It's About Time!

Hello, everybody! Sorry it's taken so long since my last post. I honestly think about writing, but then another week passes. I was looking at this tonight and the kids look SO LITTLE! I decided I had to post some new pictures and let you know what we've been up to.

Like everyone else, we've been really busy, but here are the main reasons I've been absent:

- I returned to school in late May. I started with 12 credits but realized it was too much in addition to working full-time and having two busy boys. So I'm currently still taking 6 credits (online) and will be done the first week of August. I'm studying Elementary Education. The original plan was for me to go full-time to ISU in the fall (hence the 12 credits) but we scrapped that for Plan B. I will try to take part-time classes through a UNI-DMACC program instead.

- Sam turned THREE on May 28!! We had many celebrations for our biggest boy. First, G&G Edmondson brought him a new bike on Memorial Day. (And he LOVES to ride his new bike; thank you G&G E!) His actual birthday was on a Thursday so we ate doughnuts in the morning and he took cupcakes to daycare -- where they made him a special hat and sang "Happy Birthday". That night, Brian, Jake and I took him to Happy Joes to celebrate. He got to play one of his favorite games -- skeeball! He picked out -- imagine this -- a pink baseball bat with his tickets. Then we had a party in conjunction with Scandinavian Days with the rest of the family. Here is a picture of his party at our house and the cake Brian and I made for him. We had so much fun making it!! Thanks to everyone who helped to make his third birthday so memorable. He loves all his presents and can't get enough of his baseballs, bats, and bike!

- We went to Osage Beach at the end of May/first part of June. We had lots of fun with G&G Edmondson, Connie, Kirk and Lukas. Those boys were inseparable and had a blast together. And we even found an arcade with $.10 skeeball!!!!

- We bought an acreage. And I use the word 'acreage' loosely. We bought a little more than three acres of land with a house on it. And the word 'house' may or may not describe the property that sits on the land. It is going to take A LOT of work. A. LOT. We are estimating that nobody has lived there for about four years. Unless you count cats, raccoons and other varmints. We are currently assessing whether or not it's salvagable to rent out until we have the time/energy/money/etc. to bulldoze it. In the meantime it's a nice place to have a campfire. If we cut the 8-foot weeds.

- We went to Omaha last week. Brian had some work meetings, so Sam and I tagged along. Jake got to go to G&G Knoll's. It was fun to have some one-on-one time with Sammy D. He's a different boy when his little brother is not around for him to pick on. We went swimming, to the zoo, out to dinner, etc. And he got to ride on a big charter bus to and from the zoo. I think that was his favorite part! He was one tired little boy at the end of our short trip. But we are so glad we had the chance to spend some quality time with our oldest "little man". (No pictures yet since I used a disposable camera.)

- I've been interviewing for jobs. Haven't been hired yet, but hoping to land one soon. I was in the final two of a company last week, and have a phone interview this week for something that I'm pretty excited about. Keep your fingers crossed! :)

- And, last but not least, Jake started walking on Father's Day! Here's a quick video from last night:

That's about it in a nutshell. I will hopefully be able to post more frequently. I can't wait until the first week of August when school is done!! And Jake's FIRST BIRTHDAY is August 3! YEAH!!! Until then ... hope all is well with you! :)

The Sky is Falling!

I'm actually updating our blog!! Yeah!

So sorry for the long delay in updating this. Much has changed in the past few weeks.

The major changes in a nutshell:

- Brian has lost 20 pounds! (I started a Body Boot Camp on Jan. 5 so we decided to start eating better.) I'm so proud of him -- and lucky to have such a supportive spouse who helped me through this 8-week program!

- I have lost 11 pounds, 7+ inches and gained some muscle. Anyone up for a gun show? I can give you one! My last actual day of Boot Camp was today and I'm sad it's over. I'm about halfway to my goal. The next boot camp starts in May and I can't wait!! In the meantime I plan to train for the Drake Relays half-marathon and Dam to Dam. And now that I've written it on this blog I HAVE to follow through! :)

- My territory for work has grown fairly large (we've had 3 rounds of layoffs since August, so although I'm fortunate to still have a job, my area has grown to compensate for those who were let go ... hence one of the reasons for my absenteeism on this blog!).

- Sam is truly a joy although sometimes he'd rather be a naughty big brother. He is a very sweet little boy who is quick with a hug and kiss and constantly makes us laugh. He loves to say "Idea!" and then proceed to tell us his next grand plan. Some of his favorites include playing catch and lining up and playing with his Matchbox cars. Tonight he was watching TV with Brian while I made supper. He asked if Brian would like to share his blanket. Brian said "no, thank you". To which Sam replied, "good job saying no thank you, Daddy!"

- Jake is movin' and a shakin' like no other! He's army-crawling everywhere and is starting to get up on all fours. His first two teeth are just around the corner, too, as both of his bottom teeth are starting to poke through.

That's about it from here. Sorry to take so long in posting. Hope all is well and I'll try to update this more often. :)

Update

And here I am again, two weeks later! (Told you I wasn't going to make any resolutions I couldn't keep!) The past month has been a little crazy.

Here are a few videos from the last week ...

Happy New Year!

Once again it's been more than two weeks since I've updated this. Time just gets away from us! We switched daycares in early December, and that's taken a little toll on the family -- especially me! Instead of traveling too far for work, I stayed close to home these past few weeks just in case anything came up at the daycare. It's going pretty well; Sam seems to have fun and likes his new buddies. But I am still struggling with thoughts of staying home versus working. We'll see what 2009 brings ...

We celebrated Christmas and family A LOT this year: Knoll side Dec. 19-21; a surprise b-day party for Grandma Yori's 80th on the 21st; Casey's 13th birthday on the 23rd; Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa Yori's; Christmas morning at home followed by lunch at Grandma & Grandpa Edmondson's. Another Christmas for the Burchland family was scheduled for the 27th and was postponed until the 28th due to bad weather. We ended up missing that because Jake was still feeling a bit under the weather. (He had a cold/flu for a few days but I think we're mainly all healthy again!)

And speaking of 2009 ... hope you all had a fun New Year's Eve! We stayed home with the boys and were up by 5:45 the next morning! Happy New Year!! :)

Here are a few pics and videos from the past few weeks ... hope you had Happy Holidays and we look forward to a happy and healthy 2009! Hopefully I'll update this more often, but I'm not making any resolutions I can't keep! :)

Happy 13th Birthday, Casey!

On Saturday night, my cousin Casey had her 13th birthday party. She got to choose what she wanted, and she picked a 50s-themed sock hop! They invited 40 kids and had the party at the elementary school gym. Brian and I were able to stop by on our way home from Christmas shopping. We arrived just in time for the 8 p.m. limbo. Most of the kids were dressed up for the sock hop (poodle skirts, white t's and jeans for boys, etc.). Menu items included burgers and fries, and the cakes looked just like vinyl records! It looked like a lot of fun and we are so happy to be part of this amazing young lady's life. She is a great person. Happy 13th Birthday, Casey!!

Visit To Santa

On Saturday morning, we took the boys to eat breakfast with Santa. Sam was so excited to see Santa, but when we got to the room, he chickened out. Santa finally came up to our table to tickle Sam and ask what he wanted for Christmas. Sam changed his "blue car" request at the last minute to "doughnuts!" (Don't know where that came from, as our breakfast with Santa consisted of eggs, sausage and cinnamon rolls ... which Sam called Tootsie Rolls ... too funny!)

Afterwards, Sam and I went to Santa's Workshop to make some crafts and color. Fun day!

Lincoln, Nebraska-Iowa

I'm finally posting from the past few weeks ... On Dec. 6-7, we rented a van and drove the four of us plus my grandparents to Lincoln, Neb. (Sam calls it Lincoln, Nebraska-Iowa.) My aunt coaches basketball so we usually make more trips there during the season to watch her team play. She and her hubby have a four-year-old son and the boys have a blast playing together. We drove straight to the arena for the Noon tipoff, and when we got there we discovered the boys were dressed exactly the same! (We received the outfit last year from Aunt Connie and it's about the only red one he has without ISU on it!) They had so much fun playing together in their matching outfits! We had a great time visiting with Grandma and Grandpa in the van and Sam had waaay too many snacks! That's what grandparents are for! Thanks for a fun weekend, everyone! Here are some pics and videos from the weekend ...

So Proud

This morning, Brian and I took the boys to a new daycare. Our previous one is closing and it's the only place our boys have ever known. Sam has grown up there, and has made some very good buddies. He absolutely loved playing with them, as well as our provider's older boys who are 11 and 13. He looked up to them and idolized them. So it made this morning extremely difficult for us, especially me. I was dreading taking them someplace new and unfamiliar. It literally hurt my heart.

Last night, we invited our new care provider, her hubby and two boys (2 yrs. and 3 mos.) over for pizza. We wanted them to play together at least once before just leaving him there with unfamiliar people. They had a great time playing cars and trucks and just running around. That was a good sign and eased my anxiety a bit.

Then, this morning, our precious two-and-a-half-year-old did something that brought tears to my eyes. He was ready to go to "Carson and Carter's house". We piled into Brian's car and Sam said that HE wanted to knock on the door. That little dude knocked on the door, went on in and started playing with Carson. He thought Mommy and Daddy would be staying, but when we said we had to go to work, he came over, gave us each a hug and kiss and even made a joke, saying "Bye bye, Pumpkin!"

That little guy made me SO PROUD to be his mom. Even though I can't stop thinking about him and Jake today, I know we are doing the right thing and raising a confident and happy little boy. And that makes me so proud.

Slacker

I haven't posted in awhile so am taking the lazy way out and putting pics in a slideshow. (Weird how having two kids, a full-time job and getting ready for Christmas makes life a bit hectic!) I'll try to post more when I have a little more time. For now, enjoy the pics and we hope you are doing well!

The Other One Talks, Too

Okay, so I've been meaning to post a couple things that Sam has said recently. He's starting to put more words together and it's funny how his little mind works.

Lately we've been talking a lot about where people live. He knows that some of our family lives in "Ankey, Iowa", some in "Altoona, Iowa", others in "Tadinda, Iowa", and so forth. So today at Wal-Mart we saw a large inflatable Santa Claus. Our conversation went something like this:

Sam (excitedly pointing to Santa): "Look, Mommy, Santa!"

Me: "Yeah! Good job, Buddy!" (I was so proud because he'd never called him by name, and last year he was very afraid of him.)

Sam: "Where Santa live, Mommy?"

Me: "The North Pole."

Sam: "North Pole, Iowa."



And one more ...
The other night we were saying prayers. We usually just "God Bless" everyone and call it a night. But we've started doing the sign of the cross now. So I say "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen." A couple nights ago, Sam surprised me by saying it all by himself.

His version: "Father, Son, Holy Shoulder. Amen."

"Happy Thanksgiving"

Here's a quick video of Jake "talking" a couple days ago. I'm sure he's saying "Happy Thanksgiving." :)

(We are amazed at how much he talks, since Sam did not babble very much at all! Although you're not supposed to compare your kids, it's amazing how different they can be!)

We're At It Again ...

Most of you know that we spent almost two straight years demolishing and remodeling our home. Yes, TWO STRAIGHT YEARS. It consumed every spare moment we had. We tore out each and every piece of plaster, re-wired all the rooms, installed insulation, hung drywall, laid tile, etc., etc. Here are some pictures (they are at least 3 years old so some of the rooms have changed again, such as the kids' rooms), but it gives a little glimpse of what we did. These are just a few of the gazillion pictures we have ... and they're a few years old so most are missing furniture, etc., but you get the idea!

And now we are doing the same to the basement. Why, oh why, do we do this to ourselves?? Although the basement is going to be small potatoes compared to the rest of the house ... and we're not doing much drywall or anything too complicated so hopefully it won't take too long ... but now we have two kids ... hmmm ... we might be done in a few years! :)

Kitchen/Dining Room Before (we knocked out the wall in-between)


Kitchen/Dining Room Mid-Job


Kitchen/Dining Room After


Kitchen/Dining Room 2 Before


Kitchen/Dining Room 2 After


Kitchen/Dining Room 3 Before


Kitchen/Dining Room 3 After


Kitchen/Dining Room 4 Before


Kitchen/Dining Room 4 After


Dining Room Before


Dining Room After


Hall Bathroom Before


Hall Bathroom After



Hall Bathroom Before


Hall Bathroom After


Office Before


Office *Almost* After


Office Before


Office After


Guest Room Before


Guest Room After (now Jake's room so different from this pic)


Guest Room Before


Guest Room After


Fireplace Before


Fireplace *Almost* After


Bedroom Walkout Before


Bedroom Walkout After


Master Bathroom Before


Master Bathroom After