Family Pictures

After Thanksgiving we had our good friend Jill, who is becoming quite the photographer, take our family pictures. Jill was wonderful and so easy to work with. We loved how she combined posed pictures and ones where we were just interacting with Drew. Drew had a long day on this particular day so he wasn't all smiles, but those big blue eyes make up for that!



There's a smile!

Gotta get those sugars in!

He did NOT want to be in this pile of leaves! LOL

We appreciate her capturing what Drew was like at 6 months old and we can't wait to have her take more as he grows! (She also took the picture of him at the top on the bench.) Here is her website if you would like to contact her. http://jillbrannonphotography.blogspot.com/

Marathon Blogging

I'm back. A month later, but I'm back.

So.... picture me telling you all about the month of November in the voice of a fast Chipmunk. :) (Catch up Post 1)

The week before Thanksgiving we went to OK to visit my family for a long weekend. I love that I don't have to bring any toys to my parents' house. They have an entire closet dedicated to the kids. All three of them loved playing with this toy.

My sister, Emily, got to babysit Drew for a little while so we could run a few errands. She's great, she had all 3 kids asleep at the same time! I know Drew enjoyed some one on one time with his Aunt Emily. Here she is trying to keep the babies happy while bouncing.
Brody was putting on a show for us one afternoon and this hat was one of his props. Drew "asked" Marmee and Pops if he could try being a cowboy for awhile.
We got to visit my grandparents and they enjoyed seeing Drew again.
What is this face? And where is that cowboy hat?
Brody is so good with Drew. Here he is keeping Drew entertained.
Thanksgiving.....

We spent Thanksgiving with Eric's family. We had a huge feast over at his parents' house. So good. Then they all came to our house on Saturday for something to eat besides turkey. ;) Here he is with Arbi (Eric's mom). I promise there were other people there, but somehow I didn't get them in a good picture.

She played the piano for him and it was so sweet. He just stared at her hands.
When she was finished it was his turn!
Drew had fun eating his dinner with Uncle David.
Then we put up Christmas. It's been fun decorating for Christmas in the new house. I put up two trees this year. The regular traditional one, and then a frog tree. It has frog ornaments that I collected from my students over the teaching years and bright green, blue, pink, etc.... ornaments. It's fun doing something different.
Family pictures coming next....

6 months old!!!

Gosh, it was this time last year that we had just told our families we were having a baby. Now he's here and growing so fast!! We keep telling ourselves, don't blink, because we'll miss it. It's so true. Here is what Drew is up to...

* Started baby food... sweet potatoes and on to green beans! He enjoys them!
* FINALLY rolling over! That boy sat up before he rolled over. Now he can!
* Is getting more blonde hair. It looks fuzzy and is sticking up. It makes Eric and I laugh.
* Can move toys from one hand to the other. (I gave a HUGE silent cheer when I witnessed him doing this. Silly I know, but it's a milestone people.)
* Reaching and grabbing for anything and everything: Toys, remote, phone, jewerly, glasses, hair, face (gotta keep those nails trimmed for our faces' sake), our food/plate, Laney. It's neat how they suddenly do this.
* He can reach into a box or bowl and pull things out.
* He can push things down, like those toys that pop up, he can now push them back down.
* Recognizes the sign for eat and milk. He lets out a squeel and moves around when we sign these things.
* LOVES LANEY! I mean LOVES HER! He will lay on his stomach and watch Eric play with her for forever. Course they play pretty rough, who wouldn't be interested. He wants to reach out and pet her a lot and gets really excited when she's around.
* Has almost outgrown his 9 month PJ's! HE'S SO TALL! I had to buy 12 month PJ's for him. They are extra long, but that's better than him about to pop out of them.
* He feels every page of a book, even if it's not a touchy feely one. Cute. ;)
* He takes 2 medium/long and 1 short nap a day. Goes to bed at 8:00-8:30 and wakes up at 7:00.
* Notices everything around him, very observant.
* We are teaching him to throw his paci into his crib when we get him up from sleeping. Teaching him that it's only for sleeping. My sister did this with Brody and it worked. Maybe in the next few months he will be able to do it on his own.

It's so much fun watching your child learn new things. You're like his little personal cheerleader! There's just nothing like seeing your baby get excited to see you in the mornings or whatever. Makes your day! I went to check on him last night before going to bed and I just stood there looking at him thinking, "I have a baby! This is my son! That's just crazy. He's perfect! Thank you God!" You know it's something you've thought about your whole life. "What will my children be like?" And now, I have one that I adore! LOVE IT!

Drew's First Halloween

Our Little "Wild Thing" had a fun Halloween. We started off "Trick-or-treating" on Skype with my family. It was neat seeing Brody (UPS man) and Kaylee (Fairy) all dressed up. They enjoyed seeing and talking to Drew as well. Then we were off to Eric's parents' house for a Halloween/Eric's 31st birthday celebration.

Drew didn't mind his costume at all and I loved it!!!

Eric's parents took Drew to their church's Fall Fest to introduce him to their friends. They said he watched the big humpy blow up thing the entire time. Very aware of things around him.

"What is it I'm supposed to say again? Rarrrrrr?"

Laney front and center. Pretty much describes her whole life. :)

"Rain, rain go away..." How many times have you all sung that to your kids in the past 3 months? I told Drew we might need to go build ourselves an ark! ;) Here he is sitting up on his own enjoying playing and watching it rain. I love this stage of his life right now!

6 month post soon to come!

Halloween Bunko

Last night I held Halloween Bunko at my house. Everyone came in costume and we all had a good laugh at what we were wearing! Makes for an entertaining evening. I'm so glad to have such a great group of friends who enjoy spending time together and being stilly every one and awhile. :)

Top Left: Amber (Austin Powers), Nitzia (Tired Mom), Tara (Nun), Jill (3-Hole Punch Piece of Paper), Dayle (60's "Flapper"), Alisa (Michelle Duggar SHE WON BEST DRESSED!)

Middle Row: Begina (Santa's Helper), Kristen (Thing 1), Alicen (Nesting cause she's pregnant), Candice (Pink Bunny)

Bottom Row: Me (1800's Judge, yes those are toilet paper rolls, stop laughing), Sara (Hospital Patient), Ashley and Jake (Thing 1 and Thing 2)

I love decorating for parties! I painted these pumpkins (my mom painted one too) for the table decorations. For the placemats I used scrapbook paper. Great idea from The Hostess With the Mostess blog. Makes for a fun table I think.

Dining Room, I got these apothecary jars for my birthday from my parents. LOVE THEM! They will be fun to fill for all occasions.

The food... well, part of it.

THE BEST PART! Cake Balls!!

After being in our house for 4 months now I still don't have a clue as to what to do over the mantle! So, for this shin dig I decorated with the Bunko Prizes (chalk board candy jars) and hung paper for the girls to tape pictures of themselves as a child dressed up on Halloween. We voted for the best dressed in the pasttoo. Candice won, dressed up as a wall outlet.

I love Bunkos!

Good times...

5 1/2 months. A true picture, the hand is always in the mouth! Drool usually following. ;) I don't know about you all, but I got excited when the weather changed, mainly to dress Drew in some different clothes. lol

Drew is sitting up on his own!!!! YAY! He just started last week. We still put a pillow, or the boppy behind him for those sudden jerks backwards, but he's sitting up! It's so neat how his play has changed once he realized he could sit up on his own.

Sunday was Parent/Baby Dedication at our church. We committed to be actively involved in all areas of Drew's life, to teach him about God, and pray for him daily.

He was perfect for the dedication. He is very observant and was interested in what was going on around him. Our associate pastor held him for a moment and Drew was totally drooling on his hand! LOL Poor guy! He was a good sport about it though. I am sure Drew wasn't the only one sharing his drool. HA

Eric's parents came and then came over to the house afterwards. We are thankful they were able to be a part of this day.

Monday we headed to the pumpkin patch with Jill, Eli, Sophie, Sara, Noah, and Eden. The kids had so much fun with all of the activities.

Eli: "Did your mom make you sit in there?"

Drew: "You know it. Wanna hitch a ride?"

"What is this and can I eat it?"

New Experiences!

Introducing the sippy cup at 5 months....

"I'm sorry, you want me to do what now?"

"LOL, you're crazy mama! I just want to bite it, but thanks."

"Ohhhhh, I see. Why didn't you tell me I would like it?!"

Loved these series of pictures. Drew has been using his sippy cup for a week now and grasped onto the idea of it really quickly. He drinks water and milk out of it. Only while eating cereal at breakfast and dinner and for a refreshing drink after a nap or something. He still takes his bottle, but I wanted to start the sippy cup so he wouldn't have trouble transitioning. He really grabs onto those handles. I am constantly saying, "Tilt it back." and helping him do that. So, it's a start! Something new.