Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Speaking of Little D

i have a random assortment of pictures from the past few months that have nothing in common except that they are of him.  

the baby who makes me laugh all day long...

veggies velcro'd to his bum

 Hi.
 eating dinner at 10pm cause he refused to eat when we did and then cried for 2 hours in bed because he was hungry. 
 ball. ball. ball. ball. ball. ball.
 just minding his business, busy being the cutest thing to ever sit on a couch
 killing time at the pet store and eating cheerios 
 oh the tragedy
 totally excited about some skype with PopPop--he can't get close enough, haha. 
 wiggles and missing a shoe.  what's new?
 lovin' meow
 more momma...
 stinker face 
 this child LOVES a balloon.  
 burns 3.0, still wearing the fruit basket as a hat...can such a thing run in the family?
 big boy slide
 insisting on putting it on himself. 
 oh for the love of cookies :)
 breakfast with Snoopy
 and upside down Daddy
 best hair ever
 helping me cook

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

18 month

~Davison Luke Burns~


I could talk about this little guy forever.  He does things everyday that make me laugh, he amazes me at how smart he can be, his smile never fails to make my heart swoon...and i'm not the only one in the house who feels this way! We all love our sweet boy so much. 

Eighteen months old is such a great age--my favorite.  I love how their personalities are so strong and you can get these glimpses of the kind of person they are one day gonna be, but they are still babies too.  They still want to be held and loved, and they still need so much.  

Davis is a little guy still compared to others his age.  He holds his own just fine though and loves playing with the big kids (i believe he thinks he is a big kid!) He's just as active as ever it's rare to find him still for long.


He's a great sleeper.  He goes down easily for bed each night and sleeps about 11-12 hours then naps in the afternoon for about 2-3 hours as well. 

Davis eats okay.  He has some texture problems--he especially doesn't like meat or pasta.  Just like his sister he pushes anything he doesn't think feels right to the right cheek and will stubbornly hold it there until i finally fish it out.  He still has his dairy sensitivity too, but loves loves loves his almond milk and lactose free yogurt and ice cream.  Davis' favorite foods are berries, cereal and cookies. 

He talks so much and i just love his voice.  He says 'thank you' all of the time--it sounds like "tink you" and he says it every time you give him something and then again every time he gives something to you. He uses his words a lot more now to get our attention instead of fussing/crying.   It still surprises me when he says "momma!" loud and aggressively when i'm not listening instead of fussing.  Although he can say "daddy" perfectly, he usually just calls Mike "dee".  In keeping with tradition of the Burns Team kiddos, he affectionately calls all cats 'meow'--and oh, how he loves a meow! He tells us when he wants to eat or drink now with his words and sometimes even tells us what he wants, which usually consist of milk, apples, cupcakes and cookies.  He also tells he when he has a "stinky".  Davis calls all automobiles "truck!"  and he says it as loudly as he can every time.  He yells it out in every car ride, he watches for trucks out the windows of the house and he points them out in all the books.  He also knows a lot of animals and their sounds, but unless you really push him to say otherwise, he'll tell you every animal is a "cow". 
Davis also does cute things with people's names.  It seems there is one person in most families, whose name "sticks" and that is the name the whole family is labeled.  For instance, PopPop can be for both Pop Pop and Grandma, although he can say Grandma just fine.  Nana and Poppy both get called Nana and everyone in the Sweatland family is "jack!" again, he can say uncle, hillary, and judah...he just chooses to call them all "jack". 

Davis is much more independent and fearless than my other two ever were at this age.  He really isn't afraid of anything.  He still loves to slide and the higher the better.  You know those playgrounds with big kid equipment and toddler equipment right next to each other?  yeah well, the kid isn't about to play on that baby stuff.  He fusses and whines until i let him climb the tallest ladder there and then shouts "wee!" the whole way down the slide! 


As independent and head strong as my baby can be, he also has a big heart and big emotions.  it doesn't take much to hurt his feelings and he lets us all know about it when he is sad.  When i have to scold him for not listening/obeying he gets really upset and will run to Holden to get hugs. That always makes me smile, even though i have to hide it and put my stern face on. 

I love how much davis loves his brother and sister and how much they love him back and take care of him.  He always wants to be where they are and do what they are doing.  He stands at the gate at the bottom of the stairs and begs to go up when the twins are playing upstairs.  He wants to sit at the counter in the their chairs and will race to get to them before the twins at dinner time. He watches and mimics everything they do as well. This can be good and bad of course :)  Some good things are that he stands at the door and waits with nora and holden before we get ready to leave the house.  he also sits down as soon as he comes in the house so that nora and holden can help him take off his shoes and coat.  If they forget to help them he calls for them until they come help him out. 

Davis loves to play outside and will go get my shoes and his then bring them to me hoping i will take him out.  

He's also extremely friendly.  Just like his sister, he talks to everyone he sees in the store.  He waves and says either "hey" or "bye".  People love it and he's always drawing attention. 

My sweet boy also has a touch of OCD.  He "needs" things to be in their proper place at all times.  This means he already knows how to clean up correctly, which this momma is super thankful for!  It also means if i catch him touching something he shouldn't, he can't just stop right away.  He has to make sure it is in just the right place and position before he can back away. Along with his OCD tendencies, is the fact that he doesn't miss a thing.  I learned one day that he knows where most of the dishes go without me ever having to have shown him.  He now helps us unload the dishwasher daily and he loves doing it!  He also helped me unpack my suitcase the other day and i was surprised to see he put my brush, hair products and shoes away just where they belonged.  He's a keeper for sure!

My favorite part of every day with Davis is Night Night time.  He gets so excited about the routine and it's my time to really get in all the snuggles.  When i tell him it's night night time, he runs straight to N and H to give them hugs and kisses.  If he can find her, he likes to tell LuLu goodnight too.   He loves his night night book so much and helps us read/act it out now.  We also talk about our body parts and facial features after the reading the book.  This is where we gets in lots of laughs and tickles.  Davis is such a tease and he will purposefully point to the wrong part and then laugh hysterically at himself for doing it.  Then i always get my snuggles in.  He loves this part too...and tucks his arms in between our chests, buries his head in my neck and whispers "snuggles" while we do it. If only i could bottle up those moments to keep forever.  

speaking of...a few weeks ago Davis fell asleep in my arms.  such a rare perfect moment...i wrote it down to remember it. 

**He fell asleep in my arms today. These moments have always been few and far between--that's just not the kind of baby D is.  He's getting so big that when it happens now, that sweet gift of a sleeping baby laying on my chest, i wonder how many more times it will happen.  Is this the last time?  I just want to soak it all in.  the way he buries his head in my neck, chest to chest, heart to heart, and he tucks himself into a ball. With his cheek touching my cheek he whispers all kinds of words in my ear in a language i can't understand but still melt my heart like nothing else ever could.  As his eyes get heavy and his breath slows down i can't help but be in awe of the beautiful gift i've been given.  It's the kind of moment we wait a lifetime for.**


Sunday, April 27, 2014

Mommy's Weekend Away

a week before mike got back, i had the opportunity to take a little mommy time.  miracle of all miracles ;) most of my meredith girls were able to take a weekend away to relax at the beach and enjoy some 'girl-time'.  

thanks to my dad and anne, i was able to take an extra 2 days away to get some other things done, like summer shopping, movie catch-ups and friend time that i hadn't had an opportunity to do in a while. 

This is my first picture of the trip...a car selfie!  never thought i'd catch myself doing this, but first time away without kids in close to 2 years deserves a picture, yes? 
first stop was visiting this sweet lady.  emily and i met while working at caswell 12 yeas ago. I haven't seen her since my wedding. As much as life has changed since then, it was wonderful to catch up with an old friend and i'm so thankful for sweet friendships that pick up right where you left off! 

here's my meredith girls.  
megan, sarah lynn, me, jennie, kayla, michelle, and dee.  not pictures due to geographic distances and responsibilities are tara, heidi and amanda.  of course we always miss you guys!
We spent our weekend talking A LOT, playing games, eating, beaching and getting our nails done.  It was so great to catch up with everyone and i can't believe it has taken us 8 years to do this.  spoken plans have been made for next year.  i sure hope it works out again!

a beautiful view to calm my soul
and great friends that make my heart happy
sweet baby audry, who was just one of the girls for the weekend
pedicures.  i didn't get the flip-flop memo.

we rock at games 
card shark ;)

of course as much fun as i did have, coming home was pretty sweet too.  4 days without my littles made me eager for lots of snuggles! oh how i love my babies. 





Saturday, April 19, 2014

Raleigh.Love

after all the cold/snow weather and being stuck in the house for days on in, we were itching to get out.  Raleigh is our fun place.  Not too far of a car ride and plenty of fun things to do, so that's where we headed.  

This time we went to the Life and Science Museum (technically in Durham) and then had an early dinner at Lily's Pizza (one of my fave college eateries) in downtown Raleigh.  We had the best day learning, playing and eating!  Raleigh always makes us smile :)

Clouds!
space shuttle
wind and flying
building

dinos and leftover snow
we found a snowman :)
butterfly house



happy kiddos

sillies at Lily's Pizza
and this my friends is my all-time favorite pizza... The Big Star
pesto, roasted red peppers, gorgonzola and pistachios...MMM, GOOD!