Fun Outside

Photo: Mommy

Photo: Mommy

Photo: Mommy

Photo: Mommy

Looks like we're getting another summer preview. Mommy spent most of the afternoon out in the yard with the kids. Evan and I praticed baseball and checked out some cool bugs. Mommy took some great photos of Evan and Eliana enjoying the sun and warm weather.

From Emily.

Eliana Meeting Her Nan For The First Time

The Baptism of Eliana Isabella Burke

 

 

                                                                   photo by Paul

  

photo by Nan

photo by Nan

more photos on flickr

Party Preparations

We spent most, I mean all of Saturday scambling to prepare for the Baptism party. We hadn't worked this hard on a party since the wedding. And the forecast is for rain.

Shari, Eliana's Godmother.

Evan and Poppy

The Meaning of Eliana -post by mommy

If you look up the meaning of Eliana you will find "Eliana's origin is Latin, and its use, English, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Older forms of the name include Aelia (Latin) and Aeliana (Latin). The name is either from the Latin Aeliana, which is ultimately of the Greek Helios ('sun'), or else it could be of Hebrew roots. The Roman family name Aelianus gave rise to the feminine Aeliana, which later became Eliana and was made known via the cult of Saint Eliana, an early minor martyr in Pontus." It sounds like to me that no one is sure of where the name came from exactly and neither do I. People always ask me where I came up with that name and I have no idea. I don't remember hearing it or reading it for the first time but I do remember thinking that if I ever had a daughter I would like to name her the most beautiful name that I have ever heard and that was Eliana.

It also means "God has answered" And he did. This is a funny story because I wanted my brother Ted and his wife Andi to have a baby so badly and was actually praying for a playmate for Evan. How nice it would be for Evan to have someone to run around the house with during holidays and family get togethers. Ted and Andi weren't in total agreement with me so I figured maybe if I prayed hard enough God will make it happen. And he did. He "answered my prayers". I became pregnant. The story continues though because after finding out I was pregnant I still wanted Ted and Andi to have a baby so I thought maybe I need to be more specific as I didn't realize the power of prayer. So I prayed that my sister in law would become pregnant. And she did. But it was the wrong sister in law. So NOW I'm praying that Andrea Lambert, formally Andrea Mattero, also know as Andi who lives on Grays Lane in Glenolden Pennsylvania becomes pregnant and has a baby. I'll let you know what happens.

In Arabic, it is translated as "the Bright", and the Latin "Eliana" derives from the Latin family name "Aelianus," which corresponds to the Greek word Helios (sun). If you read my post trying to describe Eliana's smile you would know how well this name fits her. When she smiles she turns into my very own beam of sunshine that I can hold in my arms and cuddle and cover with kisses. Her whole face lights up when she smiles and her sunshine is so bright that it lights up your face as well. And she is full of smiles. She is full of smiles, and joy, and laughter, and love.

Happy Joy print by Andrew Bannecker

Eliana Meets Nan & Poppy

Picture of a Picture

Evan taking a picture of Daddy, and Daddy taking a picture of Evan.

Two Months Old!! -post by mommy

Our gorgeous little princess is 2 Months Old!

At two months old my precious little baby still has the softest skin ever (it's the softest thing I've ever felt in my life), still sleeps A LOT, and still laughs in her sleep. She's beginning to laugh more while she's awake, but nothing like the belly laughs she has while asleep. She's spending a little more time awake each day. Evan let's us know when she's awake by saying "baby sister eyes ope!" It's a rare sight to see baby sister's eyes open, but when you see those little eyes "ope" you can't help but smile. And she always smiles the biggest smiles right back at you. She smiles so big that her mouth opens wide and her eyes turn into upside down smiles. She has sunshiney eyes. Her whole face lights up and and just beams. When naming her a name that means daughter of the sun I didn't realize how perfect her name would suit her. She is the happiest baby ever.

She loves to watch Evan dance around and bat at her mobile. Just three days ago she started rolling over from her tummy to her back. Evan has been trying to help her roll over by pushing her over. He's been a great big brother. A few weeks ago when she opened her eyes he introduced everyone to her by pointing to them and saying their name. "Baby Sister! Nana... PopPop..." And just the other day he taught her how to use the jumpy seat. When she cries he asks her "what happened?" and he'll give her a "kiss and hug" and put her binky in her mouth for her. If she continues to cry however, he covers his ears and yells "no baby no!" Thank goodness she doesn't cry much. She is such a good good baby. She is perfect in every way. She is only two months old and already I cannot imagine my life without her.

Evan, 22 Months.

Evan gave me some good shots today. Click on picture for larger image.

Pretty + Happy = Pretty Happy

Some pretty and happy things we found in the garden today...

This mommy loves her pretty happy babies.

Playdate

Yay! A playdate!! And boy did we need it. We needed to get out into the sunshine, run around and spend some time with friends. Especially after a very long and very rough bedtime the night before. But as soon as Evan's little feet hit that grass all was forgotten. We had such a good time. In between running after Evan I got to spend some time with some old friends from grade school, high school and meet some new friends. And even better I got to meet and play with their wonderful boys! There was another beauty there, her name was Elizabeth and she along with Eliana spent the day sunbathing in her stroller while the boys ran around like, well, like boys. Evan had a blast. He talked about his new friends all the way home. One of the boys was just a few days older than Evan, and strangely enough his name was Austin. Evan calls him "Awesome" which I think is just awesome. I wonder than if that means that Evan considers himself "Elvan Awesome Burtk" I tried to teach him his last name today, I don't think he understood the whole first name/ last name thing, I think he was just amusing me by repeating what I was saying. We had such a fun day, I hope we get together with our new friends soon!




Evan checking in on his baby sister.

It was funny to see how protective he is of her. When it was time to go home Evan's new friend "Awesome" started to push Eliana's stroller as if he was going to take her home. Evan jumped right up, waving his finger, crying "no no! no no! MY baby sister!" I don't even know where he picked up the finger waving thing because it's not something any of us do! He is too much.

Walk

We (Mommy, Evan, Elvis and Lucy) took Eliana on her first outing today. The doctor's office doesn't count as an outing. It was beautiful outside the weather was perfect so we went for a walk. I think we were out for a few hours and we only went around the block. When we got back we all needed a nap. Eliana enjoyed her ride in the stroller, or pram as Pete's parents would say. I don't think she minded or noticed the crazy dogs attached to her stroller tripping her big brother and stressing out her Mommy. Luckily for all of us, Elvis included, my parents just happened to be driving by and was nice enough to take Lucy home with them. They said they were driving down the street and slowed down to see what all of the activity was on the sidewalk. It was us. We stopped by Elvis' doggie friend's house so that Elvis could say hello to his little dog friends, and Evan could watch and laugh at Elvis and his friends sniff at each other. Lucy took the opportunity to act like a rabid squirrel on a leash. She's crazy. Our walk was a lot calmer once my parents took Lucy home.

We also came across two little boys selling lemonade. Evan told them all about the little dogs although I don't think they understood anything he was saying. When it was time to go Evan tried to give both boys a hug goodbye. One boy accepted his hug no problem, he probably had little brothers at home. But the other boy looked at me as if to say "please don't let him hug me!" and hid behind his lemonade stand, I'm guessing he's at that age already where boys do not hug other boys. So Evan just high fived him and he was fine with that. As we were leaving Evan turned and waved and said "Bye friends!" We've been teaching him about friends this week. I'm really glad that Evan is a happy friendly kid and not a mean bully.

Photobooth Fun

Play Ball!

I only had one day home with the kids this weekend. So Evan and I headed outside to get some baseball practice in. I'm amazed at how quick he's picking things up. I never had to stand behind him and awkwardly show him how to hold the bat. He just gets up there, holds the bat up and says "ready!" I sometimes completely forget that he's not even 2. His hand-eye coordination surprises me every time. I lob him a pitch, and more often that not, he whacks it with the bat!. He's definitely showing some left handed tendencies. He got a (right handed) glove for Easter, but he keeps taking it off to throw with his Left hand, and he automatically lines up to bat from the Left side. So, dad, being a southpaw himself, couldn't be more proud. Can't wait to take him to his first baseball game!

Such a Big Boy Now, But Still Always Mommy's Baby

My little baby Evan has quickly been growing into such a big boy! We have conversations now, and I understand about 90% of what he is telling me. He asks questions now, like when the baby is crying he asks "what happened?" and almost full sentences like "won a prize" When he hears new words he repeats them and remembers them and will use them again at dinner time when he likes to tell everyone about his day. He likes to spend his day playing baseball, drawing on his chalkboard, driving Pop Pop's car or anything with Pop Pop, he likes to spend his day doing big boy things. Shortly after Eliana was born I asked Evan if he was Mommy's baby and he said "no." My heart was broken, I felt like I lost my little baby boy, like he broke up with me or something silly. I know he's gotta grow up but he's only one years old and I thought he'd be my baby boy till he was at least 18. I didn't think he'd grow up so fast. But every once in a while this big boy turns back into my baby boy. Like when he falls or bumps his head, or has his feelings hurt. OR when Eliana has or does something that looks like fun to him. Like today Evan was busy drawing on his chalk board when I pulled out his old baby activity mat for Eliana to play in. I placed Eliana underneath and I turned my head for a second to grab the camera to take her photograph and I turn back around to see Evan squeezing his way in with a binky in his mouth just like baby sister's. And for a minute or two I had my baby boy back, until he spotted his drums and just like that he was out of there. Back to being a big boy, playing his drums and throwing balls at the dogs. I don't care what he says, like it or not, he's still my baby boy.

Even the little stuffed piggy has a binky (it's on his head, a really great present from Eliana's cousins in Florida. Thanks Aunt Dawn!)

Here is a picture Evan drew of his cousin Ava on his chalkboard. I think it looks just like her.

My Children the Activists

girl power (eliana-nearly 2 months old)

peace (evan-2 weeks old)

Hippity Hop

Butts and Bruises

First scraped knees!

Evan got his first scraped knee today. He was outside playing with PopPop and fell while running. When he came in he told me "walk." So I guess he learned his lesson. But then he came back in a few minutes later with the other knee scraped. He was hopping like a bunny but I guess not a very gracefully bunny. We cleaned him up and covered his little knees with a Spongebob band aid and he said that they felt better but then started walking like this-





Just to make it even, here is a photo of Eliana's cute little leggies.

Easter Sunday

Too many great shots today, I'll have to post them all on Flickr.