Cookie Monster's Thanksgiving Part 2!

Drew has developed quite the knack for baking and he always offers to help me make chocolate chip cookies! If he can get past eating all of the chocolate chips before we mix them in, we are in good shape. His favorite part is to have me roll the balls of cookie dough and then he squishes them down "just a little bit with his fingers". This is by far my most favorite way to spend special time with him and I cherish every minute of it.

These particular cookies were made for Mommy's Thanksgiving part 2! I cooked another huge feast just for us the day after Thanksgiving (my holidays don't commence until Drew is with me). It was a good day :)

Turkey Day 2011

This Thanksgiving, Drew spent with his dad and the Hill side of the family (this is Drew's great Aunt Denise Hill with him). He ate lots and lots of turkey from what I heard (I'm guessing not so much mashed potatoes...he hates that mushy stuff) and lots of yummy sweets.

Family is so important right now, especially since this is our first year without Diana (Drew's grandmother on his father's side)...we are all trying our best to put on a happy face but it's definitely not getting any easier.

The Perfect Man.

I'm holding on to this favorite pass time of his as long as I can...I'm sure it won't last long!

Drew goes Ice Skating!

Drew had been asking to go ice skating the last couple of weeks (he's never been) so we decided to take him to the rink at the Galleria Mall! He was super excited to strap the skates on his shoes all by himself, of course (they have 2 blades so he won't fall over) and get his assistant "mister seal" (the orange thing he is holding also so he won't fall over). He took one step on the ice and started to freak out because his footing was so unsure...cried for about 1.4 seconds and then the smiles came and never left! Like a 90 year old man with his walker, Drew scooted around and around the rink! He even sat on the seal so I could push him around (he liked that a lot but wanted to be like the other kids and "skate" himself after a couple rounds). I got tired LONG before Drew did. In fact, the only way we could get him out of the rink was to promise we would come back and do it again and let him ride on the Merry-Go-Round inside the mall. It was a fun day for sure :)

Hey...Is that...BUZZ LIGHTYEAR??

This year for Halloween at his dad's house, Drew dressed up as Mister Buzz Lightyear himself accompanied by his best bud, Bumble Bee from Transformers (Christian Schwab)!

He's pretty awesome.

We had some pre-Halloween shenanigans at the Spirit store since there wasn't much to do during the day on Halloween! Drew and Ava got to go Trick or Treating at Judy's parents house and since they were first, they got the top pick of the candy pot!

Is Anyone Surprised By Drew's Costume Choice? I'm Not.

Isn't he the cutest train conductor of them all? He certainly is the silliest...
Last night was the Night of 1000 Pumpkins on Sutter Street where kids dressed up in their costumes and went trick or treating at all the shops along the strip! There was a giant inflatable projection screen playing Beetle Juice too! Drew was so excited about the pumpkins, he didn't even care about the candy...although he requested ice cream with M&M's on it (hold the ice cream) when we got home of course ;)

Rollin In Mom's 4Runner...Like a Boss

Drew almost always requests sunglasses now during rides home from daycare...no matter if they actually fit his head or not ;)

Andrew Dayle Dent, MD...and Somersault Master

I got this email from your Great G'ma Hill and I thought it was so funny I had to share it!

"Andrew told his dad last night to be very very still. He said, “I’m a doctor and I need to check your nose.” So, Brad holds his chin up so Drew could look up his nose and instead, Drew stuck his finger in his dad’s nose. Brad was shocked and moved and Drew told him, "I told you to be still." It cracked me up and everyone else. (It was G’pa’s birthday…the Hill kids celebrated. ) Also, Drew learned how to do a somersault and Aunt Denise was the trainer. He was pretty good by the time he left. I would presume he’s been doing this for a while already. So, be aware if he goes tumbling all over the place…that’s what he’s trying to do for you not purposely crashing furniture. He was such a joy last night…and so good. You would have burst your buttons. You’re a super mom and it shows in that happy little boy."

Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy.

Drew, after well over three weeks straight of you requesting me to read this book to you every single night, you have finally memorized every page well enough to finish almost every sentence I start. This is blog worthy to me! You make me smile every single day and the fact that this book is one of your favorites makes me happy...just like the tree ;)

Drew singing the song I have sung to him since he was born :)

Your Grandma Diana

Andrew, I received this email from your great grandma Hill today and I thought you would love to read it one day as much as I did:

"Our beautiful Diana was memorialized at the car show today. The car club she and Ken belonged to gave both us and Ken a memorial plaque. It was such an honor...and the tears flowed as you can well imagine.

The plaque (photo attached) has Diana's picture on it as well the toy-stuffed 1916 Overland (Diana's car that G'pa Hopkins gave her some 23 years ago). The Overland is used at the car show to collect toys for Charity. Diana loved this car show and her little car club which now has eight members. Small but mighty! They get a lot done for Charity. We are so proud. It was fun to see the Overland filled to the brim again this year.

Our 1948 Lincoln that Lee named "Diana" some months ago won Best of Show at the car show. I didn't know he named the car Diana until today when I looked at the front license plate and there was her little California black and yellow license plate Lee bought her over 40 years ago. He found the plate in his tool box and put it on there soon after her death. The little bike license plate has her name on it. Well...it brought tears to my eyes to think he did that. Lots of tears today."

Too Cool for School

Since the welcomed 30 pound milestone has finally happened, Drew had requested a new "big boy" car seat! His most favorite color is green so of course he picked out this one. I had some fun picking out some of the coolest wife-beater tank tops I could find to complete his new look ;)

Capitola or Bust!

This labor day weekend we decided to go with Grandpa Frank and Judy to Capitola! The drive down was unfortunately filled with traffic (which was expected due to the holiday weekend) but when we left Folsom, it was 98 degrees...Captiola was 57 degrees when we got there! TOO COLD for mommy!! It was the annual begonia festival this weekend and thousands of people were in town to participate and watch the professional sand castle building, begonia floats down the channel, fishing and fun! We met up with the Figone's & Ciari's and I swear, did nothing but eat all weekend. Drew, of course, had a fun time playing with all the kids, but he was exhausted come Sunday! The drive home had zero traffic and Drew slept the entire way so it was a nice and peaceful voyage back for the rest of us :)

The Train Madness Continues :)

Today we thought it would be fun to take Drew to Old Sacramento via the light rail to buy some salt water taffy! He's never actually been on the light rail before, he had just been obsessing about it from afar :) The ride was approximately one hour to get to downtown Sacramento and every time the train slowed down he got this confused look on his face and asked "why's the train slowing down, mommy?" and EVERY time I explained it was because other people wanted to ride it too (he knew the answer, he just found it funny to keep asking). We got off right in front of the K Street Mall and headed through a tunnel with beautiful artwork all down the sides (Drew's favorite piece is in the picture) to get to Old Town. We saw a man sitting, playing his guitar & singing so I gave Drew a dollar for him to drop into the man's hat (Drew liked that the man thanked him in song form). We checked out some of the shops and stopped to have sandwiches...at the Train Depot Cafe (shocked, right??) and then headed to the candy shop! Barrels and barrels of salt water taffy called to Drew and he took his bucket and like it was Halloween, added the candy to his growing stash. $15 in saltwater taffy later, it was time to head back to the train to take us back to Folsom! It was perfect timing because Drew was definitely ready for his nap when we got home!

Doctor Appointment Confirms: Super smart...and also kinda little.

Today we headed to the doctor for our 3 year checkup! Andrew was excited to see doctor Jonas at the Folsom Kaiser because it had been so long and he always scores a free book with every visit. The nurse called us back and took down his stats. He's a whopping (or not so whopping...guess it depends on who you ask) 27 pounds and 3' 1.25" tall. That puts him in the 3.72 percentile of kids in weight (that means 96.28% of other kids are heavier than Drew) and his height puts him in the 27.37 percentile range (meaning 72.63% of kids are taller than drew). Even with these numbers, doctor Jonas predicts that he is going to be around 5'11-6'1 when he's older. His blood pressure was 96/54 and his pulse read 120 (perfect for his age from what I was told). I asked if I should be concerned with how small he is now, and she said not to worry. He'll catch up soon enough! Drew has also been blinking a lot lately and I suspected it was a behavioral thing but I wanted to ask to make sure and she said it was absolutely a behavioral trait and to completely ignore it. When he stops the blinking thing, he will pick up on something else. Little attention monkey!

Doctor Jonas could not say enough about how smart she thought Drew was! She was actually preforming kindergarten level tests on him to check his cognitive skills and he aced them no problem! She said we need to get him into preschool asap because he needs a challenge! She also recommended we add a couple drops of fluoride to his water every day (Folsom does not have fluoride already added to the water I guess).

Then came the unpleasant part...shots. He needed the Hepatitis A Vaccine (HAV) and the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV13). He sat on my lap and I held his hands close to his body and braced myself for crying and screaming. But...to my surprise, he took them like a champ! No tears, not even a whimper or a flinch! The nurse was fantastic! Still didn't stop mommy from tearing up a little bit while he was getting them. He got TWO stickers for being so brave (Spiderman and a character from Thomas the Train of course)!

Because Drew was so big and brave, he wanted to go to Jamba Juice to get his most favorite drink...the Orange Dream Machine! While we were sitting in the store, Drew proceeded to tell me all about how brave he is and how he's big like daddy. All I could do was smile and nod proudly :)

Day With Thomas the Train 2011!

One could say Drew has a slight "fondness" with Thomas the Train...OK, it's a straight, honest to God obsession. So when I saw the 10 second commercial for an opportunity to spend the entire day with the ACTUAL Thomas the Train, I was sure to jump on those tickets! I managed to make it almost 2 weeks without spilling the beans to Drew! We made the 3 hour drive Saturday night and stayed in a really fantastic hotel called The Domain. We got up bright and early on Sunday and headed to McDonalds for some egg McMuffins (with a quick stop to Kohls for some warmer clothes...it was only 63 degrees!) then we were on our way to see Thomas! Our half an hour drive turned into an hour and a half thanks to some traffic but we still made it on time to get in some really fun activities. Our train ride was at 3pm and we arrived around 1:15pm. There was face painting, bounce houses, tattoos, story time, sing a longs, and everything else you could think of! Drew was excited to see Sir Topham Hat and all the other Thomas characters...but most of all Thomas! He was sure to get Thomas painted on his face and then we headed into the souvenir shop. His dad gave him $30 to buy something special plus he had money from me so he was in heaven! He walked away with a Thomas reusable bag, a poster, a blanket, a Hiro Train, and a pop up Thomas tent (his dad's purchase). Drew was on cloud nine the entire day even despite him not napping. We (along with about 1,000 other people) rode in Thomas' freight cars and the conductor gave Drew a special certificate that labeled him as a junior engineer! As our last Thomas hurrah, we went to take a picture with Thomas. We waited in line and luckily got our turn to sit just in front of Thomas. Well, Drew got mad because he couldn't actually sit ON Thomas so no smile was given for the "money shot" picture of the day. He cried until his Thomas face painting was no longer legible. Stick a fork in his...he was D-O-N-E. He was so exhausted from all the excitement, he passed out in the car about 30 seconds after eating dinner and slept the entire 3 hour drive back home. It was a really good day and left me with proof that a parent will sit through about almost anything for their kid :)

Bonding. The Male Way.

Brad took Drew to the State Fair today with the Schwabs (Brandon, Rachelle, Christian and Maycee) and apparently the boys couldn't quite make it to the potty ;)

Folsom Rodeo 2011

We decided to treat the kids and go to the Folsom Rodeo this year because we were able to catch a break on ticket prices! We bought our general admission tickets and got there right at 6pm when the gates opened. Let me tell you...it was HOT! I do believe it was the hottest day of the summer thus far! Everyone's seats were directly in the sun and thank god we brought a water bottle to squirt each other down because we were melting! The show started around 7:30 and proceeded to get better as the sun went down. The kids were troopers and pretty much watched the whole show (with the occasional potty breaks and hot dog/soda trips). This was the first year that Drew wasn't afraid of the fireworks show! He still held his ears but at least he wasn't crying :) It was a great night with a fantastic family!!

Cupcake Decorators at Large

I had 3 cake orders to finish this weekend and as you can imagine, it was a difficult task with these two little munchkins running around in the house! So what did I do? I gave them cupcakes to decorate! Drew's was exact, clean and neat while Ava's was creative, messy and fun! I can begin to grasp these two different personalities already :)

Drew's First Movie!

Sorry the picture is so dark...I don't have a flash on my phone :) Drew and I went out on a day date and saw Cars 2 at the El Dorado Hills cinema! We stopped by the dollar store to get a bunch of candy before hand, of course :) He was really excited to watch the movie and stayed in his seat until the last 30 minutes when he wanted to sit on my lap and wiggle around. I love sharing these moments with Drew...wouldn't trade them for the world.

Moving Day!!

Today we moved to 1002 Figueroa Street in Folsom (right behind Sutter Street in old Folsom) and couldn't be happier to start our new life! Since moving here, we have been a very active family! Going to farmers markets, Thursday night markets, second Saturdays, walking to the river...anything we can do outside, we do! We love it here :)

Karate Star in Training

Drew got a Karate uniform from Clint LeMay for his birthday and he couldn't wait to try it on! As you can see, he's got a little room to grow in it ;)

"No more diapers cause I'm a big boy"

This weekend we decided that there would be no more diapers! We took Drew to pick out his very own undies (Lots of Thomas the Train undies, of course) and got him really excited about it the week prior. The first time we put Drew into his new undies, he kept repeating "It's pee pee time" and would run to the potty every 5 minutes :) Only 2 accidents later, and a few runs through a grocery store desperately searching for a toilet...this boy was pretty much potty trained! I am so proud of him!!

My Sweet Boy is THREE!!

We hosted the party at Grandpa Franks where there was a huge bounce slide and of course...a Thomas the Train cake.

Everyone...Meet Triage!

Triage was born January 15, 2011 and is a welcomed addition to our family!

Easter Bunny is Comin to Town!

The Easter Bunny came and hid tons of eggs and candy for Drew! Not one egg was left un-discovered :)

Drew has a new angel in heaven...

You were taken too soon, mom...we will miss you forever.

DENT, Diana Lynne (Hill)
Born in Sacramento, CA and passed away of cancer April 21, 2011 in Orangevale, CA at the age of 51. Beloved wife of Kenneth D. Dent for 31 years. Dearly loved her children, Bradley D. Dent (Corinne Dent) and Danielle M. Dent (Jason Johnson). Adored her grandchildren, Andrew Dayle Dent and Colten Scott Johnson. She leaves behind loving parents, Lee and Edie (Sue) Hill; one brother, Michael Hill of Las Vegas, NV; three sisters, Denise Hill, Sandy (Jack) Maye, Sharon (Tom) Langford. She also leaves behind loving in-laws, James and Louise Dent; sister-in-law, Gail Neeley; and two brothers-in-law, Ronald (Martha) Dent and David (Cindy) Dent. She will be dearly missed by her many relatives and friends, especially her 93 year old grandfather, Robert C. Hopkins, Sr. Diana graduated from Bella Vista High School and earned a Certificate in Design from American River College. She worked for Expo and Home Depot Stores for 11 years and worked as a florist designer for Hazel Tree Florist in Fair Oaks. When Diana was 16 years old, she was the youngest manager of the Inks A&W in Folsom, CA. She loved to travel to Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean as she loved the tropics. She and her husband, Ken, belonged to local antique car and hot rod clubs. Diana's passion was interior decorating and flower arranging. There will be a Celebration of Life on May 4, 2011 from 2-5pm at the Croatian American Cultural Center, 3730 Auburn Blvd., Sacramento CA. Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society , 1545 River Park Dr., Ste. 100, Sacramento, CA 95815

Drew's Heaven

As an early birthday present to Drew, we decided to take him to the Sacramento Train Museum! We saw all the different trains and Drew ooood and awed over each one and then we rode the big, real train! We were sure to buy him a train whistle prior to the voyage and he repeated each whistle after the conductor blew his :) Best day ever!

Drew's 1st Pet!

Sotirios has a snake named Mitch and this mouse was supposed to be his dinner...but Drew had other plans for her. Her name is Kicks :)

My Son. The Romantic.

Drew is the sweetest boy out there, always making sure mommy gets a flower on all of our walks!

Everyone...Meet Ava :)

This is Ava. She is my current boyfriend, Sotirios' (it's pronounced, So-tear-eee-ous but Drew calls him Tear-ee-ous), daughter. She is about 8 months older than Drew and they get along really well but they can be very "Sibling" towards each other sometimes :) Drew's family is getting bigger, and he seems to welcome new friends and change with open arms!

Drew has a new cousin!

This is Colten Scott Johnson! Born just 3 pounds and 8 ounces to Danielle Dent & Jason Johnson :)

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 :)