Drew's Latest

My little man is learning and exploring new things every day. He is pretty much into everything- he definitely keeps me on my toes! I love to hear him say new words- there is something so special about hearing a child say new words. Some of his favorite words right now are grandpa, nana, toothbrush, toothpaste, down, downstairs, cracker, georgia (this is the name of a little girl I take care of), and dump (now let me clarify "dump"- he says this when he dumps out toys or when he tries to dump out his milk from his cup). Some of the other words, other than mama and dada of course, are ball, car, bath, cup this, nose, and doggy (this is still pretty muffled). It's fun to keep track of a handful of the early words. I looked back at Hailey's first dozen or two and they are very different. Another latest for Drew is that he now dances when he hears music- this definitely makes me smile!

Lenderinks, Here We Come

It's our family tradition to cut down our Christmas tree every year at Lenderink's Tree Farm. We love going out with a saw and looking for the "perfect" tree. Plus, it's always nice to ride on the tractor and get a nice cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows afterwards.

Enjoying a ride from Grandpa Buzz.

Hailey thought it was pretty cool to help daddy cut down the tree.

Riding the tractor.


Drew thought the tractor ride was pretty cool- especially when the ride got a little bumpy. I didn't capture a big smile, but this picture was too cute not to include.

Santa Parade

We took Hailey to the Santa Parade downtown last weekend. She was so excited to see the marching bands. Santa was okay, but the marching bands, the big dogs and the real reindeer was what Hailey enjoyed most.




We also saw some really cool old firetrucks, the Mastercraft ski team, and the Grinch. We were definitely rookies though- everyone was passing out candy and throwing it towards the kids. We didn't have anything to put the candy in, so our pockets were overflowing. It wasn't good candy, but you have to get the candy just for the excitement for the kids. Next year we will definitely be bringing bags for the kids.

A Walk in the Woods

We've had some unusually warm weather here in November. We took the kids to Provin Trails for a little walk in the woods.


Drew had so much fun poking around at the ground with a stick. It was adorable to watch him explore for awhile.

Birthday Boy

Wow, my baby is One! Here are some fun pics from his birthday party.

Halloween Fun

Hailey (princess) and Drew (Yoda) at a Halloween party last week.

It's been a tradition that we have a party every Halloween with our cousins and their kids...as you can see, the group picture is getting tougher every year!

On Halloween- not looking so sure about this cold weather...

...and now we are having fun! (Hailey and Jack)

After trick-or-treating with the cousins, we surprised Grandma Jean and Grandpa Ted at their house. Drew is very clingy to Grandpa Ted right now and loves to be held by him! I think Grandpa loves it just as much.

We Have a Walker

I'm a little behind on posting about one of the most exciting milestones so far. Drew started walking 2 weeks ago, right at 11 months. He "officially" took his first couple steps about 4 weeks ago, but didn't take off until the last couple weeks. It it so much fun to watch him get so excited about it. It is so cute to see him come around the corner walking instead of crawling. My baby isn't acting like such a baby anymore.