At this time last year, we were waiting and worrying. Brooke was officially going to be a stay-at-home mom for Audrey’s first year, and I decided to return to teaching. However, after applying over six months previously and working my network and sending emails to almost every elementary and middle school principal in the area, school had started and I was without a job. Seven days of waiting in limbo without a clear path or future ahead of us, I was offered a job teaching Kindergarten at Flowery Branch Elementary. “Kindergarten?” I thought. I had never taught anything below fourth grade before and my spider-sense was tingling. Was I going to be able to survive? Would I be absolutely miserable? That didn’t matter – it was a job.

Brooke was able to be a great mom without the worry of being the bread-winner, and I was able to be a great teacher to fifteen precious five-year olds. In the end, Brooke and I found our roles to be the most rewarding of any we had previously filled in our lives. At the time, we considered this to be God exceeding our needs and showing us quail (Exodus 16:13). Despite our joy at that time and the faithfulness with which God has shown us in the past, I continue to be amazed by what He has in store for us. It’s amazing how much things can change in just twelve short months…

Since then, Brooke has returned to the classroom full-time as an English teacher at Lakeview Academy here in Gainesville. Her dedication to teaching could only remain idle for so long and after providing Audrey with a wonderful foundation it was time for Brooke to soar to new heights as an amazing educator and to give a different kind of foundation to scores of new students for years to come.

I have been presented with an amazing opportunity that fell in my lap without any sort of seeking and is absolutely a blessing. I am now employed as a contractor with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an IT specialist for the Environmental Public Health Tracking Branch. To my knowledge the contract position is only temporary until the federal position is available. Regardless, this is a complete change from teaching, but it harnesses my skill set I developed by working for Christian Pathway. In my few short weeks on the job, I have already found it to be rewarding and challenging.

Ella has just started her second week of Kindergarten. Brooke’s employment allows for Ella to attend Lakeview as well. What a treat to have Ella so close at hand. She has so much personality, I know she will continue to make new friends quickly. There is a possibility of Ella attending her first sleepover in a few short weeks. I love watching her grow, but I don’t want time to pass us by too fast.

Audrey is communicating so well. Sign language has eased our potential frustrations and now she is using more and more words every day to express her needs. Brooke was able to find a wonderful in-home caregiver from our church that has a wonderful track record of nurturing many wonderful kids. We are so blessed to have such wonderful children.

Looking back I have been able to see times and notice God’s guiding hand in each instance. Something that seemed insignificant or stand-alone back then now resounds with importance. I can see now those decisions have lead us to where we are today – and it is wonderful. I know that by continuing to have faith and to try and listen for God our future will just continue to be brighter. And that, is truly hard to imagine.

As hard as it is to believe, Ella turned FIVE yesterday!  This past Sunday, we had her first big birthday party away from home, at (Heaven help us!) Chuck E. Cheese.  It was complete chaos, and Ella LOVED it!!  She had the best time.  Above is a picture of Ella with one of her best little friends, Maddie.  I’ll have to write more about it later when I have some more time, but browse the pictures in Flickr gallery.  We love our big girl!!

It’s hard to believe that Audrey turned one on Sunday!  We had a great little celebration for her this weekend, with dearest family and neighborhood friends in attendance.  She was a pro at demolishing her cake and being the center of attention while opening her presents, and Ella helped by opening some gifts for her and being a loving big sister.  It truly was a great weekend, which ended with a beautiful Sunday at church in the morning and a stroll and some ice cream in the afternoon.  Life doesn’t get any better!   How amazing it is that a little over one year ago, Audrey wasn’t here yet, and now she’s such a part of us, I can’t believe that she ever wasn’t here.  She is such a joy and sweet spirit. 

Ella is now in full-scale party mode to prepare for her fifth birthday.  She is so excited because this is the first birthday she’s been able to invite friends from school for her party and have it away from home.  Of course, she chose Chuck E. Cheese, so we’ll fill you in on the major celebration for her when it rolls around.

There’s not much else going on in the Burt home right now.  Please say a prayer for Audrey, as she is scheduled to have tubes put in her ears next Tuesday (4/27).  After six ear infections since November (our most recent one over Easter), it was decided that this would be the best course of action to prevent her further pain or hearing loss.  I know she’ll be fine, but it sure does make a Momma nervous:).  Also, check out lots of new pictures on our Flickr page.

After what has possibly been the worst winter on record for the Burts, with the continual sickness (four months and still counting of passing around diseases), among other things, we were happy to welcome spring this year and celebrate Easter and new beginnings (and stronger immune systems!).  Easter weekend was gorgeous, and it was just what we needed to revive our spirits and remind us that the winter doesn’t last forever.  The end of the school year is drawing to a close, and as Preston enjoys his final days of his spring break, we are looking ahead to what the summer will bring. 

Audrey turns one in two weeks.  How amazing to believe that it was a year ago that our little Button came in to our lives.  She walks now, but would rather do her funny Russian-dance move to get her where she’s going.  There is no way to describe it, so I’ll need to get Preston to post a video on here.  She has a grin that spreads across her entire face, and her blue, blue eyes crinkle up, and you can tell that she is just smiling all over.  She loves (!!!!!!!) books, and will crawl in our laps after bringing us her favorite of the moment.  Top choices include There’s a Wocket in my Pocket and The Best Thing About Easter, which we think is quite appropriate for this time of year.  She loves being in (and under) the water, which is very different from her sister.  And she “sings” and matches our pitches most of the time, which we think makes her a musical prodigy.  She is eating everything, and often screams for us to share ours–she is very curious about new foods.  She must get that from Preston.

Ella is now officially registered for Kindergarten.  She went last week and registered at Preston’s school, so she will be riding with her Dad next year and be in the classroom right across the hall from him.  How neat is that?  She is also so sweet and loving to her sister and becoming increasingly more self-sufficient.  She often comes downstairs now after dressing herself, and Preston and I are usually amazed that she’s done so well.  She is learning how to tie her shoes and write new words.  It’s funny to see what strange new words she creates!  It’s hard to believe she will be five in a month!  The time is passing far too quickly.

We’ll try to update again soon, but for now check out the newest pictures in our Flickr gallery.

We’ve finally seen the light here in the Burt household!  What seemed to be an endless January and almost-endless February has finally broken in to almost-March!  Hallelujah!  These last two months have been full of sickness, cold, and some pretty difficult situations.  When the entire family was sick (shortly after my last post by the way) with strep throat for Preston, Ella, and me and a double ear infection for Audrey, I didn’t think we could get any lower.  Thank God that He never gives us more than we can handle, because I think that may have been my breaking point after a pretty horrible month.  Shortly after our sicknesses, we had a beautiful snowfall.  While Audrey was sleeping, I took Ella out to play (which really isn’t playing for Ella–she just eats the snow), and I just stood and listened to the peace.  I didn’t know peace had a sound, but it DOES–crazy but true!   It was just completely calm and quiet, with the exception of our windchimes and my child crunching the snow.  Hooray for turning points!
Last weekend, we traveled to Jackson to see our family and friends.  We had a fantastic time!  We had a great time with Preston’s family, and we got to visit our friends David and Ashley and meet their new little addition, Lottie.  I also got to see Kathy and spend some time watching her little girl, Ellie, and Audrey (they’re tens apart) start a bond of lasting friendship.  I also was able to squeeze in a visit with my Uncle Harold, Aunt Alice, and cousin Hayley.  What a great trip, although it was a short weekend!�
This weekend was also a special treat!  My mom and Crum kept both girls over night for the first time yesterday, and Preston and I were able to go to dinner AND see a movie (which I don’t think we’ve done since Audrey has been born).  We were also both able to sleep in this morning, which is completely impossible otherwise.  What a gift!�
If these last two weekends are any indication, things are definitely looking up!

So much has happened since our last post, so I’ll try to give the short version of our long three weeks.
Christmas was wonderful.  During the week before Christmas, Audrey had yet another ear infection, and she had to get two shots to clear it up, the last of which was on Christmas Eve.  However, despite that, we were able to enjoy spending time as a family at church, having a quiet Christmas Eve at home as we prepared for Santa, and trying to get our excited Ella to finally go to sleep.  Christmas day was a nice, laid-back day of family and fun.  This was the best Christmas morning yet with Ella.  It was so much fun to see her react to her sweet gifts of an Easy Bake Oven and Littlest Pet Shop set.  She was also very excited that Audrey was thoughtful enough to get Ella her first pair of actual gloves and some cozy socks.  She’s been needing that.  Audrey loved her little musical table from Santa and the hat her sister got her.  The food was wonderful, and the rest of the day was peaceful and fun, as we played with the toys all afternoon.�
The day after Christmas is what we at the Burt house will call “the day which will live in infamy.”  As Ella watched a show in the morning, the television started smoking, definitely letting us know that something was wrong.  We thought it was just the television, but the next day, the entire house lost power, and wouldn’t regain it.  We stayed at my mom’s house overnight until we could get an electrician to come look at it the next morning.  It turns out, the power company’s transformer caused a massive surge in our house that blew out the television, our washing machine, several smaller appliance, and, oh yeah, our HEAT!  Long story short, it took eleven very, very cold days for us to get our heat back on, but now we’re toasty warm.  Luckily, the power company does take responsibility for it, so they are reimbursing us for all our expenses due to this.�
Our heat came on just in time for us to have snow two days later!  Preston started back to school on Tuesday, and Thursday school was called out early and was canceled on Friday due to about an inch of snow and ice.  It was so fun to play last night and today, and we’ve added some pictures to show Audrey’s reaction to her first snow.  Preston is going to try to get the video uploaded today.  Ella just played and played and ate snow and played.  It has been a wonderful two days!

It has been a busy, busy month here in the Burt household.  With two little ones to follow, working, five Living Christmas Tree performances at church, and holiday activities and shopping, this month has passed quickly.  We love the holidays and have had a lot of fun getting ready for our first Christmas as a family of four!  A little update on all the Burts:
Ella is doing great in school.  I had my first real parent/teacher conference for the end of the semester at her school last week, and she is right where she needs to be.  Her teacher said she loves books (of course!) and is very attentive when it’s story time.  She said Ella asks lots of good questions showing her reading comprehension.  She also said that Ella loves music time (of course, again!) and has a “creative and unique way of expressing herself with dance and song.”  The nature of that is questionable:).  Ella is a funny kid, though.
Audrey is crawling everywhere (quickly!) and pulling up to standing on anything she can.  I’m convinced that the kid’s going to be walking by the time she is ten months old.  She is a sneaky little thing too.  One minute you see her, the next minute she’s gone.  We’ve got to keep our eyes on this one.
Preston is doing well.  He is actually dealing with the end of a pretty nasty sickness right now.  He had to sleep on the couch for a couple of nights since his coughing was so bad, and he didn’t want to disturb me.  I told him that was the first time in almost nine years of marriage that he’s spent the night on the couch.  Not bad!:)  He is definitely ready for a break from school, and it is much-deserved.  We’re looking forward to watching movies and relaxing over the break.  It has been a pretty stressful year, and we’re thankful to have time to reflect on our blessings that have come through the lessons we’ve had.
I’m done with tutoring for the semester and have been a full-time stay-at-home mommy for the past few days.  It’s so nice!  I’m still working on getting up the energy to possibly sign up for a half-marathon in March.  I’m only up to six miles in my running, though, so I may forego the half this spring and stick with the 10k’s.�
It’s hard to believe it’s already Christmas time again–weren’t we just here?  Have yourself a merry little Christmas, and we’ll update after Christmas with pictures and a post!

We hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.  We love the Thanksgiving holiday and have so much for which to be thankful this year.  We’ve added lots of new photos to our photo page, so be sure to check them out!