A Visit From the South..

We recently were blessed to visit with our friends James & Alyson Lee, who were up here visiting from Oklahoma. They are planning a reunion this summer for their O'Fallon, IL church (First Baptist Church, O'Fallon) youth group.. I think David said it has been 20 years... eek! Their boys Garrett & Mason were so good with Drew, they played with him endlessly!


Enjoy these pics for Drew with Garrett & Mason... look at the adorable freckles!

BALLLLLOOOOOONNNNNNS!

Drew has be introduced to the world of balloons, and you would think he unlocked a treasure. To say he LOVES balloons just doesn't do it justice.

Most of you know I already that I love Chic-a-Fila, well around here on Mondays if you take your church bulletin in you can get a FREE Chicken Sandwich or Three piece Chicken Strips (West County Mall Only). Well, if that was not enough they always give Drew a balloon, which entertains him for hours.

I had to share that tidbit of info because that is the reason we now have a balloon addicton our hands, thanks Chic-a-Fila I guess that means I will be forced to eat there again!! LOL!

BALL POPPIN Good Time!

When we were in Idaho, Robby got this Popper toy and Drew instantly loved it. Our friends blessed us recently with one and Drew plays with it several times a day. This toy cracks me up, okay maybe it is Drew who cracks me up because it is more proof that Drew thinks like his Daddy. He has tried to put several different things in this toy to see if they will pop out like the balls do, which is funny until David has to take it apart to get the object out. So, if you find one of these in your home anytime soon here are a couple things that works and don't work:

WORKS

*Jumbo Lego Block

*Cheerios

*Small Cars (like matchbox)

DOESN'T WORK (gets stuck)

*Flashlights

*Drum Sticks

*Small plastic Farm Animals

DREW STATS, ALMOST 15 MONTHS!

Hello All, I am realizing I am getting way behind on blogging. Some weeks I just don't know where the time goes, which I am sure most of you can understand.

For those of you who didn't know I recently took over our MOPS (Mother's of Preschooler) group at our church. Although I thought I was in no way ready for this responsibility, God proved otherwise. Once I surrendered it completely to Him, He has shown me in more ways than one that this was totally His plan!

Drew had his 15 month appointment today and he has learned he does not like the doctor's office much. As soon he was put on the scale he cried, he fought his head being measure, he cried when the doctor was checking him, and finally he cried as usual during shots. Poor little guy....but as soon as they left the room he was a happy camper! Here are his stats:

Weight: 25lbs

Height: 33.5" (this is up almost 3" from his 1 year stats, he just may get his daddy's height...YEAH!)

Head: 19.5"

So, with all this together it puts him in the 25% overall, which is down from 75% in the fall. That is A-Okay though because the doc says he is healthy and right on track. It is the height that threw everything off. Enjoy some pics from our photo shoot at the park earlier this month!! Poor kid I don't know what he is going to do with his LACK of pictures.. LOL!!

FUN ON THE SLIDE (first time doing it by himself)

DREW THE FLIRT!!

Drew is proving to be a BIG FLIRT!

First, we went to our friends Courtney & Steve's house for dinner several weeks ago and Drew was goo-gooing over their youngest Maci... Just check out her blue eyes below, how could you resist. He was being so "helpful" in trying to give her a plastic toy bottle, such a gentleman!

Second, A couple weeks ago my friend Leslie and her family came up for the Bi-Annual Once Upon A Child $1 Sale. So, I got to spend some time with her little beauty Katelyn. By the way we got so many steals at the sale, don't you wish you were there?! Check out what is going on below... Mmmmm Hmmm....

Lastly, when we went to the Galleria Mall this past Friday to meet Friends for dinner, our wait was TWO hours... good thing the Cheesecake Factory is worth it. Anyhow, in those TWO hours we waited Drew worked the mall, mostly the ladies. He walked up and down the mall stopping at each person and waving. What a silly boy, I think we can venture to say he is NOT SHY!!

OUR LITTLE TRICKSTER...

Our days or filled with endless laughter compliments of our little man! I think I have mentioned how he likes to hide things, and I finally got a video of it. I hope you find this as humorous as we do... By the way I have no idea where he learned this, from us I am sure.

MY TOP 15 FAVORITE BABY PRODUCTS....

This post has been a LONG time coming. Actually I am not sure why it has taken me so long to post this. I had/have a lot of things I love/d, but I was also blessed with great advice (thanks Angela & Erin) and some awesome hand-me-downs. So, I wanted to pass what I learned on to you, so enjoy this countdown...

#15- Stacking Cups.. we still use these at bath time

#14- Dr. Brown's Bottles

#13 VIVA PAPER TOWELS- My friend's Doula recommended these to her for "first wipes", so we tried it. We loved them. We used them the first 2 weeks, just get them wet and wipe away. They are very soft!

#12 Bumkins Bibs- It took us way to long to try these. These are great because: the velcro is long so the kiddos can't pull them off, they are not stiff so they move with the baby, & you can just wipe them down... that's right no trip to the washing machine for these.

#11 ZOUT... this was also recommended to me. This works great for stains, and is geared specifically towards baby food stains.

#10- Super Baby Food Book: This was yet another recommendation from my friend Shaina. This is a great reference for knowing what order food should be given in and how to pick the right food.

#'s 9 & 8- Johnson & Johnson's Bedtime Bath & Lotion- Just a great product!!

#7- Disposable Bibs & Place Mats. All I can say is you HAVE to have these. We still keep them in the diaper bag. Makes clean up a quick & easy!#6 WALKER- This is a newer version of the one we have, which was graciously given to us by my wonderful Sister-in-Law Erin. Drew used this non-stop and I am sure that is why his transition to walking was easy! I highly recommend this product!!


#5- BUMBO... need I say more? This product is by far one of my all time favorites. You must have one of these. We started using this around 4 months until about 7 months, or until his legs no longer fit. This is a great tool to help your little one build his muscles which assists them down the road with sitting up. We LOVED it!!
#4 Rainforest Jumperoo- We got this for Drew right around 4 months. This was one of his favorite things. I am sure our neighbors loved it too (apartment living, gotta love it)! What I loved about this one is it played by itself..every time Drew jumped the music automatically started and we never had to change the batteries..

#3- Fisher Price Papsan Swing- This swing was our lifesaver. Early on Drew did not nap well, so he took many of them in here. If you don't have a swing it is a must have. I like this one because it cuddled around him and it swings front to back or side to side.
#2- White Noise Machine- I don't know what we have done without this. If you don't know what this does it makes a fan sound without blowing the air. Having a regular fan just didn't work for us because it would always make the room cool, plus it was not portable. This machine has traveled with us everywhere. It is worth every penny!

#1- VIDEO MONITOR... Having this video monitor made life so much easier for us. As a new parent you want to check on your baby with every noise. Well, having this helped us not to do that. We could just check out the screen. We still use this today and will probably continue to use it for several more years. I know it is pricey, but it is worth every penny.

There you go... my recommendations to YOU!!

JAMMIN in IDAHO...

I am really stretching out my posts from Idaho, but I thought it would be more fun this way! My Bud, Angela had a really neat drum set for Robby that she found at a yard sale (if any of you see this let me know because I have to have one). Anyhow, to the point.. Drew absolutely LOVED it! As soon as she got it out he made a bee-line for it. The funniest part about it for me is when I handed him the drum sticks he immediately turned them around so they were facing the right way... We have a musical prodigy on our hands here... HE HE HE!! Enjoy the pics & video.

I AM 14 MONTHS & GROWING!!

I am a little late with posting a "DREW" update. So here goes...Andrew turned 14 months on January 26th. I know I say it all the time, but I just can't believe how fast the time is going.

Below are some Drew Updates:

*We are guessing Drew is about 25lbs, give or take a little. We have a doctors appointment at the end of February, so we will have more concrete numbers then.

*Drew still LOVES to eat, there is not a lot he won't eat. Some of his favorites are: Lima Beans, Bananas, Melon, Chicken, Macaroni & Cheese, Broccoli. The only problem is he also loves to feed to dog...how nice.

*He is such a gabber, he says DaDa alot, somehow I have even become DaDa. He still loves to say Car (which is his word for most things), "Ah" (mouth wide open), Kitty Cat (mostly he hisses), and he tries to repeat alot of what we say(very polite) like thank you ...his newest thing he is trying to say is "bless you."

*As we showed in an earlier post, 13 months was his big "Walking" month and in a short time he was all over the place. He is walking like a pro and thinks he is pretty cute doing it.

*Drew loves to read books, especially his big car book, ABC Book, and Brown Bear. Although I do read to him throughout the day (his request), reading time is his special time with Daddy at night.

*Another big thing is Drew graduated into a big boy car seat and he loves it. Now he can see the cars so much better.. see the picture below.

*Drew is really into hiding things, especially under his legs, or himself behind something and popping up for you to see him. I just can't wait (although I really can), to see how this funny side plays into his personality.

We are so blessed with this little joy! God knew exactly what we needed!! We laugh every day and are just thankful! Enjoy the pics from the first photo shoot I did in 2009. It was a little chilly out so we had to move fast!!