Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!

Ready to carve his pumpkin!

"Ewww, gross, mom. Those are pumpkin guts!"

Scooping out the seeds while Dad carves.

Drew's finished pumpkin face.

Our shy lion...

...who doesn't want to smile for any pictures.

"Seriously, mom. Enough's enough."

Butt shot.

So thirsty after a long night of candy collecting!!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Boy or Girl?

I forgot to mention, although many of you already know, that we are not finding out the gender of the baby. The moment when Drew was born and we finally knew that our baby was a boy was a moment I will never forget. It's hard to express in words, but all the anticipation and wonder was wrapped up into that one moment. And so, yesterday during our ultrasound, when asked if we wanted to know boy or girl, we said "NO!" But we'd like to know what you think. Notice our poll at the left, and vote!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Oh, Baby!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today. Everything looks good! Here's a few close-ups...

Baby's profile, torso, and if you look closely, you can see the baby's hand up by the head

Baby's torso and leg

Baby's face (kinda creepy I know)

Baby's profile, with arm/hand

Sunday, October 26, 2008

21 Months Old

21 Months Old!

Somehow sitting on clean clothes in a laundry basket elicits so much fun...

...as does sitting in a kitchen drawer.

Luci's found a new place to be; unfortunately for her, Drew enjoys sitting there, too.

Building a city on the kitchen floor.

Eating an apple.

"I'm ready for my close-up."

Sharing a popsicle with Daddy.

How I love to hear Drew laugh!

Saying "hello" to Coke, one of Aunt LeLoie's dogs, who happens to be Cherry's daughter. (Cherry is the dog I grew up with.)

For Great-Grandma Gushee

Drew and I spent Friday evening and Saturday in Des Moines, celebrating with the Gushees what we hope will be a near-ending of breast cancer. In 1995, I lost my Grandma Gushee to breast cancer, and for the past few years we've been walking in the Race for the Cure in her honor. We celebrate her life, and we fight for a cure.

This year's group, all bundled up, ready to race (well, walk).

Away we go!

The best seat for the race!

We finished! (Well, Drew did. I had to stop just after two miles. This baby mama was feeling the pain!)

How we all wish we didn't have to participate in a race like this one. We'd all prefer to have Grandma with us. How proud she would be of her five great-grandsons.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Not So "Extreme"

Drew and I went down to the Extreme Makeover site this morning, with temps in the low 40s. Here's what Drew thought about that...


There were a lot of trucks and construction equipment all throughout the street so the site area wasn't as viewable, although it seems as though they accomplished a lot throughout the night. You can see here that they've gotten the foundation walls (I don't know the technical terms) done and are pouring in sand/dirt to level out the ground(?). I can tell you that this house will be significantly larger than the old one (as they all are on this show). It already appears to be twice as large; unfortunately, I think they'll lose any backyard space they had.


No star sitings as I think most of the designers are tucked away in their RVs (parked a couple blocks away), staying warm while they make their preparations. This is what I believe to be the volunteer tent (directly across the street from the house) and some volunteers milling about.


I thought about going back tonight to see how far they've come today (they were supposed to start framing the house early this afternoon), but it's been raining all afternoon and evening. I also thought about going by tomorrow morning, but according to the forecast it isn't going to stop raining until afternoon/early evening. I'm not so wild about facing that kind of weather, especially if Ty isn't going to be around. :)

Drew and I will be heading out tomorrow morning for a short weekend visit to Des Moines (more on that later) so won't probably go back to see all the hub-bub until Sunday, and that's only if we feel like braving the crowds. Otherwise, I have yet to hear when the family is coming home for the big reveal, but we'll definitely be there for that!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

A Brush with Hollywood

Who would have thought that of all places, "celebrity" would arrive in Pekin, Illinois?

Well, celebrity they are... EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION is filming about 10 blocks away from our house! We heard rumors of it about 3 weeks ago, but didn't hear anything again until yesterday, when Ty and the gang hollered "Good morning Grys family!" We weren't aware that yesterday was the day until after the fact when someone from church stopped by and showed us pictures of the luxury bus the cast rides into town in. This morning, then, they demolished their existing home, and as I was coming home around 4:30, the radio said that Ty was still around. So I ran into church, grabbed Brad, and the three of us went down to check things out. They have a small spectator area set up with bleachers and a fence, and there were maybe 100 people milling about in that area. There wasn't much going on; they were finishing digging out the debris from the hole created from the demolition of the old house, and we saw a few security guards and some people in their official Extreme Makeover volunteer t-shirts. No Ty, though, so I'm pretty bummed about that, BUT we did rub elbows with one of the designers, Paul DiMeo. He walked right by us as we were walking into the gated area. Didn't get my camera out quick enough to be one of those in-your-face-"can-I-take-your-picture" fans, but trust me, it was him. Ty apparently had to jet set off to Pennsylvania, where he'll be for the next couple days to film another episode, before he returns to Pekin to finish the house and welcome back the family.

I don't think we've heard the whole story surrounding the family that was chosen for the show, except that they are adoptive and foster parents who are raising an 8-year-old boy with brittle bone disease. They are building a 7-bedroom home that will accommodate all of his needs. (I think I heard they have a total of 6 kids, but there may be more, not sure.)

The picture below is the best shot we got as we were down on the construction site tonight. You can see a couple of the cranes as they excavate the ground, two security guards, and a few volunteers in their bright blue Extreme Makeover shirts. (Click on the photo to enlarge.)

Drew and I hope to go down again tomorrow morning sometime...Not sure much will be going on, but we'll update on any celebrity sitings!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Spaghetti-Os & Peanut Butter Sandwiches

How come things are never quite how you remember them when you were little?

For example, peanut butter sandwiches dipped in Spaghetti-Os. (Now before you say "eww, gross," you know you ate some gross food concoctions of your own!) Growing up, my oldest brother and I always enjoyed a big bowl of Spaghetti-Os (with meatballs, of course) for lunch. And it was never complete without a peanut butter (no jelly) sandwich to dip in it. I guess I was feeling nostalgic the other day at the grocery store, because I bought a can of Spaghetti-Os for Drew to try. So I warmed them up yesterday for lunch... but as I opened the can, the smell kind of repelled me a little bit. I guess I never had the pleasure of actually preparing lunch when I was younger, so was never greeted with that less-than-appetizing smell. Nonetheless, I warmed those Os up, slapped some PB on some bread, and introduced Drew to my childhood memory.

Well, Drew thought what probably many of you are thinking right now: "Are you kidding me?"

He took one bite of the sandwich, and skipped the Os all together.

So let me just say, peanut butter sandwiches dipped in Spaghetti-Os is not what it used to be. Maybe it's because I bought meatball-less Os, or maybe because our PB was on wheat bread instead of white. Either way, it wasn't as good as I remember. So Jeremy, if you've ever wondered, now you know. Let's just keep those memories in the past...

Drew asked for cheese instead.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Mood Swings

Sheesh! Drew's worse than a pregnant woman raging with unbalanced hormones! Last week was a tough week for us. Taking cues from Drew's constantly runny nose and his need to chew on his fingers continually, I'm concluding that Drew's second year molars are about to make an appearance. And the whining! Oh my, the whining! If he wasn't whining, he was crying. And if he wasn't crying, he was pouting. And if he wasn't pouting, he was throwing a tantrum. And if he wasn't throwing a trantrum, it was a miracle. All week long. It's amazing either of us are still alive. This has been the worst, as far as teething is concerned...and well, as far as anything is concerned. I wish all those people who say "Drew's so sweet and quiet" could have seen him last week! Thankfully, for today, he seems to be a bit brighter. His mood is much better, dancing around, throwing himself on the floor, talking up a storm and making funny faces. For now, I will be naive enough to think that the worst is behind us!

...or maybe it's not his teeth at all... Maybe Drew had so much fun with Grammy D and Great Auntie B a couple weekends ago that he's just acting out against me because I'm not as fun?!?!?

NOOOOO, that couldn't be why! :)

I was able to take my own vacation by spending a long weekend with my cousins. And while I had a blast with "Cousin's Weekend," Drew had a blast with "Grandma's Weekend!" My mom and my aunt met up with us to take Drew and my cousin's two boys to Great Auntie B's house for the weekend. If only I could have been a fly on the wall to see all the chaos as two Grandma's took take of three very active boys, all under the age of 4! From what I hear, through, a great time was had by all! I don't have any pictures to post, of course, since I was having fun on my own. So many many thanks to Grammy and Auntie B! A weekend away for this mom was exactly what I needed... although next time, would you mind taking with you the crabby kid who's second year molars are coming through, and give back to me the sunshiney smiley kid who's happy all the time?!?!