December 2010

November brought Kendall's first Thanksgiving and our first fried turkey. Because the turkey only took 30 minutes we had Thanksgiving Dinner early. That allowed us to get the "Santa Claus Tree" up and decorated. Brendan helped me put the top on the tree. This year Brendan is a big fan of all things Christmas. "Sanna Claus", "Frossie the No-Man" and "Ru Doff" are his most favorite things right now. He is learning and singing many Christmas Carols.
Kendall is now standing up with assistance of anything in the house. Won't be long now before she is walking!
Brendan loves his "Santa Claus Tree". He can turn the lights on the tree all by himself. This photo in front of the tree took forever to get done, but we're glad we have it.

October 2010

October has brought the cooler weather and some new photos on the Commender's Blog. Brendan and Kendall are getting along so well lately and we caught Brendan & Kendall "Going Nigh-Nigh".

This year "Brendan America" went trick-or-treating as Captain America. He was a little nervous going up to the first house but as soon as he realized he was getting candy, he said "More houses, more houses, more houses, etc..."
Kendall looked very cute in her Halloween costume and was a real trooper going with us to all the houses.
Here are the pictures from Kendall's 6 month photo shoot. We got some great shots of them individually and together.

September 2010

Cooler temperatures are not the only thing moving in the Commender Household. Kendall is officially crawling!!! We thought life was busy before but with both kids moving, we have realized keeping up with them is a new level of busy. She also had her 1st tooth pop through, and her 2nd bottom front tooth should pop up any second now. Although her teething is uncomfortable she is still a very happy baby, and great sleeper!

Brendan has been staying busy with lots of activities. In the last month we have gone to the Dallas Aquarium, Curious George Live (picture below), and a petting zoo/pumpkin patch. Yesterday at the "Punkin Patch" he rode a pony. When we first approached " the horshey" he held on to Eddie for dear life, but within 10 seconds of being on the pony he was holding on to the saddle with one hand yelling "Yee-Haw"(not kidding).

We have been playing outside a lot and drawing with"schaulk" on the walkway in the front of the house. Next month we'll have Kendall's 6 month photos to post and Halloween costumes! Stay tuned.......

August 2010

It won't be long now! Kendall will crawl any day now, and she is ready to go! Enough watching big brother run around the house like a maniac! She is so happy and sweet all the time, but this month the teeth have been really coming in and she has been pretty angry about it!

Little Wonder Woman! Eddie couldn't resist this onesie. So cute!

Brendan is into many new activities over the last few months, with coloring and reading being the top two without a doubt! He could color all day long and fully expects for you to sit and color with him. He also loves reading and usually spends 30 minutes to an hour each night "reading" to himself in his room. His favorite books are "Ah-mulls" - a book about Noah's Ark; "Choo Choo" - The Little Engine that Could; "Fruits, Apples, Nanas" - a book about fruit; and "Melmo" - his potty book about Elmo. He likes to read about the potty but not actually use it!

He started back at Mother's Day Out this week, and we're excited for him to be back b/c he really enjoys it. He is talking in longer sentences everyday, and it's almost like you can have a conversation with him. He refers to Kendall as "Aw! Cute Baby," and while we still can't get him to say, "I love you," he does say, "Dada much." ( :

In other news, I tested for and passed my International "A" Judo Referee test in Miami just last weekend. It is a goal I have been working towards for 16 years. Someday, maybe I will referee at the Olympics which actually sounds a lot cooler than it actually is!

July 2010

This summer has been brutally hot, so we have spent a lot of time indoors. Thankfully, Brendan doesn't mind so much! Brendan just completed his swimming class with Eddie which was lots of fun. We also took him to the Circus last week which was a total blast! Can't wait to go again next year with both kids. Brendan is so much fun and is talking more and more every day. He is a little bundle of energy!

Kendall is doing great as well. This month she started sitting up in her play seat and enjoying the bouncer, as seen below. She also started on rice cereal, though so far she is not a fan. She has also started making a lot more noises and trying her best to "talk" to us.


Things with Eddie's work have finally started to turn the corner after 1.5 years of a tough recession. It has been great to see companies starting to hire once again. It has been a very busy summer for me as well. I opened a Ft. Worth office of my company, started managing a venue in nearby McKinney, and have had several great opportunities which has lead me to take the expression, "When things slow down," out of my vocabulary! Looking forward to the future!

June 2010

Eddie and I really can't believe how lucky we are to have not one, but TWO, kids now who are just so amazingly sweet and full of smiles. Kendall's little personality has really started to shine in the last month. She loves attention (uh oh!), and is always smiling and cooing. She is precious. It seems like Brendan gets bigger and more talkative everyday. He is just a little chatterbox and his new favorite activity is jumping. He tries to jump all over the house, including on the beds, which he thinks is hilarious (me? not so much). He also has fallen in love with apples this month, but only when you let him eat a whole one like a big boy. The cool thing is that eating one apple takes him about 30 minutes, so that is some good downtime for me! Ha!

My brother Seth, his wife Lindsey, and their two boys - Carter (4) and Gabriel (2) - came to visit this month, and the kids had a blast playing together. Poor Kendall will have to be a tough one to keep up with her brother and 2 boy cousins! Carter loved Kendall and spent most of his time next to her, which she clearly enjoyed!

Gabriel and Brendan are only 1 month apart in age, so they enjoyed playing together and annoying Carter! It was great to have the whole family together, though it further solidified my belief that if I ever had more than 2 kids, I would have a nervous breakdown. LOL

May 2010

Summer is here! Even though I haven't been teaching for 2 years now, I still look forward to summer. It's so fun to take Brendan to the pool, and he really loves the water. He and Eddie are taking a parent-child swimming class this summer; hopefully, Kendall and I can be spectators!

Little Kendall is such a sweet baby girl! She loves to smile and coo and makes the cutest little noises! And she is getting really great at holding her head up.
Beautiful blue eyes and black hair! I've started putting barrettes in and have a feeling ponytail holders are coming soon!

Our little Brendan isn't so little anymore! He is 30 lbs. and full of energy. He literally runs around all day until he collapses! He is also talking up a storm this month as well. He loves to be outside in the background in what Eddie and I affectionately refer to as the "White Trash Waterpark" due to the playground slide/baby pool rig I created. He also just completed his first "school year" at Mother's Day Out, and got a wonderful report from his teachers who said they wished they had a "class full of Brendans." Maybe they say that to every parent, but we'll take it. So proud of our happy little guy!If you could see a picture of me as a baby, you would think I was Kendall's twin sister! What a cutie pie!Brendan and Eddie - best buddies!

April 2010

My dear friend Lacey Melguizo came to visit this month and she took these beautiful pictures of little Kendall. Mark my words...in 5 years, Lacey will be one of the most popular photographers in Austin, so watch out!

Kendall is doing great and is a really sweet little girl. She is a great sleeper at night which has really been helpful for Eddie and I, especially in this last month when my company completed 6 events - busiest month ever! She is still growing like a weed and, in fact, grew 3 inches in her first month! Eddie and I think she will be an Olympic Volleyball star someday!

Precious!

Brendan loves his little sister! He is always kissing her and will go and get her pacifier, blanket, diaper, etc if she is crying. He is such a sweet little boy. He is talking up a storm this month, and I feel like he gets bigger and older every day. I can't believe he's almost 2 years old! Where has the time gone? This picture is my favorite! Between the two of us, we will be keeping hair salons in business for years to come!

March 2010

Our "little" girl has finally arrived! Kendall Adrea Commender was born on March 17, 2010. I put "little" in quotation marks because she was 9 lbs. 12 oz and 21 in. long! And, yes, I ended up having a VBAC. Thank God for epidurals! Not surprisingly, and as I predicted, she was born with a full head of hair with extra hair on her back and shoulders as well! All joking aside, she is a beautiful little girl and we are very blessed to have a healthy and happy daughter to complete our family.

I have to admit that I love all of her clothes! She has a wardrobe bigger than mine thanks to the extra supply of clothes I received from Lacey, Lane, and Lisa. Thanks, ladies! She is quite the little sleepyhead right now but I'm sure that will change soon. When she is not sleeping, her favorite activity is to remind me how hard and painful breastfeeding is, but I'm trying to trudge forwad with it!

Brendan has been such a good big brother and is just so sweet with Kendall. He gives her kisses constantly during the day and is always wanting to touch and stroke her. It is so adorable to watch. He calls her "Key" or "Bay-BEE" which he pronounces like he was saying it in French. He still thinks I have a "Bay-BEE" in my stomach though! Grandma and Grandpa have been visiting since Kendall was born and have been a huge help taking care of Brendan while I tend to Kendall. Plus, Eddie took a week and a half off of work as well. So, when everyone asks me how it is with 2 kids, I have said, "Easy, so far!" b/c I have so much help. Ask me in a couple of weeks!

Brendan is such a good helper! I thought he would be trying to steal Kendall's pacifiers but he always gently tries to get her to take them. And he gets upset when she cries, so maybe he will always be her protector! When you show him pictures of her or her clothes, he says, "Awww!" in the cutest little voice. I can't believe I have 2 babies but they are both so precious.

February 2010

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Lacey, came to visit this month with her sweet little girl, Aurelia (Auri). Auri is only a week younger than Brendan and, actually, Lacey and I were supposed to have the same due date. Crazy! The two kids had the best time playing, and Lacey and I have already started planning their wedding! Ha ha! Lacey took these cute pics as she is an aspiring photographer.

Here they are dancing! This month Brendan has loved to dance to a little electronic drum/music machine from Aunt Sandy & Uncle Burt. He has a different dance for each song on the machine. It is so cute!

At first Brendan wasn't so sure about his feelings for Auri.....

.....but that all changed by bath time. Precious!

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As promised, here is a shot of Kendall's room. We have done a butterflies and flowers look, and all it needs now is one baby girl who is due in 2 more weeks. We did a few of these decals on the wall, and I love this tree decal!

Next month, we'll have pictures of our new addition! Can't wait!

January 2010

This picture says it all! In the last month, Brendan has really begun to assert his independence and, in that independence, our little man who used to eat everything in front of him has decided that only HE will decide what he will and will not eat! And when he doesn't want to eat something, you can see the result. It's actually pretty funny now that we don't let it frustrate us and just resolve that if he's not going to eat when we want him to, he'll eat eventually!
Brendan definitely had a good Christmas, and although he was still most impressed by the wrapping paper and the bows (He probably said "Wow!" 100 times while opening gifts), he really loves this tricycle that he got from Grandma & Grandpa.

He also loves this bouncing bike that he got from Uncle Richard and Aunt Eve. He goes all over the house with this thing. And, as you can see, the Duplo blocks from Uncle Tom & Aunt Patti are a huge hit as well (and a huge mess to clean up, but oh well!).

It's hard to believe that in only 2 short months we will have 2 babies living in this house. I have to admit that I am more than a little nervous about this change, but I am excited to meet our little baby girl! We are almost done with Kendall's room, and I will post pictures of it next month. It is so cute!