The Burlingames

Chronicling the adventures of the B's

Category: Family

March 16, 2011

Joy and Sadness

by Megan

Yesterday was a day of joy and sadness.

March 15th is Noah’s 4 month birthday!! Noah is officially 4 months old. He has brought us so much joy and laughter in these last 4 months. Noah’s smile is so contagious. When he smiles, you can’t help but smile too. He is also a cuddly, kissable chunk!! I love smothering his cheeks with kisses (the best part – he just sits there and takes it). Noah is quite the talker (he might be like his Uncle Nate – he never stops talking), constantly talking and telling us stories. A big milestone – Noah also rolled over (back to tummy) for the first time yesterday. Yay!!! We are so grateful and thankful to have such a sweet little (chunky) blessing in our life.

March 15th marked 6 months since my mom was tragically killed in a car accident. Some days it seems like it has been much longer than 6 months and other days it seems like it was just yesterday. I think about her each and every day. Sometimes I cry and sometimes I smile. One day the pain of her being gone will lessen but the hole will always be there. I LOVE looking at pictures of Mom. I hope to make either a scrapbook or another type of picture book of pictures of Mom. Something that I can sit down and look at when I’m missing her and cry or smile. Something I can show my boys one day and tell them about Gramma and how much she loved them. I had a thought the other day, it came up through a brief conversation, how do I say Mom died? Do I say she ‘passed away’ (which seems polite) or do I say she was ‘killed’ (which is true but also seems kind of harsh)? To me ‘passed away’ means it was expected, ie. from an illness or cancer. Mom didn’t ‘pass away’, it wasn’t expected. In fact, it was the complete opposite, it was very UNexpected. I guess I’ll continue with what I’ve been saying for the last 6 months, “she was tragically killed in a car accident”.

The 15th of each month will mark a ‘birthday’ and anniversary. Each month God will give me the strength to get through the day. One day the 15th will not bring sorrow to my heart, it will bring joy in knowing that Mom is now with the Creator of all things. It will bring joy in knowing that one day, I’ll be with her again. Right now the 15th is still a day of mixed feelings (joy and sorrow), but one day, I know it will just be joy.

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January 22, 2011

Quick Update

by Megan

Here is a quick update of the Burlingame household, its been awhile.

Dave – put in some crazy hours at work over the holiday season. In the two weeks prior to Christmas he worked about 115 hours – CRAZINESS!!! We were quite glad to have him home for two 3-day weekends, in a row. He has since been busy trying to find someone to mud/tape some rooms for us. He keeps the boys home with him on Mondays, his day off from work. Which is great for us, saves us over $200 a month in daycare cost. On Thursdays, when he doesn’t have worship band practice, his band gets together to practice. There is talk of a gig coming up soon. We’ll keep you posted.

Eli – is still a busy, busy boy. He loves playing with his cars and trains. He is still obsessed with Thomas, James and Percy. It is kind of funny, he knows all the characters in his Thomas movies. He also knows all the characters in his Arthur books. He loves to sit and read stories with us or with Noah. At the moment, he still adores his little brother. As I type this, Eli is laying on the floor next to Noah giving him kisses on his head. Oh fer cute!! ;)

Noah – is a growing boy. We had his 2 month appointment this week. He is up to 13lbs 5oz and is 24.25 inches long. He also got his 2 month shots and did great with them. He loves to talk and smile. He also loves to watch his big brother be silly. Noah is getting a little bit better at sleeping at night, his first stretch of sleep is typically the longest 3-5 hours, the rest of the night is anywhere from 1-3 hours until he decides to be awake for the day.

Both boys are doing great at daycare. Eli is protective of ‘his Noah’ and gets very concerned if other kids get too close. Lynn, our daycare lady, says at least once a day Eli will lay down next to Noah and chat with him for a few minutes before getting up to go play some more.

House – is slowly coming along. I’ve been going through and purging things. We have too much stuff and I want to have less stuff. So, I’m slowly getting rid of what we don’t need or want any more but I’m also reminding myself to not go buy more – that’s the key. As Noah grows out of his clothes I’ve been separating them into two boxes for some friends. I’ve been slowly giving away my maternity clothes. Yes, this means I’m done having children (that’s a story for another time). Two boys are enough for me.

Me – I’m recovering from a recent bout with the stomach flu. My stomach still hurts but the aches and chills are gone, thank goodness. I’ve been keeping busy with work, bible study and the boys. I enjoy my time home with them. I still try to find time to crochet in all my busyness and enjoy making baby blankets for friends.

That’s a semi quick update of our family. Once the picture galleries get sorted out, we’ll start update those as well.

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January 20, 2011

We’re in Trouble Now

by Dave

Megan is home sick today (and I’m home watching her and the boys). Earlier she was in bed trying to get some rest. Eli, however, had different plans. He ran down the hallway toward our bedroom to say hello. Usually he just stands at the door or paws at the doorknob. Today he became successful in opening the door and it wasn’t just a fluke; he did it twice in the span of a minute. It remains to be seen what kind of ramifications this will have to the way things work around here.

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November 21, 2010

A Piece of History

by Dave

My mom went out to Packwood, WA to visit her father awhile ago as his health seemed to be failing him. He actually bounced back quite well despite the circumstances.

While there her father gave her three guns to pass on to me and my brothers. I received a shotgun: a Remington Model 11 semi-automatic 20 gauge, to be precise. The shotgun looked old and had a patent number with the name Browning next to it. This piqued my interest.

I did a bit of research and found that the gun was originally designed by John Browning in 1889. Browning designed guns but did not actually produce them himself. He brought his designs to Winchester, who filed the patent paperwork in his name and then purchased the rights to produce the guns. Browning had issues with Winchester regarding the Model 11 and wound up ending his relationship with them in May of 1900. After a series of strange events, he made a deal with Remington in 1905 to produce the Model 11 in the United States. The Model 11 was produced from 1905-1947 and was the first autoloading shotgun made in the US.

I emailed Remington for information regarding the gun as I’ve not owned a shotgun before and it didn’t come with an owner’s manual. I know how to use it and have shot it, but I was mostly concerned about properly maintaining the gun. They said my gun was produced around 1941 (based on the serial number) and that they would send me a manual once I provided my address. I thought that was a nice bit of customer service.

It was interesting talking to my grandpa last week on the phone about the shotgun. He said is was one of his favorite guns. I’m looking forward to taking it out to the range to blow up some clays and get a feel for it. Thanks, Grandpa.

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November 17, 2010

Headed Home

by Dave

We’ll be heading home in a couple hours. Make sure if you were planning on visiting that you call beforehand to confirm our location. Thank you for all the kind words and praise for our new baby. He is pretty fantastic.

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