Happy Thanksgiving ...Merry Christmas...Happy New Year...Yada..yada..yada

Once again it has been a while. I have gone back to work and my kiddos are being pretty good to me! I was ready for all the fall and winter breaks though!

Thanksgiving...we introduced Mattie to our little Family tradition of the YMCA Turkey Trot. She managed to sleep all the way through it! Shea, who usually likes to do his "big runnin'" opted for a ride on the stroller this year. He and Kaci had a great time at the petting zoo after the run. They also enjoyed beating the hell out of each other! At one point we had to ban shoes from them both or we were going to be making a stop by the emergency room.

Christmas came and went so fast my head is still spinning. We were here, there, and everywhere for almost a week. Poor Shea thought Santa didn't come because it didn't snow. They really need to start making "A Christmas in Texas/Arizona/Hawaii" type holiday programs! Once again, Santa was quite good to all of us (apparently the recession didn't hurt him too bad)! Evan Mattie was quite excited by all the presents. We were excited to see all the family who we haven't seen in a while.

Happy New Year to all! Chris and Kelly actually went a New Year's party while gracious Kaki & PawPaw let both kids spend the night!

The past couple weeks have been crazy with everyone being sick. Kelly is the only one in the house that has not contracted an ear infection, strep and/or the horribly nasty stomach bug (I'll leave it that). We have also generous enough to share these germs with family members not in our household!

Mattie is getting to be such a big girl. She is 5 months old and almost sitting up. She is now eating cereal. This is after a major struggle with the Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome brought on by her mother and a bright flash (gotta capture those "firsts" you know!) She still has her little red headed temper and loves to "talk" to us all day long. She has also decided that her toes make quite a tasty addition to her diet.

Shea is as precocious as ever. We love to hear what he has to say especially when he is really dramatic and the hands and facial expressions get going. We call him "parrot" these days and we REALLY have to be careful what we say. A couple weeks ago his favorite expression was "Holy God." Well, at least it wasn't "holy shit" He has stopped getting his head busted up at school and is hanging out with the good boys. He also has started get goodbye kisses from a few of the little girls - uh oh!

Chris and Kelly are still around but nobody really cares about them anymore. Apparently, they merely serve as transporters of babies to various grandparents!

Poor Second Baby

I know...I know...there is no mention of Miss Mattie in this blog other than she was born! The reason is that she does NOT like to be alone or put down so it is rather difficult to type while holding a bobble-head! Let me bring you up to speed on our little girl.

1. Colic - enough said? Poor Mattie basically screamed her way through the first few months of life. Chris was about to trade her in!

2. Red Head - enough said? She wants what she wants when she wants it and she wanted it 10 minutes ago! Some say she gets this from her mother but I don't know what they are talking about!

3. Non-napper. We only take cap naps. Thank goodness she started sleeping through the night very early on!

4. Cheeks. She has the fluffiest, squishiest cheekies ever - LOVE them

5. Bouncy Seat - She loves to be bounced and shake in her little chair. Shea is very good at helping us out with this. He did however almost send her into orbit one day.

6. Little Sister - Mattie thinks that Shea is the coolest thing ever. She watches him all the time. She even tries to imitate his little "Happy Feet" dance.

7. Precious - Of course we just adore her! She makes the silliest little face and laughs. It is amazing how a tiny hand holding your finger or a big gummy smile can make you melt!

Where, Oh Where, Has My Baby Shea Gone?

Those you you who regularly read the blog know that I rarely have a sappy entry. (I find passive-aggressive sarcasm a much better "voice" for me.) Anyway, yesterday something happened to me that I feel I need to write about. You always hear people say to cherish the moments you have with your kids because they grow up too fast. Yesterday afternoon this hit me like a ton of bricks. I was playing with Shea in his bedroom and we were having a good time just hanging out, painting and coloring. Then, he climbed into my lap and threw himself backward like he usually does when we are playing. As I was looking at him, I couldn't figure out why he looked so "weird" to me. Then it hit me - he was no longer my little baby Shea. He is now my little "boy" Shea. I know I was warned, but I really just can't believe he has grown up so fast!

I started this blog almost a year ago so there are no "baby" picture of Shea so forgive me while I stroll down memory lane for a little while.

Look at what I can do!

Lassie Comes Home!

We are excited to let everyone know that baby girl Mattie Anne Burks was born 08-08-08 at 6:15am. She was very good to momma - 5 hour labor and about a 10 minute delivery! My kids are good to me :)

If you are wondering about the title I need to explain that Shea has been calling the baby "Lassie" through the whole pregnancy. Not quite sure - but maybe he was hoping for a puppy!

Things have been been a little hectic around here but we are finally starting to settle into a routine.

Shea has had his nose a little out of joint with the new baby but is quite protective of her. At first he really didn't want much to do with her but has lately come around and has been quite the little helper. He likes to get her rocking in her bouncy seat and turns on the music to her swing when she is crying. The other day Mattie was crying in the car and Shea told me that she did not like the song that was playing and that I needed to turn the radio off.

Some day I might actually get a picture of them together but here are a few separate ones until then!

New Living Room

After having the floors done in or living room, I realized we were living in a wooden box with the wood floors and paneled walls. So, we decided that we would finally get the living room painted. Well...the project turned out to be a lot bigger than that and started LOTS later than was supposed to! Here is the list of what all we had done: ripped out the wet bar to turn it into a little office area since Shea's room is now where the office was; tore out the windows and door to the patio and added sliding french doors; tore off all the paneling in the living room had the walls textured and painted; then you will see Chris's new entertainment center!

Like I said before, this started WAY later than anticipated. It started about a week and a half before my due date. Let me give you a little play by play on how this all "went down."

Wednesday: doors come and start to be installed. Shea and I spend the night at my mom's because there is still a huge hole in my house and no AC - pregnant women don't like this :)

Thursday: finish installing doors.

Friday morning - 1:30am: Kelly goes into labor

Saturday: nothing happens - kelly in hospital

Sunday: nothing happens - Kelly & baby come home from hospital

Monday: painters start and are so loud that Kelly, Mattie and Shea go to her parents house to escape the noise

Tuesday: Painters are no shows - trapped in bedroom

Wednesday: Painters tape and bed the walls - trapped in bedroom

Thursday: Painters texture walls - trapped in the bedroom

Friday: Paint the walls. Kelly, Shea, and Mattie once again head to her mom's to escape the smell and spend the night

Saturday: TV installer comes. Kelly, Shea & Mattie still @ mom's because we aren't allowed to touch anything :)

Sunday: Put the whole house back together b/c the housekeepers are coming on Monday to do a deep cleaning.

Monday: Housekeepers come and the house if finally back to normal by the afternoon!

Before Pictures:

After Pictures:

Baby Boot Camp

I jokingly told many people that this summer was going to be Baby Boot Camp for Shea. We needed to break several habits before the baby gets here in August. I must brag on my little man because he has done a FABULOUS job with all that we have set out to accomplish.



1st was getting him out of our bed and sleeping all night in his room. With a major bribe of a new train set when he did this for several weeks - we met the goal and now are the owners of a new train set. Shea thinks it is a Thomas the Train set but mom is way to cheap to shell out those big bucks - our's is the generic!



2nd was potty training. To be honest - I didn't think this was ever going to happen. All of a sudden he got the hang of it and we have been out of diapers, pull-ups, etc for 3 weeks with only 1 accident! Yea for Shea! This does not include bed-time. We will get to that later!



I am ready to have this baby. Only four more weeks until little Mattie graces us with her presence. I am very excited but still have a ton to do around here! The summer has been hot and I am sure my electric bill is going to be near $10,000 by the time summer is over!