Christmas at Nana and Papa's

We made the trip to my parents new house on Sunday for our LAST Christmas! We enjoyed a great meal and Drake had fun playing with his Aunties!

Hanging out with Papa

Drake looks so big in his new hat from Nana and Papa

We decided to be silly and push Drake around the house in a doll stroller! He had a great time!

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's House

On Saturday we headed to Ben's parents house to celebrate Christmas with them. We had a great time!

Thanks Aunt Lori, Uncle Zach and Ewan for the cool Wild Thing Shirt!!

Drake can't wait to wear his new clothes from Grandma and Grandpa

Having fun playing with his new toys

So happy after a bath and letting out a big burp!!

Tuesday Thoughts (a day late)

With the holidays, my week totally got away from me so Tuesday Thoughts are coming to you on a Wednesday this week!

• Now that Drake's Auntie bought him a pair of designer baby jeans, he is officially better dressed than I am. My 5 month old has designer jeans and I don't.

• Thank you to the teenage cashier at the grocery store for informing me that my screaming baby was tired. It would have been enough to say "I think he is tired" like you did, but to add to that "That is a tired cry, he is really tired." I probably never would have figured that out if it was not for you, so thanks again!

• It looks like I have turned into "that mom". You know the one who is a germ-a-phob. Yep, I'm her. People we touching Drake at Christmas Eve service, I mean touching his hands, which  now are practically a part of his mouth since he chews on them so often. I could not get a baby wipe fast enough to wipe of his little hands!! And you better believe that I put hand sanitizer on the second passing of the peace was done. Another sign I have gone off the deep end, I asked for and received a shopping cart cover for Christmas. I used to laugh at anybody who would use those things, now I'm one of those crazies. Oh yeah, good thing I got a lot of lotion for Christmas as my hands are cracking because they are so dry since I wash them a hundred thousand times a day.

• Looks like we will be needing a bigger car soon. We have a small SUV and on Monday when Drake and I were coming back from my parents house we could hardly fit everything in it.  Anybody have any suggestions for a mid-full size SUV?!?

Everybody have a fun and safe New Year!!!

Christmas Day in Pictures

We enjoyed a relaxing Christmas Day with Nana, Papa and Aunt Meggie.

Santa came!

Drake checking out all the cool stuff Santa brought

He likes his swim trunks

Can't wait to see what is in his stocking

He looks so big on his new riding toy

Aunt Meggie was making him laugh by doing cheers

Playing with his new ball popper on his new riding toy

Christmas Eve in Pictures

We started celebrating Drake's first Christmas on Christmas Eve with my family. Here is our night in pictures!

Santa is coming tonight??

I will be good!!

My Aunt Ellie got me a pair of True Religion jeans. She is already trying to make me dress fashionable!!

I love my glow worm from Mommy and Daddy!

I  can't wait to try out this cool toy from Nana and Papa

Leaving cookies for Santa

Check out my cooking blog!

I thought I would start another blog to organize my recipes. Feel free to take a look. I plan on adding more recipes in the near future.

http://thesassysillyspunkymommacooks.blogspot.com/

Stay tuned....Christmas picture coming to this blog soon!!

Tuesday Thoughts

So I decided to keep this as a weekly post. I always have all sorts of things running though my head and this is a great place to get them out!!

1.

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it. How cute is he?!?!

2. Pretty much everyday I put Drake in his swing and turn on Baby Einstein. He talks and laughs at it for a half hour and momma gets a much needed break. I know many people would never think about doing such a thing, but it works for us!

3. I am so excited for Drake's 1st Christmas that every day this week is going so slow!! Momma might have gone a little crazy buying presents for the little guy, but how could I resist?

4. 1 month from today Ben and I leave for Hawaii. I'm so excited and so dreading it all at the same time. Drake will stay with my parents, who are great with him, but I get a pit in my stomach every time I think about leaving him for 9 days. On the other hand, uninterrupted sleep, staying up late, and only worrying about ourselves sounds pretty nice sometimes too!!

5. I will never again complain about being spit up on when all a baby is drinking is formula. This kind of spit up is much preferred over a baby who now eats carrots, cereal and formula. Drake and I have both been sporting multiple outfits a day lately!!

6. We took Drake to the Pediatric GI Specialist on Friday to follow up with him on Drake's reflux issues. He eats solids great, but cries every time he sees his bottle. The doctor said that he associates the bottle with pain and that is why he cries everything he sees it. Have you ever heard of anything so sad??? It broke my heart into a million pieces. A baby is suppose to LOVE their bottle. The good news is that we don't think he is in pain as he does not cry once he gets started eating, he just remembers how bad the heartburn used to hurt him. If it was up to him he would say goodbye to that nasty bottle now and eat his heart out on baby food and cereal.

Merry Christmas and safe travels to all!

I Should Buy Stock in Amazon.com

Yep, I have an unhealthy obsession with amazon.com. I have placed six separate orders in the past 2 weeks. It is so easy and I do get GREAT deals, I buy everything for less than I would in a store, I don't have to pay tax, and I almost always get free shipping. So what have I bought? Let me tell you!

1.Nikon D3000
 My amazing camera that I might be even more obsessed with than I am with Amazon. It is easy to use, takes really great pictures and has been a great investment in our family's memories.

2. ?
A Christmas gift for somebody who reads my blog, so I must keep the details of that purchase a secret.

3.LeapFrog Fridge Farm
I just had to buy Drake this LeapFrog Fridge Farm for Christmas. He will be sitting up on his own soon and I know he will love to play with this while I'm in the kitchen.

4.The Woombie
As many of you know, Drake LOVES LOVES LOVES to be swaddled. The problem was that he was breaking out of his swaddle at least 2 times a night and waking himself up because he was too big for every swaddle blanket(including my much loved miracle blanket). We tried with a HUGE fail last Sunday to have him sleep unswaddled. So after doing a lot of research I found this wonderful invention online. It is basically just like a sleep sack only it does not have openings for  the arms and the best part is that it came in 4 different sizes so we could have one that fit Drake just right. I'm happy to report that so far the woombie is living up to all the hype. He can move around easier than he could in the swaddle, so it is a great transition to not being swaddled, but his naughty hands don't wake him up!!

Doesn't he look like a little Caterpillar in this contraption?!?! I think it is so cute!!

5. Evenflo Triumph Advance LX Convertible Car Seat
I was starting to think about what I wanted to get for a car seat when Drake out-grew his infant carrier. I was researching all the options and after reading many positive consumer and safety review I decided to go with this one. I was able to get a great deal and paid far less for it on amazon than I would at Target or Babies R Us.


6. ?
Another gift :)

I think I need to go back to work soon before this gets out of hand :)!!

Random Thought Tuesday

Here are a few random thoughts that have been going through my head. If I have enough of these I might make this a weekly post :)

• I would love to post a video of Drake in my blog but at this point that is out of the question. Why, you might ask. Because pretty much every single video we have Drake includes me trying to get him to smile, laugh, roll over, etc. and I do this by singing. People who know me know that I am a bit challenged in the area of vocal talent. Looks like until I can control myslef and not sing in videos there will be none on this blog!
• In the area related to singing, Drake's favorite song is by the Black Eyed Peas. HAHA he will calm down, laugh and smile as soon as that song comes on. Future Rock Star on our hands?!?
• I am no longer wearing maternity jeans. 4 1/2 months after my little lad was born, I have retired the jeans. Now before you start giving me all sorts of "Wow, great for you" responses, I must  be honest. I do have a pair of jeans that I can button and zip and they fit pretty good, but my super cute styling jeans do not button and only zip half-way, but I still wear them with my wonderful Bella Band. I HAD to have a pair of jeans to wear with all my boots this winter, so this was my solution.
• I officially have 13.6 lbs to loose until I met my goal. I will then be rewarding myself with an overpriced pair of jeans and some form fitting shirts!
• I will run the dishwasher if all it contains is bottles to avoid washing the bottles by hand. Call me lazy if you want. I call myself smart for not doing the worst household job...dishes:)
• Dear VW Mall Younkers, Do you think it would be too much to ask to move your diaper changing station more than a step in from the door?!?!? I'm not joking when I say you walk in and practically run into the changer. Of course Drake decides to have the biggest poop of his whole life while we are out shopping on Saturday and every poor soul that stepped foot into the Younkers bathroom saw it too!! In addition, there was no place to put my diaper bag down beside the floor, which is disgusting so I held it. Do you have any idea how hard it is to change a world record breaking poopy diaper while holding your diaper bag? I really think Ben was about to come in after us because we were gone so long. I think from now on I will stick with what I know and love...good 'ol Von Maur mothers room!

Santa

We took Drake to Valley West Mall on Saturday morning to meet Santa for the very first time!! He really had no idea what was going on, but he enjoyed looking at all the Christmas lights and people. After a quick lunch at Palmer's Deli we headed to visit Aunt Ellie at Blond Genius. We had such a great day!

Looking around at all the Christmas decorations while waiting for Santa

Almost our turn!

Drake and Santa

I think Drake wants a coloring book!

Visiting Aunt Ellie at Blond Genius

Drake love jeans already!!

Everybody Needs Boots

Even boys who can't walk should have a pair of boots. That is why Drake got his first pair of boots today!

How could I resist?

Now Momma and Drakie's feet can both be warm!!

I just had to include this picture. How perfect is he?!?

Rub-a-dub-dub

A baby boy that loves his tub!!

Snow Day

Ben did not have to work today due to the HUGE blizzard that is taking place as we speak. We were so excited for our first snow day as a family. Imagine our surprise when our doorbell rang at 8:30 this morning. We were shocked to find a package outside our door and thrilled to find out that the package contained our NEW CAMERA!!!! So in honor of the snow day and new camera, here is our day in pictures!

Skinner and Drake enjoyed a little tummy time

Ben showed us how deep the drifts are in our driveway

Drake told us all sorts of funny stories

Drake talked and talked while practicing rolling over

Skinner gave Drake lots of kisses

We made some YUMMY cookies

918 Pictures

That is how many pictures we have of Drake in his short 4 months of life. This number is about to jump in a big way. Why, you might ask. Because Ben and I are getting ourselves a Nikon D3000 for Christmas!! This is our first venture into the DSLR side of digital cameras and I can't wait!!! Our must haves in our new digital camera were shutter speed and zoom, this camera has both!!! WE are suppose to be getting it this week. Until then I will be stalking every UPS truck that drives by our house!!

Any readers own a DSLR? Any tips on how to take great pictures?

Stay tuned for pictures from the new camera!!

Let it Snow

We celebrated Drake's first measurable snowfall by taking him outside for a few minutes to see snow for the first time. He did not know quite what to think of it! Here are some pictures of his first experience. His eyes are closed in most of the pictures since it was so bright out.