Snow, Snow, Go Away

Yes, we have about a million more inches of snow.. I can say I enjoy the stuck at home day, but I know we will be itching to get out tomorrow!  I think it's time to find a bigger house for our family of 3 :)  Anyone have about $100,00 we can have (notice I did NOT say borrow ;) )?  Anyway, we're doing fine just snowed in.. Burke is still coughing, but doing much better...

 Yesterday, we went and hung out with Wyatt and Ethan.. They absolutely LOVE Burke.. When it was time to leave, Wyatt asked if they could keep Burke, my response was "no, can i keep ethan?" and he said "sure, let's trade.." oh brothers :)

Wyatt loves Burke so much :)

Different child...

It's amazing what a day can do!  Burke is a very happy baby today.. a few breathing treatments and he is a totally different kid!!  We had a great night, Burke slept great and had very little coughing.. I took him in to the doctor and was told he couldn't believe it was the same kid and wouldn't take credit for his miraculous recovery!  We have to continue giving him the breathing treatments to keep him on the up for about a week, but everything looks great.. Yippy!!  Now we will probably go through this each time he has a bad cold, but we will be able to just call in the meds, which is nice!  And no more trips to the doc this go round...

Sick baby

Yes... It's official.. We have a sick baby.. He's had cold like symptoms since he went for his well-visit on Thursday (of course!), but his cough has gotten gross and he's had a low-grade fever... so I decided to take him in to the MD today just to check it out.. and we has RSV! Not at all what we wanted to hear.. poor little guy now gets breathing treatments every 4 hours and we get to go back to the MD everyday.. here's to hoping he is on the up side and not downward!! Although, he's been much happier today and playing more than yesterday, so that's a good sign! No worries though.. we'll keep you posted!

Pictures..

I mentioned we went to Bull and Bones for the big game (in which I had NO idea who was even playing.. what happened to me?? I used to love NFL.. then I became a Hokie!).. here are a few pics.. I wanted you to see Burke's Godfather (one of them.. he's so cool he has two).. who loves him so much and was showing him off to all the bartender's who all loved him too :)  He's quite the ladies man...

Burke's attention is on the pretty girl behind the bar..

They both love fingers.. so Burke is sharing with Dave..

Mommy's favorite guys...

Weekend Festivities...

Is it really already Sunday night?? I don't think we have stopped moving for the weekend to be here! 

First thing Saturday morning I was up and at work for a big carnival birthday party.  We had so much fun planning it and decorating and it went over great.. it was for two 4 year olds!!  There were moonbounces, carnival "booths", a clown and facepainting.  I totally need to start a bday planning party! 

Burke helped set-up for the carnival...

We then headed straight to the VT Mens basketball.  We love going and the Odom's are so nice to let us join them (and they are front row seats!)... It was a great game, although a little stressful at the end.. The Hokies won!!  But I have to say, the best part was at half time when a student MADE THE HALF COURT SHOT and won $10,000!!! We should have him on our team!!

Owen and the Hokie Bird!

Family picture at the Basketball Game.. Horrible picture of me and my hair doesn't look good.. but you can see I got it all chopped off :)

We fed Burke his first bites of green beans, which seemed to go over well. 

I was then on my way back to work, where we only had two kids, but thanks to Ashley I got LOTS of work done!! 

This morning we woke up, went out for lunch (still using cash!!) and then Burke and I went to hang out with Owen for the afternoon. We played a little with thomas the train and practiced rolling over lots..  I was about to start dinner when we got a call to go to Bull and Bones for the football game and dinner.. We decided to hold on the chicken and meet some friends for dinner.  Now that there is no smoking in restaurants/bars, we can go out with our friends again!  Yes, we pretty much used all our cash in one day, but it was well worth it!

And now it's all over... another week starting...

How could I forget?

Burke finally mastered rolling from back to front today!! He has done it a couple of times, but today he was rolling around a good 6-7 times in a row this morning, then again for daddy tonight.. SUPER exciting :)

Then he had his first taste of carrots tonight.. I think he really liked it!  Although he spit up A LOT this evening!

6 month weigh in

Socks are so yummy....

So we had our 6 month weigh in today... We're weighing in at 13lbs 9oz (not on the charts) 26.5 inches (50th percentile) and head circumfrance is 16.75in (25th percentile).   He's getting so big, but not big enough :(  Stapleton says he needs more kcals, so we get to get back to fortifying.. BOO! and back next month for another weight check.. I thought we were past it, but I guess not!! But when I did tell him daddy was tall and skinny, he said that probably explained it!  Other than that, we got 6 vaccines.. another big BOO!!  And I have been given strict orders to not diet (no problem there!!) and feed him whenever he wakes up at night.. and was told.. "we are going to have major sleep problems when he gets older" Thanks Doc! Evidently at his age, he should be sleeping through the night, but at his size he should be eating about every 4-6 hours..
Here's your MD visit pic :)

Another day and another night of no sleep..

So Burke is back to his "I'd rather hang out than sleep" nights and boy is it lovely.. I don't think I've had more than 3 straight hours of sleep in days and I'm soooo tired.. I just keeping telling myself I will miss these days when he is bigger.  I absolutely love cuddling with him, just wish we could cuddle during the day and not in the middle of the night.  So.. that's my moaning for now :)

On a positive note, we are doing great.  Yesterday, Brian was off for MLK day so he kept Burke while I was at work.  I came home in the afternoon, hung out for a bit then cooked dinner and actually worked out!! I'm no exagerating when I say I couldn't even remember how to turn on the treadmill!  But either way, I walked for 30 minutes, did some crunches and felt like I actually accomplished something!!

Today, Burke and I made it to work.. We had camp today since the kids are out of school and it definitely seemed to drag on.. Brian picked up Burke for their normal Tuesday night daddy/son time and I worked some more (gotta love 13 hour work days!!).  So overall a good two days.. just hoping for some sleep tonight!

Swagbucks...

So I thought I would tell everyone about swagbucks, since I absolutely love it and we have already gotten $45 in amazon gift cards so far.

Swagbucks is a great online search engine that rewards you for searching online. When I heard about it, I was a little skepitcal, but since I am ALWAYS online, I figured I'd look into it. I read a lot of savings blogs and everything I read said great things about it.. People earn enough in Swagbucks to receive hundreds of dollars in gift cards.


After much investigation I decided to give it a shot. Swagbucks is very simple to sign up for. In fact, it takes all of about one minute. There are no fees, no credit card required, and no phone number or address requested.

After that, you are credited points to your account and then download the toolbar and every day as you're searching online, you earn a few more points. I'm a big gift card person and after only 45 or so points, you can get a free Amazon gift card. Or at 50 points, you can get a Starbucks gift card. There are dozens of other prizes, too.

I love it so far!  We are saving all our amazon gift cards to buy Brian a new monintor.. So what are you waiting for??? Go sign up here.


People have asked about swagbucks so I thought I'd answer here...

In MY opinion, the easiest and best way to use swagbucks is to download the toolbar and do searches that way. You just need to follow the directions on the swagbucks site and it will appear in your internet window (like a google search box).

Just leave a comment if you have anymore questions!

Wonderful Weekend!

So we had an absolutely wonderful weekend at home!  It was so nice to have no place to be and enjoy some family time without worrying about needing to be some place!!!!  We went out Saturday morning to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. YUM!  We are doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace/Envelope System and had a great first week.  We had $25 left in our stash of eating out so decided to go out for breakfast.  Going out is nothing new to us, I swear there were many weeks we would go out EVERY day, but with our new budget, that won't be happening, so we appreciate it so much more...  When we sat down at 10:30 and looked at the menu, Brian said, "WHAT no lunch?!... Oh yeah, I love breakfast.." He's CRAZY! We enjoyed a great breakfast and stuffed ourselves.  We then headed home.. since we were out of money and talked about going for a walk, etc.  Instead, I enjoyed a little snooze, while Burke did and Brian played some video games.  Brian put Burke down for his afternoon nap and when I got him up this is how he looked...

Brian informed me that he took his jeans off since it would be uncomfortable to sleep in them, but it was too much work to take off his shoes (you may notice they velcro).. Once again.. he's CRAZY! :)

When Burke woke up (an hour and a half nap in his own bed!! that's huge), we were headed out to eat for dinner (yes, we were breaking the rules, but we had our grocery money we never spent... so I was going to cave ;)) when we talked to Susan and Matt.. so instead of going out, we ordered in and hung out... We love hanging out with them, and Abbey (she's almost 3) keeps us well entertained! Natalie and Burke love playing together!

So we had some yummy PK's (pretty fast delivery too!) and enjoyed some quality family/friend time. 

Sunday morning was a little rough, but we made it :)  Burke chose to stay up all night Saturday night, but I forced us to make it to church this morning.  Once again, he was SO good during Mass.  Monica held him without a peep for about 30-45 min, then handed him over to me, where he just fell asleep without any problem!  When we got home, we played some and Brian finally rolled out of bed :) As soon as he was up, I ran out to the grocery store.  When I got home, we made some lunch, while Burke napped and enjoyed all of 20 minutes of quiet (maybe closer to 45 min).  When he woke up, we headed out to Old Navy for their AWESOME sale!  EXTRA 50% all the clearance items.  Burke got lots of new clothes and pjs (next two sizes up, he needs NO MORE 3-6 months clothes)! But you can't pass up $2 jeans and cute pjs!! And I may have gotten a couple of new sweaters.  (We went over our budgeted misc. cash envelope by about $10, but it was well worth it!)  We then headed to Target for some new lotion for Burke, Johnson and Johnson and Aveeno are just not cutting it for his dry skin!  After Target, we headed home and enjoyed a somewhat quiet afternoon (minus the fact Burke didn't really have a decent nap and was pretty crabby).  I cooked lasagna for dinner and Burke had peas again.. so there you have it.. Our weekend :)

FINALLY NEW CAMERA!!

So we saved all of our Target gift cards to buy a new camera and we finally have it!! I'm so excited :)

When did he get so big?

He's so cute :)

As you can see... he can sit now on his own for about 10-30 seconds at a time.. progress!

BIG BIG DAY!

We had such a great day!  After a miserable night of no sleep, I forced myself to make it to church with Burke.  Not knowing how it would go.. Burke is getting older and harder to take and keep quiet for an hour!  He's a great baby, but of course likes to talk or fuss during the homily or other quiet times (never during songs?!?).  Well, church went GREAT! Burke just sat on my lap/hip and looked around until he got tired (nap time) and put his head on my shoulder and went right to sleep!  He slept through the rest of mass.  What a GREAT baby we have!  We then came home... I made breakfast and then was playing with Burke for a bit before heading to work, when he rolled onto his belly. This was our first time from back to belly (although he immediately went back to his back).  I was so excited I scooped him up and ran upstairs to tell Brian (no he would not perform for daddy).  Then while playing some more, he sat for a good 30-45 seconds all by himself!  (pictures to follow).  So it was a great morning.  I headed to work and Brian and Burke enjoyed some bonding this afternoon. 

Well, today Brian and I started our financial makeover (yes Dave Ramsey has come into our lives).  Hopefully it helps us save money and pay off our student loans, so we can buy a bigger house and have more kids!!

Christmas..

Yes Christmas was a couple of weeks ago, but I am finally getting around to blogging about it.. We had a great trip to Richmond.  We headed out on Wednesday towards Richmond for an extended weekend.  We got there around 2 on Wednesday and spent the afternoon eating (Giovanni's - YUM!) and hanging out at my parents house.  I was hoping to spend the day with my mom, but she ended up having to work (a telephone building burnt down and people were without phone - couldn't even call 911, thus she HAD to work!).  We ejoyed a day of nothing and relaxed.  Brian enjoyed an afternoon of PS3 with Kaitlin.  On Thursday (Christmas Eve), Mom, Burke and I did some last minute grocery shopping and picked up a few gifts in the morning.  Brian, Burke and I headed out in the afternoon to pick up a few more things for mom, since she ran out of time.  It wasn't actually has bed as I thought on Christmas Eve!  We enjoyed the traditional Christmas Eve dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn and green enchiladas (yes, yes thats right!). 

Friday morning we woke and had breakfast, then started opening gifts.  It was a great morning and Burke's First!  He had no idea what was going on, but got lots of new toys, books and clothes! Another quiet day with lots of visitors (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) and Brian headed to Tim's for the weekend. 

Saturday we headed out to Amelia (about an hour from my parents) to visit Brian's mom and brothers.  It was a nice visit.  We spent the afternoon talking, eating and opening gifts.  It was nice to see everyone and Burke loved hanging out with his aunt and uncles!

PENGUINS!

LONG DAY!

Sunday Mom, Kaitlin, Burke and I headed to Williamsburg for a little shopping and Busch Gardens fun!  I bought Burke way too many clothes!  We ate at Unos for lunch (huge disappointment - bad service and okay food).. Then headed to Busch Gardens for Christmas Town.  They had a few rides open and lots of lights!  We got to see penguins from the Texas Sea World!! It was a nice little trip, but next year they definitely need to expand!

Monday we hung out then headed back to Blacksburg.  All in all it was a nice trip, but we have already decided next year, we are not traveling!  Who knew traveling with a 6 month old meant bringing so much gear?!? Christmas in Blacksburg next year!

www.idontlikepeas.me

www.idontlikepeas.me is what Burke's bib said tonight (coincidence!) and he had his first bite of peas.. I think its very fitting...

6 months old! Where did the time go?!?

So today is the 12th day of Christmas (the wisemen finally got to Jesus) and also Burke's 6 month birthday! What a GREAT day!  Burke received a gift/book to celebrate the 12th day of Christmas today.  A great tradition to help spread out the holidays and help us all to remember what its about (no not the gifts!)!
Brian and I are celebrating this great day with a date night (2nd one in 6 months!) tonight, so a quick post is what you get!...

At 6 months old Burke is:

- about 13.5 lbs, in size 1-2 diapers and wears 3-6 months clothes (still some 0-3 months, especially pants!)
- smiles, talks and laughs lots!
- has mastered rolling from tummy to back
- still not sleeping through the night but doing much better!
- finally found his feet
- can sit up for about 10 seconds on his own
- loves interacting with people and is very curious/serious when out
- loves playing in his jumper
- is down to two solid naps per day and an evening cat nap
- loves cereal - eats it for dinner most every  night

WOW! What a year!

So I will get around to talking about Christmas one of these days, and hopefully post some pics, but I thought I would welcome in the New Year with a little look back over the last year and last decade!

June 2000 - I graduated from HIgh School! 2010 sounded soooo very far away.  Kaitlin (my little sister) will graduate this June and I remember thinking that would be forever! 
August 2000 - I entered Virginia Tech!!
September 2001 - Brian and I met and never looked back!
May 2002 - I started working at Blacksburg Country Club
 - I'm sure some random things happened in there :)
May 2004 - I graduated from VT
May 2005 - Brian graduated from VT and we took our first vacation together - DISNEY WORLD!
Spring 2006 - Brian started working full-time at the Smart Road (had been working there part-time for a couple years)
May 2006 - I graduated AGAIN (Masters Degree)
December 2006 - We got ENGAGED!!
May 2007 - I graduated AGAIN this time from my Internship!
September 2007 - We got married!
March 2008 - Bought our first house
December 6, 2008 - Found out we were expecting! (and the Hokies won the ACC Championship - GREAT DAY!)
January 2009 - Went on our first Cruise! (Disney of course) and ran a 5k through Animal Kingdom
July 6, 2009 - Burke very unexpectedly came 5.5 weeks early!!

What a year it has been!  We started out the year with a cruise and trip to Disney.  This was a trip we had planned back in August and were very excited about!  We decided to train (which we didn't do) for a 5k (which we did do) happening in Disney World while we were there.  We found out about a month before leaving that Burke would be joining us in August!  A few changes to the itenerary and we were off on a great vacation!  We spent the Spring getting ready for the arrival of the little man, which as many of you know, we had no idea if it was a boy or girl?!  Luckily we were basically ready when he arrived 5.5 weeks early.  My water broke June 27 and I got to sit in the hospital until Burke made his appearance on July 6!  He has been a great addition to our family.  We have had so much fun getting to know him and learning how to raise a baby!  We had great holidays in Richmond visiting family and ended the year with a Hokie win!  What more could you want!??

Here's to a great 2010!