Swingin'

Can you believe how big this guy is getting?!

He is growing up too fast.

I want time to stand steal!

I don't want to miss a thing.

I feel like I am missing so much.

He is LOADED with energy.

He needs a 30 to 45 minute cat nap

then he is good to go for hours

WIDE OPEN!

He literally wears me out on a daily basis.

I wouldn't change a thing.

I don't know where it came from

he has been nicknamed

"Monkey Man"

since birth.

Little did we know how true that nickname would be.

He is our "monkey."

I sure have fallen for him.

He has stolen my heart.

There is something about a momma and her baby boy.

For anyone wondering.....Aubrey will be blogged about next...... Barrett rarely sleeps so I have more time to take pictures of him ! :)

One

Barrett - my sweet baby boy. When we found out we were having a boy we were so happy. The closer it got to your due date I became terrified. I was so madly in love with your sister, I wasn't sure I had enough room in my heart for one more.

Tuesday February 24th came. They handed me my 8lb 8oz baby boy and I immediately melted. You fit in our family like the missing puzzle piece.

Your sister fell in love with you at first sight. She has helped so much. You love her just as much - before you could crawl you would get so upset when she left the room. Once you learned how to crawl you began following her all around the house and she loves it. We are so blessed to have you both.



The joy that you have brought into our house is like no other. Your sweet smile and laughter are contagious. There isn't one person that has met you that didn't fall in love within seconds. I pray that you always have this joy!


I pray that God will continue to bless everything your hands do and everywhere your feet take you. That you will allow God to use you however he chooses.... that you fall in love with your heavenly father as much has you have fallen in love with your earthly father.


My favorite part of the day is putting you to bed. Rocking you to sleep - continuing to rock even after you have fallen asleep. Singing & talking to you, praying for you, and just watching you sleep.

In the last few months I have learned to stop, take everything in, enjoy the moment, live in the moment, quit trying to "train" you, quit worrying about schedules and letting you be the free spirit that God created you to be.

You ware me out on a daily basis, most of the time I am 3 steps behind you and you have already unrolled the toilet paper - I don't know why that makes you so happy but it does. Sometimes I let you get to the toilet paper just because I love to see that incredible smile.


I have realized by watching your sister grow up that "this" is only a season and I don't want to miss one second of it. I want to savor every day with you and your sister.


You are now ONE and I can't believe it.

I have enjoyed every second and can't wait to watch you grow....

I can't wait to see what God has in store for you.

As it's been said many times before,

the days may be long,

but the years are short!

Songs

I know it has been awhile since I have blogged..... who has time to blog when there is Facebook? :)

I was putting Barrett down for his nap alittle while ago, singing his songs like normal when all of a sudden I started tearing up. I sing one of the same songs my mom sang to me. It goes like this

When Jesus sent you to us we loved you from the start
You were just a bit of sunshine from heaven to our heart
Not just another baby for since the world began
There’s been something very special for you in His plan

That’s why He made you special
You’re the only one of your kind
God gave you a body and a bright healthy mind
He has a special purpose that He wants you to find
So He made you something special
You're the only one of your kind

Oh how I pray that both of my children sing the same song to their children one day.....

Andy and I have talked about Barrett being our last baby. I have always said I wanted to have two and adopt two. Now that there is a possibility of no more babies being around the house it makes me want to squeeze mine alittle tighter and pay more attention to the small things that we all tend to forget.

Aubrey was a very scheduled baby, she didn't function well if things were changed up in her day. She is still pretty scheduled and that is mainly because that is how she likes it. She never wanted to sleep in the bed with Andy and I, trust me on the nights she was sick and we were all exhausted I would have done ANYTHING to get her to just lay down with us but that wouldn't happen. I counted my self lucky, she went to bed at 8:00 and Andy and I could have some "us" time. I have to admit it was nice..... we could either collapse on the couch or get some stuff done around the house without a little one at our feet. It feels like I blinked my eyes and my baby girl grew up! Now, if she is in bed before I get home I go get in bed with her for alittle while.... She will only be 3 once..... I don't want to miss out on anything! Just like the song says - Aubrey is Special, one of a kind.

Barrett then made his way into the world a sweet cuddly baby boy who captured this moms heart from day one. I had always heard that little boys and their mom's had a special connection, that is so true! He LOVES to get in the bed with Andy and I, as soon as I lay him down he reaches his hand out and as soon as he touches me, he relaxes. It is the sweetest thing. Used to I would have freaked out about that..... now, I cherish it. He won't always sleep with me, he won't be 16 still cuddled between Andy and I. He probably won't even like us when he is 16! For now, I will enjoy it, I will continue to put him in his bed at 8:00 and most nights get up in the middle of the night when he calls for me, scoop him up, love and kiss on him all the way to our bed, and sleep the rest of the night by our little "monkey man." The best part about the whole thing is waking up the next morning, Andy is gone to work, Aubrey is eating her cereal and watching her cartoons (routine) and I get to roll over to a gap toothed smile, as soon as his eyes meet mine he literally attacks me, climbing all over me and giggling. Today, I will choose to cherish that. Once again just like the song - Barrett is Special, one of a kind.

Andy and I have talked about and planned on adopting since before we were even engaged. That was one of the things on my list for my future husband. I wanted for him to have a heart for adoption like I do. I remember talking to him about it.... actually I think all I said was "before we get to serious I need to know that if we get married you agree to adopt atleast two children." He looked at me kindof crazy and said "Sure." That was all I needed. Before we had children I remember discussing if we wanted to adopt first or try to get pregnant first..... we were still in the process of talking about it when I surprisingly got pregnant with Aubrey. God answered our question. Now, the talk is actually serious. We have had our two babies.... I don't mean within the next year but there needs to be some serious prayer going on for when. There are days that I think, "what if my other children are already out there somewhere?" God please protect them! The mother is definitely already out there. God please protect her! Yes, we know it is expensive. We are trusting God. Yes, we know there are some emotional factors with some adopted children. We are trusting God. We don't have all the answers BUT we are trusting God. God could lead us to start this process within the next year or he may wait for 10 more years. We are trusting God.

No matter what happens next, if we change our mind and have one more baby or if we start filling out paper work for our next child we want to be right in the center of God's plan.

Just because I don't like to blog without a picture.... :)

Pigtails

She is getting SOO big SOO fast....

I love how she loves life, loves to dance and LOVES to sing

Four

I can't belive my baby boy is four months old. He is actually almost 5 months old but I am just now getting around to posting. He has grown so much! At his 4 month appt he weighed, 17 lbs, he was 27 inches long and in the 90th percentile in all of the stats.

I have fallen madly in love with this little guy.

He steals the heart of anyone around him.

He loves watching his big sister.


When you pay him attention he gets extremely excited, and squeals with happiness at the top of his lungs!

I just love to see his big smile



When he sees someone coming his way he starts throwing his fist in the air and kicking his feet as hard as he can, it is like he is trying to run to you.

He is so perfect in every way, and has been the perfect addition to our family. Our family is complete with this special little man.

We made the blog...

So my sweet friend Samantha took family photos of Andy, me, & the kids a few weeks ago and we made it on her blog.... check us out! (click on out, for some reason it is showing up the same color as all the other font.) If you would like to see more then visit her webpage (click on webpage.) click on enter portraits and then go to proofing beside view gallery type in Stewart if you want to see the whole Warren clan. That is right ALL 10 of us. That photo shoot is a story in itself. We had to have the picture taken THAT day because Julia & Ronnie were going back home and Jonathan was leaving in a week. There was a tornado coming literally like 15 minutes away but we HAD to get the shot. My sweet friend Samantha with husband and kids in tow snapped these fantastic shots and some how made us all look like we weren't running around like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off!!! We will all cherish those pictures forever!! If you want to see the shoot she did a week later of our little family of four then type in Stewart1. I hope you enjoy! While you are there take a look around her site, she is fantastic.

Jen

Is this REALLY my baby girl?!?

I mean could she look anymore like a big girl?

Speechless.....

Three

I can't believe my baby girl is Three! Where does the time go?

I am madly in love with this little girl!

Her love for life and joy is contagious!

I pray that she will grow to be a Godly woman

and that she will always be this full of JOY!

The Singer

Aubrey got "The Jesus Storybook Bible Every Story Whispers His Name." for Christmas. We read one story at bedtime every night. The other night I was reading to her and although I have read about the sparrow in the bible, to read it at this time in our life and on such a simple level it literally brought tears to my eyes. I thought I would share the story with everyone.

The Singer
The Sermon on the Mount, from Matthew 6,9, and Like 12

Wherever Jesus went, lots of people went, too. They loved being near him. Old people. Young people. All kinds of people came to see Jesus. Sick people. Well people. Happy people. Sad people. And worried people. Lots of them. Worrying about lots of things.

What if we don't have enough food? Or clothes? Or supposed we run out of money? What if there isn't enough? And everything goes wrong? And we won't be all right? What then?

When Jesus saw all the people, his heart was filled with love for them. They were like a little flock of sheep that didn't have a shepherd to take care of them. So Jesus sat them all down and he talked to them.

The people sat quietly on the grassy mountainside and listened. From where they sat, they could see the blue lake glittering below them and little fishing boars coming in from a night's catch. The spring air was fresh and clear.

"See those birds over there?" Jesus said. Everyone looked. Little sparrows were pecking at seeds along the stony path.

"Where do they get their food? Perhaps they have pantries all stocked up? Cabinets full of food?"

Everyone laughed - who's ever seen a bird with a bag of groceries?

"No," Jesus said. "They don't need to worry about that . Because God knows what they need and he feeds them."

"And what about these wild flowers?"

Everyone looked. All around them floweres were growing. Anemones, daisies, pure white lilies.

"Where do they get their lovely clothes? Do they make them? Or do they go to work every day so they can buy them? Do they have closets full of clothes?"

Everyone laughed again - who's ever seen a flower putting on a dress?

"No," Jesus said. "They don't need to worry about that because God clothes them in royal robes of splendor! Not even a kind is that well dressed!"

They had never met a king but, as they gazed out over the lake, glittering and sparkling below them, the hillsides dressed in reds, purples, and golds, they felt a great burden lift from their hearts. They could not imagine anything more beautiful.

"Little flock," Jesus said, "you are more important than birds! More important than flowers! The birds and the flowers don't sit and worry about things. And God doesn't want his children to worry either. God loves to look after the birds and the flowers. And he loves to look after you, too."

Jesus knew that God would always love and watch over the world he had made - everything in it - birds, flowers, trees, animals, everything! And, most of all, his children.

Even though people had forgotten, the birds and the flowers hadn't forgotten - they still knew their song. It was the song all of God's creation had sung to him from the very beginning. It was the song people's hearts were made to sing: "God made us. He loves us. He is very pleased with us." It was why Jesus had come into the world: to sing them that wonderful song; to sing it not only with his voice, but with his whole life - so that God's children could remember it and join in and sing it, too.

Two

Our little guy is two months old!
I love watching him laugh,

at times I will turn upside down on my head

to convince that little mouth to smile at me.

He has everyone around him wrapped around his finger,
including his big sister!
He loves to lay in Aubrey's bed after nap time and "talk" to us.

I can't believe how time is flying and as much as I

want to see him grow up I also want time to stand still!

Things seem to be moving entirely to fast

but we will enjoy every minute of it together,

as a family of four.

My beautiful family

The first picture of the four of us together that

I will allow to be on my blog. :)

I couldn't believe that Aubrey was actually looking at the camera,

half smiling, I don't look like I have been wrestling with her,

and we all look half way put together.

I am learning the more I take pictures of her

the harder it is to take pictures of her.

She HATES to have her picture made and

most of the time will not acknowledge me

when I have a camera.

Today she allowed us a few pictures before falling apart.

I just love my sweet little family!

In a few weeks my sweet friend Samantha from His Hands Photographs is going to photograph my whole side of the family. Jonathan is leaving for Afghanistan in a few months so Julia & Ronnie are coming in town for a weekend to spend with him before he leaves. I contacted Samantha and she agreed to a session with Mom & Dad, Julia & Ronnie, Jonathan & Brantley, Me and Andy, Aubrey &Barrett. Whew! That makes me tired just thinking about that. Did I mention the only time that worked out for us is on a Saturday morning at 8:00am AND the same day as Aubrey's birthday party? Samantha, you will never know what a blessing you are for providing my family with your beautiful photographs!

Kris Allen TOP9 "Ain't No Sunshine" [iTunes downloads week night] - American Idol 2009 March 31

Kris rocked last night!!!!

T-Ball and a TuTu

Just in case you weren't quite sure if Aubrey was mine.....

She may be all girl but she can swing a bat

The TuTu doesn't even get in the way

She sure knows how to make her mom proud :)

So excited about her accomplishment!

One Month Old

So our little man is now one month old!!

Can you believe it!?!?
He has changed so much and we love him more today than we did yesterday!