For My Joy...

"If God were not just, there would be no demand for his Son to suffer and die. And if God were not loving, there would be no willingness for his Son to suffer and die. But God is just and loving. Therefor his love is willing to meet the demands of his justice."

-John Piper, "For Your Joy"

Two Months

(edited to add his picture - I found the camera...)

Carter turned 2 months this week. I would post a picture but I am too lazy to go find the camera. The past 2 months have been special as we have adjusted to this new blessing. He brings joy to every member of our family and is never in need of arms willing to hold him. But although it's been a blessing it's still been very tiring.

And now we are getting ready to go on vacation for a week where we will spend time with family at the beach. My family loves this time, especially the kids. I will admit that it's tiring just getting ready for vacation - especially with a newborn that needs to eat every few hours. But as I was preparing for this time, I remembered CJ Mahaney's series from last year about vacations. This time is an opportunity for me to serve my family - and to serve them with joy.

CJ says, "No one should be happier on vacation than we are. During our vacation our children should repeatedly observe us smiling and laughing, and throughout the vacation they should be the objects of our affection and appreciation."

My prayer is that I will rely on the Lord for the extra strength and grace I will need this coming week to help my family have a special vacation full of fun memories with one another. I'll let you know how it goes!!

Another Birth Story...

This sweet baby will be 4 weeks old tomorrow so I had better get this birth story written before I forget what happened! On the night of March 11, I began to have regular Braxton Hicks contractions. In fact, I couldn't sleep and they were starting to hurt so about 3 in the morning I called the on-call Dr. and he told me to come in. I figured I would probably just go in and get fluids to stop the contractions and then come home. So, I just left Brian with the kids and headed to the hospital.

When I got there, I still hadn't dilated or anything but the contractions were about 8-10 minutes apart and pretty uncomfortable. I was still hoping to head home soon since my Dr. (that I love and that had delivered the first 4 babies) was in Mexico for the week. Plus I wasn't quite 35 weeks along yet.

By the time the Dr. checked me a few hours later, I was at 3 cm. She told me they don't stop labor at this point because that could be more dangerous than letting labor progress. But I needed to go home and pack the bag and I didn't leave out clothes for the kids - and Brian is color blind! I begged her to let me run home and do some stuff but she wouldn't let me because my cervix had 'been labored upon' (nice phrase huh?) and she didn't want to take any chances.

So I called Brian and he packed up everything (like a pro - and they were all matched up) and took care of getting the kids to Granny and PawPaw. I felt relieved once he got to the hospital to be with me. I was a little nervous about having this baby early - what if the lungs weren't ready? What if he had to go to the NICU? But we rested in the fact that the Lord had already determined this baby's birthdate - and His sovereignty brought me much comfort.

We didn't do much to help the labor along because if I delivered after midnight then the baby would be exactly 35 weeks along. Kim came by around supper time and brought us some snacks (shhh!) which were a life saver! My contraband pop-tart had been long gone! And popsicles only satisfy for so long! I got my epidural around 8:00 pm and was much more comfortable after that. About 54 minutes after the dawn of March 13, I pushed 3 times and little Carter Shane came out - it was a boy!!

The wierd thing was that the NICU was there to watch the delivery and that was very bizarre - 2 men that I didn't know - with several other women, watching me!? The awesome Dr. tried to block their 'view' but that was still wierd for me. Anyway, after delivery the NICU checked him out and he looked great! So they all left him with me for him to go to the regular nursery! He stayed there for a bit while they suctioned some fluid but after a few hours, he came to stay with us.

It was an exausting few days since I was up most of Wednesday night with contractions and all of Thursday night with labor - but it was so worth it!! He was 6 pounds 1 once of pure sweetness! All 19 1/2 inches of him!

We are thankful for this additional blessing in our lives! Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and encouragement during this time!

Blessings...

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Ps. 127:3

There have been so many blessings in our lives this past week as we have brought home this new baby boy. (Kim took the above pic, isn't she great?) My husband wrote a sweet post this week about the blessings he has seen this week. He hardly ever writes such a personal post so I encourage you to read it!

One of the blessings in our lives has been having grandparents that live in the same town. They blessed us by keeping our other 4 children while we were in the hospital and they have provided small blessings every day since Carter's birth.

Just the other day I called Brian's dad to let him know that we enjoyed the carrot cake he had sent our way but that it was gone!! Later that afternoon, Brian's mom and aunt came by with an apple pie, a chocolate cake, brownie bites and chocolate chip cookies! The next day she brought by a homemade pound cake! Needless to say, we shouldn't be hurting for dessert at our house this week! Thanks Granny and PawPaw!

March Madness

This is what happens when you have a baby in the middle of March and Daddy is home during the day for 2 weeks! Homeschooling centers around March Madness! Spelling happens as they learn to spell "Louisville" and "Gonzaga". Math happens as they pick their winning teams to go to the "Sweet 16" and the "Elite 8".

Brian got us all involved today. He had brackets for all of us to fill out. The kids have been so excited to watch and see if 'their' teams win. The funnest part was listening to the reasoning behind their picks. Emmie picked Kansas because Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz lives there. She also picked West Virginia (to go all the way in fact) because that is where PawPaw is from. Coleman picked VCU because they are yellow, his favorite color!

So, needless to say, we've been busy around here with a new baby AND March Madness! I'll let you know who wins!!

Great Friends...

Last week I met some friends for dinner and they surprised me with the sweetest baby shower!! God has graciously blessed me with a group of sweet women that I call friends. We did a lot of talking, eating, and laughing. I got so many sweet gifts, some of which are pictured here. Look at those diapers - definitely a need!!

Kim made this sweet collage of all of my sweet 'babies!' (It's nice to have a friend that takes incredible pics with her fancy camera!)

Several of my kids will fit in this bag!!

Sophia, Dusty, Kim, Jamie, Kelly and me

Yummy cake!!


Thank you guys for making me feel special! Glad we got it in before baby Carter came!!

Sweet Baby Boy

As most of you know, our sweet baby boy - Carter Shane Barber - was born this past Friday! He was born early at 35 weeks (he just turned 35 weeks on the day he was born)! I will post more about the story later but we are so thankful for his health and that he is home with us. We are filled with awe!!

Thank you for all of your prayers for us!!

Welcome.... Carter Shane Barber

Welcome.....

Carter Shane Barber

6lbs 1 oz

19 1/4 inches

Born on March 13th 2009