I just know....

Well, today is the last day of 2007. What a year it has been for us! Since we were married ten years ago, we've always talked about owning our own home in a great neighborhood where we could raise our family. Living in this area has made that dream a pretty difficult one to make come true. When we bought our house in 2004, we were thrilled to finally have our very own place even though it was very -okay very, very small and needed a lot of work! But we both always said that we had faith and that we just knew that someday, God would give us a beautiful home to live in. We worked hard on the house and with help from family and friends, the house became more and more beautiful. We always loved the property our home was on -the size was perfect for children to play and run around on and we really had a great deal of privacy. When Anna came, we realized if we were going to stay here, we really needed more room. With one bathroom, only two bedrooms and a kitchen that honestly had no kitchen drawers -not even one, we knew something needed to be done! We talked about adding on but really thought it would never happen. We both still find it difficult to say, "We put an addition on our home" -as if it is all just a dream. God is like that though and surprises you when you least expect it. We began in July of this year and added on more than half of what our house originally was! We added another bedroom, bathroom, tripled the size of the kitchen, brought the laundry upstairs, and added a beautiful family room with cathedral ceilings. As many of you have already seen the architect and builder did a beautiful job. We love the changes and are so thrilled that God allowed them all to happen. As many of you know, it was very stressful and the mess nearly drove Rachel crazy! But we did all survive and the outcome is unbelievable! So as 2007 draws to a close, we want to say thank you to both of our families who helped us so much over this past year while the remodeling was going on. We could not have done it without your physical labor and emotional support! All of you helped in so many ways and there is no way we could have done it without you. And also, thanks God for making our dream come true.

Mommy, I hear a noise...

Well, Anna has developed a fear of noises. It has been a slow progression but I think setting the smoke alarms off this past weekend helped seal the deal. Unfortunately, due to new electrical codes, we needed to have a wired smoke alarm system put in the entire house when we did the addition. Although they are for safety reasons, they are a real pain in the neck. They are very sensitive to smoke and when one senses smoke, the entire system goes off -and loud enough to wake the dead! There is no way to turn them off, they shut off on their own once the smoke dissipates. Anna is now terrified of them and any other noises she hears in her room. This afternoon for her nap, she made me take the fish out "because it was making a noise". Not sure what noise that was?!?!? I feel badly for her though because she is so scared of the noises and just freezes in fear when she hears something like the furnace come on or the house creak. Poor little thing.

'He might still be in the house'

Well, we have celebrated 2/3 of Christmas 2007. We went into Anna's room on Christmas morning anxious to see if she would remember who was supposed to come visit in the middle of the night. She completely forgot and only wanted to play with her toys she had received the night before from some neighbors of ours. When we reminded her that Santa might have come she refused to come out of her room for fear of him still being in the house. After some cajoling, and after she realized that Chloe was already opening her stocking Anna came out and was thrilled to see that Santa did indeed stop by for a visit! She was pleased with all of her loot and loved her candy cane most of all -actually, she's still enjoying what's left of it -in her hair. Ron's family arrives on Friday for the last 1/3 of Christmas. We hope all our family and friends enjoyed Christmas with loved ones and remembered the real reason for the season. Happy Birthday Jesus!

Berlin's Christmas Card

Well, I have to be a big sister now and brag about my little brother. He recently got a new job in graphic design at Berlin Productions -a famous graphic design company in White Plains -he loves working there and seems to fit right in! We are sooooo proud of him and thrilled that he has settled in so close to home. He recently rented a place in Pound Ridge and now even has a girlfriend (whom we all get to meet tomorrow). Anyway, here is his company Christmas card which I think is really neat! Ricky is the guy on the right in the red coat.
http://t3.berlinprod.com/accounts/berlin/bpholidaycard07/
Check out his bio and the company's website at berlinproductions.com Way to go Ricky!

In other first-round matches, Ossining edged Somers 35-34 after it lost to the Tuskers last week.

The title of this entry is a quote from our local newspaper regarding Ron's wrestling team winning their match last night. Go Ossining! Anna and I went to see the match since it was just a few miles down the road. Anna enjoyed it more than we thought she would -she actually sat and watched for almost half an hour! She said she'd like to come back again when the girls are having their turn! She enjoyed watching the numbers change on the scoreboard and got excited whenever they blew the whistle -she takes after her mom since I have NO understanding of wrestling!

Jesus' Birthday Party

Well, despite the bitter cold and bone-chilling wind this morning, Anna and I decided to brave the weather and venture out to the birthday party our MOPS group was having for Jesus today. For those of you not familiar with it, MOPS stands for Mothers of Pre-Schoolers. It is a group of young moms that meets at our church on the first Thursday of every month. They have speakers who talk about topics moms of young kids would find interesting -discipline, getting your picky eater to eat healthy foods, romancing your husband when you have a toddler. .. You get the idea :) The moms get a nice morning off while the kids are watched upstairs. Throughout the year, they also have special playdates and get-togethers for the moms and kids. Anyway, it took us 10 minutes to get to the car from the back door due to the ice. At one point, I even considered laying on my belly and sliding like the penguins do! Walking on ice is hard enough but try it with a toddler who is still trying to navigate walking on solid, non-slippery surfaces! We arrived at church only to find that the parking lot there was just as icy as our driveway. The party was fun though. Anna was thrilled to see all of her friends and had great fun decorating a cupcake with frosting and as much candy as she could fit on the thing! We made a cute little craft and then sang happy birthday. It was a nice morning out and reminded us both of the real reason for this holiday season!

The Last of the Painting

Well, we finished up today all of our painting and final touches on the addition. Ron's dad was kind enough to help us cut and hang all of the trim and our part was to paint it. As seen in our picture here, Anna's room was the last to be finished. With a Nor'easter keeping us homebound it was the perfect day to get it all done. It has been a long haul with Ron's wrestling schedule keeping him busy most weekends but Anna was a real trooper and helped her daddy every step of the way. Here she can be seen helping Daddy tape the window. The addition has turned out beautifully and we welcome you all to come for a vist and see for yourself. Ron says "Now we don't have the tiniest house on the street but the smallest". Hope you are all bundled up and keeping warm on this frosty winter day.

The Beginning

Well, after much consideration and much more procrastination, the Whiteheads have decided to begin a blog to document for friends and family what is going on in our world here in Brewster, NY. We are currently enjoying the Christmas season with a toddler who finally understands about Santa, flying reindeer and lots of presents! We've been getting daily phone calls from old Saint Nick and it never ceases to amaze Anna how Santa Claus can make the phone ring just as she is beginning to test limits! Aren't cell phones wonderful? In all seriousness though, this truly is a wonderful time of year. We are looking forward to celebrating with family in our newly expanded home. Our addition is nearly complete and we are enjoying all of the extra space! Ron insisted that we had to have a huge tree this year since our new family room has a cathedral ceiling. It looks beautiful and we had a lot of fun decorating it -twice! Did we mention it came crashing down one morning while Rachel was home alone with Anna and her little friend Ryan? Not a pretty sight! It was quite the disaster and now we have a good excuse for updating our ornament collection. Hope you are all enjoying this holiday season. Here is a picture we took yesterday of Anna enjoyng the first big snow of this winter season.