My baby turns 3!!!!!

On March 15th my little Lane turned 3! I am having a hard time believing how quickly it has gone. I also spent some time reflecting on how sick he was 3 years ago and how blessed we are that he is healthy with no long-term effects from his early breathing problems. I was commenting to Rhett that we do treat the baby of the family differently than the oldest. I have a hard time believing that the newborn/infant years are behind us.
Lane had a great birthday. He had a motorcycle cake which he talked about for days and days. He got trucks, motorcycles, a helmet, a new bike, a suitcase and some other fun stuff. He really got the whole "present" thing. He knew they were all for him and he was very excited to open them. His siblings were just as excited to open them too.
We had a few friends over for cake and ice cream and just enjoyed a nice day going to church and playing with Lane. It was a nice birthday and so fun to watch our little man get bigger.

Trip to Tucson

On March 7-8 our family headed to Tucson for our new little niece, Maren's, baby blessing. We traveled there with Ron and Linda (my in-laws who spent a few days here before the blessing). We had a nice drive and I don't know if that is because the kids are getting better at traveling or that we split the kids up between our car and Grandma's car- its probably a little of both.
We arrived and went to Colossal Cave State Park and toured a huge underground cave that was full of old Indian relics, stalagmites and stalagtites (do not check my spelling on those two words - I hated science in school). The kids thought it was great. Lane was a little scared so we told him it was where the animals would come sleep at night. He then looked at me and asked "Do they put their jammies on before they go to sleep?". He is hilarious.
After the tour we went to my brother-in-laws house for a BBQ and to hang out with the cousins and family. The kids got along pretty well. The weather was beautiful. We then went to our hotel for the night. I remember being a kid and being excited about staying in a hotel but now that I am older I just don't see the fascination. I rarely get a good night's sleep in a hotel. The bed isn't right, the pillow too poofy, the weird A/C/heat noises, the kids in the room, etc. I guess it is just one of those things you enjoy as a child. I would rather sleep in my own bed any night. The kids were wired but did eventually sleep.
The next day we spent at Tyler and Shelley's house. Their new baby Maren is adorable. She is filling out and is just so cute to hold. She was well behaved for her big day. We were glad we were able to spend the weekend with family. It was a great little trip.

Paradise - The new Master Suite!

First of all let me say that it is really hard to take pictures of a room, especially when you're an amateur. These pictures do not do my new room justice. I am loving having a space that is all Rhett and I and no kids. Often I go in there after the kids go to bed and I don't come back out. I read, watch TV, do whatever. It is my little bit of heaven in a crazy house full of noise and chaos.

Some of my favorite new things - real nightstands, our first headboard, can lighting that dims, my new flat screen TV hooked up to tivo, my closet (my dressing room as I call it), the view from our new window by the new soaker tub, the color, the walkin shower, the private commode room, etc. I love it and am glad it is done because it was messy and expensive. I better enjoy it for the next 36 years (that is how long the first bed/bath was in place).

Purgatory - The Before Bedroom

Ok, if I ever posted more often I wouldn't forget what I was doing every time. Oh well. Really, this post is all about the bedroom we remodeled over the fall. We started in August and finished in December but I have just been procrastinating putting the pictures on the blog.

Where to start with the old bedroom. These pictures show our messy room because we were in the midst of packing to move out. It is hard to say what I miss the most- the popcorn ceilings with gold glitter, the fan with just a lightbulb because the lightkit broke, the fan wobbling and being held stable with a golf tee, the 7 foot dropped ceiling in the bathroom that you could reach up a touch, the 80's chrome light bar, the 80's baby blue/silver/pink metallic leaf wallpaper and matching curtains, the old white but actually dingy gray carpet, the fake wood flat doors, the mismatched hardware, the closet with a weird wall in the middle separating it into two little rooms, but mostly I will miss the plumbing that was oh so reliable (the shower faucet leak, the drainage problems, the sink not draining, the toiliet not flushing, etc.).

As you can see it was a happy day to pay an insane amount of money for a new bedroom and bathroom. The next entry will have the new bathroom photos because I can't figure out how to put captions under the actual pictures.

Tally's Christmas Concert Surprise

Ok, so during Tally's Christmas program at school I had one of those parent moments when I don't know if I should feel like a totally lame parent for not knowing something important about my daughter or be really pleased that she could handle something kind of scary all by herself! So, here goes the whole story.
Tally's school has each grade in charge of a holiday so that not all 500 kids are trying to do something at the same time. Her 2nd grade was assigned the christmas musical performance. Tally told me she tried out for a part and got a talking part. She brought the script home in early December and showed me the one sentence she needed to know. I asked her if we needed to practice and she said she already had it memorized. Yeah! So, on the day of the performance I took the two little boys to the day performance since I had enrichment that night and Rhett was going to come back that evening to see the show. I was sitting there trying to keep Cade and Lane quiet while we enjoyed this very cute little show. Tally got up and said her part flawlessly. Again, Yeah! She didn't seem nervous and all was going well.

A few minutes later Tally got up to the microphone again and I thought to myself," That's strange. I thought she already said her part". The music cued and little Tally proceeded to sing a lenghty solo that involved the chorus and a duet with another little girl!!! I was so shocked I whipped my camera to video mode and tried to hold back the tears as my little girl belted out a cute song.

It was so touching and I made Rhett video the whole thing when he went back that night. I still can't believe she didn't tell us and that I didn't even have to help her. She is growing up too quickly. I will cherish this christmas memory forever.

It Was a Very Merry Christmas!

We spent a wonderful Christmas holiday at home with the kids, my parents, and my brother, Matt. We had so much fun this year with all the parties, festivities, wrapping gifts, shopping, making goodies, eating the goodies and just enjoying some downtime where we didn't have to hurry or be anywhere. It has been quite refreshing. This is the first year we haven't had a little baby and we quite liked sleeping in, having the kids play with each other and entertain themselves a little. It gives me glimpses into the future. Fortunately they are still small enought to make Christmas truly magical. On Christmas Eve, Tally always leaves a bucket out on the driveway full of water for the reindeer. They always come and get a drink and the water is red because of Rudolph's nose. The magic is always plentiful with small ones.

The kids had a great Christmas (or so they tell me). They were shocked to receive a Wii from their Burgener Grandparents and then games and accessories from Santa. We are all a little addicted right now but that will fade with school starting next week and me being the Wii controller so that they don't play too much. We also surprised the kids with a week trip back to Belize in October. Rhett won the trip while we were there. We had to go listen to one of those timeshare presentations and then you got to pick a prize. I won a dinner for two there and Rhett managed to snag the grand prize of a week's accomdations in a 2 bedroom condo in Belixe with a golf cart, use of all the water toys, etc. We are so excited to go back and to get to take the kids. I guess I better getting working on 4 child passports!

Overall it was a grand holiday spent with those we love and missing those we could not be with. We have been lazy all this week enjoying the relaxed style before we have to get back to the craziness of school, homework, church, dance, piano, scouts, basketball, etc.!

Lane's Too Cute for Two!

Lane is just cute beyond words right now. He just got glasses and he looks adorable. Right after Thanksgiving I noticed his eyes crossing when he was watching TV. I pointed this out to my husband who said to bring him in for a check and sure enough he is very far-sighted. All the rest of us are near-sighted so it was quite a surprise to have him be so far-sighted. The funny part about this story is that I caught my son's eye issues and not Rhett. I have sufficiently joked with him about that. The hard part now is keeping him from destroying the glasses. It has been about 4 weeks and he has ruined two pairs already so we finally stuck extended-wear contacts on him one night while he was sleeping. That is going OK so far.

The other pictures are of Lane being silly. He loves to ride his tricyle INDOORS with his helmet on. I disapprove due to possible damage and I have the scraped baseboards to prove it. He cracks me up. He also loved to wear his Santa hat and yell, "HO,HO,HO". The one picture is of Lane shooting Grandma Jill and triumphantly stating "You're Dead!". He had a blast at Christmas and loved his new little ride on motorcycle. He is a sweet and happy boy. It is hard to believe he is our baby.