Jackson sans his tonsils!

Yesterday was the big day for Jack!  We all woke up bright and early and headed into the hospital at 7:00!  He even woke up nicely and didn't complain in the least when we told him he couldn't eat anything for breakfast.  *for those of you who know him well...this kid could eat 3 breakfasts a day...so going without we thought would be horrible...but we were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a big deal!* 

We checked in and got our pjs on.  They brought in this great big bag of kiddo surgical hats for him to pick on.  After digging through most of the bag, he landed on a Lightening McQueen cap and plopped it on!    It was soooooo cute!!  The nurses were all great.  We had to wait a while for Dr. DeSautel to finish up his first case and the nurses knew it was taking a while...so they brought him a little package of things to do. 

His surgical nurse, Julie, got his wagon all ready to go and in he went!  We walked with him to the big red line, gave him lots of hugs and kisses and said "see ya later dude!"  When we left him, he was giggling as Julie was "racing" around the corner with lots of sound effects! 

It took about 15 minutes to get him to sleep, and about 15 minutes for the procedure.  Dr. DeSautel came in and said he did great...yes indeed, his tonsils were big and ugly and needed to come out.  It took about 30 minutes to get him to wake up and back from the recovery room.  I used to work with Jack's nurse, Rosemary, in the NICU so it was nice to see a familiar face.  She kept us updated on how his recovery was going. 

Pretty soon, we heard a lot of "oh, he's so cute!" and popped our heads out...sure enough, Jack was rounding the corner in this big huge bed!  He looked so small in there!!  He was halfway awake with this dazed look going on!!  The nurses said he was delightful and was one of the best kids to recover!!  Always a nice thing to hear!!  We picked Jack up and he slept for the next 2 hours...one tired boy!!  *on a side note...when you have to wake up Jack, it's not a pretty sight...even when it's not after surgery...so this wasn't a fun process to get him awake and alert enough to drink!* 

Aunt Nikki showed up during nap time and stayed to hang out for a while.  We finally got Jack up and somewhat alert...convincing him to drink something was another story!!  I didn't know if we ever were going to get him awake enough to drink!  After some lovely hydrocodone, he agreed to a popsicle...red, of course!  So when the twin-pops showed up, all he wanted to do was share them...what a sweet boy!  We got 2 popsicles down him and then some chocolate milk.  Time for the IV to come out and we'd be on our way home! 

By about 1:30, we were on our way home.  After a quick stop at Wal-mart for a supply of popsicles, juice boxes, yougurt and a new movie...we headed home...only to make an emergency stop about 2 min from Wal-mart because our sweet little boy puked up every last little thing in his little tummy...NOT FUN!!  We had red puke all over Jack, his blankie, carseat and the van...not fun at all! I luckily had packed an extra pair of clothes just in case we ended up having to stay overnight.  A quick change of clothes and we headed home.  Cleaning up red puke is not fun...it's only the 2nd time Jack has actually puked, so all in all, I think we're fairly lucky! 

He came home, snuggled on the couch for about 10 minutes and then was ready to go.  So much for "quiet activity" today!!  2 popsicles, a container of pudding, half a container of yogurt and numerous crackers later, Jack was rearing to go!!  It was such a nice day, so we took him for a walk.  Got home, made some soup and beer bread.  He ate almost 2 pieces of bread, but didn't really like the soup so much.  His next request:  "Lets just watch a movie and snuggle."  I'm okay with that, so we made a little bed on the couch and snuggled on in.  We were waiting for 9:00 to roll around so we could give him another dose of meds and then we headed to bed.  He didn't think sleeping in his room was a good idea, so he laid on our floor.  Fine by me, since they told us to wake him up in the night to stay on top of his meds...and right at 3 hours, he'd start getting squirmy and whiny so with a quick dose of hydrocodone or motrin, he'd fall back to a sweet slumber!  He woke up about 7:30 and just wanted to snuggle. 

We're onto day 2 and he's doing pretty good!  He's active as ever and if you saw him, you wouldn't think anything had happened!  We're having a hard time today getting him to eat anything, but hopefully that changes.  Overall, we're pretty pleased about his recovery!!! 

We're working on getting our house ready to put on the market so there's been a lot of craziness going on around here!  Between painting and recarpeting the entire upstairs, our house is kind of looking crazy!  Best go help Jon with the basement...I can hear the track going downstairs so Jack will be entertained for quite a while!  Thanks for checking in...hopefully things keep going well and he'll be feeling normal in no time!

Well...

It's been a while since I've updated, we've been so busy lately!  When Jack was in for his 3 year check up, Dr. Wallace asked what Dr. Desautel thought of his tonsils.  (We had been to see him back in Jan/Febish) and I said 2+.  Then that look "oh" look crossed her face.  She said they looked more like 3+ now.  So I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Desautel.  Yes indeedy, Jack's tonsils are large!  So he is buying himself a tonsillectomy & adnoidectomy (T&A) on Oct 22nd.  We're anxious and nervous about it, but know that he will be fine.  Dr. Desautel is the peds ENT and does this all of the time...so I'm thankful for that!  We've started talking about it with him and explaining that his throat will hurt but it will help him not get sick.  It may be an interesting weekend for us, but better sooner than later! 

Since this isn't that "fun" of a post, thought I better add some pictures!!

Picture Time

Jackson had his 3 year pictures taken a few weeks ago.  We only have a few of them, but this is what we have so far!!  Really excited about how they turned out...can't wait to see more!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jackson Conrad!!

Jack had an awesome 3rd birthday!!!  No party would be complete without great friends and family, lots of smiles, great presents, a cool cake and tons of fun!  When you as the big guy, his favorite gift was the 3D elephant picture that Aunt Boo Boo got him!  I mean, come on, when you consistently have been asking for an elephant for your birthday, how does that not top the list?!?!  :) 



Jack was super excited to get a new digital camera, which he promptly needed opened and has proceeded to take lots of pictures of people's legs and other odd things.  The biggest surprise to both Mom and Dad was how awesome Jackson did with his new big boy bike.  Neither of us thought he'd be tall enough to reach the pedals and really get going.  Boy did he prove us wrong!!  He got right on that bike, started pedaling like he had been for years and away he went!!  Up and down the sidewalk, around the corners at high speeds...he did awesome!! 

This morning, Jack got woken up with candles on his birthday cookie.  Yes, everyone gasp and pick up your jaws!  We let him have a monster cookie for breakfast in bed!!  He thought that was great!!  Then Mommy headed off to work and Daddy took over birthday duties.  Jack got to pick whatever he wanted to do!  Fishing and mini-golfing it was.  What a Daddy!!  Jack had so much fun and couldn't stop talking about it!  Tonight, we attempted to go to Daddy's softball game....attempt being the key word!  We got there, it started sprinkling.  Jack really wanted to go, so we went.  Pretty soon, it's sprinkling more steadily...and then suddenly, here comes the rain!  Daddy ran in from the field and finally convinced Jack we needed to go home.  So grab my purse, attempt to hold on to the blanket, pick up Jack and run!  Hauling a now 3-year-old is hard work!  Man oh man, was I wiped!!  Jack thought it was hilarious running in the rain.  When we got home, all he wanted to do was feel the water from the rain spouts...didn't bother him at all that we were both soaked!!   



Jackson, we both love you to the moon and back a million times!!  You have brought us so much love and joy over the past 3 years!  Thank you for all of the lessons you have taught us, all of the love you have shown us and all of the wonderful years to come!!  We love you!!

Here's to July

To start our July out right, Jack and I went on our first mommy/son double date with Erica and Logan.  We took the boys to see Toy Story 3 and they had a great time!  Cute movie and the boys did a great job during the movie.  Afterwards, there was a comparison of injuries, making crazy faces and having fun! 

This last week, Reid, Stacy, Ethan and Rebecca came up from Texas over the 4th of July.  Jon had to work that weekend, so we met Oma in Sioux City on Friday and Jack and I headed down to West Point to go hang out with everyone.  The kids had a great time playing together in the pool Oma had in the backyard.  A lot of time was spent outside!!  Oma and Opa's shed was converted into a clubhouse for the week.  My old kitchen set that my grandpa made me was in there, along with the cradle he made for my dolls, plus a great new tool set for the boys.  Man did they go to town with that!  Hard hats were put on within minutes and Ethan's boom-boom (aka hammer) was with him most of the time!  Ethan was ready for projects!!  On the 4th, we headed down to the park to play and have supper.  Jon got to West Point around 7 that night.  Because of some lovely rain/cloudy weather, the dinner was moved into the Nielsen Center.  It was air conditioned, which was a welcome relief.  The band was setting up, so once the boys got enough guts to go, we headed up to the stage to watch them set up everything.  The guitarist even let Ethan strum a few times and gave him his pick...he was stoked and was trying to pick up some chicks with it later in the night!  Our good friends, the Wimmers, are always in charge of the firework show.  Andrew is amazing and coordinates music to the fireworks and always has an awesome show!  Miss Rebecca slept through the whole show!!  Ethan just kept saying "fireworks go BOOM BOOM" and would pound his fist in the air...it was funny! 



On Monday, my best friend, Melissa, came up to West Point with her husband and new baby, Rowan!  It's been a long 7 weeks waiting to meet Rowan...Jack thought she was pretty awesome!  He couldn't wait to hold her and give her snuggles and kisses!

On Tuesday, we headed to the Omaha Zoo and met Aunt Boo Boo.  The kids did really well and had a good time!  Our biggest story from the zoo was Jack and Moe.  If you're Dylan and Austin, you know who Moe is!!  He's a huge silverback gorilla.  We were standing on the ledge, watching this adorable baby gorilla play with Rosie, the grandma who always looks a little cranky.  Jack was standing there...watching, laughing, having a good time.  Well, Moe was at the other side and started slowly walking across towards the baby gorilla (sorry Boo, can't remember the baby's name!).  All of the sudden, Moe starts picking up speed and I was thinking he was going to swoop by the window and run past...nope!  Moe picks up speed and at full speed, shoulder butts the window...right in front of Jackson!!!  I've never seen his eyes get so big and the tears come so fast!!  Boy did that scare the little man!!  He cried until we got out of that gorilla house and then continued to talk about it until well after lunch!  He still is talking about it...minus the tears though!  So yeah..besides that little incident, we had a great time.  Jack, of course, loved the elephants and all of the kids loved the penguins.  They let them up by the window now, so Ethan was running with the penguins, up and down...it was cute! 




Wednesday, we headed into Lincoln and went to Pioneer Park for a while.  The kids got to watch one of the elks walk around and then we had a picnic.  After that, we met up with Melissa and Rowan at the children's museum.  Talk about a big hit!!  Wish we would have been able to stay all day and night.  There were so many things for them to do and they had a blast!  Ethan was all about driving the semi truck and firetruck...Jack was all about the face painting.  Opa was in charge of him for a bit and when I got there, Jack had painted his entire face, both arms and called himself a tiger.  We met Uncle Jay and David for supper and then Oma and Opa took the kiddos back to West Point and we stayed to hang out with Jay and David. 

Thursday was a pretty quiet day...until the UPS truck arrived!  Oma and Opa got the grandkids a jumping house!!  Talk about a hit!!  After naps, the jumping house was up and man did they have fun!  Jack convinced everyone to move the pool next to the slide and man oh man did things get crazy!  Rebecca would stand at the top of the slide, raise her arms each time as if she was a gymnast, and jump...except she would jump so far that she would skip the slide all together and land into the pool!  They had an awesome time...it was great! 



So that's our trip in more than a few words!!  It was great to see the Texas clan again and we wish every day that we could see them more often!  Love you guys!!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!!! We have had a wonderful father's day weekend.  Friday night, we took Jack to a Pheasant's baseball game in Sioux Falls.  He had soooo much fun!!  One of the kids near us had a baseball glove and was talking about catching a ball, so Jack asked where his glove was.  Well, we told him that if a ball flew our way, he could just catch it in his hat!  Needless to say, he sat the rest of the night with his hat ready to catch that ball.  The cute part was that any foul ball that was hit, it was always a long ways away...he'd reach out his hat as if it was coming his way!  He certainly kept our row well entertained with that.  The Pheasant's played a good game, hit a few homers and won the game.  They had fireworks after that, which Jack thought was really loud, but thought were cool. 

Jackson was so excited for today!  Yesterday, I worked on setting up a treasure hunt for Jon and Jack to do this morning.  Lucky for me, Jon went to bed before me last night (rarely happens...I was busy doing Arbonne things!) so I could go hide all of the clues and presents while he was in bed.  All of the clues were Jack-isms that he says commonly (such as 'don't push me' when he's on his tryke, so the clue went in the basket on his tryke).  Jack and I made monkey bread this morning and took Jon breakfast in bed.  Jack thought that was really cool to eat in our bed.  Good thing we only do that a few times a year!!  So then we gave Daddy his cards and away they went on their treasure hunt.  Jon would say the phrase and then you could see Jack's wheels spinning and off they'd go!  It was cute to watch them work together and find the next present. 
                           
So after that, we went to church and then headed to town for lunch.  Since it was Father's Day, we took Daddy to Red Lobster (gasp....what, Libby went to Red Lobster?!?!  yes, I can handle it once in a blue moon...just not often!!)  One of the waitresses even got a lobster out of the tank for Jack to hear.  He thought they were really cool crawling in the tank...not so much when it was out of the tank!  She showed him the tail and his legs and talked about his nose being long to protect its eyes, but Jack was most interested in putting it back!  It was very cool for the waitress to do that though...Jack talked about it most of the way home!  After a long nap by a few of us, (Jon watched the US Open, I fell asleep on the couch) Jack woke up and immediately requested to go on a bike ride.  So we packed up a picnic lunch and headed on our bikes for the pool.  Jack wasn't so sure he liked the big pool, but was much happier at the wading pool.  Bike trip home, a few quick books and then off to bed.  What a great day!! 

Thank you, Jon, for being such an amazing father!  You far exceed the typical dad and Jack is so lucky to have you!!  From all of the extra snuggles you give, to helping out around the house, to putting us before your job, to all of the sand castles you've built, to all of the love you give us...we both say thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!  We love you!!

Yucky Kisses!!

So yucky kisses started getting passed around this house a few weeks ago.  Let me explain...Jack started refusing kisses from Daddy stating they are yucky!  He wouldn't let Jon kiss him at ALL...and for those of you who know Jon, it almost killed him!!  After a few weeks of this, Jon came up with a solution...trick the toddler...tell Jack HIS kisses are yucky and see what happens.  What do you know, the intelligence of the adult took over...works every time!  If Daddy refuses yucky kisses from Jack, the kisses only increase!!  Now he'll only kiss Daddy if Jon says Jack's kisses are yucky.  If he tells them they're nice, Jack stops.  So night after night, Daddy tricks Jack into bedtime kisses by throwing a "fit" about getting yucky kisses!  Ah...the innocence of toddlers!  No complaints here...he dishes out the kisses if they're yucky enough!  : )

We went to see Luke and Talia's new little guy, Beckett, this last week.  Jack thought it was so much fun to hold Beckett and give him kisses!  He held him quite a while without letting anyone take Beckett from him.  He's certainly growing up!! 

More Jack-isms

So a couple more Jack-isms from tonight!  We were driving into town and I was asking him what everyone's favorite color was.  I got to Aunt Nikki and he sat there for a little bit.  "Uhhhhhhh....i don't remember how to say it!"  :)  He didn't say he didn't know it, just that he couldn't remember how to say it!

And then a few minutes later, I got "When big boys drink beer, they laugh at other big boys."  So I inquire a little more and he told me that's what happened with Daddy at the softball game.  Guess our little boy is very observant!! 

Big Ambitions!

So a quick post about the ever-so-hilarious Jackson!  Yesterday, we were sitting at the table and all of the sudden he announced "When I am a big person, I'm going to get gum, eat flower seeds (sunflower seeds), get a girlfriend like Uncle Adam, and play football with my friends and wear a helmet!"  And that was that...he has some big ambitions in life!! :) 

As the Wheels Turn

Well ladies and gentlemen...we have a rider!! Jack can officially ride his trike!! He's been working since last summer to get his little legs long enough to hit the pedals and put himself into motion! He did it once for Jon about a month ago and hasn't done it since then. I caught him one time doing a 3-pedal around but he wouldn't do it again for me to catch it on video. Well, tonight...same story, different day! I pull up and he's pedaling his little heart out down the sidewalk with Oma. I run inside to get the video camera...he won't do it for me again. Soooooooooo....major bribing on mom's part...I offered ice cream for riding his trike for the video. And it worked!! So here's the little guy riding his trike...big accomplishment in the little man's life!
So on a side note: I've been driving my mom's Bug this week so she can have the van if need be. Let's just say there's 2 problems with that: #1- It's a stick shift. #2- I haven't driven a stick shift in a LONG time!! Now this stick shift is a little different that what I was "raised" on...the reverse is right next to 1st gear...totally throws me off and makes me nervous!! Yesterday, I had to parallel park on a hill...MAJOR disaster for Libby. Oh yeah...when I pulled in I had to reverse to try and get closer...that wasn't working well...I reved the engine, rolled forward...not a good situation! And then to top it off, I watched someone park right in front of me...and get incredibly close. I just kept hoping and praying that the car was gone by the time I got off work...no such luck! So i sat in the Bug for a while and thought maybe if I just wait, they'll show up and drive away. Now I just have to try...so I crank the wheel, very slooooooooowly get going and start moving, get nervous that I'm too close and slam on the breaks. So I'm thinking, great, now I have to reverse and I'm not good at that (remember, rolled forward earlier in the day trying to do that exact thing!). So I take a deep breath, inch slowly forward, luckily did not scratch the car in front of me and got out...sigh of relief!! Well tonight I'm driving home, pull up to a stoplight, which also happens to be on a small hill. And then the dreaded...a car pulls up behind me! I'm almost in a panic attack thinking I'm going to roll into this guy. The car in front of me turns right, so it's, of course, my turn to pull up to the light. STAGE FRIGHT!!! I try once, roll backwards...get nervous, so I flag the guy to go around me. Talk about mortifying...I was almost in tears!!! So he pulls up next to me, still can't get into the turning lane, so there I sit...frozen....great. So I finally got up the little hill, made it home with only one stall (had two on the way in!). Maybe Jon should take the bug tomorrow so I can be safe in my wonderful little Honda...

Happy Month of May!!

Once again, I need to get back on the ball with blogging and keeping this up-to-date! We've had a crazy couple of weeks up here! Three weekends ago, Grandma and Grandpa came up for a visit. Jackson got a new sandbox that weekend and boy was that a hit!! It took convincing Daddy that it would be worthwhile to get it and it has proven it's point all by itself. Brandon has a local group called the Brandon Edge (combo of Jaycees and the Optimist Club) and every year they do a sand drive. $15 for 4 wheel barrels of sand = more fun than Jack ever realized!! He spent the entire afternoon out there, most of the next day and it took some major convincing to keep him inside on Monday when we got home as well!! He loves it and it was certainly well worth the $15!!

The next weekend Oma and Opa came up to help stain our deck. Jack wanted to be a helper himself, so we had to come up with some other activities for him...which included running through the sprinkler and "painting" the neighbor's fence...with water, of course!! The deck turned out great, thanks to some extra sunshine on Sunday. We almost missed being able to do it because it rained Sunday morning, but God sent us some sunshine and we stained away!

This last weekend, we took an extra special trip down to see Dawn, Ryan, Dylan and Austin. Jackson was superb in the car!! I was fairly nervous for the 6 hour drive, but Jack proved us otherwise!! He even drove the whole way over in his big boy underwear, warned us when he needed to go, held it in until we got to a gas station...impressed me!! We had a great time over in Williamsburg. Dawn and Ryan have certainly found a wonderful town to live in and raise those two boys!! When we got there on Friday, we ate supper and then they had their neighborhood Friday Night Lights, where everyone gets together at one house, has a fire pit and the kids all play. Man how I wish our neighborhood was like that!! Saturday, we got to enjoy the park, Java Lounge, and later swimming. Saturday night, we headed into Iowa City and ate at a great pizza place. The boys had a lot of fun entertaining each other and there were lots of laughs! Adam and his girlfriend, Bethany, came down on Sunday which was great to see them!! Sunday afternoon we went golfing and then had a family softball game, which proved the point that this lady isn't so hot at sports!! :) It gave me a decent workout though!! Monday morning, the ladies took a quick trip to the outlet mall in Williamsburg and then we were on our way back. A quick trip to Acute Care and then safely into our driveway. Poor little Jack contracted Hand, Foot, Mouth disease from somewhere, but managed to hang in there and not be too cranky! He had some mild fevers and a rash, but overall did alright. There wasn't much sleeping, but luckily, with lots of flexibility from the other Burns family, we managed just fine!! Thank you for such a fun, relaxing and enjoyable weekend guys!! We miss you already and can't wait to see you again!!

Long time, no post!!

Wow...it's been a while since I've updated our blog...as in almost 2 months!! Sorry about that...things have been a little busy around here! This could be a long post my friends, so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!

February 26th, we had the privilege of celebrating Jamie & Becky's wedding with them. It was awesome to spend some time with our friends and have a fun and relaxing weekend up in the Cities. Crystal and I took a trip up to Albertville for a very successful shopping excursion as well! Jack enjoyed swimming that weekend...over 3 days I think he went at least 5 times! He'd go between the "cold pool" and the "hot pool" back and forth...had a great time!!

So way back in February...we got to take Jack to Playhouse Disney! My friend, Laura (whom I work with), her husband is one of the managers at the Arena and got us tickets. It was after we found out Jack had RSV, so he wasn't 100% himself at the time. And Terry (Laura's husband) accidentally got us tickets for the early show, which was Jack's naptime, so he wasn't quite as alert as usual. He did, however, LOVE it and still talks about it!! Here's some pics from that event:

So now we're up to March...Oma & Opa came up one weekend and we took in the kid's museum in town. Jack got to experience the Wells Fargo Cinedome which he thought was interesting. It was all about animals, which was great for hi, except about halfway through he thought one of the animals was going to get him and ended up on my lap. He did pretty good considering!!

Alright folks, we've made it to the end of March, which gives us the start of
(drum roll please) GOLF SEASON! Here's a few pics of our first golf outing this year....Jack loved every minute of it and I didn't golf all that badly if I do say so myself!!

Jackson has been huge into playing legos lately and one day he built this robot. We totally thought he had done it all by himself...until we realized that there was a slim to none chance that he actually figured out how to alternate the colors. Pretty sure Aunt Nikki helped him with this one, but he was pretty proud of it!!

So this brings us up to Easter!! We headed down to Hartley for Easter this year. Dawn, Ryan, Dylan and Austin were back so it was great to see them...hadn't seen them since they moved!! Jack had a good time at the Easter egg hunt in town, although kept a close eye on the Easter Bunny...wasn't so sure about that one! The boys had an awesome time dying easter eggs...Jack thought that was something cool!! Easter Sunday we headed to church in Spencer and then came back for Easter dinner. After that, we had the easter egg hunt and then we headed back home.

(alright...i've tried at least a dozen times to get the pics uploaded...its been arguing with me and i do enough negotiating with a toddler to just let it go...easter pictures hopefully soon!)

So now we're up to the random "Jack-isms" that this little man does! We'll try and explain some of the many random pictures that we have! First pic...Jack relaxin as we read books before bed...it is a common occurrence for him to sit like this when we're hanging out. The next pic...Jack and his dinosaurs...this was one of his many bribes for potty training. A couple of days ago he asked to play with them and the next thing I see is that he's lined them all up and proudly announces that his dinosaurs are in a parade! Couldn't help but capture the proud moment! And anyone who wonders what Jack looks like after enjoying milk and Oreos...take a look at that face!! That constituted a bath that night!

Well folks...that concludes the last few months at the Burns household! Phew...after a long update like that I vow not to go that long between updates!!

Too much American Idol??

So with the new season of American Idol, I think Jack has watched it a few too many times with us. Either that, or there are way too many screamers on it this year!!

More videos to come...I finally uploaded and the last time I had done it was before Christmas!! No time tonight...Jack is having a rough time going to bed!

If you don't like gross pictures...don't look!!

So we managed to go 2 1/2 years without a major injury!! I got a call from Jen at 12:15 and she was hysterical...Jack slipped in the bathroom and hit his head on the edge of a corner. Well...lots of blood and tears later, Jack and I were on our way to see Dr. Wallace. When I got to Jen's house, Jack was playing with his dinosaur and the only thing indicating there was a problem was the large gash on the back of his head. He wouldn't let anyone touch it, so I thought getting it fixed might be a problem!! The only problem we had was when someone tried to touched it. So Jackson now is the proud owner of 4 staples in his little noggin! He wasn't too keen on getting the lidocaine shot and winced only a little bit when Dr. Wallace put the staples in. There were lots of tears involved, but one sucker later, he was cured! He fell asleep on the way home but wouldn't lay down when we got home. Luckily, he's still happy! He had a bath tonight, which he was happy to soak, but not so happy to have his hair washed, but could ya blame him?? So we'll see how he does over the next few days with this! I remember having staples after my knee surgery and boy where they itchy!! Hopefully this isn't the start of a "boy" life with lots of injuries!!

...and the verdict is...

Well...change the verdict folks, Jack has RSV!! We sent off Jack's DFA to be cultured, since it was negative and, sure enough, I got a call from Acute Care on Thursday and his culture grew RSV. So now we're onto albuterol nebs (which he hates) and trying to keep his fever under control. Today is the first day since Tuesday that he hasn't run a fever...horray!!! Today is the first day he seems more like himself, but he still has quite the cough going on. He hasn't been sleeping the best, but it's not entirely his fault. Every day, either Jon or myself has to get up and go to work. Most nights this week, he has ended up in our bed because he wakes up coughing. Well if one warm body leaves, this wakes our little guy and he's up for the day! Not so cool when it's 6:00 (or earlier). We haven't been able to get him to go back to sleep, so he's a little tired. Naps have been average, but today he's perking up!

A quick Jack story...today I asked him what he wanted for lunch and his response (everyday this week) has been pizza! So I asked him if frozen pizza was okay (since I've made pizza a few times already) and his innocent face looked up at me and said, "No Mommy, I want hot pizza." Ahh...the innocence of children!

Sick Days at the Burns house!

So it seems as if daycare is closed for other reasons, Jack seems to get sick...totally a fluke, I know...but kind of ironic! Jen called on Tuesday morning and said that she and Morgan were both sick with the stomach flu. So I stayed home Tuesday morning and Jon was home in the afternoon. Jack was great all day but when I called Jon when I got off, he had spiked a temp and started coughing. We decided to watch him yesterday and see what his temp did. Stayed under control most of the morning but when he went to go down for his nap...102.5...bummer! So by the time I got ahold of the doctor's office, it was too late in the day to head there. So off we went to Acute Care. While we were waiting, Jack told me that his throat hurt, "can you kiss it mommy?" "Sure...where at, Jack?" "Right here, mommy" I go to kiss his little throat (because we all know mommy's kisses make everything better!) and his poor little lymph node was quite swollen!! Well...1 throat swab, 1 finger poke, and 1 nose suck later...no straight answer. :( Well while we were there, some major bleeder came in, so we had to wait quite a while for the doctor to come back...2 1/2 hours to be exact!! While we were waiting, Jack kept saying, "I go to my house and sleep in my bed please." Then he goes, "I have an owie right here in my mouth." (pretty specific for a toddler!) Sure enough, I take a look at his gums and he has a little canker looking sore in there. I mention it to the doctor and bingo...answer is: hand foot mouth disease!! Which explains the high fevers and cough...so we're back to pushing fluids and watching his temp. Poor little guy didn't even want supper last night...we walked in the door and he immediatly asked to go to bed! That's never happened before!! So far today, he's been snuggly, still has a fever, but is doing alright. I haven't seen any more sores and no bumps on his hands or feet yet. Hopefully he keeps eating and drinking so we can stay out of the hospital. So far, so good, but it's only 9:00!

On a side note, Jon has been feeling fairly well since his surgery. Still a bit sore at times, but overall feeling good. We got more snow in Sioux Falls last weekend, to which Jack announced, "guess we have to scoop snow again!" when he saw it was snowing. The little guy loves to go push around snow with his Daddy! We were skyping with our Texas family and took the laptop outside to show them the snow...Stacy was amazed! And to top off the day, she even got to see someone snowblowing (something her Texas eyes have never observed!). We quickly reminded her that it's not all that it's cracked up to be!!! Especially in February...we've done this long enough!

And every update deserves some pictures...so here's some from the past few weeks!

Mystery solved (maybe!)

So every now and then (like a few years in between) Jon has had this bad abdominal pain that no one could ever figure out what it is. The last few times it happened, I was pregnant with Jack and then it happened again when he was a few months old...so its been a while! Well, Jon woke up on Friday morning around 3:45 with the same pain. Because they have never figured out what it is Jon was being slightly stubborn about doing anything about it. He was supposed to work late that day, so I took Jack to daycare so Jon could rest. I called him around 9ish and he said it was worse, but still wouldn't come into the ER. I told him to call the GI doctor, but it took a while for him to hear from them. He still hadn't heard from them by noon, so I told him that was enough and I was going to come and get him. He refused and insisted on driving himself in because he just HAD to go to work that night!! So we got to the ER at 12:30 and started the drill for abdominal pain...labs, UA and a CAT scan. So by about 1:45, the CAT scan came back that he had acute appendicitis. So about 30 minutes later, the surgeon came through, explained the procedure and away we went! Nikki came up to the hospital, Erica ran to get Jack, Den and Julee drove up and Jon went away for surgery at 3:10. They came at 4:00 and said he was done. His appendix was "angry" as the surgeon said...luckily, didn't look infected at all, just inflammed. So by 6:15, we were on our way out the door...rounded up the 4 vehicles we had at Sanford and headed home. Jon slept in the recliner last night, but overall is feeling sore, but better.

Jack, on the other hand, now has a cold. So I now have two boys who aren't feeling up to par and needing some extra love! Hopefully both recover quickly and this weekend is somewhat relaxing! Thanks for all of your phone calls, texts and e-mails! We're so grateful for all of the friends and family we love so much!

The Beard

Man oh man, has January been cold or what?!?! This winter stuff is for the birds and can vacate anytime soon! Jon managed to stay somewhat warm on his ice fishing trip! So yes, there have been many requests for a picture of his beard, so here it is (it's farther along in the slideshow)! At first, it looked really odd, but it's starting to grow on me. Jack continues to tell daddy to "get that hair (or fur sometimes) off your face!" We'll see how long it sticks around this house!

Jack keeps working on potty training. Overall, he does pretty good for just being over 2! Daycare is a little harder...he's too busy playing to stop and go, so there are a few accidents at Jen's house. But hey...he's ahead of schedule with this potty training business, so I'm a-okay with that! Haven't changed a diaper in over a month and I'm fairly excited about that!!

Other than that...nothing too terribly exciting going on at the Burns house! Until next time...

Happy New Year!

Wow...it's been a while since we've put anything new on here! Thought we'd just put all of our pictures from December on one slideshow. Jackson had a great Christmas with lots of new toys! He's been having a lot of fun with his new Cars racetrack! We've been reading lots of new books as well. Mommy and Daddy even hit the jackpot as well! Daddy got the grill he's been waiting a long time for...he's already made a few meals with it and we've only had it a few weeks! Mommy got a new cricut scrapbook machine and she's already gotten a lot of use out of it...and she hasn't even gotten any scrapbooks out yet! I meant to take some pictures of my projects, but forgot. I'll eventually get some on there! I broke out my sewing machine when my mom was up a few weeks ago and have a new project going. Can't share anything about it because it's a surprise, but I've gotten a few other ideas I want to tackle next weekend! Jon is going on an ice fishing trip with the guys next weekend so it'll be just Jack and me for the weekend. One of the prerequisits for this fishing trip is a beard...yes, Jon has been growing a beard since Christmas! It's starting to fill in a bit more, so doesn't look akward like he just forgot to shave. He's very proud of it, although Jack keeps telling him to get that hair of his face...hmmm....wonder who he hears that from!! :) Best go work on some projects. Jon went fishing with a friend today, Jack is down for a nap, so it's some quiet time to finish this up! Hope all is well with everyone. I'll try not to wait so long for another post! Happy 2010!!

Proud Moments

One of our favorite things about being parents is bedtime! (I know...not most people's favorite activity!) Our routine consists of rocking and reading books and then Jackson runs off into his room and crawls into his bed. He wants to be "wrapped up" (tucked in) and then says his prayers. Jack loves to have some songs sung to him before bed. We have quite the list of bedtime songs, but one of those songs we have sung to him since we brought him home from the hospital, which is Beautiful Boy by John Lennon. Tonight I was making supper and heard Jack singing it while he colored!! It is so amazing to know that he is learning and catching on to the many songs that we sing to him! Now when he sings, he most often just repeats the same phrase over and over, but I love listening to him sing songs and seeing how proud he is of himself.

Speaking of being proud...we have started potty training and it is going amazingly well!! We started this weekend after he went #1 on his own 2 different times he tried. He's still having a few issues with #2, but overall he's doing really well!! I always hoped we would have this accomplished by Christmas and never thought it would be possible! We're all pretty excited about this!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone had a very thankful Thanksgiving! My brother and his family came up from Texas last Saturday, so we've had a lot of great quality time with them! Jackson is learning how to share his toys with his cousins, Rebecca and Ethan, and it's going much better than expected!! Everyone ventured down to Nebraska on Wednesday and we had a great Thanksgiving meal yesterday. Now, because of the fact that we have 3 toddlers, our dinner lasted a total of 30 minutes before the kiddos were done sitting and ready to get down. So it made for some fast thanking!! The kicker of the day was supper time when Ethan kept pointing at something and no one could figure out what he wanted. We got him out of his seat and he pointed at the mustard and the cranberries. So needless-t0-say, most of Ethan's supper consisted of handfuls of mustard and cranberry sauce...and 5 helpings later, he was done! Anyway, we hope everyone has had a very wonderful Thanksgiving and remembers all of the reasons we are so thankful! I know we have tons of reasons at our house.

Oh yeah, Jack quote of the day: We asked him what made him happy...and he thought for a little while and then looked up at us with those big blue eyes and replied "JESUS" It was adorable!!

Feeding Frenzy!!

So Jackson has been on a feeding frenzy/growth spurt lately!! On Friday afternoon, after his nap, he ate an entire cereal bar and a whole banana. For supper that night (which was only about 1 1/2 hours later), he ate two pieces of bread, a whole plate of spaghetti, 3-4 pear halves, plus 2 glasses of milk!

We're super excited because Uncle Reid, Aunt Stacy, Rebecca and Ethan are flying up on Saturday and will be here the whole week!! Jack keeps talking about it...I'm sure three toddlers running around our house could keep us all entertained!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Count all of your blessings and remember all that you are thankful for...I know our list is a long one!

Ear and Tushy problems!!

So Jack woke up Sunday morning with really goopy eyes. Jon and I debated whether or not Jack had pink eye...so away Jack and I went...off to Acute Care (one of the germiest, worst places to go right now!!). We got there a few minutes before 10:00, thinking we'd be close to the first people there, so would avoid the germy crowd...strike 1!! There was already a line and when we got through, we were #16!! So I tried my best to keep away from any masked person there was...strike 2!! It seemed like every single time I sat down, some masked sick germy person would sit behind us or next to us. Don't know how many times we moved!! So we get back to see the pediatrician and she takes a look in Jack's ears and Jack has a MAJOR bulging ear infection...strike 3 against mommy!! For the past month, Jack has been sticking his fingers in his ears and saying "I'm plugging my ears" so we figured he learned how to stick his fingers in his ears. Last weekend, he did it again so I asked him what was wrong...so when he stuck his fingers in his ear and said "What's wrong in there?" I didn't think much of it! Talk about feeling like a terrible mother!! AND he had a fever about 3 weeks ago and I figured it was just viral so didn't take him in. So needless to say, I felt terrible about missing all of Jack's clues. So Dr. Carroll asks me which antibiotic works best for him and for the life of me, I couldn't remember! So she put him on Augmentin since it has the best coverage. Jack gets 3 doses of this lovely antibiotic and starts having nasty diapers....which leads to quite the diaper rash. I figured out something was wrong when I went to pick him up from Jen's house and when I went to sit him down to put his shoes on, he started screaming....went to put him in the car seat...screaming again! We got home and he started saying "my tushy hurts" over and over! He wouldn't sit down at ALL...not to play, not to eat...not for anything! He wouldn't even sit on my lap to read books...he slept on his tummy and everything. Jon stayed home with him yesterday because he was so miserable! Today was a better day but he keeps complaining that his tushy hurts. So hopefully his ears get better and his tushy heals quickly!!

Hope you had a BOOtiful Day!!

Jackson had a great Halloween! After his nap, we carved a huge pumpkin that my parents got for us! It was around 75 lbs and when it was done, Jack could fit inside of it!! He thought that was really funny!

Needless to say, when the doorbell started ringing at supper tonight, Jack was anxious to get out there! He thought trick-or-treating was a blast!! Whenever we left someone's house, he'd say "that was very nice of them!" as we walked down the driveway...it was super cute! He lasted almost 2 full blocks before his little legs got tired and he was a kinda cold so we headed home. We had a successful night and he had so much fun!!

Jack's new songs

As many of you know, Jack can be quite animated! This video took a while to get because he'd jump the gun singing before I could start recording! And obviously, when he starts saying his prayers, he's a tad bit intense! :) He normally doesn't say them quite like that, but it makes me giggle every time I watch it!! And yes, every single night, he asks that the angels watch him through the moon...don't know if he just thinks that's what it is, or we laughed about it when he started doing it, but he does it ALL the time!! Makes Jon and I smile every time he does it!

Snow....OH NO!!

Yes, my friends, it is snowing in South Dakota tonight! Jon came home from work around 8:45 and about 10 minutes later, the snow began to fall. We have literally only had a few weeks of fall. This could be a nasty winter! On a side note, Jackson has been having some...well...sleep issues the past few nights. He's not being naughty or bad, just not able to fall asleep for some reason. Last night, Jon was working late (as usual on Thursday) so we did our nightly routine, get pjs on, read a few books in the living room, run to the kitchen to get water, he climbs in bed, we say prayers, sing a song and then good night! The little guy went to bed as typical as ever, not a sound out of him as I shut the door. I'm sitting in the living room, watching Grey's Anatomy, and around 8:40, I hear this little Jackson voice, "MOMMY" out of nowhere! So I ignored him for a while, but then Jon got home about 10 minutes later, which kept him up. So we went in, said prayers again, sang another song and said good night. No noise and then tears about 10 minutes later. Who knows! So Jack didn't end up falling asleep until around 10:00.

So fast forward through the day to tonight. Same story...different night. He goes to bed at 8:00 with no problems. Jon was working late again, so he calls at 8:40...still no peep out of Jack. And then I get off the phone, start picking up toys and hear that oh-so-familiar toddler voice..."MOMMY." When he was still talking to himself at 9:30, Jon and I went in. Here's the cute part: So its snowing right now...and we said something about snow and Jon asked Jack if he remembered what snow was. He's all cuddled up on Jon's lap and you can tell he's thinking hard and then suddenly says, "its kinda wet." It was sooooooo cute!! So to get him to go to bed, we had to go to the window and watch the snow for a little bit. (And yes, to our Texans, there is enough to see!)

And onto another very exciting event in my life...we've lived in Brandon for 3 1/2 years now and I still have to drive to Target way across town...until now! The new Target has opened on the East Side and it's AMAZING!! Jack and I went yesterday, not even knowing it was open. We were being curious when I saw some cars drive that way and sure enough...it was open! Hallelujah...no more Wal-mart runs for us!!! Ah...the small joys in life! :)

Another Major Milestone!!

Jackson taking a nap...sideways of course!
This is how we found Jackson one night!

We've accomplished another big milestone at the Burns household! Jackson is officially sleeping in a BIG BOY BED!!! We tried it at Oma and Opa's house last weekend and he did just fine so when we got home, Daddy converted his crib to a toddler bed! He thinks it's great that he can get in bed by himself. Ironically, even though he can, he does not get out of bed and try to escape...yet! The past few mornings, he has been shouting out (like he usually does) "Mommy, I get out of my bed!" and then he'll wait until you get there to get out. Don't know how long it'll take him to realize he can get out of his room, but neither of us plan on showing him! :)

Sleeping in on the hide-a-bed at Oma and Opa's!

On a not-so-fun note, Jack has caught his first cold of the season. Monday night he had a temp of 100 and then around 2 in the morning spiked to 102. He's got quite the cough but luckily hasn't had a temp for a few days. The cough is pretty nasty, so hopefully he recovers quickly!

Apples, Apples Everywhere!!

It's been a great week at the Burns' household! On Wednesday night, I went out with my two very best friends, Christina and Erica! Christina just graduated from PA school and was back from Oregon for a wedding. It was awesome to be able to to have a girls night and hang out. We haven't done that in years!! While I was gone, Daddy showed Jackson something new. As you can see from the pictures, Daddy taught Jack how to hold a baby...his baby penguin! He wrapped him up and I guess Jackson sat for quite a while rocking his penguin.



Friday night, we went to the Brandon Valley homecoming game. Jack did awesome through the whole game!! He had so much fun and really enjoyed watching the band. Saturday Jon had to work so Jack and I met Christina and her family for the Apple Festival. He had a great time jumping in the bounce house, seeing all the animals, dancing to some goofy guy singing, and, of course, picking apples!! He got to ride on the tractor hayride AND the horse hayride, so he was in hog-heaven!! He's still talking about picking apples from the tree. Last year, the pictures we took at the apple orchard were my favorite and this years rank right up there! That place makes for some awesome pictures!! Like most parents, when we try to get him to smile, we say "cheese"...well we better think of something different because Jack just scrunches up his eyes and has a huge wide smile....but his eyes are never open!! Hence, the around 10 pictures we have with no eyes open. :)

Needless to say, with so many apples, we've had a lot of cooking going on! Last night I made apple crisp, Jack and I had apple muffins for breakfast and then we made apple cookies tonight! After peeling a whole lot of apples, we have enough in the freezer for 2 more apple crisps and 2 apple pies! Mmmmm...can't wait!

Labor Day Classic 2009

Jon and I took our annual trip to Worthington for the Labor Day Classic! At the last minute, one of my parent's neighbors passed away so we took Jackson down to Oma and Opa's house for the weekend so they could go to the funeral. I drove him down Thursday night to Sioux City, which turned into quite a fiasco!! Oma was going to keep driving past Sioux City until we met. Well...we figured out where both of us were and agreed to meet at the next exit...unfortunately, there was a lot more road construction than either of us knew about and ALL of the next exits were closed until Beresford!! So Jack and I had to turn around and drive the 15 miles back to the next exit, which happened to be Beresford! Oh well...it got everyone where they needed to be!

Jon and I headed up with Stu and Crystal and met Becky and Jamie, Den, Julee and Nikki in Worthington. Adam and his girlfriend, Bethany, got there later that night. The guys played their practice round, playing some crazy game/competition that none of us girls could figure out!

The weekend was so much fun! The guys didn't play as well as they wished, but we all had a great time. They couldn't complain a whole lot because an Augie golfer won the whole tournament this year! It was awesome to get to spend the weekend with everyone and we can't wait until next year! Enjoy the pictures!

A little bit of this and that!

Here's a bunch of pictures from this summer!

Yesterday, we had an absolutely great day!! Mommy and Jackson went and walked in the Heart Walk with Aunt Nikki and some of Mommy's co-workers. Then after a trip to Target and a nice long nap, we all went golfing. Jackson did extremely well!! He stayed in the cart when he needed to and got out and putted...he did great! Then we decided that we would go to our first Brandon Valley football gam! When we got there, we couldn't find a single seat on the home side, but found a few people that we knew! Mainly, kiddos from Jack's daycare, but it was neat to see people that we knew!! So we decided to venture over to the visitor's side and see if we could find a seat there. As we were walking, we saw Charlie, another kiddo from daycare! Charlie and his family were sitting with another daycare family, so YAY for finding someone we knew to sit with!! We had a great time visiting with the other daycare kiddos and Jack was excited to see them too! We made it to the end of the 3rd quarter before Jack was kinda tired and it was getting pretty chilly. So we don't know if Brandon won or lost, but it was fun anyway!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jackson!!

Jackson Conrad Burns has officially turned 2!! His Mickey Mouse party was a success! He woke up Saturday morning and saw all of the plates and his face got this huge smile on his face and goes "my party!" He was so excited!! He watched all morning as I made his Mickey Mouse cake and wanted to eat it so badly. His party was fantastic. We had all sorts of family and friends come and celebrate with us! He got lots of great gifts, including Mr. Potato Head, a dump truck, some new tricycles, racetracks, semis, a lawn mower...the list goes on and on!!Jack enjoyed having all of his friends over to play. They blew lots and lots of bubbles, played on the swingset and ate cake and monster cookies. Jack loved having Happy Birthday sung to him over and over since Saturday!



Jackson also had his 2 year check up today which he "passed" with flying colors! He weighed in at 25 lbs 10 oz and was 33" long. Dr. Wallace laughed at him when she walked in and Jack said "Hi, Dr. Wallace" with his ever-so-cute smile! She got a kick out of it!

Until next time...

"Fire"-Free house!

It's been a while and Jack has had a few new accomplishments since the last time I posted anything! The biggest accomplishment Jack has made so far is that he is now PACIFIER-FREE!!! YAY!!! That (well, besides potty training) was probably the thing I was the most nervous about. I just made all of the pacifiers disappear and then when it was time to get ready for bed, Jack went to look for on and I just said they were gone. He told me they went on a trip and that was that! The first 4 or 5 days was a little rocky for bedtime and Jen said naps were a little sketchy for a few days, but as of last Wednesday, Jack has been going to bed without a fuss (most nights) and has been sleeping great! So YAY for something I thought we would never accomplish!

We spent this last weekend in Hartley for Jon to play in the Northwest Iowa Amateur Tournament. He played really well and placed 7th. Out of 350 people, I'd say that's pretty awesome! Anyway...I'm trying to upload some new videos, but am having some troubles...hopefully can figure it out soon! Check back soon!

New things about Jack

• As you saw in the video, Jackson can now count to 10, which I found out when I was cutting his fingernails and counting how many we had done...I was shocked!
• I was making supper last night and heard Jackson run by and all of the sudden heard him say "slow down!"
• He is big into sharing. If he's playing cars, he'll bring you a car too, and that is YOUR car...don't try and give it back or put it down...he'll find you to give it back!
• Jackson loves the swimming pool! He is not such a big fan of being sprayed in the face though.
• He remembers everyone now! Since being in Hartley and West Point with our families, he asks for his cousins a LOT now!
• He answers "no" to everything...and if he agrees, he answers "k"
• If he drops something, he'll say "oops" or "oopsie"
• Jackson is talking in somewhat sentences now. A few days ago, I cut a strawberry in half and he said "two of them"
• He really likes to pick out things...and if he does, his response is "dis one"
• Our garage door has been on the fritz for a while now...when we pull into the driveway, he'll say "Daddy, fix it" (must have said that one too many times!)
• Jack loves to help cook right now...he'll push a chair over to help stir or watch what's going on in the kitchen
• Jack goes "racin" a lot with his new matchbox cars that he loves! He'll grab his cars and go, "racin, mommy, racin"
• He can now sing the clean up song...although he doesn't always help clean up when he sings it, but it's getting better!
• Jack is starting to figure out how to prolong bedtime...he sure tries hard! Good thing Mom and Dad aren't suckers!! When it's time for bed, he'll run into his room, he used to lay down and just go to bed...now we put him in his bed and he immediatly says 'nuggle' (snuggle). The crazy thing is the routine now is to go in his room, snuggle and sing one song and then bed...that satisfies him now and once the song is done, he'll say "nigh-night" and go down like a champ!
• If he likes something a lot, he'll say and sign "again" over and over...tickling, fish kisses, anything...he'll giggle and say "again"...it's adorable!!
• If you ask Jack what we should have for supper, you'll get one of two answers: pizza or tacos...doesn't matter if we ate it for lunch and supper...he'll still say that! and that's what he still eats the best!
• When you say it's time to go (or Jen told me when they go outside) Jack will go and find your shoes for you
• He now dances to the Madagascar "I like to move it"...it's cute!
• We went to the zoo last week and Jack knew most of the animals there....his favorite right now is the "elf-anants" If you ask him what he saw, that's what he'll say!
• Jack will sign "I love you" (kind of...it's more like just raising his hand) but last week actually said love you to Aunt Stacy!

Thanks for coming to check on us...Jackson is growing and thriving so much! There have been times at my job when we'll have kiddos come through about the same age as Jack and it makes me realize just how advanced Jack is...it makes me know that Jon and I must be doing something right!

Here is a video we took tonight of Jack...a few of his new tricks! I didn't even know that he could count to 10 until last weekend...Jack and I were counting something (can't remember what now!) and he suddenly counted to 10! He's learning a lot at daycare which is exciting!

We just got back from an awesome week with my family. Reid, Stacy, Ethan and Rebecca flew up last Saturday and we got to spend the whole week at my parent's house in West Point. We went to the Henry Doorly Zoo with Jon's aunt Jeanne on Tuesday, saw all of the animals and went home exhausted! Thursday we headed into Lincoln to visit relatives. Oma and Opa took the kiddos home and the adults got to stay and hang out with Jay and David, which was wonderful to have some adult conversation without tackling a child! :) On Saturday, the weather wasn't the greatest but cleared up in time for an awesome firework show! The kids did much better than expected. No one cried or even flinched, in fact, Ethan and Jack both fell asleep part way through! Rebecca was sitting with me and when the finale started, it was super bright and she had to shut her eyes...it was cute! I'll post some pictures with the cousins soon!

Lots of Pictures!

Here's a bunch of pictures from the past few months! Pictures from golfing, going to Hartley, spending time with our cousins, and lots and lots of other randoms!

Bottomless Pit

So over the past few weeks, Jon and I have realized one thing...Jackson eats a LOT!! Yesterday was one of those days. Every morning this week, Jackson will wake up, watch Mickey Mouse for about 5 minutes and then ask for something to eat. A common request is "sea-yall" (cereal) or "bar" (cereal bar). So he is now eating a double breakfast...one at our house, one at Jen's house! So I went to pick up Jack yesterday and the first thing out of Jen's mouth..."Man can that kid eat!" I guess he proceeded to have 2 bowls of cereal for breakfast, 3 tacos at lunch, and 4 grahm crackers while at her house. Then we went out for dinner that night and when we asked, he wanted pizza. (He even told the waitress!) It was this cute little 7" pizza...yeah...he ate half of it! We're both going to have to get second jobs to keep up with this appetite!! For supper tonight, he had half a can of green beans, roast beef, 2 pieces of bread and about 4 half pear slices!! This kid better be about 30 lbs by the time we go for his 2 year check up or I have no idea where this is all going!!

Robert J. Burns 1924-2009

Our family lost an amazing person last week. Jon's grandfather passed away last Thursday. His health had been deteriorating so it wasn't unexpected, but no matter how prepared we think we are, it's never easy. Grandpa was a wonderful man and he will be missed so much! Great-Grandpa Burns meeting Jackson for the first time!
This picture is at our last stop at Grandpa's place. This is the last memory Jon and I will have of Grandpa...smiling and laughing at Jackson as he ran around his apartment. Grandmpa just kept smiling and saying "man, he's getting big...man, he's a happy kiddo...man, he's one smart cookie." We know that Grandpa is enjoying a round of golf up there and can now watch over us and see his grandkids and great-grandkids each and every day! We will miss you Grandpa!!

Runnin' and Chh-Chh-ing

These are a few of Jack's new tricks!

Home again!

It's been a while since I've updated...sorry! This past weekend we went over to Cedar Falls for Uncle Adam's college graduation. We drove over in rain on Friday and, luckily, Jackson slept for a few hours of it! We got their on Friday and went swimming...the first of three times this weekend! Jackson thought swimming was great but really wasn't a big fan of the floaty boat thing we had. He wanted to kick and swim! He even attempted to jump to Daddy a few times. Dylan and Austin did a great job of keeping him entertained and throwing the fishy over and over!

It was wonderful to watch Adam achieve such a great accomplishment with graduating! Jack did amazingly well during graduation, coloring most of the time. We went out for dinner at The Isle and Jack ate up a storm! He was enthralled with the escalator and thought that was fun to go up and down. He entertained people with this new ch-ch thing he does. (for those of you who have seen it...daycare didn't know what it was, so it's a mystery!)

It was great to be with the Burns family this weekend and spend some time with family we haven't seen for a while! Love you guys! I'll post pictures soon!

The Name Game

A Weekend Away

Jon and I took a trip up to the Cities this weekend for Brad and Cherie's wedding reception. We had some great times with a lot of friends from college. Here's the picture of the whole clan at the big event! A good picture of everyone...that's hard to do!Aunt Nikki came out to play until Oma and Opa could get up here. Jack spent the weekend with them and from the sounds of it, really enjoyed that! There was lots of time spent outside on his swingset, numerous walks and playing "hoop" all day! Oma and Opa said he went down for bed like a charm, ate like a horse and entertained everyone all weekend. Thanks for coming and helping out this weekend!!

Oh yeah, this is how Jon found Jackson on Friday morning. He woke up around 2:15 in the morning and when I stumbled into his room, I vaguely remember something crazy about his hair...well, this is what came about in the morning. To make it even more entertaining, Jon didn't fix it and he ran errands with him looking like that! Daddy said there were more than a few laughs about it!

P.S. Daycare is going better. Jackson is getting used to it more and more. He talks about it and mentions the other kids a lot. Jen said it's going fine...he's playing well, napping well, and the kids all enjoy getting Jack to say new words for them! Sounds like in a week or so, Jack will be adjusted just fine!

one apprehensive little boy!

well...jack's first day didn't go as well as hoped!! he wasn't too happy about being left, but jenn said after they snuggled with his blankie and pacifier for a while, he did better. she said he ate a good breakfast and a decent lunch. it took him about 10 min to go down for his nap, which i expected. jenn had a doctor's appointment today so was actually closing a 2:30, so jack's nap got interrupted when i went to pick him up. she did say the other kids thought he was really fun and loved the way he talks! she said they like the way he says puppy and his eyes get all big and excited...so they had him say it a lot! when we left, he was asking about "den" which is what he says for jen and "hooper" (for cooper, one of the babies there) so it must not have been horrible for him! i'm sure he'll do fine, it'll just take time for him to adjust. luckily he'll have a short day tomorrow and then jon is off on friday since we're going to the cities this weekend. nikki will come out to play on friday until oma and opa get up here! we'll see how jack does tomorrow. he talked about jenn's house when we got home, so hopefully that's a good sign! best get going and get some laundry done. until next time...

Happy Easter!

Hello everyone- We hope that you all had a wonderful and blessed Easter! We enjoyed our trip down to Nebraska to spend Easter with Oma and Opa. Jackson seemed to enjoy his Easter and keeps talking about bunnies and eggs (which he really calls footballs). Here's some pics from the weekend:

Not so sure about the Easter Bunny. He quickly warmed up and asked about him when we left!Going to find his 2 eggs at the community Easter egg hunt. Taking his two eggs to Opa

Daddy and Jackson having a good time at the Wimmer's house for a bonfire. Jack loved running around Ann and George's big backyard!! He jumped on the trampoline, chased around their cat, and ate a great on-the-go (he'd just go and stop at his little picnic table for a bite) supper of hotdogs, strawberries and s'mores!

The Burns family Easter picture 2009


He wouldn't sit still long enough to take a picture in his outfit...this was the best we got!


Hugging his bunny!! His new thing is to ask for hugs and kisses.

On a side note: Jackson is starting a new daycare on Wednesday. Jack and Mommy are hanging out tomorrow and then going to go over and play at Jennifer's house tomorrow afternoon. He'll start at Jenn's on Wednesday. She looks like it's going to be a great daycare. She does kinder-music with the kids, does sign language....the list goes on and on! Hopefully the transition goes smoothly and he does okay at the new place.

Say Cheese!!

Here's a few pics from the past week! Jackson eating "pop" for a snack. He loves popcorn! I was making it one night and asked Jack if he could hear the popping. Now he just calls it pop!!Jack got his haircut on Monday (Erica was sick, so I was home with him all day!) and he was so tired that he fell asleep through our stop at Office Max AND he slept through the stop at Hobby Lobby too! He slept so long during his nap I went to check o him and this is what I found:

We went out to the Palisades this last weekend with Oma and Opa. Here's a few pics from that:

The King and Queen Rocks out at the Palisades


No, we're not really potty training Jack yet, but we'll stick him on there every once and a while. Well he had pooped, so I put him on and went to get a diaper. This is what I came back to! Crazy kiddo!!