A Flashback

So my mother has this blue dress that she wore to her oldest sister's wedding reception. When I was a little tike they put me in the dress and snapped a picture of me holding a picture of my mom wearing the dress. So I got the brilliant idea that I would do the same with my kiddo. I never really got around to doing it with Midge, but don't people always say the middle kids get looked over (maybe that is just my sis :). Anyway I decided when we were at my mom's to get the dress out and put it on Little Miss.

At first all she wanted to do was stare at the picture. Pretty cute, but I was going for the three generation theme and it was crucial that she give me a lovely smile, while clearly showing the picture as well.

Notice no lovely smile and an absolute refusal to clearly show the picture. She actually threw it to the ground - ah you precious little booger.

So guess how we got this smile. Midge came running up behind me with a gigantic lollipop and said, "Smile and you can have this!" Look at that grin that little sneak was capable of it the entire time. Now if she had only been holding the picture correctly.

Ah well here is the picture of me in the dress with a lovely smile and clearly holding the picture of my mother in the dress. What a clearly obedient child I was!

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So I have to add a side note here. Midge's dance concert was tonight, and being the truly wonderful mother that I am I dutifully charged the battery for the camera. When we got to the recital I handed the camera to Ken who promptly tried to turn the camera on, but to no avail. When he opened the battery compartment it was empty. The battery was at home in the charger. I want it noted that I did put in effort to record my daughter's dance recital and she was stinking cute and did a great job. Please note that I can attest I know that there are other mother's out there that this has happened to, and I would appreciate hearing from you so that my daughter doesn't think her mother is losing her mind.

Big News

It is official we are expecting our 

fourth child. 

The due date is March 12th,

 my grandfather's birthday. 

When I called and told him he said, "Well now there will be two great people born on that day!" Thankfully the morning sickness is starting to subside. 

Fun times.

So Busy

We have been so busy lately but I had to take a minute to publish where we were last Thursday. My sister Shauna and her husband Jeff were able to get sealed to their children in the Portland temple. We were able to take our kids to the temple grounds along with my parents, brother, and friends to witness the event.

Ken and my brother had the responsibility of watching the kids while I was able to be in the ceremony, luckily the weather was beautiful. The kids loved being a part of the big day and had so many questions. Tonight Maddy was telling me that we should adopt a baby so that she could go inside the temple. 

Congratulations Burnett family for your big day and becoming an eternal family!

In his own sweet time

Leo is a funny kid. If he doesn't want to do something he doesn't no matter how much begging and cajoling we give him.  For the entire summer we have tried to get Leo to start riding his bike. We didn't give him a choice and removed his training wheels. He would ride along with his feet down pushing himself along, but usually after a half a block he would say that he was tired and didn't want to go any farther. He has two friends who have been riding for a year, but peer pressure doesn't really work with Leo. 

Last night we decided to go and see the kid's new school. Leo said he wanted to ride his bike. Ken was a little reluctant to let him because we figured he would get sick of riding and then we would be carrying the bike for him. After Leo kept begging we relented. About a half a block from our house Ken persuaded him to put his feet on his petals Leo did and then he just started riding. He rode about 20 feet until he lost control and rode into a bush. At first Leo was a little scared, but we were all so impressed and praising him that he jumped back on and kept going. Every time he rode he was able to balance for longer distances. By the time we got to the school he was able to ride the entire length of the parking lot without once falling. Then on the ride home he was able to ride almost the entire way with just a few stops. There were a few run-ins with brick fences but he even made a turn at the corner without falling. 

By the time we got home it was getting dark, but I had to run in and get my camera so I could get a few shots of him riding his bike. 

Where we have been

I thought it would be fun to do a little comparison of the girls in their first two years. Let me tell you this post took some tricky planning, but I think it is worth it to be able to see the similarities and differences. The first picture is Midge a few hours old, and the one right after it is Little Miss a few days old.

The below picture is Midge on her first birthday, and the one right after it is Little Miss on her first.

The following picture is Midge on her second birthday and the next picture is Little Miss around the same age.

I can see similiarites but at the same time they are both so unique and different to me as well.

My first born turns 8

On Friday our oldest turned 8. How did that happen?

We decided to make her birthday cake out of rainbow cupcakes.

Midge takes her wishing very seriously.

I told Ken I wanted this picture to prove I was there. I am always the one behind the camera.

This picture shows you the rainbow cupcakes. You should have seen Little Miss's diaper the next day. All I can say is wow!

Midge wanted an ipod shuffle this year to go with her idog. I know she got them in the wrong order. She has had so much fun with them we can barely separate the two.

Things we love about Midge:

When she is in the mood she can entertain her siblings like no one else. Her brother and sister thrive on her creative ideas.

She gives amazing back rubs.

An unbelievalbe energy level. We have met very few kids who have her endurance level. Needless to say she keeps us on our toes.
She has a special connection with animals.

She likes to leave thoughtful notes and do sweet things for people.

She is very perceptive, and has a strong sense of right and wrong.

She is sensitive.

She is artistic.

She is smart and does really well in school.

She is funny and can crack us up.

We love you and are so proud of you and the young lady you are becoming.

August is the m

Park Trips

While in Corvallis Patch and I took the kids to Wildcat Park. The park was rebuilt a few years ago and has some great play structures to run around on. 

Little Miss insisted on taking her snacks with her. At one point she was going down the tube slide. I heard her say uh oh and a few little fish crackers came sliding down the slide. Turns out she had dropped her fish crackers and as she slid down she picked them up.

Little Miss was so angry that she couldn't get up in the tree with her brother and sister.

She finally settled on sitting on a tree stump for a picture.

I love this picture of Leo and his Uncle Patch talking in a tree.

On a different day we went to Avery Park with Shauna's kids.

Two cousins sharing a swing.