Merry Christmas To All

We had a wonderful, relaxing white Christmas at home. We woke up to several inches of snow and have been sledding and snowboarding down our street!

Brock really loves Christmas! He has been singing carols, baking, reading Christmas stories, visiting with Santa and the whole bit this year. Santa made a special visit to our house on Christmas eve - Brock was REALLY excited to see him at our door with a, "big, big, present". I think most kids his age are terrified of the big, strange, bearded man, but not Brock!

We have loved receiving so many cards from all of our friends and family. We feel so blessed to have everything that we do this year - especially all of you! Merry Christmas to all! May 2009 bring you great joy - and hopefully some recovery to your 401K's :)


Brock didn't ask Santa for anything, except to open his candy cane!


Chef Brock!

Baking Christmas cookies with Mama. Brock ate more cookies than he actually baked!

A very cool tractor from Papa J! THANK YOU for the hours of toddler entertainment!

Sledding on Christmas day - perfect!

I love my play tent Nana!

Uncle Artur his here for a quick visit - Yeah!

A Busy Merry Christmas

We have had a busy month! Between traveling, parties galore, house projects, a new consulting job and Christmas preparations the blog has been neglected - sorry. I will try to catch up!

We began the month on a sad note - Cory's grandmom - Brock's GG passed away. We went to Michigan to share in the celebration of her life and hug and kiss all our family there. It was wonderful to see everyone and just be there. While we said goodbye to GG, we got to say hello to two beautiful little girls , Lily and Brooke. These are Brock's new twin cousins! They are just perfect in every way!

The following weeks have been filled with parties and projects - bathroom remodel, insulation under the house, my work party, cory's work party, friend - birthday, Christmas and Hannukah parties - oh my we have been busy.


Looking at squirrels through GG's window

Holding baby Lily - one of the precious twins!

Nana brought in some snow to play with - fun idea!

Bryce and Brock playing in the pac n play

Shoveling snow in MI

Brock and Owen in a space shuttle. Owen turned two - and we went to his party at the Carson City Children's Museum. It was a grand old time.

Brock and his friend Grace at a holiday party.

Too much Partying!

First real snow in Reno!

Party!

Brock had a blast in MI, playing with his cousin Cole. Cole was SO good at sharing with Brock - they had a ton of fun together.

Big night out without Brock! We were able to have two adult nights out in the last couple weeks thanks to Ma and Pa - Brock loves to have slumber parties with them

A New Christmas Carol

My mom is the queen of video! Most of the recent videos I've posted are captured by her. Here is Brock singing a new remixed version of Away in a Manger. I'm not sure what he is saying most of the time, but I caught...lord Jesus, horsey in the barn, merry christmas....he is really just making it up and really belting it out....hilarious. The second video is jingle bells. Perhaps we have a future performer!?!

TWO YEARS OLD!

Better late than never...a Birthday post!

I'm not sure how, but our tiny baby has grown into a big two year old in the blink of an eye! This year was a lot more fun because Brock could share in the excitement with us. He woke up each morning at the beach announcing, "my birday is coming up" - and it did! On Saturday we celebrated the big 0-2 with family at the beach. It was an exciting day at the beach. A low tide in combination with a big swell created huge waves that washed our party right off the beach! Yes that is right, we had to scramble to safety when we saw a huge set coming in and we made it out just in time. My aunt and mom got some great photos of the chaos, but I don't have many photos to post. Thank you family for making the trip to see us!

Last Monday Brock had his two year check up. He is now 33 inches long and 25 lbs (20th percentile). Small, but mighty as usual. Brock jabbered on through out the appointment and then our Dr. nearly fell over when Brock identified his, "stethoscope" correctly. The Dr. joked that he wouldn't be asking me about his language development for the next few years. Brock got one shot or as he calls it, "a tiny poke". He handled the whole thing really well considering he cried his way through the last check up. This was a pleasant surprise, because Brock has started exhibiting all the signs of a two year old! As with each stage we are starting to figure him out again. Keeping the peace without giving in is a fun challenge. Luckily, the fits never last long and we have learned how to avoid them some of the time. Keep him rested and his belly full - just like a wild animal :)


Playing in the surf. It is really hard to get pictures of a two year old - they run everywhere!

Birthday Boy!

Aren't we cute? Me and my brother.

The birthday goers - Cathy, John, Kevin, Jim, Arthur and my Dad

Beach themed cup cakes

In the background of these random surfers you can see the enormous surf. The waves were going over the pier which is usually a good 20 feet higher than the ocean.

A WEEK at the Beach

We just returned from a fabulous week at the beach. It was a relaxing holiday! Lot's of beach and harbor time. We also had lots of visitors and Brock greatly enjoyed the attention. THANK YOU everyone for making the trip to see us!

Sitting on a Capitola bench - one of my favorite things to do!

Brock and Addy are quite the pair - you can tell they are related. The both talk a bunch and take turns leading the other in little games - they were so funny to watch! During this game, Addy would dump water on Brock's head and Brock would laugh hysterically. Brock was glad to have a partner...usually he has to dump water on his own head for amusement...crazy kid!


Cousin marching band!

Brock, Kate, Hana, and Addison - cousins.

Cory built a giant hill of sand at the beach and the kids played for hours!



Uncle Arthur is Brock's idol. Brock would run around the house screaming, "Artur, where are you?". Arthur is an amazing uncle - we love you!


We had a couple rainy days at the beach so we hunted for something to do indoors - we found this great toddler roller skating class. Brock had a blast skating with about 30 other kids his age.

Brock had his first donut (I think) and his eating method was interesting. First he picked off all the sprinkles and glaze and then he ate only the cake part that had been touching the glaze...see.


My Dad has an addiction to boats and this weekend he added another one to the collection. A small row boat/sail boat to keep his big sail boat company.

Pa and Brock rowing away.

We went on a long family boat ride in the harbor. Brock had the important job of bailing water!

John, Cathy, Brock and Kevin

So Uncle Jim, what do you think of the economy?

Pa made Brock a "tiny" pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.