Commender Family

2011-05-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

We had some pictures taken this month now that Kendall is 1! We think they came out great. Kendall is starting to take a few steps here and there but not quite walking yet. We're sure she'll be up and running in a few more weeks.

The Happy Little Family!

Two angels on what Brendan called "his Thor rock"

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!

2011-03-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

We all took a trip to Austin to visit Meredith's friend Lacey and her family. Lacey has a little girl, Auri, who is the same age as Brendan. After a busy day of playing they both racked out on the floor together.
Brendan is taking a gymnastics class, and Kendall gets to play while Brendan is "Gymnastics School". She has a great time and as you can is pulling up to standing. Her hair has also gotten long enough to put into pig tails!
We took Brendan to the Fort Worth Zoo, which is a great Zoo. He was very excited to see all the "ammals". He had a great time and enjoyed making all his animal sounds to the different enclosures. He is also doing very well with Potty Training! Next month we'll have pictures from Kendall's big 1st Birthday Celebration. We can't believe our little Saint Patty's Day baby is already turning 1!

2011-02-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

Here is Brendan getting ready for "re-school" in all his superhero gear to include his Daddy illustrated lunch bag. Eddie draws a different superhero on his lunch bag every week. Brendan knows almost every "guy" in the Marvel and DC comics I think.
Kendall and Meredith posing after finally getting Kendall's hair pulled in to a bow. Kendall does not like to get her hair did!
We saw this shirt and had to get if for Kendall. Scan finally show us that big smile now that she has her two front teeth!
Got this shot of Brendan on a rare warm day in Dallas in JANUARY a couple of days later we are trapped in the house because everything is frozen over and it's 15 degrees outside. Got to love that Texas weather
Kendall post bath-time in her Princess Towel. If we could only get her to love the changing table as much as she loves the bath.

January 2011

2011-01-04T20:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! We hope the kids get along this well all the time. We had a great Holiday Season and the kids really enjoyed their Christmas. Brendan was absolutely into Christmas this year. From the decorations on the our street, to the "Santa Claus Tree", and all of the "Songs," with his favorite being "Frosty". We had the kids take pictures with Santa as you can see.

About one second after this picture was taken Kendall broke out in into screams and tears, but they did a great job catching this photo before she broke down.

Brendan was more than happy to take a picture with Santa, which was great because he usually freaks out when he sees people dressed up like when he saw Dora and Snoopy.

December 2010

2010-12-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-02T22:03:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-31T20:29:00.001-07:00

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

2010-04-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-30T08:26:00.001-07:00

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

2010-02-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

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!

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

2010-01-27T18:45:00.001-08:00

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!

December 2009

2009-12-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

Our little Superman! Brendan is getting so big and doing great, though he has been sick off and on for the last month or so. He loves to run around and discover things. He also really likes to help me put away the laundry and the dishes, and he helps Eddie get the dog bowls to feed Nash & Sam. He is so much fun!

Here he is on the carousel at the mall! And just in case you are wondering, this is his excited face!

This last month, Brendan has correctly learned to identify his nose, ears, head, and belly! I think my big pregnant belly has been essential in teaching him this as you can see from the video above. He loves to kiss my belly when I ask him to give Kendall a kiss - so cute! 2 1/2 months to go before he is a big brother!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to Everyone!

November 2009

2009-11-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

Nash is finally allowing Brendan to pet and kiss him, which is a big feat for Nash who has turned into a crotchedy old man as of late. It took him 2 full years to accept Sam, so I guess Brendan got lucky! Brendan loves to pet (a.k.a. smack) the dogs and give them big kisses on their sides, tails, etc. It's pretty funny! And, whenever you ask Brendan to give someone a kiss now, he will always do it and it's pretty darn cute. Thankfully, he usually kisses people on the cheek, not the tail like the dogs!

We went to Houston for Thanksgiving and, while we were there, we took Brendan to the Houston Children's Museum, which is awesome! They even have an area designated specifically for toddlers, and Brendan had a blast! You could seriously spend all day in that place and, I learned afterwards, that it's considered one of the best children's museums in the U.S. I'm sure we will become regular visitors.

Brendan loved these cars which had wheels you could turn and horns you could beep. He looks so grown up here! Hopefully, he won't inherit his mother's love of speeding and his father's Road Rage when he gets to be a driver!

We should have suspected from a kid who loves to look at pictures of himself, that the mirrors in the museum would be a big hit, and they were! Here they had doors which you could knock on (yes, Brendan, has been knocking on doors, windows, and everything else lately) and ring the doorbell, and when you opened the door, there was a mirror. He was going crazy and laughing hysterically!

This picture came out blurry but I had to include it b/c one of Brendan's newest accomplishments is running. He has gotten pretty fast but still struggles with balance. He was so excited at the museum that he ran full speed ahead into this display and nearly split his head open. He got a big welt between his eyebrows which thankfully has dissipated into only a bad scratch but, after that, our trip to the museum ended quickly!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We have much to be thankful for this year!

October 2009

2009-11-01T18:40:00.000-08:00

This was Brendan's first year to trick-or-treat, and he was the cutest little dinosaur ever! It will be hard to top this costume in years to come!

And Brendan's costume was the inspiration for the costumes Eddie & I wore to our friends' Halloween party, so we were the complete Stone Age family!

Other than rocking the Halloween costume, Brendan is doing great! He really enjoys being outside, and we have had some great weather lately for going to the park. He continues to be full of smiles and laughter and makes us happy every day!

I'm currently 5 months pregnant, and we just found out recently that Baby #2 is a GIRL!!! We couldn't be happier about this news and are looking forward to having one of each, since we don't intend to have more than 2 kids! ( : We are naming the baby Kendall Adrea, and she is due to arrive on March 18th (and I'm willing to bet she will be the hairy baby!...lol).

September 2009

2009-09-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Brendan is completely walking now, and it is so cute! He has gotten pretty fast, and his favorite new activity is chasing the "Pup-Pups" around the house, as he calls them. He is definitely talking more as well, with "Da-Da" probably being his favorite word. In fact when he hears Eddie walk in the door at the end of the day, he says "Da-Da!" and starts walking to the back door. Too cute! He also likes to take things out of containers and hand them to me, so I've gotten him to help me unload the dishwasher and the drier! Next month, I'm sure he'll have a part time job outside the house. LOL

He also started Mother's Day Out this month and has enjoyed it very much. He goes once a week for 5 hours. Every day the "teachers" put a little report in his tote bag which says how he did for the day. So far, he has been "Happy" every time and has had fun with all of the activities. He has even napped each day, so that has been great. I'm so happy he gets along so well with other people and doesn't have Seperation Anxiety whenever I drop him off. I'm really glad we got him involved with this.

My pregnancy is going well with no major problems to report. I'm 4 months along now so I'm starting to get my energy and appetite back. I'm looking forward to finding out the sex of the baby so I can start to work on his/her room which I get to design this time.

August 2009

2009-08-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

Last month I visited my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Burt in Atlanta, and we had a family photo shoot with Nam Nguyen (www.namnguyen.com), who I met through a bride whose wedding I coordinated in June. Nam got some great shots of all of us, and here are some of my favorites!

Brendan really enjoyed his time at Sandy & Burt's - a whole new house for him to explore! They really loved getting to spend more time with him as well, as they had only seen him once since he had been born and that was over a year ago!

Brendan is up and walking all the time now and has almost completely abandoned crawling. He still falls down a lot but seems to be excited to view the world from an upright position!

Next month, Brendan is starting a Mother's Day Out program once per week and we're really excited for him! He loves to be around other kids but hasn't had a lot of experience with kids his own age and size since I'm not involved in any play groups or anything. We took him to meet his class last week and he had a great time!

The big news for us this month is that we are expecting another baby in March! Yes, we will have two kids under the age of 2 years old which is going to be crazy! However, this is the last child we plan to have so we are excited to give Brendan a little brother or sister. So far, pregnancy has been just about as crappy as it was the first time, but I'm hanging in there. Keep you posted!

July 2009

2009-07-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Brendan! It's hard to believe that our little guy is 1 year old! Time sure has flown by, and we have had a wonderful year being parents to the best little boy anyone could ask for! Now, since I have become an event planner, I have become a snob about cake, as you can see from the example above. I definitely spent way too much on Brendan's Backyardigans cake, but it was so cute! Now, the question is, did he like his first taste of cake?.......

.....safe to say he did! He even has a possessed look in his eyes. LOL! Now, his first haircut? Not a fan!

My friend and colleague Dorothy Gautreax (http://www.dorothygautreauxphoto.com/) took these wonderful family photos this month here in Dallas. We also took some in Atlanta with my side of the family but have yet to receive them. Here are three of my favorites.

Even his eyes are smiling. He is such a happy baby!

Another theme of this month has been getting stuck. This month, Brendan has discovered how to open all of the trashcans, including his diaper pail - EW! - but not always how to get his hand out of them. The doggy door is another famous place his hand gets stuck. But I caught two stuck moments on film this month. One with his butt stuck in the doggy bowl, and the other with a pea stuck in his ear. I know, I know....I'm the worst mom ever. ( :

I think by next month's blog, we'll be able to say that Brendan is officially walking. This month he started walking from place to place after pulling himself up onto something. However, he still favors crawling b/c it is much faster. Apparantly, he inheritied the "I hate to waste time" gene from me (poor kid).

See ya next month!

June 2009

2009-06-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

This month we are definitely noticing how BIG Brendan is getting! His appetite is increasing and he is almost completely weaned off of baby food. He is getting closer to walking everyday and keeps trying to balance on his own. He still is full of smiles and laughter as you can see below!

Apparantly Brendan has gotten over his fear of the ballpit! Or perhaps he just prefers this new container! Whatever the reason, he dives into this thing like it was a swimming pool, and I spend a large part of everyday picking the balls up from all over the house! Speaking of the swimming pool, we take him regularly and he seems to actually like it now!

Although Eddie will never admit it, I know he is really glad we had a boy! After all, it would be tough for a girl to pull off Baby Batman like this. ( : In case you didn't know, his entire room is decorated in Superheroes. I think Eddie wishes that is how our room was decorated as well. Here Brendan is ready to jump in the Batmobile to save Gotham City...lol!

This month Brendan's cousin Gabriel came to visit from Denver while my brother Seth and his wife Lindsey were on vacation. Gabriel wasn't always a happy camper while he was here, but he and Brendan kept laughing at each other which was so cute. He is already walking, so maybe Brendan absorbed some of those great motor skills that my brother's kids both have!

Thanks to Andrea for letting me borrow this livesaver of a double stroller. The boys loved it, so we spent a lot of time going on walks, as you can see from their rosy cheeks from being outside in the hot Texas sun!

And, as I type this at 11:15 p.m., it is crazy to think that in exactly one hour my little baby will be a year old! Time goes by so fast, and we have been blessed with a wonderful baby and a wonderful year. And it is also very exciting to think that this June I am not walking around with 35 lbs of fluid in my legs and stomach! Ha! Summer is much more fun when you are not pregnant!

Next month....pics from Brendan's 1st Birthday! Aunt CeCe said it best, "I think it's so cool that he will always get fireworks on his birthday!"

May 2009

2009-05-31T12:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe May is already over and that little Brendan is almost 1 year old! Time really does fly! Brendan hasn't changed too much this month. He is definitely "talking" a lot more and squirmy as ever - getting into everything and constantly exploring. Here he is in his cute hat that his grandma bought for him. I used to think it looked goofy, but Eddie loves it. It's the only hat Brendan will leave on his head, and now that it's sunny, that works for me! ( :

I wouldn't say Brendan loves being in water, but he tolerates it! We bought this water table for him (yay Craiglist!) and take him to the swimming pool often. He always seems confused rather than interested but we are hoping he'll turn into a Water Baby one of these days! Yes, he stands up all the time but he can't do it without holding on to something. He walks while holding on to the couch, so maybe unsupported walking is coming soon!

Man, does this kid love to eat! No one could ever call Brendan a fussy eater, which makes things easy for Eddie and I. Here he is eating avocado which he loves to smear all over himself - usually some makes it into his mouth as well. And don't you dare eat in front of him if he doesn't get to eat! Whenever there is food around, he comes right over going "Mmmmm! Mmmmm!" and then usually freaks out. We think he learned this trick from Sam. It's really pretty funny but makes eating in restaurants pretty impossible.!

As if May wasn't crazy enough with 4 weddings and 1 charity event, Eddie and I decided to put our house up for sale to try and capitalize on the low interest rates and low housing prices in order to upgrade to a bigger model. We plan to stay in the North Dallas area, but we expect that our house will take quite awhile to sell seeing as how it looks like a million other houses in Frisco. Work for Eddie is still a daily beating as companies have not started to rehire. We did manage to sneak away for a weekend to Charleston, SC to see our Army friend Dave Uthlaut get married and spend time with our good friend Erik. All in all, it was a crazy month and I'm looking forward to a more relaxing June!

April 2009

2009-04-30T12:32:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe we took Brendan's 9 month pictures this month! He is growing up so quickly! He loves the camera and is the biggest ham!

During his Ninth Month, he has grown an additional tooth on the top to go with his snaggletooth, waves "Hello" and "Good-Bye," tries to clap, and says things like "Ba Ba" and "Ma Ma" which might be the cutest thing I have ever heard in my life! He has also figured out how to crawl behind the couch and open up cabinets, reminding us how behind we are on the babyproofing of the house! Enjoy the pics - I think they're some of his best!

March 2009

2009-03-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

It's so funny how fickle babies can be! At my friend Leah's house, Brendan absolutely loved playing in the ball pit. So, of course, I went out and bought a bag of balls (which aren't cheap by the way!). When we got home and put Brendan in the pit, this was his reaction

He was completely frozen and stayed in this position for like 30 seconds. It was hilarious! Now he just crawls out of the ball pit as fast as he can.

Brendan hasn't really changed too much this month. He continues to crawl and pull up on everything in sight. His new favorite activities are tearing apart magazines and attempting to eat the pages, watching the dogs fight and laughing hysterically, wrestling with Eddie, and making a sound that sounds like a roar. It's pretty cute.

Also, he is getting one of his top teeth; however, it's a side tooth, not one of the front ones. It looks pretty funny. I think we are going to start having to call him Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel (watch The Simpsons!)

Super Baby! Here's Brendan imitating the super heroes who are all over his bedroom! He loves to reach for things that are far away from him such as the toys in the bathtub and the water in the toilet. Ew.

Two words every mother should know: CRAIG'S LIST! That is where I get most of Brendan's gear including the jogging stroller seen here! Unfortunately, the desire to jog is not available to purchase on Craig's List, but it makes for some nice walks to the park! ( :

Everyone begs for food in our house! Ha ha! Poor Sam was bestowed with the shock collar this month, though our sweet little dimwit Beagle doesn't seem to figure out the correllation. Ahh....he truly is like Lenny from Of Mice and Men, and he ate my copy of that book this month. There's irony for ya.

In other Commender family news, Eddie's job totally sucks right now as corporate recruiting is rather difficult when there are no jobs to recruit for. He is hanging in there, but it's not very much fun for him to go to work each day. At least he has happy little Brendan and his always cheerful wife to come home to. I'm here as well. ( :

Business is going well for me and I am very busy working on the charity gala that I am coordinating. If you'd like more information, visit www.soundsoftheseason.org.

TTYL

February 2009

2009-03-04T11:43:00.001-08:00

Brendan's Favorite Activity = Standing Up On Everything! Here he is trying to get the dog's chew toys to chew on himself!

Such a happy little guy! He smiles all day long. We are very lucky!

We had to retire this chair when Brendan flipped himself over and started crawling away with it still attached!

A rare photo of Brendan & me after a bath - Eddie is the official bath giver! ( :

Playing with Daddy sure is tiring! Awwww!

In other Commender family news, I just got back from being in Warsaw, Poland for 5 days to referee the Men's World Cup of judo, which was very exciting. I barely got to see any of the city, but it seemed pretty interesting! Eddie has been busy with work as well as a volleyball league that he joined. Business for me is still going well, and you can view my latest events at www.significanteventsoftexas.com/tag/weddings

January 2009

2009-01-29T15:31:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! It's amazing how much Brendan changes in such little time. In the last month he has started crawling, pulling up to standing, and cutting teeth! Of course, this means that he is back to waking up at night to alert us of his new skills, but it's pretty cute to see him standing up in his crib! Eddie had to lower the mattress because one day Brendan looked like he was about to climb over the top. So, now I guess I really have to pay attention to him....( :

Look at those teeth! They are sharp!

A crawling machine!

So excited to stand!

2008 Year in Review

2008-12-08T19:51:00.000-08:00

Hello, Friends & Family! Thanks for visiting our blog!

2008 has definitely been a year we will never forget and one of the best and most important in our lives! Of course, we are referring to the fact that our little Brendan was born this year. He arrived on July 1 at 12:16 a.m. after nine months that felt like an eternity! He was 8 lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long.

Brendan is a really wonderful baby! He has the sweetest personality and is so happy all the time. He smiles and laughs all day long and is really a joy to be around. He has changed so much from the day we brought him home from the hospital that we can't even believe he is the same baby looking back at the pictures! He is now 5 1/2 months old, and we think he will start crawling any day now. He is adored by his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, so he is a very lucky kid, and we feel lucky to have him as well. Here are a few pictures from the last 5 months:

Nash & Sam, our two Beagles, have adjusted to Brendan very well, though they are definitely a lot more neglected than they used to be! One advantage to having them is that they have developed an affinity for Brendan's spit-up and have become the inadvertant clean up crew! In fact, every time he burps now, they come running, so I guess Pavlov was right about that Classical Conditioning stuff!

Eddie and I are still very involved with judo both here in Texas and around the world. In fact, in November we traveled to Finland where I refereed at the Finnish Open which was a very interesting experience. We took a little time while we were in that part of the world to visit St. Petersburg, Russia and enjoyed seeing all of the amazing architecture and learning a little bit more about Russian history. I've always wanted to see Russia, so this was a great experience that I would not have had if it wasn't for judo!

Eddie continues to do well with his job as a recruiter for the Lucas Group. Though the economy has slowed things down a bit, we are confident that things will turn around for the better. I am no longer teaching and can't say that I miss it too much! While taking care of Brendan is definitely my full time job, my business - Significant Events of Texas - has become very much "full time" as well. I joke that Brendan is my good luck charm, because right after he was born, things with the business got very busy and, thankfully, have stayed that way. You can view my recent events at www.significanteventsoftexas.com.

I plan to update this blog on a monthly basis with new pictures of Brendan so keep checking! We wish the very best to you and your family this Holiday Season!

Love,

Eddie, Meredith, & Brendan