Colton's First Birthday!

Colt with his two grandpas at my dad's house. My dad gave him a huge baby luau in Hawaii. It is Hawaiian tradition to put on a huge celebration for the first birthday. It was very fun!
Just a cutie pic of our one year old blowing kisses!
This was from his party in California. We let him try both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. He didn't go crazy for either one but chose finger Jell-0 instead!
Colton and his buddy, Seth, and Seth's dad, Randy. They had fun playing at Colton's party! About a week later we cut Colton's hair and the cute curls are gone :( Pictures to come later!

11 months

Colton loves this packing paper!
So excited he can hardly stand it!
Playin' it cool!
Mr. Blue Eyes

Continued from Below

Colton LOVES lights so I knew that Christmas would be really special. He just stared at Auntie Terri's tree. He only tried to eat the ornaments once!
Helping Daddy in the kitchen. I can't believe it but he is crawling and standing on his own now. He's cruising everywhere. When this pic was taken he had just learned how to pull up to a standing position like this. See how proud he is?
Beautiful baby boy! Classic Colton.
A little hair malfunction but it was so cute! These two rebels are so cool. Clark is so handsome and his mini-me is adorable!

Way behind

Okay so I'm very behind with my posts! These pics are from Christmas of course. Colton's first Christmas! He seemed to enjoy himself - his new toys and the wrapping paper most of all. He loved being with everyone and he definitely loved the lights. Here he is on Christmas Eve. We spent Christmas Eve at my sister, Traci's, and all the kids opened one gift each. Oddly enough his one gift was Christmas PJs from Granna but they ended up being...girls PJs. She didn't notice when she bought them (the eyesight is the first thing to go!) If you look closely below you will see that the polar bears are wearing pink scarves and there are ruffles around the collar. It's okay though - he looked Christmasy and he has no idea! At least not until we tease him when he hits about 15!

The Barnetts on Christmas Eve!

Colton on Christmas morning with his new fuzzy hat from Papa and Noni. He totally looked like an elf. It came with mittens but I'm not sure we will ever get those on him....

Normally Colton's ears don't stick out quite this much. But my sister, Terri, wanted to try this. See any similarities in the ears? She is naturally blessed with those ears :) Doesn't Colt look like Dopey from Snow White? So funny.

Catching Up

Here are four generations of Barnett men. We took this picture at Lake San Antonio where we go every year with the Barnett extended fam to celebrate Thanksgiving and Clark and his dad's birthday. Clark and Clay share a birthday which is pretty special. I tried to have Colton share the day too but my February due date was just a bit too far from November! This picture looks like one person at four different stages of life! They are all identical and it is hilarious. My dad and I thought our genes were strong, um not quite! Barnett genes are supermanish (hence, Clark "Kent" Barnett).

Our little man is almost 10 months old!! (9 months in this picture though) He is really growing up and we are loving every minute of it. I do not have much sadness for the teeny baby he once was. I don't know if something is wrong with me as a mother because all the other mommies say how much they miss the previous stages and don't want their kids to grow up. I love that he is growing up! I love watching him learn new things and become more independent. I love that he doesn't need me to take him from point A to point B (because he will crawl there or walk holding onto things!) I guess some day there will come a time where he actually pushes me away - that I am NOT looking forward to. But any other stage where my boy can become a "big boy" makes me proud and joyful. I love him more every day.

The Barnett Family in Palm Springs. We were there with my dad, stepmom and sisters' families to celebrate Thanksgiving. While we were there we had a professional photographer take some pics of the entire family. This is a copycat taken by my brother-in-law. Colton looks really excited, doesn't he? Clark is whispering something amusing in his ear to get him to smile - very sweet! No doubt he is telling a knock-knock joke. Colton LOVES knock-knock jokes but just for the knock-knock part. We never get to the punchline! He's an easy laugh!

Old man Colton. So many people tell us that he looks like an old man. They say that all he needs are some wire-rimmed glasses and he could pose as an accountant. He's not THAT boring! (Just kidding to my accountant friends). Anyway, here he is in his too big pants that we pulled waaaay up. Go Pepperdine too!

Big Boy Colton!

I can't believe Colton is 8 months old! My boy is growing up. I'm actually glad he is growing up and I don't miss the younger stuff so far. I love him more and more every day. I can't wait til he is old enough to talk and say funny things and say "I love you, mom." This is one of his newest faces. I think he is chewing on his lips b/c he is teething. Yes, folks, he has been teething for about 14 years and no teeth yet. They say the teeth are stronger the longer it takes for them to come in. While I don't usually believe in that stuff, I hope its true!

This is my boy playing with his stuffed animals in his crib. I kept looking at this pic and thinking the crib looked white! Then I realized it is the wall b/c the crib is brown. Weird, huh? Anyway, it just goes to show you how you can see things differently depending on your perspective. That's what my dad always says.

This one is for Teta! You know why, girl...but I don't think he is lying about anything....but he was probably up to no good. This was him trying to crawl. Still not crawling yet but he did scoot around backwards for a few miles (feet). Did I already blog that he says "mama"? Well really he says "Ama" when he is crying and need something. But he will face Clark and say "dadadadada" and then face me and say "mamamama" so I think he might be getting it.

Just a cute b'day suit pic. I love that smile. I think it is a smile that makes the whole world smile! SMILE, darn it!

Okay so now an update on Tami. "Who's Tami?" you ask? Well, the girl who once used to blog here until she had a kid and now its all about him of course. Anyway, many new developments. I have quit all jobs and I am starting my own law firm. I will be practicing adoption law, juvenile dependency (foster care stuff) law, I'll do legal guardianships, estate planning and some family law (special cases only). I'm just getting started and I have no paying clients yet. I know the Lord is faithful and He is literally providing for our daily bread. That is amazing to see. Sometimes when the money comes in regularly and you are pretty comfortable, it is tough to see God's provision. Take all that away and God's provision is clear. I'm thankful that I get to see that.

More Positive

I'm trying to be more positive. Right now it is tough. I feel like I'm drowning. I'm reading a book called "A Complaint Free World" and it is great....but challenging. I am such a negative complainer. In all fairness to me, I often feel like I have a lot to complain about (haha, I don't). I genuinely feel that positivity brings about the positive.

I've got a new motto: "Get your hopes up". Usually we say the opposite but I feel that not getting your hopes up can sometimes be a lack of trusting in the Lord. While He doesn't always give us what we want exactly, He always gives us what we need. What is best for us and His kingdom. Anyway, I'm trying to get my hopes up about stuff but this is harder than it sounds. Getting your hopes up means trusting in the Lord with ALL your heart to do what you need Him to do. It means allowing yourself to be so vulnerable that you are not afraid to feel hopeful for what you desire. It means believing in what you want so much that you are shameless about your hope. Its okay to hope and not get what you want. We all have wants and its okay. The best thing is that God knows better - He knows what you need.