Boise, ID, Humanitarian Bowl, Dec. 14-16

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Boise, ID, Humanitarian Bowl, Dec. 14-16

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Caroline's First Christmas Picture with Santa

Last week the alumni house was having pictures with Santa so we took Caroline up for her first picture! She was so good and was just looking around at all of the people and especially Santa in the big red suit and Time Out the Bulldog! We had a lot of fun taking the pictures and Coleman and I even got in on some of them!

Why we love Shutterfly!

Since discovering Shutterfly, it has been so easy for us to share pictures of our newborn baby girl with family and friends. Caroline Mae Barnes was born August 21, 2010. We live so far away from most of our family and friends, and it was important that we found a way to document her days and milestones with the ones we love. We created a Shutterfly share page and found it so easy to post videos and pictures of little Caroline. Now we can easily direct our loved ones to the share page where they can see all of the pictures and even order directly online from the share page.

This year we will be using Shutterfly to create our first family holiday card. We look forward to sharing it with all of you soon. Happy Holidays from California!

Here are some of our favorite Shutterfly products just for you:


• Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

• holiday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

• Christmas photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

• calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

• photo mugs to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs

• birthday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-cards-stationery

• Choose your favorite product from our Cards & Stationery page

Caroline's BCS Predictions

It is Veteran’s Day and being a California state employee it provides me an opportunity to hang out with Mary Beth and Caroline. What better way to spend the day than to hang out with my baby and get her picks for the BCS bowl games!

Caroline already knows the big debate about whether or not a one-loss BCS team (potentially Auburn, LSU, Nebraska, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Oregon, or Stanford) is more deserving than an undefeated non-BCS team (i.e. Boise State or TCU). She also has her Western Athletic Conference bias since she is a Fresno State Bulldog, even though her daddy was an SEC athlete (okay, go ahead and laugh). But Caroline is a realist, and for a three-month old, she’s really knows what she is talking about.

As she plays on her activity mat, I’ve done my best to interpret Caroline’s 12-week old accent. So here you go…my daughter’s “what should happen” and “what will happen” along with some explanations:

BCS Championship Game:
Should: Boise State vs. Oregon
Will: TCU vs. Oregon

Explanation: All three of these teams will go undefeated and it is impossible to argue against an undefeated Pac-10 team being trumped by two undefeated non-BCS teams. Despite having two more road games (including one at arch rival Oregon State) and a home game against a solid Arizona team, Oregon is a lock. Their explosiveness and raw talent will get them to Glendale for the BCS National Championship game. The Ducks opponent will be TCU, even though it should be Boise State. TCU’s defense is incredible. But who have they played? Yes, they beat a mid-tier Pac-10 team in Oregon State at home, destroyed a better Baylor team at home, and annihilated an overrated Utah team (don’t be surprised if the luck of the Irish work over the Utes in South Bend this weekend). Boise State has beaten the same Oregon State team at home, a surging Virginia Tech team in a pseudo-neutral matchup (too bad the Hokies lost to FCS James Madison), and still have to play Nevada and yes, Fresno State! The key point, however, goes all the way back to last season. The boys in blue beat BOTH Oregon and TCU! College football puts teams at a disadvantage with pre-season rankings. The Broncos had 20 returning starters off a very good and undefeated 2009 squad. They are legit. Now, for the fans of BCS one-loss schools who disagree with Caroline’s “should”…no, Boise State does not play the type of schedule that any SEC, Big-10, or other FBS conference plays. Would the Broncos go undefeated in any of these big-boy leagues? Probably not. Could they beat anyone in these leagues? Absolutely. We have to look at the hand they are dealt, and they were able to take the pot sitting on pocket 10’s. All this is null and void shall Auburn go undefeated. If that happens, they will be #1 playing #2 Oregon.

After TCU and Oregon qualify for the BCS National Championship game, here is what will happen with the other BCS games:

Let’s start with the Rose Bowl…So Boise State was left out of the championship game and will finish #3 in the rankings. They would be very deserving of a trip to the Rose Bowl, but tradition will smack the Broncos in the face and take the traditional Pac-10 vs. Big Ten schools. Who will that be?

Should: Stanford vs. Michigan State
Will: Stanford vs. Michigan State

Too bad Stanford couldn’t finish off the incredible start they had against Oregon. The Cardinal was leading 21-3 on the Ducks, then Phil Knight lit a fire up on his Nike entourage. Stanford has a great football team and we can all debate about whether they should get the nod over Boise State. That is what makes all this fun, right? Sparty will get the opportunity to play in the Granddaddy of them all, even though Caroline thinks they are the fourth best team in the Big Ten. A favorable schedule (no Ohio State) with an early season win against Wisconsin gets them in this game. A great season will conclude with a deserving trip to Pasadena.

The Sugar Bowl gets the next pick in the process and the SEC has an automatic spot in this game for its champion in the event the winner does not go to the BCS National Championship game. The folks in the French Quarter will welcome Auburn. After the Sugar Bowl, the ACC will get their pick and will again host Virginia Tech. Lastly, the Fiesta bowl will celebrate with Big 12 champ Nebraska. So who will these teams play?

Candidates: Boise State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Alabama, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh

The Sugar Bowl will do the right thing and select Boise State to play the Auburn Tigers. This will be an incredible matchup with lots of points.

Should: Auburn vs. Wisconsin
Will: Auburn vs. Boise State

The Orange Bowl will then pick the two-loss Alabama Crimson Tide to play against Virginia Tech. This will happen after Arkansas defeats LSU in Little Rock. The Tide will be selected over the Razorbacks as they will parade down to South Beach and they came back to beat the Hogs in Fayetteville. Who is most upset about this? One-loss Wisconsin. The SEC prevails…again!

Should: Virginia Tech vs. Wisconsin
Will: Virginia Tech vs. Alabama

Lastly, the Fiesta Bowl will be forced to match-up Pittsburgh with Big 12 champ Nebraska.

Should: Nebraska vs. Pittsburgh
Will: Nebraska vs. Pittsburgh

So there you have it! Caroline has spoken her mind and I have done my best to interpret what she has said. I guess we will learn the truth over the next month. It should be a fun ride with plenty to cheer and complain about! The ‘Dogs travel to Boise State on November 19th, so I hope my daughter is wrong about her predictions!

Halloween 2010, Gulfport, MS

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Pumpkin Patch, Fresno, CA 10-20-10

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Shutterfly account created

Hi friends,

We have created a shutterfly account to share all of our pics of Caroline. We will still use our blog, we just wanted an additional site to share more pictures!

Enjoy! We plan to update pictures weekly.

http://carolinemaebarnes.shutterfly.com/

more pictures

We have tons of pictures that we are going to work to put in a shutterfly account soon so we will have more to share. We'll post when we get it up and running!

Caroline Mae 4-6 weeks

Caroline just celebrated her 6 week birthday this past week. She is really starting to show her personality! She is so cute in the morning right after she wakes up. She smiles and talks to us (well baby talk that is)...She also is very happy right after her bath at night. Caroline really likes bath time and is so good the entire time!

a few pics from weeks 1-3 of Caroline Mae

Caroline Mae is certainly growing as the weeks pass. It is hard to believe she is almost 1 month old! We are enjoying our baby girl so much and learning more about her day by day. She is certainly gaining weight:

8/21- 8 lbs
8/23- 7 lbs 10 oz
8/25- 7 lbs 11 oz
9/2- 8 lbs 3 oz
9/8- 8 lbs 10 oz

We loved having our parents here the first few weeks to help out. They were a huge help! MBs mom left last Tuesday so we have been on our own for a week. It has been going well. We are learning more and more about Caroline and her preferences every day as she grows! We can't wait for what is to come next!

Caroline Mae Barnes

A cool story.....

Pretty crazy..... Click below to see the story.

Girl Born On 8/9/10 At 11:12

2 Years in Fresno

It is hard to believe that we have already been in California for two years. Time certainly has flown by! Year one was filled with many road trips to places like San Francisco, Monterey/Carmel, Santa Barbara, LA, Yosemite, San Diego, Lake Tahoe, and more. California has so much to offer and I am grateful we've been able to visit so many places. We toned it down quite a bit in year two, especially when we learned that Baby Barnes would be here this August. Now our world is about to change and I am as excited as I have ever been. I have no doubt that year three will be the greatest of all and we can't wait to share it with our family and friends.


CB

36 week update

Well, not much news at the latest visit to the doctor this week. Baby Barnes is doing well, heartbeat in the 150s and moving around a lot! Mommy is well too, blood pressure good and feeling pretty good overall. This week I experienced some sleepless nights, waking up in the middle of the night and staying up...But I guess that is to be expected...My body is just getting me ready for the weeks and months ahead! Looking forward to baby showers with friends and Coleman's work in the coming week.

36 weeks, 3 days

One great commercial!

One of the greatest commercials ever!

Surprise! Baby Shower

Today my very sweet co-workers at Alliant threw a surprise baby shower for us. They were so generous and I feel very blessed to have such great co-workers! We got lots of items from clothes to onesies to blankets to toys. All of the staff went in together and got us this adorable Build A Bear! I have never been in that store, but this is so nice- I am sure I will learn much more about it in the future :)

And a little cheerleader....they know us too well!

Thanks for a wonderful afternoon!

MBs mom and dad visit

Two days after Ben and Georgia left my parents got to town! We had a great time and it was very relaxing and hopefully gave them some relief from the humid south! Coleman and dad played TONS of golf and mom and I got to do some things in the baby room. Finally got curtains hung, that was an adventure :) and the room is pretty much ready...I'll post some pics soon.

We took my parents to the great farmer's markets in the Fresno area. We are lucky to live in a place where we can get such fresh and local fruits and veggies year round! Mom will be back in August/September when the baby is born.

I'm about 33.5 weeks pregnant here....

33 weeks

Our 33 week check-up went well. Baby's heartbeat was 147 bpm and she is measuring great. We went in last week for the 4D ultrasound and baby was fast asleep so we really didn't get any good pics but did get to see her and get updates on her stats. At 32 weeks, she was 4 lbs. 12 oz. and is measuring about 2 weeks ahead with a heart rate of 150 bpm. So, she is growing nicely! The doctor pointed out that she has long legs, so she may be just like Coleman and I were....I was 22 inches and Coleman was 21 inches, so looks like she may follow in our footsteps :) We have childbirthing classes this weekend and look forward to that....My parents have been in town the past week and we have really enjoyed spending time with them and their help around the house. It has been a nice past 2 weeks getting to visit with family!

Ultrasound pics from 33 weeks (notice her hand was up near her right eye...She was comfortable with her face close the the uterine wall, so that is why it was harder to get good profile pics :)

Ben and Georgia visit California

My brother Ben and his girlfriend Georgia visited us last week and we had a wonderful time! We spent time in LA, San Diego and Fresno before they left. They even stopped off for a night in Vegas on the way home. Here are some pictures from the trip....

29 weeks

Hi everyone- Just a quick update from my last post. We had our doctor's visit last Friday. Everything went well, baby is measuring just fine, and the glucose and blood work came back fine- yay! From now on, we are going back every 2 weeks with the next appointment June 23.

We also scheduled an appointment for a 3D Ultrasound! We are pretty excited about this because we weren't sure if were were going to get to see baby girl Barnes again until she was born- really just because everything is going well and there is no need for an ultrasound- but we decided to do this "fun" one to get another peek and see what she is up to...We'll try to post some pics afterwards, we go on June 29.

As far as how I am doing, I can't complain. I guess sleeping is getting a little bit more difficult. We are still considering names. We have 3 we are thinking about. We have also scheduled a childbirth class and hospital tour in early July. Everything is just moving along!

Ben and Georgia get here next week- really looking forward to their visit!

28 weeks & anniversary trip to San Diego

I hit 28 weeks tomorrow and the beginning of the 3rd trimester! It seems like spring flew by and we are heading right into summer. Fresno weather is forecasting triple digits this weekend, so I guess the summer hotness has begun! I went in for my glucose test and blood work today, and we have our next doctor's visit on Friday, June 11, so we'll get the results then...hoping for a good result!

We had a wonderful weekend in San Diego for Memorial Day. We stayed at a beautiful resort on Mission Bay- Paradise Point. We visited La Jolla, Del Mar, Coronado, caught a Padres game, ate at some new and old favorites, and just relaxed! It was a really fun trip - We are looking forward to my brother, Ben, and his girlfriend, Georgia, visiting at the end of June and showing them around California!

Here are some pics from the trip...

View from the observation deck at Paradise Point Resort

La Jolla, CA

Sunset Cliffs- the ledge where we got engaged..I wasn't brave enough to make it down there this time around :)



Padres Game- Petco Park

Outside our room after dinner in Del Mar, It was a really good dinner :)

Happy 2 Year Anniversary

Coleman and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary yesterday...The real celebration will be this weekend when we head to San Diego for the Memorial Day weekend! Here are a few photos from the past 4 or so years....

Matt and Kim Summers wedding in Kentucky, Summer 2006.

This was my first visit to KY with Coleman and also when I met his family.

Our wedding day, May 24, 2008

This was probably one of the first UK football games I went to...Coleman insisted I wear the appropriate attire for a game.

This was my first UK shirt and I still have it, but it doesn't fit so much these days :)

One of our many trips to San Francisco, probably our favorite city (that we've visited) on the west coast...But, it may be tied with San Diego :) We like them both for different reasons.

Lake Tahoe, Summer 09 for Dan and Lindsay McLean's wedding.

Beginning to set up baby's room!

We got our crib in this weekend and set it up. I bought the bedding a few weeks back so we were excited to get it all together to see what it looked like! We are really happy with it and can't wait to see everything in the room come together. We also got a changing table and reclining glider, and are going to paint an old dresser that I used as a kid- can't wait to see what it will look like with a fresh new look. It's hard to believe we have just under 14 weeks left!

We had a great doctor's visit last week. Everything is looking good, baby girl Barnes is kicking and moving every day! I have my glucose test in 2 weeks (hoping everything goes well with that) and I have the Rhogam shot a week after that in 3 weeks since I am Rh-Negative. If you aren't familiar with this, it's no biggie, just a necesssary shot in case baby's blood type is different than mine.

A few pics as we prepare the nursery...

Sunny Swivel Reclining Glider by Harmony Kids


Changing Table by Jenny Lind

25 weeks- new pic and baby bag

May 9- Mother's Day 2010

New Baby Bag, Vera Bradley- Simply Violet

23 weeks pic of MB

Coleman took this pic of me last week at the spring football game...

23 weeks and 2 days

Pottery Barn Bedding

Here is a pic of the Pottery Barn bedding I like...

I guess it's pretty different from the other one! Decisions, decisions....