Back with my baby!!!

Corny prom pose on the mountain.

Why are we smiling next to such a threatening sign?

Huge beers! My favorite part of ski trips.

Long time, no blog. George and I are back from our ski/snowboard trip to Park City, UT and thrilled to be with Drewby. We missed him terribly and I've been smothering him with hugs and kisses since we landed Saturday evening. Although we had a fabulous trip, seven nights is too long to be away from him. I think five (okay, two is more like it) is my limit next time. I was obsessed with every young child I saw while away from Drew. I think I scared a mother sitting in front of us on the plane who had a 7 month old girl. However, by the end of the flight she was willingly handing the baby to me because she was out of ideas to keep her happy. Park City was tons of fun and the conditions were near perfect. It was a little cold for my liking a couple of days but I'm hard to please. I go to the mountains and always wish for 45 degree weather. I whine when my hands and feet get cold too. I promise I enjoy it but you wouldn't think so if you were sitting next to me on a chair lift. I like to repeat how cold I am hoping my hot air will warm me up. George got the fresh powder he was hoping for and we came home unharmed, what more can you ask for? Our friends Jennifer and Casey joined us for a couple of days which was tons of fun! I may have ruined the trip for them when we all hiked up to the back country and then I flipped out - too late I may add. We were already up there and didn't have many options for the way down. George and I hiked the same terrain a couple of years ago and I really enjoyed it. I'm not certain what scared me this go-round but I know it was the last time off the beaten path for me. We took two days off from the slopes to just hang out and take it easy. I got a massage, we went shopping and even went to the movies. It was so nice to relax just the two of us.

Back home, the Grandma's were pretty exhausted from watching Drew for a week. I know it's tiring hauling 30 pounds of constant energy around. They stayed pretty busy playing outside, going to the park and doing all kinds of other fun stuff. They were so sweet to watch him for an entire week and it was nice to know he was in such loving hands. My Mom said Drew really started clinging to her toward the end of the week and she assumed he was missing George and I. He woke up crying and had to sleep with her a couple of nights. Poor guy!

George's friend picked us up at the airport and brought us home. I was so giddy counting the seconds to seeing Drew. I tried to jump out of the car as soon as we pulled up, I'm pretty sure the car was still moving. I couldn't get out though and realized the child lock was on. It was great fun for everyone (except me) to leave me in the backseat yearning to see Drewby. They laughed and laughed and I was on the verge of tears. They finally let me out and I ran for my boy! He seemed shocked to see me but was very happy. We kept him up late loving on him and I couldn't sleep at all that night because I was so excited to see him the next morning.

Bailey's bad day

Drew spots Bailey sunning herself on the steps...
...and pokes her right in the eye!

Bailey had a terrible, no good, very bad day! I think I've read Alexanders Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day one too many times! It's a funny little book though :) Back to the point, Bailey didn't have a good day today. George took her to the Vet this morning as a follow up to her back issues and got bad news after bad news. First off, she's overweight. The Vet said she needs to loose 2-3 pounds. That is a lot of weight for a miniature dachshund! It was clear she would gain weight being confined for so many weeks while she healed but it still stunk to hear she would have to lose so much weight. She also got news that one of her molars is infected and needs to be pulled. To top it all off she had to have a few vaccinations and get her nails clipped. Poor Bailey was very depressed, especially at hearing her figure needs work. She tried to cheer up by soaking up some Vitamin D in her favorite spot but Drew ruined that when he poked her in the eye. Poor sweet Bailey!

George and I are going on a ski trip Saturday and leaving Drew with both of his grandmothers. I know he'll have a great time, I'm just hoping I can have a great time without him. 7 nights! Ahhhh!!!! Wish me luck.

Back from the beach

We were short on room in the car so couldn't take many toys to Myrtle Beach. My Mom put a little basket together of kitchen junk for Drew to play with and it worked just fine!

Getting wild with Day Day!

Drew looks at CC's brag book. He loves to look at pictures of himself and his cousin Whitley.

Drew playing with a clothes hamper - another great toy!

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We're back from Myrtle Beach although we didn't actually go to the beach. It was colder than we hoped but we still had a great time! Mom and Dad have a place there so they like to go and check on it when they visit us. It's a nice townhouse on a golf course and George's Mom lives right down the street so it's a great place to visit. Drew successfully slept in his pack-n-play all three nights which is a rarity! When traveling he usually wakes up around 1am and wants to get in bed with me. Then he falls right back to sleep and I don't get another wink. Why? Because he takes up the whole bed and flails his arms and legs. Can babies have restless leg syndrome? Anyway, I was so thankful he slept well because I got to sleep well too!




I think Drew is almost recovered from his ear infections but I'm taking him back Friday morning to have the Doctor check him out. I'm hoping all is well because I can't bear to give him antibiotics another day! It is so terrible! The last time he was sick he didn't mind the meds at all. Now he runs the other way as soon as he sees me get the supplies. The Pharmacist gave me a spoon thinking he would like that better than the syringe. It worked once and then he got too smart for that disguise. It takes two people to give it to him and yet more runs down his neck than he swallows. My parents almost refused to help in Myrtle Beach because they couldn't stand how upset he got. Daddy said he wasn't having any part of it again after helping me twice. I am wondering when they will come up with something better for kids medications. If Bailey can have a yummy treat as her heart worm pill and women get a chocolate bite for calcium supplements, why can't Drew's antibiotics look and taste like an animal cracker? I don't get it.

Weekend fun

Drew kisses his cousin Whitley. Sweet babies!

Drew hogs the balls at a bowling alley birthday party. The boy in the brown shirt

wants to know why Drew gets three.

Drew's obsession with bowling balls continues! I was barely supporting

it from the bottom. He is so strong!

Drew spots a baby at the party and wants to touch him.

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I feel like I have tons to catch up on. It's been a busy few days. After finally realizing Drew wasn't getting any better after 7 days I decided to take him to the Doctor Thursday morning. He was cranky all week but he's getting a tooth and had a little cold so I kind of ignored it. To my surprise he had two ear infections. I felt like the worst Mom! I starting perking back up when the Doctor said it was easy to let it go so long when Drew was such a happy boy. He and the nurse couldn't believe Drew was so sweet when he must have been feeling so bad. That made me feel a tad less guilty :)

Friday we went to the mall with some of the Moms and kids from the Cary Mom's club. All of the kids played at the indoor playground while we tried to chat. It's so hard to hold a conversation when you constantly have to look around and make sure your kid is still there and unharmed. It's not too bad for me though because Drew checks in with me every 60 seconds or so and hugs my leg. Guess he wants to make sure I'm still there and unharmed as well. I did have to break ugly on another kid though. A girl around 3 wanted to play baby with Drew meaning she wanted to act like he was a doll and pull him by his arm until his shirt and jacket came off. No kidding! At first I was nice and simply moved Drew as far away from her as possible. She kept finding him and continued to treat him like her baby doll. The final straw was when I spotted her pulling Drew across the floor by the hood of his jacket!!! He was clearly scared and on the verge of choking so I told her to get lost. The whole time I was wondering where in the world the Mother of this girl was hiding. I finally spotted the Mom a few minutes later when she picked the girl up by her pants and swung her around horizontally to keep her from hurting another kid. It looked to me like the Mom cared even less for the little girl than I did. Anyway, they packed their crap and left and I decided not to give the evil eye to the Mom when I saw her juggle three toddlers into strollers and head out. She obviously had her hands full. One more thing about our mall trip, I looked down at Drew at one point and noticed he was missing a shoe. We had to retrace all of our steps (we had been there quite awhile too!) looking for it. That included going back to the shoe store where I had returned the overpriced toddler shoes bought out of guilt last week. It wasn't in there but I could see the smerk on the girls' face when I asked. She was probaby thinking, "Bet you wish you had a back-up pair now?" That's what I get I guess.

Friday night we picked my Daddy up at the airport and headed to my sister's house. Drew loves seeing his cousin and always wants to kiss her. We had a great night playing with the babies and eating a delicious dinner.

Today we went to another bowling alley birthday party. Drew loved it just as much as the first time! He watched the older kids bowl and played with the balls when they came back up to ball return thingymajig. No fingers were smashed. Pretty good!

We're looking forward to hanging out with my family tomorrow and then Drew and I are headed to Myrtle Beach with my folks Monday.

Lastly, yes I got my hair chopped off! I know all of my Capital One friends will appreciate it since we used to laugh when I got my hair cut and took off about a quarter of an inch!

Sugar high

This is Drew everytime I open the fridge. He reaches for skim

and whole milk, obviously willing to take any kind!

Drew sings along to American Idol.

Drew climbs on one toy to get to another.

It was the school bus he wanted!

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Drew hasn't been feeling well the last few days but has still been really fun and sweet. My Mom arrived in town Saturday evening so she, my sister and her family came over for dinner. Then my Aunt Mary and her family came by so we had a large time. Drew went to bed late but still woke up at his usual time Sunday morning. Why do babies do that?

Monday was spent hanging out with my Aunt Betty from Virginia. The weather was beautiful so we spent all day outside and then started happy hour on the porch when Drew took a nap. Now that is the life! I wish I could start happy hour at 2:30pm everyday! I need it by then that's for sure. As much as I adore staying home with my sweetie, it is exhausting. Like my Aunt Betty said, at least when you go to an office you have the opportunity to sit down. All I do is chase Drew around all day, never sitting for a second. On a non-happy hour day I spend his nap time catching up on laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc.

We went to lunch with George today and Drew had a healthy meal consisting of french fries and hush puppies. Mmmm! It was a Carolina barbeque place and he didn't care for the vinegar-based pork or butter smoothered cabbage so we let him have what he was willing to eat. I took a sippy cup filled with water for him but the waitress brought him a sugar-packed pink lemonade that I couldn't hide quick enough. In order to allow everyone else to enjoy their meals, we let him have it. He loved it and we all paid the price! We went to a winter sports store after lunch to get some last minute things for our upcoming ski trip and he was wild! My Daddy's friend owns the store so I was kind of embarrased. He and his wife swore Drew was precious and just being a typical one year old but I think they were just being nice. I blame it all on Millie at Coopers BBQ.

Heavy load

Bailey and I ride on Drew's truck!

George's turn! Drew would much rather push us than ride on it himself.

The view from my eyes!

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The picture of Drew hanging on my leg is a perfect image of how we spend our day. He's either there or on my hip. In all honesty, I love every second of it! I would rather carry him around than do anything else in the world. However, it's not getting any easier as he creeps to almost 29 pounds! It surprised George and I how quickly Drew became a Mama's boy. I'm not sure if it's his age or the fact that I stay home with him but it's a new obsession. He's not attached to me when we're out or when people are over, it's just when we're home not doing anything that he wants me to not only be with him but hold him tight. Like I already mentioned, I LOVE it!

Our weekend has gotten off to a great start! Drew and I had a date at the mall last night because George went out with some friends. Drew got three new pairs of shoes but one pair is going back. They were waaaayyyy too expensive! I felt bad not getting something after the sales lady spent so much time with him. Sizing his foot (he's a 7 wide!) and trying on multiple pairs of shoes wasn't an easy task for her, especially while smelling his stinky britches! Seriously, I had no idea he had a nasty diaper until she gave him back to me and I about passed out. I apologized but she said she had smelled worse. Poor her! Anyway, I ended up buying shoes because I felt guilty but George and I both agreed $50 for toddler shoes is ridiculous. After all, he will outgrow them in 2 1/2 - 3 months, the sales lady even admitted that. How does she sleep at night? Back to the mall we go!

We spent all morning outside playing with Drew's dumptruck and then taking a long walk while Drew caught some z's and some cute stares from the neighbors. Everyone loves to see a sleeping baby in a stroller. It is pretty cute!

Where did this week go?

Drew sets up a racetrack on the couch for his cars.

George and Drew read Elmo's Fuzzy Valentine.
Bailey licks her new purse.

This week has flown by! We had a really nice Valentine's Day. We hung around here and grilled steaks. It was great to be home with all of my valentines. We watched VH1's Best Break Up Songs and got lots of laughs from Journey's Separate Ways video! If you don't remember it, check out YouTube, it's hilarious! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxxOyGK1pMk

The Little Gym was a big success this week because Drew returned the balls and bells to their baskets when instructed! Until now he always pulled more out when asked to put them back. This was a major milestone in my book! He was especially thrilled with class because they were kicking the balls this week. It's still not as good as throwing the balls but at least not near as lame as rolling the ball.

As I'm typing Drew is taking (well, throwing is a better description) all of the toys out of his playyard. This is much different than yesterday when he stacked them all up and used them to climb out. Luckily, I walked back in the room as one leg was over the side and he was swinging the other one over. It could have gotten ugly!