First Day of the New School Year

This morning Olin started the new school year.  Well, Josh and I debated if we should in fact consider this to be the first day because the "phase-in" process is slightly excessive at this school - he was only there for an hour and a half this morning with only half the class and doesn't attend a full day until October 7th!  But, it felt like the first day so we are going with it.  

Olin did great although he did tell me it was time to go after about forty-five minutes.  His teachers this year are very nice and the classmates that were there today were really sweet as well so I think it is going to be a great year.

If you can tell from the photos below (the last one in particular) the highlight of Olin's morning was riding a bus home.  When we got back and our doorman asked Olin about his first day of school, he responded "I rode a city bus!"

In other news, while walking from the bus stop to our building, we bumped into Rosie O'Donnell and she said "oh, look at the cute redhead!" when she saw Odette!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Our Trip to the Homeland

Two years ago Josh got really into researching our ancestry (because we can get nerdy like that) and discovered a lot of interesting things about our families.  But, to me, the most fascinating thing he found was that a branch of my maternal grandmother's tree could be traced to a small town just a few miles from his hometown in Indiana.  And when I say small, I'm talking maybe one stoplight - he drove me through it last summer and the drive took all of about a minute.  It was just another sign that Josh and I were destined to find each other and luckily, no, he did not find any intersections of our trees!  

Well, I'm not sure where I am going with this - I guess that after two degrees from universities in Indiana, spending several holidays and special occasions there with Josh's family as well as countless other trips in between, it feels a bit like coming home to me every time we travel there and having roots in the area makes it even more so.

Anyway, back to the little ones....during our visit to Indiana a couple of weeks ago, Odette had the opportunity to meet much of the Burgher side of the family and here are just a few of the hundreds of photos taken of our time there.

Meeting her great grandparents!

 Cuddling with Aunt Brenda while Uncle Andy entertained Olin...

Hanging out with Uncle Matt and Aunt Julie - you can tell how much she loves these two already...

Unfortunately, we didn't get an pictures of Odette with Uncle Ryan or Aunt Neena - they had their hands full with their own little ones, but we definitely will next time!

Cousins!

We had a very exciting summer this year with the arrival of Odette in June, but she wasn't the only new Burgher this year.  Josh's brother Ryan and his wife Neena adopted the sweetest little boys, Mydin (age 6) and Jonah (age 3), from Haiti, who also arrived in June.  So in a matter of a week, we went from one grandchild on the Burgher side to four!

While Odette is a little young to appreciate her new cousins, Olin loved playing with the boys while we were in Indiana a couple of weeks ago and we have heard a lot about Mydin and Jonah since our trip.  Below are a few photos of the boys getting to know each other.

Grandma's monkey bread for breakfast...

Bubbles from Uncle Matt and Aunt Julie...

Riding toys, which were the source of a few conflicts - Olin is not quite used to sharing while at Grandpa and Grandma's house, but he's working on it...

And the favorite activity by far - tractor rides with Grandpa...

 

Welcome to the family Jonah and Mydin, we love you!

Friday The 13th

Is a special day in the Burgher house because seventeen (jeez, seventeen!) years ago today, also on a Friday, I started dating the nerdy (sorry) boy in my dorm at Purdue.  That first date was a shopping trip to the Tippecanoe Mall (where he held my hand) and a group dinner date at Chili's. Most would say a relationship that began with a date this lame was doomed from the start.  But we beat the odds and here we are all these years later with two beautiful babies and already a lifetime's worth of wonderful memories.  And because of this, while most dread when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday, we embrace it, especially those in September, and consider them our "good luck days".

I can honestly say that I love that boy from Purdue more with each passing day.  He is hands-down the kindest, smartest, funniest person that I know.

 Joshua, thank you for making me the happiest girl in the world.  I love you more than all the numbers.

Photo by Maddy Miller.

P.S.  I love this photo of us from last fall because we had just found out three days prior that baby no. 2 was on her way.  It was the perfect moment in time to capture.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

A Difficult Goodbye

As Manhattanites, we are not really car people, but as I have expressed in earlier posts, we have an inexplicable love for our little Prius.  Well, the day we have been dreading came last week and we had to say good-bye to our car as the lease was up and sadly, I think our family has outgrown it.  The good news is that Josh's dad dropped the car off for us in Josh's hometown in Indiana (thanks again, Greg!) so perhaps we will see it again on subsequent visits to Indiana.

Anyway, I know it is a bit ridiculous to write a blog post about a car, but because we had so many great memories with it, I felt that we owed it to him (or her, I'm not sure).

Thank you little Prius for keeping our family safe and we know that you will make someone else very, very happy!

P.S. Please don't stop reading our blog as a result of this post.

Three Months

Today our little Odette is three months old.  I know that every parent says it, but really, time is going way too fast.  I honestly can't put into words what this little ray of sunshine means to us.  

She radiates with every one of the hundreds of smiles she gives us every day.  We are so incredibly blessed.

Happy three month birthday, Odette!  We love you so much more than you will ever know and definitely way more than all the numbers!

Sorry, I edited down the number of photos above as much as I could... she is just too cute!

Having It All

Recently, my friend Lisa S. sent around a NY Times article in which the author questions the conventional notion of "having it all".  Reasoning that perhaps having it all should not be synonymous with having a successful career, marriage and children (because why should all be fulfilled by the same three things), but likening it to a metaphorical eclipse - brief moments in which what we want lines up with what we have.

Well, as someone who often finds it difficult to live in the present, always looking ahead and always wanting more, I love this notion as it encourages you to stop and appreciate the now.  I was reminded of this as we were flying home on Saturday night after our whirlwind travels over the past week.  (I have lots of pictures to share - I just need to find the time to sort through them all!)  Anyway, the last leg of our trip - the flight from Chicago to New York - was the one I was dreading the most as it was the first time we were flying as a family of four (we drove to Indiana to turn in our car and then Josh, Odette and I flew to California for a short trip while Olin stayed back with Grandma and Grandpa all to reunite back in Chicago on Saturday for the trip home, but more about our actual travels in another post.)  

As is the case with most things in life, I worried unnecessarily because that flight back was about as good as it gets.  Olin having missed us while we were in California insisted that he sit on Josh's lap rather than in his seat in between us and I had Odette on my lap.  And then it happened - just after take-off, both babies fell asleep.  So there we were - him asleep on Josh's lap, her asleep on mine, and Josh and I with our headsets on watching a rerun of Mindy on the little airplane TV laughing at all the same parts.  Raising kids is hard and having two has been exponentially harder, but during that 1 hour and 45 minute flight, I couldn't help but feel like I indeed had it all.

Hope everyone is well and I promise to post photos soon.

Olin giving Odette "big hugs" for about the 100th time today - I think he missed his baby sister.