The Barton Family Blog

I am sitting in the business room at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Redmond Oregon.  In 7 hours we will celebrate my Grandma Westbrook's life *.  Right now, I am trying to let the 7 people in my hotel room, sleep. My baby is allergic to soy.  We figured that out a month or two ago when I eliminated dairy from my diet to see if it helped his miserable reflux.  Eliminating dairy, I added soy milk to my diet.  His reflux worsened. Considerably.  problem (semi) solved.  eliminate soy, eliminate reflux (with a little previcid in there as well). Fast forward to the past few weeks... my milk supply seems to be struggling.  called my doctor and she suggested trying to add solids, followed by incorporating some fomula if Brock still seemed to be hungry.  While pumping like crazy and trying to help my milk supply replenish, I have added an occassional bottle of formula.  Unfortuately, all formula has some soy in it.  Can't get a...

Love, The Bartons "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy! For unto you this day is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. "

Actually.. Just decorating with Mom! Turned out cute! The girls did so great! No one even licked a spoon till we were done decorating! Talk about self control :)

A video was a waaaaaaaay better idea! If the video doesn't come up, click it and it will take you to the video on photobucket! Believe me... It's worth watching! :) Want to see the product of all thos Pics? Head on over to Hudson's blog (www.Allisonnjones.blogspot.com) and check out the cutest little Santas ever!! Here's a sneak peek:

* i got Koa's middle name wrong - it's Mahalen (makai is his brother's name!) ** ignore my annoying voice! :)

It's a miracle....! This baby doesn't laugh very often :) he's very smiley but not a real laugh-er The videos you see are rare moments!!

The picture says it all... Be sure to read the post below this for more info about my stud...! :)

My sweet husband spoiled me on our 7th anniversary. 3 dozen roses... A BEAUTIFUL card with a heart-felt note written inside. A surprise babysitter who showed up on my doorstep ready to take over for the evening & give me a much-needed break, and a sweet gift (or two!) That being said, I want to share something to all you newly-(or-not-so-newly) weds out there... This 7th anniversary took time. It took communication in years past when my new husband didn't quite "get it" as far as cards and holidays and gifts and thoughtfulness were concerned. It took some hints and reminders AND THAT'S OK. I used to think that it didn't count if i reminded him and/or gave hints and/or flat out told him how to romance me. But it does. Men need that. They need their wives to give some DIRECT communication in those areas... Or they may never learn what important to you. One year I had a great gift secretly chosen and it was a great surprise. I was so secretive about it tha...

Brock, Koa & Hudson all have matching Christmas hats... Here's Brock & Hudson sporting them... Can't wait to do a photo shoot with all three cuties!!

Brock wasn't a bit bothered by Santa this year! He kept tipping back looking for milk! Santa wasn't quite sure what to think!

Today my biggest girl officially turns 5! How can I have a 5 year old? That just seems so so big! Tonight we went to dinner at applebees. The waitress designed Shy her own very special birthday dessert! Happy birthday sweet baby!

Lovin my sweetie!! He spoiled me rotten with 3 dozen roses & a night out to dinner! Love you Johnny!

Maga bought this little "work" shirt last Christmas when we didn't know if I was carrying a boy or girl. Johnny has some work shirts like these that he used to wear as a plumber , and I think Paga has some too! So cute! so glad this finally fits!

Tried this hat on him today... 6-12 month size! Yikes! It's getting snug already. Boy he is chubbing up!

Something has been out of whack these days in our home... Can't quite put my finger on what it is... Maybe you can figure it out!!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . So strange what dads and his girls do when left alone with electronics! :)

I started reading 15 Minutes Outside: 365 ways to get outside and connect with your kids by Rebecca P Cohen after reading a review by 4tunate Momma. I was really inspired by all the winter ideas and encouragement to get out even on those cold days! Today wAs our first shot. I'll be honest. I dont like to go out on these days because 1) Hollie has terrible circulation and is ALWAYS cold. And she whines. And i lose my patience with her. And 2)it takes soooo long to get everyone dressed and weather proof'd. Kids start whining about sleeves stuck up on coats, not being able to find a glove, wanting that something special that just got left inside now that we all have our boots on, etc. It can be exhausting! That all said, I really was feeling fresh inspiration for getting my kids out! The author has lots of suggestions for making getting ready to head out easier: bins where all their warm clothes are stashed at the end of each time so it's easy to find the next time, a bo...

My biggest girl is about to turn five! We celebrated her birthday a little early this year because of a special wedding next weekend. She was blessed beyond measure by sweet friends and family... Truly... Beyond measure. I was super excited to plan Shy's birthday in our home this year. Sometimes I feel like her parties are a little pathetic because of the busyness of the season. This year I wanted to make it special! I chose a snowman theme because of the abundance of options for food, decor, activities etc. I think it turned out well :).( Minus the mishap with the cake pops being crushed after hours of grueling labor by Naomi & me! :) luckily I was able to redeem most of the broken ones!) Melting snowman cake pops... Snowman cupcakes... Snow... Snowman poop... Snowmen everywhere!! We decorated Snowmen cookies & even had a "snowball" fight! Shy got most of the presents.... But I got the sweetest one!!!! All wrapped up with a shiny bow.....

Brock Samuel is 5 months today! Where does the time go? (I'm pretty sure I say this every month!) Brock is a happy baby though he still makes us work extra hard for those laughs. He loves his play mat, his hands, his tummy (a big change from Natalee who never wanted to be on her tummy), his binky and his teething toy. He sleeps horrible in bed with us and pretty well in his crib. We are still working thru acid reflux issues. Just when I think we've solved the problem, we hit another brick wall. I am seriously sleep deprived as I type this! It's funny how being a parent constantly reminds me of how God views us. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! . Every night, all thru the night, I'm exhausted, exasperated, frustrated, so, so tired (can you think of any other synonyms??)... And yet,each morning, Brock simply locks eyes with me, and...

Trying out a new mobile blogger app! This is my new wallpaper on my phone. Love it!!!!

For the girl's adoption party I hung twine over my scrap booking table and displayed scrapbook pages of Shy & Hollie. The twine is still there and I felt inspired to dig out all my Christmas pages and hang them for the month. Sadly, as I pulled out page after page I realized I have ZERO ZIP ZILTCH Christmas pages since Shy and Hollie. I scrapbook less these days (I wonder why?!?) than I did back then... And when I have scrapp'd I apparently never did any Christmas pages. What!? No pages with pictures of Shyanne, hanging at her birthday party? Thats just not right!! So at 11 pm the other night, I dug out some pictures from Christmas 2009, and got to work! Remember, I don't have Internet, so I can't upload old pictures from my computer and order them :( luckily I had a few pix printed just waiting to be scrapp'd. In '09 I was still feeling a bit overwhelmed as a new mom of 3. Johnny was busy working tons and cutting our own tree was a bit much. We headed do...