GO RICE!

Rice won its bowl game last night by a landslide against Western Michigan, and I had to post this as a tribute to my Dad (a major Rice alum) and my husband, a recent Rice alum. As many of you know, Rice is a very prestigious school where only a few thousand even go there and it's considered "the ivy league of the south" so as you can imagine their football program has never been something to talk about because recruiting athletes who can even get in is a challenge. Obviously, something is going right with their program because this year they made it to a bowl and won! Congrats to the Owls and enjoy this video where my Dad is interviewed about Rice's progress this season! :)

Texas Bowl: Pregame with Rice

We're Home!

We just got home last night from a long day of traveling. We left Houston at 9 a.m. CT and got to our house right at 10 p.m. ET. A 12-hr trip total and only about an hour and 15 minutes of stops for gas and food. We did pretty well on our timing and it proved to be a good day to travel. Drew watched the movie he got from Santa, Calliou Holiay Movie, over and over again. It was a life saver! David drove the whole way while I actually stayed awake the entire time as well.
We had a wonderful trip home for the holidays and I will update the blog soon with all of our endeavors but I wanted our family to know we are safe and sound. Today will be a day of resting and getting back to normal, putting the house in order with new toys and new things as well as putting our very minimal Christmas decorations up.

Family Picture - Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas!!! For all of you who check out our blog, here is our official family photo this year. We had our family pictures taken by Jessica Wheeler (Peachtree Photography) and she did such a great job. We can't wait to show you more pictures that she took but here is the family one we are sending out this season. We are only sending them through the mail to those who don't see this regularly so don't think we forgot about any of you this year - we are just saving some time and money. May you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!!!

Christmas Letter 2008

Breakfast with Santa and Ward Christmas Party

On Saturday after David's 5K run, we went to David's office party which was Breakfast with Santa. They had real pictures of Santa taken and gave you one printed out with a frame too! They also took several pictures and gave us a CD with them on it so we could print out more and have various poses. We had eggs, sausage, bacon, and pancakes and it was great to meet more people David works with and their families.
Later that night, we attended the ward Christmas party where we had a lot of fun. We really like the people in our ward and feel like we have real friends there! We had a good potluck dinner, the kids decorated sugar cookies, we sang Christmas songs and we saw Santa for the third time that day. The funniest part was that Santa came out and everyone was waiting in line to see him. No one was on his lap yet so Drew just ran straight up to him, sat on his lap, smiled for a picture and hopped off. It was hilarious! He was quite efficient and did all this before anyone felt upset about it.
Drew now talks about how he has seen Santa Claus 4 times already this season!!! :)

7 things...

I've been tagged by my good friend, Hilarie! Here it goes...
7 things I want to do before I die: have more children, see my children grow up, have grandchildren, visit church history sites, take a family history tour/trip, learn how to sew, go to a college football national championship game where Texas wins it all!
7 things I can do: therapy, keep a calendar, make friends, be a peacemaker, listen to others, give affection, and be thrifty!
7 things I can't do: play piano, sew, quilt, sing, run a marathon, give up tv, and lose those last 10 lbs!
7 things that attract me to the opposite sex: humor, athleticism, faith, honesty, intelligence, hard-worker, and integrity.
7 things I say most often: how was work?, Drew, really?, I love you, what do you want for dinner?, potty, and have we decided on a name yet?
7 celebrities that I like: the non-pretentious ones and there aren't many of them, no one I can think of!
7 favorite foods: anything marinara, chips and salsa, steak and mushrooms, chocolate ice cream with nuts and fudge, sushi (cooked), salad with a good ranch dressing, and cheeseburger with fries and a milkshake - mmmmm, I'm hungry!!!

Now I tag 7 people: Melissa T., Laura J., Jaimee K., Shelyse D., Jenise C., Tiffany W., and Louise J.

Jingle Bell 5K Run

David ran in the Peachtree City Jingle Bell 5K Run this morning. It has become a family tradition to run a race around Thanksgiving each year for David and all of his siblings in honor of David's dad who passed away last year from lymphoma. David's dad's birthday is around TG each year so it is a way to commemorate his life and a commitment to exercise, a healthy body and a healthy way of life.
David ran the race which he described as being much more uphill than expected in just under 28 minutes! We are very proud of him and his efforts and I know his Dad would be too. For this race, they tied jingle bells on their shoes and now Drew is wearing them on his own shoes. They also had Santa and Mrs. Claus there, and Drew was able to meet them both. We even had some time during the race to play on the playground while David was running. Beva was so happy she was able to join us in the family activity too!

Last year with Santa...

So, I had to post the Santa Claus picture from last year compared to the one we took this year at Stone Mountain. What a difference, huh? Now, some of you might think this picture is so sad but it literally lasted a second and he calmed down quickly. I, personally, find it too funny. I guess Drew was not traumatized too much because a year later, he is sitting on Santa's lap smiling and telling him a whole list of trains he wanted.

Snow Mountain Christmas

On Friday after Thanksgiving, we went to Stone Mountain again. We had been promising Drew we would go after the first time we went and chose to go after the TG holiday to enjoy the Christmas festivities. We were able to go with the Homer family, and we all had such a good time.
We started off with watching the Polar Express movie in 4D at the Stone Mountain theater. It was really neat when they sprayed water in your face as the train hit ice and you could smell the hot chocolate that was served on the train. It also looked like it was literally snowing in the theater as well.
Then, we rode the train (Drew was enamored again) and they played fun festive Christmas carols the whole time. Next, we played 18 holes of miniature golf. Drew had a blast playing golf since we have been playing with his indoor golf set Uncle Damon and Aunt Amy gave him last year for Christmas. When he'd get the ball in the hole, he'd run off screaming, "I did it! I did it!" It was too cute.
We ate some burgers for lunch, saw the snow angel, and then saw a musical Christmas show that really got you in the spirit of the holiday. Then, we saw a comedic portrayal of Charles Dickens' Scrooge story which was acted out really well, drank hot chocolate and waited in the rain for Santa Claus. Drew was excited to see Santa Claus and he proceeded to tell Santa all the trains he wanted for Christmas. It was so fun to see him really get into the holiday this year. Finally, we saw the holiday laser light show that they project up onto the mountain. The many lights that were lit at night were beautiful and it was such a wonderful day!!!

Black Friday

Last year I had a blast on Black Friday shopping with my sister-in-law, Wendy, and my mother-in-law, Colleen, for the first time ever. They really did initiate me into the whole experience. So, in honor of them, I was determined to join in this year.
Well, I looked and looked for something I wanted or needed that was worth getting up so early and going all by myself for. This was it. I decided I'd go to Walmart and get some Christmas pajamas for Drew. They were only $4/pair so I bought the Thomas ones for this year and the Mickey Mouse ones for next year. But I was disappointed with the fact that Walmart only has the specials they put in their ads, nothing more than that. And it was a madhouse - you couldn't even push your cart around so I abandoned mine half-way through. I left only spending 25 minutes there and $8 which I think is great but I would have loved to get a discounted Christmas tree which was decent or something I just couldn't refuse and there wasn't any of that. I have pretty much finished my Christmas shopping already getting good deals and I wasn't going to travel to the next town over for anything either. So, I did it - I experienced another Black Friday but it wasn't near as thrilling.

Hook 'Em Horns!

Thanksgiving Day included a fantastic dinner with the Homer family. It seriously was absolutely delicious and we ate a ton! They were so kind to invite us over and we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday thanks to them. Sophi (their 10 yr old daughter) is adored by Drew and he just played and played with her. She is so good with him and he literally cries when we have to leave their house.
We got home and put Drew to bed just in time for the late game here with Texas and Texas ATM. We wore our Texas orange all day (well, I don't have a maternity Texas shirt so it was really the boys that were dressed up but I do have my UT handbag I've been carrying all season long) and we ROCKED that game. It was awesome. I would have even liked the score to be higher although we beat the aggies by 40 points. There is just different emotions from me during that game than any other and I'll keep those to myself because I do have a lot of aggie friends but I really enjoyed the outcome. GO TEXAS!!! :)

29 weeks

On Monday, I was 29 weeks. I went to the dr. and they didn't really say anything else about my pain and discomfort lately. I met with a new dr. because my own dr. wants me to meet with all of the dr.s of the practice over the next month or so just in case they end up delivering me. So, I met with a male dr. and he was very nice but I was describing my symptoms once again thinking, "how would you know anything about what I am feeling and what I am describing?" It's a big barrier for me which is why I choose female dr.s for myself. Anyway, he said it could have been Braxton Hicks contractions as well but then I hear those are not supposed to hurt. SIGH... anyway, I've been managing the pain much better this week - taking it easy when I need to. My worst times of the day are after lunchtime but luckily that is when Drew typically takes a nap so I've been resting. If I do have a big day of walking and doing stuff, then I just simply schedule the next day with nothing too much going on.
Anyway, we were taking this picture and Drew wanted to kiss the baby so there you have it. He's pretty cute telling me when I eat that the baby must be hungry and he is excited to hold her when she 'gets out.' The only time he's been upset so far is the thought of sharing me with this baby as its mom. But we'll approach that when it comes. :)

Thanksgiving Feast

Friday was Drew's Thanksgiving Feast at his pre-school. They were able to choose what they wanted to dress up as, a Pilgrim or an Indian, and Drew chose to be a pilgrim. He told me he wanted to be a pilgrim because they came over to America to be free. He looked so cute all dressed up and he actually sang the song with his class. He even ate most of his food on his plate. It was really fun to be there with him again at a very special event. Enjoy the photos below! :)

It's Official...

FEBRUARY 9, 2009
It is this little one's due date as well as induction date. She won't be coming any later than this date so that is good to know. I'm not guaranteeing she won't come earlier but because this date worked out better with family member's schedules and I felt better about that date overall, it's official. The nurse said she is calling the hospital today to get the 7:30 a.m. time as well. Most of my family are coming in on Saturday so it does give another day or two if she does plan an earlier arrival. Thanks for all those who voted; it was a lot of fun to see what people had to say!

As far as my health, I started feeling better Wednesday and feel much better today, thank goodness. But Tuesday I was pretty worried it all wouldn't go away and bed rest was in my future. That was kind of scary so I am still drinking up plenty of water and making that my permanent habit. Thanks for all the support and concern.

Irritated Uterus at 28 weeks

So, yesterday was not a good day. I've been having pain in my pelvic bones for a solid week now, making it hard to get up and down. But I thought that was just because you can feel a lot of pressure because the baby has been sitting low for so long. But it got worse and yesterday, I was in a lot of pain. It felt like cramps, and I had difficulty getting around. David insisted I call the doctor and speak to the nurses there.
Come to find out, I have an irritated uterus due to dehydration. She said "tiny contractions" can happen because the uterus is irritated by not getting enough water in my body. So, my water consumption went into overdrive along with taking extra-strength tylenol. I did lie down, and I felt better. Hopefully, this will dissipate. I felt a lot better this morning until a few hours in, and I was hurting again. The nurse said if I can't make this go away on my own, I'll have to come in. But I do have another appointment next Monday so that gives me a few days to see what happens.

Christmas Village

So, I am starting to take out the Christmas decorations. For the past few years, my grandmother has given us all gifts from her own home for the holidays. I have always loved these villages with houses that light up, and I now have 7 of them! I am still working on how I am going to rearrange them as people walk in, but I love having David's grandmother's record player to put up my decor. Here is Drew with the houses that light up and a picture of them when you don't put the flash on. What was priceless is when I turned them on tonight in the dark and Drew visibly gasped saying, "OH MY!... IT'S WONDERFUL." David and I could not stop laughing. :)

27 weeks

I had a doctor's appointment this week, and it went well. The baby's heartbeat was slower, in the 130s, but healthy and strong. She has definitely moved more towards the middle of my belly instead of sitting so low, thank goodness. Although I am still experiencing pain in my lower pelvic bones.
The doctor asked me how I felt entering my last and final trimester, and I am definitely feeling like things have gone by fast. It seems the first trimester you don't feel well, the second one goes by before you know it and then the third one is the uncomfortable stage. I am starting to feel uncomfortable, but I know it only gets harder so I am maintaining positivity and appreciating everything.
I am regretting letting David convince me we could "really use" the king-size bed during this pregnancy. It all sounded good to have more room, although David would admit he was the one it really sounded good to, because I simply am having a hard time moving around in it. In order to get close to David, I have to roll over literally and it takes SO much effort and then to reach anything on the nightstand is a whole other story. But I know it will be heavenly after the baby arrives, right? :)
So, the last bit of news is that the doctor gave me two dates to choose from to have this little one. Feb. 3 or Feb. 9 (my actual due date) are the dates my doctor is on call, and I can be induced. I'd like to choose my due date, but I do fear I'd go early and my family would not be here as they are planning. Drew was induced one day before my due date, and I didn't have any signs he'd come early, but apparently each birth is so different and unpredictable. The date of 2/9/09 is pretty easy to remember and dates more towards the beginning of the month, I tend to have a harder time remembering. David seems to think there is no reason to have the baby come any earlier than she needs to which I agree with as well. It is also a bit further away from the holiday season which is always good too. So, what do you think? You can vote in my new poll up in the right-hand corner!

Drew's School Picture

This is Drew's school picture that was taken last month. I had heard the lady was really good at her job even though she was pretty strict with the whole picture-taking process. But you just dressed your kid for the day, dropped him/her off, and hoped for the best picture in the end. Basically, I was not there or anywhere near when they took it.

But sure enough, here is the picture, and I think it turned out so good! Even David was impressed and he is not easily impressed when it comes to photography. So, of course we bought the $35 package, and David already took one to work to put on his desk. I think it really captures Drew well, and I just can't believe he is smiling and looking directly at the camera. It also makes me realize how big he is getting! Enjoy! :)

Proposition 8

So, I know there is a lot of controversy on this issue but I had to bring it up. I heard from my friend, Mandy, who lives in California that there is a lot of "anti-Mormon sentiment" out there because Proposition 8 passed. Then, the demonstrations near the LA temple took place. I knew the LDS church had a lot to do with it but exactly what, I didn't know. So, I decided to find out by asking some people. Then, our Bishop got up today and talked directly to us about this issue for which I was grateful.

Basically, the church did not put its own money into this cause, but it did encourage its members out in California to do so. LDS people in California were estimated to raise about 20 million of the 38 million dollars raised to fund the commercials and the overall effort to pass proposition 8. However, LDS people only consist of about 1% of the population in California. Therefore, it obviously wasn't just church members voting for this proposition to pass but interestingly enough, the media is saying a big part of the African-American and Latino population actually helped it pass the most. Anyway, I find the information interesting to say the least.
I know the Catholic church was also fighting for this proposition to pass and here is what they stated in a recent press release supporting the LDS church.

Memories of Stone Mountain

"Look! I'm drawing Stone Mountain. Remember when we went with MawMille and Popo to Stone Mountain? Stone Mountain's my favorite... with lots of Christmas trees."

"Making memories" as my grandmother used to put it is so worthwhile. Good thing we bought a yearly pass and we are going back Thanksgiving weekend!

Stone Mountain

Last Saturday, we went to Stone Mountain for the first time. It was a gorgeous day, and it was a lot of fun. We visited many neat shops, rode a big train, rode up to the top of the mountain in a tram, and played on some rope courses. It was so great that David and I decided to get yearly passes so we can come back at Thanksgiving time for the Christmas lights and shows and probably in the spring time too so I can do the zip line (I've always wanted to do one). Anyway, we loved it and here are some really neat pictures of our adventure there.

VOTE!!!

We just voted! David, Drew and I all went together. Drew was able to cast a few votes in my voting booth with me. We all got these great "I'm a Georgia Voter" stickers (see image to your left). It only took about 50 minutes start to finish. And they had plenty of booths open but just not people filling them. I think they were working out the glitches with these yellow cards (seen to your left).
Anyway, I feel good about voting and have voted in every election I could since I was 18. I feel it is a way to honor the women who went before me and fought for my right to vote. Thanks to them, I am able to cast my own ballot and be appreciative of the freedom of choice that offers me. We'll see how it all turns out!

Ouch!

Today when I was putting Drew down for his nap, he hit his wrist on the nightstand while grabbing for his water. When I kissed it all better, he said, "Mommy, I'm falling apart!" hilarious what they pick up on and what they say...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

The morning of Halloween started off with a wonderful pre-school program for Drew. He had his mom, dad and MawMille and Popo there so he was definitely the center of all of our attention. He dressed up in his costume as Thomas the Train and participated in a parade and then a sing-a-long. He didn't do so much singing as I anticipated he would do - he was more mesmorized by all the costumes of his friends I think. (Of course, on Saturday when we were driving in the car, he began singing all the songs they sang the day before). Then, he had a little party in his classroom afterwards where they played Bingo. Drew decided he didn't care what they were calling out, he just put a candy corn piece on all of his board spaces and yelled, "I win, I win," and then began eating the candy. Pretty funny little boy.
That night included trick or treating with some friends - the Ashley family - and Drew got the hang of it rather quickly. He looked like a pro. He then told David his bucket was getting too heavy and that is when we pretty much ended our candy run. What a fun holiday and great night all together with our family.

The beginning of our visit

Last Thursday, my mom and her husband, Sam, came in town to visit us. We were really looking forward to their trip as it's been since August since we've seen them.
I got the house all ready for them to come and see it for the first time and cooked some meals in preparation for their arrival. We were excited to have them in town for the holiday weekend.

Drew is sitting on "MawMille"'s lap playing catch with "Popo" and having so much fun. He is wearing the Halloween pajamas they sent him some weeks ago.

Going for a bike ride. Drew can really ride the bike they gave him last year for Christmas so much better now. He started off pretty anxiously down the driveway and had a slight spill at first but got right back up and rode down the sidewalk.


Drew and MawMille playing trains. He kept asking her to play with him all weekend long. Thank goodness for grandparents!!!

More pictures to come...

Jumping Jelly Bean

Jumping Jelly Beans has become a new tradition recently for Drew and his friends. We go every tues and thurs afternoon practically. It is so much fun for both Drew and I because he gets to play with his friends and I get to talk with all the moms! And he takes an awesome nap afterwards because he is so tired! I can only go when Drew has a friend there to play with because I can't do all the structures with him at this point in my pregnancy nor do I have the energy.

Here Drew is sliding down his favorite slide.


Drew is inside the jumping area. They love playing with these balls - we just have to make sure everyone has one!

And this is when he likes to throw the ball out and have me throw it back in to him.

Pumpkin Carving

Monday night for FHE we went over to the Denison's home and carved our pumpkin. It was so much fun. The Denison's had a very creative FHE treasure hunt for the kids where they had the kids search all over the house for clues that led to worldly treasure which was a box with money on the outside and nothing on the inside and then led them to an eternal treasure which was a box of pictures of the family, the temple and Jesus Christ. It was so well done and Drew loved it. He just followed everyone and at the end when he had our family photo in his hand and was asked why his family was important, he answered, "because of my mommy and daddy." Too cute. I can't wait to hear him add "and my sister" to that! :)
We then carved pumpkins and this year we chose to do the bats on our pumpkin. David wanted to do the simple ghost but with Drew's fear of ghosts lately, maybe we'll do that one next year.

Ring Toss Video

Drew probably needs some practice with the ring toss but it's too cute his reaction when he finally makes it! :)

Pumpkin Patch

Drew's preschool did a small pumpkin patch yesterday, and I went to capture it all. It was fun to see him with his classmates and his teachers. Again, I was the only parent there for the occasion. Where I realize this is not a huge event, I think any event is special when it comes to Drew. In addition, this is the luxury I have as a stay-at-home mom - getting to be anywhere he is at anytime!
So, Drew and his schoolmates did a bean bag toss, ring toss, played with hoola-hoops, and got to pick out their own small pumpkin to keep. They also went inside to read Halloween stories and pose for a picture in the wooden cutouts of a scarecrow. It was fun to see him at school and he enjoyed me being there. He actually did much better when I left, simply waving to me and saying, "Goodbye, Mommy!" We are excited about his Halloween Parade, sing-a-long and party at his school on Friday!!!

Trunk or Treat

Last night was our ward's Trunk or Treat activity. We had a good time with so many friends and David and I were talking again today how much we really like our ward here. We had some great chili and cornbread to start off the activity and then we all went outside for candy and fun. At first, Drew just wanted to be with his friends and kept telling me he had enough candy, even though he had like 3 pieces. So, we had to warm up to going to car to car to say, "trick or treat," and "thank you" for the candy. But he did pretty well. Then, David took over and went with Drew and Drew was saying he had enough candy again! But he did do a few cars with David and we called it a night. Surprisingly, we ended up running out of candy as I didn't know the older kids come around several times! So, next year we'll know only to give out one piece of candy at a time. Anyway, what fun we had with everyone and such a nice night!

Tagged!!

My friend, Laura H., tagged me (by the way, I think tags are a lot of fun!) so here are 7 weird/interesting things about me or that have happened to me:

1. David and I have never had a Christmas tree is the almost 8 years we have been married, nor have we ever spent a Christmas at our own house. We are always at our family's home for the holidays which is what we prefer.
2. I was a drill instructor in the band my senior year of high school - yes, I taught freshman how to march and play their clarinets at the same time!
3. I always played "school" when I was little. I loved that my grandmother worked at an actual school and gave Keely and I all her extra supplies like real tardy slips, attendance sheets, etc. My mom said I loved playing 'teacher' and she saw that I wanted to become a teacher and steered me away from that because they didn't make enough money (my mom was a teacher for years). Little did she know, I'd become a therapist and let's be honest, some teachers make more $ than what I got offered coming out of graduate school.
4. I played on an intramural flag football team in college and then David and I played on a team with both our brothers (and my sister's boyfriend at the time) right after we got married.
5. Everyone was in the room with me when Drew was born - the list includes David, my mom, my sister, my mother-in-law, my grandmother and yes, even my Dad! It was such an amazing experience that hopefully, we can have a repeat when this little girl is born.
6. At the age of 27 (and david being 25) we purchased our very own burial plots - I think that is kind of strange! We may not own much but we do have two very nice pieces of land in a cemetery in Texas.
7. I never like to see a movie twice - it's totally boring to me if I know what's going to happen next. So, we never buy movies (except for Drew of course) but rarely see movies either.

I am supposed to tag 7 people so I decided to tag some of my new Georgia friends who blog to find out more about them: Tiffany W., Jenise C., Laura J., Jaimee K., Shelyse D., Melissa T., and Lyn H. If you've already done this one, no worries; it's just fun!

Shopping with my boy

So, it was pretty cold all day today. For some time, it's been cold in the mornings but warm up into the most beautiful days. Today was chilly throughout, and I didn't mind it a bit. Fall is my favorite time of year (as opposed to summer when I was much younger) and we have broken out our jackets and warmer clothing.

Today, Drew and I took Beva to get groomed, went to the post office and then headed to the Avenues to go shopping. Yes, I am already feeling in the Christmas shopping mood. So, we walked around some stores and they had a cute pumpkin/scarecrow display we took a few pictures at outside. Drew is just so much fun right now - talking so much and having conversations with us. He also got to go shopping at Home Depot with dad last night while I was at a Young Women's activity.

We also had time with friends today eating lunch and playing which made it such a fun-filled day! Next week, my mom and Sam are coming for Halloween weekend to visit us. We are so excited and counting down the days...

Another new song

Drew got in the car again today singing a new song. I just love to hear him sing and be happy about it. On Wednesdays, the kids go to 'chapel' which is where they learn a Bible story and sing some songs. When we got home for lunch, I had him sing it for David and recorded it.


He is saying, "rejoice," at the end of it by the way...

More pictures from our day out with Thomas

Here are the pictures we took of our fun-filled day with Thomas!

Day out with Thomas

We had quite the adventure this weekend at the "Day out with Thomas" event we took Drew too. We ended up driving a little over 2 hours to get there and then again driving that on the way home, but it was worth it.
Drew kept asking, "Where's Thomas?," when we were driving down there and we told him Thomas was far away and it would take us a while to get to the place to meet him. He actually slept some which was great and woke up 10 minutes before we arrived.
We parked, rode a tram up to the event, and Drew jumped out and started running. It was hilarious! He even took a moment to stop in mid-run to jump up and down with excitement. He was absolutely thrilled. The look on his face when he saw Thomas was just pure awe. He loved it. He didn't care what other things they had going on, he could've stared at Thomas the rest of the day.
First, we just got in line to board Thomas and ride the train. Drew was smiling the whole time. When the ride started, he just stared out the window. Clowns came by and he didn't even care. They were playing Thomas music over the loud speaker and kids were singing. It was too much. After the ride, we went into this large tent full of Thomas stuff and souvenirs to buy. Of course, I knew the prices were outrageous so the only thing we bought was a brand new train that said, "Day out with Thomas," on it and a new Thomas book to read at bedtime. Then, we stood in line for our picture with Thomas. This is the picture we bought of our family with Thomas that will go in his Thomas-decorated room.
They also had face-painting which Drew was not interested in or the temporary tattoos, but they had an activity event to play with gobs of train tracks and trains. They also had food, kid's musical performers, a big Thomas made of legos, and some bouncy equipment. He really just loved watching Thomas pull out of the station for the next ride and pull back in. He also met Sir Topham Hat (the railroad commissioner) and went right up to him, took his picture, and even hugged him which was shocking because Drew usually is scared of characters. All in all, it was a great event - Drew waved goodbye to Thomas and told him that maybe he'd see him next year. What a fun day to be a parent! :)

Here are the rest of our pictures from such a FUN day! THOMAS

Responsibility

Drew's new chore is Beva - his job is to let Beva outside to go potty and to let her back in when she barks/cries. We have been teaching him that each of us play a role in the family and each of us do our part to help out. At first, he kept telling us that this was not his job or "you do it," but now, he seems to really like it and feel good about doing it. He says it's his chore and we praise him on how good of a job he is doing with it. I guess we've finally gotten to the part where having a pet is teaching our son responsibility - yeah, Beva!

Softball Game

David joined the softball team at Cooper and had a game last week. Drew and I went and watched. Drew loved getting to see Daddy play and even went into the dugout with David to watch parts of the game.

Air Show

Me and Drew in front of an Apache helicopter.

Drew waiting for the air show to start and snacking on goldfish.

Drew found the umbrella and was having a blast playing with it.

Running down the hill.

David and Drew checking out a plane we'd love to own one day!

Kinsey and Drew

David and Drew

Kinsey and Drew in front of a car they put an airplane engine in...

23 weeks

I had my doctor's appointment on Monday and everything still looks good with this little one. She had a strong heartbeat in the 150s and was found very low. In fact, I had told the doctor she is sitting way lower than Drew and come to find out that is where she was when the dr. found her heartbeat. I also commented that David can't quite feel her move yet and the doctor said that should happen over the next month.
We also talked about getting a date on the calendar to induce me - somewhere between Feb. 2 and my due date, Feb. 9, so my family can start making their plans to come for her arrival!
We are still working on naming her - Drew's vote is for Dilan Camille as he told us that's his favorite. We'll see. But I am thankful for a healthy pregnancy, only a 9 lb gain at this point, and a healthy baby so far.

Halloween Song

Drew started singing this song last night as we prepared to have our Family Home Evening. He must have learned it at school because we didn't know it and it was so cute to hear him sing it all by himself. HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!!! :)

Happy Birthday, David!!!

David turned 31 years old today - we celebrated by going to the air show yesterday (more pictures to come), seeing TX beat OU (Go Horns!), going to Chili's for dinner last night all because they have good ribs and David's favorite dessert, and me making a homemade ice cream cake (my first time) for after church today.

Above is a picture of Drew and David chowing down on dessert at Chili's.

Here is David and Drew with the homemade ice cream cake I made. There is no Baskin Robbins here so we had to do with my attempt to recreate one of their cakes. It all went very well until I decided to substitute hot fudge for the "icing" as opposed to cool whip. Yes, you can see in the picture, it started melting as it went off the sides of the cake but it still tasted good! We invited the Homer family over for cake - they are a family that moved into our ward right after we did and they are so nice and friendly. We are really enjoying getting to meet new people here and making new friends.
Drew blowing out the candles with his Dad. Drew is so good at singing, "Happy Birthday," now - it's adorable.


Happy 31st Birthday, David. We love you so much!