We're back!

So we're finally updating the blog. We haven't written since October. I realize that makes us pretty bad bloggers. Sorry about that. But the good news is that we just got the internet in our new house so it'll be a lot easier to stay up-to-date. Here's news since last we posted:
1) Our new house. We moved in back in November after a few weeks of living in limbo and not having a clue as to what was going on. They kept telling us to work hard and we could get in sooner but when we finally finished we had to sit around for a couple of weeks just waiting for contractors to finish up their jobs. But we're in and we love it! Damon loves the space and likes to run around the house back and forth. One of his favorite games is hide and seek where we'll hide around corners and he'll come looking for us. He tries to do it too but mostly just takes a few steps away and then comes running back like he just found us. Moving into the house went pretty quick thanks to Julie's family and my family coming down to help. It took about 4 trips in Julie's parents' 15 passenger van. And while I was taking trips back and forth with my Dad, brother and brother-in-law Julie was at our old apartment with her mother and some of her sisters cleaning up. What saints! We really appreciated their help. It didn't take us long to get all settled into the house except we still need to hang pictures and things up on the walls. Eventually we'll paint and stuff. We also have a fence going all around our back yard which makes our yard seem really big and we're trying to figure out where we want to put the garden.

2) My play. It's over. It was pretty good. I think it could have been better. I think there was still a lot of improving that I could have done as a writer and maybe someday I'll revisit the script but for now I'm just glad it's over. Don't get me wrong, it was a great experience and really cool to hear audience people laugh at jokes I wrote and see something I made up on stage but I think I still have a long way to go as a writer.

3) The baby. We're having another baby! Julie is pregnant and due at the end of July. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet but either way we're ready with names. If its a girl her name will be Emma Ray Bree. We've always liked that name and it's on the top of our long girl-name list. If it's a boy his name will be Riley Stephen Bree. We went back and forth for a long time on boy names and could never agree on one we both liked. Then one night I had a dream where we had had the baby, it was a boy and we named him Riley. I told Julie and she liked the name. So I think it was probably Riley coming to me in my sleep to make sure that I got his name right. But boy or girl we're really excited to welcome another little soul into this Bree clan.

4) Damon is still the cutest thing in the world. He likes to Dance when there's music on. He likes to talk on the phone, or rather hold it and smile really big. He's also become a pro at speed-dialing Julie's sisters. He absolutely loves to climb on stuff. If we're not careful we'll find him standing in the middle of the kitchen table just smiling away. He also has a little step stool he likes to climb up (it's like 8 inches off the ground) and then he just stands there with his arms raised up waiting for one of us to pick him up. In association with his climbing he's discovered a stepping system to get to the top of the couch. First his little rocking chair, then the end table, then the couch. And from there he tumbles down to the floor, laughs and starts back up again. He prefers to do this when someone is on the couch to tumble down onto but he'll still have fun if no one is there. Other exciting skills: He can blow kisses before bed, he knows the sign for "Daddy" and (according to Julie) asks about me all day when I'm at work and he can read books. Actually he likes to hold them open to a page and babble as if he's reading the story to us. It's really cute.

5)We could update you on what our Christmas and Thanksgiving we're like but it seems weird to do talk about those things in February. Plus this blog is probably too long anway.

6) Lastly, it looks like I'm going to join the United States Army Reserve. More on that as the story develops.

We love you all and we're glad to be back. Hope you're all well.