Happy Halloween

Pumpkin Carving

Drew was obviously too young last year to help with the pumpkin carving, but this year it was game on. I knew it would get messy and I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I couldn't resist at least trying.

The project started out good with a little helper right by our side. After a bit of coaxing, he even stuck his hand and would pull out some of the gunk. 

But then somehow, he lost interest and this was more fun:

So we had to take over carving duties with some "supervision" from time to time....

But the pumpkin turned out great, and now Drew says 'elmo' every time he sees it!

We're no experts, or those families yet that can carve 4 pumpkins in one night, but I think our first family pumpkin turned out well. Thank god it's 2012 and there are templates out there to make life easier!

(Had to post this picture of my cheese ball and I!)

Blogger Playdate

So a while back, I somehow ran across Stephanie's blog and and after a bit of back and forth, we realized we were from the same area and attended the same high school. We follow each others blogs and it's been fun to 'get to know her' online. We've been 'blog buddies' since and continue to find more and more people that we mutually know. She knew I was coming to KC for a couple weeks and we decided to get the little ones together for a playdate. It was a first for me. Meeting someone in person that I have only communicated with online was scary, but I'm happy to say they were just as normal as I'd hoped! I have loved seeing Chloe's pictures for months now and couldn't wait to squish her little adorably large cheeks.

Just as expected, Chloe was a sweet, quiet little girl and Drew was an active, loud boy, but they played well together. Drew wanted to hug her every chance that he could, and Chloe taste-tested all of his toys for him. It was hard to snap a picture of them together as they were constantly on the go, but at least the pictures below have one of them looking! Isn't she just adorbs?!

Stephanie and I had so much in common and I hope we get these two together again when we're in KC!

Thanks for the fun playdate and I'm so glad we finally got to meet in person!

(Click here to find Stephanie's blog!)

Goodbye KC

We head back home tomorrow morning and although it will be good to be in our own bed, I will miss KC. These two weeks have flown by but I have loved seeing so many friends and extended family members throughout our visit! The amount of delicious foods we ate was sickening and my jeans are a bit tighter, but it was definitely worth it. There's nothing better than home-cooked comfort foods.

What will be missed the most, however, is these four faces from Drew.

I'm sure he'll be asking where they are when he wakes from naps and begs for kisses before nighttime, but at least he will have only good memories of this visit to KC. From walks with mimi, to funny faces with Poppa, to chasing games with Grandpa and learning colors with Gramma, Drew soaked up every second of their attention.

Oh... and we danced. We danced a lot.

                

Luckily, it's only a few weeks until we see my parents again, and then Derek's parents in a few weeks after that. And then, it's 2013!

.... now excuse me while I go have a few martini's in preparation for our 13+ hour drive with two annoying labs and the toddler.

Pumpkin Martini

So my blog buddy, Allie, posted this recipe a while back and we got around to making it this week with the fam. Might I say that it was absolutely delicious and you need to drop what you're doing right now and make it! (It's 5 o'clock somewhere, right?!) I'm somewhat of a lightweight and had to cut it down a bit with milk, but everyone was a fan. Even those who don't like vodka and normally don't drink martinis.

The ingredients are below and you simply mix the first 4, shake, pour into a martini glass and garnish with the nutmeg and cinnamon.

Enjoy!

4 Generations

The last time Drew saw his only great grandparent was July 2011 when he was only about 6 months old. Unfortunately, his grandma (Derek's mom) wasn't in town and we weren't able to get a picture of the 4 generations.

Well guess what we finally got? Yep! A good picture with the 4 generations including Drew's only great grandparent, Florence. 

Because Derek's mom is "Mimi", we decided his great grandma (Derek's mom's mom) would be called "Gigi". Drew has hugged her tons of times and given her plenty of smooches. 

I don't remember meeting my great grandmother even though I did when I was very young, and Derek never met any of his. Although I know Drew won't remember these times with Gigi, I'm glad he'll have these pictures to look at someday. I'm even more excited that he'll get to see her again at Christmas time and am positive he'll remember her by name.

Oh yeah and isn't this a great photo my talented brother-in-law took of Derek's side? Check out Matt's website here!

PS. We're working on smiling in pictures and still have to say "show me your teeth" to get something, but at least we're getting semi-better pictures. Now if he would have only done that for the first picture above!

The 1st Grandchild

Drew is the 1st grandchild on both sides of our family. I absolutely love that fact, but I feel sometimes that it was meant to happen that way. This post might sound selfish to most, but it's something I've always felt and needed to express in written word.

I've never really been fond of families with tons of children. I'm sure parents find ways to spend quality time with their children, but I don't know how. Growing up, it was just my brother and I and that was plenty. Derek has two siblings and never felt left out, but any more than that and I'm not sure how kids wouldn't feel left out. I look at the Duggar's and even "smaller" families with 6+ children and wonder how each of their children feels like both parents are there for them at all times. If you have to have a buddy system within an immediate family where an older sibling is the main 'help' for a younger one, does that mean you had too many to handle? I won't get into the economic and religious arguments for their choices, it's just my two cents on larger families in general. And I might be bias towards smaller families in an unfair way... maybe they have perfectly fine family dynamics.

But back to grandparents. As much as I would love Drew to grow up with cousins, much like we did, it's not in the picture for us. Our siblings are all in relationships, but they are either too new, or too young to start a family. Drew will be significantly older than his cousins and most likely our next child will be a bit older as well.

Here's where it gets sticky.

I don't mind that Drew is the only one. In fact, I kinda revel in that reality. I know my jealousy would spike if there were 5 little grandchildren running around together. I LOVE that my son gets 100% of his grandparents attention. I like knowing that both Gramma and Mimi get to focus all of their grandchildren Christmas shopping on Drew. And seeing their houses filled with pictures of Drew makes me smile. I feel as though a higher power knew I would do better with the first and only grandchild for a while before throwing others into the mix.

I realize someday this will change, but for now I'm content with Drew having 100% of their attention. There's nothing better than the the excitement of a grandparent seeing a grandchild in person after a long stretch of time and I'm glad we're the only ones experiencing that right now. Don't get me wrong, I can't WAIT til my brother or Derek's siblings start families as well, but for now I'm happy.

My little turkey is the one and only, and I absolutely love that.

Deanna Rose Farmstead visit - 10.20.2012

1.5 Playdates

So I went in to work on Tuesday and got to see so many wonderful faces that I hadn't seen in a while! It made me really miss working in the office and I'm so glad I got to spend a few hours surrounded by the wonderful employees at my company. That being said, I've worked from home for almost 3 years now and there were QUITE a few faces that I didn't recognize, nor had I seen before. It was also pretty quiet since I blast my radio at home throughout the day!

The first of my two playdates this week was Tues evening when I got to see one of my dear friends, Jenny, and her little guy. Carter is just 6 months behind Drew and it's surreal to see how much change there is between 15 months and 21 months of age. But I think it's more surreal that we have these two boys who are over a year old when it feels like we were all just in Cancun together. The warmth, the drinks, the endless sun..... oh wait, this post isn't about pre-children vacations.

So back to reality, Carter is just a hoot and his little way of dancing with his hands in the air is just adorable. Drew had a great time playing in the water table filled with corn, but absolutely loved pushing Carter in the mini wagon as well as enjoying rides himself. These boys will definitely be buds someday!

And then on Thursday night I got to meet little Brady who is the new son of a good friend of mine that I've known since high school. He is the "half" in my 1.5 playdates considering he is under 2 months old and therefore, wasn't really into 'playing' so much with Drew. Drew didn't mind though as he went about his business playing with their yoga ball and exploring the house.

I really had forgotten how wonderfully yummy newborns are with their delicious scent and warm bodies. Brady helped me with my baby fix and I loved holding his tiny body in my arms while stroking his little peach fuzz.

Can't wait to move home and see these two little boys more often!

Family Pictures

Nope, not of us this time, but of our Orlando friends! Melissa hadn't had any done in a while and I offered to snap some for her as a way to practice taking portraits. Below are some of my favorite shots, and can I just say how adorable Bailey and Brooks are?! They have the sweetest smiles ever!

And then someone decided to photo bomb my session...

Oh, and I just HAVE to post this picture. This is Drew with his girlfriend Bailey who is about a year younger. He was so sweet and gentle with her on our trip and would always want to hug and kiss her (as seen above). Isn't baby love just too cute for words?

Thanks again Melissa and Kev for being such great hosts and wonderful friends! Can't wait til we see you again!!

KC Pumpkin Patch

So Derek was accepted to work on a two-week case somewhere in Iowa and we decided to take advantage of a couple weeks spent with family. We packed up the car, dogs and toddler on Friday and drove all the way to KC. Since my job is ubber flexible and lets me work from wherever, I'm just working here in KC while both grandma's take turns watching Drew. Nice deal, right? Yeah, I feel pretty lucky sometimes. The drive went really well and the girls were MUCH better than they were when we drove home last September. (Confession: I may or may not have given them an extra dose of meds to calm them down). Drew was a pretty good traveler, thanks in part to the iPad, and overall the drive went fairly quick.

We debated on pushing through the last 3 hours of the 13 hour drive, but it would have taken us to 3am and we just couldn't do it. We landed in KC about 10:30 Saturday and have enjoyed spending time with both families as well as a quick 'date' to go see a movie.

As much as I enjoy just relaxing and laying around in our childhood homes with our families, I do enjoy getting out and experiencing adventures with Drew. On Sunday we ventured to the Pumpkin Patch with my parents and although it was really windy, we had a good time. Drew enjoyed another hayride of the season as well as touching and see animals, going down slides and picking pumpkins with Gramma and Poppa.

I'm sure everyone is tired of pumpkin patch pictures, but I had to get mine up! It's such a symbolic fall outing for our families and I look forward to the kettle corn each year! Oh yeah, and three cheers for Drew looking at the camera for a family shot!

Daddy's Boy

We're going through a stage in our household. 

I don't know how it started and personally I'm not a big fan of it.
Sometimes you wouldn't notice, but sometimes it rears it's ugly head. Big time.

This "stage" was a fear of mine a decade ago when realizing I would someday marry Derek. When thinking of our future, my visions would roll down the years when we had children. Due to the differences in our personalities and temperaments  I knew I would unfortunately be more of the 'disciplinary' parent. I had discussions upon discussions with Derek about how I refused to be the bad cop while he reaps the rewards of being the good cop someday. I must admit that he's been doing a good job trying to stay consistent with me and backing me up. I thought we were on the same level with how we were with Drew.

But then I noticed I was wrong. Somewhere along the lines, things have changed and now Drew asks for daddy when he wakes up, when we get home and when I'm putting him down for bed. I don't think I've been harder on him when he acts up than Derek has, but maybe I have. These questions then begin my internal struggle. Do I lighten up and face the consequences with Drew getting his way more? Do I start this discussion with Derek yet again? Maybe it's just a phase and I should stay consistent?

I was raised with two parents who were always on the same page and disciplined together. They never faltered and I could never go behind the other ones' back in order to get around punishment. I was rarely spanked as facing timeouts and being grounded were more my parents cup of tea. I liked that route and it's always how I envisioned our style with our children. And it's not like Drew needs "disciplined" yet, I'm more talking about when he throws food, or hits the dogs. Little things like that that simply need to be addressed before they get out of hand.

In reality, I'm hoping it's just the phase. Actually, I'm wishing and praying it's just a phase as it breaks my heart. Waking my sweet, sleeping little man up to go to school and his first question is "where is daddy?" crushes my insides and brings my stomach into my throat. Sure he's excited to see me when I pick him up from school, but the daddy questions start almost before we're out the door. As his mother, I want to be his world, but I feel the "mommy and son bond" is turning more towards the "daddy and son bond".

Advice, suggestions and similar stories all welcome during this rough time for me! I hate more than anything NOT being the preferred parent!

New Smyrrna Beach

One of the days on our Orlando vacay was spent at the New Smyrna Beach where the kids played and we relaxed. We really lucked out with weather as there were major storms to the North as well as the South of us. The beach that we were at, however, had beautiful clouds and sunshine galore. The sand on this beach was so fine and with the temperature in the mid-80's, it was a perfect beach day.

Drew loved playing with Brooks and seeing how much sand he could get all over the place. My baby is a beach bum at heart, just like his momma, and we probably could have stayed all day. Isn't little Miss Bailey adorable in her pink swimsuit and hat?

We even saw a huge blimp fly right over us. We told Drew to wave and he continued to do so until getting frustrated that no one was sticking their head out and waving back at him!

And just as I'm sure it was back in the 1800's, us women took the children to the car and the men got stuck carrying all of the gear.

The Day After Disney

The day after visiting Magic Kingdom, we swam around at our hotel pool and enjoyed some relaxation in the sun. It was a beautiful morning and Drew loved splashing around with Brooks (our friends' 4 year old).

Once we all were dried and dressed, it was on to Downtown Disney for some fun at Legoland and on the mini-train. We bought more souvenirs and did some window shopping before we head back to their house for the weekend.

That afternoon was spent by their pool where the boys chased lizards and inspected snails while the adults enjoyed some beverages with our feet up.

Then, it was time for the adults to enjoy a night out. Melissa's mom came over to watch the boys play while the adults hit the town for dinner and drinks. It was MUCH needed on my side and I wish we were 22 again and could last until 2am!