My Cutie Pie

Drew just got some six month pictures taken. Here are a few of them....

Coffee Please!

Our single cup Keurig coffee maker and Drew have changed my life. In the past I liked coffee (with lots of yummy flavored creamer added to it), and I would enjoy a cup now and then. Usually I wouldn't even finish my whole cup. But ever since I went back to work after my maternity leave, I started drinking a whole cup every morning. At first I wasn't convinced the caffeine was really helping me get going in the morning, but it was something I felt like I should drink since the nights were so long with Drew and I was getting up at 5:30 for work. So I quickly jumped into the habit of drinking a cup every morning without the thought of ever feeling addicted to it. Well....I think I'm addicted. I don't want to be addicted!! It's not the feeling of I need a cup right now!! It's more like as my day of teaching goes on I get a headache, and it gets worse and worse. By the time I get home from school my head is pounding so badly I can't even think. Extra strength Tylenol doesn't even touch these headaches! Last week it even turned into a migraine. I had to call Andy to come home from work, because I couldn't stand up and I was throwing up...ugh! I don't know if was the absence of coffee those days of having bad headaches, but that was the only common denominator. I'm afraid to skip a cup in the morning now in fear that it is the cause, and I will come home with a terrible headache.

A side story....It's Saturday morning and Drew has me up with him. Every day during the week, when I'm at work and Andy's home with him, he sleeps until 10:00!!! Every weekend day he has me up bright and early. He must be able to sense that I am home and wants to spend some one on one time with mama. So I am sitting here with my boy and my cup of coffee :)

Half Birthday - 6 Months

He’s half way there! Six more months and my baby will be a full year old! It always amazes me how much babies change in just six months. He is at a stage where he is very curious and wants to be upright so he can see everything that is going on. He is a pretty content baby, but he is the happiest when you stand him up in your lap and he can see your face. He gets excited, smiles and bounces up and down nonstop. Here are some more highlights about Drew at six months:

(Disclaimer - I can hardly stand the formatting of blogger sometimes!! I have no idea why some text is blue, underlined, or thinks it's a link. The post looks terrible....ugh! I give up!! I don't have time to sit here any longer trying to figure it out. Sleep is calling my name instead.)

Size- Drew is just shy of 17 pounds. Soon he needs to move into size 4 diaper, because the threes are getting a tad snug. This seems crazy to me, because Bella can still fit into a size 4 diaper! (She still needs diapers or pull ups for bed)

Mobile- He rolls and rolls and rolls.....from one side of the living room to the other. I can tell he just really wants to move. In the last week he started getting up on all four and rocking back and forth. I’m not sure I’m ready for a crawling baby! I should baby proof my house again. Bella has some toys that should probably be put up higher, because they have small pieces that I’m sure he’ll try to eat.
Eczema - He had to go to the doctor for eczema. The dry patches of skin started spreading across his face. It kept getting worse, because he would scratch it and it’d bleed. A little cream from the doctor and few nights of sleeping with socks on his hands cleared it right up!

Sitting- He is just starting to sit up. I always sit behind him to give him support while he sits and plays, because he doesn’t quite have the strength to stay up by himself yet. Although, I did leave him for about 5 seconds and he stayed up for that short time.

Naked - He loves to be in only his diaper. He becomes a bit more flexible, so he can grab his feet and put his toes in his mouth.

Teeth - I feel like Drew has been drooling since the day he was born! Finally all of that drooling has led to his first tooth! It is a bottom tooth that is coming in.

Eating- He will only drink a couple of ounces from his bottle all day, but at least he's drinking some now. It has to be cold, and he has to hold it himself as he lays by himself on the floor...he's very particular about this. He also is still a big spitter. After he's done eating he is constantly spitting up. We recently tried sweet potatoes with him, and he seemed to be ok with it after some goofy faces and wrinkling his nose up.

Sleeping- One word – EXHAUSTED!!! Drew has been a terrible sleeper at night. He completely exhausts both Andy and me. On average he wakes up 7-8 times per night. There were several nights that reached 10 times. OMG!! Love him to death, but this drives me crazy! He will eat 2-3 times, and the other times he just needs his nuk back in his mouth and to be wrapped up tight in his fuzzy blanket.Yelling - Drew has gotten so noisy. My sister Lisa can confirm this. We were skyping with her the other night, and there was a point where she could hardly hear anything I was saying between Bella babbling and Drew yelling. He will sit in his high chair or exersaucer and just yell at us. He’s not crying…just “talking.” He’ll get louder and louder. Last weekend Andy and I were trying to watch a movie. That little stinker wouldn’t go to sleep, so he was in the living room with us when we started the movie. Ten minutes into the movie and we couldn’t even hear it, because Drew was “talking” so loud. We ended up turning the movie off for 20 minutes until he finally went to sleep! Bella was never this noisy....it must be because he's a boy. I never had a brother, but boys tend to be noisier, right?

Brown Bear

The other day Bella climbed up on the couch next to me and told me she was going to read me a book. She surprised me by reading her book Brown Bear word for word! I was one proud mama....even though it was pure memorization and not really reading the words. I just had to get it on video. I don't know how to get the actual video on here, so after unsuccessfully trying I gave up and made it a link. Just click below....

Bella Reading Brown Bear

To Grandma's House She Goes

The other day Bella came out of her room, rolled her suitcase down the hallway, and announced she was going to grandma's house. She was all ready to leave. Her bags were packed, hat and mittens were on, and her sunglasses in place. Bella played "going to grandma's house" for several days.

She packed the most essential items...a fork and three ornaments.

All ready to go to Grandma's house!

She is also wearing her FAVORITE pair of pajama pants. The first time I put them on her I told her they were silky pants. Ever since then, she always wants to wear her "swiwky pants." She seriously gets so excited about them. Sometimes she will wear them over the top of her regular clothes during the day.

Christmas Card

This is my attempt at trying to get a picture of the kids for a Christmas card. It didn't go the greatest. Bella was too distracted by the presents and wanted to hold them in front of her face. Drew wasn't smiling and usually not looking. When he was looking he looked like he was surprised with his eyes wide open. After my attempt at getting the perfect Christmas picture, I didn't even create a Christmas card this year! So, I didn't forget to send you all one....I shamefully admit I didn't even get around to creating one. Hopefully next year!

The brotherly and sisterly love begin at a young age - he started pulling her hair.

The last picture is the best one I got of Bella and Drew. This would have been the Christmas card picture!

Baby Sheep

What do you see when you look at this picture?

Most people see a white sandal.....but you are WRONG!

Bella is always using her imagination and playing pretend. Lately she has been saying things like, "Yuck! I have to change my shirt. Baby Sheep puked on it!" The other night she changed her shirt several times, because she kept getting puked on. I tried to convince her that she didn't have to keep changing her clothes, because it was all pretend but she insisted it was real. Over the past week she continued to talk about this Baby Sheep. At first I didn't realize who Baby Sheep really was until Andy filled me in. I got home from school. The conversation....

Andy: So, Bella was breast feeding her shoe today.

Me: What?!? Her shoe?

Andy: Uh, yeah....a shoe. You know her shoe is named Baby Sheep?

Me: That's who Baby Sheep is?!?

So, now I know Baby Sheep is this white sandal that she carries around, breast feeds, cleans up his spit up, and puts him to bed. I tried taking a picture of her with Baby Sheep, but she started being goofy in front of the camera. She wouldn't look at me and she kept throwing the sandal and yelling, "I don't like Baby Sheep!" Don't worry though, she really does still like Baby Sheep.

I think it's great that she has such a great imagination, but why does it have to be so strange? :)