The Barton Family Blog

Papa and Daddy are waiting anxiously by the computer for a few pix from today. There are more cute ones but here's a few more to appease the men-folk!

Kyah, her mommy, Natalee & I went to Green Gable's Garden today to catch the end of the tulip season. We got to see a lot more than just tulips... and captured some sweet moments in the friendship between our daughters! More pictures to come... stay tuned..

I didn't realize just how attached I had become in one weekend. Cody is gone now. The courts awarded custody to his mom today at 1:30 and by 2:30 he was gone. The phone call evoked emotions I didn't think it would. Naomi, Natalee & I are sitting here crying. Thus is the life of a foster mom.

We are adjusting. We don't know how long this new "normal" will last. That's the tough part about fos ter care. (we are working on replacing the purple binki with a more masculine one!) This little guy is a trooper! We took a loooong band trip yesterday.... after he'd been with us less that 24 hours and he was a STUD! We dropped Natalee at Nonnie and Papa's on our way.... Here's a street sign we kept passing while were there!

His favorite binky is purple! I'm just trying to figure out his sleep schedule etc. He loves all food (what a change around here!) And seems content to just walk and walk and walk up and down our hallway. The transition was super easy but you can be praying for us just the same!

Isn't her new suit SUPER cute???! Cute hat makes the outfit! We are LOVING this beautiful weather! Summer come quickly!!

Naomi and I were laughing so hard! I know this is the "norm" for many moms... but when Natalee's not sick, she NEVER falls asleep anywhere except her crib! Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today at lunch Naomi and I were yelling back and forth at each other, just chatting about this and that... but I was in the kitchen and she was in the living room so we were talking very loud! I glanced over at Natalee sitting in her booster seat eating refried beans (which is another entire story in itself. Natalee apparently wanted beans for breakfast this morning and when I set her oatmeal in front of her, she threw it on the ground. Glass bowl and all. This momma was not happy!) Anyway... I glanced over... and this is what I saw.... (keep and mind that Naomi and I are practically yelling back and forth...) O my gosh I was laughing so hard!! This is the first time she's ever fallen asleep in her high chair or booster seat!

Saturday after conference we went to the Portland Children's Museum. Natalee sat through 17 (!!!!) church services during conference. She did AMAZING! She deserved a play day! Uncle Jesse & Aunt Amber gave Natalee a gift certificate to the Portland Children's Museum for her birthday. We had a lot of fun! Bob the Builder is the theme right now. She did LOVE the tractors - backhoes - bulldozers etc.... PAPA has taught her all the names! Her favorite part was def. the water room. We did that room twice. Look at this face! The food/grocery story room was a blast. There were a few crazy kids in there so Natalee didn't last long. But she loved "shopping" with her own little cart Natalee & Papa There's a sweet little love between these two! This frame was cool... Jen & momma Thank you Jesse & Amber! We had a blast!!! (And we were exhausted )

I love this little girl! This one's blurry... but I still think it's sweet!

Happy Easter!!! Jesus is risen! I am so glad I know Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. He has blessed me in so many ways... the best of all... a relationship with Him and the calm assurance that I will make heaven my home when I die. Easter is a sweet time to see Natalee becoming aware of a holiday... with the eggs, and the candy... but I want to begin to instill in her, that there is a bigger meaning to Easter. I can't wait till she is old enough to fall in love with Jesus the way I did! But I will start now by telling her what Easter means to her momma.

Natalee got her first taste of Easter egg coloring today. She loved it! It was funny because she was coloring on the egg with a white wax crayon and not even noticing that nothing was showing up! It was too cute! A little while after coloring the eggs, Natalee fell asleep in my bed. I wanted to snap a picture of her because I really don't have any good (especially recent ) pictures of her sleeping (I'm always afraid I'm going to wake her up!) So I turned the sound off on my camera and snapped a few. So sweet my little girl!

She was really getting into this! She just kept saying "CHEESE!!!!"

O my gosh! I was going thru clothes the other day and pulled this little shirt out that Natalee wore last summer. I know it hasn't been quite a year... but look at the difference!! Then.... June 2008 and now.... April 2009

Spent a couple hours scrappin yesterday. Just had to share this layout. Not the best picture of it.. but absolutely a page I adore. I also started a page with Jason and Naomi's wedding but haven't quite finished it! I will share it soon. Ignore the magnets holding the page up! I was trying to get the glare off the picture! (:

Yep. Today's been one of them days. Started with... forgotten chonies (panties) inside a pullup all night Poop. Pee. I could NEVER do cloth diapers. NEVER! ug. Thankfully I inserted a walk/run with Naomi - stress reliever baby! Then came the SHARPIE marker that Natalee found (I don't know where...) and tasted (lips), felt (fingers), tried (brand new shirt!) [sigh] While I was frantically trying to get the marker out... She got into.... 1. babywipes (not the end of the world, but a mess to clean up none-the-less) 2. shampoo (caught her just in time) 3. pens (at least not permanent) In the middle of all this, I was trying to make a quick picnic lunch that we could eat on the lawn before Natalee went down for her nap. (O my gosh the weather is INCREDIBLE!!) When we finally got outside she didn't want to eat any of the food I prep'd - stuff that's usually her favorites. Needless to say, she went down for her nap w/o much lunch, and I suppose she'll wake up hungry!...

Today was a beautiful day in the NW to head to the beach. We headed there last night for an inexpensive little (much-needed) get-away! Check out this cute little place I found! 39.00/night weekdays, 49.00 weekends including breakfast! The main lodge (above) is quaint and reserved for couples only. We stayed in this little cabin which allows children. Johnny relaxin' in the living room Bedroom (off the kitchenette) kitchen/dining area Today we headed out to the ocean. Natalee asks me every day (for the past few weeks...) "Where's the ocean? Mom... Where's the ocean?" So we knew we had to take her! When she first got out there, she kept saying "Woah, Woah, Wooo, Woo" I got it on video but you can barely hear it at the beginning I've been playing with a lot of features on my camera. Still trying to blur the background. I "learned" how... but then all my pictures today, don't look very blurred.. LOVE LOVE LOVE this pix Johnny walked N out t...