Cutie patootie!!

Drew is all decked out in his Texas gear - the weather is crazy here and he finally got big enough to wear this 'fall' outfit. He is active, active, active and won't sit still.

He has recently started to FOCUS more (thank the lord he is slowing down a bit) - he is all about reading EVERY book on his shelf - or more importantly have us read every book on his shelf - if he is playing with tractors, trucks and baby strollers. He really has no idea that his world is about to get rocked with the entry of baby Elizabeth - LOL!! We are working on teaching him to be 'gentle' - hmmmm - not so much - he would rather wrestle and run :).

He can climb up to the island in the kitchen and get into alot but he likes to go through the mail and find new pictures - here he is studying the toys r us catalog - let's hope he doesn't follow his father's footsteps for shopping - either way, I will take the stationary 15 minutes where a 22 month old little boy sits still -

He loves watching animals - Lala took him to feed the ducks at Anderson Town Hall - finally a day with no rain!

John also got a 'deal' on a 'free playset' - so he took it apart, moved it down from the neighbors and has been working on it little by little, day by day - you can also see the muddy backyard we have had for the past 1.5mos - pls - enough with the rain!! This has been consuming almost every free minute John has!

Trip to the Zoo

Drew's first trip to the zoo this season - finally warming up here a bit and the rain stopped for a few 'seconds' - I had business out there so we had a rendezvous over lunch -

He and Lala rode the train but their favorite part (or should I say Lala's favorite part) was the feeding of the polar bears!

Easter follwed up by John's Birthday

We headed next door to dye easter eggs - so he is a bit too much into touching and getting into new things - the easter egg dying last about 7 minutes - we just aren't at the patience mode of life.

John, Drew, Lala and I went to church and then headed to the country club for brunch with the Herringtons. They had an bunny there but Drew wasn't so sure on sitting on his lap but was willing to touch him with Mommy holding on strong (hardly any lap at this point, sooo pregnant).

It was very exciting to hunt for Easter Eggs - with the continued rain it was only right that the Easter Bunny hide eggs in the basement - he came and wrote a poem for Olivia and Sophia next door to hunt eggs with Drew since he didn't have his sister yet so hand in hand, they moved from their basement to our basement for over 30+ eggs each. It was quite a day and when Drew found candy in the eggs - good lord - what a happy sugar high little guy!

Daddy turned 38 this year and Lala made him a from scratch chocolate cake which I came home and decorated - we had an early dinner and John decided to play basketball at the gym with Drew since Mommy is a bit exhausted these days. The Herringtons came over and we sung Happy Birthday while he blew out all the candles at once - here's to wishing your dreams come true, honey!!

April 2011- 22 months

Drew is growing like a weed. Here he is shopping at his favorite mass retailer outlet, Target - posing for the camera. This is one of my favorite pictures because it is very hard to get him to sit still with his legs moving faster than I catch.

When we moved Drew to his new room we opened up our bonus area for playtime and filled it with an easel, bookshelves and his kitchen set from downstairs (in hopes of returning our living room to a bit more adult time - yeah, right). He looks so grown up coloring on his easel with markers.

He is headed to the gym every Monday, Thursday and Saturday while his Daddy plays bball - he runs and hollers with the kids in the play area there and comes home a trainwreck tired mess :) but loves it! And mommy gets a bit of time by herself as well. He has become quite the 'rider' in the car wearing his glasses to look 'cool' - he and Lala run all over from parks to grocery stores, etc.
John got a 'deal' on 'free dirt' for our backyard to help level it out. As a result, we had over 140 dumptrucks of dirt dropped in the backyard while a bobcat moved it around to level it out. A very positive aspect of this messy situation, Drew was entertained for hours in front of the windows, eating lunch, having snacks and just watching the trucks dump and move dirt. Good times.

Unfortunately we then have had almost everyday with rain since then so needless to say, muddy laborador retrievers, 30+ wks pregnant and a toddler - it has been crazy!!

I traveled to Minneapolis in April and got to hang out for a night with some good friends. Keva gave me some very adorable clothes for Elizabeth and one was a bathing suit that Drew then decided to put on his head and run around the house like a wig. Could not stop laughing!

Here is Drew at the Children's Museum on a play date with his friends - it was his first trip and he had a great time! Here on the 'big truck' driving the big wheel.

March - Family Updates!!

We headed to Dallas for a week in March and caught up with some friends and family. We don't have a ton of pictures but we do have this one of Matt and his new wife, Lori. They got married in a small close ceremony and are having a party in May to celebrate but we managed to grab lunch and visit for a little while.

Another brother story, Jeff and Angela welcomed their second little one at the beginning of the month. Braden Jeffery Fowler joined his sister, Madeline, in Seattle. Angela is doing great and we are very much looking forward to meeting him soon - once both families are a bit more mobile. Here is a wonderful picture of him and Jeff in hospital.

I have thrown a picture of my belly at 29 wks on here so you can see how big Elizabeth is getting - not much longer now.

Room Decorating - 1 and 2 - and oh yeah, a name!!

So the last few weeks we have been very busy decorating the room(s) - The move started with Lala into the downstairs bedroom - whew, then the furniture from her old room moved to the bonus area.....arrrggghhhh......House is looking quite attractive - NOT. Then we moved Drew into a bigger room - we moved from his Curious George decor to a pottery barn sports theme - I still have to get his name hung above his crib but he has much more room now for his play area. The border is a bit higher with colors of red, navy, nautical blue and green. You can see the quilt for his soon to be toddler bed on the chair in the corner. He is connected to a bathroom so needless to say my tub is no longer toy central but I have noticed the water spreads much faster and further in this smaller tub :(. Drew took to his room great after the first night where he preferred to be in the room with mommy and daddy but he finally gets that it is his room - I think when Curious George disappeared he moved on...

Now for room #2 (or #3 if you count Laura's move)......Baby Elizabeth Anne Rardin's room - yes, we have finally picked the name and are very excited - we will not have a nickname for Elizabeth except maybe "E" and any cutsie items we come up with but really want to call her by her full name Elizabeth. Elizabeth is my middle name, Beth is my mom's middle name and Anne is John's mom's middle name so we have opted to stay more traditional with her name as well. We have decorated in chocolate and pink with some bright pink/blue/green accents as a border. We are still waiting on her furniture - an off white crib that grows with her to a full/double as she gets older and a full dresser similar to Drew's but more girly :). As you can see by her closet picture - she needs nothing - between Laura and I's shopping spree when we found out it was a girl (hey, Carter's was having a sale), the neutral stuff of Drew's she can wear and the hand me downs - we are all set - we have everything washed and ready to go. We are waiting on a few more letters to come in at Hobby Lobby so we can get her name painted chocolate and next to the flower on the wall above where her crib will go. Glad to have this all ready and next month Laura is moving to her own apartment - she is excited to 'get away' occasionally and have her own oasis so we will get her settled soon and then get the last guest room back to guest status.

Valentines Day 2011!

For Valentine's Day, Lala made pink waffles although Drew was running fever and not feeling well (he caught the crude that I had a week ago, gave to Lala and caught from her - good news, John never got it :)). So needless to say, Lala and I had pink waffles and Drew had juice and our lap to sit on.

By the afternoon Drew was feeling better so he decided to take his women out for V-day since John was in Pittsburgh on business. He got all dressed up :).