Are you here all by yourself?

"Ma'am, I'm eight years old. You think I would be here *alone*? I don't think so."

Classic movie from my childhood; good times.  We stayed here for Christmas instead of going home.  Not quite the same, but it was still fun.  I have some really short videos of Christmas happenings and a few firsts that I haven't shown you all yet.  Berlin is getting so big!  

Look how cute she looks in her beret my aunt Rose made for her.  

She doesn't really like to wear things on her head, but she did wear it this day because it was freezing!

We had an awesome Santa at our ward party this year!  Berlin didn't even cry when he held her.  She was very interested in his beard, and wasn't sure why we were standing far away making silly faces.  

Here is Berlin opening her favorite present; a stuffed animal monkey from Grandma and Grandpa Jensen.  Her reaction was AWESOME!

 As you can see, she is quite fond of her monkey.  Good job David and GayLynn!

This video is Berlin and her Dad playing with her second favorite present-a soft book we gave her.  Super cute, because she giggles in this one.

Okay, Berlin has actually been crawling since Thanksgiving, but I have been kind of busy!

Along with crawling, she is having the time of her life exploring places she shouldn't.

She also has enough hair to do a tiny ponytail if she will let me put one in her hair.  It's kind of a necessity now, since her hair on top is really long compared the rest, and it sticks straight up in the air.  She was a sporting a faux hawk for awhile there and she was called a boy three times.

Berlin decided she wants more solid food I guess, because she went from two teeth to SIX right before Christmas, and now has two more coming in on the bottom.  Sorry about the angle on the picture; but do you know how hard it is to take a photo of a eight month old's teeth?  It's tricky.

Soon after she started crawling, Berlin realized she could pull herself up to a standing position.  She started on the soft furniture, then moved to the bar stools.  Now she will use just about anything to pull herself up, including the dogs and her parents.  She loves to stand at the door and look outside, especially if Josh is out there with the doggies. (You can see part of her faux hawk in this profile-the front is in the pony tail, but the back isn't quite long enough.)

This is my favorite!  Berlin received a couple of books for Christmas, and this is one of her favorites that she is allowed to play with.  She will sit on the floor and "read" it to herself.  Hilarious!

We are having a great time with her!

Pop quiz: Who have you met, and what have you learned?

OK. Bud, Fritz, and Joe are brothers. Fritz is married to Petunia, and is she...?
Cranky? Yes.
Tallulah and Laszlo are their children. Joe is married to Billie. Lefty is the butler. Spike and Dimitri are twins, and I don't know who they're related to.
Neither do we. Go on.
Lucille is married to Bud, and your dad, Cornelius, is their son. What does Cornelius look like?
Tom Selleck.
OK. Cornelius is married to Franny, and her brothers are Gaston and Art.
You're forgetting something.
Forgetting? Oh, right! Wilbur is the son of Franny and Cornelius.

She looks pretty excited about being part of the fam, don't you think?

Berlin was sealed to us on Friday, November 25th. 

And we couldn't be happier!

Can you tell? 

Thanks to all who were able to be there-it was a wonderful day.

And a BIG thanks to Sarah Rose for taking these photos; they are perfect.

Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker

Happy Halloween!

I'm six months old now....

And I can sit up....

and eat cereal.....

and giggle...

and giggle...

and giggle....

especially when I am outside...

and Dad is playing with the dogs.

I also blow really good spit bubbles...

I still only have two teeth...

but they sure are cute!

My thumb fits right into my binkie...

so I still suck my thumb sort of :)

Oh, and I almost forgot.  I am the cutest Duck!

God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die....

This quote stood out to me especially since I got my new calling.  Oh you haven't heard?  I am the new Relief Society President in my ward.  I know what you're thinking.  Yikes!!! right?  I am pretty sure there should be an age requirement for this calling, and I should always be below it because of my maturity level.  Oh well.  This quote is from Calvin and Hobbes, one of the best comic strips ever and my husband's personal favorite. The cartoon Calvin reminds me of Josh a lot actually. Because he is obviously really intelligent-but he likes to be immature, cause mischief, play rough and do things that adults don't normally do. Sound familiar to anyone who knows my husband? Anyway, my sister Charlotte had her baby eight days before Berlin was born, and she named him Calvin. He is a cute little BIG chunk. He's super mellow and always happy unless he's hungry. Here are the cousins together in June.  Auntie Audra is holding them-I cut her head off because I am a way good photographer.

Anyways. these photos below illustrate the personality differences between Calvin and Berlin.  Basically, Calvin is mellow and happy and Berlin has multiple personalities.  Okay, not really, but sometimes it seems that way.  Berlin will provide the captions.  But first, a little synopsis of the photo shoot. Calvin has just woken up from his nap.  I thought it would be fun to take some pictures of Berlin and Calvin side by side.  These pictures are all taken within about a minute, and Berlin's face is never the same.

Picture #1-My mom laid me in my play pen and there's someone else already in it!  WAH!

Picture # 2-Ooh, a fan!

Picture # 3- I like fans.

Picture # 4-My mom is making funny faces at me so I will make one back.  Do you think this new guy is a little freaked out by this?

Picture # 5-Hey new guy?  Do you see me?  I can see you if I look like this!

Picture # 6-Mom, I am trying to smile good, I promise!  You are just taking the picture at the wrong time.

Picture # 7-Hmm, I like this soft blanket the other kid has.

Picture # 8-There's my mom again trying to make silly faces so we will smile.  

Picture # 9-Mom!  Get me out of here!  I don't want to do this anymore!

Baby steps get on the bus, baby steps down the aisle, baby steps...

Hi everybody, Berlin here.  These are a LOT of pictures showing what I have been up to the past month.  And if my mom ever gets on the ball, she will post more often.  I don't know what her problem is, I have been sleeping through the night for like THREE weeks now!  She's kinda lazy when it comes to blogging if you ask me.  Anyways, pay attention and I will explain the photos.

HANGING WITH DAD

I like my Dad pretty good now.  He does really goofy faces and he tries to talk to me when I talk.  He makes all sorts of silly noises.  It's pretty darn funny.  We can talk for 5-10 minutes back and forth.  He also dances with me and takes me outside to see the horses and the doggies.  In general, he is a lot more fun than Mom.  But that's probably because Mom does all the dirty work, like diapers.  Plus, Mom feeds me, so I still like her.

Dad had too many carrot sticks in his lunch one day, so he gave them to me to play with.  They are the perfect size for my little hands to hold onto and they're fun to suck on.  My Mom took them away though, and then I think the horses ate them.

This is me and my Dad on Father's Day.  Mom was trying to get a good picture of both of us smiling. It didn't work; this is the best we came up with.

STRETCHING

I am pretty wiggly most of the time, and I like to lay on the bed and kick my legs and stretch my arms.  But this picture is on here because I wanted you to see my pirate shorts.  I am not sure how I feel about them, as you can see by my expression. Ahoy Matey!

So when I first started stretching, I would only stretch one arm at a time.  Here's the left one-

And now the right. Nana (Liz's mom) calls it my Hitler stretch.  I don't do it much anymore because now I stretch both arms at the same time.

But just so you remember that I used to do this, here is one more when I am awake.

SMILING

I smile all the time now, but my favorite time to smile is in the morning.  And it's a good thing too, because my mom needs to be cheered up some days.  She is not a morning person like me and Dad.  

I like swinging!

It's really fun!

Look how cute I am!

Chilling in the tub-I love taking baths.  So far, I don't like swimming in the pool though.  Too COLD!

How you doing?

Seriously, you should try swinging, it's great!

STICKING OUT MY TONGUE

My mom is always sticking her tongue out at me, and she thinks it is SO funny when I do it back.  She is easily amused. I humor her most of the time and play along.

This feels kind of weird.

MY HAIR ACCESSORIES

Bless her heart, my mom tries to make me look cute every day.  But some of these things are just TOO BIG and I don't like them!  Maybe when I get a little bigger I will like them better.  But for the time being, I think the rule of thumb should be: If the flower is bigger than my face, I shouldn't be wearing it.

This one is okay.  I do look like a Christmas present when I wear it, but it is comfortable and I will wear it all day.  I think this one is my mom's favorite because it's orange.

This one is pushing it.

Umm...Mom? Please refer to the rule I just made.

Seriously Mom?  My aunt Charlotte called this monstrosity an anemone.  That's a sea sponge (like the one Nemo lives in).   Don't feel bad, my Mom didn't know what it was either.  On another note, doesn't my complexion look awesome in this picture?

Now that's more like it.  I can wear these forever and they never bug me. 

These are good too, not too big or too tight.

Oh boy!  Here we go again.  (Mom's note-this is of course a joke.  Most of these flowers and bows were gifts from very talented women and I love them all, which is why Berlin wears them.)

THUMB SUCKING

I was born sucking my thumb, so if Mom doesn't have a pacifier for me, I know how to use it.

Sometimes when I am sleeping, I think "Hmm...I wish I had something in my mouth right now."

 "I think I would stay sleeping if I could have something to suck on. Hmm, what should I use?"   

"Oh wait!  My thumb is built right into my hand!  Lucky!"

I am super cute when I sleep.

HOLDING STUFF

Usually, it's my burp cloth; I like to hold it while I eat.  And I have a really good grip-my doctor said so.  But my mom's friend Amanda gave me this, and I really like it.  And I'm pretty adorable when I hold it, if I do say so myself.

Well, that's all folks.  Stay tuned for my next post, with my special guest star-Cousin Calvin.