Children, Family, Lifestyle, mine, Our Days, Personal Amanda Barker Children, Family, Lifestyle, mine, Our Days, Personal Amanda Barker

Everis // Six Months

Last weekend, my husband and I celebrated 12 years of marriage. If someone would have told us twelve years ago that someday we would have four children, I'm not sure we would have believed it. Four would have seemed like a lot. And it is. In fact, I cried for a solid week when I took that positive test last April. Just that morning, we had been laying out our plans for the future and another baby was honestly not in my plan. Pregnancy is uncomfortable, birth is painful, and newborn sleepless nights are downright exhausting. But God's plans? They have been proven better than mine yet again. 

This baby girl has brought so much joy into our home. Adored by her three older siblings, and always ready to smile, she is simply a delight. The capacity of the human heart to grow with the addition of each child is baffling to me. You think with the first, there's no possible way you can love another child the same. Then the second comes along, and he's just as adored as the first. Then again it happens with the third, and now fourth. So yes, four kids would have seemed impossible twelve years ago. But goodness..I'm so glad that my plans didn't work out. 

Everis Anne Barker, you're pretty great.

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Strawberry Picking

Once upon a time, I used to add content to my blog. Well, maybe that's an overstatement; I've never been great at updating it regularly. But, it's now been well over a year since I've really posted anything, not for a lack of desire, but simply because life. In the past year, we've bought a house and moved (same neighborhood, but 4th move in two years), and had a fourth baby. Needless to say, I've been a bit busy, so posting here had to take a back-burner. But today, a look back at my previous post has me feeling nostalgic. That little toddler in the previous video posted below is now a talkative, opinionated three-year-old. Back then she was just trying to keep up with her older brother and sister, and now much of the time she acts as though she's running the show.

Yesterday, we went to a little farm to pick strawberries. Taking advantage of the weather while it's still bearable, and getting our hands dirty picking strawberries straight off the vine was just what we needed. Life is flying by at such a hurried pace these days, and my heart longs for slowness. So, I thought perhaps it was a good time to dust off my camera instead of the phone in my pocket, and get back to what I love--capturing these littles and the simple joys of childhood.

**The newest baby girl will get her own post soon. She was too busy napping to pick strawberries. 

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Children, Lifestyle, Our Days, Personal Amanda Barker Children, Lifestyle, Our Days, Personal Amanda Barker

A Warm December

On a warm December day, we ventured out so I could film and photograph my little family. I've been wanting to experiment with video for some time because, while I adore a still photograph, I also adore the giggles and gestures that can't be captured in a single moment. It is shaky and imperfect and at times out of focus, but it's my attempt at holding onto memories of these little ones in the best way I know how. 

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