Sunday, September 26, 2010

Lately


Life:
I know its been a while since our last update, so much so that I've gotten emails from family members asking if everything is okay. Everything is fine, just been very busy! Bevan is back in school, and my "full time" work schedule started the same week Bevan's schooling did.
Even with all the changes in our life, Parker is coping very well. She's such a great girl. Even though I added one more work day to my week, Parker is only with her sitter for about 14 hours/week, so it's working out well. She now goes to a family friend, who has seven children- all of whom are at school, with the exception of one. So when Parker is with "Joo-Loo" (aka Julie), she spends her day playing with Isaac, a four year old little boy who loves everything Parker does-cars, necklaces, and making gigantic messes.

Parker:

As mentioned above, Parker is doing great. She is now 15 and a half months old! She's still the same bright eyed, loving, hyper little girl she's always been- except now she talks more, and is getting VERY opinionated. I'm going to try and remember everything she can say now, but I'm sure I will miss a few:

Mama

Dadda
Dog
Kitty
Bad Dog ("dad dog")
Bad Kitty ("dad kitty")
No No
Snack ("nak")
Get down
Bye Bye
Night Night
Thor ("toe")
Doomsday ("dooms" or "do-day")
Babe (the name of our kitty)
Nana
Julie
More
Please ( but doesn't say it very often, YET)
Thank you ( she says this constantly, which is sooooo cute.)

I think that's about it. She's started the phase of doing everything on her own. She does NOT want any help when it comes to anything she's doing- or thinks she can do. This includes feeding herself, putting on shoes and pants, washing herself in the bath, and figuring out her toys.
She's still our little lovable social butterfly, and loves other little kids. It doesn't matter if she knows them or not....she will give them a hug and a kiss. She now is up to 12 teeth, and loves to eat whatever mommy and daddy is eating.

Baby #2
I am now almost 16 weeks along, and feeling much better. I had morning sickness all the way up until about 14 weeks. I still feel pretty sick in the mornings if I didn't eat a whole lot the night before. So I try to remember to have a little snack before bed so I don't wake up sick. We did a gender check a few days ago, but the little stinker wouldn't cooperate. It was sleeping, and had its hind end up in the corner. When we would try and wake it up, it would either cross its legs, or put its hand in front of what we were trying to see. So as of right now, we just have to wait. We're going to try and check again this week (that's the beauty of working for a hospital...).
But everything is checking out well, and it seems to be developing right on schedule for a March 14th due date. ( In case I forgot to mention, my due date got moved back by 3 days.)

That's pretty much everything that's going on in the Burnell household. I will try sooo very hard to keep this updated...but in case I don't- see you in a few months. ;)

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Update!

Just a quick update on the baby. I am actually much farther along than I thought. My first trimester will be over in about a week.
So far everything is checking out good, and my due date is March 11.
For those of you who don't know, March 11th is Bevan and I's anniversary.
So this baby is supposed to make its appearance on our 5th!
After hearing that from my doctor, it completely made me realize that this was totally meant to be.
Until next time~

We're at it again

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Much to our surprise...Bevan and I found out last Tuesday that we're PREGNANT again. Well, I am pregnant if you want to be technical. Maybe one day I'll tell you the story of finding out, but for now we're still in too much shock. This will be our last baby, and when the 9 months is over and done with- one of us is getting fixed. We're not sure who its going to be yet...but we do know it's going to happen. We're just not "big family" type people- and for those of you who know how to pull it off, you're my hero.
We don't know how far along I am, and we obviously don't know the due date yet. We're hoping to get that answer next week at my first doctors appointment. But if I were to guess based on everything...I would say about 5-6 weeks along.
Regardless of the "surprise", we are extremely thrilled and happy that our munchkins will be close in age (almost exactly 2 years apart.) We know it will be hard in the beginning, and there a lot of unknowns we still have to figure out- but ultimately we just want a healthy baby.
And if the Big Guy is up there listening...we wouldn't mind a boy either. ;)

I'll love you forever

Monday, June 21, 2010

***After I wrote this, I realized that it was a very personal post. I know that I'm kind of putting myself out there- but I've been thinking about it a lot lately. In ten years from now, I'll want to be able to remember this- the good and the bad- because that's life.

Ever since Parker turned a year old, I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on the past year. It's amazing to me how much she's changed. But not only that, it's amazing how much I've changed, and how much our marriage has changed.

I remember the night before I was supposed to be induced. Bevan and I were sitting on the couch, and I started crying. I told him that I was a little sad because it would no longer just be the two of us. But he said to me, "I know, Jess. It's going to be great, it's going to be just the three of us." From that point forward, I was very calm. Even when I went into labor at home in the middle of the night, I was calm. However, that morning when Bevan woke up at 6:30 AM ( we were supposed to be at the hospital at 7 AM to be induced)- he was NOT calm. When I told him how I had been feeling, and what my body had been doing- he was amazed that I didn't come and wake him up.
"You're in LABOR, Jessica!" he told me. But what in the hell did I know? It was my first baby!

A few hours, and a few pushes later- she was here. As soon as she came out, I started crying.
I was overwhelmed with happiness, and shock. It's such a surreal moment when you realize you're life has officially, and forever- changed.

The day after we brought her home, postpartum depression set in. And I don't know if I'm supposed to talk about this, because I don't think its politically correct- but I've never really been one to care about that sort of thing.
Looking back, I probably should have taken something for it. It affected me much worse than I was ever prepared to admit. But at the time- I only cared about breastfeeding my baby- and I knew taking a prescription for the PPD could possibly affect that.
Those 4-6 weeks after giving birth were probably the worst weeks of my life. I was walking around in a complete cloudy, dark haze. I couldn't sleep- even if my baby was sleeping. I couldn't think, and put together a complete thought.
And the worst part of all : I knew I loved my baby, but I could not feel it.
I felt nothing, other than sorry for myself. I cried, and cried, and cried because I knew it wasn't supposed to be like that.

To this day, I have a LOT of guilt for knowing that I was somewhat detached from my baby during those weeks. I know it's through no fault of my own, and it's a "natural" part of giving birth, and it was all to blame on the PPD. But that doesn't matter to me. I never ever, ever want Parker to think I don't or didn't love her- and I should have done something about it.

But after a while- it finally lifted, and it was the most amazing moment of my life. I remember going to get her in the middle of the night to feed her. As I was sitting on the couch, looking down and watching her eat- I felt this overwhelming sense of joy and love. I know this is cliche- but I literally thought my heart was going to burst with how much I loved her.
It's so hard to describe, other than it's the most pure, unfaltering love I've ever felt for anyone.
And it's been that way ever since.
To see her smile, laugh, crawl, walk, babble, and learn have been some of the best moments of my life.




She has brought Bevan and I even closer than I thought possible. She has made us a team.
In the beginning, I had a hard time leaving her with anyone, even Bevan. I had her on a schedule, and I didn't think anyone else would be able to follow it- or take care of her like I could. But I finally realized it didn't matter. He took care of her, and was so very happy to do so.
He's so patient, and kind, and loving with her.
He never gets frustrated, and lives to make her laugh.
I know I am bias, but he's honestly the best dad I've ever met. Three days a week, she stays home with him while I go to work, and he often tells me how much he loves his days at home with her.



This past year has been the best year of my life. Of course we've had hard days, sleepless nights, and frustrating moments. But I would never take back a single minute.
She has been the greatest joy- and honestly- the hardest thing I've ever done.

But more importantly, she has made us a family.
We are all bonded together, for all time and eternity- and I would never want it any other way.





To the most beautiful, charismatic, strong-willed, intelligent, and loving little girl I've ever met:

I'll love you forever.
I'll like you for always.
As long as I'm living,
My baby you'll be.

First Birthday!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Warning: There are a LOT of pictures.

Yesterday we celebrated Parker's first birthday with family and friends. Since Parker is a HUGE lover of the outdoors, I decided to rent a shelter at one of our local parks. Parker got spoiled rotten with lots of books, clothes, and toys- and she even got her first real taste of sugary drinks, and cake.
These pictures are WAY out of order...but you'll get the idea.

One of her favorite presents was this rocking horse pony from my dad. I, however, do NOT enjoy this toy because it's theme song is now permanently stuck in my head. "I'm a little pony...klippity-klop...klippity klop."

There were four babies there for Parker to play with, but she was more interested in seeing what the adults were doing.
Although she did try and take a rock from one a little girl she didn't know, and then cried when the little girl didn't give it up.
She may have met her match.

Parker and her great Grandma ( or Oma as we all call her.)

The most exciting part of the party ( for me atleast) was the food because it gave me a chance to try out some new recipes I had been eying. I made some Smores Cupcakes, Oreo cream cheese brownies, Texas cavier, and a citrus punch.

She liked pulling things out of the bags, but beyond that- she wasn't interested.
She was more into picking up rocks and pine cones.

Parker, Aunt Mara, Kaya, Lily, McKenna, and Oma

Happy FIRST BIRTHDAY Parker Mae Mae!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Birthday Pictures {Work in Progress}

Parker turns ONE in a week from tomorrow- and since she's the cutest baby to ever exist- I knew that I wanted to pass out some ONE year pictures with her birthday invites. Instead of spending the money to get them professionally done- I decided to try and take some at home.
I'm not crazy about the way they've turned out thus far- but...it's still a work in progress. I'm not sure I like the background, and I'm not sure I like the chair- I think it's a little too big. I also had to bribe her with a strawberry in order to get her to stay in the chair- which is why she's stained red from head to toe. Oh well. I guess that's the fun part about only being a year old.

Just a little update

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Hello blog readers( like four of you...). It's been a long time.
This time my excuse is not because I'm lazy, its because we haven't had any blog worthy events going on . We're just living.
So Parker is now 11 and a half months old. Crazy. We'll be celebrating her birthday, an "Owl" themed party on June 19th, which is about a week and half after her actual birthday- but June is a busy month for us. We figure this is the only time we can celebrate her birthday whenever, and she won't really care.
At 11 and half months, she's a talking, walking, joke-cracking little toots. This age is SO much fun. She also has 5 teeth, with three more coming in. She's got a head full of sometimes curly, sometimes frizzy hair- and she's still the best thing to ever happen to us.

For those who are interested- she can now say...

• Mama
• Dada
• Dog
• Kitty
• Yeah
• No
• Bye-Bye
• Thank you (tot-too)
• Goat

We think in this picture, she was trading stocks or something. She was "talking" on two "phones" (remote controls), and was walking around barking orders. She kept saying, " YAH! yah! "


Also, the weekend of mother's day- we found out we would be adding a new addition to our family.
NO, I'm not preggers, are you crazy!?

We actually adopted a fully blind cat. Her name is Babe, and she's a beautiful, sweet cat- and we're more than happy to have her.

( I couldn't get the picture to turn, so just cock your head to the left, and you can see Babe in all of her glory.)

Easter

Monday, April 5, 2010

This year Easter was so much fun with the little one around. It was fun for a number of reasons. One being that Bevan and I have never been very religious. (I never really grew up with a strong religious background- and Bevan was actually baptized and raised LDS- but later on decided it wasn't for him.)
But now that Parker is here- we both feel like it's important to teach her about our Heavenly Father- and maybe give her what I never really had. She's still very young- but one of the things we got her was a book on prayers. When she started tearing out her Easter basket goodies- the book was one of the first things she grabbed. Bevan started reading it to her- and she actually sat to listen to it for 5 minutes- which is unusual for her :) She still obviously has a lot to learn- but...atleast it's a start. And Two being that we got to spend the day with our family-which is always nice.

She also got jammies in her basket ( lame, I know. But this is like the only year I can give her jammies, and have her be excited about it. She likes to rub soft clothes on her face. :) But she's growing like a weed, and was on the verge of sleeping naked- so the Easter Bunny stepped in.

After Parker opened her basket- she got dressed in her best duds- and we headed over to Bevan's moms house so Parker and the other 3 little girls could par take in some old fashion fun of banging empty eggs together, and chasing around dogs.

These are what the Easter Bunny brought my mother & sister in law- reversible Spring and Easter blocks. What can I say, the bunny must have been bored one day, and had a lot of blocks on hand.