The Burd Nest

Hello Burdnest readers!  It’s been awhile since I did a more substantial post.  Around the January timeframe we went from a PC to a Mac at home and I’ve been……challenged….learning the new software and photo features.  The old PC blogging software didn’t work on the MAC and it took us awhile to find new software.  I think I’m driving Eugene a little batty with all my computer neediness!

As I looked back at some of the last photos I put up, ignoring the quick Valentines Day photo, my last post was in late December.  The biggest event since than was Cameron’s first birthday!  Many thanks to the family and friends who reached out with birthday wishes or gifts.  He turned 1 on a Friday and we had birthday festivities all weekend with my parents and one brother being able to join us for the party.

Cameron is a man on the move these days so it is tough to get him in with a 1 year sign.  I was hoping to get him to stand by the end table near the sign but he wanted to hold my hand and take a few steps towards daddy and the camera.

Getting a little help from Ethan with opening one of his presents.

We didn’t see my side of the family at Christmas time itself so my parents brought all the boys Christmas gifts with them when they came to celebrate Cameron’s birthday.  The boys were spoiled that weekend!

Just now looking back at these photos from late January I can tell the boys have changed since then.  Here is a photo from sometime in February.   They’re beginning to play more a bit with each other.

I think it’s mostly the haircuts.  Cameron got his haircut for the first time in early February.  He cried on/off through the entire thing!  He’s a thumb sucker so during the haircut he did a lot of throwing the thumb in his mouth and cuddling into my chest.  Thankfully the lady was patient!  He was unhappy but generally sat still so his haircut turned out pretty even.

I think I’m getting closer to working out some of the kinks with this new Mac.  I’ll try to post a few more recent pics within the next week or so.

Take Care!

Julie, Eugene, Ethan & Cameron

From our family to yours — we’re wishing you a very Happy Valentine’s Day.

Love,

Eugene, Julie, Ethan and Cameron

Cameron celebrated his 11 month birthday on 12/27/11 – which also happened to be my birthday too!  We celebrated together by going out for pizza with the rest of the family.  Cameron must have really enjoyed the pizza because he had a huge appetite that night.  When we got home from the restaurant we posed together for pictures.

I’ll make you work for it, but with a little bit of division, or a handy calculator, you can figure out how old I turned on December 27th too.  I must admit I used a calculator rather than a sheet of paper.  I could have gotten by with paper/pencil on this one but anything much more complicated and I’d be in trouble.   Math homework help will have to fall to daddy.

Here are a few other photos we snapped of Cameron that night. 

Happy New Year!

Julie, Eugene, Ethan & Cameron

I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season.  At the Burd house, we are in the “every 2 days” celebration week.  Christmas on the 25th, my birthday on the 27th, wedding anniversary on the 29th and then New Years on the 31st.  Whew!  It seems like we get through this week every year and decide that we need a holiday of rest to recuperate from all the activities.

I’m a bit overdue on my Christmas cookies pictures so I’ll start there.  Last year Ethan was in charge of sprinkles. (click here if you want to visit those photos).  This year he advanced to helping roll out the dough.  As you’ll see in the pictures – flour was his favorite ingredient.

When it came time to frost the cookies, he again resumed his sprinkle duty.  Before we all got too messy we took a family photo.

About half way through frosting the cookies, we caught Ethan taking the green frosting spoon, licking it, and putting it back in the bowl.  If you’re at our house and we offer you a cookie, avoid those with green frosting! Here are the finished goods.

Moving on to Christmas now, we spent the holiday in Minnesota this year.  Ethan painted a plate so he could leave Santa a cookie, milk and some artwork. 

We had to refill Santa’s milk glass 2 times since Ethan decided he was thirsty and Santa wouldn’t mind sharing his glass with him.

Here are a few action shots of opening gifts on Christmas morning.

Eugene’s mom, Larisa, joined us for the holiday.  In this next photo, Ethan is showing her the cross country skis Santa brought him.

Ethan was very happy to receive a copy of Lion King.  We tried to convince him to lower the dvd so you could see his face but he said you wouldn’t be able to see the movie if he did that.

Cameron was feet away from all of his new gifts but he was most entertained by trying to eat the wrapping paper and this cup.  Go figure!

We ended Christmas day with a wonderful meal that Eugene made.  I made the pie which was a big hit too, especially with Cameron.  It’s a good thing it was a bath night!

Wishing you and yours a very merry season,

Julie, Eugene, Ethan & Cameron

We took a 2 week vacation to Siesta Key, FL over Thanksgiving.  It was our first 2 week vacation in a long time and it was great to disconnect from our phones, pcs, and work, and enjoy some time with each other and the boys.  We rented a house in Siesta Key Village, which is on Siesta Key, right off Sarasota, FL.  The house had plenty of space for everyone, and offered us a kitchen and the ability to do laundry; so we felt right at home!

The flight out was uneventful.  Julie bought Ethan an activity book to keep him occupied and he watched a movie on the iPad as well.  He liked the sticker activity book so much, that he played with it long after.  Cameron did well on his first flight as well.  Here is a picture of Ethan playing with his stickers at the house.

Cameron enjoyed himself at the house as well, with his newly found ability to scoot around.

The beach was a 20 minute walk from the house, or a 5 minute drive.  With all the stuff we had to carry and 2 boys, we drove the majority of the time.  The sand on the beach is almost all quarts, and hence it’s the softest and whitest sand we have ever seen.  On top of it, the water has very little vegetation and its shallow for over 100 yards!  We took what seemed like hundreds of photos, so enjoy.

Ethan had a lot of fun playing with his sand toys, splashing in the water, swimming, and doing “Ring around the rosy”.

Here, he decided to do a flip on the beach!

Cameron enjoyed crawling around and tried to eat a lot of sand!

Cameron also had a great time, but he got tuckered out with the sun, and all the people, and had to take a snooze, on several different days.

Perhaps the best part of the house was a heated pool and a whirlpool in a private back yard.  We spent a lot of time in the pool, especially when Cameron took naps.  Ethan applied his lessons learned from swim school, especially doing what his teacher calls “chop, chop, timber” – aka – jumping into the pool (see action shots below).

Grandpa Alex and Grandma Galina happened to be in Florida at the same time, so they drove down and visited for a couple of days.  We all enjoyed the best of what Siesta Key had to offer.  Ethan had a good time burying me in the sand (I think Grandpa had just as much, if not more, fun as well).

Then it was Ethan’s turn…

And of course, no visit to the beach is complete with out a sand castle!  I think Ethan enjoyed tearing them down too!

We also got some time to just relax and enjoy the waves.

We did get a chance to get out and see some nearby attractions.  On the one rainy day we had, we drove to Tampa and took in the aquarium.  They had a lot of different marine life and both boys enjoyed it.

Finally, we visited a local state park and took a boat tour.  While on the tour we had a chance to find some reptile friends.  Here is one planning out his next meal – see if you can spot him.  There were also some magnificent birds, but we didn’t bring the telescope lens to take pictures.

Overall it was a very relaxing trip.  We are already planning our next visit to the house!  Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Happy holidays!

Eugene.