She’s become very expressive. Not that she ever really lacked this skill, but she’s been honing it as of the last few months.

She had a few sleep-overs with friends.

She enjoyed an excellent 4th of July fireworks extravaganza, compliments of Ladera Ranch.

Berlyn has grown ever-so-fond of her pug, Zoey. Zoey doesn’t seem to mind her too much.

We made many trips to the park; mastering all varieties of slides.

More parks, more slides (and swings).

Even more.

Posing, running, and screaming in delight in San Juan Capistrano.

Berlyn loves pumpkins.

Naturally, she was a peacock for Halloween. And mom decided to copy. Berlyn approves.

Berlyn forcing helping Cailey to walk.

Today we enjoyed an acrobatic show of pillow diving (bunge-ing as she calls it), summersaults, and many smiles. A typical Saturday evening at the Brumfield’s.

This year we decided to do an online card (click above to view it) as opposed to the traditional paper-based varieties. But don’t think of us as coping out on you, think of it as:

• Saving the environment. No paper means no trees in the Brazilian rainforest get hacked down.
• Giving you more good stuff. We added lots of pictures and Pat designed the cool card (insert ooohs and aaahhs here).

Regardless, we wanted to share some holiday cheer, say hello, and wish you a Merry Christmas! If you feel the same way, you can leave us a message below. And if you want to print out the card because you’ve got an empty place on your mantle, download and print it here.

Here’s the card.

Like any good parents, we dressed our daughter up in the most outrageous costume we could find for her first Halloween. We then proceeded to take pictures of her. She had a good time looking at all the other outrageous kids, and enjoyed passing out candy at the Mattson’s. First Halloween: success.

Berlyn, Beckey and Melinda had a relaxing day at the beach.

Very relaxing for Berlyn.

You are here, and I was right, you transformed everything. Two and a half months ago you were pulled out of my body, cut from my womb, and brought into the world. You are so needy and I am so tired. My eyes are swollen from a lack of sleep and my stomach looks like a lump of uncooked pizza dough. This is motherhood. Self sacrifice. I envy those around me that don’t have to breast feed every three hours and can get a full night’s sleep. But all that melts away when you smile. When you flash that gummy grin I am reminded of what a miracle you are and how you have changed me in such a monumental way. And I will never be the same.

This is a picture of the all three of us, The Brumfields, at our friends Melinda & Vern’s engagement party on March 6^th. Berlyn, at 4 weeks old, enjoyed her first outing to Long Beach, and we loved the amazing view atop the SkyRoom.

While Beckey was pregnant I took a few pictures of her. I think that she’s the most beautiful pregnant woman I’ve ever seen. I suppose I’m a little biased though…

We had a lot of fun designing and putting together the baby’s room. You can see the progress, and final product in these pictures. They really do no justice to the real thing. Stop in and see us, and maybe — just maybe — we’ll show you her room.

We enjoyed our last vacation as a child-less family on the sunny island of Oahu, Hawaii. It was a wonderful time full of sand, sun, and ABC stores. The islands are truly beautiful, and we soaked up as much as possible.

Some images of our perfect little girl in Beckey’s belly. It’s amazing the detail you can get with sound waves.