Sam is now walking!!!

So he took his first steps on July 2nd, and I was completely caught off guard. It took me several seconds to realize what he was actually doing! It was also a surprise because Sam didn't really like to walk much holding our hands. He has been increasing his balance, and finally I guess he felt good enough to take a few steps. Now he is trying to walk around everywhere. It is still faster to crawl, but as long as he doesn't get too excited walking, he can stay up for a while. He can even change directions standing! What a talented kid!
Of course, when he started doing this I tried to get out the camera to take pictures and videos, but sometime during scout camp our memory chip did something and we haven't replaced it yet. So no pictures yet, but we will have some soon!!! :-)

Catch up time!

So I realized that in a few weeks, our little Sam will be 1 years old, and thinking that time does go by quickly! Sam has started to do all sorts of fun things. He started crawling a few months ago, and of course as soon as he did he was pulling up on things. Now our little boy can stand all by himself in the middle of a room with no help. I can tell he's going to have his daddy's strong legs, because this boy can stand, squat and then stand again like it was nothing. Probably learned it from seeing John work out. :-) Everyone keeps telling us that soon he'll be walking, but he gets around pretty fast with his bear crawl, and I'm thinking it still may be a while before he does take his first steps. As long as he does it before his little brother is born, I will be happy! By the way, we are having another little boy!

Sam has graduated from formula. I got tired of the smell, and he started spitting up more, so we have switched to whole milk...which he loves, of course. We're still trying to get him to eat big people food, but with only 2 teeth on the bottom, it's still pretty tricky. Some of his favorites are graham crackers, goldfish, popsicles (thanks John), rolls, and anything he finds on the floor, except for peas. I was trying to be sneaky one day and put some on the floor because he eats EVERYTHING off the floor, but he just rolled it around until he found some other speck to munch on. You would think that I didn't feed this boy the way he does that. Just yesterday I was doing dishes in the kitchen and I turned to see Sam sprawled out on his stomach on the floor. He wasn't crying so I figured he hadn't fallen, and then I look closer and the little stinker is trying to lick something off the floor!!!! I have started sweeping and moping more often, but he finds everything. I did not have my camera at the time, but it would have been a great picture!

As I have mentioned before, Mr. Sam just loves being around people. I have started going to the gym, and Sam goes to the Nursery. To think that I was ever worried about him was pure craziness. He thrives on being around other people. Yesterday he had a little friend over to play (and I got to hang with his mommy) and the two boys just had a great time chasing each other around the house, and crawling all over each other. It will be nice to have a built in playmate!


(Sam went to the beach a few weeks ago, and loved eating the sand and tasting the salt on his fingers. What a cute little boy!)

Sam has also started throwing little tantrums, which I must say is pretty darn cute. When he's upset, he'll throw his head back and then sling his body forward. Right now, it's pretty funny, we're trying not to encourage it, because it won't be so cute in another year or so, but he's just so dramatic about the whole thing, it's hard not to find it amusing. And it's better than feeling mad about it, right?

John returned last week from 5 days of summer camp, and he kept telling me how excited he is that he'll get to do that with Sam and #2. (That's what we're calling him for now). John has been very excited about this idea of having two boys as they will be fairly close in age, and therefore will be able to do lots of things together, like be in scouts together, go on camp outs, be deacons, teachers, priests together. I have to admit I have have been getting excited about another little boy too. Everyone keeps telling me they'll be a handful, and I'm sure they will, but they will have a blast together I am sure.

I am about 24 weeks along and can tell that it is definitely different being pregnant with a little one, than it was with the first. The time has also gone by so quickly. Pretty soon, I will be going to Dr. appts. every other week!


In preparation for #2 we have switched Sam's room with the guest room. It's bigger, and will allow for two beds once #2 is ready for sharing.

Well I believe that it pretty much up to date on what has been going on in the Burkinshaw household. Sorry I have not been very good at posting! I will try to do better this next month! :-)

Corpus Christi

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Corpus Christi. I don't have much time to write about them, but we first visited the U.S.S. Lexington. Sam loved it! :-)

Next we went to the hotel. Sam didn't like how cold the pool was so we tried him in the hot tub and it worked great. He already knows how to float!
He also made a friend at the hotel. The cute little baby looking back at him in the room. He liked him so much he decided to give him kisses. John thought it was hilarious so I thought I should add it.
The next morning we went to the beach. Sam is not a fan of things that come at him, and every time a wave came he curled up his legs and started crying. We did not spend much time there!
We ate lunch at a cute little outside "restaurant". We tried to tell Sam that putting his feet on the table was bad manners, but he really didn't care at that point. It was a laid back place!


We then visited the Texas State Aquarium. Sam enjoyed it for the most part. He missed his nap, so he fell asleep on the way to the car.


Overall, it was a great trip and we stayed in an awesome hotel! I will write more, when I don't have a house to clean!
Much love!

Quick on the Piggies..

They are made from finely ground oreos and cream cheese frosting to hold them together. I got the "recipe" from Mom Burkinshaw. Usually you use cream cheese, but these weren't going to be refridgerated. I still don't know how they taste because I haven't felt like trying them! :-P The ears are those little mint things, you can find them at Candy Craze? I don't know where else. I used an M&M for the nose and pushed it into the cookie ball. I put the sticks in them and put them in the fridge. Then I dipped them in the already colored "almond bark" pellets. I tried regular almond bark and put in colored/ flavored red syrup and it seized both times I tried it (even though it had worked a few weeks ealier). Then I just stuck them in a foam block to let them dry after putting on the ears.
There were so many problems with this project, and all on the night and morning of when they were supposed to be handed out. If you try it, give yourself a few days, they last for a while once they are coated!

Little Piggies and more Sam

Because I spent so much time with them, I thought I should say something about my invitations for our most recent Relief Society Meeting. I saw this cute idea online somewhere, and got it into my head that I needed to do it too. Our meeting was about the Little Piggies that went to market (the stock market), who stayed home (to organize and cleaned up ), who had roast beef and then none (of course food storage) and the Wee'ing piggy who could have avoided the Wee'ing by taking time out to relax. I will not go into all the problems I ran into trying to make these, but if you have any questions as to how it was done, I'll let you know. Otherwise I will let them remain mysterious and thereby making me look very creative! :-) Hopefully you can tell what they are!

I know all moms think they have the cutest baby, but Sam really is quite a cute little kid. He loves to talk. He loves to be around people. When he eats, talks or get excited about anything he starts wiggling his hands and his feet at the same time.

One of his favorite things to do is roll under the coffee table. He likes playing with the drawer and putting his feet on the underside. He actually likes putting his feet on anything. Usually it's me when we're sitting on the floor together. He loves to roll around, and is starting to get an idea that he might be able to move some other way.

He now has his two bottom teeth, which he won't let anyone see unless he's smiling really big. He was such a trooper when they came in. Just a little fussing here and there, and waking up a few times at night. It could have been much worse.

Overall, we are just loving having him in our family. He does the sweetest things, and makes the sweetest little noises. We can't wait to see what the new baby will be like. He will be such a great big brother!

Sam under the table with his foot on the couch.

Some News and cute pictures of Sam

So for those of you who don't know yet, Sam is going to be a big brother come the middle of October! Doing the math, yes that means they will be 15 months apart. We are as surprised as you are! But also very excited! No Doctors were involved this time, except for the one who let me hear this new little baby's sweet little heartbeat. Hopefully Mr. Sam will be walking by then so I'm not carrying around at 15 m/o and an infant carrier! :-)

On to other cuter Sam things. This is what Sam was doing before he found his knees. He must've been watching his daddy work out doing planks or something. He apparently is a very strong baby. He definitely takes after his dad!

Here Sam is working on trying to crawl. He can't quite figure out how to get his hands to move when he is putting his weight on them. He can sit back up from being on his tummy though, so hopefully a crawl will be soon. He will be a much happier baby.

Sam's dad likes to do tricks with him. He thought it would be funny to get a picture of Sam flying through the air. Sam loved it, and John thought the picture was hilarious, so you get to see it too. This is the way we get him to settle down for bedtime. ;-)

Sam got these cute glasses from his baby shower, and I'm afraid we missed the window where he could wear them. His head is a little too big, so they don't fit quite right, but that doesn't stop him from enjoying them. As soon as he gets them off, they go right to the mouth. Plastic is apparently very tasty.

Sam decided that our Family Home Evening lesson was not as interesting as sleeping at the time. It is very unusual for him to just fall asleep, not in his crib. He must've been very tired. And then his dad didn't want to put him to bed, because he has discovered he likes cuddling with Sam. It's very sweet to see the two of them sitting all snug together. :-)

Spring and New Life

So I haven't posted in forever, and Spring is as good of time as any for a fresh start. :-) Sam is still a wonderful happy baby most of the time. In the last few months he has had his first ear infection, first stomach bug and at the same time got a new tooth! Poor little guy had a rough few weeks. For a while he was sleeping through the night! From 8:30 until about 6 or so! Since he has been sick and cutting teeth, not so much. He enjoys waking every 30 to 45 mins. and screams at the top of his little lungs, which is quite loud. (He will most likely be a singer when he grows up).
Anyway, he has been trying some new food. He is eating his "breadstick" in the picture below. He eats it pretty well, has the chomping motion down and everything. By the way, his shirt says "short, bald and handsome"! Thanks Grandma Roberts!

Here we have Sam who just stuck John's Raspberry Milano cookie in his mouth. John got some from my parents for his birthday and once Sam got a hold of it he knew just what to do. He stuffed the whole thing in his mouth before we could stop him. No, we did not let him really eat it, but we thought the chocolate mustache was pretty cute!

My parents came to visit during thier Spring Break, and can you believe it, this is about the only picture I took and it was the morning they left! Sam was still in his jammies.

Sam doesn't quite get a thrill from swinging yet, but he has a smile on his face pretty much anytime his dad is around. He really is a daddy's boy.

Sam likes to stick things in his mouth. I think it's the funniest when he sticks his socks in there and then just leaves it hanging out. He does this with his burp cloth now too. What a goofy kid!

Here is Sam giving what I call a kiss. He gives the sloppiest kisses, and I don't think he quite knows what it is, but it reminds me of the story John reads to him sometimes, "Where the Wild Things Are" the part where the Wild Things say, "We'll eat you up we love you so." Sometimes Sam just can't contain himself. :-)

Here he is eating his daddy's nose. He does this often too. Sometimes without really thinking he'll just turn open mouthed to him and try to eat whatever is closest.

In the last month Sam has discovered his tongue and likes to stick it out. I worry that his lips will get chapped, but so far he has been fine. This is from the first day he started doing it. He has a long tongue!

Sam likes to eat and sometimes he gets a little over excited and tries to eat his lip. I thought it was so funny we got a video of him!

Enjoy!