miscellany monday

one. I think it is worth mentioning that we let Laurelei push Abbott around the block in her toy stroller. Don't worry, we checked it for sturdiness first, and I promise Matt stayed nice and close. It's every big sisters' dream to take care of her baby brother just like she does her baby dolls, and I didn't mind indulging her just this once. :) It was pretty sweet, and he fell right to sleep. She loved it!

two. Every time I take pictures of Abbott I feel compelled to take a picture of his tiny little feet. When I look at them, I really only ever think about how they used to be tinier, and how they will never be this tiny again. They kill me with all their chubby cuteness!

three. I. am. obsessed. with. Cuties. And no, I don't mean my little ones. :) I think I have eaten at least like 5 a day the past couple of weeks. Just ask my team teacher. I am pretty sure she asked me, "How many did you bring today?" at one point last week. I think that is when I realized I have a problem. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?

four. We cleaned off our back porch finally. We started cleaning it up last year before I went on bed rest, and then it just ended up being extra storage space for like the last 9 months. It feels like a major relief to have it back to normal! It was pretty embarrassing! Last Sunday was gorgeous and L got to eat her lunch out there. I am excited about more spring meals and some summer fun out there now!

five. Our girl is a diva. There is no doubt. I was particularly reminded of this fact when I was taking Abbott's 7 month pictures. Matt took Abbott for a quick diaper change and L laid down on the ground and started rolling around on the floor, posing for pictures without any prompting. She was hilarious. And cute. And diva-ish. All at the same time. We are in for it over the next 16 years, I can just feel it!

six. Speaking of L, she is currently really into baseball. It took her sitting through two of her cousins baseball games last weekend for her to be hooked. She came home wanting a hat, and a glove, and a bat bag. She wouldn't be my girl if she didn't feel the need to accessorize her new hobbies. We were already planning on letting her play t-ball next when since she will be 4, but we caved and bought her a little 't' this year too. She was too cute last weekend hitting balls off the back porch.

seven. Yesterday was perfect. It was cold and rainy, but it was perfect. We went to church, took the kids to a movie, took naps, ate dinner in. The low key rainy day was just what I needed!

eight. I am looking forward to a new week. You know the feeling when things can only get better? That's the feeling I have right now. So I am choosing to be excited about a new week. 

Linking to miscellany monday at lowercase letters.

 {Sorry Carissa, my button won't work! :( }

Happy Monday!

fairy tales

I think I'll always remember today, when I realized everyone's fairy tale looks a little different. It's been a frustrating month in our house. Don't get me wrong, we are incredibly blessed that this kind of month would be considered frustrating, but never-the-less it's induced a few tears and a lot of anxiety on my part.  So, after we got the kids in bed, I told Matt I just wanted to soak in a hot tub and try to relax just a little.

After soaking for awhile and trying really hard not to think about anything, I started to look around our tiny bathroom. I saw the Johnny Jump-Up hanging in the doorway. You know, the place where we have to corral Abbott while we shower so that L can't attack him and he can't eat anything off the floor.  I smelled the bubble gum scent of L's 'Mr. Bubbles' that Matt put in the tub for me, making my bath some version of true 'luxury.' I saw the grilling tongs in the sink. That's right, I said grilling tongs. The ones Matt had used just a few minutes previously to fish out the nearly hundred 'wipies' Laurelei had tried drowning in the toilet. I saw all the evidence of my little family and realized that, despite the 'setting,' I am truly living my fairy tale. And maybe it is full of real moments of stress and uncertainty, but there is a whole lot of comedy, laughter, and happiness too; and it's all mine!

7 whole months...

It happened again, 7 months snuck up on me. It was probably 8 o'clock last night when I realized it was the 20th again and Abbott was indeed 7 months old. We've officially passed the halfway mark. We are now closer to his 1st birthday than we are from the day he was born. Sometimes it is still so surreal. I can remember the day he was born and the weeks leading up to his arrival like it was yesterday. It's still that way with L, so I am not sure why I am so surprised each month. It seems as though sometimes it seems as though they are so grown up, and yet I can just snuggle that sweet spot, the one between their chubby little cheeks and their necks, and breath in every bit of baby they've always had. Hmmmm, I love that sweet baby smell.

Here's a little of how Abby is stealing our hearts away this month...

growing...Thanks to a horrid little ear infection we got a weight check again this month. Looks like our big boy has put on almost a whole pound this month, weighing in at a whopping 16lb 5oz! I could hardly believe it, though he certainly feels like it when you pick the little stinker up! Somehow I am still managing to squeeze him into some of his 3-6 month clothes, (like at night when I realize we don't have any clean 6 month sleepers...) but mostly we've moved on to 6 month clothes. I finally caved too, and bought size 3 diapers. It had to happen sooner or later, and I pretty sure we'd already squeezed into the later anyway. :)

eating...Abbott is eating. Eating a lot. He loves food. We've added bananas, carrots, and lima beans this month. And I will say, despite my best efforts, the child does NOT like lima beans. Matt is not surprised by this. Abby also LOVES Mum-mums. L ate them quite a bit, but her excitement over the little rice crackers really pales in comparison to her brothers. You'd think I was giving him candy the way his eyes light up and his little hands start grasping for them! It is really cute, and a true teething life saver!

new things...Abbott has taken his 7th month as a real opportunity to bond with his mommy. In the middle of the night. Long after we've gone to bed. Way before we want to get up. He has woken up nearly every night this month! At first, I thought it was growth spurts. Then I thought it was teething. Then I realized it was really an ear infection. There are a lot of positive things we've learned too though, like...sitting up, grasping toys and changing hands to accomodate others, reaching out to mommy (my new personal favorite!), rolling all over the living room floor, sleeping un-swaddled, sitting in restaurant high chairs and grocery store carts (eww!), wearing real shoes, and probably nearly a hundred other things I've forgotten to mention!

His sweet little personality is emerging more and more everyday. He still smiles at everything and everyone. No matter what he is upset about, he can be distracted by a hug and a smile. Abby is a snuggler and it melts my heart every time!

my new mug

Matt bought me this new mug, and it pretty much sums up the month I've been having.

I won't bore you by complaining, I am pretty sure I did enough of that last summer while I was on bed rest with Abbott. :) And, I know that by comparison, my small stuff is nothing to 'sweat.' I will admit though that God is testing my patience and anxiety levels to say the least. I've decided to keep my newest and wisest possession on my desk at work. I think that is the place that I currently need to be reminded of it's message the most. Even in the moments of my deepest frustrations and greatest worries, life is what it is. And mostly, it's full of things to be thankful for.

Now, I think I'll just go stare at the beautiful little babies in the next rooms for a minute or two and regain some of that perspective I like to pretend I've mastered...

Weekend Highlights

The best kinds of friends are the kinds you could talk to for hours. My friend Katharine is like that. I am lucky to have her, and the years I spent teaching with her, and our frequent phone dates. And, of course, I'm lucky to have her trips back to Kentucky from the cold land of Michigan too!

She came back this weekend and we had a great time. Her and her husband, Andy, came over for dinner on Friday night. As per usual, we spent most of the time laughing about something or other.

Saturday we planned to go to Keeneland, and were almost deterred by the rain.

Luckily, we stuck it out and ended up having a great time with a little sunshine in the end! It was fun to see a few girls I used to teach with at my first school too. Katharine has kept up with them over the years and it was nice to catch up. Megan, from over at Blissfully Burton, has the sweetest baby girl Harper who is just two weeks younger than Abbott. They loved playing together and generally stealing one another's toys. It was cute to see Abbott interact with someone so close to his age. Though I am sure he does it all the time, I rarely get to see it.

Our sweet friend's visit was the highlight at the end of a long and not so shiny week. Thanks for coming to visit Katharine and Andy, we miss you here in KY!

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!