Christmas 2009

This Christmas was busy as always. Because of the bad road conditions, we had to post-pone Christmas day with the Pelhanks until the weekend after. Though difficult as this holiday was with the passing of Ryan's mom so recently, we managed to enjoy ourselves as always--though she was on our minds through most of the festivities. Brendan got so many wonderful things from his loving family members that we were able to stuff some things away to get out at a later date. Most notable, Santa Claus brought him his very own manly-kitchen. (More pics of this we're sure will follow.) And the most exciting thing...Mandy's brother, Shane, and his girlfriend, Lilly, are engaged! We are so excited for them. We hope that anyone who might read this knows how much they are loved by us and we wish you all a happy holiday season.

The following pics are some of our favorites from our Christmas Photo Shoot. This year, a friend took our photos and did such a fabulous job. We recommend giving her a call if you plan to get family photos taken soon. And yes, she does weddings. Check out her website, Tanashe' Martin, at: timelessphotographybytanashe.com

18 Months!!!

Today was Brendan's 18-month doctor's appointment. It's so hard to believe that he's already a year-and-a-half old. Time sure does go by quickly when you have a little one! As always, the pediatrician raved about how well B is doing. He is such a big boy! 60th-percentile in weight and 96th-percentile in height. Can you believe it?! He may end up tall, yet.

He tested at a 18 1/2 month level on his denver developmental tests, which does not surprise us one bit. There are so many things he has learned to do since our last appointment. Here are just a few:

• He can sing (and he enjoys it).
• He helps around the house.
• He's getting picky about certain foods (this one is a bummer).
• He's starting to climb (and fall A LOT more).
• Can kick a ball forward.
• He can spoon feed himself (although he still prefers his fingers).
• He can brush his teeth with help.
• And he has a much more complex vocabulary including "tah"=hot, "puh"=up, "dao"=go, "ba duh"=bad dog (guess what that one's about), and Mommy's personal favorite..."WOW!" (this one is super cute.)

With all this growing going on, it's no wonder we haven't posted in a bit. Thought we'd catch you all up on a few pics while we were at it.

These pics show his milestones. This one is his new climbing skill. Mom was in the kitchen doing dishes when Brendan started laughing one of those "I'm doing something I shouldn't be" giggles. When she looked over here he was...on top of the dining room table.

These pictures are of Brendan's spoon-feeding milestone. It's a messy business:

This video isn't that interesting, but Mom was pretty proud at that moment. Brendan feeding himself:

This picture doesn't show a milestone, but we thought it was pretty funny. This was his face after he touched one of the branches on our Christmas tree this year. Ha ha.

Faust Park

On Saturday, Mommy had a rare day off with nothing planned so we decided to have a family outing. We went to Faust park to ride the Carousel. Unfortunately Brendan was clearly not a fan. He cried the whole time the carousel was moving. Afterward, we decided to play on the playground--a much better idea. Bubba enjoyed swinging on the swings (as usual), going down the slide all by himself, and playing with the leaves with Daddy. But Brendan's favorite part....running! He just laughed and laughed as he ran the length of the playground. Maybe we should get this kid into track and field at an early age!

OK, so the deer he was riding looks WAY creepier in photos than it did in real life.

Photos Just Because

These next few are of Brendan's first bubble bath. He was pretty afraid of the bubbles at first. But as you can tell by the pics, he got used to them.

Guess What Happened...