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!