Our Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Family,



It's hard to believe that 2010 is already drawing to a close. Once again, the year has brought many blessings for myself and our family. The biggest blessing of the year came in a 7 lb 2 oz bundle on May 31st that we like to call Dylee Pickles (Dylan Lawrence). Dyl is now 6 1/2 months old and brings so much joy to our lives. He is constantly on the go, rolling and scooting all over the house,but loves playing in his jumper most of all. Dylan is always full of smiles his brothers adore him, and he in turn is constantly in awe of them.

Ronan is now 22 months old. He is able to say his entire alphabet, count to 10 and talks well beyond his years. Him being able to tell us what he wants/needs is nice, but whispering is still somewhat lost on him and it can make church seem rather lengthy early Sunday mornings. Ronan is full of energy, and is my sweety snuggly boy. Even though he is very independent these days he still loves to be held and rocked and would dance in mommy's arms all day if I let him.

Collin is now 3 years old. He is 100% potty trained, knows all of his shapes (even cresent and octagon!) colors, numbers, letters and a little more than half of his letter sounds. He loves to learn new things and is forever seeking new adventures. Though very independent and somewhat ornery, Collin has proved to be the best big brother Ronan and Dylan could ask for. He is very helpful around the house and loves to play with his brothers. His new thing is to say "I don't need you mommy" when he is going down for nap or going to use the restroom, but I know he still needs me when he surprises me with a hug and an "I love you."

Dan continues to teach first grade in Maize and still rocks at being an amazing husband/father. Our boys adore him and I can see in Dylee's eyes that he cannot wait until he is old enough to wrestle Daddy like his brothers. In the past Dan has always coached wrestling this time of year, but decided to take a year of from the demanding sport to spend more time with us. He is going to try to help out once a week, but didn't want to feel obligated 3 nights a week plus every Saturday.

Now for me. I am in my second year of being a stay-at-home mom, and couldn't be more thankful. Our boys do so many cute and crazy things during the day that I can't even imagine not being here for every one of them. I am still watching a few other children to supplament our income which keeps me very busy, and sometimes leaves me feeling guilty for using the phrase "mommy is busy" so many times in one day. However, this allows me to be with my children every day, and for that I am thankful. Being home all day every day with rarely leaving the house for more than church on Sunday can sometimes make me a little stir crazy. Dan has been wonderful at letting me have some time to myself to work on sewing projects, items for my Etsy shop or even just running to the grocery store to get away for a while.

The fun never stops around the Berry house, and we wouldn't change it for the world.

Wishing you all a very Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.



The Berry's

making cookies

Collin helped me make Christmas cookies the other day.

Aren't they pretty?

Collin got to decorate his very own cookie to eat. The pink sparkly frosting was the only one he could squeeze out on his own.
So we ended up with a teddy bear cookie that looked like this...But it was delicious!

a long post Christmas update...

Well Christmas is here and gone already, but I have to say that it was a wonderful holiday. Luckily we still have a whole week off from school before we have to go back. We got to spend time with nearly all of the family and had a great time just getting to be together. (We even got to spend some extra quality time with my grandpa because he came and stayed with my parents for nearly 6 days.) By the end of it all however, Collin was a little overwhelmed. Eventually he gave up on opening presents and left mommy and daddy to do it all.

On Christmas Eve we had the Klein Family Christmas at my parents' house. Santa always makes a visit to this event. Unfortunately, Collin was a little scared of Santa. He loves to say "ho ho ho" when he sees pictures of him, but wasn't so fond of him in person.
On Christmas morning Collin got a new table and chairs from Santa that he LOVES! He opened it first, and the rest of the presents had to come to him at the table because he refused to leave.

At Grammy and Papa's he was done after opening his Handy Manny tool set.

The rest of the day was spent at the Berry Family Christmas enjoying more time with family. By the end of it all we were all exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep.

Fast forward to post Christmas activities...

I have been trying to finish up painting Ronan's room (Dan's brother bought us ALL of our baby furniture for Christmas and I have to finish the room so we can put it all in there) and have found the task to be a lot more time consuming than I orignally anticipated. I had this great idea to paint a striped border around the room that matches the bedding, but took me nearly 2 hours just to paint a 3 foot section. I might be here till March finishing it all. As long as it's done before Ronan arrives!

This is the beautiful snow that fell while I was painting on Saturday...

The next 2 pictures were just too cute to leave out...

This is Collin super excited about the new toy chest that Papa (my dad) just finished making for him.

And this is Collin modeling his new monkey pajamas.