Santa Visit

not quite what I expected....but I think it is priceless!

Santa Parade

It took a lot of struggling with Drew to get him bundled up and out of the house, but we made it (sort of) to the Santa Parade that the town hosts every year. I say sort of because I guess we missed Santa who must have come first. I always thought santa came at the end? We didn't wait in line for pictures this year, but Drew had fun watching the high school band play Christmas carols on the "town hill".

Earlier in the day, Drew played with the snow in the driveway...
...and had a little snowball fight with Dad.

Tis the Season

...for Christmas parties!

We took Drew to a party at our friends Michelle and Mike's last night. Drew was a little wild, but overall a good boy. His dinner consited of a chocolate chip cookie and he stayed up until 9:00...but what are the holidays without a sugar overdose and being over tired?

The party was a blast, eventhough I can't enjoy the holiday beverages :). They had a Yankee Swap and I had retribution for my #2 position last year....#1 this year! I had my choice of anything and what did I pick? Beer and scratch tickets. Did I pick the gingerbread house kit for my kid? Nope. Did I pick the picnic basket for myself? Nope. I picked the beer for my husband...whom I felt guilty for because he was chasing Drew around while I took part in the swap. Ok, maybe the scratchies were for me...

Drew, Logan and Ryan

Same boys, same party last year

Carolyn reading Thomas to the kids by the fire

All of the Yankee Swap action

Thanksgiving

Last year, I was so excited to cook a Thanksgiving meal. This year, I was all too excited not to cook at all! We had our dinner at Andy's parents with a large group of family.

Prior to the meal, we went to the XBHS football game where Drew kept yelling "go hawks"....however instead of a fist pump in the air, he did a hand motion like he was shoving the dog away. I don't think he quite got the concept of cheering.

Dinner landed right around Drews naptime, and he was getting tough, so we gave him lunch and tried to get him down for a nap. He wasn't having it. He was exhausted, but he knew there were lots of people downstairs to play with. So after trying for a while we gave up and he sat at the table and joined us for turkey (with ketchup).

After dinner, Drew went outside with his cousins and ran, and ran, and ran.....
I have started talking to Drew about Christmas and he is soooo excited. He knows that Santa is coming, and that he is bringing him toys. He loves to see snowmen and Santa all over the place - and he has a good eye so he finds them everywear! I started thinking that I should probably discuss the religious meaning of Christmas and focus a little less on the commercial...but he just loves those blow-up yard decorations! Seriously though, I would like to teach him about Jesus, I just don't really know where to start with an almost 2 year old. Hopefully I will find a small way to get it in his head that it is not just about the toys and decorations and candy etc... But I do know that I am more excited about this Christmas than any other and it is going to be so, so hard not to spoil him rotten just to hear him say "OH WOW....WOOKIT THAT!!"

A Real Haircut

Drew has technically had his first haircut, but that was just a tiny little snip around his ears. Today, I took him for his first real haircut...at the Barber! I was a little nervous since I had never been inside a barber shop and I was worried they would buzz off all of his baby hair. Drew was a pretty good boy, and as long as he had his cup of Cheerios, he sat relatively still.

Some of our adventures from earlier in the week included a freezing cold trip to the playground:

And wearing Daddy's sunglasses while riding in the car:

It has been a while since I have bragged about how smart he is, so I thought I would do a little catch up. Last week, Drew said his ABC's from start to finish..3 times in a row! After only reading a Library book twice with me, he picked it up and started reciting some of it back. He knows a lot of his books by heart and you would think that he could read if you sat next to him while he went through it, but I was shocked when he recalled that information so quickly. I don't keep track of new words anymore, because it seems like he knows them all, but he is doing pretty well talking in sentences and has begun using tenses. For example, he pointed out a new french door that dad put in..."daddy painted da door....poppy helped". Or, even funnier tonight in the tub "I tooted" (rather than the typical "toot").

Andy and I are often dumbfounded and don't really know where he gets this stuff from. You will hear us saying "where did this kid come from" quite often around the house.

'Nastics

I finally took my camera with me to gymnastics and got some shots of Drew in action. This class is one of my favorites. I may sound lazy, but since all of the parents and kids know each other better, it has become much more comfortable (i.e. all of the parents stand on the side and chat while kiddos run around and jump all over each other). No more chasing Drew around making sure that he is being polite...mostly, the kids just work it out on their own now.

Tumbling

Bubble Time - Drew usually announces to the class when it is time for bubbles.

Out Numbered

Today, we had our ultrasound and found out that Drew is going to have a little brother! We couldn't be happier. I can't wait until the can play together..and cause all sorts of trouble. Oh Boy!!!

Feeling Better

I am happy to report that we had a pretty good week last week. We stayed in for the first part of the week, but by Wednesday, Drew was ready to get outside! We bundled up and did some playing in the yard and even made a few trips to the playground. I am sure this is not the end of the winter illnesses, but hopefully we won't have anymore that require doctors visits and prescription medicine.

Life in the Petri Dish

We have had a long, long week at our house. Drew had a cold for the better part of the week..which he then gave to me, and of course I can't take anything! I am sure that he got it from one of the multiple cups he snuck sips from at the playground. His nose seemed to be clearing up at the end of the week, but on Thursday night he had a fever. A little Tylenol and then to bed and he was fine. I kept him home from his art class on Friday as to not spread any possible germs. Turns out, this was a good move because on Friday afternoon he spiked to 102.5. It didn't really phase him much, but I called the doctor because he was scheduled for a flu shot on Saturday that he could no longer have due to the fever. They said just watch it, give him the Motrin, and if the fever didn't go away in a few days, call back.

Saturday was just awful with another high fever and one cranky boy! When he woke up on Sunday morning again at 102, I called the doctor who wanted us to come right in. Thank God the office is open on weekends....I would not have wanted to be with him waiting in the ER. One look in the ears and we got the diagnosis: "2 RAGING ear infections". We got our Amoxycillin and were on our way. Thank God for that stuff! It takes exactly 3.5 hours for it to kick in. This can be proven by the pictures below:

Drew got his medicine at 1:00, napped for 2.5 hours, then slept like this for another hour.....
...then he was back to his usual tricks! Thank God! I had never been so happy to see him jump off of furniture.

You've Been Tagged

I have been tagged by Jenn, so here goes:

10 Years Ago, in October 1998, I was:
1. In my freshman year of college
2. Broke
3. About to start dating Andy (10 years next week)
4. A long, long, long way away from 2 kids!

Five things on today's "To Do" List:
1. Swim lessons
2. Starbucks
3. Playground
4. Pick up waffles, diapers and milk
5. Laundry

Five things that I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Put it all under my mattress
2. Save for kids school, braces etc.
3. Build a house
4. Give to charity
5. Travel

Five places I have lived:
1. Millis, Ma
2. Durham, NH
3. Allston, MA
4. Newton, MA
5. Watertown, MA
(and I have the parking tickets to prove all of it)

Five jobs I have had:
1. Busperson
2. College library
3. Florist
4. Human Resources Assistant
5. Retail Planner

Okay the people I'm tagging are:
1.Carolyn
2.Lindsey
3.Sara
4. &5. Anyone else who would like to participate

Swim Lessons

Drew and Daddy started their swimming lessons this morning. Drew had a lot of fun for the first 1/3 of the class, but towards the end, he was hanging onto Andy for dear life. This is his first lesson, so I think he just needs to get used to it.

Hopefully he will be happy to go back to his next lesson. Now that we have swim lessons and dance class (yes, we do dance class and yes, he is the only boy!) they are both at the Y, so he no longer screams when we walk in because he doesn't want me to leave him at childcare while I work out. Now that I can get him in the front door, maybe we can work on getting him back into the childcare room.

Happy Ween!

Drew spent all day yesterday practicing Happy Halloween: "Happy Ween", and trick or treat; "tick-o-teat". He was also excited that it was Lucy's birthday and we heard a lot of "Happy Birthday, Ducy" as well as "Happy Birthday Gandma" (eventhough her birthday was 2 weeks ago).

Drew had 3 of his friends over for a little party before trick-or-treating. We had a pizza dinner, thanks to poor daddy who spent about an hour in Papa-Ginos waiting for it. We called it in at 4:00, they said 35mins, he went to pick it up at 4:30 and got it at 5:30. But the kiddos filled up on treats while they waited.

After the party we headed out for some trick-or-treating. Drew caught on really fast! He quickly figured out how to open up his hand for optimal candy grabbing. He would try and swipe as much as he could from each bowl. He was not hesitant to go to any doors.

Unfortunately, we had some camera malfunctions last night and I got no pictures of the party or trick-or-treating. We took some photos ahead of time in his costume, so at least we have those.

Shortbread Cookies

Baking Tutorial: By Drew

When baking with mommy, I get to.....

...wear my apron that I look super cute in,

watch the dough mixing and make sure everything goes smoothly,

leave my mark in the cookie I want,
sit and have a snack while mommy washes dishes,
after eating dinner I play with my cookie as if it were a real choo-choo,
finally....enjoy!

Sorry, Black Rock Cafe

We had a long night and an even longer morning. Nothing seemed to be going right. With all of the wind, the power went out sometime in the middle of the night. Andy and I woke up to "beep, beep, beep". Andy had a little more clarity than I and informed me that it was because the baby monitor lost power. I turned it off and Andy stumbled to open Drew's door and our door so we could hear if he woke up. Once back in bed...."BEEP, BEEP, BEEP..." Andy stumbles out to the hall to rip down the fire alarm. On his way he says "this will be easy with the light off", I say, "I will turn on my lamp"...he just sighed...oh yeah, no power. Once the fire alarm was ripped off the ceiling...."BEEP, BEEP, BEEP" continues. He struggles to find a match and a candle. "Carbon monoxide", I remember. Drew starts rustling hearing the commotion and Andy can't open the back of the alarm to take out the battery. Finally, all the beeping stops and we all go back to sleep (who knows what time it is). 3:30Am I wake up and realize the power is back on, so I go to get the monitor and turn it back on. Climbing back into bed I stubbed my toes (3 of them) and squealed in pain waking Andy. All of this, with intermittent shoving Andy because he was snoring (sorry honey, but you were), led for a looong night.
Now for the good part. Once we all woke up, and Drew had his milk and yogurt, we decided to go out to breakfast. One of our usual joints was closed due to power outage, so I said why don't we try the new place...Black Rock Cafe. I guess it was good that we hadn't been there before, because we won't be going back. We walked into the very small restaurant where several people were enjoying their Sunday morning pancakes. We stood at the front and waited to be seated when Drew had a little cough...followed by a little burp. Just when I was in the midst of asking "what was that?".....BLAH....he puked all over me, Andy, the floor. I turned and ran him out of there while Andy stayed behind and apologized. I felt so badly for the people who had to clean it up, because I am his mom and I was almost throwing up myself. HORRID...that is all I can say. You'd think that after all of the spit-up associated with the acid reflux he had as a baby would make me immune to the grossness. Nope, this is different! Way, way different. I guess it was only a matter of time that we had to deal with this, I just thought it would be in the privacy of our own home.
On the plus side, we are pretty sure that he is fine. No temp and acting completely normal. He was even copying us while covered in vomit saying "poor kid, poor kid". I think the cough just made him gag a little and then up everything came.
I think the Black Rock Cafe people need a sorry card and a tip in the mail. Do you think Hallmark makes an "I'm sorry I puked all over your restaurant" card?

Touch-a-Truck

One of our neighboring towns hosted an event where kids could come and climb all over different types of vehicles. There was also a Halloween parade. Drew wore his costume, but we didn't make it all the way to the parade. The event was a big hit, especially the "me-ment mixer" (cement). A bonus was the playground that was right there...most of the kids wound up there. It was cute to see a bunch of kids in costume climbing all over the playground. Drew's costume was very popular, we overheard lots of people commenting on how cute, realistic, etc. it was. One woman ran across the playground and asked me where I got it. Store bought, yes, but I am still quite proud of how darn cute it is...and how cute he is in it!

Drew's jaw dropping reaction to seeing the "me-ment mixer"

We ran into Jack...they had fun in the big digger

back of the ambulance

back of the cruiser..hopefully he won't ever be in the back of either of the last 2 vehicles again!