"A long December, and I've got reason to believe this one will be better than the last..."

To say it's been a long December is the understatement of the year. As my friend, Marty, keeps telling me..."You have to slow down." For those of you who don't know...over this month, we've celebrated Drew's 3rd birthday, we closed on a house, we moved into the house, I went back to work, we unpacked boxes, we decorated for Christmas, Drew had a birthmark removed from his bottom, Grady moved out of our room and into a crib in his own room, and we celebrated Christmas with my family and await the arrival of Dave's parents on Tuesday evening to finish out the festivities. Ok, so it was a lot to take on at once, and in hindsight, I might not have gone back to work so early if I had known what this month would look like, but who knew?!?! As we close out 2009, we are so thankful for our wonderful friends and family. We hope 2010 will be better than 2009 for many reasons, and we ask for continued prayers for friends like Brian Heck, who is serving and protecting all of us in the Middle East as I write this. He's due home to his sweet family in the spring. Finally, there are many who read this blog who in their own private way might need a prayer for a refreshed mind, body, and/or soul...you know who you are...! I'll keep saying them and ask you to do the same. Happy New Year!



A rare family photo before Drew's Christmas program at school



Drew being wheeled out of his hospital room after his surgery at Scottish Rite this Monday



Grady hits a milestone

You are NOT seeing double; this is Drew in the same outfit Grady is wearing in the previous picture when he was just 3 weeks old (Christmast 2006).

Drew helping me put icing on the cookies for Santa. He got carried away with the powdered sugar, and please don't knock my pale, dirty appearance. I just got back from a 3 mile run on this one. Dave & I are currently training for the Atlanta ING Half-Marathon in March. Yes, Dave is going to run a half-marathon.

The boys...need I say more!

Grady and his great-grandma, Grams

1 Month old & 3 years old...

We had a few milestones in the last few weeks. Grady turned 1 month (although now he's 7 weeks), and Drew turned 3 on Wednesday. Here are some updated pictures of the boys.

Little Grady is full of smiles...




I stole this idea from our friends, Mandy & Paul; they took pictures of their girls in a little chair each month until their 1st birthday, so they could tell how much they were growing. He looks like a little old man.

Drew helping to make his birthday cake for our family to eat on his birthday.

Drew's cupcake birthday cake at his school

Drew's best friend at school, Ava, covered in the black icing from Drew's McQueen cake

Drew's class enjoying the cupcakes

We made it again...

Check out the link called "A Tribue to UGA" because we made it again. We love that website, and it's love of all things UF and Tebow. ATL is in full SEC Championship mode, and it's hard not the be nervous and excited about the game tomorrow night.

On another note, did anyone want to tell us that going from one child to two can be a nightmare, and we even have help from my parents on a seriously regular basis...we live with them.

After Drew's nap, we decided to run a few errands which included going to our local Kohl's to find him some new pants. It's not that his other pants don't fit; it's more a texture issue with him...he doesn't like tight pants or rough pants as he calls them. He's a sweatpant kind of kid, but I am too "snobby" to let sweatpants be the only part of his wardrobe. Well, I thought we could find some elastic-waisted "slacks" at this great sale; well, we found them (they were too big), but we also found out that we (ok, I) are the kind of parents who have to spank their child in the middle of a shopping exursion, but not because he was screaming his head off; instead, Drew was running around the store in his Thomas the Train underoos while I tried to get him into about 8 different pairs of pants. He seriously was doing this dance out of a movie that I know he has never seen, but it was hilarious and miserable all at the same time. Meanwhile, Dave and I are trying not to laugh, cry, or run out of the store, and Grady was deeply asleep in his stroller.

Wow..life with two kids; it's somewhere between the feeling of getting too drunk, too early in the morning and feeling hung-over before 9 am (can we say breakfast club at Purdue?) and getting a root canal (yes, I had one this week). On the other hand, it's also the greatest thing that ever happened to us. Grady is smiling and cooing now...priceless, and Drew is playing CandyLand with us. Life is exhausting but very good too.

A roadblock...

So we've had a temporary roadblock in our move...paperwork on the sellers' side is holding us up. It looks like we'll close on Monday at 2 pm instead of today, then we'll make the big move next weekend.