Updates!

I usually don't go this long between posts, but we've been a bit busy.  We're homeowners now!  We moved in to our house on May 8th after a bit of uncertainty over title issues on the home.  We weren't sure we'd even close on the house until 2 or 3 days before!  The whole process was a great one for us and not nearly as stressful as we had anticipated, thanks to our wonderful realtor, Jackie!  Unfortunately, the unpacking process is a beast, and we still have much that needs to be done.  We also have a list of projects that we want to work on, so I think we're going to be creating a blog to chronicle our DIY adventures.  Brandon's working on installing a dishwasher and fixing a section of our sidewalk that causes our basement to leak a bit.  I'm working on getting our landscape in order, installing a chair rail in the dining room, and picking out paint colors.  It should be fun!  And now for the individual updates...

Brandon

• Had foot surgery on April 16th, but is still having a lot of pain, so he might need another foot surgery in a month or two.  Funny story about post-surgery: I was about to go out to the parking lot to pull the car around to pick Brandon up from Recovery when I heard him call out fairly loudly, "Who dressed me???  Oh, wait.  I dressed myself."  He was still a little doped up.
• Was called as the scoutmaster/2nd counselor in the YM presidency last month, so he's getting used to the idea of spending his vacation time at Scout Camp this year.
• Is about to finish up another successful year of school.  On the first day of classes this quarter, Brandon went to campus for a 5:30 class, but when he got to class, he discovered that it was Chemistry and not the English class he thought it would be.  But, he needed a class to fulfill this requirement, so he ended up taking an English class entitled "Black Drama."  No, he isn't the only white guy in the class, but I think he surprised the teacher when he did one of Oprah Winfrey's monologues from The Color Purple. 

Rebecca (Me)

• Finally got my last year's birthday present from Brandon when he took me to go see Riverdance!  I can't wait to go see Mary Poppins for my birthday next year (hint, hint!).
• Is getting back to the greener side of things, meaning that I am getting excited about plants again.  For a while after the two kids were born, I was so wrapped up in helping them out that I had stopped learning about plants.  In the last couple of months, though, I have been able to teach a few lessons on gardening, am doing a gardening blog for our Relief Society (I am still dedicated to it, but took a few weeks off because of the move!), and am so excited to be finally able to landscape my own yard!
  

Nicholas

• Has expanded his vocabulary to words like "cool!" and "knockknockwho'sthere!" (said as one word) and "gosh".
• Is becoming very social with his friends.  He'll ask me about Aidee (Aidan), Jew (Andrew), Con (Lincoln), Ca (Micah), Kid (Braden), and Duh (Isabella).  I'm not sure how he came up with those, but at least I'm able to better understand who he's talking about!
• Loves going to church!  We go there for play group sometimes in addition to Sundays, so he always associates church with a good time.  Funny story: today at church the Primary kids were invited up to sing.  Nicholas got so excited about seeing all of these kids walking up to the front that he burst out of our pew and ran up to the stand.  I quickly chased after him, but he was too quick for me.  I ended up sitting down on one of the chairs on the stand behind Nicholas while he leaned stood next to the big kids and sang along with them.  After that we took a walk around the building to calm him down, and we ended up in the Primary room.  He decided he wanted to play "Primary," and stood up at the podium in there.  I asked him if he was giving a talk, and he just said "talk talk talk talk talk" for about a minute and a half!  Then he was done, sat down in the front row of chairs, and told me it was my turn to "talk".  After I gave my talk, he started singing some primary songs to me.  It was fairly adorable!

 Renae (Nae Nae)

• Is getting pretty mobile!  Not only is she the fastest-scooting baby around, she has started crawling (only when she feels like it), can sit herself up, kneel, pull herself up to standing, and can even walk while holding onto the side of a chair, table, couch, etc.  The other day I was cleaning up the townhouse we moved out of, and I left her downstairs while I went upstairs to vacuum.  When I came downstairs, I was surprised to find that she had climbed up the first 2 or 3 steps!  I'm not sure I'm ready for all of this...

I will post some pictures as soon as I unpack the cable that connects the camera to the computer!  Have a great day!