People All Over the World

I would like you to check out the link to an awesome blog, owned and operated by a couple of awesome people. Really, go on, and click on it! NOW! (top right).

I want to spread the word to as many people as possible. My dear friends Paul and Amy are on the road to starting their family, and adoption is such a blessing to all involved, that I want to help as much as I can. So, here I am, getting the word out. Please keep your ears perked up for that special person who is looking to place their child in a loving home.

Thanks for taking the time to check out their blog. I know they appreciate it, too.



Also, scroll down for the Burgin Year in Review!

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.