The Burlingames

Chronicling the adventures of the B's

Category: Family

June 30, 2012

Backyard Camping Adventure

by Megan

Yesterday, we decided to go camping in the backyard. We want to take the boys camping but thought we should give it a “test run” first.

We ate our dinner outside on the deck. We had hotdogs, watermelon and chips. All very yummy! Oh, I guess I should mention that our hotdogs were wrapped in bacon. Yum!!!!! ;-)

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Later, when the temps cooled down, we had a bonfire and roasted s’mores. The boys had fun staying up late and being outside. They especially enjoyed their glow sticks. Once it was dark enough, I gave them some glow sticks to play with. They were a hit!

Brothers hanging out. They had to sit next to each other for most of the night.

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Marshmallow eating boy!!

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Enjoying some more freedom before bedtime. They loved the tent!

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Chair stealing cutie!!!

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I had to take a picture of them when I came into the tent. Noah’s butt is in the air and Eli is all sprawled out.

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Our neighbor, Dave (his wife is Megan – what are the odds?), came over and hung out with us for several hours. We had a good time chatting and getting to know him better. This was my view for a few hours. Serenity!!

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Eli was awake kind of early, which was fine, we needed to go let out Riley (friend’s dog). I snapped this picture of Noah. Such a cutie!!!

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One last picture before our camping adventure was over. The beautiful sun glistening off our tent.

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June 23, 2012

Holy crap, we ran a 5k!!!

by Megan

Today we ran our first ever 5k. We have participated in a 5k previously, but did not run, we walked. Today, we ran! Secretly, it has been on my bucket list for a few years to run a race of some sort. It made logical sense to start with a 5k because it is short, relatively speaking (if one can call 3.2 miles “short”). I’m so glad to say…IT’S DONE!!

We got to the race area and I was so amazed and overwhelmed by the number of people there. It was so busy and so packed. It was so amazing!!! I was blown away by the number of people who were supporting family and friends of individuals with congenital heart defects. The outpouring of love was so evident. It brought tears to my eyes. I hope next year we can get more family and friends to join the cause and be on our team. I’ll start recruiting now. ;-)

We were able to see Eli’s cardiologist, Dr. Rios. He came over and visited for a few minutes. We saw a few other nurses and doctors from Eli’s hospital stays and visits. Eli and I even got to connect with our favorite nurse, Christi. During the race, I even ran a few blocks with Dr. Rios. :-)We saw other families from Eli’s hospital stays and had a few quick moments to catch up with some of them.

A dear friend, Katie Saucier, joined our team and ran with us today. She had sweet baby Caleb just 4 months ago and was able to run a 5k today. Amazing!!! I was overwhelmed by her love and support. She loves my boys so much and it makes my heart so happy!

We started out running together, but I was very firm in my instructions to NOT wait for me, which they didn’t. ;-) I had a feeling I was going to get emotional today, I usually do at events like this. I was a little teary eyed in the beginning, feeling overwhelmed by all the people there. For awhile I could see Dave and Katie ahead of me, but eventually I lost them. At one point I caught up to Dave, we ran together for a bit (I got teary eyed again). Dave did some walking but was able to catch up to me again twice, goes to show that I was running really slow! Eventually Dave had to take a longer walk break and I kept going. I got onto the bridge and I knew the race was almost over. I felt an extra surge of energy and picked up the pace a bit. I got to the end and the time was 34 minutes but I think I’m under that due to being so far back at the start line. I’ll have to look at the final results in a few days. Anyway, as soon as I stopped running, I started crying. I found my Dad with the boys and bawled!! I completed my first 5k in honor of my sweet little man, Eli. Amazing!!! I ran the entire time. I was so overwhelmed and so proud of myself.

Eli’s cheesy grin on our way home from the race. He had fun today as well.

I’ve been encouraged and supported by so many friends. A dear friend from college, Greg Asplund, has been so supportive and encouraging of my training process. In the past year or so, he has become a runner (and a good one at that) and is so encouraging of those who are runners or wanting to become runners.Thanks Geg!!!

Here we are!! All hot and sweaty after our first 5k. So amazing! I love my husband and I’m so glad to have had his support during this adventure. I’m already looking forward to next year’s race. :-)

This little man is DJ. He is in one of my early childhood programs. Such a sweetheart!!

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May 22, 2012

They said what?

by Dave

Eli’s been on a roll lately with quotable sayings that only kids seem to come up with. Here’s yesterday’s exchange as he was eating a popsicle:

D: what kind of Popsicle do you have Eli?
E: flavor
D: yes, what kind of flavor?
E: flavor, that’s what kind of Popsicle I have.

This morning’s offering (while getting shoes on to go to daycare) was a bit more strange:

When I get bigger I’m gonna be a girl and have a baby in my tummy. Noah will get in my tummy and he’ll be small like baby Caleb.

Caleb is a new baby that belongs to our friends who live a few blocks away. This evening my niece, Alexis, stole the show. After dinner she was washing her hands and splashed a couple drops of water on her dress and proceeded to sob. While doing so, she yelled out:

I’m melting!

I’d hate to see what happens if she were to get caught in the rain. The crazy thing about this stuff is for every item I post here, they’ve said 30 weird and hilarious things that I didn’t manage to write down.

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May 16, 2012

Heartbeat 5000

by Megan

Please take a moment to read our “story” and try to understand our passion for Children’s Hospitals of Minnesota.

Over the past 4 years, our family has been greatly blessed by Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, MN. In July of 2008, during a routine ultrasound, we learned that our unborn baby boy had something called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS – left side of his heart is too small to be functional). On November 11th, Eli Mathias, was born – our miracle baby. He had his first open-heart surgery at 10 days old. Eli had his second open-heart surgery at 5 months old. He had his third (and hopefully final) open-heart surgery last summer, at 2.5 years old. Between surgeries, doctor visits and heart catherizations, Eli has spent several months throughout his short life at Children’s Hospital.

Today, Eli is 3.5 years old and has a zest for life, he loves to watch movies, help out around the house and outside, play baseball and talk your ear off. We thank God every day for the miracle that Eli is and for the joy he brings to our lives.

Our friends, The Porta’s, have a little boy named, Elijah, who also has a heart defect which has required surgeries and visits to Children’s. Together we have created a team called, “Double E” to raise funds in honor of our boys.

We ask for your participation in a variety of ways – join our team, make a donation or say a prayer for the families at Children’s.

Below is the race information and our web address. On our website you can make a donation or join our team. We would LOVE to see as many people possible come help us raise funds and raise awareness for pediatric cardiovascular care at Children’s of Minnesota.

Come support “Double E” and Children’s Hospital of Minnesota on Saturday, June 23rd at 9:30am at Father Hennepin Bridge in Minneapolis.

Elijah Porta and Eli Burlingame are amongst the many thousands who have received care and love from the doctors and nurses at Children’s Hospital.

Visit: heartbeat5000.kintera.org/doublee
for more details, to join our team or make a donation.

Thank you so much!!

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March 30, 2012

Spring is here!!!

by Megan

We have been so spoiled with such a mild winter and being even more spoiled by an early and warm spring. It has been so much fun to get outside to play, do yard work, go for walks, play at the playground and enjoy lots of bonfires with s’mores.

Dave has gotten most of the yard raked and ‘cleaned’ up. I’m ready to do some landscaping, planting and gardening. We bought some landscaping stones last fall to put in along the sidewalk and we put most of those stones in last week and hope to finish it up this week. It looks wonderful, certainly makes the front of the house much nicer looking. Below is a picture of it in the partial stages. I hope to get a picture up in its finished stage soon.

The garden location will be moving this year to a different location. We are moving it to the back, center of the yard. It will get more direct sunlight, which will hopefully help it to grow better this year. We also need to dig down into the ground to lay some netting under the soil to help prevent critters from eating the roots of my plants and killing them. Another garden biggie this year is going to be putting up a fence around it to keep out other critters. Not a whole lot survived in my garden last year due to critters. Hopefully this year will be more bountiful.

In other good news…we’ve made some major headway with Eli’s potty training success. He has very few accidents and is doing a good job of telling us when he has to go potty (and sometimes even poop). He has been getting A LOT of M&M’s. Each time Eli gets on the potty, Noah points to the M&M’s and says, “M”. Noah gets an M&M each time Eli gets 1 (sits on the potty), 2 (goes potty) or 3 (goes poop). Lots of M&M’s in our house right now. Speaking of…we need to buy more.

In some more other good news…Noah is almost completely OFF his need for his pacifier. Sometimes during the night we’ll give it to him to help him fall back asleep. Otherwise he doesn’t need it for falling asleep at nap time and bedtime any more. Whoohoo!!

These are two big praises to my prayer requests. :-)

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