A californian spartan

Five for Fridays

2012-02-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

1. Breslin has been dealing with this thing on his cute, little booty... and he has been a trooper... Been to the doctors 3 times in the last week. Good news is, it looks better!
2. 4 nights in a row of good sleep... I'm afraid to put this up here ... I don't want to jinx it.
3. We have an 8 month old, who crawls around like it is nobody's business, pulls himself up to the standing position, and we think he is working on his upper two teeth now.
4. 2 weeks left until my half marathon.... it should be interesting.
5. I have been dealing with this super stressful, frustrating issue at school that has carried over since last semester.... and after numerous hours of looking stuff up, talking to teachers and counselors, I finally came to a decision on it, and hopefully the whole mess is over...

Five for Fridays

2012-01-22T16:40:00.000-08:00

1. First week of school.
2. Breslin has been doing much better with his sleeping.
3. Michigan State lost to Michigan. Bleh.
4. Super duper thankful for our wonderful daycare lady Mary.
5. Breslin is officially on the move; crawling everywhere.

Valentine photo shoot

2012-01-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

Breslin's first recruiting video :)

2012-01-14T09:14:00.000-08:00

Five for Fridays

2012-01-13T16:39:00.000-08:00

1. Well we "sleep trained" Breslin. The book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," really helped me get up the courage to do it. It seems to be working, last night, it took Breslin about 1 minute to fall asleep at 6:45, then he slept until about 10:00, woke up for about 5-10 minutes of whimpering, then went back to sleep all on his own, woke up again at about 2:15, same thing, whimpered for about 5 minutes then went back to sleep on his own, finally woke up at 5:30. No eating, no mommy and daddy coming in there to lul, pat, or rock him back to sleep.. he is doing it all on his own!
2. Was able to get a bit of scrapbooking done this week. Hopefully a little bit more this weekend.
3. Getting serious about my half marathon training. Have run every other day this week. Sunday I go for 7 miles.
4. Breslin is still working on that one tooth coming through... every day I swear it's about to come in... but it doesn't. It's got to come poking through this weekend or else I don't know what.
5. Breslin now crawls. Every now and then he goes back to his army crawl, but he is getting more comfortable with crawling.
*Bonus: We got our skype up and running. We have now skyped my mom and dad back in Michigan, my sister, Christina out in Florida, and Kari our niece (who is just down the road).

Five for Fridays

2012-01-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

1. Celebrated New Years with the Williams... Sort of
2. Flew back to California
3. Breslin has been teething and his first tooth broke the gums, hopefully the second one breaks the gums soon (I don't know how much more of fussy Breslin I can take, makes me appreciate how good we have it most of the time).
4. Breslin is not adjusting well to sleeping habits back at home, probably due to jet lag, teething, and him hitting the 'separation' stage. Tonight we will go back and redo his sleep training, :p It's gonna be a long night.
5. We turned the office into Breslin's playroom. It is awesome! Now we just need decor.

Sparty On!!!!

2012-01-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

We had quite the cheering section for the bowl game. We would normally go out to a bar to watch the game, but that is just not as easy with the little ones. So we ordered Jimmy Johns, made cookies, chip dip, chips, soda, and beer and had a blast watching it in our basement!

Top: Mom, Breslin, me, Kisha, and Sean

Middle: James, Rachel, dad, Christina,

Bottom: Kennedy, Colby, Dana, baby Hannah, and Lauren.

(Brady was there, he was just taking the picture)

Breslin read to cheer on #8 Kirk Cousins and the rest of the Spartans!

And this picture I will forever cherish, my dad sporting the green and white for the Spartans. For those of you that don't know, my dad is a U of M fan, but he decided to support the many women in his life and little Breslin man and the B1G Conference and root for MSU for us. (Now Im hoping he doesn't think that in exchange we will be rooting for U of M in the Sugar Bowl).

It was a game of ups and downs. MSU was down 16-0 going into half time, and I had my doubts.... Our offense was struggling, but our defense was keeping us in the game. It was a thriller of a game, that ended up going into triple over time, with the good guys (Michigan State) winning. It was our first bowl win in 10 years!!! Yup, the last bowl win we had I was 18, crazy, huh? We will get to hold onto this victory for 9 months.... bittersweet, because now we have to WAIT nine months for college football. In the meanwhile we have basketball!

Happy New Years

2012-01-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

Breslin's down for a moment (which hasn't happened to often while we have been in Michigan) so I wanted to take the time to reflect on 2011 and look ahead into 2012. Obviously a lot has happened in 2011 and of my 50 goals I reached at least half of them. Once Breslin came along things kind of got side tracked. I want to list some of the not so hot things in 2011 followed by some of the good things:

not so hot: being in labor and sick while in labor for over 17 hours, the two weeks post baby recovery, being so far away from family and good friends and Breslin not able to being around them, not being able to go to the B1G Championship game, "losing" to Wisconsin in that Championship game, the loss of two students (1 former and 1 current) at the high school where I teach, the what seems like monthly devastation to my hometown of Williamston (one thing after another), another good friend moving away from us, and having to cut out dairy, eggs, seafood, shellfish, and nuts while nursing.

good: even though I was in labor for over 17 hours that first moment I got to see, hold, and snuggle with Breslin I will cherish forever. Having my mom spend the summer with us out in California, Christina visiting, and my dad's first ever visit to California since I moved out. Breslin. Las Vegas with the Williams for Michael's 21st. Mary (our daycare provider). Brady's family and our friends out in California. Beating Michigan for the fourth year in a row in football. Being there for it! Taking Breslin to his first MSU football game (a win versus Minnesota). MSU making it to the innagaural B1G championship game, and being champions of the legends division. Getting to see all of my good friends back in Michigan every time I come out. Lauren (one of my best friends) getting a job out in Colorado... (a little bit closer to us... I see a snowboarding trip in my future). Getting back down to pre pregnancy weight and then some.

As I look back upon the year, it was definitely a life changer! Breslin has brought us so much joy, along with some challenges (most of which come between the hours of midnight and 3 am). Some days I wish I could be a stay at home mom and just watch Breslin learn, change, and grow. I miss him so much when I am at work. But I think it is also important for him to be around other babies, interact with them, and play with them. Even though I miss him like crazy, it is important for me to keep my identity and continue to do what I love, and him see both of his parents working hard to support our family. I am looking forward to this next year ahead in 2012, to watch Breslin grow, continue to love and support Brady as we embark onto our five year anniversary, and watch myself grow. I want to be super involved in Breslin's life, but not lose sight of mine. So with this, instead of 50 like I have done the last two years, I will dwindle it down to 10 things I would like to do in 2012.

1. Snowboard/Surf a few times this year... an active mommy is a happy mommy
2. Run the Pasadena half marathon in February (I was going to do a time goal, but really, it's just to complete it with no walking or stopping during the 13.1 miles).
3. Talk Brady into celebrating our 5 year anniversary in Kauai.
4. Take Breslin down to Florida for his first Spring Break.
5. Some sort of exercise 4 times a week.
6. Figure out if Breslin is going to be an only child... or if we are going to try for a sibling.
7. Scrapbook at least once a month.
8. Do a better job of talking to family and friends back home. (Try and skype with Christina once a week so she can stay in touch with the Brez man)
9. Take Breslin to another football game & to his first basketball game (if there is one where we can get tix for).
10. Once a month/once a week.... take an hour of me time (relax, read a book, lounge by the pool... just be...) and date night with Brady. We do cherish our Breslin time, but I think we need to get back to a date night.

New Year's Eve

2012-01-02T17:57:00.000-08:00

Five for Fridays

2011-12-31T08:58:00.000-08:00

1. We flew to Michigan for the holidays
2. Breslin celebrated his first Christmas in Michigan
3. Breslin is TEETHING.... not a happy camper at all
4. Went to the MSU vs. Indiana basketball game and got to watch a super exciting basketball game and a Michigan State victory
5. Had a fabulous mani pedi with Lauren as a Christmas present. It was a much needed relaxation, baby free couple of hours.

Visit by Norah Collins

2011-12-31T08:56:00.000-08:00

Brad, Norah, and Jessica stopped by to say hi and have the little ones meet. Brad was one of Brady's good friends in college and I feel like I know Jessica through our interactions on fb. They used to live in Northern California and then Brad got a job in Kansas City so they moved there. They have family in Michigan and we happened to be back at the same time so me and Jessica decided to meet up. It was so much fun finally getting to meet Jessica and watching our babies interact. Unfortunately Breslin was just recovering from a little cough so they couldn't interact as much as I hoped... but let's be honest, Breslin is at a very aggressive touching, grabbing, pulling at everything, so it was probably a good thing that he didn't get to close to Norah. Hopefully we can at least make this a once a year thing if not more...

GR visit

2011-12-31T08:15:00.000-08:00

Our annual trip to Grand Rapids. We stop by to see the Reinsch's and their family and then go on and see the Burrill cousins. Breslin did great with the Reinsch's, but then when we went to meet up with all of the Burrill's Breslin was a mess :( So I didn't get a picture. To find out later that Breslin is TEETHING and has not been sleeping well since we got to Michigan. The combination of those two things makes for a very unhappy baby. Regardless we had great visits with all.

Breslin's first Snow

2011-12-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

2 days after Christmas on December 27 it snowed! So we ran outside really quick to get a picture.

Breslin's first Christmas

2011-12-31T07:42:00.000-08:00

Breslin celebrated his first Christmas with the Yarbrough family in Michigan. Unfortunately it was not a white Christmas :( But none the less Breslin got up with the rest of us at 7:30 (which would be 4:30 California time) to see what Santa had brought. It took Breslin a while to figure out what to do with the presents, and let's be honest, Breslin had way more fun with the paper and boxes than the presents... next year will be the year that he really knows what's going on (but let's not rush things).

Above is a family picture, Allan, Becky, Aunt Joyce, Uncle Mark, Scott, Harmony, Avery, Austin, Madisyn, mom, dad, Christina, Brady, Breslin, and me! Merry Christmas to all.

Breslin spending some quality time with his long distance Auntie. Oh my goodness did she spoil him with all of the toys she got for him!

Grandpa Mike is no longer afraid to hold Breslin. It is now hard for us to tear those two apart.

Yup... that has to be the cutest hat ever given by Auntie Christina. Breslin is our "little moose" now.

What are you showing us Breslin? Oh the turtle that Auntie got you.

Merry Christmas. Mommy finally took Breslin out of his Christmas duds into his comfy, cozy Christmas outfit.

Any more presents??? Or did we take care of it all?

Five for Fridays

2011-12-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

1. Breslin made his first visit to Santa Clause. (On the third try). First try was on Wednesday and he was wearing his "Santa's little helper" outfit... but we ran out of time that day. Second try was on Thursday and he was wearing his red and white outfit... but the line was ridiculous. So by the time we got to Friday we ran out of cute Christmas outfits... so overalls is what you get!!!!
2. This semester is done... thank goodness. It has definitely been a trying one. I vow to not do any school work the first two weeks of winter break... maybe not even talk about school...
3. Breslin had his 6 month appointment... Stat's hmmm I don't remember, it's written down somewhere... but I do know he is still in the 95th percentile for height... and middle of the road for weight... I'm thinking basketball super star!
4. With the 6 month appointment comes shots... :(
5. Celebrated Christmas on the Burrill side today! Breslin enjoyed his first Christmas, and loved all of his presents... I think he spent two hours tonight playing with all of his new toys! And I always love getting together with the family. Just a great day all together. Merry Christmas guys!

Five for Fridays

2011-12-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

1. I forgot to tell you guys a couple of weeks ago... we got Solar Panels for our house, were helping the environment... AND hopefully have lower electric bills come summer.
2. The last full week of the semester has come and gone... let me tell you, it has been a stressful semester, a lot of issues this year.... I am ready to move on from this semester.
3. Hung out with some great friends last night for some holiday cheer!
4. Done Christmas shopping :)
5. I absolutely NEED to go snowboarding... ASAP....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-17T10:36:00.000-08:00

Pictures taken courtesy of the fabulous Mitzi Mandel

Five for Fridays (for two weeks)

2011-12-10T18:06:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been awhile. Can you feel it? The holiday season? We have been super busy around here with end of the semester school stuff, and Breslin being more mobile and active. I get so sad sometimes thinking about how much time we miss out of Brez while we are at work, so when I am at home I want to spend every moment with him... so the blog has been slacking.

1. Michigan State made it to the first ever B1G Championship game... Unfortunately lost, and in turn we lost out on our opportunity to go to the Rose Bowl. It was a good game none the less. We enjoyed watching it with some of our favorite people.

2. Breslin had two REALLY bad nights of sleeping, which resulted in a stressed out mommy and at some point a pump getting chucked across the room and breaking :/ Oops.... there's a hundred dollars we weren't planning on spending. But the two REALLY bad nights of sleeping were followed by three really GREAT nights of sleeping. One of which consisted of Breslin falling asleep at 7:30 pm and waking up once around 3 to eat and then slept until 6:30!!!!

3. We are getting into the Christmas spirit around here. We have our two Christmas trees, our colorful tree and of course our MSU Christmas tree. Breslin man also got his pictures taken by Auntie Mitzi for Christmas cards and just Christmas pictures.

4. Breslin turned 6 months old. Enough Said.

5. Didn't run the Las Vegas half marathon because it was Sunday night, and I would have had to miss work on Monday, and I couldn't really do it. So I am 95% sure I am going to sign up for the Pasadena half marathon that runs around the Rose Bowl. If we can't go there to watch the Spartans, I guess the second best thing is to run 13.some odd miles around it {insert sarcasm here}

Five for Fridays... or sunday

2011-11-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

1. This was a week of firsts for us and the Breslin man. Breslin celebrated his first Thanksgiving. And was officially a part of the family Thanksgiving pictures (he was last year, however he was in my belly at the time).
2. Breslin tried baby food for the first time ever. Jury is still out on whether he likes it or not. According to his facial expressions he looks like it is the grossest thing ever, but he continued to eat it. We started with rice cereal. So we will continue with the rice this week and move onto vegetables next week. (I'm thinking either carrots or sweet potato).

"Seriously daddy, you're gonna let her feed me wha?????"

Not to sure....

3. MSU made it to the first ever B1G Championship game. We even had four tickets to go. However, the plane flights were too expensive, so we had to sell our tickets :( I am super bummed about that. So we are really going to need the Spartans to pull through with a victory so we can go ahead and watch them at the Rose Bowl instead.

4. No, we did not do Black Friday. However, we were up early enough with Breslin to be able to go (for some reason he wanted to wake up at 4:30 and NOT go back to sleep).

5. Is the semester over with already?!?!

Oh My Goodness!

2011-11-19T14:39:00.000-08:00

Big Oops by Victoria's Secret PINK collection. HUGE OOPS. I just might not ever by another MSU PINK shirt again. Seriously. Whoever made those shirts should be fired... Thoughts?

Five for Fridays

2011-11-19T08:52:00.000-08:00

1. We are trying to get Breslin on stricter sleeping schedule, overall it has gone pretty well. He is able to put himself to sleep at night in the crib with little or no fuss at all around 7:30. Then it seems that around 11:30 he will wake up no fail, and it is struggle for us to get him calmed down and back to bed. I think he wants to eat, or the comfort of suckling (and since Breslin doesn't do a pacifier, the only way to get his suckling need is by nursing) however he doesn't need to, so we are not giving in, and just trying to comfort him back to bed. Besides that 11:30 time slot it has gone over pretty well. He seems more well rested and much happier. Brady and I have decided to go on an every other night duty, one night Brady will get up if Brez wakes up, the next night I will get up. (However it seems like my nights Breslin gets up the most or stays up the longest.... lol). I think Breslin knows that it's mommy in the room with him and he knows that he can get mommy's milk from me. We are definitely not a cry it out family, so we are doing the Sleep Lady Shuffle at night, this does require a few tears, which is super hard for me, but in the end everyone will be much happier and we won't be dealing with sleep issues as much when he is older. Here goes to another week of the Sleep Lady Shuffle!

2. This week seemed to last FOREVER, and on top of it grades are due, oops, I had no idea. Somebody (that's name rhymes with Bennifer) will be doing grades this weekend. Let's hope MSU wins in football, or else some of the grades might be kind of low... ;) jk jk.

3. I have finally admitted to my new found addiction to Starbucks (and I truly don't think it is because of the caffeine. Their vanilla latte with soy is amazing to my taste buds. I have to drink it with soy because of the dairy issue with Breslin).

4. Only two more weeks of regular season football. :_ ( A tear is shed. But on the plus side, Brady and I put in our request for tickets to the B1G Championship game on December 3. If we make it, we will be going. Unfortunately that is the same weekend as the half marathon I signed up for. Let's think about this for a moment; run 13.4 miles OR watch MSU play in the first ever B1G Championship game. Hmmmmm. If I don't end up running the half marathon in Vegas, there is one in Pasadena in February. I think I will sign up for that one.

5. I went to Target the other day and was very disappointed. We are having Thanksgiving on Friday at our house again this year, and I have little to no Thanksgiving decorations so I wanted to pick up a few items. It seems that every year Christmas gets longer and longer. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but for Christmas to have that special feel I can't have it last too long. I went to Target and I couldn't find any Thanksgiving items at all. But, boy oh boy, was there quite a bit of Christmas items. I know stores are just finding a way to make a little money with our economy and what not, but seriously, some items were out just after Halloween (I think Costco had items out before Halloween). Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and that is why I was bummed out by this. I don't want it to be looked over :( Oh well, I guess I saved some money... Brady should be happy by this!

5.

Five for Fridays

2011-11-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

1. We made another trip back to Michigan.
2. Breslin went to his first ever MSU game. Not only that, but his first true gameday experience.
3. It is so great to see all of my family and friends back in Michigan. Even though people joke about us flying out there so often... I still do not see them nearly enough. I love you all and miss you dearly.
4. Breslin is now growing out of his 6 month clothing and is now wearing 9 month clothes (someone needs to tell him he is only five months old).
5. Can not believe we are already in the thick of November. Before we know it the New Year will be upon us.

Our trip to Michigan ~ All things MSU

2011-11-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Our trip to Michigan ~ Breslin's first MSU football game

2011-11-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

Breslin and daddy sitting at our season ticket seats!

The Burrill family's first football game together! Luckily MSU won!

Walking through all of the tailgaters.

It's kind of chilly out of the stadium...

Breslin telling Auntie Tina all about his first game.

And the we won :)

Had to grab a family shot by the original Sparty after the win.

Traditional post game tailgate with Kathie (my coach at MSU).

We did it all to give Breslin his first true MSU game day experience. We attempted it for the Michigan game... but it was too windy. So we tried yet again for the Minnesota game. We started off the morning leaving the house by about 9:15 or so. We started our rounds of tailgating. We stopped by the Simpson's tailgate and got to hang out with them for a good hour or so, then we walked through campus and finished our pregame tailgate at the Weichman's tailgate. Oma had bought Breslin brand new warm MSU gear for his first game... and little did we know, that the second to last home game (any game in November really) it was going to be 50 degrees and perfectly sunny with not a cloud in the sky. Needless to say, we had too much clothing on Breslin, and ended up having to take off his jacket as soon as we got into the game because he was so warm. We were more concerned with Breslin getting a sunburn then him being too cold. Who would have thought?!?! So we headed into the game around 11:45, with the game's start time being at noon. Breslin watched the whole first quarter and did GREAT! Slept through the entire second quarter (which I have no idea how)... made an awakening during half time and the third quarter, and then went and changed him and fed him during the fourth quarter. Breslin was a BIG hit with all of the fans around us. Let's just say this wasn't MSU's best showing at a football game, and when we weren't playing well, the fan's were like... at least we have a cute baby to look at! (A few people even asked to take pictures of him!) After the game... around 3:45 or so we did some postgame tailgating back with the Weichman's then headed over to Kathie's tailgate . On our way over to Kathie's we walked by the Sparty statue, so we had to stop and take a pic. Then capped off the game day experience at Kathie's tailgate. All in all our day started around 9 am when we headed out... and then we left campus around 5 or so.... I would say Breslin is a trooper, and will do just fine in our little family :)

Our trip to Michigan ~ Friends

2011-11-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

These are some of my favorite people; Dana & John & their newest addition Hannah; Anna & Brian & their newest addition Teagan; and Lauren & Sean!!!! I love all of you guys and wish I could see you more often. (Lauren and Sean-- can't wait to meet up with you guys in Colorado and hit up the slopes). See all of you over Christmas.

Our trip to Michigan ~ Family

2011-11-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

Grandpa Mike

Auntie Tina

Daddy

the Yarbrough Ladies with the little Burrill man

Auntie Tina and Breslin in their best Spartan gear

Breslin and his favorite Oma

And a last minute surprise from Tante Joyce

Five for Fridays

2011-10-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

1. It was photo shoot Saturday last Saturday morning. We took Halloween pictures, then took Sparty pictures, and then Breslin man was done with all of his outfits and wanted to be freeeeeee!!! So here he is hammin it up for all the little ladies out there!

2. Still going dairy/egg/nut/shellfish/sea food free. It is not as hard as I had anticipated. Mitzi came over with a recipe for a pumpkin spice cake that is egg and dairy free and uber tasty. The only time the diet gets frustrating is when I don't plan out meals ahead of time, because then I want to do the quick and easy thing, which more often than not has some sort of dairy in it.

3. I went to an Educators in Industry Day on Friday instead of being in the classroom. It was truly a great learning experience. We visited two different companies and talked to them about what would make our students more prepared to be in their work environment. What they think the applicants are lacking, and so on and so forth. Then the dean of math and sciences from Cal Poly gave a great lunchtime speech about what is expected of students in the first year as college students, and why so many students seem to fail out. It was definitely well worth my while.

4. We booked our plane tickets back for the MSU/Minnesota game next weekend. And Breslin's Oma bought Breslin a Michigan State sweatsuit and coat and jacket for the game next weekend. Because Breslin WILL be attending this game. (It won't be as crazy as the Michigan game... or so we hope).

5. This year we didn't quite get around to putting up our Halloween decorations :( I am planning on putting up Thanksgiving decorations when we get back from our next Michigan trip.

Lombardi Ranch

2011-10-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

This was our first of what will be many trips to Lombardi Ranch. Breslin got to hang out by the pumpkins and do a little photo shoot for his Auntie. Breslin is going a little white trash with his shirt and diaper hanging out, but it was 100 degrees last Sunday when we went and we thought it was too hot for him to wear the matching pants! So white trash it is!

Sparty Man!

2011-10-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

Poor guy, has no choice but to be a little Spartan man!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

Breslin man decided he wanted to be a banana for Halloween!

Five for Fridays (for two weeks)

2011-10-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

Alot happened last weekend... We were out of town, so I didn't get a chance to do a Five for Friday, so I combined them into one. The first big thing.... pictured from above #1. Breslin got to go to the Breslin Center for the first time in his life! We went to Midnight Madness for the MSU Spartans, and in hopes to keep Breslin on California time, while in Michigan, we thought going to Midnight Madness would be perfect! He absolutely loved the cheerleaders... (he's definitely a Burrill boy!)

#2 Breslin got to meet most of his Grand Rapids Burrill family while in Michigan. Julie, Aunt Terry, Blake, Nick, Dan, and Leesa drove all the way from Grand Rapids to Williamston to meet Breslin and hang out for only about an hour. Thanks guys for making the trek... It truly was worth it.

#3 Breslin finally got to meet Chayla and Darreal. They drove out to the Michigan game from DC. We try to meet up and plan one football trip that we both can make it to! This one was it!

#4 I guess is a pretty big deal as well.... In order to get to Michigan... we had to take an airplane! Breslin's first airplane trip was when he was just four months, and he did GREAT! We got compliments on both the flight out there and back. It's a good thing he did great, because flying is going to be a major part of his life...

#5 We got to meet up with my favorite people! Anna and Lauren! And Breslin got to meet his future wife, little Miss Teagan!

Then some extras... Lauren, unfortunately had to work the whole weekend we were back. Luckily we did get to hang out and spend some good quality time on Friday with her, and then we ended up meeting her hubby and parents at their tailgate spot on Saturday before the game! Oh, how I miss and love all of them!

And the reason we went back..... To watch Michigan State yet again beat Michigan for the fourth year in a row! Breslin's first plane flight with mom and dad $900, Breslin's first trip to the Breslin Center - free, trip to the Student Book Store $150; tickets to the game - $150; watching MSU beat U of M for the 4th year in a row... PRICELESS :)

Five for Fridays

2011-10-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

1. Well we found out that Breslin is allergic to something in the "mommy's milk." We have exclusively nursed Breslin with mommy's milk and have yet to use formula. If we want to continue to do so we have to figure out what it is that I am eating that is giving Breslin an allergic reaction. So last Friday I gave up dairy, eggs, shellfish, seafood, and nuts. Hopefully his reactions will go away by his next doctors appointment (which is October 20). Then I can reintroduce each of those foods one at a time to single out which food item it is. If it doesn't clear up by the doctors appointment we will probably have to switch to formula :( We would at least like to go 6 months... but we were planning on doing mommy's milk exclusively for the first year. So hopefully this works. It's hard on me, but I am always up for a challenge... so if giving up dairy (and all that other stuff which I don't really eat) is what I have to do to make my little man feel good, then I will! Plus I should drop about 50 pounds because I won't have my daily ice cream night cap and no more excessive cheese. :p

2. Along with #1, it's not just the dairy you think of (ice cream, butter, milk, cheese, etc.) that I have to give up. It's also everything that goes into milk... the biggest one is the protein products that comes from cow milk, and let me tell you, this is in EVERYTHING.... Grocery shopping was quite a challenge... and I feel like I will be living off of salads... but it is what it is, and hopefully it will be worth it.

3. We had fall break this week, and we went to Palm Springs with the other Burrill's to just kick back and relax... and that we did!

4. Gotta love a three day work week!

5. It was a big weekend/week for the sports of the state of Michigan. Michigan State beat Ohio State at Ohio State for the first time in 12 years... that other collegiate team that is from the state of Michigan won their Big Ten opener... then on Sunday, the Detroit Lions came back from 24 down to the Dallas Cowboys to come back and win the game in regulation, and then on Thursday the Tigers beat the Yankees in the ALDS (I think?!?!) So people in Michigan, or from the state of Michigan should be feeling pretty good! Like those pic below says... the big cats are back!

Five for Fridays

2011-09-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

1. MSU got back on a winning streak against Central Michigan... hopefully the trend will go through to tomorrow... when we play Ohio State.

2. Breslin man got his first little cold :( We took his temp on Sunday, it was 101, so we had to drive down to Encino to see an emergency pediatric doctor that is open on the weekends.... they took it, and his temp was 88.1... of course it was... but the total hour of driving, there and back, and the $70 office visit charge, was totally worth it for peace of mind for us...

3. Well, you guessed it... if Breslin had a cold on Sunday... Mommy got a cold on Monday... that has lasted all the way through to today, and because I am nursing 100% I can not take any cold medications...., and daddy got a cold on Tuesday that is still alive and kickin! We appreciate Breslin learning how to share a such a young age ;)

4. Breslin got to have an Auntie and Nathan day on Monday. Even though Breslin didn't have a temperature, and seemed to be doing fine, we thought it would be best to keep him away from the other kids at daycare for one more day. And let's be honest, we didn't really have to try to convince Auntie Mitzi real hard on this idea. So Breslin stayed with Mitzi... and of course Mitzi turned it into a part time photo sesh!

5. I am so glad this week is over... just being sick, fall break around the corner, it just seemed like the never ending week! But it's over and I welcome the four days we get for Fall Break! Yeah :)

Five for Fridays... or Saturday

2011-09-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

Whew... what a busy busy week... glad it's over.

1. Covered a class during my prep period on Monday and Tuesday... I vowed I would never use up my prep period with coverage two days in a row again.... (but Im doing it this week... that vow didn't last long). But instead of getting paid the $34 for class coverage, I am hoping to get in six class coverages before our trip to Michigan, because then I can use it as a comp day, and it won't count against my days off...

2. It was a test week at school. I had 150+ Algebra 2 Trig tests to grade on Thursday :/ ugh, and with test days I also have 150+ homework checks to grade and record, 150+ calendars to grade, and 150+ pretest corrections/extra credit to grade... hence it taking me five or so hours after school + the hours during the school day spent grading... Then on Friday I had my Geometry test... this time at least it was only 35 tests to grade, so not as bad.

3. I am still training for the half marathon in Vegas December 4. On Sunday I ran five miles.... tomorrow I will be running six. I don't have ANY time during the week to get any running in, so I run about 2 or so miles on Saturday and then my long runs on Sunday. I am hoping to squeeze in a quick run or so during the week as well, but its so hot after school I just can't.

4. Sadly, MSU lost to Notre Dame last Saturday, but having Breslin as a distraction from the loss made both me and Brady handle the loss like normal people, versus the fanatics like we are. Along the same lines... How about them Lions... Detroit 2-0 people!!! what what! Watch out now!

5. Breslin's new thing: Bouncing... in about a month or so, when we are finally for sure about his head stability we are gong to have to get him a bouncer... OMG, he just light's up when we bounce him. I have a video that I will post later, it is ssssssoooooo adorable.

Five for Fridays... or sunday

2011-09-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

1. Last Sunday Wes, Brady, and Breslin all helped me put together my SmartBoard. What was only planning on taking about 45 minutes ended up taking 3 hours. As Brady says, with all the technology stuff, doesn't it always take longer than anticipated?

2. Back to School night was on Thursday night. I love Back to School Night and seeing all the parents of my students, but this year, was a little different, I would just rather be at home with my little one.

3. We got out Delta Skymiles credit card, and used it to book our flight back to Michigan, this way we get double miles for our flights and get a mile for every dollar we spend. For people like Brady and I, you can see why having this credit card is a great investment. On the down side it does have an annual fee of 90.00, but on the upside you get free bags... so the annual fee pays for itself with one flight!

4. Have been able to get a few things scrapbooked in Breslin's baby book while he is taking naps on the weekend. And am sort of staying caught up (well at least with his stuff).

5. The weather was GREAT this week. Nice and cool in the mornings and 80's during the day. However, I hear that it is supposed to get back into the upper 90's this week :( Bummer.

Seriously guys....

2011-09-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

When is enough enough with this Michigan State pictures?!?!?! Well, mommy says... there can never be enough :)

Five for Fridays... or Saturday

2011-09-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

1. (Above pic) Breslin conked after his first full weekend of football!!!! Last Friday was the MSU game, but then on Saturday we spent all day at Casey and Kris's house watching football all day long... This pic was taken during the Oregon game last weekend... he is out like a light.

2. Gave my first tests this week for my Alg 2 Trig classes... Class average in each class ranged between am 87 - 88%.

3. I got a SmartBoard for my classroom... I will share pictures of that once I get it up and running in my classroom!

4. We are dilligently trying to watch our money, because those stupid hospital bills from Breslin's birth still keep coming in (you would think three months later and about 4 grand later that they would be done coming...). But because we are watching our money I am cooking more at home and making some real good meals (they taste good to me at least). Now I really do feel like a parent running a household... taking care of a baby, making home cooked meals.... Thank goodness for the cleaners, cuz I just don't think I can clean on top of it :)

5. And I am a blonde again!!! It has been a good two years. It is a legit blonde too (pic below).

Yup... That's What I Do... I roll over!

2011-09-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

3 months old on Friday... Look how Breslin man has grown!

2011-09-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

3 months

2 months

1 month

Five for Fridays... or sunday

2011-09-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

Wellp.... to get ready for football season this week Breslin....
1. Had an MSU photo session with Mitzi. If you wanna check it out, visit www.photobymitzi.com and click on recent sessions... a sneak peak of a few are up here.
2. Starting on Wednesday he wore a MSU onesie everyday!
3. We had a whole bunch of people over here on Friday for the first MSU football game of the season.
4. Breslin-man watched his first ever MSU football game on his 3 month birthday.
5. And MSU won it's season opener against Youngstown State... it wasn't a very exciting game, nor was it a convincing win, but that gives us things to work on for next week.

What do you do when its 107 degrees out?

2011-08-28T16:18:00.000-07:00

Spend the afternoon in the pool :)

Six days until MSU football!

2011-08-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

Go Michigan State!

Playing like the big boys do!

2011-08-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Yup... look at me and my new toy. I turn three months old next week... and this toy it's for four month old babies!!!! Look at me go! Mommy and Daddy think I am growing up too fast, but I am just having soo much fun!

Five for Fridays... or Saturday

2011-08-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

1. First full week of school with students! I am finally starting to see the personalities of all of my classes. Looks to be a fun semester!

2. Breslin man is growing by leaps and bounds! He can keep himself occupied playing with his two favorite toys.... he has a little butterfly and a blanket with tags.

3. Beaumont's new favorite thing is to keep Brady and me awake ALL the time. It is not Breslin that keeps us awake through the night, it is Beau. His favorite thing to do in the middle of the night is climb up Breslin's screen door... which makes ssssssssssssooooooooooooo much noise.

4. It was HOT this week especially Thursday and Friday creeping into the 100's

5. We are anxiously awaiting football season. Only six more days!

Five for Fridays... or Saturday

2011-08-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

1. Breslin started daycare this week. He did great, however mommy on the other hand struggled. The first day I only had to leave him from 7:40 - 12:30 because we just had a big staff meeting and then a department meeting. So it was a good ease in day for the both of us.

2. With #1, we think Breslin has a little girlfriend at daycare! We take him to an at home daycare where the lady takes care of a total of 6 little ones. But Lily (6 months) and Breslin are her two littlest ones, and I think Lily loves having another baby around. Lily just plays and Breslin just stares at her!!!! So cute.

3. School started on Thursday with students. I like my classes, I am just waiting for my students to open up with there personality a little more.

4. Breslin man is growing by leaps and bounds... he rarely fusses at all anymore, only wakes up once during the night to eat, is so alert, takes the bottles, now actually plays with stuffed animals and rattles, and is becoming very self reliant (he amuses himself much more!)

5. Slowly but surely we are going to get a morning routine going. It is definitely a lot different getting yourself ready and a baby in the morning. Both Thursday and Friday I have forgotten at least one thing that I needed to bring to school... It'll get easier.

Five for Fridays... or sunday

2011-08-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

I missed last weeks five for Fridays.... So here we go.. Five for Friday's over the last two weeks...

1. Went to Vegas to celebrate Michael's 21st birthday. My whole family + the William's came out! It was Breslin's first vacation EVER!

2. Played Black Jack at the tables for the first time ever in Vegas. Won $40.00!

3. Had an AMAZING Rock Band session with the Dos's.

4. Mom drove all the way back to Michigan. It's the first time all summer that it's just been the three of us; Breslin, Brady, and me.

5. Breslin had his first set of shots... very traumatic for everybody involved :(

Vegas 2011

2011-08-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

Poolside

The only way to stop from overheating out there..... poolside

You guessed it... the Chandelier Lounge

The ladies having a drink after the show.

Dawn, me, Aunt Joyce, Megan, Christina, and mom.

The boys, minus Brady (Brady and I had already seen Elvis, so Brady stayed back in the hotel with the Bres man). Greg, Michael, and Scott.

Old Town Vegas... Fremont Street

Family Photo

Dawn and mom on Fremont Street

We went to Vegas to celebrate many things. First and foremost, Michael's 21st birthday, then everything else we celebrated was major things that happened this year... Megan got her certification in personal training, Dawn and Greg both celebrated their 50th birthdays and their 29th anniversary, my mom and dad celebrated their 30th anniversary, me and Brady had our first child, Christina will turn 30 in a few short weeks, and Michael's friend Scott graduated from college. I absolutely love the Williams and had a great time. I definitely wish we lived closer and could hang out with them more.

The first day we got there, we all went out to dinner, followed by a little pre drinking, and then the "kids" (me, Brady, Michael, Scott, Christina, and Megan) went and had a few drinks at a lounge in MGM. The next day we spent the morning/afternoon by the pool, did some gambling, then went off to walk around the strip and had a great dinner together at the Cheesecake factory in Caeser's Palace, and then Christina, Brady, and I went over to the Tropicana that night and gambled. Brady lost 40 bucks in about 5 minutes playing his first time at craps... I don't he'll be playing that game again anytime soon. And I lost 40 at the roulette table... I was winning, but oh it can go so fast.... :( The next day we spent ANOTHER morning at the pool, then got ready to go to Aria and saw Viva (the cirque show based upon Elvis's life) everybody loved it. Me and Christina put 100 dollars on black on roulette... and lost :( But we had a great time at the lounge called Chandelier... which is in one of the above pictures. It literally feels like you are in a chandelier. Later on that evening we went to a club in our hotel and had a blast (however.... my lungs suffered because it has been FOREVER since I have been anywhere where there has been cigarette smoke... and let me tell you, there was plenty of cigarette smoke (why anybody smokes still... is beyond me). The next day Christina had to leave and so did Aunt Joyce. The ladies went to the pool again in the morning, then we all headed out to Fremont Street. OMG, that was great! I had no idea what was down there. We ate at Tony Roma's for dinner and those had to be the best ribs I have ever head... fell right off the bone. Then we walked up and down old Las Vegas. That night we did our last little bit of gambling; me and Dawn hit up the slots... but finished up with black jack... AT THE TABLES :) We talked about how nervous we were, but we figured we would give it a shot. I had ran out of money, but Dawn had twenty dollars left, she said, you get ten, I get ten and lets play... so we did... and Dawn ended up being up 60 I think, and myself up 40!!! We had a blast. I absolutely love the Williams and truly think we should do a Vegas trip... or just any kind of trip at least every other year! I had so much fun, and miss them so much. I wish we lived closer! All in all the Vegas trip was a success, and Breslin kicked some major ass spending his first time away from home for four nights!

Five for Fridays

2011-07-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

1. As you can see from the pictures above we took Breslin man to the beach for the first time ever!
2. Attempted surfing for the first time since last year
3. Bought Breslin a whole bunch of new stuff from Target.... thank you Rod and Sarah Tapp.
4. Did Dos workouts all this week.... (Francine Dos that is!) Just trying to kick the pregnancy belly.,.
5. We celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary on July 28... My oh my does time fly!

Five for Fridays

2011-07-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

1. Met Christina's boyfriend. He flew out to be with the family this weekend as well.
2. Had a lot of family bonding time!
3. Horrible Bosses = Hillariouos
4. House feels empty now, had 7 people here, now 4 remaining... and in two weeks just the three of us.
5. Have really started getting into the groove of working out again... I am right now somewhere between 145 and 147... trying to get back to the pre pregnancy weight of 138...

Five for Fridays

2011-07-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

1. Christina has been out all week!!!!

2. We got more family pictures this week... Mitzi's favorite saying for the picture above... "Raise your hand if your cute."

3. Wait... could it be?!?! Is that my dad?!?! Yup, my dad made it out to California after five years to visit his grandson :) And we got to do family pictures out in California! Thanks Mitzi for the pics :)

Yup... that was a squirter... hopefully it didn't get on my shirt!

4. We have gotten to do a lot of family bonding time this week.... pool time, ping pong, rock band, cards, and movies.

5. We got to meet Christina's boyfriend this week too. His name is Steve, he flew out from New York to hang out with us.

My little bug a boo

2011-07-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Five for Fridays

2011-07-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

1. We celebrated our first Fourth of July as a family
2. If you didn't see the post I just posted... we got some smiles this week from the Bresmeister :)
3. I got my hair highlighted for the first time in two years... (last year I couldn't get it highlighted because of the pregnancy... and the year before I couldn't get it highlighted because of the health issues that were going on, still to be determined on what that was all about...)
4. Still studying for the CSET.... It's tomorrow... wish me luck.
5. Breslin slept in his crib ALL WEEK!!!! :)

Smile :)

2011-07-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

Five for Fridays

2011-07-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

1. We went to Kelly and Gio's wedding! It was beautiful.
2. Left Breslin with mom for five hours... and everyone... (including me) survived!
3. Went and saw "Super 8" it was AWESOME!!!
4. Breslin is now 4 weeks old is continuously growing.
5. CSET is a week away. I better pass this sucker...

"Mommy's Milk"

2011-06-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

Nobody knew Brady was a song writer?!?!

Five for Fridays

2011-06-24T10:32:00.001-07:00

1. Aunt Joyce and mom came out to visit Breslin. Aunt Joyce only for a few days, mom, for the whole summer.
2. Breslin LOVES his baths... I wanted to post a whole post on pics from his bath... But it was slightly innapropriate... so I will only post the appropriate pic.
3. Made it to a lunch out at a REAL restaurant, ChiChi's with mom, A. Joyce, Brady, Breslin, and I.
4. We had one night this week where Breslin only woke up once!
5. I somehow still am finding time to study for the CSET... which is now only two weeks away.

Five for Fridays

2011-06-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

1. Slowly but surely we are getting the hang of this parenting thing.
2. Breslin's umbilical cord remains fell off! He's got an innie belly button.
3. I had a doctor's appointment to double check my blood pressure now that I am off of the medication... 117/78!!!! :)
4. Had our first dinner out as a family of 3.... It was a little rushed and not relaxing at all... but we did it! I HAD to get out of the house, I was going stir crazy.. Brady has baseball camp and baseball games that get him out of the house, but I have to hang around inside all day and feed Breslin around the clock... so it was nice.
5. We had to have the fire department come out and take care of a rattlesnake that was found in our backyard. How many firemen does it take to get rid of a rattlesnake? 3! And we thank them, because our cats every once in a while escape to the outdoors and the Mandel children come and swim at our place, so I am glad that it got taken care of so everybody (including our animals) are safe!

Five for Fridays

2011-06-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

Wow... Crazy week :)

1. We have been parents for one full week! It is not as overwhelming as everybody has said it was going to be, but maybe that's because Breslin is a perfect little angel. And I also seem to have more energy now then when I was pregnant... lack of sleep is not an issue over here so far....

2. I did however underestimate the recovery time for me after giving birth... the pain and uncomfortableness... and other things.... were pretty unbearable the first couple of days... I told Brady, one and done with Breslin because of this recovery.... but now that we are a week out from having Breslin, I realize the recovery is bearable and whatever pain and uncomfortableness I have been going through this last week it is well well well worth it.

3. Took Breslin for his newborn pics (see post below for some sneak peeks).

4. Learning how to be a family of three, and it is working out really well.

5. Have been showered with visits and warm wishes and dinners from family and friends. We really appreciate all of it. An extra thanks to those who stopped by with food... again, my underestimation of my recovery process left me being very immobile and not very capable of making food.

Newborn Photo Session with Auntie Mitzi

2011-06-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

Newborn pics done by Mitzi. Can find them all at PhotobyMitzi.com, she rocks!!!!

Five for Fridays

2011-06-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

Let's see... Not a whole lot to report in this Friday's Five for Fridays.... (insert sarcasm here):
1. June 2, 2011 6:26 PM PST (approximately 18 hours of labor)
2. 8 lb 6 oz
3. 21.5 inches long
4. 10 fingers and 10 toes

5. I introduce you to Breslin Michael BurrillThe Burrill Aunties that were there with me almost the whole time... Thanks ladies for helping me out through the labor!

The daddy getting to hold Breslin for the first time (Brady is wearing a mask because both him and I had really nasty colds, his even worse than mine).

Stretchin out and showing his muscles

Perplexed... Where am I?

Me and the baby Bres

Baby toes! Adorable :)

When I see this picture (Breslin's first of many pictures....) I think of Look Who's Talking, "Put Me Back In!!!"

Swaddled and ready to go

A little mommy bonding time

Brady checking out his son... I think he's approved!

Five for Fridays

2011-05-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

1. Well today is Breslin's due date.... and I have a sneaky feeling he is not coming today... Doctor's appointment yesterday showed no signs of my body getting ready to push him out... Although Breslin himself is weighing in at a good 8 1/2 pounds already. Doc said if he is not out by next Thursday we are going to induce for Friday.

2. Had an ultrasound on Wednesday and Breslin looks ssssoooo squished in there!

3. Thursday was our last day of school! Summer at last!

4. Went and saw Pirates. Pretty good.

5. Michigan State baseball was co big ten champs... First time since 1979... Go State!

Five for Fridays (or Sunday?!?!)

2011-05-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

1. I signed up for and PAID for the July Calculus CSET... I've got a lot of studying to do if I am going to pass that sucker!

2. Breslin is in no hurry to come out and meet everyone. At the last doctor's appointment the doctor said there are no signs of labor anytime soon. Let's go Breslin... 1 week little man...

3. The senior class of Valencia graduated on Thursday. I am so proud and happy for my students! They were part of my first teaching class at Valencia, and they have grown up to be such wonderful young adults. I will miss them dearly, but am excited for what the future may bring for them.

4. Went and saw Bridesmaids last Saturday... Hillarious. A definite must see!

5. One more week left of school.

Five for Fridays

2011-05-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

1. Was told that I had to take the third CSET (Calculus) if I want to continue to teach Alg 2 Trig (because of the Trig portion), so in addition to being 37 weeks pregnant on Monday and Wednesday of this past week and next week I am taking a 3 hour class to refresh my memory of calc... It's kind of rushed and confusing at times because we are trying to get through the entire Calc book in 4 sessions, but I've forgotten how much I love to learn... I feel so smart when I remember something, or get the right answer when no one else does. The test is in mid July, so I am trying to get most of my studying done before Breslin get's here.

2. Spent my "first" mother's day over at Janie's for a nice day of lunch and dinner with the Burrill and Choate clan.

3. If you've checked out my 365 blog, you saw that we put in a screen door on Breslin's room. For the safety of Breslin from the cats! You can never be too safe. Beaumont is bipolar, so who knows how he will react to Breslin, and Thomas is really lovey... sometimes to lovey (like this morning when I woke up to Thomas on top of my chest mewing and purring). Probably not a good idea that Thomas does this with Breslin because if any of you know Thomas... is a bit on the hefty side!

4. We decided to do ViaCord, which is a Cord Blood banking and Stem Cell storage system. It is a bit on the pricey side, but Brady and I see it is an insurance policy. Something that we will pay for but hopefully never have to use. But in the event Breslin may need something from his Cord blood we want to be prepared and ready. There are so many advancements in medicine we want to have a leg up just in case.

5. As of Friday May 13, Breslin is 2 weeks away from his due date (and we are two weeks away from the end of the school year). I had a doctors appointment and everything looks good, but it doesn't look like Breslin wants to come early at all. There was zero dilation. (Let's be honest... I really don't even know what that means...) Even though we are anxiously awaiting Breslin's arrival and would love for him to come a little early, for school 's sake (for me) and for baseball's sake (for Brady and all of the baseball parents) it would be perfect if he waited until his due date, much to Mitzi's (Brady's sister) disappointment!!!!

Five for Fridays (or Sunday?!?!)

2011-05-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

1. Oh it got hot this week... 90's +. Wake up call for the uncomfortable pregnant woman. In my classroom I have been blasting the airconditioning. One of my female students asked if I could turn it down... I told them all, I am 37 weeks pregnant and got my own oven cooking... it's going to be cold in here, so cover up!

2. We have interviewed one day care place for the coming fall, and plan to interview at least two more. Oh the joys of being a parent... without being a parent quite yet.

3. Another friday came and went, along with another doctors appointment. The doctor said everything looks good, just make sure bags are packed because the baby could come any time now.

4. Trying to see as many movies in the theater as we can right now, due to the lack of movies we may see when Breslin gets here. I dragged Brady to see "Something Borrowed," and it was really cute. I think Brady even enjoyed it... I heard him laugh a few times.

5. We continue to wait for Breslin to arrive... These last few weeks feel like the longest weeks ever. Even though everyone tells us to enjoy this time before he gets here, I think that everyone has forgotten how uncomfortable the mom is these last few weeks of pregnancy... The belly keeps getting bigger, no matter how I lie, it's uncomfortable, the twice, maybe three times a night potty breaks getting me prepared for the many sleepless nights with Breslin, the hands and feet swelling... Im not really sure how to enjoy these last few weeks... We just really want to meet Breslin, want to know what he will look like, want to see his personality... we are very anxious! It's only a matter of time... I know... and then our world will be flipped outside down (for the better of course).

Five for Fridays

2011-04-29T21:20:00.001-07:00

Five for Fridays!!!

1) We are getting close..... Last Saturday, Mitzi so graciously took maternity pictures for us and baby Breslin. She did a fantastic job :) I have sprinkled a few of them here and there, either on my blog or on facebook. If you want to see more, check out Mitzi's website at www.photobyMitzi.com and click on the Maternity link.

2) Celebrated mine and Kris's birthday on Easter Sunday over at the Choates. It was a little bit cooler than we would have liked, but the kids still enjoyed the pool, and we all enjoyed each other's company.

3) We renewed our MSU season football tickets for this upcoming season. We have hit a sporting drought... when collegiate basketball is over, and I wait for college football. (Yes I have become a pretty legit Laker fan, and I give my best effort with the Dodgers... but let's be honest... nothing compares). But renewing these tickets gets me excited... and I am really excited to have Breslin go to his first football game, seeing as he already has a signed football from Dantonio!!!!! :)

4) I had a dentist appointment... it was rough. Pregnancy makes your gums more sensitive, and having the dentist go in there and scrape away with their metal, sharp tools not really a good idea. Five months ago when I had my last appointment we thought I should schedule the next appointment before the baby arrives (seeing as I would have more time)... but looking back on it, Im not so sure my decision was the right one. Oh well, dentist appointment done, no need to worry about another one for another six months!

5) We took a tour of Henry Mayo, where Breslin Michael Burrill will be born. We got to see the labor and delivery room, the operating room (if a C-section were to happen), and the post partum rooms. If my every growing belly, and the maternity pictures aren't constant reminders, this hospital visit made it even more real!!!!! We are in the home stretch, and any week (or any day now) or lives will change forever! (I even started to pack my "hospital bag" just in case).

Another month gone by...

2011-04-24T08:54:00.001-07:00

Preview of some belly pics!!!!

2011-04-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

Well, Brady and I went over to Mitzi's to get some maternity pics done. Here are a few of them. She did a great job as always!

Five for Fridays

2011-04-23T11:31:00.001-07:00

It was a very eventful week....

1) I turned the big 2-8 this week... where does all the time go? Funny to think that I just turned 28, but how it is a HUGE turning point... everything before 28 is everything before Breslin... everything post 28 is everything with Breslin.....

2) Brady got me my first surfboard for my birthday... I am excited to go out on it later on this summer.

3) Had my California Baby Shower (see pics below). It was wonderful seeing all of my family and friends. My mom and aunt flew out... and my sister (it was a surprise visit from her).

4) Ate at the Melting Pot down in Pasadena for my birthday dinner... OMG ... it is AMAZING....

5) We are now REALLY in the home stretch with Baby Breslin now... 35 weeks down, approximately 5 to go. I have to start thinking about packing a hospital bag, we have to register down at the hospital, and take a tour... The baby gives you nine months to prepare, but in that last month it still seems like the baby didn't give you enough prep time!!!!

Baby Shower!

2011-04-17T20:17:00.001-07:00

Today we had Baby Breslin's baby shower! Thanks to Kris for opening up her house, and Mitzi for the planning, and everybody else who helped and came. It meant so much to me, Brady, and Breslin.Mitzi and Kris getting their feel on with baby Breslin!

My mom and aunt flew out from Michigan, and Christina flew in from Florida (I knew my mom and aunt were coming, but Christina was a surprise)! Thanks for making the trip. I love you guys, it was a great weekend.

Who knew there was Spartan gear Breslin didn't have yet?!?!?!

Look at the girlies, taking it all in.

Well, Breslin got a signed basketball from Tom Izzo at the Michigan baby shower... and got a signed football from Dantonio at the California baby shower!!! That baby is so spoiled... and he's not even here yet....

Thank you to all that came.

Jennifer and Baby Breslin before the shower.

The decorations that were done were so cute. The theme of the baby shower was ice cream... because let's be honest... ice cream is one of my favorite things.

An ice cream sundae made out of baby clothing and baby wash cloths. So cute...

And of course... cake pops. Mitzi made her famous cake pops into shapes of little ice cream cones... so creative.

Again, thanks to all who came (and those who weren't able to.... but were there in spirit). It was a wonderfully well done shower, complete with an ice cream bar AND a scrapbook station. (The scrapbook station was a GREAT idea. We already have quite a few pre made scrapbook pages for when Breslin comes). If the theme of the gifts at the Michigan shower was MSU... the theme of the gifts at this shower was baseball... Breslin got a lot of baseball clothing, baseball room accessories, and even a baseball chair!!!! I'm not sure if people got my memo or not about Breslin not playing baseball.... haha, we'll see how long that lasts! It was great seeing everyone, and Breslin can't wait to meet all of you!

Five for Fridays (or Sunday?!?!)

2011-04-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

1. It was the week returning from spring break.... it always takes a few days to get adjusted after having a week off.

2. Had a great time with the Mandels and Jerry for dinner on Saturday night.

3. Did some DIY (do it yourself) projects around the house.

4. Brady's team (West Ranch) won 2/2 games this week.

5. At our last doctor's appointment we found out that Breslin is looking two weeks bigger... that doesn't mean he is going to be 2 weeks early, it just means that coming out he is going to look two weeks bigger... We're looking at an upper 9, maybe even 10 lb baby!!! Whoa Breslin!!! I think were looking at a future linebacker for MSU!

Week 33

2011-04-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well... we got 7 weeks left. My how time has flown.

Breslin right now is approximately4 pounds! Wow... considering I have gained 20 or so, you would think he would be a little bit bigger! But Breslin and all of his baggage (placenta, amniotic fluid, blood) weigh in at about 10 or so pounds right now... And then of course there is the weight I have gained in the "fun bags!!!" as well ... hahaha... Breslin now should be about 17.2 inches long as well. We have our third ultrasound coming up on Tuesday and this is the one that they will check all of his measurements and make sure that everything is measuring right.

We are now on the, see a doctor once every two weeks schedule... No big deal... I got the time... yeah right. We are now heading into the end of the semester with school, I am still tutoring a few families and I have to make time for these doc appointments. Oh well, even though these doctor's appointments seem pointless, I know that they are very important, checking my bp, listening to the baby's heart and measuring my weight and belly (uterus) size.

As for how I feel these days... just fine. Of course I am tired, if I am able to take in a nap every other day that is just what I need! But other than that, I am not extremely uncomfortable. Breslin is moving ALOT, but he has yet to keep me awake with his movements. I really feel like staying active and continuing to work out throughout the pregnancy has made me feel really good, I mean besides the movement in my belly and the realization that it is very difficult to bend over and touch my toes or tie my shoes, sometimes I forget that my belly is even there...

Brady and I are slowly but surely getting more and more excited and prepared for Breslin's arrival! And I know... we will never be "prepared" but we are more prepared then we were 34 weeks ago, that's for sure.

Next week we are having the California baby shower, and I am looking forward to it! I can't wait to see all of my friends and family. I am super excited that my mom and Aunt are going to be able to make it as well, they are flying all the way out from Michigan! I truly appreciate it. We are also going to be doing our for real maternity pictures here soon with Mitzi taking them of course!

Looking forward to these last few weeks!

Five for Fridays

2011-04-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well this past week was Spring Break week, and we were jam packed with baseball games down in the OC.

1. Brady's West Ranch baseball team beat the no. 4 (or 5) team in California, Mater Dei in their Spring Break tournament.

2. We went down to San Diego for the second portion of Spring Break and went to Sea World. The weather was overcast and in the low 60's, so it wasn't super crowded there. Being a teacher in California we took Sea World up on their offer of a free annual pass for teachers. The only thing we paid for was parking and food! We saw all of the sights and attractions and shows.. the only thing we didn't do were the rides for obvious reasons...

The Sea Lions Live Show

The dolphin and pilot whale show.

Brady's favorite: the Beluga Whales... we bought Breslin a stuffed Beluga!!!

And of course... the Shamu show. It's definitely interesting to see how the show has changed ever since the trainer died in Sea World, Orlando; no trainer's go in the water with the orca's, and they do not pick an audience member to go up and pet Shamu anymore.

3. While down in San Diego we were able to visit Brady's good friends' Jeremy and Michelle Goodman and their almost 2 year old Cadence.

4. While down in Orange County for the baseball tournament, Casey and family, and us went down to Newport Beach and Balboa Island. We took an electric boat tour of the Island and then drove over there and looked at the beautiful houses and did a little shopping...

5. We bought two new rugs for our living rooms. (We have got to stop watching DIY and HGTV)

Five for Fridays

2011-04-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

1. It was the week before Spring Break... so the week seemed to DRAG ON...

2. We had Open House on Thursday at Valencia. It was nice to see some of the parents of my students.

3. Had another doctor's appointment on Thursday... this one was a run around... literally... Got to the doc's office, they told me the doc was running 20 - 30 minutes late... okay no big deal. They call us in 25 minutes later, take my weight, and bp, and set us up in a room... about 10 minutes later the nurse comes in and says, it's going to be another 30 - 40 minutes. The doctor had to run out and do a quick emergency c-section... but he'd be back... The way she said it was hillarious, like, the doc has to run and grab a quick bite to eat, but he'll be back... very non chalent. So, they sent us upstairs to see a nurse practitioner... and we waited in the waiting room for another twenty minutes... waited in a room for another 10 minutes... and finally an hour and a half or so later we saw someone.... We saw someone for our FIVE minute appointment.

4. Breslin has 8 weeks left now!

5. Spring Break has officially started!

Five for Fridays

2011-03-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

1. March Madness is in full gear... and as quickly as it started, my bracket abruptly came to an end. Normally, every year I will place in the top three or so of the pools I have entered... but this year I have been teetering on dead last. In each of my three pools, only one of them has a final four team left... Oh well... better luck next year!

2. It was a rough week at school this week. One of our own students passed away on Monday. He was a senior, and his parents are both teachers at our school. It was an unforeseen and sudden death. My thoughts go out to the Duncan friends and family during this time of need.

3. The weather has been wacky here in this last week. It has been cloudy, overcast, terrential down pouring at times, with lows in the low 40s and highs only in the low 60s. It feels more like January in California then it does spring. Hopefully it will warm up before Spring Break. This is the first Spring Break in forever that I am not going to Florida with the family... being 32 weeks pregnant might have something to do with it... but I can always count on warm weather out there in Florida... This year we are going to be spending three days at the Hyatt in Anaheim (Brady's baseball team has a tournament down there). And then another two days down in San Diego (maybe hit up Sea World while we are down there). Let's warm up Southern California!

4. Went and saw Lincoln Lawyer... I HIGHLY recommend it! It was excellent. The movie just kept you guessing all the way through the whole thing!

5. Breslin... with 9 weeks left... has been a tae-bo, karate kicking, cartwheeling fool!!! He moves and a grooves all the time. And then of course, when he is still for a little while, I of course think, what's wrong? Is he okay? Why isn't he moving? But then he starts at it again. If he is this squirmy still inside me, I can only imagine what he is going to be like when he gets out of there!

Look at Baby Bres grow!

2011-03-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

Wow! Over the last month, you can really see Baby Breslin has pooched out there! We have gone from barely anything, to people now stopping and asking me when I am due! It has been nearly 31 weeks... (It will be 31 weeks tomorrow) We have nine weeks left. I can not imagine getting any bigger!!! It is already a HUGE struggle putting socks and shoes on in the morning!!! I'd ask Brady for help... but he's already gone!!! Anyways, happy Thursday to you all! Have a great day!

a belly pic

2011-03-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

Lauren this is for you.... Mitzi and me couldn't figure out our schedules this weekend to do a belly pic... so Brady and I took one just for you! Breslin kicks "hi." He has been moving and grooving lately. He is going to come out with some dance moves for sure...

Five for Fridays

2011-03-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

1. As of Friday we are 3/4 of the way done through the pregnancy. We are 30 weeks down... 10 to go.... OMG.... are we ready?!?!

2. I had to call in for jury duty everyday this week... so everyday after school I spent about 45 minutes prepping for a sub "just in case" I got called in for jury duty... Luckily I didn't! But 45 minutes x 5 days... I wasted a good 3 hours and 45 minutes prepping for never needing a sub :(

3. Mom "Oma Ingrid" sent Baby Breslin a stroller/carseat in the mail. She read my blog a couple of weeks ago, when I had the dream about not having the carseat to take Breslin home in, and she needed to make sure that Breslin would have a way to get home from the hospital! Thanks mom! She also sent us these wonderful pillow covers for our couch pillows, they look AMAZING!

4. Well MSU made it to the NCAA tourney for the 14th year in a row... but as soon as we got in... we got bounced out by UCLA :( The boys gave it a good effort, coming back from a deficit of 23 points to lose by 2 in the last 4 seconds.... Well at least now, Spartan sports are over for the rest of the pregnancy... so Breslin will be excited to live his last ten weeks in the womb in a stress free environment!

5. West Ranch baseball had its first league game of the season... It was a high scoring game, but unfortunately West Ranch last 8-6 to Saugus :( I was able to make the whole game, and they looked good, just needed to finish it out. Let's get the next one!

Five for Fridays

2011-03-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Another week come and gone... it's amazing how time does go by....

1. MSU picked up a huge win against Purdue on Friday... hopefully it is enough to get us into the tournament!!!! It wouldn't be March Madness without MSU in the big dance!

2. Had another doctors appointment. Everything looks good! They did put me on some iron medication... (apparently I've needed to eat more vegetables).

3. Most of you heard the blood pressure story, but here it is again: My doctor's appointment was in the middle of the MSU versus Iowa first round Big Ten tournament game. MSU really needed to win to have any type of chance of getting into the NCAA tournament... needless to say, I was NOT happy that I was missing the game for a fifteen minute doctor's appointment. So, while I was waiting to be called in, Chayla was giving me live updates... it was a close game, but then all of a sudden MSU went down by seven with five turnovers in a row... the doctors then called me in... time to take your blood pressure :o I warned the OB nurse that my bp was going to be a little high, because I was feeling a bit stressed out... She took it, sure enough... 152/90!!!! I told her to give me a few minutes to calm down.... I checked my phone, about two minutes later, Chayla texts me... MSU is up by one!!! I call the nurse back... BP went down to 135/80 within those two minutes.... the nurse thought I was insane when I told her why I was stressed out!!!!! Let's be honest... any sane person would think that.... but those of you that know me, it makes complete sense! So needless to say, those darn Spartans really do a lot to me!!!! hahaha... I don't even really remember what the doctor's appointment was even about, it was such a blur... I was so concerned with the outcome of the game :/ So silly... I don't stress out about having the baby... but I do about MSU not making the tourney!!!

4. It's beginning to feel a lot like spring :)

5. Students took the CAHSEE (California High School Exit Exam) this week... so while I was proctoring on Tuesday and Wednesday I was able to play catch up... Get all my grades caught up, look forward through the semester and plan things out...

PS.. I was a week ahead of schedule with my post last week... Breslin is now 29 weeks or -11 weeks old as of yesterday....

How time flies...

2011-03-06T08:37:00.000-08:00

I sit here on Sunday morning thinking, approximately 11 weeks from now we will have a little baby boy changing our lives completely! I remember when we found out six months ago, that nine months seemed like FOREVER, and now that we near 3/4 of the way done I can not believe how the time has flown. However, when I look back at the past six months I thought that I would never be done being sick or being exhausted, but at around 4 1/2 months I felt some relief from the icky feeling... still felt exhausted, but at least no more neasous feeling all day every day.

Corey Burrill decided to say that Breslin was not 29 weeks old (because they doesn't make sense, when he comes out, he has to start back over at 0), but instead Breslin is -11 weeks old. At -11 weeks old Breslin is approximately 17 inches long and can weigh nearly 3 lbs (which doesn't compare to what I weigh now... maybe an additional 20 lbs here!!!!) In the next 11 weeks Breslin is going to double... maybe even triple his weight! He is approximately the size of a small butternut squash.

11 weeks left... are we going to be ready? I am not sure if anyone is ever completely ready. We have the room almost all done, we just need a few more items. We of course need all of the big items like, the car seat, the strollers, the bottles, the diapers... basically everything but the furniture! Thanks to the Michigan baby shower we crossed a few items off of our list, but there is still a ton to go.

I had a dream the other night (I've been having a few) where Breslin was born and it was time to leave the hospital, and we didn't have a car seat!!! They wouldn't let us leave! So Brady had to go out to the store to buy the car seat, then he came back to the hospital and we could finally leave! So I think the car seat will be the first thing we buy after the baby shower if we don't get it. I had another dream, where they gender misdiagnosed Breslin, and Breslin was actually a girl. I was so distraught about this (in my dream) because the signed basketball by Tom Izzo was written to Breslin... how was I going to get another signed basketball written to Breslyn, with a change in the lettering from i to y. So I had to check to see whether the baby was a boy or a girl... So I opened up my belly, pulled Breslin out, sure enough, he was a he... so then I put him back in.... Crazy ass dreams!

So we have 11 weeks left. Between now and then, there is the big ten basketball tournament next weekend. Then there is March Madness that takes us all the way through March (may not be as exciting as years past if MSU doesn't make the tourney). The tourney will lead us into April with that first week being Spring Break... and then... then we are getting close... Once we get past spring break there will be 6 weeks until Breslin comes and 6 weeks of school left! I am really hoping to be able to teach all the way up until school ends... but that might be pushing it. The last day of class is May 26, and Breslin is due May 27. The last doctor's appointment said that he is 3 days bigger than originally looked at... so we are looking at anywhere between May 24 and 27. One of my student's asked me, "what if your water breaks in class???" Well... then I guess it breaks in class.... that will definitely be more traumatizing for my students than for me!!!!

Five for Fridays

2011-03-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

Well, this week was a long one... I mean after two 4 day work weeks, a 5 day work week seems very long...

1) It is getting more difficult to put my shoes on in the morning. The belly keeps getting in the way!

2) Tutored from 3:00 - 7:30 on Wednesday... Oh my goodness, I don't know how I did that all of first semester, I was EXHAUSTED!

3) Went to an inning of West Ranch's first real baseball game of the season. The boys started it off on the right foot with a Win!

4) We bought some furniture for the downstairs living room; a new chair, so there is more seating available, and a coffee table... I am torn on the coffee table. It looks great, but makes the living room look small.

5) Got a new work out buddy this week. I go to the gym now three times a week with Melody, and then twice a week on my own. It helps to keep my motivation up in this last trimester!

Five for Fridays (or Sunday?!?!)

2011-02-27T08:22:00.000-08:00

1. Started off the week with a short week. We had Monday off for President's day. I spent the whole day scrapbooking. Weekend by weekend I am slowly catching up on my scrapbooking.
2. Had dinner with Bambi and the family. It is always nice seeing her.
3. One of my students got accepted to Michigan State University :)
4. MSU basketball is looking more and more like MSU basketball.
5. Breslin and I entered our 28th week and the beginning of the third trimester. We celebrated by doing the glucose test... it was not bad at all. I had no problems!

**And a bonus. My friend and former college teammate Anna had her baby girl on Friday night at 9:30. Welcome to the world Teagan Kathleen!** (I need pictures Anna)

Five bellies!!!

2011-02-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

10 weeks....14/15 weeks....20 weeks...23 weeks...26 weeks

Five for Fridays

2011-02-18T19:47:00.000-08:00

1. I put together Breslin's crib :)
2. Valentine's Day came and went... Brady did our taxes, so I didn't see him until like 9:00 at night, but me not doing taxes with him... so worth it....
3. Short work week!
4. Took a nice little one night trip to Huntington Beach.
5. Rainy Day here on Friday... doesn't happen to often!

Five for Fridays (or Sunday?!?!)

2011-02-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

1. Flew back to Michigan one last time before the baby is born. Had a wonderful baby shower for Breslin.
2. Packers won the superbowl.
3. MSU lost again... this time to Wisconsin.
4. MSU finally got back on the winning streak on Thursday by beating Penn State handedly.. Draymond Green got a triple double!

5. Breslin is now 25 weeks in my belly!!! The beginning of the third trimester starts. Doctor says everything is looking good!

Michigan Baby Shower!

2011-02-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a Michigan baby shower for Baby Breslin! It was a complete success thanks to Jill Kingdon and Roz Izenson and of course all of those who came to make this special for me. All of you will be very important in Breslin's life. The quilt that my mom made for Breslin.

Jill and Roz, the lovely hostesses of the Baby shower.

Future Aunt!

The fabulous and delicious cake!

I'm a little bit jealous of this baby in my uterus. He got a signed basketball by Tom Izzo before I did!

How does Breslin look in his new Spartan shirt?!?!

I got about ten books from Jill! Thanks for every single one of them to start off Breslin's library. What a cute idea. Every so often I would draw a name for a guest to win a prize. Everytime I drew a name, the guest got a prize and Breslin got a new book!

All of mom's teaching buddies that made it out to the shower.

Christina, Aunt Joyce, and Dawn waiting for the party to start!

Dana, the first gymnast to arrive!!!! So excited to have her here ;)

Cindy and Rachel made it out as well! I don't get to talk to Rachel very often, but everytime I do, it's like no time has past at all! Thanks so much to the both of you for making it out!

Terry and Leesa!!! They are always around representing the GR Burrills! Also thanks to Sandy for making it out all the way from GR! I truly appreciate the effort you guys make!

Look at Sparty and baby Sparty... how adorable!

Michigan State gymnasts representing! Me, Kathie, Lauren, Anna + 1, and Dana!!! I love them all so much. Thanks for making my day special!

Close up on the baby Sparty!

Mom, Christina, and me!

Preggers Anna, and Preggers me!

Thanks to all for such a great shower! Breslin has a lot of people that already care so much for him! He appreciates all of the gifts!!! Thank you!

Five for Fridays

2011-02-06T07:26:00.001-08:00

Ooops... I know it is a little late due to my flight out to Michigan for the shower on Friday night, but better late then never.

1. MSU has reached a new all time low with Michigan State basketball. I watched alone as MSU was manhandled by the worst team in big ten basketball this year, Iowa. Fortunately, I was able to talk through my pain with Chayla constantly during the game. No matter how difficult it was to watch them... through the whole game... I will still watch and support my Spartans no matter what... no matter how hard and frustrating and devastating it gets.

2. Class average on my logarithm's test (the first test of the semester) ranged from 81% - 86%!!! Pretty darn awesome, considering that is the hardest test of the semester until we get to trig!

3. The floors are finally done!

4. Went to my second NBA game ever. This one was the Lakers and the Houston Rockets. It was much more exciting than the week before, the week before the Lakers beat the Utah Jazz by 30 or so. This Tuesday, the game was an overtime thriller and luckily the Lakers came out victorious.

5. Was able to eat lunch with Brady on Thursday. It was nice, since I am normally asleep by the time Brady gets home from tutoring, and I wake up just as he is leaving. I never see him during the week, so seeing him during the week was nice.

Part 2 or our "remodel" - CHECK

2011-02-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

Baby Breslin's room!!!! What do you think of the colors? I think it looks better and better every day. I can't wait to get the furniture in here. It's gonna look at awesome.

The formal living room and dining room with the floors redone.

Staircase

Living Room. Still, by far my favorite room!

Well our "remodel" is done til the next time. It took a total of six days to get it all done. We started with the painter's last Tuesday, and then the flooring guys started on Thursday and worked through the weekend and finished on Monday. It was a pain in the rear being out of the house for that long on Saturday and Sunday, but in the end, I am so glad they kept working, because that meant that it got done two days quicker than originally anticipated. Our house looks brand new all over again. This really is our dream home and we can't wait to invite baby Breslin into it with us. We still have a few things left to do with the house... (the kitchen mainly, but that's a project for another year). Within the nine or so months that we have lived here, we got the landscaping redone completely, both front and back yard, and now we were able to get rid of all of that carpet that we detested from the get go. Can't wait for you guys to pop on by and see it!!!!

Belly....

2011-01-30T08:44:00.000-08:00

23 weeks...

Five for Fridays

2011-01-28T21:09:00.000-08:00

Well, as most of you know we have been doing some minor/major changes to our house.... because of this, our poor kitties have been locked up in a room every day for their safety (lets be honest... for the workers safety!!!!) But today the kitties got out, and oh how poor Thomas looked so scared... whereas Beau was all up in everybody's grill!!!!

So this leads me to number 1... the kitties have been displaced this week :(2. MSU is on a 3 game losing skid, and although I was tutoring during the Michigan / MSU game... my heart broke when Chayla broke the news to me.... Hopefully we can pull somewhat of a something together for the rest of the season.... I will always love you MSU, but you are making it hard for me right now... remember .. stress is not good for the baby!
3. Went to my first NBA game ever this week. Brady and I went with Jerry and Mitzi. The Lakers won by like 30 to the Utah Jazz! It was a fun experience, but definitely WAY different than a college bball game. College bball games will always trump NBA games. However, it was fun being able to watch a former Spartan out there do his stuff! I sported my Laker's Shannon Brown jersey, while Brady sported his MSU gear!!!!
4. Paint! We got five rooms painted this week, and they all look great! Our bedroom is the only room that needs to still grow on me. Pictured below is Breslin's room.
5. Flooring... and of course, we are getting our floors redone. Our upstairs bathroom gets tile, while basically everything else besides the kitchen and the bedrooms is getting laminate wood. I can't wait til it is done! It is going to look great!
So... theres my week... It was definitely a very eventful one this time!

Part 2 ... day 2

2011-01-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

Well... onto the downstairs now.... they have started to rip the carpeting off the downstairs floor, while still working on the upstairs rooms.Here is the upstairs landing... it looks GREAT!

The landing laminate flows right into the guest bath upstairs. Yeah, no more carpet in bathroom number two!!!

As you can see, with Breslin's room we chose the lighter laminate... His room is really starting to take some shape.... remember, this was the room that had all the office stuff built in... thanks to Mike we got it all pulled out, then thanks to Phil and his painters we got the walls repatched up and painted with a sherail, and now thanks to Fred and his flooring guys we have nice new floors!!! Can't wait for this room to keep taking shape!

And here is the rest of the downstairs carpet being torn off... awaiting some new laminate wood coverings. We just found out that the workers are working through the weekend, to get this all done by Monday hopefully!!! Yeah for getting it done two days early... not so yeah for having to spend a relaxing weekend NOT in our home... Oh well, it will definitely be worth it when it gets done....

Part 2 of our "remodel" ~ Floors

2011-01-27T19:24:00.001-08:00

Well we just started doing our floors.... This will be approximately a one week event. Today they spent most of the days tearing up the floors upstairs. They are going to do the whole downstairs except for the kitchen and the den with laminate wood, as well as the stairs, the landing upstairs and Baby Breslin's floors. They are also going to do our bathroom in tile (thank goodness, no more carpet in the bathrooms). Here are the starting pictures...The tile around our fireplace in our bedroom is going to be the same tile as the tile they are putting in our bathroom.

Yeah!!!! Tile!!!! No more carpet! I am now thinking we should have painted our bathroom walls in that clay brown color as well, with the tile floor the bathroom looks really light. But it looks so much cleaner with the tile floors.

The two toned carpet being pulled out of Baby Breslin's room. We are going to put a light colored laminate wood in his room and accent it with a nice big, fluffy sage green rug.

The landing getting prepped for the wood. All of the carpet is torn up!!!!! Thank goodness, it will be nice to have some wood up here, the cats have already done a number on our carpets!

The little bit that is left of the carpet on the stairs that lead to the landing upstairs.

Yuck... I can tell you what, our cats are not very happy about the lack of carpet in the house right now... they don't have their perma scratching post!

The laminate that we are putting in. They got a few steps done.

.... the crap that comes with remodeling....

The new tile in our bathroom! So excited to not have carpet there anymore!

Part 1 of our "remodel" ~ Walls

2011-01-27T18:47:00.000-08:00

So, on Tuesday we had some painters come in to paint 5 rooms in our house. They painted our bedroom, Breslin's room, the Michigan State room, the living room, and the kitchen. We had the colors picked out for all the rooms pretty much when we moved in... every room except for Breslin's room. I think we ended up with pretty good colors in all rooms. Our bedroom is the only room I am unsure of... the brown wasn't exactly what I had hoped for, but I think once we throw some colors in there it will look good.Our bedroom... We went with a dark brown focus wall, and accented the other walls with a light brown clay color.

We did the Michigan State room in none other than a Michigan State green. Just the bottom half. We thought doing the whole wall would make it to dark. We left the top half in the same color that the whole wall used to be.

Another shot of the two toned walls in our bedroom.

Breslin's room... We were really torn on what colors to do his room. We chose a sage green and brown. We figured we wouldn't go over the top with MSU stuff in his room, however, we wanted to have a shade of green in there so we could accent his room with a few MSU items.

... and our favorite two rooms... the kitchen and the living room. We chose a bright turquoise, and to be honest, I was a little nervous about the color. It looked really good on the swatch, but I was afraid to see it on the walls, but we LOVE it! We like bold colors, and it looks really good against the white (and eventually when we redo the cabinets in dark wood it will make a really good contrast then).

We did the living room the same color. We just did one wall with the color, and it looks really good. Again, it just makes it "pop."

Five for Fridays

2011-01-21T22:26:00.000-08:00

Well here we are again... another week come and gone.

1) Spent all day Sunday with Mitzi who was helping me register for baby stuff. We registered at Buy Buy Baby... oh my goodness do they have some great stuff. Then later that day, when Brady was done coaching freshman baseball he did a little registering with me at Babies R Us.

2) Got the shelving/office desks torn down and out of the baby room. Hallelujah.

3) Randomness of parking the car Tuesday night with the windows up and doors unlocked in the garage, to waking up Wednesday morning and finding that all the windows and the sunroof are open AND the doors are locked.... weird, right? Thought it was a little paranormal-esque....

4) Got the invitation for my Baby Shower back in Michigan for February... do you think I should RSVP?!?!

5) And got to cap off this week with dinner and Rock Band with some of our favorite people... the Dos's and company!!! I tell you what, Breslin is gonna come out jammin like a rock star :)... and thanks to Lauren back in Michigan, he'll look like a rock star!!! Check out the jammies she got Breslin!

Five for Fridays

2011-01-15T07:21:00.001-08:00

Well as most of you know who follow my blog, this was a very exciting week.

1. School started back this week. I have four Algebra 2 Trigs and 1 Geometry! I love all of my classes, they are awesome. It is going to be a really fun semester, and doesn't look like it is going to be that stressful, which is good, considering all things...

2. Got my 21 week belly picture done by Mitzi. Somewhere over Christmas Break, my little belly bump became a BABY BUMP. It really popped out there! 19 more weeks to go.2. You guys have seen the two profile pictures of the ultrasound... This is the ultrasound of the rear and Breslin's dingy!!!! HAHAHA, see where that little arrow is pointing... that is pointing towards his manhood! Boy it is. So, Breslin Michael Burrill, the world awaits you!
4. We went to Kari's basketball game against Canyon High School. I wasn't keeping track of her rebounding, but I know she had 13 points, and I am pretty sure she was in the double digits for rebounding... Double double!!!! Awesome Job Kari!
5. I played babysitter for Logan and Nathan on Saturday. We missed Logan's birthday, so I give him his birthday present that day. A Michigan State t-shirt, accompanied by a State headband! He loved the headband, at his basketball game later that morning, he wore his headband the whole game!!! Go State!
This was a very exciting week back... And I am sure this second semester of school up until the end will hold many more surprises! I am looking forward what the new year will bring! Bring it on!

Baby Bump

2011-01-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

Month 3.... Month 4..... Month 5

It's official!!!

2011-01-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

All of you who voted boy... you were right!!!!! Here he is... Breslin Michael Burrill!!!! He is adorable! While we were watching the ultrasound he actually yawned, it was so cool to see him moving around! I think he is gonna be an active little one!!! Breslin Michael is 21 weeks in the womb, 19 more to go, but he is really taking shape!So, while Breslin is taking shape inside... we are doing a little out here to get ready for him as well! As soon as we found out Bres was a boy, Mitzi, Megan and I hit up the mall real quick for some must have items!!!!

Breslin is just hanging out here until May!!! He looks forward to seeing you all then :)

Five for Fridays

2011-01-07T21:22:00.001-08:00

Well this last week was our last week of winter break, AND it was also our last few days in Michigan. We managed to pack in quite a bit this past week. Here is some of what we did:

1. Drove through a complete white out near Kalamazoo, MI on our way back from Chicago.... SCARY.2. This is the third year in a row that we made it down to Evanston, Illinois to watch the Spartans take on the Wildcats (for more pictures see post below).
3. Brady and I went to our first ever NFL game. It was the last game of the season, the Lions versus the Vikings. Final Score = 20-13, Lions win! I think now, Brady and I are truly Lions fans... you know your a Lions fan when you actually own some of their apparel!
4. Witnessed a very unfortunate game.... Alabama versus MSU in the Capital One Bowl. Although it was a miserable game, we were able to suffer through it with some of my best friends... misery loves company... however, despite the loss, MSU had a season to remember.

5. We traveled back to California! It's always great to see family and friends out in Michigan, but it is also great to be back home, in our own bed, playing with our kitties, and seeing our family and friends out here as well!

MSU @ Northwestern

2011-01-03T19:26:00.001-08:00

What a nailbiter?!?!?! MSU had a 13 point lead with about three minutes left and Northwestern went on a 10-0 run. We get fouled when the score has reached 63-62, Korie Luscious misses the front end of a one and one with about thirty seconds left... uh oh... but Draymond Green to save the day!!!! Draymond gets the offensive rebound and follows through for a two point layup!!!! That was just enough to keep the Wildcats at bay. Well, those Spartans, never make it easy!!! This was the third year in a row for Brady and I to travel down to Evanston to watch the Spartans play Northwestern. We have a lot of fun doing it, the arena is usually about 50% MSU fans, so it is a great environment. We love going! GO STATE!I've uploaded this picture twice trying to get it rotated the correct way, but for some reason it auto fixes sideways... oh well! Brady and me at Ryan Welsh Arena.

We love our Spartans! GO STATE!

Lions Game!

2011-01-03T05:29:00.000-08:00

Brady and I went to our first NFL game yesterday. We went with mom, Aunt Joyce, and Scottie. We saw the Lions play the Vikings at Ford Field, and the Lions came through on top! The lowly Lions actually finished off the season well with a 4 game winning streak to finish, and we were there for the fourth game. It was also set to be Brett Favre's last game, but he ended up not playing.Scott and Aunt Joyce

Brady and I

Mom and I

Ford Field

50 goals

2011-01-01T16:45:00.000-08:00

I have done this for the last two years... this will be my third year. Here are the 50 goals I aspire to accomplish this year. These goals are in no particular order.
1. No work over the weekends.
2. Continue to read a book a month.
3. Go to a Laker game
4. Go to a NHL game
5. Go to a NFL game
6. Go to a MLB game
7. Purchase another bed for the MSU room.
8. Make it to at least one MSU bball game
9. Make it to two MSU football games (bring Baby Burrill to one...)
10. Get caught up with scrapbooking by the time the baby gets here (May)
11. Scrapbook at least three times a month before the bay gets here
12. Scrapbook with Mitzi once every two months
13. Visit Chayla and Darreal in DC
14. Surf
15. Snowboard
16. Get floors redone
17. Get baby room done
18. Girls night once a month
19. BLOG EVERYDAY (I try this every year... and I never quite get all the pics updated at the correct time).
20. Vegas baby
21. Another half marathon or 10k after the baby is born (Im thinking SCV half or Vegas half)
22. Date night with Brady once every two weeks (so Mitzi can get her baby fix!)
23. Cut back on tutoring second semester. At most 6 sessions per week.
24. Take a picture of the baby on the same day each month.
25. Clear out upstairs closet
26. Get baby their first baby pic with Santa
27. Get back to 140 pounds post baby weight
28. Work out 5 x's a week.... except around May and June
29. Vegas for Micheal's 21st birthday
30. Get Life Insurance
31. One "vacation" with the baby this summer
32. Continue taking a picture of my belly once a month to show growth
33. Purchase a snowboard carrier for the Lexus
34. Organize downstairs closet
35. Reorganize den
36. Get shadow box from Meg down at UCLA
37. Make dinner at least 3 times a week
38. Make it to a Valencia High School basketball game
39. Make it to at least 5 West Ranch High School baseball games
40. Make it to at least 1 of the nieces and nephews sports and activities
41. Make bed everyday
42. Do laundry once a week
43. Put laundry away as soon as it's done
44. Talk to mom, dad, Christina at least twice a month
45. Paint part of the downstairs
46. Talk to Lauren and Chayla twice a month
47. Reenroll in cardio barre after pregnancy
48. Come up with a date and have a Michigan bridal shower
49. Have newborn baby pictures taken by Mitzi
50. Pedicure once every two months

There you have it... hopefully I can make more than half of these goals!!!!! Happy new year to all!