Christmas pictures

While my sister was in town I convinced her to help me try to get some early Christmas pictures. We set up our own "studio" in the dining room and did our best. It took several tries, but I think we finally got some keepers. We found a cool feature on our camera where you can accent one color and it turns the rest black and white. I think they turned up really neat.

Thankful for Family

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. My dad and sister were able to join us and we had a great time just being together, eating lots of great food, doing a little shopping, and of course watching Drew entertain us all. Here's a couple of family pics...

Drew, the photographer

Drew has found recently found a love of cameras and getting his picture taken. You have to be careful though, because as soon as he sees the camera coming he'll happily let you take one picture (if you're lucky) and then he immediately wants to see the picture that you took. (Remember the days when you had to wait for weeks to see if what you took actually turned out like you hoped?? I love digital cameras!!!) You can usually get him to go back and take another one, but eventually his interest turns to taking pictures himself. He's figured out that you're supposed to say "cheese" and smile and will do that as soon as he sees it coming. The other day he got a hold of my camera and was turning it to face him and saying "cheese" himself. Somehow he found the shutter button and proceeded to take several pictures in rapid succession of himself. Below are the results (and no, I didn't include them all!!) - hope you enjoy!

(this time the lens was zoomed out)

It's a......

BOY!!! We had our ultrasound last week and found out that Drew will be having a little brother. Everything looked great and he's growing and moving just like he should be at this point (in fact, he's measuring a little ahead of schedule). We're very excited about having 2 boys and can't wait to see the similarities and differences between them. (During the ultrasound the baby was pulling his arms up around his face and kept crossing his feet at the ankle, just like Drew.)

18 weeks

Drew is patting the "baby in Mommy's tummy" (please excuse his droopy jeans!)

Mommy and her boys!

Maybe someday...

Maybe someday I'll actually get back on track with this whole blogging thing. I was doing so well for awhile, and then this pregnancy - coupled with taking care of a 20 month old - has taken it all out of me!! I'm finally feeling like a real human being again (thank goodness!!!) and am finally getting to actually "enjoy" this pregnancy. I've been feeling the baby move quite a bit and we're down to only about 5 months until we meet this new little one.

Drew is growing and changing so much. He's picked up lots of new words and is talking so much more than just a few weeks ago. He loves to draw and write. One of his favorite pastimes is using a pen or pencil to "write" on just about any paper he can find. He's still definitely a lefty and is so cute when he concentrates on what he's writing (he sticks out his tongue and is so focused!). He's running everywhere and is so observant of his world (watch what you do and say around him - he's a copycat). I love watching him grow and develop and see the amazing changes that come with this age.

Now, on to what's been going on with us in the time since my last post. We've traveled back to Houston twice, celebrated Dave's retirement and Papaw's 80th birthday, Drew got his 6 month check-up for his tubes (they look great!), Drew and Russell dressed up for "Trunk or Treat" at our church, I had a birthday (29!!), Pumpkin Patch at Bammel, cheered for Texas Tech as they beat everyone (Go Raiders!!!! Now, beat the Sooners!), did some shopping, and enjoyed Mexican food (Taco Bueno, I LOVE you!). I'm sure there's more, but just thinking about it all makes me tired all over again. We're planning on staying close to home for a little while. My dad and sister will be joining us for Thanksgiving and we shouldn't have anymore trips to make until Christmas.

My boys dressed to cheer for Tech!

Get your guns up. Go TEXAS TECH!!!
"Mmmmmm" (This is the face that he makes)
Blowing bubbles

Drew, Russell, and Ben at the Museum of Natural History "Driving" the valves on the Christmas tree Drawing with sidewalk chalk
Drawing with Daddy out at lunch
Drew and Daddy dressed up for Trunk or Treat Drew and Gigi at Pumpkin Patch

Trying to catch up

Okay, so I was called out by my sister for not updating the blog and she was starting to go into withdrawals from not having pictures of Drew. So, in an effort to appease her (and the rest of you) I'll try to catch up and get some pictures in too. It seems like time has just flown since my last post. It's not that we've been overly busy or anything, the time has just gotten away from us. I can't believe it's already the middle of October!! Do you realize that means I'm having a baby in 6 months!!! I'm having a hard time getting my head around that. We had a doctor's appointment on Thursday and were able to hear the heartbeat (although it took 2 nurses and the doctor to find it = tense moments for Mommy, but all is well). Our next appointment is for November 13 and we'll have an ultrasound and regular appointment. If the baby is cooperative we should be able to determine the gender at that time and make sure that everything looks good.
Over the past month I've started feeling better (with a few rough days here and there) and am hopeful that I'll only continue getting better. It's wonderful to feel almost human again. Over the past month: my dad came to visit for the weekend, Russell had to go out of town recruiting for 2 weeks, Glenda came to my rescue once again and Drew and I spent time in Houston. While we were there I was able to spend most of my time just relaxing on the couch and enjoying Taco Bueno whenever possible. We were also able to make a trip out to the final home game of the season for the Astros (Drew's first game). Mostly it was just a relaxing time - thanks Gigi and Grandpa Randy for letting us come and taking care of us!!

Now, on to the pictures:

Our little "lefty" drawing

Playing in the sandbox with Gramps


Eating pizza

Astros game
The sandbox at Willie's

Updating the calendar
"Driving" the car (don't worry, we were parked and I had the keys)