12 years ago today...

Mike and I went on our first date 12 years ago today. Isn't that crazy? We are going to have a night out tonight to celebrate. We are going to see a movie and probably get some dinner. Drew is going to spend the night at his gma's and gpa's while we go out.

Mike was 17 and I was 16 when we met. We've been through quite a few milestones together since we started dating so young! Not many people can say that!

I should also add that 12 years ago today Kate & Julie also accompanied Mike and I are on our first date. Nothing like having two of your best friends join you on your first date! It is a pretty funny story actually, but I don't want to get too much into it. I will add one more important detail that Mike did get carded on our first date (by my dad). My dad was wondering why I driving, so he decided he'd ask to see if Mike even had a driver's license. Wow we've come a long way! Luckily Mike hung in there and here we are today, married over 4 1/2 years with a beautiful little boy!

Happy 12 years Mikey! Gosh are we really old enough to be saying that?

A couple updates/stories about the main man, Drew

Playing in the "tunnel." He is going to love building forts!

On the couch wearing his new shirt "Mom's Little Helper"

Relaxing on the couch after a nap...all he wanted was some milk and Franklin and all his friends from his bed.

Having lunch at his table and in front of the tv, not the best habit to start. He loves it!

Here are a few updates/stories:

Drew loves Franklin as I've mentioned before, he asks to watch it all the time. Today we were on the way to the library and I told him we'd be getting some Franklin books and a dvd or two. He then said "bear, beaver, fox...he was listing some of the characters in the show. I was quite impressed.




Drew has started carrying books around the house. He likes to stack them. If I offer to read them he usually turns me down. He just loves stacking and restacking his books. He also likes to take a couple to bed with him these days. He also likes taking other toys to bed.

Drew loves Little People! We have the airplane set and my mom has a schoolhouse set and he just loves them. He has been carrying around a little boy and calling him "boy." Today we went to my friend's garage sale and got a farm and train little people set and he loves them. We've been playing all afternoon!

Old McDonald is another favorite of Drew's and I know I've mentioned it before. We listen to the song in the car, he loves his new McDonald's farm little people set. Today at a library sing and dance activity they sang Old McDonald and when they were done Drew yelled "Donald...Donald.." over and over. In the car he does the same thing when the song ends. Luckily he was distracted today and moved on, but in the car we usually listen to the song over and over until we get to our destination.

Drew worked very hard to get all the animals and people stuffed in one stall. He was adamant about them being in that stall...I tried to talk him out of it!

Drew still loves hats. He wears one most days and sometimes he insists on wearing them to bed. He enjoys putting things that are not hats on his head too. Typically with Drew if he does something he wants everyone to do it, he got Pop Pop the Great to wear a hat too the other day.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

We want to wish all dads out there a happy father's day! We started out our Father's Day with cards and a gift. Drew and I brought Mike's goodies to bed so he wouldn't have to move a muscle! What service...I'm sure he would have liked breakfast in bed too, but he insisted on making it himself. He made us some biscuits and gravy this morning, which was very good.

Drew and I made Mike a photo book of pictures of only Drew and Mike. I'm not always very computer savvy, but I was able to create this book on Shutterfly and it turned out so cute! Drew loves looking through it and he points out Daddy & Drew in every single picture.

I just have to say that Drew and I are so lucky to have such an amazing guy in our lives! Drew just adores his daddy. Now that I'm home for the summer I get to hear Drew talk about daddy through out the day. He gets so darn excited when he hears the truck pull up for lunch and at the end of the day. I love watching my boys together, they are just too darn cute!

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy out there!

Shhhhh....I've tricked him!

Drew has been eating veggies and he doesn't even know it! Drew used to eat any and everything I offered him when he first started eating solids. Now I am lucky to get a veggie or two in him every week. He will still eat baby food veggies if they are mixed in applesauce or sometimes he'll eat peas (but he hasn't done that in a while). Luckily the kid will eat fruit all day long so that has been helpful. I read on a forum about a mom who made some homemade popsicles for her daughter. She mixed fruit and veggies together and her daughter loved it. So I had to try it!

I got our the food processor (this is what I used when I made Drew's baby food) and then threw in a whole bunch of stuff.

strawberries
a banana
blueberries
little yogurt
splash of apple juice
mangoes
peas
avocado
spinach

Not the prettiest of colors!

Sounds & looks gross huh? Well it actually tastes pretty sweet. I froze it in some popsicle molds and the next day I served them. Drew had never had a popsicle before, he loved it and ate two yesterday! I also handed them out to the play group, all the kids seemed to love them. Everyone got their servings of veggies yesterday and then some. Drew has also been eating sweet potatoes the last two nights. I've made some sweet potatoes fries and he loves them.

Now for the funny faces (he thought this was so fun):

Our 2 LIttle Fish

Drew relaxing on the couch, looks a bit uncomfortable!

My boy and I

Sitting on a stool...he thinks this is so cool!

We have been swimming many times this week! Drew started his swimming lesson this week. We are taking lessons this week and next week at an indoor pool near our house. I'm glad we did the indoor thing as opposed to the outdoor lessons, we don't have to worry about rain! We also signed up with our buddy, Avery. Drew and Avery took lessons together last year so we had to continue the tradition.

The first lesson Drew screamed for the first 5 minutes and then he loved splashing around. Since then he can't wait to get in the pool. He loves kicking his feet and splashing all around. His most favorite part of the lessons is that he gets to play with balls the whole time. He'll do anything if he can throw some balls around! We finally got to our neighborhood pool yesterday for the first time this year. Drew loved walking around the baby pool. It was just the perfect water height for him, he could walk around easily and play with his toys! Avery joined us too and the two played so well together.


Today we had our play group and we got Drew's little pool and sprinkler out for the kids to enjoy. Drew wasn't big on getting in the pool today, but he played on the outside of the pool.

This afternoon during Drew's nap and Mike's lunch hour Patton got her chance to be a little (I mean BIG) fish. She got to enjoy the pool on a very hot afternoon. She sure is a nut about water! She kept running and jumping in as if the pool was a slip and slide. I didn't any good shots of her slipping on camera, but I got her enjoying the pool and the time as an "only child". Poor dog used to get all of our attention!


Video 1:
Nothing like grown men singing "The Wheels on the Bus" with their babies in the pool (too cute)!
Video 2: Our lovely puppy dog enjoying the pool.

Some Firsts for Drew

We've had a couple busy days around the Howell household! Drew has been flying kites, playing with frogs, seeing a movie, and enjoying watching planes at the airport.

Mike decided Drew needed a kite, so we picked one up at Toys R' Us and took it to the park to fly. It wasn't too windy last night so we tried again this morning and it was much better weather. Drew loves looking at the kite, but he also gets a bit distracted when there is a playground nearby and tends to focus on the slides instead. He did get to hold the kite for a short time, until he let go of it and Mike had to chase it down!

We saw a frog at the park and Drew enjoyed looking it and did touch it. He quickly said "ewwww." Drew also so his first movie at the theaters. We saw Up. It was a good movie, definitely more suited for adults, but Drew did enjoy the animation. When there would be a lull in the movie and a black scene would on the screen, Drew would yell out "more." He lasted about an hour or so before he needed his first break from the big screen. He did hop from lap to lap. Grandpa ("Pa") and Grandma (who we are now calling "Toots") Howell accompanied us on this adventure. It was "Pa's" idea to take Drew to the movies, but Mike and I weren't about to miss this adventure! I'm sure we'll take him again, but nothing is on the agenda right now.

Last night Mike, Drew, and I went to the Olathe airport in hopes of seeing some planes take off and land. Drew has just started taking a big interest in planes. If he hears one he stops whatever he does and points to the sky. We got to the airport and noticed an open house and it was free so we walked around. We quickly noticed we were a bit under dressed for the occasion, but there was free food and drinks so we helped ourselves. While we were there we saw a helicopter land and a plane take off. Drew was quite impressed to say the least. We didn't stay long since I was a bit uncomfortable and felt like we might be crashing a party that we weren't invited to. Overall it was fun seeing some cool planes and there were some neat cars there too.

Some other new pictures: