The Barton Family Blog

Ok this is a lame video - I have a lot of work to do on it... but I wanted to share just because I'm in the baby mood and it's fun to see the difference between her and Brocky... We had a really bad camera when the video compilation starts... and then the quality gets better around 3 months old. My voice annoys me in the video.. when I finish it, I will add background music and reduce the volume of the background conversation! anyway.. like I said, just a glimpse. My mom's mom went to heaven a year ago last December - so the video of her and Natalee is simple PRECIOUS!!!

good thing we have quite the assortment of dresses! (:

The girls call these dresses their princess dresses. Natalee has been demanding that she wear a "princess" dress every day which usually means one of her fancy Christmas dresses, wedding dress, etc.... but today they donned these dresses and I had to peel them off at bedtime (w/ Natalee requesting to wear them again tomorrow!) They are so sweet together!!

... to why we're laughing!

How do you keep 2 little girls occupied for hours on end... in a hospital?? You'd be amazed! These two did AMAZING! A few days ago my grandma fell and cracked 5 ribs & chipped her spine. On Sunday my mom, Natalee, Shyanne & I headed over the pass to spend a few days cheering her up. She eagerly anticipated the arrival of the girls... especially since she now knows we get to adopt the girls... they have SO wrapped her around their little fingers! I was a little nervous about trying to keep the girls occupied in the hospital... but they entertained themselves! One day: a note pad + 2 pens = hours of fun. Another day, two gloves, blown up with a smiley face to use as dolls = HOURS of entertainment... a birthday pack of bubbles, stamps & playdough from Kyah's birthday party = another whole afternoon of fun! The girls were sad to be left behind at the hotel the last day while Nonnie went to the hospital. They just thought the hospital was the place to be! (: I'm ...

My Mother-in-law calls my girls the B-G's (Barton Girls... get it?) For some reason I always think about that. My little B-G's! (: I guess it works for baby girls too. This little B-G fills our days with joy, challenges, sugar & spice & everything nice. She has learned to hold her own around here and yet still be a giant mush ball. She had such a soft side that melts me - and yet she is learning how to be tough and how to put up a good fight as well! (I guess we all learn that from siblings!) Friday was the 1st doctor's apt in a long time, where she was tough, and held it together the best she could. The nurse took her blood pressure and it was a tad high, along with her pulse - which goes to show how nervous she was. She has had a phobia of the dr's office since she started being conscious of SHOTS. But Friday she was so brave and withstood a shot as well as a darn ear infection that had to be inspected. She really tried hard to be tough which melts my hea...

Jesus is risen! On (good) Friday, I sat down to read the Easter story. I took it all in. Soaked it up. Closed my eyes and (with the help of the vivid imagery from The Passion) tried to picture what my Jesus went through for me. The pain He bore. The shame. The humiliation. The ultimate sacrifice of being separated from God so that He could bear my sins. For me. As He looked down through time. He saw me. And He saw my sin. How my sin would ultimately separate me from God. And Jesus paid that price for my sins. He carried my sins to Calvary. And He died for me. What an glorious, incredible gift. I sat there in a little coffee shop, lost in the story of my Savior. And as I read, my heart ached with the desire for everyone to know. Everyone must know what my Jesus did for me. For them. And as people get caught up in the Easter bunnies... and candy and eggs... I want people to know that Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for our sins. And that today we celebrate Jesus rising from the d...

Slightly wired on sugar... She's crazy I tell ya!! Reminds me of this video ... da-da-da-da-da... very loopy! (:

I love her sweet smile! She's like... is everyone really singing to me?!? She's so pure & innocent. my sweet baby... 3 years old.

Natalee had been counting down the days till her birthday for weeks. She was sooooo excited. It was one of my favorite things about her birthday this year: She GOT it. We just decided to make it a family party this year. There are sooo many birthdays in March in our church and I thought it would just be simpler. We met at Papa's Pizza here in town so the kids could play and we all could eat some good food! Natalee wanted her birthday to be about princesses. We scrounged up enough princess crowns for all the little girls to wear + the 3 we bought at Enchanted Forest. There were little princess favors: a lipgloss necklace, princess fruit snacks, princess pencils & princess bags... She picked out her cake the day before (and was so sad to learn we weren't taking it home from Safeway right then and there!) Taylor helped her open presents.... Puzzles!! Thank you Aunt April!!! A life jacket (what is this!??!?), and coloring stuff!! Thank you Auntie Jen!!! A princess tea p...

Sweet, sweet Natalee. Someday you will read this. Natalee you are the joy in every day. You light up my day and you bring such sweet sunshine to every moment. Your tenderness is almost heartbreaking - you are sweet and gentle - you can get your feeling hurt so easily - but you are so mold-able. You love Jesus and talk about Him (and Mary!) all the time! You have an AMAZING memory. You can recite facts, names, places etc better than Mommy half the time! You find such joy in little things. You obsess over things that get stuck in your head and you talk and talk and talk about those thing till Mommy almost loses her mind! he he! (: Mommy can't believe that you are 3 now. How time flies. Three years ago today you made me a mommy and Daddy a daddy. What a GIFT! God sure knew what He was doing when He gave us you! I love you baby girl! With all my heart! -all my love- Mommy Here's a silly video of Natalee & her new barbie Adorable shirt compliments of Maga! and more... Thes...

Scrapbooking Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com Digital Scrapbooking Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com

I have been slowly buying rainboots & raincoats - one at a time - for the girls... I wanted to get some for them to be able to run around outside w/o a care... and so we could go for walks and puddle stomp! Shy's boots arrived from Walmart.com while we were gone on our retreat... and her rain coat came in the mail the same day! She was so excited! Natalee's been sporting her rain boots a few weeks (Tia Allison picked them up at a Walmart that only had one pair in stock) and Shyanne picked out her boots online and we ordered them last week. Now all we have left to buy is a raincoat for little miss Hollie! I'll try to get a pix of all three girls sporting their new duds soon! While we were on our retreat, I picked up this little embellishment! Can't wait for another scrapping get-a-way so I can scrap my girls! Please wait Image not available Please wait Image not available

Natalee got to go to Ballet with her cousin Taylor while she stayed w/ her. Here's a little video of her practicing her moves with Maga: Here's the story I got out of her: " We went to the ballerina place. We had to move the car forward and back and park by the brown truck. Maga Gaile (Taylor's other grandma) opened the door and we had to move the car forward and back until we were by the brown truck. We went inside the ballerina place. We got out our mats. You know what a mat is mom? We got out a mat and we do stretches. On a blanket. Then we turn around like this!"

Natalee: Mommy, when we have a new house, I want a Winnie-the-pooh like Kyah . One that sings Mom. K? One that sings. Apparently it's the new house affect that brings along these Winnie-the-pooh dolls (:

Referencing yesterdays post... I mentioned previously that Natalee DOES NOT stop talking... from sunup to sundown. This kid never stops! The other night on our way up to Johnny's school... she asked question after question after question... and then just made stuff up to talk about when she ran out of questions. Finally Johnny & I had both had enough!! I told her to take her fingers and pinch her lips together & to stop talking for 1 minute!!! By the time she was done, we were laughing so hard. She's such a little ham!!

It's crazy how these kids grow & change. Looking back on last July pictures when Shy & Hollie first came... wow. They are growing so much! This little girl: - NEVER stops talking. From the moment she wakes up, till the moment she passes out on her pillow... -is almost 3 years old! wahhh! -loves life... She's such a happy little girl! -sings songs - learning tons and tons of new lyrics daily -plays so well with Shyanne. They get along better and better each day -is getting so good at imaginative play. The girls play "foster kids" instead of "house" all day long! -is learning to try lots of new foods (thanks to the influence of S&H) and realizing that she likes a lot more than she thinks! -loves books. This girl: -is quieter that Natalee -is three-years-old -got a cute hair cut that frames her face so nicely -plays so well with Natalee ("foster kids" of course!) -loves to read books -likes her cuddle time w/ Mommy after nap time and in...

Ok. first of all - the disclaimer.... Johnny saw me turn on the video camera - it was siting on the desk and we were trying to record Shy w/o her noticing... He/We just didn't realize his whole leg was in it. The video's too funny not to share. Ignore the leg! (: ha I love Shy's voice & her facial expressions.. She seems so grown up! (: