The Barton Family Blog

Shy & Hollie got to have a Christmas get-together with their brother and sister at Corvallis Indoor Park. The kids had a blast playing and were totally spoiled by their siblings & grandparents. Natalee even got blessed by them! So sweet (: I only got a couple pictures and only one that turned out good... but I knew it would mean a lot to Shy (and Hollie as she gets older) for us to remember that day.

We did our family Christmas on Christmas eve's eve. Johnny had to work all day Friday and we were heading up to Dallas Friday night and then to Seattle early Saturday morning - so we did our Christmas Thursday night. We got the girls all "Chutes & Ladders" - they were excited! (sorry terrible pix!) Hollie got a new coat & Shy & Natles got new jeans Hollie's new hat Natalee's been dying for a pillow pet ever since Shy & Hollie got one from their birth mom. Someone gave us this one - it's a unicorn - not my favorite... but SHE WAS THRILLED! New P.J.s for each of the girls. Natalee's are so stinkin cute: Every time the girls see Pez candies in the store they beg for them - so they were thrilled to find them in their stockings! Daddy & Natles opening stockings The girls each got a new water bottle: We ended our night with a RIVETING game of Chutes & Ladders Doesn't Shy look riveted??? Just how does THIS LADY take pictures that mak...

I never win giveaways... seriously! and I won THIS !! (click to view) Thanks Sophi for telling me! I would've missed it! woop woop!!

The girls were stars this year... literally! (: I'm so sad that i cant get the video to upload. its hysterical! Shy took the microphone very seriously. She was a ham! Little Miss Hollie was too young this year. She still looked awfully sweet w/AuntNaomi!!

After getting our tree, we came home & put the kids down for a nap. Johnny set the tree up and I added lights while he cleaned out cars. When the girls got up we decorated. They loved it so much! It is sweet to view everything from their sweet, joy-filled eyes. Daddy added the star at the end! Voila! (notice Natalee just HAD to squeeze into this pix!) Sweet girls w/ a blurry tree (: Here's a couple other shots of my living room. My mom came over the first week of December for her annual decorating party w/ Naomi & I! We're decorating challenged - but she comes to our rescue! (: On top of my book shelf - sweet decorations + sparkling cider to end the perfect night! (:

We LOVE cutting down our own tree. It's been a "tradition" that we've forfeited some years for sheer convenience - but each time we do - we regret it! It's just not the same. This year we committed to going out to Sunrise Tree Farm and continuing a tradition we began a few years back. Sweet Peas Me & my girls Daddy & Shy **see how far away the tree appear?? Daddy may or may not have been reading the map wrong - and we may or may not have hiked all the way past those trees before realizing that we were on the complete opposite side of where we needed to be on the tree farm. Good time!!** Searching for the perfect one is the best part!! Ta-da!!! Hollie & Shy are in awe of daddy! He's amazing!! Ok. I know this shot is blurry but it's sooooooooo cute of Hollie-bear! I love it! While we waited for a wagon to come 'round to pick us up, the girls conquered this dirt pile over and over again. Bad news was, I had forgotten to pack their rain boot...

cho This year Shyanne was chosen to participate in an event called, "Shop w/ a Cop". Foster kids from the area are given the chance to go shopping with a police officer from the community to basically show these kids that police are not all bad. I'm not sure that Shyanne has that mentality but I figured it wouldn't hurt! Naomi was telling me a story the other day when I told her about this event. They had passed a car accident and a bunch of police arrived on the scene just as they were driving by, and Kaysea started freaking out, hysterical, screaming. Poor sweet baby. Her dad was arrested in the car, on their way home from the beach, so that little girl seriously is traumatized by those flashing blue lights and men in uniform. So this type of event really does make sense for lots of kids. Since Shyanne was chosen, DHS called and said they wanted Natalee to be able to go too. They each went with their police officer, Natalee slightly more hesitant than Sh...

Want to win a brand new Ipad?? Read on! Olga and Kareen are 4-year-old little girls with down syndrome. They both live in orphanages in Eastern Europe. Children with Down Syndrome are not allowed to be a part of society in Eastern Europe. They are placed in institutions at birth and their fate is left to families in other countries where it is socially acceptable to have a child with a disability. Kareen and Olga need a forever family. When a child turns 5, they are transferred out of the baby orphanage, and into an inhumane institution. INHUMANE. And there, they die. They die from lack of love. They die from neglect. And it breaks my heart. Reeces Rainbow is a website dedicated to helping babies with down syndrome find their forever families. RR raises awareness of these children and creates accounts for each waiting child. There are so many. I don't know how you could even choose who to give toward. But Patti Rice is now giving away an Ipad to a lucky commenter who dona...

Well... we finally told the girls. After seeing baby on the ultra sound, we were excited to see the girls' reactions to the big news! Naomi begged to be there - she wasn't there when I told my mom & dad that I was pg - so we gathered around w/ Aunt Naomi and waited for their reactions! Here's the video! (: Not quite what we were expecting! Ha. Shy was def. the most excited outwardly. Keep in mind, it was 10pm. That might have something to do with their less-than-thrilled-responses! 1st video option: If that one doesn't work... click here: Jen's reaction was better afterward... "What? You have a baby in your tummy? How many kids do you need?!?!?!?!?!? You have Shyanne, Hollie, Natalee, Naomi - that's 5!!" ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Jen's always got the great one-liners. When Patti announced she was pregnant with Lily, Jen exclaimed, "You've got to be kidding me!!!!!" She's a nut!

I am going to post about Shyanne's birthday soon! For now, here's a sweet picture of her trying on her new coat from Granny Brock. (I think she likes it!) Sorry I've been slacking on post lately. I think I get into a posting funk every year around Christmas! I'll get back on track soon!

(Ok really I saw my baby yesterday, but I'm posting this w/ a date adjustment so I can have the date right!) My sweet sweet little baby with it's strong little heart beat... on the ultrasound screen. Such a gift. We did get ultrasound pictures... but they're very blurry and not much for the eyes. I don't think they'd scan in very well... so I'll skip that for now.... and wait till we have a 20 week one! (; Praise God for the little life growing inside me!

**true confessions** I had to call Johnny to ask him if Shy's birthday was the 13th - or our anniversary was the 13th. I couldn't remember! Can I blame it on pregnancy brain?!?

6 years ago today my heart joined with my love!! It's been a sweet 6 years baby! Looking forward to many more!