Wednesday, December 24, 2008

So what is your word for the year 2009? I was "stalking" one of my favorite BLOGS (Hospitality.. look to the right in BLOGS I Love) and came across this. Instead of making a resolution, she comes up with a word to live by for the year. This was easy for me... my word is gratitude because I have so much to be grateful for...

1~ My Drew~ I have wanted to be a mommy for a very long time now and if you know my (our) history, you know that I (we) have tried and tried AND TRIED... BUT it finally happened. We put our FAITH into the hands of the Lord... and look, we tried for YEARS on our own and finally when I opened my eyes to the path we were destined to take and my heart to the idea, it took only months to get DREW!!!! WE are so BLESSED.

2~My Kenny~ What can I say... he is the absolute best hubby. He always gets me. He spoils me and he loves me no matter what hormonal hill or valley I may be on or in. MY gosh he gave me shots in my booty for months and did it with a feather's touch (does that make sense?... in other words... he didn't use my BUTT as a dart board... it hurt him more than me to give me shots). Kenny loves me for me and supports me in my crazy ideas and creative whims. He is a Star Wars NERD and still plays video games BUT I LOVE HIM!!!! He is also, by the way, the best daddy to Drew. It melts my heart to see them together... MY BOYS!!!!

3~Birth Family~ I cannot leave this ALL TOO important part out. Without Drew's birth family, we would not be parents. Imagine the unselfishness it took to place your child's life in our hands... complete strangers (known only through a book and a meeting). Imagine the love they must have for him... to place him with us so he can have more opportunities in life than they can offer. I am grateful for their decision... without them I would not be a MOMMY!!!

4~Camp Paw Paw~ I am grateful my dad can be Drew's Camp Paw Paw.... (nanny or manny which ever, he watches Drew while we are at work). He keeps me updated throughout the day with funny text messages. When I walk in to pick Drew up, Paw Paw usually has Drew on his chest napping. It is a true blessing that my dad can do this for me and next year my mom will be his assistant ( ha ha love you mom ;0) ~ LOVE YOU DAD!!!

5~Family~ Our family has shown great support throughout all of our ups and DOWNS, especially when we began our adoption process. I am grateful for all of their gifts they have given us. Some gifts you can open and hold in your hands and then there are those gifts that are placed in your heart... ALL of them helped us become PARENTS!!!!

6~Friends~ without my friends- OK, OUR friends- we would not have survived. I know GOD has placed these great people into our lives to help guide us. We now have a wonderful church that the majority of our friends attend.... and those that don't, we meet after church for dinner (I love that tradition). We have role models that are like big brothers and sisters to us.... we get lots of advice and we have the best times together. Our friends are ALWAYS there for us. All of them have a role in our life and they probably don't even realize it.... WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

7~Health~ OK, it is not a secret I am a bit... OK, OK...a lot... overweight, BUT I want you to know I have gone 1 whole year with NO surgeries. For those of you not keeping count... for 4 years in a row I had at least 2 surgeries a year... and yes ... I was under, in the hospital, under the knife, blah, blah, blah for all of those.... SO I am grateful for my health right now BECAUSE I have not had to have surgeries... now the chubby part I plan on working on that now!!! (more on that to come ...later)

8~TJMAXX~ those that know me know I have to be grateful for that store because it is my get away, my rehab, my spa. Some people go golfing, some get their nails done, some go to a bar, some even pay for a therapist.... TJMAXX is my retail therapy. I love TJ!!! I am grateful for TJ!!! Now Ken, on the other hand... BUT now with little Drew, I don't get in there quite as often BUT when I do... watch out!

OK, that sums up why I have chosen GRATITUDE for my word for 2009... I have so much to be grateful for... son, hubby, Camp Paw Paw, birth family, family, friends, health (not weight), and TJ!!!

I encourage you to come up with a word to live by for 2009. If you want, I can share. Let me know in the COMMENTS what word you have picked because I am nosey and want to know!!! Come on... I told you mine!!! Anyways...be inspired to get a word!!!

Monday, December 08, 2008

My ETSY addiction

I've had several people ask me where we got some of our goodies for Drew, so I decided to post them here...

OK, I am totally addicted to http://www.etsy.com/ ...it is like ebay BUT WAY better. It is handmade items crafters sell online. Some of the items are amazing!!!! Here are a few of my favorite things I have gotten from ETSY...



http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5571754

Drew's onesies that have the months on them was purchased from this ETSY seller. They are SUPER cute and you can ask for girl colors or boy. I think it is a great way to document his first years. What a great baby shower gift. AND they came wrapped/packaged really cute, too!!



http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=18385233

The above link is where you can get your little one their very own SUPER HERO cape. I got one for my nephew (SHHH it's for Christmas) and I can't wait for him to open it up!!! What little man... OK... even grown man doesn't want their own SUPER HERO cape!!!????!!! Of course the one above is not my nephew's, BUT I will post a pic of SUPER BOONE after Christmas!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5409043

This link is where I ordered Drew's birth announcements and our Christmas cards. She is soooo helpful and will listen to whatever you want and will make changes until you are happy!!! You can have her design something for you ( like the birth announcement) and then YOU can go and have it printed at a local picture place OR you can have her print it. You can also send something you designed (like my upcoming Christmas cards) and she will professionally print them for you. GREAT DEAL!!! Best deal I found... less than a dollar a card and on cardstock!!! WOW... go there and check it out!!!

ALSO in the announcement pic, you can see his little I WAS WORTH THE WAIT onesie ....here is the link for that.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17992589


I love it and it is perfect for our situation!!! OR any baby... another great gift for a new mom.

Friday, November 28, 2008

So I have sat at this BLOG a lot in the last 2 months needing to post something that happened. Don't get me wrong I have posted all of the good times about Drew and and all the important events pertaining to him... BUT.. something else I have left out. YOU SEE...Here I am sitting at the computer knowing that I need to update my Blog with this information... It has been over 2 months now but it is still very hard for me to talk about it. Our beloved dog... Copper Anne Farley... passed away the day we brought Drew home. It happened while we were gone to Houston to pick him up. I am not going to go into details but we know she probably went peacefully because it looked like she was just sleeping on the floor. I know time heals but Copper was like my child. She went through it all with me and she was an absolute PERFECT dog...ok except for the occasional getting into the trash and biting a solicitor (hey my door has a sign that says.. NO SOLICITING). but other than that she was the smartest, coolest, and most caring dog I knew. I think what I have created is exactly what I needed to do to have some closure. I knew I just couldn't write on here like I normally do and post some pics. It had to be special like Turkey Girl. It had to be frilly yet not too girly... like she was. I hope you like it... BEFORE YOU PLAY IT... You need to go all the way to the bottom of this entire BLOG page and turn the music off to this blog page then come back up here and play it...that way you won't have 2 different songs playing at once.



Click to play Copper Annie
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008


Saturday, November 15, 2008


WOW ~ Time flies when you're in love!!!! Drew is 2 months old now and we can't believe how big he has gotten!!! We recently went in for his 2 month check up and he is weighing in at a WHOPPING 13 pounds and is 23 1/2 inches long. He is above average in everything except his head circumference which is average. That just means he doesn't have one of those big ol' Charlie Brown baby heads. Here are a few pics I thought I would share.




Saturday, November 08, 2008

Drew's BIG Party

Nana threw a huge Welcoming Party (Sip and See) last Sunday and it was so overwhelming to see ALL of our friends and family there to share in our JOY!!! Here are some great pictures we got of all the action!!! Thanks to my dad for taking MOST if not all of the shots!!! Nana and Drew... Nana loves Drew and Drew loves his Nana... even though in this picture it looks like Drew is not so happy he really does enjoy his Nana!! He was getting hot... so we had a costume change.




Mary Beth, Aunt Anne, and Aunt Annalee





Grandma and Grandpa were there. As you can see my niece, Emma, is enjoying the party too!!!

Grandma Stewart LOVES holding Drew. Drew was practicing his ooohhhhing and agghhhhing!!!



This is Brandon and Drew. Brandon is the son of one of my dearest friends and I also taught Brandon when he was in 3rd grade now he is a 6th grader. These are 2 cute boys!!!!







Little BOYS do ROCK!!!






My friends from work!!! Thanks girls ... it meant a lot to have you there!!!!


Ken's buddies (the husbands of my friends from work). It is so nice to have such GREAT friends that Ken AND I can both enjoy. Our friends mean the world to us and have helped us more than words could ever express.



My mom and her friends from work!!!



This is Sarah and Sarah (yep both are named Sarah). They are great friends from our college years. How sweet of them to drive all the way in from Austin to see Drew!!! We love you Sarah and Sarah!!





This is Uncle Jeff ~ this is his first time to see Drew!!!




This handsome guy is Leighton. He is Ken's cousin and dare I say one of his best friends. They are more like brothers!!! When we knew we wanted Drew to have the initials DLF the first name that came to mind was Leighton and of course it is perfect!!!





This is Jenny, Leighton's wife, Leighton, Drew, me, and Ken. Leighton and Jenny drove in all the way from Corpus to welcome Drew into the family!!! We LOVE YOU GUYS!!! BUT wait where is Raeleigh ~ their little girl????? OHHHH YEAH!!!! she is having a blast playing in the dogs' water dish (it's CLEAN water).





Aunt Sally and Aunt Annalee are so sweet. They have always made me feel like a part of the family. Ken and I are truly blessed to have such wonderful families!!! WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!!





PARTY'S OVER!!!! This was Ken and Drew after everyone had left. We let them sleep for a couple of hours... ok maybe just an hour and then we went home. It was a wonderful party. We couldn't have asked for a better day. AND THANK YOU so much to Ken's mom (Nana) and Aunt Annalee for hosting such a fantastic Welcoming Party!!!

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Halloween!!!







It was Drew's first Halloween and he went as a Garden Gnome!! I ordered his outfit on Etsy.com (my favorite place) and this sweet lady made it just for him. We entered him into the costume contest at the Hockey Game but he didn't even place. We think it is because he is a baby. If you made it into the finals you had to go out on the ice during the intermission and having a baby on ice is too much liability. The costume that won for the kids category was Buzz Light year and it was bought off the rack... (I'm not BIASED)!!! Anyways... he did make it on the JUMBO TRON (the huge big screen that hangs over the rink)... everybody ooohhhed and ahhhhhed because LOOK AT HIM HE IS TOOO CUTE!!! We are going to get professional pics taken in his costume so look for those soon.
The Family ~ I'm dressed as a teacher, Ken is a Hockey Fan, and Drew is a Garden Gnome!!What a good sport he is. I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!

This is after we got home. He is laying in my lap and staring at me. He was probably thinking I hope this lady doesn't dress me like a grandpa anymore!!!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Pumpkin Patch

We took a family trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Bracken, TX.
This is our first official FAMILY Picture!!! We love it. The little old lady that took it thought Drew was so cute that she gave him a tiny one for free. Here Drew is posing in the Pumpkin Wagon with his prized pumpkin!!!
Drew and I at the hay bales.
Drew is ready to go home and so is Daddy.
I so wanted to get his picture taken ON a pumpkin... this is our lame attempt and Drew wasn't cooperating!!! OH WELL!!!
Overall it was a great trip and we got our 1st family pic!!! YEAH!!!!

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Market Day Trip

Today was Drew's first trip to Wimberley, TX. We went to Market Days!!! Paw Paw drove and we met our REALLY GOOD friend Sarah. We got there about 8:30 and left around I don't even remember!! :) Before noon .. I think...Here are some pics to remember his first trip to Market Days... Ken pushing the new stroller. Drew is inside. Ken pushed it most of the day... I like to call him the baby hog because he loves Drew so much he hogs him all the time. I also think Ken just liked pushing the stroller.
Pic of Drew chill-n- inside his new stroller. He slept most of the time.
He woke up because he was hungry & hot. It was really cool in the morning BUT got a little hot in the afternoon. We had a bottle and a costume change BUT he still was cranky for the rest of the trip.
We found a bench in the shade and tried to calm him down. Ken took over and our friend, Sarah, is helping out. This little place also had a nice breeze and he finally settled down.
A sliver of sun found him. I thought this picture was precious. AND YES MOM... immediately after I took the pic we adjusted him so he was not in the sun!!!
After this picture we put him back in the stroller and headed out. We stopped for some fresh Kettle Corn and a few other favorite booths and then left in a hurry. He slept all the way home. Overall it was a pretty good trip. It is always nice to meet up with Sarah. AND Drew got compliments ALL day. Apparently he is cute!!! Like I didn't know that. :)

Friday, October 03, 2008

Drew has had lots of LOVE lately ...
Drew with his Mia? Grandma? MiMi? Beaver? My mom can't come up with a name for herself!!! BUT she loves DREW!!!
Great Grandma Stewart
Great Grandpa Stewart
I scratch myself so mom puts me in these fashionable mittens!!
My Aunt Sally

Drew's cousins love him!!!
UP CLOSE and he is even cuter!!!