Family: Part 2

Erin Laci Baldwin. Younger sister to Dixi. Knower of all things about the English language. Former roommate of Russ and Dixi. Possible ninja. How else do you explain the swords (or katanas, or whatever you call them) and this and this that I found in your room? Anyway, we wish Erin lived closer, but she doesn't. She is one of the few people that can tolerate, and possibly even enjoy being around, our dog Storm. We miss you and so do Caedmon and Storm.

Proof that Storm once stood still.

Erin got Caedmon this awesome Elmo and book for Christmas.

"Why don't you blink?"

LOST

This post is going to be unlike the rest, so if you are not a fan of Lost, please ignore it. If you are a fan of lost and aren't quite caught up with this season, don't read because you'll see spoilers. I feel like an idiot for posting this, because I make fun of everyone who is obsessed with a television show, but Lost has had me entranced since episode 1. This isn't all original, it's just what makes the most sense from a couple things I read...

Ethan was the doctor in both timelines when Claire had her baby. Kate was there both times, too. What if everything that happens on the island like Claire having her baby while Kate was there and Ethan was the original doctor, Locke walking again (because he will probably call Jack in the "no crash" timeline and have some sort of surgery), and possibly even Charlie dying, happens on and off the island. Jack is the only person that has any recollection of the island (recognizing Desmond, seeing his scratch, etc.) so he will end up being "the one" that is chosen by Jacob and protects the island. The whole time we are seeing this alternate timeline, it is really just the ending to the show. It's what really happens to everyone because Jack will be chosen by Jacob and destroy the Smoke Monster. This would make sense, right?

I love you, Hurley.

Family: Part 1

So we love our family. Fortunately, a lot of our family members live in Rome and we get to see them anytime we want. It is so helpful to have them here so that anytime we want to go on a date, need someone to bring us dinner, or want someone to play Fuzion Frenzy with, we can give them a call and they can be here in five minutes. But unfortunately, not all of our family members live within a few minutes of us. So we are going to dedicate a few blogs to our family, from Orlando to Zebulon to Cedar Bluff. To start, the newly engaged couple, Mike and Heather. Congratulations you two. Thanks for the many nights of hide and go seek, Mario Kart Wii, and Rook. (Most of these pictures will include Caedmon, because she loves her family, too.)

Mike and Heather

Mike proposed at Garden Lakes Park.

He was pretty excited.

Mike left Caedmon a hidden message in her nursery.

Right after Caedmon was born.

At Drew and Amy's house for Halloween.

Caedmon loves her soon to be Aunt Heather.

Love Grows Love

So evidently my wife is not the super blogger that I thought she was, and I am the one having to do all the make-up work. It's been since before Christmas since you've heard from us, and obviously lots of things have changed with us and Caedmon. Since I would have to write a book to go into detail about all of the new milestones and fun things happening with our family, I will just post some really cute pictures of my daughter, because if you are like me, you don't care about reading anything when there is an adorable little girl around. So if I were you, I would just look to the right side of your screen. There you will see a scrolling bar with an up arrow and a down arrow. Click the down arrow for a few seconds until you see some color. Then you may stop and smile, because that's what Caedmon is best at, making us all smile.

For all of you boring people out there that actually like to read (Whatever that is. I think it has something to do with words and not babies. Doesn't sound very appealing...), here are some milestones and cool stuff that has happened in the Burnett house.

- Caedmon lifts her head and and props herself up on her arms from her belly. She has rolled over a couple of times, but has since decided to stop. We're not sure why. I guess she thought to herself, "Every time I roll over, these weird people put me back on my belly and want me to do it again. But if I just stay on my belly, they leave me alone."

-Probably the third best night of my life. Caedmon saw her first snow and saw Alabama win the national championship on the same day. School was also canceled the next day. So needless to say I went to bed a happy man.

- We are "attempting" to feed Caedmon cereal. As you will see in the pictures, she doesn't quite understand the whole "swallowing" concept. She is so sweet when she does it though. As soon as we feed it to her she gives it right back to us. She's so generous...

- My wife, it turns out, is an excellent cook. She made homemade apple butter and bread that were both delicious. She keeps the house (almost) perfectly clean. She feeds me, Caedmon, and Storm (and none of us eat the same thing...). She takes care of our daughter every second that she is awake. She designs crafts, reads books, does schoolwork for me, and looks like she never breaks a sweat. She must somehow have more hours in her day than the rest of us. Quit making me look bad Dixi...

- Caedmon stayed with her grandmom (Kim) without Dixi and I for a few hours. This was her first real time being kept by someone else for a significant amount of time. She still doesn't take a bottle consistently (or hardly at all) so we had to come feed her when she got hungry.*

- My grandmother, Mer, bought Dixi and I an amazing fence. It's a shadow box wooden privacy fence (installed by Lowe's if anyone needs one; we definitely recommend them). Getting a privacy fence has been a goal of ours, and lately it has seemed a little out of reach, especially for the next couple of years. Mer graciously offered to buy it after she came and visited Caedmon a couple of months ago. Storm loves it because she doesn't have to be on a cable. I can't wait for Caedmon to be able to go play in what seems like our nice, new backyard.

- Last but not least, we celebrated our first Christmas as a family of three. If you are reading this and do not have kids, and you love Christmas, I have some advice for you. You probably think that Christmas couldn't be any better, but you are wrong. My advice to you is this: go out and have a baby (preferably not out of wedlock, but hey, drastic times call for drastic measures), adopt one, borrow one, steal one (Not from me though. Please. Maybe from Octomom, she'll never notice. Or maybe even Brangelina...), or at least buy one of those lifelike ones from Wal-Mart. Then take it home. Keep it until Christmas morning. Wake up. Go pick up your child from his/her crib. Celebrate Christmas with your family. You'll thank me later.

The boring stuff, AKA, not Caedmon related.

- Dixi and I (as if you care...) are doing great. Dixi is still beautiful and loves staying at home with Caedmon. She does lots of mommy things and lots of wifey things. My job is still amazing. I love the people I work with. Most of you probably know this, but I work in an EBD (Emotional Behavior Disorders) classroom. Needless to say, it can get very, very stressful. I am a pretty laid back and patient person by nature, but it would be almost impossible for me not to get stressed out sometimes. My coworkers are so helpful and encouraging it's ridiculous. I can't tell you how many things I have screwed up, forgotten about, written incorrectly, used bad judgment about, and flat out done wrong. But I have not gotten so much as a hint of negative criticism. My administration and coworkers are absolutely the best people I have ever worked with.

Anyway, on to the pictures. There's no particular order, and I only captioned some. The others are just fun to look at.

Caedmon's first time being sick. How pitiful.

Uncle Jody made Caedmon this rocking horse. Thanks so much Jody.

This is probably my favorite picture ever taken of her.

A snowball from Caedmon's first snow.

Our other baby: Storm.

First time pushing up from her belly. Mommy caught it on camera.

Dixi's delicious homemade bread and apple butter.

First time eating cereal. She has beautiful eyes. (In other news, rain is wet.)

First Christmas.

Our niece and nephew, Ema and Tobey, during Christmas in Zebulon.

Two thirds of the Burnett family.

Malachi and Addison thinking about what mischievous things they will get into with Caedmon one day.

Malachi and Caedmon in what will soon be all of the grandparents' computer backgrounds, printed out to show everyone at work, and smiled at for hours on end.

Here's what I now know. Sometimes sleep can wait. Sometimes you'll just have to put the laundry off until tomorrow. Sometimes you'll just have to watch Lost on the ABC.com the next day. I am the worst about wanting to get as many things done during the day as I can and not waste time. But what I know now is even though the house may be a wreck and you have a million things on your list, holding, kissing, singing to, rocking, playing peek-a-boo with, and loving your child always, always, always take precedence over these things. This sounds so cliche, but man oh man, it's real. You have to trust me on this.


*"We" didn't actually have to come feed her, Dixi did. I just happened to be with Dixi. I can't exactly feed her. As you dads to be will soon find out, when your child is breast fed, you're pretty useless at feeding time.


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