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!