18 weeks

Elijah is 4 months old this month. Time sure flies. He had his check up Monday and it went well. He is now 15 lbs 13 oz and 26 in long.  What a big boy. He is so meek and mild, obviously taking after his daddy.

He is doing good.  Fighting a small cold right now but other than that he is in good spirits. 

Montana continued

As the days went on we continued to get rain.  That made it a bit difficult to hike and get out of the car much. We think this is God’s way of saying…RELAX and if I have to send you to Montana to do it, well then Montana it is.  It truly has been a week of doing nothing and much needed!  For my birthday Bryan cooked Salmon and Tuna on Thursday night. It was delicious. We also got our fill of CSI, CSI MIAMI, and CSI NY…I don’t think we have watched that much tv since we tried to finish the 24 and Lost Seasons.  (We watched so much CSI that I dreamt about it and Bryan slept with an ax next to the bed and we had a “secret” code for when he came through the front door after getting wood…3 kicks to the door, shh… it’s our secret. J )

Today is Friday and we just finished hiking Cedar Trail before heading to the airport, man it was gorgeous.  We wanted to take one last drive through Glacier Park.

Till next time….

Holiday Rush

With the holidays right around the corner Bryan and I decided to take a furlough (vacation) to regroup not only with each other and with Eli but also with God. We have been running ourselves silly far a while now…I am sure most of it was me; getting ready for Eli, then Eli came, then work and it has just been non-stop.   So we left for Montana on November 7^th and will return November 14^th.  We figured this would be a nice break before the holiday rush starts

Eli took his first airplane ride and did so well. He slept a lot of the flight but did not cry much at all. When he did it was mostly hunger…which he happens to be quite a lot lately. Bryan would walk him over to the window to look at the planes in the airport and Elijah would get excited.  We like to think he was getting excited over the airplanes; like father – like son.

As this is being written, we are here sitting in our cabin, reading and watching out the window and waiting for a bear or some sort of wild life to approach are back porch. Montana is truly a piece of God’s splendor.  The mountains are amazing!!! Our cabin is located just 30 min from Glacier Park.  We are a little bummed because we forgot our passports and could have gone to Canada as we are not far from there at all (although, Eli still needs to get one). Oh well, maybe next time. When we arrived Friday night we ran to the store and got a couple of things so we could make dinner, while Bryan was at the store I waited with Eli in the Cabin and received a phone call that went something along these lines…

            “Honey, we are definitely in the NORTH”- BB

            “Why is that?”- LB

            “Because they don’t have corn bread here and have NO IDEA what grits are”- BB

            “HAHAHA! Oh my goodness, I did not even think of that…no worries just get what you can”- LB

The next day we ventured to the grocery store to stock up for the week, prepared for the northerner’s type of store, ha! We got what we needed and headed home. Sunday, we drove over to Glacier Park to get our park pass for the week and check things out.  So far the temp’s have been in the high 45 and lowest has been in the 30’s. So it is not so bad. We have had lots of rain and no snow as of yet.  Hopefully we will get some before we head home. We went in through the west entrance of the park today and drove pretty far. Most of the forest had been burned at some point in the early 2000’s. It was really sad.

On the way home we needed to stop at the store because I needed 2 tablespoons of sugar for a pie I was going to make…who sells 2 tablespoons of sugar, really? So I decided to buy a SWEET TEA from McDonalds and then bring some sugar packets home with me…oh yeah, they don’t have sweet tea, we are in the NORTH. Come on, we need to teach these Northerners a little about sweet tea. I still bought tea…but it was unsweet.  (Check out the picture below, only a McDonald’s with ski slopes around them would have this sign, too funny!)

Monday-we were going to head back to the park for some hiking and or driving but none of us got any sleep. Eli has come down with a nasty cold…stuffy as all get out and all he has done is cry. We were up ALL NIGHT long.  If he is not sleeping, he is crying. And he is only sleeping about 30 min at a time. This is really out of his element to cry this much. So we opted to stay in today, relax, read and veg out so maybe Eli could get a little better. As the day has gone on, we feel that we made the best decision.  It has been a long day of tears and sniffles.   More to come, when we can get internet…until then, we will be RELAXING and enjoying our majesty’s creation all around us. 

Visits from my Slovak family

Some of the Slovak team came in town the first week of November. It was such a joy to be able to spend some time with the folks who are so dear to me.  It reminds me how much I truly miss them and the Slovak culture.  Maruska, is one of my dear friends and she got to stay with us for the week. It was so wonderful!  She brought so many gifts from the students in Kukova, I could not believe it. The picture below is of a Elijah wearing a sweater that Mrs. Sabolova made for him.  What a treasured gift!! Thank you all for you wonderful gifts. It means so much to us.

 

Happy Birthdays!!!

We want to wish our sweet sister, Leah, a happy birthday. Her birthday was November 7^th.  We love you!

Lee Ann, Bryan and Cousin ElI

Also, we got to celebrate Larissa’s 20^th birthday. Larissa is a student that lives with us. We love her dearly. J We made dinner for her and then made FONDU for dessert. It was great!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY LARISSA!

College Ministry

The college ministry is going really well. It seems to keep us busy. We are now running close to 50 students a week. It is a packed house with lots of energy.  We continue to seek God’s direction in leading the ministry.

  

Eli's baby dedication

At the beginning of October Eli was dedicated at North Star.  What made this event even more special was that he was dedicated with his cousin Caralyn, who is 5 weeks younger than him. What a special day!  It is our prayer that Eli grows up to be a man that chases after the Lord, a man that is in love with Jesus and truly lives out his name…ELIJAH!  The dedication was more for us as parents as we are vowing to raise him in a Christian environment so that he comes to know and love our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Thank you to all of you who were there and that could be a part of this day with us.

           

Elijah’s first Halloween

As usual it has been a while since we updated you on our life.  Eli is doing great. As of November 7^th, he is 4 months old. Time sure does fly by. For Halloween we decided to stay in for the evening for Eli’s first Halloween he was dressed as a pumpkin and it was too cute (pictures below).  The pictures were taken from a pumpkin patch. We thought it would be a cute idea to dress him up and stick him in with the other pumpkins. 

He sure is getting big.  He is reaching for things now and really an alert baby.  He has been so much fun.

  

Mr. Mom

Well tonight I had a youth event to go to and Bryan got to stay home with Eli and just be DAD (with out Mom to come to the rescue).   I pumped a bottle for him and he had a little bit of reserve in the freezer... side note, Elijah is hitting a growth spurt and wants to eat EVERY hour to two hours, ugh, keeps me busy! :) 

I must say I was not sure how the night would go considering Bryan has had his share of learning and with Elijah's eating patterns lately I just knew I was going to have to go home...I know we both are learning parenting right now but I at least had babysitting experiences when I was younger. (Honey, don't worry I will spare your stories... :) )

When I got home he had all the chores done, Eli was BATHED and fed and put in bed, he also gathered all the trash...wow, what a husband and dad. I must say I have the best man on the planet.  Thank you honey for being so wonderful and helping me.  (Now he has a little taste of how my whole day goes).

Big steps for Eli

Elijah has been making so many accomplishments these days...about a month ago we put him in his own room.  He is doing a great job and loving his big bed. (I still bring him in our room for some cuddle time)

He is also beginning to smile a TON!!! I love it.  There is nothing more sweet and innocent then Elijah as he is figuring out his smile.  He smiles at many things...funny noises, his daddy's voice when he comes home from work, the little doggie that hangs from his car seat and many other things. He is such a happy baby. 

Also over the past several weeks Elijah has been noticing bright colors and patterns. It is so funny...he gets his eye brows raised and just wobbles his head and stares.  With that he is really enjoying his play mat.  He loves looking at all the animals, colors and even at himself in the mirror.  

First day of church

This past weekend we ventured to church. It was Elijah's first time.  Let's just say the whole morning went well then right before we walked in the door he threw up on me TWICE!  Unbelievable.  We decided to dress he and daddy just alike. It's amazing how fast he is growing.

Caralyn Dee is here

On Monday afternoon my niece and Eli's first cousin arrived. Caralyn Dee Schlampp. She was 7lbs. 12oz.  YEAH!! Congrats to Spencer and Misty. She is beautiful! 

Mom, dad and baby are all doing well. 

Proud Auntie!

Brother and sister each with their first kids, only a month apart.

5 weeks and counting

Elijah is now 5 weeks old.  It sure does go by fast.  He is so precious and so much fun.  Here are some pictures of him over the past month.

  Proud Dad!

Proud Papa (Bryan's dad)
one of our favorites...so precious!

Elijah's nursery

I just realized I never posted any pictures of Eli's room...here it is. Dinosaurs, per his daddy's request. For those of you who know Bryan, know that is typical. 

This cradle was made by his PaPa Cliff.  What a wonderful gift that can be passed down in the family. Thank you Papa Cliff. We love it!

Elijah's first cousin

My sister in law Misty is having their little girl tomorrow. YEAH!!!!        

CARALYN DEE SCHLAMPP   We are so excited to have another little one in the homes of our family.  Elijah will have his first cousin and they are a month apart.  That will be so much fun growing up.   

Congrats Spencer and Misty. We can not wait to meet our little Caralyn.

7/7/08 8 lbs. 10 oz. and 20.7 inches long

Just before giving birth....37 weeks

Well, so much for me keeping you posted... one week after my last post I was in the hospital delivering our little Elijah!!!  As most of you mom's know babies take up a lot of time, especially newborns.  

At 37 weeks the doctor decided she wanted to induce me so we went into the hospital Sunday night the 6th to start the induction.  Monday morning they broke my water and to spare you the details, we had him Monday August 7th at 7:40 p.m.  

ELIJAH GRAYSON BARTON   

Bryan and I are doing well and adjusting to parenthood.  Missing out on sleep but loving every moment of it.  What a blessing.  God is so good. 

37 weeks...

I went to the doctor this past Friday and Elijah is doing great, a bit crowded. Although, the doctor did not like what she saw in my sonogram.  She was checking my fluids and they were LOW!  So, I am now on bed rest until Tuesday to hopefully bring my fluids back up. If they are not where she wants them, then we will be having baby Eli Tuesday night. :)  I will keep you all posted.

College and Young Singles Ministry

The college and young singles ministry is going well.  We are staying steady and running around 35 students a week in our home.  Bryan has done a great job as college and young singles pastor.  You can tell this is his heart and what he loves doing.    There are a lot of things going on within the ministry, and finding time to balance it has been a bit tough, but we have great leaders within our group to help out.  Right now we meet on Thursday nights at our home. We serve the students dinner before the study, what college student doesn’t want free food??? Then afterwards they usually stay and play video games and most recently Catch Phrase has been the big hit.  Outside of Thursday’s we have a Robyn Lane Project, where the students go into the community and help server the elderly and widowed in any way they can.  That has been a great success and rewarding for the students to see the impact they have on the community.   We also just started a once a month college and young singles worship service. Please continue to pray for the ministry and that students continue to feel a place of comfort and growth here.

 

"Crazy Love" by Francis Chan

If you have not read this book, Crazy Love, I suggest you pick it up and read it.  Talk about convicting in our own lives.  If you have not heard of Francis Chan, he is a pastor in California who I think is an incredible speaker and now writer.  (If you have heard him speak, he writes like he speaks, which is great and entertaining).

Chris Tomlin quotes in this book,

 “As Francis Chan so brilliantly illustrates, the life that Jesus calls us to is absolute craziness to the world.  Sure, it’s fine and politically correct to believe in God, but to really love

Him is a whole different story. “

I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks they are living a life IN LOVE with Jesus.  

"Nesting"

I looked up the word ‘nesting’ and this is what I got: 

            nest |nest|

noun

1 a structure or place made or chosen by a bird for laying eggs and sheltering its young.

• a place where an animal or insect breeds or shelters : an ants' nest.

• a person's snug or secluded retreat or shelter. 

• a bowl-shaped object likened to a bird's nest : arrange in nests of lettuce leaves.

• a place filled with or frequented by undesirable people or things : a nest of spies.

2 a set of similar objects of graduated sizes, made so that each smaller one fits into the next in size for storage : a nest of tables.

verb

1 [ intrans. ] (of a bird or other animal) use or build a nest : the owls often nest in barns | [as adj. ] ( nesting) do not disturb nesting birds.

2 [ trans. ] (often be nested) fit (an object or objects) inside a larger one : the town is nested inside a large crater on the flanks of a volcano.

• [ intrans. ] (of a set of objects) fit inside one another : Russian dolls that nest inside one another.

• (esp. in computing and linguistics) place (an object or element) in a hierarchical arrangement, typically in a subordinate position : [as adj. ] ( nested) organisms classified in a series of nested sets | a nested relative clause

I am not sure where the term “nesting” comes from when you are pregnant…I think I should call mine an OCD with cleaning.   I can’t stop thinking of all the things I need to get done and organized…some things don’t even make sense but I feel better when it is done.   Poor Bryan, constantly shakes his head and I am sure he is ready for my OCD stage to be over.  We have roughly 5 weeks to go before our little man is here.  Above is a picture of me at 33 weeks (7 1/2 months).  We went to the beach with Bryan’s family for my last little adventure before Elijah is here.   We had a great time a relaxed, as I needed to.  I took lots of naps, spent time with God, ate good Ree-Ree (Bryan’s grandmother) cooking, and hung out at the beach.

 

6 month update

Here I am at 6 months... the belly is continuing to get bigger and bigger!  We are getting excited as Elijah continues to let us know he is there by kicking and moving around.  I think he is going to be a very active boy.  

I personally have been feeling great.  I can't seem to sit still, which drives Bryan crazy. :)

More to come!