Drew - 11 months

Drew is 11 months old!!!!  I can't believe his 1st birthday is almost here!  He is all over the place now crawling, pulling up, climbing, and walking around furniture.  He shows no interest in standing on his own or walking on his own.  He is still a good eater....he'll eat most anything you put in front of him, especially if he can feed himself.  His sleeping still has room for improvement.  He slept until 7 or 7:30 a few days in a row and I got excited, but now we are back to 6:30 (or earlier) most days.  He also fights pretty much every single nap.  He now has 8 teeth (4 on top and 4 on bottom).  He can say "hi" and "dada".  He loves his mommy and really likes to hang all over me all day long!  Drew loves playing with balls, bathtime, playing in the sand, and pushing cars around.

We love swinging and being outside!!!!

 I love digging in the corn....

 until Taylor tries to make me a construction worker by putting a bucket on my head!

Here is a short video:



September....

We've been spending as much time as possible outside while it is nice out!  The kids have been playing out back a lot on the swingset, in the sandbox, and picking up acorns!

 We are trying to go to the zoo at least once a week before it closes in October.  Drew likes to ride the carousel now!  Taylor and Ben got to pet a kangaroo joey last week.

 Taylor's soccer league had a midseason party last weekend.  The kids had a good time dancing, eating snowcones, and watching fireworks!

We also celebrated Grandma's 60th birthday!!!!  Happy Birthday, Grandma! 

1st Day of Preschool

Taylor started her second (and final) year of preschool today!  She is going two mornings a week to a different school than last year.  She had a great day today and keeps asking when she gets to go back!  I asked her about some of her "favorite" things today.  Hopefully I remember to do this at the start of every school year so we can see how she changes!

 She was adament that she "just wants to be me" when she grows up.  I gave her many examples of jobs, etc. but she seemed almost offended that I would suggest she be something other than her!

Sox and Soccer

Troy and Ben went to Crown Point/Chicago over the weekend to hang out and go see the White Sox play.  This was Ben's first game!

 Taylor, Drew, and I stayed home because she had her 2nd soccer game of the season.  She is on "Team Aruba"!  The team did a lot better this week than last, but Taylor has a long way to go in her soccer skills!  She isn't quite aggressive enough at this point, but she sure does enjoy the water breaks and the snack after the game!

10 Months

Drew is 10 months old and he is a wild man!  He is so squirmy all the time....loves to crawl, pull up, climb, and get into everything.  His favorite places are the stairs, the pantry, refrigerator, and the toliet!  He is usually really happy unless he is tired.  And, he is often tired because fighting naps is his newest game.  He loves to play up in his crib and do anything but sleep.  He still wakes up before 6 a.m. everyday, but I have decided I am done with that so I don't go up there anymore.  He will fall back asleep and sleep until 6:15 or so.  He is still a pretty good eater, but I am starting to see signs of him becoming more picky about what he eats.  Drew now has 5 teeth....3 on top and 2 on the bottom.  He can clap, wave, give high fives, and sign "more".

 Look closely and you can see his fangs!

Watching Daddy Mow

Ben's Birthday!!!

Grandpa Rick came to our house on Friday night so we celebrated Ben's birthday with him!

 A group effort to open gifts!

 Excited about a 4 wheeler!

 This guy HAD to get on top of every gift!

 Making "mud pies" Saturday morning.

 We had a party for Ben Saturday evening.....here's the train cake I made.

 Oma made Ben this cute train station playhouse!

 We ended the night with a bonfire and sparklers!!!