buh bye oh nine

As we wrap up 2009... [all by my lonesome...ugh.] I find myself deciding what to do to make me a better me in 2010, like I do every New Year's Eve.

Well this time I am going to challenge myself, one of these challenges will be to periodically- yes, more than once!- fast from Facebook. It has become such an easy outlet to vent, judge, slander, gossip, yaddayaddayadda for me that I just need to step back. This first fast is going to be for 21 days. I have been wanting to do it for a while, but once my friend Hannah said she'd be doing it I felt the strength of numbers :]Don't get me wrong! FB is also a GREAT way to stay in touch with friends and all of my family that is 8 hours away, but I'll still be here, blogging away, hoping to get a little more accomplished.







Love you all! Be safe tonight, and have a blessed new year/decade/2 more years of life according to the Mayans!

Water

Our water has been off...ALLL day.

I've been drinking bottled water and praying for no number two...
Plus side? I have an excuse as to why the dishes aren't done!

I've been reconsidering the Oregon trip. TRUST me, I don't want to, but Eamon and I need to focus on getting the funds to move. We actually need the funds to stay here first! HA! Its pretty rough here right now, not gonna lie. We're unsure of our purpose in the Metroplex and are very unsure of where we are supposed to be if not here.


Well, off to be super mum!

2010 Crafty to-do

Stiiiill looking for my camera-hooker-upper-thingamajiggy, so still holding off on my Christmas post. But with this being the last week of 2009 [whaaaat?] I decided to post 10 things I would LOVE to do for my personal use [outside of mae flowers] in 2010.

1. Decorate Lily's room
We've already got some pretty cool bird themes going on, so not very much stuff that would be too girly, but I love this found on ohdeedho























2. Make a funky beautiful quilt for Lily
Maybe something like this?
























3. make three sillouhette portraits for my living room

4. Sew ADORABLE [and matching?] dresses for our trip to Oregan

5. make some beautiful bedding for our Japaneasy bedroom

This set from Anthropologie matches our colors perfectly!













6. Sew a fabric map

7. felt...ok maybe not felt, but make some out of felt moccasons for Lily as well as cute house shoes for all my guests


I've seen these EVERYWHERE and need them












8. An "Inbox/Outbox" for mail

9. recover the rocking chair in my living room & cover my couch

10. Make another ADORABLE baby ;]

ok, YOUR TURN!

Whole Lotta Love

I have had an amazing three days!

Lily and I both quite literally have bags under our eyes so I cannot go in to detail tonight as I STILL have this list to do:

• prepare orders to ship tomorrow
• make dinner
• make meal plan for this week
• start on flowers needed by wed
• clean up post-Viducic weather conditions
• ...sleep?

oh, and Lily cut her SECOND tooth yesterday...YUGH!

OH! And mae flowers' still has a giveaway going on! get to it!

Our Christmas Eve

While Eamon has sadly been at work all day, and I haven't convinced my mom to drive up tonight instead of tomorrow night [or have I?] it has been a beautiful vitalizing day!

My camera hooker-upper-chord has disappeared so I can't put all of the wonderful pictures and video of the winter wonderland that has transformed DFW but I do have this...

I finally got my pictures from Lily's 5 month pictures! Our WONDERFUL friend Michelle did these, and I couldn't be happier!

















Now head over to mae flowers to enter to get a late Christmas present!

Lily and Christmas Eve

So I didn't update yesterday bc we were insanely busy [again!] but I will make up for it!

As we speak, a "mighty snow storm" is on its way through the DFW, Pandora is on the Christmas station, and there are two half cookies [so that makes a whole cookie...] in my stomach as breakfast. I just can't believe it!

Eamon has to work today but will be off at 9, and we may go to a candle light service depending on what the weather does:::

WE INTERUPT THIS BLOG UPDATE TO BRING YOU THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE
ITS SNOWING! I SAW SNOW GUYS!


SO in the middle of this post that I started two hours ago it started snowing!
I have N-E-V-E-R seen falling snow.
I will update more when the euphoria has faded :]

Goodbye Gummies!

The past 24 hours have been INSANE!

Lets start with Goodbye Gummies:
My adorable "Gummie Baby" as we affectionately call her, cut her first tooth last night! We were on our way home from Diedre's house [who blessed us with some AMAZING fabric for a flower barter] in Katie's new sweet ride- the Coach [a beautiful boat of a van that we will be taking on our trip to Oregon!] Lily was super good the whole time and then as soon as we were headed back home, she started screaming. I went back there [as Katie said "you are now free to move about the cabin"] to let her suck on pink to try to calm her down [ya..we're one of those weird no pacifier kinda families...] And as soon as I stuck my finger in her mouth, I almost cried! I felt a little bitty sharp Raptor tooth poking through my baby's gums! Poor thing! I just wanted to nurse her and make her feel all better, and cuddle her...But we eventually made it home [the whole ten minute drive!] and I got to snuggle and love on her as much as I wanted!...and called my mom devastated at how fast she's growing up!

I have never been so disappointed by lemon and butter.

Never in my life.

Don't get me wrong, there are few things that you can do to lemon butter to make it taste awful and not awesome. so what we had was still put to good use, but man...am I ever bummed that it didn't work!

If you're not up to speed- last night I attempted Hollandaise sauce. I tried and tried for about 20 mins and it just wasn't setting. Eamon came home and pointed out it was because I was using a glass bowl. [no laughing, please] So on with the metal bowl I went! It was going FAN-TASTIC guys! Eamon even took video of the blessed event on his G1! I was so happy! And then it happened...my arm started to tire. Eamon decided to switch me duties for Lily duty...

Y'all...I tried to hard not to look disappointed when Eamon said "Aww man!"

I went in the kitchen, and suddenly my wonderfully creamy, buttery, lemony concoction was...butter. And lemon. and eggs. I'm tryin REAL hard not to blame it on my Iron Chef of a husband, because that is a lie, and I know it just got too hot because of our stupid electric stove, BUT I probably would have taken it off if the heat...just sayin.



Still don't know what to do about a present for Eamon! Just ordered some Baby Legs from Hip Green Baby for Lily and I have some presents in the work for my family...but Eamon? Ugh.

Have a DARLING day!

another reason i'm a terrible blogger?

I forget to put batteries in my camera to capture the moments of epic failure whilst I cook.

U.G.H.

Bean stewy thingy, steamed broccoli with hollandaise sauce. and acorn squash for dessert is on the menu. bean stewy thingy already a bust [well a tenth of it is stuck to the bottom of my pot]. Hollandaise sauce is next on the menu to destroy! Wish me luck!

m<3e

internet = hates me

so this morning I was going to tell you all of my brilliant thoughts but my "Free Internet Connection from The Arts Apartments" failed. MISERABLY!

I guess they will have to wait for another day, but I MUST gloat on my grocery amazingness today.
43 Items for $66.21!
Thats groceries for all three of us PLUS company until next SATURDAY!
I realized later I forgot ONE thing, but other than that, I think I did pretty dang amazing.

Recoop, Recover, Re...start over

Ok, after the Boom, Boom, Bust of a Craft Show last night, I'm switching gears.
Wife mode, Baby mode, Christmas mode have been LOOOONG ignored.

Eamon was gracious enough this past week to say "do whatever you need to do to get ready for the craft show" and didn't mind if he came home to some laundry on the floor. Such a sweet man :]

So today I'll be doing lots of cleaning [actually, I'm pretty surprised that the house isn't in worse condition than it is.] A meal plan [I'm going to try and buy groceries for the WHOLE week so I don't have to shop every other day...wha???]

So I have TONS to talk about, but Lily pretty much climbed Mt Everest this morning as far as 5 month old feats are concerned, so I've gotta sweep..and put things up on high shelves, and hide anything electrical, valuable, and choke-able.

I can...Can I do it?

ok, what do you get when you add a Mae to a Fro?
Hopefully a darn good day.

[Totally just realized that "darn" is one letter away from being "damn". Not That I changed "damn" to "darn" as to not offend any of my "readers"...whoever you are-please forgive me for using the word "damn". I was trying not to but turns out I just did...three times. damn.]

I am not going to stress, no really.

I have a craft show tonight and I REALLY hope we get some turn out...Kinda scared. SO I still have a few flowers to make [basically a BUNCH of poinsettias, bc I forgot...]
But before then I have a friend coming over for a lunch...that I don't have any food for [?] and meet my hubby for lunch...
I think I can I think I can I think I can...

pray for me to get through today without loosing my mind. and my potty mouth.

Two faced? Hardly.

It's more like 5 faced.

Let me explain:
About once a year I go through a "oh-my-god-what-am-i?i-look-black-white-yellow-brown-pink, SOMEONE-SAVE-ME-FROM-MYSELF" phase. And it's mostly concerning my looks, because I, boys and girls am what they call "multi-racial" or "other" as I put on all my standardized tests in school for lack of a "mutt" category.

So, for the next few week I will be exploring my many nationalaities-and I'm dragging you with me.

Lets just say I have a bag full of perm rollers...this should be fun :]

Hold me to it!

In the week of June 6th the Burkes and the Brownings will be taking their dream trip. We will be headed up the west coast, stopping in Portland, Oregon and head back home down The Rockies! My family may only be able to make the treck TO Oregon, and have to fly home [depending on Eamon's job-another reason he needs prayer for a new one!] after spending a few days in Portland, but MAN is it going to be awesome.

I will dedicate another post to the trip of the details thus far.

All of this to say I have decided I'm going to try my hardest to blog...wait for it...every day!

It's going to be hard, real hard [insert "that's what she said" from audience] but I'm 90% sure I can do it!

HOLD ME TO IT!

An Inconvienent Confession Conviction Part 1

Lately, I have been...empty. I have been running around, keeping busy with chores, sewing projects, grocery lists and often meaningless tasks. I've been pouring this hurt in small and large amounts to my friends Michelle and Katie, and of course my husband.
This emptiness is temporarily satisfied in my Wednesday morning small group, but fades through the afternoon. But the past two days have stretched me so thin in my heart, I couldn't take it. After reading my friend Aaron's blog, I was overcome with jealousy- as I often am truthfully. As usual, when I should be encouraged with Our Father's movement, I am filled with jealousness, bitterness, and strife over what is going on in his life that is NOT going on in mine. I often start to play The Devil's Advocate with him in my head to try and figure out WHY is this working for him...and never for me...
but that is not what we're talking about tonight.

Tonight, I turned to my good friend, Matt Carter.
[Ok, so maybe we've met once or twice, but if he were to reach Sainthood, and I were to pick a Patron Saint, I would pick him. His aparent gift of Prophecey pushes me to find a mentor to mold my own gift, and his passion is overwhelmingly welcome any day I hear his sermons.]
One [of the many] of podcasts that I have not listened to is a series called "And You Will Be Healed." Tonight, out of pure exhaustion of what I just went through- I will go over part one.

Matt Carter on Paul, The Prodigals Son, and Confession
"'I am the foremost of sinners'
What Paul is saying is this: 'I am acutely aware of my own sinful nature..I get that the propensity of my flesh to wanna sin and to live out the stuff that I don't wanna do. Paul basically says that 'I am the foremost of sinners and the only reason that I'm aware of that is not because I'M good but because God has done a work of Grace in my life That's what that means
Now I wanna ask you guys a question-'Are you there?' Especially for those of you in the room who have been in church forever were virgins when you got married, never gotten drunk and all the hanis sins that we talk about in the church all the time, you've never done that [oh! oh! oh! I'll raise my hand-guilty on this!], are you there? are you so acutely aware of your own sin that your able to say, 'I am the foremost of sinners'? [craaap...no] or do you still think you're husband is worse than you, honestly?...Or the couple living together down the street that's already had an abortion, do you think, 'ah, their worse than me, they're higher up on the list.' Or you look at the guy in the church who's had seven affairs on his wife, and it came out. and you think, 'at least i..i did this but at least i didn't do that.' Or the pastor up the street who stole money from the church. 'How could HE do THAT?'
Or are you like Paul? You're so aware of your own brokenness,before God that your like me- like Paul, I'm sorry I thought I WAS the worst of sinners?"

I could continue to go, but I think you got it. I HIGHLY encourage you to listen to the full sermon here.
One-
HOW AWESOME IS OUR GOD?!?! I have been talking to Katie about how desperately we need confession. I have seen communities, friendships, marriages, religions! fall to unmendable pieces because of lack of confession. I asked that when we get together, we have a time of confession, no matter how difficult or awkward it may be. That we are able and willing to come to each other with our sins without judgement in order to be able to do the same for others.
Two-
How convicting is that passage alone? How often do I, me personally, gossip, put another down, forget to pray out of hurt, not damnation for someone who is close [or not!] who is sinning, and worst of all- pray to gossip! "Oh Lord, I lift up my friend Joe who is wicked in his perverse homosexuality" in front of a group of friends who did not know Joe was gay. How often do I say to a friend "Oh and please pray for [insert name of a mutual friend] she is really struggling with finding community. She reffuses to talk to anyone, and its just hard for me to do this by myself." And I know I am NOT alone in this, as heartbreaking as that is.
Three-
Later on Matt mentions that in every culture that has fallen, the women are the last to go. That once the morals in women have become demolished, the nation soon falls...and man are the facts that us women in America letting our nation come to ruins stacking up against us.

Matt leaves us with four applications for Confession:
Confess to God; Before anyone, bring your sin to God, immediately and with a deep passion for forgiveness. If you run to someone you know and confess to them before Our Saviour, little is going to happen to keep you from doing that again. His forgiveness of Sin is essential.
Confess to someone who will actually keep you accountable; Have someone in your life-that it is the hardest to bring your sins to- keep you accountable. Telling your best friend that you lied to your mom is not that hard, Confessing to God that you lied to your mother, repenting, and then telling your mom you lied to her, then telling your friend who will keep you accountable is the scriptual way to go about it.
Confess with detail; Matt gives the example of a man telling his friend "Hey man, I struggled with Lust today" as he leaves the room as if his simple admission will be enough. He did not say- to his wife- "Today at work, I struggled with Lust and Adultry by..."
Create a gospel culture; This is for the person receiving the confession. Forgive them the way Christ forgave you for their sin. In that moment Christ is working in you just as much as he is working in them.

I'm asking you to join me in this new discipline that myself and my family are about to undertake with a fierce determination- to satisfy Our King! I pray that as I make it through this series some of this emptiness [which is now realized to be burden] will be vanished, filled with Grace and understanding, and a heart that is lifted much closer to Jesus.

I know I have a lot of prayers to say, phone calls to make and a heart to prepare for my husband to come home to tonight.

Can I Complain About How Busy I Make Myself?

Pretty, pretty, please?
Flowers, food, potty training...its never ending here! Haha

I PROMISE by Friday I will have an update on how we've been lately, but for now I will just leave you with a sneak peak :]

Bath time
Lily LOVES her baths, mostly because afterwords she gets a massage...spoiled baby :]






And she usually has to take them because of this:





Aaand today [on our way to our Chiropractor apt and Moms Group] we had to dress like this:
























Because of THIS!



















THAT'S RIGHT! SNOW!




















SO, mama and family, that SHOULD tide you over til Friday!

Mae

A little somethin spooky for Halloween :]

Now, as Kendra, Beth, Kathie, Kathleen, my mom and sisters can attest, I have some pretty scary stories up my sleeve. Some containing the lore of goat suckers, a donkey lady, and spooky ookies of all kinds.
But this, as my valient husband will attest to, is a very true tale.

Thanksgiving, 2008.
My eight week pregnant self and Eamon load up his Honda Accord and start our road trip to surprise my family in Shiner, Texas [oh, we're country y'all]
Our plan was to drive down to Austin, stay the night, and make it just in time for dinner on Thursday.
We got on the road at about 3 o'clock that afternoon hoping we would get to Austin at about 7 or 8 giving the "traffic" we were told exists on this blessed day of overindulgence. Little did we know that 44, 35, and 45 were all using 35...so while we should have been in Waco at 5....we were there at 9:30.
So I, being pregnant, and making sure that I'm hydrated have to pee like a dang race horse! And so did everyone else on I35...
Every gas station outside of Waco was packed for miles. Finally we got to one that wasn't overpopulated. The state of this pit stop is a whole other nightmare of its own. I stood, much more patiently than I should have, in line for the bathroom. I don't know if you testicle bearing kind know this, but the women's restroom sees...I dunno, 4857% more action than the men's restroom. So after watching a Hispanic woman with 5 kids under the age of 6, a mentally handicapped woman pushing her 250 lb son in a wheel chair, a cheerleading team, and half the cast of "Cats" squeeze out of the restroom, I was debating going in at all.
There was a man standing next to me in line for the mens restroom that had come back out...relieved. He was about 35, frumpy, lazy eyed, and perspiring awkardly. He turned to me and said "You know, I was just in the there. There's no one else in there, I can hold the door for you so no one comes in."
I glanced behind me to find my husband staring at the map trying to find a new way to Austin.
"No thanks, I should be the next one in" I said with a smile. Even though I could here the splashing of brown water from beneath the patrons feet, toilet seats slamming, and water splashing places it shouldn't, and his offer was tempting...if there wasn't a certian-creeper- aspect to it.
He said "No, really, I was just in there! Its cool, and its probably a lot cleaner than the girls"
As he said this a man walked out of the mens room...

I looked at him in shock and he looked at me like a young boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar. He didn't say a word, just walked away. That creeped me out more than anything. As two kids with walking pnemonia crawled out of the restroom, I pushed myself in.
I did my business as quickly as possible and madea bee line for Eamon. But when I turned the corner to where he was standing- there was Creeper McCreepface, in all his dingy glory, talking to Eamon.

I casually passed them giving Eamon the "You better get your ass to wherever I'm goin as quick as your feet can take you there without making it obvious that I think the guy your talking to is a serial killer" look [its a very precise expression thats taken years of practice]. He met me by the Fig Newtons.
We exchanged our creepy incounters of the overweight resulting in Eamon finding out his newly prenant wife was almost the special guest star on the next Law & Order SVU, and me finding out that McCreepface wanted to be our front door into Waco because he knew some old country roads we could take. [WHHAAAAA????????]

Eamon and I went to the counter with our purchases- water and Figs Newtons to tide us over til Waco. Eamon told me under his breath that I needed to go straight to the car after our new friend asked us if we wanted to join him up the road for chicken.
I booked it for the car, got in, and saw him on the driver's side, passively blocking Eamon from getting in. I was getting SO scared. I heard Eamon tell him that we were just going to take 77.
When Eamon finally got in the car I exploded with "WHY DID YOU TELL HIM WHERE WE WERE GOING?!?!"
He pointed towards him and said" don't forget that car, remember exactly what it looks like!"
We got on the road with OJ leading [he was driving a Bronco] and as soon as we knew he thought we were following him, we swerved on to the first access ramp onto 35!
Cheering like theives who just got away with their biggest jewel hiest yet, we laughed about who scared we were. Then, from the corner of my eye I saw it...That beet up old Bronco Speeding up an access ramp looking left and right frantically! We were terrified! In and out of traffic we wove, trying to loose him. When we got to waco we booked it off the highway and lost ourselves in a residential neighborhood, then to a Taco Bell parking lot. Eamon said to keep my phone close in case something happened, he wanted there to be a 9-1-1 recording!
We waited in the neon-lit parking lot with baited breath, fearing the last thing we'd see was McCreepface knocking on our windsheild with a chainsaw. [In my crazed fantasy he is also holding a chicken head in his other hand-just seems creepier that way]

We never saw his sweaty self again. But every time we pass through Waco, I am ordered to wake up and look for that dang Bronco.


Happy Halloween everyone!

may I suggest cuddling up with someone squishy?

Sew Busy

There has been a lot going on at the Burke Residence as of late.
In the past 3 weeks I have:
Made a birthday banner for Baby H [party is this weekend, pics will come then]
Planned a Surprise Party for Eamon,
Made two Pacman and Mrs. Pacman cell phone covers for the future Mr. & Mrs. Chris Cobb
Made a flower for said Mrs. Cobb in training,
Made Baby H a birthday present
Made a new play blanket for Lily [EVERYWHERE we go she has nothing, or a burp rag, so naturally, it was time]
Made Mrs. Fickle in training some panties [my first attempt EVER] for her lingerie shower tomorrow
Made a flower for Mrs. Fickle

and now I'm blogging to prove it.

So here are some pictures of what I have [Val, no cheating!]

Lily's blanket



















Val's Panties:]




















Val's Flower





















And somewhere along the way,
My little three week old, 8 pound baby



















turned into a 3 month old, 18 pound baby!


















Well, Hubby should be home soon, and I have so much more to tell, But I've gotta clean up all the fabric scraps this house has become littered with!

God is Love and Love is Real

So I've been meaning to update...nearly every day I write a post in my head to share with you, my blogging family, but...well, things happen.

But this is important, and I need to just type it- even if Lily wakes to nurse, I will practice my new, quite impressive, acquired skill of one handed typing.

Fall has always been a blissful season for Eamon and I.
[Already...I'm tearing up already...]
Since the Fall of 2004 we have been madly, often foolishly, in love. With the cooler temperatures that the season bring, we are both less temperamental and more amiable, making for quite a team.
The past week or so, we've been seeing the possibility of a weather change here in Texas. The cool rain has come, and might leave us to steam for a few more weeks...months...but we know the drought is over and the time to rejoice in Our Father's beautiful amber colored terrarium is slowly approaching.

Yesterday I was running errands with Lily, trying to keep her dampened curly mohawk dry while running in and out of stores and friends abodes. We finally made it home, and I placed her in her bouncing chair and just starred at her. The complete, and perfect might I add, depiction of Eamon's love for me, and mine for him.
I looked out in the rain through the window behind her and remembered being 15 years old in Rockport sitting at the beach watching the storms roll in over the bay in November. I told him he HAD to get out of the car and kiss me- just like in the movies. We couldn't stop laughing! It was too ridiculous to take serisously. So he kissed me, hugged my sopping wet self, and shivered his way back in the car.
All of that to say, even from the beggining, we have had our own way of doing things, even though we try unoriginal methods along the way.

But looking at Lily, looking at her beautiful skin, big eyes, auburn hair, tiny toes...I became very ready start this new season in my life, one that will once again coincide with the changing of the leaves, in a very unoriginal way. Lily is going to be raised in the way of our Father. I will look to those who are well versed in rearing a child and ask them for the time tested methods in becoming the mother God has created me to be. This season I believe has spread itself before me to learn to be TRUELY compassionate, learn Servitude as it is preached, and learn the gentle whisper of a strong woman instead of the fierce roar of an abrassive Earthly woman. These are all things I've been convicted of for about a year now, but I think that my plans and God's plans are finally synced.

I don't know how all of this will play out, but I am reaching out to ask for a little bit of support...again :]
Accountability and encouragment are going to be imparitive I think...
But, in Jesus name...I'm ready. I am really ready.

Bye Bye Summer...

Summer and I have always have a love hate relationship. Living in Texas lends the majority of the "hate" to that combination. Summer brings no school, pools, my birthday, sleepin in, and most importantly, the allowance to stay out later (whether it be from a lengthened visit from the sun, or my mom extending my curfew ;])

But the last three summers the Lord has been workin over time to show me the Love.

Two summers ago He took Eamon and I to Thailand on our first out-of-the-country-don't-cry-mom-I-promise-I-won't-die mission trip.

Last summer Eamon and I got married. We call that summer "The Summer of Love." We recently watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I felt Eamon try not to look over at me as I tried not to look over at him. We both broke down and laughed at each other. The scene was Benjamin describing the beginning of his life with his wife. He says "We didn't have a stitch of furniture...We practically lived on that matress. Had picnics in the living room..." I could tell Eamon was thinking the same thing I was. Me coming in from the kitchen with our fancy bowls that we got as wedding presents full of some sort of pasta to sit on the floor in the living room to watch a movie... Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplain, The Zombies, and The Beatles coming from our spare room... I loved that summer.

And then there was this summer. Full of stress, anticipation, change, and our first born! Eamon and I went through a lot this summer, and I am overwhelmingly pleased to say we made it out on the other side stronger.

But as I hear/read about my friends, sisters, and old classmates starting a new semester, I feel my heart become a little tinged with sadness. This is the first year in...sixteen years that I haven't stayed up all night filled with nerves about the first day of school. The first year I didn't go shopping for the most amazing school supplies. The first year that I didn't have a route planned out, on paper of how to get to all of my classes. Feels a little like something is missing, you know?

But there are a few new beginnings this year.
I have joined a Bible study with some, stand-up, humble gals, who have a thing or two to teach me. I have a baby-DUH. So there's all the new and exciting things about that. And, I've started my own business.

All this to say- I'm entering a new season with no expectations-not because I am that self disciplined, but because I have no idea what TO expect!

So, with the season changing, I'd like some feedback! What is your favorite memory from summer?
I will give you mine (aside from pushing out my baby in record time!)
It was in the blur of days that followed our wedding day. I'm not sure if Eamon even remembers this, but I will for the rest of my life. I woke up because I felt him starring at me. I asked him how long he had been awake. He told me he hadn't gone to sleep, that he'd been starring at me all night. It was straight out of a movie. I don't think I've blushed so much since then.

So come on then! Favorite summer memory?

No, Sleep, Till Brooklyn! [No, I do not have any travel plans...]

Today's blogpost was supposed to be about the progress I'm making on turning my house into a home. But with the past couple of hours being as emotional and enlightening as they were- I did this instead.

When a woman gives birth and becomes a mother, she takes that first look [however long it may be, before she bursts into tears and can no longer see through the relieving liquid] and falls deeply in love. More often than not does that mother and her partner make a commitment, an oath that they will sacrifice their everything for that child.
My husband and I made that oath. We made it when we found out we were pregnant and we made it again at 3:40 a.m. on July 8th of this year. We made that oath before Our Saviour as so many before us have, and are trying our hardest to remember and keep that oath. For Him, for each other, and for Lily.
Today I was reminded of this oath again, sadly because I noticed the lack of commitment in so many women that I know to keep their own.
My sacrifices have included sleep, food, energy, time, SANITY, but those things are nothing compared to MY life, which I WOULD give for her.


So when a neighbor [mother of 3] asks "Oh, had to go get her more formula, Huh?" when noticing I went to the grocery store I say, "No we breastfeed." With a smile [THAT one is new, I'm learning to change my heart attitude.]

When someone says "Oh, did your mama forget your binky, poor baby!" I say, "Nope, didn't forget! Lily's gotta find her thumb." Again, as patiently as I can.

When that leads to "Well, good luck with the dentist bills" I THINK "How bout you let me deal with my finances, since you haven't had any interest in them so far" But usually say nothing, or explain to them that I don't want her to loose her latch, thus loosing her ability to breastfeed.

Then that usually leads to the breastfeeding conversation, which lead me to remember my Oath to my Tiger Lily.
There I was sitting in the front seat of my car, nursing her in the Walgreen's parking lot.
Two. Miles. From my house.
I left my apartment this afternoon thinking my errands would get done in the two hours that Lily usually naps, so she could sit in her Moby while I was shopping, and sleep in the carseat while we were driving around.
Well her daddy ended up being on his lunch break, so he joined us, and our little outting took an hour longer than expected. Lily [and my boobs] noticed.
As soon as we dropped off Eamon at Sushi Sam's, Lily started to fuss. The fuss turned into a cry, and the cry turned into "I'm going to die soon if you don't gimme some booby lady! Where are you?!?!?!"
I tried my best to sooth her, singing, unsafely driving by reaching my hand back to hold her hand...nothing.
I had to go to Walgreen's to pick up some pictures and was debating on whether or not I should.
Not remembering how far Mid-Cities is from Harwood, I decided I would nurse her some there, then try to make it home.
I then thought how much easier it might have been to just let her cry five more minutes, rush her and the groceries in and feed her in the comforts of our home. But that was FIVE more minutes of her crying. FIVE more minutes of her thinking I was ignoring her. And FIVE more minutes of me knowing in that instance I was being selfish.

I parked in front of the Red Box, whipped her out of her car seat, let the car cool down while I walked around with her in Walgreen's to calm/cool her down, hopped in the front seat, slid it back as far as it went, and fed my little girl.

Lily couldn't have appreciated it more. I took this picture [bc Blogger is DENYING my pics, heres my twitter again..] with my phone right after she ate.
Little or astronomical, I am going to make sacrifices for my baby. I have put her and my husband before myself- and it is getting increasingly harder for me to do so, but I will. And I'm learning to do it with a servants heart.

Please encourage us in this, remind us of it with loving hearts, and live it with us! Know that I am doing what I'm convicted is best for my baby and family, and I will do the same :D!

Busily Doing Nothing

It truly amazes me how little I've done because I'm so busy!
How am I getting so caught up in my little angel that nothing has been done around here?

The dishes are piling up, (sky high is a gross understatement) the trash is overflowing, diapers are finding there way into the dark corners of our apartment, and Lily is having to share her blanket with a small family of mice.
Ok, maybe I just need to unload and reload the dishwasher and take out the trash.
I don't know what to do about the mice...they aren't biting her...

None of this has been getting done because, well because I don't want to, but also because I'm getting to know my little baby!

With the husband off at work from 10:00 a.m to 10:30 p.m. I'm left to my own devices in the most pitiful of ways.
I have been sifting through the pages of Etsy with the finest of sifters looking for beautiful objects of adoration to recreate.
Currently I have completed several onsies for my Lily
Including this one I made for her 3 week birthday!







No, she's not on a place mat on my kitchen table....
My defense would be even less believable if my actual camera was accessible. I can't find the adapter in this mess of an unpacked apartment...









And this little beauty is next on my sewing to-do list, in diaper bag form of course.

It is late and I must depart...I am far too distracted.

Lily Annette's Birth Slideshow

While I'm still working on the headbands, (breastfeeding is not conducive to sewing...at least not yet) here is the link to Lily's slide show.
We are both ecstatic about our birth experience and love to share.

To the gentlemen
There is some boobage, but none of the naughty bits. Please ask your wives/significant others how they feel about you watching this before you do

www.dfwbirthphotographer.com/lily.html

Mommy Hood Crafts...

Now that its confirmed that I have a baby girl, I can spend my time making all of the precious things that I have been dying to make the past ten months!

Some of you have seen some of the flowers I wear in my hair, and one that I made Miss Lily last week for her photo shoots with our dear friend Michelle...that didn't really go "as planned"

Take One













Take Two














Gosh she's a stink!

But none the less, I think we did get at least one of her wearing it... pictures to come soon.

Well, felt is more my forte, and I saw this lovely little piece on this inspiring blog and have decided to try to make one for me and a miniature one for my Tiger Lily.





















I'm really excited to start this project and see how well it turns out.
I am also considering starting a separate blog for all my crafts...then we'll talk Etsy ;]

On the Lily [ah, I just LOVE her name, next baby girl- Iris!] front things have been great.
Not last night, but the night before she looked at me directly in the eyes and just smiled. I swear it was like she was talking to me, whispering sweet nothings through her eyes, patiently awaiting my response. A true glimpse of Heaven.

I will be sharing my birth slideshow as soon as my birth photographer shoots me the link.
I look forward to reading about all of the things that didn't happen this week in your "Not Me Monday's"

The much anticipated story of Lily Annette Burke.

While it is fresh in my mind, I will try to recount the story of my precious baby girl's birth.

First of all, let me say that before I anger any mothers who's first labor was long and terrible, I only had a quick labor because I had "false labor" for FOUR days. Yessiree Bob... Four days of contractions, mucas, cramps... oh honey, my midwives [Ann, Abby, and Angela] were most certainly cringing when they checked their cell phones YET AGAIN just to tell me, "Ok, well have you tried taking a hot bath? Alright well just keep on eye on it and gimme a call if you notice any changes."

Wah wah wah...
Sad trombone, every time.

*Side Note
I just checked the call log on my cell phone, just for the heck of it. Ann ALONE had received..one, two, three, ELEVEN calls from me since the 4th of July. SORRY :]

So, amongst all of the false labor start ups and screeching halts, you can imagine my hesitation to call Ann on the night of the 7th when I thought I was gonna have this baby FOR SURE...like I had the past few days :D

That afternoon at 1:30 I had an appointment with Ann. With all of the practice my body had been doing is was PRAYING for some decent progress on the dilation front. Lucky for me I was dilated 3 centimeters and 90% effaced. [It took almost everything in me to not tell her "Damn right I am!"]

Contractions had still been frequent and manageable all that morning and afternoon, but that evening, I noticed "The Change." Suddenly a small person inside me started to bellow resulting in a dull moan coming out of my mouth during each contraction, and for some reason this small person began to make his presence known quite frequently. At about 7:30 I started to have very regular contractions and at about 8 I had Eamon start timing them. Sure enough, they were 3-4 minutes apart.

My sweet husband went in to daddy mode. He started to clean up the house. He did a load of dishes, cleaned up the bathroom, readied our bed with a layer of trash bags (I told him not to, we were going to have the baby in the tub-why ready the bed? Little did I know...)and made sure I was drinking my body weights worth of water.

By this point I could hear the neighbors who frequently lounge about the sidewalk outside our apartment laugh every time I had a contraction. They must have thought we were trying for another child, but let me tell you there was nothing enjoyable about these contractions, other than I knew I was this much closer to meeting my first born.

Eamon started to fill the birth tub with hot water as a breathed through some more contractions. I quickly got down to my tube top and hopped...ummm, waddled in. At around 10 p.m. I finally convinced Eamon it was time to call Ann.

Our conversation went a little bit like this
"Hi Ann, it's Mae"--apparently I was unaware of caller i.d.
"Hey Miss Mae"
CONTRACTION
Ann- "Well that was a good one, whatchya thinkin?"
Me - "I'M THINKIN I'M GONNA HAVE A BABY, ANN"
Ann- "That's a good thought to have!"
"Well have you taken a hot bath?"
Me- "I'm in the tub right now!"

I have to admit, if I were her, I wouldn't rush right over either!
After a few more minutes of deciding what we needed, Eamon and I decided that it would be best for us to labor alone for just a bit longer, a decision that set the night off splendidly.

There we were, just the two of us.
We were sitting in our new home, in an inflatable tub, working together to bring our daughter in to the world.
I remember Eamon opening the evening up in prayer before he let me call Ann, still asserting his place as Spiritual Leader in my life, making sure that I knew that our relationship with Our Father was what was going to get us through the night.
He held my hands, stroked my hair, reminded me to breathe at all the right times. I'm so privileged to say that my husband was my biggest support.















But after a while I needed some Estrogen!
I let Eamon know that it was getting a little too hard, and that I needed more support. We called Ann again at about 11:00/11:15 pm and let her know we were ready for Angela to come.
My husband led me through some more contractions and before I knew it Angela was there at about midnight.

I got out of the pool, bare butt and all and waddled back to our bedroom so she could check my progress.
I was expecting her to tell me I was at 4 or 5 centimeters and that I still had quite a while to go before I could meet my child.
I laid down on my bed with my head in my husbands lap, my hands in his, awaiting the news.
I was 7 centimeters! We were almost there!

Angela called our birth photographer, Lynsey Stone, and she arrived shortly there after.
(At least I think so... the whole time thing has me baffled)

I struggled my way back into the pool and waited.
Several of you told me what a blessing the naps between contractions were, and all I could think at the time was "ok...so for the minute between contractions, you just take a cat nap? Right..." But, there I was continuously being woken up by contractions. At one point I was on all fours, and was woken up because my face hit the water!



At this point I turned to Angela and asked her a perfectly legit question in my mind - but I guess I sounded like a loon. I learned in my birth classes that sometimes they use homeopathic remedies or herbs to help ease the pain. So after telling her I felt like I could push, I asked her "Is there anything for the pain?"
She gently laughed and said "No Mae, there isn't anything for the pain."
I WASN'T ASKING FOR AN EPIDURAL OR ANYTHING...maybe some weed or something... But sheesh, is that so much to ask?

We decided it had been a while since I used the restroom, so through the contractions we took the five steps to the bathroom that took five minutes.
While on the toilet my husband saw me dozing off again between contractions and decided that we should go lay down in our bed before we continued in the tub. From this suggestion two things came to mind. One- we were going to have this baby in the tub. Gravity helps when you squat, there is any easier transition for baby when they are born in water, and it might help sooth the pain. Two- I was going to get to take a nap. I've seen it happen at the birth center. A mom will be in labor for a while and need to rest so they let her take a nap, the way I figured it I still had many hours to go.

Eamon helped my lay down in our bed and helped me through another contraction. Angela said she wanted to check me again since I said that I felt like I could push.
Drumroll please....FULLY DILATED!
Eamon and I were so happy (Yet in the back of my mind I was kinda pissed that I wasn't going to get my nap...priorities right?) His eyes were so big, and I could tell he was tired but so relieved that this gave him a new burst of energy.

It was 3:00 am and Angela called Ann to let her know that we were going to try some "experimental pushing." Again, I was ready for the two hours of pushing that I was promised as a first time mom, so Eamon and I readied ourselves. When Angie came back into our dimly lit room, I began to push.



The next couple of hours were the best of my life.

My husband, the man I have wanted to give a child to for years, was laying beside me propping my leg up with his. His face was glowing with excitement, I could even feel him start to shake. Smiling, he asked how I was doing. I replied much calmer than I meant with a "I could keep going, this is good."
Eamon later told me that towards the end of the pushes I would start to smile.
I could feel my child's head pushing down, down, down...
C'mon baby... we're ready...
Down, down, down...
My water breaks...All over my husbands leg, too!
Down, down, down...
Ann walks in the door with an excited "Mae, when you say your ready, your ready!"
The midwives tell Eamon the head is coming soon and that he will be able to see.
Down, down, down...
I push a head out (and a hand!), strangely enough it felt so relieving.
Eamon's face is in such awe after seeing it, but I pull him closer to me. He tells me I'm amazing, that I'm doing SO good.
I cried out to the Lord one more time...


It is 3:40 am.
Eamon and I are now parents.
Angela and Ann lift our baby and place it on my stomach. Ann says "Oh Mae, he has so much hair! He's gorgeous!"
I'm so excited and ask "Its a boy?!?!?!"
Ann laughed, "Oh, I dunno, Eamon, come check!"
I will never, ever forget his reaction.

"NO, ITS A GIRL. BABE ITS A LILY! ITS A GIRL!"



The rest of that morning, all the way up to right now, has been a blur.
I am a mom. I get to take care, to nurture this small child. I have been allowed to raise this BEAUTIFUL child before giving her back to the Lord in the few short years that will be known as her lifetime. I don't have to give her back at the end of the night. I don't have to worry about whether she is being loved enough once she left my care.

We are so very honored and humbled for you all to meet my daughter,
Lily Annette Burke
07/08/09
3:40 am
7lbs 11 ozs
20.5 in long













I...We can't wait for you all to help in finding out more about this little girl.
Mae and Eamon

You can go here to view Lily's slideshow :]

For the first time in a long time...

I am not ready.
I'm very much not prepared to jump in without sticking my toes in the water to test the temperature.

The overly ambitious me is actually holding back in fear, and my confidence is something that could definately be questioned these days.

What I must do is something that has become so sadeningly unfamiliar that I am ashamed. Not only MUST I trust in my Savior, I must let go of my self in order to give all of me to my God, my husband, and my baby. No more skimping on the details and no more ignoring the obvious. I need my Jesus.

I DESPERATLEY NEED MY JESUS.

There will be no big ceremony, no luncheon afterwords, and no cards of incouragment with gift cards for me to buy the " necessities needed to complete my journey".

Somehow I am going to do this.

On a lighter note-

I really looked forward to confiding to this pregnant womens club that once seemed so exclusive and finding comfort there. And please don't get me wrong, there are tons of people who have been nothing but encouragement, its always the negative that effects us the most.
What I found out about this club is that... not only is it non existant but there are really two clubs, Club A and Club B. Let me ellaborate.

Club A:
Club A was specifically established for women who know everything, always win, and listen with their mouth not their ears. This cloth diaper is a waste of time money, and fashion space in my hamper; my birth environment is the only correct environment; my experience with pregnancy and labor (even if you choose to do the same) can never be matched and will always be more painful, or the easiest, or the longest or shortest, or the most extreme in any qualifier you can think of REGARDLESS.


Club B:
Club B has not been defined or established because these moms are linked together by the fact that they are awesome, understanding, intuitive and above all, LOVE Christ-so there is no reason for clubs.

Don't everyone try to jump in to Club B, it automatically earns you a quarterly membership in Club A.


so you see...
I need find out how to do this thing on my own...but not alone...
EEEK!

K'STAR

I planned on updating you all on my pregnancy, but I have decided to give you a little more information on my past, so maybe I can explain why I'm insane :]

In 2007 when I started college I began looking for a job near campus that I would like and would make me money to...well you know, LIVE. I have been working since I was fifteen, usually about 20-30 hours a week. When I got the job list from work study there were two choices I was very interested in. One I don't remember any more and the other was K'STAR. I figured that K'STAR was a long shot and heavily pursued the other. I got rejected because I was too young. [something you will learn is my Achilles Heal] Thinking I was going to have to drop out of school before classes had even started, I freaked out. Later that day I got the call from K'STAR and had an interview set up. [God is good, ALL the time]

The job description was for a full time job with kids. Experience was a must and it was emphisized that the job was a very rough and tough environment. I got directions, drove to the house [which looked huge at the time (sometimes it was, sometimes it could NOT be smaller)] and knocked on the door. That was the first time I heard "MISS! SOME LADY IS AT THE DOOR!" from one of our teenagers. The boss took me up stairs grilled me to see if I was cut out for it, and set up Training for me that weekend.

Training I would soon learn was what made or broke all future employees. Actually, the younger vets of K'STAR would often volunteer to come in at 6 with Buddy [our boss, the name is EXTREMELY misleading] to help the newbies with training. It was basically two 100 question tests and an hour wrestling match with a very buff 300 lb man. We were to learn prison restraints for our lovely children. [There were only about a dozen time I had to use them in a serious/life threatening/cop involved inscedent] After a headache, some bruises, and a handshake later Buddy told me "My BEST employees know where the line of caring, and becoming emotionally involved with our clients." Foreshadowing?

I'll take you to the day that I sat with 2 and a half year old Katie [or when she formally introduced herself, Katherine Katie Marie Peoples] and had to do my job of getting her to tell me about her rape. If you pray, you don't have to read the rest of this story, just say a prayer for her tonight. She was in CPS care for the second time that year for a sexual assault/rape case. Her father was accused once before, but escaped charges and Katie was sent back to him. This was the second time he had been reported, and I made it my job to make sure she would never go back.
Katie was the most intellegent toddler I have ever met-to the day. [I'm up for challengers, the Wooley girls come close.] She was so friendly and kind, and obeyed all of the staff, but would only open up to me. The first day I met her, she was napping. I walked into her room to wake her up from her afternoon nap before the school aged kids got home. I went to her side and said "Hi Katie, I'm Miss Mae. Do you need to go potty?" Wonderful introduction if I do say so myself. She looked up at me, nodded and asked for help getting out of bed. She started wobbling and crying as we made the walk down the hall to the bathrooms. As I did with most of the toddlers, I told her I was going to put my foot in the door so if they needed any help I'd be right there [the doors were really heavy for a little kid] She started crying louder and I went in to see what was wrong. She said "Miss Mae, I need you!" I squated down in front of her and asked her what was wrong. She said it hurt too bad to pee. I said "Well stop peeing sweetie!" And tried to comfort her. Her thighs, privates and lower back were bruised badly. I have never played it so cool IN MY LIFE.
So after being drilled by her counselor one day, I had to get down to Katie's report of what happened.
Long story short she told me what her Aunt and step mom did to here when her dad was away. A hint- when I went to put a bandaid on her hand she ran away from me and started crying. When I pushed as to what was going on she looked up at me with HUGE tear filled blue eyes and pleaded "please don't put those on my eyes Miss Mae?"

My year there was full of heart break like Katie's. There was frustration with dealing with children who's parents didn't discipline them AT ALL, teenage girls [that's a good enough explaination right?] a few suicidal teens, the most precious babies I've ever met, and a few teenage boys who thought I was their girlfriend [one who was shot 8 times in a gang related drive by, 3 bullets were still in him, I can't make this stuff up!]- if girlfriends wanted to choke the life out of them.

Eamon delt with my crying and screaming everyday on the phone 120 miles away, and almost every day I said I wanted to quit. But in all of the... well in all of the shit that was brought out in that place on a daily basis, I have never seen Christ work in such a mysterious way. It was the first time I realized my heart could not just break for kids like Katie, but people like her father. I was quickly made fun of by all of our teenagers as the "Previously suicidal, Virgin Mae, Jesus Loving, Hard Ass, that has really good taste in music" Talk about God finally giving me a position where all of my "downfalls" were used to influence life! [And save one]



Ok, this is the time where I have to admit I don't know where this is going any more.
Long story short, I guess I really miss "my kids", I didn't think they would ever effect me so much.

An introduction in the form of a Fair Well....

Currently I sit in my dinning room, listening to my husband curse the Mario Cart Gods in the background, wondering how I got this far.

How far is far? you ask...
Well as many have done, and will do, let me take you through my year and show you.

It started off with a bang...actually, a really loud sneeze.
I went to surprise my husband (then boyfriend) Eamon at his apartment in Austin. I was on the last half of my Christmas Break, and decided it was not going to be spent in Rockport for the tenth year of my life. I packed up Charlie-my trusty...ahem, trusty 1992 Chevy Caviler hatch-back station wagon- with all my dormitory paraphernalia and headed to Austin, hoping I would make it before the ball dropped. Well, after we putted along for four hours in the...not so cold...I made it!
Shivering with anticipation I knocked on his door... His roommate answered it, I waltzed in and there my manly man was...sick. Coughing, sneezing, and very hard to pull a reaction out of.
When midnight came, I did not get my kiss. This would be the third year that I would get jipped out of the great tradition, and this time it had NOTHING to do with distance, or being grounded.

I couldn't sleep that night.
Here it was January 1st, 2008 and THIS was the big introduction to what I was praying to be the biggest year of my life. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
Because I am emotionally unstable at many points, I stayed up and cried and pitied myself for hours.
Oh but the pittifulness did not stop there. Eamon took me to see Juno at The Alamo Draft House. Well I THOUGHT it was a good idea... I left, once again, pathetic because I wanted a baby. Not even engaged yet, I questioned the Lords will and damned Hollywood and my unaffected ovaries for not producing a child.

EVENTUALLY I got over it. It was time for me to go back to Kerrville (boy can I pick em...) to finish my year at Schriener University. This was the private university that I managed to cry my way into with my sob story of how I must prove to my mother who was 15 years old when she had me, that I was not a waste of her education. Wah, wah, wah. The entirety of my Christmas Break was spent driving, crying, talking to missional communities (one of which was Intentional Gatherings) and dragging my heels in the dirt and shell road back to Schriener. I was an ace in all my classes, working at the most rewarding job I've ever had, getting a crap load of scholarships, and ignoring God. I know I went there for so many reasons, but school was a gag inducing, teeth pulling experience that I did not want to continue to endure.

So, never the less, I went back and started up another semester at Schriener.

During the next couple of months I made plans for my Spring Break. I felt the Lord tell me to move to the Metroplex (which I thought was just Dallas, do you see WHY I get lost all of the time?) and figure out what the Lord does there. Haha, no not figure out, experience what my sweet Lover does here. I hitch hiked my way (not literally) up to Dallas, then to Plano, then to Arlington to surprise Eamon. He had moved to Arlington with two of his friends after he heard my call...not his, but mine. My time was spent getting to know Keri, Paige, Valerie, Meghan and Harley. But my intentions were not souly to see how this community of Followers worked, but to become a fiance. Like so many times before, and to come, Eamon did not have a car and neither did I. We had to arrange rides to and from Arlington and Ft. Worth to see each other, and only a few times. On the last night we were to see each other, I was positive, let me repeat POSITIVE he was going to propose and...he didn't. We weren't going to see each other again until May and I was crushed.
VERY long story short, after days of prayer and hours and hours of walking Eamon came from Arlington to Ft Worth, got down on one knee at 2 a.m. and asked me to be his wife.



Fast forward to June...yes three months later...to a slightly sunburned us, a white dress, a smokin hot white tux some sunflowers and no shoes. We were married in Rockport, young, seeking the Lords love, and drinking it up in each other.
We have never felt so showered, and have never been so receptive to this kind of Love. Oh, and NEVER so eager or hurried to get the heck out of Rockport.
We wanted our marriage bed to be OUR bed, so we drove 8 and a half hours all the way back to Arlington to try to obey my fertility charts and just rest.
Some mornings I still wake up in awe that I see the man of my dreams in bed next to me, drooling slightly, but definitely beside me.




So a Summer of Love did indeed occur, and the Honeymoon had to come to an abrupt end. It was time to spread myself so thin, that I'm not sure if I've regained all of my pieces YET.
I was working at Lifetime Family Wellness Center and Hurst, and about to attend a full time schedule at the Fabulous University of Texas Arlington...

Well around the time of Keri's wedding I told God what was going to happen. You'll soon know my past with that, and we should all know you just don't do that, it always ends bad. Now I will never test this again, because I have learned my limits, but I told Him "I am taking this weekend in Austin, and I am going to just listen. No homework is going to be done, no schedule will be jotted down, and not a single decision will be made unless it is Your Will. Should I quit school?"
The night we got back in to town the Lord came to me in a dream and told me to stop going to school and take care of kids. Two days later Susan Wooley got ahold of me and told me that she loved the way I handled her to precious daughters when she came to the office, and wanted me to help her out a couple of days a week!
That was it! This was the beginning! I thought my path was going to go back to childcare and I was thrilled!

In all this excitement, September came to a close and October crept up on us, but something very predictable did not. My "cycle" can be used to tell time I tell you. Ovulation on the 16th day, menses on the 30th or 31st day rotationally. Like clockwork. Well...the 4th of October was here...no period. The 5th, 6th...all went by. NADA, zip, ziltch, zero. Eamon and I looked at our charts and figured that the weekend of Keri's wedding, when I left my thermometer at home, we may have gotten ourselves a little pregnant. It made sense, so on the 7th...we...celebrated :]
Day after day went by and NOTHING. And with the absence of a period, came the absence of a plus sign. My chart also had NO idea when I ovulated.
Well on the 21st of October, I had a talk with Susan. She just kept saying things like- "Well you know your pregnant, stop worrying, your stressing the baby out!"
That day was our 4 month anniversary, so I decided to get one last test. I held my pee down the packed intersection on the ride home, ran upstairs, and did the deed. I didn't even have to wait. SECONDS passed, and two GLORIOUS pink positive lines showed up.
I anxiously awaited Eamon's arrival from work.
He was ecstatic! After the tears he shed with me after we thought I had a miscarriage, and the hope we had for me to welcome motherhood, we were ARE going to be parents.
The funny thing with God is that He can do all sorts of things...like postpone my trusty [I mean REALLY trusty, not trusty like my station wagon] Ovulation to the 8th of October-which oddly enough results in a baby :]

November brought on the first baby appointment where we saw and heard Baby Burke for the first time. I cried, duh. I also started to pray over every body part while I was in the shower so that during labor, the Lord will have already taken my pain, and begin to heal my body as soon as possible.

December has brought us rest, Love and assurance of Friends and Family in the Lord's care.

Hello to you all, and goodbye to 2008!