UK, A BEAUTIFUL DAY, AND BOWS

Saturday, we drove down to Lexington to visit my youngest brother Joe at UK college. (I am still and will always be a Duke fan) The campus was so nice! Unlike the surrounding of concrete at NKU, UK had beautiful brick buildings. The library was my favorite. It was enormous! I literally felt like i was in Beauty and the Best!


James was so good! The best he has been in a long time. He did great sitting in the car for the long drive and sitting in his stroller while Joe gave us a long walking tour of the campus.

JAMES LOVES HIS UNCLE "O" (JOE)- JAMES HOLDING HIS HAND WHILE STROLLING AROUND



WE ATE AT A FABULOUS ITALIAN RESTARAUNT NEAR CAMPUS (YUM!)



After we ate dinner, the guys (my dad, ryan, and joe) went to the UK game while my mom, james, and i drove home.
The next day, my mom took me to see the movie The Help. Great movie! i cried a lot of course. It made me want to read the book too. Sunday was such a great day with my mom, movies, and michaels craft store!

Monday, the weather surprised us with sunshine and beautiful autumn blue skies! I know i've rambled on and on about the blue skys before, but my goodness! It is literally the most beautiful color i have ever seen.
Since it was nice out, i decided to have a little picnic outside with james for lunch. He was so tickled by it! He was so cute sitting on the blanket eating his lunch.




He loved looking at the blue sky too.


Even Rocky seemed excited. haha!


Such a beautiful day!



Our lunch was cut shorter than i would have liked by a nasty yellow jacket (bee) that kept buzzing around us. I hate bees! With a passion! I managed to kill it! Victory! But then i remembered that when you kill bees they put off a scent to tell their bee friends to come and attack! haha. I wasn't taking a chance. We went for a nice leisurely walk through the neighborhood instead.


It was such a nice day with my doodlebug!

During his naptime, i found some neat bow tutorials online and decided to give it a whirl. I just used whatever ribbon and supplies i had ( a little limited) but it was fun! I'd like to get a little better and actually choose fabric and ribbons that i like. But this is a great craft especially if i have a girl...or if my niece Abbi starts wearing bows. haha!


Well, James is waking up from his nap! Till next time...

Planes Trains and Automobiles Party!

Saturday, we threw James a birthday party. This boy loves anything that has wheels and that he can push. He usually has either a car or train in his hands at all times, loves pointing at the planes as they fly by, and i literally find cars, trucks, trains, you name it in every room in the house. haha. I love it!
We invited some immediate family members and James' little friends. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day! Sunny and 73 degrees! It was a great day for the kids to play outside.

Cupcakes with Road Signs


Ryan built the little train and i painted it! so cute! i filled it with Cake Pops and goldfish


I found cookie cutouts of trains, planes and cars - my mom and i made them (turned out much better than i thought)


I found these planes for 99 cents at Michaels. Painted them and hung them up to make a little mobile.


The whole b-day set up.


Since it was so nice out, we set up chairs and brought down James' train table outside so the kids could play with it. It was so fun to see them play!












HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!

Celebrating Life Through Pregnancy Tests and a Birthday!

I have not blogged in about a week with very good reasons.
All week, we were preparing, baking, crafting, shopping for James' 2nd birthday party Saturday. We'll get back to the party day in just a moment.
I have been feeling a little off, i guess you could say the past week or so. Tired, exhausted, sleepy. haha. I thought it was because i had a toddler while trying to get his birthday stuff together. Wednesday, was the day i was supposed to start my period. (day 28) Since i was diagnosed with endometriosis, my period has been ranging anywhere between 15 days and 35 days. Yah, i know very unpredictable and annoying. I was just really curious why i was more tired than i usually get around my period? The thought, 'could i be pregnant?' crossed my mind. But all odds were pretty much against me - crazy periods and endometriosis. I shook it off and pretty much told myself that i was in no way pregnant.
That night while in bed, i rolled over and told Ryan that i was going to take a pregnancy test in the morning just to set my mind at ease...even though i knew i was not pregnant. (i happened to have an extra test from a previous time)
5am came, and i had to pee so bad, but i didn't want to wake Ryan up (he wanted to be there with me when i tested). I seriously thought my bladder was going to explode, so i ran into the bathroom took the test and left it there in the bathroom. Did not even look at the test...i wanted Ryan to.
Around 7am, Ryan got up and went to the bathroom and came running back in and put the test in front of my face! "double line, Rachel!" It was positive! I wanted to be sure that it wasn't positive because i had left it in there for a long time. i took 4 more tests...and the positive sign came beaming through immediately!
The really neat things is that it was James' birthday! Our birthday boy was now a big brother!
To celebrate his birthday, James and i met up with 3 of his little friends - Presley, Caleb, and Mikinnley at the library for story time. Usually James loves story time...but for some reason i guess he got it through his head that since it was his birtday...he could get away with anything! haha. Including running out of story time 3 times. Ugh. I gave in and we walked around looking at books. After story time had finally ended, the kids and their moms all went to the mall for lunch. (the kids were extra testy let me tell you) When they had filled their little tummies we took them for a ride on the train that goes around inside the mall. i road with the three 2 year olds. They were so stinkin cute and so excited to be riding the train!

Here are the three Two year olds holding hands leaving the library. (so sweet)


Eating lunch at the mall.


James stole one of Presley's nuggets. haha.


Sitting on the train


james on the train


After the train ride we took them for a very short time to the playground inside the mall...which by the way is always crowded. I am always leary about taking james to places likes these...all i see is germs! And that day proved my fears! There was a little plane that all the kids loved to sit in at the playground, including my son. There was a (i can't remember if it was a girl or boy) well he or she was sitting in the plane for a long time while our kids waited anxiously for this kid to get out. When the grandma got the kid out to leave...i heard her say, "oh did you pee in there?" The kid's pants were soaked! I was shocked and disgusted! The grandma didn't even take the time to clean it up. she just gathered up her things and got out of there as fast as she could! We were dumbfounded. What's worse, a little girl hopped right into that plane and sat in a huge puddle of pee! AND...she started splashing in the pee! Right then and there we decided it was time to go! We were hand sanitizing our kids all the way to our cars! haha. Poor little Caleb did get some pee on his pants. Quite an eventful day.

At the mall, i did find this cute Big Brother shirt for James to wear when we told our families that night. And it was on sale!
We were taking my parents out for mexican -james loves mexican! We put the shirt on him to see if they would notice. They finally did!

James With His Big Brother Shirt While Eating Chips and Salsa


It was such a wonderful day to celebrate life! We were so thankful for the two years that we've had james! His biggest birthday gift this year was the gift of being a big brother!

James and his new big truck (got it for $10!)


Our little Family!

4th Anniversary

Four years! Four years!....i just can't believe it! I have been Mrs. Burkart since 2007. It does seem like we have been together much longer...in a good way. I just can't imagine my life any different. I know if i was able to go back and be surrounded by every hot, single, amazing men...i would still choose Ryan. I would choose him everytime. No married life has not been easy, and yes we've managed to get on one anothers nerves more....a lot more than once, but those hard times are actually what have brought us closer together. We've grown together in so many ways. We are learning, together, how to raise a terrible two's toddler. haha. (he's not really terrible, he has his moments.... alot of them. haha)
It's so funny to think back on where i was 4 years ago at this very moment. We were on our honeymoon in Gatlinburg at our little cabin called "deer to us." (i so want to go back there someday!) We had no clue what we were doing. No idea what married life was like. I was so nervous probably that first 5-8 months of our married lives. I was afraid he would fall out of love with me and actually leave me for another woman. he never gave me any reason to believe that...i just thought that way. (all wives do at some point)
Yes, being newlyweds was magical and fun. But i actually do not miss that phase all to much. I love how much more comfortable we are with one another, how we know each other weaknesses and strengths, one another's annoying ticks, our likes and dislikes, how open we are, and how much better we communicate with each other. All of that took some time...4 years to be exact. haha. And we'll keep learning more about one another until the end of time.
When i think about to the newlywed days...i feel like it was a lifetime ago. Almost like that wasn't me...i just watched a movie that starred me. haha.
It's just so amazing the results that LOVE can bring. Committed and selfless love. That's the kind of love a spouse and a parent should have. You always have to be committed and selfless.
I am so thankful for what these past 4 years have brought me - Ryan and my two most favorite days...September 7, 2007 - the day we were married - and September 15, 2009 - the day James was born.

To celebrate our anniversary, we really weren't planning on doing anything big - no gifts nothing special. My blessed mom offered to keep James for us Friday night (over night) so we could have some time to ourselves. Yay! First off, we agreed not to get one another gifts, but on Thursday Ryan came home with this gorgeous bouquet of flowers! I laughed and said, "i thought we weren't doing gifts." He replied, "i know, but i could not help myself." then i smiled and said, "i couldn't either." I whipped out the gift that i made for him. Haha.

I got Ryan Rolling Rock, chocolate, gum, and a love note.


Here are the beautiful flowers!



For our big night without a toddler, we went to this amazing mexican restaurant in downtown cincy called Nada. Their chips, salsa, and guacomole was amazing! Afterwards we drove over to Mainstrausse (covington) to walk around the Oktoberfest. It was fun seeing all the neat booths and hearing the bands playing outside. We walked to a restaurant called De Filice. There was a live jazz band playing in there (they were great). We split some bread pudding dessert then made our way back out to walk off the food. It was such a perfect night - the rain held off the entire time. Sadly by 10ish, we were both tired. Sad i know. That's the life of a parent. So we headed home for the night.
My mom kept James until 3pm Saturday, so we could sleep in and have some more time to ourselves. It was so wonderful! But i have to say that i am happy to have my little doodlebug back in our house tonight.
Here is a picture of us walking through the Sky Mall in Cincy.


Take time to celebrate LOVE!

A Rainy Day Filled with Blogging.

I had to post this picture of james. Ryan and i were in the office, while james was out in the living room playing. A few minutes passed and i walked out there to check on james. Well, he managed to somehow open up the kitchen cabinet (with a child lock, i mind you) pulled out a box of crackers, was sitting on the couch munching away on the crackers, all while watching a tv show...that he turned on! This kid surprises us everyday!





The past week or so, i have been setting my alarm clock for 7am every morning. James usually wakes up between 730-800, but lately it's been a little before 730. I am trying to really start my day right - with God. Not only that, but to get myself ready for James. It is sometimes hard to drag yourself out of bed when you toddler is awake and automactically hop into Mom mode. So far it seems to be working for me...despite the fact that i hit the snooze button a couple of times. haha. Even if it's only 15 minutes, i feel so much more refreshed. It is also nice, because it is one of the only times that the house is quiet. I used to do my devotional time during James' nap time...which i probably will do some days. But i try to use his nap time to get things done whether it's exercising, blogging, crafting, or napping! haha. So i am praying that i will be able to stick with it. It's actually has made me more disciplined. Don't get me wrong i love my sleep! But i love the feeling that i have once i am finished with my devotional and wide awake for James when he gets up.
I haven't had any miraculous or life changing moments during my morning devotionals. Just me reading and praying. Even though i may not be able to see the affects of me making time with the Lord, i know for sure that later on it will have benefited me and my family greatly. I am a mother and a wife, it's about time i start taking action in the best way that i know how....going to the Lord. Cause my goodness, i need His strength! His joy is my strength! When i walk upstairs to James room and find that he has taken his diaper off, which is full of poopy, in his crib...i want to be able to laugh at the situation. Thankfully that has not happened in a long time, because we parents have gotten smart - we make him wear little toddler boxer briefs over his diapers. It's worked so far. "There are times in a mom's life when nerves give out and God's sense of humor steps in." Anyway, what was i saying? haha. And i know well now that James reflects whatever attitude i have that day. So why not start it off right?

"A mother's heart, like the heart of God, desires nothing more than for her children to live in freedom and joy, discerning truth, and choosing right." - Rebecca Jordan