Christmas Round 4...

Monday night we had Ashley and Chad over for dinner.  I made tacos, since I am the resident Mexican it seemed fitting (and because who doesn't like tacos?).  I LOVE the chicken for the tacos.. it's super easy to make in the crockpot and they are so yummy.  Anyway, we had a great evening.  It was nice to hang out in a low key setting after traveling and running around before Christmas!  and to Burke's delight they brought him a present.  I think it may win the award for Burke's favorite this year..

talking nonstop in "munchkin" language about his grill...

he got so excited about the knobs, there was no need to unwrap it anymore

I think the only thing he would like better about it, is if he could fit inside!

He absolutely loves his grill!  He loves the knobs and trying to get it in more than anything :)  This, his Thomas set and pirate ship are the only three toys he continuously wants to play with.  Thanks Ash and Chad! We had a great night!

We are having a busy week.. but it's going well.  This is Burke's last week of daycare (mommy and burke are very sad!), so I am working everyday and trying to get some things done.  I'm also trying to get my class ready for this semester (which I haven't even started planning), get decorations put away, clean the house, purge and get ready for our trip.  That's right!  We leave in 7 days!!!! I'm so excited!  We also seem to have plans every night this week to have dinner with friends and family!  It's great to have so many friends.. who knew we were that cool? I think really they just like Burke ;)

Have a good week!!

Our Christmas Fun!

We had a GREAT Christmas this year!  Burke was old enough to kind of get it.  He doesn't get the idea of Santa or any of that (although he did get the Little People Nativity set so we can start learning!) but he definitely got into opening the gifts!

We left on Wednesday afternoon to head to Richmond.  We were a little worried about leaving, because Burke was up all night Tuesday night throwing up, but he seemed completely normal Wednesday, so we decided to venture on (at nap time of course!).  We got to Richmond in time to hit Chickfila for dinner, then run by the grocery store and try to get Burke down for a normal bed time.  Burke LOVES his Grandma, Grandpa (who calls him "Hokie Boy" and he responds to it?) and Aunts.  They all treat him like royalty and spoil him rotten (within reason).  It's so nice to be there because Burke loves everyone and I'm comfortable letting him run around like a mad man and know someone will be watching him (even if I'm not).   Thursday we had a pretty quiet day.  We ran a few errands and then ate so yummy Mexican for dinner!  One of the best parts of going home is eating Mom's mexican!

Friday, Christmas Eve we headed over to Brian's Mom's for lunch.  Brian was up all the night before with a migraine and throwing up, so wasn't feeling great.  We had a great time with Brian's family.  Burke warmed up to his Mom and Stepdad and we enjoyed some yummy lasagna for lunch!  We exchanged gifts and Burke loves his new movie!  He loves the cars and he wore his new outfit today!  Brian and I got a really nice griddler.  I can't wait for Brian to cook something for me :)  After lunch, we couldn't stay long because we needed to get Burke back for a nap before Christmas Eve dinner with my family.  Burke doesn't sleep well when we travel, so I do try really hard to keep him on some sort of schedule.  Although, it doesn't always work out for me. 

We had dinner with my family and aunts and uncles.  It's nice to see everyone and eat Mom's enchiladas.. YUM!  We had a really nice evening.  Brian and I talked about starting a new family tradition and opening a new game for the family to play on Christmas Eve.  We said it would be a great way to reconnect and wind down on Christmas Eve.. well we never did anything, but Brian surprised us all with a game!  We spent the evening (after Burke was in bed) playing Catch Phrase.  We had so much fun playing with my sisters!  AND Brian and I won!!

Santa seemed to find his way to my parent's place and brought Burke his three gifts... Santa only brings three, because Jesus got three gifts from the Wise Men.  But between Mom, us and Santa, Burke made out!  Burke got up at 5:20am?!? WHAT!?  It was quite an early morning.. but it took him to about 6:30am to make his way to play with the open gifts... Then he was all about his farm and kitchen!  My sisters finally got up and made it over, so we did the rest about 8am.

 

After gifts and breakfast, Burke and Daddy took a nap, while I watched some TV.  Brian and I ALWAYS go to a movie on Christmas.  It started with my family years ago.. We would want to get out of the house and head to the movies.  We usually do Christmas Eve dinner, so we don't do Christmas day.  It's actually kind of nice and a fun little tradition.  This year, Mom and the Aunts watched Burke so Brian and I could go see Harry Potter!  It's only the 3rd movie I have seen since Burke was born!?! and Mom/Dad have watched him both times (he went with us to the first one.. MISTAKE)!  After the movie, we came home to news of lots of snow.. We ended up decided to head back to Blacksburg a day early to miss the worst of it.  We were packed and out of the house in 25 min.. IMPRESSIVE!  

Today was pretty relaxing, although Burke was a bit of a bear... Nice to visit family, but GREAT to be home!!  We had a great Christmas, hope you did too!

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! 

Burke had a great Christmas!  Although it was his second, it was much better than his first :)  He really got into opening the gifts and everyone enjoyed watching him.. I'll post more tomorrow.. but wanted to say Merry Christmas!

Getting ready for Christmas!

So we have had a pretty good week getting ready for Christmas!

Last week we got some snow so we had two snow days from work.  It was really nice two have to solid days with Burke without anywhere to really be.  It also rolled into a low stress weekend, which was super nice! We did a lot of family stuff and a little shopping!

I've been trying really hard to do more fun, family, crafts, etc activities with Burke.  He is starting to get addicted to Sprout so I thought it was time to cut the TV time.. He does really enjoy stickers, so we've been doing that a lot.  But since we had some snow days, I was trying to come up with some things to do with him.. On Thursday, we made homemade salt and flour ornaments.  I envisioned something totally different, but it worked.  I thought he would really enjoy playing with the dough and getting dirty, but he really wanted NOTHING to do with it!  He ended up building forts and wrestling with daddy.. Guess you could say he is all boy?? I ended up making the ornaments.  After they were "coooked" and cooled, I let Burke do the painting...

On friday, we went out for some fun with friends!  We went to the mall to a pottery painting place with Ashley, Kristen, Kassidy and Kolin.  It was a fun little outing.. Again, Burke wasn't too interested in the painting, he preferred riding in the cars!

   

After our painting, we went to lunch at the Mexican place in the mall.  Burke LOVED the cheese dip.  These pictures DO NOT do justice to how much he loved it.  Ashley has an awesome video of him licking the plate to get every little bit! I'll post it if I get my hands on it!

On Saturday, we had another "free" day.. It was the FIRST weekend where we didn't have to work or do anything planned (football games, traveling, etc).  It was SO nice to have an unexpected family day and lunch with friends!  We went over to the Inn at VT to look at the hall of trees.  Various organization decorate trees and they are on display.  Burke was really just more interested in running up and down the hall than looking at trees!  I did enjoy some though! 

After the Inn, we met the Olmsteads for lunch.  I failed to take pictures at lunch, but we exchanged gifts and Burke LOVES his!  He got a pirate megablocks set that he will not stop playing with!  Finally a toy he likes!! THANKS OLMSTEADS!

Just because I love him :)

We were playing a little peekabo/hide and seek...

On Sunday, we decided to try out the new indoor pool in C'burg.  It's an amazing facility!  They have three different LARGE pools.  There is a fun, splash pool with a beach entry (no steps is great for a toddler!) and water slide.  It's pretty fun and has a lot of water features.. The only problem is, there is nowhere Burke could really stand and not get splashed from all the features.. But we had fun anyway!  They also have a warm water therapy pool.  It's designed for water therapy, etc, but they let babies and adults in!  It was a very calm and nice pool for Burke to splash around in.  He really seemed to like his pool adventure!  The third pool is a competition pool.  We didn't actually go in, but they have a 50 meter by 25 yard competition pool (HUGE) with a large diving well with platforms and all.  It's actually VTs competition/practice pool..
 

Getting ready to go home.. Somebody looks tired!

Sunday night, we went out to dinner with Dave to visit.  We don't seem him much anymore, but it was great to go out.. And Burke loves playing with him! 

On Monday night, we headed to Megan and Travis's to exchange Christmas gifts.. It was the first time in a while that we all got to hang with Hutch, so that was great!  It's always a fun night when you put the three boys together!  W & E LOVE Burke and definitely look out for him.  I love having them in our lives!

Wyatt noticed that I had brought Burke pjs (so I could change him before we left), so him and Ethan immediately had to put on theirs.  I ended up putting Burke in his, so we had "christmas morning" pictures!

What we have to look forward to in years to come :) 

We had a really great time with friends this weekend!  I can't wait to get home and spend time with family!!

Positive..

Because I was so incredibly negative yesterday, I decided I should follow up today!

I/We had a great day today.  No snow came (YES!!) and Santa Brunch was GREAT!  We didn't have any mess ups (okay one family, but it wasn't my fault!).  Santa had enough gifts for everyone (huge relief there!) and it is SO fun to see the kids!  Burke didn't make it for pictures, b/c Brian is swamped with work.. getting more letters after your name is not easy.. especially when you have to do intensive research projects, work full time, have to deal with a crazy wife, and toddler!  But we had a good day...

When I made it home from work.. Burke and I went out to Target and to run some errands.. really just to get out of the house so Brian could have a quiet place to work :)  I even called on our way home and asked if it was okay to come home.  Brian is one day away from this semester being over and we are both looking forward to a month of quiet (and vacation!).

We have a sitter coming tomorrow so we can go to my work Christmas party and then out friends.. so I spent ALL night cleaning (I'm a little type A) and I still have A LOT of laundry left.. But I am so excited to go out!! This is actually our first in-home sitter ever!  We usually have Chad/Ashley or Megan/Travis keep him, but since we all work together we have a sitter coming over.  I love Sarah and she was Burke's daycare teacher, so I know it will be fine, but I felt a need to get my crazy dirty house finally cleaned up!  Hopefully, Sarah won't judge our dirt filled place (because the upstairs still needs work and its already 11p) :)

Have a good Monday!!

Out of Control...

DISCLAIMER:  I'm going to rant and complain.  Feel free to skip this post!

 Basically, our life has become crazy busy and out of control!  I worked EVERY day AND night this week, babysat 3 of the nights and even got a sitter while I babysit one night (yes.. that's right), and worked ALL day today and have to work ALL day tomorrow.  This is on top of the fact that Brian has worked most nights and is in the middle of exams and paper/project central!  We had a daycare bombshell dropped on us today (yeah, not good) and I'm pretty much ready to explode!  Neither of us have gone for a run since before Thanksgiving and are supposed to run a half marathon in less than a month!  I am SOOOO ready for vacation!  Santa brunch is tomorrow at work.  Things will slow down after this (I HOPE!).  Last year I made Brian bring Burke to get a picture with Santa and this year I'm too lazy to even care.  Burke doesn't have a Christmas outfit yet (although he does have a christmas tshirt) and I'm not sure if I will even buy him one.  Am I a bad mom if I decide not get a Santa picture? I'll probably regret it when he's like 10 or 18 or something.. but right now I'm not caring about it..  and if that's not enough.. it's supposed to snow/ice tomorrow morning which means Santa brunch would move to next weekend.. meaning I would have to redo A LOT of things and work next weekend too.. NO SNOW PLEASE!

We've just had one of those months.. I wish I could say day or week, but really its been a month.. Here's to tomorrow being a new day and things looking up!!!

You think he's spoiled?!?

 

Simply because it's funny:

 

This morning I was opening new toys for Mom's Morning Out (at work).. Burke was playing with the new toys as I pulled them out (and was loving it!!)... when I was done he looked at me very seriously and said "more? please!"...  Two new toys just weren't enough! 

 

How do they learn so early!?!?!? My 17 month old is ROTTEN!

 

Christmas morning should be funny!!

17 Months?!?

I'm never on time these days.. So why would I be for his 17 month post?!?

At 17 months old:

- Burke is about 22 lbs and finally wearing 12-18 months clothes and a size 3 diaper
- Is in to EVERYTHING!  He's all about running and doing whatever we tell him not to :)
- His favorite foods are bread, cheese, ANY fruits, waffles, pancakes and creamy chicken and noodles.. Still not a huge fan proteins, but we finally found some chicken he likes!
- Loves using utensils to eat.. Especially a fork!
- His vocabulary: mama, more, mo (milk), dat (that with pointing), dada, and hot.. he's babbling and trying to say more words.. you can hear him making sounds to try and put things together.. won't be long!
- He loves to read books.  His favorite are the touch and feel books, but he LOVES Peek a Who, Wild Animals Touch and Feel, Fall Touch and Feel, and Goodnight Moon
- He still is super attached to me.. He'll cry every time we go to daycare (but he bounces back pretty quickly) or if I go anywhere without.. He loves his daddy a lot too :)
- Sleeps about 111-12 hours at night and takes a good 2-3 hour nap...

We love him more everyday!  He knows how to get what he wants (yes, he's spoiled rotten)!  He has us wrapped around his little finger, for sure!

Weekend!

So we had a FABULOUS weekend!  After the previous one, we deserved it!!!

We had our first snow of the season.  As most of you know, I don't really enjoy snow.  I pretty much don't like cold and find snow to just be an annoyance.  I did like missing school as a kid, but Mom and Dad always said if  it was too bad for school it was too bad to go anywhere, which I didn't like... :) But even with snow I think we got tons done!!!

Saturday, we got up and headed out to do some things.  I wanted to get most of the Christmas shopping done and I think we did pretty good!  We made it to the mall, Old Navy, dollar tree, and walmart AND had lunch all before nap time.  While Burke took a nap, I went to Target and Brian got the decorations down.  Then we were able to get most of the tree up before Burke woke up (3 hour naps are AWESOME!).  We got the tree up and Burke loves it.  He keeps looking at in awww and then says "hot"  Basically, anything bright, steaming (even from cold) or something you shouldn't touch is "hot."  It's super cute.  I bought some shatterproof balls so Burke wouldn't break all of my decorations, but it seems after day one, he's not too interested in pulling everything off.

Last night we put Burke down and then watched the Hokies win the ACC Championship!!!!  It was a great game and nice to enjoy it from the comfort of our home.  I even got a lot of Christmas presents wrapped and under the tree.  It was a super productive day!

We headed to Red Robin for lunch and Burke had his first taste of ketchup.  He pretty much loves it! He basically ate ketchup for lunch, with a few bites of french fry.

 

Today I had to work all day, but we went out for breakfast first.  We love Cracker Barrell, so that's where we usually spend Sunday mornings :)  Then I had to go into work.  Since it snowed yesterday (and today) the roads weren't great, but I made it in and enjoyed an afternoon of making gingerbread houses with the kiddos.  After work, Burke and I headed out for more errands and really so Daddy could do some school work in a quiet house :)

We had a great weekend!  Hope you did too!!

It's Thursday, December 2!!

So... Today I have come to the realization that I am no super mom or woman.. It's December 2nd and I am not even close to finishing Christmas decorating (let's be honest.. I haven't even started!), shopping, wrapping, or baking.. I haven't even sent my Christmas cards yet!  Okay.. so you all think I'm crazy to be annoyed that I'm not done.. But USUALLY by Thanksgiving or the Sunday after.. ALL OF THESE ARE DONE!  I didn't even order our Christmas card until this week!  We haven't pulled down any boxes of decorations and I'm going to Target when Burke wakes up to get some gifts (but not finish) and THAT'S OKAY!  Having a baby/toddler makes you realize the important things, which is spending time together and stop to listen to the music (I never liked Christmas music before this year?!?).  I'm trying to take it slow with a smile on my face.. and am SO excited about the Christmas season (AND maybe because we are going to Disney World in January!) :)

Merry Christmas!!

Groupon

I'm going to put in my plug for Groupon.. I fell in love today.. Basically, its a couponing site.. I know quite a few people who have used it, but never done it myself.  Today I saw a deal I couldn't pass up and signed up!  Basically, you put in your closest city and they send you daily deals for that city.  It is usually local shops and is usually something like buy a $50 gift card for $25, $20 worth or product for $10, etc.  But you can buy from any city (you just have to search and find).  The closest city to us is Richmond (Roanoke is coming soon), but they have online deals too.  Today I was able to buy someone a $50 gift card for an online retailer for $25.  What a deal!!  I don't want to reveal it, because it's a Christmas gift.. BUT it's a good thing :) I've seen the same thing for GAP and some other major retailers.

It's pretty much awesome and EVERYONE should sign up!  Ashley was telling Google just recently bought it and it's basically the fasting growing company ever... People want DEALS!  So basically, I am telling you to RUN over and sign up right now!

It has taken me weeks, maybe even months, to find a deal I couldn't pass up, but it's worth it AND it's FREE to sign up.  I highly suggest you check out Groupon and really consider signing up!

Click here to sign up!

Our First Family Thanksgiving..

This year for Thanksgiving Brian, Burke and I stayed in town very unexpectedly.  We were planning on heading to Lynchburg to see all of his family, but I was feeling pretty bad on Thursday morning so we decided it would be best to stay here.  We had a great little family thanksgiving and our first.  I would venture to say it will definitely NOT be our last :)  We enjoyed the quiet and the peaceful sounds of nothing :) We definitely missed our families, but it was sort of nice to just be us.

Since I wasn't feeling well, Brian (and Burke) made Thanksgiving lunch for us.  Since we both don't like turkey, he made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls.  It was pretty yummy.. We napped in the afternoon (a Thanksgiving Day MUST!) then went for a walk and enjoyed the park in the afternoon. It was a little chilly, but I think we all enjoyed getting out for a bit.

Friday, we only made it to three stores for shopping.  Spent very little money (that's a good thing, right?), then headed home.  We didn't leave the house again until Sunday for breakfast!  I don't think that EVER happens!  We watched VT kill UVA on Saturday, which was so nice!  I was a little sad, we skipped the game, but sick, cold and toddler don't really go well together!  Sunday, we went out for some breakfast, Target and then hung around the house with some football.  Overall a VERY quiet weekend for us :)

I haven't taken a ton of pictures lately, but I'll give you this one :)

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

A Blast from the Past! Wedding Slide Show FOUND! :)