It's about time for an update on ALL 5 (almost 6) of US :) So much has been going on here since we returned from California a month ago, this post could be much longer but I'll try and give you a snapshot of how each one of us is doing these days...(as my brother always said...youngest to oldest, of course!)
Baby #4
I heard our dear one's heartbeat for the first time on Friday...strong and healthy...what a miracle :) Our ultrasound date is set for April 9th...it's then that we'll find out if we're having another boy or another little girl! According to Ryder, we need to have another boy since we already have a baby girl :)
Well...that's a snapshot right now...more pictures and memories to come!!!
Cora Grace...
I know I just posted about her 1st birthday, but there are a few details I failed to mention! She is 20 pounds, 4 ounces right now which lands her in the 30th percentile for her weight and 29 inches long means she's in the 30th percentile for her length as well! A far cry from our 90th percentile chubby girl at 3 months!!! Though she's slimmed down, she still has those cute chubby thighs we all love to squeeze! She loves dancing to any music...whenever it's on she starts smiling and bouncing up and down to the beat :) It's normal for babies to slim down when they start moving around too, and boy does she move around! She loves riding Cole's truck around the house now, but rarely makes it around the circle without one of the boys hopping on the back! Luckily, she's still okay with sharing...sometimes! We just love her babbling too...one of my favorites is whenever she sees a dog, bear or lion, she growls deeply from the back of her throat! It cracks me up and every time I find myself joining in! On a side note, she also had an unofficial hearing test this morning as part of a video taping at Cole's audiology center, and passed with flying colors! We always knew she had great hearing but it's great to get confirmation!!!
Cole Bryan...
It's hard to know where to begin with Cole! He's doing so well with his goals at school with speaking, listening and language. It feels in many ways, that we've crossed the bridge of him realizing his voice has power and purpose and now his goals are much more refined. We are working on him saying 2 or 3 words together in phrases that make sense when he's commenting about something or requesting something. He does pretty well with 2 words like..."More, please; Juice, please; big truck; Cora cup; etc..." Now we're trying to get him to add a word to those like..."More juice, please; my big truck; That's Cora's cup; etc..." There are SO many more goals that I won't bore you with every one on his Newsletter for this Spring, but overall, we're looking for more complete thoughts and speech production from him. Right now he leaves the end off most words and we want to see him add those on. It's always amazing to see his goals for a quarter and think..."Wow! Can he achieve all that? That'd be awesome if in 3 months, he was there!" And to see him do it is incredible...some are harder than others...some goals are on several quarterly reports before they are achieved, but he always gets there. What a blessing! He's also wearing his Behind-The-Ear devices all the time now since we had a couple cables go out on his body-worn processors. Skin-It's Company just partnered with Advanced Bionics to make covers for their Cochlear Implants so we literally have what seems like hundreds of choices for design for Cole's processors, batteries and headpieces now. For Christmas we got him Disney's "Cars" Skin-It's for his devices and he loves them. I think it's making him want to wear his BTE's now! He point to his ears, smiles and says "Cars!"
Since he is more than just a bunch of speech and language goals, I'd also like to report that Cole is one of the funniest and cutest boys on the earth :) One of my favorite things about my 2 year old, is the way he tries to sneak past me to get to things he knows he's not supposed to have. If I tell him he's not allowed to have something, you can bet he'll wait 'till I'm not looking and go for it anyway! The best part though, is that when I catch him, he looks up slowly, giving me those eyes I used to give my parents when I was 2 also!!! I see so much of myself in him, it's both fun and frightening! He and Ryder LOVE to play together now, and are making up all kinds of "imagination" games together. It's so amazing to see how much fun they have playing together, though they also have their fair share of fights...we'll see how the battle of wills progresses as those muscles keep growing!
Ryder Daniel...
My oldest boy has been the source of SOOOO many laughs lately. I don't know if I'll regret it later or not, but right now I'll take the laughs where I can get them and he is cracking me up!!!! Here are a few things I've overheard him saying lately that I couldn't wait to share with you...
CAR...
After taking a long time trying to buckle all three kids up in the back seat of my Honda Accord Wagon (it's a tight squeeze back there but they fit!)
Me: "Wow, I'm taking a long time! Ryder, maybe I'll put you in charge next time. Can you get everyone buckled up back here?"
Ryder (with a twinkle in his eye): "Mom, if I was in charge we'd be driving by now!"
DINNER...
Ryder: "Dad, what's for dinner?
Dad: "Pizza."
Ryder: "I don't want pizza."
Dad: "Yes you do."
Ryder: "No I don't!"
Dad: "Yes you do."
Ryder: "No I don't! Daddy, can you see what I'm thinking inside my head? You don't know that I don't want pizza!"
COLE'S GOALS
Right before Cole's therapist and teacher, Miss Shawnda, came over for home therapy with Cole...
Ryder: "Mom, make sure you tell Miss Shawnda that Cole needs help with "want."
(We've been working on Cole saying "I WANT juice"...he doesn't seem to like the word want and omits it everytime it should be there.)
Once Miss Shawnda arrived...
Ryder: turning to me, "Mom, what was I going to tell Miss Shawnda again? Oh yeah...Cole needs to work on 'want'...he only says 'wa'
Miss Shawnda: Actually, Ryder...if he was saying 'wa' for want, that'd be okay right now!
Ryder: "Oh, okay." :)
SWEET NOTHINGS...
In the middle of dinner....
Ryder: "Mom, I have a secret but I have to whisper it, come here."
Me: "What is it?"
Ryder: (in my ear) "I love you."
After I read him a story in my bed...
Ryder: "Mom, those pajamas are beautiful! I say 'beautiful' funny. B-utiful Hmmm, I'll work on that."
What more can I say. He's hilarious, borders disrespectful at times but he's learning how to be funny without talking back to us :) The hardest part is not snickering through it all when what he needs more is a stern look of disapproval :) Overall, he's my little love bug though and loves being cozy reading a book with Mommy or Daddy...what more could I ask for! I love the way he loves his siblings too...he picks up Cora when she's in danger, he "helps" Cole obey a little too often by demanding he do what we say when he has other ideas...my Mom said I was exactly the same way, so I guess I only have myself to blame, but I love his "rule-following" nature! I recently had a conference with his teacher at pre-school where she talked about how wonderfully he's doing in all areas, and although he's ready for kindergarten on paper, she was glad to hear we are planning on him waiting a year to start since his birthday is so late. We're still praying about the best place for him next year and can't wait for the Lord to provide more direction in His time :) We love our growing, climbing, imagining, creative, caring boy...what a gift he is!!!
Danice Marie...
That's me! I've been pretty tired and sick since finding out we are expecting another little one in August. It hits me hardest at night which puts more pressure on John when he gets home, but am praying that as my 1st trimester ends this week, I'll start to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I love getting out of the house with the kids, and though I LOVE the change of seasons here in IL, winters are a bit long. We got more snow yesterday and temperatures are in the 20s still, which means (especially with my low energy level) we are house bound the days I don't go to therapy with Cole. I'm learning to praise God through surprise pregnancies, wind chill and nauseous nights. It's not easy, but thankfully God is never anything but worthy of praise. More on that to come in future posts...
John Paul...
What an incredible husband I have. He has had a lot on his plate lately, with school and then coming home to a sick wife and 3 tired kids means a long night for Daddy. He's been up until 2am most nights lately, while shouldering most of the responsibilities after dinner with the kids - including baths and bedtime and letting me take a bath which eases some of my nausea. After the kids and I are asleep by 9pm (I told you I've been tired lately!) he sits down to do hours of homework...especially in his Statistics class he is less than fond of this semester :)
I know I just posted about her 1st birthday, but there are a few details I failed to mention! She is 20 pounds, 4 ounces right now which lands her in the 30th percentile for her weight and 29 inches long means she's in the 30th percentile for her length as well! A far cry from our 90th percentile chubby girl at 3 months!!! Though she's slimmed down, she still has those cute chubby thighs we all love to squeeze! She loves dancing to any music...whenever it's on she starts smiling and bouncing up and down to the beat :) It's normal for babies to slim down when they start moving around too, and boy does she move around! She loves riding Cole's truck around the house now, but rarely makes it around the circle without one of the boys hopping on the back! Luckily, she's still okay with sharing...sometimes! We just love her babbling too...one of my favorites is whenever she sees a dog, bear or lion, she growls deeply from the back of her throat! It cracks me up and every time I find myself joining in! On a side note, she also had an unofficial hearing test this morning as part of a video taping at Cole's audiology center, and passed with flying colors! We always knew she had great hearing but it's great to get confirmation!!!
Cole Bryan...
It's hard to know where to begin with Cole! He's doing so well with his goals at school with speaking, listening and language. It feels in many ways, that we've crossed the bridge of him realizing his voice has power and purpose and now his goals are much more refined. We are working on him saying 2 or 3 words together in phrases that make sense when he's commenting about something or requesting something. He does pretty well with 2 words like..."More, please; Juice, please; big truck; Cora cup; etc..." Now we're trying to get him to add a word to those like..."More juice, please; my big truck; That's Cora's cup; etc..." There are SO many more goals that I won't bore you with every one on his Newsletter for this Spring, but overall, we're looking for more complete thoughts and speech production from him. Right now he leaves the end off most words and we want to see him add those on. It's always amazing to see his goals for a quarter and think..."Wow! Can he achieve all that? That'd be awesome if in 3 months, he was there!" And to see him do it is incredible...some are harder than others...some goals are on several quarterly reports before they are achieved, but he always gets there. What a blessing! He's also wearing his Behind-The-Ear devices all the time now since we had a couple cables go out on his body-worn processors. Skin-It's Company just partnered with Advanced Bionics to make covers for their Cochlear Implants so we literally have what seems like hundreds of choices for design for Cole's processors, batteries and headpieces now. For Christmas we got him Disney's "Cars" Skin-It's for his devices and he loves them. I think it's making him want to wear his BTE's now! He point to his ears, smiles and says "Cars!"
Since he is more than just a bunch of speech and language goals, I'd also like to report that Cole is one of the funniest and cutest boys on the earth :) One of my favorite things about my 2 year old, is the way he tries to sneak past me to get to things he knows he's not supposed to have. If I tell him he's not allowed to have something, you can bet he'll wait 'till I'm not looking and go for it anyway! The best part though, is that when I catch him, he looks up slowly, giving me those eyes I used to give my parents when I was 2 also!!! I see so much of myself in him, it's both fun and frightening! He and Ryder LOVE to play together now, and are making up all kinds of "imagination" games together. It's so amazing to see how much fun they have playing together, though they also have their fair share of fights...we'll see how the battle of wills progresses as those muscles keep growing!
Ryder Daniel...
My oldest boy has been the source of SOOOO many laughs lately. I don't know if I'll regret it later or not, but right now I'll take the laughs where I can get them and he is cracking me up!!!! Here are a few things I've overheard him saying lately that I couldn't wait to share with you...
CAR...
After taking a long time trying to buckle all three kids up in the back seat of my Honda Accord Wagon (it's a tight squeeze back there but they fit!)
Me: "Wow, I'm taking a long time! Ryder, maybe I'll put you in charge next time. Can you get everyone buckled up back here?"
Ryder (with a twinkle in his eye): "Mom, if I was in charge we'd be driving by now!"
DINNER...
Ryder: "Dad, what's for dinner?
Dad: "Pizza."
Ryder: "I don't want pizza."
Dad: "Yes you do."
Ryder: "No I don't!"
Dad: "Yes you do."
Ryder: "No I don't! Daddy, can you see what I'm thinking inside my head? You don't know that I don't want pizza!"
COLE'S GOALS
Right before Cole's therapist and teacher, Miss Shawnda, came over for home therapy with Cole...
Ryder: "Mom, make sure you tell Miss Shawnda that Cole needs help with "want."
(We've been working on Cole saying "I WANT juice"...he doesn't seem to like the word want and omits it everytime it should be there.)
Once Miss Shawnda arrived...
Ryder: turning to me, "Mom, what was I going to tell Miss Shawnda again? Oh yeah...Cole needs to work on 'want'...he only says 'wa'
Miss Shawnda: Actually, Ryder...if he was saying 'wa' for want, that'd be okay right now!
Ryder: "Oh, okay." :)
SWEET NOTHINGS...
In the middle of dinner....
Ryder: "Mom, I have a secret but I have to whisper it, come here."
Me: "What is it?"
Ryder: (in my ear) "I love you."
After I read him a story in my bed...
Ryder: "Mom, those pajamas are beautiful! I say 'beautiful' funny. B-utiful Hmmm, I'll work on that."
What more can I say. He's hilarious, borders disrespectful at times but he's learning how to be funny without talking back to us :) The hardest part is not snickering through it all when what he needs more is a stern look of disapproval :) Overall, he's my little love bug though and loves being cozy reading a book with Mommy or Daddy...what more could I ask for! I love the way he loves his siblings too...he picks up Cora when she's in danger, he "helps" Cole obey a little too often by demanding he do what we say when he has other ideas...my Mom said I was exactly the same way, so I guess I only have myself to blame, but I love his "rule-following" nature! I recently had a conference with his teacher at pre-school where she talked about how wonderfully he's doing in all areas, and although he's ready for kindergarten on paper, she was glad to hear we are planning on him waiting a year to start since his birthday is so late. We're still praying about the best place for him next year and can't wait for the Lord to provide more direction in His time :) We love our growing, climbing, imagining, creative, caring boy...what a gift he is!!!
Danice Marie...
That's me! I've been pretty tired and sick since finding out we are expecting another little one in August. It hits me hardest at night which puts more pressure on John when he gets home, but am praying that as my 1st trimester ends this week, I'll start to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I love getting out of the house with the kids, and though I LOVE the change of seasons here in IL, winters are a bit long. We got more snow yesterday and temperatures are in the 20s still, which means (especially with my low energy level) we are house bound the days I don't go to therapy with Cole. I'm learning to praise God through surprise pregnancies, wind chill and nauseous nights. It's not easy, but thankfully God is never anything but worthy of praise. More on that to come in future posts...
John Paul...
What an incredible husband I have. He has had a lot on his plate lately, with school and then coming home to a sick wife and 3 tired kids means a long night for Daddy. He's been up until 2am most nights lately, while shouldering most of the responsibilities after dinner with the kids - including baths and bedtime and letting me take a bath which eases some of my nausea. After the kids and I are asleep by 9pm (I told you I've been tired lately!) he sits down to do hours of homework...especially in his Statistics class he is less than fond of this semester :)
I am daily amazed at the gift of his patience, endurance, and love for us all. To top it all off, he's been subbing in at church for our worship leader who has been on maternity leave these past 3 weeks. We've loved having the opportunity to serve together in this way. If you asked him, John would say it stretched him from viewing himself as an instrumentalist to having to sing in a microphone while playing guitar (not his first instrument) loud enough for everyone to hear him as he leads! I've loved standing next to my husband, supporting him as he leads. It's very symbolic of our life together as well...John is not a domineering leader who demands respect, but he's one I'm glad to love and respect greatly as he leads our family by serving so willingly...especially in areas that he wouldn't consider his strengths (washing sheets in the middle of the night because someone wet the bed, washing dishes after dinner while I take a bath, taking Cora to her doctor's appointment while I stay home to recoup after a rough night...) Thank you Lord for my husband. He shows me more of you daily...more of your sacrifice and love!!!
Well...that's a snapshot right now...more pictures and memories to come!!!
Glad to hear you are all doing well. Loved reading Ryder's comments. His secret was so sweet!
Jay says, "great job John!" We are proud and excited about the reports of each of you! Thank you for taking the time in the midst of all the craziness and nausea to let us know how our favorite Burdetts are doing! Be blessed Mighty Women and Men of God and baby Burdett in the belly you keep growing strong, we can't wait to meet you!
Way to go cousins! You really have an amazing family! I love reading about the kids, especially Ryder since he's on the same wave length as Carter these days. They're so stinkin cute! I wished we lived closer. :) You two are great examples of perserverance! xoxo!
Catherine