Barton Blessings: January 2016

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Brandt Grows Up: He is O-N-E!!!

Our baby boy is O-N-E!

Dear Brandt,

One year ago today, Daddy and I got to the hospital around 10:30 AM, I was hooked up to all the monitors shortly thereafter, and you came at 1:15 PM. You were cuddly from the moment Dr. Neal placed you on my chest. You were wrinkly and soft and the most precious baby boy that I had ever seen. I couldn't believe how big you were, and I couldn't believe how quickly you came. You were so ready to get here! I love every little part of you, and each day with you has been more special. I love watching you play with your sisters, and I love how much you love them. Happy birthday to my sweet baby boy! I am sad that you are growing up, because I know that you'll only be mine for a short time, but I am so excited to watch you grow. Life with you in it is so much more fun! I had no idea that I needed a boy, but oh how I did! Thank you for loving me and bringing even more joy into our home. I love you higher than the sky!

Love,

Mama

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Stats:

Weight: 24 lbs, 9 oz (90th percentile)

Height: 31.5 inches (95th percentile)

Head Circumference: 47 cm (75th percentile)

Size: Brandt is still wearing a size 4 diaper! He is also still wearing 12 m sleepers, but they are starting to get tight! His 12 month pants are getting too short, and he fits best in 12-18 month clothes! He also wears size 4 shoes!

Development: Brandt is walking!!!! He doesn't walk everywhere, but he has taken 8 steps, and he gets up and down off the floor on his own so easily! I know he will just take off any day. He still crawls a lot, and he has also started "walking on his knees." :) He also has just gotten his 5th tooth! Brandt says, "Bye, bye," "ah oh," "mama," "dada," and "gah," He also signs "more," "all done" and "thank you."

Eating: Brandt loves to eat! His favorites are pasta, grilled cheese, grapes, bananas, taco meat, pancakes, green beans, hot dogs, chicken, puffs, squeezies, mum mums, rolls, eggs, apples, and pretty much anything else we put in front of him! He's the best eater of all our kids! He is still taking 3-4 bottles a day, and he will be transitioning to whole milk very soon.

Sleeping: Brandt gets his last bottle at 7pm, and he goes to sleep right after. He usually sleeps soundly for 11-12 hours. He wakes between 6:30 and 7am, and he has gone down to one nap a day. I try to hold him off until close to mid-day, as no matter what time his nap is, he will only take one. It is optimal if I put him to bed between 12 and 1, and he sleeps until 2:30 or so. We leave to get our big sister from school by 3pm, so that works out perfectly for us. Of course, if he goes to sleep earlier in the day, he will not sleep as long, and then his usually precious personality transforms into a grumpy little bear! :)

Playing: Brandt loves to play! After he snuggles with mama for a few minutes, he gets his first bottle, and then he is ready to play, play, play! He loves his farm! He loves his books: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Moo, and Daniel Tiger! Brandt loves Daniel Tiger: He goes crazy when the show comes on, and he rocks back and forth dancing! It's so precious! He also likes Mickey Mouse, but it's his second favorite for sure! Brandt loves to "cook" in the little kitchen. He loves to play with his train and cars, and he also loves all the girls' toys (much to his Daddy's dismay)! :) Brandt also LOVES to be outside! He loves to swing!! It makes his whole face light up! He loves to dance! He also loves to "crawl chase" the girls around the living room and mimic their squealing. He loves bath time. He loves to tackle anyone that is on the floor! He loves to give kisses, and often those kisses turn into bites for his mama, but thank goodness not for anyone else (yet)! He loves, loves when we are all together, and he loves to make us laugh! He loves his people. He loves the Turtle Song. He is all boy (even though he plays with princesses), and we love him!

He is the most precious baby boy that completes our family in the best way! He is literally more fun every day. His sisters adore him, and his Mommy and Daddy are so in love with him!

Dr. Fikkert said that he was perfect at his one-year well check this morning, and I would have to agree!

Enjoy the rest of the pictures! Brandon and I had fun tag teaming to take the pictures and make him smile!

Ready to take off!

Happy monkey!

My heart.

This little boy loves his mama fiercely.

When he plays "Peek a Boo" he always puts his hand on his head instead of covering his eyes! It's the cutest thing ever! :)

…and we will conclude with some real life shots when 2/3 are not looking at the camera! :)

I love these three!!!! :)

Happy birthday, little buddy! :)

WE LOVE YOU!

Monday, January 18, 2016

Barton Family Pics 2015!

For Christmas, we had pictures taken at the Pecan Plantation in outside of Bryan by the amazing Maleigh Canon of Canon Creek Photography. :) These are my two favorite pictures! :) The whole family!

G-Pops and Gigi with all the grands! We must re-create this picture every few years as the kids grow! :)

Felicity is beautiful.

Felicity, the night wanderer, is beautiful.
May she always know how much she's loved by God and loved by her family.
I pray that she will always understand that although she is beautiful on the outside, true beauty comes from within.

We love you.
And one day, you will sleep consistently. I just know it. ;)

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Early to Mid-December!

There was that time I took my littles to Costco in their jammies after we got Avaree to school. We had to take a picture, of course! Shopping with two is way easier than shopping with three! :)

Of course, we soon began two weeks of sickness in early December. :( It hit Avaree first, then Felicity, then Mama, and then Brandt. Avaree missed five whole days of school.

Gigi and G-Pops came by one night though, and that made everyone happy!

Papa and Niecey drove up that same weekend, and they changed my life!!!! ;) They brought me these amazing IKEA book shelves, and Niecey helped me clean out all the closets. We also spent several hours cleaning out the garage, and my Dad hauled everything away in his truck. B was busy at church, so I was so thankful for their help. I have been wanting to clean out boxes in our garage since we moved in almost three years ago! And I LOVE my new living room!

Everyone loves having the kid books in the living room now!

Of course, they usually all end up on the floor, but I never mind picking up books! ;)

Poor little sister got sick next. She also got a yucky infection in her eye, had almost 104 fever, and she was just generally miserable for days. It was so so sad.

It was so hard having both of the girls sick at once, me sick, and then me trying to keep Brandt from the germs all while everyone was coughing and B was so busy at work! My poor babies just felt awful! The girls ended up with mycoplasma pneumonia, and felicity and brandt both also had eye infections and double ear infections. It was awful!!!! :(

Avaree rallied to be able to go back to school two days before Christmas break! I was still hacking and sounded like a man, but I was no longer contagious, so Daddy came home for a late lunch to sit with the babies, and I went to Avaree's class party!

Her Spanish classroom is so impressive. Look at that math sentence! It just blows me away when I consider all of the opportunities that she has to learn here. I am so thankful for so many answered prayers concerning Avaree's education.

At her party, we played the oven mitt/present game, and she loved it!

When they finally opened it, it was a box of candy canes. The kids were so excited to get one!

This girl was thrilled to have her mama there. :)

Class photo with Olaf!

That Saturday, Papa and Niecey were driving through town with two new calfs, so we met them in a parking lot, and the kids got to see the new babies. Avaree even got to name one! She named her "Flower."

Avaree had to climb in the trailer in the part that was blocked off from the calves.

We didn't stay in the parking lot long because it was super windy, so since no one had fever, and it was Brandt's 11 month birthday, we went out for lunch and ice cream/sorbet. We hadn't been out of the house (except to go to the doctor) in two weeks! It was so great to get out!

They shared sorbet!

Happy, happy girls!

…and a happy Daddy with some butter pecan ice cream!

We stayed in the rest of the weekend and Monday just to let everyone get over their yucky coughs, but on Monday when Daddy got home from work, we convinced him to play for us to sing some Christmas carols!

It was finally time to get festive and celebrate!

That night we baked and decorated Christmas cookies, and the next morning we took them to our local police station! The girls were SO excited and ran all the way inside!

Sweet girls in their first matching outfits with brother, too!

Daddy took off on Tuesday, and we had a whole day of family fun until about 4:30 when he had to go in to work for the evening, but the day was great! We received an anonymous gift card to Pappasitos, so we had a fun lunch date all together at Pappasitos in Fort Worth! It was a full day of Christmas fun!

Of course, everyone's favorite part is the fountains! We were prepared with our pennies!

These three!

Our Christmas babies!

It's amazing the impact that us all being together has on their behavior and moods!

Happy girls!

Avaree and Mama!

Our beautiful big girl!

Next stop: Downtown Fort Worth! We had a blast just people watching, playing, listening to music, and we even visited a chocolate shop! The weather was so perfect, and it was just a beautiful, fun day!