The Wonderful Stages of Labor

It starts out all smiles..."yay, he is finally comming!"

And then a contraction hits, and the smiles are gone, at least for a min.

But then the wonderful world of science steps in and the anesthesiologist enters the room. The world seems a little brighter, and warmer. Strength is renewed and hopes are lifted as things go numb!

Now that I am feeling better Tim creeps closer no longer afraid of being verbally or physically abused every 2 min.

But the waiting takes it toll. And sometimes we get grumpy.

Owen Christopher Barker

On July 6th we welcomed our handsome baby boy into the world.

Owen Christopher Barker born 7/6/09 7lbs. 7oz. 19in long.


He was so cute when he was born, not a single cry just opened his eyes looked at the doctor and at the room and slowly took in his new surroundings. He is such a cutie!! He had to stay at the hospital for an extra day under the lights. Now he is home, and still under the lights....but he is home!! Isaac loves his brother, calls him "baby" and is a big helper. More pics will be comming soon.

We have a 40% chance of baby this weekend!!

Just a quick update, we are still days from induction, but with a little help from my doctor yesterday, we have a 40% chance that the baby will come before my next appt. I am excited and nervous, Tim is having major anxiety, and Isaac has no idea what is about to hit him.

Its my turn

Ok. So here is the deal. I'm usually sleeping all day long while mom blogs, dad works, and Isaac watches cartoons and hits me with his pirate sword; but i'm up today. I've got some free time, so what the heck, why not blog? straight up. My name is Dennis Roger LeCat Barker and I usually get treated a little different from everybody else just because I look a little different than most humans and because my vocabulary isn't as enunciated as most would like, yet my vernacular is quite astounding.

I was born in Texas - I think. I moved to Rexburg, Idaho, then to Spokane, WA, back to Rexburg, Id and finally to Costa Mesa, CA.

Listen, I love to escape. If I get a chance, I will charge out the door, down the stairs, and find a nice patch of dirt to roll all over in.

I am now 5 years old but I'm as spry is spring kitten.

I am the most devilishly handsome human cat you have ever seen. I should win some freakin' awards for this face. The lady folk love me, even though I can't love them back. Dad and I, however, have stopped working out as of several years ago, and our belly's show it.

Well that is all for today - Mom is getting suspicious....better go.

I love you,

Denny.

Me and My Dad Make A Dinosaur

Grandma Nielsen sent this cool 3-D Puzzle for Isaac's room. The boys had a great time putting it together.

Family Home Evening

Painting A Birdie House

Every time we saw a birdhouse Isaac wanted one, so we found one just his size and He had a great time painting it so the birdies would like it.

Solvang and the PCH

A few weeks ago after leaving Santa Maria we headed south to go home but made a side stop in a cute town called Solvang. It is a Dutch town nestled up in the hills. It was so hot that we couldn't stay long though, then we took another detour through Ventura and drove down the PCH. It was so beautiful. Isaac didn't enjoy it much, he was to tired, but he did have his first outdoor potty break. I guess when you gotta go you got to go, even if it is on the side of the road in Malibu.

Memorial Day at Little Corona

On Memorial Day we decided to stick it out around home and just take it easy. Part of that was taking a great drive down the PCH. We drove all the way down to San Clemente then headed back up the coast and stopped for some fun at Little Corona beach. We walked out onto the rocks to see the tide pools, and found some crabs and fish, and then Isaac and Tim had a great time being chased by the waves. We really wern't in beach attire, so we couldn't really go in the water and it was hard to pull Isaac away. He really loves the beach. If you tell him that is were you are going he won't forget. He holds you to it.

We had a really great time just kicking our feet up and doing a whole bunch of nothing. (That is what holidays are for right?)

A Weekend Up North

Two weeks ago we packed our bags and headed north to Santa Maria to see our friends Adam and Lindsay. What a great weekend. We ate crepes for breakfast on Saturday and headed farther north to San Luis Obispo. We had a great time sight seeing, including "bubblegum alley" which smelled strangly sweet, but was pretty gross, the old mission down town, and a crazy Hotel called the Madonna Inn. The Madonna in was decorated so gaudy from the pink floral dining room to the men's bathroom which sported a waterfall urinal for all to enjoy. Tim used it and seemed to think it was awesome. Unfortunatly there was a flat tire incident but all was taken care of and we returned back to Santa Maria safely, just in time to go see Angels and Deamons. It was pretty good, and I thought it followed the book really well. It was nice to get away and spend some time as a family.

Got to Love Potty Training!!!

Wow this is an old post (from 5/11/2009) that for some reason I never published. But since I want to print out a blog book sometime, I better get all the posts out there and then I can assemble them in order.
so sorry for the lateness of this post.

This week has been awesome!!! (please read previous statement sarcastically) We started potty training Isaac on Monday. Ok so we went through 7 pairs of underwear in one day, but it was the first day and I was pleased with the progress, even though it was slight. Tuesday Isaac fought putting on the underwear in the morning, cried for half hour then went about the day as usual, with much fewer accidents. PROGRESS!! Then Wednesday morning Isaac went all by himself! HURRAY!!! We are now potty trained for #1, no accidents, and life is good.

Spring Break

Well last week was spring break....ok I know we don't really have a spring break but it was Tim's mom's spring break (she teaches) so on a whim Isaac and I drove to Logan for a visit. I know, crazy with me being 6 months pregnant, and going by myself, but I am an independent woman and can do what I want!! So we left on Tuesday, drove all day (12 hrs) and made it there that night. The roads were good, the traffic was good, and thank heavens Isaac was good. But man was I sore when we got there. So we shopped and played the next day and relaxed. Then on Thursday we made the quick decision to jump in the car and drive to Rexburg to visit Richie, Christine, and my bro. Chathum. Then back to Logan Thursday night and then back in the car Friday morning for the trip home. Susan decided to come home with me which made the trip home much more relaxing and a lot less hard on my body. It was a great week and we had a lot of fun seeing family.

Easter Last Year

This is Tim

This post is not quite a year late, but almost. Ignore the chest hair, and ignore that thing that looks like fat in front of my stomach (I'm working on it............no, I'm not working on it - but I'm going to), but feast your eyes on my battle wounds. I got 'em the hard way - Puerto Rican style, where the doctors hate Americans because they enjoy all of our benefits tax free.
Picture this - jagged rocks, and a monster wave crashing me and Rory down the rocks as we get stabbed by one jag after another. You can't see my foot here, but let me paint a picture for you - foot = slashed.
Stay tuned for more exciting events in my life.

Another Cake for the Books

I just wanted to post a quick picture of the cake I made for the Relief Society birthday party. I think it turned out pretty cute, especially after the fact that I stressed and stressed about what to do on the cake for decorations, and it seems that simple is always better. I am glad it looks so cute. Can't you just see it at a sweet 16 party, or a valentines party. But there is a secret about this cake!!! It is FAKE!!! My first fake cake. It is made out of Styrofoam. But who would know. I think that my next step in my business is to start making fake cakes for people who what to display cake but don't want to eat it. I think I could have a lot of fun. Let me know on a scale of 1-10 what you think of my cake. No worries this is all business, nothing personal. So be honest!!!

Earthquakes

So in the past week I have had two dreams about being in an earthquake. Yesterday after waking up from a particular frightening dream where I was trying to hold two kids and stand in the kitchen doorway while riding out a huge earthquake, I turned on the news to find out that there have been tons of earthquakes in a place called Salten Sea. I guess it is about 90 miles from San Diego. So I was a little nervous, but nothing terrible. Then this morning I woke up to hear that there have been even more earthquakes. I of course am terrified of earthquakes, and immediately started to panic and started to make a list of all the emergency stuff that we need. So this morning I did a full inventory of emergency supplies, packed a kit for my car, put it in the trunk, went to Costco bought water, some food, wipes etc. I think I am being a little crazy, but I guess you never know. Better to be prepared. So everyone get prepared!!! And if you need something to eat we have a ton of Top Ramen. (hahaha)

Moses a master at hiding (pic is Denny)

So last week Tim's brother Brian called us in a small panic and asked if we could take care of a cat for him. It belongs to a family friend of our that had to leave town in a hurry. So we agreed to watch the cat. I actually didn't take any pics of the cat but just imagine and gray and white striped cat, with an awesome name: MOSES. Well all was fine accept this cat was the clumsiest and messiest cat in the entire world. One funny thing though was that this cat could open cupboards. I was constantly finding him inside closed cupboards, just chillin' out. It would take him a few tries, which means I could hear the cupboard doors banging a few times before he got in. But I was never fast enough to watch his secret talent.
So on Saturday morning we were laying in bed at about 6am when I started to hear the cupboards in the front bathroom banging around and Moses howling at something. (We had been keeping him in that bathroom during the night to keep him off the kitchen counters) So I pulled my self out of bed to go and let him out so he would stop all the racket. When I went to open the bathroom door it would only open about 1 inch. That stupid cat had climbed into the cupboard and pushed the drawers out in front of the door. So he was stuck in there. So here I am half asleep and suddenly irritated at this cat and can't find anything skinny enough to slid in the door to push the drawers closed. At the same time the cat is trying to get out. So finally I grab the mop and shove the handle through the door push the drawers closed and released the prisoner.
Thanks heavens Denny has not learned how to open cupboard or I would go crazy.

Worst Birthday Present Ever!!

On Sunday the 15th of February in the year 2009, the Barkers and the Nielsens were quietly enjoying themselves playing a little Wii when the phone rang. The person on the other end (identity has been shielded due to a lack of normal body hair) informed us that something had happened to one of the Barker's vehicles. Upon leaving their residence and walking to the street the Barkers found that someone had hit the drivers side of their car and fled the scene with no information being left.
If you would like to confess to this crime please do so immediately, and we will forgive you, and then we will take all your money and your cookies (especially if they are Oreos).

What happened in February?

Well actually quite a bit happened even though you would never know because I never blog anything.
But things do happen and it was a busy month. My parents came to visit in the middle of the month for my B-day, which was really great. I mean who wouldn't like shopping at Tai Pan, and just acting like a tourist for a weekend. On the 14th we all went on a whale watching cruise, but failed to see any whales, but did see about a million dolphins. It was good thing that we all took Dramamine, otherwise we would have all been pucking the entire time. We had to hide Isaac's in a goldfish cracker, which made him very confused as to why it tasted like orange and cheese. We had a great time. Sunday my mom endured Nursery with me, and then Tim and I took them to the Griffith Observatory. It was overcast so we didn't get to look in the telescope, but the view was incredible of the city. On Monday I spent the day with my parents driving up the coast and checking out a really cool Russian Submarine from WWII. Then it was off to Medieval Times for dinner. Not a bad birthday.

"NO BABY IM"

As the days go by Isaac is talking better and better, and sometimes I wonder what it would be like if he would just be quiet. Joking of course, but he is getting better although he still has some made up words, and doesn't quite say the endings of words sometimes. But he is talking like crazy. The funniest thing that he says lately is "baby im" which is top secret code for orange. I am not sure why he calls orange "im" but it is really funny. It all started around Christmas when I bought some Clementine oranges. I thought maybe he would be more likely to try one if I told him it was a baby orange. So he at a few slices of the first one, and then told me very distinctly "no more baby im" And that has stuck. Now everything that is orange is "im" such as he loves to use his "im bowl and spoon", and drink his "im juice" I think it is totally funny and hope that he isn't 16 and still calling orange im. But that is my kid. We Barkers (Nielsens) like to do our own thing. One thing is for sure when it comes to actual oranges the answer is still " NO BABY IM!!!" (I just thought the pic was funny)

My Biggest Cake Yet

So it has been a while since I made my last wedding cake. Morning sickness made it almost impossible for me to even think about cake or even look in my cake closet. I even contemplated packing it all up and putting it in the garage so I didn't have to see it. But things got better. Even though when you are in the midst of it you think that you will never feel better again, and life is pretty much over. So I put cake out of my mind for the most part and finally started to feel like i wasn't going to lose everything ate. And just in time too, because I had this wedding cake scheduled months ago. It was a fun cake to make, and one of the smoothest executions in my history of making cakes. (no broken cakes, no bad fondant, no last min. disasters) It went very smooth, and I even had some time to relax on the couch before delivering and cutting it for the couple. (that is unheard of for me) But I think it turned out nice and it tasted awesome. It was a white chocolate almond sour cream cake alternated with a milk chocolate chocolate cake with cream cheese filling. It was heavenly. Maybe I am ready for the FOOD NETWORK CHALLENGE!!! JK

Fun in the Snow at Big Bear

Last weekend while Tim was still on vacation we decided to take a small family trip up to the mountains so Isaac could play in the snow. We left in the morning and headed northeast toward Big Bear ski resort. The drive there took quite a while as there was only one lane going up the mountain and there was tons of traffic. But we got to the top, got some lunch at a little diner,where I had some fantastic French toast, and headed out to the snow. Luckily I was able to find a hat and some gloves for Isaac, but no boots, so he wore his favorite cowboy boots instead, which proved to be quite slippery. He loves the snow. He couldn't get enough. He even wanted to sled down the biggest hill. He has no fear, and of course that scares me to death. But because we didn't have a sled Tim took him to the top of a small hill and helped him slid down on his bum. After that he just wanted to chase me and throw snowballs at me, (which sometimes were ice balls). We had a great time despite being wet and cold. It was fun just to spend time together.

Are the Chipendales Looking for new talent?

Nice Isaac, Very Nice!!

Isaac vs Santa

Today we went to our ward Christmas party where they had a special guest appearance by none other then Santa Clause. All the kids lined up to sit on his lap and Isaac and I were in line to do the same. Isaac watched with anticipation as we got closer to the front of the line. He watched the other kids go and sit on Santa's lap and then get a treat. He seemed to be excited and ready to go see Santa. When it was our turn I helped him across the stage and the rest you will have to see for yourself.... play the video below for the exciting conclusion to Isaac vs Santa.