We have a climber..

On December 31st, Lizette has surprised us with a new talent. I bet you can guess by the title. It is CLIMBING. She is definitely her father's child. Lizette loves to climb on everything, even with items in her hands. She is so funny. She seems so proud of herself when she has conquered something. It is so amazing watching her change and figuring new stuff out.

(Warning: these pictures may look like the child is endanger, but Tyler is standing next to her, even though you can't see him)

9 MONTHS

So Lizette is now nine months. I know I say this every month, but boy does it FLY BY. I can't believe how big she is now. Each day it seems like she is doing more and more stuff and we are getting to see more of her personality shine through. Her birthday was on the 27th, after Tyler left for his camping trip, Lizette came down with a nasty cold. She was not acting like herself. I decided to take her to the doctor on Friday, just in case. I didn't want to wait until the weekend, just in case if it was something worse then having to go to the emergency room. I figured she needed to get her nine month appointment anyways, so might as well go when she is sick. Lizette now weighs 19 pounds and is now 28 3/4 inches long. And she had a cold and a minor ear infection. I told the doctor that I want to try to put garlic oil in her ear to get rid of the infection besides putting her on antibiotics right away. She wrote me out one anyways, just in case if I needed it over the weekend. I am happy to say that the garlic oil WORKED...

I was suppose to go to 2 wedding receptions, but I didn't go to either. I wasn't really up to taking a sick baby out by myself (since Tyler was gone). I was sad to miss the receptions but such is life with a baby.

Camping Trip of A Lifetime

Tyler has been talking about going hiking at the Sespe Hot Springs for MONTHS. Since it was the holiday week, he really wanted to go. He suckered his brother-in-law, Drew to go with him. After Tyler did the research, it was a 10 mile hike in and out. On Thursday night, Tyler came home after work and got ready for the hike, a couple of minutes Drew showed up and they were off. So this is how his trip went after they left our house. They dropped Tyler's car at the end of the hike and drove Drew's car to the beginning. They weren't able to drive the car in all the way due to an ice lake blocking their path. So that added 4 miles to their hike. They slept in the car on Thursday night. In the morning they ate some oatmeal and left for their adventure. They started hiking in a light rain and Tyler thought he saw a couple snow flakes. In the middle of the first day Tyler got blisters on the heals of his feet. After hiking 14 miles in, they finally reached the Hot Springs at 1 pm. The Hot Springs weren't as cool as they thought. They had a lot of mushy debris in the water that they cleaned out for half an hour before going in. After taking a dip, they checked the map and realized that they had 15.2 miles to hike the next day. So they ate and went to bed. It was really cold. Tyler said he woke up every hour. The next morning. The made the trek back. Tyler was in so much pain with his blisters, after a mile and a half he had to wear his sandals so that his feet could breathe. After hiking for hours, and not being able to stop for lunch they were about 5 miles from the end, they ran out of water. But luckily right before dark they made it back from the car. About 6:30 I received a call from Tyler saying that he was alright.

While Tyler and Drew where gone, Ashley, Chloe, Lizette, and I all had a girls weekend. It was fun. Lizette and Chloe had fun playing with each other, and Ashley and I played Guitar Hero. While the boys were freezing their butts off. The girls were all sleeping in nice warm beds. The next morning we all went out for breakfast. I was really happy that Ashley was at my house for the weekend. I didn't worry as much about my husband until 6:00 pm on Saturday. Ashley and I didn't know what time we needed to call the Search and Rescue Team, but about a half hour later received said call. Thanks Ashley and Chloe for hanging out with us for the weekend....

I also think that Ashley and I should go somewhere for the weekend while leaving the kids with the men... How does Mexico sound???

Lizette's First Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas.. I was so excited and woke up at 7:00. I woke up Tyler, and then we woke Lizette up. We opened Christmas presents. Lizette got a car seat from Santa, which she HATES, but that is for another blog entry. She got a lot of toys, but she was really into the ribbons and wrapping paper. I finally cave in and Tyler got an Xbox360 for Christmas and Guitar Hero III, (this is the first gaming system that we have owned being married) I actually really like playing guitar hero. And I got a tent for Christmas! It is the mothers of all tent. I think that it might even be bigger than our house.. It is an 7 man tent, I believe. We had a 3 man tent, but it seems small with all of Lizette's stuff. I do think it might be a little too big, but we can grow into it.

After opening gifts, Tyler made breakfast while I played Tetris on the Xbox360. We had a nice morning together. Then Tyler went snorkeling with my uncle and cousins, it was really windy so Lizette and I didn't go. In the evening we crashed the Talley Family get together. The Talley's are like Tyler's other family. It was fun catching up with their whole family. It was a great end to a perfect day.

Christmas Eve with the Lassen's

Like every Christmas Eve before, we always spend it with my side of the family, the Lassen's. We always have pork roast, potatoes, gravy, and rolls. As always it was really delicious. Then the kids reenact the Nativity Scene. Lizette was baby Jesus, Since Lizette is the youngest cousin at the time, there was no fighting on who got to play the big role. Lizette was a great Baby Jesus, she didn't move around, she just sat there through the whole program. I also love seeing the little kids dress up. especially the little ones like Leyna & Luke. After the Nativity scene we sang some Christmas songs around the Christmas tree. Then we opened Christmas presents from the gift exchange. I really enjoy spending time with family. I am grateful for family, even though I miss some of my family members that are far away, I am grateful for the family that we do have around us.






Lizette's Christmas dress that she is wearing is the dress that my Mother made for my first Christmas. My Mother gave it to me for a baby shower gift. I need to try to find some pictures of me wearing the dress.

Christy's Delicious Appetizer

This is the appetizer that I made for my family for Christmas Eve. Everyone seemed to love it. My sister-in-law gave me the recipe. It is from Pampered Chef I believe. I didn't know the name of it, so I named it after Christy.... Here is the recipe:

Christy’s Delicious Appetizer

2 pkgs of Pillsbury Crescent rolls
1- 14oz Artichoke in water (drained and chopped)
1- 10oz of frozen chopped spinach
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1- 4oz pkg of crumbled feta cheese
½ cup of diced red pepper
1/3 cup of mayonnaise
2 cloves of garlic (peeled and chopped)
¼ tsp of pepper
1 egg white lightly beaten
2 tbsp on parmesan cheese

Lay the Pillsbury crescent rolls on a round baking stone, make it look like a sun. Then mix everything together but the egg white and Parmesan cheese. Place the mixer in the crescent rolls and fold over. Brush the beaten egg white over the crescent roll, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Place in the over at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes.

The above picture is smaller than this batch makes. I halved the recipe a couple of times when I don't want to make a huge one. It is a great appetizer.

Barton Christmas Party

So this year we moved the Barton Christmas Party to the Sunday before Christmas (December 23rd). Like always it was lots of fun getting together. Mother and Father Barton have one of these Christmas dolls that when you turn it on, it sings a portion of "It's getting Hot Hot Hot", So the night started out with Ashley showing off here steller dance moves. (We are all gearing up for Holly's upcoming wedding.)



Then when we were finished eating, we had a very special visitor... SANTA. Lizette starting crying when she saw him. I didn't know if she was afraid of him, or she thought she was naughty this year and wasn't going to get any presents.



Then we opened presents. Tyler's sister Christy and her family had us this year. Lizette got lots of cute outfits, and Tyler and I got some recipes and some wonderful pampered chef items. I can't wait to try them out. Also, Tyler's oldest sister, Julie, made me something. A couple of weeks when all the sisters got together, she was asking if anyone knew of any cool sayings, and I said, It's Barton not Fartin'. She was so awesome and made it for me. So we put Julie's gift in the bathroom to replace our framed wedding invitation that someone had given us as a wedding gift. I really enjoy the Barton Family get togethers. We always have lots of fun..

OH Chirstmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

So this year we were debating whether or not to get a Christmas tree. We weren't sure if Lizette was going to get into it all the time and eat all the needles. Plus our place is SO tiny, we would have to move the couch outside so the tree would fit. Also our tree that we bought last year was really crappy and we spent $45 on it. But on the other hand, I love the smell of the Christmas trees, and they make it seem like Christmas, and after seeing our friend, Lora's tree, I really wanted one. So on the 21st, we decided to call our friend Adam Kelley, who worked at a tree lot to see how much it would cost for a tree. He told us that it would be $20, so we decided to finally go and get one. Adam was wonderful and gave us a REALLY good deal. I was really excited. On the 22nd we decorated it, and Lizette didn't really get into it that much, and it looks SOOO much better than our tree last year, and the year before that (Tyler cut a branch off of a tree by our apartment...GHETTO)



Here is the Christmas tree that we had last year.



(I can't find a picture of the branch Christmas tree)

High Chair

So we decided that we should set up the highchair and boy has it made it so much easier to feed Lizette. Here is a picture of Lizette eating green beans. I know that it looks like she doesn't like them but she ate the whole jar. She is starting the scrunch up her nose, pucker her lips, while breathing heavily through her nose. It is really funny...

THANK HEAVENS FOR SEVEN ELEVEN & FRIENDS.

About a week ago, my best friend, Katie called and we made a plan that Wednesday the 19th she would come out and we would spend the day together. I don't get to see her all that often, because she lives in Anaheim and life is busy. So I was really looking forward to seeking her. It had been awhile since we had spent the whole day together.

Just my luck, the morning of the 19th, I got really sick. I was throwing up all night. IT WAS HORRIBLE. It has been a long time since I was sick like that. And every time I threw up, I would wake up the baby and Tyler. I probably got about 2 hours of sleep. I called my Auntie Doris in the morning and she brought over a homeopathic medicine, and that stopped me from throwing up, but I still felt like I got hit with a train. Tyler went to work, he usually comes home for lunch everyday, but today he couldn't because his work was having a Christmas Party. So I was alone with my baby for the whole day. I called Katie and told her that I was sick and that she should come out to visit, because I would feel horrible if I got her sick. In true Katie fashion, she didn't listen to me. Instead, she came to my house bringing crackers, sprite, and chicken noodle soup. We put in a Pride and Prejudice (the LONG version) I took some cat naps on the couch while she watched Lizette. After feeding her dinner she went home.

It was so nice of her coming out and taking care of my baby while I rested. I feel really grateful to have such a wonderful friend, who would drive to Camarillo to take care of a sick friend. THANK YOU KATIE FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT FRIEND. I owe you one....

(I feel horrible. I should have taken pictures of you playing with Lizette, but I wasn't thinking. I could just kick myself)

JOHN DEERE

So I finally finished my project a couple of weeks ago. I keep forgetting to post my finished project, so here it is. Lizette's John Deere dress and Tyler's matching tie. I made a blanket for Lizette out of that fabric, and I had so much left over I decided to make a dress for Lizette. Then Tyler wanted me to make him a tie. With directions from my mother-in-law I was able to complete my project. I am happy that it is done. I think it turned out all right. I want to continue to improve my sewing skill, since Lizette can't really complain about what she wears right now she is the perfect person to sew for. So wish me luck on my quest to learn how to sew.
(While we where taking pictures, Lizette was more interested in the grass than anything else.)

Thanksgiving with the Bartons

This year we had Thanksgiving with the Bartons. There was only 25 people over there for dinner. Tyler's siblings: Julie, Scott, Holly, and Ashley and their families. This was our first year in California for Thanksgiving. We usually visit my dad, but this year we visited him in October instead. Lizette had a great Thanksgiving. She LOVES playing with all her cousins, she really hit it off with Chase, Tyler's oldest sister's son. She also always loves her cousin Chloe. Lizette is still learning how to share. She cries when she has to share toys with Chloe. Tyler also took some glamor shots. And it wouldn't be a Barton get together without a competition. This Thanksgiving was a Barton "Fight Club". You had to choose someone to try to wrestle with. If you where larger than the other person then you couldn't use your hands. It was funny to watch. Overall it was a delicious Thanksgiving.

Squash & Bubbles

Lizette is so messy when she eats. It is unbelievable. When I feed her solids she loves to grab her hair and play with it which leads to an ever messier baby. Right now I am only feeding her solids once a day. And usually a bath is soon after the meal. I can't image feeding her solids more than once a day, because that means she will need a bath three times a day. So the other day, after her messy meal, we had no other option than to give her a bath. Tyler really wanted to give her a bubble bath, this was her first one. She loved it. She loved to splash and get bubbles everywhere. She would chew on her frog and get a mouth full of bubbles. We tried for her not to do that, so we finally had to take it away. She also likes the shower head on so she can try to get some water in her mouth. She thinks it is so funny and she laughs.

(You can see her two teeth in the top picture if you click on it to make it bigger)

I am back...

So my internet has been down since Sunday. I have been very sad. I forgot on how much I really on the internet. We have the Verizon Fios internet, and luckily my cousin by marriage, Jeremy works for Verizon. After a couple of days of trying to get someone to come and take a look. I called Jeremy while he was working so he could come and fix it. The first day he tried everything, about 2.5 hours later it was working... Then 20 minutes later it stopped working. He had to go to another job, but he said he would put me down for the next day and I would be first on his work order. So today he came by and in a half an hour it was fixed. I am so happy. I am happy that I have a family connection to Verizon. I would probably still not have internet if it wasn't for Jeremy.

Thanks Jeremy. You are the greatest.

(I have so many postings to do)

Party Palace

So I need to rant for a couple of minutes. Yesterday I opened my front door and I noticed that there were 4 cars parked out in my drive way. I thought that it was really weird and I thought that I would give them a couple of seconds to move. About 45 minutes later I was getting Lizette's things together so we could go run a couple of errands and the 4 trucks were still there. I was really annoyed. I know that Tyler and I live in a ghetto house but who parks in someone else's drive way for almost an hour... It isn't like there isn't room on the street for them to park. I finally asked them to leave because I needed to leave the house. About 15 minutes later they were all gone. I just thought it was so rude. Then I was thinking that maybe they thought that the house was abandoned, but my car was parked out front. I just was really upset that people would do that. I would never park in someone else driveway, only if I get permission..

So our house that we are renting is really little, about 640 sq feet, but at least the rent is cheap (for socal), and I can stay home with Lizette and still work the Dave Ramsey Plan... Someone from my ward told us a story on how he went to a party and it was at our house (about 20 years ago) and his brother threw up on the floor somewhere in the house.. The carpet that was in the house was 25 plus years old. So needless to say we asked for the carpet to be changed shortly after. About a month ago we met some new members who moved into our ward, and they live 2 houses down. I told them that we lived on the same street, I told them that we had the really long gravel driveway. They told me that they were wondering about that house. I told them not to worry that it wasn't a drug dealer's house. And the husband said, don't worry drug dealers have nicer houses, and we laughed, because it is true.

I took a couple of pictures of our house that we are renting. I am standing on the other side of the street with the zoom lense and you can barley see Tyler waving.

Halloween

Yesterday, Tyler came home for work at 6:15 and asked what we were going to be for Halloween. I had no idea, because I have been working hard on finishing my other project. We knew that Lizette had a puppy dog jacket. So Tyler was trying to think of costumes that we could be to match Lizette. And he thought of one. Can anyone guess what it is????

Lizette was a Junk Yard Dog
Tyler was a Junk Yard Owner
and I was someone who has Junk in their TRUNK.
(I wore Tyler's old high school sweats and he stuffed 2 pillows down my pants)

Just like Cristin said. It is horrible having to explain to other people what you are. I am glad that it is over. I just need to think of a better costume for next year so Tyler doesn't have to dress me up...

Awful Lunch

I have been working hard on a "project" the last couple of days. The other day Tyler came home for lunch and asked what he was having. I told him that I was busy and to make his own lunch and this is what he made.

Ingredients:
Carrots
Rice
Spaghetti Sauce
Sliced Chicken Breast
Queso Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Italian Dressing

He ate the hole thing, and he liked it.. I didn't want to try it...

It kind of reminds me of Cristin's experimental meals, expect her meals were NEVER EVER like this.

7 Months

So yesterday was Lizette's seven month birthday. To celebrate we went to visit her cousin, Chloe. They had lots of fun playing together. Lizette would only get mad when someone would steal her toy. But overall it was a very good day. Today Lizette was able to see her friend Milana. She is so cute, but we made them do a baby race. We put Lizette and Milana down the hallway then we opened up our cellphones and called their names to see which one could crawl the fastest. Lizette let Milana have a head start, but at the end Lizette blew Milana away. As you can see in one of the pictures Milana was playing dirty by trying to hold on to Lizette as she passed, but Lizette still passed her. Milana was a sore loser and started to cry. Granted Milana is two days younger than Lizette, but there is no need to cry over it. When we left Milana got over her pride and waved bye to Lizette.

Lizette has changed so much in the last month it is crazy. She is now crawling all over the place. She is getting faster and faster each day. This last Monday Lizette started to sit up all by herself. It is so cute she crawls around and then she will sit up to play with one of her toys. She has also started to wave to people. Last, but not least, Somewhere between last night and Sunday evening Lizette is getting her first tooth. It just broke through her gums. She had a rough night last night but now it makes sense, she is definitely teething. She was a little moody, but besides that she was great. I didn't even give her Tylenol. She is one tough and cute baby.

Here our some pictures of Lizette sitting up, Lizette with Chloe, and the baby race with Milana. I am trying to post a video of her crawling.. Once I figure that out I will upload that.