Guess who slept ALL NIGHT

Can you believe it!?! Brendan slept all night without waking up once!!!! Yes, it's true! I almost can't believe it myself; I'm in shock from getting so much sleep last night. It sure was nice. I haven't had that much sleep in a very very very very long time. And all it took was 3 nights of letting him cry it out. It was hard (a lot harder than I thought it would be) but we made it through and I think the benefits out weight the few nights of little sleep.

Brendan got extra kisses and hugs this morning!!!

A tasty little treat this Halloween

I don't think Brendan could have been any cuter in his Halloween costume. He's the cutest hot dog I've ever seen!

He couldn't move so well in it but moving wasn't the point. Actually, it's kind of nice to have a break from him being everywhere and into everything. But he's a good sport- he put up with it for about 10 minutes- enough to get these pictures.

But as you can see, he wasn't too happy by the end. It didn't help that it was 80 degrees in that thing but his mom just couldn't resist. I love that little boy!

We'll miss you!!

Just a few of my favorite photos of my parent's visit. Brendan can't wait to destroy your house in December!!

His first taste of Cherry 7-Up

In fact, this is Brendan's first taste of any kind of soda. It was one of the funniest things I've seen in my life.

Family and a hair cut

I've gotten a little behind in my blogging lately. After being sick, it seemed that we could never get caught back up with everything going on in our lives. So here's what's been happening with the Near's.

Chris's Grandma Johnson came down to Provo with Uncle Greg on Tuesday. This was the first time for both of them meeting Brendan. He loved the attention and is so glad that he has even more people to love him and spoil him.

Brendan is going to be very sad when his great-grandma goes back to Michigan!

My parents also are in town, celebrating the birth of my sister's new baby, Mary. So of course, he's getting even more attention and being spoiled more than ever! And he's eating it up- along with cake and other goodies that they'll give him that we won't.

Brendan is especially excited to have a grandpa who will chase him and play with him just like boys like to play.

Brendan also got a hair cut. It was about time! His hair was starting to flip like a girl's around his ears, and we couldn't have that. So out came the clippers and I attempted to give him a hair cut. I say attempted because I really have NO clue how to cut hair- but luckily since his is so light and there's not a ton of it, you can't tell. He looks so grown-up now. I'll post some pictures of his new trim when I get a decent shot. He was so tired by this point he wasn't cooperating for the camera.

A new little bundle

Introducing baby Mary Eva Kozlowski. Mary was born early this morning and we all had a chance to head up to American Fork and meet her. She sure is cute! I could just eat her up!

We are already bonding and I foresee many shopping trips in our future.

Mary also has a sense of humor too. She already knows how to work the camera by sticking out her little tongue.

Brendan also wanted to get in on the action but we didn't want him to get too close since you never know what germs he could be carrying- after all, he does like to stick shoes in his mouth. Sorry kid, this is as good as it gets.

At least the nose is healing.

A damaged nose

If it wasn't enough that Brendan is still having several blow-outs a day, he now has a big cut on his nose. It isn't anything serious but it was the first time I've seen blood drip down his face. It was a little scary at first.

I don't know how he managed to do so, but he pulled down a large box fan right onto his face which cut up his nose. He looks like Rudolph now in a way. But all in all, Brendan is still in good spirits. There ain't nothing that can keep this little guy down!


I've also added some new pics for October; so check 'em out!

Out of commission

Over the past several days, at least someone in the Near household has been sick. It started with Brendan, poor little guy. I thought it was the cheese I fed him, but alas, the throwing up and diarrhea stemmed from a stomach flu virus that mysteriously came out of nowhere. I was giving myself a hard time about the cheese thing, thinking that I caused this sweet little boy to be tossing his marbles numerous times throughout the night and over the next several days. And then the diarrhea... anyone with kids knows how insanely gross and sad this is. My poor boy. So I was feeling really guilty.

But then it struck Chris. We thought it was the McDonald's he ate but after several trips to vomit in the bathroom, we realized it was a virus. I was the next victim. It was bad bad BAD. The only good thing was that Chris and I were stricken with it at different times, so one of us was always healthy to be with Brendan. He's still having some poop issues but we saw the doctor today and it should clear up in 1 to 4 weeks. Yes, weeks. It's possible that we'll be dealing with poopy clothes for the next 4 weeks. Needless to say, we've gone through the ginormous box of diapers that my parents bought for us when they were here last. I didn't think it was going to be possible but we did it in record time! Hopefully Brendan will start having more solid bowel movements very soon. We're running out of diapers!

Marissa explains it all

This past weekend all of the immediate Near family traveled up to Logan to meet Marissa Gilchrist. She is the newest addition to Carrie's family and as you can tell from the picture on the left Carrie is quite excited. The fact is, we're all excited. Perhaps the most excited one of us is Brendan. Now he finally has someone in the family younger and smaller than him that he pick on. Actually, Brendan is quite good natured like myself and he would only pick on someone if he were provoked first.

So Logan was good. We enjoyed watching General Conference together, although with all the kids screaming, crying, and playing we'll all need to go back and read the talks to catch up on the parts we couldn't hear. So aside from the visit, the drive itself was very nice. Brendan learned how to drive and Valerie took some nice pictures of the scenery. The company was good as well since we carpooled with Johnny B and Erin B.

So, the weekend was a success. Brendan and us got to visit with the grandparents, the cousins, and a good time was had by all with only one exception. You see Johnny B. was in charge of bringing bagel chips and a dip. The bagel chips were fine. However, Johnny also tried to conduct an experiment by making his own special dip and serving it to all of us unsuspecting guests. Unfortunately the dip wasn't so good. In fact, not even The Beef would eat it. But, aside from that it was a good weekend.

MOUSE!

A cute little fella just like this one was just seen running behind my computer screens at work. And I happen to be sitting in front of those computer screens. Unfortunately, I was on the phone with a co-worker and he got quite an earful of my scream. I drew in people from several halls away with that scream. But I'm sure anyone else would have done the same- it was quite a surprise to have a mouse run past you at your desk.

The poor thing was enticed by some crackers that I was munching on yesterday and left behind when I left for the day (be sure I won't make that mistake twice). Sometime during the night or morning, he grabbed a couple and was happily munching on them right in front of me. Until I screamed. Then the pursuit began. A couple gentleman trapped it in a box (after many attempts, they actually succeeded) and let it go outside. No one wanted to kill it... so I'm sure he'll be back soon looking for more crackers.

Finally...

I've been meaning to preserve some memories of Brendan but have had ZERO time to scrapbook anything. But tonight I finally squeezed in some time and made a couple quick and easy layouts that I thought I'd share. It felt good to be creative.

He hasn't changed a bit.

Today marks Brendan's 9 month birthday. As you can tell from the above photos not much has changed from the day he was born until today, oh, except that he has tripled in size, he can voluntarily move his limbs, and he now eats Kix on a daily basis (Brendan tested, Valerie approved).

Note to viewers: if it looks like the picture on the right is just a photo of Brendan's head floating inside his crib, don't be alarmed, he's actually wearing camouflage pajamas which make him blend in with his surroundings.

Now that Brendan is 9 months old we've decided to give him more responsibilities around the house. For instance, Brendan is in charge of cleaning up the kitchen floors. We put him in his white or grey pants and he crawls around on the floor and picks up all of the dirt just like a Swiffer. He's really good at it. Also, he's in charge of making sure that we don't leave garbage or other items on the carpet. Every time I turn around he's picking up small items that have been left around and he stores them in his mouth making sure the carpets are spotless. He is very meticulous and we never have to ask him twice to do these chores.

So, little Brendan isn't so little anymore. But not everything has changed yet. He still loves to kick his legs as fast as he can. He still loves to hold his mom's finger. And he still cries really loud, especially when we make him stop sucking on the TV screen.

- Goodnight Moon.

A sleepy face, Basketball and a fun ride

This was Brendan two days ago just after he woke up from his nap. You can still see the sleep on his face.
I especially love the crazy bed-head he's got going on. It's about time he gets a little trim, if I can make myself do it.

We also decided that Brendan needed some new toys to entertain himself with (by "we" I mean me but Chris did most of the work putting it together and he also paid- so he'll get some credit). You can't see from this photo but it's a 3 sport entertainment center with basketball, baseball (on a little t-ball stand) and a football goal post. It makes this cool music and fan applause- and even keeps score when you get the ball in the hoop- but we can't turn it on. It makes Brendan cry.

So to cheer him up....

Chris took him for a little ride in the laudry basket, which he loved.

I think it might just be possible to be killed by cuteness with a boy this adorable!