New House- Yeah we are finally here!!!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. We were in the middle of moving however we are finally living in our new house. It just sat empty for two and a half months. The first night in our new home went well. Drew adapted much better than expected.... can't tell at all that he is bothered. On the other hand, our dog Lucy is a little home sick. She has been having some behavior problems, but then again she had those at the other house too. :)

Last week I took Drew to a gymnastics class. It is basically just an open gym where they can run and play. Silly me forgot my camera but trust me I will be going back and get pictures. Drew had so much fun, he ran until he couldn't run any longer. He loved to jump in the foam pit and roll around and chased the exercise balls all over. We went with our friends Jeannie and Michael and had a blast.

I have added some pictures of the house for you out-of-towners! Hope you enjoy!

Here is Drew using his big boy fork!

Our New House!

View from deck.

Living room

Kitchen

Dining Room

Grandpa Blackard found this old John Deere. Drew loved pretending like his was driving. It is really funny how kids automatically know the driving noises and how to turn the wheel!

He had to push all the buttons!

Drew has a new fake smile!

When you tell him to smile this is what you get!

Drew and Daddy having dinner on the deck!

Drew had to help out moving boxes!

Drew had his friends Michael and Brett come over and play.

Michael going down the slide.

Breakfast gone bad!

Dance Party

Our little man loves to dance. He dances almost every time he hears music, it is like he just can't resist. I have been trying to get a good video but he stops when he sees the camera, camera shy! Enjoy! I think he has pretty good rhythm, dance moves are a little weird but rhythm is good.

Trip to Lawrence

I took Drew up to Lawrence to see my sister on her birthday. We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed seeing my nephews. I just wanted to share a couple stories about them. Brandon, who is three is learning just how to pull on my heart. First of all I was reading him stories and he wanted me to read again, I told him that I was done reading and he said, "but I want to show you something because I love you"... he opened the book that he was wanting me to read. "because I love you" I would have done just about anything he wanted at that point. Then later we were at dinner and he looked at me so sweetly and said, "Mindy... we are family". He is sooo much fun.
Now to Kyle... he is 12 months old and he spends more time with his mom than anyone else. We are all excited if he lets us hold him. Well at one point while I was there I had a banana and I was feeding it to Kyle. He just started hugging me and snuggling up to me between each bite. I was so pumped. Then when the banana was gone, so was he! :) Next time I will take more than one banana. I have found his weakness.
Here are some photos from our trip to the petting zoo. Thanks Sikes Family!

Drew would chase the goats around and then when they turned around to look at him he would get all shy.

Drew loved feeding the goats. He would just giggle as they took the food. A couple times he tried to eat the food but I prevented that from happening.

Here is Brandon feeding the goat. He was a little worried about feeding them.

Kyle and Drew having a little snack together.

Kyle loved feeding them too.

Help Mommy Clean

We have been trying to keep the house clean because we have been showing it to sell. The other day Drew decided to help mommy clean his room. I was changing the laundry and this is what I came back too. Some days he is lucky he is soooooo cute!!! :)

Chucky Cheese

My mom and I took Drew to his first trip to Chucky Cheese. Sam had to work so he didn't get to make it. I was a little worried he might be too little to enjoy but he had a blast. He loved to watch Chucky Cheese dance and loved the ride-on toys. Drew was watching the mechanical mouse and blinking because the eyes on the mouse kept opening and closing. My mom noticed him doing it and we got it on video, unfortunately the video is too big to post. Trust me though... it was absolutely adorable!

Boating

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile! We recently bought a new house and we have been extremely busy trying to sell the old one and welcome the new one into the 21st century! I will add some new house pictures as we start moving in. Here are some pictures from our 4th of July and lake time.


I was trying to get a good video of Drew walking, he is gaining stability everyday!


"What milk on his face?"

We took a break on the 4th of July and headed to Grand Lake for some boating and firework show. It was Drew's first boat ride. At first he wasn't too sure of it, but by the end he was trying to climb out of the moving boat into the water! Later that night we went and had dinner with the Schroeders (thanks guys) and Drew got to see the gang! Right after we put Drew down for bed, we witnessed the neighbors rolling out at least five, huge rolls of black cats. I, of course, freaked out and wanted to take Drew home thinking that he would wake up scared. Sam, of course said his famous line "its fine Mindy, calm down!" So I packed up the car ready to go in case Drew woke up screaming and needed to leave. Sam was shaking his head at me the whole time. Anyway.... the show started out with 3 or 4 huge planes flying over the house so loud it shook the house. I ran inside just knowing that I would have to rescue Drew, but nothing.... just silence. I walk outside and there is Sam just smiling as if he knows that I know that he was right and he is taking great pleasure in this fact. Next comes the firework show... it was the prettiest, loudest show I have ever seen. We kept running inside to see if he was awake and he wasn't. Finally came the part I dreaded the most, the neighbors set off their never ending black cats. At this point I am basically sitting beside Drews door because I am sure this will wake him up and need his mommy, but .......... he didn't. I am officially going to say, "Sam was right". Just this time!

The next weekend we headed back to the lake with my sister, her husband and two children. First boat ride for Brandon and Kyle. The boys did awesome; Brandon faced his fear of the wind and loved the ride. Kyle on the other hand slept every time the boat was in motion. Drew had so much fun playing with his cousins. We look forward to the future trips with Kyle and Brandon.

Drew, Brandon and Kyle

Hang on... Drew is driving!
Mom may have gone over board on the sunscreen in his hair!
Sam and Drew, Adam and Brandon relaxing in the water.

He even looks cute in a life jacket!
Check out this picture and the one below. Almost exactally a year apart in the same place. I can't believe he has grown so much!
Daddy and Drew getting ready for his first boat ride! He did so good.
Faster Daddy!

Drew loves his tractor!

Hey... when a cousin needs a place to rest, Drew comes to the rescue!
Brandon, Kyle and Drew
Kyle and Drew (don't worry Grandmas, we were holding them)

1st Birthday

I want to start out by saying thank you to everyone for helping us through this first year with Drew. We have tried to do the best that we know how to do for him, however a lot of that has come from watching others, listening to advise some of you have given to us and just having people there to listen. In this first year we have experienced almost every emotion possible and at times felt like we had no idea what we were doing, but we made it through the first year. He is on his way to walking, laughing all the time, making new sounds every day and keeping us entertained. He has realized certain things make us smile or laugh and repeats them over and over again. We continue to enjoy the gift we have been given.

We had his first birthday at our home town park. Over 40 people came from all over to watch Drew have his first cake. (Thank you for making the trip!) Drew was in his high chair waiting for the cake, I was holding it in my hand looking for my mom and he reached over and dipped his hand in the frosting. So when we sang him happy birthday he already had icing all over his face. He loved the cake. Enjoy the pics.

We started the celebration off by Grandpa Blackard coming over and giving Drew his first check. Look at that sweet thank you smile he is giving while holding his check. Thanks Grandpa! Daddy will help him endorse the check. Now that he is one he thinks he should climb on all the toys. Here his is with Grammie Blackard.
Of course Drew's first party had to be a Jayhawk theme. We are sure that is what he would have picked had he been able to pick.

Here he is after he got the first swipe of cake. The only other sweet he had before was a little ice cream on his actual birthday!

Dig in!

Mine!!!! All Mine!!!

Drew had alot of help opening his presents.

After the party he thought all sweets were fair game. Here he is trying to get Uncle Adam to let him taste pop. (That did not happen!)

The day after his party we took him swimming for the first time in the Independence pool. We have a water baby on our hands.... he loved the pool.
He just walked around holding our hands and didn't mind when we dunked him under the water.
Drew made a friend. He loved to play in the little fountain.
More water baby!
"Daddy don't hold me too tight the ladies are watching!"

The weekend after Drews' party we headed to Liberty, Missouri for another party. Hayden turned two. Drew was so excited on his way to see Hayden.

Birthday boy Hayden. Drew had his first pony ride. At first we weren't sure if we would get him on the pony. He didn't like the noises that they make but reluctantly got on. Cowboy Drew! We had so much fun! Thanks Morehead family.

Look Mom.... no hands!

At the party Drew fell and got another black eye! Yes... I did say another. I have a feeling that we will need our health insurance with this kid. He is so active, never sits still and has no fear, not a good combination.