A Most Precious Gift...

To be completely honest, I wish I didn't have to blog about this. It seems that typing at a computer trying to convey the last few days without sounding distant or commonplace about our experience is inevitable, but since there is really no other way that I keep in touch with most of you, this will have to do...
As we happily announced a little more than a month ago, we were expecting our 3rd baby and couldn't have been happier...
My heart continues to break as I tell you that on Christmas Day, we knew that our little fighter would not make it. Almost halfway through the pregnancy, I was checked in to Labor and Delivery and had our baby boy at about 10:35 the next morning. There was never a heartbeat, but he was beautiful and tiny and perfect. We were able to name him and hold him for a few precious moments. We knew immediately that he was and continues to be a part of our family. We know we will see him again someday and that he is where he is happy and protected by a loving Heavenly Father.

We truly feel blessed to be a part of his life even for just a little while and we know our family was being watched over. We feel it was no coincidence that we were able to be at my parent's home for the holidays where our kids could be looked after with minimal disturbance and to be somewhere where we could be away from life for a while to grieve and be with those we love until we had to return home to reality and face others with the news of our loss. These last few days have been the hardest we have ever had to go through, but we know we will be okay and that it will get better.

Here is what Wade wrote about him a few moments after we were able to hold him...
"Today was a special day. Cole James Burnett was born and sadly passed away in the womb. Mandy and I held him, gave him little kisses and hugs, and just loved him. We are proud of him, love him, and know that he is happy."

For So Many Reasons...

So I have not blogged in a while "for so many reasons" but here are the main ones...First and foremost, we are happy to announce that we are having our third baby around may 28th and we are really excited about that. We aren't, however, thrilled about the morning sickness that so far has been better than my last 2 pregnancies, but still a killer. My second reason would be that our failure(not for lack of trying) to get the H1N1 vaccine came to get us and both Wade and I got it. The kids seem to have passed it by, thanks to G and G Shrader who came to help take care of the kids and keep them away from me so I could rest since I was so high risk. Both of them have had coughs for the last month and today Jacob woke up with hives which I also had about a week ago and my doctor blamed on pregnancy, but now I am not so sure. Anyways, all of this has caused a lot of stress on me and the baby, we even had a little scare last Tuesday and thought we might lose it, but with a lot of bed rest we seem to be okay, just tired. So there are my excuses hope it's enough to let me pass this time and I will be posting Halloween pictures and everything else I have missed in the next few days. Thanks to all of you who have helped us out the last few months, we really have appreciated it.
P.S. We will be changing our address sometime in the future, I am not really sure why I made it "plus 2" when I was pretty sure there would be more kids, but oh well, sorry for the hassel. It will most likely be burnettgazette.blogspot.com if it has not been taken, but I will let you know.

Soccer...

Jacob started his first soccer team this year and although we got off to a rocky start (2 losses and a really bad temper) we are proud to announce that we had a win on Saturday and Jacob scored 2 of the goals...way to go Buddy!

What we have been up to since August...

I forgot to post this somehow in July so here it is now...Jacob and his Daddy got to go on their 1st father and son outing (a yearly camp-out that our church holds) and needless to say any one-on-one time with Daddy is a good time for Jacob...he had a blast!

In the tent

Hanging out with all the other little boys

This August was the big Steele (Wade's maternal Grandparents) Family Reunion. It was in Salt Lake this year and we did a lot of fun things...We went to Cherry Hill, where I forgot to take any pictures...

We went fishing at a trout farm which Jacob smoked us all with the quickest and largest catch. Wade, on the other hand, had a harder time but in the end he was finally able to catch his very first fish ever!

We also went to a rodeo...

...played in the water at Liberty Park...

...and swam at G&G Steele's swimming pool! We had so much fun seeing everyone and being with family!

After things settled a bit, the kids and I headed off to Wheeler Farm.

When the kids take a bath, Anna usually gets out first and she loves to get her toe and fingernails painted while Jacob plays in the water for a while...well for whatever reason he decided to forgo the playtime and went for the pedicure, so here is a picture of all of our painted and decaled toes.

We also made our first trip to the Ogden Dinosaur Park...here are the kids digging for bones...

...and the big T-Rex...I was terrified of these when I was little so I was little nervous about my kids, but they thought it was the coolest part.

It was also Great Grandma Steele's Birthday so we had a little dinner party at Golden Corral

Jacob had his first day of preschool on the 9th. The teacher says that he is already doing 100 times better than he did last year and that he has really gained some confidence in the classroom.

Anna became a big 2-year old on the 14th of September...

She loves butterflies and pink so when I saw these butterfly cupcakes on the internet I knew I had to make them, they actually weren't that hard, just a bit time consuming because of the different colors and because I had to keep re-melting the chocolate, but Anna loved them which was the goal.

Opening the presents...sort of, Jacob insisted on helping A LOT!

Minnie Mouse Jammies...she loves Minnie.

We also had a little party at Great G&G Steeles house...the crown is from the nursury at church, she has worn it every day since. If you ask her how old she is, she answers "4" because that's what Jacob says.

G&G were so nice they even bought Jacob a new book to feed his new Dinosaur obsession.

Fun, Fun, Fun in the Sun...

The end of June and the month July has been a whirl-wind. It feels like July just started a few days ago and now it only has a few days left. I have a ton of pictures to show, so I will try to keep my captions short so you don't get to overwhelmed.

We had the opportunity to see the inside of the Oquirrh (pronounced Oker) Mountain Temple before it is dedicated in August. It is beautiful! Interesting story... the night of the day we went, the Angel Moroni on the top was hit by lightening.

Worn out after the temple.

Daddy and Jacob wearing their matching outfits and Anna, who loves to wear everybody's clothes, tries on Jacob's shorts and tie.

Wade's company picnic was at Lagoon, the local theme park, this year and here is Jacob on all the rides, Anna declined on all of them.

Wade and the kids on Father's Day.

Jacob did awesome at swimming lesons this year and was much improved over the 4 weeks.

Just some cute pics of the kids.

The family waiting for the fireworks on the 4th.

This June marked 10 years since I graduated from High School and with that comes the Reunion. Here is a picture of the kids at the Family BBQ and big brother being very protective of little sister.

Here is Wade and I before the Cocktail Party.

So funny thing...my best friend from High school, Heather, just happened to wear almost the exact same dress. I guess we must still be pretty connected even though it has been 5 years since we have been able to see each other. Then there is the picture of us with Emily. We all had so much fun together.

Jacob Roasting "Smarshmellos" and G and G Shrader's house. Below are pictures of Anna and Uncle Zach and also with G and G. Jacob wasn't in a picture taking mood and unfortunately I never got one picture of him with my parents. Anna, on the other hand, poses whenever I take the camera out.

Trying to catch seagulls at the park (as you can tell, they didn't do very good job because there are no seagulls in the picture.

For the first time in 2 1/2 years we were able to see my older brother Rodney. The last time he saw Jacob was when he was just turning 2 and he had never met Anna. They loved their Uncle Rod, especially when he treated them to Chucky Cheese and and shopping trip to Toys R Us.

For the 24th (Pioneer Day, a state holiday) we went to the zoo (our kids could go twice a week and never get tired of it). This time we went the bird show and were really impressed!

And last but not least, just a picture of the kids looking cute before going to church!