The Many Faces of Drew and a Hand Shake

Andrew gave me about 5 minutes to shoot him today, and boy what a variety of faces I got in that short time. I'll take what I can get though! Have I mentioned what a character he is?!? I'm a little rusty behind the lens. i wish it was like riding a bike because i don't have a lot of time right now to dedicate to mastering the art of photography. I still love it, but i don't think it is my season. some day!! Anyways, back to Drew.







A break from the pics for a little story!
Every Thursday they have lunch at the institute building down by the university and show a talk from conference. We haven't been in a long time, but decided to go today. The cute senior missionary was introducing the talk, and Drew said "look mom, it's President Monson." I thought he was referring to Elder Holland on the screen, and I told him who it was. He said "no mom, it is President Monson." As we watched the talk, he kept asking where Pres. Monson was and I said he was sitting in the back of Elder Holland listening. He looked at the elder in the back of the room and then said with a huge smile on his face " Mom, Pres. Monson is a missionary" (he saw the elder's tag). After the talk was over, the Elder got back up and Drew asked if he could go shake "President Monson's" hand. He was so excited that I didn't have the heart to explain to him who he really was. He walked right up and shook the Elder's hand with such faith and it totally melted my heart. He is only three, but I can tell that this kid has such a strong spirit and is going to be a great missionary himself. He already has a testimony of the prophet and got to shake his hand today vicariously through one of the Lord's missionaries!

How old are you Drew?

Drew Drew is 3!!!

Happy Birthday Andrew Jeffrey!

Drew is such a funny character. He makes us, and everyone else around him laugh constantly. Here are a few facts about our sweet boy

*He started Sunbeams on Sunday and loves being in his big boy class

*Drew LOVES to tie everything up. I always find belts, ropes, ribbon, my measuring tapes, and leashes strung around the house tying various toys together. He tries to tie up his sister a lot too :)

* He is a really good talker, and NEVER stops. Luckily he thinks that the quiet game is fun too when I need a break. :) He is constantly asking questions. One of his favorites is "what should we do today mom?"

*He knows all his shapes, colors, and can count to 10

*Most of the time it is impossible to keep him dressed. But he does love to wear his pajamas or shorts when I force him to put something on. He would stay in his PJs all day if he could

*Drew can never leave his shoes on for longer than 10 minutes at a time. He says his feet get too hot

*He only has 2 volumes...LOUD and LOUDER. he is always saying really embarrassing things, and loud enough for the whole world to hear. Andy's mom came out in October to see the baby. She took Drew to Sunday school with her and he was playing on the ground. He looked up her skirt and said really loudly "Grandma, is that your underwear?" She tried to tell him to be quiet, but he only got louder and repeated the question several times. such a funny boy

*He LOVES to Wrestle with his daddy

*Drew loves to read books. He can't get enough of them

*He says I love you at least once an hour. He wakes up a lot during the night and yells "Mom, I love you" from his room several times

*He also gives great hugs and kisses all the time

* He is a sensitive little dude and likes to make me happy

*He is afraid of the dark and has crazy dreams about squirrels, bats, and monsters chasing him

*Drew loves to play with his train track

*He is always watching out for his Big Sister and gets made at me when I tell Avery no. If she wants to do something and I say no, he says "Mom, just let her!"

*He has watched a few too many of Avery's dance classes and can do an arabesque, plie, and knows all of the ballet positions :)

*After he does something wrong and is reprimanded he asks me "Mom, are you happy? I want you to be happy"

we love you Drew!!!

I'll post some pics as soon as I get the time to take them :)

Christmas 2009 at a glance

We did it. We survived our first Christmas on our own. It was not nearly as lonely as I thought it would be. A little weird, yes, but overall i think we really enjoyed it. It came and went WAY too fast. Good times were had by all!

Waiting at the top of the stairs

Santa Brought Avery a new bike

Alivia turned 3 months old on Christmas Day

Drew got a Buzz Lightyear robot from Santa

Checking out the goods

This pictures makes me laugh :) Santa always puts an orange at the bottom of the stockings. Drew thought it was a little silly

I was So excited about Avery's present. Two of her favorite things to do are play school and do projects so I wanted to get her a desk and chalkboard for Christmas. I found a vintage school desk on craigslist and painted it pink(her favorite color of course) and Andy made her chalkboard. When she opened it, she wasn't really sure what to think. The first thing she said was "Mom, it looks kind of old and dirty". We got a good laugh out of it. But now she LOVES it and spends most of her time sitting at her desk doing craft projects and stuff. It makes me smile to know she loves it as much as I thought/hoped she would.

We decided to make gingerbread houses on Christmas day. The kids had a lot of fun. Mostly because candy was involved :)

I hope you all had a great Christmas too!

Christmas Sunday

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for sending us your cute Christmas cards! I love to read the updates and see your sweet families. Sorry, but you won't be receiving one from us this year. My big postpartum rear end refused to be photographed. :)Maybe next year! I tried to take a picture of the kids after church, and they just weren't having it. You get what you get, terrible flash photography and all! Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!

Avery's Birthday and stuff

Avery and Drew both LOVE the book Pinkalicious. It is about a girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink. The doctor tells here that she has to eat a "steady diet of green vegetables to return to normal". So we decided to have a Pinkalicious Cupacake party for the big day.

Here are the invites

and of course the cupcakes :)

For lunch we served all green foods. Green jello, green grapes, celery, cucumbers, green ranch, green pasta, and green juice. The kids thought it was so fun!

The kids and I made a cupcake pinata. It was a fun project to do, and only cost about $5!!

reading the story

Make a wish!!

The Birthday girl opening presents

Avery and Bailey

Here are a few snapshots I haven't posted yet. Livi on Dec. 3. look at the chubs!

Nov. 13 (1 1/2 months old)

Avery was holding Liv in the rocking chair and fell asleep. so cute!

Trying on Grandma's glasses

Say it ain't so!

My baby is

TODAY!!

Where does the time go? Happy Birthday my sweet angel baby. we love you! And now for the picture overload :)

Blessing Day

What a great day!! We blessed Alivia today, and I couldn't ask for a sweeter husband to give such amazing blessings to my kids. He always does such a great job. I held my breath as he paused before "officially" naming her. I was a little scared that he might change it on me, but Alivia Rae it is :) In the blessing he said that she was named after her great grandpa Ray Squires and her Grandma Cindi Rae and how they found/find so much joy in life. Joy seemed to be the theme of her blessing as he blessed her that she too would find much joy and happiness in her friendships, through her talents, as a mother, and most importantly in her relationship with the Savior. He also blessed Alivia that she would always remember and strive to live up to her potential as a daughter of God, and to always serve and love those around her. I know this little girl has a great life ahead of her and I feel so lucky to be a part of it! She brings so much joy to our family. We love you Livi!



At 9 weeks she weighs in at 10 pounds 10 ounces. She is starting to get CHUBBY :)

here you go ashlee!

there's no place like home for the holidays

Before Livi was born, we decided that it would probably be too hard to travel with 2 kids and a newborn. So we didn't make plans to go anywhere for the holidays. Now that the season is upon us, I am feeling a little home sick. We've always gone home for the holidays, both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm pretty sure I can make it through Thanksgiving by ourselves, but I'm not so sure about Christmas. To me, Christmas is full of cozy traditions and fun times with the family that help us reflect on our love of life, family, and the Savior. I have so many fond memories of celebrating with my family and love the new traditions added to the mix from Andy's family. The kids love it too!! Since we are on our own this year, I want to start our own little family traditions that our kids will remember with fondness through the years and try not to be so homesick!

Some of my favorites include opening PJs on Christmas Eve and then eating grandma's orange rolls with hot chocolate and wassail. Or anxiously waiting for my turn to eat the chocolate mint candies tucked into the advent calendar pocket and hanging an ornament on the felt tree. Another tradition we started when we got a little older was that the girls would do a fun craft on Thanksgiving while the guys watched football.
I think this year on Thanksgiving I am going to make an advent calendar similar to the one my mom made and using some inspiration from this one.

So what is your favorite family Christmas tradition old or new? Please share and help us have a better Christmas this year (or you can just buy us plane tickets ;) !

A Little Closer to Home

Last week we found out that the Air Force is sending us to Omaha, Nebraska after Andy graduates. He will be doing a 1 year residency(the AEGD). I've heard good things about Nebraska, so I am excited. Even more excited that we are that much closer to the west coast! If anybody knows anything about Nebraska, let me know! We will probably be going out there in a few months to check it out. For right now, I am just doing a little research on the internet. They have a Costco, Target, and Mall nearby, so I think I am good to go :)

Happy Unbirthday to You

look who's 6 weeks old today! Little Livi Lou is a stinker, but we still love her.