Work

Not much has really been going on this week besides work, work, work at the store.  Blake's been working most weekends and several 12 hour days during the week to get ready for the grand opening. It's starting to wear on all of us, but we hope there is light at the end of the tunnel.  The store is looking great, but there is still a lot to get done before March 25.  I'll post some updated pictures once it's all set and the interior paint is finished.

So the only thing to post pictures of is what Brooks has been up to these past couple weeks.   He loves to dig in the tote for his books, and I caught him one morning surrounded. :)

He also got his first bath in the big tub last week.  We would have moved him to it a lot sooner, but the bath tub in our duplex has those annoying glass sliding doors on it, so it's difficult to maneuver around them.  But we were tired of trying to keep the water contained in the kitchen sink, so we made it work.  He was a little scared at first, but after Blake got in with him, he loved it!

Back!

We finally have internet hooked up at our house, so I hope to update on here more frequently.  A lot has been going on in our lives the past 6 months, but I'll just put some pictures up of the highlights.

We are successfully converting our True Value store to an ACE Hardware (check us out on facebook under York ACE Hardware!)  Blake has been really busy at the store and putting in a lot of time, but the store will look great for our Grand Re-opening March 25-27.

Brooks has been doing good and changing so fast.  Here are a few pics of our active boy:

He loved Christmas, especially ripping away all the paper.  He got so excited about the new toys!

He also loved the Christmas lights!

 

But he didn't care too much for Santa

He still loves laughing and playing with his daddy

But he still wants mommy when it's time for sleeping

The first night I spent away from him since he was born (I went to a Women's retreat hosted by area churches the last weekend in January) he passed one of the big milestones with dad.  He learned to crawl! So needless to say our play time is much more active for him and me! This picture was taken the week before when Blake's parents came to visit, but you can see he's ready to move!

He gets into everything now, his favorite being laundry baskets full of clothes.  He loves to pull them out piece by piece (especially if mom has already folded them so neatly)

He's started to drink some from his sippy cup, but he still isn't real good at it

Brooks also loves to pull himself up and stand against anything and everything.  One of his favorites is waiting by the stair gate for daddy to come home from work.

 Well that's a brief summary of what has been going on in our lives the past 6 months! Hopefully it doesn't take me another 6 months before I post again....

We've Moved!

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the new place yet, but here are a few pics of Brooks from the last few weeks. I'll post some pictures of the duplex and the new store soon. We take over Aug 2! Brooks is adjusting well and has slept through the night ever since we've moved! We even upgraded him out of his napper and into his big boy crib last night and he slept great! He also loves his bear as you can see him talking to it. He likes pulling it on top of himself and of course putting it in his mouth too. :)


Here's a picture of Brooks and his Burgess cousins when they came to babysit for a few days...

Finally....

Sorry it's been so long since we posted, but our internet signal has been real spotty. Since we have a signal today I thought I'd post something quick. I'm not real good at this yet, and i'm holding Brooks with one hand and typing with the other, so all you're really going to get is pictures. But that's really all anyone wants to see anyways! Here are a few things going on the last month....




Brooks is finally liking his toys more and sits in his bouncy seat without crying! He is also a fan of the play mat my mom found at a garage sale:
He's smiling more and more!

Not so sure he likes the rattles dad put on his arms
Brooks punching his daddy :)
He likes his bath time now

Brooks Lambert Burgess

Here are just a few pictures from Brooks' first few days:
First Family Photo

Sign from the hospital room:

First Bath:

My fight for the driveway

Ok, the Des Moines area has had the 4th or 3rd snowiest winter ever with over 60 inches of snow. It just happen to happen the first year I bought a new house with a huge driveway. So, since I spent all this money on a new house I had no money to buy a snow blower (snow thrower actually). I also have a pregnant wife so I wouldn't let her help me shovel. 4 or five times we have come home from work or a trip to somewhere and I had to park my truck at the end of the drivway and shovel my way up to the garage. The driveway also happens to be placed nicely that it always drifts over in the middle. So, I have shoveled hundreds of pounds snow. In the picture above you can see the christmas lights are still up because we have snow on the ground since December 10 or so. At one time my whole drive was like a tunnel snow up the mirrors on both sides. It was also up to the middle of the side window at the end of the drive another place where it always drifts. I think the city or my neighbors finally felt sorry for me because last week we came home and some one had plowed both of those down. Now I have to just wait for it to melt. Because if it snows again I'm going to have to throw the snow over my neighbors fence because I got not place to put it.

Here is where I have run out of a place to put the snow. If we get more it's going over the fence.

A look down our huge driveway which happens to go downhill. Makes it fun to go down when it's icy. Just so you know you can't see the end of it here this is about a 3rd of the driveway.

New Truck

Well, a couple of weeks ago I was just sitting around thinking about the future for Casey and I. The plan for a long time was to hang on to our vehicles until we had 2 kids and then Casey would get a new one. Because I had gotten the newest one, my old truck. But, as I said I was thinking that there would be no way for me to transport 2 kids in my old truck, which was only an extended cab truck with a jump seat. I would be able to fit kid in there though. I really didn't want to buy 2 new vehicles when a second kid come as I am sure that it would cost enough with two kids. So, I talked her into looking for a crew cab truck and we found this Canyon with low miles and certified pre-owned which is nice. I know my Grand Dad Lambert has always said don't by a black vehicle because it get's hotter and looks dirtier and breaks down more often. But, it was to good of a deal to listen to him, Sorry Grand Dad. It has been a good truck for the 2 weeks we have owned it.