Hello again

Boy am I glad that my parents gave us all these AWESOME Fisher Price toys that me and my siblings played with when we were young. We are definitely getting good use out of them since we rarely venture outside. Brendan loves playing with all the animals and little people. It keeps him occupied enough that I can get quite a bit done. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

I couldn't resist putting this picture in. He really needs a haircut. I'll probably tackle that tonight.

This is currently Brendan's favorite kitchen accessory- the stool. It's vital for me since I'm only 5 feet tall and now he has discovered that there's a whole new world up there that he couldn't access before.

He mostly just loves to play in the sink, which has caused some problems. He has eaten a dirty sponge, tried to drink disgusting sink water, splashed disgusting sink water all over me and the dishes I just cleaned, and broke one glass. But he also got a sponge and wiped down all the lower cabinets for me so it's not all bad. :)

Okay, so I promised to post some pictures of our new town. Well, here they are.

The most I can offer you are all pictures taken while in my house. It's just too dang cold and I'm a wuss. This one was taken from my tiny kitchen window. Can you believe those icicles?

This is the view from Brendan's room. As you can see, most of the houses are built almost on top of each other in this part of town. We have no yard so I guess it's a good thing it's winter and we couldn't enjoy it even if we did have one.

I did brave the cold for two seconds while I stepped out onto our porch to take this photo. That's as good as it's going to get. For now.

We made it!

We've been here in New Hampshire for a little over a week now and I would have checked in sooner but it wasn't until late yesterday that our internet could get hooked up. It was very difficult being without the internet for a week- I felt so out of it. But now we're up and running and it is slowly starting to feel like home, a little bit. I don't have pictures yet because the temperature has been less than inviting. Last week we had a blistery -39 degrees night. And since we've been here, we've had about 11 inches of snow. This past Sunday we only had one of the three meetings at church- they cancelled the last two due to the crazy snow that was coming down. The snow plow piles here are HUGE too. But we're getting used to it little by little.

So all I have to share right now are a few pictures of our drive out here. We were lucky enough to be able to stop and see both of our families on our way. The first stop was in Colorado and we actually arrived on Brendan's birthday so we had to have a little birthday celebration for him.


I can't believe he's actually 2. It's so strange to say that I have a two year old- how fast time flies. He loved his candle on the cake and blew it out all by himself.


And of course he loved opening his presents! He had a fun time digging into them and then playing with them. It was a nice distraction for him after a couple days of pure craziness. The night before he learned that he could climb out of his pack-n-play and we learned that Brendan moves A LOT in his sleep. It was a long night for all of us and he didn't sleep well in the truck (but who would? It was so loud I had to shout to talk to Chris) so the festivities cheered him up and kept him busy.

We loved being able to spend time with Chris' parents but we had to keep moving and a couple days later arrived at my parents' house. Brendan had another birthday celebration and some whipped cream as a special treat.


The great thing about my parents' house were the kitties. Brendan had so much fun chasing them and petting them. He had endless fun with Sam, who put up with a lot from Brendan. Brendan liked to pull his tail or his leg to get Sam to meow or hiss at him. He thought it was hilarious.


Maybe someday he'll be able to have a kitty of his own but I won't hold my breath.


And this was our gift to our little man. It was a little late but he loves it. Luckily our kitchen here is big enough that he can ride around in it and get some good use out of it until the snow melts (which people here tell us won't be until late April!).

I promise to take some more photos soon and post them. It is so beautiful here and I'm excited to get my camera out. It's supposed to warm up to 21 degrees this weekend so if the weather cooperates, I'll have something to show soon!

A Very Happy New Year to You

2008 was a great year and I'm hoping 2009 will bring just as many grand things for us and for all of you. This past year we had some momentous reasons to celebrate and some disappointing dips but I think we came out on top in the end. Here's a recap. Chris graduated with his Master's degree, I got to quit my job, Brendan grew and learned so many new things I can hardly name them all, we celebrated 6 years of marriage, house-hunted for a while, and just enjoyed life as it came at us. 2008 also brought some difficult times and decisions. Chris accepted a new job in New Hampshire after much thought/prayer/debate, we lost a baby, had dear friends move away from us, and found out we have to get Brendan some extra help for his speech delay. But through it all, we've had amazing support from family and friends, and most importantly the Lord. We've been greatly blessed and I would be ashamed if I didn't thank my Heavenly Father for all he has given us in the past year. We're looking forward with optimism to all that the new year has to offer and hoping that you have a wonderful year as well.

See you from New Hampshire the next time we check in!

Brendan had such a great Christmas that he was in the dancing mood and happily danced all morning long when he wasn't playing with his new toys. A big thank you to all the loved ones who were kind enough to give Brendan some awesome presents. He absolutely loves each and every one of them, and I am not exaggerating. He was was so excited to open each gift and had to play with it for a few minutes before we could move on to the next. It was pretty awesome.

Christmas would not have been perfect without a Dancing Brobee. Brobee waves his arms and shuffles his feet while singing a song so naturally Brendan adores it. We've seen it in the stores a few times and we've had to drag him, kicking and screaming, away from it. It was a given that Santa had to bring him this toy.

He gave each toy his undivided attention for a few minutes before I would rip it out of his hands so we could move on.


He especially loves his new Thomas the Tank Engine Bulgy toy that his Great Grandma Russell sent him. Brendan has just recently discovered Thomas and his friends and runs around the house saying "choo-choo" in the sweetest little voice. It makes me smile every time. So when he opened this he was so excited! His excitement grew when he realized it's motorized and runs on a little track. Now he is constantly asking to play with this toy and to watch the TV show.

And of course, Curious George had to make an appearance. Grandma and Grandpa Near sure do know what he likes! He likes to pick up the George figurine and say "George" over and over.

This Christmas was especially fun watching Brendan tear into his gifts and hearing him ooh and aww over them. He made the day especially bright for us. I've always loved this holiday but it now has new meaning and pleasure for me since Brendan has entered our lives.

Again, thank you family and friends for your thoughtfulness! We have the happiest little boy in the world thanks to all of you! And don't worry Steph and Brent, we'll make sure Brendan gets good use out of his cool robot you gave him. Brendan keeps trying to get into the plastic box. :)

We may be a little absent from the blogging world for a while as we get ready to make the trek to New Hampshire the end of this week. We are officially leaving Saturday morning. I still have lots to do but the good news is that we have an apartment when we arrive in Berlin! I'll try to make updates if possible but it will most likely not be until we're settled.

Tomorrow is Christmas

And tonight we celebrated by having Brendan show off his new pj's. Can I brag for a second about these sweet jammies? I got them at Gap for $6. They were originally $22. I was very proud of my deal hunting skills and relieved that Brendan got his new pajamas for Christmas. I had planned on sewing him a pair but that just didn't happen and since I only spent $6 on these, I feel pretty good about it.

We also got Brendan a new toothbrush for an early Christmas gift. He really really LOVES his toothbrush but only because he likes the flavored toothpaste that goes along with it. He's gone through 2 toothbrushes because he constantly carries them around and chews on the bristles. I'm determined that this one will last longer.


Here he is just sucking the fruit flavored toothpaste off. We're working on the brushing part.

Here is my big boy doing it all by himself. I really am amazed at how independent he is. He loves to do things by himself and he's starting to throw fits if we don't let him. If I try to brush his teeth, he gets quite angry.

But if Chris does it, of course it's okay. He is such a daddy's boy! Chris was behind the camera for once but Brendan really wanted to get in his lap and have him brush his teeth. At least we got some brushing in.

And the night would not be complete without some pre-Christmas spinning! After a few minutes, he could hardly pick himself up off the ground.

After all this spinning, we tried to settle him down for bed time. As we read about the birth of our Savior, I couldn't help but feel extremely blessed. My sweet little family is the best gift I could have this season. And we're lucky that we'll be able to spend tomorrow with more family. We had a very festive Christmas Eve here and are looking forward to a great day tomorrow.

Can you believe there are only 3 days left until Christmas!?!

I can't. I don't know where the time has gone but I would like an extra week back. I don't think we're quite ready for Christmas here. I haven't been very full of holiday cheer yet and I've done absolutely zero holiday baking. Our Christmas decorations are at a minimum since I'll just have to repack them in a short time anyways. We've been so busy getting things ready for the big move that we've neglected Christmas shopping for the most part, although we did try to go on Saturday and it was complete chaos at the mall so we basically walked in and turned right back around.

We had another large snowfall today and I'm glad that it looks like we'll have a white Christmas at least! Brendan was having a rough day today so I took him out in the snow to help cheer him up. It worked for approximately 2 minutes. He enjoyed the falling snow and trying to catch the snowflakes in his hands but his good mood quickly turned sour.



I don't know what made him angry but even his dad's arrival didn't cheer him up completely (don't you love the bed-head). So we've been watching lots of Curious George this evening to keep him happy. I think the poor guy must not be feeling well... just in time for Christmas!


But it appears that candy canes also work in cheering him up. Although if you don't open it fast enough for him, he'll let you know.

Snow Days

It's a good thing I like to be prepared. We bought Brendan these snow boots 2 months ago and it FINALLY snowed enough for him to enjoy it. Chris helped pick out the boots- his only request was that they be as close to 80's moon boots as possible. I think we came pretty close.

Brendan REALLY likes his boots. He has worn them for 2 days straight and enjoyed jumping in slush and puddles while we were out running Christmas errands today.

I think our boy is addicted to snow. He loved being outside in it despite the cold temperature. He even braved picking some up in his bare hands although that didn't last long. I do have mittens for him but he refuses to keep them on so he had to learn the hard way. He still won't wear the mittens though.

I'm glad that the snow is finally here and for the nice distraction it's proving to be for us. We've been having some cabin fever lately so it was fun to get outside and play around. And I'm glad we're not experiencing sub-zero temperatures like some of our family and friends in other areas of the country! This is what I'll miss about Utah- one minute it's a mini-blizzard out and an hour later the sun is out and we're enjoying the fresh snow.