Grammie and Papa's Visit

Mike and Becky, Justin's parents, know known as Grammie and Papa made the trek north with Aunt Louise and Uncle Tony (Ouise and Grumpy) for a week of sightseeing before their cruise south - from Seward, AK to Vancouver, BC.

We were super excited for their visit. The main reason being that Papa was meeting Burke for the first time.

Burke was a little confused. Someone else looked a lot like daddy.

We all piled in the rented SUV and took a drive down to Girdwood, Portage Lake and The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.

While they were here, Grammie, Papa, Ouise and Grumpy headed to Denali National Park for some beautiful views of Denali. The weather cooperated during their entire visit.

Once Mike and Becky and Louise and Tony made it back to their homes they reported they had a fabulous time on the cruise.

Thanks for visiting!

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My First Mother's Day

Today was my first official Mother's Day. It was a good day. I was with Mr. Burke. It would have been even better if Justin were here, but at least he'll be home in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Mother Nature really cooperated today - she hit it out of the park. Sunny blue skies and 60+ degree temps. I think I even have a touch of sun on my cheeks.

My first treat of the day was a quick call from Justin who's currently in Hanoi, Vietnam. He thought ahead and left my Mother's Day card here so I finally opened that up. Right now as I'm typing he's at the Dong Xuan market shopping for gifts. One will probably be my MD gift. Hopefully he gets his shopping done quickly and on to the airport in time for his really LONG flight home. Can't wait to see him. My second treat was waking up to my beautiful baby boy who joined me in bed around 6 this morning for breakfast in bed - he was the one who had breakfast. Thankfully he went back to sleep. Around 8:30 he started waking up and talking his cute little baby talk. He then popped his eyes opened and smiled at me. I love being a mother!

I spent the morning with a friend of mine and her daughter Allison. In addition I got to meet a new friend and her two daughters. We went for a nice long walk around Cheney Lake and a picnic in the park. I was the bad mother...very unprepared. Thankfully the other two were and I was able to borrow their sunblock and hat for Burke. I didn't expect it to be that nice.

Later on I called my mother to wish her a happy Mother's Day. We chatted for awhile. We talked about her weekend and her upcoming nuptials. So very happy for her and Dale! Have fun, Mom!

Now it's almost 11pm and really time for me to be asleep. I haven't been to bed before midnight this past week and I'm very tired.

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One Time Only

Today Burke met Uncle Brandon, Aunt Corey and cousins Marin and Caden. He absoltely loves to smile when Caden smiles. Caden and Burke look a lot alike. I think Burke definitely looks like me and my family.

We stopped by the Rathdrum Police Station to see my brother. Brandon forwarned me that if he held Burke there it would be the first and last time. I said no, not yet, I didn't have a camera. So this afternoon he held him. I have pictures to post later. Silly brother.

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Idaho

Well, Burke and I made it to Idaho. Burke took a nice nap before we went to the aiport. We made it through security without a problem. I'm pretty sure I sent like 8 separate items through the X-ray machine. Somehow we got lucky and the middle seat was empty on our very busy flight. Burke fell asleep at takeoff and woke up when deplaning. Our flight to Spokane he had fun looking out the window at clouds and smiling at our seat mate. We were very tired yesterday and took lots of naps. Burke decided to go to bed at 6:30pm and slept till around 7am where he woke me up with talking and smiles.

We're happy to be here. Lots of people to see. Burke doesn't know what to think of all the new faces.

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March Madness

Not sure how March got here, but it's here and almost over! Thankfully with March comes spring and we've had some beautiful weather in Anchorage. Burke and I can get out for some sunny walks, even if we have to push through slush and navigate gushing street rivers and pot hole ponds. I'm not holding my breath that this is the real "break-up". But I'd be happy if it is.

Alaska has their own weather language, just like the Pacific Northwest did with all their words/descriptions for rain. In the fall "termination dust" is the first snow that ends summer and "break-up" is the melting of all the snow and the reveal of just how plain awful the roads are. They're really broken.

Justin just set out for a trip to Florida for a class and a few days of vacation in Huntsville and Chattanooga for some bike riding with his friend Mitch. Burke and I are going to hang out at home and on Wednesday night we'll begin our own adventure and head to N. Idaho at 1:30am on Thursday. I'm hoping that the red eye flight will work for Burke. Needless to say, I'm nervous and pretty sure I'll come close to a breakdown when it comes time to go through security. I'll be that person who holds up the line because I will have no clue how to get everything through the x-ray machine while holding Burke, who will probably be cranky because I will have had to wake him up.

Other than being nervous about traveling on my own, I'm very excited to take Mr. Burke to Coeur d'Alene to meet new relatives and friends. We've timed the trip perfectly to coincide with spring break. Grammie Becky is driving up for a few days and Lindsay (Justin's sister) will fly in to meet Burke for the 1st time!

Well, I should sleep. All this sun we're having is definitely affecting my mood. I'm no longer super sleepy. Hard to believe we already have over 12 hours of sunlight.

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Burke's 4 Months Old!

On Saturday, Burke turned 4 months! Now he enters his 5th month of life and it will be a busy one. On Sunday Burke will earn his first flying wings as we head out over the Pacific Ocean headed for Hawai'i. We will be staying with our good friends Adam and Myriah Brady on Oahu. We are all heading to the Big Island 19th thru the 24th to check out the volcanoes and lava flows. Justin and Adam hope to ski and surf in the same day. On the 20th I celebrate my birthday! We head home on the 25th and then on the 27th Gramma Wanna comes for her second visit. It'll be a great month!

Burke had his well-baby check up today. He did great and he took the shots a little better this time. We were in the fire truck room!

4 month stats:

• 16 lbs 6 ozs - 75-90th percentile
• 27.2 inches long - 90th percentile
• 16 inch head circumference - 50th percentile
• He is meeting all developmental standards for 4 month old babies

Look how long he is!

Happy smiles for Mommy.

Go Gonzaga!

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My Pants Are Too Short!

Mom waited too long to put my cool suspenders on. 3 month clothes are too short for me!

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The Holidays

We spent the holidays here in Alaska. We are sad that we did not return home to Idaho to see all of our family and friends, but we wanted to have a quiet first Christmas with just the three of us. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas at the Alyeska Ski Resort. Justin was supposed to ski but who wants to ski when it's raining on most of the mountain.

Burke received a play mat/gym from his Gramma Wanna. Grammie Becky had a stocking made just for Burke. It was made by the same woman who made Justin's stocking when he was a little one. When I joined the De Armond family I received one as well.

New Years was extremely quiet. Hopefully next year if we're in Anchorage we'll venture out to see the fireworks and ice skate in the town square. Just too cold this year.

2010 will be a great year! I think Burke will set the pace and he started it off by laughing. Love it!

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The Big Promotion

Justin is now a Major. He was promoted on Friday, December 4th. This was a big day for us! I was so happy to be present for this special occasion. Justin was in Germany or Iraq for the past two promotions so I consider myself lucky to have Justin home now. Burke was the perfect baby - he slept during the whole event. I am so proud of Justin!!

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