Roan Randoms

I have a whole bunch of pics of Roan that have been piling up. Enjoy

Little rebel loves to stand while we drive. 

After bath time he loves to walk around in his towel. 

This little guy is always singing and chanting and putting stuff on his head. 

He will also make a picnic anywhere. 

I love that he loves to spend time with me in the kitchen and cook. He seriously is the best helper. He will help me add ingredients, set the table, and put away the dishes. Plus he remembers where things go. 

I thought it was funny that I put his coat on over his booster chair. 

Lately he has been pulling up his own pants (such a big kid now I KNOW)

Often he will pull them up really high like an old man. So cute. 

I still love to cuddle after bath time and make faces in the mirror. 

He is a good little eater and getting better with utensils. 

 Again faces in the mirror is all the rage. That is what happens when ever room has a mirror closet. 

 This kid cracks me up with all the expressions and squeals that come out of him. 

Oh and he will play in the water for hours if you let him.  

 Again everything can be made into a hat. 

 I still love to take pictures of him sleeping. 

 One night he didn't want to do his bedtime routine. His logic was that if he refused to get his pajamas on, read a book, pray, or turn off the light he wouldn't have to sleep. He only tried that stunt once more before he learned that either way he will go to bed. Oh the mind of a child. It is pretty awesome to see him grow and watch him connect and figure out things as he explores. He is such a helpful and lovable guy. 

I fall in love with him more and more each day. :)

Holiday Shin Digs

I waited to long to blog about what we did over Christmas so I am going to smash it together with New Years. I didn't have to work on Christmas Eve so that meant a fun day with the this awesome little boy. 

We ran a few last minute shopping errands and then went to Arby's for lunch. 

This was the first time I got one of the car carts. Those things are huge, I felt like I was driving a bus and taking up all the space in the aisles, especially when turning. 

After Lars got home from work we thought it would be fun to go out and get ice cream. Nothing was opened except for Chinese restaurants so we ended up back at the grocery store to pick up some. After Roan went to bed Lars and I spent the next hour wrapping gifts. It was so much fun. Then we ate ice cream and watched a movie. We went to bed late but I was too excited to sleep. I couldn't wait to see Roans reactions to all the cool stuff we got him. Plus I couldn't wait to hang out with our families. 

Christmas morning we woke up and Roan was doing the running man in his crib. We took some pictures of him in front of the tree, we lost all these pics because the memory card on our camera died. Thank goodness for camera phones I guess. 

Lars and I decided to get each other silly gifts rather than spending a lot of money on each other. Unplanned we each got each other the same gift...shaving tools.  Great minds think alike. 

Roan got a lot of cool things. His favorite is a set of craftsman kid tools that make noise and light up. 

Lars Mom's family came over for our traditional Christmas breakfast. 

The food was really good and we had so much fun together. 

Roan found the chocolate stash. 

In the afternoon we went over to my parents house for dinner. My parents put on a little program where my Dad played the Ukulele, I took video but am having trouble posting it. We did a cousins gift exchange and the adults played a gift card exchange game. Something that is super fun and becoming a new tradition. 

My two nieces had each other for their gift exchange and they gave each other the exact same gift. 

SO funny. 

We were so pooped after Christmas. But we still had some fun in us for New Years Eve. We had our friends Dave and Andrea over. We made a lot of food and hung out while the kids ran around. 

As usual I wore my special New Years shirt. LOL 

The holidays were so fun. We had a blast eating and spending time with our families. Bring on the new year. 

Tour of the House

I cleaned this weekend so here is a video tour of our wonderful newish home that we are so thankful for. 

Pop some popcorn and enjoy the show. It is 10 minutes long. 

Here is a link since blogger sucks as uploading videos lately. 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202345312748450&set=vb.1661150907&type=2&theater

Reflections

This is one of my favorite preggo pics.  

When we visited CA I wanted to return to this place to have a follow up pic. 

Things around the pond have changed and we are right there changing with it. :)

Barlow Stars Christmas Card 2013

The Barlow Stars 2013 We had a grand old time this year, as we continue to do always. :) The highlight of the year had to be the purchase of our first home, which means we are officially staying put in West Jordan, UT for a long while. We all continue to keep on living the dream… Lars continues his hard work for EMC. He also serves as the assistant to the ward mission leader in our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When he isn't busy being a SUPER Dad and husband; he is playing darts, working on various projects around the house and yard, helping his Mom, and continuing editing his book. Stephanie still works for Ricoh but is now based permanently at one of their client offices, which she enjoys very much. She is serving as the Young Women President in our Church and also became a health coach for Take Shape for Life, a program she used to get fit and lose over 50 lbs this year! Both of these keep her very busy but also provide a lot of fun. When Stephanie isn't busy being a SUPER Mom and wife; she is cooking, crafting, working in the yard, exercising, and spending time with family and friends. Roan…This kid seriously continues to bring the most joy to us with each passing day. He loves to give hugs and kisses and hams it up for his family around the dinner table. Roan loves to help with everything from cooking with Mom in the kitchen to holding tools for Dad. When he isn't busy being a SUPER son; Roan loves to play with his cars, trucks, Legos, ball, lights, and anything that goes. He also loves to make his parents toast for breakfast and sing songs. We are grateful for all we have and the wonderful memories that were made this year. We look forward to the future goals and dreams we will be reaching for and the memories we will make along the way. We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a jolly New Year!! Love, Lars, Stephanie, & Roan Barlow Please enjoy our year in review slideshow. For more detailed fun please visit our blog http://barlowstars.blogspot.com/

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Business Stephanie

Thanksgiving week was really awesome for me. Things have been super fast and busy lately I was really looking forward to a break from it all. I was supposed to work for an hour the day after Thanksgiving but I was able to trade. I am so glad I did. Work has been crazy and I have been pulling in OT here and there. I even had to work late on Thanksgiving Eve. I feel like I have been working from one thing to the next and have only been in business mode with everything. I could feel that I was needing a break and just needed to stop doing everything and breath and take part in the moment. SO that is what I did. I didn't work, I put all of my church responsibilities on the back burner, I even tried to steer clear of social media. I just focused on me and my little family. 

For Thanksgiving we hosted Lars' Mom's family at our house. Then we went to my brothers house for dessert. Everything was really chill and relaxing. Then for the rest of the holiday weekend we seriously did nothing but be awesome together. We stayed home and worked in the yard. I pulled out some of my art supplies and did some water color painting while Roan was napping. I haven't done that in years and I loved it. I cleaned the house a bit and got a few minor things prepared for Christmas like our decorations. We also went shopping at the mall together and it was really not packed at all which was weird. I guess we got lucky on that one. 

Best of all time just went really really slow. That was my favorite part of the break. I was having fun and it was lasting forever. I didn't want to come back to work. Things have been pretty busy since then but I got rested and am renewed and working on focusing on the little moments rather than being in business mode all the time. That alter personality of mine is cool but not as cool as keeping it real Stephanie. Let's hope the latter will make more of an appearance. 

 We made cookies and it was awesome
(Seriously these are Lars' cookies and they are amazing)

 Roan loved them

Fun Decorations 

 Thanksgiving Day 

Roan played by himself a lot too and I loved it. He is super cute. 

Lucky to Get Used to It

Gosh I am so lucky to live near my family. We are within a few minutes of 2 of my brothers, one of my cousins, 3 of Lars' cousins, and one of his Aunts. I love being near family but I have a confession...it is taking some getting used to. That sounds bad, but it is by no means meant to. I don't mean it in the dramatic sense. Thankfully all of my siblings and cousins are older and mature enough than we used to be to keep the drama out of our lives. I love that too because I myself was very dramatic back in the day. That doesn't mean I am not now, only difference is that I try to be dramatic when it counts rather than over stupid stuff. Anyway, I love being near family but you have to understand....Lars and I have come to be very independent since having lived away from family for 4 years. We learned to make do on our own and kept our families in the loop on a needed basis. And it worked because it was life...then. Our support system then was our wonderful group of friends, and they still are there to help us no matter what or where because some friendships just don't have any distance. I could live on the moon and these folks would still be there for hugs and love. Now we have family surrounding us. Wonderful family that are here and more than willing to help when we need them. The idea of calling them up and having them hop over for simple thing like fixing a car, babysitting Roan, or just to hanging out is something I am getting used to. Again, not in a bad way, just getting used to the idea that Lars and I don't have to be as independent anymore. We CAN let people into our lives more and we CAN put ourselves out there to help them in return. We have more opportunities to grow our relationships and to serve.  It is actually a wonderful thing and something I am super grateful for. On Sunday I attended a small get together with a few of these family members. I thought about all of this as I was driving home. I am so grateful to be surrounded by family and even more grateful that I AM lucky to be getting used to it and loving it.