The Barton Family Blog

Gavin & Natalee were both wearing their sailor outfits at church today... so we had to snap a shot! What a couple of cuties! (:

Natalee & Kyah are two peas in a pod! I adore this picture of them... they hold hands way up high, I think because that's how they hold an adult hand... up high... so they just assume that's how you do it! Either way, it's adorable. I love these girls! My sister and I took them to Central Park at the end of August. Natalee was a little leery of the sand at first.. but she got used to it! It's amazing to see how their gross motor skills have developed even over the summer. They can both climb the equipment (tho' of course I'm a nervous wreck the whole time...! constantly guarding them when they go near an edge...) and they can even go down the slide on their own (or at least I thought so!)

This is what happens to Natalee when shes' waaay past her bedtime. To get the full affect, watch both videos... Keep in mind she was doing this probably a good 5 minutes BEFORE we turned the video camera on! P.S. This was at my sister-in-laws' house... April & Autumn bought a house together in Monmouth and we were there for dinner!

T h i s i s t h e c u t e s t v i d e o i n t h e w h o l e w o r l d !! "I love you Daddy "

Look at these two cuties! They are like 2 peas in a pod! It's hard to tell by their outfits but they are wearing the same line from Gymboree (I think!) Here's a close up of the purple flowers & dragon fly... And here's both the girls saying sounds for animals! Forgive the poor video taping! (Kyah's "Bow-Wow" is the cutest)

Just a few cute shots! My mom had the foresight to tell me to grab my camera when Natalee wandered over to these red flowers! (thanks mom!)

I have a lot of pictures/posts to catch up on... Jumping back to August 25... my sister-in-law, April, came into town for a short vacation... so all of Johnny's family got together to share some good food and family time. April took a ton of pictures of my niece and nephew & Natalee too... and she was sweet enough to share with me! Cameron is getting bigger by the minute! He is just so sweet I want to eat him up! April & Cameron about 2 months here... Isn't this the cutest pix of Tay ... ? cool angle! Natalee & Great-Grandpa Diehm had some bonding time as well! She was a little leery of all strangers that evening.. but she warmed up rather quickly. This was also the same day Natalee was chasing Daddy with the ball... delirious (If you haven't seen it... you MUST see the video post )

We had a church potluck in the park on Friday the 15th Here's a picture of the food... and here's all the people who came.... ok... so I didn't take pictures of any of the potluck.... or the food.... or the people... just my little Natalee! (: [insert sheepish grin] But honestly... this is not a Church blog... or a potluck blog... It's a Natalee blog... so I get to just take pictures of her! right? (: This is Abigail Rice (my Pastor's youngest daughter) & Natalee heading off for a walk around Avery Park... aren't they cute?? My little independent baby! Stoppin' to smell the roses! I just thought this was too cute! The grass makes a lovely backdrop! Learnin' how to run! (:

Everyone who sees Natalee doing this... can't help but smile! So smile and leave a comment! (:

Here's a few more shots from the beautiful event! If you didn't see the first post, click HERE! Mr. & Mrs. Jason Rice w/ their ring bearer (Noah Rice - Jason's little bro. & flower girl, Natalee) w/ my grandma Westbrook (my mom's mom) w/ Jason's mom, dad and siblings (yes he has 8!) after they were pronounced man & wife at the reception (in my parent's back yard) Me and my sweetie Cutest picture in the world!! Natalee and her cousin Taylor! Not too bad of a picture for 10 pm! (: (Natalee didn't make it much longer... see below!) Natalee at the end of the night. It wasn't a pretty picture! She needed her mommy to put her to bed!

The last few times we've gone to the beach... Natalee wasn't walking . Johnny tried to put her down, just to feel the sand... but she didn't like it... and we didn't push it. So this trip was different... Lincoln City: Johnny set Natalee down, without her shoes on... and she freaked! So then we put her shoes back on.... and she tolerated it... but it took some getting used to! (: For dinner we went to Roadhouse 101. We do not recommend it! The service was terrible. It was noisy. And the food was terrible! (how you can mess up a hamburger... I'll never know!) Natalee did great tho! She loves her Papa! Natalee saying "Hi" and "Thank You"

Natalee's great grandma, Wanda, came and spent a few days before and after Naomi's wedding. Natalee is old enough to finally get to know her and enjoy the attention! The tricky part: What should Natalee call her? My mom (Grammy, Maa-ma, Grandma, ???) doesn't want Natalee calling her mom (Wanda) the same "grandma" name.... (which hasn't even been determined for sure)... The cousins call her "Great-Grandma-Wanda" which is a mouthful! I suggested just "grandma" or "great-grandma" but no one seemed to approve (: (are you confused yet????) So maybe we'll just let Natalee come up with her own name for Great-Grandma-Wanda and we'll stick with that! Either way... a special bond was forged during their time together! Finally Natalee had a chance to get to know her great grandma... and her great grandma got a chance to get to know her too!

I don't know what happened between yesterday and today... but all of a sudden... my baby seems bigger. More grown up. Independent. Like now she understands the world a little bit more... that's the best I can describe it. Maybe she's a little taller? Maybe simply a day older... but whatever it is... she has changed since yesterday! Today she helped Daddy take out the trash. I walked outside to bring the recyling they had left behind, and saw the most adorable picture! Natalee... my little independent girl... carrying her own diaper sack! And that's the way she wants it to be. She isn't content to just walk with Daddy to the garbage... she has to carry her own sack.... heavy or not... and this particular sack was a tad bit heavy for her... maybe if it would've had handles it might have been easier. But this girl was not giving up! It's strange how it hits you on a certain day. Obviously Natalee is a little bit bigger and more independent than she was...

Ok well... not my baby... but my baby sister! She's all growed up. Here's just a glimpse. Professional photography will do it much more justice! (: Can you tell they were nervous? Mackenzie & Abbi (sisters of the groom) & Natalee (by the time we had driven from my mom's house to George Fox University for the pictures... Natalee had already pulled out her darling hair style, roses included. Luckily my MIL had an extra rose!) Due to my mom's ultra slow computer... this is all I have time to upload right now. Stay tuned for more! (: