Ugh...Mommy is over-whelmed with all these presents

Yep. It happens every year, but still doesn't get any easier ;)

Wakey Wakey...Time for PRESENTS!

This was the first Christmas that Brad and I were separated for, but I still thought it was important to invite him over for Christmas morning so he could watch Drew open the presents Santa gave to him. Drew made out like a bandit (of course) and then we went over to Grandma & Grandpa D's house for another Christmas morning celebration! After that was Nannie's house for more presents, then off to Grandpa Franks house for even more presents. Drew is so blessed to have such a loving, and generous family :)

Santa Pics

Drew was so lucky this year as he got to visit Santa 4 times! This was one of my favorite shots :)

Hey...it's Mario!!

I figured this would be the last year I could select what Drew was going to be for Halloween, so I thought I would go out with a bash and we decided upon MARIO! I think he makes a cute little Italian, if I do say so myself :)

A Letter for You, Son.

Andrew,

You know, there are times when I look at you and I know that when you get older you are going to ask me what happened with our family. I honestly don’t think there is an appropriate time for you to know the details, as our problems remain our problems; and this is something that you will need to learn to accept over time. When we are peers and you have been married, had a child, created a career, and carved your place in life then maybe we can talk about this. You father and I, regardless of our differences, always agreed that nothing good would come of putting you in the middle of our problems. So we did what we felt was best for all of us and decided to separate. I want you to know that I will always love and and do my best to honor your father because he gave me you, and I am thankful every single day for that.

I want you to live and benefit from my mistakes. I want you to learn from them, and not have to relive them. The most important piece of advice I can give you, is for you to remember that relationships don't define you. They don't determine who you are. They describe where we are in life, and demonstrate what we value. It’s OK for this to change over time, and when it changes its OK to recognize, accept it, and move on. If you find that your relationships define you, then maybe you have forgotten who you are. Don't let that happen.

You are perfect and the greatest gift my life has experienced and I am honored to be your mother, and I wish the best for you forever. I love you Andrew, and I will always be here for you.

Love,
Mommy

Hawaii Trip 2010

This year we were blessed with the opportunity to go to Hawaii with my mom, Chris and my sister. It was a relaxing vacation and we spent a lot of the time in the ocean boogie boarding. Drew loved the sand and the waves! We will definitely have to come back soon when he's a little bit older!

Look how big you are!

We are so proud of who you are becoming every single day!

4th of July 2010!

We went over to the Schwab's house this year for the 4th of July. And much like the years prior, Drew hated the fireworks; they were too loud for him. So mommy to the rescue, we watched the beautiful lights from inside the house :)

Sunday Funday!

What good would this blog be without some naked butt pics??

This is Drew's first blow up pool...pretty sure it was broken within 4 days :)

Drew attempting to do pushups! (VIDEO)

Little man is TWO!!

Can you believe it? I can't!

I took the day off work and Drew and I had a fun mommy & son day! We first went to the Folsom Zoo and then rode the train! He had a lot more fun than the last time we tried that! Then we went to have a frozen yogurt after a quick lunch. We did our annual dinner at Red Robin and this is his favorite place to eat because they have a really fun game room :) It was a fun day and I wish every day could be like this :)

Drew's 2nd Birthday Party!

I have always told Drew how lucky he is to have so many people in his life that love him and I hope one day he finally believes it! So many people came to help celebrate Drew's birthday...almost 65! We had a Monster truck party and it was so fun! We had a snow cone machine, a monster truck bounce house, BBQ food, and good company! The bounce house was delivered at 8am and Drew didn't leave it until the guy came to get it at 9:30PM! The house looked like Christmas morning and we finally just got everything put away :)

Drew's new favorite pass time...

When Drews quiet, you better check it out...and this is what I found. Grrrr

Al Bundy Anyone?

Needless to say I needed to immortalize this moment...Drew's definitely all man! haha

Easter!!

Easter was fun this year because Drew was actually old enough to get it! The weather had been pretty rainy but we were given a small window of sunshine so we decided to take advantage of it! The eggs were filled with all types of fruit snacks and money and they were hidden with care. We told Drew the Easter Bunny had come and he ran into his room and grabbed his Elmo easter basket! He saw the first egg and it started from there...each one had to be opened right then and there. He ate each fruit snack in the egg and then moved on to the next one...which happened to be coins. The second he saw the money, he dropped his basket and ran inside. Curious as to what he was doing, we of course followed him. He ran down the hall and into his room and pointed at his dinosaur piggy bank...he wanted to put the coins in it! As soon as he put the coins in, he ran back outside and looked for more eggs. This went on until each one was either eaten or deposited! It was really cute :)

Drew's New Favorite Socks

Drew decided that this would be his outfit for the day...this kid cracks me up!

Drew Having Fun With Connect 4 (VIDEO)

This is How Drew Decides To Eat Baby Corn!

And the aftermath...

The Adventures of Drew and a Big Boy Cup...and a little happy dance

Drew Just Checkin the Paper for Good Deals ;)

The Adventures of Drew and a Puffy Weed

Drew has officially discovered how fun it is to be outside! It is so cute to be right along side of him as he discovers all of nature's fun surprises...in this case, blowing the puffs off of a puffy weed :)

Drew Visits the Easter Bunny!

After riding the Merry Go Round, we continued to walk around the Galleria and stumbled across the Easter Bunny with NO LINE! I showed Drew the Easter Bunny before we attempted to wait our turn...just to make sure he really wanted to see him. He was all smiles...I think he thought it was a big teddy bear. He was way more terrified of Santa!

Drew's First Time on the Merry Go Round

My mom, my sister, Drew and I went to the Galleria in Roseville to just hang out while daddy studied for a test today. We passed the Merry Go Round and I have never seen Drew's eyes so big, so of course we had to go for a ride! We paid our way and then Drew decided he wanted to ride the big Zebra. I strapped him in and he thought that alone was cool...and then it started to move! He squeaked with delight as he bobbed up and down! He was giggling so loud that he attracted the attention of other people watching their kids :) He had a great time and clapped when it was over and of course wanted to ride again. He's such my big boy now!

A Little Team Dent Update

It's been a while since I have last publish a family update so I thought I should catch most of you up :) Drew has had issues at bedtime with phlegm and he would cough so hard it would make him sick. I called Kaiser and the doctor recommended we try putting him on an antihistamine like Zyrtec. So far so good! He sleeps all night long now and we haven't had an issue with post nasal drip gagging...knock on wood!

Brad was laid off from his job at Blazona Concrete due to a closing of an entire Commerical division (hard times, USA) on Thursday, January 21st. He had a feeling about it a couple days before hand after a "heads up" conversation with his supervisor so he called up one of his buddies at another concrete company called Tri Corp Construction. The same day he was laid off, he had an interview with that company...and man, did we luck out on that! There are still virtually no jobs in construction and we couldn't financially make it through another 4 months of him being laid off! They sent him an offer on Sunday which he accepted Monday. He got almost a whole week paid off from the vacation time from his previous job and was back to work on Monday, February 1st. He's been there a few weeks and he's pretty happy with how things are going thus far...even though he misses the family atmosphere he had at his previous job. He still stays in touch with some of the guys from Blazona but ultimately I think it was supposed to happen. He has a lot more opportunity at this new company which is still building the concrete division so they are essentially relying on him to help them form it from the ground up.

I am currently working three jobs and decided the time wasn't right to go back to school. I couldn't get into the classes I wanted at American River College (they tend to overbook all their classes and I am low on the to tum pole as far as priority is concerned) and I figured our family needed the money I could get working more than a pastry degree. Oh well, hopefully soon I can figure something out! I work for my mom still in her Forensics accounting business (investigate fraud, business and personal tax returns, etc) and I go into the office Tuesdays. I also work with a very successful Real Estate Group out of CENTURY 21 Real Estate as a marketing director. I go to their listings and take pictures and get their house ready to be viewed online as well as manage their personal marketing. My final job (besides making cakes on the side) is a website developer for a hunting company based in Missouri. When they asked if I would do their website, I really had no formal training so I had to learn fast because he didn't want anyone else to do it. It's been great experience for me so far and I have a lot of work still ahead of me. Currently, I work in the office Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays and have Drew and mommy time Mondays and Fridays. It's a good balance for us because I get to enjoy my son as well as have some much needed "adult interaction" time.

We just celebrated our home's 1 year anniversary on February 19th too! Can't believe how fast time flys!

Drew's First Trip to the Snow!

We decided to drive up to the snow and introduce Drew to the snow this weekend! We drove up with some of our good friends (Martha and Jason) and about halfway up, Drew started to get squirmy in his seat. I was sitting in the back with him and I figured he was just done with being in the car...well I couldn't of been more wrong! He was actually suffering from car sickness and I realized this after he projectile vomited food that I swear he ate days ago! Poor guy. Good thing mommy packed about 15 layers of clothing so he wouldn't get cold! We pulled over and changed him and drove the rest of the way in a puke smelling car...fun right? Once we finally got there, he was still not sure what was going on...he just knew he didn't like all the fluff that was on him and he couldn't quite figure out the boots and kept falling. Once we finally made it out of the parking lot and onto the snow, he looked pretty confused. Was it dirt? Was it something else? I found some fresh snow to let him chomp on and he was cool with it after that. He still wanted nothing to do with it, but he liked to look and it and eat some. The video is of his first sledding experience. It was a short visit, but I'm sure after a couple more trips, he will be more accepting!

Drew the Tummy Raspberry King

He just figured out how to blow raspberries on tummies so watch out!!

Oh. My. Goodness.

This is what happens when you give Drew chocolate covered pretzels and then try to fold some laundry in the other room...lol

Art Time With Daddy

We noticed that Drew has been getting bored on the weekends so I went to Michaels and bought him a bunch of different art projects to play with...One being pipe cleaners. Daddy made him this sweet pair of pipe cleaner glasses :)

I Give You...The Stinkeye.

This has been a popular look for Drew lately...we think it's hilarious!

Drew's New Table!

Daddy and I went to the wonderful world of Ikea and fought through the hoards of parents and screaming children to get...this awesome, adorable table for our wonderful son! He loves his big boy table and is very excited to eat every meal at it...as long as one of us sits in the other chair, of course.