flown by and 2011 is in our midst? I am just now getting used to writing 2010 on my checks! ha! I think having children allows our time to go by a little bit faster too. We just finished celebrating my sons 5th birthday. I am in total disbelief that five years ago we were worried sick about this little man! He is now as strong and healthy as a little guy can be! He will be starting Kindergarten in August and just as he does my youngest will be turning 1! My mother and so many other people have told me how quickly time goes by as soon as they start school! Ethan asks everyday. "Mommy when do I go to kindergarten?" I say the same thing "soon""very soon!" I am so excited for him to get to experience school. He is just an educational sponge! He started reading at age 3 and is now reading above a third grade level. He also manuvers around our household computer like a pro! Does anybody remember what VHS stands for? Im not sure how he figured it out, but tonight I asked Kevin if he remembered what it meant and immediately Ethan answered! Correctly! Im so proud of his accomplishments and I am looking forward to seeing him grow beyond expectation! This he has already proved capable! I praise the Father for this gracious gift! This little man that brings me joy and laughter everyday!

Lets continue with our Abbigail. My first little girl! Her personality is as big as most little girls can get! She is a diva and knows it! We are currently trying to break her from her paci and having baby sister around makes it difficult. Alizabeth's paci will be sitting next to me on the couch. I see a set of puckered lips come my way! I kiss her and later realized that the kiss was only a way to sneak the paci away without me knowing! Little SNEAK! She stands in front of that TV with one hand on her hip and her long wavy hair stretching down her back. It is a sight I will surely remember my entire life! We were watching Arthur last month. During this certain episode Arthur gets angry with his mom at the grocery store and says "I want to go home!" Abbigail has interpreted this as something you do when you get mad. So anytime she is upset or uncomfortable she says "I WANNA GO HOME" even when we are home! We giggle and she snubs her nose,crosses her arms and goes to the other room. I told you DIVA!! She is almost the spitting image of me. Kevin insists that we act alike too!  It makes me so happy to know that I have a little one that looks like me! She has her daddy's blue eyes but her mommas curly hair! She is perfect and I see that God knew just what he was doing when he created her sweet body!

As for Alizabeth Jo? Around this time last year we found out we were going to be parents for the third time! I was overjoyed and waited for Kevin to get home from work to tell him! It was the most excruciating eight days of my life! I wanted to scream over the phone that I WAS PREGNANT! Somehow I kept it in and told him in the new house that we had just purchased! I made a power point video of our life and at the end announced our news! We laughed and cried! What a memorable day!

She is now almost five months old and is such a joy to be around! She coos and talks to me and dad all the time! We are still breastfeeding so she thinks she needs me ALL the time! I dont mind it! I pretty much need her too! In fact she is sitting in my lap as we speak! She is such a happy little girl and smiles at everyone she sees. I went to a doctors appointment about a month ago and as the doctor was talking to me he kept smiling. I couldnt figure out what I could have been doing that was so funny. I then realized that Ali Jo was smiling at him in return! How lovely! She has learned to suck on her two middle fingers and I have to say it is probably the sweetest little thing I have ever seen! She has met new friends in her life and has really enjoyed the company of her cousin Jax! They were exactly two weeks apart and I hope that someday they become inseperable!

Wow! Children are a blessing! We are still not sleeping through the night so I decided that it was appopriate to start feeding her a little bit of cereal! She loves it and is starting to want it three times a day! Im trying to pump to keep up with her demand! ha Our newest trick is grabbing for things. Toys, drinks and whatever is close by. We are also attempting to roll over from back to stomach! Too much fun! I look forward to watching her and my others grow! Blessings, blessings, blessings! What have I done to deserve this? :) Everytime the doctors take a baby out of my tummy I first think my heavenly Father and then I look to my husband and say "Thank you for my  babies" Without the love of my life I wouldn't be able to say I am the luckiest mom and wife in the world!