Christmas Vacation

The Sunday after Christmas we took Jillian to church for the first time. Of course everyone wore their matching Christmas outfits.


After Sacrament Meeting we hoped in the car and headed for Oklahoma. Mike drove with us and met my Dad half-way between Manhattan and Bartlesville. Mike headed back home to work for 2 more days and my Dad drove the kids and I the rest of the way to Grandma's house! We were able to spend time with all of my siblings but Chelsea and her husband Matt, who we really missed.

On Monday we decided to see if we could completely traumatize all 9 grandchildren at the same time. Yes that's right we tried to take a picture. 3 toddlers+ 3 babies less than 6 months old+ a 5 year old who hates group pictures more than almost anything is not an equation that will equal good pictures, but we did our best. My favorite part was when Sabrina was sitting on a piano bench with a twin on either side of her, struggling to hold onto them to keep them from sliding off the bench and saying in the sweetest voice you can imagine, "I don't think they want to get their picture taken." Nope, I don't think they do! With the magic of Photoshop we did get a picture that all the kids were in with no one visibly crying. Maybe in a few more years.

From left: Olivia (Paul), Aislee (Paul), Sabrina holding Ewan (Paul), Benson holding Sam (John), Grace holding Jillian, and Spencer (Kathleen)





After picture taking we went bowling at Phillips which is becoming a Burkinshaw Christmas tradition. We had so much fun! With the aid of gutter guards and a ramp our kids are now old enough to be able to bowl by themselves and they had a blast!

On Tuesday the kids went sledding on the hill in Grandma's backyard.


Mike drove down Tuesday night after work. It took him a little longer to drive down because of bad weather and he arrived late that evening to a screaming baby and Sabrina having just thrown up (that's what happens when all you eat is junk at Grandma's house). Needless to say I was happy to see him!

On Wednesday we headed down to Broken Arrow so I could get my haircut and see some friends. We had lots of fun hanging out with the Fuller's and then we went to the mall to do a little shopping and out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurant's, Zio's.

We spent New Year's Eve playing games and visiting with Mike's family who drove up from Houston so we could bless Jillian on New Year's Day.

We had a very fun week and are grateful for the time we were able to spend with friends and family!


1 - Ewan and Jillian, they are only 2 1/2 weeks apart, 2 - Sabrina helping Aunt Sarah bowl, 3 - Aunt Sarah and Jillian napping, 4 - Aunt Jenny painting Sabrina's fingernails, she painted both Grace and Sabrina's fingernails and toenails and did a great job especially considering I don't think she's ever painted her own nails, 5 - Grace showing off her mani/pedi, 6 - Our kids with our friend's the Fuller's. Boy do we miss our Broken Arrow friends!

Top 10 Christmas Memories

Top 10 Memories from Christmas 2009

10. Matching Christmas pajamas. Still can't believe I found matching ones to fit all 4...it may never happen again.




9. Watching Benson, Grace, and Sabrina play outside in our practically "white out" Christmas!


8. Grace pulling the kitchen towel off the refrigerator and putting it over her head to kick-off our live nativity.


7. Sabrina assigning everyone parts in our live nativity.

Grace was Mary and took her part very seriously. Benson played the part of Joseph and a sheep. Sabrina was an angel, not just any angel but the "sister" angel. Daddy was the donkey and a shepherd. And Jilly of course got to play the part of Baby Jesus.

6. Hearing Benson ask literally EVERY 2 minutes all day if he could do his dinosaur excavation kit until we FINALLY let him around 3pm. The mess at the end was pretty awesome too!




5. Hearing Sabrina over the monitor in her room playing with her new baby doll that talks:
Baby: Waa! Waa! I'm hungry Mommy, feed me!
Sabrina (in a sing songy voice): Not right now! (lots of giggles)
**We keep wondering if that is some kind of commentary on our parenting?!**

4. Jillian sleeping for 7 1/2 hours for the first time! Too bad we were up late helping out Santa or we might have woken up feeling very refreshed on Christmas morning! But it could have been worse. It was definitely the best Christmas present she could have given us this year!

3. My FAVORITE Christmas present, my 45 minute uninterrupted nap from 7:15 - 8:00pm.

2. Watching Benson knock over the bowl containing his new beta fish, dumping out half of the nasty fish water all over our nice rug. And catching the whole thing on the video camera, including Mike's response (no swear words involved). Don't worry the fish survived and was later named Zachary.

1. Watching our children enjoy the magic of Christmas, from acting out our Savior's birth and appreciating why we celebrate Christmas to their happiness over receiving so many wonderful gifts from Santa and family!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

We have obviously been singing this song a little too much around here lately. Our first snow on December 7-8th dumped about 10 inches of snow which did not ever completely melt before it snowed again. Benson was out of school December 8th & 9th because of the snow and then was home sick on the 10th & 11th. It was a long week of us being cooped up inside!


Then on Christmas Eve the snow started again. This time we had blizzard conditions with blowing and drifting snow! We were glad that it was Christmas and we had nowhere to go. We had some pretty big drifts on the north and east sides of our house. Mike took the kids outside on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to shovel and let them play in the snow.


On the bright side, it was fun to have a white Christmas and our outside Christmas lights look even better with all the snow on the ground. You can see the colored ground lights lighting up the snow which we think is a cool effect that we will most likely be enjoying until at least mid January at the rate we are going!

How do you survive a new baby with 3 little kids?

GRANDMAS! (I should say how do you survive having a c-section, a new baby, 3 little kids, with a husband who is taking finals for his MBA and working full time! Obviously, we really needed some help!)

We are so appreciative of our Grandma's for taking time out of their busy lives to come and help us when Jillian was born. We would not have survived without them!

My mom drove up on Monday, Nov. 30th and was supposed to stay until Wednesday, Dec. 9th, but ended up heading out Monday night to beat the big snow storm that hit us. Mike's mom had to hurry up and leave a day early also to beat the snow storm. We are grateful that they both arrived at their destinations safely, mostly before the storm hit. Thanks again for all your help Moms!

Grandma Stacey holding Jilly before she had to leave to beat the snow!

Grandma Kathy helping Grace and Sabrina decorate the gingerbread house (one of our activities when we were snowed in)

Grandma Kathy and the girls after the Ward Christmas Party

Grandma Kathy with the kiddos on Tuesday night before she headed home early Wednesday the 16th

Grandma Kathy holding Jillian (2 weeks old)

Baby, baby, can't you hear my heart beat!?!

Oh how we all love our new little miss! She has stolen all of our hearts.

Our first attempt at pictures as a family of 6!

Jillian loves to be held by Grace, she's the best at getting her to sleep and keeping her happy!

Benson and Jilly

Sabrina BEGGED me to hold Jillian on this particular day. I was laying on my bed right next to the rocking chair and watched her fall asleep within seconds of getting Jilly on her lap. And there they napped for at least 30 minutes!

Daddy holding his 3rd daughter! He's got the Daddy of little girls thing down!

Jillian - 12 days old

Older kids all ready for church holding Jillian on Sunday, Dec. 13 (Jillian and I did not go to church that day)

Jillian, 2 weeks old

Jillian, 19 days old

She loves to lay under the Christmas tree and stare at the lights. You can see her little legs kicking, so cute!

First weekend at home

Sabrina and Grandma giving Jillian her first sink bath at home on December 4

The girls love holding Jillian, and love getting their picture taken holding her.

We bought these big sister and little sister outfits back in August and the girls have anxiously awaited wearing them. We'll have to try again to get a better picture once Jilly's actually fits and when she's happy.

Also on Friday, December 4th, Grandpa Jeff and Aunt Sarah came to meet baby Jilly and also to bring Benson's new bunk beds. Mike and Grandpa spent the better part of Saturday morning assembling the bunk beds. Our plan is to eventually move Grace into Benson's room on one of the bunks, and then Jillian and Sabrina will share the other room. Grandpa and Aunt Sarah were here for less than 24 hours but got lots of work done while they were here, which is what usually happens when Grandpa comes. Thanks Dad!

Benson playing with his dinosaurs on the top bunk of his new bunk beds

Grace being silly...she put this hat on and she and Mike did a photo shoot

Jillian - 5 days old

Jillian - 6 days old

On Monday, Sabrina, Jilly, and I all took a nice long afternoon nap. Turns out Sabrina had an ear infection which is why she was willing to take a nap and I'm sure explains the length of it. Grace had been to the doctor the Monday before and was on antibiotics for a sinus infection. So after not being sick for months, all 3 of our older kids were sick within days of the birth of our new baby. Perfect timing. But neither Mike, I, or the baby got sick so it turned out ok.

Coming Home

We brought Jillian home from the hospital on Thursday, December 3rd around 3pm, before she was 48 hours old. I thought that was pretty good for coming home after a c-section. As far as recovery for me, Wednesday was the worst day ever. I was in a lot of pain and couldn't get comfortable and therefore I wasn't getting up much because it hurt so bad. Once I started forcing myself to get up and walk around about once an hour I started feeling much better and by Thursday morning I felt great. And while this was definitely the nicest hospital that I have delivered at, I was extra motivated to get home because I wanted my mom and the kids to be able to see and hold Jillian. So we headed home in the FREEZING cold weather.

Grace and Sabrina were so excited to hold baby Jilly!

Benson was still at school when we got home. Mike and the girls went and picked him up at the end of the day and he was also pretty excited to hold his new little sister.

Jillian's cradle is at the foot of our bed and Sabrina spends a lot of her time lately in this exact spot.