20,160 minutes........

So here is my story~ I am a popaholic. I can drink Pepsi from sun up to sun down. And in the middle of the night if the mood so strikes me. It has no affect on me staying awake. Therefore, it had become a habit and a drug that I was no longer getting anything out of. The soda ruled my life. For a while it was my only friend. When we lived in Nampa, the girls were babies and it was winter so we did not venture out to meet people. The only driving I would do was to the Chevron on the corner to get my 64 oz of heroin for the morning. Yep, I would load up two car seats and drive down to my trusty dealer. The money that I have spent on pop over the years is a huge amount. I am too afraid to do the math. I did not grow up with soda in the house either. Contrary to my picture above. It just made me laugh. And cringe. It started when I worked at TCBY. Yogurt gets old after the excitement has worn off. That's when I started using my vouchers for Pepsi.

It has been 2 weeks since I have kicked my habit. 14 days. 532 hours. 20,160 minutes, not that I am counting.

It has actually not been that bad. I only got a headache at night before bed. I have tried to quit before and the sheer pain of it made me fail. Time and time again.

So to you dear Pepsi, go find a new home. Cause you ain't welcome hear anymore.

3 Months and the National Anthem

Yes, it's true. I am pretty sure I was just pregnant yesterday. And now THREE months have gone by!
Burke has added such a WONDERFUL spirit into our home. He is so calm, and sweet! The kids adore him. So do I! Here are some likes and dislikes of Bazurk! (Burke!)

Still loves his Soothie Bink. They are so ugly! But he loves them, and I don't mind the big greenish blue circle attached to his face!

:)

Here are some other LIKES:

Eye contact

Smiling Sooooooo big

A 6 oz bottle

Facing out, so he can see the world

Saying Goooooo (sometimes he adds a gargle at the end!)

A warm bath with a towel in the water to snuggle him (It's a trick I learned with the girls. I put a bath towel in the bottom of the tub and he lays on it. Then I pull it up between his legs and he feels comforted and safe.)

A warm towel from the dryer after his tubby (he falls asleep instantly)

Flexing his arms and I say "SO BIG!"

Being swaddled

Tummy time

:(

DISLIKES:

Being naked~he freaks

Getting bonked~he bawls

Graden being too loud in his face~it scares him

The wind in his face~he stops breathing and goes bananas

Overall I must say that Burke is my most "laid back" baby. Maybe it's because he is #4, and I finally have a clue? For instance: Last weekend he woke up every hour crying one night. Then the next night every 15 minutes. I knew it had to be an ear infection. Yep. I was right. In both ears too. He is on Amox. and doing great!

Here are some diaper pics of my sweet boy. I wanted you to be able to see the start of his chub. He also has eczema in his cheeks. It cleared up then came back with the ear infections :(

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I shot this picture at Mt. View last night! The kids love the National Anthem, especially when they get to stand by Jason on the chairs! We won btw. Spanked em' actually. That is the big rival in wrestling. The boys did great!

Grrrr.....

I have been reading your blogs! Loving them in fact! And have been leaving my usual clever comments. ONLY TO NOT HAVE THEM PUBLISH.......GRRRRRRRR!RR!RR!R!R!R!RR!RR!!!!!!!!!!!!!R!!!R!!......................Are you guys having this same problem? It says there is an error. ERROR THIS BLOGGER!

Randomness

When the girls were little I taught them to make all the "feeling" faces. Graden has caught on and does the same! It's one of my favorite things that he does.

happy.

angry.

sad.

sleepy.

Taylor is working on her homework. I have really sucked at homework lately. The girls don't feel like doing it, therefore, I don't feel like bugging about it. We finally got caught up the other night.

Nat decided to work on dishes. I am dreading my water bill.

Raisin fingers.(blurry sorry!)

The kids also invaded my kitchen the other day. They thought it was pretty cool!

Here is my sweet Burkey Boy. He is still such a good baby. He likes his bouncy chair, and his Johnny Jumper.

Horrible x 3......

Horrible horrible horrible.

That is what my text said to Jason while I was still in the chair at the dentist. You see, I only have insurance for a few more days. So I decided to get some LONG overdue dental work done. I am one of those weirdos who never had wisdom teeth. Now don't get smart with me....I am FULL of wisdom. I also have some baby teeth in the back. Crazy I know. Well I had a filling fall out in a baby tooth about oh.........(cough)........nine years ago. The dentist I worked for put a temporary filling in it till I got braces........(cough).......that I never got. So I have had a gaping hole in there that has progressively gotten bigger and bigger. Maybe less that half of the tooth was there. I thought for sure it was going to just pop out. And that is what I was praying for!


"Pop! It's out Alli! You are the best patient I have EVER had!"


Ok, that is so not what happened! He did my fillings. DONE. EASY. Then he started working on my baby tooth. Tug, push, scrape, back and forth, tug, pull. Then the POP! Yeah!!! The pop! My prayers were answered! At this point I feel as though it is safe to open my eyes. WRONG!!!!!!!!!! I see the glimmer of very polished metal in the shape of a small machete. Alright, a scalpel. As my luck would have it, the tooth did pop. Only to have left the roots behind. Whhhhaaaaaaaaaaattttttt! I'm gonna spare you the details of what happened next for fear of you barfing all over your monitor. Yeah, I love you like that! I will however tell you that I am pretty sure the good doc got darn near close to scrambling my brain while searching for root fragments.


I was a brave and did not cry. I wanted to. I wanted to see Jason. His text back and it said "Sorry babe". That was good enough to get me home. My friend brought me a milkshake. Thanks Candace. Hours later I feel better. And tonight for family home evening..........

WE ARE GOING TO BRUSH AND FLOSS OUR TEETH!!!!!!!

CPR

I empowered myself today. I took a course in CPR. Did you know that in the state of Idaho when you have an emergency and call 911 they may not be able to help you. As in direct you in giving CPR to you spouse or child. We are one of many states that does not require our dispatchers to be certified in this life saving information. I knew then I had to take matters into my own hands.

Toy Soldiers, Vandalism, and My Dream Man!

Graden had to have a "talkin to" to his men. I guess they were not falling in line they way they should. At one point he had to draw his weapon. A NERF dart blaster is his choice method of intimidation. All is well now. No worries!

***************************************************************************

There was a case of vandalism at our house. The culprits have yet to be found. I WILL get to the bottom of this.

************************************************************************

Jason did not work today. As in left the house, and made some money! BUT........he did score some MAJOR points when he ORGANIZED AND CLEANED my cupboard and pantry! They have been in shambles since Burke was born. Everybody helping out, and not knowing where things went, things got a little messy! (I can take the mess in exchange for the HUGE help everybody was!)

He really is the

MAN

of

my

DREAMS!

Camera Hog

So I guess my little boy likes the camera. And here is my other boy that likes the camera as well.

No, Graden does not use a binky. He just likes to be silly!

JOLEEN~

You rock sista!!!! (She helped me figure out how to get a signature!)

Want one?

http://www.mylivesignature.com

Once you follow the steps and get your HTML code, copy it. Then go to your blog and go under SETTINGS, then FORMATTING, then POST TEMPLATE and paste it there.
(and save it!)

My name is.....

Testing testing 1.2.3.

Hidden Treasure

Have you even found something that you did not even know was lost? While updating my blog and cleaning house a bit, I came across this post that I never actually posted. I have no idea why. I think it was in progress. It was started just a few days after I came home from the hospital with Burke. I think they speak for themselves. A real forever treasure!
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Now you see why! When we went to Oregon for our annual family vacation we hit the Coast. I wanted my kids to see the ocean before they were 17 like me! My SIL Keri is a photgrapher there in Roseburg. She took time to take some shots! It was pretty fun! The last few shot near the water are my favorite. They also almost killed me! Between the heat, and Adam, her hub and Jason's brother, with the light getter reflection thing, I was toast! She worked so hard to get those and I am glad she did! She does great work! Check her out! www.keribluephotography.blogspot.com

I have never had maternity pictures taken before! I will always be so thankful I have these! Thanks Ker!

TwO mOnTHs oLd

My sweet baby is two months old today. Time has zoomed by, but I am so happy and blessed that he is progressing as he should. He weighs 10 lbs 3 oz. He is 23.5 inches long.

Here are some Burke stats:

Burke Loves....

to smile

his mommy

standing tall

lifting his head

looking all around

sleeping

his bottle

his smoothie bink

sleeping all night ( i love that one too)

Burke loves not so much....

being naked

getting bonked by you know who ;)

spit up

clothing changes

loosing his smoothie

He really is a great baby. In two months he has only been "fussy" once. That was last night. I am no longer nursing. It is normal for me to "dry up" after two months. It's normally when they really start going that 8-9 hour stretch. I did my best, and loved every second of that special closeness. I think the fuss was because he only had formula all day. And that led to no poopy diaper until later in the evening. And then Graden did something to him. Not sure what, but he was sure upset. I never found a mark.



Some drama unfolded.......so I HAD to capture it!

If I had a $1 for every time somebody commented about Burke's hair I could have paid for his mission and college. My Mom has told me to cut it a hundred times, but I just couldn't.

UNTIL THE OTHER NIGHT........

It's all the way over his ears.


And the mullet was not so cute anymore.


So I got out the clippers.




And off it came. (Of course I saved it!)

And now we have this super handsome man baby with a big boy haircut.

He looks just like my nephew Sam.

This is just a funny picture of Graden. My Mom took the girls for an overnighter. So Jason took Graden for some Man Time. They came home with guns. They have run all over the house with them. Graden took them to pick up the girls. I heard him shooting and then it went quiet. He had fallen asleep with them in his hands!!!!!

Wow.....

Somewhere in the past two months I turned my comment moderation on. I have actually been a bit sad because I was only getting maybe one comment. I TRY to comment to always leave a smart allic' remark on my friends blogs. A comment is like a hug. Support. Advice. Who would not want one? For some reason I scrolled down my dashboard and there were literally 50+ comments that I had never seen. As I sat here and read them, I FELT SO LOVED!!!! All I had to do was publish them. Thank you so much for commenting about me, my children, the silly things I come up with! What started out as a crappy day has totally turned around! xxoo!

Burkes Blessing 2009

This is Great G'pa Nielsen. He is from Oregon. He is a BRONCO NATION fan! He finally came out of the "closet" and is going back his Green and Yellow Duck state wearing

BLUE AND ORANGE.

We had the chance to bless Burke this last Sunday. (12/27/09)

Jason did a great job. My mother in law is so great. She always jots down the blessing. He are some highlights of the blessing:

· I bless you to grow to be a strong man with your beliefs in the church to be strong and your roots deep
· I bless you with health, strength and safety
· I bless you with a strong desire to study the scriptures and serve your Father in Heaven Faithfully
· I bless that when you are ready to serve the Lord on a mission that you will be able to teach those that you were placed on the earth to teach
· I bless you that when the time comes you will find a beautiful, strong bride that has the same values and strengths in the gospel as you
· Your Father in Heaven and family love you
· I bless you with anything else your Father in Heaven sees that you stand in need of.

I am thankful she does this. No matter how hard you try to remember, you tend to forget!

This is Jason's younger sister Darelyn and her sweet kids. Keller, Emery, and Amelia! We had such a blast! I feel like I don't see my kids when her kids are aound because they PLAY forever! Sun up to sun down!

I love this picture.
Great Grandparents: Cliff and Audrey Nielsen and my sweet Burke.

Taking this picture was like wrangling kittens!

Ok, my mom has a problem with looking at the camera. But at least we got a shot!

The Nielsen, Blue and Rock photo!

Brotherly love???????

I took this picture after everybody left! You can tell we had a lot of fun! Maybe a little too much fun!

I try to learn something new from Jason's mom when they come and visit. Last Christmas it was crochetting. This year she taught me how to make bread. This is my 1st loaf! I can't wait to try cinnamon rolls. (Well, Jason can't wait!)

Ahhh Crap!

I am a horrbile wife! I totally forgot my "Happy Birthday Jason, You're the best ever post!"

Man.....How will I ever live this one down???? Oh, wait....He doesn't care!


Happy 33rd Birthday anyways honey!


As Julia Childs would say:


"You are the butter to my bread, and the breath to my life!"

Ho Ho Ho!

"R" is for Reading!

I have not helped the girls with their homework for a while. G'ma Blue took that over while she was here, and I have not really gotten the December packets started. The girls BEG to do homework. It's not easy either. Mrs. T does not even give the girls the regular packet anymore (since October), they get the coveted "challenge" packet! Any who, I had them get it out today while I was stuck in the kitchen making some yummo chili. To my astonishment, THEY CAN READ????? When did I miss this? I cannot take credit whatsoever for this! My sister Jennifer was the gratest pre-school teacher of all time and had them so ready for kindergarten. So for it's all been a review for them. Mrs. T is great too. I was shocked to hear them sounding out the words and repeating them. We went to the library after naps and I let them get a ton of 1st reader books. They are proving to be more difficult than the homework, but I told them that practice makes.........you even better!
I am soooo glad my girls love school. By the second grade I hated it. Looking back, I know I had some learning struggles. My mom told me once that in the 4 th grade I got up and sharpened my pencil 22 times in one day. (The teacher told her this.) I guarantee it was because I did not understand the assignment and was killing time.
Keep it up girls! We are so proud of you!

Lazy Dayz!

EVIL ELF???????????????????

Nattie is always asking to hold Burke! On Saturday they got all snuggled up together! So sweet!
The next pics are from our ward Christmas party! It was the Polar Express! There was not one detail forgotten! It really was a blast!

Burke

Hi G'ma and G'pa~ This is for you to see how big I have gotten! See you in a few weeks for my Blessing and my 1st Christmas! Love ya, Burkey Boy!

My baby~

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.

There really is no way to measure love. If there is, I know I am still in debt. I kiss Burke a thousand times a day. I smell is head just as many. I stare at him for moments on end. I thank my Heavenly Father for trusting me with this choice Spirit daily. I tear up to think he is a month old. I am proud of myself for savoring each second. I count my blessings multiple times a day, and hour. I smile when the big kids love on him, even if it's a little too rough. I wonder what the world has in store for him, and what he has in store for it.

Happy 1st month of being mine Burke. xxoo mama

Our House

These are some of my new decorations that I bought last year after Christmas at Target! I am so HAPPY with the way they look! The picture of the tree stinks. When you have twinkle lights it's almost impossible to get a good picture :(

Turkey Day Fun!

So as you can see we had a blast! I know that for sure because there are several pictures I could not post due to fear for my life!
The only really sucky part was that the night before I got Mastitis. BUMMER! But I am feeling much better today! I hope you all had a fun and thankful holiday!

Too many.......

I have too many blessings! I am thankful for so much. Although I am a little peeved because at this time I cannot find my camera. I think the pregnancy brain has not faded yet! :(

Burke is doing great! He weighed 7.2 oz at the doctor today. Yeah! He is finally picking up some weight! He is still tiny, but he is soooo strong. If you put him up at your shoulder he can rear his head way back. I am afraid of his neck breaking!

The kids are smitten with him! He is the first thing they think of when they wake up and the last thing thought of when they drift to sleep. I did not know how quickly they would accept him. There is no doubt in my mind that he picked us to live with here on earth. I feel so lucky to have him! Thank you Burke! Mama loves you!

The kids are all great as well! Smart, healthy, funny, a little too sassy, and very helpful! I could not do this without you guys helping! xoxoxox!

Jason is also done such a great job helping me! He adores his new little munchkin! I love to see him snuggle Burke. He usually is being bombed by the older kids, but makes time for all of them! He is SUPER busy! He is not only subbing full time, but coaching wrestling at a middle school as well. (Centennial starts up soon)!!! I love watching him coach the middle schoolers. They are tiny little guys, not the heavy weights, them is some big boys!!! Jason always grabs the boys and pulls them close after they win or loose. He talks to them and them gives them a hug and a smack! (It's a guy thing)!!!

We are counting all of our blessings! I hope you are too!

Whooosh!

That is how I feel the time how the time has gone by since Burke was born! Whooosh! Gone in a flash! All together he has been a DREAM baby. He eats well, sleeps well, is well tempered. I have ZERO complaints! My friend Natalie does a cute thing for her son Maddix once a month, a spotlight if you will. Well, a month is so much time to change for a new born, so thought I would do every few weeks for a couple months!

Burke likes:

To be swaddled
*
His Soothie bink
*
Snuggling
*
Looking around
*
Trying to eat my cheek
*
His hands on his chest
*
His big Brother and Sisters



Burke Dislikes:

To be naked
*
Night time diaper changes
*
Loud noises
*
When I take too long to feed him
*

Happy 2 weeks of life Burkster! In that short time you have forever changed mine!

xoxo mama

PS....If you want to see the BEST pictures ever check out this site:

http://www.laurafarrisphotography.blogspot.com/

Thanks Laura!

The Woman's Remote!