Where did the time go?

Tomorrow is Drew's birthday. He was born at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 31. All day today I've been thinking back to last year at this time. I was in the hospital freaking out because my little boy wasn't suppose to be born until Feb. 14. I became sick on Dec. 26 and waiting until Dec. 29 to head to the hospital. After hours and hours of trying to get myself and the baby stable, the doctors finally decided we couldn't wait anymore because it would be too dangerous for the both of us. I remember all day on the 30th, being told I was going to have my baby and it would be OK, but I knew it was too early. I just wanted to go home and wait 7 more weeks. But he came early and after only a few weeks in the NICU, he was home.

This last year has been the best of my life, he has grown so big and everyday he learns more and is becoming a little man. Happy birthday Drew..mommy loves you!

Drew's 1st b-day party!

Drew's 1st birthday is tomorrow, Dec. 31st, but we held a small family birthday party on Sunday. He had a great time and walked away with tons of stuff including his own mini recliner...just what I need two men in my house watching sports in the recliner all day. He did OK with his cake, but he was more into playing with the icing then eating it.

1st X-mas

Drew's 1st Christmas was an event. It started with gifts at my aunt's on Saturday the 20th, Christmas eve at Mike's mom's, Christmas day at my house with my mom and then another Christmas at my other aunt's the following Saturday....and the boy walked away with more toys then any kid needs...but he was happy!

And he had train shaped pancakes on Christmas morning, what more could he want!

Drew meets Santa

Drew's Baptism

This photos are kind of blurry, but here they are anyway. Drew was baptised on Sunday and he did really good. The day was nice, he only had a few outburst in church. Thanks to everyone who came and shared in his special day!!!!

He's perfect!...for his age.

Last night Drew had his first visit from his Parents As Teacher representative Kathy. Kathy came over to our house to meet Drew and to evaluate him, how he’s doing, if he’s meeting his “milestones” and what, if anything, we can improve on. Since the day Drew was born, several people, include doctors and nurses in the NICU and his current doctor, have told me countless times that since he was a preemie, he won’t be on target. He won’t be doing things at his age, he’ll be small and he’ll be slow and he’ll be behind. Some of the worst things you can tell a parent who only wants the best for their child, who only wants their child to be the smartest and the fastest learner. Over the last six months I noticed that Drew wasn’t behind. He was right on target with his crawling, standing, pulling up, getting teeth and talking. And last night’s visit by Kathy assured me that Drew is anything but behind and he will have no problem fitting in with other’s his birth age. She said he’s on the small side for his age, but we knew that and he’s still healthy and never misses a meal, so that’s not a problem. However he is right on track and in some cases ahead of his milestones. He is doing everything he needs to and he’s a fast learner. She brought several toys that had buttons in which you pushed and they would do things. Before she even showed him, Drew figured out how to push the button to make one of the toys light up. Then he figured out how to make it play music—almost to the point that mommy got a headache. But in a good way. He’s curious, smart, energetic and excitable about life. He’s a perfect little 11 + month old. But I already knew that!

Test run not so successful.....

Over the next two weeks Drew has a lot of events coming up that involve gifts. There's his baptism, Christmas and his birthday-all in the month of December. This gift opening could be overwhelming for some, lucky for Drew, it will be broken down a bit. As a test run-kind of- we had our Christmas with Mike's dad, Dave and stepmom, Joyce, who are visiting from Florida. Now it could have been because it was new or because he was sleepy, but he didn't handle opening the gifts well. He cried over the noise. Hopefully this is not a small glipse as to was is to come...because we have many more days of this and well, it might be a long month.

Drew's hat and a reindeer

Here’s two silly videos. One is from this morning. It’s really dark but when I took Drew to my aunt’s she showed him all her x-mas stuff and most of it lights up and makes noise. This video is with a dancing, singing reindeer. The other video is from a few weeks ago. Drew got a new hat and we had to make him keep it on so we praised him for it…I know, but you do what you have to do!

Girls Night IN!

Saturday night, my friend Kris hosted a cookie baking party at her house. It was me (I'm the stupid looking one in the red shirt), Debbie (the tall one next to me), Kris (pink shirt) and Amy (gray shirt). We all meet at Kris' with our supplies in hand and started baking. After a few drinks, well lots, the cookies turned out OK....some better than others...I burnt all mine. However it was a great night and a much needed mommy break. (Thanks Grandma Joyce for watching Drew!). We should do this every year!

What? I'm not doing anything wrong.....

Random photos from last night......

11 months old!!!

Drew is 11 months old. Wow, how fast time goes by. I remember being in the hospital last December and being very uncertain of the outcome, thankfully he’s doing great and learning so much. Drew has started eating a lot of adult food lately, which is good, and he hasn’t found anything he does like. He’s still eating a little baby food, but mostly the last week or so, he’s had all adult food, which he loves because he can hold and use his hands to feed himself. He now has three teeth and is working on his fourth. He moves around like a crazy person, crawling and pulling up on everything. He walks holding on to things, but hasn’t been brave enough to let go yet.

On Wednesday I took Drew to see Santa. His first visit with him went OK. No crying, but he still wasn't that excited to sit on the Jolly Old Guy's lap. Santa is coming to his one grandma's house on the 16th, so we'll try it again then. However the photo is pretty cute!

Drew’s first Thanksgiving was great. Thursday we had dinner at our house and with Grandma Joyce, Uncle Chris, Grandpa Norm, Grandma Wally and Grandpa Gene. Drew really liked the turkey, but he was so sleepy he fell asleep after only two bites. Luckily after a little nap he was ready to dig in. On Friday we had Thanksgiving at Mike’s mom’s with several of his family members and he brother’s family from Kentucky. They loved meeting Drew and we even had an early Christmas with them, which Drew enjoy playing with the paper more than anything.

Hypochondriac??? or just a faker.....

Drew does this fake cough all the time. It's like the kid is either a hypochondriac or a good actor. Either way, I can only imagine how mornings will be once he starts school. How many times will he pull a "Ferris Bueller" on me and skip school only to stay home and run around crazy with his girlfriend and best buddy. Will I start not believing him and then when he really is sick, will I be a mean mom and send him to school anyway??? Hope this is just a stage!

Busy, busy, busy

Playing around

nightly playtime