How to Do Disneyland in One Day with Four Kids

Tip #1: Take your mom with you. This trip would not have happened without my mom and would have been a complete disaster if she had not been with us. Thank you, Mommy!!

Tip #2: Relax. Keep reminding yourself – relax. You’re not going to go on everything (especially if you go the week before Easter). So just relax and try to enjoy what you get to do.

Tip #3: A harness is a beautiful thing.

See the harness? It was a lifesaver.

Tip #4: Drive to Anaheim the day before you go to Disneyland and stay at a hotel. Stay at a hotel the night of. Then drive home. Do not attempt to drive in and out in one day. Even if the hotel floor is so dirty that your kids’ feet are black within 30 seconds of walking on said floor and even if your children won’t go to sleep until midnight, the hotel stay is worth it.

I have to say that there were many moments when I questioned the decision to go to Disneyland. Charlie laying down in Tomorrowland screaming would be a good example of a moment when I was questioning the wisdom of my choice. Another good example would be when I stupidly sat in the front row of Splash Mountain, did not take my rain jacket, and ended up soaked from the top of my head down to my knees. A third would be when Katie spent a couple of hours crying about every ride we took her on. At some point during the day, I thought, “NEVER AGAIN! I will never, ever take my kids to Disneyland again!” This later turned into, “I won’t bring my kids back to Disneyland until they’re all out of diapers.” Since I’ve been home, it’s turned into, “I wonder if we could save enough money to take another trip in the fall?”

Behold, the triumph of Disneyland’s magic over what is normally a sane mind!

See how I look pretty crazy in this photo? That's what Disneyland does to me.

So, because I love to bore people with the details (and because this blog is my journal), here is a rundown of our day with Disney:

First, we left the hotel later than I wanted to. We followed that up by brilliantly getting lost twice on our way to the parking structure. Once we finally made it to the park and switched our vouchers for tickets, we walked over to Guest Services and waited in line for 20 minutes to see if we could get a pass so we wouldn’t have to wait in line only to be shut down instantly with a “that’s nice” (okay, so I’m paraphrasing) when sharing the fact of Charlie’s autism with the cast member. I was too anxious to get into the park and onto the ride to argue or to visit City Hall to hear all about their super fantastic ideas for navigating the park with a person who has special needs. So off we went towards Splash Mountain.

The line for Splash Mountain was not long. The two main factors in this seemed to be a) that it was early in the a.m. on a chilly March day and b) that the ride was closed. So my mom (see tip #1) saved a spot in line at Splash Mountain for us while the rest of us ran off to the Winnie-the-Pooh ride. Charlie rode with Josh, who reported that Charlie had a huge grin on his face the entire ride. The rest of us enjoyed it too. It’s just a cute ride.

After WTP, we discovered the line to Splash Mountain was moving and moving rapidly. We hurriedly changed places with my mom in line, who stayed behind to watch Charlie and Fitz (again, see tip #1). Josh, Alek, Katie and I were on Splash Mountain within minutes. Katie had watched the video of the ride online several times and was stoked to go on it. Alek was a little less enthused, memories of his last ride on Splash Mountain five and a half years earlier flooding his mind. (Flooding, get it? Ha, ha.) Outcome: I got soaked, Katie tried to dive out of the ride and said, “I want to go home,” Alek loved it and slowly began to realize that maybe I was not lying when I said the rides would not be as scary for him now that he’s 10, and Josh laughed his head off about how wet I was and how scared Katie was.

Then it was off to Pirates of the Carribean, which everyone under the age of 10 hated. I ended up holding Charlie and Fitz during the ride, both of whom were crying. It was the first time I’d been on it since they added all the Jack Sparrow stuff. Personally, I liked it better before. Especially the music. Man, the music from the movie stinks and almost ruins the beginning of that ride.

Charlie and Katie both were fairly crabby for a while after that. Fitz fell asleep. We went on Indiana Jones next. Josh and Alek went first. Josh practically had to drag him on the ride, but Alek ended up loving it. We did the whole parent switch thing and mom and I went on the ride next. This was the one ride my mom cared about going on and it was a total blast sharing the experience with her. We were both screaming and squealing and laughing the entire time. It rocked.

From there, we went to Fantasyland. We dragged Katie and Charlie onto Pinocchio and Snow White; they were both in tears in line. Katie warmed up on the Pinocchio ride, but hid her face in my chest every time something scary happened (i.e. Monstro the Whale popped up or we saw Stromboli).

Right before our first trip into Fantasyland. See how Fitz is asleep? That is why he and my mom did not go on Snow White and Pinocchio with us.

I can’t remember the order of things after that. I think next we went to Tomorrowland. We did a parent switch for Star Tours. Mom, Josh, Alek and Katie did the first round and Katie cheered up a lot after that. It was while I waited with the two little boys that I had the brilliant idea to let Charlie out of his stroller so he could walk around. I put his harness on, put him down on the ground and he immediately tried to run into the crowd of hundreds milling around outside of Star Tours. He then flung himself on the ground and started crying when he realized I wouldn’t let him get away. I then made the brilliant decision to have him sit on the edge of a huge planter. He promptly grabbed a handful of soil and popped it in his mouth. Those 20 or so minutes waiting for the rest of my family to get out of Star Tours were probably the worst part of my day. They finally came back, Katie was happy and babbling about the ride, and Alek and I took off for my turn.

We ended up missing most of the one show I really wanted to get to – the Jedi Training Academy. But we did end up getting to see part of it and you would think Katie and Alek had died and gone to heaven. Katie was thrilled and not at all scared to see Darth Vader and Stormtroopers. She even stared down Darth Maul. That’s my girl!

I think this is when we decided to eat lunch. Either that or we did the Buzz Lightyear ride. Let me just say this about that BL Astroblasters ride – it’s really cool and fun and a neat idea and everyone in my family seemed to like it.

Everyone was a lot happier after they’d eaten lunch. Tip #5: when you’re going to get a meal, get a few of the kids’ pack meal that comes with Goldfish and yogurt and apple slices and string cheese for everyone to share. That whole thing was a way bigger hit with my kids than the chicken strips and fries I got for Katie and Charlie to split.

After lunch, I can’t remember what happened. At some point we strolled over to Toontown, which was a zoo. The line to meet Mickey was practically out the door. I love Mickey and I know Katie was dying to meet him, but that would have taken us two hours. I don’t love Mickey that much. So the kids had to content themselves with meeting Pluto and Goofy. The lines for the rides were also ridiculously long so we skipped those too. I think that is when we headed back to Fantasyland and got on It’s A Small World. We got to see a portion of the parade while we were in line and that was fun.

After that, I really can’t remember the order of things. At some point we went back on Winnie-the-Pooh. We had fast passes to go on Big Thunder, but it was closed when we went back to ride on it. We went on the Jungle Cruise. We went to the Enchanted Tiki Room. We ended up back in Fantasyland and rode the carousel and Casey Jr. Circus Train and Dumbo.

My mom was freezing at this point. The sun was starting to go down and it was rather windy. So we decided to head out. We got dinner for my mom and the kids and then the most awesome thing of all happened – my mom babysat the kids for us and Josh and I went back to Disneyland by ourselves!! (Tip #1, people. It’s the most important tip of all. BTW, tip #6: you only have to pay once for parking at the Mickey & Friends parking structure; hold on to your ticket and you can exit and re-enter later. We learned this by reading the second ticket we were issued after paying another $14 to park. D’oh!)

Josh and I headed straight to Space Mountain when we went back to the park. The wait was 45 minutes (fast passes were not an option that late in the day), but I hadn’t been on it since they’d changed it and Josh had only been on it once before, when he was 14 years old. So we waited. It was worth it, even though I have no idea how they changed that ride. My memory is apparently not that good. We went back to Fantasyland and rode Mr. Toad’s, but the lines for Peter Pan and the Matterhorn were both ridiculously long. Josh and I also made it on to Big Thunder finally, decided to brave the Haunted Mansion (along with 5 or 6 other people – that ride seriously was a ghost town – ha, ha, ha!), did Indiana Jones again, and took another cruise on Pirates to cap off the night. We also bought souvenirs for the kids. Souvenirs which we still haven’t given them, 4 weeks later.

I love Space Mountain. Oh, and Josh, too.

Ultimately, it ended up being a great day and a fun trip. Katie has spent a lot of time reminiscing about it the past few weeks and loves to watch the Disneyland vacation planning DVD. We’d all like to go back again and I am sure we will someday.

I, for one, am definitely going back there. Two weeks from today. See you then, Amy and Rachel!

P.S. If you read this whole thing, you are amazing.

This is Not a Catching Up Post

So lately, I've been thinking a lot about having another baby. For a while, I thought that Josh and I were done. We were feeling a bit like we were overloaded. Um, actually, that hasn't changed. But when I said out loud to my mom that I thought we were done, I just started crying and I realized how much I wanted to have another baby. And I can't shake the feeling like someone is missing and Josh can't either. Now, I don't necessarily think that means we're supposed to have another baby, but why can't it just be enough to want to have one? Does Heavenly Father have to specifically direct me every time I have a child? Can't I just say, "hey, I'd like a baby and that's a righteous desire, so if you can help us out, that would be great"?

Anyway, I kinda derailed there.

I know that probably most people in the world already think Josh and I have too many children. They probably think we're crazy to consider having more, as renters of a small-ish home with one bathroom (but a garage and a great yard) and parents of a child with PDD-NOS and people who honestly don't really have it together. I mean, the state of my home is atrocious. My dear friend, Aimee, would probably faint dead away if she came into the mess we lovingly refer to as our bedroom.

Every day, I come face to face with an undeniable truth -- I am a terrible homemaker. I've changed my schedule at work to 7:30am-4:00pm, with the hope that I can get things done around the house and help Josh out with the kids. Today was day 2 of the new schedule -- I ate leftovers, my kids ate peanut butter sandwiches and raisins, and I spent about an hour reading my book on the couch. I am a big lazy head.

So maybe it is the worst idea ever to have another baby. Maybe it was the worst idea ever for us to have any. We're definitely not ideal parents. But we love our kids. We love the gospel. We try to teach our kids truth. Our kids are rascally, defiant, loud, and crazy, but they're happy and they're fun and they love each other and they love us. My house is usually a mess, but it's safe for my kids. We can't afford to put them in sports or dance or take them on fancy vacations (although we did 1 day at Disneyland and it was awesome), but we play ball in the backyard and we dance and sing in the living room and we drive to the temple for fun.

So maybe I'm nuts. I don't know. But don't be too shocked if in another couple of years, I have some news for you that involves gestation and labor and names. (I actually already know the name if we have a girl, a name that says so much about who Josh and I are and what we love. And we already know the nickname. And I am already writing it down just to see how it looks. And I love it. Of course, I will probably have a boy. And that's good, too. I mean, have you seen my boys? They're pretty adorable.)

I'm certainly not the kind of mother most people would want (I wouldn't want a mother like me, either), but I could be worse and I am trying to be better. I guess for the sweet, sweet spirits who are sent to my home, that is just going to have to be enough.

The First in A Series of Catching Up Posts

I’ve decided to work backwards on what has been going on in lives of the Barkers.


So first, our stake road shows are this weekend. The theme is fairy tales. I am not performing, but am assisting in directing the young women who are playing princesses in the show. I’m going to be spending many hours at the church on Friday and Saturday, but that’s okay because it should be fun.

Josh and I went to a meeting with the school district on Monday to discuss Charlie’s IEP. Charlie will start attending an autism classroom pre-school for half a day Monday through Friday starting on his birthday, which is a week and a half away. They set annual goals for him in many different areas, like speech, pre-academics, self-help, and motor skills.

The first part of the meeting in which we went over and over and over what Charlie’s deficiencies are was very depressing. I especially loved talking to the psychiatrist, whose report said that Charlie is basically functioning mentally and emotionally as a 3-6 month old, with a smattering of skills in the 6-9 month range. I also loved when they talked about how little progress Charlie has made in the past year. I translated that comment this way: We have failed as parents. We have not done what we needed to do at home to make his therapy more successful.

The second part of the meeting where they told me that Charlie was being classified as autism-like (instead of mentally retarded, which was the initial thought before they evaluated him in person) and about the class he would be attending was wonderful. The school district provides bussing, so Josh doesn’t have to worry about transporting Charlie back and forth to school every day, which is great. And it turns out that Charlie is going to be in the same class as our friends’ little boy. And they are going to potty train him! Being in a daily pre-school program should help Charlie progress much faster. We got to meet one of his teachers and she seems wonderful. Josh is going to visit the class next Tuesday to get a sense of how it all works. It’s a small class; Charlie will be the 9th student. There are a minimum of three adults in the class at all time. The children in the class range from age 3 to 6 (it’s a pre-school through kindergarten program).

In a year, we will meet again with the school district to review Charlie’s progress and make sure he is still eligible for services. Every three years, we have a big meeting like we did this time around where they do a full reevaluation.

Last Saturday, we finally had our Easter Egg Hunt. Only two weeks late! It was great to be able to just step out into the backyard and do the hunt, instead of having to pack everyone in to the car and go to a park. Fitz was napping when we did the hunt, but I figured that was okay. Also, we didn’t dye eggs. I can’t bring myself to waste eggs like that; we don’t eat hard boiled eggs, so they would just end up in the trash. So we did plastic eggs with candy inside, like we always do.

Charlie was not the least bit interested in the eggs and spent the entire time just hanging out in the grass, eating plants and dirt, or just running around and looking up at the sun.

I tried to get Charlie interested in the eggs.

I thought I had him involved for a minute, but that's dirt in his hand, not an egg.

Instead he did this.

And this.

Alek and Katie had a good time and both did a great job finding the eggs. Alek was really good about not taking all the eggs, but instead letting Katie find a lot. It ended up being a pretty even split.

 Katie insisted on wearing a dress. Of course, she insists on wearing a dress pretty much every day.

Alek intently looks for eggs.

After the hunt, we pooled all the candy and I had every intention of doling it out slowly over the next several weeks. On Monday night, I decided to let the kids have some Easter candy after dinner and discovered there were only 4 pieces of candy left! Katie and Alek had each had 4 pieces on Saturday, which should have left about 50 or 60 pieces. Turns out, Alek ate a whole bunch of candy when I wasn’t around. So Katie got the rest of the candy and Alek didn’t get any dessert at all, which he wasn’t happy about.

Alek with his loot. 

And Katie with hers.

So that catches you all up on the last week or so. Stay tuned for the next exciting installment!

Here's a picture of Fitz, just because he is adorable. He's wearing one of the cute rompers Grandma bought him.

Um, Duh

I laughed out loud when I read this in the Washington Post:

"The bill, sent to the Republican governor by the GOP-led Legislature, would make it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally."

How dare Arizona make something a crime in their state that is illegal!

The fact that they even have to pass this bill says a lot about the state of our country.

What's Going on in Latin America

I don't think most Americans have a clue what is going on in Latin America. I know I don't have much of one. This article provides some interesting and disturbing details.

A Lot of Catching Up to Do -- A Follow-Up

Let me first just say this: I am fine.

I am sorry if I scared anyone. Life, in general, is pretty good. Emotionally, it's been a very odd month for me, but life is good.

I don't know how much I want to go into about what happened the other night that had me sobbing. Really, it all started with a conversation that took place a couple of weeks ago.

Here's what I've been feeling, in a nutshell:

I miss my friend. I never miss my former husband, but I do miss my friend. Also, I feel an enormous grief for him, for what he's done to himself and to his life and how he's hurt himself and our son and his family.

I don't have any pain over what he did to me. Somehow, at some time, without me noticing it was happening until it had happened, that pain went away.

But I feel pain on his behalf. And sometimes that pain feels overwhelming.

Of course, even God feels pain,don't you think? He must, because He loves us so much and we do so much to hurt ourselves and others. It must cause Him pain. So if even God has to experience pain, I can't imagine there will ever come a time when we get to completely leave that behind us.

But, there's also joy and peace and comfort. And I have those things in my life and they come to me in various ways and means, but all those ways and means have been given to me by a loving Heavenly Father and by the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Josh came in not too long after I'd finished posting the other night. Within minutes, I felt better. And I was laughing. And all seemed right with the world. And for me, it is really.

P.S. Thanks to my sisters, for their kind, loving concern.

Really Good Article

Exposing the myth behind the pay gap between men and women.

UPDATE: Article inserted below for those who were not able to pull it up.

The Equal Pay Day Reality Check

By Christina Hoff Sommers
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The claim that American women as a group face systemic wage discrimination is groundless.

Today is Equal Pay Day. Feminist groups and political leaders have set aside this day to protest the fact that women’s wages are, on average, 78 percent of men’s wages. “This date symbolizes how far into 2010 women must work to earn what men earned in 2009,”says the National Committee on Pay Equity. The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has enlisted supporters to wear red “to represent the way the pay gap puts women ‘in the red.’” There will be rallies, speak outs, mass mailings of equity e-cards, and even bake sales featuring cookies with a “bite” taken out to represent women’s losses to men. The National Organization for Women (NOW) suggests women gather together at local bars for “Un-happy Hours” where they can share their dissatisfactions. “See if a local bar, club, or restaurant (try the women-owned ones first!) will give you drink specials [where] women pay 78% of their tabs and men pay 100%.”

Excuse me for interrupting, but this holiday has no basis in reality. Even feminist economists acknowledge that today’s pay disparities are almost entirely the result of women's different life choices—what they study in school, where they work, and how they balance home and career. This is not to deny that some employers will try to pay Jill 78 cents and Jack $1.00 for an identical job. But our strict laws give Jill the right to take that employer to court. The claim that American women as a group face systemic wage discrimination is groundless.

Even feminist economists acknowledge that today’s pay disparities are almost entirely the result of women's different life choices. There are by now many reputable studies that refute the assertion that women are being cheated out of a fair salary by unscrupulous employers. In January 2009, the Labor Department posted a study prepared by the CONSAD Research Corporation, “An Analysis of the Reasons for the Disparity in Wages Between Men and Women." It analyzed more than 50 peer-reviewed papers. Labor Department official Charles E. James Sr. summed up the results in his foreword:

This study leads to the unambiguous conclusion that the differences in the compensation of men and women are the result of a multitude of factors and that the raw wage gap should not be used as the basis to justify corrective action. Indeed, there may be nothing to correct. The differences in raw wages may be almost entirely the result of the individual choices being made by both male and female workers.

Psychologist Susan Pinker has aptly noted that men are more likely than women to give priority to salary and promotions over personal fulfillment. Women are not as ready to sacrifice their deep interests in, say, history, psychology, or public policy—“all in order to fix, sell, or distribute widgets” or “to spend the best years of [their lives] planning air conditioning ductwork for luxury condos.” Men also work longer hours and are more willing than women to take dangerous but well-paid jobs as truck drivers, loggers, coal miners, or oil riggers. (My American Enterprise Institute colleague Mark Perry has suggested we designate October 11, 2020, Equal Occupational Fatality Day. That is how far into the future women will have to work to experience the same number of work-related deaths that men experienced in 2008 alone. )

And of course women are much more involved with babies than men. According to a 2009 Pew survey, “A strong majority of all working mothers (62%) say they would prefer to work part time . . . An overwhelming majority [of working fathers] (79%) say they prefer full-time work. Only one-in-five say they would choose part-time work.” To close the wage gap, women’s groups are going to have to find a way to change women’s preferences and life choices—or somehow rule them out of order.

In their defense, feminist groups deny that women’s choices explain the wage gap. “In fact,” says the National Women’s Law Center, “authoritative studies show that even when all relevant career and family attributes are taken into account, there is still a significant, unexplained gap in men’s and women’s earnings.” Not quite. Studies summarized in the CONSAD report show that when the proper controls are in place, the unexplained wage gap is somewhere between 4.8 and 7.1 cents—and no one can say how much of it is discrimination and how much is owed to subtle differences between the sexes that are hard to measure. For the time being, Equal Pay Day should be moved back from April to January.

To close the wage gap, women’s groups are going to have to find a way to change women’s preferences and life choices—or somehow rule them out of order.Women’s groups do sometimes acknowledge that the pay gap is largely explained by women’s choices, as the AAUW does in its 2007 Behind the Pay Gap. But this admission is qualified; they insist that women’s choices are not really free. “Women’s personal choices are similarly fraught with inequities,” says the AAUW. It speaks of women being “pigeonholed” into “pink-collar“ jobs in health and education. According to NOW, powerful sexist stereotypes “steer” women and men “toward different education, training, and career paths” and family roles.

But are stereotyped choices evidence of discrimination? American women are among the freest, best educated, and most self-determining people in the world. It seems unsisterly for NOW or the AAUW to suggest that they are being hoodwinked into college majors, professions, or part-time work so they can spend more time with their children.

Heather Boushey, a senior economist at the Center for American Progress (CAP) and co-author of an “Equal Pay Day Primer,” takes a different approach. She notes that jobs historically held by women—teaching, nursing, childcare—are paid less relative to men’s jobs, even when they require the same skills. She gives the example of zookeepers (traditionally male) and childcare workers (traditionally female) and cites with approval the words of another scholar who asked, “Aren’t our children more valuable to society than zoo animals?” According to Boushey, such pay disparities are the “legacy of past discrimination. “

When the proper controls are in place, the unexplained wage gap is somewhere between 4.8 and 7.1 cents—and no one can say how much of it is discrimination and how much is owed to subtle differences between the sexes that are hard to measure.Let me say for the record that I also think children are more precious than zoo animals, but I reject Boushey’s point. There are vast numbers of people who know how to take care of children, but very few who are qualified to bathe and feed a giraffe. Why is it wrong for a zookeeper to earn more than a childcare worker when the zookeeper has a more specialized skill set?

There is more at stake here than having to endure another feminist victim-fest on April 20. Groups like NOW, the AAUW, CAP, and the National Women’s Law Center have produced volumes of tendentious research that is taken seriously by journalists and by Congress. The Senate is now holding hearings on the misleadingly named Paycheck Fairness Act. The bill, which has already sailed through the House with bipartisan support, reads as if it were written by AAUW and NOW members during a particularly bitter “Un-happiness Hour.”

Under this convoluted and impenetrably murky law, feminist lawyers will file multi-million dollar class-action lawsuits and innocent employers will settle. Liability will be based on not only intentional discrimination (we already have laws against that) but on the “lingering effects of past discrimination.” What does that mean? Employers have no idea. Universities, for example, typically pay professors in the business school more than those in the school of social work. They cite market forces as the justification. But according to feminist theory, market forces are tainted by past discrimination. Women’s Studies departments will eagerly provide expert witnesses to testify that sexist attitudes led society to place a higher value on male-centered fields like business than female-centered fields like social work. If the Paycheck Fairness Act passes, it will wreak havoc in the American workplace. Employers today are already nervous about making new hires. This legislation will give them added pause.

American women are not being cheated out of a fifth of their salary. They are not being corralled into inferior life choices. But dozens of women’s groups have spent years drawing this misleading picture, and they have won some important converts. Last year, in his “Equal Pay Day Proclamation,” President Obama said that the 22 percent difference in average wages means that “women across America continue to experience discrimination in the form of pay inequity every day.” Memo to the president: Women across America do not believe that, and most will stay far away from the embarrassing grievance festivals planned for today's Equal Pay Day.

Christina Hoff Sommers is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

FURTHER READING: Sommers most recently wrote “Baseless Bias and the New Second Sex” for THE AMERICAN. She has also discussed “The UN Women’s Treaty” and decried “Gender Bias Bunk.”

A Lot of Catching Up to Do

I know, 6 readers of mine, that I have some catching up to do. A lot of catching up. My mom came for a visit and a billion things happened just while she was here. And she's already been back home for two weeks and a billion more things have happened.

Things I need to cover include my sister-in-law's baptism, the seriously awesome YW Mad Hatter party, followed by the even more awesome YW broadcast, a trip to Disneyland, a girls' day out with mom, General Conference, Easter, Charlie's IEP being decided upon, etc.

But I gotta tell you, I don't feel like writing. I've been feeling hurt. I've been feeling introspective and I am not ready to share any of that yet. And I've been feeling pain. Old wounds have resurfaced. Some pain will only go away in the next life, I think. With some pain, I think we just have to do our best to pretend it's not there so that we can just keep chugging along.

I've been chugging along for over ten years now. And most of the time, I pretend. I pretend there's no pain. And so there's not. But sometimes, I forget to pretend. Or I'm caught off guard. And then, oh . . .

Tonight I feel like I can't breathe. So the catching up will have to wait.

My Husband, the Celebrity

Check this out: my husband listed as a special guest alongside Kevin Sorbo. What?! My life is surreal.

Worth Reading, Again

I think this is something worth reading every once in a while.

Do You Know My Sister, Rachel?

Here she is with her nice husband, Lance. Aren't they cute? Well, if you know Rachel, you probably know she is one of the most amazing people on the planet.

Sometimes I call Rachel at really random times, crying my eyes out, stressed, unable to deal with whatever situation I am facing, and she dispenses wise advice, calms me down and makes me feel better. She's truly gifted. Rachel always take time to listen to me and to treat my feelings and experiences with deep respect. She never makes me feel like I am being silly or overreacting. She never makes me feel like my trials are nothing, even though compared to what she has been called to go through, they truly are.

I love that girl. And I get to see her in about six weeks. I am so excited.

Thanks, Rachel, for talking to me at a ridiculously late time of the night and for helping me. You rock and you are a rock. I am so blessed to be your sister.

Fitz is One

I am so blessed to be this little boy's mother. Look at that adorable, happy face. Isn't it wonderful? Fitz brings so much happiness into our home. He is loved by his brothers and sister. He puts up pretty well with Charlie biting him, kicking him and pushing him whenever he gets frustrated with him. He plays peek-a-boo, loves to come running when people call for him, points (a new thing that makes my heart flutter with happiness), dances, claps when we say "yea!" and is just a normal cute little baby. 

He's been a little fussy recently, but he's been sick and, it turns out, is cutting SIX new teeth. Yes, all at the same time. So really, he's a trouper. 

 

 Fitz kept chewing on his plate

I love my handsome Fitzwilliam Thomas Barker and I am looking forward to learning more about him as he grows. 

Fitz enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with his plate as well