Waiting for Reagan to Finish with her MRI & MRA...

Thank you for all of your prayers. The support has been wonderful. We have been waiting for Reagan to come out of her MRI/MRA for the past hour or so. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Email Sent Out Last Night

Family and Friends:

Ali and I are proud to introduce Reagan Madeline Barnes as the newest addition to our family. On the evening of Feb. 11th,Ali began contractions and we carefully followed them on an Excel spreadsheet; we’ll be happy to share the data. We arrived at Rex Hospital at 12:30 a.m. and Ali delivered within five hours.

Reagan’s stats are as follows:
· Born: Feb. 12, 2010 at 5:06 a.m.
· Weight: 7lbs, 4oz.
· Height: 19.5 inches
· Eyes: Blue
· Hair: Light brown with little waves
· Head Circumference: 30cm
· Epidural: YES
· TV Show playing in background during delivery: Fox News
· Ali’s swear word: Oh Shoot!

“The little Gipper”, as she refers to herself, was so excited about following her daddy's footsteps to Duke that she checked herself into the Duke University Hospital's Pediatric ICU on Saturday evening. She is presently awaiting an MRI for a mass on the base of her skull, which has caused her parents some consternation. However, we have peace knowing that her every hair is numbered and that she is being cared for by her Creator.

For pictures and updates, please follow along on her very own blog: http://babybarnesandus.blogspot.com/ These updates may not be made quickly as we are still spending our days and evenings at the hospital. Any notes of encouragement can be sent to us or to Reagan at her email address: Reagan.barnes@gmail.com.

Finally, we thank each of you for your thoughtful messages and ask that you keep Reagan in your prayers. We apologize for not communicating with each of you individually, but the intense nature of Reagan’s first few days have been overwhelming and we are giving her our undivided attention. Please forward this email to others, as we are certain we have inadvertently missed someone.

With thankfulness for our gift, we are,
Dan and Ali Barnes.

Pictures from the Krispy Kreme Challenge

Dan ran a race this past Saturday, where you were asked to eat a dozen doughnuts midway through the race!! See the pictures!

Click here to view these pictures larger

Roanoke Baby Shower Pictures!

In early January, Shana, Courtney, Stephanie & Emily threw me a gorgeous shower in Roanoke, Virginia! It was a great day...check out the pictures!

Click here to view these pictures larger

38 WEEKS - Anytime Now!!!!

"Wishin’’ and hopin’’ and thinkin’’ and prayin’’ Planning and dreamin’ each night of her charms. That will soon be in our arms... :)"

As I wait in the nursery with lullabies playing in the background, I wonder when she will arrive! We have the bags packed for the hospital, the shelves stocked in the kitchen, and all of the toiletries stocked up for months! We have planned for all that we possibly could.


We have been trying to keep social...Dan is at the moment running in the Krispy Kreme 10K. http://www.krispykremechallenge.com/ He will no doubt be coming home feeling a little "off" (they make you eat a dozen doughnuts 1/2 way through)! He and another Fuqua student, Evan, are braving this 30 degree morning to find out what this very popular national event is all about.



Later on today, I have my last shower. It has been postponed twice due to the uncharacteristic, North Carolina snow and ice storm from last weekend. This shower is hosted and attended by girls that are in Dan's program at Duke or the wives/girlfriends of students (we call them "Partners" at Duke). I don't have pictures from the Roanoke shower yet, but will post both as soon as I do!

We will be posting her arrival on facebook, on this blog, and via email to many as soon as possible. The email will come from HER newly created email address. Keep watch for this: she will have the same last name, of course, but I cannot reveal the first name yet!

Thank you for all of the gifts, cards and prayers. Please continue to pray for her safe arrival, whatever that takes! We are so amazingly blessed and are in awe of this joy and wonder, and are so eager to meet her and share her with all of you!

Tick-Tock! :)

Weekend in Roanoke, Virginia!

As many of you know, Dan & I used to live in Roanoke, VA. We were blessed with so many wonderful friends there. Shana, Courtney, Emilie & Stephanie all got together to throw me a baby shower, so Dan & I made a weekend of it! On Friday, my Mom took me for a spa day and I had my first prenatal massage, along with mani's and pedi's! Dan spent time at the law firm he used to work for. Friday night, I spent the evening with Stephanie and Shana. Stephanie made her award-winning waffles! On Saturday night, the Wiegard's had us over for dinner; Courtney is due with a baby girl the same week we are due with ours! We stayed both nights with our close friends, the Biddle's, and got to know Little Compton, their son; Big Compton was a partner at Dan's firm. On Sunday, we traveled to Radford to meet up with the Young's and their children; Joel was Dan's law school roommate. We had the most wonderful time with all of our friends! We miss you all! I will post pictures and comments of the actual shower later!

Remembering Ed Natt

http://www.legacy.com/roanoke/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=138000496

As we drive to his funeral today, we remember a wonderful man. He and Claire, his wife, along with their family, have been an incredible blessing in our lives. Their inspiring faith and true friendship are examples for all. Ed was a mentor and partner at Dan's law firm in Roanoke, VA. Claire & Ed took us in as family and friends. We keep Claire and the rest of her family in our prayers.

This is a picture of Dan & Ed at my 30th Birthday party in July. They drove all the way from Roanoke for it. They were there to hear the big news about Baby Barnes. Oh, how we wish she could have met him. She sure will learn about him.

Oakley Still Has the Christmas Spirit!

New Phase of Pregnancy - A Portable Table!!

Top Ten List of Our Babymoon to Vermont!

1) Equinox Resort in Manchester!
2) Penny Cluse Cafe
3) Sleigh Ride on Christmas Eve
4) Hike to the Equinox Pond and Mount Equinox
5) Boardgames (Ali wins in Battleship!)
6) Ali's first Braxton Hicks Contractions
7) Fine Manchester Shopping - this time Dan went shopping!
8) Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Vermont is gorgeous in the winter!
9) Vermont Maple Syrup on anything and everything!
10) Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory!!!!!

What We Have Been Up To This Christmas Season!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

More Holiday Fun with Dad!

When back in Raleigh, we went with Dad to McCormick & Schmick's & the Angus Barn, two great Raleigh restaurant locations! Dad & I also went to the annual Duke Chapel Choir Messiah concert at the Duke Chapel. He helped us out so much around the house that we had to have some evening fun!

Asheville with Dad!

Dad was here for almost 2 weeks! One of our adventures took us to Asheville, NC. We ate the best BBQ in NC at 12 Bones, a regular stop by many famous, infamous, and folks like us. We also went to the Candlelight Evening Show at the Biltmore, an amazing stop that I definitely recommend to all! And lastly, we were at the historical Grove Park Inn, nestles in the southern part of the Blue Ridge Mountains! It was a great trip!

Oakley's Christmas Gift to Us

Oakley went out on the prowl one night, and decided to bring back to his horrified parents a dead mole. Hopefully, Baby Barnes has much better taste and tact!