36 Weeks

I am 36 weeks old! I know you're probably not surprised by this since my mommy talks about me all the time. I should really tell her to stop. It's embarrassing.

• As you saw by mommy's recent post, I'm CRAWLING! I finally got the hang of it on Thanksgiving and by the next day, I was off! It's so fun. I can get to things much, much faster now. Mommy got tears in her eyes, but didn't cry. 

• This also means that my crib has officially been lowered! Mommy did cry about this one. You may think my mom sounds crazy - daddy thinks she is sometimes. Through tears, she said something about how the crib has been raised since the day they brought me home and she's lifted me in and out of it so many times and now it won't have the cute bed skirt and on and on. She's so silly and overly sentimental. As I'm sure you've all noticed.

• People ask a lot if I'm always so calm and sweet and the answer is "yes."

• I sure enjoyed my first Thanksgiving! There was a lot of new foods (mmmm - mashed potatoes!), family time (which means extra snuggles) AND I got to stay up past my bedtime and watch the adults play games. Thankfully I'm pretty easy going and didn't seem to mind getting off my schedule. I was shuffled here, there and everywhere and was happy as could be.

• Happy that is, until Monday when mommy got a call from Miss Kathy that my temp had spiked to 102.1 and I had to be picked up early from daycare. I took a great two hour afternoon nap and daddy picked me up at 3:00. Mommy rushed home when she could (earliest bus doesn't come until 3:30) and I seemed just fine. Tuesday was mommy's day home, which was convenient since I couldn't have gone back to daycare. I didn't have much of a temp on Tuesday morning, but felt considerably warmer after my afternoon nap (and didn't want to be put down). A three-week cough combined with temp and runny nose prompted mom to then take me to the walk-in clinic. A chest x-ray and elevated white blood count suggested pneumonia so I had to get a shot of antibiotic before we left the clinic. They sent the x-ray to radiology to be reviewed again because the doctor said it looked sketchy. Daddy stayed home with me today and took me in for follow up lab work, which all came back great! No pneumonia! Praise Jesus! I'm still pretty stuffy and don't have much of an appetite, but no temp and happy and playful.

Chest x-rays are no fun though *frown.

And I only weigh 16.9 lbs - such a wee little peanut!

Mommy and daddy took my picture tonight right after I woke up from a 2.5 hour nap, so sorry no smiles today. I was smiling on the inside though. You would too if you saw and heard everything they do to try to get me to grin. And keep me looking up instead of reaching for and eating the piece of paper. I should tape them sometime.

I hope you are having a great week. Thanks for stopping by to check in on my 8 month old happenings! You're a very good friend.

Love,
Gwendolyn

Times are a changin'

Remember my most recent post about how things can change in what seems like overnight? Well they do and they did.

We went from this...


to this...

(Please excuse the three different conversation going on in the background. It was a crazy party. And can we talk about that naked baby?! She is so stinkin' sweet with no clothes on!)

in only a matter of days! Thankfully she eased us into it though - I need time to mentally prepare for these life changing happenings that greatly indicate my baby girl is getting big *smile.

It was up on her knees and then on the day after Thanksgiving, she was off. No army crawl or anything in between. She's a go-getter, I tell ya!

8 Months Old

"Enjoy it while it lasts because it goes by fast."

"Seems like just yesterday and now my youngest is graduated from college!"

"You'll sleep in 18 years." 

(Ok, that doesn't really fit here, but we've had multiple people say that to us. Does.not.help.)

I have heard them all. I've even said them myself. Because they're true. Statements about how quickly this time in our lives will go. Statements about babies becoming toddlers and then kids and how "in a blink of an eye" everything seems to change. I have hundreds of pictures and hours of video proving that yes, it's true. Time does fly. But that doesn't mean we have to fly along with it.

Tom and I often play the game "remember when".

Remember when she used to turn bright red when she was crying?

Remember when she used to love her swaddle?

Remember when she'd just lay on her play mat and not move?

Remember when she first started smiling?

Remember when you had to stand up so she'd be happy?

Remember when she constantly sucked on her toes?

Remember when she would sleep in her papasan chair?

Remember when I held her for all of her naps?

Remember when her feet didn't touch the floor when she was in her jumperoo?

I don't remember the last morning I brought her into bed with me to nurse and get another 1.5 hour of sleep, but I know the day happened. Had I known it was the final day of our morning snuggles, I probably would have snuggled a bit longer. (And taken a few pictures to document "the moment.") But I didn't. She suddenly learned to roll over and those days were...well, over.  We were so excited that she had learned something new that I didn't even have time to be sad about our morning routine ending.

There really are so many things that happen on a daily basis that could stop happening without any warning. She could learn to pull herself up tomorrow (she works hard at this already) which would mean today would be the last day we can leave her to play safely on her play mat while we go change a load of laundry or throw dinner in the oven. 

What night will be the final time I lay her down in her crib with it raised? (Which means no more cute crib skirt *tear.) What day will she want to start weaning herself and not be interested in nursing any longer? When will she wear her favorite black skinny jeans for the final time before they no longer fit? 

I don't know the answers to those questions, but I've learned over the course of the last 8 months to just be present for today. We don't know what tomorrow holds, but thank the good Lord, we know who holds tomorrow.

I read a lot of articles on the bus or while I'm pumping at work. Recently, I read an article that instructed you to have a Kleenex handy before reading (those are the best kinds of articles, aren't they?!). Moms had written in and shared the precious milestones in their children's lives that they hadn't known they would even miss until they were over. Of course, there was the first hair cut (it'll be years before that baby girl gets one of those, I'm sure) and the final night in the crib before transitioning it to a big-boy bed. But then there were some that I hadn't ever thought about - like the day her baby lost his umbilical cord, the final evidence of the connection they'd had for 9 months.

I hadn't even thought about that! Ohmigosh. I was just so happy it fell off the morning of her newborn pictures that I hadn't stopped and taken the time to really think about what it meant. Until reading this article, of course. But man, when you put it like that, I should have noticed. Would it be totally crazy to go back and cry over something that had happened 8 months ago? Yes, Sarah. It would. But trust me, I thought about it.

It's probably a good thing I didn't know about that specific milestone - I was so hormonal those first two weeks anyway.

I was feeding Gwendolyn a few nights ago and she is easily distracted by the computer or the TV or the glistening Christmas tree. It can take 20+ minutes to get 2 tablespoons of baby food in her, bless her heart. (Tom is a slow eater, so she probably gets it from him.) I had plenty of other things I could have been doing in that time, but I made a conscious choice to be patient and just enjoy that time with her. We talked, we smiled and giggled, I made up a song while she observed things around her, I kissed the top of her head 10 times, and I didn't wish those moments away in order to be done and go do something else.

Because you never know when it'll be her last jar of green beans.

Or the final time she's OK with you feeding her (she seems to be getting more and more interested in "doing it herself.")

So yes, I realize that time goes quickly and these days are short. I also know that the last 8 months have held some of the most joy-filled moments of my life and even so, I believe the best is yet to come. She's growing up and while I'm biased, I think she gets more beautiful every day.

I am not the young woman I was 8 months ago. Partly due to motherhood, but mostly due to a transformation that could only be attributed to God working out his plan for our family. It's all Him. But Gwendolyn - our sweet, sweet 8 month old Gwendolyn - has played a huge part in her mommy's internal make-over. Life is truly richer with her in it.

And no matter what age she is, she'll always be our baby.

Here's to cherishing the small things and maybe - just maybe - snuggling for a little while longer...

From the fullness of his grace, we have all received one blessing after another. -- John 1:16

Indeed we have!

I love you more than all the water in the ocean, Gwendolyn!

34 Weeks

 I'm 34 weeks old, which means I'll be turning 8 months old next Wednesday! Woohoo! If that's not something to celebrate, then I don't know what is.

• My Auntie Trisha and her boyfriend, John, got ENGAGED two weeks ago. They are so in love and hug and kiss all the time. I hear weddings are a lot of fun!

• Make that FOUR - my top left tooth came in! Mommy just can't believe I got four teeth in a matter of two months, and I barely even seemed to notice!

• I can now pull my knees up and under me. I don't hold it for long, but I am getting very, very interested in this crawling business...

• Miss Kathy says there's not a food I don't love - I must take after my mom. Mommy and daddy are trying to keep my grain intake to a minimum, which is proving to be very difficult (as they knew it would be.) Bananas are quite difficult and slippery to pick up, so mommy searched high and low for a finger food I could handle that didn't have wheat in it. I love my Happy Melts Organic Yogurt Snacks!

• Daddy thinks I'm on the verge of saying "Mama". Mama doesn't want to get her hopes up, but I do say "Mmm. Mmm. Maaaaaaa." when I want someone to (quickly) come get me out of my crib in the middle of the night. Or when I want someone to pick me up off my belly on my play mat. Or when I see a certain someone when she gets home from work. Well sheesh, when you put it like that, maybe she should get her hopes up.

It's been pretty busy around our house recently. There's talk of putting our Christmas tree up soon. I can't wait!

Love,
Gwendolyn

Kyrkja...a baby journey

I'll never forget the first time I met Karena in August 2010...I was 9 weeks pregnant and it was our first time visiting our current church. She was absolutely thrilled when I told her I was expecting. She smiled big and hugged me. And then told me she and her husband had been trying for four years to have a baby and they were beginning the adoption process. I was so touched by her response that I fought back tears. 

Longing for years. 

Four surgeries. Seven failed intrauterine inseminations and countless tests.

Yet, this amazingly joyful woman was so genuinely happy for us - a couple she had known for only minutes. She prayed over me before we left that evening, and I was once again reminded how blessed we were. To have a healthy baby growing inside of me, but also to have found our new church family. 

Karena and Thomas became active as potential adoptive parents on January 1st, and within a month they received a referral. A baby! And he/she would be arriving only days after our baby was due. Everyone was so excited for them, and we immediately started talking about nursery decor, registry details and cloth diapers. The week came that their baby would be arriving - they were overjoyed and "on call." 

They soon found out that the birth mother whom they had established a solid relationship with had decided to unexpectedly keep the baby afterall, and she had failed to call them when she went into labor like she had promised they would. They were of course heart-broken, but their faith never wavered. In Karena's email words, "We have been so broken over the loss of the sweetie we thought would be our daughter. Thank you very much to those of you who have loved and supported us so tenderly in our grief. It has been painful, and God has shown Himself to be faithful. And good. And sovereign. And trustworthy. And true."

Then, while they were still grieving the loss of the baby, they were chosen again. And this time for TWIN DAUGHTERS who were due in July.

In another email...

"What a God!  What a mighty God!  What a faithful God!  What a redemptive God!  What a loving God!  What an "exceedingly, abundantly more than all we could ever ask or imagine" God!"

How true. TWINS! We prayed for the health of the babies, and that God's hand would continue to cover the entire adoption process.

Unfortunately, the birthmom decided to parent the baby girls after all. Thomas and Karena grieved the loss of the second and third babies they thought would be their own.

I just knew that God would bless the desires of their heart, but it was certainly difficult to not question His plans in their situation. They were so deserving and had so much love to offer a little one. They were heart-broken, but remained hopeful. They were transparent with their church family and so many people were praying for them. They chose to focus on the many ways that God had been so faithful to them, rather than focus solely on the one area that it seemed He hadn't. Like Karena said, "He is a wise and loving Father who does ALL things well."

And then one Sunday at church, I noticed a rose on the podium which are given to celebrate new babies within the congregation. I couldn't remember a new baby being born recently but I just figured I had missed something. Pastor Thomas finished up announcements and then turned his attention to the rose. He started talking about everything they've been through and how God had remained faithful despite their ache for a child. He thanked everyone for walking the journey with them and then after a pause...out walked his wife Karena holding a tiny, brand new, beautiful, dark-haired BABY GIRL. There was a collective gasp throughout the church and I instantly starting crying tears of joy. They had a weeks notice before she was born, and had brought their new daughter home the previous Monday. 


Kyrkja (keer-kuh) Noel Grace was born on August 20th. They made it through the risk period, and have settled in as a family of three wonderfully. I love seeing her at church - she's already changed so much since I had the honor of taking her newborn pictures when she was only 11 days. I share this story because it shows how loving our God is and how he hears and answers our prayers. Thomas and Karena have inspired me in so many ways, and I desire to serve God without conditions just as they have. 


Now this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for. -- 1 John 5:14-14

(You can click on collage to view images larger.)

Praise Him from whom all blessings flow!

YouTube Star

Gwendolyn doesn't laugh very often - just lots of smiles - so when she does, we get pretty excited. Her "laugh" (more of a cackle) is adorable and I love hearing it. I don't even know why I started doing this the other night, but she thought I was just hilarious (not surprising) and my face hurt from smiling so much. The video was twice as long, but Tom decided to change the orientation half way through (at the starting point of this video) so I cut off the first half to save you all neck strain. She cracks us up.


Here's a sweet video of Gwendolyn and Wyatt (Y-man as I like to call him) when we were in Omaha two weeks ago. They are only three weeks apart, but so different in size. Ha. I can't wait to see them together as they grow up. Throw Nathan boy in there and it's too much baby cuteness!


And this is for the members of my family who were concerned that Gwendolyn was um..."helping" too much during meal time *smile. That problem just took care of itself! Like most things, it seems. She gets SO excited (if she's hungry and not tired) when it's time to eat. I love it! Like Miss Kathy says, she's very entertaining. Considering my type A tendencies, I would have thought the mess would bother me, but it doesn't. I've learned to embrace a lot of things. This being a mom thing has certainly brought to light many things that I've needed to work on (and am working on). Praise God! (That's what Tom says. JK. But seriously.)


Hope you enjoy some YouTube hits on this sunny albeit chilly Friday afternoon. I know I'm thankful for this day. I hope you are too...

October in Pictures

You're never to old to celebrate your birthday at Valley Fair! The four of us girls had a great time. The fall weather was beautiful and I laughed until my abs hurt.

Daddy stayed home with Gwendolyn. I found them like this at 10:00 pm *smile.

Celebrating our 4th anniversary in Taylor's Falls. We missed the peak colors by about a week, but it was still lovely. And HOT! You wouldn't have guessed it was October. Reminds me of our actual wedding day, which was 94 degrees. You never know what October will bring. The hike and colors were right up my alley. And Tom planned the entire day - I didn't know where we were headed until we started driving. I love surprises! I married a good man!

Beautiful view.

Sweet angel baby right before she fell asleep on our hike back to the car.

And she's out...

It was the perfect day with my two favorite people. But it didn't stop there...Tom surprised me again and arranged to have his sister and her boyfriend (at the time) drive an hour to watch Gwendolyn while we went out for dinner. I couldn't believe it when we came around the corner and saw them standing near this look out point.

"What are Trisha and John doing HERE?!"

I think they had fun *smile.

Enjoying our 6-course meal...actually this is right before we devoured dessert. 

We stopped going to mommy and me class. We will miss Sue, the educator who led the class. She is such a blessing to so many new moms. 

Here "I want my mommy right now" face.

Isn't it cute?

First ISU Homecoming - too bad they didn't win.

Katie and Zac's wedding last weekend in Omaha. Aunty Trisha was a bridesmaid and John and I were the photographers. Yes, the MAIN photographers. It was a great experience and I can't wait to post pictures soon.

We stayed at my sister's house after the wedding. Weston's so sweet to share his trucks with Gwendolyn.

"You want us to do what?"

PJ PARTY!

My teething ring is cooler than your teething ring.

One of my favorite little men.

7 months old and almost 7 months old

Family pic on Halloween

He is somehow always able to get her to fall asleep in that position.

"How big is Gwendolyn?"

"SO BIG!"

Gavin came over to play so his mommy and daddy could go to small group. I love watching these two together. Gwen was so excited that he was here!

School pic.

Turning 6 months old at the end of September, celebrating our 4 year anniversary, learning to sit up, road tripping to Council Bluffs/Omaha and taking on my first wedding - it was a busy month! Gwendolyn continues to melt our hearts every single day. She has a sweet, sweet personality and is very content. Unless she is hungry or wants her mama and then watch out *smile. 

Cherishing each and every moment...

32 Weeks

Well hello there! Today is a goooood day because I turned 32 weeks old! 

• My top left tooth came through making that a grand total of THREE! I once again gave no notice and suddenly there it was.

• I am eating solids like a champ. I am prim and proper now - I rarely use my hands to "help" anymore and I open my mouth much better. Miss Kathy says I am "full of action and personality" and "very enthusiastic" during meal time. 

• Speaking of Miss Kathy - I went a while boycotting good naps, but my daily report cards have greatly improved. Here are some things Kathy has recently said about me:

"Happy and active today! Especially in the PM."

"Extremely content today - busy with her hands grabbing everything in sight. Extra smiley."

"Wow! Went down without a peep."

"So happy today!"

"Eating machine!"

Those things make mommy very happy.

• It's official - daddy says I no longer have "cute poop." Solid food is yummy, but it changes things.

• I'm sitting up all.by.myself. Such a big girl!

• Most nights I go in my crib awake now. I used to have to nurse to fall asleep, but I have found my blankie to be quite comforting. Now mommy says I just have to work on falling asleep on my own in the middle of the night. It seems we have back-tracked a bit in that area (most recently getting up every two hours for several nights in a row.) Oddly enough, mommy's weekly email from the Healtheast Care System had this to say this week:

Be aware that when a baby learns to sit up or pull to standing, or she achieves some other milestone, she may be more wakeful for a few weeks.

Isn't that interesting?! My mom is tough. I think she can handle "a few weeks."

• I notice tags on anything and everything now and love to suck on them. Whoever invited the Taggies brand was brilliant! I love my special Taggies things, including this, and this. I also think I look pretty darn cute in this.

• People are saying more and more that I look like my daddy. Which mommy finds odd because she thinks I look like her. It's a common topic of conversation in our house. One would guess it's become a bit of a competition.

Well, I think that about sums it up. Thanks for being my friend and for caring about the exciting life of Gwendolyn Rebecca Barntsen.

Night nights!

Gwendolyn's first Halloween!

Who enjoys dressing their baby up in a funny costume even if it's basically only for pictures?! 

US!!

I like to be somewhat original and don't typically like to do what "everyone" else does. It seems ladybug, flower and pumpkin costumes are very common for small baby girls. (Don't get me wrong - there are a lot of cute ladybug, flower and pumpkin wearin' babies out there.) Tom and I had originally picked out an expensive peacock costume online (I've never seen a peacock trick or treating), but at the recommendation of one of my girlfriends, we decided to check out the local second hand store "just in case." (Thanks, Margie!) 

I wasn't overly thrilled with the options, but the kangaroo caught my eye because...

a.) it was a bit more creative 

b.) it looked brand spankin' new 

and 

c.) it was $4.50

Downside: lots of tan.

Upside: I can sew on a simple pink bow.

So with that we were set with Gwendolyn's first ever Halloween costume!

I know I'm her mama, but I'd like to say that I think she's pretty darn cute as a kangaroo.

We headed to Hastings to trick or treat with my brother's boys. To our surprise (and delight!), my SIL, Nikki, got in the Halloween spirit as well. She makes one fabulous cake-pop servin' clown!

A lion!

A dino!

A kangaroo!

Rarrrrrrr!

Our first house - a family event.

Can you tell we're siblings?

Love the window stickers in this house!

Gotta get the tail in a pic.

Gwendolyn only came home with one Kit Kat, but despite the lack of candy I think she enjoyed her first Halloween experience. The girl loves being outside - even in the dark - and likes watching all of the activity. I was so giddy - it's been yeeeears since I've been trick or treating (my parents made us stop when we were 10, which I think is appropriate), and it was so fun to see all of the kids dressed up and be a part of the hype in their busy neighborhood. 

Another great part about the evening was that Miss Kathy serves a delicious lasagna dinner to all of the daycare families so they can eat, dress their kiddos up right there and hit the streets abeggin'. Even after working all day, she held Gwen so Tom and I could eat before we left for Hastings around 6:00. She is so sweet, and we are so thankful for her! 

Hope you had a fun Halloween as well!

And I must confess - that Kit Kat didn't make it past the car ride home...

*smile.