April Update

We love just watching General Conference. The whole weekend is dedicated to it. This was great timing since Jason still wasn't feeling well after a week of the flu. I made cinnamon rolls and we just sat and watched all the sessions of conference. It was a little weird having the sessions shifted so that they were at 12, 4, and 8. I'm so used to 10, 2, and 6 that it made my whole day seem off. :)

Jason and I have made it a tradition lately of always signing two verses of "Follow the Prophet" to Ethan before he goes to bed. He loves it and now recognizes the song as soon as we start singing it. This is Ethan "meeting" the Prophet for the first time. :)

Ethan and the Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

Watching Conference together

8 month photo shoot -- I tried to be a little more creative with my pictures :)

We love this book!

South Fork Trail

We took our first walk on South Fork Trail near our house. It's so close that we walked to the trail head. This was the first time Ethan wore these bright blue socks and he kept noticing the socks and playing with his feet all day. :) Soon these trees in the background will be covered in leaves.

Louisville Temple

We went to the temple again on Saturday. I got to see one of my ward friends sealed to her family. It was so beautiful!!! I was so glad I got to be there. Jason watched Ethan and then we switched so he could go on a session.

Just wanted to show how close the temple is to the stake center. We watch Ethan in the stake center when it's cold.

Quick family picture near the temple parking lot. It's surrounded by woods. It was a perfect day outside!

March, Missionaries, and Meetings

Well, let's see if this title can inspire me on what to write about this month. I feel like the time is going by pretty quickly. Pretty much I keep looking at the weather every day hoping for a warm weather day to take a walk in the park. Well, it still hasn't happened yet. The temperatures warm up some, but then it inevitably cools down again. After one of the harshest winters in Kentucky history, everyone is ready for Spring!

We've spent a lot of time with the missionaries this month. There's a lot more opportunity with 3 sets in our ward. Jason goes to their appointments with them almost once a week, and I've gone with the sister missionaries a couple times as well. We fed the sisters this week and we'll feed the elders next week. Plus, I cooked 10 lbs of green beans for their zone conference last week. I don't remember ever cooking fresh green beans before, but I made some for our dinner as well that night, with the accompanying Toasted Almond-Lemon Butter sauce. I thought the green beans were so good, I almost didn't care about the main dish! :) I definitely plan to make them again.

Meetings aren't generally a fun topic to discuss, but fortunately not all meetings are boring. Our Sunday meetings the first week of March got cancelled because of another ice/snow storm. This storm only lasted a day and wasn't nearly as debilitating as some of the others have been. Meaning, the next day most of the snow and ice melted off of my car instead of me having to spend 30 minutes chipping it off. Some of the fun meetings I got to go to were Stake YW training, baby storytime at the library on Fridays, a baby shower, Book Club, a stake Relief Society meeting, and Saturday will be the General Young Women's Meeting. Sometimes I don't always feel like going to "meetings," but I always find that when I go with the right attitude, I come away feeling happier and more inspired. Jason and I still continue to watch the CES Firesides. This month Linda K. Burton spoke about following the promptings of the Spirit. Sister Burton referenced President Eying, who quoted President Marion G. Romney, who quoted his mission president Melvin J. Ballard, saying "A person cannot give a crust to the Lord without receiving a loaf in return." I love that thought and I felt the truth of it when she said it. I've been thinking a lot about that this month.

Last Saturday during our first load of laundry, our washer stopped working. The water couldn't drain after the clothes had been washed. After some investigating on our part, we unintentionally dumped some of the water all over the floor. And although it took at least 2 hours to sort everything out and clean up the mess, it happened at a very convenient time. Ethan was about to go down for a nap and we weren't in a hurry to go anywhere. I was also grateful that it was only a small load of Ethan's clothes so we didn't have to drain as much water by bucket. I'm grateful that we'll get a new washer tomorrow so I can finally wash our clothes. Having already learned this in Ecuador, I was reminded again of what a blessing it is to have a washing machine and dryer!

Ethan update: He's as cute as ever. Still doing well with solids. Finally over a persistent cold virus and diaper rash. And loves his jumperoo toy!

7 months

As his mother I can say that I think Ethan is the most adorable and lovable little boy! If you don't agree, it's ok, I understand. :) Maybe in April we'll get outside so you can see something besides our living room floor. :)

February and more Ethan pics

We celebrated Jason's birthday quietly this year, just the way he likes it. I am not very good at gift-giving and Jason is probably just as bad at gift-receiving, so it makes birthdays and Christmas time difficult. Fortunately I found several small things that Jason likes, and uses constantly, that I was able to give him. It makes me really excited to give something that he'll actually like and doesn't expect, especially since it doesn't happen very often. All of them were inexpensive or free, just the way he likes it. :) Here are a couple of them.

I gave Jason this thin leather wallet to replace his thicker one that he never carries around with him. He's been wearing out his credit cards really fast in his pockets, so I ordered him a custom designed credit card with our wedding picture on it. I thought it would be good to have a picture of us on his card to potentially encourage missionary conversations about marriage and family.

This is one of the interesting things I learned about Jason when we were dating. He has excellent oral hygiene and I often saw his flosser in his car. After 10 years of daily use his flosser finally bit the dust. Fortunately, I found another one online to replace it since I haven't ever seen one like this in the stores.

I helped a lot with our New Beginnings this year again. I was in charge of it last year and volunteered to help put on a similar program this year. It was a lot of work on my part, and it got a little stressful at times, but I think it turned out pretty good considering the time and weather complications we had. We had it two days before Valentine's Day and it was heart-themed. The girl's wrote nice notes to each other and dropped them in cute bags sitting on a table. We also had the girls participate in short skits that illustrated each value. For refreshments we ate heart-shaped sugar cookies. It was a great evening and I am happy that it is over. :)

Valentine's Day was also pretty low key this year. I was able to make and frost sugar cookies in the afternoon--some of my favorite cookies. We also went to the Louisville Temple and out to dinner at Olive Garden on Saturday. While we were in the temple, a local member watched Ethan at the church nearby. She was really sweet, but apparently Ethan didn't like being left in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people and was sad most of the time. Hopefully now that the weather is warming up I can get him out and playing with other babies and people more.

Ethan is super cute and fun to have around. His little coos and giggles are so cute. He can mostly sit on his own now, although he still tips over occasionally. We have also started him on solid foods. He will eat pretty much anything except plain rice cereal. Unfortunately, that is what the doctor recommended that he start with, but he wouldn't eat any. After a couple of days of trying rice cereal and then some vegetables, I finally gave him a jar of bananas and he decided he liked solid foods after all. Once I switched over to plain oatmeal instead of plain rice he's been more happy at meal times. We're grateful for our neighbors who have been letting us borrow their baby things. Ethan has acquired a baby swing, bumbo, and jumperoo toy in the last month. He continues to be our sweet, happy baby.

He only uses a pacifier as a chew toy these days and prefers to use his thumb to calm himself down.

I don't know why, but this picture always makes me smile. :)

Sittin' pretty in the high chair Grandma and Grandpa B gave him for Christmas

Super baby!

Taken at almost 7 months

We made these gifts for the YW for their birthdays. They go along with this year's theme and say "Wash away your sins. Come unto Christ and be perfected in him."

A successful activity we had as a mia maids class--decorating cupcakes to look like Minions from Despicable Me.

Birthday and Ethan's 6 month

Saturday we drove to Louisville to celebrate my birthday since Wednesday was pretty busy with YW and YM activities. We stopped for dinner at Red Robin and then went to the Kentucky Science Center. The website made it look a lot cooler than it actually was, but it still had some interesting things there. It was fun to see downtown Louisville, too. The Ohio River is beautiful there, very wide and serene.

Kentucky Science Center display about air flow

Standing in a bubble

6 months today!

Today is Ethan's 6th month mark. It's amazing how much he's changed just in the last 2 months. We went for his well check and here are the stats:

Weight      17 lbs           45%tile
Height       26 3/4 in      65%tile
Head         17.2 in          51%tile

His first tooth popped out a week ago on the bottom right followed closely by his bottom left, which came in today. Ethan has been surprisingly good for having his immunizations plus two teeth come in during the last week. I am grateful for Tylenol though, and I think Ethan is too.

In addition to his teeth, Ethan started rolling over from his tummy to his back several weeks ago and it currently learning to sit on his own. He can balance for a few seconds on his own, but he still needs a little support. He is also quickly reaching for things near him, including Mommy's cereal bowl, dinner plates, and the cell phone. He's already accidentally hung up on Daddy a few times. :)

Loves to splash in the bath

Ethan loves to play peek-a-boo right now and will just giggle and laugh when we play. He really likes having blankets waved above this face and can quickly go from complaining to laughing when we do it. He has also discovered his toes, and loves to play with them during diaper changes. He finally got them all the way to his mouth the other day and was very pleased with himself.

Finally got his toes to his mouth

Success!

Ethan still loves to observe everything going on around him so he gets bored if Mom isn't moving around and doing a lot. He's started to give more smiles to strangers, but only to very happy strangers. Otherwise, he just stares at them, and we smile at him. We just love our happy little boy!

A New Year - 2014

Well, January is turning out to be very cold and snowy. We try to stay inside as much as possible from the snowstorms and chilling temperatures. Just this week school was cancelled the last three days due to inclement weather, and at the rate that they're cancelling school, the kids will be going to school until July! A few weeks ago our car even froze to the ground in a large frozen puddle in our parking lot. I finally got it unstuck a few days later with a neighbor and city worker's help. I'm just grateful for a warm heater and windows to see what's going on outside to help keep the cabin fever away.

Monday was Martin Luther King Day and Jason had the day off. We drove into Cincinnati, called "Cincy" by the locals, so I could see where Jason worked and get a peak at the city. We weren't gone long, but it was nice to see some of the things that everyone else talks about.

Besides work and taking care of Ethan, it seems that we've spent a lot of time in church-related activities. We had a great Stake Conference a couple weeks ago. And we've worked on preparing Sunday lessons, Wednesday activities, and helping out the missionaries. We also went to the Louisville Temple last weekend. It's a beautiful temple packed into a really small space. It's a little over an hour from where we live. We've been taking turns watching Ethan while the other one goes inside the temple, so it usually takes us most of the day. We're always grateful for the opportunity to attend whenever we can.

Ethan continues to do well. He finally learned to roll over a couple weeks ago. I think he's been happier now that he can avoid the dreaded tummy time. :) Gratefully, he's still been very healthy so far. We got a swing from the Brunners at church that he has been enjoying, and he loves to keep his new teething rings in his mouth. We love to make Ethan laugh every chance we can, although it usually results in him getting the hiccups.

Louisville, KY Temple : And no, this is not what the temple looks like in January!

Merry Christmas!

We had a nice low-key Christmas Eve and Christmas Day together. My favorite part was playing the game Seven Wonders with Jason for a couple hours after we put Ethan to bed. We missed being able to play games and hang out with family. We ate the traditional Burningham Christmas breakfast of Safron Brod, scrambled eggs, bacon, and orange juice. I was glad I made it to the store 15 minutes before it closed on Christmas Eve to buy the food. :)

Our big family Christmas present was the purchase of a second car. We bought a white Honda CR-V that we hope will be a great blessing for our family. We drove all the way to Frankfort, Kentucky to get it after the car we intended to buy in Lexington didn't work out. We're happy this one worked out as we fell in love with it at first sight. :)

Safron Brod (Swedish Bread)

Christmas Letter

                                                                                                                                           December 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

We want to wish you a very merry Christmas from Florence, Kentucky! 2013 has definitely been a year of many changes and we feel very blessed for the Lord's hand in our lives.

Year in Review:

January: Jason passed the Probability Exam for Actuaries, a very difficult test with a 60% fail rate.
February: Jason was offered a summer internship in Denver, Colorado with one of the top actuarial firms.
March: A 20-week ultrasound revealed that we would be having a BOY in August!
April: We took a trip to Zion's National Park and visited family in Las Vegas and Boulder City, Nevada.
May: Jason moved to Denver and lived with Julie's brother and family while he completed his summer

internship. Meanwhile, Julie stayed in Orem and continued working full-time at Imagine Learning as an instructional designer.

June: We survived the whole month of not being together. Thank goodness for Skype!
July: We flew to Spokane, where Jason grew up, and enjoyed a week-long vacation on Lake Coeur  

        D’Alene with all the Burninghams.

August: On August 4^th Jason drove through the night from Denver and made it in time for the unexpected

      early arrival of Ethan Joseph Burningham. Weighing 8 lbs. 1 oz. and measuring 21 inches at birth, 

      Ethan is a healthy, beautiful, and perfect baby!

September: We made up for June by spending all day, everyday, together. J
October: Jason accepted a full-time position at Nielsen in Cincinnati, Ohio as a Market Research Analyst.

      Julie officially resigned from Imagine Learning and we packed up, loaded a trailer, and moved on

      Halloween day. We are still very grateful for the help of many loving friends and family members that

      made that possible!

      November: We drove 2000 miles across the country, visiting family in Colorado and Illinois, to arrive 

            at our new condo in Florence, Kentucky. Jason started his new job at Nielsen and looks forward to 

            what the future will bring.

     December: We survived our first freezing ice storm. Who knew a sold wall of ice could form around your 

             car?

Family Highlights:

Jason is getting up to speed on his new job. Unfortunately, he must be extra sensitive to Kentucky germs as he has already been really sick several times and has had to stay home from work more than once. He has a long commute to work because of traffic congestion, but is currently listening to Harry Potter books to pass the time. He has new callings as a Priest Quorum Advisor and the Scout Committee Chair for our Northern Kentucky Ward, and although he is very busy all of the time now, he still makes time to be a great husband and father.

Julie loves being a stay-at-home mom. She enjoys sleeping in as long as Ethan will let her and having time to explore some of her favorite pastimes, including cooking, reading, playing the piano, and making Ethan smile. She looks forward to exploring the city, the library, and the parks. Julie was also just called as the 1st counselor in the Young Women's Presidency, so she'll get to work with the 14-15 yr. olds in her ward.

Ethan is 4 months old now and is definitely worth the wait we had to get him. He is happy and mellow and a great sleeper. He likes to play with his toys and watch mom do pretty much anything. Our only mild concern is how much he seems to enjoy eating his animals. It looks like we need to get some stuffed fruits and vegetables for him as well. J

We are so grateful for your love and friendship. During this season of celebration, we want to remember our Savior, Jesus Christ. We have received many answers to prayer and have continually been reminded that "with God, all things are possible.”(Matt. 19:26)

We love you all!
Jason, Julie, and Ethan