The Burlingames

I've debated a long time about writing this post. I've had several versions tumbling around in my head for the last few months. So, I'm going to give it a go…(I'm not even sure anyone reads this blog any more!).

If you know me, truly know me, I struggle with my self image. And I mean STRUGGLE! I don't like my face, especially my skin. I'm 34 years old and have acne like I'm 14. It's pretty damaging to my self-esteem. My body has carried and bore 3 beautiful children! But I don't like my chubby thighs, big butt, poochy stomach or saggy mom boobs.

However, it has been on my heart for a few months now to work really hard at learning to love myself, just the way I am. I have a daughter who needs me to portray a positive self image. I have 2 boys who need me to portray a positive self image. I have a husband who needs me to stop tearing down everything he loves about me. I need to stop hating myself and start loving myself.

In part of learning to love myself more, I decided to make a goal for the month of July. My goal was to run 30 miles (in total) and lose 5 pounds. It was hard! I struggled to not compare my time to past times. I kept trying to be positive and remind myself "it's about the fact that I'm moving and not sitting idly". Because I'm a visual person (and duly inspired by a good friend) I made a visual for my miles.

It was fun to color in the squares for each mile! My kids were so encouraging! "Look mom, you've run XX miles and only have XX to go!" They loved seeing me work toward and meet this goal.

I kept track of some extra miles put in via walking or biking. It was fun!

Dave and I decided to keep track of our calories and what we are eating. We've been documenting these in the "MyFitnessPal" app. Its been encouraging to share this journey with him. The gentle reminders of "do you have enough calories left for that snack?" have helped me to stay on track…for the most part. And I'm happy to say that I met my goal of losing 5 pounds! Whew!

Now, to continue the journey in loving myself…I'm going to make a goal for the month of August. I'm going to do 55 miles (jogging, walking, biking, etc.) and lose another 5 pounds. Think I can do it?!

Why do I want to lose weight? Well, I lost sight of myself this winter and was caught up in taking care of everyone else that I gained 18 pounds. I have currently lost 7 of those 18 pounds and have 11 more to get back to where I was before.

This year, I was looking forward to some Halloween fun and trick or treating with the kids. I knew Tessa wouldn’t care, but the whole experience was exciting. However, morning of…Noah got sick. He attempted going out with us, but only made it to one house. So, Dave took Tessa and Noah back to the house while Eli and I continued on. We encountered some very generous people when they found out that Noah was sick. 

   
My sick, blue ninja warrior! 

My racecar driver. He’s speedy fast!!   

Sweet, baby bear!!    

We had fun trick or treating together!! 

I’m an itinerate teacher of the dead/hard of hearing. What does that mean?! That means I travel between multiple school districts and buildings to work with students who are deaf or hard of hearing. I help provide services they wouldn’t get in the general education classroom. It’s hard, challenging but so rewarding! I love my job…minus the paperwork. Ugh! 

But, the perk of my job…getting to know so many fabulous people. Here’s just a few of my favorites (need to get more pictures of all my favorites…there’s a lot of them!!)

Many of my favorite Malonians!!

We are a special pair!

I have a running buddy! Perk, I also bug her on a regular basis at school.

Coworkers, turned friends…fabulous!!

My favorite green M&M!!

We run together so we can drink together!!

This is a few years old, but she’s one of my favorite “Katies”!

So, we had another baby…in January! I’m finally taking a few moments to sit down and write her birth story and share pictures of our little love. 

FYI – this might be a little TMI!!!
Last spring, we decided to have another baby. I hadn’t had a period in over 4 years – between being pregnant and going back on the IUD when Noah was 6 weeks old…I thought it would take us a long time. NOPE! TWO MONTHS…it took us two months to get pregnant. Oh man! I wasn’t ready for that. I had prepped myself for many, many months to adjust to the idea of being pregnant and having another kid. TWO MONTHS!!! Wowza! 

Anyway, I should’ve known from the beginning that she was a girl. I felt like crap. All my energy was zapped.  My acne was awful (sorry to those who had to look at me). She sat high. I was uncomfortable. All of those things did not happen with the boys. However, I didn’t allow myself to get my hopes up…just in case. 

We had an ultrasound in September and did a gender reveal photo shoot that afternoon. * See previous post “It’s a…” for pictures. * But here’s a sneak peek…  

I muddled through the pregnancy. I pulled a groin muscle in October giving Noah an underdog on the swing. I fell 3 times on the icy parking lots at work – twice on my knees and once on my backside. I didn’t gain as much weight as I did with the boys, which was nice. She was large and I was uncomfortable. I did find a new love in “rock tape”. It helped support my large belly without all the extra bulk and awkwardness. 

Here’s the TMI part!! You’ve been warned. 

On January 14th my doc said I was dilated to 3cm and could be stretched to 4cm. She said it could be anytime or a long time yet (not real encouraging!). I was having contractions, they were 10 mins apart but never closer. On January 21st, I was dilated to 4cm and 100% effaced. And contractions were still 10 mins apart. Dr. Oliver was getting ready to leave town for a family emergency and wanted to see me one more time before she left. I saw her on January 26th. I was dilated to 5cm, 100% effaced and my plug was gone. Contractions were still 10 mins apart. Dr. Oliver thought I was in active labor, but I could be there for a while still. Everyone at work, was on high alert and constantly watching me. They were a lot more nervous about me than I was. Despite all this info, I was still convinced I was going to be pregnant for a few more weeks. 

On January 28th, one week before my due date…I taught my first block class at the high school. Chatted with the guidance counselor about students, told her I’d be pregnant for another week or two. Waddled over to the elementary school. Got the typical “you’re still here?!” as I made my way down to Kari’s room. After I was done working with my students, I waddled to the bathroom. It was about 10:15am at this point. I had just finished going to the bathroom when I felt her shift up, felt a pop and a gush of fluid. It was so odd! I had been induced with the boys and prayed that if I was to go into natural labor with her, that it be super obvious. And it was! After doing some shifting to move things along, I popped open the door and asked a kid to get Kari for me. Jennifer came, got me my phone and went to my car for my change of clothes. I called Dave. He was chatting about what he and Noah were doing that day. After a few moments he stopped and said “wait a minute, you’re calling me! Are you in labor?!” Why yes honey, I am! After having been in active labor for 2 weeks, I thought I’d be fine driving home…alone. Kari and Traci refused to let me do that. Traci drove me and Kari followed in her car. I called the necessary people who needed to know what was going on. Dad was on his way, but he lives just over an hour away. I got home at 11:30am. The contractions were 8 minutes apart and then 6 minutes apart. Finally at about 11:45am, I told Dave to take Noah to Lynn’s and that we needed to head to the hospital. We got to the hospital and into our room at 12:20. The contractions were about two minutes apart and getting much stronger. They tried to stick me 3 times for an IV so I could have an epidural. Didn’t work! I was screaming to distract myself from the pain. I had pushed Dave away (he was petting me). One nurse was trying to admit me to the hospital. One nurse kept telling me to breathe (I wanted to punch her). I rolled onto my side and screamed “I HAVE TO POOP!”. A doc came running into the room, told me to close my mouth and out she came. I asked Dave “is she still a girl?!”. Tessa Rose was born at 12:43pm. We were discharged the next day at 3pm. It was a whirlwind!!!

Now, for pictures…   Tessa Rose Burlingame – January 28th, 8lbs 4oz and 22.5 inches long 

  Our new family of 5!

  Milk drunk squishy cheeked baby! 

   So sweet!!! 

  Snuggle bug! 

  Our first (of many) girls day, coffee with some friends. 

  Wearing red for CHD awareness week. Honoring big brother Eli! 

  Happy Valwntine’s Day! 

  One month old! 

  Beautiful day for a walk to the boat landing.

  My bookend babies! 

  Two months old! 

    Sweet smiley baby!! 

  3 months old! 

  My little helper. 

  Big cousin, Alexis, feeding Tessa. 

  4 months old! 

  My babies! 

    First boat ride, fell asleep right away. 

  Snuggle bug! 

  My babies! 

  Visiting Gramma Caron

Twins game 

  Sleepy baby

  My 3 baldies! 

  First time eating “solids”. 

 5 months old! 

Last fall I was introduced to something awesome…Jamberry!! These are amazing and I love them!! In simplified terms, Jamberrys are fingernail stickers. There’s more technicality that goes into how they stay on, are applied and removed, but I’m not going to go into all that. I just love the jamicures that come with my Jamberrys!! So much fun!! 

I had a Jamberry party on facebook and this is all my “loot” minus the mini heater, that was on back order at the time. I have since aquired more! Each sheet provides at least 2 manicures and 2 pedicures plus some accents. Amazing!!! 



I accidentally matched my Jamicure to my outfit one day! Plus it’s a cute picture of Baby Girl. ☺️



So many fun designs and ways to pair the designs together. I’ve enjoyed making them as random as possible! They catch a lot of attention and generate lots of conversations. 



February is National Heart Health Awareness month. February 7th-14th is CHD awareness week. Jamberry had a set of jams that supported heart health. The boys and I put out jams on to support CHD warriors and angels! 



What I love about Jamberry is that it takes me about 30 minutes to put them on and they stay on for approximately 2 weeks. I don’t have to wait for my nails to dry or worry about them chipping and needing to reapply more polish. It’s so easy!!! 😄 

Pop over to my friend, Gena’s page to take a peek at all the fun designs! 

(http://genamitchell.jamberrynails.net)