Lunchtime conversations

Drew - "Mom, where do these come from? (as she is holding a chicken nugget from McDonalds) Do the chickens poop them out?"
Me - "No, they kill the chickens and then you eat the muscle. Its called meat."

She threw me a horrified look and shouted "YUCK!" I guess not Yuck enough to quit eating the nuggets though. I'm not sure why my expanation was any worse than what she was thinking!

I remember as a Sunbeams teacher years ago I had to teach a lesson on where food came from. I was a bit leery as I was preparing the lesson and thought maybe the kids' parents should be teaching them the info. I watched my little 4 year olds' innocence slipping away as I explained that hamburger is really cow meat and chicken is literally a chicken. The eyes and mouths widened in horror the farther along I got in my lesson. I'm surprised Drew didn't have the lesson last year but maybe her teacher was smart enough to skip it. Or maybe they took the lesson out altogether. I will have to have this conversation again in a year or so as Mason was racked with giggles thinking about the chicken pooping out nuggets. He never even heard the right expanation. The joys of being a mom!

Happy Birthday Drew!

5 years ago today Drew was born! After a relatively "easy" labor and delivery they placed my beautiful little girl on my chest and my first reaction was, "Oh my gosh! I just gave birth to my Father-In-Law!" She was a spitting image of Paul's dad. She even had the whitish-red hair he had, as you can see by this picture. We decided she was a keeper anyway and brought her home! Paul started an internship in Hillsboro a few weeks before Drew was due and I, being the naive new mother, insisted on staying in Corvallis to deliver my baby with the doctors I knew. BIG MISTAKE. I didn't pack the apartment while pregnant because I guess I didn't feel like it and thought once I had the baby I would do it. HA! It was an awful first week, trying to get my bearings as a new mom and also trying to pack and clean an apartment. The stress of the situation did nothing to help my ability to nurse, Drew was a bad nurser too, and it turned out she was lactose intolerant for the first year of her life so the first few weeks when all this was going on was just a really awful time for Drew and I. At one point, while Paul was completing his 12 hour shift, I seriously contemplated throwing Drew out the window and just being done with the whole mother thing. Luckily Paul came home about then, took Drew for an hour drive, and came home with Taco Bell for me. I bawled the entire time they were gone, and I believe that was my turning point. I quit trying to please everyone else by attempting to be the perfect mother, and we put Drew on soy formula. It did wonders for my baby! All of a sudden the screaming and crying stopped and she was a joy to be around! I felt horrible for making my baby suffer for so long but I guess I should be glad we got it figured out and she didn't suffer longer than those 3 weeks.

Everyone called Drew a boy when they saw her. Please tell me how she could be mistaken for a boy when you look at those eyes!

Rocky Mountain National Park. She's always been a great traveler.

Crater Lake National Park. The chubby arms and cheeks just make me smile.

We loved her wispy curls that finally showed up around 2 years of age. She was bald up till then.

Drew has always been a superhero fan. Her third birthday party was a superman/spiderman theme.

Here is my gorgeous at her brother's 1st birthday party.

Swimming in our backyard pool.

Today for her 5th birthday she got a big-girl bike with training wheels! She was working hard to get it to move but I think she was getting the hang of it. This birthday was the first one she really got into. It was fun to watch her get so excited about it. She was bouncing off the walls all day and couldn't wait till dad got home from work so we could have spaghetti and strawberry cake. What a combination.

Some of Drew's favorites as a 5 year old:

color - red

numbers - 6 and 10

food - rice, noodles, oatmeal, strawberries, grapes

movies - Star Wars and Indiana Jones

animal - hippos

ice cream - cookie dough

holidays - Halloween and Christmas

activities - swimming, playing with Darcy

We are so lucky to have been blessed with Drew's sweet dispostion in our family. She is (usually) a joy to be around, a great babysitter, always willing to please, a picky eater, and one smart little girl. We are so blessed to have her for eternity!

Play Ball!

Yesterday was opening day of T-Ball! We missed the opening-day festivities at the Moose Lodge since I was working and Paul worked the night before so he was still sleeping when it was all taking place. But I wasn't too upset, how much T-ball related stuff are we really supposed to take when we are 4? We made it to the jamboree game, which was only 2 innings but seemed like a life time! Games are 4 innings and I think it will take all day to complete one. I am so looking forward to it! Drew has a game Monday at 5, which is going to run over into my NCAA championship game which starts at 6, but I signed her up for this so I can't complain. Grumble, grumble. We, with maybe the exception of Mason, actually had a lot of fun watching the game. The first inning Drew was the catcher for her team. The gear is WAY too big for her and it is hilarious to watch her move in it. Check out the video if you want proof! She was a trouper though, and by the end of the inning she was even running a bit in it and going after the balls. She did a great job in the field, and by that I mean she was actually paying attention and not picking flowers. She told us after the game that she fielded two balls, which I was surprised to hear because I didn't know we were keeping track! She had a couple of great hits too, and I heard one of her coaches mention that she could hit pretty hard for being so small. That's my star athlete! She is actually the smallest and youngest on her team since she is still only 4 and some of her teammates are 6. I have to say I think I have the cutest T-baller around!

Happy Birthday Paul! I missed posting about how old you are getting on your birthday a week ago! You are almost catching up to me! I love you tons and hope to get at LEAST another 33 years out of you (oops! did I just mention your age?).

Last Sunday Paul was able to participate in the blessing of my new niece, Ruqayyah. It is so neat to watch him be there for my sisters and their families. We had an interesting "testimony" borne by a man off the street, disputing just about everything we Latter Day Saints believe in, but it was sooooooo great to hear the testimonies of those who followed. Basic, core testimonies were borne about the true tenants of the Gospel and there was definitely a strong Spirit in attendance. Its always iffy when you have family members who aren't in the church who attend blessings, because you never know just how crazy the testimonies might get at times. But I think those in attendance this time got a really good explanation of our beliefs and it turned out very well.