Our time at Blue Marsh

I freaking did it!

I’m another step closer to my dream….while its not a major accomplishment, i passed the civil service test to be a police officer! The next part of the test is the physical fitness test and that's pass or fail. Now if i pass both of these tests its not saying i’m going to be offered a job, that would be nice, its like being prescreened for an interview. If i should pass these test then they send my scores/results to all 24 police departments in Berks county and then if one of them is hiring or interested they will contact you for an interview. Just one step closer!

Wait to have kids

 

This is what we pay a year AFTER government assistance. Granted we are lucky to not have to pay the full tuition of $2k+ a month but still…it makes you wonder how anyone can afford daycare, afford to work, afford to live….interesting. So think twice before having kids! Make sure your really ready!

Christmas

Christmas is over. The boys gave us the best Christmas present ever…they woke up at 7:30 yesterday morning and 7 this morning! The weatherman got it wrong again, there was no white Christmas. Sad. One year I would like it to snow ON Christmas. However, were suppose to get snow tonight and tomorrow but….we’ll see.

As usual we went to our families house on Christmas eve and as usual I had to work until 2. Had a great time with family and it was great to see everyone again. It was a long night though. We left work at 2 and got home at 10:30. The boys got a lot of great gifts from family too. Jackson got a John Deere riding tractor and Christian got a few new board games too. At each of our families house we sang happy birthday to Christian and he just loved it…he was so bashful!

Christmas morning the boys had a good time. Jackson saw the Police car we got them, he went right over to it with he biggest smile on his face! He refused to get out and open any more presents….Christian got the hang of opening presents. He would rip the wrapping paper off, look at the gift then ask for another one. Jackson on the other hand would tear a little piece off at a time, gently place it next to him and repeat until the gift was unwrapped.

It was a nice lazy day too…we all stayed in our pj’s and didnt leave home. I took a nap and Alicia made a great ham dinner for us!

Here’s a link for the rest of Christmas pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2180957&id=38804938&l=bd91f3c1b6

BED TIME!

Lazy Sunday

Besides the drama the morning brought, we had a lazy day. Its been raining all day. Weird though, it was 56 degrees as of 9 am this morning…anyway. Jackson came home today around 11 and shortly after we put him down for a nap. Alicia and i watched Dexter in the office as Christian watched Power Rangers in the basement. Then Christian went down and Alicia and I just hid in the office watching Dexter and eating popcorn. There was things to be done, the kitchen needs a cleaning, the laundry needs to be done, the house could use a vacuum, our room is a mess, the bathroom hasnt been scrubbed in a month and there was dusting to be done…but its raining, and when it rains in PA, there’s nothing better to do then procrastinate.

Lazy Sunday. 

Got to Sleep in!

Christian was so nice to us this morning. He let us sleep in until 8AM!! How nice of him…except, when we woke up he destroyed the bathroom and almost broke Alicia's glasses. Ripped apart a necklace and sprayed anti itch spray all over himself and his room. He pulled out every book in his room and took off all his sheets from his bed….so while we got to sleep in until 8 we paid for it in the end.

What a great start to our Sunday.

Christians party went well, it was a little embarrassing at first because only 2 kids were there but at least those 2 showed up! Christian had a blast and loved having his 2 friends there….its a shame that the other parents didnt RSVP, but oh well, their loss.

We started his day at the Red Plate Diner for Breakfast with Santa! Then went to his party at the Hands on House in Lancaster. Here’s a link for pics! Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2182070&id=38804938&l=443aecfbbb

Cruise ship from Hell

My dear friend Amber from Blockbuster (in Phoenix) was on that cruise ship…her room was the floor above the engine room! Anywho, she’s safe and sound. She was on CNN this morning, here’s the video link:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/11/12/exp.am.intv.haslerud.lewis.cnn?iref=allsearch

Jackson….

So i took Jackson on my day off to his 2 doc appts. The first one was the Orthopedic surgeon. He looked over his X-rays he got at Reading Hospital and didnt notice any break or fracture. The doc looked at his foot and leg and noticed that his right ankle and foot were a lot more tender and swollen then his left. He just explained that nothing seems to be broken, just sprained and swollen. Thts the good news! Jackson goes back next Wednesday for a follow up X-ray and then on Friday to see the doc again. Jackson has been starting to walk again and can pull himself up too. So he’s making progress in that sense…i cant wait until he starts walking again!

The second appt was his 18 month check up! Long story short, no vaccines today and he is 33 inches tall and weighs 24 lbs! Yay! He’s getting so big…its scary…

Updates

Soooo, Jackson had an accident last Wednesday. Were at the play ground and he was going down the BIG slide and the third time his foot got “stuck” on the slide and twisted then bent backwards. He was in excruciating pain, wouldnt stop crying and wouldnt/couldnt stand or anything. We called the doc at 6pm and they wanted to look at him. Alicia took him to the doc, then they went to Reading Hospital for X-rays on his foot/leg. They said that his tibia was badly sprained and bruised but they couldnt tell if it was fractured because it was so swollen.

Long story short, its been 4 days or so and he’s gotten better but he still can pull himself up to stand, he’s just finally taking steps, a small amount but he mostly crawls around the floor. WE took him to the doc again tonight and they are going to schedule an appt with an orthopedic surgeon because he may have what they call a “toddler fracture”? Not sure what that is but…so we’ll see what becomes of the ortho doc appt.

Alicia got “promoted”! She works as a Logistics Coordinator now…big step up. She oversees incoming and outgoing orders from around the world! She’s really happy and today was her first day.

I think thats all i have time for now…gotta go put Jackson to bed soon

Tonight….

Tonight I'm going to the Bernville Library because author Charles Adams will be there. Charles Adams writes books on PA Folk lore and ghost stories…should be fun! He’s from Reading and wrote a few books about Berks County and Lancaster County already. Hope he has some good insight on haunted sites in Berks Country!

Poor Jackson!

Home again….Jackson’s been sick with Croup. Took him to the doctor on Wednesday and they said he cant return to school till Monday. SO its been him and I for the last 2 days! He doesn't seem affected by it. Croup is (according to Wikipedia) “is a respiratory condition that is usually triggered by an acute viral infection of the upper airway. The infection leads to swelling inside the throat, which interferes with normal breathing and produces the classical symptoms of a "barking"”

I’ve been spending time with him and playing with him. When he naps, i get things done around the house, like cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, dusting, organizing the boys room, setting up the office….well, back to work tomorrow.

Washington DC! ( Day One)

Well, were back from our trip to Washington DC and it was sure awesome! We arrived in DC at 9:15 and checked our bags into a locker at Union Station since we still had a few hours until check in. A few blocks from the train station was the Capitol, our first destination. It was raining but fortunately we packed two umbrella’s! Alicia and I walked around the Capitol before heading down the National Mall. Our next stop was the Smithsonian (Castle) visitor center before heading to the Washington Monument, WWII memorial and Lincoln Memorial. By the time we left the Lincoln Memorial the rain started to come down heavier and our umbrella’s failed! They were so soaked that it just came through! We had to be back at Union Station by 1 to get our bags and check into the hotel so that we would make it to the Capitol tour on time. From the Lincoln Memorial to Union station it was about an hour walk… By the time we got to the train station we were drenched! Our jeans were soaked all the way up to our butts and our sweaters arms were soaked! Oh and later we found out that the backpack was collecting rain, there was an inch of water at the bottom too!
OHHHH, and on Thursday it was the last day of shooting for the new Transformers 3 movie! While we didnt get to see them shooting any scenes we did get to see all their equipment and truck loads of stuff! And it was right in front of the Capitol and a few blocks from our Hotel!
We made it on time for the tour of the Capitol tour. There is a visitors center that is underground and that is where the tour starts.  Our tour guide took us all over the Capitol, we got to see the old Supreme Court chamber, the old Senate chamber, Nancy Pelosi office, the original Capitol doors, the entry way where the shooting in the 90’s took place, the center of the building and the Rotunda (the huge dome)! There were tons of paintings and statues (and men with guns). The tour lasted about 2 hours and it was awesome, to be inside the same building where so many important people work…afterwards we got lunch at the cafeteria there, dumb I know…it was $5 for a hotdog!
After the tour and lunch we walked over to the Library of Congress. We didn't get to see the whole building and to get to the Jefferson building you needed a Reader’s Pass but we were able to see it from the balcony. It was a lot bigger in person and the architecture of the building…amazing! Alicia and I went back to the hotel to relax a little bit before we went to the Cirque Du Soliel show…and I took a nap! When your up at 4 am and only got 5 hours of sleep, ohh and when your walking all day!?! We stayed at the Washington Court Hotel and it was absolutely the best hotel ever. The staff treated us with such respect and were very willing to go out of their way to help us. For instance, before we were able to check in the allowed us to check our bags in so that we could walk around and go to our Capitol tour, they let us use the gym bathrooms to change out of our wet clothes and the doorman flagged down a taxi for us (and gave him the address of where we were going) for the show. We would def. stay there again, not just for the outstanding service and professionalism but also because of the proximity to everything!
The Cirque show was amazing and Alicia really had a great time. We saw the show OVO…it was about insects and love…weird combo but a great show. There were so many different types of acts from a contortionist, to a juggler, trapeze, tight rope and so much more! It was a very entertaining show! We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the tent but leave it to Alicia to not listen! She took pictures anyway and got yelled at twice for it! She was able to get a few good pictures before she put it away, the pictures were at the end of the show when all the cast was out! The show lasted a little over 2 hours and we got back to the hotel at 11…and that ends day one!

Here's a link of pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2176235&id=38804938&l=88a691fae2

 

Day 2- Coming tomorrow

 

Its been a long 3 days....Alicia and I are off for the week because on Thursday were going to Washington DC! We've been spending a lot of time with the boys and doing things with them. Aside from that we've also been cleaning the house, organizing and LAUNDRY. Today we took the boys to the Hands On House, Alicia has never been but I've taken the boys numerous times. We finally got the Family membership, its cheaper that way in the long run. This was Jackson's first time there since he's been walking and he had a blast! He had a great time in the Make Believe area....Christian, always does!

Besides today we've been playing in backyard with the boys, the basement, the park...Alicia's mom came down on Saturday Morning and her boyfriend cleaned our Chimney. Sunday we went to meet up with Cathleen and her boys at the Souderton Park. Its been a while since we've seen the boys! Afterwards we went to my grandparents house for Laurens Graduation Party! Pretty much everyone in the family was there. It was nice to have everyone together again.

So I cant say its been a boring few days off. Its been crazy and we still have 2 more days until our trip! Tomorrow is Christians dentist appt in Harrisburg and then Wednesday is Pictures with Lauren Little! Here's her website:
http://littlelphoto.blogspot.com/

Jackson!

Jackson was taking a nap and i thought i heard him. I went to check on him but he wasnt awake...he was still sleeping!

Here's what you missed

Here’s what you missed since we last left off

*I got to meet my grandfather for the first time in over 10 years

  and the boys got to meet their great grandfather

*Spent New Years with my family

*Alicia started a temp job

*The boys started school (Tutor Time)

*Alicia quit that temp job

*Alicia started a new temp job

*Christian learned to put his coat on by himself

*Jackson got pink eye

*I got pink eye and an ear infection

*Christian made a sand castle at school

*Got to meet Landon & Logan

*Jackson got his two front teeth

*Jackson learned to pull himself up

*Our computer died (the motherboard was shot)

*Christian can dress & undress himself

*We took the boys to an indoor zoo & they rode an elephant!

*KC broke her nail off playing in the snow

*Got our taxes down for free

*Christian had an accident and got a gash in his head

*Watched Elimination Chamber at the neighbors

*Alicia was snowed in at work for two days

*I took Christian to the Hands-on House (twice)

*Worked 5 week(ends) in a row

*Alicia and Jackson were on the news

*Took the family to Blue Marsh to play

*Bought Alicia a “new” car

*Christian pee’s standing up

*The boys are sharing a room

*Christian stopped wearing a pull up at night and has been accident free (this was just after his third bday)

  at nights (and days). (this was just after his third bday)

*Went on a double date with our neighbors

*Jackson got to enjoy his first snow storm (over 4 feet total!)

*Jackson waves hello & goodbye ( and he can say them both too!)

*Alicia and I started Date Night

*KC made a new friend (Tux)

*Alicia got a hair cut, first time in over a year

*Started our first major home project- the Kitchen

*We took Christian to his first Ice Hockey game

*Went to Blue Marsh w/ KC and hiked for 2 hours

*Alicia’s “new” car died in the middle of 422 during a rain storm

*Finished phase 1 off the kitchen- The cabinets

*I went to the boy’s St. Patty’s day party at school.

*Christian started playing his first sport, Soccer! (He's in his second year now)

*I was on the 69 News for the Wernersville CCC

*Jackson started clapping

*Hosted Easter dinner at our house

*Christian was in the Reading Eagle (for an egg hunt at the Museum)

*Jackson got his hair trimmed (twice)

*Took the boys to the first Reading Phillies game of the season

*Had mothers day dinner at our house

*Celebrated Jackson ’s First Birthday! (with almost 50 people!)

*Jackson walked on his birthday all by himself!

*Gram J came to visit

*Alicia and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary June 14th

*Took the boys to the Shore, Jacksons first time ( Cape May NJ)

*Christian started to see a therapist

*Christian tried karate for a day, doesn’t like it!

COMING SOON!!!

Were back online and ready to start the blog back up again. Over the next few days I will be updating the blog and making some changes…

Taking a break

Alicia and I are taking a break from the blog, from facebook, from babycenter and any other social sites. We'll be back when the time is right...Thank you to everyone who follows and reads about our life!

Much Love,

Burns Family

Christmas 09

Christians Birthday Present

We got Christian the coolest birthday gift ever! For his birthday he got a train set but we didnt have a table to keep it on and it would have been hard to have it set up on the floor. Well....we got him a train table AND the person we got it from also gave us a complete train set that comes with a Mountain and a Train house and a bazillion trains. Its the same style of train tracks as the one he got for his birthday. The lady also gave us a one of those car mats that he can play with his cars on! Its a lot bigger and nicer then the one we have for him. The best part about this present it that it cost us NOTHING!!!!!! Cant beat that!