Thank You, Gramee!

Or is it Gamee, or Grammee...

Well, we love you & just wanted to say thank you so much for the great Christmas gifts. Here are a few pics of them in action:

After much internet and mall searching, I could not find a bedding set that was cohesive with our original colors and style. So, sort of on a whim, I asked Topher if he wanted to check TJ Maxx for bedding & he brought home this gorgeous ensemble. The result? Drew loves her new big girl bed and bedding, and so do I.

I love that you remembered how much I wanted an electric griddle & how handy it was for cottage cheese pancakes! Isn't this a thing of beauty? It also makes a perfect grilled cheese sandwich...or two.

It's funny how small kitchen appliances have continued to be some of the best, most useful gifts over the years.

Thank you as well for the amazing toothbrushes (Drew wants one now) and for the watch and cutting food for Drew. That was the last gift she opened on Christmas day & played with it the rest of the afternoon! I somehow don't have pics of those, so you'll have to come see first hand. Can't wait for you to visit!!!

Love you & many thanks!

Drew is 2

well, i had a great birthday! as you can see, i thoroughly enjoyed my cake...but let's rewind for a sec:

the morning of my birthday, mama made me a special pancake breakfast. yum, yum. we even put a candle in it. And daddy stayed for breakfast & to open a couple of gifts with me--that time with him was my favorite part.

when the mail came, i was able to open a couple more gifts! thanks, Grandpa Bill & Sandra. i love my new princess dress up clothes and book.


finally, on saturday, was my party! oh how i love parties, especially ones with cake. this party had a cake just for me.

lots of my friends came over to play with me. we had a great time playing in the the water, especially with my new sprinkler.



after the water games, i got to open birthday gifts. what a lucky girl i am! it was so much fun!

most of all, i loved spending my birthday party with so many friends and family. thank you everyone!

drewster at the beach

it was very fun to get to go to camp this year with my mom & dad.

hold me tight, daddy! (i got you, drew says)

and, i even got to hang out with my cousin T & aunt jill & uncle lamar & Grammy!

this "working vacation" couldn't have been better. sun & fun, family & friends. mmm, perfect!

see ya next year, beach!

drew-isms

A's = letters. also in this category is "RT" and her latest, "W". if she sees letters or typing, she use to only call them all A's. now, though, when she wants mommy to write, she asks for "RT". today i overheard her "reading" a sign to herself..."R,T,W..." she is, however, learning to sing her ABCs and is doing a wonderful job. i love it!

hold you = hold me. she does not say "hold me" or "pick me up", or even "up" it's only ever, "hold you" usually followed immediately by "mommy". "hold you, mommy" is one of my favorite phrases.

for the fruits: manna=banana (she use to say banana, but no more). strawbees= strawberries. she loves to say melon & most words with L. we use melon for cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew...all of it.

when she passes gas, she says, "booty" to which we've taught her to add, "'scuse me". when she hears someone else pass gas, she does the same.

her favorite songs:
jesus loves me. it sounds a bit like, "sheshush love me, s i know. for bible me so..."
she emphasizes the words "for" & "bible". it's perfect.
ABCs. she first started singing this the way it's sung on Super Why by Pig. a very snappy tune, which she seems to prefer over the traditional. we still sing both versions, though. it would feel almost blasphemous not to.
ring around the rosie. both a song & a game, really. she loves it! her version: ring round rosie, pocket posies, ashes, ashes, all fall down. who needs the other words? many times, it's just ashes, ashes, all fall down. and, when things drop or fall, it's "uh-oh, fall down".

cowell = owl and also cow, and sometimes our neighbor, kyle. here again, she use to say both animal words just fine, but has abandoned them to this. it started a few weeks ago when she was trying to say "kyle" and it came out "cowell". cute, right? but now, she really won't say owl or cow properly. hmmm?

she still uses some of her sign language, mostly the sign for please, which has become a quick swipe across the chest or tummy. sometimes she even swipes both hands at the same time, one on each side...but, it's more of a 4-finger swipe than a whole hand. she also likes to sign "hot" and "all gone/finished".

that reminded me, she says "inished" and "inger" instead of finished or finger. but, she will say fish & fall. hmmm, again?

she calls my parents mamaw & papaw and calls topher's mom Grammy. yesterday, she was talking about all of them & put two of them together & said grammaw. she calls uncle lamar "mar" but she can say tyler & jill's names quite well.

well, there are many more, but those were on my mind. if you're reading this, chances are you don't get to see drew as much as you'd like, so that helps you imagine what her personality is like. she has a precious little voice. and, i don't even mind when she smacks her food...go figure.

more like chronicles of leya...

hey, everybody. i got an email from my Mamaw Lou (mom's mom) saying she checked on our blog this week & that she can't believe how much drew is growing. turns out someone actually does read this from time to time, so i guess i better post an update, especially since drew's grown even more in the last 2 months! again, somehow i seem to be keeping with my every-other-month trend.

well, at the end of february, my precious Mamaw Nelda (dad's mom) went to be with Jesus. it was a surprise to us and was, of course, an emotionally challenging experience. i went to spend 6 days with family in arkansas, while leaving drew & topher at home, so that added to my grief a little, too. it's always good to be reunited with loved ones, it's just hard under such circumstances. God used the time, though, to draw us closer together. i can't describe how blessed i am to have those hours with my grandad, especially. he told me story after story about his life & his journey with the Lord & i absolutely hung on every word. i did get a few pics. hope that's not too wierd. here's my adorable grandad, Papaw Freeman...me & my "bubba" Jon...and my gorgeous youngest cousin Barbara, whose middle name is Fay, after our Mamaw Nelda Fay.

when i got home, my precious baby & husband had painted a huge banner to welcome me!

notice how drew's covering her face. that's what she did for a while anytime someone tried to take her picture.

part of my problem is that i haven't taken many pictures since this. i do have a couple of our visit with uncle lamar, aunt jill & cousin tyler, so i'll post them next. honestly, i didn't even get any of drew in her easter dress. what kind of mother am i?! i did get some of her hunting eggs, though & they're cute, so i'll share those too. and, rest assured i plan to get her back in that dress as soon as possible. she looked too cute not to show the world.

hello, everyone. so, here's the Christmas pics my mom promised. turns out she didn't take many. i think she was distracted that day by all the family fun & the web-camming. it was so great to be able to share Christmas with our family, some who were right here with us & some who were miles away. this fabulous tricycle is from my papaw who lives in tx. that's my dad's dad. he and his wife will be visiting me this month & i can't wait. we shared christmas with them over the webcam.

look...i got 2 little laptops for christmas, one from each grandma. i was really needing my own, b/c mom & dad won't let me play with theirs.

one of my favorite things is this hat, scarf & mitten set from mamaw. i love to wear them, even inside.

opening gifts this year was so much fun. last year i only wanted to chew on my presents, but this year i could really play! i also got am adorable outfit from aunt jill, uncle lamar & cousin T, who we talked to over the web cam & will also be visiting in a few weeks. i'm gonna have so much fun with them!!!

it was a wonderful christmas and i got to spend it with my grambee from tx, plus my mamaw & papaw from al. and, my mommy & daddy too. and angel, who also got a new collar & some treats. lucky dog.

i love my family!

my little pumpkin

thanksgiving comes before christmas, right? well, in the interest of our OCD readers (and writer) here are our pics from october & november:

we went to a little pumkin patch to have some fun & bring home a few small fall decorations

look, daddy. there's a lady bug!

why is it so hard for us to get a good family photo? this one did not make the calendar.

there's our little pumpkin, sitting with all the huge pumpkins. we really did only bring home this next little one that she picked from the patch, plus a couple of small gourds for a table decoration.

i took a pic of her pumpkin, plus this precious little artowrk she brought home from sunday school. can you read it? it says, "i made a little turkey so everyone can see that i am very thankful that God's been so good to me." i love it!

so, she learned to say "pumpkin", of course, which she did properly for many weeks. but somehow, pumpkin became mumpkin, and then eventually monkey. go figure.

as for our little drew pumpkin, when we went for her 15 mo. check up (at 16 months), she weighed a bit over 25 lbs & was more than 34 inches tall. so, she's still "off the chart", as they say. she seems to be taking more after her daddy, who was tall right from the start as well.

happy new year! we'll tell you about our Christmas soon...