Friday, August 21, 2009

Hugs!








Is it too much to hope that they will always be this loving toward each other???

Monday, August 17, 2009

"You're the One"

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to Ernie's bathtime buddy, doesn't it?


And because little brother can't do anything big brother can't do...


Monday, August 10, 2009

Five Months Old


Milestones this month:

Began on baby foods
Rolled from back to front
Coos, laughs and screams with excitement all the time!


Three boys in a bed.

Mmmm...cereal!

Enjoying the backyard.

Learning to pedal!

"Hey there, Mom!"

Note the concentration. So serious...

Father and Son.

Drew and Lightning McQueen...best buds.

Because the little brother can't do anything the big brother can't do.

Is that good, Reed?

Drew said he wanted a salad for lunch. And he actually ate it!

Prunes!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Cars

(For those of you who are not avid Cars fans, then this won't make sense to you. It's a staple in our house; watched all the time, as you can see. We all highly recommended it... it's our favorite!)
So you know how thoughts or a conversation can lead from one subject to another, and by the time your conversation is over, you're not quite sure how you got from point A to point B? Well, I'm not sure how this dialogue started, but here's what transpired between Drew and me.




Drew: "Reed's Mater."
Mom: "Reed's Mater? Who are you?"










Drew: "I'm Lightning McQueen!"
(which I love because McQueen and Mater are best friends!)
Mom: "Who am I?"










Drew: "You're Doc!"
(so I get to be the old guy, who's crabby but very wise...yep, that sounds like me!)
Mom: "Who's Daddy?"










Drew: "Daddy's Flo!"
(the girl car!! HA HA!)

Never Say Never

You know we've all done it. Especially we mothers. When we were younger and growing up in our parents' house, our mom or dad would punish us or discipline us in such a way that we would say "I'll never do that to my kids!" Now, as a mom myself, I can very accurately say... HA! Yeah I will!

To be honest, I have no recollection whether or not my parents made me, or my brothers, sit at the dinner table until we ate our vegetables. I don't think that it was one of the discipline measures my parents had to take (not because I was so great at eating veggies but because they more likely employed the "go to your room" consequence) but it is a classic parenting technique, right?

Drew's been having a hard time lately eating dinner. He loves breakfast, and probably eats the best at lunch, but for whatever reason he doesn't seem to like dinner. Unless we're having cheeseburgers or pizza, he can sit at the table while Brad and I eat and leave his plate untouched. I at least like for him to eat his veggies, so we've been telling him he will not be able to have a bedtime snack unless he eats. This works, as Brad and I stick to our guns and follow through with the consequence, but it doesn't get Drew to eat and it doesn't stop him from asking for a snack 10 minutes after he gets down from the table. So last night, I decided to try something new.

"Drew, you have two choices. You can either eat your veggies, or you can sit at the table until bed time [two hours away!]."

I don't think he totally understood.

Thankfully, after I had the dishes cleaned up and left the kitchen, Drew got a bit more anxious about his punishment, and after about 30 minutes opted to eat his beans.

Believe me, if that kid had to sit there for two hours, I would have let him. It was a battle of wills. And Drew wasn't going to win.

I'm open to ideas and tips on how to get a toddler to eat. I'll try just about anything...

Monday, August 3, 2009

Picnic in the Park

This last Saturday, Brad's mom's family converged in Pella for their annual summer reunion, to eat, play and catch up. We couldn't have had any better weather (it was gorgeous outside!) and the food was delicious, as always. It's always fun to see Brad's cousins, aunts, and uncles, but especially fun to see all of his cousins' kids. Kids really do grow fast when you only see them once or twice a year! Drew was entertained by his cousins, Lewis and Lauren, and Reed was oogled over by all the aunts. He pretty much stole the show. :) We didn't get very many pictures, but here is some of the activity we captured.

Lauren and Reed

Poor Lewis and Lauren. Drew pretty much dragged them throughout the park. Thanks you two, for being so sweet with Drew. He just loves playing with you...and he's still wondering when you're going to come for a visit. :)

Lewis and Uncle Brent playing ladderball.

So, how many people does it take to get the ladderball game balls out of a tree? Quite a few actually. The really funny part...this happened three times.

We let Drew drive home. Just watch out for that brick wall, son.