Caleb eating rice with some pears. I thought I would share the fun. If you can't get this, I also posted on facebook.

We went to LOUSIANA!

We decided to take a road trip to visit our friends, the Huddlestons! It also just so happened that Mardi Gras was the next week, so we braved the rain and went to a fun parade, and ate Cane's chicken! It was awesome!

While in LA we had to check out Mike the mascot for LSU. Sam didn't mind the real tiger, but once we got up close to the statue, he wouldn't look at it and held on tighter than I 've ever felt from him before! Poor little guy.

Sam checkin out Mike.

We took a walk with the kids. Halle, Janes little girl is about five weeks younger than Sam. This was their first meeting outside in the world!

This was the first time they met. :-)

We're glad that they turned out to be good friends! :-) Thanks Jane, Jacob and Halle for letting us crash at your place!

I've had these pictures since February!

Let me explain this picture. Sam is not just dirty...This is the face of a little boy who decided that the dirt on the tires of the van looked more appetizing than the food we put on his tray. Yes, you heard me correctly. We get done with a walk and Sam decides that he's hungry? and as he walks by the van decides to take a lick. John and I couldn't stop laughing. Who could resist such a cute dirty face? Grandpa Burkinshaw came to visit for work and got some one on two time with the boys. Here they are watching one of Sam's favorite movies, "Winnie the Pooh". The Carmel Cake with Creamcheese carmel frosting. :-) Sam chillin Sunday morning Caleb thought the chair looked like fun so he hopped up there to join Sam. More pictures.....on next post.

I'm a Terrible Blogger

So I would like to use the excuse that I have a new baby so I can't be on the computer blogging, but the truth is, Caleb is such a great little baby! He eats every three hours and has chubby little legs and will soon by pass his brother in weight, I'm sure. He has the sweetest smile and will giggle when he is tickled.

We bought the boys little vests to wear to church and I have to say that they are the cutest little boys ever.

Sam is finally in nursery and just loves it. He has a hard time not standing on the chairs or table, but he will learn. I'm sorry to say that it's our fault that he does that. He just likes to climb so much! He climbs into his toy box, wagon, Caleb's swing (once with Caleb in it), and everything else he can think of. Sam still loves his little brother and will give him kisses and most of the time will pat his head very gently. Such a sweet little boy. He is also quite the entertainer. He loves to get other people to laugh or pay attention to him and usually it works. Pretty much anyone who knows our little Sam, just loves him! Of course being dramatic comes with its downside too. When he is upset, our little guy dramatically lays himself out on the ground and wails. He will look over his sholder to make sure your looking, and either way, he will yell louder. While I wish he didn't do it, I do usually end up laughing at him, which saves my nerves most days.

Hopefully some cute pictures will make up for my lack of writing. So here you go!

Brotherly love. :-) How sweet!

Sam in his Sunday outfit

Trying to turn over.

Sweet Caleb smile in his Sunday suit.

Sam was trying to get the last of the ice cream out. This is how he accomplished that task.

Sam likes to join Caleb in the chair sometimes.

I have a picture of Sam in the swing, but I couldn't find it to compare. Everyone says they look so much alike. :-)

On Our Own...

This week we have been redefining "normal" for our little family of four.

Since Caleb was born we've had Grandma Roberts and Grandma Stacey with us to help Emily with the boys while I have returned to work. We really appreciated having them here, and appreciate it even more after being on our own this week. Emily misses her naps that she took while the grandmas watched the boys, Sam misses his walks and bike rides with his grandmas, and I miss having dinner ready when I get home every night. We asked Caleb what he missed, and this is all we got:

We actually get that look a lot.

Here's Sam and his Grandmas:

And here are a couple of Halloween pictures:

As Halloween was getting close we kept having people tell us Sam should be Charlie Brown. I guess he has the head for it: big, round and bald. Actually he is getting more hair, but it is very light and very thin. So all he needed was the yellow shirt with the black zig-zag stripe and, of course, the trademark curl in front. It turned out pretty good.

He even won "Best in Show" at our ward's Halloween Carnival costume contest. He walke across the stage and when he saw everyone clapping, he walked right up to the front and started clapping too. We always knew he loved being the center of attention.

Caleb was a baby for Halloween. Emily wanted to make him the football that Charlie Brown is always trying to kick, but even the smallest Halloween costumes aren't really intended for babies who are only four days old.

Emily was beautiful for Halloween. But she's always beautiful.

With another kid in the family we've all had to pitch in...even Sam. He's been a great helper.

He seems to really like his little brother. He sometimes seems impatient that Caleb can't really play with him, but they've found they enjoy watching movies together. Their favorites are "Horton Hears a Who" and "Curious George".

And then there were four...

So, it's been a pretty busy week for us.

Emily was technically due last Thursday, but since Sam came 11 days early we've been expecting it any day for the last two and a half weeks or so. In fact, Emily's mom came in a couple of weeks ago and her dad drove down a few days later. They helped us paint the outside of the house and a few other projects, but nothing was happening as of Sunday so they headed home.

On Monday Emily had an appointment with her doctor. He had told her the week before that he would probably let her go a week past her due date before inducing her, which would be today. But on Monday he said circumstances were favorable to induce and he would be going out of town, so we could do it Tuesday or wait another week. The idea of being pregnant another week did not appeal to Emily so she scheduled it for Tuesday. Her mom had been home in Oklahoma not quite 24 hours, but when she heard they would be inducing on Tuesday she hopped on a plane Monday night to head back down (by the time she goes back on Sunday, she will have been here for 17 days, minus one; we really appreciate her).

This is starting to seem like too much writing, not enough pictures, so...we went to the hospital Tuesday morning at 6:30am and at 4:44pm Caleb Eugene Burkinshaw was born.



He was 7lbs 11oz and 20.25" long. For comparison, Sam was 6lbs 1oz and about 18" long. Also for comparison, here's a similar shot of both of them (Caleb is the first one).



We wondered how Sam would react to having a new baby brother, and when he came to visit at the hospital there were too many buttons to push and cords to pull on to pay attention to any thing else. But Emily and Caleb came home last night, and this afternoon Sam finally started to notice there was a new little person in the house.



Then this evening he was holding his arms out while I was holding Caleb, so we sat him on the rocking chair and they both did great for a little while. Then Caleb started getting fussy and Sam started getting bored, but we think they bonded. Don't you?

Sam has always been on the small side for his age, but now after holding Caleb, Sam seems huge. He's been very interested in all his old stuff that we've gotten out for Caleb. Here he is in his old bouncer.

We're very happy to be a family of four, and very grateful for these two little boys.

Long over due!

There is so much to say about what we have been up to! Mainly it's chasing Sam all over the place.

Some things about Sam. He likes to hide things in drawers. Today I found a puzzle piece and a remote in the Tupperware drawer.

He also likes to get out pans and try to slide on them.

He is very picky about what he eats.

Right now he loves pretzel goldfish!

He also likes mommy's yogurt covered pretzels.

He really likes drinking from a straw. He doesn't backwash much so that's good. John is usually willing to share whatever he is having.

He is an amazing tantrum thrower. He flips and flops all over the floor. I will leave and come back a minute later and he's on the other side of the room still flipping and flopping. It does make me laugh sometimes which is better than the alternative. However, he gets real tears every, so even though he's being ridiculous, I still feel bad for him. Who knew I would have such an ornery child. ;-) He usually gets pretty bummed when dad leaves for work, meetings or church. Sam is a total daddy's boy! He walks around saying Dadda? Dadda? And when he hears the garage door open, or any noise from that end of the house, he runs to the back door, Dadda? Dadda? and starts knocking on the door. It's precious. When it so happens that John is not home and he hears a noise, the poor child will lie on the floor and cry at the door. It's a little sad, but pretty funny to see.

He loves little babies. There is a 2 month old in our ward that he is just fascinated with. He'll go squat by him and rock the car seat (not things that I have have taught him). He has on occasion even tried to drag the car seat with him when he wants to go. I'll have to keep a close watch when his little brother gets here!

Sam loves seeing new people, and we're teaching him to give kisses. He was running away from me at the mall and stopped next to a lady who bent down to talk to him while I caught up. By the time I got there, he was sitting on her lap and trying to give her kisses on the cheek. It was pretty cute. I have no idea how he got so bold!

In the last few months Sam has put his amazing balance to the test. Here are a few of the things he likes to climb up on. (He can also balance on a plastic box of wipes!)
The picture where his nose is scraped up is from when he got going too fast down our driveway and his shoes got in the way of pavement, and he took a dive. It was pretty traumatic! But that doesn't stop him from trying to run!


Sam likes to help out whenever possible. This is him helping dad make some muffins for Conference morning. He did not like it when we tried to show him how to stir the ingredients. He had been doing a great job with the empty bowl. And he didn't like it when we took away his measuring cup to pour the milk in. He is quite the independent child.


Grandpa Burkinshaw came to visit last month and for FHE treats he bought some ice cream sandwiches. I think Sam might have eaten pretty much the whole thing. Thank goodness Grandpa was willing to sacrifice. :-) Sam will eat pretty much anything sweet!


Aunt Chelsea and Aunt Kathleen and cousin Spencer came to visit us! This I believe is the only picture I have from their visit! I'm not good at documenting things! It was fund having them here and it was fun to see Sam and Spencer interact. :-) Sam also fell in love with Aunt Chelsea's phone. He loved to take it around with him and and he liked looking at the pictures. Thanks Aunt Chelsea for keeping him happy! :-)


Sam likes to help Dad with his work out these days. He will just lie on John's back while he does push ups. This used to be my job when I was less pregnant and much lighter. It looks like he has the better end of the workout!

John also likes to use Sam as a weight when he does pull ups. Sam of course loves it too. He is just smiles all the way!

Over all, things are going well here. We expect our 2nd little one soon, and we can't wait to meet him! Hopefully we won't have to wait much longer!