Barton Blessings: birthday

Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts

Friday, February 19, 2016

Brandt's 1st Birthday Party!!!

The Saturday after Brandt's birthday, we had his party at our house! This was my third first birthday, and I finally learned small and simple! :)

We had a baby blue, gold and white party for our little prince!!!

(So thankful that I had a mantle to decorate with!!! Thanks, Brandon!)

Avaree had a basketball game that morning (more on that in the next post), and Brandt had been taking just one nap mid-day, so we scheduled the party for 3pm, but we ended up moving it up to 2 pm when he took an early nap and woke up ready to party! :)

The party table! A friend from our connection group made Brandt's crown cake, and I made gluten free cupcakes and his smash cake! That smash cake pan is the same one used for Timber's 1st birthday, Felicity's 1st birthday, and Brandt's 1st birthday! It's been well loved and is special!! We also had grapes and goldfish (Brandt's faves) and hummus, carrots, and gluten free crackers!

When Brandt woke up from nap, he was so excited to see his presents!

He loved his birthday photo book! And, of course, there was a basketball game on the television!

Sweet buddy with his crown!!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear is his VERY favorite book. We probably read it 20-30 times per day before we hide it! :) Sometimes, Felicity hides it! haha!

Sweet baby boy in his birthday shirt and crown!

Look at that sweet face!

I just love our mantle--especially when it has birthday decor on it!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, our party guests were having fun! G-Pops had Brandt bouncing on a balloon, and he was belly laughing!

The birthday boy with Mom Mom and Pop Pop!

The birthday boy and Papa and Niecey (and a football)!!

Birthday fun!

Gigi and G-Pops with the birthday boy!!!

Uncle D and Aunt J with Brandt!!

(Brie was being held and Blair was playing!!!)

This big sister was showing off!

She was learning to hut hut!! ;)

Pop and the birthday boy!!!

Mommy and Daddy with our birthday boy!

Avaree wanted a picture with her "Bubbie!"

Gigi, Uncle B, and Blair had some cuddle time on the couch!

Meanwhile, Brandt read his book…again! :)

Our sweetest big sisters!

We love these sweet girls! They were loving the balloons!

Avaree, Felicity, and Blair!

Brandt really enjoyed opening his presents! He loved his truck!

…and opening his tool chest!

…of course he did have a few helpers!

He loves his beautiful rocking horse!

…and Daniel Tiger!

Smash Cake time!

Ooooh, this looks interesting!

Daddy tried to get him to put his whole face in it! hahah!

There we go!

He finally started to figure it out! :)

The beautiful cake was made by our friend, Kelley Ford! She even added two pink princess cupcakes on either side for our girls! Wasn't that just the sweetest thing? Everyone said it was the best cake they had ever tasted!!

Of course, these weren't very pretty, and were gluten free, but they tasted good to me! ;)

Brother eventually decided that the fork helped him get more cake in his mouth! ;)

My favorite shots from the day!!!!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO OUR PRECIOUS BABY BOY!!!!!! We hope you loved your little party! You continue to make us smile every single day! May you always know how much you are loved by God and loved by your family. We pray that you will grow to be a man of integrity and a "messenger of the sword" as your name means! WE LOVE YOU, Brandt Ryder!

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Avaree is S-I-X!!!!!!!

I really have no idea how we already have a six year old. It seems like just the other day I was trying to figure out how I would ever do anything but hold and stare at her all day long. :) A lot has changed, but this little girl still loves to be held and cuddled. At six, Avaree is doing so many things. Her brain is a little sponge, and she has far surpassed any expectations we have ever had for her academically. She started reading at 3.5, but now she is reading far and above her grade level. She had to stop at the third grade level at school, but not because of fluency, she could have easily continued past it based on her reading fluency, but she had to stop because she would not give the oral results that the test wanted when asked to make a personal connection with a non-fiction test. This made me laugh because her little brain is so very literal. If she doesn't think it matters to find a personal connection to a book about the dangers of tornadoes (and she has many personal connections to this based on our severe weather seasons spent in the master closet), she says there isn't one and moves on. Alas, I have talked to her about "playing the game", and I've also introduced her to K-W-L charts to help her get in the habit of "activating prior knowledge," since such ideas will follow her all the way through high school. :) At six, Avaree is thriving in Kindergarten. Her teachers (a billingual reading and social studies teacher and an only spanish-speaking science and math teacher) told us that she is "remarkable." During our meeting with them, it was so clear to us how well they knew our kid. They said she is a perfectionist in many ways, loves to learn, hates to get in trouble, wants to please, loves to lead, loves people well, gets excited about everything, and makes learning so fun. She is in her own reading group, and she's also in a group of her peers for writing, so she loves that. Her Spanish teacher even told us that she makes her regular lesson plan, and then she makes an additional plan for Avaree. She told us that she has Avaree paired with a native spanish speaker, so that she can begin picking up on every day language as well. Avaree is already the centers leader and teacher's helper just because she understands all of the non-verbal clues and easily picks up Spanish. She has learned so much in just 8 short weeks of school. Her pronunciation is pretty stellar too. I can't even accurately quantify how much Spanish that she knows, but she understands even more than that, so she's a very good example of Spanish immersion being an incredible way to learn the language. The enrichment activities that she has the opportunity to participate in every day at school have been incredible also. Initially, I thought that there were way too many transitions for five and six year olds, and I think there may be some changes to next year's schedule because of that, but now that the school is familiar to Avaree, she doesn't feel so overwhelmed by that. She has A days and B days, and she always keeps them straight. She has never (ever) forgotten what activity she has on that particular day (and the schedule changes week to week), so she helps me with what she needs to wear each day. On A days, she has dance, music and PE, and on B days, she has art, theater and piano. She loves both days so much. She also still gets to have recess every day after lunch, and they have recently started to go to the computer lab once a week. She really loves that too. I truly didn't think that she could fall in love with learning even more, but she has! She has homework Monday through Thursday every week. On Mondays and Wednesdays, it is usually a reading and writing assignment, and Tuesdays/Thursdays are reserved for spanish and math. We also did our first little science project all in spanish. I can't imagine what homework would be like with a kid that doesn't LOVE to do homework, but for right now, it's fun to help her with it. The only tricky part is making sure I also have "homework" for little sister. :) We quickly found out that we needed a routine, and now it is just a part of our day every day. I hope that we can keep that going as the years continue. :) It's a little crazy to have Avaree, a large age gap, and then the babies, but it's also really neat because she has such a unique role in their lives. She really is a great big sister. At six years old, she of course has a lot of selfish tendencies, but she also has a really sweet, tender heart. She loves to care for people, and she loves to be cared for. She prays the prayers of a thirty year old some nights, and other nights she prays like her little sister, but I can tell that she is growing in that area too. A few nights ago, I was putting everyone to bed by myself, and it had been a particularly hard hour or so. The girls weren't being obedient and were fighting a lot, Brandt was fussy, and I was just trying to get everyone what they needed and in to bed without tears. Avaree is usually a big helper for me, and she was just not in the mood to have little siblings that night. Sometimes I completely understand her frustration, so i just let it go. A few minutes later in her prayers (without me having to say a word), she asked God to give her a better attitude toward Felicity and Brandt. It was completely from her own heart, and it blew me away. She frequently uses emotional manipulation with me and will look right at me as she is praying something just because she wants to make me happy, but this time she was very much just having a conversation with God. It was really precious, and I snuck back in later to tell her how proud I was of her. She was sound asleep, so I waited until morning, but her sincerity made me so proud. I know that God is working on her little heart, and I can't wait to know that one day she will spend eternity with Jesus. She already renounces Satan and understands how to pray against darkness, so I know that she will be attacked in many ways as she grows, but I also know that she has His word hidden in her heart, and I'm so thankful for her little heart.
Of course, I also think that she is beautiful. At six years old, she sometimes looks like her little baby self, and other times I get glimpses of ten years down the road. I know it will go fast, but we are so very, very proud of our big girl. She loves to play outside, train for American Ninja Warrior, ride her back (and is currently learning to ride without training wheels), play at the park, race, sing at the top of her lungs, play school, read, dance, make up silly songs, and get dirty!
She loves her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins soooooo much! She has a few really good friends, and she is a friend to many, many more!
I sometimes have to catch myself and remember that she is only six. Sometimes, her depth of understanding, insight, and analysis on life is just far beyond her years.
At six, she weighs 54 lbs and is 47 inches tall. She was in the 90% percentile for her weight, and she was in the 85th percentile for her height.
At six, Avaree is pretty awesome. She's fun, easily excited, beautiful, energetic, compassionate, loving, funny, sassy, and silly! We feel so incredibly blessed to be her parents.
I love that I can still pretty much always "fix it"--whatever it is--but I know there will come a day when I can't. I pray for her heart and mind to be guarded. I pray that she will know how deeply she is loved by God and loved by her family. I pray that she would always be loving and kind, and I pray that God would use her to further His Kingdom. I can't even imagine what she will accomplish in her little life, but I"m thankful for the seat that I get to watch from…
We love you, Avaree Grace Barton. From the moment they put you screaming on my chest, I've been head over heels in love.
Happy SIXTH birthday, baby girl… You have been my favorite birthday gift for six years now. :)

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Felicity's 2nd Birthday Party!!!

Felicity's SECOND birthday party fell on her actual birthday this year! It was a Saturday, and we knew our girl would just want her people there, and even that might be a lot! So, we just invited her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and she did great! :)

Since we already had Disney outfits, and she loooooves her Mickey and Minnie, we decided to go with a simple Minnie Mouse theme this year! She loved it, and it turned out to be simple and easy (like our girl)! I decorated the table with things that we already had!

Mrs. Nicole made her amazing Minnie and "2" cookies!!!

I also served monster cookies, sandwiches on hawaiian rolls, pirates booty, monster cookies, and grapes! It was all simple, but it was everything that Felicity loved. I was telling someone that since this was my seventh birthday party to throw for one of my babies, I had finally figured out that simple and special make the best parties! :)

I got my new pictures of my babies hung up just in time, and, of course, all of our Mickeys and Minnies had to be sitting on the couch (according to Avaree)!: )

I love this sweet sign, and it is so true!

I love these babies, and I love staring at this picture! :)

On party day, I tried to get pictures of the kiddos with everyone! :) That morning, I had the girls in their matching Minnie dresses! Poor Brandt didn't have one, so he just wore his Mommy's little prince jammies! :) He didn't care a bit! ;)

Mom Mom and Pop Pop with the birthday girl, big sister, and little brother!

It's even harder to get everyone looking and smiling now that we've added another! haha! :)

Sweet sisters!! When Felicity wore this dress in September, it was past her knees! She has grown SOOOO much this year!

Sister telling me something!

I love her fingernails! We paint nails all the time! ;)

Daddy came home from playing golf right at nap time, and Brandt was so happy to have someone sit down and hold him! Mommy had been busy all morning, and he doesn't nap well during the day unless you hold him! Sweet boy!

Before Daddy got home, I put him on his tummy in the middle of the floor while I was working in the living room, and he fell sound asleep! :) I knew he would be held plenty once our grandparents got here, but I do think he was very happy to get held once Daddy got home! (P.S. This lasted approximately 3.5 minutes! haha)

Mom Mom brought me flowers that matched our party colors, so I got to add them to our table!

Brandt was loving all of the attention! Here he is with Papa!

…and Avaree read lots of books to Niecey!

Brandt loves to stare at the sunshine!

Uncle B and Baby Blair (Though we can't call her that anymore: she's going to be a big sister!!!!! I think she may always be Baby Blair to us though!!! Avaree calls her that all the time!)

Gigi brought Felicity birthday balloons and a Minnie Balloon with her name on it! She loved it so much, and was the perfect compliment to our table!

She also made the banner at the end of the table...

…and the one hanging above the window!!! They were perfect! Thanks, Gigi!!!!

Around that time, the birthday girl woke up from her nap!!!!!!!

Isn't she the cutest thing EVER???? (That face melts me!!!)

….but this girl melts me too! A quick picture of Mama and big sister!

Gigi and Felicity!

Gigi, G-Pops, and the girls!

GiGi, G-Pops, and all three of our babies!

Blair "hopping" to her Daddy!!!

Family selfie with Papa, Niecey, and Speckles!!!

G-Pops and Brandt got some cuddle time!

…so did Avaree and Gigi!

Mama and the birthday girl!!!!

Us again (and look at Brandt's sweet little feet in the background!)!

Then, it was present time! I'm always the one that opens presents with the girls, so I asked Brandon if he'd like to open with Felicity! I think he loved it! :) Big Sister did a great job of letting her open everything too!

Backpack! (She wears this every day--even around the house--and loves it!

Pulling out all the contents!

Yay for new sippies! We threw her others away the week before. They had a soft top, and were very much bottle-like, though she only drank water or juice from them, but she was such a big girl understanding that she needed big girl cups now!!