Pregnancy Update - 15 Weeks

At 14 weeks

So, we've made it to 15 weeks - the 2nd trimester. While I've FELT fine this time again, it has not been without 'issues'. I have essentially, to some degree or another, have had bleeding on & off from 6 weeks until just last week. I've gone more than 2 days without it for the first time & it's great! Though, with as much as I've had, I keep wondering if it will return.

As all mothers know, no pregnant woman is in their right mind or rational. Now those close to me might argue this has always been the case for me, regardless of being with child or not, there's no denying it is at it's worst during pregnancy. However, there's no denying that any type of bleeding would be cause for concern during pregnancy. And with 2 miscarriages before Drew, I'm even that more tuned to the possibility that something could go horribly wrong. At first, it was quite minor, and the OB recommended no changes. However, the next 2 'events' have been more significant, requiring me to go on 'light duty' for a week or so each time. Now, this is not quite bed rest, but they really left me with little else to do but be in bed - no work, no picking up Drew, no lifting, etc. So, Drew went to daycare, the house did not get cleaned, I didn't go to work, and I sat in bed or at my desk - watching TV, surfing the internet, and having no excuse to ignore grad school work. Thankfully, as I said, for now, the bleeding has stopped & I am feeling good. I go on Monday for another checkup - I've been going about every 2 weeks at this point!

Now, now of this has been fun, and I'm not going to lie or hide, well, because it really doesn't fit me - there have been days & nights of tears, worry, anxiety, and restless sleep. But there has also been wonderful friends and family supporting us & the Lord showing us that He is with us at all times. The other neat thing is that I've now 'seen' our baby 4 times - that's right, in 15 weeks I've already had more sonograms that I had with Drew. But I feel like I already know this little one a bit. It's incredible how much they change those first few weeks in the womb. I've seen this baby transform from a bean to a little human being with fingers & toes, eyes, and a sweet face!

So, thought I'd share my goings-on & the pics of our baby. Your thoughts, prayers & support are much appreciated!


At 12 weeks


What a sweet face! And it kind of looks like Elvis hair! :)

1.5 years old!

Ok, wow, really, we are already at the 1/2 mark of the 2nd year - unbelievable. Matthew keeps saying, with every new stage - "I think this is my favorite, he's definitely more fun all the time!" So true!

So, one of the most exciting things this month has brought is Drew is trying to use his words more and more. It's amazing what a difference there is. He's always been a babbler, etc., but now it's almost in sentences. And while there is a TON we don't understand, there are certainly phrases that he repeats over and over, so it surely has a meaning, we just haven't figured it out yet! I'm sure we are not the first, but we would love a 'toddler interpreter'. He has definitely surpassed just saying the sounds of animals (which he is quite proficient at, I must say, mostly thanks to Daddy, who above the 'normal', has taught Drew to respond when asked what a pterodactyl & dragon sound like!) A favorite is "two boo" for two books before bedtime - he'll race out to his bookcase & pick 2 out, holding up 2 fingers, and come back with his find. So cute! It's just amazing all that they pick up on without even trying sometimes. No-no has also become a favorite, but it's still in it's cute phase. He's so emphatic about it sometimes and others he wags his finger along with saying it, while he approaches or as he's getting into something he knows our response will be..."no no". Some other new words include: dow - down (sometimes even bends his knees as to demonstrate the word as well), boo-boo - he liked pointing this one out on his chin (a pretty good one from the park) & mommy's cold sores (what a nice reminder), tisu - tissue, bubu - bubbles, noo - nose, ca - car, caw - Carl (Good Dog Carl book - a favorite!), Hie - Hi. This is really what I could remember to capture for the month, but he is frequently trying to repeat new words every day - very fun & exciting times!


More and more Drew is starting to get the concept of some very simple games, making us, but especially Daddy, very happy. Peek A Boo is still fun, but we are starting to reverse roles. And we've expanded to almost a Hide and Seek version. A favorite game to play, usually after dinner, while Mommy is cleaning up, is for Matthew to hide behind a wall or cabinet somewhere in the dining/breakfast/kitchen area & Drew races after to find him, and is gleefully surprised & full of giggles & laughter every time he gets 'surprised' by Daddy. Drew loves this game so much that almost immediately after finding Daddy, he waves him off as if to say - go hide again - and the game continues! Such fun! Much to Daddy's joy, Drew is also starting to learn to build with his big brick blocks, and has even started to figure out how to snap his Lego blocks together. This is much more fulfilling for Daddy, since prior to this, Drew got such pleasure out of destroying Daddy's masterpieces in seconds instead of playing with them! Drew, as any child, loves to knock down the huge towers, but also loves to play in mazes that we create with the bricks - it's quite fun really!




Drew continues to have little fear - now expanding to being able to climb up on to Mommy's rocking chair, pulling himself up the slide of his climber & continues to have no fear of falling up or down the stairs - not sure how to instill that fear into him - he will just fly down the stairs! He loves to climb up onto chairs & couches and then usually at some point, turns himself into what Daddy has coined 'the human rotisserie' where he spins and rollas all over the couch, and his hair goes crazy with static! He still LOVES to play with sports balls - throwing, catching, rolling, kicking - he just gets so excited! Our house has toy balls all over the place now - there's no escaping it now! He loves his cars & trucks too, and is finally figuring out the 'pull back & release' cars - way more fun for us all! AND, we are so excited, he has started to be able to pedal himself forward on his little car, instead of just being able to go backwards & scream/whine out of frustration when he got stuck or wanted to go forward! Whew, I didn't know when that was going to end! And the boy LOVES to run - sometimes for the simple act of running. But he loves to be chased as well. For some reason, he thinks a good time for this is when Mommy is trying to clean his face, blow his nose, or change his clothes - he gets such a kick out of it!



He is imitating more & more, and this month it includes adding to his dancing repertoire. The hip shake is still the standard, but thanks to Daddy, again, the moves have started to include moving our hands up & down & around, and thanks to Mommy, moving his body in different directions than just the hips back & forth. So, it's still pretty dorky, but oh so cute! Love to see the boy dance! And he loves that music! Daddy has also taught him to point to his ear when he hears something interesting - favorites are planes flying overhead, dogs & cars outside, and hearing the garage door open. We have also noticed he is starting to pick up on when things are funny, even when not completely obvious - but really, he lives in a pretty funny house, so that's not so hard to believe! Daddy has also taught him to knock - thanks to Dr. Suess' book of sounds, he will knock on doors before he enters - pretty funny. He also has picked up on blowing on his food if it is a little too hot - just more and more independent all the time!


So, last month, the big behavior issue was hitting. Thankfully (thank you Lord!), the hitting has drastically decreased. Throwing some food & toys have taken its' place, but it's not near to the extent of the hitting, and not nearly as embarrassing. This month our big challenge was what we can only guess was a true expression of separation anxiety. Drew has been a wonderful sleeper, especially at night, since birth almost, going to sleep really well on his own. Then out of nowhere it seemed, he was crying, screaming, jumping up & down out of such strong emotions, that we were besides ourselves with what was going on. The minute one of us returned to his room (which is totally against our 'sleeping rules'), he would be completely fine! So, 3-4 times a night, Daddy made the treck upstairs to stay in the room while Drew calmed down/fell back asleep for close to 2 weeks. Thankfully, by the 2nd week, it was probably only 1-2 times a night, but it was a long 2 weeks of interrupted sleep. Now, I want to clarify why it was Daddy's job - when Mommy went in the room, Drew refused to be satisfied with simply a hug & presence of being in the room, but would claw & try to climb out of the crib to get to Mommy. So, Daddy got that role...maybe a small even up score for the first 6-9 months where it was Mommy's job! :)


Drew is still a snuggler, much to Mommy's delight. But he's also particular about it at times - he will move us so that we get in just the right position for him to feel completely comfortable. He often moves our hands to either warp around his belly, or to rest his cheek in the palm of our hand - I can't tell you how that warms my heart!


Growth Stats: Weight: 25 lbs. (33%), Height: 33.25 in. (75%), Head: 47.4 cm (33%).

We've got MUSCLES!

Ok, we just think this is the cutest/funniest thing - well, for this week at least. So, thought we would share...Enjoy!

It's not just Drew's Blog anymore...

Yes, that's right, we are expecting...another baby! The funny thing is it's going to be a repeat it seems...this baby is due July 27...Drew was due July 24, born August 1! So, we certainly didn't plan it to be that close, because, it's essentially impossible to do that, but the Lord knows what He is doing, so they could share the same birthday, we'll just have to wait and see!

We had fun telling the family this time...we found out the day before Thanksgiving but decided to wait to tell them until Christmas. So we wrapped up the initial sonogram picture and had the Mom's open them up at Christmas, it was greatness! The Palmer family had an incredible reaction - as everyone got it, the ladies/girls all chimed in with Joyce's screaming & clapping while the boys just sat there smiling. It was pretty great. The Glienke family was also very surprised, with a bit less noise, but the same amount of excitement...Mom's response was something along the lines of "I've been praying & waiting for this!", so I guess God was tired of hearing her ask for another grandkid and decided to answer it how she wanted! I think that could probably be said for both Grandmothers really! :) So we were happy with everyone being so excited and being able to tell everyone at the same time.

We resisted telling the rest of the family and other friends until we had our "Christmas/New Year" card sent out with a picture of the most recent sonogram on it as part of the announcement. I guess we thought we'd do it a little different this time...
(If you read this blog and you didn't get a card from us & that makes you sad, just let me know, but I try to do my best at picking who would truly want one & who I would just annoy with it!)

We have told Drew, but he doesn't get it, of course. Though a funny story...we asked him to try and say Baby one time, and he adamantly responded with "No!" Hope that was just a fluke, though recently he hasn't been keen to sharing Mommy with any other children, so hopefully he gets over that before Baby shows up!

So far, things are going well. There's been a little bit of nausea in the morning, and sometimes in the evening, but usually a few crackers will take care of it, and of course there's the fatigue...but with the stress of Christmas prep past & Drew through his odd phase of waking us up in the middle of the night, that has been much better too! So, we'll keep you posted on the progress & looking forward to meeting this new blessing from God in July or August!

Happy New Year & 17 Months!

Another month, another year, another post!

So, Drew continues to be a hoot & a handful...a close friend has a 3 month old that we visited this month & she mentioned that she thought her 3 month old daughter was easier than any toddler - to console myself I think, I told her, "It's just different!" And it certainly is! We continue to remark on the amazing changes that take place in such a short amount of time.


Well, Drew is doing an excellent job physically - at the beginning of the month, he started being able to JUMP with both feet leaving the ground at the same time! He's going to be an amazing athlete! :) That has to be what it means, right?! :) We are pretty proud of him, Daddy especially. He's also learned to walk on his knees, climb on his new climber/slide - making Mommy a little nervous sometimes, throwing balls & all sorts of toys with quite a bit more strength, running more & more, sometimes just for the act of running he'll run 'laps' in his room. He's also learned how to go down the stairs on his bottom & crawls up the stairs or walks up with help - a nice break from carrying him! And the boy LOVES to dance! He just shakes his bottom back & forth to music when he hears it most of the time. At church, he'll perk up, smile & clap. He just loves music! I finally caught a good video of him dancing the other day over at Grandma & Papa's - needless to say, he's loved all the singing/dancing Christmas decorations! One time he danced so hard to them, that he fell down - Mommy & Daddy thought it was pretty funny, Drew not so much!



Drew had a small surgery this month - he needed tubes placed in both ears. While we realized there are some concerns to consider anytime there's anesthesia, but we really didn't hesitate to sign up - we did NOT want a repeat of last winter, with ear infection after another. So, on the 11th, very early in the morning, Drew had surgery. It was over before we even got comfortable in the waiting room. The pre-op took so much longer, it was kind of bizarre, but very good that it was so quick. He did a decent job of coming out of anesthesia. He was certainly a little agitated, but not so much that he couldn't be consoled some. We got home, got some Cheerios in his tummy & he took a great nap. We had to wake him up to eat lunch & after getting some real food in him, he was back to normal, it was great! We've seen great results so far - no ear infections despite a persistent cold & the hearing is MUCH better! He's jabbering 'sentences' all the time, does a great job repeating sounds, following instructions (when he WANTS to of course), making animal noises (a favorite game of Mommy & Daddy and I hope to get a video of it soon & will share it!), pointing to named objects in his favorite books (he'll also point to Jesus in a nativity scene when asked!), and we've had quite a few new words this month. His list now includes DaDa, MaMa, Uh-Oh, Papa, Nana, Ma-Ma (Grandma), Dru (Drew), Ba (Ball & Bath), Shu (Shoes), Da (Dog), Noma (Snowman), Appu (Apple), and Bu-ble (Bible)! A funny one that will surely come back to bite us is he now will shake his pointer finger back & forth and say "Nu-Nu"! Pretty funny, but will someday be frustrating I'm sure. So, we are happy with the decision and with Drew's speech & cognitive development this month!


Now, most people who have been around Drew for a meal say "He's such a good eater!" and that he is. He at times will seemingly eat as much as us at a meal...thankfully he's not a rolly-polly kid, I guess all those running laps! But he really has done a great job this month truly making the conversion to full on table foods. Yes, we've been here for several months, but he's not been real open to 'combined' foods like lasagna, soups, etc. But this month, if we are eating it, he wants it, or at least he thinks he does. There are still some foods that he'll refuse, or love one meal, and the next want nothing to do with it, just to keep Mommy on her toes I suppose. But it's been a real treat being able to expose him to more & more foods, and worry less & less about what am I going to feed him?! He's been picky about his sweets, but he's making progress in this area too. Which is kind of a funny thing to teach your kid to like, but you want them to enjoy the simple pleasures too, right?!


Some things about Drew that make him who he is & part of the stage he is going through that I honestly wish we could skip and/or forget, but none the less, all part of his story! So, we decided to take almost all of the ornaments off his 'kid-friendly' tree about 2 weeks after putting them up. He just insisted on hitting them against the wall, breaking ornaments that we didn't even think were breakable really. If they didn't break, they left marks on the wall, which Drew just thought was great. He knew he wasn't supposed to do it because he would grab one & run to the wall as fast as he could, knowing we were right behind him to take it away! GRRR! He continues to hate hair cuts, even just trimming around the edges, and with all the bumps & bruises that he gets all the time, we found out he HATES band aids! It's kind of ridiculous to hate something so much that we all know doesn't actually hurt!


Now, our least favorite thing is he apparently is a hitter. When I asked his pediatrician about what to do, before offering some good advice, he simply stated, "There's one in every class." UGH! I didn't want it to be my kid though! As mentioned earlier in the Christmas Spirit post, he will go up to a new child & just smack them, hopefully in the belly, but sometimes in the face! And to much older kids! I sometimes console myself with maybe he's just trying to give them a high five (because he does like to do that), but sometimes it seems like I'm stretching it a little bit with that one. Mommy & Drew took a day trip to Austin to visit some high school friends and had a gathering of 4 moms with 4 little ones, Drew being the oldest, all the way down to 3 months. At some point during the gathering, Drew hit each of the other 3 kids. At one point the 1 year old was crying so Mommy went to help & picked him up, well Drew ran over, seeing another kid in his Mommy's lap, and just attacked the kid, hitting several times before Mommy could even react! Then the 7 month old was minding her own business, crawling around, and Drew went to step on her, seemingly purposefully from the repetitive motion of it all! I was appalled! And the 3 month old only got a little taste of it, with Drew starting out with 'soft hands', and then escalating to hitting, thankfully, Mommy was on guard & prevented any real damage! Oh, we hope he grows out of this/we teach him 'soft hands' quickly! Prayers would be helpful, we need all we can get!


So, a few things I don't want to forget, and are just part of being around Drew that we LOVE...he loves to pick up any bag or toy with a handle, throw it on his arm or shoulder, and start walking toward the nearest door, and says "Bu-Bye!" I guess he's picked up carrying a purse & diaper bag means we are going somewhere! He's started to figure out & loves playing with zippers and also has learned to turn on & off lots of his toys. A favorite one though is there are times we swear he's in a Kung-Fu movie, moving his mouth as if to talk, but not making any sounds until a few seconds later - what a hoot!


Well, we can only expect more fun in the coming year...hope you'll keep following along!

Merry Christmas!

What a Merry Christmas we had this year! What a difference a year makes! Last year's Christmas is still fresh in my mind, and it makes me thankful for this year even that much more! For starters, we all stayed healthy, and we managed to follow through all of our plans without a hitch!


Even more exciting, was all the fun we had with Drew, starting to "get" Christmas. Though, his pediatrician reminded us that he really doesn't get that a large white man somehow manages down our chimney & leaves presents for him under the tree...well, we didn't try to explain that part! :) But he did get that presents were to be unwrapped, and new toys were to be played with, and that was lots of fun for us all!


Daddy, Mommy & Drew went to the afternoon Christmas Eve service & that went relatively well, though Drew wasn't quite content to be quiet & still - pretty sure he distracted everyone to the side & behind us about 10 rows either way - oh well! The next morning the 3 of us opened our presents to one another before heading over to the Palmer house for lunch.


The entire Palmer family was able to get together for lunch, so that was a real treat. Luke & Drew did a GREAT job of playing together, especially impressive since both skipped their PM naps - a Christmas miracle perhaps! We all were stuffed & showered with gifts by the end of the afternoon. Drew was super excited about his wagon from Grandma & Papa - Mommy & Daddy are excited about it too!


We went home to be welcomed by Nana, Grandpa & Uncle Kevin. We fed Drew, played & put him to bed and the 5 of us opened our gifts that evening. Sunday morning, Drew was able to open the rest of his loot & he really got into it & by the end of it all, the room was a wreck & there were toys everywhere - just what Christmas is supposed to look like! Drew was certainly spoiled this year with gifts from all the family from Houston, Austin, Iowa & Florida - what a treat!


Thank you Lord for a WONDERFUL Christmas celebration this year! We praise You for sending Your Son!

Christmas Spirit

Ok, so apparently this year I was making up for last year when I didn't take Drew for any Santa pictures...

So, his school had a photographer come to take Christmas pictures - very cute scenes, apparently Drew is in the staring rather than smiling phase...


This is with Santa at Ridgmar Mall...smooth & easy, staring, not screaming - I'm happy!


This is Santa at Mrs. Baird's Bread. This was a bit more of an adventure. Mrs. Baird's Bakery every year provides free pictures with Santa and they encourage you to bring a toy to donate to Cook Children's of Fort Worth. They provide donuts, cinnamon toast, hot chocolate, and crafts to entertain the kids while they wait...sounds like a great deal! Well, Daddy wanted no part of this, so Mommy & Drew went to Mrs. Baird's, hoping to stand in line no longer than an hour. Sounds crazy a bit, but with all the activities, shouldn't be a problem, right?! Well, all those activities are in the small room with Santa, but we are in line outside. So, let Drew run around, that will be ok...there's a huge field, tons of other kids, sounds good. Well, he introduced himself to all the children he came upon by hitting each of them - oh so embarrassing for Mommy! Then, at one point, Drew managed to trip over some tree roots and as I look over, he's being helped up by one of the older children, but all I hear & see are screams & cries of terror and a mouth FULL of dirt! He's busted the inside of his lip, has dirt in his mouth and nose, and is crying inconsolably! Not exactly what we wanted right before a picture. However, we ended up waiting in line for TWO HOURS! That's right, now I'm officially crazy! Thankfully, the family behind us was WONDERFUL, making it much more enjoyable, and Drew be-friended their children, several years older, so they helped entertain him as well. So, the big time comes, and I essentially get the exact same expression as the other Santa picture - simply staring. Again, happy he's not screaming, but not sure it was worth the 2 hour wait. As much as I'd love to make this a tradition, I don't think we'll be trying this one again!