Play Date With Our Friends...

Mommy and Drew had some friends over yesterday. It was good to see Krista, Abby &Austin, Amy, Matthew & Megan, and Shawn & Sofia. It gave me some much needed adult talk, and it gave Drew some buddies to share his toys with besides the dog! It is amazing to me that Drew, Austin and Megan will all be in the same grade, they seem so far apart in age right now. Austin just snuggles in the swing and it quite content. Megan is just about to start crawling and is rolling over like crazy, and Drew of course is all over the place pulling up on everything.

I L.O.V.E. staying home with Drew and would not trade it for the world...but some days do get lonely and tiring. I definitely know that I made the right decision for our family by being home. By now Drew has grown tired of all his toys and wants to play with everything that he can't have. We spend most of our afternoons going from pulling up on the coffee table to the picture frames that he can't have and back to the coffee table. I used to feel guilty when I would go out everyday to run some sort of errand, but I think that is keeping us both from going crazy right now! We are busy most days but even the couple hours in the afternoon is getting to be a lot of time in the house! Will was going to stop at the grocery store on his way home yesterday but late afternoon I decided to volunteer Drew and myself so we could get out for a few minutes, and I wanted daddy home A.S.A.P.! Yesterday was the first day in over 9 months that Will walked in the door and I was VERY ready to hand over the parenting duties! I don't know how single parents handle it.

Drew & Megan

Sweet Baby Austin

9 Months Old!

Today Drew is 9 months old! I can't believe how fast these months have gone by.
Drew's 2 bottom teeth are certainly through the gums, but they are still not completely in. I am starting to wonder if he is teething again because he has had a 99.0-99.2 temp the last couple days and was really cranky yesterday. I hope it is teeth and that he isn't getting sick- but he is eating and sleeping well, so hopefully not. He is crawling all over the place! It is mostly the good ole' Army crawl. He does get up on his hands and knees but when he wants to get somewhere quick it is back on the tummy! He is able to get from crawling to sitting and back to crawling very easily now, it is so cute! He does not sit still for very long. He is also starting to pull up on just about anything he can get his hands on, I can just see the bumps and bruises coming soon! He has to wait until after this weekend though because we are going to the Dallas Arboretum to take some 9 month photos!!
He is still doing very well at swim lessons. Last week he did not have a good time though. He coughed and cried a couple times and I was completely stressed out. Luckily this week, he was back to his happy self in the pool! He loves splashing in the water and even when I let his face get too close to the water and he got some water in his mouth, all he did was spit it out (after choking on some) and started laughing! He is definitely a happy baby most of the time. We are also still enjoying Gymboree classes and have joined a playgroup with some of the moms and babies starting in a couple weeks.

We are anxious for his 9 month doctor's appt. next week to find out his weight and how long he is. Maybe he is moving up in the percentiles...maybe, just maybe!

What a Big Boy!

Peek a Boo, where is Drew???

Drew has been so much fun today. He just has so much fun crawling around and pulling up on things and then being able to get back to his bottom and start crawling again. I think he enjoys his new freedom and being able to get to things on his own. Of course, that has meant more baby proofing for Will and me this weekend. Will got the childproof locks on our bathroom cabinets today, so now I can shower again with Drew in there and not worry about all the lotions and makeup he could have gotten into! We spent a lot of time today crawling around our larger than needed bedroom and playing in the bathroom.


He also loves hanging out with Guinness and unfortunately chooses to eat her toys more than his own :) She is so sweet with him and doesn't even flinch at him when he uses her fur to pull himself up! He has been waving with his hand and fingers lately. He doesn't quite know when he is suppose wave, but he is getting the hang of it!

It's the Weekend!

We are just enjoying the end of Will's vacation before he starts his new job on Monday. He has been off all week visiting with family and then just hanging out at home with Drew and me. It has been so nice having him off, I dread Monday when I am on my own again. Drew and I have a lot of fun things planned this week, so hopefully it shouldn't be too bad.

Here are some pictures today of Drew doing anything to avoid going down for his afternoon nap. I don't understand why kids fight naps so much, he is only in his crib for 10 minutes or less and he is already asleep...ahh the life!

Family Visit

It has been one of those days where I am feeling a little "home" sick. We had family here for 4 wonderful days and now they have headed back east. It was so wonderful for Drew to have some other family faces to look at for a few days, and boy was it nice for Will and me! It was so great having live-in entertainment for Drew, and it was really nice for us to have some helping hands. They absolutely spoiled him (and us) rotten the entire time they were here! Here we are having dinner at Pazzo, thanks for my shirt Auntie Lea!


Of course Grandpa had to make his trip to Bass Pro shops while they were here. Drew, daddy and grandpa look at the big fish!

Daddy finishes up dinner and heads up for bath time with Drew!

Drew sits with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Lea at Café Express for lunch.

Drew had fun with crazy Auntie Lea!

I had fun eating these new crocs that grandma bought for me!

One last picture of our family.

Milestones

This has been one of those weeks where Drew just continues to amaze me...ok, he amazes me every week-but this week he has been such a big boy! Monday when I went to go get him when he was waking from a nap, he was sitting up in his crib! This was the first time he has gotten from laying down to sitting up on his own! He also pulled up on the living room table all by himself for the first time-ugh-I am not ready to move all my decorations off tables-but I guess I must...He is still doing the good ole' Army crawl for the most part, especially when he wants to get somewhere quick-but he is now getting up on those hands and knees a lot more. It is so cute to watch him set out to get something, he gets this very excited look on his face and opens his mouth wide, and then sets off to get what he has set his eyes on. He has been teething again, which means he has not been sleeping through every night. I am not ready for the "cry it out" in the middle of the night, so I continue to nurse him when he wakes-and then everyone is happy because we are all back in bed sleeping in about 10 minutes. I will continue this until 9 months (oh no, that only means 2 more weeks, Ahhhhhhh!!!!) because the sleep book that I have read and believe in (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth) says that is the appropriate age to stop nursing in the middle of the night. My pediatrician (whom I just love) told me at 6 months that he didn't nutrionally need it anymore but life is too short and this is my time with Drew and I am doing what makes us both happy right now. So hopefully that bottom left tooth will come in soon!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! If you are here in TX, good luck with your BBQ's and firework plans. We continue to get pounded by rain and thunderstorms. The lake we usually go to is closed because of the high waters, so we will be cooking out at our house and trying to stay dry. It may be a repeat of 4th of July last year with Will grilling in the garage because of the rain. I don't think we have seen this much rain in our 9 years in this state. It has been absolutely crazy how wet it has been. Will is very excited that we will be skipping fireworks. I just don't think it is worth throwing Drew's whole routine off, when I doubt he would enjoy them yet anyway. If the rain holds off for any fireworks shows, we would be getting eaten alive by the millions of mosquitoes that have been breeding anyway! I know my family & I will take some time today to remember all our troops serving overseas defending this great land. I am proud to be an American and will be flying our red, white and blue high (if it's not pouring). Happy Birthday America!!!

Say Cheese

I have taken over 5,000 pictures since I got my new camera in late February. Now, not all of these pictures were good, and not all of them I kept...but that is a LOT of pictures in just over 4 months. Of course, most all of these photos have been of...yep, you guessed it, Drew! It is going to be a hard act to follow with the next kiddos, but I am truly having so much fun learning this new camera and the editing software. Will thinks I should consider doing this for work. We'll have to see once Drew(and siblings) are a little older. It certainly wouldn't bring in the cash (for awhile) like the Assistant Principal job did, but it sure would be a lot more fun!
Here are some pictures from this week that I did not take. My friend LE, who is a photographer (http://www.photographybyle.com/) invited us over to play and to take some pictures. We always have fun over her house! Her youngest daughter Ande is 1 month older than Drew, so it is always fun to get together with the babes!!!