Buck up cupcake, burkes dont cry

Tee Ball

2011-04-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Kadence started playing tee ball this week. It was so fun watching her. She did all the typical things you hear about first time teeball players doing...sitting down and playing in the grass or dirt, watching the ball roll right by or waving at family members instead of paying attention to the game. I loved every minute of it!Look how little she is compared to the others

Team huddle

Coach helping her bat. She hit the ball and both times ran after the ball instead of running to first base. It's alright...we'll get it next time.

Yep...that's my baby girl sitting and playing in the dirt :)

This was at practice a few days before the game. She loved to just stand on the bases.

So stinkin cute!!!

My favorite time of day

2011-03-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks Kadence has had to do breathing treatments for her asthma. Considering this is the first time this winter she has had a bad asthma episode is pretty good! But with that said she has to do a treatment every night before going to bed. We all put our jammies on and cuddle up in mommy's bed to watch part of a movie while K does her treatment. This is when Big Jake is getting ready for work so he gets to join us for a few minutes too. I just love laying in a comfy bed with my kiddos cuddling up to me.
I remember when I was growing up we would climb into my parents bed to watch some of our favorite shows. Every Sunday night we would find a spot on the bed and watch America's Funniest Home Videos together. I still record and watch that show. Who doesn't love a montage of people falling down or getting hit with something :) We would also read scriptures together every morning around our parents bed.
Awe....the memories!!!

Jake's 1 year pics!

2010-07-03T18:38:00.001-07:00

A Few weeks ago we had our family pictures taken and they came out so BEAUTIFUL. There were so many great ones but I just picked a few of my favorite to post. Our friend has taken all our pictures over the last few years and she does such an amazing job. If you are interested in getting some taken for your family let me know and I'll get you intouch with her.

I love how both of my children have their hands in their mouths.

I love that little man!

That's my boy!
Daddy's girl all the way.

She's growing up so fast. Almost 3!!!

Sweet sibling moments

2009-12-13T10:25:00.001-08:00

I just love those two sweet babies. I hope they stay close and enjoy being brother and sister forever.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2009-12-05T11:58:00.001-08:00

We went to Hurricane, Utah for Thanksgiving to see my cousin Pagie in a rodeo. We had so much fun visiting them. Check out some pics.Pagie & Kadence on Peanut.
Snack in the bath at the hotel. Silly girl!

Kadence's first time bowling

Playing at the arcade

Daddy, Jakey & Kadence at the rodeo

Save me Mommy!!!!

Shannon & Jakey at the rodeo

Pagie & Kadence

I think Kadence looks a lot like Pagie when she was younger. If Kadence grows up to be like and look like Pagie I'm okay with that. Pagie is a BEAUTIFUL and TALENTED young lady.

We LOVE you PAGIE!

Sorry for the late notice

2009-11-03T18:08:00.001-08:00

As many of you may know, my pops has MS. For the past 6 years he has been living in a nursing home/hospital unit fighting this disease. He is immobile and can only use his arms and hands very little. Enough to be able to wheel around his wheelchair. Although he is immobile, his sense of humor and loving spirit remain the same! He is a great guy despite his challenge with MS. On Saturday, November 7th, there will be a walk through the Phoenix zoo to help with research and to find a cure! You can come and walk with us, (for free!) and then enjoy a FREE day at the zoo! It would be awesome to get ALL of the support we can! All you need to do, is to register under our team's name which is POP's UNFORGETTABLE POSSE. Go HERE to register and click on join Amanda's team....If you can't make it to the walk but would still like to support the cause, there is also a place to donate. Details of the walk can be found HERE. But remember, just by participating in the walk, then you also get an all day free admission to the zoo!!! So put on your walking shoes and pack up those strollers and come have a good time!! What a perfect way to spend a Saturday with your family and in this beautiful weather!

We Love You Pops!!!!

Oh, the life of a 1 MONTH old!

2009-07-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

So I was going through my camera the other day and realized there was a reoccurring theme with most of the pictures of Junior...I just had to share.

A fun day at Chuck E. Cheese

2009-07-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

Jake and I took Kadence and Junior to Chuck E. Cheese for an afternoon of pizza and fun. This is how Junior spent the entire time. Does he look like he is having fun to you?

She loved to ride the games with her daddy.
But who looks like they are having more fun???
Most of the other games she didn't really want to play she just wanted to put her coins in the slots and walk away so we had to find games that had buttons to push and she liked doing that. It was a fun day out with the kids!

Jakob Lars Burke Jr.

2009-06-06T20:47:00.001-07:00

Jakob Lars Burke Jr. was born on Monday June 1st at 11:22 am. He was 7 pounds and 20 inches of pure perfect little baby boy! Proud Daddy looks a little tired.
I finally got my mama's boy!
Kadence absolutely loves him! Almost a little too much that sometimes it scares me.
First family picture and Kadence did not want to cooperate (she was eating jello with daddy).
After his first bath (looks just like Kadence when she was little).
Junior is just too cute!
My tiny little girl who is only 23 pounds herself looks huge next to Junior.

Getting ready for Junior!

2009-05-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

Since we will be having our little boy in a couple of days Jake and I thought we should probably put together his crib. Kadence being the GOOD BIG SISTER I'm hoping she will be wanted to help daddy do all the work. Too cute! I had to share.
BIG KISS FOR DADDY!!!!

Kadence's first day of school!

2009-05-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

I know what you are all thinking...Kadence isn't old enough to go to school. Well, I have a hard time calling it daycare so I like to call it school instead. It makes me as the mommy feel better about her going. So here it is, all smiles!

When I dropped her off she was so excited to play with the other kids it was great. Day two and three drop off not so good but I'm not going to get into that. Anyways...there's my big girl on her first day of school!

Easter

2009-04-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

I just had to share some of these cute pictures of Kadence on Easter morning with all of you.
Here mommy I need help!
This was the first year that Jake and I actually hid eggs for Kadence. Yes, in the past we have hid eggs for each other around the house but it was so much more fun watching K find the eggs and get so excited about it.
Luckily we only hid like ten eggs because she had to open them right after she found them to eat the candy right away before putting it in her basket. Which again I'm glad I only put one tiny piece of candy in each egg.

I just love that little girl! She is the most adorable, precious thing in the whole wide world.

Vegas Baby Vegas!

2009-04-05T08:37:00.001-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago Jake and I went to Vegas for one of Jake's buddies wedding. It was the first time we left Kadence for even a night and I was very worried. But of course we had a great time. Oh and did I mention that this was Jake's first time to Vegas. In the very few days we had there we tried to show him as much as possible. Here are some pictures to show you some of the things we did.Jake and his buddies before the wedding.

I love the fountains at Bellagio, they are my favorite.

Looking out at the Strip from New York New York. The bag from the M & M store in my hand was full of stuff for Kadence. She scored the most on this trip, Mommy and Daddy just couldn't stop buying stuff for her.
Taste testing different Coke's from around the world at the Coke store. There were only a couple that we liked but most of them were gross.

This lion at the MGM Grand was awesome! She was rolling around the whole time everyone was watching her. Jake didn't quite understand the slot machines. They all have buttons now instead of the handle that you pull down every time. He thought that made gambling even more monotonous.

Do you think he did it????? I'll just let you ponder that one.

Kadence's first trip to the hospital :(

2009-03-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

So Sunday morning when I went to get Kadence up to go to church she was throwing up. Of course I was already dressed for church and ready to go but instead put K in the bath and washed all her bedding. Once we got to relax a little she threw up again but then fell asleep and took a good two hour nap. I thought we were just having a rough morning but late that afternoon she started up again and this time it didn't stop. She was not keeping anything down so Jake and I decided to take her to the hospital. Of course as soon as we arrive at the hospital she was fine, so we became those over worried parents who take their children to the emergency room for nothing. We knew the truth though so it's ok. After an hour and a half in the waiting room we finally got a room and they gave Kadence some medicine to settle her tummy and she decided to take a nap. A half hour after that we had to wake her up and give her a popsicle and some apple juice. At first she was not excited that we woke her up but once she was awake that's it...she was ready to make trouble. She was so cute in her little gown and getting into everything.

So after the fun we had in the hospital the doctor came in and told us that she also has two ear infections. She gave us medication to give to K for her ears and told us that we just need to giver her clear liquids every twenty minutes and watch her. She still has not quite wanted to eat much solid foods but at least there is no more throwing up.

It's a BOY!

2009-01-22T07:21:00.000-08:00

For those of you who do not know Jake and I are expecting our second baby at the beginning of June. We found out that we are having a BOY and we are so excited. We are going to name him Jake Jr. after his daddy, the love of my life (I know some of you are gagging right now). AND, we are hoping to have him on Jake's birthday too which is at the beginning of June. Can you imagine... Jake Sr. and Jr. with the same birthday. Oh, how fun for them! I think that would be so special.

Burke Family Update

2009-01-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

So I'm really bad at this blogging thing...it's been well over a month since I've had time to get on and post anything and this post is actually getting done when I should be going to bed but my Aunt Shannon and Cousin Page called me today and asked me to post some really awesome pictures of our family Christmas party. So I have a lot to catch you up on but I'll stick mainly to Christmas stuff and I'm going to work kind of backwards. First, this was a fun year with Kadence and a Christmas tree. She really enjoyed decorating it and loved playing with the ornaments but once they were on the tree she did pretty good of leaving them alone. We are happy to announce that we only had one casualty and it was an ornament that Jake and I were not fond of anyway. To be honest our biggest problem with having a real tree this year was trying to keep the dogs from drinking all its water.
On Christmas morning Jake could not sleep in and wanted to wake Kadence up early. I said okay and she was not excited at first. But when she saw her Elmo Restuarant in the living room she perked right up.
Jake of course got his Playstation 3. I know he is super excited about having it but the poor guy hardly has any time to play.I got a new printer for my compter that prints really good pictures. I have gone a little picture printing crazy in the last week...I LOVE IT!

We spend Christmas Eve with Jake's family every year. Uncle Eric kept giving Kadence chocolate and pretty much anything else she wanted. He was her favorite person all night.

Kadence is turning into such a little girly girl. She loves shoes and purses. Anything that she can put over her shoulder is a purse and so for the last month or so every Christmas bag was a purse. I actually still have quite a few laying around the house because she loves to play with them and put anything she can find into them.

Kadence with her favorite person in the world...Grandma Woodward. Our family Christmas party was on Dec. 23rd this year (it sure is getting hard to get everyone together these days). We have decided to make that a new tradition because the 24th and 25th are just too hard. My Aunt Holly did an amazing job putting together the party with food and fun games. Our favorite game included turning Colin, Mitch and Jake into Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Keep reading you'll understand.
Oh yeah that's right Jake has panty hose on his head. So the point of the game is to race and see which team can fill the panty hose up with balloons the fastest to give Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer his antlers.
I highly recommend this game by the way...it was super fun and we had a ton of laughs. Except for Kadence. Poor girl did not like seeing daddy looking so funny she cried and didn't want to go anywhere near him.

The boys were such good sports. I love how one of Mitch's antlers actually sticks up. Hahaha gotta love it. Thank you Aunt Holly for making the party such a success and so much fun.

Well after Daddy took his antlers off Kadence decided it would be okay if she played with the balloons and tried to blow them up herself. I love that little girl!

Okay so now I've filled you in on Our Christmas week and I will try to be back before another month rolls by but I make no promises. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. Love ya! Jake, Amanda & Kadence

MS walk at the zoo

2008-11-19T20:23:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago Jake, Kadence, and I went to the zoo for the MS walk. Uncle Mitch and Aunt Jenny went with us. We had so much fun. Kadence loved seeing all the animals. I also think the four of us adults liked seeing all the animals just as much.

These two birds came right down infront of us and Kadence held onto Aunt Jenny as tight as she could. She wasn't quite sure what to think of them.
One turtle climbed up onto the log and it started swaying back and forth. We watched for quite a while to see if all the turtles would stay on the log. It was funny watching them try to keep their balance.

Gotta love the Giraffes!
Check out this little guy. He was so active and so CUTE!
These guys are enormous. I can't believe that Toby is going to get that big. What are we going to do with him then?

We had so much fun this year at the MS walk we decided that next year we are going to put together a team for Pops so everyone should come. You'll love it!

Tagged by Jenny Moses!

2008-11-11T06:54:00.000-08:00

So my new sister-in-law tagged me and when I read the directions I thought it was such a good idea. What I did was go to my 4th folder in my pictures and post the 4th photo in there. I smiled so big when I saw it was this picture. Oh what a joyous day! This past May I graduated from ASU West with my bachelors in Education. It was a long time coming and was such an awesome day. My whole family was there and took me out to lunch and threw me a party that night. I am so glad that I decided to go back to school after having Kadence to finish up my degree.

Now I get to tag 4 people. So.....Amanda Stephan, Erin Marie, Shannon, and Cassidy! Let's see whatcha got ladies.

The joy of having a child on the move!

2008-11-06T09:50:00.001-08:00

So last night Jake decided to get ready for work a little earlier than usual and good thing he did. He had to get all his work stuff into his car from being off work for three days and to his surprise could not find his KEYS!! He had seen Kadence playing with them earlier in the day but did not see where she had set them down. Kadence and I were eating dinner watching Jake look all over the house for them. He even asked K where they were and she said "huh" and shrugged her shoulders. I was laughing so hard. He did finally find his keys after about ten minutes of looking and got off to work on time.
Ten minutes is not actually all that bad for looking for something Kadence has wondered off with. Last week we had a movie from Blockbuster for over a week because we could not find the dvd case. We had the dvd but not the case that went with it. It took us over a week to find that thing. I looked all over the house for days and even super cleaned our house over the weekend trying to find it. In the process I did find a permanent marker in the plant pot and magnets in the dryer. Oh the joys of being a mom!!! I LOVE IT.

Run Away Dogs!

2008-10-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

I left for work this morning and got into the jetta to see Jake's work stuff still in the car. I knew he would need it for work tonight before I got home so I went back inside to tell him. As we went back outside the dogs joined us to unload the Jetta. Normally, the dogs hang out in the garage or our front yard and occasionally our neighbors front yard sniffy around so it's not a problem. Well, I got in my car, backed out of the garage, and started driving slowly down the street watching to see if Jake got the dogs back in the house. I noticed he was LOOKING & CALLING for them so I got a little nervous. I started searching our neighbors front yards as I was driving and then as I turned the corner to face Happy Valley Road there they were! Those stinkers. Then I noticed Buster (my dog) become alert and take off after a guy on a bike heading west on the north side of Happy Valley Road (we live on the south side). So yes he ran across five lanes luckily with no traffic. Then Seargent (jake's dog) took off after Buster and the guy on the bike but by the time he headed across Happy Valley Road there were cars coming. He was almost hit by a big truck and like four other cars. I was freaking out!!!!!! I finally got onto Happy Valley Road heading west after the dogs, who are after the guy on a bike. This poor guy because by now Buster had slowed down and Seargent (half pit bull and looks really mean) was right on his heels. I caught up to Buster and coaxed him into the back seat of the car to turn around and see Seargent running towards me in the middle of the road. I was so mad at him but he looked like he was having so much fun (as if he were saying "Hi mommy! Oh this is so much fun, can we do this more often. Why do you look so upset?") I drove home so mad and telling them that they were bad dogs. By the time I got home and Jake asked me where they were I just started laughing as I said "running after a guy on a bike down Happy Valley Road." That poor guy! I wonder what he was thinking as he saw my two dogs running after him. Hahahaha it does make me laugh!

A day at Schnepf's Farm

2008-10-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

So since Jake had Saturday off and he normally does not we decided to have a fun filled family day at Schnepf's Farm out in Queen Creek. I was hoping the weather would be super nice like it was last weekend but it got a little hot in the sun. Kadence made sure we remembered to stay hydrated by signing "drink" every five seconds. I think she didn't really want something to drink she just wanted the cool water to drip down her shirt. When we were eating in the shade or watching a show in the shade it was absolutely perfect. We started our day by watching pig races. Oh yeah that's right I said pig races. Kadence loved it. At first she had no idea what was going on but once she saw the pigs running around the track she would get all excited and squeal and clap. Then we went to watch a man whose act included juggling and some tricks with his dog. Kadence was not quite as amused by this and made her way to the playground. All she wanted to do was drive the train and she loved it. we also watched a guy named comet and his frizbee catching dogs. It was a pretty good show and Kadence seemed to really like watching the dogs run back and forth. After a snack and lots more water, mostly down her shirt, we were off to the train ride. It was nice and Kadence managed to stop squirming long enough for us to actually ride it. She is a trooper. Since Kadence is such an animal lover we wanted to take her to the petting zoo. She loved seeing all the animals and got very excited when the goats would turn to look at her or move when she pet them. Kadence probably could of stayed in with the goats forever but Mommy had had enough so we moved on. She was amused by the sheep and we are not quite sure why. The donkey thought we had food on the stroller for him so he stuck his head through the fence to see if he could find anything. It was really funny and Kadence laughed at him. Jake was more amused by the HUGE cow they had. He did not move from this position the whole time we were there. He would just lay there and stare right back at all the people and kids staring at him. Jake also liked to antagonize the really mean billy goat. Kadence did not like him at all. He was butting the fence and making all these crazy noices. He actually really scared Kadence. We found that our window of opportunity for picking a pumpkin was shrinking by the minute. So it was off to the pumpkin patch. Kadence went out with Daddy to pick out our BIG family pumpkin. Of course Daddy and Kadence found the biggest pumpkin in the patch to take home. It was almost as big as Kadence is and she loved it. Mommy then thought it would be fun to go the the baby pumpkin patch so that Kadence could pick out a small pumpkin just for her. Well, not to our surprise but all she wanted to do was play in the dirt and pick up rocks. Quite a few times throughout the day Kadence would be walking around the farm and stop to pick up rocks. At one time she had about five rocks in her hand. Jake and I did not mind so much because we realized that we did not have to pay for rocks. Our day at Schnepf's Farm was so much fun and have decided to make it a yearly trip. Anyone who would like to join us you are more than welcome. It really is a fun family outing!

K and sign language

2008-10-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was teaching Kadence to sign "drink". She already knows "more" and "all done" so I figured I would move on to drink and eat. I did not really think she had picked up on it too much in just one day but you will never guess what happened this morning. She was eating breakfast while I was paying bills online and walked up to me with a bottle of water in her hands. Of course I already knew what she wanted but I asked her anyway. I said "Kadence do you want a drink of water?" She looked at me and did the sign for drink. I was blown away because I did not think that after one sitting of practicing she would pick up on it so fast. I love sign language for babies.

Just a quick back up story. I spent almost a week teaching Kadence to sign "more" and "all done". One night my mom was babysitting for us and while she was feeding K dinner she decided to teach her some sign language. Can you see where this is going? My mom asked Kadence if she wanted more and when K did the sign my mom was amazed. She thought she had the smartest granddaughter ever...and OF COURSE SHE DOES!!!!

Us in a nutshell

2008-10-12T17:30:00.001-07:00

Good Evening Everyone! Jake and I have decided to join the world of blogging. I have put this off as long as I could because computers are the devil and our lives are kind of crazy and not too exciting to read about. So the validity of some of the stories we put on here may be questionable, so as to make the appearance of an exciting life, but should be entertaining.
For those of you that do not know here is the skinny on the three of us. I graduated in may magna cum laude from asu with a degree in early childhood education. I work Monday-Thursday for a tutoring company. I love my job and the people I work with so that makes it easier to leave Kadence at home. My job is super flexible if something does come up so that is nice as well. I am now getting used to getting up early (because K is a good sleeper and does not get up early) and getting myself ready for work before Kadence gets up and then getting her ready for her day. I go to work, come home, make dinner, say good-bye to Jake, bathe Kadence, get her ready for bed, go to sleep myself, and then do it all over again the next day.
Jake is a workaholic. He is the coolest man in the whole wide world. He is such a stud........ sorry jake got a hold of the computer whlie i was tending to Kadence. Anyways, he is a workaholic. For those of you who don't know he is a police officer for the city of phoenix. He works four ten hour shifts and then has three "off days", even though his off days more often than not turn into trips to court, off duty jobs, training, or other such nonsense. He loves it though so it is worth it becuase he brings home the bacon.
Kadence spends monday thru wednesday with daddy. She loves it and it is a lot of fun for him too. It is always fun to come home at night and see the amazing hair style and outfits that daddy creates for Kadence to sport that day. The amazing cleanliness of the house after two children, kadence and daddy, play all day in it is always a treat. She then spends Thursday with her favorite person...Grandma! Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are Mommy and Kadence days which are of course my favorite.
Kadence has started walking and our lives have changed forever because of it. She seems to be a totally different girl. She wants nothing to do with us anymore all she wants to do is WALK!!!!
Seargent and Buster are our two furriest family members. They are in and of themselves a completely different set of challenges. We, however, cound not imagine our lives without them. Buster is my dog. He is a five year old spoiled beagle. Sarge(jake's dog) is, as the name suggests is a scary looking pitbull mix, who is afraid of his own shadow. Lucky for us the bad guys dont know that.
We recently had a new addition to the family. His name is Toby the tortoise. He is only four weeks old and very cute. He doesn't do much. Kadence trys to grab at him and love him like Lenny from of mice and men all the time and Sargie wants to eat him.
And now you are all caught up on the exciting life in the Burke household, and from now on will be able to stay up to date on the innerworkings of the well oiled machine that is the Burke family.