It's Been A While!!!

Hello All!!!

Obviously it has been waayyy too long since my last post! Drake, work & life has been keeping me busy & away from posting. But I am jumping back on board & vowing to try & do a better job (at least once per month).

I can't believe it buy our baby Drake is already 6 1/2 months old!!

He is so active & is such a happy boy these days! He is doing many things these days. He has been eating baby food now for about a month, after all that fuss in the begining. He eats a fruit for breakfast & then a fruit & veggie for dinner. With every meal he also has the Gerber puffs, which he absolutely Loves & his sippy cup with water. He can even do his sippy on his own now! He has just started the new fun game of throwing his cup on the floor & Mommy picks it up.

Another big milestone is he is sitting up on his own!! It's been about 3 weeks now. It is great & floor time is becoming our favorite place to be. He still (since he was about 3 weeks old) insists on standing up most of the time. He has no interest in crawling either. I swear he is just going to take off walking one day. I am not making any predictions, but it is going to be funny to see a 8 or 9 month old walking around the house, LOL!

At the end of October I took Drake to Shear Madness to get his 1st haircut. I had been putting it off, but his hair was growing over his ears & down his collar, so it was time. He did so good! We of course had to renew the spike! Of course I couldn't resist the 1st haircut certificate & a pair of shoes. They were a little expensive, but they are soo cute! :) He isn't spoiled or anything!

Just this week he has started sleeping through the night!!! I hope it continues & I didn't just jinx myself. He goes to bed between 7 & 8 (usually closer to 7) & gets up around 7 in the morning. He also is settling into more of a nap schedule taking a 2 to 3 hour morning nap & about an hour afternoon nap. He is a much happier boy with his sleep!

I am sure there are many things that I am missing, but this is getting lengthy so that is all for now. Enjoy the pictures!

Playing with Mommy!

At his 6 month check up. The paper on the exam table was tons of fun!
He weighed in at 17 pounds & 25.5" long. Still in the 25th percentile.

Trying out a chicken tender. He would much rather eat what we are eating than baby food!

Check out my new haircut, I LOVE it!

Just hanging out eating some puffs for a morning snack! We were trying out some new flavors, peach & apple cinnamon.

This one is dark because if i do the flash we lose the smile.

This is the face we see quite often these days!!!

Happy 4 Month Birthday!

August 29th we celebrated Drake's 4 month Birthday by spending an afternoon/evening out on our deck just hanging out. It was a chilly day that day outside, so Drake got to wear his camo pants & the jacket Grandma Robin got him on one of her work trips.

He has started finding himself in the mirror. He just looks, smiles & coos at "the baby".

"Mom would you please quit pointing that thing at me!"

I can't believe he is already 4 months old!

Playing in his "jumpy"! He has moved to his favorite thing being the swing to the jumpy. Luckly he still does like his swing, but he is becoming much to busy & active.

4 Month Checkup & Tummy Time

On 8/31/09 we went for Drake's 4 month well check up. He is a healthy boy, thank the Lord! He is now weighing in at 14lbs 4oz & is 25 1/4" tall. Just incase you aren't keeping track that means he has gained 8lbs 2 oz since birth & is 6" taller! Wow, I hadn't thought about that! I did notice he was taking up most of the changing table these days. I always get his diaper & wipes out before I take off the old one & multiple times a day he kicks them off the end at some point. :) It's amazing how fast he has grown physically, mentally & emotionally! He is such a sweet boy giving out lots of hugs & kisses to Mommy & Daddy! Even though his kisses come with gobs of slobber I will take all I can get!

Grandma Roseanna got him new wrist toys & one of them is a cow of some sorts. It has a big orange nose. For whatever reason he really enjoys it! And it doesn't even have big eyes. :)

One of my new favorite pictures!

A few minutes after I took this picture he rolled from his belly to his back for the 1st time!!! YAY!!!

He was in the middle of telling me a story in this one.

I know I say it all the time, but once again I am so in love with this little guy, his is just amazing!!! And he defiantly knows how to melt Mommy's heart!

Sitting UP in the Boucy

A couple weeks ago as I was trying cereal for the 2nd time in the bouncy instead of the high chair. I put him in it & realized I didn't have a bib. I could see him all the way up the hall, it would literally be 2 seconds as I opened his drawer that he would not be in my sight. Needless to say as I walked back out of his room this is what I saw. When I left him he was leaning back in the bouncy, like he was supposed to be. Drake decided the doggies on his toes looked like much more fun then staring at the end table. :) Luckily he didn't fall on his head & I was not awarded the "bad Mommy" award.

This little guy defiantly keeps me on my toes!

Rewind to the Beginning of August

Rewind your mind to the beginning of August...

I know this is out of order, but I had to share these super cute pictures that Grandma (Dustin's Mom) took. I LOVED this little hat, I think we giggled the whole time he had it on. He was hamming it up for the camera too. Of course I am all smiles & so proud!

"I know I'm cute, what's the big deal?"

Drake & Mommy :)

Thumb Sucker?!?!

Yesterday I look over & Drake has his thumb in his mouth!!! I immediately pulled it out, but a little later he was doing it again!

At first he was just chewing on it, but then he was actually sucking on it. I wondered if this would happen as he is not a huge fan of the paci. He will take it for sleeping, but that's about it. 

Today, the thumb was much more frequent. It is always his left. 

It is kind of funny because as he is trying to figure it out he keeps poking himself in the eye & getting slobber all over his face!

If I had a choice I don't particularly want him to suck his thumb & I by all means will not encourage it. But if I have learned anything in this Mommy role it is to roll with the punches. It's not the end of the world!

Return of the Spike

So the day after I took the pictures of Drake's "comb over" I gave him a bath & spiked it back up! When he was first born & for many weeks it did really do it on it's own, but now it is too long & just falls to the side. :( So needless to say we are having a long spike. On my to-do list this week is his 1st hair cut!

Return of the spike! 

With double chins & watery eyes :)

This poor baby & his allergies, I hope we can find out what the culpret is soon. 

With the weather being a little bit cooler Drake is getting to wear some of his "big boy" pants! 

The last pictures is super cute!! This is how he wants to be held majority of the time, standing up! But since I am typically the one taking the pictures, he has to be sitting down. Luckily Daddy was home to snap some pictures of him tonight!

16 Weeks!

Drake turned 16 weeks old this past Wednesday (8/19)!

It seems like he just joined us, but at the same time when I think about it being August & that he was born in April it seems like a long time. I don't know what I did with out this little one in my life. I always knew I wanted to be a Mother, but I had no idea the emotion I would feel. He is so amazing! I feel like a part of me that was missing before has been filled & is over flowing. I will admit being a Mom is the hardest job I have ever had to do, but I would not take back one single second of it! I just can't get enough of him! I honestly hope this feeling never goes away! To top it off he is a part of the person I Love very much & have chosen to spend & share my life with! I can't believe we created him!

"What Mom?"

Since day one he has been amazed with the circles on our Boppy. He looks & grabs for them multiple times a day. I don't know what I would do without that pillow. We use it for feedings (nursing & bottle), napping, cuddling, helping him to sit up, to lounge on & talk to Mom, etc.

Big Boy!

This is how we use it on the couch to help him sit up on the couch. He thinks he is big stuff!

Moby Wrap

What a great invention! I know this has been around a while now, but I had never heard of it & I am so glad I discovered this amazing piece of fabric (literally). It is basically a very long piece of fabric that is then wrapped around the upper body to wear your baby. It is like using a carrier, but much more comfortably for both Mom & baby. We used our wrap out & about for the first time last Wednesday as we ventured to the grocery store. It worked great! Drake got his way as to him it is like I am holding him & I was able to use my hands. It is going to take some practice because I still feel like I need to support him in it. I also am going to have to remember to dress him in just a onsie when we are going to be using it, my hot baby gets sweaty really quickly.

Kind of a weird picture in I know, but I was trying to show how it works. This is called the "front facing hold". When we were at the store I had him facing me because he had fallen asleep in the car & I was hoping he would continue his nap. No such luck, but he was tired enough he tolerated me carrying him like that.

Look at my chunky monkey! I can't believe how big he has gotten! Don't mind his "comb over". I gave him a bath the next day & brought the spike back even though it really is too long!

I LOVE his face in this picture!! I think I am going to kiss this poor kids face off!

That's another fun thing he does (he's been doing it for a while). If we make a kissing sound he will give us kisses! The classic open mouth kiss, but a kiss non the less! He even did it to Dustin the other night & then made a funny face, I think because of his scartchy facial hair. I don't blame him, I don't like it either!

The Dogs

Oh, The Dogs!

They are doing great! They are a bit bored during the day with 99% of my attention being on Drake. I do try very hard to give them attention & do things with them, but finding the time is a bit interesting. We try to take them to Pete & Mac's a few times a month to play & get their energy out. They absolutely LOVE it!! Especially Kenzie, we walk in the door & she goes absolutely insane!

Scout is such a good & sweet dog! He has really taken to Drake & is protective of him. He lays in the nursery when we are in there & if he is crying & I don't hear him right away he will come get me. If someone else is holding him he will come to me & then back to them as if he is saying "you need to get him". It amazes me how smart dogs are. Man, I love that dog!

So all dogs have their flaws. If begging is the one thing they do I can handle it. It does get a bit annoying when they are following you around the house or drooling a fountain on our leg while you are sitting at the table & their head is resting on your thigh. But what can you do, just like all relationships you have to pick your battles.

This picture is a bit blurry but it is Scout, Kenzie & our friend Mike's dog Corona playing in our backyard. All we have to do is say "Corona's coming over" & they both go nuts! They run from the back door to the front door a million times until she gets to the house. :)

Our "other kiddos".

They may as well be, they are just as much work as Drake. :)

Last week when we were going to bed Kenzie decided she wanted to get under our bed. She used to get under there all the time when we first brought her home, well she has grown a lot since then. I think she still thinks she is little though! My side of the bed is only a foot or so away from the wall & she can push against the wall to get under there. But then she couldn't get out! She ended up spending the entire night under the bed! She never whined or anything, just kept quite & slept. She had her head sticking out by Scout, I guess that's all she needed. The next morning Dustin had to lift the bed up for her to get out, crazy dog! She keeps us entertained that's for sure!