Box House and Cousins

Mark built Brian a little house out of a box we had. Brian loves it so much and plays in it every day. Who needs expensive toys when you have boxes and a dad willing to fix them up?



Brian is to a point in his life now where he LOVES to be around his cousins. We've been to several Birthday parties lately where Brian just had to get involved with everything. He loves the older kids. These pictures were the only ones I got at Clara's Birthday, but you can see that Brian is always there with the older kids trying to be a part of everything.



We are so lucky to have Brian's cousin Xander living just down the stairs. Brian loves to follow him around and Xander is so good to Brian. Thanks Vivian for taking these pictures, I need to get the camera out more often to capture those funny moments with these two cute boys.

Brian Games

There is no music on this long video because I didn't want to take the time to add it, but if you want to spend the time watching it you'll really get to know our Bri Bri.

What a January

During the month of January we started and completed a thorough remodel of our basement. With the help of one of Mark's contractor friends and through some really late nights, we got it finished by the deadline, Jan. 30th. We remodeled the basement to create a basement apartment, and Mark's brother Jake and his wife and son are renting from us now, but they needed to move out of their previous apartment by the end of January, hence the deadline.

All in all we demolished four walls, a shower, two ceilings, a closet; ripped up carpet and padding and tore down the stair banister. Then we built six walls, two closets, a kitchen, a bedroom, extended the bathroom, put in a bathtub, installed cabinets, fridge, dishwasher, stove, counter etc. After painting, caulking, tiling, mudding, spackling, priming, trimming, cutting carpet and pads, putting down kitchen floor, cleaning, etc. etc. etc. we finally finished just in time. Oh how glad we are to have it all done. Of course we couldn't have done it without the help of family. Thanks to the Hsiao family for your late nights painting, demolishing, cleaning, and helping us carry in thousands of pounds of sheetrock, the fridge, and everything else.

Sadly I didn't get ANY pictures of the basement before we got to it, but here are a few pictures of construction and finished product. The finished pictures are first so they're a little out of order, but it gives you an idea of what was completed.

Happy 10 Months Kiddo

I can't believe Brian is almost 10 months old. He has grown and changed so much in the last few months.

At 10 months Brian:

*Has six teeth
*Has a cold and a cough
*Likes to stand up holding on to things, but LOVES to crawl really fast.
*Loves when his daddy chases him around the house.
*Likes small items that he can hold in his fist as he crawls around.
*Likes to play in the kitchen cupboards as I do dishes.
*Bounces up and down to music.
*Loves peeking around the edge of furniture when I'm looking so I can say "Where's Brian? There he is!"
*Waves when someone waves at him.
*Refuses to drink very much formula.
*Eats adult food pretty well.
*Hates being put in his carrier and often hates the car.
*Goes to bed at 6:30 p.m. sharp, and sleeps until about 7:30 a.m.
*Takes 2-3 naps a day at about an hour each.
*Eats food 3-4 times a day and I TRY to get him to drink formula 4 or so times a day.
*Loves playing with the handle on my cello case.
*Goes to a Mom and Tots swimming class twice a week.
*Has a REALLY hard time making it all the way through church. (nap time)
*Still drools like a mad man.
*Smiles more often than he ever has.
*Seems to thoroughly enjoy life.

Brian likes Cheerios, but not that much. He poured the whole container out while I was making him some scrambled eggs. He seems to be pretty happy about it too.

He loves when friends and family come to visit. (hint hint)

He went to his first Chinese New Year party at the Hsiao house and was very happy about the Red Envelope he received from his grandparents. (He liked the envelope, Mark and I liked what was inside. Thanks Nai Nai and Ye Ye.)

His hair got really long and he would wake up with some nice bed hair.

Too cute.

Oh so messy.

Texas Christmas Part 4: Final Days at the Smith's

After eating more Chinese food, hanging out in the Chinese Mall, and watching some good movies, Mark and I said goodbye to his family and headed over to my sister's again for a few more days with her family. We loved playing outside in the BEAUTIFUL Houston weather. Oh how we miss it.


We returned home on New Year's Eve. Again, I flew alone with Brian because it was cheaper for Mark to take another flight with a layover. This time it wasn't a "semi okay" flight. Brian was so over tired, a little sick and I don't know what was wrong with him, but he screamed, yelled and howled pretty much the whole three hours. I'm just happy that he was so good the rest of the trip making those three hours worth it for the great time we had with both sides of the family. Thank you to all who fed us, entertained us, and just made our Christmas one of the best and most memorable we'll ever have.