DREW WALKS!...For Real This Time! (VIDEO Push Play!)

We let Drew spend some time with Grandma & Grandpa D while we ate our anniversary dinner (much more of a relaxing time, lol) and when I came to pick him up, Grandma said he could walk! I couldn't believe my eyes! He really did it...and without daddy being able to partake in the excitement (he was home doing homework...summer school, yuck!)! I brought him home and was hoping he would do the same thing for daddy and we lucked out :) He did!

Drew's First Camping Trip!

This weekend was daddy's 26th birthday so what better way to celebrate then to start off the camping season and go to Dillon's Beach! Drew has never been before, so we were really excited to take him! Brandon, Rachelle and Christian Schwab joined us too (Christian has never been camping either)! It took about 3 hours for us to make it to the campsite because of all the pit stops between all of us...Drew was not having fun at this point, but we finally made it so it was ok. We were concerned it was going to be rainy and cold all trip because it was when we first got there, but it cleared up pretty quick and the sun came out. I sat Drew down to have his first interaction with sand and he wasn't too sure about it. He poked it a few times with his finger and pretty much wanted to be held :) We finished setting up camp and decided to walk to the beach. The water was really cold so Drew wanted nothing to do with sticking in his feet (it was around 3:30 and he hadn't had a nap yet so needless to say, he started to morph into Mr. Crankypants...he usually has 2 naps by now!) It started to get cold so the boys ran back to camp to grab us all sweatshirts. While we were waiting, a nice lady offered us towels to keep the boys warm. While Drew was all wrapped up in the towel, he passed out! We just decided to go back to camp and let him sleep a bit before dinner. We had awesome smoked ribs, corn, and garlic bread...so yummy! Drew woke up about an hour later and he had his dinner. Drew and I ate in our tent because it was so windy! Night quickly came and the wind died down a little bit so we came back outside to sit by the fire. We made a "birthday smore" for Brad and sang him happy birthday :) Andrew stayed up way past Christian and even ate some smores! I finally got to him fall asleep after singing to him for about 30 min then I was tired, so I just stayed in there with him. I didn't get much sleep, because I was really worried Andrew would be too cold and I kept checking on him. Sometime in the middle of the night, he ended up in bed with us so mommy and daddy had about 2 inches of mattress to share. We packed up pretty early and headed home the next morning because it was cold and we were all tired plus it was already Sunday and we all have work tomorrow. Drew slept just about the whole way home (mommy did too)! We stopped over and checked out the newly re-vamped Nut Tree and had lunch and then headed home. Overall, it was a fun first trip for the boys and we look forward to many more camping trips! Check out some of the pictures from the trip...

Drew's First Trip to the Sacramento Zoo

Today we went to the Sacramento Zoo :) Drew really liked to see all of the animals and he even posed for a couple of silly pictures :) He even got to try his first frozen lemonade drink...see picture slide show for his reaction...HILARIOUS! We were on our way to go into the reptile house when...drip drip drip, Drew's diaper sprung a leak. No problem, we will just change it. WRONG! Mommy forgot to check to make sure we had diapers. Great. Luckily there were plenty of mom's there and I was able to bum a diaper off someone :) On the way home, it took all of 5 minutes before he passed out :) Here are some pics from the day...

Time for Drew's 1 Year Checkup

Today was Andrew's 1 year checkup! We got to the appointment a little early so we had to wait in the waiting room a bit. The little ladies man made 3 girlfriends in like 5 minutes! He would crawl around and the baby girls would all run and crawl after him lol Then is was our turn to go back too see the doctor. The medical assistant weighed him (he's back down to 18 pounds), and took some measurements then the doctor came in an explained everything to us. He is only in the 1th percentile in weight. That means that 99% of children are bigger than him! The doctor wasn't concerned, she told me her son was in the negative percentile when he was Drew's age and he's a total beefcake now! Drew is now 30" tall (2 feet 6 inches) which puts him in the 46th percentile for weight (perfect!) and his head measured 18.5" which puts him in the 62nd percentile for head size (perfect). I told the doctor all the words Drew can say and she was AMAZED when I told her he can say "I did it"! She said that was a sign of incredible intelligence at this age that he can form more than one word at a time and have it make sense (as if I needed to be told that my kid is a genius! haha)! She told me to give him whatever he wants to try and pack on some pounds...bring on the Velveeta Shells and Cheese! lol

Next came the not so fun part of the visit...shots! I decided it would be better to space out his vaccines a bit so we are waiting on the MMR shot (Measles, Mumps & Rubella) until his 18 month appointment. She also assured me that all shots he receives are completely Mercury free and have been since 2000 (which people have been concerned with causing Autism). Today he got a VTAP (Diphtheria, tetanus, acullular pertussis vaccine (mostly a Tetanus shot), a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (prevents diseases that cause pneumonia, deafness, and brain damage), and the Varicella vaccine (chicken pox shot). He took the shots as well as could be expected and cried (we both did) but then he got over it as soon as I picked him up. We weren't done yet tho! The doctor wanted Drew to get some blood drawn to test for Lead and Anemia (just as a precaution). So down to the lab we went...as if the shots weren't enough for us to handle! At this point Drew is all smiles and waves, so we sit in the chair and wait for the nurse. She comes over and tells Andrew how handsome he is while she puts the tourniquet on his arm, I turn my head and she sticks in the needle...still no crying. Did she stick it in yet?? I look and yes, it's in and the second I said, "he's not crying?" he belted out a huge cry! After what seemed like an eternity, she got her two vials of blood from poor little Drew's arm. She put a cotton ball on it and slapped a band-aid on it...he liked it and still gave them smiles and waves when we left. I am so glad today is over! We won't have to deal with this again until the end of November :)

Today Was a Big Day for Drew!

Today was a very important day for our little man...we got him his very first big boy, front facing car seat! He is supposed to be at least 20 pounds (he is 19) so we thought, what the heck,. he's close enough! We sat him in it to try it out and he checked out every little square inch of it, including the armrests :) On the drive home, he was so happy! He could see outside his window and he could see mommy driving! I think he is going to like car rides a lot more now :)

Andrew Update + Daddy Gets A New Job!

This is the first summer of Drew's life that he gets to fully enjoy a pool (last year he was too little to get all the way in, but he still stuck his feet in) and like I expected, he's a fish! He is always pointing out the door to go to the pool no matter what time it is :) He loves his floaty pool toys and he thinks it's hilarious when Smokey (our Jack Russell) jumps in and swims with him!

He's getting so big and trying to talk a ton! He says, "hi", "hat", "dad", "I love you" and the kicker..."I did it!" He's amazing :) He just started trying to blow kisses and wave bye bye too :) Still no more steps since a couple weeks ago...I chalk it up to him being faster at crawling so he figures he will stick with that for a while ;) Oh well, no rush! He can stay my baby as long as he wants to!

On a doubly positive note, Daddy finally found a job! He will be working as an estimator at Blazona Concrete and he starts Tuesday. They are a bigger company than his first job (Mitchell Concrete) but smaller than the last company he left (Urata & Sons Concrete). Hopefully this company will take better care of him!

Andrew Walks With The Aid Of A Toy! (Video Push Play!)

HE WALKED! HE WALKED!!

Exactly one day after his year birthday, he finially did it...he took 2 steps on his own!! I was playing on the floor with him and he was standing. I reached out my hands and encouraged him to walk to me (like I always do but never get anywhere) and to my amazement, he took one...then two steps to get me! Of course he didn't want to do it again for me, but I saw it and I couldn't be prouder!!

Drew's birthday Dinner at Red Robin (2 videos)

Sorry for the bad quality (It was taken on my dad's cell phone), but you will get the jist :) The first video is of Drew getting his very first Restaurant birthday song at Red Robin and the second video is of Drew eating his birthday sundae with a spoon (the first time he used a spoon correctly!) I hope he had a fun day today :)

It's time to Par-tay!

Today we celebrate Andrew and his first year of life! We had his birthday party this past Saturday and boy what a turn out! We ended up having more than 60 people show up! I told Drew that he was loved by a lot of people, and those were just the people who could come :) Thank goodness we cleaned out the garage a bit and were able to put a couple of tables in there for people to sit down! By the time the presents were ready to be opened, Andrew was pretty tired but he pulled through! He opened one and then pretty much only played with that while mommy and daddy opened the rest. Next was cake! We thought he would just rip into it but it was quite the opposite...not one blob of frosting was tasted! He could of cared less, but he was interested in giving some to mommy! haha Oh well, I'm sure next year will be different and a little bit more exciting :) Once everyone left (around 6pm), Birthday boy was really tired! I tried to give him a bottle before I put him down and he drank half awake and the other half, he was pretty much already passed out but he managed to get it all down :) He slept almost 13 hours that night!



For his actual birthday, we went on our first bike ride with Andrew's new trailer we got from the Maurers & Yvonne! You can't tell from the picture, but he really did enjoy himself :) Thank you to everyone that was able to make it to his birthday party, we are so blessed that we have so many people that love us!

Easter Drew!

Today is not just any normal day...it's EASTER! The Easter Bunny hid his eggs with care...but he forgot too fill them with anything! Haha Oh well, Drew didn't seem to mind! Drew would go for one egg while the Easter Bunny quickly filled another egg with his beloved puffs. He started to get the idea about 3 or 4 eggs in and then was pretty much over it all about 6 eggs in :)

11 Months Down!!

Today our little man turns 11 months old! He has changed so much within the last month, it's crazy! He now dances to music, which is fun! He also points at everything and expects a detailed response from you as to what that particular object is. He can recognize and point to mommy, daddy, himself, and a bunch of other people in pictures! His "girlfriend" Chloe Carrier (who is 2 by the way) has taught him how to drink out of a straw (this newest trick is still kind of hit or miss...sometimes he likes to take the liquid up through the straw but then forgets/thinks it's funny to not swallow resulting in a soggy t-shirt). He has been blabbing up a storm lately too! He is so very close to forming sentences!

The picture above is of his new pedal car given to him by His Grandma & Grandpa Dent! All of us were at a garage sale in Folsom when we came across this guy's house who had nothing but awesome, vintage things from the 60's and 70's! Brad, Ken and Andrew were like kids in a candy shop, and then they looked up and there it was. The most amazing pedal car ever! Drew got all wiggly as he desperately tried to escape my arms to see this shiny new car. I stood him up next to it and he instantly started turning the steering wheel and shifting the pretend gears...it was love at first sight for Drew and of course Grandma & Grandpa couldn't help but to purchase the low-rider for him :) It needed just a couple safety modifications before we could let Drew have-at-it when he got home but he's been a happy camper ever since :)

Andrew's New Ride (Video PUSH PLAY)

This is Andrew's new pedal car that was given to him from his Grandpa & Grandma D (He LOVED it from the second he saw it at a garage sale yesterday)! He got right in and started steering the wheel and "shifting the gears". He just figured out how to wave Bye-Bye too!

Drew's First Train Ride

Today we took Drew on his frist Train Ride at the Folsom City Zoo and let me tell you, it was ALL business for Andrew. Not one smile was cracked the whole train ride! The wind was blowing in his hair, the train whistle was screetching and he couldn't of been more serious! It was still cute to watch his curiosity spark every time the conductor turned around and tooted the horn trying to get him to smile :) Maybe we will try again later when it's not during his normal nap time!

Drew and His Great-Great Grandpa Hopkins

This picture was taken at Madeleine Barrett's (she is Great-Great Grandpa Hopkin's girlfriend) 75th birthday party and it was super cute too see Andrew and him together! They don't get to spend a lot of time with each other so it's always special when they do get together :)

Andrew's New Favorite Game (VIDEO Push Play!)

This is Andrew's new favorite toy...Grandma D's entertainment center (well, the door anyway). He was cracking himself up...and me too :)

The Team Dent Home

We have only owned the house for 12 days, but it has already been an interesting experience. We have recently hit a little rough patch in our lives, but like everything else, we will work through it. A week and a half after purchasing our home, Brad was unfortunately laid off from Urata & Sons Cement due to the falling economy. All I can say is thank God that it didn’t happen a week earlier because we would not of qualified for the loan. He has already started frantically searching for his next job and has gotten a couple of leads that we are anxiously awaiting word back from. He will be attending a job fair at his College on Friday so hopefully more will come of it! To add fuel to our un-lucky fire, a day after Brad was laid off, his truck was broken into while it was parked right in front of our house and his work laptop was stolen along with his backpack that had all of his homework in it! We filed a police report, but I am sure the computer is long gone by now.

On a lighter note, the house itself is awesome! Everything is just about put away, and the boxes are dwindling. Brad is working on fixing up the garage so it feels a little bit nicer going in there to do laundry. We have made friends with just about all of our direct neighbors (most are nice retired couples) and we warned them of our bad luck with the theft. They said they never have run into anything like that in all of their years of living there and they would keep an eye out for us. We will be posting a family picture in front of our house soon once it stops raining! These pictures are all I could get at the moment and it has the staged furniture, but you will get the jyst :)

10 Months!!!

This week marks Drew’s tenth month of age! Still three pounds short of twenty (he can have a front facing car-seat at twenty pounds which I know he will LOVE), he has developed into a humorous and active little boy! He enjoys a new game…crawling as fast as he can down the hallway, laughing the whole way, while you chase him. It’s pretty cute too see how excited he gets when he anticipates things as you joke with him!

Drew has also become quite the eater! He can put away almost a whole can of Gerber Graduate Raviolis plus a few servings of fruit! He can eat just about anything that’s softer, but we have to cut it up into pieces a little bit bigger than a pea. For most breakfasts, he enjoys three dollar sized pancakes and a half of a cut up banana. His favorite lunch consists of American Cheese, Turkey & Lightly Salted Saltine crackers. Dinner favorite is hands down Raviolis and a side of peas and carrots (he likes to squish each pea with his pincher fingers before he eats it). It’s funny to watch him eat because he will pick out all of his favorite part of dinner like the peas, then moves onto just the Raviolis, then goes back for all of the carrots, no matter if they are all mixed together.

Since it has been raining for the past week, we haven’t been able to go outside much and Drew is feeling the cabin fever set in! He crawls up to the glass door to the back yard, stands up, puts both hands on the glass and then squishes his forehead on the door and presses his face against the glass. Poor little guy! Hopefully it will stop raining soon, even just for a little bit, so we can go for a walk!

He still hasn’t taken those anticipated first steps without assistance, but I swear they will be just around the corner! He can totally free stand without the aid of anything, but then squats down to crawl when he want to go somewhere. I can’t imagine how much more the kid could get into once he walks! EVERYTHING is fair game when it comes to putting things in his mouth! Brad pulled out a leaf from his mouth this morning…I swear the house has never been so clean!

Guess Who's Brushing His Own Teeth Now :)

He's such a big boy!

Our Lil Snow Bunny :)

This past Friday the 13th was a freaky Friday indeed! Not only did it snow at our house (hasn't done that in years!) but we were finally officially approved for our home loan and will be signing docs on Monday! We are hoping to get the keys by Friday or the weekend at the latest! We will be sure to take a family picture in front of our new house!

Doesn't Andrew look handsome in his snow suit? :) It was too rainy and slushy to play in it, but he still enjoyed looking at it!

Oh Lordy...He Climbs Stairs Now.

I was just sitting down to eat a snack when Andrew crawled into the hallway towards our kitchen (which he usually does because he likes patting the bottom step of our stairs) so I didn't think anything of it (even though that's where the infamous dog food is). I heard him patting the stairs with his hands, still not thinking much of it. Then the patting stopped and I heard him grunting so I checked too see what my little tator-tot was up to. To my amazement, Drew was already three stairs up and climbing! When and how did he learn how to do this?? I was able to grab my phone from my pocket and snap picture proof! No more unsupervised time for Drew I guess!!

It's Happened! A First REAL word popped out!!

Andrew was sitting in his highchair after finishing a large breakfast and out of nowhere he says "Bye" and accompanied it with a wave! Brad and I just looked at each other and at the exact time said "Did he just say 'Bye' and wave?" He wouldn't repeat it after that but we know what we heard! I'm so proud and can't wait for more words to just randomly pop out!

Drew Eating an Orange for the First Time...Too Funny! (VIDEO PUSH PLAY)

9 Months and Still Cuter Than Ever!

9 months. I know I've said this before, but I am typing so I am going to say it again so you're just gonna have to learn to like it. I can't believe how old Drew is getting!! Time has flown by like crazy!

Drew can finally eat Gerber Graduate Puffs without choking and gagging! That has been a big milestone for him this month! He also eats little pieces of our dinner like chicken or turkey...since he's had a taste of real food he has pretty much sworn off baby food, but he's still gotta eat it for a while longer. He also wants to skip dinner all together and get right to his puffs...which he eats about 100 haha Oh he also has been very interested in dog food...he got 2 pieces so far. He's such a fast crawler and that's the first thing he goes for when he makes a jailbreak! Oh well, what's wrong with a little more protein, right?

He has been standing like crazy with the aid of anything and let's go for about a second and free stands...until he realizes that he's standing then he panics and falls. He'll get it before we know it and I'll be wishing he still just slept, ate and pooped like he did when he was our little newborn blob.

The Dent Family Butt :)

This was just too cute not to post :) Can't you see the resemblance? haha

Our Monkeybutt is 8 Months Old Today!!!

Today marks the 8th month of Andrew's life :) Let's see, what can he do...he is crawling like a CHAMP! Getting into everything and anything! He really likes to crawl inside of Zorro's (my mom's dog) kennel and lay on the blankets, it's cute :) He is pulling himself up to standing position on all of his toys, the stairs, the wall...ya pretty much everything too! He is also chit chatting up a storm with his "baba", "mama" (only when he's super mad), and "dada" (only every now and then). And as you can see from the picture, he can take a big boy bath without mommy or daddy holding on to him! Such a big boy!

In other exciting news...within the last couple weeks, we put in an offer to purchase our first home and we are happy to say that today we got the papers back with an accepted offer! We will be living in Orangevale off of Kenneth and Cortadera. It's a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with a fully landscaped backyard including a pool! We will be sure to post pictures on moving day! If all goes well, we will be closing escrow January 25th :)

And Drew's First Word Is...

BaBa :) I tried to put him in his highchair to eat yogurt but he got all upset and said BaBa a couple of times. He has been practicing with forming words the last week so I didn't think much of it. We finished with his yogurt and he still was saying BaBa so I made him a bottle...and by Jove, it was what he really wanted :)

Oh my...Mommy's in Trouble!

7 Months & 4 weeks old

I was in the kitchen making myself some soup while Andrew was playing with his new toy. I glance over to him, and I find him STANDING! He was able to get up on his feet all by himself!! Here is picture proof :) He sure didn't crawl for very long...

Drew's First Christmas

This christmas was more special than usual because we were able to experience it with our sweet son for the first time! We started off the festivities Christmas eve at my Aunt Jill's house. Andrew was exhausted so I laid him down for a nap while we ate dinner. By the time we were all done with dinner and dessert, it was time for presents and Drew happened to wake up! He was more interested in the wrapping paper of course than the actual present :) When we got home from Aunt Jill's, we did Christmas with Nanni and had our family Christmas (minus Drew's presents, he had to wait until Christmas morning). Christmas morning quickly came and Drew woke up around 7am. Grandpa Frank wanted to come see Andrew open his presents too :) After presents were opened and wrapping paper was eaten, it was off to Grandma & Grandpa D's (Ken & Diana's)! We were blessed this year because Auntie Danielle and her boyfriend Dustin were able to come home from Kentucky for Christmas. After MORE presents were opened there, it was off to Great Grandma & Grandpa Hills house for dinner and even more presents! It was very nice to see everyone and dinner was delcious as usual! I tried to get Andrew to take a nap during dinner, but there was far too much too see...so basically, fat chance that was happening. After the Hills' we actually went home for an hour to take a nap because mommy, daddy & Drew were so exhausted! after our nap, it was off to Grandpa Franks for our final Christmas! Needless to say that after our 6 Christmas' we were all very very tired!

DREW CRAWLES...and just like that, my freedom is over

7 Months and 3 weeks

Yesterday morning, Brad and I were playing with Drew on the floor of our bedroom and to our amazement, he got up on all fours and started crawling over to me!! He's been practicing for the past couple weeks on trying to crawl and yesterday he finally did it and got somewhere! I am so very excited for him and his newest accomplishment...but I can't help but be afraid for all the stuff and dogs he's going to attack :)

Drew's First Bought of the Stomach Flu :(

We gave Andrew his last bottle of the night and tucked him into bed. About 30 minutes later Andrew started to cry so I picked him up. One giant burp later, he spewed every last bit of his bottle...all 6 ounces all over me! No big deal, just a gas bubble right? WRONG! The spew kept coming and coming! I was up with Andrew literally all night as he projectiled on me (and everything within an earshot) over 7 times. In other words, I had to change my and Andrew's clothes over 7 times...oh it was AWFUL! The poor guy would fall asleep and then 20 minutes later would wake up screaming and then puke. The morning finally came but the puke shower I was experiencing never ended! I couldn't get any formula or solid food to stay in there so I started to panic...especially when he didn't have a wet diaper since the night prior. I called the Kaiser advice line and they told me to bring him in asap as they were concerned with the lack of wet diapers. The first thing they did was weigh him. To my horror, I learned that he only weighed 14 pounds 6 ounces...he dropped over a pound in one day! The doctor said that was pretty common when a child vomits for so long. She recommended that we take a trip to the treatment room and try to get him re-hydrated. They started him off with 5 ounces of flavorless Pedilite mixed with sugar free crystal light lemonade powder to taste (it's important to only use sugar free because sugar messes with the electrolytes). I was instructed to give him 5ml of the solution every 5 minutes until he went to bed (that's barely 2 ounces every hour)! I was also told to stop giving him formula until he goes a while without vomiting and then slowly re-introduce it in 2 ounce increments (formula and milk products just fester in an already sour stomach and induces vomiting). We were loaded with a bunch of syringes and sent home. We gave him the Pedilite mixture for almost 3 hours (every 5 minutes remember) until he finally fell asleep around 7:30p. I plan on doing the Pedilite treatment through the morning and then slowly introducing bland foods back into his diet. Poor little guy...always seems to be something going on with him! Hopefully we can all get some better sleep tonight!!

Can It Be? 7 Months Already?

Today marks the 7th month of Andrew's life! He is able to hold a bottle and feed himself...although he doesn't due to sheer laziness, he is able to get up on all fours and rock back and forth (he is so very close to crawling!), he can sit up on his bottom like a big boy, he thinks he's tuff stuff when he is able to ride in a shopping cart and sit in a restaurant high chair, and he laughs uncontrollably when I hold him and a dog at the same time! He's a very funny little boy and finds humor in everything! He plays this game with daddy where they both lay on the couch and pull a string from the blanket that's sitting on the back of the couch. They pull the string until it snaps from out of Drew's chubby little fingers and they both crack up...it's pretty cute!

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving and the Ciari's (my god parents) came over to my dads and with them, they brought their off road quads. It was too cold and late for Andrew to ride them on Thursday but he was able to ride them with daddy on Friday. I wasn't there because I was on the annual trip to San Francisco with my mom, my cousins and my aunts. Let me tell you...I MISSED him so very much! We left Friday morning and didn't come home until Saturday at 5:30p. It was good for Brad to spend that time with Andrew though! They had a fun time from what I gathered :)

Look Who's Sitting Up by Himself!

About a week ago I just placed him on the floor in a sitting position and he stayed up for just a second and then fell over...at this last weekends photoshoot he sat up long enough to take some pictures! Brad keeps telling me that he's no longer a baby...he's a toddler and ready for a job ;)

Look Who Can Get Up By Himself!

6 Months and 2 Weeks Old

So tonight also held a big milestone for Drew...he got up on all fours by himself! It's so much fun to see how he is growing from day to day!

A Tooth...and that's the truth!

So I was letting Andrew bite my knuckle like I always do when suddenly a sharp little spear tried to go into my skin! I looked but I couldn't see the culprit. I felt again and sure enough, it was a little tooth trying to poke through the last little bit of gum. My little man has teeth! Oh where has the time gone??

The picture above is of Andrew's first experience with a sippy cup...he liked it :)

A Couple Shots from the Doc and Off To See Santa!

Today Andrew had his 6 month checkup! He weighed in at 15 pounds and the doctor told me that I need to start fattening him up because he is moving around so much, he is burning off his baby fat too fast. She suggested that I give him more protein and bites from my own dinner plate :) I went to the store and bought him a ton of different foods with meat, pasta, rice and everything else I could think of that would pack on the belly rolls! He got another round of shots including his Flu Shot...didn't handle them really well, but that's to be expected. He had to get four different shots, poor guy! I told Drew that mommy would get a flu shot too if he got his shots...so I did :) Other than his weight, Drew is growing great! He is 2 feet 2 inches tall now...just another 3 feet and he will catch up with mommy! Doesn't that sound funny?

After the doctor appointment, Nanni, Bre and I took Drew to the Roseville Galleria and guess who happened to be there? Santa! And there was no line! We had to get a picture :) He was so cute, he kept throwing back his head too check out the strange bearded man. Santa told Drew he would bring him a Tickle Me Elmo...we shall see what Santa brings :)

I Got My Birthday Present Wish :)

Yesterday I turned 26 (I know, old right? haha) and a few days ago Brad asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told him without hesitation that I wanted something sentimental that I could treasure forever. I didn't think it was too difficult of a request, but Brad begged to differ. I reassured him that he could figure it out :) Well, I am happy to say that he did! Apparently, he had recruited my mom and his mom to help him :) He bought me an engraved BLUE frame that said "Happy Birthday! Love Brad & Andrew" with this picture in it! Of course I melted and was the happiest girl in the world! After Brad and Drew gave me their present, we all went to my dads to dine on the four (Yes, I said four) racks of ribs that he had been BBQing for hours...and my sister made me a delicious chocolate birthday cake! My cousin-in-law Anthony also made me a birthday cake decorated with fondant (how lucky am I?) My dearest friends and family were there and some were there in spirit :) I couldn't of had a better Birthday and it just shows how truly blessed I am to have the family and friends that I have!

Holy Moly! 6 Months Already!!

This week marks the 6th month of Andrew's lil life...can you believe it? He is acting like such a big boy! He's discovered the fun of rolling completely over and is reaching for every little thing you put anywhere near him! He can sit up pretty well, but he still falls forward when he tries to reach for something :) He also will balance on his hands and knees when you position him that way! He should be figuring out how to get up there on his own soon :) He also now has a favorite song...Itsy Bitsy Spider! He could be having the worst meltdown ever and you can sing that song and he will instantly stop, smile and try to hum along...it's pretty cute, but after the 700th time singing it, it can get a little old for us haha This is a picture of Drew in his all time Favorite toy! He can walk completely around the center table of toys using the chair! He runs laps around it and will come to you when you are sitting on the floor with him :) I am so excited too see what new milestones are going to show up this month!

Halloween Fun!

Drew got to experience his first Halloween dressed as a Monkey! The first stop we made was Great Grandma & Grandpa Hill. We tried to surprise them so we pulled over to the side of the court and got Drew dressed (we didn't have him dressed already because it was a very hot costume and it was 72 degrees outside). Well, they spotted us before we could ring the doorbell and surprise them...we will get them next time heehee We stayed for a little bit and played...oh yes, we were also informed of his new nickname...Cinco de Monkey! The next stop was Great Grandma & Grandpa Dents, we didn't get any candy but we did get some hugs :) From there, was on to Grandma & Grandpa Dents where Aunt Gail and Grandpa Frank waited too see Drew in his costume. We stayed and handed out candy too all the kids that came Trick or Treating :) The Schwabs came by for a visit too! Christian looked so cute as Superman! Our last stop was Auntie Darcie's house where she was having a Halloween party. Chloe was a cute lil girl pirate :) Drew was so tired from not napping ALL DAY that he fell asleep sitting up in Darcie's lap...poor lil guy! We had a lot of fun and couldn't of asked for a better first Halloween :)

The Adventure of Drew and Cement Feetprints

Today we expanded our driveway with more cement and of course we had to capture Drew's little feeties in it! So daddy had to wake him up from his nap (talk about poking the bear) to immortalize his feet. He of course woke up in a jolly mood because he didn't really want to take a nap anyway and he loves being outside :) The first place we tried was the side yard but the cement was too wet and it didn't hold the print. We moved on to the next location out front and made a shallow little imprint of his feet. It was hard to really press his feet in there to get a good print because he is so little, but we got a decent print anyway :) Hopefully it will stick around!

Firsts are a lot of Fun...Unless it's your first cold :(

Well it was bound to happen...Drew caught a little cold. The poor guy is all congested and had a slight fever of 100.8 last night, so I took him to the doctors today to try and see what I could do to give him some relief. The doctor said all I could really do is wait it out but we could try Saline drops in his nose and Tylenol for the fever. We also increased his Zantac dose from .6ml to 1ml due to him doubling his weight since he was first prescribed Zantac. Oh ya, he now weighs in at 14 pounds and 12 ounces! He's being a trooper so far, but he does get cranky at night and can only sleep about an hour at a time cause his nose is so stuffy. Ah yes, it's like having a newborn at night again for mommy! Oh well, he's lucky I love him so much to be willing to trade much needed beauty sleep for cuddles :)
PS: The picture really has nothing to do with his cold, I just thought it was the funniest face I have ever seen him do :)

Drew's First Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

This past Saturday, we all went to the Rescue Fire Department's pumpkin patch and got Drew his first Pumpkin...well, his first 5 pumpkins (we all love pumpkin seeds!) Basically, he could of cared less to be there but he at least pretended he was having fun for his parents sake :) Just wait until you see his Halloween costume...

I never thought I would live to see the day when Nanni gets a tattoo!!

So this really has nothing to do with Andrew but it was such an astounding event, I just had to document it! My mom, aka Nanni, got a tattoo today! It is a tribute tattoo to her mother, father and to Andrew too :) The deer flower is in memory of Grandpa Larry, the hummingbird is in memory of Grandma and if you look closely, the stem makes a lower case "a" for Andrew (you have to look at it as if you were seeing it from my mom's perspective). She wanted it to be super colorful and that it is! I think it's a beautiful piece of artwork and my cousin-in-law, Anthony, did a great job!!

MMMMMMM RIBS!!

Tonight we gave Andrew a little taste of heaven...his Grandpa Dent's ribs :) As you can see, he enjoyed them a little too much! This picture is when daddy tried to take the bowl of ribs away from him! He was gumming them like crazy! I guess we can assume Andrew is not going to be a vegetarian :)