Happy 1st Birthday!!!

My baby is ONE year old today!

I remember his birth like it was yesterday.  How can a year have gone by already?  It went way too fast!  I am so incredibly thankful for this beautiful gift from God!  Drew has changed my life for the better and has shown me God’s amazing grace and love in a very tangible way! 

Some things I love about my baby boy….

The way he wakes up making all kinds of cute sounds.

The way his little face lights up when he sees me!

The way he claps his hands when he hears cheering, whether it be from the television, radio, or in church!

The way he gives me a mischievous grim when he is crawling off into the dinning room!  If he’s quiet – you know he’s up to something!!!

The way he looks at his siblings with absolute delight!  He thinks the world of them!

The way he still holds onto my shirt when he nurses – he’s done this since birth!

Is it wrong to sometimes hope he’ll cry in the middle of the night just so I can go and hold him?  I love those moments and I know they are going to fly by WAY TO FAST!

Drew is a real joy to my heart and such a wonderful, unexpected blessing!  I can’t imagine my life without him!

Happy Birthday, Drewbeedoobeedoo!  We SO love YOU!!!!

*My incredibly talented friend, Carisa, took Drew’s one year old portraits – impromptu!  We were at Karate with the older kids and she happened to have her camera!  I LOVE THEM!  Thank you!

Some more cuteness!

I did a quick photo session with Drew to get a picture for his Dedication/ 1st Birthday Announcement and he was quite cooperative! Take a look!
Isn't he just adorable! Can't believe injust two weeks he'll be ONE!!! UGH!!! Where did my baby go?

Snowy Day...

A tree outback of our house - the city can look beautiful in the winter!

AHH! What a great day! I went to the gym (my ninth day in a row!!) and then came home and grabbed the family to head out to Chick-fil-a. We registered for free Spicy Chicken Biscuits - Matt and Andy ate them - I can't eat spicy - but we all enjoyed a wonderful breakfast together. We then came home and enjoyed a relaxing snow day! Matt still had school work to catch up on, but I was able to take a nap!!! I haven't taken a nap in forever! I loved it!



I have been doing pretty well with the whole meal cooking thing and the kids have been really encouraging! Last night I made a roast in the crock pot and it was so delicious! With the leftover meat I made Vegetable Beef Soup - perfect for our snowy day! It really does help to have all the meals planned out so I can make sure I have the right ingredients. I am also able to actually cook the meal in a decent amount of time since I am not staring into the frig wondering what to make! Thank you for all your encouragement and help!



On a Drew note - I came home from the gym today and Andy informed me that Drew greeted him by standing up in the pack-n-play where he sleeps! UGH!!! I have watched him try to do it a couple of times but have never seen him actually do it! Now he can! He really is growing up way to fast! I'll have to try to snap a picture of him doing it one of these days.

New Goals!

With each new year I always try to set some new goals - more often than not I fail miserably! But I try and every now and then I am successful. My goal for this year is to try to cook more dinners. I hate cooking - I know I have mentioned that before! - but I need to make more healthy meals and God has been spurring me on to make this a priority. He has given me this wonderful family to care for and FEED! I need to make this a ministry to my family and get my act together. Since one of the things that goes along with cooking is the grocery shopping (which I hate even more!) I have decided to try to plan a month of meals so that I can go to the grocery store as little as possible!!! I have come up with my first month of meals!!I don't think I'll be able to make a dinner EVERY night. I am so thankful for the staff retreat that falls in the middle of the month as that is three less meals I have to make! I have also planned on two meals that we order in or go out to eat. But even with those five meals - I will be making a whole lot more than I had last month! I think last month, I am ashamed to say, I may have made a total of ten meals! Cooking is hard for me - I am not a creative cook - know nothing about adding flavor to meals and cook basically the same things week after week. I have added a couple of new recipes to try - but I hate new recipes because they take so long to prepare. But this is an area where I need to improve and that is my goal for the year. I have only made this one goal because it is going to take everything I have (and even more from God!) to accomplish this task! So while you are cheerfully preparing your own meals - I would really appreciate prayers on my behalf that I would do this task cheerfully and learn how to prepare healthy meals for my family! Thanks!!!

Welcome 2011!!!

Sunset on New Year's Eve - on our way to see the 6 pm fireworks!

WOW!! A whole new year! I love New Year's Day! The thought of no mistakes yet made is refreshing! A nice clean start - with lots of hopes and dreams to fulfill! We had a great day today - cleaning up the Christmas decorations, reflecting on the last year and making new goals for this coming year. I think the kids think it's fun to see what they wrote down last year and to see if they have met any of their previous goals. I know I think it's fun!

This past week has been busy. Cleaning, organizing, playing!!! We've had a good break! But I am starting to get the feeling of wanting to get back into school mode and get things done! I am hoping the second half of our school year goes better than the first half. I need to get myself together and really participate - I've been feeling rather lost this school year trying to fit a third kid into the mix while dealing with the fourth and his needs. But I think I have figured some new things to try and we'll see how it goes!

This past week, Thursday, Daniel had the opportunity to go to see Toy Story 3 on Ice! He was given tickets as a Christmas gift from my mom. I so wish I had had the video camera going when he was given the gift! His reaction was priceless as his little face lit up when he realized what he had been given. I was the lucky parent to attend the show with him!!!It was really fun just spending one on one time with my sweet 5 year old! I think he enjoyed it too! Here are a few pictures of our time at the show. Did I mention we were second row from the ice? The seats were amazing!!In Drew news - he is amazing! He just started crawling the week before Christmas and now he's trying to pull himself up to a standing position. He was successful yesterday when he was getting ready for a bath as he pulled himself up at the tub! He was quite pleased. I have also caught him several times trying to pull himself up in his pack-n-play! He is just all over the place! He's getting so big! It's sad and exciting at the same time. I so love this baby time when he's all snugly and lovey - but it's exciting to see him progress and grow into a toddler. He has also FINALLY gotten his eighth tooth! Two molars are also pushing through - they look so soar - but he's being a real trooper about them!

Happy New Year! May God richly bless you this year!