Drew's second FIRST birthday!

We celebrated Drew's first birthday for a second time this past weekend. (Yes, his birthday was a month ago!!!) We made homemade carrot cake cupcakes, filled the living room with balloons (which Drew LOVED...and Ty tried to pop!), and had Mimi and Grandpa in for the occasion (Nonna and Poppa were with us in spirit--we missed you guys!) :) Even though Drew was a bit under the weather, it was a really special time.
the homemade carrot cake cupcakes
Wow, is all of this for me???loving the balloons
his first bike, a Radio Flyer--love it!feeling yucky (from a little fever) when it was time to blow out the candle, which also made him drop the cupcake in pieces onto the floor rather than eating it
but, someone else thoroughly enjoyed his "pupcake" (that's what Ty calls them)
mommy and Drew

playing in the snow

I had kind of been postponing playing in the snow, much to Ty's dismay, until it warmed up just a tad. I just couldn't do 9 degree weather. We did, however, go out on the day it was around 40 and sunny. Ty was my little adventurer--he loved trudging through the snow leaving his footprints in the unmarked snow. And Drew liked being outside too (I think he was a little shocked by the cold and snow--he was super quiet!!!) But we were warm! Look at Drew's snowsuit, thanks to my friend, Sharon, who passed it down! :)

trip to Owensboro and uncle janet

We got home yesterday afternoon from visiting our friends, Brad and Codie, in Owensboro, KY. I have only great memories of our time together except for the fact that I ate junk food like there was no tomorrow! (Codie, thanks again for the two loaves of brownie bread and the extra large chocolate chip peanut butter cookies!!!) Codie planned a little MSU reunion on Friday night so we were able to see lots of old college buddies and their families! I think there were 7 couples, 10 kids (all under 4), and one baby girl on the way! I could kick myself that we don't have a picture of that sweet time! We were all too busy catching up to think about getting our cameras out.

The four hour road trip went by relatively fast especially because we spent the second half singing 70's hits from our 70's Veggie Tales CD. If you don't have it, I recommend it. It makes car rides (both long and short) really fun! Per Ty's request, we spent the second half of our trip singing the same two songs: "Locomotion" and "Proud Mary," which he calls, "Rollin'" (you should see him bopping around in the back seat and hear him singing, "Rollin' on the river...do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do..." It's the cutest thing.

One other recent Ty-ism is that he sometimes calls us by our first names. It started around Christmas because he heard our nephew, Dylan, referring to Corey as "Uncle Corey." For a few days daddy became "Uncle Corey" and I even inherited the title, "Uncle Janet." As of late, Ty goes around saying to himself (and whoever is listening), "Other people call her Janet. That's her name is." :)

sick little boys

(please ignore the pillow--it's on my "to do" list)
If you've been wondering why I have been MIA, why I haven't called you or returned your calls, or why you haven't seen me out and about, the reason is because my life virtually paused for the past week and a half as I took care of my sick little boys. Both of my kiddos have been fighting colds on and off since the first weekend in December--I remember because it was my birthday that weekend and we traveled to Cincinnati and came back sick. I really went into this winter excited about the cold weather and bundling up and snow...now, not so much.

The worst of it started about two weeks ago. Drew started throwing up on Tuesday, Ty started on Thursday, and Corey started on Saturday (I'm not kidding). On top of the stomach bug, both boys got severe colds and secondary ear infections...in both ears. It has been crazy over here! Aside from not getting much done around the house besides the basics--dishes and (some) laundry--Ty and Drew just haven't been themselves. It has been super quiet, few toys have been out, and there has been no playing, and, worst of all, no smiling (seriously, they have felt miserable). If you know us at all, you know this is not normal for our home! We are used to lots of energy, chatter, talking, laughing, singing, dancing, and playing, and we realized last night that we've missed it! For the first time in almost two weeks Ty sang during dinner, and Corey and I were so delighted to hear that little voice again! I've never been more thankful to see my kids smile again and play together. I have missed them!

weekend in Indy

We spent this past weekend with friends in Indy and had a great time. Corey had the opportunity to preach at our old church on Sunday, but we spent the rest of the weekend just hanging out with old friends. Thanks, Burns family, for a great weekend! We loved staying up late talking and catching up with you guys and playing Trivial Pursuit with your kids!

Drew's first birthday was Sunday so we celebrated with carrot cake cupcakes--his first "treat." I think he liked them--he ate one and a half! Here are Drew and Isabella during the festivities:

The kids (minus Madeline) singing "Happy Birthday" to Drew. You can tell he wasn't quite sure what to think about everything. (And I'm not quite sure why I didn't get a picture of the rest of us!)

Our last night in Indy, we spent some time with the Lewis'. We tried hard to get a picture of the boys together but one would crawl away and the other would try to dive off the couch. So, we thought it might work if their daddy's held them on their laps. That didn't go so well either. Oh well...maybe we can get one sometime when they will sit still (maybe when their 10???) :)

the Magic House

If you live in St. Louis (okay, even if you don't) and have little ones, you HAVE to go to the Magic House. (This is one of the many reasons for all of my out-of-town friends to come visit!!!) It is a huge mansion with tons of fun things from a grocery store to a pond to go fishing! We started in the water room, which was thoroughly equipped with smocks (brilliant!) and then fixed a car, went fishing in the pond, made pizza in a restaurant, went climbing, and played in the sand. A kid would never want to leave that place!

I had to laugh at myself because I was kind of excited for a brief moment about the mock grocery store. And as Ty's friend, Laine, ran to fill her basket with fake groceries, I thought Ty might think it was fun too. However, he quickly bypassed the grocery store and ran right over to the car that was up on a jack and began "working" on it. (I forgot for a moment that he was a boy!) :)

learning to walk