Burkinshaw: May 2012

I was discussing with a friend how time seems to go by slow and then all of a sudden it's gone! Some weeks seem to drag on, like when we're waiting for a class to end for Paul, or a vacation to start. Then other weeks seem to go by way too fast! And before you know it, another year has gone by! May has been one of those "in a flash" kind of months. The first couple weeks were pretty slow, waiting for Paul's class to end so we could get some things done. Now, it's almost over! We did a lot in May. Paul got through one more class (eight more to go). He turned 28! I know, he's getting so old ;-) I had my fourth Mother's Day. We did some Spring Cleaning and organizing. Wait, did I say we did a lot? Okay, we really haven't done too much, but the month is almost over. It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that we brought Elin home from the hospital! Anyway, we are looking forward to June. I love June! We finally get to see Uncle Joel. My younger brother, Joel has been serving a two year mission in Tokyo. He was there for the earthquake and everything. He's had quite a mission, and we are so excited for him to be home! He hasn't met Elin yet, and he left when Ewan was just little. If you can't tell, I'm pretty excited! We also get to go to a family reunion for my Mom's side in Salt Lake. It's always nice to get out of the house for a little while and spend some time outside...when it's not 7:30am because you're afraid of getting heatstroke if you're outdoors after 10am!

So, we'll do a little recap since it's been a month since my last post. Elin is a full-time walker and mischief maker! She climbs, hides, and manages to get her little one-year-old-self into as much trouble as everyone else! Her little personality is coming out more. She fake cries, tattles, throws herself on the floor, and begs for food. Elin also loves to dance, lead the music, eat, and play outside. My mom tells this story of me when I was little. I don't remember how old I was, but my dad was in the Young Men's and one of the boys came over with his car. I grabbed my shoes and said, "Willy, you've got your car. I've got my shoes!" I knew that I couldn't go anywhere without my shoes. That's Elin! She knows that if she has her shoes on, we're going somewhere. And, she's ready!

Ewan is now in a big-boy-bed. He never climbed out of the crib, but it was about time to move Elin from the pack-n-play to the crib. He does alright. He's a lot easier than the girls were, but he still likes to come out every-once-in-a-while. He likes to come into our bed a little too early (5am). Ewan needs his sleep or he's just not super pleasant. He likes the independence though. He also likes to show everyone HIS room when they come over. I threw away his pacifier a few days ago. I've been wanting to for a while, but I'm a bit of a pushover. It's gone now. I cut it so I wouldn't give in that night. He did alright. I think he just uses it to go to sleep. Once he figured out that it wasn't coming back, several tears later, he was okay. Next up, potty-training!

Aislee...energetic Aislee! She is a morning person. Well, they're ALL morning people. But, she seems to beat everyone! Aislee is excited about everything and everyone! She loves to sit and talk to whoever comes over about her life story. They usually start out, "When I was a baby, I was born..." She could spend all day outside, as long as there aren't any bugs nearby. She loves the swimming pool, and playing with the hose on the trampoline. Aislee is excited about seeing the Uncles and playing with cousins next week. She can't stop talking about "seeing everybodies".

Olivia is the make-believer at our house. She comes up with stories and games for everyone to play. Elin is usually a doggy, Olivia has taught Elin how to eat her snack out of Olivia's hand. She comes up with some pretty interesting games that always involve a Mommy and a doggy. She was trying to get Elin to obey and said, "Say, okay Olivia." When I'm trying to get them to listen and understand something I have them say, "Okay, Mom" when I'm done. A hear a lot of, "Say okay Olivia" when they're playing. Olivia is pretty sensitive. Anytime she thinks she might be in trouble, she makes a very sad face. If it's really bad, she runs to her room for a time-out. She's usually not in trouble. I don't know where she gets the self-punishing. She's very quick to say, "I'm sorry Mom", and take care of it.

Paul had a birthday, as previously mentioned. He was really sick and went to Urgent Care after work to find out he had the flu. He spent most of the evening and the next day in bed. We tried to do cake and cheesecake, and sing for him. We've been waiting to get something or do something for each other until after his class was over, but we've had one thing after another. Hopefully, this weekend we'll be able to celebrate our anniversary, his birthday, Mother's day, getting through our first semester of grad school, and probably Father's Day...! Here's hoping our babysitter doesn't cancel on us.