Thursday, January 26, 2012

Terrible 2's.......or 20 months (but who's counting)

So I remember my mom telling me......"I loved every age of you" and tonight, as Daniel is carrying Aly upstairs to be put into TIME-OUT.....I am thinking, "really.....really????......every age........even the 2's and 3's......."
Ha - it's not as bad as I am making it sound, but I have to admit that this age is tough.  I wish that she would not act out so that she didn't have to go into time-out, but I know that we cannot accept some of the behaviour that she displays so it is the best thing for her in the long run.  I had a long day at work and Daniel usually always does, so we decided to meet up for dinner to make it a little easier on ourselves.  Needless to say, Alyson was not having it.  So we got our dinner to go and headed home.  That is one thing that I have learned as a mom.......nothing is predictable and you have to be "ok" with your plans changing in an instant.  Daniel and I are for the most part pretty laid back people, so it has not been too tough to accept, but we also make a great team - which is a definate must in parenting :)

Alyson is a very beautiful, smart and funny 20 month old.  She is very independent and strong-willed.  She has learned how to say no, she get's embarrassed and upset about things, it takes her about 20 minutes to warm up to strangers and new surroundings, she loves looking at puppies - but needs them to keep their distance and she has the sweetest most affectionate heart.  Getting ready for baby number 2, we have moved her upstairs into her "big girl room" or "Aly's Penthouse"  we have child-proofed almost everything and have her hooked up to a video moniter to watch her every move......(ha)  We did move her crib upstairs with her, of course this will eventually have to come back down to the nursery and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.  In FACT I am very nervous about it.  My mom says, I never crawled out of my big girl bed......well I will put money on the fact the Alyson will be out of her bed before I can shut the door to say good night.  She probably has a lot of my similiarities, but she is a VERY strong-willed child, maybe even more than her mommy ;)  Wish us Luck~!!!

So onto the Second Child - I am officially 33 weeks pregnant and soooooooooooo ready to have this baby.  March 5th could not come any faster and I am looking forward to having a break from work and enjoying this baby.  This pregnancy has been totally different from Alyson.  I have been very nauseous, lots of head-aches and extremley tired (this might have to do with the 20mo. old I am trying to keep up with).  We have not found out the sex and will wait until it's debut - I am looking forward to seeing if we have a stinky boy or another sweet (stinky) girl.  Either way, a blessing from GOD that we are eternally grateful for.  On a side note - Daniel and I have decided that our family of 4 (with a dog eventually) is what we are going to go with.  We are so blessed with Alyson and cannot wait for the arrival of number 2, but we are going to call it a day - thank GOD for our children and begin to enjoy our life as a family.  We are very serious about providing our children with private school educations, we would like to get into a bigger home with some land, we would like to get back to traveling with the kiddos and without and in order to do ALL of those things - the balance of 4 seems enough for us to handle :)  So no "20 kids and counting for me" Mrs. Duggar.....sheesh.
Crazy Uncle Josh
I am going to close and post some pictures of New Years - sorry they so are late.....  I also apologize if my writing is bad.  Daniel has "Ax Men"on (a reality t.v. show about loggers) in the background and I swear I can hear the soundtrack to Deliverance and my IQ dropping at a rapid speed :)
Happy 2012~!
Pretty Aunt Grace
Going home - 1am

Olive Fingers~!!!!

Mommy and Me
My girl
Before XMAS eve mass
I'm not so sure about you Santa~?

uh......are you gonna eat those meatballs......

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Happy 2012~!

Ok so as I promised, pics of New Years and Xmas.....We had a very nice and busy Christmas.  It all began on the 23rd with the annual Burkholder Xmas Bash at Grandma and Grandpa Burkholders with a special visit from Santa.  Majority of everyone was there.....which when you add 10 siblings, their children and then their families - it was nothing short of chaos~!  But alot of fun and I was glad Aly was able to participate :)  She did great with all of her many cousins.  Christmas Eve was a nice quiet day, with a little bit of a hiccup for mass - so I grabbed communion and met Daniel and Aly in the car.....(I think we were snake-bit when we woke her up early from her nap) plus, I have never seen so many people packed in the church & hall like sardines!!!  Crazy CHREASTERS~!!!  We then went over to mom and dad's and had a lovely dinner, Daniel' sister, Grace and her husband joined us and we had a great time - Aly got to open up all of her presents from Babi and Dido.  Christmas Day we woke up early to see what Santa had brought, Aly was actually interested in playing with her existing toys rather than the new ones (favorite toy still - Pink Princess Car from the Brooks - she loves that thing~!!! - Thanks Dustin!!)  Then we packed up and headed over to my Grandma's to open presents, see our cousins and eat some delicious cookies.  We came home, grabbed a nap and then trecked out to Fair Oaks Ranch to spend the evening with Daniel's Dad, Kathy and the kiddos.  Aly had a great time, she loves her Aunt's and Uncle (we'll explain that to her later ~!)  Whew - I'm exhausted, how about you.....I think that wraps up the festivities of xmas.  I will post pics and then on to New Years. (It was just as busy.....get ready!)