Where to begin?

Rather than start at the beginning or the end of what has turned out to be one jam-packed autumn, I'm taking the easy route and throwing up a few new family pics, thereby buying me a few more days to sift through all the photos that have yet to be downloaded from the camera. Because yes, our fall has been that good. Loads of stuff to share and no time to share it.

I think I can safely say that this has been the Burt family's best autumn yet (I go back and forth on fall and autumn because I can never decide which name I like more). If only because at the tail end of it, I finally coerced Mr. Burt into throwing on something with a collar and smiling for a professional photographer. (This is the man who, with a straight face, suggested Wal Mart when I first mentioned that I wanted to get family pictures. I guess that could have worked though, as we have several times run out of milk amidst our adventurous autumn.)

And they turned out so great and the photographer was so nice (and amazing with kids), that my fingers are crossed that our next chat about family pics will not include a produce section.

Some of my favorites.

Lately (and usually after he's just gotten a treat or done something new and exciting), Porter has been telling me, "Mom, I wish that everything could just stay the same."

That makes two of us.

This little guy is growing up entirely too fast. I find myself trying to memorize all his innocent little kid moments, like when he wants me to walk down the hallway with him to his bedroom because he's afraid of the dark or when he sees the first star of the night and wishes for nothing more than "a good day at school tomorrow", because I know they'll be gone all too soon.

This is the Nora standard. A little mischievous, a little bemused, and a mouth full of candy (more on that when I get to the Halloween post). What is wholly out of character for this photo, is that we somehow managed to schedule picture day on the one day of the year thus far when our wildly clumsy toddler did not have a bruise or scratch or bump or dent on her noggin. Christmas miracle.

This man swore he never wanted daughters up until the moment the ultrasound tech announced "it's a girl." She's had a hold on him ever since.

 Andy forbade me from ordering this one because, as he put it, "We're not engaged; we're already married."

To which I replied something sappy about marrying him all over again.

Because I kinda like this guy, wrinkled eyes and all (I told him to go to bed early... and also offered cucumbers the next morning. If you know Andy, you know how both those conversations ended).

I'm telling you, this fall has been so festively splendid that I just might say yes, we are this loving and idyllic. But really, we just lucked into picking a good photographer on a beautiful day (and had a pocket full of first-of-the-season candy corn as back-up).

Cute Enough to Share

My more cynical and musically snobbish other half may roll his eyes, but I think this Sesame Street song with will.i.am is adorable. And I'm not one for kiddie rock. I blame it on the bee boppin' puppets that have owned a smidgen my heart since the early eighties -- particularly Ernie, whose head jivin' here made me smile like a kid.

The Burt clan will be pre-dinner dancing to this one tonight.

Happily Normal

Yes, the Burt blog is back, to the excited cheers of our three fans (my mom, Andy's mom and maybe one of my sisters). And though I would love to say that the lack of posting has something to do with extended vacations spent lollygagging alongside beaches and pools, it doesn't, so I won't. The truth, though much less glamorous, is that we have been busy with absolutely nothing new. Amidst the same ol', we've really just been enjoying our family and friends and home sweet home.

And slowing things down has really helped me see just how much Andy and I have to be grateful for. But with  a whole summer's worth of pics to prove it, I'll have to recap the Burt's 2010 summer in a few different posts over the next week or so. Because there is still warm sunshine to be had, because I already hunch over a computer all day, and mostly just because I've no clue how to organize all the randomness into one cohesive post that will mean something to me once I tackle that longstanding-yet-unfulfilled goal of turning all this rambling nonsense into a family keepsake.

So for today, I'll just say that my very favorite moments of summer have come through the two littlest Burts. They are so different.

Where Porter is cautious and particular,

Nora is wild and impulsive.

And though I know some of this has to do with age, again and again, I am taken back at how very different these two little spirits are. And I'm even more surprised at how they have each transformed our family. In the haze of nighttime feedings and potty training, I have a hard time remembering what life before Nora was like.

I know it was much more quiet. Much. But I keep wondering how we ever felt whole without this tiny little minx who loves to dance, run naked, yell and tease (relentlessly).

And I don't think I would really appreciate this wild little gal and all the bruises and tantrums that come with her without having first met her big brother, who is the first to remind you that he needs his bike helmet or that you forgot to say the prayer before dinner. He's still a four-year-old and enjoys his fare share of timeouts, but in between, he is much more consistent. Give the kid a matchbox car or an art project, and he's set.

 

She likes messes and spinning in circles (which she does every time I try to do her hair).

And he likes coloring and building railways using every piece of track we own (which are then promptly trounced by our baby Godzilla).

He greets her every morning with a kiss and a "Hi little missy" in a squeaky whisper as she yells "Maaa-Maaaaaa! Are you?!" at the top of her lungs.

 

But in between the clash of wills, these two are just so. darn. cute. together.

And if that weren't enough to melt your heart, try ending your day with a little of this.

Same ol', same ol' is looking pretty good these days.