This is the season, beloved of the year

Thank you, Heavenly Father for the gift of life; the life of thy Son.

 Thank you for gifts and blessings I know I don't deserve.

 Thank you for making it all worthwhile.

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!  We love you.

November 1, 2010

Don't Stop Believing!

Thank you San Francisco Giants for fulfilling my husband's life in a way that I never could.  Thank you for not giving up.  Thank you for playing with guts and leaving your hearts on the field at the end of each game.  

If you didn't hear, the Giants won the World Series.  They hadn't won a World Series in over 50 years.  Ryan has been a fan of the Giants for over 20 years.  He always tells me that he could read a box score before he learned how to read books.  I was converted in 2001.  We've been to see the Giants play in stadiums from California to Pennsylvania.  

I've seen Ryan's heart broken so many times I sometimes wondered if it was worth it.  Now we know...

 it was worth it! 

Halloween 2010

Halloween is getting more fun for us each year. (Ryan and I are not big Halloween fans.)

But it makes a difference as Audrey gets older and gets excited about it and understands it.
She decided she was a real cowgirl months ago so when it came time to decide on a costume, she was already decided.

We have a little game at our house where someone is in trouble and "super baby" comes to save the day! Kennedy loves to fly around and anything that makes her sister play with her makes her really happy.
This costume was perfect!

Spoiled again.

Ryan's BFF Cheryl Rose (Dave Rose (coach of the Cougar basketball team)'s wife) spoiled us again. She loves going to The Dermatology Center so much that it seems like she'd do just about anything for them. Last year we sat on the floor at a number of basketball games. This year Ryan got some nice season tickets to basketball games. Then we were invited to sit in a press box at the BYU vs. Wyoming football game!

This was the view from our seats. The best part? It was pouring rain outside.

Kennedy even got to take a nap. You can tell she needs one!

The family together after a much-needed win.

Just Kennedy

There may not be too many posts that will be just about Kennedy, so here's a "Kennedy only" update.

She tried the rice cereal.
Not a fan.

Everything else so far has been a hit. Hopefully she'll be a great eater.

She's sitting up and crawling. But her favorite is standing. She grabs anything she can to help her stand up.

This was on our wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. She was probably the happiest one because she didn't have to sit on hay.

Kennedy is such a sweet, cuddly girl. She is in love with/in awe of her big sister. She is a major 'mommy's girl.' She isn't the best sleeper at night, but her cute face makes up for it in the morning.

Fall (Burr family style)

Fall is about so many things. It means shorter days and cold weather. Leaves are falling and jackets are a must.

In our house it is also about Major League Baseball playoffs and BYU football (more to come on BYU football).

So first, the traditional fall classic...

We went to the pumpkin patch at the Red Barn in Santaquin. Here's Audrey with her pumpkin and Ryan's pumpkin.

Ryan had seen a pattern on the internet for a Giants (San Francisco Giants) jack-o-lantern and was excited to show his support for his team that is currently one game away from going to the World Series! Here's the before:


The during:

The after:
Audrey just wanted a face on her pumpkin.

The Girls

We recently had some pictures taken of the girls at American Fork Amphitheater. It was so beautiful! I would recommend it to anyone needing family pictures.


Audrey was totally cheesy and Kennedy mostly stared.

A friend from Ryan's work took some pictures for us a few months ago and they turned out so cute and she was so great to work with that I had her do these ones as well.


I'm not sure if she wants me to advertise for her or not, but her blog IS really cute...
Momentsbydesign.blogspot.com

Learning and Growing

Audrey's first day of preschool.

Since Audrey has this year and next year before kindergarten I thought it would be fun to do one year of preschool with some other moms. There are 3 boys and two girls so each mom will have 12 days to teach and that includes field trips.



She won't be gone long enough for a lunch but I bought her this lunch box to get her excited.

Also on Tuesday, Ryan left for an overnight work thing in Phoenix so it was just the girls. We had a little fun with the camera.

I love this picture of Kennedy because Audrey took it.


I am so blessed to be a mom at all. But to do it for these girls is just more than I can ask. So what if I'm not wearing any makeup because Kennedy was so tired from waking up at 6 a.m. that I didn't have a free hand, so what if I told Audrey that she had taken too many pictures and she took a few more anyway, and so what if our entertainment for the night was "pretending" and taking silly pictures. I am so in love I don't care about those things.

$2 Tuesdays

If any of you moms out there have not taken your kid(s) to Thanksgiving point for 2 buck Tuesdays, you may be the only one in the whole state. Last year my mom, sister Emily, and our kids went on the last Tuesday of August. It was absolutely crazy. The line for the Dinosaur Museum wound all the way around the building. We decided to do the little petting zoo and the gardens. This year we figured if we went one of the first weeks we'd be better off. Plus, we were going to be there when it opened. The Dinosaur museum wasn't too bad in the beginning and we were seeing some great things. But by the afternoon it was so crowded! We planned it just right.

This picture is fuzzy, but In think it's pretty funny. They were supposed to be dinosaurs. Somehow, Audrey missed the memo. The one who does actually look like a dinosaur is Emily's daughter Chloe. She'll be 5 next month.

Here's our group all together and all looking at the camera--except for my girls! The one in the stroller is Emily's other daughter Gretchen. She's 1.

After the craziness at the museum, we felt like we could all use a little peace and quiet. We took a walk through the beautiful gardens.

Some of you may not know this, but Audrey is a photographer in training. Most of her pictures are of her feet, too close to identify, or action shots. But every so often she takes one that I think is pretty artistic.

I would never take a picture like that. I wish I could see the world through the eyes of a child.

I apologize for how dark this picture is, but I had to add one of Kennedy. She's almost sitting on her own!

Roll Over! Run Over???!!!

First the good news...

Kennedy is rolling! It's a big step in our little one's life. The day she went front to back and back to front was the 7th of July. It was so fun because Ryan, Audrey, and I were all there and cheering for her. Audrey was so excited.

On Thursday the 8th we left on a road trip to Denver with Ryan's parents.

Kennedy and Audrey were both really good in the car. This picture is not great because I was laughing so hard at her.

We had to get a baseball game in there. It means both our girls have been to a Major League game by the time they're 4 months old.

We also visited the zoo. It was so enormous! We only saw about 1/3 of it.

Now the (sort of) bad news...

So we're in the parking lot on our way back to the hotel and Ryan is hit by a car. An older guy passed out in his car and hit Ryan on the back of his legs. Ryan tumbled backwards over the hood while carrying Audrey. Miraculously, no one was really hurt. Ryan had a scratch on his shoulder and he was pretty sore for a couple of days. Ryan's mom and I saw him coming so we were able to get out of the way. Another small miracle was that Ryan's dad had gone way around the corner with Kennedy in her stroller. After about an hour of statements and paperwork, we could leave. The rest of the night I spent with the girls in the hotel room.
Now, getting hit by a car on vacation is pretty weird. But for it to happen to the same person twice is absurd!!! About 5 years ago when Ryan and I went to San Francisco/Oakland with my family, Ryan and my mom were the victims of a hit-and-run. That one was also a miracle because from my point of view, I didn't think we'd be able to leave the scene in anything other than an ambulance. But Ryan walked away with a huge scrape on his arm and my mom had bruises pop up all over.
I'm now determined that even if it's to give me lots more beautiful daughters, Ryan has some higher purpose in life that is not yet fulfilled. Talk about an eye opener!
I am so grateful for all the miracles (large and small) in my life!

I Hope You Dance!

This is Audrey on her first day of dance class. I hate to admit it, but I was so excited! I tried to go twice to buy her clothes beforehand (they were closed both times). Once I got the clothes on her I saw this beautiful dancer and had to take some pictures!

I know people say this all the time, but Audrey really was the best one there!

Her only weakness might be that she's too excited. Especially since the warm-up song is Mamma Mia and a couple of songs later is A Whole New World from Aladdin. She sings along to both and her teacher has to reign in her self expression.

Blessing of the Priesthood

As of last June, my siblings are complete. My sisters and brother are married and Ryan's brother and sister are married. We were lucky enough to have the entire group, including wonderful parents, together in our church and our house for Kennedy's blessing.

What a blessing it was! Ryan's prayer had all the blessings in it that we could ask from our Heavenly Father. I was really caught up in the spirit when I thought of all the men encircling her with God's power. I felt blessed to have the priesthood in my home and blessed that every single man in our family was there to share this with us.

My mom made this beautiful dress in just a few days because I'm spoiled and she loves Kennedy and she's extremely talented. Thanks again Mom!

Sweetness and Beauty

A friend from Ryan's Derm Center offered to take some pictures of Kennedy. This is a collage she put together as a sample. I wanted to give a picture to our moms for Mother's Day. I had 250 pictures to choose from! I think they turned out beautifully, even though Kennedy felt she needed her pacifier for lots of them. Thank you Jacquel!

Kennedy is 4 weeks old!

At 4 weeks old, our baby girl is getting cuter, getting bigger, and bringing joy to our family. Audrey has taken on her role as big sister fairly well. She can be quite helpful. For instance, in the car when we ask Audrey what Kennedy is doing, she says one of two things; she's either sleeping or blinking. Sooo helpful!
Anyway, we are in love with her and as the adjustments continue for all of us, life will only get better.

At Kennedy's two week check-up she weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. so she had gained a little over a pound. This is her at four weeks so I would guess she weighs about 9 pounds.

Kennedy is a great sleeper during the day. Most people who come to visit her leave without ever seeing her eyes.

Gotta love the Boppy!