A Little Birthday Playtime at the Park in Late September!

The day before Avaree turned 6, we met up with some of her sweet friends at the park before evening church activities. I made home made GF monster cookies, and we brought an igloo with waters that we parked under a tree. She played with her friends for two hours and had a blast. She even agreed to no gifts. It was just a fun, last-minute little play time with a few of her favorite people, and it was perfect. :)
Handsome Pip!

 Avaree, Ava, and Lexi! Cool Cats classmates that still get to go to school together! 

 Ava and Avaree get to go to kinder together! 

 Beautiful Ameilia!

 Daddy and Bubbie!

 Sweet Izzie!

 Luke!!!

 Sweet friends! 

 Sweet bubbie!

 Avaree and Kaelyn!

 Felicity and Cutler! 

 Little Sis had a blast!!!

 Beautiful McKenna!

 So much fun!!!

 Kristen and Lilly!

 Kendall Grace!

 Brandt Ryder!

 Aiden, Ave, and Pip!

 Kendall!

 Ava!

 Birthday girl took a little fall and needed some juice! :)

 Wessie!

 Sweet girls!

 Beautiful Felicity!

 Oh, the faces of this girl!

 So brave!!!

 Swinging with Daddy!

 :) She loves to swing!

 Beautiful Izzie Rae!

 Beautiful K!

 Izzie drew a picture for her friend!

 Friends reading!

 This girl!

Avaree is so blessed with such sweet friends to get to do life with! :) It was so fun to just watch her play with them! :)

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. :)

Brandt Grows Up: 8 Months

Our sweet baby is 8 months old, and he is officially on the move!!! He loves his people, and he LOVES to roll and army crawl EVERYWHERE! :) He has this sweet, slow smile. He locks eyes with you, and then his whole face erupts in a smile. This picture below is right before he saw who was behind the camera. That sweet smile melts my heart every time! 
This is one of my favorite shots of Brandt and his Daddy. Do you see the shameless plug for the LABC website? ;)
Size: Brandt weighs 20 lbs, 10 oz., and he's sweet as pie! I'm not sure how long he is, but I know he has grown. He is in size three and four diapers, and he wears a few 9 month, some 9-12 month, and mostly 12 month clothes. He can even wear some 18 month jammies that have been washed a bunch. We have several friends that have let us borrow their hand me downs, and we are so thankful! We also have awesome grandparents that have filled in with clothes that we needed! (Thanks, everyone!) 

 Sleeping: Brandt has started sleeping better. He only wakes up 1 to 3 times per night now, and last night, Daddy turned the monitor off the first time he woke up, and I didn't turn it back on until Felicity woke me up at 2, and then he slept the rest of the night. We had to resort to getting Mrs. Loretta to sew us a really long and thick black curtain, and Daddy hung it on the inside of his bedroom door. It really helps to block some noise from going into the hallway and girls' room. Brandt also takes two naps a day. I feel like I finally got him on a routine last week, but the unfortunate part of that routine is that he was waking for the day at 5:45 am. I don't want to give him a dream feed though, because not only do I think he doesn't need it, but he won't burp after that feeding (he's too sleepy), and he often poops right after--making him really wake up, so I'm working on that too. For now, though, he needs his first nap around 8:30 or 8:45 am, and then that puts his afternoon nap around 1:30, and then I have to wake him at 2:45 to go get Avaree. We're still working on perfecting all of that. At least he is sleeping better though, now if only his sister could get the whole sleeping thing again. ;)



Every Sunday afternoon, Brandt gets to take a nap on Daddy. That's their thing, and Brandt always takes a really LONG nap while Daddy holds him, and "they" watch football. It's precious, and I hope they don't grow out of it for a long, long time. I can only imagine how toddler Brandt will look and act. I sure hope he likes football, though! ;)

New Development: Brandt is army crawling EVERYWHERE. I mean EVERYWHERE, and he is FAST. I texted B the other day that I needed a catheter. He has found me in the bathroom on more than one occasion. Felicity still doesn't totally understand what her Bubbie can and can't put in his mouth, so leaving him for even a second is not the best idea. I usually bring him with me, but he can get into more in the bathroom than the living room. Also, in the last couple of days, he has started getting up on all fours and rocking. Tonight, he crawled on all fours with both knees, so I know it's only a matter of days before he has perfected that. Even without that, though, he crawls into my lap, over my leg, over toys, etc. He bonks his head on the decline, but he rarely cries. :) 

His second tooth also FINALLY came in. It was on the horizon for more than a month, but it just broke through this weekend. Poor buddy was tired of that annoying pain! 

Disposition: He's a REALLY happy guy. He loves to play, and he loves to be talked to. We had all of our grandparents here this weekend, so he may have gotten carried a bit more than usual (as there were more hands available), so the last couple of days he has been whining to be picked up more. He army crawls to my feet, and then he whines and flaps his arms until I pick him up. Today, I was able to district him some when I couldn't pick him up that second. The only time he really cries is if he's tired, hungry, or one of the girls takes a toy from him. :) I think that seems pretty normal. He loves to play with toys. Brandon does not love that Brandt loves to play with the princess castle. In fact, today I heard B say to Brandt, "Oh, I see, you're just making out with Cinderella." Thankfully, the girls were not in the room. ;) He also loves all of his cars and trucks, his Sophie, his piano, and his tool chest. :) 

Eating: Brandt is a hungry little guy! He still gets Mama milk every 3-4 hours during the day, and occasionally one feeding at night, though I'm trying to drop it. He also eats oatmeal for breakfast every day, and for lunch he eats whatever people food I have on hand. For supper, he eats small bites of whatever we are having. His favorites are rice, ground beef, yogurt, tortillas, black beans, spaghetti (see picture below), grilled cheese, chicken, bananas, watermelon, avocado, green beans, and some purees that are thicker. He also still likes puffs and yogurt bites for snack. Brandon also told me that he ate a pringle today. (Third kid and Daddy was in charge!) How do i know that he's hungry? Well, I pick him up when he's fussing, and he starts eating my body (and mama milk has already been given). He generally starts gnawing on my shoulder, face, or neck. He's a hungry boy! I can't imagine what he'll eat as he grows. He already eats way more than the girls did! In fact, he currently eats more than Felicity does. ha!

We love this little guy. I really can't believe that we are less than four months from him turning one, but the lack of sleep that I have had in the last 8.5 months has me not so sad about him growing up a bit. I suppose that's God's way of helping me enjoy the time I have, but not wish for a bitty, squishy baby again. I'll just let my SIL's have those, and I'll snuggle them. :)
We love you Brandt Ryder! Your sisters adore you, your Daddy is so happy to have you, and your mama gets her love cup filled up from you every day! You're just the sweetest little cuddle bug, and we can't imagine not having you in our family! You have stretched me more than I could have ever imagined, and I love you for it! 
Love you, Bubbie!