How to get what you want for Christmas...

Listen up Santa.  You bring me everything I want, and nobody has to get hurt...

Sick Again

OK our son is sick. AGAIN. For ten days he was on eye drops for his pink eye. On day eleven he woke up with a runny nose and a watery red eye. As Friday went on, his eye turned bright red (picture tomato red) and his nose started running more and more accompanied by constant sneezing. So after a sleepless night we were back at the doctor Saturday morning. He either still has pink eye or has it again so they gave him some stronger drops. Luckily his ears looked good although I'm thinking today that they may not still be good. He's getting a little wobbly which usually means infection. I'm hoping that he starts feeling better soon and that this cold is over much faster than the last time he was sick. I think we've been to the doctor about every week for the last month and a half. I'm so sick of it. I just want him to feel good for a straight two weeks. I really want him to be able to enjoy his first Christmas so we need to get him better fast.

Christmas is Right Around the Corner

Can you believe that Christmas is two weeks from yesterday?????? Like always, time has just flown by. I just need to go and pick up two more presents and then I'm done shopping...yeah!!!! This morning Drew and I went and got groceries for the Smith girls annual Christmas baking tomorrow. I'm so excited to have lots of yummy treats. It's definitely not the holidays without peanut butter balls. Oh, I can't wait.

Party Laugh

Wednesday before Thanskgiving we were out for dinner with Mitch's family for Anita's birthday. Mitch's grandma was telling stories when we heard this funny noise coming from Drew. It sounded like a laugh but wasn't his normal giggle so we were confused as to what was happening. Then we realized he had developed what Mitch calls his "party laugh". You know when you're talking with someone and you don't really think what they are saying is funny but you want to be polite so you fake laugh. That's what Drew was doing. Now he does it when he hears other people laughing but doesn't find it particularly funny himself. It is hysterical. He's such a sweet little boy laughing to save people's feelings.

My little man is getting so old and capable. It's so great to watch him grow every day. We are constantly amazed at the new things he can do. He loves reading books which is so great to see. He either sits and reads to himself or grabs a book and climbs up onto one of our lap's wanting us to read to him. He's also started to be able to copy things that we are doing. It's so nice that he can finally understand some things that we are saying. Today I wrapped a couple more presents and then gave Drew one of them and asked him to carry it over to the tree. He brought it right over to me without tearing into it. I was very impressed. At the other end of the emotional spectrum I feel like I spend most of my day telling Drew "no". Really it's more like "no, no, NO"!!!! He is wanting to constantly explore which keeps getting him into trouble. We know that he understands some of the differences between right and wrong. When he is doing something that he knows is a bad idea you can see him looking around to see if anyone is watching. He understands that if he gets caught, the fun is over. I think he's really going to test me in the next few years.

Surgery is set

On Friday we met with Drew's eye specialist. Surgery is set for January 8 at 7:50. It's going to be a rough morning because we have to be there at 6 in the morning which means we have to leave our house by 5:30. Since Drew's going to be put under for the procedure, he can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight. The poor guy is going to be so mad in the morning when we get him up super early and then won't give him any food. He knows that every morning when he comes downstairs he gets a bottle and lets you know if you're not doing it fast enough. How will we reason with an eleven month old and explain to him that he has to wait until after his surgery to get anything to drink? I have a feeling he is going to be MAD at us that day. The doctor said that if this procedure doesn't work, he'll have another one, and if that time doesn't work they'll put a tube in similar to ear tubes. We're really hoping for it to work on the first try.

Are you Kidding Me?

This poor kid of ours cannot stay healthy. On Friday night he finished his last dose of medicine for his ear infection. Then Saturday morning he woke up with a suspiciously closed eye. This continued to happen the next few days so I took him to the doctor yesterday. Of course he has pink eye. AGAIN. It's so frustrating that he keeps getting sick. I just want him to feel good for one week. It's especially frustrating because we take him to the eye specialist on Friday. We were hoping to be able to schedule his surgery...we want to get it in before the end of the year since we've met our $4500 deductible and don't want to have to start over again in January. Let me tell you, we are getting the most out of our insurance this year. It's great to spend $23,000 on the birth of your child in January therefore meeting your deductible and having eleven months of free medical coverage. Drew and I are really using this to the fullest going to all sorts of doctors appointments and trying to solve all of our medical issues. Also happening last week Drew started walking with his toes pointed in. This was a problem I had at his age and had to wear some annoying brace. While at my foot specialist on Monday, (I have a broken bone that won't heal) I asked him about Drew's walking problem. He checked him out and found that some muscle in his hip is too tight. At least that's what I think he said. Anyway, he showed us some stretches to do with him to try and get it better. Hopefully the new year will bring better health to our family.

5 Things

Erica tagged me to complete the following.....

The "5 THINGS GAME" The rules are to write 5 things under each of the 5 headings, and then tag 5 other people.

10 years ago...
1. I was a freshman at Simpson College
2. I was dating Mitch who is now by husband
3. I was adjusting to living with two roommates in a tiny dorm room
4. I was studying to be an accountant
5. I was getting over pneumonia

5 Things on Today's "To-Do" List
1. Clean the house
2. Laundry
3. Paint some Christmas decorations
4. Find a stocking for Drew
5. Figure out what we still need to buy for Christmas presents

5 Snacks I Enjoy...
1. Popcorn and a soda
2. Cheese and crackers
3. Brownies
4. Orange Julius
5. Ice cream

5 Things I Would Do if I were a Millionaire!
1. Quit my job!!!!
2. Build our dream house
3. Do something nice for our families
4. Put money away for college for our children
5. Buy a new car with more room for Drew's stuff

5 Places I Have Lived...
1. Central City
2. Indianola
3. Cedar Falls
4. Troy Mills
5. Urbana

5 Jobs I've had/Still have...
1. Lots of babysitting
2. Ridictas Construction
3. City State Bank - teller, loan admin, bookkeeping
4. Hellman Accounting - accountant
5. Rockwell Collins - accountant

5 People I'm tagging...
I don't know five people that are blogging so we'll have to go with three
Kristen
Shantel
Gail

How old are you?

We had Drew's 9 month appointment today (yes, he's 10 months on Friday). We are constantly getting asked by people we see if Drew is 1.5 or 2 and we sadly have to say that he's only 9 months old. Today the doctor confirmed that he is the size of a 15 month old. He remains very tall for his age which causes him to weigh a lot even though he's a fairly skinny little guy. He was 31 inches and about 24 pounds.

He is still very healthy and developmentally on track although slightly advanced physically. The problem remains with his tear duct still being blocked. We now have the name of a specialist that I'll be calling later this afternoon. When he turns one we can go in and have the duct probed to hopefully keep it open. Our doctor said that 90% of kids born with this problem outgrow it by one but she thinks Drew is going to be in the minority 10% that has to have it surgically fixed or he'll just have to live with a gross eye the rest of his life. She said it's a simple procedure and virtually pain free. They put him out though which is the scary part for me. The doctor also informed us that Drew should be able to understand us enough that we need to start having consistent discipline with him. She said if we don't start now we're asking for trouble later...especially since he's so mobile and active.

The bad news from today is that the poor kid has another ear infection. We feel so bad for him because he's been sick since October 20. We've been to that doctor's office so many times and tried so many different things to help get him better and it's just one thing after another. She's hoping that this new strong medicine will lick the problems. We'll see!!!!

Lately Drew has learned to wave and say bye-bye, blow kisses, and mimic lots of sounds and actions we do. He also gives me things he has if I ask for them which is nice. Now I no longer have to fight with him to get things away from him. He really is freakishly strong for a baby. He has learned a couple other things that are making my life easier. When I tell him it's time to eat and to go to his chair he'll walk over to his highchair and wait to get put in. Also, if I get out his changing pad in the living room and a diaper he'll come over so he can have his pants changed. It's nice to not have to chase him around the downstairs.

Drew also likes to be helpful and help himself to his bottles. One night last week I made Drew his bedtime bottle while Mitch got him into his pjs. I came into the dining room and sat the bottle on the table so Drew wouldn't see it. When this kid sees food he WANTS food. Mitch got him dressed and let him up to walk around for a minute. Five seconds later he was sitting on the floor by the table drinking his bottle. He apparently saw it and went and grabbed it off the table deciding there was no reason he should have to wait for anyone to give it to him when he could just help himself. Then a couple days later it was getting time for his afternoon snack bottle. I sat an empty bottle on the stove ready for Mitch to make when he finished up what he was doing. I was working on doing dishes and Drew was coming and going in the kitchen but was getting fussy because he must have been hungry. All of a sudden he was standing at the stove trying to reach up and get the bottle. He couldn't reach it but he could reach the handle on the oven so he was hanging off the handle trying to use his feet to climb up the stove. It was a crazy sight to watch and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. He's such a funny little guy.

Our sick little guy

Poor Drew has been sick since Oct 21. We have now been to see his doctor four times in three weeks. At first they told me that he had pink eye, an ear infection, and a really bad cold and gave us some eye drops and antibiotics. That was a Wednesday. After we got home from that appointment he started having a high fever. It stayed 103-104 for about five days which was terrible. The worst was 104.8 and which caused him to wake up crying. He was drenched in sweat and just miserable. Mitch took him downstairs and sat him on his lap and got some of his clothes off. We put a wet cloth on his head to try and cool him down and he just sat on Mitch's lap with his eyes closed moaning. It was the saddest thing I'd seen and it made me cry. It was so hard to watch him suffer knowing there was nothing I could really do to make him better. During the week you knew he was never feeling good because instead of playing with toys he would just lay down on the floor or come over and put his head down on my lap. And that is not normal for our crazy man. On that Saturday we had to take him back to the doctor because they were concerned that he wasn't any better. He was still having high fevers, stopped eating, and was feeling worse than when we started the medicine. And oh my goodness...giving him that medicine was awful. He would fight us so hard and then would spit most of out. I'm not talking opening his mouth so it all just runs out...it was more like launching it back all over us to show his disapproval of what we were doing to him. They ran a bunch of tests at the doctor and determined he had a virus causing all of his problems. That meant that thankfully we could stop the medicine but had to just wait it out. She told us to make sure that we watched him to be sure it didn't move into his lungs because that would be bad. After a few days his fevers went away and he started eating again. It took quite awhile for him to get energy back and be able to walk around very far again. After a few days of working on feeling better he got a terrible cough that would wake him up from naps and at night. Every time he started coughing the episode would last about 45 minutes. It was awful to hold him while he would start gasping for air because he was coughing so bad. So back to the doctor we went Monday. The doctor said that his ears looked fine but there's a flood of fluid going down his throat so when he lays down it's like he's drowning in all of it. She said to start him on Benadryl which he loves and cries because he wants more after he finishes his dose. So we thought we just had to wait for his sinuses to dry up and then everything would be back to normal. The next day held another outcome. We noticed a couple weird bumps on his legs. A couple days later he was covered in a nasty rash so back to the doctor we went yesterday. The rash doesn't seem to be bothering him so that's good but it looks really bad. It's all over his legs, arms, back, face, and ears. Strangely it isn't on his stomach. The doctor said that it's viral and took a swab on the gunk pouring out of eye and is sending it in for testing. We find out Monday what's wrong with him. I'm hoping all of this is done soon and that it's his only sickness for the winter. Otherwise it's going to be a very long winter. Hope everyone else has a healthy winter.

Family Update

Mitch got our computer fixed so now we can get to our pictures again. I've saved some pictures from the last month which include a trip to the lake, going to the pumpkin patch, and trying on Drew's Halloween costume. He's going to be a cowboy sheriff. He is so stinking cute in it!!!!!

Last week I had to work 12 hour days all week which was a real shock to my system after only working 16 hours a week in the office for the last six months. I missed my baby so much being at work all the time but at least he got to spend some quality time with Daddy. I couldn't believe how much he changed while I was gone. Just in a couple days of not seeing him he started standing up in the middle of the room and walking wherever he wanted to go. It's so crazy what he's capable of now.

What a Shock

Everyone who has seen Drew in the last month has told us that he would be walking soon. We ourselves also expected him to start walking by Thanksgiving. Every few days we'll spend some time with Drew trying to get him to take a step to get from me to Mitch and then back again. On a few occasions lately we've gotten him to take that one step. Last night we sat down to try again hoping that we'd get a step out of him. Mitch started holding him and once he got him standing up we were absolutely shocked when Drew took off not towards me but to the ottoman three feet away...and made it there. Mitch and I immediately looked at one another in disbelief for what had just happened. For the next thirty minutes we watched as our eight month old took off and kept trying his hand at walking taking three to four steps every time. He would start at the ottoman walking along it and then kept going. This happened over and over on every surface he could get to. It was so fun to watch him turn into such a big boy.

Sickness

Sickness will not leave this house. Drew has his second cold and a stomach bug. It has turned our happy little boy who hates to cuddle and wants to go, go, go into a crying unhappy baby who wants to be held constantly. I feel so bad for him. Then this weekend I got another ear infection. I have had two in less than two months which is ridiculous since I think my only other one was when I was four. I'm really starting to get annoyed by all of this. Mitch is also suffering from a cold. So needless to say, it's all fun at our house right now.

Vacation Pictures

Pictures of our vacation have been posted. We had such a fun time and both Mitch and I were sad to have to come home so soon. We're planning an awesome beach vacation next summer with my mom's whole family so we have that to look forward to. I'm hoping the thought of that will get us through the winter.

Update

Thanks for your prayers. My cousin suffered a broken neck, severely sprained ankle, and many other bumps and bruises. He is still in the hospital but is doing pretty well considering. The boys were released on Monday night. Taylor has to wear a neck brace for a week and they both just need to take it easy. They are all very, very lucky to be doing so well.

Please Pray

My cousin Nick and his two boys were in a head on collision this morning. Nick and the youngest, Taylor, have been transferred to Iowa City. I think that Logan is being released and is OK. Nick is not in good shape and needs prayers. Thanks!!!!

Burr

I can't believe how cold it is out. When we got up this morning our house was 65. This place does not hold its temperature well at all. It takes on the outside temp immediately so we have to go straight from air conditioning to heat and then right back to air. Hmmm...why are we moving?!? Poor Drew is in sweatpants that are too long and rolled up and a sweatshirt that's too small. I didn't think I'd have to dress him in winter clothes yet so I don't have anything that fits him quite right.

More Pics

It wouldn't let me post all the pics in one entry.

Pics

I survived

Friday and Saturday went pretty good with Chase and Drew. It was definitely crazy here but we managed. It was fun to have someone for Drew to play with. They do pretty well together. It's nice because they are both developmentally in the same place being able to crawl and pull themselves up. I think that helps make it easier for them to be able to play together. Even though Drew enjoyed playing with Chase, I think he was happy to have all Mom and Dad's attention back on him Sunday.

On Sunday we drove to Williamsburg to hit the outlet mall. They were having sidewalk sales so we got great deals on Drew's clothes for this winter. It was perfect timing since it's beginning to get cold out. Yesterday was so hot...90 and today it's a wonderful 67 out. I love fall and am so excited it's finally cooling off. The only time I really love the heat of the summer is if there's a pool near by. Otherwise, I'm not a hot weather girl.

Yesterday was Drew's first day at daycare. I was extremely worried about it and almost threw up on the way over there in the morning. I had nothing to worry about though because he did great. He started playing right when we got there and didn't seem to be scared of her at all. She got smiles from him right away which made me feel better. She said he was so good and had a fun time. He had gotten up way earlier than normal (like he knew it was a big day) so then he fell asleep on the way there. The nap combined with a new place and new person taking care of him caused him to not be able to take his morning nap. He then took a four hour afternoon nap!!!! Then he went right back to playing and exploring his new play room.

Oh, Drew also got two more teeth this weekend. Now he was three on the bottom and one on the top. The top one isn't one of the front ones so he's going to look pretty silly for a little while.13344444444444444444444444444444444444444444444449 (that last part is a message from Drew.. He just stood up and started typing)

I've got to run and get the chili going for supper. I decided to welcome the great cooler weather with a good bowl of soup. I'm so excited.

Wish Me Luck

I have a terrible cold right now and just want to crawl into bed for about four days. Instead of being able to relax, I have agreed to help out a friend and watch her little guy. He's going to be here in about an hour and will stay until about midnight tomorrow. He's the same age as Drew and they have fun together so it shouldn't be too bad. Drew spent the day at their house yesterday since I didn't have a sitter. She said it went very well so that's giving me hope for tomorrow. Paige asked Mitch to go to the Iowa game with her tomorrow so it'll be me alone with two seven month old boys most of the day. Wish me luck!!!!

Poor Guys

After a fitful night, Drew woke up sick this morning. The poor little guy is suffering from a stuffy, runny nose and cough. He's still smiley so he's not being bothered too much but he keeps rubbing his eyes and nose and is exceptionally cuddly this morning. For any of you who know Drew, he has never been a cuddler. He's always been go, go, go. Since he wants to cuddle now, you know he isn't feeling good. I've spent the last two weeks with ear and sinus infections and was hoping that Drew wouldn't get any of it. Unfortunately that isn't the case.

My big guy is also suffering this morning. Yesterday when Mitch was picking things up at the hotel getting ready to load the car he threw his back out. It was a pretty painful ride home for him and this morning he is still not doing very good. He's getting ready right now to go to the chiropractor so hopefully that helps him. I hate seeing both of my men suffering.

Jackpot

Just a moment ago, Drew figured out where all of his toys disappear to in the living room. We only give him a few toys at a time to play with and keep the rest in a basket in the corner. He just found that basket and pulled himself up on it. Then to his great excitement he found all of his missing toys in there. He started picking through and throwing the ones he wanted onto the floor. When he decided he had enough out, he got onto the floor to play with them. He's just too dang smart.

Here are some pics

Here are a few pictures I've taken in the last couple days. He's playing in the diaper box because Mitch made it be Drew's new favorite toy. He'll sit in there and play or just hang out like it's his own little recliner. When he's not sitting in it, he's either crawling inside or pounding on it. It seems to be a very versatile toy.

Tumbles

It's getting so hard to watch Drew take tumble after tumble. I know we have to let him explore and figure out his limitations and how everything works but it's really hard. He is hardly ever phased by his dives to the ground but I gasp to myself every time. You can only tell that he has fallen by the loud thump and the new red mark on his head.

Up and Down

Our son is now out of control and pulling himself up on EVERYTHING. He somehow has the idea that he can walk and stand up on his own without holding onto anything. Sometimes when he gets himself pulled up, he decides to let go and see if he can stand; he can't and tumbles down. Other times he sees something close to where he is and he starts going towards it. Since he has not yet developed the ability to walk, he again tumbles to the ground. Then he pops right back up and tries again. It's so great to watch his determination to keep trying after he falls down. This week he's also gotten very steady on his knees. He gets right up and can play for a little bit. It's really helping him to reach things that before were thankfully out of his reach. I can't believe how many things he's found in this house to play with. Daddy has also taught him to jump while on his knees which is funny to watch. All of a sudden you'll see him lunge towards something.

He's such a curious little boy and wants to see and taste everything. He's started licking the floor registers, walls, trim, carpet - pretty much anything he comes across. It's really quite disgusting. Luckily no one has ever died from dust poisoning.

Baby laughter is the best

I marvel at how a six month old can have you hysterically laughing.

Meeting Drew's Great Grandparents

Drew got to meet his Great Grandpa and Grandma Munson last weekend. It was so great that they were able to come and meet Drew. We had a great time with them and hope to be able to see them again soon.

Drew is now all done at Grandma Smith's for the summer. It was sad to pick him up on Tuesday knowing that the next time I have to pick him up, it will be from a stranger. Do you know how hard it is to find part-time daycare? All the centers I called said that they don't take part-time infants. They were kind enough to tell me that they would take him just 2.5 days if I paid the full time rate though. I was about ready to pay the ridiculous $195 per week when I found someone who said she would take him until I could find someone else. She's pretty out of my way, but I have no other choice so it'll work for now. I was OK with working knowing my mom as taking care of him, but I'm having a very hard time with the thought of a stranger watching him. Hopefully it all works out OK.

I worked Monday and Tuesday this week (since Mom started school on Wednesday) and then I have all of next week off. Drew and I are planning on having lots of fun with our time together. We're going to Omaha next Thursday night for a small family vacation. Mitch and I usually take awesome vacations every summer. We weren't going to do anything this year since we had Drew and need to save money to build our new house. As we went through the summer, we realized it stinks to not take time off and go anywher so we decided to take a long weekend somewhere close. All we have planned so far is shopping for our new house and a trip to the zoo. Our hotel has a nice pool so Drew's going to have lots of swimming time too. We're looking forward to some time away.

Funniest Video Ever

Drew found a plastic container extremely funny the other night after supper. Enjoy!

Six Months Old

Drew turned six months on Monday. My, how time flies. Today was his doctor's appointment and he got the thumbs up. He now weighs 19 lbs. 4 oz. and is 29 inches long. He is off the charts in height (we still haven't figured out where that's coming from) and is in the 75th percentile for weight. Everything looks good except his right eye which still has a blockage. She said that they usually clear up by one year so if it isn't better at his nine month appointment, we can go see a specialist and get something set up to fix it.

Drew's crawling has turned lightening fast now. Once he sees something he wants he is gone. Now he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth about four times and then lunges forward. It's hilarious every time. It's so fun to watch him figure out everything his little body can do. We're still working on sitting up. For some reason, he just isn't a fan of trying. If he had his way he would just spend his time standing or jumping.

When I first had Drew someone told me how disappointing it was when their baby's first word was da-da instead of ma-ma. So since then, I've been drilling ma-ma-ma-ma into Drew's head...don't worry I throw in da-da's too. Guess what...it worked. The only thing that Drew babbles so far is ma-ma. Everyone says that da-da is usually babies first thing because it's easier to say. I think it's more that babies spend more times with their moms who talk to the babies about their dads. When you hear da-da more often, aren't you more likely to know how to say that? It's so fun to hear him starting to figure out how to use his voice. He has also learned lately to spit. We're not sure where he learned it but he usually only does it to Mitch which is funny.

I'll try and get the pictures off the camera soon and get some posted so you can see how big he's gotten.

It's Official

As of last night, our house is officially up for sale. It's very scary and exciting all at the same time.

Baby Food Fun

I must say I absolutely love making Drew's food. So far we have made peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, pears, apples, peaches, apricots, and plums. I'm such a nerd about it all, and I get so excited making sure the freezer stays stocked full of his foods. It's the little pleasures in life, right?

We Have A Crawler

Drew has been really working on crawling for awhile now. He has finally figured out how to pick his head up when he moves and can now army crawl anywhere he wants to go. Between the rolling and crawling now, he can get anywhere and everywhere very quickly. The little guy is now unstoppable. We're still working on sitting up. So far, he's not really a fan and tips over after a few seconds. I'm hoping soon he gets it figured out.

Hitting the Lake

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Missouri at my grandparents' house. Drew got to experience his first swim in the lake and his first boat ride. He seemed to enjoy swimming...at least he didn't cry. At first he didn't seem to know what to think. Then he started getting used to it and began kicking and having a good time. The next day we went for a boat ride. Within five minutes Drew was asleep and slept through the rest of the 45 minute trip around the lake even with getting sprayed in the face with water from all the splashing waves. Here are a few pictures capturing Drew's experiences.

What a Big Boy

Even though Drew only has one bottle a day, whenever he sees a bottle now he lunges towards it, grabs it, and shoves it into his mouth. He's no dummy and knows where his food comes from. I just can't believe how much he's grown and yesterday I laid him down to let him see if he could feed himself a whole bottle. He just laid there and ate without any problems. He's such a little stud.....and I think he knows it.

Pictures

I've gotten a lot of requests for pictures lately. I know I've been bad but I think that getting them off the camera is a pain. You can check out our picture link to find the latest.

My Wonderful Hard Working Husband

As you know, we are tirelessly trying to get our house ready to sell. We had a giant list (I'm not kidding...it was a full sheet of poster size paper) of things that needed to be accomplished before we could put the house on the market. Thanks to the hard work of my parents, we were able to knock a lot out one weekend in April and Mitch's dad spent a Saturday helping Mitch out. Since then, Mitch and I have been working when we can to get the rest finished. We are realizing it is very hard to do with a small child though. There were big things that we needed to hire someone to come and do - lay carpet in the office and paint the outside of the house. Mitch had been calling different people to try and get them lined up to do these things but has not had very good luck with getting anyone to call back or to show up when they said they would. Thanks to my dad, we were able to get a painter out to our house to give us an estimate but my dear husband was not willing to part with the amount of money that she was asking for. He decided he would rather paint the house himself. He has since changed his mind and is continuing his search for a reasonably cheap painter if anyone knows of one. On Saturday, we laid out the carpet to be sure it was going to fit in the office upstairs. While we were talking about what we were going to do, Mitch suggested just refinishing the hard wood floors that are in the room since he can't get anyone to come do the carpet. We decided that instead of paying someone to come lay carpet, we would spend the money to rent a sander and get supplies to make the floors look nice. Mitch had already done Drew's room so he knew what he was getting into. So, off to Home Depot we went Saturday night and rented a sander. (There's a whole other story in there. When we went to leave H.D. the truck wouldn't start and that started an hour long drama.) Once we finally got home, Mitch spent Saturday night and Sunday making the floors look BEAUTIFUL. It looks so much nicer than carpet. He does such good work!!!! I love that everything in our house looks nice because of us and our families. I think it makes it that much better.

Another Tooth

Yesterday Drew got another bottom front tooth. I can't get over the fact that he has teeth now. It's crazy!!!! He grabbed my finger tonight and shoved it in his mouth. Wow, those teeth are SHARP.

This afternoon we had Drew's pictures taken. He's five months old tomorrow and these were the first professional pictures we've had taken of him. I'm a bad mom. We went to Penny's and I was slightly disappointed in what they did. The girl wasn't very good at getting him to smile and she only did boring poses, used an ugly background, and made him have some dumb bear in three pictures (out of 10!!!). I had told her we wanted to be in some pictures with Drew but she didn't do any. I know I can't be mad about any of it because I should have spoke up and told her what I wanted to change.

Busy Few Days

Drew had an eventful weekend. On Thursday he had his first hair cut. His hair was out of control and had to be tamed. I was tired of getting places and having it sticking straight up and/or all over the place all day. He was looking pretty silly so we knew it was time. Mitch cut it while I held him and we were both shocked at how well he did. My baby no longer looks like a baby. He really looks like a little boy now. I'll post pictures later. Then on Friday he got to meet Uncle Heath, Aunt Kristen, and cousin Ainsley who live in Dallas. He seemed to really enjoy playing with Ainsley which was great to see. We definitely need to work on his sharing though....more about that later. Then Sunday night, Monday, and Monday night were terrible. Drew woke up twice Sunday night, four times Monday night and cried pretty much all of Monday. Waking up at night is not at all normal for my child. He has been an excellent sleeper for a very long time. We couldn't figure out exactly what was wrong with him. Then yesterday morning my mom called and said she had found a tooth!!! I thought I had felt it on Monday but Drew doesn't cooperate with you trying to feel his gums. Mom said she and Dad both felt it and there was definitely a little tooth coming through. I just can't believe how fast he's growing up.

4 Month Check Up

This morning was Drew's 4 month appointment (even though he's about 4.5 months now). The nurse couldn't get over how long his legs and toes were. He's still very tall - 27 inches which puts him in the 95th percentile. He hasn't gained as much weight lately and fell to the 85th percentile (I think...that's what the nurse told us and wrote down but the doctor said 75th) at 17 pounds 3 ounces. The doctor said he is doing great and her only concern is for us because he's so active right now and there's so much more to come. She said that as soon as he figures his arms out we better watch out. We have already figured this out since he flips onto his tummy and then "crawls" about four feet before you even know what's going on. I don't call it true crawling since he doesn't pick up his upper body. He just gets up on his knees or toes and pushes himself forward while keeping his face and upper body on the floor. It really doesn't look comfortable at all!! He should be pretty happy when he can learn to move without all the discomfort. She also got to witness how he hates to just sit. It's just constantly up and down. When we told her how he loves his cereal she told us to start fruits and veggies with him now. I am planning on making my own baby food so we stopped at the store on the way home to pick up some things. I'm hoping to get started this afternoon and am super excited to be able to stock my freezer with good food for him. I like knowing what's going into his tummy and knowing that I'm saving so much money doing it. We'll see how it works out.

Gotta Make Room

For those of you who don't have children you probably think that what I'm about to talk about is inappropriate. For those who have children, you understand that at this point, my life pretty much revolves around feedings and diapers. Drew has recently decided that every time he starts eating cereal he needs to fill his diaper. He'll be eating great and then all of a sudden he stops swallowing and gets this look of complete concentration on his face. And then it happens and there is no denying why he stopped eating. It's as if he determines that food is going into his tummy now so clearly it makes sense to poop to make room. So, then I have to clean him up, get him out of the highchair, change his diaper, get him back into the highchair, strap the bib back on and continue the meal. The most annoying part of all of this is that he doesn't ever do it when Mitch feeds him. It's only EVERY TIME I feed. I guess he truly is Daddy's little man.

Rolling Machine

A couple weeks ago Drew rolled over for the first time. Since then we saw him do it one other time. That is, until yesterday. When I went to get him up from his nap he was in his crib on his tummy looking around. This was very exciting because we've been waiting for his rolling to become a regular thing. After I fed him, I laid him down on his play mat and he started flipping right away. He's not yet able to get back onto his back so once he gets frustrated we have to give him some help and flip him back. He spent most of his afternoon perfecting his rolling skills probably rolling about 20 times. We thought that was pretty good since it was the first day he had rolled more than once.

Ride 'em Coyboy

Here's a funny movie of Drew pretending to ride a bull.

Give Me That Cereal

When we first started feeding Drew cereal he hated it!!! Once he got it in his mouth the funny faces started. He would look at us like "this is the worst thing I've ever tasted" and "why are you doing this to me mommy?". Then he would turn his face away from the spoon and lock his mouth shut. We would then wait a couple days and then try again to see if his tastes had changed. Then finally Wednesday, after about six failed attempts, Drew decided that cereal was the greatest thing he had ever tasted. As you can see in the photo he started grabbing the spoon to get it into his mouth on his own. He downed his bowl eating like he was a starving little boy who hadn't eaten in days. It was such a change from the previous times that were filled with gagging faces and pursed lips.

Visiting Our Land

Here are some pictures we took when we visited our land on Sunday. The first picture is at the front of the lot by the road. The next pictures are down by the creek in the back. You have to go down quite a steep hill to get to the water so we won't have to worry about ever having water in our yard. Visiting the land got us very excited to get our house sold so we can move out there.

Drew's Dedication

On Mother's Day, we had Drew dedicated at church. It was great to have our families there with us.

Mushroom Hunt

Here is a picture from Drew's first mushroom hunting experience with Grandpa Smith. We could only let him hold the mushroom for a minute because like everything he gets his hands on, it was headed straight into his mouth.

We're Land Owners

Today was an exciting day for Mitch and I. Drew didn't seem to share in our enthusiasm...I guess he's just too little to understand. : ) This afternoon we closed on our new land. For those of you who don't know, we bought 3.5 acres in a small new development outside of Brandon. We knew right when we saw it that we HAD to live there. There are great old oak trees and at the back there's a little creek. We both immediately pictured the great fun that Drew and his future bothers or sisters will have running around playing there. Our house still isn't up for sale. We just have a few things left to take care of before we can list it. We won't be starting our new house until our current house sells so pray for a fast sale.

Look at my Tongue!!!!

Drew has recently found his tongue and seems to enjoy letting it hang out of his mouth. Here are a few pictures we captured the other night demonstrating this. In just a couple minutes Mitch got quite a few different faces from Drew.

Card Club Grandsons

On Saturday we got to meet the two other little boys who are recent additions to the card club families. All of us kids grew up together and now we're all having kids so it was great to meet the newest additions to the group.

From the left:
Landon, 5 months, Chad & Erica's
Drew, 3 1/2 months, ours
Elijah, 1 1/2 months, Josh & Gail's

Giggling

Drew giggled for the first time on Apr 7 (sorry this took so long to post). We caught two different videos right before bath time.

Ready for the Boat

Since my grandparents live on a lake in Missouri we decided we better get Drew his first life jacket for this summer. Now he will be able to go near the water and enjoy the boat rides with the rest of the family. We're very excited about all the adventures we'll have this summer with Drew experiencing so many new things.

An Exciting Day At The Munsons

Today was a very exciting day at the Munson house. Drew had a day of firsts which I've detailed below.

1. When we started play time this morning, I held out his John Deere keys to him and he grabbed them from me. We've been holding things out to him for a while just waiting for him to grab something, but until today he always just swung his arms around and didn't ever make a conection.

2. Next, he was holding a rattle and stuck it in his mouth. Every other time when he has something that we placed in his hands he just mindlessly swung it around. Lately though, anything that comes near his mouth gets sucked on whether it's his coat or Grandma Smith's face. In the last week he has really found his hands and loves to see how much of them he can stick into his mouth. Many times he has one hand holding the other one in his mouth. It's quite cute.

3. When on his tummy to play this morning he ended up scooting right off the blanket and onto the carpet. He was getting way up onto his knees and pushing off with his feet. As soon as he figures out how to use his arms he'll be gone roaming freely around our house. We should probably think about baby proofing....we were thinking we wouldn't have to do this until we moved to a new house.

4. Tonight was bath night. I set him on the counter to look at himself in the mirror while Mitch ran the bath water and he started laughing for the first time. After we laid him on the floor to get him undressed he began laughing some more. It was such an awesome noise to hear coming from him. Everytime he laughed, Mitch and I laughed too.

5. Drew got a bath in the big tub because we could no longer cram him into the baby tub. He is such a big boy and so strong that he would either have his legs hanging out over the side of the tub or be pushing on the end trying to stand up so we knew we had outgrown the little tub.

In the last week I have been explaining to Drew that I have to start work next week. I told him that he needed to do all the things like laughing and rolling over while I was home so I didn't miss them for the first time. So, it was wonderful when he did all of these things today while I was still home with him. I guess he's a very good listener and loves his mommy.

Jumperoo Fun

Drew loves to stand up. We can hardly ever get him to sit on our lap because he tries to stand instead. After his two month appointment where we saw him stand so good for the doctor, we thought he might like to play in his jumperoo that we had been saving until he was bigger. That night Mitch got it put together so we could test it out. Mitch was so excited he almost woke Drew from his nap to see him play. Once we were able to put him in it we saw that he LOVED it. He just sits and bounces around and can even turn himself in circles. He's so big and capable that we sometimes forget that he isn't even ten weeks old yet.

Two Month Appointment

Today was Drew's two month appointment. He continues to be a big boy weighing in at 13 lbs. 12 oz. which puts him in the ninetieth percentile. For height he is off the charts at 25.25 inches. While the doctor was checking him out she went to move him and realized that he was trying to stand up. She let him stand for quite awhile and was amazed at his muscle tone and head control. She said he is a very healthy boy. It was funny that during most of the appointment Drew was shooting the doctor huge smiles since she would be the one to order his shots for him. Luckily he didn't know what was about to happen. It took a minute for him to register the pain after the shots and then he let everyone in the room know that he was not very happy about what had just taken place.

First Superhero PJs

Mitch has been waiting for the day when he could share his love of comic books with his son. A few weeks ago we were shopping and Mitch saw a wall of kids character pjs and decided he HAD to have something for Drew. The smallest size they had was 12 months so I sadly informed Mitch that it would be too big for Drew right now. (He's a big boy, but not that big.) Mitch insisted that it would fit and that we were buying it. After washing it we decided to try it on and Mitch was right, it did fit. He was so excited to see his little man dressed in something adorned with a superhero. As you can see from the picture, Drew doesn't yet share Daddy's enthusiasm. I know that this is only the beginning. Our house will soon be filled with father and son's comic book toys and clothes.

Baby Drew

Our +1 finally has a name, Drew Jeffrie. He was born at 6:43 on Jan 21, weighed in at 10lbs 12 oz, and was 23 inches tall (almost 2 feet).

Danielle started having contractions less than 10 minutes apart at 7:00PM on Jan 19 (we were at a formal dinner for her work). We arrived at the hospital at 8:00AM on Jan 20, but we were sent home because she was not yet far enough along (even though contractions were less than 5 minutes apart). Contractions became very strong, and we came back to the hospital at 6:30PM. At 9:00PM Danielle received her epidural, which completely eliminated the pain. She stopped progressing around 2:30AM, and they decided to do a c-section at 5:45AM.

The doctors and nurses all commented about how giant Drew was (he looks like a football player!), and how much hair he has. He got his first bath at 10:00AM (he cried hysterically, and then I think he decided he liked it). He is also already an expert at making dirty diapers.

Mom and baby are both doing great (Drew is making all kinds of cute sounds while he sleeps)!

We'll be posting more photo's at http://picasaweb.google.com/mmunson34