GeeGee and Poppee celebrated Christmas and New Year's Eve in San Francisco with Val, Frank and Jon. We didn't make the trek because, again, we felt it was too much for me at 7 months pregnant. We were sad to not be with Greg's family, but we were lucky enough to have GeeGee and Poppee come visit us for a few days.
Happy New Year video from the SF Drews to the LA Drews:
Opening our Secret Santa gifts together, with the SF Drews, via Skype.
Mrs. Drews and Greggie love The Getty Museum. There is apparently amazing gardens there...appropriate enough for a 4.5 year old to run around. Plus, there is a train ride from the parking lot to the Museum. So, they did manage to fit a trip in during the visit. Greggie and his mama viewed some art and Rowan and Poppee made some art:
There were other fantastic moments - a trip to the Cow's End for coffee and a walk on the Pier, Rowan to see Chipwrecked with GeeGee & Poppee while Greg and I cleaned up the Christmas decorations, lunch at In-N-Out Burger, gelato at N'ice Cream on Abbot Kinney and so much more - but we either didn't get out the camera much OR I've lost the pictures. All I know is that Rowan had a great time and so did we.
Thank you GeeGee and Poppee for another wonderful visit. We love y'all!
Since I was 7 months pregnant for Christmas 2011, we thought traveling to PA and Atlanta, as we usually do every year, would be tough, exhausting and stressful for me, so we decided to stay put and have our very first LA Drews-only Christmas in sunny CA. Of course, we were sad to not be with our families during the holidays and missed them very much. But, we made the most of our time off at home, spent some great quality LA Drews familly time together, relaxed, visited with friends. We actually had a really nice Christmas 2011. And, as luck would have it, the weather was incredibly warm, so we ended up at the beach 3 days in a row!
December 23rd:
First up on the Christmas activities - opening gifts from Lety, Rowan's nanny. Since art and playing cars is an important and integral part of every day they are together, Lety's gifts were exactly spot on and Rowan was thrilled! Thank you Lety!
Next up...more gifts...from Aunt Patsy, Maria & Aunt Phyllis. A huge box of wrapped gifts arrived from TX with Rowan's favorites - Captain America gear, art supplies, puzzles, race track, super hero PJs, and so much more. Thank you so much to his Aunties and Maria!
Then, a fun evening with Brendan, Parrish, Jonathan...the usual Friday night crew...with a very special appearance from Miriam, all the way from Panama!
Christmas Eve, December 24th:
Feliz Navidad from Venice Beach:
Making Christmas cookies with my little love bug.
Snacks for Santa (and Rowan).
Christmas Day, December 25th:
Santa did visit! Christmas morning.What a fantastic age for celebrating the magic of Christmas - both Santa and Jesus' birthday!
Plus, we finally let him open all the packages that Nana & PapPap sent all the way from PA. Boy, it sure was hard waiting to open those.
Look how happy Rowan is to be giving daddy his special gifts - soccer gear of course!
The weather was just sunny & perfect on Christmas Day, so we met The Moons (JP, Lilly & Hank. Unfortunately, Izzy woke up with the stomach flu) at the beach for some Christmas fun in the sun.
December 26th:
We were lucky enough to spend the day after Christmas with one of our oldest and dearest friends, Mr. Terry "TG" Gallagher... all the way from chilly Washington D.C. We took him for Mexican food, margaritas, and some beachy fun in the sun. So great to catch up with you in person TG!
What a wonderful and blessed Christmas 2011 in sunny Venice, CA! It could only have been better if we were surrounded by our families. But, we look forward to a new year, filled with many more blessings and tons of visits with our families when Baby Drews arrives in Feb/March.
We wanted to get some nice family photos for our Christmas cards this year so we headed out for some photo shoots in Venice with Parrish, Brendan (and, Evelyn in tummy), found some cool backgrounds and went to work...
I must say, I do believe I have the most beautiful boy in the world!
First, Rowan giving some love to Baby Drews, due in March:
(pics taken 12/8/11)
Photo Shoot Day 1:
Taken by Rowan:
Rowan and Ella:
(pics taken 12/10/11)
Photo Shoot Day 2:
Me and Parrish with our baby bellies. Parrish s idue on February 13th and I'm due on March 16th:
Rowan's been talking about his costume for this Halloween since the day after Halloween 2010! He was going to be Batman and his best friend, Charlie, was going to be Superman. He never wavered. Then, a few months ago, we were going through a magazine and he changed his mind just like that! I guess he decided Captain America was just cooler.
So, Rowan was Captain America. He decided Daddy would be Batman. And, he declared that I would be Spidergirl.
The weekend before Halloween, we found a festival at the elementary school where Rowan will go next year (assuming we don't move before then.) We thought it would be a great way to get him excited about Kindergarten and let him check out the layout of the land. We decided to get more bang for our buck (these costumes + accessories can get quite pricey) and wear costumes. Rowan was set! Greg...well, he decided that he didn't need to buy a Batman costume. He was going to pull together the best Batman costume ever from "things he already had around the house". The only thing we bought was the cape from the $.99 Store and that looked like a trash bag! Not bad for spending only $.99, but still...poor thing!
(pics taken October 29, 2011)
To be fair, Rowan thought Greg's "White Trash Batman"costume was amazing. And, noone knew us at the elementary festival. But, wifey was feeling a little embarrassed for her (Bat)man and decided we would not show up at Rowan's pre-school Halloween party or go trick-or-treating without the proper costume. As you can see...much, much better! And, it was really cool to see some of the younger kids interact with Greg. They really thought it was THE Batman. One little guy ran up and gave him a huge hug. Really super cute!
Oh...and, I talked Rowan into letting me go as a "Pregnant Lady!"
After trick-or-treating, we headed to the Walter residence for our annual yummy taco soup night (thanks Mel!!). So so good! Rowan, Charlie and Luke had a great time passing out candy to the trick-or-treating stragglers while watching a movie (see the candy bowl in Rowan's hands).
We had a fun & very happy Halloween season 2011! Wonder what costumes my boys will don next year...my bets are on the Superheros coming to life again! And, I can guarantee I won't be a "pregnant lady!"
Greg decided it was time to teach Rowan how fun it can be to play hookie from school. So, he picked him up early one afternoon and took him for a bike ride to the beach park for some daddy/son bonding on the monkey bars. Plus, we were having a a heat wave in October, with temperatures in the 90s. That's the best excuse I've heard for skipping out of school (and work) early!
Can life get much better for a 4-year old? Based on the huge smile on this happy boy's face, I think not!
After getting just the right amount of sand in all the cracks and crevices, it was home for a little rinse in the sprinkler (and pee in the ferns). Again people...90 degree weather in mid-October!
Rowan loves Jonathan and can pretty much talk him into 2 things when he comes to the westside: 1. playing soccer in the front yard and 2. reading him a book at bedtime.
Here are some soccer pics (please ignore the ratty goals in the back. I've been begging Greg to throw these away, but I guess they do sort of serve the purpose.):
Thanks Jonathan for always finding time for our little guy and for always humoring him when he asks for your attention!
Well...the LA Drews have a very exciting announcement:
BABY ON BOARD!!
Baby Drews is due anywhere from March 14th to March 17th! Yes, a St. Patty's Day baby and if he/she was going to wait that long, I would fully expect a green beer in one hand and a head full of red hair. That being said, I have determined that the baby will arrive 3 weeks early (just like Rowan did) and closer to February 22nd - 25th. That's great for me, right!? I like Amethyst! So, we're super duper excited and can't wait to meet the little thing. Rowan is warming up to the idea and will now say hi to my belly (with a little coaxing) and has given us 4 name suggestions:
Girl - Tiny or Dawn Boy - Buddy or David
I have no idea where he's gotten those names and I have no plans to use them. But, I love his cute suggestions!
I was extremely sick until about Week 16. One night I was sick in bed and I was explaining to Rowan that my belly wasn't feeling so great and he had the perfect explanation: "Mommy, I think the baby threw up in your belly." Makes sense, right!?!?
I'm feeling pretty good these days. I'm still exhausted. And, this old body has a lot more aches and pains this second time around. But, I'm not complaining...too much.
I'm now 22 Weeks and can feel the baby kick and punch in there, which I love. What an awesome feeling! I'm also starting to look more pregnant than really chubby and that's good too.
I've been holding out on finding out the gender and wonder if I'll be able to make it until delivery. I know, I know! Just find out already! My life would be easier. I wouldn't have a bunch of yellow and green. I won't have to torment myself with a list of boy and girl names. It's still a surprise even if I find out while I'm still pregnant. Yadda Yadda Yadda! I get it! I do. I'm driving my husband and in-laws and a few friends crazy! But, for now, I'm holding out until this new little baby meets me face-to-face and you can't talk me out of it!
After spending much of our anniversary trip in a hammock in Hawaii, Greg was compelled to order one for the house so we could continue to relax. Here are a few hammock pics from our Hawaii trip back in June for our 10-year anniversary:
(Pics taken June 11 - June 18, 2011)
And,here's our little biscuit Rowan, who obviously loves cheesin' it up on the new hammock!
The title of the post says it all! Can't get much better than running through the sprinkler on a hot summer day...for both kids and adults. This is Rowan's first experience with this awesome cooling off technique. And, Greg...well, who can blame him?! He had to show off his moves!
