Batter Up!

Drew was treated to his first big league baseball game tonight. (Ok, not exactly BIG league, but as close as we can get in these parts!) Grandma & Grandpa VW came to visit and took all of us to a Peoria Chiefs baseball game, the Cubs single-A team. We had a good time, and it was a pretty good game although the Chiefs ended up losing. Daddy even caught Drew a baseball...well, it was one of the squishy souvenir balls they throw into the crowd, but still counts!

18 Months & One Day

18 months old...could it be?!?!

New things this month...
so many new words; too many to count!!
3 new teeth!
No more pacifier!!!!


"Hey Drew, say 'cheese'!"

I can read...

with mom

with dad

in my chair

or on the kitchen floor!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Drew, Luci and I got back Saturday afternoon from our week at Gramma and Papa C's house. We had such a great time, and did so much! Drew also learned SO MANY new words, like "pretty" "bubbles" "Drew" "Luci" and everyone else's names, "please" "thank you" and so much more! (I'm not sure if this means I wasn't paying Drew enough attention before, or if having so many people talking to him prompted him to talk back!) THANK YOU to Uncles Justin and Jeremy, for spending so much time with us, and to Grammy and Papa as always, for everything!!

Luci enjoying the large, fenced in backyard!

Parading with Papa

Swimming with Mom...in the kitchen?!?!?

Reading with Gramma

Lounging

Taking a "spritzer" bath in the kitchen sink...a necessity almost every night!!

Now we're swimming, with help from Uncle Justin and Uncle Jeremy.

Blowing bubbles, something he learned at swimming lessons.

Blowing more bubbles!

Making Kool-aid

An occasional pouty face

Whoa, I almost missed ya Drew...you're swinging so high!

Feeding the goats!

If this is the kind of mess boys always get into....
Thanks a lot, Jeremy & Justin!

July Notes

Well, I can't say July has been uneventful...we've had plenty to do. Maybe that's why I haven't had a chance to post in a while! Here's a brief update:

We spent July 4th weekend in Des Moines with Brad's family, celebrating both that holiday and Brad's mom's birthday. It was a nice time with his family. Drew went to the Urbandale parade, and saw his first fireworks. He even got to practice his swimming technique in Uncle Brent's "old man's" pool. ;)

playing with Charlene

swimming with dad

lounging with Lew

Since we've been home, we've been getting ready for our next big travels. Brad leaves *early* on Saturday morning with the church youth to go to NYC for their week-long mission trip. And Drew, Luci and I leave tomorrow morning for our "vacation" to MN. So we've been doing laundry, cleaning, and packing getting ready for those two big trips.

Drew's teeth must be trying to catch up! He got yet another new tooth a couple days ago (the lower left cuspid) for a total of 12 chompers!