Eleven Months

Monroe is eleven months old.  She is everywhere.  She is not walking yet, but she continues to take cautious steps.  She is now waving hi and bye and saying hi.  She is also going through a needy phase.  She wants Mommy all the time.

Monroe has been obsessed with water bottles lately.  She loves the sound they make when she squeezes them, and she loves the taste of the cold water.  Helping her drink out of one is usually quite a challenge because she wants to do it on her own.  She usually ends up quite wet.

I put Sawyer in Monroe's crib with her.  Monroe thought it was hilarious, but Sawyer was not amused.

So happy!

Happy 11 months!

Samara Jane

Meet Samara Jane Burkle

Zach and I have a new niece!  Samara Jane was born to Josh and Megan on Friday, March 9th.  She was the biggest Burkle baby so far weighing 8lbs 11 oz.  We all drove to Holdrege on Sunday to meet her.  She looks just like Kaiya did as a newborn.   What a beauty!

Kaiya, Jensen, and Monroe having a tea party

Four of the five

 Big sister, Kaiya, holding Samara

Our new baby to love

Weekend in Omaha

Zach and I took advantage of having the week off and got out of town for a couple nights.  On Thursday we drove to Lincoln to see Dustin and Julie's new house.  Doug and Melinda were there helping them move.  We dropped Monroe off with them and drove on to Omaha.  Zach had made dinner reservations at the Zin Room.  If you haven't been there, we would highly recommend it.  We decided ahead of time that we wanted to try some new things.  For an appetizer, we ordered bacon wrapped dates.  They were awesome.  We ordered two different stuffed chicken dishes for our entrees.  Then, we finished with Bananas Foster (my personal favorite).  The meal was delicious, and the atmosphere was fun.

We stayed in a hotel that night.  The next morning we got up and went to Nebraska Furniture Mart.  We wanted to get either a new living room set for the basement or a new bed.  We ended up splurging and buying a king sized Tempurpedic.  Now we have to find a new bedding set to fit and maybe new paint.  We'll see.  I'm just excited to see how well we both sleep when it comes on Saturday.

Zach and I had such a great time away.  We needed this week off of work and the day for just the two of us.

Balloon pictures

This week Zach and I did a photo shoot of Monroe for her birthday invitation.  I knew it would be hard to keep her interested and in the right place for the shots for very long.  Zach raced around kicking balloons and making noises to get Monroe to look at the camera, while I snapped the shots.  It would have been entertaining to watch the three of us.  When I looked back through the pictures, I was pleased with what we had.  It almost makes me want to try taking her one year pictures.

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

Zach and I decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to North Platte to see my parents for a couple days.  We had a great time.

Monroe had to hang out in the pack & play so Mom and Dad could play cards with Grandma and Grandpa.  She actually loved it.

Zach got a remote control helicopter for his birthday from my parents.  They got one for each of their sons to entertain the grandchildren with.  The dads are definitely enjoying them more than the kids.

Monroe was sitting in her bowl of cheerios.

Enjoying the beautiful weather

Girl after Grandpa's heart

 

I love these pictures of Monroe with Grandma and Grandpa.

Zach is the big 27

Monroe is thinking, "Oh my! 27?"

Zach's birthday was last Sunday.  We went out to eat to Hunans after church. A lot of his family and a few friends joined us.  After lunch, we went to Zach's parent's to have birthday dessert and play cards. It was a nice, relaxing day.
Happy birthday, Zach!

Naked Baby

I know these are the types of pictures that Monroe will be embarrassed of someday, but they are too cute not to share.

Eating with no shirt on

Standing naked on her changing table