The Next Chapter

Well, folks, the time has come to say goodbye (for a season) to California,

the land of

Taquerias (on every corner)

redwood forests

year round farmer's markets

and, consequently, fresh flowers and produce all year long

The 2010 World Series Champions (Giants, if you were wondering)

the beach

new friends

70 degree weather in January, and February, and March, and...well, you get the idea

on average an hour commute

asians*

paying rent

the birthplace of our son

*not a racist thing, just a silicon valley thing-if you live here, you know what I am talking about.

This last year and a half has been great and as I walked down main street Campbell the other day I started to feel a little sad. I have such wonderful memories of this place. Our lives changed forever while we lived in our tiny one bedroom apartment, and it will always be a special place to me and Mike. And as I sit here trying to figure out what to take to Utah and what to put in storage, I am happy to be returning to good old K-Town, but sad at the same time because our reason for moving back is an unfortunate one.

Mike is being deployed this summer and although he doesn't leave until June, the deployment is looming in the back of my mind (and has been for quite some time) and it is even more real to me now that we are actually making accomodations for the time that he is gone.

With that said, he doesn't leave until June, so for the next couple of months we will be able to spend time together and enjoy time with our friends and family.

Now that I have that off my chest, I am looking forward and getting excited to spend my time with Ben, and not in an office. Yes that is right, I am not going to work when I return to Utah. I have been looking forward to this day since I found out I pregnant! Who knows if I will end up going back to work one day, but for now I am going to welcome all the fun adventures that await me and Ben.

And so, without further ado, here's to Utah,

the land of

LDS churches (on every corner)

CAFE RIO

the salt lake bees

the UTES

the cougs

old friends

red rock (brewery and land formations)

sunday dinner with family

the dear old brown and gold

4 seasons

the famous 4th of july parade and fireworks

mormons

the birthplace of our family

To those new friends we made while living here, you will be missed. Make sure to call when you visit family in the Beehive state. And keep those blogs updated (and I vow to be better at updating mine)!

L-O-V-E

As Valentine's Day approaches, I thought I would take the time to share with you some things in my life that I love (and that might surprise you).

Just some of my personal faves!

I love glasses, drinking, not eye. Just the look of them. I love all different varieties. Fancy and simple. Classy and cheesy. Clear, green, yellow, blue. etc. I can't wait until I can put glass front cabinets in my kitchen and load them up with glasses! I love shopping for glasses and giving them as gifts! Every time we have moved, my glasses are the first to be unpacked, and I actually love pulling warm glasses out of the dishwasher and putting them back in the cabinet.
Now-the strange thing about this obsession (as if the obsession itself isn't strange enough) is that I don't really like drinking out of glass glasses. I prefer to drink out of plastic cups.

Photo Courtesy of House Beautiful
I love the smell of greenhouses. I would always jump at the chance to go flower shopping with my mom. I love the way it feels inside a green house. The dampness in the air and the smell. I just can't get over the smell. Sometimes when I get to work in the morning and get out of my car, it smells like a greenhouse. I love that!

On the topic of smells, I love the way my son's breath smells. I can't describe it with words, I just do. At first I thought it was just a newborn thing, so I drank it in thinking that one day it would go away, but so far it hasn't (and I know it will, so I continue to drink it in). I could write an entire blog on how good Ben smells, and maybe one day I will, but there is just something about the purity of a baby that smells so good!

I love organizing. A good sized closet makes me weak in the knees. Unfortunately the last couple years have left me with limited closet space and I find myself dreaming of The Container Store, and the wonderful things I could do if I were let loose in there. Right now, as we are facing yet another round of packing things up and moving them to storage, or to my parents house, I am giddy because I will just have to go out and buy some more clear bins to put things in. They just stack so nicely and I can see what is in them.

I love this little office nook. Living in small apartments makes me crave organized space-and I know, those of you that have been to my home are probably wondering who is actually writing this, but I swear, it's me! And one day, I will have a space like this in my house.

Photo Courtesy of Woman's Day

Now, this is very odd, but I love my sense of smell. As I was thinking about all the things I love in my life, a lot of them had to do with scent. For example, I have already listed two, but I love libraries and library books because of the way they smell. I love Mike's cologne. And I love that a certain scent can bring back a river of memories, and I LOVE memories! :) So there you have it folks. I will spare you a picture of a large nose, but before I sign off, I want to list the obvious things that I love, just cuz!

reality TV
diet Coke
family
pickles, popscicles, and potato chips
sunflower Seeds
a good chick flick
flip-flops
driving with the windows down
pedicures

the rain

a good book

good food

when I try a new recipe and it actually tastes good

if you want to know more about the things I love, refer to this

And last, but not least, I love, love, love Mike and Ben! I love spending time with them and look so forward to the weekend, just to run errands together. I love the time that we have had in California and although I find myself incredibly home sick for the familiar things we left behind, I wouldn't trade our time here for anything in the world.

and one last thing I love-I love singing this song to Ben at night. I wouldn't consider it a lullaby, but he seems to enjoy it-I think...

I love you, a bushel and a peck!
A bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck!
A hug around the neck, and a barrel and a heap
A barrel and a heap, and I'm talkin' in my sleep.
About you.
About you!
About you!
My heart is leapin'!
I'm having trouble sleepin'!
'Cause I love you, a bushel and a peck
You bet your pretty neck I do!

Food and Water

We decided it was time to throw Ben into the deep end of the pool. Literally. Well, deep for him anyway. Mike and I always thought we wanted to start our kids off in the water early to help them be comfortable in the water. And, apparently it is never too soon to start. So, a couple of weeks ago we headed to the pool and Ben had his very first swim lesson. He loved it! He was giggling and looked so comfortable in the pool. The pool was heated to 92 degrees, so I am pretty sure I would be comfortable too, but to Ben this was just one big bath tub. He was so cute the whole time. He had his little ankles crossed the entire 30 minutes!

Also, recently we started Ben on solid foods. We gave him some rice cereal first and he did really good with that, so after a week or so, we decided to give him carrots (and other various orange foods). I think he likes them.

Rice Cereal
I had no idea it takes practice to not get food all over your child's face. He is actually a clean eater, the person doing the feeding (moi) is an entirely different story.

Carrots! Yummo!

I can't believe how fast this little guy is growing! He is still in the 90th percentile in height, which totally baffles me. I guess he has Papa Ray to thank for that. And although he looks chubby, he is still only in the 40th percentile in weight.

He is so much fun these days.
He grabs our faces and gives kisses, he has learned how to scoot, but he only on his back. He arches his back and pushes off with his feet and he actually moves pretty quick and covers a good amount of space when he is moving.

And he has shown interest in the outlets. I had no idea we would need to baby-proof so soon, but they seem to be all he is interested in and he will scoot himself as close to them as he possibly can and then stretch his little arms as far as they can go, trying to touch it. A man sitting next to me on the plane the other day said "Oh, just let him touch it. I promise you that is all the baby-proofing you will need to do. That shock will ensure that he won't touch it again."
Um, thanks, kind sir, but I don't think I will be taking that route. Oddly enough, Mike agreed with him (I don't think he was serious, or was he...). Looks like I might be on my own. Go ahead, outlets, make my day!

Anywho, it has been six months and I don't remember what life was like before Ben. He has changed our lives so much, and for that, we are extremely grateful!

A little side note, the other day we handed him a pickle spear, and he looked at us like we were two crazy, grinning goons expecting him to like this strange thing. But, being that he is a great kid, he humored us and sucked on it until we took it away after a few minutes. If I have any say, he will learn to love dill pickles!

A Great New Year to You!

To ring in the New Year, we decided to jump in the car and head to Morro Bay, a little beach town about 3 hours south of San Jose. It was so much fun, and yes, just as you see in the pictures, it was stormy and cold, but it just added to the adventure.

We got there on Saturday and the rain was pouring and the wind was blowing and it was so cold, but we were going to enjoy our time, dang it! So out we went. We met some friends and headed to the beach. We made it to a saltwater taffy stand, about 100 feet from the car, and took shelter there while enjoying some delicious taffy and scalding hot chocolate (I just got feeling and taste back in my tongue yesterday).

We decided to fore-go the beach and head back to our rooms for dinner.

When our cell phones couldn't get reception and our TV had a hard time getting a signal, and the wind was literally howling at the windows, I started to feel like I was in a really bad slasher movie. You know, one of those movies where you find yourself yelling at the stupid damsel! "Don't go out there!" or "Don't open the door!" or "He's right behind you!"
You get the gist.

Look at that face!

I am actually grateful for the storm. We were able to stay inside, order pizza and just enjoy each others company. We played a rousing game of phase 10 followed by good conversation with a huge bag of candy on the bed and the baby asleep in the closet. Don't worry, it was a roomy closet (kind of) and it was dark and it was just while we played our game and then we put him down in his bed.

Come on, we aren't those people. Or are we?

Anyway, we wish you all a merry new year.

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.