Playing Catch Up...

... I feel like this is what I am constantly doing with the blog. I keep coming up with ideas for ways to keep the blog up to date, but I continually fail.  I can give a list of reasons for why I have not updated this blog in about 5 months, but I am not going to. Instead, I am going to give myself some grace, and finally admit: I am not a good blogger. I want to be, but I'm not. Maybe someday, but not right now. In the meantime, I will give a quick 5 months in review. Here goes:

Leah got cuter.

Bekah got older (11 months).

Leah got to go to her first ODU basketball game.

We had Howell Thanksgiving in Tennessee.

Bekah found out she was going to be a big sister (and wasn't happy about it).

The girls met Santa.

We had our first Christmas in our new home (and Bekah's first Christmas ever!).

Bekah liked all her new toys...

... Leah's toys, too

Leah was able to keep some presents to herself.

We went to South Carolina for Burgin Christmas (the grandkids in age order).

The two youngest got to open Baby Jesus (a family tradition).

Leah got a special present: Baby Kate, her cabbage patch doll.

Bekah turned 1 year old!

She had a special birthday party...

... loved her new baby doll...

... her tea set...

... her farm...

... and her pink cupcake.

It snowed...

... And snowed.

With all the snow, we had to bring the slide into the house

Stephen made a snow angel.

We had lots of fires in our fireplace.

It snowed some more.

We had to start baby proofing.

Baby proofing failed.

We spent Stephen's spring break in Tennessee.

Bekah touched a waterfall.

Stephen tried to fall off of a waterfall.

Bekah met her new best friend - Daniel Tiger.

Mommy snuggled her Leah girl.

Bekah learned how to climb up and slide down all by herself (while no one was looking).

Bekah also learned how to drive.

I reached the mid-point of my pregnancy (20 weeks).

We got to see Baby #3.

It finally got warm enough to go outside and play.

The girls found some audible Easter eggs...

 ... and enjoyed a wagon ride at the beach.

Spring has finally bloomed...

... and we are enjoying all the pretty trees...

... and beautiful flowers.

10 Months Old!

Our sweet Rebekah Joy is 10 months old! Can it be?! Each day she is coming more and more into her own and revealing her personality to us. She is a fearless, precocious, inquisitive, determined, adorable and silly girl. We definitely have our hands full! In the last month, Rebekah has:
- learned to climb stairs. Let the official baby-proofing commence!
- really taken off with cruising. She has mastered going around corners and transitioning between different pieces of furniture. Sometimes she makes laps around our ottoman in an attempt to find the best way to get to an object in the middle of it.
- started to wave. She sometimes waves her entire arm, sometimes just her fingers, sometimes her whole hand. I guess it just depends on her mood. One of her favorite times to wave is when she is caught doing something naughty, like climbing the stairs, usually accompanied by a sweet smile!
- said her first word (I know I've already said that she said her first word, but it hasn't been consistent. This one is already happening a lot more!) It's usually when she is doing something naughty like trying to get into Pippin's dog bowl (or see above!). When I catch her going towards his bowl and say, "Rebekah, no no!" She usually looks back at me, smiles and says, "nana".
- been playing peek-a-boo with her blanket. She thinks it is the greatest trick and just giggles while playing. It's quite cute!
- figured out how to make silly faces. It typically consists of arching her back, opening her mouth up really wide, and sticking her tongue out.

We love our Rebekah Joy and are so grateful that God has entrusted us with raising her. Her life is an adventure and we are so glad to be part of it.

Trying to be creative with ways to still incorporate the blocks in her monthly pictures...it's pretty tricky!

My new silly face - sticking my tongue out!

I love standing at the door and looking for the big yellow bus to come and bring sister Leah home.

Pretty Rebekah Joy

The Week in Review

It seems like there is always something happening around here, and when I have down time, doing a blog post is usually last on my mind. So, I figured I can try to keep track of some of the major things that have happened during the week and try to do one post a week about those important things to share. So, here goes:

1. Leah lost a tooth! Yes, I know she has already lost teeth, but this time, it's because of the natural developmental process that the body goes through! And technically, this tooth is not the first that fell out naturally, but since we didn't see the first one come out and never found it, we are considering this week's to be the first! :) Seeing as Leah is not even 5 yet, we were a little concerned about her losing teeth, but the dentist assured us that it's okay and that some kids lose teeth early. This momentous occasion was marked with some sadness for us, though. For one thing, Leah doesn't understand what happened to her, and was very upset by the whole situation. And unfortunately, we can't explain to her (in a way that she will understand) that it's normal and okay. Also, we did not do any sort of tooth fairy thing. This is sad for us. It means nothing to Leah, so why do it? These kinds of milestones often bring back up the grief that will always exist for us in knowing that our little girl has a different life and won't do the things that other little girls will do.

2. Rebekah had her nine month check up. She weighed in at a whopping 17 lbs 1 oz, which is about the 28th percentile. Now that may not seem very big, but the doctor called her a butterball! She says that for Rebekah's height (27 1/2", the 30th percentile) and delicate frame, she is very plump. Rebekah did very well at the appointment and hardly cried at all when she got her shots. What a good girl!

3. Rebekah thinks she is a gator! Well, not really, but she does love to growl! Just in this past week, she has started taking turns in a growling conversation with us, and thinks it's just too funny! She is also starting to take turns with other sounds too, but growls are the best.

4. Rebekah is starting to cruise! She has been pulling up to standing for a while now, but in the last week, she has been pulling up on everything, all the time (including trying to stand up in the high chair at a restaurant!) and cruising while doing it. She has even been transitioning from the couch to the coffee table. The doctor said she thinks Rebekah could be walking by Thanksgiving!

5. We went to the pumpkin patch. We found one that gives you a "pumpkin barrow" and clippers to cut your own pumpkin from the patch. The place also had animals to pet, pony rides, hay rides, etc. The girls seemed to have a great time being outside, meeting the animals, and picking pumpkins.

Mommy and the girls with the pumpkin barrow.

"What about this one?"

Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch!

Meeting the piggies. Leah was snorting like pigs!

Leah liked the pony. She said, "pat the pony."

Bekah was fascinated by all the chickens!

Leah loves being outside!

Two sweet girls

9 Months Old!

I know this blog is supposed to be about all that's happening in the Burgin family, and that in the past month I've only posted one entry about Rebekah. And that's being followed up by another post about Rebekah. Trust me, a lot more than Rebekah growing is happening around here! I'm trying to come up with a way to keep up better on the blog. However, we do have a big nine month old that I want to share about.

Our precious little girl is growing and changing every day. It's so amazing to watch her learning and figuring the world out around her. Our Rebekah is a very curious and active girl. Translation: she never stops! I'm sure most babies are like this, and we told ourselves that we were in for a rude awakening with the new baby, but we were not prepared for this energizer bunny! Our big "wow" moments are when she is willing to sit still in our laps for more than 5 seconds. And even then, she usually has some toy or snack to keep her distracted. And changing diapers and getting dressed? Like wrestling an alligator. She is definitely going to give us a run for our money! We are loving every second of it, too.

In this past month, Rebekah has figured out how to really crawl, and she is very fast! She loves to follow mommy around the house, but Pippin (and his dog food bowl) is her favorite. She knows him by name, so anytime she hears it she is immediately looking for him. She loves to climb up on his back and he is a good puppy who takes everything she gives him.

Speaking of learning names, she definitely knows her own name and turns anytime you call her. Usually I'm calling her because she's getting into something she shouldn't be (like the dog food bowl, the fire place, electrical outlets) and I think she's starting to learn what the word "no" means. When I tell her no, she pauses, looks at my face, and I swear you can see her brain at work, deciding. Oftentimes, her pause is followed by a cute smile or scrunchy face and then continuing on in whatever her pursuit was. We're working on obedience!

Rebekah has been babbling for a while, but I think she might have said her first word with meaning... "Dada". She says it mostly when she's interacting with Stephen, which is why I'm pretty sure it's her first word.

Rebekah now has 8 teeth and she loves to use them! She is constantly putting things in her mouth and trying to discover the taste of anything she comes in contact with: chairs, knobs, bricks on the fireplace, you name it, she's trying it.  When it comes to food she has a very strong opinion about what and how she will eat. She's a pretty good eater, as long as she can do it by herself. Miss Independent doesn't just want a few pieces/bites on her tray, she wants you to give her the whole bowl and let her go to town with her meal! Some more recent favorites are broccoli and chicken.

I'm thinking we are starting to get over some of the separation anxiety now, though for a while it was a little rough. Rebekah didn't like anybody to even look at her. Unfortunately for her, she's so cute. People talk to her every time we are in public. Now, she pretty much has one of three reactions: she smiles at them, she acts shy and ducks her head, or she just stares at them with a very serious face. We're working on not staring !

One final thing, Rebekah has a favorite thing. It's her blanket. She buries her face in it, she snuggles in it, when she goes to sleep, she likes to have it pulled up over her head. She loves the thing. In fact, if we want her to sit still and snuggle with us, it's one of the only ways to get that to happen. We very rarely leave home without it.

There are about a thousand other things I could tell about Rebekah, the nine month old, but I'll stop. I'm so grateful that I get to be home with her, getting to know her happy, adventurous, independent personality. She truly does bring so much joy to our lives and we are so thankful to God for blessing our family with this special little girl. And now for some pics:

The only okay pic of Rebekah with the blocks. So much for the cute laying down pics. They had to end some time!!

So proud of the mess she's made!

The pine cones were too tempting to resist, though they weren't that tasty!

Sweet, precious girl

8 Months Old!

Rebekah is 8 months old. That's 2/3 of a year! It's crazy to think that in 4 short months, she'll be a year old! For now though, we'll just enjoy the happy, funny baby we've got and the big personality that's developing more and more everyday. Some new things about Rebekah are:

- Rebekah is becoming more and more aware of the world everyday. This is most notable when you put her down on the floor. Don't take your eyes off of her for a second or she'll be gone! Already her favorite things to go for are outlets, Pippin, and the fireplace. I guess we're going to have to baby proof soon!
- She's still not crawling with belly off the floor, but that hasn't seemed to slow her down. She is very good at getting from sitting to laying, and back up. She pushes up onto all fours, and has occasionally made a couple of "crawling" moves before collapsing onto her belly. It won't be long before she's up and running, I just know it. 
- She also really enjoys pulling hair, especially Mommy's hair. We're working on not being so mean ;) - She loves to play peek-a-boo, be tickled, and sing "lap songs" (like "Ride the Horsey, From Wibbleton to Wobbleton, and This is the Way the Lady Rides).
- One of the funniest things, though, is when Daddy points at her. Don't ask me why this is so funny. I guess, it's just their thing.
- Rebekah has also become extremely affectionate. She squeezes back when I hug her and she covers my face with baby kisses when I hold her close. I love every drop of baby slobber she leaves behind!
- Rebekah is becoming very proficient at self-feeding. Some of her favorites are: green beans, sweet potatoes, and cheerios. Your typical baby favorites! She is also very fascinated with eating utensils and wants to take them from us and feed herself. She still needs to work on figuring out which end goes in the mouth, though.
-I know I have talked about how happy Rebekah is before, but the best proof I have is this: in the last 2 weeks, Rebekah has had 5 teeth come in and hasn't made a peep about it. In fact, 2 of the 5 surprised me. I had noticed the other 3 and just looked one day and there was another tooth. I looked again in another couple of days and yet another tooth had poked through. The only way that I have been able to tell that anything is going on with her is that she has started getting up multiple times in the night. I'm hoping now that all of these have come through, things will settle down and she will go back to getting up only once (and maybe even dropping that one nighttime nursing!)

We love our Bekah Bunny and can't wait to see what this next month will bring!

Bright eyes

"I see you behind that camera, Mom!"

R is for Rebekah