What a Year! {2010-Year in Pictures}

January

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We spent this day at the beach, something that is turning into a little tradition.

{I know, the title says "Year in Pictures" but honestly pictures are no fun unless you get the whole story. It won't be long, just a little background info.}

February

Mike and I spent Valentines day on a picnic in a Redwood forest. It was so neat and so cool-literally, the weather was chilly.

Later on that month we found out that we were going to be having a baby boy.

March

In March, my sister and her husband came to the Bay Area so Bryan could meet with a couple of clients. Luckily we got to snatch them up for a couple of days and some time well spent in
San Francisco.

April

Hmmmmm. . . . . . . .I guess it was a pretty quiet month. Really, I can't recall something worth mentioning that happened. Maybe we went to a baseball game. That is always a good guess.

Moving on.

May

My family came out for a visit! We went to Pebble Beach AND we got to go see Wicked again (after spending hours walking through San Francisco)! I love love love this show! and I love love love the company. Thanks for the visit.

And from there, we went on our Babymoon. Although, we weren't alone, I couldn't think of a better couple of people to spend this trip with, who, might I add were also on their baby moon. Thanks Randles for a good time, and for being pregnant at the same time. I am pretty sure this trip wouldn't have happened if me and Steph weren't both dying for a vacation and some nice relaxing on the beach.

June

Mike had to go back to Utah for 2 weeks for Army stuff, and he pretty much looked like this the whole time. While I was home praying Ben woulnd't make his appearance early, and looking a little like this.

JULY!

Welcome Benjamin Michael Burgin.
Born July 16, 2010 11:00 a.m., 19.5" 7lbs.
Our lives have changed so much and we haven't been happier!

August

Mike passed the CPA! No more studying! No more books! But sorry, he can't do your taxes. He is an auditor, not a tax-er (sorry, I don't know the word for those guys).

September

We took Ben back to Utah and blessed him at my parents house. It was a great day! Ben is certainly loved!

I must point out that his shoes were hand made by a friend of my moms. They are going in a case forever! So darling!

October

Halloween. Red Hot(s) Chili Peppers. Enough Said

November

We had our first official family pictures taken at the beach. Ben was so cooperative. I think he mostly loves having his picture taken, which is a good thing since I am almost always armed with some sort of photo taking device (usually my phone).

December

Merry Christmas!
We were able to spend our holiday with family and friends in Utah. Ben is so much fun these days. His little personality is really making it's appearance and we can't get him to hold still (proof is in the blurry picture). He rolls from side to side and from tummy to back. He is just now starting to eat from a spoon and loves it! He is so much fun and I feel like this is the best year we have ever had!

I hope you had a great year and that 2011 brings you many wonderful memories! Thanks for being a part of our lives.

My Oh My!

I honestly can't believe where the times goes. Ben is already 3 and a half months old, and he is the cutest little thing ever! So much has happened since his arrival and now here I sit, at work, when I would rather be at home cuddling with my little man. I started work on Monday and honestly this has been the hardest week of my life. I thought it would probably be nice to have a little change of pace, but boy was I wrong. I loved the pace life was going before work started up again. But I will grin and bare it for now, and I know that it isn't forever and I will eventually be able to stay home with my kiddos.

Ben is so much fun these days. He is smiling tons and has found his voice. He makes this high pitched squeal, then looks at me like "did you hear that? I did that!" Then he smiles and coos until he decides it is time to squeal again. He loves his bath time, although he clenches his little fists so tight you would think he was terrified. I am not sure why he does it, but otherwise he is full of smiles in the bathtub.

We took Ben to Utah for a couple of weeks to introduce him to his aunts and uncles and cousin. It was so fun to be there, but I am not going to lie, it was a little stressful, too. There are so many people you need to see and places you need to go. But I wanted to show him off, so I sucked it up and spent much time in the car driving to and from the homes of friends and family. I think Ben had a hard time adjusting when we got back to California. He was so used to being held 24/7 that when I had to put him down he would give me the saddest look, and whimper until I picked him up again.
He loves to suck on his hands! Consequently, the front of his shirt is always soaked in drool. Also, lately he has started to wiggle free of his blankets. Yes, I swaddle him (as tight as I can get him, and I thought it was pretty tight) and then lay a blanket on top of him and I went in this morning and he was sprawled out, uncovered and about a foot from where his blankets sat in a pile in his crib. I guess it is time to introduce the sleep sack-I am pretty sure he can't wiggle out of that, unless he has a little Houdini in him. That would be pretty impressive.

He is gaining weight like crazy! His face is rounder and his little thighs are getting chunky. And he is so long! Imagine ME having a tall son!? We will see if he continues to grow like that as time goes on. We love our little man.

We Love Him, a Bushel and a Peck!

After a little bit of (not so subtle) hinting from a friend, I have decided it is time to blog about my little man. I can't beleive it has already been three weeks. Being a mom is the most wonderful thin in the world. Ben is the biggest blessing to me and Mike and although we are learning as each day comes and goes, we are so happy that he is finally a part of our family. The wait was definitely worth it.
Ben's journey started on the night of the 14th. After a night of tacos and gelato, I noticed some signs that labor was on it's way, and after contractions started (mild and about 8-9 minutes apart) in the middle of the night, I was positive that we would have our baby that day. Unfortunately, I fell asleep and the next thing I knew my alarm was going off and I was no longer having contractions. So after a couple hours of debating back and forth about whether or not to go in to work, I decided to go ahead and go. This wasn't the first time I'd had consistent contractions, so I knew I had nothing to worry about. Never mind the fact that in the shower that morning I noticed that my belly seemed a heck of a lot lower than it had the day before, and all signs were pointing to labor. Sure, I will head to work, an hour away from my house and the hospital-nothing is going to happen anyway.

At work I had planned on getting everything ready for my co-worker to take over for me just in case something happened that night and I didn't end up coming in to work the next morning. I did this everyday just on the off chance that I ended up not coming back. I typed up step-by-step instructions on how to do my job, handed them to the person who would be taking over for me, and walked back to my desk, all the while thinking I was starving and trying to decide where to go for lunch. As I walked back to my desk, I felt a gush of fluid. I remember thinking that I kind of had to go to the bathroom and how awful and inconvenient it was that I had just pee'd my pants at work and didn't have a change of clothes. Then it hit me! With no previous problems with incontinence, was it possible that this was my water breaking? No way! Mike had just read a statistic to me that only 10 percent of women's water breaks before labor. After I went to the bathroom to check it out, I came to the conclusion that it most likely was my water and I should probably start thinking about heading to the hospital. I sent Mike a message and informed my office of what had happened and then called my doctor just to let them know. Meanwhile, I was having zero contractions, and felt really good. So I met Mike at home (after the 1 hour drive, plus some because of construction on the freeway), and we headed to the hospital. I got checked in and hooked up to the monitors and now all we had to do was wait.

And wait. . . and wait. . . and wait. Apparently, my body didn't realize that my water had broke and therefore I still was not having contractions. So we decided to walk. . .and walk. . .and walk. I can't tell you how many laps we did around labor and delivery. And still nothing. The nurse eventually let me know that if nothing happened by midnight, they would start me on pitocin. I was nervous about being induced, so Mike went and got me a ton of pineapple and we walked a little bit more, but Ben had other plans. There may have been a little less water in the pool, but he was comfortable where he was and therefore, it was pitocin for me. I was induced at midnight. And I lasted all of about two hours of contractions-one right after the other-before deciding that I wanted the epidural. The epidural allowed me to get one good hour of sleep and then I spent the next few hours in and out of sleep, in between contractions. I was still able to feel them, although I was not in pain, just a little uncomfortable.

Around 9 a.m., I felt the urge to push. When the nurse came in to adjust my position on the bed, she commented on the fact that I was able to use my legs to adjust my body, and I didn't really need much help getting situated on the bed. I should have paid attention to that comment more than I did. About an hour into my pushing, I let the nurse know that I was feeling quite a bit of what was going on. She checked the epidural and noticed that the bag was pretty much empty, but instead of waiting for another one, I just kept pushing. After 2 hours of pushing (although it really didn't seem that long) Ben was born. And I am glad I wasn't entirely numb. I was able to feel him come out. What an amazing experience.

Benjamin Michael Burgin joined our family at 11 a.m. on 7-16-2010. He weighed 7 lbs and was 19.5" long. He has a full head of hair and he came out screaming! And no offense to anyone, but he is the most beautiful baby either of us has ever seen! We are totally in love!

Operation Relocation has Commenced

"I love my house, I love my nest! In all the world, my nest is best!"
(a childhood memory of mom reading this book to us, and consequently singing a made up song, will never again leave me with the nostalgic feeling I used to have when ever I saw this book. No, now, it will mean something completely different me!)

A few weeks ago, my family was in town and we were sitting in our front room and my dad commented on how the birds outside were really loud. Mike and I agreed, because for the previous week, we woke up to what sounded like birds right outside out patio door. We thought nothing of it since the walkway right behind out patio is line with trees, and after all, birds live in trees (or at least they are supposed to).

Well, Mike went out on the patio a couple of days later and came back in, in a tizzy, might I add, exclaiming "the birds have built their nest in my bike!" I went out to look and sure enough, right in between the tires of our two bikes, there was a nest, with two fuzzy birds in it. Almost immediately, Mike felt like he had to go on a bike ride, and therefore the birds were causing him problems because I wouldn't let him disturb the nest. (If I had only let him destroy the dang nest that day)! Anyway, I said to leave it alone and that it looked like the birds were almost ready to leave the nest. I told him that by the time he got back from Utah, he could go for a bike ride.


Fast forward a couple of weeks. Every time I go out on to the patio for anything, I have to be careful not to step on a FULL GROWN BIRD! And not just the birds, the piles and piles of bird poop that they have left on our patio!

A couple of days ago, I had had enough! I called maintenance with a strange request, asking them to shoo the birds and get rid of the nest! I couldn't take it anymore, plus I really want to clean up that dang poop! When I got home from work yesterday, there was no nest, and better yet, no birds! Wahoo! I started making plans about how to clean up the poop, and decided I would do it the next day (tonight). So this morning, I open my blinds and out of habit from these past couple weeks look up to where the nest used to be. And to my astonishment, I think I see a bird. My eyes must be playing tricks on me! I walk out to get a closer look and realize that these dang birds have rebuilt their nest in one night and are back to nesting and pooping on our patio! How dare they? It got me so mad that I had to call my mom immediately and tell her what had happened, and what does she do? She laughs, and then tells me that if I ever have to give a talk on persistence, then this would be the perfect example! At that point I can't help but laugh myself. Now, I still don't agree that this is funny. In fact, I am still really bugged, and can't wait to get home and go ape on a bird's nest! I laugh because I have this image that pops in to my head of me blindly swinging a broom above my head, trying to take down a nest while at the same time trying to protect myself from the angry birds that are dive bombing me for taking down their nest! Never the less, I will be persistent myself and not let these birds continue to make my patio their own little port-a-potty! Take that for personal example of persistence!

I know you can't see it very well, but the nest is in between the two tires.

GO AWAY BIRDS!

On a side note, when I was younger, a family of robins made their nest in my dad's grill. So instead of a summer of grilled steaks and chicken (it was probably only a couple of weeks now that I think about it), we had a summer of waiting for the eggs to hatch and when they did, it was so fun to watch the little birds grow up and-key words here-LEAVE THE NEST! I thought the same thing would happen with our birds. . .

Not to Get All Mushy . . .

Just really quick, I had to document something that happened this morning that totally made my day, and made me, more than anything, want to be home. As I was getting ready this morning, Mike was sleeping. He usually is (when I am getting ready, that is). Anyway, I got dressed and grabbed my shoes. As I bent over to buckle them, I all of a sudden couldn't bend all the way over. Just a little something was in my way. I tried about three times, and then, laughing, I whispered "hey, Mike-can you help me with something?"
And before I could say anything more, he jumped out of bed (probably not even really awake) and knew exactly what I was asking. He knelt down and grabbed the strap of my shoe and asked "how tight?" Then, as if that wasn't super duper nice (I hate not being able to do things for myself) he told me I looked really cute today and he gave me a hug before falling back in to bed. Although, he also said, "you should maybe think twice before wearing those shoes again, huh?" And yes, he is probably right. Looks like the next two weeks I will be wearing flip flops and slip-ons. Hope work doesn't mind, but I have to make sacrifices when it comes to having a husband in the military.
And now, here I sit, at work-bored, while Mike is home. I just want to hang out all week before he takes off for the next two!

OK-I am done-I promise.

Never thought I'd see the day!

Well, folks, here you have it. I always told myself "no public belly pics!" I figured I would always just be around for those I know and love to see me grow and there would not be a need, but as we all know, I no longer live near most of you, and although I hate to do it, I decided to post a pic of me and baby, to let you all know that I have not been taken over by the baby and I still feel like myself (most of the time). I took this picture on Saturday, at 32 weeks (or to those who could care less about the time in weeks, just over 7 months!)

Just to make this short and sweet, pregnancy has been good to me. (I am knocking on wood while typing this). I haven't been very sick, and I love feeling him move. He is more of a stretcher than anything. Not tons of kicks, but mostly a good elbow or knee, or sometimes even his bum will make a weird sort of lump that pokes out of my belly. I have noticed that he likes it when I eat popscicles and ice cream. Those two things make him go crazy, like he is doing gymnastics in my belly.

We are so excited to meet our little man. I don't think our conversations consist of anything but him. We are so excited for the new adventures that are about to come our way.

Did the Dish Run Away With the Spoon?

(what a horrible picture. just so you know, we have hung the pictures and picked up the towel that is on the floor.)

The other day, I had an awakening of sorts. As you can see, I have a bookshelf in my apartment, full to the point of bursting with books I have read, or hope to read in the near future. I wish I could say that I have read them all, but I am just being honest-I have not! Nonetheless, I realized the other night after a relief society activity that I probably ought to spend more time browsing this bookshelf, and less time browsing this.*

Now, I will explain.

We had a baby shower for our monthly activity and we collected items to donate to a charity that helps people that can't afford baby stuff, etc. . . At the activity, we played a couple of shower games. The first game we played was "Match the celebrity babies with the correct celebrity parent." Sweet! Not to boast, really, no boasting, but I got every single one right, then in turn was able to help the RS president fill in her answers. I am a gracious game player (most of the time) and will help my opponents when I can. I was feeling pretty good, my friends, until the next game was introduced. And this is where I had my not-so-rude awakening.

"Name the Nursery Rhyme"-enough said. There were 20 or so lines from nursery rhymes and we had to fill in the title of it. I don't think I got more than five correct. The entire time I kept thinking "my poor son. He is going to grow up quoting articles from People and InStyle magazine, and not so much "Little boy blue come blow your horn." (If that is even how it goes).

The worst part of this whole story is that my mother gave me a wonderful gift about a year ago. She gave me this book. It is such a great reference to have, who knows when I will need to quote a nursery rhyme or two. In fact a couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me "what are little girls made of?" And I thought and thought and was completely stumped, when a kind woman walked by and sort of whispered "sugar and spice and everything nice." I felt like a moron! I know what little boys are made of, but girls-I guess I need to refresh my memory a little.
Needless to say, I am setting a goal for myself-I am going to try and limit my people.com browsing, and spend less money on the smut magazine (as Mike calls it) that comes out on a weekly basis. Not saying I will stop completely because, let's face it, we all have guilty pleasures, but I am going to try and not let this one consume my life. I have more important things to worry about, like if the cows are in the meadow and the sheep are in the corn (or is it the other way around. . .)?

*Side note, I didn't even look at the headlines on the wonderful webpage I put up before I posted it to my blog, and I just took a look. It is a sad, sad world we live in when the top story is the coverage of the fact that a beautiful actress is breaking up (and I say breaking up, because they aren't married) with the father of her illegitimate child. Why do we care? But we do, and the headlines will never cease.

Do you have a favorite nursery rhyme?

Talk Radio

OK, so lately I feel like I am missing something.

When I was younger, I remember my dad always listening to some form of talk radio (sports, or news) when we were in the car. Honestly, I hated it. I wanted some good tunes, something I could sing along too. I always knew that when I rode in the car with my mom, I would get some good music to listen to, but then she started listening to talk radio, too. I just figured this was something I would have to deal with, and would probably listen to it (and appreciate it?) when I got older, too.

Fast forward about 15 years. I am older, and I still don't like listening to talk radio. I find it boring, and most of the people that call in on these programs just annoy me. I feel like I might be missing out on something, especially when the dinner conversation with my family revolves around a topic that Glenn Beck was talking about the other day. I am totally lost. Maybe I will develop this gene by the time I am 30 and will be able to appreciate this particular art form (although, I am pretty sure I will still find the callers annoying).

I bring this up because while I am driving 120 miles to and from work everyday, even satellite radio starts to get old. I have audio books to listen to, and they are great but in the meantime, I will listen to the radio. When it starts to get old I will just turn it off, and listen to nothing. When I mentioned this to my brother-in-law, he said "don't you listen to talk radio?" And so there we have it folks, the thought process begins as to why I don't listen to it, in the meantime, to answer your question, Bryan, no, I don't listen to talk radio. Maybe one day I will, but until then I will continue to feel more like an adolescent than an adult, and I am OK with that.

And to those of you who do listen to talk radio, I applaud you because you are probably much smarter than I am, and definitely know more about what is going on in the world.

A San Francisco Treat!

(A little shout out to Lori Jo-or mom as she is otherwise known)

This past weekend, we had some fun visitors at our house and we definitely made the most of the weekend. My sister Erin and her husband Bryan came out for a "business trip". Luckily we got to spend a lot of time with them and see a few sights that we haven't seen yet while living on the bay area.

We pretty much spent Saturday in San Francisco. After a yummy breakfast croissant at a hole in the wall doughnut shop in Campbell (the one by 7-11 on Winchester, for those who are interested-they are delicious) we headed up to the city to take a tour of Alcatraz. I took the tour a few years ago, but it was really fun to do it again, and with three people that had not been there before. There is really so much history on that tiny island. I was inspired to rent a few movies and see what kind of people were actually housed in the prison.

(Me and Erin on The Rock with The City behind us)

On Sunday, after a visit to our ward for sacrament meeting (Mike and I needed to accept a calling at church, so we felt like we had to be there :)-Activities Committee Co-Chairs, for anyone who is interested), we headed to the beach. Pebble Beach to be exact. I had no idea (honestly) that I lived so close to a golf-world icon. We started out on 17 Mile Drive, and decided to head straight to the water to have lunch. It was such a gorgeous day, we were able to drive with our windows down, and enjoy the weather while we sat and watched the surfers in the water. I am so glad we went. Not to mention the wonderful view of the modestly sized MANSIONS that line the road, and also, the Cherry red Ferrari that we drove behind for about six miles. It is amazing how jumpy it makes you to drive behind a car that costs more than our house did.

And no, they are not nerds (well, at least not all the time)-but let me explain-the peace signs in our pictures were homage being paid to the two girls on the boat over to Alcatraz. They kept taking pictures of each other and each made sure that they were promoting peace whilst having their picture taken. So, we thought it was our duty to spread the message.

Thanks Erin and Bryan for the visit. It was so fun to have you here, even if it was for such a short period of time.

Peace!

What An Awesome Dude!

(Lunch at Pebble Beach on Sunday)

So today is Mike's birthday! All I need to say is that I am so lucky he is my husband. We will probably have a very small celebration, which I feel really awful about, but that is life when you both work and when I have no idea what time he will be home, therefore making it difficult for me to plan anything (or get reservations somewhere for that matter). I just want to wish him a happy birthday. He is such a wonderful man and I can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with him. I love you babe!

Seeing Blue

I am so excited that Mike and I will be joined by Baby Boy Burgin come July. We were one hundred percent positive that our little addition would be a girl, so needless to say we were really surprised when the ultrasound technician said "I see a scrotum" (his words, not mine). I just said "what?" But I noticed that my cheeks were getting a little sore and I realized I was grinning from ear to ear. We immediately went out and bought him a little outfit and I can't help but stop and stare at his ultrasound picture every time I walk by it. I am so excited, and I think Mike is already planning out our guy's career in baseball. Now to the drawing board for a name. I honestly just can't wrap my head around the fact that there is a little boy in there. July, here we come!

Random post, I know. . .

First off I have to mention my most favorite Christmas present that was a little late, so it didn't make it into the previous post. Mike gave me a portable ice maker! It is probably the greatest thing since I absolutely cannot drink anything without ice in the glass. And ever since our little peanut made it's appearance, I have wanted nothing more than to chew and suck on ice. We set it up last Saturday and it has gotten quite a bit of use since then. Unfortunately it is bigger than we thought, and it takes up some of my much needed counter space, but I think I can sacrifice a little counter space.
Moving on. On New Year's Day, Mike was dying to go to the beach. So we jumped in the car and headed out. We didn't have a specific destination in mind, we just started driving and ended up at Half Moon Bay (I think). It was really fun (besides the car sickness-something that reared it's ugly head only since I got pregnant. I never got sick in the car, but lately it has been really bad.) Anyway, we stopped in a little town to grab a sandwich and we headed to the nearest beach. It was a beautiful day when we left and while we were driving. By the time we actually got out of the car, the sun was starting to go down, but it was still nice to hang out for a minute. And extra nice to be at the beach on New Years Day.

Happy New Year to you all! I hope this year brings you many great things! Welcome 2010 (a little late, I know.)

A Very Merry Christmas, Indeed

We couldn't be more excited!