The Burlingames

Chronicling the adventures of the B's

Category: Random

A Good Idea From MnDOT? Gasp!

by Dave

As the old saying goes, there are two seasons in Minnesota: winter and road construction. The latter brings with it a great annoyance of mine: the “I moved over too soon for the upcoming merge and I’ve been sitting in the slow lane for too long and am going to block both lanes to prevent any more people from budging in front of me” driver. There appears to be a solution.

A new campaign from MnDOT has been getting a lot of play on the radio this summer and, frankly, every driver needs to read this info. They’re advising drivers to wait to merge until you actually reach the merge, not before. Most people seem to think drivers who use the disappearing lane are jerks trying to cut in line; not true! It is safest and most efficient to merge where the lanes actually narrow, with cars taking turns merging. Check it out and see the full benefits of this system.

Two things…

by Megan

Today I decided there are two things that I really, really like; some could even say I love them.

1. I really, really like our new stroller. I took the boys on a 4.5 mile walk today and was just impressed at how smooth it rode, easy it was to push and how comfortable the boys were. Their seats are completely independent of each other, one can lay down while the other sits up. They each have their own snack tray and cup holder. Their umbrella shades are independent of each other as well. There is a big basket below the seats which is great for storage. However, there is a bar that prohibits us from putting the diaper bag down there, which is ok because we can still hang it from the handle bars like before.

Here is a picture of the boys in the new stroller. It only took me about 15 minutes to put it together. We got it from Walmart.com for $150. In our opinion, it was a ‘steal of a deal’, especially considering how expensive double strollers can be. We also wanted to buy a new one because we will have it and use it for years to come.

2. I did this with Eli and I’m doing it with Noah and I still enjoy it…A LOT! I am making Noah’s baby food. I found a good website, www.wholesomebabyfood.com; I’ve tried many of their recipes and I’m looking forward to trying more. So far, Noah hasn’t turned down a single food item that I have made for him. He has eaten everything and always wants more! I enjoy saving our family tons of money by buying fresh, frozen or canned produce and making my own baby food. I can buy a big sweet potato for less an a dollar and get 6-10 meals out of it whereas baby food sweet potatoes can cost from 50-85 cents a  jar. That’s ridiculous! Now, I’ll admit that with Eli, if the food was on sale and I didn’t have a ton of time, I did buy some baby food for him. I generally block off a few hours, puree tons of food, put it containers in the fridge and as the ice-cube trays are freed up, I freeze more. I love having a variety of food for him to eat. We were blessed with about 60 jars of pureed meat (someone bought a TON (at 92 cents a jar) and their child didn’t like it so it was passed on to us) and Noah loves it! Each meal consist of some meat, veggies and fruit for dessert. All in all, I enjoy making the food and Noah is a very good eater.

Those are just two of the things I like today. Enjoy!

I Love Lamp

by Dave

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I’m simply testing out the new wordpress app.

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.

Progress

by Dave

The blog is coming back to life. When I wasn’t taking care of the young and infirm I managed to do a bit of maintenance on our site. The current theme may or may not end up being our chosen design, but it’s infinitely better than the default we were stuck with for the last month or so.

FYI: I don’t have a preview button for a lot of the changes I’m making, so don’t be surprised if you click on something and it doesn’t work or if things just generally look strange for a while yet.