Small moments that influence life in BIG ways

I occasionally have moments when I reflect back on my life and think of the big things I've accomplished or experienced. Usually they can be traced to a specific moment or person that was pivotal to making that important event happen. This also is a testament to me that there is a bigger hand in it all, and our lives are orchestrated to intertwine with one another in order for us to become better and accomplish great things.

My friend and co-worker is moving across the country tomorrow. It is sad, but I'm excited for her and her hubs on their new adventure and chapter in life. Erika worked with me at the BYU Student Health Center back in 2007/2008. I worked there as a full time employee, she was a student employee and left when she graduated Dec 2008.

Our paths crossed again in June 2009 at a movie theater. I stopped her and we chatted about her new job and at the time I was ready to start looking for something new. She loved her new job, and she said she could try to hook me up since they were hiring. My life would be very different today if I hadn't talked to her that night in the theater. A few weeks after that I was hired at the Radiology Billing office I work at now.

For me, it is a big blessing to have a part time job that is extremely flexible and meets my needs as a mom of two. I like the experience,  responsibilities I have at work and the awesome co-workers I get to have adult interaction with. The kiddos go to an awesome lady who love them and she is so great with kids. I trust her completely and that makes it easier to be away from S & L for that short time.
That change of workplace, co-workers, opportunities have been a huge blessing in my life. If it weren't for Erika, life as I know it would be a lot different today! I'm glad she is coming back to visit at Christmas, I know we'll see each other again. Good luck in South Carolina and your big new adventures Erika!

Demolition Derby!

So two Saturdays ago Seth and I went to the Heber City Demolition Derby with his co-workers (2nd year in a row) and that was such a fun date night with fantastic company. We were lucky to go to another Derby in Richfield last Saturday!
My cousin Eric wasa driver, and it was really fun to see him and my relatives in that element. Scarlett really enjoyed herself, especially being with her little cousins and great grandparents. 

 This picture is awesome of SCarlett and Great grandpa Unsicker!! Credit goes to Seth for the perfectly timed snap with the camera. I love SCarlett's purple ear plugs too, GGma was so nice to share hers.

This last photo is my favorite one of all. These two have a bond that I get jealous of at times.

 So sweet.

Friends

Scarlett's friend Lexi came over, and I got the cutest pictures of the two - I had to share.

Seriously - you can't train girls to like the girlie things, they just do!!  I love that Lexi has THREE hairbands on, hahaha.

Too Cute

Party in Lincoln's play set.

Good thing we have two of each of toys that are the most entertaining! It keeps the arguing and tears down.

These two are ultimate Dora fans!! Dora Cups, Dora couch, Dora chair, Dora Doll . . . Watching DORA! They both have the same Dora Jammies from Target too, just a coincident!

We went to the Highland splash pad on Monday.

I love this picture most though.... Lincoln joined in on night time stories for the first time. He just laid there and watched Seth. So adorable! How in the world did I get so lucky with this cute family of mine?

Binkies - part 2

SUCCESS!!! Well... so far. The first night was T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E! She screamed for a solid 45 minutes. Her hair was half wet from sweating, I thought she wouldn't have a voice the next day from screaming. It was baaaaad.

She still had her binky, but it was broken! She just slept with it though. Monday she didn't take a nap. But Monday night went better than the first night. She still asked for a binky. We gave it to her - but she said it was broken. She accepted that we didn't have anymore and would have to go to the store...And luckily she hasn't remembered that conversation.

Tuesday (yesterday) she was at Jenni's, our sitter while I'm at work, and Jenni said she took a nap no problem! She didn't even ask for one. SCORE!

Last night, she still asked for it. But didn't put it in her mouth. She started crying a little later in the "going to bed" process, and I told her to get her binky. Then she told me, "No, it's broken. lets just keep it right here", and she set it on the pillow next to her. Perfect.

This was seriously a piece of cake. I 100% recommend just snipping off the tips when it comes to binky weening.

Binkies

Scarlett is almost 2 1/2 years old now, and extremely addicted to her binky. Before Lincoln came we almost had it controlled to only nap/bed time. However, lately it's been anytime she finds one, she has it in her mouth. We haven't been strict about keeping it back to nap time.

I haven't been to worried about taking her binky away because at the dentist appointment in April Scarlett's dentist explained until they're 3-4 years old it's not bad for their teeth. Their teeth can still easily be fixed without braces, orthodontic intervention, etc. I appreciated that he understood how important this soothing device is for little ones.

But when I was helping Scarlett with a good tooth brushing this morning It is clear to me her bite isn't right and her front 4 teeth are considerably "off" compared to her bite/bottom teeth. No More Binky For Scarlett.

Of course within 10 minutes of Seth and I discussing it is time to get rid of the B all together, cold turkey, not even allowed for nap/sleeping time, she had found one and was sucking on it. Seth took it away and it turned into a solid tantrum that lasted forever. Kicking, screaming, red and sweaty - Scarlett was extremely mad at the world!! We couldn't keep from laughing at times, but then it turned into me crying along with her. This is hard stuff!! I want Scarlett to be happy and comfortable! When she is sad and scared she always wants her binky and Blue (her Dr. Seuss thing 1 thing 2 doll).

So I read a few articles - while she was still going strong with that tantrum. The majority of the articles I read were about just snipping the tips of the binky so there's no resistance when they suck on it. My brother Ben had told me to do this months and months ago - that's what worked for their kids, piece of cake. So! I took one in the other room and snipped it. I threw it at Seth without her looking - I don't want to be the bad guy to give her the broken binky!

He gave it to the screaming, kicking crazy girl - and instantly she was all better, calm, and happy. After a few minutes cuddling with Seth she took it out of her mouth and found the snipped tip. She looked at us, "It's break." (she's working on that grammar stuff) "Oh no Scarlett! It's broken?". And she tried to keep sucking on it...

A moment later she just dropped it on the floor, she didn't want it anymore. A few minutes later, she put it back in her mouth, tried it for a moment, and took it out again. Lost interest.... We'll see how nap and bed time goes. I hope we'll be okay!

This seems like such a silly post, but I was about to write a facebook status about it and stopped myself. I'm trying to keep the every day life status' to a minimum - I feel like I do it too much and who wants to hear play by play on our lives? Hahaha... that's what blogs are more for. If people want to know the play by play of the Burke's - they'll look at the Burke's personal blog. Facebook is a bit public.

 We are excited to not need to go in panic mode when we can't find a binky for her and she's having a fit for it!! Or in the middle of the night she sometimes (rarely) wakes up crying b/c she can't find it in her blankets.

And this is my post about silly binkies and Scarlett's addiction to them. Wish us luck tonight at bedtime!!

6 weeks!

It has been SIX weeks!? Which sounds pretty crazy, but when I really think about it - yea, that's about right. I go back to working part time next Tuesday. It's been like a cloud over my thoughts this past week, so then I question if I really should go back to work or not. But I have thought it through many times, and the pros outweigh the cons. We'll see how it goes.

The biggest problem we may run into, with me going back to work, is Scarlett's sleep schedule. The girl sleeps in until 10am every morning!! We try to get her into bed about 7:30, it seems to always be 9:00 when we're able to finally turn off the light and say good night. She consistently sleeps at least 13 hours a night. So Wednesday night she didn't get to sleep until 9:45ish since we were visiting family late - She slept in until 11am Thursday!!

I don't mind her sleeping in, it has really helped me get lots of sleep since Lincoln's been waking up every 3-4 hours to eat.

Lincoln is such a great baby. He seemed to have mild reflux and fussy/colic moments after we brought him home from the hospital. But things have gotten better in just this short amount of time. He doesn't cry much unless he is starving. Knock on wood - he hasn't really ever cried for longer than a few moments, he is very easy to soothe.

We usually put him in the bassinet about 10:30-11pm and he'll wake up consistently about 4 and 7am to eat. I can handle that!

He is starting to coo a lot more and we can sometimes get a smile out of him. He still goes cross eyed frequently and puckers his lips - it's adorable!

He likes to be on our chest, and he does pretty good at trying to hold his head up when he wants to. I think he looks so much like Scarlett, but his hair is definitely staying dark! Scarlett's hair was already very light brown and coming in blonde when she was 6 weeks old. Not gonna lie - we're excited we won't have to answer the questions,  "Where does he get hs hair from?",  "Is your husband blonde?", "Is he adopted?"

Lincoln has endured Scarlett's moments where she's actually interested in holding him and trying to play with toys together. She's very good at being patient with us if we're feeding/changing/bathing him. She loves being the big sister and helping us!! I think the timing was just right for spacing these two.

Lincoln has always been kind of a drama boy. In the beginning his coughs and gasps for air would seriously worry me. His cough is this very involved "hack", it's really hard to describe it. He'll sometimes have these gasps for air like he couldn't breathe for minutes at a time. I was always afraid he wasn't breathing, or he couldn't get air. But after weeks of watching him do this many times throughout the day and jumping out of bed at the smallest sound of struggle in the night - we've realized it's just Lincoln! He is just kind of drama about it. He makes me laugh. He is a Grunter! And he snorts and sighs all the time. He lets us know with all his expressions that we seem to be constantly "inconveniencing" him.

This Youtube video has him coughing :38 seconds into it. This time he's actually coughing something up. 

And I posted a video on Youtube that is a bit long, of Scarlett and Lincoln together in the hospital when he was a day old, June 16th. 

We love having Lincoln in our lives! Wish us luck as we try to figure out a routine next week when real life starts up again.

Lincoln's Newborn Shoot

I regret not getting a newborn shoot done with Scarlett, but we got some of Lincoln when he was 5 days old. There are so many photographers here in Utah, it was difficult to find the right deal. I'm very happy with what we ended up with! We went to Camera Shy in Lehi. I wanted photos done in a studio, a place that had their own accessories, and a decent portfolio of specifically newborns. And Camera Shy was the right place to go! We got an hour and a half studio session for $89 and walked out with a CD that had 71 enhanced photos on it! I edited them with Lightroom and Photoshop and I'm very pleased with what we ended up with! When Linc gets a little bigger I want to go in and get a family shoot done.

Here are some of my favorites. He is so handsome!! And has changed soooo much already.