Days go by....

Smiling away in his bouncey seat (his favorite).

Katelyn insisted I take this picture of her "doing ballet."


Brady LOVES his bath time! This hammock is the best invention ever! He just lays there and really can't go anywhere.

This is how we do bathtime at home...get them both done at the same time. This bath time has lead to many discussions about girl part and boy parts....

Holy moly, Brady is 10 weeks old already!! I just do not know where the time goes. I say that to myself everyday...it's noon already, where did the morning go?...how can it be 10pm already???.... I just can't stand how quickly this is all going. I know it's because Brady is our last baby and I just want to savor every second with him and it's all going so quickly. Part of life, I guess. Brady is now cooing and even has a little giggle started. Every once in a while he even takes a big breath in and screeches. He's getting stronger and can hold his head up on his own now and does well with his tummy time. So far, we've avoided a flat head and that bald spot babies get on the back of their heads. His skin seems to break-out in little bumps often, not sure if it's the heat or just some baby acne. We've fallen into a great routine...wakes for the first time around 5:30am for a feeding, then goes back to sleep until 8am. Eats and is very awake until around 10:30...eats again and naps. Another feeding around 1pm and takes his long nap until approx 5-6pm. Eats and then is awake until bed time, about 10pm. Repeat. Brady is gaining lots of weight (I think we're up to a triple chin) and is just the sweetest baby. If every baby was like this, honestly I'd have a dozen more :-) Well, that's a bit much, especially after seeing that "17 kids and counting..." show last night!! I've started calling Brady "dreamboat" because he's just such a dream baby! I was so nervous I'd have a fussy baby because Katelyn was also a good baby and every warned me, "wait unitl your next one..." He does have his moments occaisionally (last night at church group he screamed so loudly...poor guy had such a bad burp!) and he does get a bit cranky at night before bed when he's tired, but other than that I'm telling you he is soooo good. Makes life soooo much easier!!


Katelyn is doing great this week. She is excellent in school and her teacher told me today she is ready for kindergarten. Too bad she has such a late birthday...we have a whole additional year of preschool next year before she can start. She really enjoys her preschool at our church and loves getting the responsibility of being line leader, snack helper, and today she was the caboose, ("I have to make sure everybody stays in the line!!").


Jealousy does come through on occasion and that is not pretty. She had a complete meltdown last week while we were out at Chuck E. Cheese and then out for a pizza lunch with friends. I thought it would help to do something fun with her friends, but instead she just couldn't handle it and had several tantrums. It was a VERY challenging day. Once we were home and she was in bed for a nap, I stood in my pantry (not sure why) and just cried. I struggle with balancing my time between the two of them and often I feel like it's Brady who gets the short end of the stick. I didn't know how easy it was to just have one child! I know every mom struggles with this, but it's still so hard. Some days go so smoothly and I think, this is okay, I can handle this and other day (like the meltdown day) I think it's nearly impossible. I've just realized you have to take it one hour at a time...

Universal Studios

Here we are with Beetlejuice....I spilled coffee on my white t-shirt within an hour of being in the park...errr! And yes, my boobs are still ginormous.

Katelyn in the gift shop after the mummy ride in some Egyptian head gear.

K and B togehter outside the simpsons ride (the ride made me want to puke).

On Saturday, we decided to do something fun and get out of the house for the day. We have annual passes to Universal/Islands of Adventure and we've only used them once (when I was VERY pregnant in July...not such a fun experience!). I wasn't sure how Katelyn would do without a nap or how Brady would do in his stroller all day, but to me it was worth the risk...I wanted to get out and ride some rides!! The weather was awesome, although a bit hot in the sun and it was a little crowded, but we had a great time. Brady was an absolute champ in his stroller and would doze off and on during the day and when he was awake would just look around quietly. When we waited in lines, he was content being held, although Bryan and I had to pass him back and forth because our arms would burn....he is getting HEAVY! Katelyn was also great...no meltdowns and she had so much fun. One thing we learned is to hold Barney over her head (there is a little Barney Land in Universal). Anytime trouble would start, all we had to say was, "do you want to see Barney?" and trouble ended. Bryan and I took advantage of the Child Swap program, where they have an area with benches near the ride where one parent waits with the kids and the other rides, then you switch. Some rides even let parents cut in line to do this. We were able to walk right onto the mummy ride (awesome!!). There's a great Irish pub in the park where we eat and drink everytime we're there and we had our picture taken with the Beetlejuice Revue. I was able to ride the kiddie coaster with Katelyn and we had a blast, but the poor kid...once we did reach Barney...they locked his doors and she never did get into his playground. But she handled it well :-)

Finally, some pictures!!

Michelle, Mom, Brady, and Ali after B's bath. They stayed with me while Bryan was in Ft. Myers for the weekend celebrating Andy's bachelor party. Ali was kicked out of her house since that's where the party was being held, Michelle's financee was the guest of honor at the bachelor party, and mom came to help us out.

Brother and sister having a snuggle before bed...




Sleeping Brady...








Mom holding Brady. Is there anything cuter than a baby snuggled in a hooded blanket? I wish I had smell-vision so you could just smell the baby lotion and shampoo...mmm...











Brady and Katelyn laying on her bed before story time.









School project...decorate the cut-out to look like you. We dressed it in an Ohio State cheerleading outfit and made pom-poms. Here's K with her twin.






Close-up of our project.



More homework :-) K had practice writing Bb's. This one worksheet took us A LONG time because K was so stubborn about getting it done. We're in trouble if we're already having issues doing hw in preschool....

Just can't keep up...

I've turned into such a bad blogger since Brady arrived! And I have so much to say everyday and just don't seem to have an opportunity to sit and blog at all. I honestly don't know where the hours go during the day. It's not like I have anything to show for all the time that goes by...I don't cook elaborate dinners or bake desserts from scratch. My house is tidy, but not super-clean, and there's always of e-mails in my inbox to respond to or voice mails waiting to be returned. Please be patient with me :-) This adjustment from one, pretty independent child, to two children (one totally relying on me for his every need) has thrown me for a loop. I was warned and warned again that life would be v. different once Brady arrived, but until you live it, I don't think you can truly understand. It's hard to explain...it's not terribly difficult, just extremely time-consuming and exhausting. I'm very lucky because Brady is such a good sleeper and has been from day one. He's also an excellent eater...so excellent that he drains me dry and sometimes has more formula in a day than breastmilk because I just can't keep up with him. Also, I have them napping at the same time almost every day, so that does give me a break. It's barely enough time to eat lunch, clean up, and cat nap on the couch before one of them is awake, but it's still a break and I truly enjoy the silence. It's just been a big adjustment. It's hard to ever imagine there being any time or energy left for me (will I ever scrapbook again???), but I know there will be and I hate to wish away these early weeks with Brady. I know how quickly it flies by!!
So, in a nutshell, here's what's been going on in the Burless House since my last blog:
Brady is now 11 lbs. and had his first round of shots this week (he's 8wks old now). He did pretty well, just screamed during the actual pricks and later when his tylenol wore off. Poor little guy had a double ear infection and cold 2 wks. ago, very early to start all that. The pediatrician warned me that ear infections may "be his thing" and we could be looking at tubes in his ears later. We'll see!! He is smiling so much now and is cooing. He only cries when he's hungry (and you better feed him fast!!) or when there's a burp ready.
Katelyn is still so busy! She's become obsessed with "I Spy" books and "If you give a mouse a cookie." The cartoon "Arthur" has become her new favorite. Funny things she's been saying, "Mom, you're a genius!!", "sometimes you have to zip your lips at rest time" (and she tries to demonstrate), "it's fun to have a baby brother. Thank you God." Her birthday is coming up next month and she wants a Dora/Diego party and has been asking everyone for a pogo stick. Turns out Tigger bounces around on one and she thinks it looks quite fun. We've all told her it's too dangerous, but she's persistent!! It's like "A Christmas Story" when the boy wants his beebee gun. Please NO ONE get her a pogo stick!! We'll be in the ER!
Bryan has been busy with work and weddings and bacheor parties and football....etc. We're finally both back home this weekend. It's been quite hectic.
I need to pick up K from school, but I'll post pictures soon.

Time is flying by....

Oh my goodness....it's been 6 weeks already since Brady was born! He is growing so quickly, I can't stand it. He's outgrown all the little newborn clothes and is more alert these days. He loves to be in his bouncey chair and look around and he also loves to lay on the floor under his baby gym and swat the toys that hang above him. Overall, he's an excellent baby! He does spoil very easily and gets used to being held. After the long weekend at my parents where he was passed around and held much more than at home, we had to re-train him once we got home. He wasn't happy, but re-adjusted. Right now, he sleeps 11pm-4 or 5 am, then back to sleep until 8am. After a feeding (had some issues with nursing last week...he was going through a growth spurt and was eating constantly and I didn't have enough milk to satisfy him. He's doing much better now!), he stays up and plays until his next feeding, around 10:30-11am. Then he takes a v. long nap, waking briefly for a feeding at 3:30. He has another stretch of awake time in the evening, 5pm until bedtime, around 10pm. He used to be so fussy at this time, but he seems to be coming out of that. Yay! We had a pedatirician appt. next week, but my guess is he weighs over 10lbs already. His cheeks and belly are so full and he has little rolls on his upper thigh. The best development since my last blog is his smile!! I'll be holding him and feel him looking at me, when I turn to him I just see this big, goofy smile. He's particularly happy in the mornings and grins away. So sweet!!

Katelyn is also doing well. She is busy at school 2x a week and her behavior has been excellent at school...no time outs at all yet! She's made lots of friends and is the teacher's helper. Today she was "snack helper" which she told me means she passes out napkins to all the kids. A very important job!! We're still dealing with her excess energy...I think we'll be dealing with that for the rest of our lives :-)

Crazy side-note: Casey Anthony's family (little girl Caylee has been missing for months now) lives around the corner from us! I see their car around town and today was even driving next to them down the highway. They are doing a search for Caylee down the road from us. Such a sad story.

We had a wonderful weekend in Tampa and celebrated Michelle's bridal shower at a tea room in St. Pete. We all drank so much tea, I thought we'd float home! Everything was delicious and it was fun to dress up in crazy hats. Michelle got lots of great gifts and my sister Jenny was able to fly in from Denver to join us. Great to see Jenny! Wish she still lived here. Brady was the only boy attending and he slept the whole time in his stroller (except for the very beginning when he was crying and I changed his diaper in the stroller and he decided to spray me, himself, his cute little outfit, and hose down his stroller!).

Have to go make dinner before Brady wakes up from his long nap!