Temple Group

Today was my first trip to the Dallas Temple! A group of women in our ward organized a Temple Group where we get to go once a month. It is such a great idea! There is six women in a group. Each month two stay and babysit and the other four get to go to the temple. So in each 6 month rotation you host the kids at your house once, you help babysit at someone elses house once, and you go to the temple four times. It was wonderful to go back to the temple and to see how the Dallas Temple compares to the temples I've seen in California. We were home at about 1:00 and our kids were all worn out and ready to go home and take a nap. When I drove away today Brody said - "Mom, that was so fun." I asked Brody what he did and he said he ate lunch on Kristin's blanket. Kristin - I don't know if you really did that or not - but either way he had a great time. These women were brave! In our group there is 16 kids (all under 5 years old - and 4 little babies!) Needless to say, it was probably more peaceful for those of us that got to go to the temple. But - I enjoyed the break and I am already looking forward to next time.

Happy 4th of July!

I found this quote on a friend's blog and loved it...it summed up our whole day!

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." ~Erma Bombeck

Can you name that Burton baby??

Happy July 4th!

Spontaneous Weekend!

Brandon and I both woke up Friday morning and decided we needed to go somewhere - so Waco it was! We got ready, packed a few things and jumped in the car right at nap time. Waco is about 130 miles or so from our house - so about a 2 hour drive. We got there right at dinner time and ate at a diner that has been there since the early 1900's. After dinner we walked over to this run down looking ice cream parlor - ironically called Health Camp and got ice cream cones. It was still so warm out that the ice cream was melting quicker than we could eat it.

We went to a historic suspension bridge and walked over it. There is a sidewalk with pretty trees and benches that lines the Brazos River, but we didn't get very far because Brody loved walking back and forth on the "Big Big Bridge" It was a huge hit for him! We ended up going back on Saturday to walk across it again. And he still asks to go back. We even got to see trains crossing across another bridge a little further down the river. This is the first time we've stayed at a hotel with both kids. We had a room that had a sofa bed in the front, but it was a sore excuse for a bed. I don't think there was anything in the mattress except springs- it really was pathetic. But, Brody just liked having his bed built for him each night. We headed out the next morning to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. It was neat to see all the pro players that in someway made there mark in Texas. They also had a High School Hall of Fame that showed all the winning High Schools in Texas. Brody got to compare his hands and feet to a pro basketball players & sit in a PBR (professional bull riding) saddle.
Next was a trip to the Dr. Pepper museum. Yep - that tasty drink was originally created in Waco by Dr. Alderton, a local pharmacist, by mixing 23 different fruit flavors behind his soda counter. Back in the day you'd say - "Throw me a Waco" if you wanted what is now known as Dr. Pepper. And, contrary to rumors that fly around, Prune juice is not one of the fruits. At the end of the museum we stopped and had a Dr. Pepper float. Brody didn't though - his was homemade Peaches and Vanilla ice cream. We stopped in at the hotel got our swimsuits and headed over to the water park. I imagined something like Wild Rivers - but it was more like a huge pool with playground equipment in it. Don't get me wrong - it was fun...but my new pet peeve is when other parents don't watch their kids. I get pretty angry when bigger kids try and hurt my babies!At the end of the day we made another stop at the big big bridge and walked it a few more times before grabbing some pizza and heading back to the hotel. We got up the next morning and drove home just in time for church. By the time church was over we had two VERY tired little ones! But it was a very fun weekend getaway!

A Season of Firsts

We are enjoying this time of year so much! The weather has been tolerable (so far) and stayed in the nineties with the humidity coming and going. It is nice that the kids naps are during the hottest time of the day so we have a good reason to stay indoors with the air on! The kids and I are going to the pool several times a week with some new friends and more on the weekend with Brandon. This has been Ella's first summer - and I finally got some pictures of her in the water. She likes it okay, but squeals with delight watching Brody and the other kids play. There is a tower that has buckets suspended from it and they randomly dump water out into the pool and she really gets a kick out of that. (Despite what all the following pictures look like, she really has grown quite a bit of hair - way more than Brody - it's just almost white in color)

Ella has also started on some solid foods. We've had our ups and downs with that. She loves carrots, sweet potatoes and sometimes peas. The rice cereal wasn't a hit, but she'll eat it when it is mixed with other things. But, she will stop going potty - completely. I gave her prunes hoping to give her some relief...but she ended up throwing them up. I went to check on her after I had put her to bed and I thought she had spit up and pooped, but it was just throw up - everywhere! So, no more prunes. I still give her vegetables and some fruits, but no more rice cereal.

Once we got her room done she moved into her own room! I waited as long as I could because our master bedroom is downstairs and the kids rooms are upstairs. It isn't as bad as I thought, and I have a very comfy bed to sleep in upstairs when they are sick or need me. The picture is of her first night in her crib - she is SO CUTE!

Much like all of Brody's other friends - we started potty training kind of. I didn't push it a whole lot, but I am ready for him to be out of diapers. I decided one day that we'd start and he was doing okay, I think he is probably like every other 2 year old boy. Every once in awhile he'd go #1 on the potty, but I don't think he quite gets the sensation of the urge to go. He was having accidents, but also successes. When it came to going #2 though, he'd tell me and we'd get him on the potty but then he'd get stage fright and not go. Our kids have constipation issues - big time. He woke up screaming from a nap and I knew exactly what was going on. I brought him down and got what I needed to "help" him go (if you get the drift) and he just screamed at me that it hurt. It is awful to watch. He did say he wanted to go on the potty and after being on there awhile and screaming he did it. Someday he'll kill me for posting the picture, but you gotta have a picture of there first poop on the potty (just him though, not the poop). Notice the red eyes. I think the whole experience traumatized the both of us, and since then I thought I am going to back off and try again in a month. He still tells us if he has to go every once in a while and does go, so hopefully he'll have an easier go of it when we try again.

I've also had my first freak out! I got out of my car one day and saw a spider in our garage that was the size of my palm. So gross - gives me chills just thinking about it! I told Brandon if I ever saw one like that in the house that we'd have to get a bug guy. Since then, we've found Big Bertha. She isn't quite as big as the first big spider I saw - but she freaked me out. Its the first time I ever saw one and I think it is pretty big. I sat and stared at it for awhile trying to get a good image in my head and then I went and googled it. Sure enough - it was a black widow just like I thought. I want her to die - but I've heard if you step on them often times hundreds of babies come running out from under their bellies. Don't know if it is true - but just in case, I'm calling a bug guy to come and spray. I can't handle it.

The bug guy is also going to help us with another pest - our first gopher. It has been around for a couple of months now and we've tried and tried to get it. Brandon even had a gun pointed at its head, but the CO2 cartridge was a dud. Our yard backs up to an open field and we can see gopher holes all over on the other side of our fence. So, we'll need to come up with something otherwise our yard is going to get torn up. I guess it is part of living in the country.

Brody & Ella helping pick weeds in the front yard

Sweet sibling picture

The Kids Rooms

The kids' rooms were our first "decorating" project in our house. Ella's was first because I had an idea I wanted to do for hers, and since she was still sleeping in our room it made it easy that she wouldn't be displaced. We painted the walls (green) and ceiling (white) and then added wainscoting and a chair rail. Sounds easy enough, right?? The wainscoting was more difficult to attach to the wall then we expected. We spent several late nights smashing our fingers with hammers. We even think Brody picked up a few things he heard while asleep across the hall. While driving in the car one day he said out of no where - "Dang it! My finger!" It made us laugh. Anyway, after the panelling was put up the chair rail was really easy and made the room look much better. Thank goodness for laser levelers and miter saws! We have to return part of her ceiling fan (the light ended up not working). Lowe's is letting us just bring back the light though instead of taking the whole fan down. So when we get the new light up the only thing left is putting stuff on her walls. I like the idea of her name on the wall, but I thought E-L-L-A would look a little plain, so I am making pillow letters that are a little bigger and have more detail to jazz it up. I have a couple of other things for the walls too, but we are waiting for the letters to decide where they'll go. Once those are done I will add more pictures, but for now I wanted to share what it looks like!

Brody's room was a little harder. We weren't as motivated to paint or do anything to involved. We found a Cars border and wall stickers that don't mess up your paint and thought he'd love it! We finally got it put up (again a big shout out to laser levels!) and the other Cars on the wall and it looks so cute! I had a hard time getting into it, thinking it wouldn't go or it may look cheesy - but I am so over it! Brody loves it. He loves to name all the Cars and he can look from his bed and see them all, it keeps him occupied when he should be taking a nap but isn't! I love seeing all the color in his room. I still need to do a valance - but am debating on what colors (black and white or something to match his bedding). All in all, it was cute and pretty inexpensive. We figured he'd be into something else in a few years and we could change the decorating then.

Fun Family Times

We had a very fun May! We got lots of visits with family. First my Grandma and Grandpa came, then my sister Amy and her husband Will and then Brandon's family came to play! Here are a few pictures of us having fun with them.

Grandpa riding the tractor.

Great Grandma and Grandma feeding Brody all sorts of junk at the baseball game!

Amy, Will, my mom and Ella watching the baseball game.

Brody running through the splash park at our swimming pool.

Stephanie & Ella on Memorial Day.

Grandma with Ella at the baseball game.

The whole family at the JFK memorial in Downtown Dallas.

Brandon Michael Burton

Thanks Kristin for the tag!

1. Who is your man? Brandon
2. How long have you been together? Almost 6 years
3. How long dated? We usually tell strangers who ask this about 6 months - but the truth is 5 weeks. Engaged? We were engaged for about 6 months (we don't consider it a lie - we just include our engagement in the amount of time we dated.
4. How old is your man? 28
5. Who eats more? Depends - if it has sugar in it then definitely me.

6. Who said "I love you" first? It was really cheesy - Brandon said something sweet and then I think I asked him - "Does that mean you love me?"
7. Who is taller? Brandon
8. Who sings better? I don't know - neither of us is too bad I guess.

9. Who is smarter? Probably depends on the subject - but his dad says I am the smartest girl he knows.
10. Who's temper is worse? Definitely me.
11. Who does the laundry? Me, unless Brandon is out of underwear and then he'll do his own.
12. Who does the dishes? Me. Brody does help put silverware away though.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me - just like Kristin I have to sleep on my right side and face the outside.
14. Who pays the bills? I do. Brandon has very little idea how much is in our bank account.
15. Who has bigger feet? Brandon
16. Who has longer hair? Me.
17. Who is better with the computer? Brandon, but I'm not too bad either.
18. Who mows the lawn? Brandon does. See picture above - We bought a riding lawn mower and he loves it!
19. Who cooks dinner? Me - but Brandon does all the BBQ-ing.
20. Who drives when you are together? Brandon. He knows his way around better.
21. Who pays when you go out? Brandon. I never have cash - I like it in the bank.

22. Who is most stubborn? We are both pretty stubborn.
23. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? We will both do it, but not quickly.

24. Whose parents do you see the most? Right now we see my parents more.
25. Who kissed who first? Brandon
26. Who asked who out? Brandon asked me out.
27. Who proposed? Brandon did.
28. Who is more sensitive? Depends on what it is about - more often me.
29. Who has more friends? I have more friends that I see, but Brandon keeps in touch with people from his past way better than me.

30. Who has more siblings? Equal.
31. Who wears the pants in the family? I think we share them.

Now I'll tag Lindsey, Rachel & Erin