Happy Birthday Babe!

Happy Birthday to my sweet hubby! I just wanted to let everyone know what an amazing man I am married too! He works so hard for our family, and between work and school we don't see him much but he makes up for it whenever he can. I am so proud of his hard work in pushing through school, and its been so worth it. We have been through a lot, and I can't imagine having anyone else around but him to go through life's troubles with! I love you babe, and am so glad you avoided the "birthday plague" this year! I hope you have a wonderful day, and I love you!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Merry Christmas! (late...)

Oh boy! What a weekend! I meant to blog about our wonderful Christmas, but unfortunately I got super sick the next day. It started with a really bad cough and no voice on Friday, and then Saturday I ended up with the stomach flu on top of the cold. I honestly think when you are pregnant you should be void from all other illness, especially 2 at the same time... So today I am back to the cold only, a nasty cough(I really should quit smoking...haha), and a little bit of a voice. So before all that fun we had a wonderful Christmas.

Santa was really good to Madison. He brought her the most adorable doll house, and princess shoes.

This is the adorable hat I made for her, and she loves it!

She had a blast getting toys at Grandma Gloria's!

Then later we went to my parents house, where you guessed it! She was spoiled rotten!! Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I'll have to add the pictures from my moms later.

This was Christmas night, and she got so much it didn't even fit on her bed. What a lucky girl!

The highlight of the day in my eyes, was being able to talk to our missionaries! My brother Brandon called at 8am, and we went over to my parents to talk to him. He sounded so good, and I can't believe he has already been gone for 5 months! If time keeps flying like this he'll be home in no time...let's hope! We also got to talk to Chris' brother Nick. He will be home in March! That's even more crazy! He sounded great also, and we can't wait to see him! All in all we had a wonderful day, and were so grateful for the time spent with our families during the holidays!

Isn't this the truth!!

This is for anyone who has ever been pregnant or hopes to become pregnant one day. That's exactly how you feel, especially when you just visited the bathroom 5 minutes earlier. Or at 3 am...
And if you don't run, you might not make it!!

Baby update...Oh geez...

I have had a few people asking how things are going with me and the baby, so I figure its time for an update. I am doing just fine. This is definitely an active little guy! He seems to be nudging me continually, so who knows when he sleeps. I did have a doctor appointment today. Over the past few days I have felt like I am showing more than I should be, and when they measured me today we found out that I am measuring 3 weeks bigger than I am. 3 WEEKS! So what does that mean? Well, the baby is measuring just right for my April due date, but my uterus is measuring bigger. I am not one of those girls who has this little ball under my shirt, and I know with Madison I was pretty big, but I never measured more than a couple days bigger than I was at the time. So to measure 3 weeks bigger my doctor was a little surprised. So far I have only gained 8 pounds, so my doctor says I am not measuring bigger due to weight gain. So when I go back on New Years Eve, if I am still measuring bigger, then he wants to do another ultrasound to check the size of the baby and measure how much fluid I have. Its possible there could be more fluid than usual, or we could possibly have a baby a couple weeks earlier. We'll just watch it over the next few appointments, and then go from there. But in the mean time I just look bigger, and people about fall over when I tell them my due date is April... "You look like you could pop next month..." Gee thanks! Some people, I swear...
Sorry, no picture this time. I feel too big today and a little self conscious.

There's only one thing to say....

GO UTES!!!!

ITS A BOY!!!

So its a boy! We went to have the ultrasound today, and they proved Madison wrong by telling us it is a boy. She has been so convinced that it was a girl so I made sure to take her to the appointment so that just in case it was a boy, someone else could tell her too. I didn't think she would believe us if we came home and said it was a boy. She was so good, and just watched the screen as everything on the baby was measured. He looks great. Everything looks good, and he is growing just how he should. We watched him today move like crazy, and he looks like a very active baby. Chris was beaming from ear to ear when we saw his "boy parts!" This baby is definitely a very proud boy!

This is his profile... what a cute little nose!

This is the first picture we got of his "proof of boy"

Then he decided to show us from a different angle. This is from the front and you can see is little legs.

This is the famous "butt scan" as we call it. It always looks like you stuck the baby's butt on a copy machine. I love it!

(Sorry if those pictures were more than you wanted to see...)

I love this one, because he is giving us the thumbs up! It was so fun to watch him move and reassure that everything is going how it should. We don't have a name picked out yet but are open to suggestions. Remember it has to go with Barfuss... ;)

We can't wait to meet this little guy!

Happy (late) Halloween!

Madison wanted to be a witch this year, but not a scary witch, a pretty witch! I tried to convince her to at least have a wart on her nose or chin, but she insisted on wearing mascara and eyeshadow instead. What a girl! I've decided that being pregnant makes me kinda stupid, and so on Halloween I forgot my camera! I would have loved to take more cute pictures, but I was able to get this one off my moms camera. Thanks mom! We had a blast trick-or-treating. The weather was perfect, and Madison was running from house to house. She was literally dragging Chris by the hand to each door. She made off with quite a bit of candy, and couldn't have been happier. Holidays are so much more fun with kids!

Who doesn't love fall leaves?

Madison loves to play with my brothers! I think she likes the rough and tough of boys, but they are super gentle with her. She thinks she is one of the boys when she is playing with them, and can't wait until they get home from school! Today they were playing with the leaves as they were raking, and they had a blast!

Making funny faces

Burying Alex

She wanted to be buried too, but not her face because "she might swallow leaves"

Just another fun reason to love fall!

HAPPY FALL!

Every year my grandpa grows gigantic pumpkins! He decided a few years ago to carve names in them, and this year each one of the grandkids and the great-grandkids all got a pumpkin with their name carved in it. Its so fun during the summer to watch your pumpkin grow, and when the day finally comes to take the pumpkin home, its super exciting! I love to take Madison's pumpkin and display it with other pumpkins so you can see how big it really is. I love pulling up to the house and seeing the cute display of pumpkins sitting by the door. So, thanks Grandpa for the cute personalized pumpkins that no other kids in the neighborhood have!

I hate rude people!

Seriously! I hate rude people! Yesterday morning, Sunday, Chris went for a bike ride. He couldn't sleep, so at about 7 a.m. he went out on his bike. Riding on Sunday was probably his first offense, but he needed a good morning exercise. Anyway that's beside the point. So he came home, came inside, and left his bike in front of the car. We got ready for church, and decided to walk because it was such a nice day. At this point, the bike was still in front of the car. 3 hours later we come home from church, and Chris' bike is gone. Somebody stole his bike while we were at church! I couldn't believe it. It made me feel bad, because it was a really nice bike, and he just got it this summer. But I was also so mad to think that someone would steal it! I feel like we live in a pretty safe neighborhood, and it bugs me to think that someone would steal something right out of our driveway. I heard from our neighbor that they showed on the news that because times are so hard for a lot of people right now that there have been a lot of thefts lately. But come on! Seriously do people really have to steal! It is so frustrating for those of us that are honest. We have to lock our doors, lock our cars, hide our bikes, watch our kids in the front yard... What happened to the good ol' days when we didn't have to worry about that? I wish that those who feel like they have to steal, cheat or lie their way through life get a good wake up call one day! KARMA! It will come back to bite them! Or at least I hope it will... ;)

Sorry I needed a good vent! So if anyone sees a bike in our neighborhood like the one above, please let me know. Its a Next brand bike, and it was silver with yellow on the bars. And the kid or adult who stole it had better not ride it past my house, because I already vowed to push them off the bike and take it back!

Simply Bliss

Hey everyone! My cousins and aunt are starting a boutique! Its will be really fun because they are offering all sorts of vendors with cute stuff for sale. The best part is that the prices are very reasonable! I would encourage everyone to check out their blog, simplyblissboutique.blogspot.com. Its a great way to start the Christmas shopping! Hope to see you there!

Baby Update

I had another doctors appointment today. I always look forward to my appointments, because its just another reassurance that everything is ok. My worst fear is that there will be something wrong, and I can't imagine how I would handle it. So today, they took me back, and got out the machine to hear the heartbeat. Brooke (the medical assistant who I love!) moved it all around, and no heartbeat. I didn't get nervous, because I know its still early, but at this point we should be able to hear the heartbeat. After a few minutes of her moving it all around there was still no heartbeat. So naturally Brooke says, "Don't worry, sometimes this happens." Yeah right don't worry!! Of course I was terrified! Brooke told me to stay where I was and she would go see if the ultrasound room was open so we could try to see the baby's heartbeat. As soon as she left the room, I looked at Chris, and he knew I was about to cry. I kept telling myself,"Don't cry, don't cry, its ok..." Brooke came back and told me to come into the ultrasound room. We hurried over there, and my doctor came right in before she had even closed the door. He flipped on the machine, and gooped up my stomach. I took a deep breath, and looked at the screen. What did I see? A sweet little baby moving like crazy!! We were able to see the heart beating just fine, and boy does that kid move! "It" kept moving its head and arms. We saw its perfect little round head, its back and arms and legs. It had its hands up by its face, and every time the doctor would push, the baby would go crazy! It was a huge relief! My doctor said that the placenta is actually sitting in front of the baby, so the heartbeat machine couldn't pick up the heartbeat. After seeing the baby move and see the heartbeat, I was so relieved. We left the office, and I felt so much peace. I can't wait to see this sweet baby, and after seeing how much it moved today, I have a feeling that its an active little thing. I'm in trouble. We will find out what it is next month, so I will update when I find out! Its times like this when I am so grateful that Chris was able to go to the appointment with me. I honestly would not have been as calm as I was without him. Thanks babe for taking the time to go with me. It means more than you know!

CALIFORNIA!!!

So this past weekend, Chris and I went to California with our friends, Jill and Joe Hansen. And no kids! We had a blast! We flew out Thursday and landed in San Diego. It was beautiful. We ate lunch at the Seaport Village, and walked around and looked at the huge cruise ships, and the navy boat. The navy boat was awesome, because there was a little restaurant on one end, and other planes sitting on top. It was amazing to see how big those boats really are! This picture is really fun because by the navy ship they had this huge statue of a navy man and a nurse kissing before he left. It was so fun for us to pose like they did. We are not too far away from it, so you can tell how big the statue really is!

We bummed around for a little bit, and then drove to San Clemente where our hotel was. That night we went to dinner at the Fisherman's Wharf. Its basically a restaurant that is out on the pier. It was so fun to have dinner and watch the ocean and waves. There were also people "trying" to surf, but the waves were kinda choppy.

Our restaurant...

Us eating

The beach was beautiful!

The next day we drove to Disneyland!! It was so fun to go without kids, because we didn't have to worry about waiting in lines and entertaining them. The nice thing was that in the morning, we walked onto every ride. If we waited in line it was 5-10 minutes max! The other fun part was that it was the first day of Halloween in Disneyland. They had the whole park decorated for Halloween. It was so cute! Also the Haunted Mansion was totally different. They changed everything inside to make it the Nightmare before Christmas. I think it is way better than the original.

Mickey pumpkin style

They had these cute jack-o-lanterns in the grass.

Way cute sign in California Adventure!

We went over to California Adventure for part of the day too. Since I was the preggo one, I mostly sat and took pictures of everyone else on the rides. So when it was a ride that I could go on, I made them go like 5 times! We went on Grizzly Rapids, and I got soaked! This was me after I got wet. Everyone else stayed relatively dry that time...

The next day we bummed at the beach for a while, and then that night went to an Angels baseball game! It was a lot of fun, even though they got creamed! Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I will have to rely on Jill for the pictures of that one! Thanks Jill!

That night we played cards at the hotel, and then went to bed. We got up the next morning and flew home. It was a fun weekend getaway, and was so nice to go without kids. Madison had a blast at my moms house, and didn't want to come home with us Sunday night. I'm glad we were able to take a little trip just us before the next baby. We realized that we definitely needed it! Thanks mom and dad for watching Maddie the whole weekend! We couldn't have gone without you guys! Love You!!

Any advice???

First a huge thanks to everyone who congratulated us on the announcement of our pregnancy! We seriously have the best family and friends, and are so happy to be able to share our excitement with you!

Next, Chris and I are leaving this week to go on vacation with a couple that we are good friends with. I am so nervous! I haven't ever left Madison over night. I keep thinking about all the things that could go wrong, and I think I freak myself out more. I know she'll have a great time at my moms house, and she is super excited to have a sleepover with Kelsey, but I still stress about the whole trip. So any suggestions on what I can do to make myself not worry so much?

Thanks for all your input!

WE'RE EXPECTING!!

Yep that's right, we are having another baby! We are so excited! I am 10 weeks along, and the baby is due April 14th. After the complications that we had with Madison's labor, we have already decided on a planned c-section for this baby a week early. So I guess we are looking at April 7th. We feel that this is our little miracle baby. We had been trying for about 13 months, and were just about ready to give up. Some days I felt like maybe we were only meant to have one child, but I always wanted another. We know that this baby is truly a blessing, and are so excited for another sweet spirit to join our family. I have been a lot sicker with this one, considering that I was only sick about 2 days with Madison. Its totally worth it though! Madison will be such a good big sister, and we couldn't be happier!

The Big 24!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSEY!!

Today Lindsey officially hit her mid-twenties at 3:27a.m. After sleeping in as long as possible with a 3-year-old running around, the day started off with a healthy breakfast at McDonalds. After getting ready, we were all off for some birthday shopping with some of the gift-certificates she got. When dinner time rolled around, Lindsey and I went to Texas Roadhouse where she got to "ride the birthday bull" and everyone in the restaurant gave her a big birthday "YEE-HAA!" I dont think it was embarrassing enough, but it'll do. After then it was off to a movie. Not a bad day in my opinion and I hope she had as much fun as I did.

Love you sweetie!

-Chris

Family Pictures

So a few weeks ago we had family pictures taken with my moms family. It took a while considering that there are over 40 people that we were trying to get to smile at the same time. It was hard enough to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time. So while we were there we decided to have a few little family pictures taken. Its been over a year since we had professional ones taken with just my little family. So here are my favorites!


I love her big baby blues!



She is so photogenic! I love every little thing about her!



This one is the last family picture we had taken before Brandon left on his mission. And believe it or not, this is the first professional picture with my family with Chris in it.



All in all it was so fun! We were so lucky to have my moms cousin Sherri Beavers take our pictures. Check out her website at www.sweetpeapix.com for more pictures. I would highly recommend her for your next photo session!

New bike!!!

Today we got Madison her very own bike with training wheels. She was so excited! Chris' dad has this boy bike that is really wobbly because the training wheels are bent out, and Maddie always wants to ride it. Once she gets on it though, she freaks out because she almost tips over every time. So went down to the good old Walmart today, and bought her her very own pink girl bike. The one rule with a big girl bike is that she has to wear her helmet and knee and arm pads. She loved to get all decked out in her new bike attire. Hopefully warm weather lasts a little longer so she can get some good riding before it gets too cold.

I am a total idiot!!!

So I just wanted to see how many people would realize that I am an idiot before someone told me.... DING DING DING Nikki is the winner!!! I guess my blog doesn't really have a virus. The background that I had had exceeded its bandwidth limit. I don't even know what that means, but I do know that I went through a lot of unnecessary stress this afternoon to start a new blog, and to let everyone know. So scratch that!! I am going to delete the new blog and we are going to stick with this one! Thanks for staying with me through all he confusion! I'm glad that I get to keep my blog!

FYI!!!

FOR THOSE OF YOUTHAT CAN READ THIS!!!
Hey guys...So apparently I guess I got a virus on my other blog, and it had this photobucket ad all over the blog. Weird thing is that it only showed up on some peoples computers. So I decided to start a new blog, leaving the other one open just in case I can get rid of it. So from now on, please direct yourself to my new blog. Again that web address is chrisandlindseybarfuss.blogspot.com Sorry for all the confusion!

Kids are so funny...

Kids are so funny! the other day I made brownies for our neighbor because it was his 40th birthday!! Last night we were heading to run some errands, and I had just cut a little piece of brownie for Madison. She quickly ate it, and then a few minutes later this is the conversation we had.

Madison: "Hey guys,(talking to Chris and I), I got an idea..."

Me: "What's that Maddie?"

Madison: "I think that when we get home you can get me another little tiny square of brownie..."

Me: "Oh really, you think that is a good idea?"

Madison: "Yeah mom, its the best idea!"

I love it! I love how she is becoming a little person with her own thoughts, and her own opinions. Even thought sometimes her opinions are a little too much for me to handle with the attitude thrown in the mix. She is such a sweetie, and makes us laugh all the time!

Goodbye Elder Mower!!

Today my little brother Brandon left on his mission to the Dominican Republic. It was one of those bitter sweet moments. He has been so ready to go, and it was so good to see him so excited. As always, because he is the first to go, it was very emotional, but we know as a family that he is doing the right thing. When we got to the MTC, and he got all of his papers handed in, we rushed into the chapel, (we were 10 minutes late...) and watched the show, "Called to Serve". I had seen it before from when Chris' brother Nick left, but I think each time you watch it, you cry more. Then it was time to say our last goodbyes, and he was gone. After he hugged us he started off towards the door, and didn't look back. That tells me that he was ready to go. I am so grateful for the example he is being to our family, and wish him the best of luck! I sure hope 2 years goes by fast! Love you bud!!

Midnight Crop...or until 7:30....

So yesterday I went with my sister-in-law Erica to a midnight crop. Basically the crop room in the scrapbook store is open to use, and you can work on you projects there. Now mind you we went from 2 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. I don't know if I could stay awake until midnight! Lame huh! I personally had never been to anything like that, but it was so productive! I don't know if it was because I was forced to focus on my pages, or if I just was so eager to get semi-caught up. So thanks Erica for the fun and for meeting new people! Thanks for helping me with my layouts too!

FYI...

This Sunday is my little brother Brandon's mission farewell. Sacrament starts at 12:45 p.m. The address is about 9200 S. and 300 E. (right across the street from Mt. Jordan.) All who want to come and see him off one last time before he leaves are invited to attend. We will also be having food at my parents house afterwards, and everyone is invited to that as well. Hope to see you there!

UPDATE...

So I just wanted to give a quick update on the whole binkie situation. Madison did relatively well. A lot better than I had expected she would. It will be 2 weeks tomorrow since we took it away, and she has not asked for it in about a week. Those first few days were definitely the hardest. I wish that I would have had the courage to take it away a year ago. I kept making excuses as to why she should have it a little longer. i.e. we were moving, we moved again, we put her in a big girl bed, etc... In all honesty I think it was more of a comfort for me than it was for her. I'm glad she is over it now, and I am so proud of her! Love you Maddie!

So I saw this on someone else's blog, and thought it was cute, but kinda cheesy. Well the more I thought about it, the more I started thinking about memories I have with my friends and family that I would want to comment about on their blogs. So I am doing this post not because I want you to leave memories of me, but so that hopefully you will post this on your blog, and I can leave memories of you!! Thanks!!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, if we’ve actually met in person or not, anything you remember!



2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

WE DID IT!!!

Yep thats right folks! After 3 years of having a binkie, we finally took Madison's away on Saturday! I have been telling myself for what, the past year that she is too old for a binkie, but she was so attached I couldn't do it. Saturday we went to Fashion Place Mall and went to Build-A-Bear. We let Maddie pick out her very own bear,(which by the way she picked a dog..), and told her that we were going to put her binkies inside the dog. I wanted to make it her decision to not have a binkie, so I said if she didn't want to she didn't have too. Well she wanted that dog pretty bad, so she agreed. We went through the whole building-a-bear process, and Madison put her binkie inside the bear with its heart. The girl stitched up the back, and it was gone. Madison was so excited for her new puppy! So we go to the car and her first question is: "Mom, can I have my binkie please?" Break my heart!! I explained that her binkie was inside the dog, so if she wanted her binkie she needed to just hug her puppy instead. Yeah not so much! She cried and cried. I felt horrible! What a bad mom to take her most prized possession away, and give her a dumb stuffed puppy instead. But Chris said I had to stick to my guns, so we kept reminding her that her binkie was in her puppy when she would ask for it. Well that night she cried for an hour and a half before she fell asleep. The next night, an hour, and last night 45 minutes. So it is getting better. Over all she is doing pretty good. She has asked for it a lot less than I expected she would, and the meltdowns are not lasting as long when we say no too. We had to do it. She is a smart enough girl that I think she knew she didn't need it anyways, but it was just a habit. I think I am the one who needed the binkie. It would stop tantrums, and she would go right to sleep with it. Oh well, one more phase we have completed in the many more to come!

Yellowstone

I have been meaning to post about this trip for a week now, but I guess was dreading how long it might take. So sorry for the long post. ;)

We went with my family to Yellowstone for a little "last trip" before Brandon leaves on his mission on the 30th of July. So we drove to Rexburg and stayed there and drove into Yellowstone for 2 days. Then the 3rd day we went to Bear World, which is in Rexburg. We had a blast! Thanks mom and dad for all the fun!

There were lots of wildlife just by the road, so we could pull over and take a peek at everything. These Elk were drinking from the river, and didn't seem to mind us being there.

This bison was just taking a stroll down a bridge and holding up traffic. It was so funny! We were seriously 3-4 feet away from the bison as it passed us on the bridge, and it didn't even stop.

Chris was zoomed out as far as possible on our camera when the bison passed him, so you can tell how close he was...

Madison wanted to "pet" every animal we saw.

These things are HUGE!!!

Brandon took this picture of the one and only bear we saw in Yellowstone. The Forrest Rangers were making everyone move back, because you are "supposed " to stay 100 yards away from the bears. Brandon snuck down and caught this picture just in time. He was probably about 40 yards away from the bear when he took this picture. hehehe

Bear World
In Bear World, we were able to get up close to the bears in our cars. They would pass by as if we were a moving tree. We also went on this tour at Bear World, where we actually got to feed the bears from a huge truck. That was the best!

Grizzly Bear

These pictures are when we were feeding the bears. They would come over to the truck, and motion with their paws for food. It was so fun! Madison loved it!

They even had rides at Bear World. This one was our favorite! It was kinda like a small cheap kid version of the Rocket at Lagoon, only it didn't go up as high, or drop you all at once.

Madison didn't love it as much as the rest of us...

Our "Bear" Family

They even had a petting zoo. Madison got to pet a momma dear and her fawn. It was so cute!

This pig loved her!!! She would pet it and it would lay down on her feet and purr, if pigs can purr...

Madison County

The other fun thing, was that in West Yellowstone, it is Madison County. We thought that was pretty fun to have Madison's name everywhere. She loved it when she would recognize her name on signs.