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!

31 Weeks

I'm in the home stretch now...

As much as I'm looking forward to meeting my sweet girl, I am soaking up this time together with Sam.  Things are going to change forever all too soon, so I'm really trying to appreciate our current "normal."

Sam sings and talks to "Baby Lucy" all the time and seems excited for her to come.  He even told me this morning he thought she was coming now, and he could see her in my belly button.  I absolutely love this age, and this boy, and this life I'm living.  

One notable characteristic of this pregnancy is my "nesting" instinct.  It's INSANE!  It keeps me up at night thinking about all the things that need to be cleaned, organized, sanitized, painted, stained, sold, bought, set up, and decorated in the next nine weeks.  This past weekend, Michael and I moved and rearranged furniture (well, mostly Michael) so I could deep clean the bedrooms.  I have purged and merged closets, donated a van load of stuff to Goodwill, and vacuumed every surface of our home... including the ceiling.  This little one has no idea how perfect I want this nest to be when she arrives.

I've started having a few Braxton Hicks contractions in the last day or two.  At first, I didn't know what I was feeling since I didn't experience these with Sam.  Whenever I am overdoing it, here they come to remind me to slow it down a bit.  They are not really painful, just enough to get my attention.  Water and rest seem to make them go away every time.  

Here's another belly picture comparison, sans makeup this time.  I'm not sick, I just seem to look that way in the photo.  

                                      30 Weeks - Sam                                 31 Weeks - Lucy

Happy Heart Day!

Little man had a special Valentine's Day surprise waiting on him when he woke up this morning.  Kimmie and Pawpaw and Uncle Drew sent some sweet Valentine cards.  Mo brought Sam his very first box of chocolates.  And, since Momma is a reading teacher, Sam got a book too.  Surprise, surprise.

I had also been saving these super great t-shirts for just such a day as Valentine's Day.  These "Love Big" t-shirts were a fundraising event to help our friends, The Brown Family, bring home their newest member from Korea.  We are praying hard and loving big for you guys, today!  

Hurry home Nell!

By the time my little valentine made it home from school and library day, he smelled just like a cupcake, had blue lips from his most recent sucker, and had a bunch of sweet valentines to show off from his buddies at school.  I think he's a big fan of Valentine's Day.