back porch sittin'

Abbott has been under the weather for a few days now. Seems it's his turn for the ear infections. I feel kind of terrible about it because I should have noticed sooner that he had one. I mean, I got like 30 turns of practice with L's ear infections, you'd think I'd be a pro! But never-the-less I wrote his symptoms off as teething or being tired or growth spurts. Mommy fail.

Anyway, I am guessing now that his ear infection is what made him so lethargic this weekend. He spent most of it sleeping. Matt was cleaning up the back porch on the gorgeous afternoon Sunday had to offer, so after Abby and L's naps we joined him in the back yard. L swung and played...

and Abby just sat. For a long time he just sat there next to me in our glider, rocking back in forth, watching L play. It was so peaceful, so perfect.

Sometimes I love to go out. I love to run errands or shop. I love to eat out and take walks and play in the park. And sometimes, I like to sit.

I like to sit and watch L play in the backyard, in the shade of trees she thinks can touch the sky.

I like to sit and let my sweet baby lean against me when he's having trouble keeping his balance.

Seems like the stars aligned for the perfect Sunday afternoon.

welcome to little burlew!

After reading Katie's quick post about the Ultimate Blog Party, I decided I would join in. I haven't done a big 'blog party' like this before, but it sounded like fun!

So, welcome to little burlew. My name is Patrice and I am a happy wife and mommy in a concise little family of four. I love my sweet husband, Matt, and my beautiful children Laurelei and Abbott with all my heard. I started this blog a long time ago as a way to record some memories of my then newborn baby girl, Laurelei. I'm not going to lie, I kind of stunk at it! After I joined the creative DIY site, Lemon Tree Creations, I got a little bit better about keeping up with my own life. Even still though, I had some major gaps between my posts and whole months missing from our lives on the blog. It wasn't until I entered into my second pregnancy and was put on 16 weeks of bed rest, waiting for baby Abbott, that I hit my blogging groove.

As a working mom I feel like I have a lot of jobs. This blog has quickly become an outlet for two of my favorite ones. I embrace the fact that I am an obnoxious mommy blogger who over saturates my entire space with too many pictures and my babies. I discovered that outside of recording details of my kids lives, I love, love, love to take pictures. I am hoping to find new ways to step my hobby up a notch in the near future!

Recently I started a post about what I wanted to get out of this blog, but I never posted it. The whole point was really just that I wanted to connect with more people going through the same stages of life as me. I recognize all the time that I have a whole lot to learn. I am a young mom with two young children and I have a long road ahead of me! I hope that through this little link party I can get more out of this blog, and I can't wait to meet you!

Happy Monday!

Easter Weekend

We had a very full holiday weekend. At some point Matt and I both commented on how it felt like Christmas, it was so incredibly busy and filled with family... just the way we like it! We started the weekend with some easter egg dying on Saturday afternoon. We do this every year and it is one of my favorite things. This was the first year L really got into it, so it was even more fun!

That night we celebrated Easter with the Yeary side of the family. Mamaw and Papaw stuffed 100 eggs for Laurelei to hunt, and Lindsey, Alli, and Kathy were nice enough to hide all of them. L's basket was so big it was too hard to carry herself, so Kathy helped her out a little. It was so much fun to watch, and L had an absolute blast!

We woke up bright and early on Sunday because the Easter bunny came to visit. It was so sweet of him to stop by. Laurelei was very excited about all of her little goodies. Abbot didn't get too into it this year, but he loves him some empty Easter eggs!

We got ready in record time and went to the 8:30 service at church. We impressed even ourselves with that one. It was so wonderful to share a wonderful service with Gigi, Poppy, and Uncle Harry. Afterwards we went to Gigi and Poppy's for some playtime and breakfast. L and Abbott were totally spoiled with kisses and chocolate, and they loved it!

Our last stop of the day was in Louisville for the Burlew/ Forcht family Easter. (I am not going to lie, I loved the part of the trip that allowed me a nap in car, it kind of felt like the only sleep I got all weekend!) We ate a yummy lunch, and of course had another Easter egg hunt! There were almost 600 eggs to share between 9 kids, it was nuts! I looked like it had rained eggs in the back yard. The kids loved it! Abbott also had 3 babysitters for the day, they took very good care of him, if you can't tell.

By the time we got home at 6:30, I was wiped out! We ordered a pizza, had bathes, and put the kiddos to bed as fast as we could. By 9:30 I am pretty sure I was out of it. It was a wonderfully busy weekend, and one of the most wonderful Easter's we've had in years. I cannot express how thankful I am for a holiday to reflect on all the sacrifices that have been made for us. It reminds me to remember what really matters, and be so incredibly thankful for the grace I've been given even in my weaknesses. I hope your family had a truly wonderful Easter holiday as well!

The best part...

... of my spring break? Family. Kisses. Playtime. Family. In no particular order.

I can't wait to share all about our long Easter weekend soon!

Eggs!

Abby's new favorite toys? Plastic Easter eggs! He has recently learned to sit up, so during one of Laurelei's naptimes this week, I propped Abbott up and let him go to town. He played and played for nearly 45 minutes, which is a pretty long attention span for a 6 month old! I got a few sweet pictures of him with his new loves, and I'll let them tell you how much fun he really had.

Love his sweet little heart!

two little faces

Sometimes I am so desperate to get Laurelei and Abbott to smile, in cute clothes, in the perfect local, with the perfect lighting, and I get so frustrated when it is just a little bit off. I've been dying to get spring pictures of the little ones. That requires a great deal of maneuvering on my part. Getting them dressed, keeping them happy, keeping them clean. When I started to think about it, the whole reason I wanted pictures of them was to just trap those sweet faces in time, having a beautiful reminder someday of just what they were like at this age.

 Well, today during lunch time I had a big aha! moment. Laurelei was sitting in her high chair, making faces at Abbott who was playing on the floor. Her face couldn't have been grimier with some serious mac and cheese remnants going on, but it also couldn't have been more perfect. After a few minutes of studying their little expressions and just watching them interact, I decided this would be these would be the perfect expressions to capture. I grabbed the camera and proceeded to snap a few pictures of them, just as they were. I wasn't being demanding or interrupting their playtime. I was just a bystander with a camera, capturing the most perfect memories.

Someday I like to think that when I look back at pictures, I'll be the most excited to look at the ones that have memories attached to them. Of course I'll love the ones of us all in our Sunday best too, but I think I'll really relish in the memories more. I'll look back at these pictures and just see the sweet, perfect little faces of two beautiful babies on a day that couldn't have been more wonderful. It probably won't even matter that my camera was all kinds of broken and all the pictures are way overexposed. Or that Laurelei had no pants on and cheese all over her face. Or that Abbott was still in yesterday's clothes. All that will matter will be those two faces that I love, perfectly frozen in time.

spring break begins!

It's spring break, so you know what that means? I get to spend the next 5 days with these guys!

 

We have a very busy daily schedule planned. We are planning to sleep in as long as possible each morning, followed by breakfast, playtime, lunch, nap time, and playtime. We are off to a pretty good start so far this morning.

I am hoping to squeeze a few other things in as well though. I am desperate to get some spring photos of the kids. With my broken camera (boo!) and the rainy weather expected, I am hoping I can still squeeze something in. Now I just have to find the perfect location around here? I'd also love to make a batch of Easter sugar cookies and color some eggs. And just for kicks, I'd like to have as many egg hunts for Laurelei as I can. She loves to hunt for Easter eggs!

I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed that this spring break didn't come with a trip somewhere beautiful and sunny. I am desperately longing for the beach right about now! But never mind that, I plan to make the most out of this quality time with the little ones. I know we can make our own sunshine here at home this year!