The View From Crescent Hill

Lately...

2012-02-08T09:14:00.000-05:00

There are so many things I love about this age (20 months)...I think Andrew is still in the sweet, innocent stage of life even though he can be a feisty one! A few things I don't want to forget:

Hugs...always, throughout the day, he runs up to me, throws his arms around my neck and practically knocks me over with a hug. It is so sweet and I love it each and every time.
Independence: He definitely wants to try things on his own more. Putting on pants, socks and shoes to start with (no, he can't quite do these things yet!) but I always have to negotiate and tell him he can help me pull them up or snap the velcro on his shoes. He seems okay with this arrangement and while getting dressed and out the door takes awhile sometimes, he is learning!
On that same note, he is much better at feeding himself with a spoon and fork. It gets messy but that's what baths are for, right?

Sheer, uninhibited, carefree moments...this is the scene in our house each evening before bath time (note...the hat is not always part of the scene but this was too funny not to take a picture of). Naked time as Drew calls it (nake! he says) when he gets to run around clothing less. And isn't that about the cutest little bottom ever (and I'm sure some day this picture can be used as blackmail:)
blackmail:

He loves his construction tools and cars! One of his favorite games to play is to line up all of them (about 15 different ones) on the coffee table, and I ask him to point out the digger, train, car, garbage truck, crane, airplane, etc. and he knows each and every one.

While playing with a toy truck is fun, when the real deal comes along (driving down the street or if we are in the car and pass a truck or bulldozer) he has an excitement meltdown over it!
Besides those toys, he loves to read books. He will grab a book, back up into my lap and snuggle up to me as we read the same book about 10 times. Then we read another one 10 times.

Playing hide and go seek/peek-a-boo...kind of a combination game since I don't think he quite gets the game just yet. But he loves to try.
I think this stage is such a "playing" stage...everything becomes a game or fun to him! Nate and I have even noticed him making the pieces of his grilled cheese "crash" into each other (they must be cars?) or growl at one another. It's kind of funny to think about how imaginative kids are, even with pieces of food.

Being outside is still one of Andrew's favorite things and thanks to some great weather, we've gotten to go out lately. He pretty much just loves to run around, ride his tricycle or his "truck" and go for walks around the neighborhood.
He is also into ALL animals and the zoo is currently a favorite spot on a warm day. Also, books about animals, an animal on TV or outside, and especially, watching birds through the living room window with Nate are all things he loves right now.

In other news, I don't think I've posted anything about baby #2 at all. I did a few updates while I was pregnant with Andrew but isn't that just like how it goes with the second pregnancy? I'm about 19 weeks along and we find out the gender in 2 weeks. Cannot wait for that ultrasound! Now that I'm in the second trimester, I feel a thousand times better and actually hardly feel pregnant at all (I know that will change in a few months though!) We are so excited about this little one!

One of my favorite places

2012-01-30T12:37:00.001-05:00

This weekend Nate and I got to get away to Shaker Village (Harrodsburg, KY) to stay for the night. Nate's parents came up and stayed with Andrew so it worked out perfectly. This was Nate's Christmas gift to me this year and I think he picked the perfect weekend to go.

If you've never been to Shaker Village, it's basically acres and acres of old Shaker grounds, with the original buildings that have been restored on the property. You can stay at the old Inn or one of the other buildings and there is a restaurant and miles and miles of hiking trails. Nate and I hit this stream and while he was brave enough to attempt the log crossing, I wasn't about to get my pregnant self up there! We took a round-about loop to bypass this creek in the end;)
I think I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves...we had perfect sunny days and warm(ish) weather for the last weekend of January. It was so nice to get away and hike!

We came upon all sorts of fun things while hiking...like old barns...

Creeks

Original stone Shaker wall

Old farm houses and fences

This was the building where Nate and I stayed (the East Sisters' House)

The Old Inn where we ate dinner in the Winter Kitchen

Shaker architecture is very balanced you could say. The men lived on one side and the women on the other. (The Shakers were celibate and this might explain why the group sort of died out in the early 1900's).

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We saw two coyotes drinking at this pond but they were gone by the time I got down there!

But these guys didn't mind us watching them eat!

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A visit from Omi and Opaw

2012-01-30T09:10:00.000-05:00

Waiting at the window for Omi and Opaw to arrive.

And they're here!

He was inseparable from them the whole weekend!

He loves his dad

2012-01-16T14:52:00.000-05:00

...and wants to be just like him I think!

It's Baby Shower Time!

2012-01-16T14:47:00.000-05:00

It was so fun to host Erin's shower...I've been excited about her shower and even more meeting baby Miller ever since she told me she was pregnant! It was such a fun day getting to see old friends and family, eat some good food, and see all the cute baby things Erin received. One more month until we meet her little one!

A cute little boy and a recipe

2012-01-11T14:32:00.000-05:00

First...the cute boy. He feels like such a big guy sitting up on the stool at the kitchen counter. This is where I've been putting him while I cook dinner. For some reason he loves it and eats his "nack" (Snack) up there so I can cook without worrying about him pulling a pan off the stovetop (which these days is a legitimate worry with the way he gets into everything constantly!)

And now for a yummy recipe...veggie Parmesan Quinoa! It is sort of a go-to for me as far as a side item goes. Nate and I grilled out the other night so burgers and sweet potato fries went great with it but I usually just make it for a side to go with pretty much any main dish. As a bonus, Andrew eats it too!

First, let me introduce you to quinoa if you haven't met already. It's healthier than rice or pasta and tastes just as great, I promise! Here's the recipe:

Veggie Parmesan Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa
1 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
1-2 cups diced veggies (zuccini, squash, peas, carrots, green beans, etc.)
1 T minced garlic
1/3 block of cream cheese
1/2 cup (more or less to taste) of Parmesan cheese
a sprinkle of salt and fresh ground pepper
a sprinkle of basil
a sprinkle of garlic powder
a splash of milk if needed

Directions:

--Cook your quinoa like you would rice, in a saucepan. Bring the quinoa, water and chicken broth to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cover with a lid for about 10-15 minutes. Stir now and again to check on it.

--Meanwhile, dice up your veggies and sauté them in olive oil and minced garlic until cooked (10 min or so)

I use whatever veggies we have in the freezer, mostly what I chopped and froze from last summer. A little piece of summer in our meal!

--When the quinoa and veggies are done, pour the veggies (and any remaining juice from the olive oil) into the quinoa pan.

--Put in cheeses and spices

--Mix well, on a very low setting to let the cheeses melt into it.

--I usually add a splash of milk to it as well, to make it blend better. So good!

And one more...eating a snack is serious business!

Is it spring yet?

2012-01-07T20:07:00.000-05:00

I think we all thought it was this weekend...60 degrees and sunny, we'll take it! If all of winter could be this way I think I would survive it with a much better attitude. We took advantage of the weather to be outside as much as possible of course! Also...Nate and I finally got a new camera and I've been taking way too many pictures but I have to say they are way better quality than the old i-phone ones:)

Washing the car with Dad

Christmas weekend

2012-01-06T15:43:00.000-05:00

We started Christmas Eve at my parents' house...each year they have an open house of sorts where lots of friends and family stop by. The night before, we had our family Christmas with them and my sisters but I didn't get one single photo because I forgot my camera...very unlike me!

Grandpop and Andrew (my dad will not be a fan of this picture but we all know who we'll be looking at, right?

Cousins! (Kelly, me and Laura)

Mark and Erin...hard to tell but she is due next month!!!

Christmas morning we got up bright and early and headed north to Ohio to celebrate with Nate's family. It was a quick visit but we are so glad we got to go. Andrew just adores his Omi and Opaw and is pretty much in heaven on these visits.

They got him the cutest little red tricycle that I'm sure he'll be unstoppable on this spring and summer!

Can't quite reach the peddles yet but had so much fun rolling around on this.

Helping Opaw open a gift. I didn't get any more pictures here either (so slacking with the picture-taking these days) but in between wrangling in a little boy who was everywhere and into everything, I hardly had a moment to breath while we were opening gifts! Drew loved helping people rip the paper off and he was quite entertained just being with his aunt Kelsey, Uncle Joe and grandparents (and great-grandma too!). It was so nice to see our extended family even for a short visit and we are lucky we are just a half-day's drive away.

Just an ordinary day

2012-01-05T14:34:00.000-05:00

Our little bit of news...

2011-12-16T16:17:00.000-05:00

I looked at the date of the last blog and realized it's been over a month now since I've updated. The reason (a good reason I might add) is above! We are expecting baby Moulder #2 in July and are so excited! I've also been sicker and more tired than I ever was with Andrew. It seems this little bitty life is capable of using up nearly all my energy and that, combined with zero appetite, made for a rough 8 weeks or so. However, this week I've felt so much better and am hoping that the worst is over. I'm about 11 weeks along so here's to the end of the first trimester!

In the meantime, we still managed to decorate for Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year! Andrew was watching for Nate to come home from work in this picture.

Hanging out with Dad at Bardstown Road Aglow...an annual Christmas even in the Highlands. All the businesses stay open, they serve cider and hot chocolate and there are even bagpipes and carolers!

For Thanksgiving (guess I'm moving backwards here) we went to Ohio where we were spoiled as usual:) It was so good to have an extra long weekend to visit with everyone and Drew LOVED seeing his grandparents and Aunt Kelsey and Uncle Joe too. I literally napped on the couch and did a whole lot of nothing which was just what I needed. DeeDee made the best Thanksgiving meal ever and I was even able to eat some of it (a miracle!). Drew tried turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing and decided to go on hunger strike while we were there. I won't go into it but it made for some long nights with him waking up hungry!

Thanksgiving day was beautiful so we went for a hike to enjoy the weather.

The boys:)

I just love this picture of all of them! Nate's dad always hiked with him and he's teaching Drew to love it as well.

One night Nate and I went to a movie with Kelsey and Joe...Darryl and DeeDee had a ball with Andrew it appears. They took him to the park and to look at Christmas lights. Have I mentioned how much he loves his Omi and Opaw?

Life lately...

2011-11-08T20:17:00.000-05:00

In no particular order...here's what was on the camera...First, Laura and I went to Nashville to help Erin register for baby stuff. Sadly, this is the only picture I got, taken by Laura who probably didn't want to be in any pictures because she was so bleary-eyed from looking at baby stuff nonstop. Actually, I think we were all done by that point!

At our friends' Justin and Julie's wedding...it's not every day Nate and Tom appear in a suit so documentation is a must!

As usual, I can always count on my iPhone for a quality picture:( It was a fun night out...the reception was at the Muhammad Ali Center and had some great panoramic views of Louisville. Good times with good friends!

We woke up early and went for a hike...Drew and Nate are looking at Louisville way in the distance there.

He was pretending to talk to Omi on the phone:) I'm not sure what they were talking about but I'm sure he was telling her how much he missed her!

Our daily routine lately is to run in the park and take a break at the playground. It was been unseasonably warm here lately (no complaints!) so Drew has enjoyed lots of outside play. I absolutely love these days that I get to spend with him. He is at such a sweet and fun age and I find myself wishing he could just stay this way forever!

Our little dinosaur on Halloween.

Most trick or treating attempts ended badly for nearby pumpkins. A certain 1 year old thinks they are bowling balls that need to be tossed as far away as possible just for fun. Luckily our neighbors were understanding:)

He finally sat still for all of two seconds and I got a picture.

Another night we went out to dinner with friends we haven't seen in awhile.

me, Gina and Katie

Paul, Isaac and Nate

Beautiful fall weather = playing in the leaves!

He loved watching Nate rake and every once in awhile would pick up one leaf and drop it in the trash can. So helpful!

Taking a break to go for a wagon ride.

Pure cuteness!

Cumberland Falls

2011-10-31T16:39:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Nate and I got to get away for two nights to one of our favorite Kentucky hiking spots: Cumberland Falls. While the actual waterfall itself is beautiful, it is a bit touristy right near it. However once you get past what Nate calls the "Redneck/Tourist hiking threshold", about 1 mile in, there are lots of beautiful and decently long hiking trails.
DeeDee and Darryl (Omi and Opaw) generously offered to stay with Andrew while we were there. They came in on Thursday so we could get an early start Friday morning. I think they had just about as much fun as we did and we were able to just enjoy getting away since Drew was obviously in good hands!

Hiking to Natural Arch

Stop along the river...trail to Dog Slaughter Falls which was gorgeous!

I promise I am not mad...just didn't know Nate was taking a picture. In front of Dog Slaughter Falls (not sure about the name!)

Nate looking at the falls

Hiking back...Cumberland Falls in the distance

Sunday morning was cold and the water was warmer than the air, which made for a misty view over the falls.

Eagle Falls

Another view of the river in the early morning

Busy times!

2011-10-18T13:53:00.000-04:00

As usual, I'm pretty much just putting up all of our pictures from the past couple weeks. I've had no time to really sit down and blog much lately but that's because we've been out and about taking advantage of one of the prettiest Octobers I can remember. It's been blue skies and low 80's--perfect in my book. We've been hiking and to the zoo and the park and lots of fall festivals of course! I think this is one of my favorite times of the year.

Hiking at Blackacre Nature Preserve...What is in that pond Dad?

My little fireman at Target...trying to keep him occupied as usual!

In the barn at Blackacre Nature Preserve--there is a small "zoo" type area and the horses, cows and goats are free for the petting!

Soccer Fields at Tom Sawyer Park...wide open spaces!

A red balloon equals hours of fun!

Having fun on the playground at the zoo.

In the tunnel with Isaiah...these 2 are buddies and only a few months apart!

It's kind of hard to tell from this picture but that monkey was right in his face and he loved every second of it!

Bike ride through Cherokee Park...trying to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather.

The cutest little dinosaur has been running around our house lately! My friend Anne-Karrick who has 3 boys gave us this little costume to borrow, which was much appreciated since I hate to spend money on something he'll wear for only a couple hours on Halloween. We're going to attempt trick-or-treating at a couple houses this year!

Week in Review...

2011-10-05T14:07:00.000-04:00

Look who came to visit!

And Opaw came too!

We went to the park and climbed trees

And Omi helped Andrew climb everywhere!

We headed to the farmer's market and bought our pumpkin a pumpkin of his own.

There was lots of snuggling on the couch reading books.


And some walking on Bardstown Road while waiting for pizza too


And Saturday morning I headed to my friend Heather's baby shower while Nate's parents got to spend some time with Drew. Here are me, Heather, Jill and Mary...3 of my oldest friends (since middle school!)

Mary and I also got to stop by and see Amanda and her daughter EmmyLou. Isn't she the cutest thing ever? Those eyes are beautiful! It was a fun fallish weekend and as most weekends do, went by too quickly!

Typical evening...

2011-09-21T14:41:00.000-04:00

A little guitar playing


Some reading before bedtime

And bath time of course!

September update

2011-09-21T08:05:00.001-04:00

First, we've finally gotten to take Drew biking. Nate's mom found this bike trailer at a yard sale (she always finds the good stuff!) and brought it up for us at her last visit. He loved it even though he had the difficult job of riding along...

Somehow I got delegated to do the pulling and those Cherokee Park hills aren't exactly easy, even when you're biking alone much less pulling a child behind you!

We also headed over to the fall festival at the Seminary near our house. It was a "Chronicles of Narnia" theme and they certainly went all out. Andrew got pretty excited about the horses (which is what he's pointing at in this picture).

We had visitors! Russ and Jess brought baby Lukas by and we all met at the Pie Kitchen for lunch and dessert. I didn't get a picture of Jess and these are kind of bad because they are from the iphone:( It was so good to see them and meet their sweet little boy!

These three have known each other for about a decade now!

And finally, Nate and I celebrated 8 years last week. We went to Volare to eat (much recommended!) and just when I thought I couldn't fit in another bite, the owner brought us this pretty little plate just because it was our anniversary! Tiramisu.... Need I say more?

More fun from this week

2011-09-02T14:21:00.000-04:00

First, look who came for a midweek visit! We were so excited to have Omi stay with us for a few days so I could catch up on work-related stuff and so Andrew could have some serious grandma time!

She came bearing gifts (as always!) and the snake book was a big hit!

Rocking the "boat" on the playground with Isaiah and Quinn

Someone needed a haircut so I put on a cartoon and gave him a cookie. He stayed still just long enough for me to trim him up!

Zach and Molly with Gracie and Tatum met us at the zoo Saturday morning!

Louisville Ironman!

2011-09-02T14:09:00.000-04:00

This past weekend (I'm a bit late posting this) my brother-in-law, Mark, and several other guys Erin and he are friends with from Nashville competed in the Louisville Ironman. It was so much fun to watch them all throughout the day (dashing all over the city of Louisville to catch glimpses of them) and to hang out with family and friends who were supporting them. In case you aren't familiar, here's the breakdown of an ironman:

2.4 mile swim
112 mile bike ride
26.3 mile run (full marathon)

Easy, right? I have to admit, although I've been tempted to do a marathon before, I can officially say I have no desire to do a full Ironman ever! I believe Mark's words to Erin after he crossed the finish line 11 hours later, were that he'd never felt so physically awful in his entire life and every fiber of his being ached or hurt in ways unimaginable. Sounds like a good time, right? Regardless, it was inspiring to watch! Here are some pictures from this weekend:


JP, Drew and Mark at the start before the swim...no comment on the speedo!

Nate, Drew, Micah and Bieka talking while waiting for the runners to come through.

Only 25 more miles to go Mark!

Drew on the bike


Erin...watching for Mark to cross the finish line around 6:00 that evening.

Mark finally finishing! Erin and I were screaming like maniacs and he still didn't hear us because I think he was so much in the zone and completely worn out by that point!

Another high quality picture from the iPhone--me and Erin at the finish line

All finished! Now you can't tell in this picture but there is a baby in that belly:) I did get Erin's permission to tell people now and I am SO excited that Drew will have a cousin and I get to be an aunt in February!

Pictures and 15 months

2011-08-22T16:22:00.000-04:00

This has been SUCH a busy month for us. We've gone out of town, been soaking up the awesome weather outside, and I've started back part-part time at school, working Tuesdays and a half day on Thursdays, and doing a lot of planning for it all from home. I'm grateful my principal has given me these opportunities but MAN is it hard to work with a wild and crazy one year old running around. So I don't, at least while he's awake:) Naptime is a blessing, right? I'm so thankful to still get to work with high school students and be home to take care of Drew. He's at such a fun age right now and I'm trying to remember all the funny and of course cute things he says and does. Therefore, this post is more for my own memory than anything just in case I find myself somewhere down the road missing these sweet days with my little boy (because he's growing fast!).
First, all the cliches are true! He is changing every day and I can hardly remember when he was a little baby. He is into everything, and is all boy in his personality. Examples: his fascination with both snakes and trucks. We go running in the park (well, I run and he rides) each morning and every time we see a truck, whether it's driving by, working on some trees in the park (we had a huge storm so trees are down), or some power machine like a bulldozer or whatever, Drew gets so excited and points "Dah???" he asks which translates to "What's that cool thing over there, Mom?"
We took him hiking Saturday and low and behold there was a snake (the very kind he sees in his books of animals! Imagine that!) right in our path.

"SSSSS" is one of his favorite sounds right now so he was pretty happy to see this snake (I was not as much...)
Drew also loves to be outside and will say "side!" or "Si" to go out and play. I certainly can't turn my back for a second though but it is fun to watch him run around (and let's face it, I'm running too because he's fast) and get into everything in sight. He likes Nate to "chase" him and I think that's what is happening in this picture:

Aren't they cute?
The past couple Saturdays we've gone hiking as well.

We've also gone to the zoo where the elephants and bears are a big hit!

At almost 15 months, he is the happiest little guy:) Some more stats for my own memory:

Sleep: At night from 7:30-7:30 (awesome!) Naps for about 2.5 to 3 hours in the afternoon (we just dropped the morning nap and he did great with the long afternoon one)
Eating: Will eat almost anything, but not veggies unless I sneak them into other food (good preparation for the years to come I suppose). Likes to have a "snack" which is basically crackers or toddler cookies when we are out running errands/at the grocery store. It is the only way I can keep him from climbing all over and out of the cart!
Favorite toy right now is his lawnmower which he pushes everywhere in the house. He also loves books (yay!) and is figuring out blocks and leggos (the big kind). Has no real interest in TV if it is on (which I'm glad about).
Games: He tries to pay hide-and-seek with me or Nate which is cute, and of course he likes to run away when Nate chases him outside
He communicates through signs sometimes and tries to say words others. He signs: milk, all done, more, thirsty, hungry, yes and no but says "yeah" for "yes" which is pretty cute.
Words: "sss" for outside or snack (or snake!), "mmm" for milk, mama, dada, d-d-d- for dog and is attempting other ones (b for bath, etc.)
He loves to swing (we put up a little toddler swing in the front yard) and watch me water the flowers (and spray his toes with the water) or, even better, to watch Nate mow the lawn. So easy to entertain him right now!

I can't believe how much I can love one person. And I can't believe he'll be 15 months old soon...I am just trying to enjoy this age, even with its challenges because I know there will be a time where he won't come sit in my lap and ask me to read him a book. Or when he won't smile at me when I come in to wake him up in the morning (probably the opposite!). Or when he won't throw his arms around me when I ask for a hug. Or when he might want nothing to do with me at all as opposed to wanting me or Nate to always play with him. For now, though, he does all those and I'm loving it!

Visit to Ohio

2011-08-04T07:10:00.000-04:00

Swinging at the park with Omi and Opaw

Sitting with Omi on the deck, baby pool ready!

Dip those toes in!


Wearing Nate's old swim trunks from when he was a baby

Playing outside with everyone...Ohio had beautiful non-humid weather, unlike some southern states I know...

Uncle Joe tried to teach him how to golf but he preferred to hit the orange ball with the club instead

So glad for a huge yard to run around in!


...and happy to play ball with Omi!

Nate and I got to go out with Kelsey and Joe to a local winery/restaurant. It was so beautiful outside and we had some willing babysitters on hand back home. We played cornhole overlooking the lake...beautiful night out even if Joe and Kelsey did completely beat me and Nate at cornhole. It was mostly my fault we lost...sorry Nate!


Doesn't Joe look manly pouring that sangria?

As always, it was so fun to get to see family again, even if it was just for a weekend. I feel lucky to have in-laws that I love as much as my own family!

Summer pictures from the iphone!

2011-07-27T09:19:00.000-04:00

My old cell phone, circa 2005 finally broke. It was in bad shape and I was secretly glad when it bit the dust. Nate and I decided to leap into the 21st century and get an iphone. Now I'm wondering how I ever lived without one...it's like having your computer, phone, camera and ipod all in one place. Here are a bunch of pictures from the past couple weeks I took with the phone (much easier than getting my camera out or trying to remember to bring it somewhere in the first place!)

Eating ice cream at the pie kitchen with Granna and Grandpop

Playground/splash park--his favorite thing to do is walk up the slide

Pool day! He's a water baby, that's for sure!

Looking good in his shades:)

At the zoo with his friends Hannah and Charlotte...I taught English with both their moms, Annie and Dana, at South Oldham until we had kids.

Baby pool in the backyard--cheap entertainment!

This picture was taken at my parents' house--Drew is riding "Sugarfoot," our old rocking horse. He's in rough shape but still works!

Splash Park

2011-07-11T14:19:00.000-04:00

Part of the 21st Century Parks initiative in Louisville is the expansion of a bike path, hiking trails, playgrounds, etc. in the parks all around Louisville (and new ones too). One of the first splash parks in this project opened up last week and we took Andrew there this weekend to cool off.

Nate got right in there with him. Although Drew is mostly walking, we kept close by when he walked on pavement. We are officially chasing after him quite a bit now.

And he loves the water as usual!

What a fun Weekend!

2011-07-11T14:15:00.000-04:00

What a busy weekend it's been but so much fun. Erin and Mark came up from Nashville so Mark could do the trial "run" of the Louisville Ironman that he'll be doing in August. Since I knew they'd be in town, Erin, Laura and I plotted and planned a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom.

We gathered friends and family at our house and I told my mom to come over to cook out Saturday night. She kept trying to come over early so I sent her to the store to pick up some milk for Andrew to stall her a bit.

See? She's even got that grocery bag in her hand as she walked in to a houseful of people!

Vicky, Gail and me lighting 60 candles on her cakes (make that 59...my mom removed one as she wasn't technically 60 yet and felt we were pushing her into the next decade a bit too soon)

Holding their boys

Granna, can I please play with that crazy birthday hat?

Me, my mom and Laura with our Aunt Shara and Uncle Kenny

Porch dining!

The brothers-in-law on the patio. Thanks Josh and Nate for grilling 30 burgers!

Drew was attached to her all night!

So even though my mom's 60th isn't for another week, we had a great time with everyone celebrating early. Happy early birthday Mom!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-07T15:54:00.000-04:00

Our 4th of July started with 2 visitors...Nate's dad and Grandma stopped by for a few hours and got their Andrew fix!

He loves his "Grand-diddy"

Darryl brought a toy dog that Nate had owned when he was little and it was a hit! I love how Nate's mom has saved so many of Nate's clothes and toys. It is so sweet to see Drew get to use them.

The weekend was really busy and we had several cookouts on Sunday. I took zero pictures at either one, but that is probably good because at BOTH places, Drew fell while walking/crawling and bumped his lip. Oh, there were tears and blood and it was not a pretty sight. So he had battle wounds from both parties, with a cuts on both sides to match. How he managed to repeat the injury at party # 2 I have no idea! But it was nothing a little ice cream couldn't cure.

Sitting with Dad at the Crescent Hill 4th of July Festival our neighborhood has every year. It is such a fun event with an art fair, music, food, etc. We met some friends of ours from church there (Mary and Noah and their kids) and saw my parents too. Mary and I took the boys (hers is a few months older than Drew) over to the children's music tent where they banged away on tambourines and such. It was such a cute sight and I wish I'd taken a picture. I'm not doing too well with my photo-taking lately!

But I did manage to snap one of Andrew eating the first blackberries of the season straight off the bush!

Just look at that face...what a mess!

Weekend visitor

2011-07-01T10:07:00.000-04:00

Nate's mom was able to stop by this weekend for a very short but much appreciated visit.

Look at that smile! He loves his Omi!

We ate outside at Impellizerri's Pizza. Drew officially loves pizza and breadsticks now...no surprise there!

Here is a short video I took of Drew trying to walk. He's got about 5 to 10 steps down but isn't completely there yet! Something tells me that I really won't be able to keep up with him once he starts walking though!

Grayton Beach Vacation

2011-06-20T10:21:00.000-04:00

This past week my entire family headed to Grayton Beach, Florida for vacation. My dad had been planning this for 2 years now and we finally were all able to be in one place at once!

The weather was perfect, the water was warm...couldn't ask for more!

This is the very old house we stayed in. It was built in the 1800's and had 2 huge wrap-around porches that we practically lived on when we weren't living on the beach. In my opinion, there is nothing better than drinking coffee, reading, eating dinner and talking with some of your favorite people all while looking at the ocean!

Andrew loved the beach, no surprise there. He tried endlessly to walk on the sand, played in the water and of course his baby pool. There was no shortage of attention with all his aunts and uncles around, that's for sure!

Erin and I relaxing on the beach:

Andrew trying to walk...he took a few steps on his own here and there but is still working on it!

Aunt Erin was happy to help with the walking too...and Nate built a sandcastle for Drew to play in.

But sometimes he was just as happy in a bucket!

What's a beach vacation without ice cream on the deck?

As I said before, Andrew got lots of attention from Laura and Erin! I very much enjoyed the extra helping hands too.

The water was perfect for floating. Check out that raft with the sun shade and all...that's the life!

Andrew and Granna

My dad helping him walk around on the deck.

Uncle Mark knows how to make a plastic cup interesting. When he got bored with his toys, we did what we could to keep him busy!

In the evening we took some beach photos...no kaki and white coordinated outfits much to Nate's disappointment:)

One of the best seafood meals I've had...the Red Bar at Grayton Beach. So good!

We walked around Seaside one evening too.

The baby pool sure came in handy!

For adults as well as babies!

Erin, Laura and me

Trying to dig a hole with a shovel about the size of him!

This was one of the best weeks we've had in awhile and my parents are so kind and generous to plan and take us on this trip. It is not often all of us are in one place with no "agenda" other than just hanging out and I think we need to do it more often!

Friends

2011-06-04T14:50:00.000-04:00

Friday I was able to get together with Mary and Amanda...the occasion: meeting Emmylou! Amanda and Matt were in Louisville visiting her family and of course we had to arrange for us all to get together like old times. I know I've written before about my friendship with these two but they are such a blessing. We have seen each other through all the phases of life, good and bad, and have so many memories together. It's crazy to think how we all have kids now and I hope to watch them all grow up together like we did.

We played outside in the water because it was HOT out.

Angelina and Andrew were best buds. They got along great and I wish Mary was my neighbor so every day we could all hang out like this:)

We took everyone on a walk.

Mary shared her lap with two children (and one in utero!) and Angelina shared her baby doll with Drew, who promptly threw it on the floor.

It was so much fun hanging out with my two dearest and oldest friends. It was definitely more chaotic than years past with 3 kids but we had such a great time and I miss them already!

Party # 2

2011-05-29T20:15:00.000-04:00

Saturday Nate and I had friends and family over for birthday party # 2. It was pretty laid back and we enjoyed getting to see friends and family. We started off with a wagon ride around the yard, courtesy of Aunt Laura.

Yummy food

Me and the birthday boy

After his "smash cake" demolition on Thursday, I knew he would enjoy the cupcakes.

...right down to the last bite!

My mom and Andrew, after we changed his icing-covered clothes!

Second wagon ride from my dad this time.

Annie and sweet Lawson

Annie, Heather and me (my teaching friends)

It was such a fun weekend and we got to see lots of people we love. Couldn't ask for more!

More of Omi and Opaw's visit

2011-05-29T20:10:00.000-04:00

We went out to eat at Tony Boombozz pizza and it took all 4 of us to keep Drew occupied during dinner. Sitting still is not his forte!

Nate and his dad

This picture cracks me up! Someone is not happy!

Saturday morning we went to the park and the grandparents needed a phone picture.

Thanks, Omi and Opaw, for making the drive down! We wish you could come visit every weekend.

One Year Old!

2011-05-29T20:04:00.000-04:00

Well, this is a few days late, but happy first birthday Andrew! I can't believe my baby is one!
At one year old...

...he is trying to climb everything in sight.

He loves to throw and roll his soccer ball around.

He is into all sorts of mischief:)

But is so cute that I can't be mad for long!

He loves the park

And being outside

And getting dressed these days is a challenge (so sometimes we just don't!)

And how he went from this...

....to this so quickly is beyond me! He has grown up so incredibly fast.

Nate and I feel so blessed beyond words to be Andrew's parents. I know everyone with kids says that but it is true. Words can't express how much fun this year has been and how much we love our little guy. Happy birthday Andrew! We love you!

Party #1

2011-05-29T20:00:00.000-04:00

How fun has this week been? So much fun! I think we managed to stretch out the celebrations for about 5 days and it's been great! We started Thursday when DeeDee and Darryl drove up and we did cake and presents.

DeeDee brought this classic push toy. Andrew's working on the whole walking thing so this was perfect.

Opening a gift from Omi and Opaw

My parents came by as well and he got a red wagon which has been a hit!

Attempt at a family photo in front of the birthday cake. Of course everyone is looking different directions!

And it's safe to say that someone liked his birthday cake. A lot.

We had to hose him (and the high chair) down afterward but it was worth it!

Snuggling with Omi before bed. One tired boy!

Wendell Berry and Bluegrass Music

2011-05-24T10:51:00.000-04:00

...make for a perfect weekend! We started Friday evening eating pizza outside at Impellizeri's (best pizza in Louisville in my opinion). Andrew was distracted by the cars, trucks, people and bikes going by, which was good because going out to eat with an 11-month old is not exactly relaxing! However, he did great and even had his first bite of pizza.

Then we headed to the Kentucky Loves Mountains festival just down the road, where we were treated to bluegrass music and the highlight of the evening...

...Getting to hear Wendell Berry speak. As you can see, Drew was listening intently:)

As I've mentioned before on the blog, Berry is one of my favorite authors. I just finished The Memory of Old Jack (fiction) and Economics for a Renewed Commonwealth (essays about sustainable economics and land use...it may not sound thrilling but is in fact very interesting, I promise!) Wendell Berry is a humble, wise and thoughtful writer. I could go on more but you get the idea.

Saturday we spent the afternoon at Jefferson Memorial Forest for "Forest Days" festival (we were all about the festivals this weekend!) where we got to listen to hear several bluegrass bands. Drew loved the music too!

And while I spend the better part of our time there just trying to keep him on the blanket (he's a mover!)...

...I finally resorted to bribery with a teething biscuit that takes at least 20 minutes to eat. Hey, better a sticky cracker that is all over his face than the grass and leaves he was trying to consume!

Needless to say we were all ready for a nap by the time we left, but even if it takes a bit more juggling just to listen to music outside than it has in years past, having your kids there makes it even more worthwhile. It is so much fun just to watch Drew experience everything (music, spring, flowers, dogs, children, food) for the first time. There will be quite a few "firsts" this summer (starting with his first birthday in just 2 days!!!) and I'm looking forward to watching him experience it all.

A Food Photographer I am not...

2011-05-17T16:18:00.000-04:00

You know those food websites and blogs that have perfect pictures of the finished product? This isn't one of those blogs:) But even though the picture isn't so great, the recipe most definitely is!

I was talking with three different friends this week about how we are always in a rut as to what to make for dinner. So I'm sharing a recipe that works for me since I certainly steal all sorts of recipe ideas from my friends (and perfect picture food blogs).

I can't remember when or where I found this one either but I'm sure it was either from friend or from my mother-in-law who is always making delicious food. Either way, it's good!

Enchilada Casserole

2-3 chicken breasts OR Rotisserie chicken from deli
1 bag of shredded Monterrey Jack, cheddar or Mexican cheese
minced garlic
1 can diced green chilis
1 can Rotel (diced green chilis and tomatoes)
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup or half a container of sour cream
1 bag of tortilla shells
3 cups chicken broth (divided)
Optional: diced green and red peppers
can of black beans
rice

Directions
--Tear up chicken (if you bought a Rotisserie, otherwise, cook chicken first) into a mixing bowl
--Put half a can of Rotel into it
--Pour half of the shredded cheese into it and mix up
--Saute minced garlic and peppers in olive oil for about 8 minutes and add this as well.

White Sauce
--In a saucepan, melt the butter
--Add the flour, 2 cups of chicken broth and the can of diced green chilis.
--Let it boil and thicken for a few minutes. Then remove from heat and add sour cream.
--Pour about 1/3 of white sauce in the bottom of a glass rectangular baking dish (spray first)

--Meanwhile, roll tortillas up with chicken mixture (divide it up as evenly as possible between all tortillas) and lay filled ones on top of white sauce
--Pour remaining white sauce on top
--Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese on top
--Bake for 40 minutes at 350

Side items of Rice and Beans
--Cook rice according to directions but substitute chicken broth for water and add the other half of the can of Rotel just to spice it up a bit. I also add a can of black beans and mix it all up. Serve on the side with the casserole.

2011-05-16T10:22:00.000-04:00

We had a pretty low key weekend. Friday was beautiful out so we ate outside at Q'doba. Andrew was easily entertained by a paper cup and watching the people, cars, dogs and bicycles passing by on Bardstown Road!

Saturday we went to a cookout and to the park as well. He loves swinging and, as usual, is extremely interested in watching the other kids on the playground. I keep telling him that as soon as he starts walking he can jump right in and play!

"Higher Dad!"

Sunday was rainy out so we had read lots and lots of books. When it's raining, it's tough to keep this kid entertained...He's definitely an outdoorsy boy and life is much easier when the sun is out!

It's May!

2011-05-13T14:27:00.000-04:00

In Louisville, May translates to "Derby" and although we certainly didn't go (tickets are WAY expensive and I'm not about to attempt the infield) we did go to Tom's house to watch it with some friends. Drew sported his horse-hat for all of 5 seconds but seemed genuinely interested in watching the horses race. He's been very into animals lately and I think he'll love going to the zoo this summer and seeing them live and up close.

Aunt Laura stopped by the other day. She was able to actually get Andrew to eat dinner which is a miracle these days. He's been on a bit of a hunger strike and doesn't seem to understand that man cannot live on bananas alone. Laura, can you just come back every evening...please?

And speaking of food, we now have a small scale farm in our backyard. Nate has worked around the clock to get the beds tilled and we've weeded and planted till the sun's gone down, literally! This year we've got strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, grapes (not sure how those will do), zucchini, squash, 6 types of tomatoes, a variety of peppers, green beans, carrots, arugula, kale, and plenty of herbs...whew! That sounds like quite a lot but our goal is to try to live out of the garden as much as possible this summer and fall.

I also have to commend Nate for his hard work in our yard besides just the vegetables...this was the side of our yard exactly a year ago....

...And here it is this year...much better! Nate is always good at seeing beyond the muddy, empty, unfinished business of our house and yard (unlike me!) and has worked so hard to make everything look nice. He even built us a rain barrel (you can see it there on the right) so we can water our plants freely.

And of course, during all this outside activity, Drew has been enthralled watching Nate work. He tries to "prune" every tree, shrub or plant he can get his hands on and this includes the ones at the Garden Center...I have to watch him like a hawk to make sure we don't have make extra purchases that have lost a significant amount of their foliage!

New toys

2011-05-03T14:19:00.000-04:00

Are you tired of the picture of sweet potato fries? Here are a few pictures I took this week when Andrew discovered the joys of playing with kitchen items. I wish it would always be this easy to entertain him!

For dinner tonight...

2011-04-26T10:33:00.000-04:00

We had the yummiest and easiest dinner tonight of baked tilapia and sweet potato fries so I thought I'd share the recipe!

Up until a few months ago, just saying the word "fish" as far as dinner is concerned used to make me grossed out (I don't like fish normally) or panicked at the idea of cooking fish. However, I figured it was time to bit the bullet and learn how to cook it already.

So far, the best and easiest way is to make a quick marinade and bake it. So simple, so healthy, and so easy! Here is one of the best ones I've found and tweaked a bit. It works best with tilapia or flounder, neither of which taste too "fishy" to me:

1 T honey
1 T soy sauce
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp diced garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp lime juice (optional)

Lay fish in a baking dish, pour marinade on top, let sit in refrigerator for about an hour. Bake at 425 for 15 to 20 minutes. Easy!

As an easy side, I always make sweet potato fries. The worst part is the time consuming task of dicing them up. Do they make potato dicers? Surly in this day and age...So while I was dicing away, this is the scene that played out on the kitchen floor:

Sadie and Drew are the best of friends and have been playing "fetch" or "catch" (not sure exactly) with this tennis ball I found under the couch (no telling how long it was there...guess I need to vacuum under the couch more often!). He would throw her the ball and giggle hysterically while she chased it around the kitchen. Free entertainment!

First Easter

2011-04-25T15:14:00.000-04:00

The Easter Bunny visited our house Sunday morning (thanks to Omi..a.k.a. Nate's mom--I didn't get Drew a basket because I knew this year was taken care of between the grandmothers!) He very much enjoyed his puffs, sand toys and book complete with finger puppets.

We've had a ton of rain here the last couple days but the sun came out after church so we took some quick pictures on the front lawn. Don't these two look cute in blue?

No matter what, he would not look at the camera. He was fascinated with my necklace and I gave up after about 10 attempts to get him to do so!

We went to dinner at my parents' house (thanks Omi for this cute Easter outfit!) and had a little "egg hunt" in the living room.

Although Drew tried to eat the eggs, he did find them all. That poor Easter bunny basket didn't know what was coming. In true "boy" fashion, he knocked it down in no time at all (and notice my parents' dog fleeing for safety in the background!)

What? I wasn't supposed to drool all over my Easter outfit?

Texas!

2011-04-20T20:27:00.000-04:00

Every once in awhile, you just need to get away! And get away we did, all the way to Austin, Texas. I might be a southwestern girl at heart after a fun filled 4 days there. I've technically been to Texas before, back in college when Nate and I were interning with Crossroads, but the extent of our visit was a traffic jam in Houston (we were driving in an '88 non-airconditioned Ford pickup with vinyl seats...need I say more?) so you could say that it did not leave a great impression on me at the time. But Austin is like a whole other part of Texas...

So since Nate had a conference/training for work Monday through Friday in Austin we flew out the Friday before to get 3 days in before the training started. We haven't gone anywhere, just the two of us, in well over a year so with grandparents dividing up the time watching Drew, we knew he was in good hands and we just had fun and enjoyed our time together.

When we got to Austin on Friday, we spent the day on foot exploring the city. It is very pedestrian-friendly and we like to walk so this worked out well. We saw the state capital building and ate dinner in the 6th street restaurant district (I can't even remember the name of the restaurant but it was some great Mexican food!)

Saturday: In the morning we woke up bright and early and picked up the rental car. Since we only had it for two days, we crammed a lot in that time. We drove to San Antonio that morning and did the "River Walk" which was lots of shopping and restaurants all along the canal/river that winds through the city.

San Antonio was so beautiful! Although this was the "touristy" area, it was still fun to just walk outside in the warm sunshine, eat lunch together and explore.

And of course we had to remember the Alamo. It was kind of anti-climactic as it just sits right there in the middle of all the shops and restaurants but was still fun to visit.

View from the top of the River walk, along a pedestrian bridge.

Nate had a folder full of google-mapped "detours" to a lot of state parks. I was the delegated teller-of-the-directions while he drove. First stop...Landa Park in New Braunfels, Texas. See that picture above? He is clearly in his element, hiking of course!

Landa Park has a natural spring that feeds into a pool where everyone swims. The water was crystal clear and if I'd had my swimsuit, I think I would have jumped right in too.

The next stop on the way back to Austin was McKinney Falls State Park. Since Texas has been in a bit of a drought these past few weeks, the falls were dry enough to walk around on. We hiked a few more miles through this park too and kept happening upon more beautiful scenery.

Like these very old cypress trees along the creek. There are some amazing swimming holes in Texas!

For example, this one, where people were jumping off the rocks and swimming. It was HOT, like 90 degrees and once again, I wished I had my swimsuit so we could have done the same.

For dinner, we headed back to Austin and ate at a fantastic local taco stand. Nate snapped this blury picture of all the people out and about and the skyline sort of in the distance.

Sunday:
Once again, we headed out bright and early so we could make it to two state parks. The first was Hamilton Pool Preserve with a hike down to yet another swimming hole.

This one was beautiful too...and this time we did have our swimsuits with us but it was still a little cool to swim at this point in the morning.

So we just admired the waterfall.

And of asked a nice couple passing by to take a picture of us.

The trail continued on down to the Pedernales River...such a beautiful place also!

The view from the hike down (I appear as a prop in most of these pictures because Nate had the camera in his hands for most of the hiking and would frequently say, Go stand over there so we can get some perspective on the size of that tree! and such)

After Hamilton pool, we drove through more of the beautiful Texas hill country. I really felt like I was in Texas when we saw a few cows by the side of the road and the roads had names like Texas Ranch Road 27 and Texas Ranch Road 32 (which was more than a bit confusing and might explain why we ended up slightly lost but ultimately in the birthplace of Lyndon B. Johnson at which point Nate declared he'd always wanted to visit anyway.) However, we found our way back...

...to Pedernales State Park. It was getting hot outside, so we stopped by the Pedernales River (the other end of it this time) and decided to go for a swim.

Nate went all in...

While I opted to hang out on the beach.

We crossed to the other side of the park to hike down to the falls, which, like all other falls we hiked to on this trip were a little short on water.

But still provided an awesome view of the river basin and rock formations.

We drove back to Austin and had barbecue for dinner in the Barton Springs area of Austin, a great park with a natural spring that forms a lake and creek, with lots of good places to eat along the way.

I don't know who Uncle Billy is but his barbecue sure was great!

Monday:

In the morning, Nate had to go to the training so I had a whole day to myself. That hasn't happened in quite some time! It was heavenly. In the morning, I enjoyed some Starbucks and once I was well caffeinated, went for a run along this beautiful path pictured above. As I mentioned before, Austin is very pedestrian friendly and they have an awesome trail/running path that goes on for miles all along the river.

The view from the rooftop pool at the hotel where I sat and read all afternoon...once again, a few hours to myself! Nate joined me on his lunch break too.

After Nate's meetings, we walked for several miles along the lake trail again that evening. When we sat down for a bit on the pedestrian bridge, this girl treated everyone to some beautiful piano music, as there was a piano just hanging out on the bridge. I noticed about 3 or 4 of these pianos all along the trail for people to play on a whim.

We ended the night by waiting patiently on the bridge (along with about 100 other people) for the bats...yes you read correctly. A whole colony of Mexican bats migrate to Austin in the spring and hang out under the Congress Avenue bridge all season long. As in 1.5 million of them! It sounds kind of creepy (particularly if you don't like bats) but was definitely interesting to see. And also explains why there is not a mosquito problem along Town Lake.

This is certainly not my picture but you get the idea...lots of bats. A strange tourist attraction for sure! I asked Nate if we could purchase some bats for our backyard so the mosquitoes don't attack me this summer. He looked at me like I'd lost my mind and informed me that you can't just buy bats. So what we really need is one of those bat houses that attract them...I think they will make a nice addition to our backyard this summer.

Now I won't lie and act as though, even though Nate and I had a great time, that we didn't miss our little guy a ton! Five days is a long time to be away from him and I was anxious to get home and kiss those sweet cheeks.

And while we were gone, he cut his two front teeth and learned to stand on his head! I guess a lot happens in the life of a baby when you're away for even a few days. We are so thankful to Nate's mom and sister Kelsey and to my parents for watching him while we were away!

T.S. Eliot once said...

2011-04-13T14:55:00.000-04:00

...that April is the cruelest month (quote completely taken out of context and if you read the whole "Wasteland" poem it makes more sense of course...there goes that rambling English teacher in me!). But I have to disagree. Around here, things are looking up from winter:

However, I did a double take when I saw this Sunday! Really?

And this was the scene in our backyard all weekend as Nate fought with this tree stump, and the stump almost won...

Who is this you ask? Why it is Mr. William Faulkner, one of my favorite southern writers. I got to substitute for a fellow English teacher this week and it was fun to teach Faulkner again, even if the juniors still don't appreciate the nuances of the southern gothic genre.
It was a looong day at school though, away from Drew, and I think my mom was a bit exhausted when I picked him up. Someone is a bundle of energy these days!

This boy moves fast and moves a lot...so today we met some friends at the park and I put him in the swing with his buddy Isaiah to keep him moving and therefore happy.

They're learning to share their personal space quite nicely I think!

Isaiah, Drew and Elliot just hanging out in sunshine.

Pictures on my camera this week

2011-04-10T09:03:00.000-04:00

Riding on Dad's shoulders

Staring at Sadie on the back porch

A new favorite toy

Spring has arrived!

2011-04-10T08:40:00.000-04:00

The weather around these parts has been wonderful! 70's and 80's, sunshine and an occasional spring thunderstorm thrown in for good measure. I love a good spring storm, especially when it comes and goes fast and knocks "watering flowers" off my to-do list. Laura and Josh were in town for the evening and we all headed to my parents' for dinner on the porch. Such a beautiful evening!


He hadn't seen his Uncle Josh and Aunt Laura in awhile!

Sitting on Grandpop's lap

We had to get one with Granna too!

Pardon my robotic stance in this one...our one and only family shot

Me and my sweet boy

A visit with Omi and Opaw

2011-04-10T08:38:00.000-04:00

We made a quick trip to Ohio to see Nate's family last weekend. Andrew loved the extra attention and getting to see his grandparents of course!

Opaw helping Drew "walk"

Playing on the living room floor


Just sitting on Dad's lap

Where did the last 10 months go?

2011-03-29T17:08:00.000-04:00

Andrew is 10 months old now...and it's crazy how fast it has gone by. The cliche's are true! They do grow up so fast...I think he is looking more and more like a little boy each day and less like a baby.

But he still loves those toes!

Warm weather means sitting outside in the evening. He loves to hang upside down right now too...he's such a little monkey as evidenced in this video:

It's just a typical evening at our house...would you believe this is just before bedtime? He is SO wound up. In fact, the more hyper he gets, the more I can tell it's time for him to go to sleep. Then Nate and I collapse on the couch in exhaustion! I'm kidding, but he does keep us busy. He's all boy and into everything!

A fun week outside

2011-03-20T17:10:00.000-04:00

This week Nate's mom (Omi to Andrew) came up to visit for a few days. As always, she was so helpful with everything and we are so thankful she was willing to make the drive to visit us.

On St. Patrick's Day we walked up to Frankfort Ave. to hear some music at the Irish Rover. It was such a beautiful week!

So we took lots of walks around the block. Andrew loves being outside and it is literally the ONLY time he will sit still (although those legs sure kick a lot in the stroller).

Because in addition to learning how to climb the walls (literally...I turned around and he'd somehow shimmied up)...

He's also learning how to climb the stairs. The bad angle/shot of this photo is because I had my other arm bracing to catch him should he take a fall. I think Nate and I will never be able to sit down again! This boy is on the move!

But he is so precious...Just listen to those sweet giggles:) DeeDee knows how to have fun with him, that's for sure. She has an amazing amount of energy (when I felt drained) and spent so much time holding, loving, kissing, changing, feeding and playing with our little guy. I know I've said it before, but Andrew is lucky to have such wonderful grandparents! We miss her already!

We've been busy!

2011-03-16T14:35:00.000-04:00

I just looked at the date of my last post and realized that it's been almost 4 weeks! We have been super busy finishing up this basement and I hope to never post about it again after this. If you're tired of hearing me talk about it then sorry...it's taken up almost every weekend for the past 3 months so you could say that finishing it has been on my mind. And just in time for warm weather! I much prefer to spend our weekends in the woods or in our garden than in our basement.
For a complete "before and after" post with more detail and pictures, click here.


Drew loves the wide open spaces to crawl. I plan to make this area a playroom and have lots of plans that will probably take another year to incorporate. For now, it will be a great space to crawl!

Following Drew over to the right...the office nook! Once again, I've got some plans for shelving above that desk and to spruce it up a bit. But let's be real...I'm just glad that desk is no longer part of our dining room!

As I mentioned before, the rest of the pictures are on the before and after link. So while we still have some decorating/moving of furniture to do, I am so glad this project is finished. Nate did 90% of it himself in all that spare time of his (sarcasm!) between working a full time job and being a dad! I am amazed at what he knows how to do...between framing walls, tiling floors and installing sinks and toilets I think he could do anything. And as always, my dad was a major help, doing the electrical work and showing up at our house almost every weekend. And of course Tom was always on hand to help lift, move, carry or keep Nate company when it got lonely in the basement:)
Meanwhile...

...someone loves cherrios! This has nothing to do with the basement but is the only other picture on my camera right now. I've been slacking off in the photo department but promise to get back on track:)

Switching gears again...some of the people who read this blog know my friend Annie and her husband Eli, (or even if you don't know them) so please take a moment to pray for their little guy, Lawson, who is just under 2 weeks old and having surgery on his colon today. I would be a train wreck if I had to watch Andrew go through that, and I know these past couple weeks haven't been easy for them. Please pray that the surgery goes well and Lawson makes a full recovery!

On the move

2011-02-22T10:14:00.000-05:00

Drew officially learned to crawl this week. My dad came over to watch him for about an hour while Nate and I went to church and when we came back he decided to show off his new skill for all three of us!

Later that night, Nate and I took a quick video with our camera:

My sweet boy

On the move!

3 things we did this week

2011-02-20T16:07:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the warm weather, we went for a run in the park and lost a sock along the way


and decided to relax on the screened porch for a bit

And someone learned to stand up in his crib all by himself!

In my next 30 years...

2011-02-16T09:50:00.001-05:00

Oh, 30....it has arrived. Last year I went a full 3 days in the weeks before my birthday thinking that I was turning 30 and when I casually mentioned to Erin on the phone that "the big 3-0 was coming up" she was like, "Alison--we are turning 29! 30 is a whole year away!" Oops.

But this year actually was the big 3-0 and I feel blessed this year more than ever for so many reasons...

Reason #1: I get to wake up to this little face every morning!

Reason # 2: Good friends! On Friday, I got to eat dinner with 3 of my dearest friends...Amanda, Mary and Erin


Erin and Mary at dinner

Reason #3: More friends! So after dinner, Erin told me we were meeting our friend Paige who was in town but when I got there (O'shea's) Nate had gotten together a bunch of our friends for a little surprise party. I was probably in shock in this picture saying "WHAT? You planned a party??!!??" If you know Nate then you know that is truly a miracle!

Katie, Aaron and Tom

me and Audrey

Jess and Erin


Love these girls! We've known each other since middle school and I feel lucky to get to celebrate my (and Erin's) 30th with them.

Reason #4: Amanda is having a baby! Isn't she the cutest pregnant girl ever?

It's hard to believe I've known her since we were awkward little 7th graders. I love the little baby in her belly already!

Andrew's dedication

2011-02-15T10:34:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday we had Andrew dedicated at our church. I have to say, I love how they do the baby dedications at Highland--the parents write a statement about how they chose their child's name and their hopes for him as a Christian and in his faith. We chose Nate's dad to read the statement to the congregation, while my mom and Nate's mom walked Drew up and down the aisle of the church.

At the beginning of the dedication, when our minister asks us if we "will tell him the stories of Jesus and sing to him the songs of faith"

Nate's dad reading our statement (I put the text below) while DeeDee walks Andrew across the front of the church

My mom, walking Drew up and down the aisle

I love this picture of him just looking out at everyone

He seems to be listening very intently while Joe tells him that "before we loved God, God loved us" (these are the words that are said at all baby dedications at our church)

Here are the words Nate and I wrote about Drew:

It wasn’t long after we found out that we were pregnant with a boy that everyone began asking the standard question: What are you going to name him? Being a teacher, I, Alison, knew there were plenty of names I didn’t want (as any teacher knows--certain names are etched forever in your memory) but choosing Andrew as a first name was simple: It is Nate’s middle name, a Biblical name, and reflects what we hope is passing on of a family name, as Nate’s parents chose it for him.

We selected “Carter” for his middle name based on the name of the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, Virginia. This is the place where we went on our first date, sitting on old bus seats in a barn as we watched Jeannette Carter on the autoharp and Joe Carter on the guitar play “Keep on the Sunny Side,” and Carter is also the name of the county in east Tennessee where, during college, the two of us spent countless hours hiking in the Appalachian Mountains (when perhaps we should have been in Humanities 101). We wanted Andrew’s middle name to reflect all of these ideas: an appreciation for traditions and community as well as a love for the outdoors.

And just as the Carter’s music reflects the Appalachian community, it is our hope that Andrew will find a community here at Highland that reflects the broader family of Christ. We hope and pray that he can discover his place in that body, embracing the teachings of Christ, knowing Him as his Lord and Savior. We believe that a community of believers is essential if we are to raise Andrew to follow in the steps of Christ.

Through his, family both immediate and extended, as well as his church community, we pray that Andrew knows the love of our Heavenly father and as he grows up, desires to share that love with others through compassion, acts of service and a strong faith that shapes his character.

It was such a meaningful and special dedication for all of us as Nate's parents came in town and both of our families were able to participate (in case you were wondering, my dad video-taped it, as he's not much of one for being in the limelight). After the service, everyone came back to our house for lunch and of course we took some more pictures.


With Grandpop and Granna


Family picture with the Moulders

Picture taken at the church

8 Months Old

2011-02-02T14:01:00.000-05:00

I didn't get a chance to do a 7 month post in all the chaos of December but here are the details of Andrew at 8 months, facts which will likely only be of interest to me and Nate (and maybe a few grandparents:) My friend Casey took some of these pictures (like the one above) this weekend so she gets the credit for the good ones!

At 8 months, Drew is sitting up on his own and loves checking out the world.

However, we still do baths in the sink because even though he sits fine, he likes to throw himself backwards or forwards without a worry in the world about hitting his little head. I have visions of that sweet head hitting the porcelain bathtub so we are sticking to the sink for now. I knew that an under-mount sink would come in handy for more than just letting the dishes pile up!

And he is definitely starting to crawl or at least figure it out. He's done a few little forward crawling motions but not enough to make me childproof the house just yet (but I have a feeling I'd better get on that one!)

He still loves to be outside and hang out in the backpack on his dad's shoulders.

As far as eating goes, he is a pretty good eater. He eats solid foods 3 times a day, mostly fruits, veggies and yogurt and oatmeal. I've tried to give him smallish chunks of green beans or peas but he usually spits them out with a horrified look on his face so we'll try again later.
Other details:

Sleeps 7:30 to 7:30 (He's done really well with sleeping through the night the past couple months...yay!)
Naps for an hour in the morning and about an hour and a half in the afternoon
He's getting really good about "playing" independently in his pack 'n play if I put some toys in there.
His favorite thing is still to just watch people or Sadie, who just by walking into the room can provide great entertainment.
Lately, he's been growling like a bear which is pretty funny. He also likes to mimic Nate or me...If I go "la la la" or something he repeats!
He waves hello to the dog or to himself in the mirror and sometimes to us.
He says "d-d-d" when Sadie comes in the room (knows what "doggie" is)
Says "mama" and "dada" but not always referring to me and Nate (but sometimes!)
He's cut his first tooth that we noticed barely peeking out of his bottom gum yesterday.
Overall, this is such a fun stage (I think I say that about all of the stages so far) and even though he is keeping me on my toes (he's quite active!) I am loving it!

Getting outside!

2011-01-31T21:35:00.000-05:00

This weekend some good friends from college, Jeremy and Casey (plus their daughter Lily) came up to visit. With Saturday hitting 50 degrees, we all knew we had to head outside and do some hiking. My, how times have changed...we used to all hike in college but it is a whole other story with 2 children in tow (but so fun!) We went to Jefferson Memorial Forest (the closest place near Louisville with relatively decent hiking) and did a short loop. Lily was a trooper and with the promise of a playground at the end, she kept up the whole time. Most of these pictures are from Casey's camera and capture our weekend well!

Love that little smile!


Look at that chilly little nose...he didn't mind though!

What a cute family!


Another cute close up that Casey took

These two sat here like this for well over an hour and played!

We had such a great weekend and, as I told Casey, it was nice that they understood how it is to organize your weekend around napping and feeding routines, to be content with staying in and ordering pizza rather than going out and how to have fun just walking in the woods. Good times!

My grandma

2011-01-31T10:37:00.000-05:00

This picture of me and my grandma (Nanny:) was taken about a year and a half ago and I think it is one of the last ones I have of the two of us. She passed away two weeks ago after battling Alzheimer's for the last few years. To be honest, I am glad she is not suffering anymore and that she is at peace with Christ at this moment. She was the quintessential grandma to me and my sisters (and other cousins) and a model of a Christ-like spirit in numerous ways. I have so many wonderful memories of her as she was able to be there to watch us all grow up and I already miss her lots.

Last weekend, the funeral was held in Louisville and my grandpa stayed with my parents for several weeks as family and friends came by to visit and plan the details. My mom snapped lots of pictures of him with Andrew and I think the two of them love each other a lot! I am sad that my grandma never got to meet Drew because I'm certain she would have loved her great-grandson!

In addition to seeing my grandpa we got to see lots of family and friends who knew and loved my grandma.

This one is kind of blurry but my grandpa is in the middle with two of his oldest friends (they've known him for over 70 years!) and I think that is just amazing that their friendship goes that far back.

All the cousins/grandkids (and spouses) made for a full picture! Even though the funeral was sad on one level, it was also good to see so many people who loved my grandma and to catch up with family members we don't get to see as often as we'd like.

Snug as a bug after a bath!

2011-01-25T19:08:00.000-05:00

Healthy Cookies?

2011-01-20T16:41:00.000-05:00

I may or may not be addicted to sugar. It's kind of a problem...no seriously. Case in point: once in college I ate an entire cake my friend Katie made over the course of 2 days. In my defense, I thought my roommates were "helping" the cake disappear along with me, but when I commented that everyone must have loved it as much as I did, I was met with the response that I was, indeed, the only person who had touched that cake. Yikes.
All that to say, I like dessert, but I also try to be healthy. Nothing too drastic; I'm not about to cut cheese out of my diet or swear off chocolate or anything that insane, but having a baby makes you first of all evaluate everything that goes into your body while you are pregnant and then everything that goes into your child. Therefore, I'm trying to reinvent some recipes I love to make them healthy too.

I love that little face peeking out in the background!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp of flax seed (found in organic section of the grocery by the seeds and nuts)
1/4 cup of wheat bran (found in the organic section of the grocery by bread mixes/flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
sprinkle of salt
1/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp of corn syrup (optional but helps hold it all together)
3 to 4 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup of pumpkin butter OR apple butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups oats
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional, but let's remember that chocolate makes everything better)

Wow that looks like a lot of ingredients but I tried to replace the massive amounts of butter and sugar that most recipes call for with healthy stuff. They are very filling because of all that too!

--Mix dry ingredients together and then stir in all the rest. Mix in the raisins and chocolate chips last. --Drop by teaspoon onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes at 350. Enjoy!

Future Soccer Player?

2011-01-16T16:53:00.000-05:00

Falling Asleep

2011-01-14T08:47:00.001-05:00


Going...


Going...

Gone!

Time to eat!

2011-01-11T10:15:00.001-05:00

I'm ready to eat! Please don't even think of trying to take MORE pictures of me!

No seriously! Get that camera out of my face or else...

The end result:)

Happy birthday Nate!

2011-01-05T13:51:00.001-05:00

This is a day late but yesterday we celebrated Nate's 31st birthday...I am still holding strong to the twenties (but not for much longer) therefore I took full advantage of teasing Nate about how old he is:) We were able to go out to eat at Jack Fry's, this cozy little restaurant in the Highlands with wonderful food. It's one of those places that Nate and I have always wanted to try but also one of those places that you kind of have to save for a special occasion too (not exactly cheap) but since it's been nearly 2 months since just the two of us went out to eat, it was well worth it! It was so nice to spend some time together, just us(and of course know that Andrew was being doted on over at my parents' house).

This wasn't taken on his birthday but just a few days ago while on a short hike at the Louisville Nature Preserve. We tested out the baby backpack (thanks Erin and Mark!) and loved it! It's a Kelty Transit for babies and toddlers, and I'd definitely give it 5 stars. Drew was comfortable in it, it adjusted well in all directions to fit him (height and weight) and most importantly, Nate was comfortable hiking it it. Hands down, one of our favorite gifts!
I also love this picture because it speaks to what a great father Nate is to Drew. He wants him to enjoy all the things he loves (the outdoors, hiking, etc.) and it was sweet to watch him point out birds and tree names along the hike. I feel lucky and blessed to be married to him. Becoming parents has changed a lot in our lives but Nate has never complained about any of it. He really takes such an interest in Andrew and being a father to him, for example, sitting down on the floor to play or read books to him. And I know I've said it before but I am beyond thankful that Nate works so hard to allow me to stay home with Drew and he never complains about how much more "stuff" we could have if I went back full time (example: we kinda sorta need a new car...the 'ole Subaru check engine light has been lit way too long but Nate said he'd take the bus to work if it really broke down or we sold it). See what I mean? He's a keeper! I love the boys in my life more than anything and feel so blessed!

Christmas #2...

2010-12-28T15:35:00.004-05:00

We drove to Ohio on Christmas morning to celebrate with Nate's family. There's those bare feet again! I think Drew takes after his dad in his "dislike" of footwear. We've already donated numerous socks to Kroger and Target over the past few months:)

Opening gifts with Omi

Uncle Joe helped him rip open some gifts as well.

Playing with a new toy from his grandparents.

This picture is worth a thousand words:)

Nate's grandma, (Drew's great-grandma) was also able to be there on Christmas. Even though it was a quick visit, I'm so glad Andrew got to see everyone.

Nate's mom made Drew this precious little stocking.

And in between quilting stockings she made these amazing cookbooks for me and Kelsey. I can't imagine how much time it took, but she hand-wrote over 150 recipes for us and put them all together in a photo album with notes about each one. I call her about every other week to ask for a recipe and now I have them all in once place--the best gift ever! My favorite part is the picture of her on the front ala Betty Crocker!

We woke up Sunday morning and headed to church where Drew got to hear Nate's dad preach. He let out a few shrieks just to let everyone know he was there and got kissed by approximately 50 church ladies!

On the drive back to Louisville, we stopped at Dee Dee's family's Christmas celebration (which worked out well since it was kind of the halfway point) where he met that whole side of the family. Thankfully, he conked out the whole drive back and so did I when we got home! I love Christmas but I need a breather this week!

Christmas #1

2010-12-28T15:35:00.003-05:00

This might have been the busiest week of Christmas ever. We fit in so many visits with family and friends that it is all starting to blur together!

We woke up to a white Christmas morning...perfect!

Christmas Eve, my parents had me and my sisters and their husbands over for breakfast and to exchange gifts, a.k.a. Christmas celebration #1.

Drew got to open a few gifts and naturally was more interested in trying to eat the wrapping paper. We tried to keep it pretty low key as far as the gift-giving went. He's too young to understand presents anyway but he got some fun new toys and clothes from all of our generous family!

Spending some quality time with Grandpop.

Erin hardly ever put him down! We still couldn't figure out if he sometimes thought she was me, being twins and all but he certainly didn't seem to mind when she held him.

Opening his first stocking from his grandparents.

Another favorite place to hang out...right on Granna's lap.

Laura and Josh opening gifts.

Laura and Drew...his other favorite aunt. I didn't get many pictures of Christmas Eve night but my parents always host an open house. Erin, Mark, Josh, Laura, Nate and I all went to the Christmas Eve service at church first and then to my parents' house. It was kind of a whirlwind night but so much fun.

Nate and I put Drew to bed and exchanged our gifts. We usually only do one gift each year and try to keep it small. Nate got some Smartwool socks from me (don't judge the boring nature of socks...he wanted them to hike in!) and he gave me a Wendell Berry illustrated book, The Mad Farmer Poems. Wendell Berry is my favorite author as Nate well knows. He is a Kentucky poet and writer, and I could literally read his poetry all day. He was one of my favorites to teach my students also so I was pretty happy with my gift.

We got up Christmas morning and packed up the car to head to Ohio for a visit that was too short, a.k.a. Christmas #2!

Some much needed friend time

2010-12-28T15:34:00.001-05:00

A few days after Drew was born, my friend Mary from our Sunday school class brought dinner to our house. I'm sure that I had the I-just-had-a-baby-what-has-happened-to-my-life-oh-and-I-haven't-slept-in-days look. Mary has a 3 year old and had just had her second baby a couple months before Drew (and made it look so easy!) but she still found the time to bring us dinner. Since then, each Wednesday she has always organized a group of us girls to meet at the park, the library, or someone's house. It's a great setup: we get adult conversation and all the kids can play together! Spending time with these girls has truly been a blessing to me; honestly, sometimes I think, Oh, it's too much trouble to get everyone ready and out the door--I should be running errands or cleaning the house or being productive, etc. but on the days I'm able to go I am always glad I did. I've enjoyed getting to know each of these women better each week!

All that to say, the week of Christmas, one of the girls, Emily, had us all over to her house to let the kids make cookies. Of course Drew was a bit young to participate this year but he got to play with Isaiah (Mary's little one) and I think he had fun.

I also got to spend time with some of my oldest friends this week as well. Mary, Amanda, Erin and I met for lunch at The Butterfly Garden Cafe, owned by our friend Emily from high school (second from right). If you live in Louisville and haven't eaten here, you need to go! First, it is in the most adorable old house and is beautiful inside (think old fireplaces, tall ceilings, etc.) and secondly, the food is nothing short of amazing. I'm not exaggerating when I say I ate probably the best salad I might have ever eaten here. It was great as always to spend time with some of my best friends and I haven't laughed that hard in awhile!

That night I had all of the friends from high school over to our house. Nate and Mark promptly headed over to the Irish Rover and left us girls with some time to catch up.

Photo with my sister:)

Rachel, Jess and Heather

Drew and Erin

Erin, Paige and I have been friends since the third grade. She lives in Colorado now so I only get to see her about once a year:(

Someone was supposed to be sleeping but didn't want to miss out!

Derby Pie Bars

2010-12-22T14:54:00.000-05:00

It's a good thing I love my kitchen because I've been spending some serious quality time with it lately. With Christmas just a few days away, I've been baking and freezing all week long. I just pulled these out of the refrigerator to take to my parents' house tonight:

I found a recipe for pecan pie bars on allrecipes.com and adapted it to make them Derby Pie bars instead. Even though we are nowhere near Derby time in Kentucky, in my opinion, Derby pie is the perfect combination of chocolate and pecans and this recipe actually turned out great!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup margarine
5 eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup
3/4 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
1 bag of milk chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Mix together flour and brown sugar. Soften the butter and margarine and stir it into the flour until it is a thick, crumbly mixture.
Press into a 9 x 13 inch pan and bake for 10 minutes at 350.
Combine remaining ingredients except pecans and chocolate chips and blend well.
Stir in pecans and chocolate chips by hand. Pour over baked crust.
Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees F. Bake 1 hour or until a thin crust has formed over the top.
Let it cool completely before cutting into bars.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas...

2010-12-21T14:37:00.000-05:00

I love that song. It is probably one of my favorite Christmas songs that I never get tired of. I love the line: "Through the years, we all will be together....if the fates allow..." That is always the line I think about when every year, for the last 7 or so, Nate and I have gone to our friends house, the Clems, for their annual Christmas party with our college friends. How sentimental am I, really? But I get all nostalgic when I think of how long we have all been friends. This year was fun as always. Here's some photos of our weekend there:

A few of us met first at Woodford Reserve, a bourbon distillery, to take the tour. Gasp! We did indeed take our 6 month old on a bourbon tour but before anyone panics, it is more like the history of bourbon, old buildings, etc. And I love old buildings....bourbon, not so much. If you live in the Kentucky region, you might want to tour it sometime. Besides, it is surrounded by beautiful bluegrass farms and horses. The drive itself is worth it.

See what I mean? A photo op presented itself in front of an ancient copper pot. And the old brick walls....beautiful.

I have learned that the easiest form of entertainment is to put Drew in the baby carrier and just walk around. Therefore, the bourbon tour was perfect for letting him check out the world for a bit. Plus, he learned about the history of bourbon in Kentucky. What can I say, we like to provide educational opportunities whenever possible.

Back at the Clems' house that night...Drew got to meet our friends Russ and Jess for the first time. Lindsey gave him his very first Christmas gift which he promptly ate. She got him a metal sippy cup and some cute little monkey rattles. I got kind of excited when I saw the cup. See, Lindsey is one of those people who is a fantastic gift giver. When we were shopping together about a month ago, she saw me eyeing a metal sippy cup (which I wanted because Drew throws everything on the floor and it has become obvious we need a cup that can take a beating) and remembered that said I liked it! She's good like that.

Kristy, Jess and me

It's a Christmas miracle! Russ, Nate and Steven are all smiling nicely for the picture!

This is just one of many Christmas celebrations that will be keeping us busy this week. I do love all the gatherings but when all is said and done, I might need a vacation from Christmas, otherwise known as the month of January. Does anything fun happen in January? I don't think it does. Therefore, Nate and I will be working on the monumental task of finishing the basement. It has walls now! I'll be sure to do some before and after shots but here is a preview of what we've got as of this moment:

It's got a ways to go but we're getting there!

Blog Renovation

2010-12-21T13:41:00.000-05:00

I changed up the blog a bit and am still working on it. First of all...the title is different, based on the name of our neighborhood, Crescent Hill. "Nate and Alison" was about as boring as you can get so that needed to go and Nate came up with the new title (about all he will probably contribute to the blog I think!).

Secondly, I'm going to try to commit to posting more often because, as I have said before, someday it will be nice to print out our blog and see what we were up to these past few years. There are lots more areas of our life I'd like to document and record (besides the obvious baby stuff) such as the continual renovation of our house, how our garden evolves each year (I swear every spring I can't remember where we planted stuff last year) and recipes/homemade ideas I'd like to keep. Enjoy!

Pictures of Christmas

2010-12-15T09:40:00.000-05:00

This will have to be a quick post because I'm afraid if I don't do it now it will move the the bottom of my continually growing "to-do" list. Just a few pictures of how we've been enjoying the Christmas season so far this year!

Last week I had some girls over for a cookie exchange Christmas party...nevermind that we might have eaten half of what we wanted to take home!

Some of the girls I used to teach with came too.

Last night my parents and Laura came by for a quick dinner and then it was off to see Santa for the first time for Andrew!

He loves his Grandpop:)

And his Granna too!

We headed over to the Peterson Dumesnil House, a historic home in our neighborhood that was hosting a Christmas open house. It is also where Laura got married this past spring...minus the lovely pink coloring on the walls, it was all spruced up for Christmas!

Someone got a little sleepy waiting for Santa to make his appearance.

The "first time on Santa's lap" photo.

One more picture of cuteness!

6 Months and some reflections on being a parent

2010-12-12T13:45:00.000-05:00

Andrew officially turned 6 months old the day after Thanksgiving, which I cannot believe. In many ways it feels like it's been 6 months since we brought him home and in other ways it's gone by so fast. Either way, there are many surprising aspects about being a parent. Since I don't have an official "baby book" for Drew, this blog will have to suffice and someday I'll get it all printed up and put into a nice book format. That being said, I want to record some of my thoughts here before I forget them.

Probably the most surprising aspect of being a parent is how much Nate and I love it. Doesn't that sound mean...that we are surprised by how much we enjoy it? In complete honesty, I was scared to death to become a mom! I don't always do well with life changes (or at least the anticipation of them) and having a baby is right up there with major life-changing events. Over the 9+ months of pregnancy, I worried a lot about completely pointless stuff, most of it selfish (just being honest here). For 6 years, Nate and I had been married and our lives were ours. We slept in on Saturdays, ate out when we wanted, hung out with friends, traveled, hiked, etc. Was having a baby going to change all this "independence" we enjoyed? Of course! But come one...people have been having kids for a gazillion years and of course I was worrying about silly little things.
For example, I do not function well unless I get 8 hours of sleep (I'm high maintenance in the sleep department) and we all know that the number one issue with a newborn is that no one sleeps! Then there was the issue of work. To work or not to work? Part time or full time? Daycare or in home childcare? Yikes! I made the decision to stay at home and thankfully, my school lets me work one day a week. But once again...another major life change! I'd taught high school for 6 years and, contrary to the impression many teachers give, I really loved my job and my students. It was not easy to leave that job and I had numerous "meltdowns" over the decision to do so.
And while we're being honest, moving from two salaries to one is no walk in the park either. We've had to budget like crazy and I might need a 12 step program to break my addiction to coupon websites! But in the morning, when I go get our little guy out of his crib, he smiles at me so sweetly and all of the angst I felt over the job issue just disappears. How could I leave that little face every day? (FYI: I am in NO way implying that my working-mom friends didn't make a good decision...people should do what works for them and this was just mine and Nate's decision. Seriously, hats off to the working mothers out there because I know it is so hard to balance your time and energy with a job and family too.)
All of this to say, being a parent is now on the top of my list of amazing experiences. Nate and I have had so much fun with Andrew in so many ways. There's just no way to describe the love you have for your child...I can't put it into words. All of those fears I had during pregnancy have dissipated and now been replaced with fears not so much related to me but to Drew...the typical concerns all parents have of course. But if anything, being a mom has drawn the focus away from me and my petty, selfishness and directed it towards Drew and has also revealed to me a deeper understanding of the love of God as a Father.
Don't get me wrong; there have certainly been some sleepless nights as well as monotonous days when it feels like all I do is change diapers, clean up messes and do laundry. Nate and I have to plan ahead if we want to go out together and have had to change many aspects about our formerly free-spirited weekends and evenings, but I wouldn't trade any of it. Life has definitely changed in many ways but they are good changes. As I said before, it is surprising how much Nate and I love being parents and don't mind giving up some of those things; cliche as it may sound, we have gained so much more.

And now, for the six month stats:

Weight: 16.5 pounds
Height: 27 inches
Milestones: sitting up mostly unassisted (but still working on balance), rolling all over the place like a little rolling pin, saying "mama" and other babbling sounds, waving hello when he's in the mood:)
Eating: He has started on solids and now eats rice cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and pears each day at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've made his baby food which was actually so simple and we'll probably start green vegetables this week.
Sleeping: Still sleeping from 7:30-7:30 for the most part and taking a 90 minute morning nap and a 90 minute afternoon nap.
Loves: being outside, riding in the Baby Bjorn/baby carrier where he can check out the world, even if it is just a trip to the grocery store, baths, music of any kind, watching Nate do ANYTHING, trying to pet Sadie, chewing on anything he can find which reminds me that I need to do some serious baby-proofing of our house!
His little personality is really emerging and it is so much fun!

The token "baby food all over the face" photo

St. Jude Half Marathon!

2010-12-06T21:55:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I went to Memphis with Erin to run in the St. Jude half marathon. We stayed with Erin's friend Kathy (far left) and her friend Beth (middle) joined us too. This was the first time I'd left Andrew overnight but he was in good hands! Nate's mom was kind enough to come down for the weekend and help Nate out with the baby-watching. Nate had a ton of prep work to do in the basement because we are getting it dry walled this weeks so he was able to focus on that while Dee Dee got to focus on her grandson!

The night before I left we gave him a bath in the kitchen sink. We are kind of in an "in between" stage with bathtubs. He is too big for his infant tub but our bathroom one kind of swallows him. For now, the sink works!

Beth, Erin and Kathy at dinner...Kathy and her husband were so kind and hospitable to us. They had the best pasta dinner for us the night before the race and her husband chauffeured us to the starting line and picked us up after the race was over. If you've ever done any sort of race, you know how crazy it is just to park and figure out where to go so it was great to have his help!

Kathy, Erin and me after the race. It was 65 degrees in Memphis and we were sweating by the end! Somehow on my drive home that 65 turned into 25 and sleet but the run itself was perfect weather. I did my best time ever at 1:48. Erin beat me by one minute but she's been doing that since we were born (3 minutes then!) It was such a fun weekend (besides my long drive!) to spend time with my sister and get to know Beth and Kathy. It was also pretty nice to come home and get to see my little guy...

Here he is with his new favorite toy.

Tom stopped by for dinner and a visit too!

Sunday afternoon we went to get our Christmas tree down on the riverfront. It was FREEZING! Needless to say, we picked out the tree as quickly as possible and only got a couple pictures.

Doesn't that little face just look cold?

Tomorrow we head to the pediatrician for his 6 month checkup (about a week overdue) so I'll update with all of those stats soon. For now, we are hibernating inside by the Christmas tree and trying to stay warm! I'm such a wimp when it comes to cold weather!

A Thankful Thanksgiving!

2010-11-30T14:15:00.000-05:00

This year we spent Thanksgiving at the Moulder's house. It was such a great weekend doing a lot of nothing but eating, watching football on the couch, and spending time with everyone. You have no idea how many "takes" it took to get this picture without certain boys...ahem...not smiling or making odd faces...but Darryl and I persevered and finally got one decent picture!

On the way up, Andrew got to visit for a bit with his great grandiddy.

And of course he enjoyed lots of attention from everyone!

The look on his face here is just funny...

We went to a Christmas tree display and tried to get one good picture of the 3 of us together which proved to be quite difficult after someone had a meltdown and I'm not referring to Drew:) Nate's worst nightmare might just be me forcing him to smile for a picture in a crowd of people gawking at Christmas trees! I'm kidding...kind of.

All of us at the Akron Art Museum

We had some great babysitters while we were in Ohio! I was actually able to get some Christmas shopping done with Kelsey while these three spent some quality time together!

Drew loved his Night Before Christmas book that Omi and Opaw gave him...it is one of those that has their voices recorded and I do believe I've "read" it to him approximately 60 times since we've gotten home. He loves to hear their voices!

What a sweet picture!

And when we finally got home on Sunday evening, two other people couldn't wait to hold him! My parents brought dinner over to us, but I think I know their real intention!

Smiling with Grandpop:)

It's the holiday season....

2010-11-22T10:36:00.000-05:00

And I am thinking that I need to get our Christmas cards ready to be mailed! Nate and I have never sent out a card before but I love getting them from people so I am going to do it this year! That and we have a cute baby to share with the world, right? Additionally, Shutterfly is offering free Christmas cards if you link your blog to their website (http://bit.ly/sfly2010) so any of my blogging friends can go check it out!
Enough with that...here's our week in review, picture style as usual!

The weather here has been so warm! Not November-like at all which makes me happy. We met my friend Annie and her daughter Hannah at the park last week. Annie is due with a baby in February so I thought she should get used to having both arms/hands occupied!

Thank goodness for girls' nights! Nate went backpacking with friends last weekend so Katie, Lindsey and I got to spend some time together doing a whole lot of nothing...Seriously, we came back to the house and all took naps. It was amazing. We also ate at Mojitos and if you live in Louisville, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Opaw (Nate's dad) was in Lexington for a missions convention and he drove to Louisville to have dinner with us. We are so glad he got to visit, even if it was brief!

This is a typical evening scene in our house. That boppy pillow has been used for numerous purposes in our house! I can also hardly believe that Drew is practically sitting up on his own. I'm going to do a 6-month post here soon and will document all of those fun developments too. Guess that's all for now...we are looking forward to Thanksgiving this week and spending time with family!

More Fall fun!

2010-11-08T09:44:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, we headed to Keenland for the Fall Meet, an annual tradition of ours for years now. We always meet up with college friends and tailgate first. Andrew hung out with my parents so I think he had a pretty fun day as well!

Tom, Liz and Nate...can you tell it was cold out?

What would Keenland tailgating be without cornhole?

These 3 have been friends for so long! I'm thankful that we are still able to stay close to our college friends. There's just something about friendships with people who have known you for a long time.

Drew attended his first birthday party, held for Miss Gracie, the "candy corn" to the left. Molly instructed "all tiny humans" to come dressed up (quote from her invitation), since it was the day before Halloween. I'm pretty sure that pre-baby, Nate and I said we'd never dress our kids up, blah, blah but let's face it...it's kind of fun! Brown bear didn't seem to mind wearing his warm costume either:)

He loved his costume so much, he even wore it again while we greeted trick-or-treaters on Halloween!

I love my little snuggly guy! We think he enjoyed his first Halloween!

Speaking of "firsts," here he is taking his first bite of rice cereal. Yes, we fed him in his exersaucer because he's still a bit small for the high chair...whatever works, ya know?

More please! I think he loved it! How is it possible that we have a baby who is already eating solid foods? I think he needs to stop growing up so fast...

No really...he can stay this super-cute age forever:) By the way, the quilt in this picture and the sweater he is wearing were both hand-made by 2 of my talented students. All I'm saying is, I sure didn't know how to quilt or knit in high school. Oh wait...I still don't! I do love hand-made gifts though.

Cuteness!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T11:16:00.000-04:00

Weekend in Ohio

2010-10-28T16:35:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we took Andrew on his first trip to see his Omi and Opaw in Ohio. He loved all the grandparent attention and we enjoyed getting to see Nate's family too!

Hanging out with Opaw, a.k.a. Nate's dad

We went to a harvest festival and took some photos among all the fall produce!

Our little pumpkin among the pumpkins:)

Awwwwww.....

Drew got to meet Bentley too:) Lately, he has been really interested in dogs, especially Sadie, of course. If she so much as walks by, he will just watch her with this wide-eyed look on his face.

Aunt Kelsey and Uncle Joe came by to play too!

We stopped for a brief visit with Grandiddy (Nate's grandma) on the way home. She hasn't seen Andrew since he was just about 2 months old!

Weekend pictures

2010-10-21T21:01:00.000-04:00

We had a few friends over to cook out this weekend, kids and all.

Annie's son, Brooks, was quite fascinated with Drew and I think they'll be buddies someday:)

And Drew seemed quite smitten with Hannah as well.

And some more cuteness for your viewing pleasure...

Sitting on the front porch with Dad

One of his favorite things to do right now is grab Nate's beard!

In his PJ's, ready for bed:)