Warning... this post will be long

Brendan and his Great-Mamaw.



Brendan with Grandma and me and Grandpa in the background at Brendan's first car show!

A big toothless grin. Man... I really am behind with posting these!

Sitting in a truck with Grandpa.

This was one of the neatest cars we saw that day.

Brendan passed out in his playpen.

Playing with his piano. Which by the way, he's gotten very good at since Uncle Matthew showed him how to play a real one recently!

Playing with Jordan on our new couch (new in January that is). Jordan was not amused.

I thought this was a funny face. We are doing much better without our pacifier these days. He really only needs it for sleeping but if he sees it during the day he grabs for it immediately.

Soon after this picture, I decided to retire this toy. It's really sad... he's getting so big!

Our son likes to lick our walls...

Brendan in another one of Daddy's baby outfits. This one says Little Slugger on it.

I keep trying to get Brendan to swing the bat at his baseball toy. We're almost there!

Too cute. And the blur in the front is Jordan, the kitty.

What did I do?! (I have a feeling this will be the theme of pics of Brendan for the next, oh, 17 years!

I think this was taken in February or March... he can't stand under the table anymore.

Ooo... TV. He was probably watching Mickey.

Brendan's first Easter! Isn't he cute?! I was proud I got us both ready for church since Daddy was working. But Aunt Shannon did spend the night so she helped us out a lot!

Playing at Grandma's house on Easter Sunday.

Another of Daddy's VERY 80's outfits. Actually, this one could've passed for 70's I think.

Another Daddy shirt and a great toothy grin.

Daddy was playing dress-up with Brendan this day... can ya tell? This was one of Daddy's sweaters.

Brendan fell asleep shortly after this was taken.

Playing with his car at Grandma's house. We were cracking up because he'll put both hands on the wheel, he'll play with the "mirrors", put his hand on the gear shift, and talk on his cell phone. The things toys teach our children...

Having fun with Uncle Matthew! The Rockets were playing one night when we were over and Brendan was playing. All of a sudden everyone cheered at something (I wasn't paying attention... not a basketball fan) and Matthew tends to be quite loud when he cheers. It startled Brendan and he just stared at Matthew. He went to pick Brendan up and Brendan started bawling. Poor baby... Uncle Matthew scared him. It was pretty funny though :-)

Okay, now the videos! These first 3 are attempts to show Brendan pulling up to standing. Note that the old couch is there so this is late December or early January. The next video is Brendan laughing histerically at the kitty. He loves animals! And finally, a much more recent video, is Brendan clapping! Our future drum major.

Brendan has 6 teeth now, at least that's all I can see. He is also getting so close to standing without support. He will for a few seconds sometimes but it's usually when he is mad or frustrated or after something he really wants. He's getting his 10 month pictures taken today. I need to post 8 and 9. We counted his pictures with his cousins (once removed? I keep forgetting to check... but my cousin's daughters) as his 9 month ones cause we were VERY busy that month. June is going to be a crazy month. Brent's sister is getting married June 6th, Brendan's birthday is the 18th, mine is the 24th, there's a possible trip to Corpus one weekend, and of course Father's Day is in there too. I will TRY to keep this more up-to-date. Though I would expect the same lack of posts next tax season. When you're working close to 60 hours per week, that's just what happens. I think that's all for now!

Good People Day 2009

I was gonna post this on my Xanga blog but I think more people read this one, so it's more appropriate here. If you've never heard of Gary Vaynerchuk, I'd be surprised. He is an amazing guy who is passionate about life. Most people know him because of Wine Library TV. Wine Library is his wine store in New Jersey. But like I said, he is passionate about so many other things than just wine. Last year he started this thing called Good People Day. You are supposed to honor someone in a blog post. Not a tweet, not a Facebook note, but a real blog post. He honored his sister this year.

My Good Person for 2009 has got to be someone I've known for a very long time. And that is Janie Henry. Most who read this might not know her but she is amazing. I first worked VBS (Vacation Bible School) with her in the 4 year old class in the summer of 1996 (I have worked with her for a total of 10 VBS's now). Her passion for children is contagious. You can't help but love every single one of those screaming kids when you're around her. Not only that but she makes you feel like a kid again. Every day during VBS she would read the Bible story and there I'd be sitting "indian-style" on the floor with the kids with the same look in my eyes as the kids. That look that shows you know they're paying attention and hanging on every single word. And at the end of the Bible story she would always pray the sweetest, simplest prayers that everyone understood. And when she was done she would say "And the children said..." and the kids would yell AMEN! And she'd tell them "I don't think they heard you down the hall" and the kids would scream as loud as they could AMEN!!!! Janie puts her heart and soul in teaching 4 year olds. She used to tell me that VBS was her Christmas. She saved up money every year to put towards crafts and surprises for the kids. She made VBS so amazing for not just the kids, but the teachers and youth who helped out as well. I help her out every summer that I can. Her joy for Christ is contagious and it really "recharges my battery" when I get to be near her. I don't know if she'll get a chance to see this but if she does I hope she knows that I love her and that I can never thank her enough for all she's done for the kids of our church and for me and my family.

Ugh! Tax Season!

So I know that I am waaaaaaaaaaay behind in blogging. It's tax season... nuff said!

Just some quick thoughts.

Brendan is so big! I finally got to go to an appointment again for his 9 month checkup. He is 27 inches long, 19.4 pounds, and his head size jumped from the 72nd percentile to the 95th! His pediatrician asked us... do you have big heads? Brent apparently does (after a quick measuring comparison between the doc's head and his) and my mom says big heads run on our side as well. Who knew?

We are chasing Brendan all over the place now. He crawls VERY fast! Especially when he's going after the kitty or a favorite toy. He's babbling all the time now too. We had quite a conversation this morning in fact. Hehe. I can't wait for the first time he calls one of us mommy or daddy. One of Brendan's favorite activities right now is standing next to our ottoman and banging on it like a drum. And when we drum back... he laughs so hard.

So after a month or so with just 2 teeth, Brendan is now working on tooth number 5. He's eating really well and we're gonna start making a push towards "table" food (aka, not the mushy stuff in jars that he's eating currently). His favorite food right is sweet potatoes and anything with fruit. He'll eat meats but he likes them best with sweet potatoes, lol. He also loves the Gerber Graduate puffs (sweet potato, of course, and apple cinnamon). You have to be careful about how many you put on his tray though. If you put 10 down, he'll try to pick up all 10 and shove them all in his mouth at once!

Since he's "talking" to me now... he said he's excited about meeting his 2nd (? I can never remember... time to go look it up on the family tree website again) cousins from Israel. I can't wait either!

Pics, videos, and ramblings

Enjoy these adorable pictures and the videos. The videos are taking forever to load!!! But I'll post some more when I get a chance. It's tax season now so posting will get even more sporadic I'm afraid. Oh, and yes... in one of the pics above, you'll notice a little bit of me on the side. They had me sit there in case Brendan fell over, lol.

The first video is just us hanging out and playing with Grandma. The second is Brendan opening up his Christmas pajamas from Aunt Shannon with my help. The third is opening Christmas Eve presents at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma wrapped his presents in blankets so he wouldn't eat the paper... it didn't stop him from grabbing our paper, tissue, ribbon, etc. and playing with it!

Brendan is growing so much. I can't believe how big he is. He's eating so much food now and we had to start supplementing with formula cause I just wasn't giving him enough. But it's okay cause he doesn't seem to have even noticed. We've even switched to Parent's Choice formula from Similac Advanced and he didn't notice. One of our friends told us (after she did a ton of research) that it's the exact same stuff and it's soooooooooooo much cheaper. Gotta love Walmart brands!

Brendan is crawling but he prefers to pull up to standing or sit and play in his playpen. That is until the kitty comes walking by... then he zooms after her. He loves playing with Jordan! Though the other day I had to take him away from her cause he was getting a little too rough and she started nipping at him. We still just have the two bottom teeth. It seems like more are gonna come in any day now but who knows? Brendan will be 8 months old tomorrow!

Registration for Children's Day Out (Miriam: kinda like SRoch's gan I'm guessing?) started this week. We're debating if we're gonna enroll Brendan. It meets one or two days a week, you get to choose how many days. It starts in August. I hate that I have to make this decision now since who knows what life is gonna be like then but I really like the idea of him getting some social interaction with other kids. His life up till now has revolved around adults, poor baby. Our Sunday School class has started doing play dates but I can't convince Brent that it's okay for Dads to go to play dates, lol. Maybe they'll do a Saturday one this summer and I'll go. Ahh... the joys of being a working Mom! That's all for now, I think!

7 Months

The lighting is so awesome in our living room at this time of day.... just don't ask me what time it was, can't remember!



Cute look.





Brent and I dressed up for my office Christmas party.

Brendan and Grandma

"I got your beard Grandpa!"

2 teeth! And that's still all we have for now.

Brendan really liked the pajamas that Aunt Shannon gave him!

Brendan in the adorable hat that Grandma gave him. It has a matching jacket. Grandpa gave him that tissue paper to play with and there is a video of him playing with it.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Notice our Santa plate and mug. Santa gets fudge and hot chocolate at our house.

Brendan's walker/jumper car! He loves it.

Grinning behind the wheel of his new ride.

Max enjoying his Christmas presents.

Nana and Brendan

Aunt Krystal and Brendan

I liked this... "Daddy, what is this?"

Brent's Mom found this shirt at a garage sale and couldn't resist buying it.

Brendan playing with ribbon from one the packages.

Enjoying his new swing at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They're the only ones who have trees low enough to hang one from.

Family pic of the Beans. Top row L to R is Great Uncle Ronnie, Cousin Brian, Cousin Chris, Brent, Brandon (Aunt Krystal's boyfriend), Papaw, and Angel (Nana and Papaw's dog). 2nd row L to R is Brenda (Ronnie's wife), Victoria (Brian's fiancee), Shannon (Chris's wife), Aunt Krystal, Bosco (Aunt Krystal's dog), and Nana. And the 3rd row is Great Mamaw, Brendan, and me. I had to run in to the picture cause I was in charge of setting up the camera. Not bad, huh?

So, these clothes are a little on the big side but it was cold outside and this was really warm.

My cousin Micah gave Brendan this t-shirt. Everyone loves it! If you can't see it, it says "That's how I roll" with a picture of a stroller.

Brendan kept playing with the remote so Brent gave it to him and I caught him at the perfect moment. Looks like he's about to change it to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse... his favorite cartoon.

7 months is an incredible age. I'll probably find myself saying this again, but this is my favorite age so far. Brendan is crawling, sitting up on his own, and giggling. Our kitty was found by Pearland Animal Control after 2 months of being gone! And Brendan loves her! Of course his affection is grabbing big chunks of her fur and skin and laughing. She doesn't like it but she keeps coming back for more. She even rubbed up against his feet tonight when I had him sitting in my lap on the floor. We'll work on learning to pet the kitty instead of grabbing her or hitting her. Brendan has also learned to pull himself up to standing. He greets us in the morning either on his knees or standing in his crib and grinning mid-cry, lol. Thanks to the recommendation of my wonderful cousin Miriam... we bought the book Goodnight, Sleep Tight. Brendan is doing much better with sleeping and I haven't even used the sleep lady shuffle yet. I've just used some basic sleep tips she gives in the first few chapters. I have it on standby just in case I need the sleep lady method later. Brendan is eating like a champ. We have quite a repertoire of food now and soon we'll be starting him on Gerber 2nd foods which include meats. I was kinda shocked to learn these include such things as veal and lamb.

Tomorrow if I get a chance, I'll post some videos and Brendan's 7 month pics. (We finally went some place where we got the CD again.) Brendan "heard" me typing about his sleeping well... he's fussing so I better go. Enjoy all the new pictures!