The Golden Ninja Bees

I actually remembered to bring my camera to Brendan's soccer game this weekend and managed to get a few good shots.

Here he is getting ready for the kick-off. It's been so fun to see how excited he gets about soccer. This morning he woke up at 7:30 and got dressed in his soccer uniform before he came out of his room, shin guards and all. My heart melted at the sight.

Love my little #5. He got some really good kicks in this game.

Most of the time though, it was just a pack of 5 and 6 year olds around the ball. It's so funny and cute at the same time.

Towards the end, he was a little distracted though and was often seen picking handfuls of grass and throwing them at his friend. Or wiggling like crazy. I don't know if you can tell in the photos but he was wiggling his whole body while waiting for the other team to kick the ball. That's my Brendan.

He also got to thrown in the ball and made the perfect throw for his teammate. He's got a really good team and the Golden Ninja Bees won again!

Alex spent most of the time running up and down the big hill at the park. I don't know how he has so much energy.

And then he played with sticks.

And did some yoga. This boy cracks me up.

It was the most beautiful day today and there was nowhere else I'd rather have been Saturday morning. I'm loving this experience since this is the first time we've put Brendan in a sport. It's great to see him make friends, find new talents and enjoy trying something new. Alex is so jealous of Brendan so I think we've got another soccer fan in the works too.

A tiny peak at our new house

We made a quick trip to the new house to drop off a few boxes now that we have closed and have the keys in hand, and I actually had my camera with me so I snapped a few quick pictures. Here's a look at our kitchen. It's a bit small but I don't really love cooking/baking so I'm okay with that. We have grand plans to update the space but that's several years down the road. I like the dining area though and the doors leading out to the back yard and deck. I can definitely see our boys running in and out all summer long.

We bought a new couch for the new house too, which was so needed because our old ones are trashed. Why did I ever think light beige microfiber couches were a good idea? Oh wait, it's because we bought them before we had kids. Not smart of us but lesson learned. We went with a darker sectional this time. The color is officially called "elephant gray" and I like that it's gray but has a brown-ish undertone to it. I love our new couch!

Here's a different angle- you can see the fireplace, which I love. That was on my wishlist when we started house hunting and I'm glad we got it. On our to-do list before we move in is to paint the mantle white and luckily I know a really great painter. :) (That's Chris for those that don't know he was a professional painter back in our college days. His skills are definitely going to come in handy since we'll be painting most of the main floor too.)

Chris's uncle Greg passed on the family piano to us which we had that delivered today and Brendan already loves it. He was very mad at Alex when he tried to climb on the bench too because he was ruining his songs. I hope he keeps his enthusiasm for it once he starts lessons and has to practice.

Here's what I don't love at the moment- the construction going on just passed our back yard. The city is putting in a road and luckily a large wall but the good news is that it will be done by the time we move in. Score for us!

And that's all the photos of the house- not a lot, I know, but it'll have to do for now. It's definitely becoming more real that we actually own this house and it will be our home. Still a little surreal but I'm getting more and more excited by the minute. If only I didn't have to pack up our whole house... oh well, it'll be worth it.

Hey Look! A new blog post!

It's been strangely quiet on this blog mostly because my dslr camera is having issues and I need to send it in to Cannon get it repaired and I don't think it's worth it to blog if I don't have any pictures. So there's my excuse.

But I did think it was apt to share this news...

We bought a house! A sweet little four bedroom house in Lehi, to be exact. There are no words to describe how excited we are. When we walked through with the boys after our offer was accepted, they were running around like crazy animals because they thought it was so cool that this was their new house and then Brendan cried when it was time to go back to our place in Draper. I do feel sad about leaving Draper- we love our neighborhood, our ward, Brendan's school but we feel really good about our decision to move to Lehi. The house doesn't need any work really but we're looking forward to making it our own and updating somethings as we go along. So that's our exciting news.

Hopefully I'll actually get around to getting my camera's focusing mechanism fixed so I can start taking pictures again. I've missed my camera and I've actually missed blogging. We're moving at the end of May so things may be pretty sparse around here though until after the move.

My baby is 6 years old today

 I'm totally in tears looking back through all the pictures of Brendan. I can't believe that 6 years have gone by already and he's so grown up now- how did that happen!?

I'm so so so glad that Brendan is mine forever and he's the heart of our little family. He makes us laugh constantly, he helps out so much, he's the best big brother, and he's the most loving, caring six year old ever. Happy birthday, Bren!

Yet another video but this one is REALLY special. Seriously.

This past Thursday, I came home from book club and my husband said he had a surprise for me and then played me a song he had recorded. This wouldn't have been the first time Chris has written me a song but I wasn't ready for how awesome this song is. See, it wasn't a song that Chris wrote me- it was a song that Brendan made up and sang all by himself. And even though it was for his BFF Josh who is back in Virginia, my heart still melted. So I'm sharing it here since it was too awesome not to. I made a little picture slideshow to go along with the song and I think it captures what a special bond these two boys have.

Best Buddies from Valerie Near on Vimeo.


It was the sweetest, cutest, most amazing song I've ever heard. I love his "la-la-la"s and how he changes things up to match the pre-recorded music track that he selected. I laughed so hard that I was crying. Part of my tears were from how innocent and adorable he is and how cute his sweet little voice is. Part of them were from just how funny some parts are (Coming back to 'Ginia!). And a good part were from being heartbroken that he still misses his best friend so much. He's been asking a lot lately again if when it's summer, we can move back to Virginia (or as he calls it, "Buh-ginia"). He asks about Josh and if we can go to the beach again with him (heck yes! We'll make that happen.), he'll randomly talk about how he and Josh used to play at our old house, and even Alex still gets excited when he hears his name and shouts "Josh!". It makes me so sad to think that even though Brendan has made a lot of new friends here in Utah, that he still misses his best buddy like there's a big hole in his life. There's just no one who can replace Josh.

Josh was the first one to befriend Brendan when we first moved to Virginia, and it was so special to me because Brendan still wasn't really speaking and when he did it was very difficult to understand him and to know what he was saying. I was so worried that he wouldn't be able to play well with the other kids because of that and that no one would "get" Brendan. But Josh did from the very start and they were inseparable from then on. So not only does Brendan miss Josh but so do I. I love that boy not only because he's a great kid but also because he was so awesome to my son and loved him despite his differences. So don't worry, Brendan. You two will see each other again (it doesn't hurt that Josh has some awesome parents that I really miss too).

I hope you guys enjoyed the song as much as I did.

I can't resist

Had to share another video, this one of Alex talking about school. He loves going to pick Brendan up from school and lately has to wear a backpack too every time we go. This is from a few days ago as we were getting ready to head out to pick Brendan up.

Alex loves school from Valerie Near on Vimeo.

Favorite part- those dimples when he smiles. Also, we he gets frustrated after 1 second of trying to put the backpack on by himself. Love this boy!

Here's a video

Alex talking from Valerie Near on Vimeo.

Just wanted to pop in and share a little clip of Alex talking. It's so strange to have a 2 year old who talks since Brendan didn't really talk until he was 3+ but I love every minute of it. My favorite thing he says right now (which are in the video) are "shampoo-poo" and "I love me" when he means "I love you". So cute.