New Year!

Didn't realize how long it has been since I last posted! So the whole update may take awhile...

last I posted life was stressful, but somewhat normal, then it all turned around again. Life seems to like a rollercoaster for us. We first got the biggest shock that my cousin had just passed away from pneumonia. He was only a couple of years older than me, and left behind a pregnant wife with 2 little girls and a son. to say all the family was devastated would only begin to describe what his family felt like. It was a hard week full of unbelief and alot of emotion.

That same week was also one of my biggest blessings. Thats when I found out I was pregnant. I didn't tell anyone at first, I was caught completely off guard. When you are told you won't be able to have kids, and then have one, you feel like you had a miracle. When you get pregnant a second time with no medications, it feels shocking and miraculous. I finally told James a few days later when we went to the temple. He says I did it there so he couldn't scream, but I did it because you feel peace there and I knew we needed to feel peace since money was going to be a bigger problem!

After James we told our parents and let the shock slip away. Jump ahead to December 17 we celebrated Josephs 2nd birthday! He had a toy story party and had so much fun getting toys and eating cake! He is such a talker, he likes to play with grandma and bopa (grandpa). He was so excited to have a sister, and to get to sit on my lap again without a big bump in the way! I was all set to have baby girl Burke on dec. 31. hospital was all scheduled and ready to go. Then Dec. 29 came. I always wondered what contractions felt like... that morning at 3:30 a.m. I got my wish. however, after calling the hospital, my contractions weren't steady enough to come in...said the on call dr.... by 6 that night I had enough and we went to the hospital anyway. Emergency c-section it was.

Zoey Elizabeth Bradi Burke was born at 8:34 p.m. She was 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 19 inches. As she came out she inhaled some special baby poop and they had a hard time cleaning her up. That night we decided to let her go to the nursery so we could recover a bit. at 2 a.m. nurses came in, I thought to bring Zoey in to eat, but they told me Zoey wasn't doing well and was in the NICU. Her lungs had collapsed because of the poop and fluid in her lungs. Not a fun time seeing her with wires and tubes all over her. After a couple of days we got to hold her and feed her and we snuck in for new years to celebrate with her. Then on new years day our favorite NICU nurse shanda, brought her back to the room for our final night at the hospital!

Now we are celebrating her 4 week birthday! Strange how fast time goes by even when you are so tired!

Where does it go?

Somehow I have managed to not post anything for the last couple months so let me catch you up! Joseph is a walking machine! He is into everything and climbing all things. He had his birthday in December and celebrated with family. He had a jungle party and I tried to make a fun cake. A lot of effort but it turned out ok and he didn't mind eating it at all! Then Christmas was around the corner and we had James sister and her kids staying with us. Joseph loved having his cousins over to play! He usually had me to sit by... never as fun! He got spoiled rotten, but I have to admit I enjoyed watching him get spoiled.  He had a great holiday season and got to taste chocolate for the first time. He loves it as much as I do! Thats a good and a bad thing...He is still an eating machine! My list of things he doesn't like isn't very long however any type of pasta seems to be gross to him...and pizza... No idea where he gets those taste buds from! We love all those and eat them a lot. He had a case of strep throat this January and made its round to parents, cousins, and aunt. Not so fun, but glad we all got antibiotics. All his doctor visits say he is a healthy boy so we just keep doing what we are doing! We did have a bit of an accident a couple of weeks ago... Stupid mommy didn't strap him in his high chair.. bad move. He stood up... then fell out... luckily his foot got stuck first so he didn't hit his head to hard, but hard enough for me to panic and look in on him every 2 hours for 3 days. Had a nice bruise but that seems to be it. He is a chatter box. He now tells me "up" or "down". Lots of animal noises. He says thank you, sorry, Amen, good girl, bad girls ( for senna), Senna, Dixie, Brandon (bran), Nycholle(Cole), kaylie, savanah (nanah), Bopa ( grandpa), Nanny ( nanny Wendy), and grandma is a bit trickier for him. Of course dadda, and mama. He copies everything we do or say. Especially when daddy does something! He is so clever and we love him soooo much!

As For James, work is starting to pick up thanks goodness!! December and January were really difficult, but thanks to support from family and friends we got through it and hopefully wont have another 6 months like the last ones! James works at a car broker online and is working with a good friend of his. He is doing well and enjoying working there. The track is starting to pick up work as well so things are looking up! James is A high councilman now so he is busy bust most of the time! I got put into  Primary teaching the 5 year old group! Having fun teaching and learning. I think that sums it up for the last little while. Although I am 26 now and not happy about it...

Thanksgiving!

We had such a great time! This year for thanksgiving we went up to my grandparents cabin. I admit it was alot more work taking everything up there, but it was sooo nice! The first couple of days were interesting as we didn't have any hot water, but once that problem was solved the whole trip was amazing. Joseph loves the 4-wheeler so much. If you even went by the window and he caught a glimps he would burst into tears!  He would wiggle around until he was on it, and moving! Taking him off was never a good time. He would scream and scream! By the end of the trip I think he went on the most amount of rides out of all of us. Thanksgiving was so tasty! All the favorites. It's amazing, I seem to think in my mind that I haven't eaten that much but then I am so stuffed with food I can't move! Joseph has his full Thanksgiving meal as well and loved it! It was a much needed break.
Good news now is that James got a job! He is working in Sandy starting Monday and will be selling cars at the Larry Miller used cars. I cannot tell you what a relief it was to get the job. We would have been in BIG trouble if he hadn't. Hopefully now things will get a little less stressful....

Catch up time!

Oops I waited too long! Just to catch everyone up, it's been a very busy couple of months. Joseph is crawling full speed ahead and has even taken a couple of steps here and there. I am trying to trick him into walking more so hopefully he will keep getting braver! Right now he chickens out and falls down and crawls. It's coming soon though and I'm sure I will miss him crawling. We took Joseph in to the doctor to get another check up on his kidneys! It seems to be good news, his kidneys haven't gotten any worse and the doctors are thinking that they may just be that way and there is nothing to be done. They can't find any blockages so the good news is that we wont have to do anymore check-ups for another year!

I can't believe baby is going to be a year old soon! It's gone by way too fast and I am going to miss him being so small, but I am excited to see what a little boy he will be like. He is now waving, clapping, and daddy has taught him how to do judo chop and  "champion". He has his bottom 2 teeth and I am thinking his top teeth will be coming any day now. The fussy and runny nose are here so I'm just waiting for those cute little teeth to pop out! He has also learned how to do a turkey noise (gobble,gobble) and is starting to do the cow noise, although its more of a mmmmmmmm instead of a mooooo! Everyday he is looking more and more like a toddler and less like a baby! We are already gathering things for his birthday party (jungle theme) and I am going to attempt to make a cake... We will see.

We were able to go visit James sister Louisa and her fun family in Las Vegas this last week. What a much needed break! I think we are constantly stressed about something and this little trip was just perfect. We got to see James mom as well and Joseph got to play with cousins! I had some of the best food cooked for me by my mother-in-law and sister in law, and Louisa's husband Ian threw a really fun party for Louisa's birthday! We had fun decorating the house and the Michael Jackson cake. I think that's where I got inspired to try and do Josephs cake!
Lastly an update on me and James! Work wise nothing has changed, however we both received new callings. I was released from Young Women's and am now the primary teacher of the 5-6 year olds! They are a great group of kids, I just have to remember to change my lessons from teenagers to kids! James got called to be a high councilman. Shock doesn't even cover how he feels! Bless him he is terrified!  Even if he doesn't know this yet, he is going to do a great job and everyone has told me they think he will do a great job!! Its been lots of emotions, but good!

Here, there, everywhere!

This summer has gone by so fast and has been so much fun! Joseph has got to explore this world a little more and he is loving it! I have been so excited to take Joseph to my grandparents cabin this summer. My dad was up there when he was little, I have been going up there my whole life and it is exciting to take Joseph there so he can enjoy it as much as I have! We also had a Slack family reunion in salt lake this year and my grandparents decided to make it a reunion weekend! We all stayed up in condos in Midway, joseph was able to see inside a crater and tried out some swimming! We had  a relaxing weekend with cousins and aunts and uncles it was nice it get out of the heat and not worry about all life brings!
This last week I took Joseph to the Zoo with grandma. It was Zoorasic Park and it was a lot of fun!  We weren't sure how Joseph would do at the park since he would be missing a nap, but he was amazing! He didn't really notice any of the animals unless they would move, but once they would move he was glued to them. He really liked the monkeys and also the girrafe. He was a little concerned about the dinasours they had, and really didn't like the T-rex when it made its loud noises, but the other ones he was okay with. It has been a lot of fun to see him trying to figure things out and see knew things. Hopefully we can take him again in October with daddy this time!

Here we GO!!

Joseph is growing up so fast! I can't believe next week he will be 8 months old. I love watching his little face expressions as he try's to figure things out. He is a pretty serious boy, but when he smiles my whole day gets better. He is a beautiful  boy with big brown eyes and a little Mohawk for hair. He is eating vegetables, fruits and all the cereals. He loves his fruit! Bananas and peaches are his favorite. He doesn't do so well with his veggies, but he will still eat them. We tried to get some chicken for him, he was not a fan! Started to gag and spit it out. I tried to hide it with other foods, but he still spits it out! I will try again in a couple weeks. He is on the verge of crawling. He can get himself into position, just rocks back and forth until he falls over! He also loves to walk. If I could walk around the house all day holding his hands, I think that would be his best day! He is trying to pull himself up on furniture now, but hasn't quite got it yet. Joseph Loves his Senna Dog! He could watch her all day. She is nervous about him though and usually tries to keep a safe distance so he wont pull her hair. As far as his health issues we are at a stand still for a bit. With James' work situation we haven't even had insurance for the last 3 months and are just now trying to get it finalized. We have been approved so my poor little baby will have to get his 6 month old shot done this week sometime. Our insurance is a bit tricky, but hopefully in the long run it will be more beneficial to us. We have to pay for all doctor visits with our own money. But because the monthly payments are smaller because of a high deductible the idea is to put money into the HSA account and have funds in there if we do need the doctor.. It will be interesting! I cannot be on the same insurance however. I get to be on a special insurance and therefore more expensive insurance because a year ago I took chlomide to try and have a baby. Now no insurances will cover me. This special insurances are what covers people with Cancer.  Its been stressful these last couple of months with money, but we think things are finally looking up for James at work! He seems happy enough and I get to see him a lot more which has been nice. My work will be finishing up this week and I am hoping to try and find something else to do at home, but I know that will be difficult. I have loved this job, it has been so nice to make a little income and still be able to have Joseph with me and be his mommy. I have loved every second of being able to play with him, feed him, and put him down for his naps. He is such a lovely little boy! I have my frustrating moments with him, but I have been so lucky to be able to stay with him and watch him grow up! I am a little sad at how fast it has gone by and how much he has already learned, but I am excited to see him grow up more. I can't believe how much my world revolves around him and James. All in all things are looking up and I think we are feeling pretty good about where we are, so happy times are coming back!

6 Months!

I can't believe Joseph is 6 months old already! In someways it seems like he has been part of our lives forever, but I also still feel really strange that he is MY son. He is teething now I think, at least he acts like it. He chews on anything and everything and seems more fussy then usual which is saying something!  He can almost sit up by himself, he just tips over when he is trying to reach for things.  He can also get on all fours, but still isn't ready to start crawling just yet. We tried to feed him sweet potatoes the other day, Joseph is not a fan. At first I thought it was looking good, but after a couple bites he started gagging on it.. So we will give it another try in a couple days.
 James is heading out to go racing this week! I wish I could be there to see him race, or at least watch it on t.v. but speed doesn't show it for a week AFTER the race! Still I am happy James gets to go out and race. He gets to show his talent and enjoy being in a race car again. Work situation for him is about the same, just trying to figure a way to make it through this year. We are feeling alot of stress at the moment, but hopefully things will get better soon! I think we are both ready to have a break from the work load and just chill out with family and friends. July Can't come soon enough!