Blogiversary...

I just realized that the 1-year mark for our family blog has came and went. All I can say is that I have had a lot of fun sharing my little family with you and I have also enjoyed reading about your families too. Here's to a great 2009...Happy Blogging!!!

Trying to Win Tickets to Walking with Dinoasaurs on GTU...

Birthdays, a Wedding, Christmas, and New Years...

So our Holidays in the Burnett home were a bit crazy, but a joy as usual...it all started out on the 13th with Jacob's 1st birthday party. I originally started out with about 4 kids on the invitation list and ended up with 11 at the end. I thought to myself, "it will be okay, people have a lot going on in December, not all of them will come"...WRONG!!! All 11 3-6 year olds came to our tiny home along with 4 adults. Needless to say it was crazy, but good, it was organized chaos and the kids were really good. Unfortunately, our birthday boy isn't much for crowds and had a hard time with all the kids. He decided to be grumpy for most of the party. I will chalk that up to a lesson learned and move on...

Next in line on the 17th, Wade's parents came in from PA for my brother-in-law's (Devin's) wedding on the 20th, so those three days were spent on wedding dinners, last minute Christmas shopping and hanging out with family and of course the actual wedding which was beautiful but freezing 16 degrees (about 0 with the windchill) I guess it could have been worse.

After the wedding, My sister-in-law and her family came to stay with us. I was so glad for the company and the time we got to spend together and for the most part the kids got along pretty well, but there are some definite differences in age and personality and there were a few struggles, apperently nothing too bad because Jacob asks when we will see them again.

This is a picture of Cousin Chase and Jacob taking a walk in the snow.

So my in-laws had to fly back on the 25th to get ready for the open house they were having on the 27th. So we decided to combine my birthday, Jacob's family birthdy and Christmas Eve all on the same day...what was I thinking, actually it wasn't that bad. In the morning I got to go to my favorite show, Good Things Utah, and meet some of the hosts. You also get to wave to the camera when it's your birthday, so I got to be on local TV for a few seconds of fame, I hope nobody saw because I think I looked like a dork!

Next we came home and got ready for Christmas with all the baking, wrapping and all the stuff that goes with it. In the Burnett Family, they always have Pizza Hut pizza on Christams Eve ( I have a bit of a hard time doing it, because I feel bad for the poor people who have to work, but this time it was on the 23rd so it wasn't so bad). So we did that, ate cheesecake for my birthday and football cake for Jacob's and of course left food out for the Reindeer and cookies for Santa, read the nativity story and went to bed (well the kids did). The adults played Santa and then stupid traditional me stayed up until 1:30 making cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Christmas moring was happy chaos as usual, but I have to say it was a bit harder for Wade to play Santa this year with 4 kids instead of 1 (Anna wasn't old enough last year to care) to deal with...he was definately busy. The favotite gifts were Jacob's new Geotrax (Airplane edition), Anna's new baby and stroller, My Wii Fit and DC Temple mural ( I will post a picture of that later...its beautiful) and Wade got a lot of practical gifts but I am going to guess that he liked his new shoes the best.

So everyone left Christmas Day and we went to my Aunts house for dinner, which was suprizingly relaxing...my kids are chickens and it takes a lot of effort at other's houses to entertain them, but they warmed up quickly and I didn't have to entertain much at all. Things have been pretty calm since then...we did do a little something for Jacob's real birthday we went to a Salt Lake Grizzlies Game (Hockey) and Jacob got a signed puck...he was so cute he held his ticket and puck for the whole game. That night, we all started throwing up, but nothing serious, no fever and we were all fine the next day until 4 days later when Jacob threw up again again, no fever, and he was fine the next day...weird huh? We also did a little something for New Years Eve. I used my new Fry Daddy to make fried nutella ravioli (I saw this on Everyday Italian on Food Network) It wasn't bad but not as good as I hoped. At 8 we set off poppers and had sparkling cider and put the kids to bed. The rest of the night was spent using the Wii Fit and barely keeping our eyes open for the ball drop.

Needless to say we are all tuckered out...this is a picture of Jacob who pretended to cash his bike into the couch cushon and then continued to be too tired to get back up and fell asleep under his bike!

We are all back to normal now. Jacob started up preschool again and Wade started his second MBA semester and my life has finally gone back to some kind of routine...Yea!!! Hope all of you had a wonderful Holiday Seasons and we hope you have a fabulous 2009!!!

Aaaaahh, 14 more days until Christmas !..

Is anyone else feeling the stress!? I sure am, this is usually my favorite time of the year, but I feel like I am going to lose it pretty soon. I think the problem may lie in the fact that I am too picky. Those that know me know that I get this picture in my head of what I want and when I can't find the exact thing, life gets complicated. I swear, I have been to more stores in one month than I have been throughout the whole year looking for that perfect dress for a wedding, the perfect doll for Anna, and the perfect Geotrax train/airplane set for Jacob. I am sure that that is the majority of the problem, but we also have a lot going on this year, a family wedding, Jacob's 4th birthday with his first birthday party, and a lot of family coming and activities to do with them. So although I am excited for all of the upcoming events. I am getting a little worn out. I haven't even started on my neighbor gifts yet. Every year I always get it done, but I am feeling a little shaky this year. I will just have faith that things will be great, have a wonderful holiday and be able to enjoy the wonderful spirit that comes with the season and remember why we have it. I hope all of you are dealing with the stress better than I am. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Family Pictures...

These are just a few of the pictures that my friend Jenny Rossi took for us. These aren't even edited yet and they look awesome! She got some pretty good ones even though my children weren't cooperating at all. I have added her blog on my side bar, under Professional blogs, if you are interested in a really good photographer. She does it for all occasions. Thanks so much Jenny, you made picture taking just that much easier!

Tagged Twice...

So I have been tagged a couple of times in the last month, but I have had a hard time getting to them so here they finally are....

First the one from Darci

1. I like to rainbow organize my closet, I know it's weird, but I have always like rainbows and have always done things in that order if I can...fruitloops, skittles, etc.

2. When I was a Freshman in High School I got a really severe case of mono (my enzyme count was 4 times higher than a normal mono patient) as a result of all the drugs I took and the illnesses I had, I lost all my taste buds and after about a week they all grew back.

3. I don't like chocolate and I don't like cake...but I really like chocolate cake. Same thing with soup... I don't like soup, and I don't like creamy things, but I love creamy soup.

4. Never been to Disneyland or World.

5. If I could go back to school and be anything I wanted to be I would be a nurse for labor and delivery (I think the whole thing is fascinating) or I would be a baker and decorate cakes...I know kind random.

6. About two weeks after I had both of my kids, I got so baby hungry! I think it's because I love, love, love, the new born stage and it goes by really fast, so I feel this urgency to start all over again.

7. I never learned how to type...I know, sometimes it makes me feel really stupid, but I never had the free hour in High School or college to take it, so I kind of have my own method, it's slow but it works well enough for me.

Now Marianne's...

I think it's funny because when I was doing this tag, all of my answers were very similar.

OK, I've been tagged by Marianne to give facts about Wade.

Five things Wade Loves:

1. Me

2. Our Kids

3. Sports of all kinds

4. His Family

5. The Church

Five things on Wade's To Do List:

1. get his MBA

2. Pay off student loans

3. Get out of Utah

4. Finish painting our house...only 2 rooms left.

5. Figure out what he really wants to be when he grows up.

Wade's favorite treats:

1. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

2. Oreos

3. Homemade chocolate chip cookies

4. Ice cream (Dryers Double Fudge Brownie)

5. Twix

Five Things You Might Not Know About Wade:

1. Wade is really good at sports, don't let his small physique fool you.

2. Wade hates dirty dishes, even if its midnight he will still do the dishes if I didn't get a chance to do them...I am totally okay with waiting until the next morning...after all I have the once a day rule when it comes to dishes.

3. He served a mission in Puebla, Mexico

4. He had his appendix taken out while he was at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.

5. Wade is a serious number cruncher, he is always trying to figure out how to make more or save more money.

Five Places Wade has Lived:

1. South Park, PA

2. Port Orchard, WA

3. Idaho Falls and Rexburg, ID

4. Puebla, Mexico

5. Logan, Roy and Salt Lake City, UT

Five of Wade's Quirks:

1. He cannot make a normal smile in pictures, it's very rare that you see him really smiling in a picture.

2.Wade has this weird ritual he has to do when he eats french toast, first he covers every inch with butter, then he makes a puddle of syrup in the middle then adds powdered sugar. He stirs that together to make this thick goo and then he has to spread it across the bread so that not a crumb is left uncovered...I bet he never eats warm french toast!

3. He is obsessed with cheeks and the fatter the better, you'll always catch him touching baby's cheeks whenever he gets a chance.

4. He loves to kiss big cheeks too and when he does he makes this weird popping noise and it's not intentional.

5. Has to check the door locks about a million times before he goes to bed.

I tag whoever wants to!

Fall Family Fun...

So we have done a lot in the month of October, Wade turned 28, the kids and I headed off to Washington to stay with my folks for a couple of weeks. Which was a lot of fun for us, maybe not so much for Wade, but he was able to get a lot of school stuff done without us bugging him and of course there was all of the regular Halloween fun stuff to do to top off the month. Here are some pictures of the festivities...

Blowing out the birthday candles...I know it says 27, we added one more for 28...I forgot to get the candles.

Pumpkin carving at Grandma and Grandpa Shrader's

My brother Zach has this WSU cougars hat for some reason...not sure why...he is a BYU cougar

Pumpkin carving at home

Jacob getting ready for his Halloween party at preschool, as you can see he went a s a baseball player...can we say sports obsessed! His costume was pretty easy too and I think it cost me about $8

Anna, of course, wouldn't cooperate for the camera, so this is the best picture I got of her whole costume...oh well, she was still pretty cute and since I made the costume it only cost me about 10 bucks!

Every year at Wade's work all the offices decorate and invite the kids to come and participate in a big trick-or-treating parade...you get a ton of candy...just what they need. Anyways here they are in Daddy's office.

Copy Cat X 2...

I saw this on a friends blog who saw it on another friends blog who I am sure saw it on someone else's blog. All you have to do is google the answers and see what you find and this lets you know a little about me.

Age: 27












Favorite Vacation Spot: Palmyra, New York









Favorite Animal: Killer Whale







First Name: Amanda






Middle Name: Dawn





Last Name: Burnett


Favorite Color: Red and Green








Where I Live: Salt Lake City





Where I Grew Up: West Richland, Wa










Favorite Food: Bonzai Burger (Red Robin)









Favorite Treat: Slurpee

Happy Birthday Grandma Shrae Shrae (hee hee)!!!

So you are the last grandparent for the birthday song, so it probably is a little old, but I am not that creative. Happy Birthday mom. We all love you and we can't wait to see you in a few weeks.

New Anna Stats and an Update on Jacob and Preschool...

Anna went in for her 12 month check and she is still as healthy as ever. She weighed in at 19 pounds (dangit, we can't turn her carseat around yet) and is 30 1/2 inches tall, which makes her 2 inches taller and about a pound and a half heavier than Jacob was at this age. She isn't as high on the percentage charts as she used to be though so maybe she will more petite than we thought.

Jacob is continuing to go to preschool and it continues to be a bit of a struggle. It is so funny because he loves it as long as I stay, but as soon as I even mention leaving it is a major freak out session, but he is doing better and he doesn't spend the majority of the day trying to negotiate his attendence. He even promised his teacher today that he will stay all by himself on Monday...we will see how far that goes, but for now I just try to remember that this is how Jacob is when it comes to change and new things and that he will come around like he always does. It just breaks my heart every time I have to leave and know how upset he is. It has been really fun to watch him in class...he is such a chatter box...I never would have guessed that a year ago...and he is a bit defiant when it comes to listening to his teacher...I should have known he would be like that, but I thought he might be different for his teacher, oh well, you just can't help but love him...he is just sooo cute!

Happy 1st Birthday Anna...

So, as I have mentioned Anna's 1st birthday was last Sunday and it went fairly well, but I wish I had made it just a little bit more low key. Most of Saturday and Sunday I was running around trying to get things done for our little family gathering and because I feel a little bit like a single parent lately, I was stressed, and to get things done I had to ingore my children a bit. Which seems all wrong, I should have been spending the time with them and enjoying her first birthday. But here is why I went a bit psycho...when Jacob turned 1, we were at this beautiful cabin with Wade's family and it was suppose to be so much fun, but as usual on the drive up the mountain I started not feeling so well. It turned out to be a really nasty flu ( that I gave to everyone else) and I missed Jacob's birthday, I didn't make the cake, and I could barely stand up to watch him open his presents, so I vowed the next 1st birthday would be different. I guess I have now learned my lesson. She missed her nap and was too tired to eat her cake, and wouldn't smile for pictures or rip open her presents...she just wasn't my normal happy little Anna. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the people that came and appreciated the support and gifts and we are so glad that everyone loves our Anna Banana as much as we do. Here are a few pictures of the big event...

The Cake...I have had a real thing about ladybugs, her room is ladybugs, her clothes are ladybugs and now her cake is a ladybug, she will even be a ladybug for halloween but after that I am done with the ladybugs.

Jacob blowing out the candle because Anna wouldn't.

The ladybugs head is made out of rice crispy treats so asa special treat Anna got to lick the spoon.

No Baby Picture on GTU...

So for whatever reason Anna wasn't on TV today. I sent in another and hopefully she will be on on Monday. I was bummed...I had the VCR all ready to go so I could tape it and it was all for nothing...oh well!