Happy Easter 2013

We love Easter at our house.  We love Easter at our church.  We also love that Easter weekend kicks off the beginning of my spring break!  Sam set out his Easter basket in hopes the Bunny would fill it up while he slept...and he didn't disappoint!  The Easter bunny brought Sam some new pajamas, big boy underwear, a new book, bubbles, chalk and more candy than any child should have.  

When Sam got up this morning and saw what the bunny had left for him, 

he said, "I think the bunny likes me!"

It dawned on me this morning this was an extra special holiday, our last one as "the three of us."  Here is our last holiday family photo that doesn't include another sweet face.  God has blessed our family so abundantly.  Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to celebrate your tremendous act of love and courage so that we may live redeemed.  There is no greater love.

Willie Robertson was our guest speaker at church today for Easter, and boy did he attract a crowd.  We have one Saturday service and one Sunday morning service at the Murphy Center for Easter.  Both services were filled to capacity, over 12,000 people at each service.  

After church, we headed to Suzy's annual Easter feast and festivities.  Somehow we missed the memo to bring galoshes and rain gear, so we improvised.  Daddy made Sam a "rain suit" using two Kroger bags and some fancy knots.  We rolled his pants up, took off his shoes, and sent him off to hunt for eggs...in the rain.

 Daddy and Kimmie guided the kids while I watched from the porch and took photos.

Sam was particularly interested in the rubber snakes and made a run for two of them almost immediately.  After they were secured in the basket, he was ready to move on to looking for eggs.

Cameron has become quite the expert egg hunter.  

My boy didn't even seem to mind the cold, wet weather.  He had a blast hunting eggs.

Kimmie helped him through one minor setback...

All that tip-toeing through the grass tripped him up and he lost his loot!

My boy and me

Logan and Austin filled their baskets to the brim, 

emptied into bigger bags, and went back out for round two!

 Kayden is the master egg hunter at these gatherings.

This is what it looks like to set up a great family shot... (I kind of love this one!)

And, if you're lucky, this is what you hope to get!

The Norwood Clan

After watching Sam play with Grammy for a while, I got this great (yet crazy) idea to pile all the boys up in her lap and get a picture of her surrounded with all her great-grandsons...

Take one...

Jordan crying, Austin eating, Sam wondering what Austin was eating, and the others basically uninterested in getting a remotely good photo.

Take two...

Getting better, Jordan still not happy, Austin defending his food (probably from Sam)

and the rest are smiling and looking in the same direction.

This was about as good as it ever got.  

Gotta love a bunch of boys and a very patient Grammy.

Happy Easter 2013, that's a rap!

This Nest Is A Mess!

I thought I would do a little documenting of how the Burtrams have been rolling lately.  

Currently, we are in "repaint the whole house" mode.  This comes after "remodel the front bathroom" mode and will immediately be followed by "massive yard sale" and "install new carpet" mode.  Since the painters are working in every room, ALL furniture, in EVERY room is pushed to the middle of the room.  So, it looks a little something like this around here...

Here is our living room. Sam wakes up each morning, smacks his hand to his forehead, and declares, "Aw man, it's still a mess.  No Thomas on TV...again."

Here's a look at the nursery.  We are expecting baby Lucy in a mere 4 weeks, and here's what we've got so far.  My mom tries to comfort me by saying, "It's all going to be fine.  All she needs really is some food and a place to sleep."  Well, I'm 0 for 2.  There is a crib in there somewhere; I just can't find it right now, and who knows where the baby bottles are in all this!  Hang on Lucy.  Give Momma Spring break to work on getting you a place to sleep little one.  As much as I can't wait to see that sweet little face, we are praying for an on-time delivery, and not a moment before.

This is the "boys room."  We bought bunk beds to accomodate Ethan, Evan, and Sam in this room.  Said furniture is currently still on the back porch waiting for a nice day to be painted and brought inside.  Spring is a fine time to be needing to paint outside, just not this spring.  It's been rainy and unseasonably cold and not very favorable in helping to get our furniture ready for the cool, new boy's room we had invisioned.  

This may be one of my favorite "transition" pictures.  This is our bedroom.  Please notice all the furniture pushed together where the only entry onto the bed is from the footboard.  It is generally frowned upon to do such creative acrobatics to get in bed at this stage in pregnancy, but I do what I have to do.

Since there is no television watching or playing going on in the living room (or anywhere really), we have convinced Sam that watching movies on Mommy's computer while laying in our bed is "camping."  Turns out, the kid loves our new camping arrangement and is content to "camp" whenever needed.  Just another reason why I love him so very much.  

And, who is the hero in this home improvement hurricane?  My sweet husband, who moves and shifts everything by himself.  He studies for school by lamplight each night in his desk chair that now sits by our bed while Sam and I sleep beside him.  He coordinates all the painters schedules (in Spanish, might I add), makes breakfast for Sam each morning and takes him to school while I work.  

He's superhuman really.  I've married a super hero.

But, spring break is coming, and it's my turn.  Once all this big stuff is done, I get to go into "organize and nest" mode and put everything in place.  I have never looked forward to a week of cleaning so much in my life.  I can't wait to see it all complete, put back together, organized and ready to welcome our newest member.

Happy 4th Anniversary

For the fourth anniversary, the traditional gift is fruit and flowers.  So, because I am a traditional girl if anything, I handpicked fresh flowers from our beautiful yard and bought some hand-dipped strawberries for my trophy husband.  I also did a "fruits of your labor" theme and bought us a much needed massage to help relax all these tired muscles from all this home improvement stuff we (he) has been doing.   We also had a quiet steak dinner at home, just the three of us.  

Here's a picture of my little bouquet I picked...

...and then my husband came home with this, for me.  I love this comparison picture.  It's so him and me.  I'm "low-key and understated" and he is "over-the-top, life of the party."  

We are a perfect match of opposites.

I am beyond blessed to have shared four years of marriage with my best friend and trophy husband.  He brings great joy and laughter to my life.  Here's to many more years of living life and dreaming big together.  I love you TH!

Spring Break With Brothers

It just so happened that Michael's spring break this year was the same time as the boys' break.  This has never happened in all the years we have all been doing the school thing together.  So, we flew the boys in for a  week long visit.  Sam and I still had to go to school each day while they were here, but they got some really great quality time with Dad while they were here.  They even helped with a little home improvement project during their stay.  Michael and the boys repainted the bathroom, installed a new counter top, framed the mirror and laid a new floor.  They were quite handy to have around this week.  

Not to mention, Sam thinks his brothers hung the moon and adores any time spent with them.  Because we had beautiful weekend weather (and Michael needed a quiet house for a while to finish some school work), we headed to the park to play.  Here are some photos of all my boys at the park enjoying some sunshine and fresh air.

Monkey see...

Monkey do...

I absolutely love watching the bond between these boys grow.  Sam is blessed to have some super great big brothers to teach him how to be kind and have good manners and turn flips on the trampoline.  Kidding.  Sort of...

A Baby Shower for a Special GIRL!

My sister came to me months ago filled with excitement to throw a baby shower for a GIRL!  We have never gotten to do that in our family since we have all boys up until now.  She has been working like a busy bee ever since we picked a date to throw a cutie patootie, girly tutus and bows, prissy pink baby shower...and she totally achieved her goal.  My sweet coupon clipping, online trade/selling, deal-finding, craft-making little sister hosted a perfectly beautiful baby shower, one to remember for sure!

Tutu wall decor.  Baby girl clothesline, and yes, those are handmade washcloth lollipops! 

Ballet tutu raspberry punch

Everything on the menu was pink and green!

Rice krispy treats dipped in pink chocolate,

strawberry pink marshmallows dipped in chocolate,

green grapes, spinach dip, fruit salad,

two kinds of pink cupcakes and polka-dot cake!

Diaper cake, with tutu of course :)

And, look at all these gifts for baby Lucy.  She is one blessed little girl to have some many people who love her and are praying for her safe arrival.  What a special day it was.  

 I took photos of all the beautiful decorations, and then got these couple of shots of big brother testing out the cupcakes and cheesin' with Nani.  Other than these, I don't have a single picture of any of the guests at the party or my wonderful hostess.  Just me, opening beautiful gifts.  

We all got caught up in tutus and hairbows, what can I say?

Karen handmade and monogrammed burp clothes for Lucy.  I've been buying her beautiful girly handmade stuff for years for my friends having baby girls, and I was so excited to receive some of my own!  You can find more of her stuff here.  Love her work!

Matching baby layettes and a bumble-bee costume for Halloween...

Ruffly bloomers and knitted hats with flowers...

Sleeper sets and monogrammed blankets...

Fleece sleepers to keep her little toes warm in the winter...

Clothes galore and a handmade wipe holder...

Oh my, being a girl mom is going to be so fun!  Thank you to all my friends and family who came out today to help me celebrate baby Lucy's upcoming arrival!  We are so excited, and thanks to you all, we are prepared and ready for pink!

SMS Baby Shower

At school, pregnancy seems to be contagious.  Ms. Minnehan and I are pregnant and due within days of each other, so our sweet co-workers hosted a baby shower to celebrate the new additions.  I am overwhelmed with the kindness and generosity of this faculty.  For having just joined the team this year, I have been welcomed with great warmth.  It is a blessing and a privilege to works at SMS.

I do tend to get asked if I am pregnant with twins, especially when standing next to Ms. Minnehan who is also pregnant with baby #2 and barely showing at all.  She certainly makes pregnancy look good!

Here are the cakes for the party.  One for baby Lucy, 

and one for baby Minnehan, of whom we don't know the gender yet.  It's a surprise.

I have to admit, opening girl baby shower gifts is pretty darn fun!  The bows and ruffles and sweet little outfits are just so precious.  I was blessed to receive a great stash of diapers and wipes and several sweet baby girl things to add to her closet.  We even received handmade blankets and hats...perfect for some upcoming newborn portrait sessions:)

And, this little number...

I can hardly stand how cute baby girl swimsuits are!

Thank you for such a wonderful celebration of our new little ones!