Violet's Broomride

No Time!

2009-12-14T18:44:00.001-05:00

Just thought I would type up a quick note to y'all that I am just to busy to get around to posting blogs lately. If you want to keep up with me & the boys, come to facebook and you'll get the news right away with cute pics :)

A Happy Griffin

2009-10-01T21:25:00.002-04:00

Griffin's Point of View

2009-08-23T21:37:00.001-04:00

Griffin haz blogged. Go check it out!!!

Griffin's Nest

Griffin Has Arrived!!!

2009-08-18T01:21:00.006-04:00

Griffin Charles Lawrence was born on Friday August 14th at 11:42 am. He was 7 lbs. 3 oz. and 19" long. I was in labor for approximately 12 hours and happily we did not have to use any drugs to induce him. I was already having contractions when I arrived at the hospital for my scheduled induction and once his water was broken the labor progressed fairly quickly. 24 hours after he was born he was having a few issues and when the nurse noticed some slight breathing issues she decided to call the doc on call and they decided to have him transferred to the NICU. They thought he might have an infection and proceeded to fill him full of all kinds of antibiotics. They also had me stop breastfeeding him for a day because he was spitting up and they were not sure why. (Could have been related to the fact that he swallowed some amniotic fluid and it was irritating his throat.) He perked up really quickly and was such a trooper. Roland had a sore throat so he could not come and visit Griffin in the NICU. He decided to go pick up Drake and take care of him. The NICU doc this morning decided that she could see no reasons to continue to keep Griffin there so she authorized his release for today. Griffin was able to leave the hospital at 1 pm on Monday 8/17. It has been a busy weekend and I am soooooo happy to finally be home with all my guys. Hopefully I'll find some sleep tonight... :)

(Thanks again to Shanti for those awesome black and white photos of Griffin in this post, www.ShantiFocus.com)

Due Date is Here

2009-08-11T14:13:00.007-04:00

Griffin is still not here and today is his due date (also happy b-day Auntie Ann!). We are hoping he will decide to make his appearance soon, but he has been officially served his eviction notice. After discussing it with my doctor we have decided to schedule an induction for Friday morning. So either way he should be outta my belly before the end of this weekend.

Yesterday a new dear friend offered to take some belly pictures for me before the little guy came out. Please visit her website, Shanti Deojay Photography. Here is a little sample below.

Enjoy!

4D Picture of Griffin

2009-07-18T01:32:00.002-04:00

Pictures

2009-07-12T02:20:00.004-04:00

On Friday July 10th I had another ultrasound appointment for little Griffin. He is currently in the 47th percentile and is doing well.

While I was at the doctor's Drake stayed at the Brown's house and Heathir was kind enough to babysit AND to take these super cute pictures of Drake. Thanks Heathir!!!

Today Drake and his Daddy went to the Thomas the Train shindig at Toys R Us.

Harmonica

2009-07-12T02:17:00.005-04:00

Here is a video of Drake playing the harmonica. I thought it was really cute and just knew his Daddy would want to see/hear it.

Sorry It's Been So Long

2009-06-28T22:54:00.006-04:00

Sorry it has taken so long to post here. If you want to see pictures more often, get on Facebook!!! I post there all the time, its just much faster and easier.

Drake loves it here in Eugene because we are invited to do stuff at least once a week. He has been to local parks, backyards, a farm and even tried a wading pool yesterday (that didn't go so well, but we'll try again in a few weeks).

Here Drake is playing basketball with his friend L.

"Look at my train, in my train bed! I love trains!!!"

"Stacking cat food is so much fun!!!"

"Nom, nom, nom, fried cheese is yummers!!!!"

"Look I can sit in my box of cars. Mine, all mine!!"

"Using a fork is fun!"

"Isn't this the best train track ever?"

"Eating my first kid's meal at nice restaurant. Chicken strips are yummers!"

Eating at Carl's Jr. on Father's Day. Daddy is feeding Drakers cheerios with a straw.

The boys on Father's Day watching tv.

Mommy and Drakers.

Drake spent the afternoon playing at his friends house while I went to a doc appointment for Griffin. He had so much fun and it was past nap time so he fell sound asleep during the 10 minute car ride home.

"Good morning!"

Best Bed EVAR!!!

2009-05-25T02:43:00.001-04:00

We finally got Drake's new toddler bed this weekend. He LOVES it!! Well until bedtime, but we are working on that. He could stay in his crib longer (he isn't trying to climb out of it yet), but Griffin will need it when he comes home and I didn't want Drake to feel like he stole his bed.

Introducing Griffin!!

2009-05-20T23:24:00.003-04:00

I had a doc appointment this morning for little Griffin. Everything is going along great! He is a little big for his gestational age, but still well within "normal" range. All my tests are coming back normal and my blood pressure is being controlled by medication. I know that I have been really bad about posting the ultrasound pics of the little guy, so I picked 2 goods ones from today.

Enjoy!!!

Happy Mom's Day!!!

2009-05-11T02:31:00.008-04:00

We got this ride-on car for Drake at a garage sale last weekend. He LOVES it. He has been pushing/riding it all around the house. Look, it has wheels!!!

Riding his new "car".

Woo hoo!!! Drake has put together a really long line of single mega-blocks. He was trying to stack them up, but would get frustrated when it fell over. I showed him how to do it on the floor and that went much better.

Me and my little man.

Putting blocks on his mega-block piano.

Pushing around one of his cars on his crib.

Enjoying dinner at Carl's Jr.

So I was really grumpy with Roland today thinking he hadn't prepared for Mom's Day. No card, no gift, no nothing when I got up this morning. :( We went driving around downtown Eugene and stopped at a bagel shop for lunch. Then we checked out a park near there and found out that the historic district of Eugene was having open houses on several of the historic houses there. Drake was due for a nap, but I found out they only give these tours once a year on Mom's Day. So we had a wonderful time walking around the neighborhood and checking out the old houses. Drake did pretty well considering he needed a nap. After the tour we headed back downtown to drive around some more, looking for interesting shops figuring Drake could sleep in the car. Suddenly Roland drove into a parking lot of a pottery shop, went in and picked up the mug below. It has a hand print of Drake, an I Love Mom logo and the year and Drake's name on it. I had been hoping for something like this ever since I got Roland something similar last year for Dad's Day. Thanks for the perfect gift Roland!!! I just wish your surprise didn't have me so frustrated with you for the first half of the day.

We went to dinner at Red Robin for Mom's Day. It was yummers, but I ate waaay to much and felt kinda icky on the drive home. We even went for a nice drive around Eugene and I felt bad enough to suggest heading home so I could lie down. I feel much better now :)

Here is Drake's first real experience with a balloon. He LOVED it! Best night ever!!!

Drake also tried his first mozzarella stick tonight. He thought it was super yummers.

I hope all the mom's out there had a wonderful and relaxing Mom's Day today!!!

Picture Update

2009-05-04T02:30:00.006-04:00

Ok, so I admit it, I have been slacking here with the posting. Facebook is so easy to post pics that I have been doing them there instead. So sorry, but here you go with a lot of new pics. I am really enjoying Oregon. The weather has been wonderful, that is, if you like rainy days with a few days of sun in between :)

Oh and by the way, I am really happy that Drake is finally saying Mom and meaning it. He started just a few days ago, and mostly uses it when his toy is stuck or he can't reach it, lol.

Drake playing in his clothes hamper.

Trying to read Mommy's book.

Playing with his matchbox cars.

Playing on his new chair that also lays out flat on the floor.

An experiment in trying to feed himself, lol.

Playing at the park.

He now poses for the camera for a few seconds before moving to try and grab the camera.

Mmmmmmmm juice!!!

We went the the Oregon coast a few weeks ago and there are some cool shops there. I really liked this sign.

Pretty Oregon coast sunset :)

Trying to help Daddy put together the futon. He is also dressed to go to the model railroad show.

Peeks!!

Trying to be cool at Red Robin.

He loves to play with Daddy's drumsticks.

Wearing Mommy's shoes.

Copying the cat.

Our friends just got some baby chicks. Drake is sitting on their cage checking them out.

Khayman managed to figure out a way to get up on top of the wall.

Me and my shiny new Kindle 2. I lurve it.

Which guitar should I play with...

My silly little guy :)

We Have Made it to Oregon

2009-04-05T00:19:00.007-04:00

Here are a couple of pictures that I took before we left Virginia.

We have made it safe and sound to Oregon. We left North Platte, NE Monday afternoon (3/30) and that night we were forced to stop in Cheyenne, WY because the interstate was closed. We mostly encountered high winds but there were some fits of snow that Roland drove through. We drove through Tuesday night and arrived in Eugene on Wednesday 4/1 around noon PST. (Should I be worried that we arrived in Oregon on April Fool's Day???) Happily we were able to get into our new rental house immediately. Roland unloaded the futon mattress we had with us on the car trailer and Drake and I proceeded to nap the afternoon away :) The trailers with all of our stuff showed up Thursday afternoon, as did the cable guy. Thursday Drake and I spent the day over at our friends house and he had a blast playing with their son, 3 and daughter 6. He loved pushing her stroller, as you can see in the previous video I posted here. He had so much fun that he fell asleep as soon as I put him in his car seat, barely woke up to be put to bed and slept until 11 am the next morning (I had to open his bedroom door to help "encourage" him to wake up). He also took a 4 hour nap that afternoon, lol. It is now Saturday evening and the trailers are empty except for the pool table. Roland is currently organizing the garage so there will be room to put said pool table tomorrow when reinforcements arrive to help unload it. Thankfully he won't have to pay some guys to help him this time :) I imagine tomorrow will be spent unpacking and organizing the house. I need to work on putting away clothes and I will work on my mountain of book boxes once I have bookcases set up to do so.

Pushing a Stroller

2009-04-04T21:47:00.001-04:00

Today's Sonogram

2009-03-26T16:45:00.000-04:00

It's a boy!!!

Address Info

2009-03-25T00:28:00.002-04:00

I have just sent out an email with our new address. If you did not receive the email and would like our new address in OR, please let me know.

We are in the middle of packing/loading and it is not fun. Roland is almost done loading the trailers and they should be picked up sometime tomorrow. I already miss my tv and the furniture. Happily I will get to sleep on my super awesome king size bed tonight, but than it will be loaded on the truck in the morning. At least we have a decent futon mattress to sleep on the next few nights. I have my 20 week sonogram and a doctor appointment on Thursday. Hopefully we'll find out the sex of the little one at that time. Drake and I fly out to Nebraska on Friday and will staying with my dear aunt that night. On Saturday she will drive us to meet my brother and his family and they will take us on through to North Platte. Roland will be driving out from Virginia and picking us up in North Platte and than we will make our way all the way over to Oregon. We hope to get there by or on the 1st.

Drake is 18 Months Old!!!

2009-03-16T22:01:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was Drake's 18 month birthday. Wow, I can't believe my little guy is a year and a half old now. In the last month he has started showing changes that he is becoming a little boy instead of a baby. He runs around the house, is constantly on the go and trying to climb up stuff. He face is also starting to change and I see peeks of his boy face every once in a while. They way he cries has changed (he does this cute thing where he puts his hands over his face). He is trying to climb out of his crib now (we will transition him to a big bed once we get moved). He can point out his body parts when asked. Still no real words yet, but I expect a full sentence any day now. He had his doctor's appointment today and he is currently 32" tall and 22 1/2 lbs. He is still on target with his growth curve, so even though he doesn't weigh much he is still on track with how he was in the past, so no worries.

While Daddy's Away, Mommy Takes More Pics

2009-03-11T22:51:00.004-04:00

Drake says "Good Morning!!"

Nap time is over.

"Let me out!!!!"

Drake loves running around and exploring the backyard. He is also learning how to kick his ball.

Chuck Has Found a Job

2009-03-06T11:05:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that Chuck has accepted a job with Buzz Monkey in Eugene, OR. His tentative start date is April 6th. This means we will be making our biggest move yet, cross crountry from Virginia all the way to Oregon. We are hoping to spend a day or more in the Lincoln / North Platte area, so if you would like to hook up, let me know and I will try to make that happen :)

While Daddy's Away...

2009-02-20T23:39:00.003-05:00

Roland was out of town the last few days for an on-site interview. While he was away I took a few pics of Drake to send to him.

Here Drake is playing with his toy. He climbed onto the bottom shelf of his diaper changing table to do it, hehe. He is climbing on EVERYTHING now.

Smiling, happy boy :)

"Look, I'm playing in my toy basket"

Driving Quad

2009-02-16T22:07:00.001-05:00

Drake FINALLY riding his Christmas present and pushing the button to make it go, lol.

Happy Birthday Roland

2009-02-16T21:54:00.003-05:00

My smiling boy and Sebastian. Drake's new favorite thing to do is go outside and run around. Unfortunately it has been rather cold lately, he is bummed.

My silly guy making faces during his dinner.

Today is Roland's birthday, I'll leave it up to him if he wants you to know how old he is today :) We are planning to properly celebrate his birthday once he finds a new job but we did go out to dinner to celebrate. He found a coupon for Fridays, so we were able to have some yummy food. Here is Drakey enjoying the to-go box, lol.

Talking on the Phone

2009-02-12T20:07:00.001-05:00

Talking to Grandma on the cell phone.

Drake on Trailer

2009-02-10T22:03:00.001-05:00

Our Life Since the Layoff

2009-02-10T21:44:00.004-05:00

Last Thursday we drove into D.C. to meet up with our friend Jody. Her hubby and Roland worked together when we were up in the Boston area. It was great to catch up with her and hear stories about her 3 precious boys (who were born within an hour of Drake's birth). She had a great time playing with Drake.

The weather was absolutely beautiful on Saturday so we went back to D.C. to do some touristing. We want to do more free D.C. activities before we move away. We were aiming to go to some of the memorials, starting with Lincolns, but we ended up at Arlington National Cemetery. I am sooo glad we went. It was amazing. We had some issues when we first got there. Drake was having a tantrum, than bonked his head during said tantrum, which caused it to escalate. He finally calmed down a bit and we headed off to see some of the noteable spots at the cemetery. Here is the amazing view of D.C. from the top of a very tall hill there.

Here is the guard walking in front of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We managed to get there just in time to see one of the hourly changing of the guard ceremonies. I am glad to have seen it, but have to admit it was rather boring, but what an honor for the guards to be a part of the history of that ritual.

Sunday had some more lovely weather so we took Drakey to the park. He LOVES the slides.

Today Drake and I went out to the backyard to run around. He went straight over to his Daddy's trailer. He spent quite a bit of time running around on it, finding it very entertaining.

Here Drake is checking out the telescope on his castle slide.

Vacation Cancelled

2009-02-05T19:04:00.002-05:00

I am sad to announce that we will NOT be coming to San Diego for vacation. Roland lost his job Wednesday morning and we have decided it would be best if I kept working and he focused on the job hunt and his phone interviews.

2009-01-27T22:01:00.002-05:00

2009-01-24T22:43:00.004-05:00

I am sooo excited for our vacation in 2 weeks. It will be sooo nice to get back to San Diego, where hopefully it'll be warmer than here, and see all of our friends and family. I have missed everyone so much!!! I can also really use a break from the same old routine.

Lately my life has been checking out facebook, allergies, trying to get my work done and dealing with pregnancy related stuff.

Drake still enjoys his slide.

One of his favorite games is "peeks", peeking through stuff at me and laughing, its sooo cute.

For some reason today he wanted my jacket, so Roland put it on him and Drake thought it was the coolest thing evar. :)

All Smiles

2009-01-21T18:35:00.002-05:00

Cell Phones are teh Awesome

2009-01-12T21:46:00.004-05:00

Here is a pic of Drake with his new favorite toy, my old cell phone, hehe.

I Really am Pregnant

2009-01-07T22:58:00.002-05:00

I had my first appointment for the new little baby today. I went in expecting to talk to the nurse, she asks how I am, we figure out when I am due, get lots of paperwork, take tests and review billing info. Well she ended up having me go in for an ultrasound. Woot! I got to see the little one and hear its heartbeat. The technician said the baby is currently the size of a peanut. Poor Drake fussed in his stroller the whole time because he was being ignored, lol.

Today's Pics

2009-01-05T21:05:00.003-05:00

Well I was a very sad Mommy today, Roland went back to work for the first time in 2 weeks. It was just me and Drakey all day. We had fun, but it was weird.

Drake up from his nap.

Drake's first oreo cookie :)

My Adorable Boy

2009-01-04T20:17:00.004-05:00

Just before Christmas we found this really cool Step 2 toybox at a used kids store and brought it home for Drakey. It lives in my office. Well for some reason, Drake just LOVES to climb into it to fetch out his toys. Its very cute.

We went to Red Robin for dinner last night. This is Drake concentrating very very hard on getting his crayons back into the box. He was very serious about this. LOL

Slide

2008-12-29T21:53:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T22:01:00.006-05:00

The other day we went grocery shopping. Daddy was very smart and grabbed a cart with a car on the front. Drake was happily occupied during the entire shopping trip!

One of Drake's presents was the green ride-on you can see in this picture. He is still a little afraid of it, but hopefully soon he'll be tearing around the house on it.

Drake says "Merry Christmas!!"

Playing with his new Mega-Blocks piano and surrounded by Little People toys.

Drake's absolutely favorite present this year is this SwingAlong Castle from Little Tikes. We found it on clearance at Big Kmart. Drake now spend HOURS climbing up and sliding down and he loves to sit in the swing backwards and bounce up and down. We make sure to supervise closely so he doesn't fall down.

We had a really nice Christmas. It has been great having Roland home from work, he has been helping out a lot with taking care of Drake.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and taking time to enjoy their friends and family.

Ohh and by the way, Drake is going to be a big brother :)

Ginormous Announcement!!!!

2008-12-20T12:01:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!! So I have really, really, really big news, so big its Ginormous. :)

After 5 1/2 years we are returning to San Diego for a vacation/family/friends visit!!!! We have missed everyone and everything out there so much but could not figure out how to get back there until now.

We will be flying out to San Diego on February 8th and flying home on Tuesday February 24th.

Roland's birthday will also be happening while we are there and he would like have a party and everyone is invited. His birthday is February 16th, which is a Monday, so we were thinking the best day would be Sunday the 15th. Let me know what works best for you and we will schedule accordingly.

I am sooooo excited to get back and see everyone and visit all the places I miss (my beach!!! oh how I have missed my beach!!!) and of course all the restaurants we miss. It's funny we talk about the food we want to eat more than anything else, hehe.

He loves me!

2008-12-18T21:19:00.005-05:00

So today Roland messaged me that he had a surprise place to take me to dinner tonight. I thought, well that's a little weird, but ok. I really am impatient so against my normal nature I just let it go and decided to wait and see what he was up to. He drove me to the place and as we drove up I saw "Jason's Deli". OMG!!! I LOVE Jason's Deli. We had discovered them back in Texas and I just loved to eat there. Of course Roland wasn't that big of a fan. So the fact that he found one in the area AND took me there for dinner really meant a lot :) See he loves me, he really loves me. Thanks for the yummers dinner!!!

Drake loves to lay his head down on the pillow :)

Drakey and his Daddy playing Rockband 2.

Drake's 15th Month Birthday

2008-12-15T15:40:00.002-05:00

Today is Drake's 15th month birthday. He still isn't talking very much, just says hi, and dada, but he is walking around like crazy. He also knows what things are. I can ask him to bring me something and he usually does. He helps put on his clothes and is very helpful in general. We went to the pediatrician today and he is 29 3/4" long and weighs 20.4 lbs. He is still a little guy and is in the 5th percentile, but the doctor says he's fine.

Pics of Drake

2008-12-03T23:35:00.001-05:00

Happy boy!

Resting

Mmmmm juice!!!

Gotta push around my popper.

Quiet Thanksgiving and WoW

2008-11-30T18:52:00.008-05:00

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving! It was pretty quiet around our house. No family nearby, so it was just the 3 of us enjoying a day off of work and a nice dinner out. Unfortunately Drake hasn't been feeling to well. If he's still not better by tomorrow I'll be calling the doctor.

Drakey taking after his daddy. This is his new favorite thing to do, sit on daddy's lap and hit all the buttons on the keyboard.

The guitar hero and rockband guitars are kept in the hall closet where we hang up our coats. Drake grabbed one of the guitars tonight and hauled it all around the house :)

I have been playing World of Warcraft a lot lately. I have been obsessed with collecting the vanity pets. If you get 50 pets, you unlock an achievement called "Shop Smart. Shop Pet... Smart" and than you receive a skunk vanity pet in the mail. So I now have 51 vanity pets (on one character), woo hoo! If you are interested in seeing my collection of pets on my main character Emmaleth, go here.

Here is a picture of my favorite pet the Azure Whelpling. Isn't a blue baby dragon the cutest thing EVAR???

For WoW's 4th anniversary they gave out Baby Blizzard Bear's to everyone. So cute!!! I had no idea this was coming until I logged on that day and it was just in my mailbox.

During their Halloween special events I was able to pick up the "Sinister Squashling" a super cool pumpkin pet. I also found that broom mount, to bad it went away after a couple of weeks.

Here is another cute pet I have, the Sprite Darter Hatchling, a cute little fairy dragon.

Brr It's Cold Outside

2008-11-23T19:56:00.006-05:00

It has gotten really cold here in the last week or two and poor Drake did not have a winter coat. So yesterday we headed off to Super Target and found him a new coat. (Sebastian and Gwynn are behind the fence)

We went grocery shopping the other night and Roland took this picture. Isn't his hat cute??? :)

Drake is still trying to figure out how to color. I handed him a crayon today and he just went to town. Of course there were still lots of attempts to eat the crayon.

The Little Guy

2008-11-18T16:50:00.004-05:00

Lately Drake has been laying on the floor to play. He has also started going over to pillows that are on the floor and will put his head on it, lay there for a few moments and than pops up to play some more, hehe.

Me and my little man :)

So Drake doesn't like to sit in the cart at the store for very long, but he sure does like to help push it!

Pics

2008-11-13T22:00:00.003-05:00

Drake playing.

Recently Drake has started getting between his crib and the wall. He thinks this is the funniest thing ever! lol

Of Course, More Pics of Drake

2008-11-09T22:58:00.005-05:00

Drake eating his favorite food, cheerios :)

We bought Drake some non-toxic crayons this weekend and here is his first attempt at coloring. Most of the scribbles were done by me, he mostly tried to eat the crayons :)

Roland decided to rake up some of the leaves in the back yard and here is Drake's first time in a leaf pile.

Happy Election Day

2008-11-04T17:44:00.005-05:00

My husband is wonderful, yesterday he brought home roses for me for no reason in particular :)

Now for some Drakey pics.

He has started this cute thing where he kinda peeks at me from the side of his high chair.

My Nephew Dawson

2008-10-30T21:14:00.003-04:00

I was sent these super cute pics of my nephew Dawson dressed up for Halloween. He sure does have a similar costume to Drake, lol. Maybe we should discuss the outfits next year. Its to bad we live so far away from each other that we can't see them dressed up next to each other. :)

Drake's Halloween Costume

2008-10-26T23:58:00.002-04:00

Roland's work had a kiddie Halloween party on Friday. They had games and people handing out candy. Drake seemed to really enjoy hanging out with the other kids and didn't mind his costume to much. Here is our little dinosaur / dragon :)

Last Weekend

2008-10-21T18:07:00.004-04:00

Last Saturday we went to Shenandoah National Park to see the leaves changing colors. It was really beautiful and a nice drive.

We had to buy milk for Drake while we were there and here is his first attempt to drink from a straw.

On Sunday we went to a local park and Drake had fun on the swings.

My little mischief maker playing with Daddy's computer mouse.

"Mommy, give me Cheerios!!!"

Walking

2008-10-21T15:06:00.004-04:00

Here is a video of Drake walking around an overlook parking lot at the Shanendoah mountains.

Some Recent Pics

2008-10-14T22:31:00.003-04:00

Just a few pictures to tide y'all over.

Join the Movement to go Beyond a Cure!

2008-10-08T11:41:00.000-04:00

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The Park

2008-10-07T19:16:00.003-04:00

Today Drake and I went to a local park. It was a beautiful day and the perfect weather to play for a while on the playground. First we walked around on a path for a while so I could get some exercise.

Next we hung out at the playground and Drake got to ride on the swings, try out the slide and ride a bouncy toy for the first time. Of course I had to supervise very closely because he is still really to young to fully play by himself. He seemed to enjoy it a lot and I look forward to our playground trips in the future.

The New Drummer in Our Rockband

2008-10-06T20:04:00.002-04:00

A New Pic

2008-10-05T22:26:00.004-04:00

Drake finally clapped for the first time the other day. In the past he would slap the top of his hands, but he now has figured out how to clap with his palms together. It makes me smile :)

We had a really nice and fairly calm weekend. Saturday we went on some errands and I finished my work hours for the week. That night we went to Arby's for dinner and Drake decided to use his bib as a sippy cup holder, lol (see picture below). On Sunday I went and got my hair trimmed and visited the library. Roland spent the afternoon doing yard work, mainly mowing the lawn. I have been playing Warhammer in my free time and I am really enjoying it. I think I am going to take a break from World of Warcraft until the big patch comes out later this month and just enjoy Warhammer until then.

Computer

2008-10-01T20:33:00.004-04:00

So this weekend Roland decided to upgrade our computers. This is a great thing since our computers were not able to properly play Warhammer Online. He has been working on upgrading the computers since Saturday. Last night (Tuesday) I was finally able to play Warhammer on my machine. He ended up having to install Windows Vista on my machine since my old copy of XP wasn't working correctly. So far I like Vista and LOVE the way Warhammer plays now. The only bummer is that I am still without my internet bookmarks....

Weight Watchers is going well. I am now down 7.2 lbs., woo hoo!!!

Here is a picture from Sunday when Roland took Drake to Target.

Some Recent Pictures

2008-09-27T22:16:00.003-04:00

Playing with cars is fun!!!

Nom nom nom...

Helping Daddy vacuum. He gets really upset when the vacuuming is done and you try to put it away, he loves it that much.

At Computer Store

2008-09-27T22:11:00.003-04:00

Today we went to a local computer store to upgrade our current systems. After a while Drake got pretty bored, so I followed him as he walked around the store. Eventually he found the section where you can test speakers and he really enjoyed pushing the buttons and listening to the music. The following video starts with him at the speakers listening to the music and going from there. Enjoy! :)

Some Pictures

2008-09-20T23:23:00.003-04:00

Drake and I went for a walk on Friday. I think the look on my face is "hmm is my finger on the correct button to take a picture..." I just love the way Drake is looking at me :)

Drake playing with one of his new toys.

We went to Chili's for dinner tonight and Drakey is chewing on a baby biscuit.

Weight Updates

2008-09-18T19:49:00.006-04:00

So the other day Drake went to the Pediatrician for his 1 year appointment. He is still in the 10th percentile for height and weight at 28 1/2" tall and weighs in at 19.8 lbs.

Tonight I went to my second Weight Watchers meeting. I lost 4.2 lbs. woo hoo!!! So far it is going well and I am staying on target. I just need to pay attention to what I am eating and track it all. I am also using their online tools to keep track of what I am eating, it's really easy, especially since I am near my computer all day long.

Pictures

2008-09-17T00:00:00.001-04:00

Drake is checking out a finger puppet book that he got for his birthday.

The other night we went to the grocery store and Drake was just being silly. He kept smiling and shaking himself back and forth in the cart. It was funny to watch.

Drake's First Year

2008-09-13T22:39:00.014-04:00

So Drake will be a whole year old on Monday, OMG!!! On Saturday we went to Toy's R Us and they gave him a balloon and a crown for his birthday. We bought him a really cool ride-on toy (I'll get a pic of that up later).

Here is Drake on Day 1, wow he was sooo little then.

Day 3 and just home from the hospital.

October 16, 2007 - One month old.

November 22, 2007. Two months old.

December 16, 2007. Three months old.

January 11, 2008. Four months old.

February 15, 2008. Five months old.

March 23, 2008. Six months old.

April 20, 2008. Seven months old.

May 14, 2008. Eight months old.

June 16, 2008. Nine months old.

July 16, 2008. Ten months old.

August 13, 2008. Eleven months old.

Weight Watchers

2008-09-11T20:09:00.003-04:00

Mmmmm blocks are Yummers.

Helping Daddy vacuum.

So yesterday I went back to my first Weight Watchers meeting in almost 3 years. I knew that I wasn't going to take it seriously unless I made myself accountable and found myself some support. So now I am back on track and resuming a healthy eating lifestyle. Oh and I have also re-dedicated myself to being vegetarian.

Tuesdays Pics

2008-09-09T22:34:00.003-04:00

Check out Drake's new shoes :)

So yesterday I noticed that something was wrong with Gwynn's toe, like the end of it was ripped off, yuck! I took her to the vet and she now has to wear a cone so she won't lick the wound. She should be just fine. Here is a picture of her new fashion accessory and as you can tell Drake thinks its pretty cool. Poor Gwynnie.

Reading is serious business.

Hey let me play with that camera/phone.

Walking and Smiling

2008-09-09T20:06:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to Me!! :)

2008-09-07T22:44:00.003-04:00

Drakey playing with his food.

Smiles!

Out at lunch.

Today is my 34th birthday. I was a little bummed yesterday that we couldn't go out and do anything because of Tropical Storm Hannah. It rained a lot and was windy and there was some flooding. Happily today was beautiful and you could hardly tell it stormed yesterday. Today we drove over to Alexandria. We had lunch at Jerry's Subs and got some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Then we headed to Pagan Pride Day for Northern VA. The special guests were Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone. They lead a ritual and held a workshop. I was super happy to participate in both. This evening we went to PF Chang's for dinner, YUMMERS!!!! I LOVE their food, but Roland doesn't so I can only get him to go on my birthday, lol.

Drake Pictures

2008-09-04T11:54:00.005-04:00

Drakey enjoying himself in his highchair.

He was in a good mood here, but for some reason as I was trying to take his picture he gave me this face, lol.

Drake Pictures

2008-08-29T21:45:00.002-04:00

Drake Walking

2008-08-27T13:59:00.001-04:00

Some Recent Pictures

2008-08-23T21:04:00.003-04:00

We went for a walk last week.

Playing with his new "house".

Roland's mom, step-dad and nephew (Spencer) stopped by for a quick visit on Thursday. Here Drake is playing with Grandpa Joe.

Grandma Ali brought Drake a present, a dump truck with building blocks.

Drake and Grandma Ali at Milwaukee Frozen Custard.

Pictures

2008-08-18T19:57:00.004-04:00

Drake likes to shake his bottle. This usually results in getting formula all over. Here he has managed to get it all over his face. Roland thought it was funny enough to take a picture.

Maddie and Drake playing. Maddie (and Stephen and Gary and Amy) passed this toy down to Drake. It now lives in our living room and he just loves it!!! Thanks!!!

Hi!

Walking

2008-08-15T22:22:00.003-04:00

Drumming

2008-08-15T22:22:00.001-04:00

A Few Pics

2008-08-15T00:12:00.001-04:00

Caught in the act of pulling down all of his books.

Isn't this like the coolest pirate chair EVAR!!! To bad it was so spendy...

Time to get up from napping :)

Hi, I'm cute :)

Some Pictures

2008-08-11T23:35:00.002-04:00

Kitty in a box.

The prince with the king.

Attack of the baby.

Reading.

I miss Roland. He has been working major overtime. Today is at least the 8th day of working 14+ hour days for him. It's boo :(

A Lunch Visit

2008-08-08T00:12:00.003-04:00

Drake and I went to visit Roland at his work for lunch. We went to Noodles, yummers. Here is Drake getting put back into his car seat after the food extravaganza.

Here is Drakey passed out from the drive home. I haven't seen him sleep with his mouth open like this in a long time, so I couldn't resist taking the picture.

Some Recent Pictures

2008-08-05T22:42:00.001-04:00

If you look really close you can see my 2 top teeth. :)

A Couple of Pics

2008-08-03T10:27:00.003-04:00

Playing on his gym wall thingy.

Taking a nap at Daddy's work.

Walking

2008-08-01T15:04:00.003-04:00

A quick post to let everyone know that Drake just walked!!! He stood up and took 3 steps to his gym wall thingy. It was awesome!! :)

Drake Updates

2008-07-31T22:50:00.003-04:00

Drake had a follow up doctor's appointment yesterday to make sure he has gained some weight. He is now 17 lbs. 10 oz. and gained 1 lb. 4 oz. since his last doc appointment 6 weeks ago. So all the hard work of forcing formula on him has worked and the doctor was very happy to see that he gained the weight. :)

Other Drake milestones:
Today he waved at me for the first time :) He has been putting his arm up in the air the last few days, but this morning was the first time he actually waved his arm around :)
In the last week he has been taking a few steps. I wouldn't call it "walking" yet, but he has been trying to step between objects.

Back On Track

2008-07-28T14:57:00.004-04:00

So this weekend I admitted to myself that my weight is getting outta control again and that I HAD to do something about it. (Of course reading Valerie Bertinelli's Autobiography that talks about her Jenny Craig experience did help spur me on.) So I have gone back on the Weight Watcher's plan and I have started exercising again. I am bringing this up in the blog to help me be accountable to more than just myself.

In other news poor Roland was sick all weekend with food poisoning. After getting to work today he discovered that several other people he works with were also sick, so it was from a company lunch on Thursday. If you want his side of the story, check his blog.

Now to the baby cuteness :)

This picture amuses me because I had been trying to take a picture of Drake but he wasn't cooperating, so I decided to take a pic of Khayman instead. When I clicked to take the picture Drake was not in the frame, but look who showed up just in time, lol...

Thursdays Pics

2008-07-24T21:27:00.000-04:00

Wednesday's Pictures

2008-07-23T23:00:00.004-04:00

Drakey waking from his nap on Monday.

He has been sticking his tongue out a lot lately.

Someone has figured out to walk and move his activity center around the living room.

"ohhh camera...."

Drumming away.

Waking up from his nap earlier today.

Last Weekend

2008-07-21T16:27:00.005-04:00

Thursday night Roland had to change the battery in his car. On the way to get a new battery we had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's.

Saturday we went over to DC to go visit some of the Smithsonian museums. One has an exhibit on Jim Hensson and his Muppets. It was really cool.

Here I am feeding Drake on our way to go see the muppets.

An outfit from the Dark Crystal.

After the Henson exhibit we headed over to the Smithsonian Castle. Beautiful isn't it?

After the castle we went to the National Museum of Natural History.

I really enjoyed the museums. The only downer part was that it was fairly hot and humid out, so thankfully we didn't have to walk outside to much. I am looking forward to going back to DC and doing some more touristy stuff in the future.

Custard!!!

2008-07-16T22:03:00.006-04:00

Drake is pulling his clothes out of the drawers. (His shirt says "I'm with the Band", with a picture of a drum set)

Drake was flipping through his books.

We went out for custard tonight and Drake actually ate some and seemed to enjoy it. He would make a sorta frowny face but kept eating it when I would offer a little bite to him. After a few bites he started waving his hand asking for more, it was cute.

10 Months Old!!!

2008-07-15T23:56:00.004-04:00

Hi y'all!!! Can you believe it, Drake is 10 months old today, WOWZERS!!!! I can't believe how big the munchkin is getting. He now has 4 teeth, can stand in place w/o holding onto something for like over 5 seconds, loves to flip through his books, loves to pull books off of the shelf, and actually drank all of his juice from a sippy cup today (now if only he would do that with formula, my life would be sooooo much easier).

Here Drake is reading.

Mmmm juice.

Oh no's he has found the toilet paper.

Now for some WoW pics.

I thought this was really cool, I rode a ghost gryphon.

The patch that came out today allowed my level 36 Troll hunter to get a mount, and its PURPLE!!! Much awesomeness.

It's Weekend Time

2008-07-13T19:49:00.005-04:00

Here is what Drake looks like when he wakes up from a nap :)

Drake under my desk trying to get my attention.

Reading his books that are all over his floor, lol.

On Sunday Roland decided to meet up with some guys to hit each other with weapons and Drake n I decided to come along. It was only a practice session and the meet up was in a really nice park. It was so nice that it had actual bathrooms.

Here is baby Drake in his play-yard.

Peek-a-boo!!!

Roland is the guy on the left.

Drake got really tired and cranky and finally fell asleep. He was so tired and sleepy that he actually let me put him down into the play-yard and just kept on sleeping, woot!!! (I sooo didn't want to hold him the whole time he slept.)

Wednesday's Picture

2008-07-10T00:09:00.002-04:00

Drake is silly boy, lol. He as pulled several books off of my shelf and is sitting under/in the exersaucer and playing with the pages. I guess the saucer is so much more fun when you don't have to just sit in it.

Some Pictures

2008-07-08T22:58:00.004-04:00

Drake really likes to open and close the pages in his books. Here he is playing with his electronic Pooh book his Daddy bought him.

So yesterday I was hanging out with the boy in the nursery and he was opening the drawers on the armoire and pulling out his pants. So I looked over and he had one in his mouth, and I just had to take a picture, lol. (btw he is teething with 2 of his top teeth about ready to pop out).

Drake and his mommy.

A New Look

2008-07-06T12:29:00.003-04:00

So as you probably already notice my blog has a new look. Roland was kind enough to spend a lot of time yesterday tweaking it and fixing the image at the top. Thanks Roland!!!! I really like the new look and I hope you guys do to :)

We have had a pretty low key 4th of July weekend. Friday night we went to find the towns fireworks display. We stayed in the car because it was sprinkling. Drake liked the fireworks ok, but got bored quickly. I thought the fireworks were really nice, just wish it hadn't been raining at the same time.

Now to the recent Drake pics.

Here he is the other day playing in his saucer and chewing on a fish, lol.

Last night we went out to Red Robin (super yummers!!!) and afterwards walked through Best Buy. Amazingly enough we left without buying anything.

Wednesday's Pictures

2008-07-02T23:43:00.003-04:00

"Hi!!! I'm up from my nap."

Drake is now waving all the time, it's very cute.

Play time

My little reader.

Ok, so he really just likes to pull stuff off of shelves, don't all kids??

Drake LOVES Khayman. He gets so excited when he sees him and squeals. Thankfully Khayman is now an old kitty and has a lot more patience than he used to, lol.

Another Monday

2008-06-30T20:51:00.002-04:00

Drake really enjoys bath time now. He just splashes and splashes. It's also much easier now for me to give him a bath alone (Daddy HATES to give him baths).

His super cool new toy.

I have started knitting my first sock, and I am really enjoying it. I had to start it like 3 times before I got it figured out, but now I'm doing pretty good. (I just realized how messy my desk is, lol)

A happy Drake, shaking his arms up and down.

Recent Pictures

2008-06-28T18:46:00.004-04:00

Drake enjoys playing on his activity center. He spins around and plays with all parts of it now.

I realized that I rarely read to Drake in the living room, so I moved his bookcase into his room. Now I have easy access to his books and read to him a lot more because of it. Oh and he has easy access to his books now to, so he pulls them all off, lol.

Daddy giving Drake a ride on his shoulders.

Me and my little munchkin.

Look I got a new activity book. It's lots of fun.

Hi everyone, I am playing with my new activity wall. It helps me stand up and crawl around.

Tuesdays Pics

2008-06-24T22:16:00.003-04:00

Having fun in his activity center.

World of Warcraft

2008-06-23T23:50:00.003-04:00

I'm soooo super excited. My WoW character Emmaleth just reached level 60, my highest level character EVAR!!! The entire 59th level experience was from running around to bonfires for the Midsummer Fire Festival. I'm collecting blossoms to get a special non-combat pet and I just managed to get enough for that too :) It's been a good WoW night :) Oh and she now has over 100 gold too :)
Much awesomeness!!!!

Pics from this Last Weekend

2008-06-23T22:25:00.002-04:00

Sunday night Roland was very dorky and meet some co-workers in a park to play "foam weapons", basically an excuse for grown persons to hit each other with fake weapons. But he had fun, even though only one other person showed up.

Here is Drakey playing with my cup at the park.

Roland playing with Drake at the park.

Bath-time!!! Drake loves to splash now.

My sweet little munchkin!

Pics from the last few days

2008-06-22T10:09:00.004-04:00

This is one of Drake's favorite places in my office, under my desk, lol.

It was really nice Friday, so we headed outside.

Dinner time was apparently tiring for Drake, who feel asleep on the way home.

Look who's trying to walk!

Nap time at Daddy's work.

Attack of the baby!!!

Where in the World was Violet??

2008-06-17T21:48:00.008-04:00

I have not blogged lately because Drake & I made a last minute trip back to Nebraska for my maternal Grandmother's funeral. She passed peacefully last week with her children by her side.

Here is her obituary (slightly edited):

Marilyn T. 83, died Tuesday (6/10/08). Born July 25, 1924. She was valedictorian of her high school class at age 16. Marilyn graduated from Wayne State College. She taught elementary school for two years where she met the love of her life, Fred. They were married on Dec. 2, 1947. They spent most of their married life where he was the county sheriff and she was the sheriff's wife, secretary, jail matron, phone receptionist and jail cook. She was a lifelong reader, knitter, crossword puzzle solver, and logic problem solver. Marilyn and Fred remained married for 53 years until he passed away in 2001.
Survivors: daughter & son in law, Dianne & Al; son & daughter in law, Rod & Linda; son in law, Larry & wife, Marlys; six grandchildren, Karen & Chuck; Ken & Missy; David & Jonathan; Jamie & Megan; two great grandsons, Dawson and Drake; sister, JoAnn; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Preceded in death by parents; and daughter, Cheryl.

And now for some pictures from our trip back to NE.

We had the pleasure (lol) of leaving VA at 6 am last Thursday. Which meant that we had to get up at 3:30 am to make it to the airport on time. It was soooo early that Dunkin Donuts wasn't even open yet.

Drake and I in line to check in.

After 2 plane rides (with a quick stop at the St. Paul airport, which, btw is ginormous) we finally arrived in Lincoln.

We stayed at my lovely Aunt DiAnne's home. It was wonderful to see my mom's family again and to catch up with everyone. I had not seen them since my trip back 2 years ago.

Here is Drake investigating some speakers.

Drake intently checking out mommy's phone.

Here is (from left to right) my nephew Dawson, my cousin David and my uncle Rod. David quickly figured out how to play the violin and was showing Dawson how to play the guitar. The funny thing is that my brother (Dawson's dad) used to ask to play the guitar every time we went to visit my grandparents, so it was a treat to watch Dawson doing the same thing.

Auntie DiAnne with Drakey. They had so much fun together.

Drake trying on my cousins shoes. Mostly he wanted to put them in his mouth.

Drake had lots of fun pulling the DVD's off of the shelf and rearranging them :)

DiAnne and I spent Sunday together and went out to lunch and Drake slept through most of it.

Drake playing with the doggies frisbee.

On Monday we went to the zoo with my cousin Jamie and her boyfriend Matt. This was the first time I had visited this zoo and it was a lot nicer than I expected. Now I kinda wish I had visited while I lived there, lol.

Here the boys are watching some animals.

What a cute butterfly.

I guess I am the butterfly here :)

Drake riding a tortoise.

Oh no, he's hatching, watch out world!!

Hey, why am I in this egg??

Waiting at the airport to come back home.

We are now back home, safe and sound, and very happy to see Roland again.

Mondays Pictures

2008-06-09T22:23:00.003-04:00

On Saturday Roland was kind enough to Drake with him to work, so I was able to take a nap and have a little alone time. It was really nice :)

Here is Drakey napping at Daddy's work.

Saturday night we went out to dinner at Friday's.

Sunday night Roland was trying to help me get some stuff working on my computer.

Drake's new favorite place to play is under my desk, lol.

A few moments after this picture was taken Drake let go of the boxes and stood for like 3 seconds on his own, it was really cool.

Making Noises

2008-06-08T20:14:00.003-04:00

A while back I got Drake to make noises while I patted my hand over his mouth. I started doing this while he was already making noises, but than I started doing it when he was quiet and he would start making sounds for me. It is very cute. Now he is making the sound all on his own. He either puts his fist in his mouth and moves it in and out, or uses a toy, as this video shows.