Finally full and resting.

Day 4 = Full tummy!!

We began our new month of December by welcoming Gabriel home for the first time.

Everyone was excited, especially Margaret. She spent her evening watching over Gabriel and telling him stories in the bouncy seat.

Gabriel William Burke

November 30, 2014

8 lb. 3 oz.

21 in.

10:21 a.m.

Chickens

 Thanks to our Funk cousins, we have some fowl guests for the winter.  We  are trying to  keep Buttercup and Fudge from the chopping block :)

 Nathan is a big fan of the "Bok- boks." He loves to put on his boots and go check on them every morning.

 I agree with Nathan that these are special pets.

Nick Names

Jason comes from a long line of nick names. It is definitely a tradition in his family. His Pop never even called him by his given name, instead he was "Jake." When I asked why, no one was quite sure. But I think that is the way it is with a lot of nick names. They just stick.
So this is my effort to record all (or a least most) of the nick names that we have gone through over the years.
Tanner- T (yelled out at every sporting event he has ever participated in),Tan the Man, T Bird, T Burger, T-T (used by little cousins on both sides of the fam), Tan Tan, Super Tan.

Andrew- Buddy-Buddy, Bucky, Buck, Doe (given by Nathan), Mister.

Margaret- Meg, Meggie, Pickles, Pix, Ba (given by Nathan), Pickle Juice

Nathan- Nate, Natia, Natey, CB (Crazy Baby), BB (Baby Brother), Nick.

We are really not sure what our new little guy will be named, but I am positive we will find a way to come up with some creative monikers for him too.

September at Home

September was a huge month of transition for Nathan and I. We settled into our fall schedule with the big kids back in school full time. but it was not easy. Nathan was completely out of sorts for the first few weeks. He really missed his siblings.

I was able to finally focus on the family photo project that I started last spring. Our dining room table was completely covered with McMullin family photos all summer. But September brought the project to a close and I was so grateful for the chance I had to organize thousands of family photos. I felt closer to my family and more grateful for my childhood every time I worked on the albums.

Nathan has been taking his sweet time deciding to use the toilet. Here he is dancing to celebrate a recent success.

Thomas the train is back in business at our house. We moved the table into the living room.

Nathan spends part of his mornings with his trains (aka do-ones).

Teenager Alert!!

Happy Birthday Tanner!

This was a big one- Tanner turned 13 and we have an official teenager in our home.  So glad that he is a great big brother and example for his younger siblings;)

We celebrated with the Burke cousins at our house a few days before the official bday.

On the actually day we had a favorite meal together and shared family gifts.

Tanner made Andrew and Meg feel like a million bucks for the small gifts they gave him. THey were so excited!

I love to see our kids really enjoying each other!

A few weeks later we were able to celebrate all of our late summer birthdays with the McMullin  cousins. I love seeing our back yard full of these great kiddos!

Backyard football with the boys!

Big Boy Bed

In an effort to prepare for our new baby we have once again been trading spaces around here. This time Meg and Nathan switched rooms. Nathan will share with his new brother and Meg will have her own room next door.

Right now we are making every effort to transition Nathan out of his crib. He does take naps in his big bed.

Eventually he'll even sleep here at night!!

Happy 7th Birthday Meggie!!!

Seven short years ago, Margaret was born right in the middle of the Burke family's BIRTHDAY WEEK. She celebrates her day in between 2 uncles, her Dad and her Poppa. She is the only girl among the bunch!

This year she celebrated her special day with Poppa.

She requested a "Back to the Beach- PJ party" complete with a beach ball cake.

 The cake was her own design and creation- with a little icing help from Mom.

Her party included Hula lessons for anyone brave enough to try to keep up.

 With the help of youtube- everyone was a shining success!

With her hula buddy- cousin Megan.

Margaret had been planning and dreaming about her big day for months. She was so excited to be the star for a day!

Cousin Austin did a solo hula number for us all the was unforgettable!

At the end of the night, Margaret and Megan surprised us all with a special musical performance! "Let It Go" never sounded so good!

 We love you so much Margaret Estelle. How blessed are we to have you as our little girl, born in the middle of a bunch of boys!!!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Meg and Andrew get out of their school early on Fridays, so we made good use of that time this week. We made Dad's traditional yellow cake for his birthday.

Here are our chefs checking on the batter, or was it their reflection in the metal bowl?

We sang happy birthday before going out to eat with Uncle David and his family at the Lodge.

Dad with his new smoker. We all benefit from his birthday gift- yum!

Margaret's First Lost Tooth

Meg has been working on her first loose tooth for months.  She  was nervous that loosing it would be painful, so she carefully wiggled it without really pushing it along.

She proudly announced it was REALLY loose at the beginning of summer.

So at the very end of August and just days before her 7th birthday, Margaret finally lost that tooth!!

She was very excited when it popped out at bedtime.

She had been working on it one evening and decided not to pull it out. Then as we read books at bedtime, Nathans hand  shot up and hit her lip and knocked that very loose tooth right out. Margaret was shocked (and very glad it didn't hurt a bit).

Proud of her new smile.

Growing up and ready for the tooth fairy!

Back To School 2014

Tanner returned to school mid-August to start his 7th grade year.  He was more than ready to go back after a slow summer at home. 

One week later, Andrew and Margaret started their school year. This is the first time all three kids weren't at the same school.  Andrew started 4th grade and Margaret is in 1st.

All three amigos ready to go!

The bigger picture (how Nathan feels about the whole deal)!!

Poor boy didn't know quite what was happening, but knew he was not included in the fun.