The Drehers

Thursday Randomness

2012-02-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

We Adam got quite the haul from his students for Valentine's Day. Lots of chocolate and treats. I'm drinking my coffee out of this cute Valentine's mug this morning. Yum.

Diesel really wanted to come hang out with me in the studio today while I work. He spent the first 10 minutes "doing his rounds" aka sniffing every inch of the building since new people had been in here since he was here last. Then he snatched a baby toy before getting comfy on the beanbag.

Sadie is doing good but still not home. They wanted to keep her one more night to see if she could get a bit of her appetite back before coming home. She refuses to eat most things...they're feeding her actual chicken breasts, and this is the complete opposite of the Sadie we know, who has to be yelled at to calm down and eat slower during meal time. Hopefully today we'll get her back.

I had a workshop here on Saturday, and it was awesome and crazy. At one point, we had 7 adults and 3 kids in this tiny space. Chaotic but fun.

This is the photo Adam gave me for our 10 year anniversary (of being together, not married...). I love having it on my desk and having a reminder of my sweet boys while I'm working.

I LOVE my two-screen work station. It's the best ever. I don't think I could ever go back to just having one screen, especially while working in Photoshop.

Sadie

2012-02-14T12:21:00.000-08:00

We've had quite the adventure over the past week with our newest pup, Sadie. It's been heart-wrenching and tearful and such a roller coaster...I'm a bit exhausted.

To start from the beginning...

Sadie had never been fixed when we got her (something you're supposed to do when they're much younger than she is), so we decided to go ahead with the surgery last Monday.

I took her in, they did an initial exam, and I left. The surgery ended up going great, she stayed overnight to come completely off the anesthetic, and then I picked her up the next day.

We got home and she was really sore, so I brought her bed out into the living room so she could lay down but still be around us. And also so she wouldn't try to jump on our bed and break open her incision.

She slept a lot, which was to be expected.

I stayed up late that night out in my studio working, and when I came to bed and turned out the lights, there was suddenly this loud gush of water from her. I thought her incision had broken open or something, so I sat up and turned on the lights and woke Adam and saw that she'd thrown up. After cleaning it up and getting settled back in with the lights off, it happened all over again.

So we moved her bed into the bathroom so that if she threw up, it'd be on a tile floor instead of our bedroom carpet.

The next morning, I left to go workout, and was gone for about an hour. When I got home, the floor in the living room and dining room was covered in vomit. It took me 45 minutes to clean up. I called the vet to see if this was normal, and they said it wasn't and that I should bring her back in. So I did.

She threw up in the car again, and once we got to the vet, she was just very sad and lethargic and weak. They wanted to put her on an IV because she was dehydrated, and give her a few medicines to try to get her feeling better. So we left her there overnight.

I called the next day to see if she was doing better and if I could come get her. The doctor said no, she was still very sick and he wanted to keep her another night.

Same thing the next day when I called.

Finally they decided to do a blood test on Friday. I took Sutton to go visit her to maybe lift her spirits, and the doctor had the results of the test. They were really really bad. Not sure what all the numbers meant, but one test whose number was supposed to be below 25 was at 150. He said he didn't think these problems could be related to the surgery, and that there wasn't anything else they could do besides keep her on IVs and see if her numbers went down. He wasn't optimistic at all.

While I was there, we couldn't take her out of her cage because she was hooked to an IV, so I just had to stick my fingers through the bars to pet her. She was so sad. I was trying to choke back tears while talking to the doctor who was basically telling me that she was having all-out kidney failure and while he would try some things over the weekend, there was probably nothing we could do.

I left the vet and cried the whole way home. All weekend, I tried to make peace with the fact that Monday morning, we were going to have to make the final decision to put her down. Seeing all of Sadie's things at our house would sting my heart...her food dish, her bed, the lack of her constant presence.

The thing is...I've always thought she was the most annoying dog ever. We half-heartedly tried to get rid of her for a few months after we got her. Mostly because of her clingyness...we took that as a sign of her not being happy as an indoor dog. But she did NOT feel the same way about us. She attached herself to me like no dog I've ever had. She was ALWAYS where I was, even if it meant she was uncomfortable.

And as it goes...I'd come to really love her too.

So when Monday morning came around, I knew I couldn't deal with having to tell the doctor to go ahead and put her to sleep when he called with the final blood results. So I jumped the gun, called them as soon as they were open, and told them I'd be unavailable all day, and that the doctor needed to call Adam with the results instead of me.

Mid-morning yesterday, I got an email from Adam. He said that the doctor had said her blood tests came back much improved and that she'd actually eaten something. He said they were going to start giving her pills instead of injections. He said that they wanted to keep her til Wednesday to see if the numbers would go down anymore, but then after that, she could go home.

Oh my goodness.

I didn't know what to feel. I had already begun to let her go, and suddenly I get her back? All the things I'd been thinking all weekend - how I wouldn't see her again, how unfair it was to have to go through this all again just a year after we lost Axl...those things were all gone now?

We went to visit her at the vet last night and she's lost a ton of weight, but she was really happy to see us.

We're still not completely out of the woods, but things are looking up, and we'll hopefully have our Sadie-girl back tomorrow sometime.

Echo

2012-02-02T05:40:00.000-08:00

Sutton's pediatrician heard a heart murmur at his 18 month appointment at the end of December. She scheduled us for an echocardiogram with a pediatric cardiologist for Tuesday. When she found it, she tried not to make a big deal out of it, just said that since she heard it, she was obligated to have it checked out. So I was also trying not to make a big deal out of it, but as I'm sure many of you know...that's not easy when you're a mama.

The whole month waiting game wasn't super fun, but I did my best.

I was relieved when our appointment day was finally here, so I could just KNOW.

Sutton's been getting up before 7am lately, which he has never done in his life (there was a while there that he was sleeping every morning til 9am!), so his napping has been a bit off. Consequently, I had to wake him up from his afternoon nap to go to the doctor. He wasn't thrilled.

Poor little lamb baby.

When we got to the doctor, I had to strip him down so they could do weight, blood pressure, heartbeat, all that good stuff. It's fun to keep a toddler still for those tests. :) Then, they did an EKG. That was really difficult for a toddler. (I didn't get any photos of that because I was busy holding him.) They put all these little stickers on his chest and hooked wires to them. He did okay while they were being put on there, but then he started trying to pull them off.

So, the nurse gave him a sucker. He's only had a sucker one other time in his life (that I'm aware of), and it lasted about 10 seconds before I took it away because of the mess. He LOVED it. Went to town. After they were done with the EKG, he just stood in the middle of the exam room in his diaper, eating a sucker and drooling everywhere. :) It was super cute.

After a few minutes, we were led to another room, where they did the actual echo, which is a sonogram of the heart. They put on a movie for him to watch, and I laid next to him on the table, and he did pretty good. They got a good view of everything, and said that while he does have a murmur, it's nothing to be worried about and everything looks great. They don't need to see him back or anything.

I guess he has what they call an "innocent murmur." The doctor explained it to me but honestly, I was so relieved he was fine that I didn't retain all the info. I took him for ice cream afterwards...probably more for me than him, but that's okay. :)

He was already on such a sugar high from the sucker, that he couldn't even sit in his seat, he just stood on his chair, looking out the window at the cars going by and yelling.

In other news, he's kind of started using the potty. I mean, we're mostly just introducing the idea. He'd been coming to tell us when he went in his diaper sometimes, so we figured it couldn't hurt. The very first day, I'd sat him on there in the morning, and then in the afternoon, we were in the bathroom (I was getting ready, he was playing), and he suddenly stood up, went over to the potty and started pushing and getting the red eyes. So I quickly undressed him and sat him on there and he WENT. In the potty. Whoa. It was a fluke, but I'm totally okay with that. :)

He hasn't gone on there since, but he will often go into the bathroom of his own accord and put his little seat on the potty and want to sit up there. I think he just likes it because he knows we read books while he's sitting there.

And to end, here's a cute photo of him on our date to Orange Leaf yesterday. He wasn't a huge fan of the actual frozen yogurt, but he ate all my strawberries and chocolate chips.

It's A...

2012-01-26T08:58:00.000-08:00

...GIRL!

I know I'm a little slow at posting this, so hopefully you weren't all waiting on pins and needles.

Rachael and Matt are having a baby girl! I'm so excited and overwhelmed and out of my element. Girl babies seem like aliens to me. :) Can't wait to spoil her though. I had always thought it would be a boy, but then in the last week or so, I wasn't so sure. I ended up wearing blue to the party, so I guess in the end, that was my final answer.

So wrong. :)

I was so glad to be wrong though, since I knew Rachael really really wanted a girl. She and Matt had both thought it was a boy too, so they were in crazy shock after the sono.

I drove up to KC Friday evening and arrived just before the big gender reveal party. Rachael's friend Beth and I helped a bit with decorating and cooking, and then everyone else got there.

Here's photo proof that she's finally got a teeny little belly. Smallest pregnant lady ever award goes to... :)

Team pink:

Team blue:

For the big moment, Matt really wanted to use blue or pink smoke bombs. Since it was cold out, we went downstairs to their walkout basement and watched through the window as he lit smoke bombs whose color was concealed inside an egg carton. It was windy, and he had a heck of a time getting them to light. He gave up on the lighter and used matches...it took.so.looooong. We were all freaking out. Then PINK SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKE!!!!!!!!! And there was lots of screaming and hugging. I didn't take any photos of that part since I just wanted to be a part of it. So here's the aftermath the next day.

And Rachael wanted to do some 'It's a Girl!' photos the next day, so we just went out in their backyard real quickly to grab a few fun photos to commemorate the excitement.

So excited for a baby girl. It'll be so fun to do something different. Can't wait to get knee-deep in ruffles and bows!!

Sutton {19 months}

2012-01-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

My dear sweet boy, you are 19 months old today! We're on the downhill slope to 2 years old!

Sutton, at 19 months...

*It seems as though you learn something new or develop a new skill every day. I am LOVING this age so much. I try to test you and teach you as much as I can...cycling through the words you can say, trying to get you to say more, asking you to do things to see if you understand, encouraging your independence. I'm finally feeling like a "parent" in that I am striving to help you develop into a smart and talented young man!

*You have lots of new words this month. I tried to keep a list but I'm sure we're missing a few: bubble (usually in reference to the air bubbles used as packing cushion that we like to pop), car, boat, ba-ball (basketball), bird, gawk-gawk (for duck...I think you're trying to say quack-quack, and this is how I first said duck when I was a baby, so that's kinda fun), alright!, copter (helicopter), battery, and the favorite that I hear 21,944 times each day: eeeeee, GO! (ready, go!).

*Dancing. Ohhhhh, the dancing. You are the most interesting dancer I've ever seen. This is probably the hobby of yours that you spend the most time doing. I love it.

*You finally are sitting down in the tub during bathtime and playing, instead of standing the whole time clinging to the edge waiting to get out. After I wash you, I let you play with your toys and foam alphabet for probably 10-15 minutes til the water's cold.

*You still take 2 naps most days. There are some days you just take one long one, but that's usually only if we have something in the morning that runs into your nap time and you are so done with life by that point.

*Our sweet friend Ginger is watching you on Thursdays while I scramble to try to get some work done. You do so great there, and Ginger sends me videos of you dancing with Avery. :)

*We mostly have you eat whatever we're eating, and you do pretty well. You definitely dislike most vegetables, and I think your ultimate favorite is strawberries. You've started drinking chocolate milk this month and you can down that by the gallon.

*You love to make us laugh. Your such a goofball...that was one of the things that I loved from the start about your daddy, so I'm glad you have it too. We just love having fun together, and if you do something that makes us laugh, you'll clap and do it again. One thing that can really get us going is when you toot...I know I shouldn't encourage it, but it's so funny that YOU already think tooting is funny.

*You made up a new game where you pull the throw rug from the back door into the middle of the room. You stand on it and say "eeeee GO!" and run to the other rug by the front door. And then back. And then again. And again. You usually end up making me do most of the running.

*You love to help, so I try to let you help as much as I can. You help me throw laundry down the laundry shoot (as evidenced in the video below), you help me put soap in the dishwasher, you help me put your cars away and even close the dryer after we're done loading it. Be careful what you wish for, you'll be getting your very own chores before you know it!

*You've known where your belly is for quite awhile and will lift up your shirt if we ask you where it is. But this month you've learned where your nose is (and mommy's and daddy's noses) and you kind of know about eyes too.

*Your hair is super dark red from being inside all winter. It's so pretty and we get compliments on it all the time.

*You're sleeping from about 8pm til about 7-7:30am each night. You're a perfect sleeper, you go down without a fuss and usually don't make a peep til morning. I'm so grateful because I need my 8 hours every night. :)

*I know every kid has things that are special and unique about them, but I thank God every day that I got YOU as my baby. You are so amazing and you fit in our little family perfectly. We're so proud of you and your awesome little personality and feel so blessed to be your parents!

1 Year

2012-01-19T09:53:00.000-08:00

Today marks one year since we lost this big guy:

It still stings to think about, and it's crazy to think that Sutton was only 6 months old then. So much of our life has changed since Axl left us! The time has definitely helped, but it still puts a lump in my throat to think about our precious puppy, and all that happened on this day one year ago...the decisions we had to make, the goodbyes we had to say. We'll never forget our Axl...he was one of a kind.

BUT! HARK! :)

Today is also an AMAZING day because...Rachael is finding out if she is having a boy or a girl this June! Hooray! She's more worried/eager to see if everything is on track and healthy...which makes sense since she's a nurse. I'm praying for the perfect little son or daughter for our best friends. But I really, really can't wait to hear what she's having. My initial vote was boy, though now I'm not sure. They're having a party tomorrow night up in KC that I'm heading to where they'll reveal the big news. Can't wait!

Suttons "Cah"

2012-01-18T17:19:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm working from home, all my prints and albums are delivered here, so I have an abundance of cardboard boxes. I get restless when Sutton and I don't have something productive to do, so I decided to combine the two issues and make him a car out of a cardboard box. Car is one of Sutton's words, but he pronounces it like a New Yorker..."cah."

We started with a plain box that I cut the top flaps off of.

Put the baby in paint clothes and got to work!

Every time I put a new color on the plate, he would dip his brush in it, and then try to grab the paint off the brush. So he ended up with more paint on his hand, belly, and pants than on the cah.

After I we finished painting all four sides, I put the dogs in the bedroom and carried the messy baby to the bathtub. As I was stripping him down and washing him off, he was playing with the faucet and accidentally turned the shower on, which drenched him. Screaming commenced.

The kitchen floor was a casualty, despite my best efforts.

The painted box. Isn't it pretty? This didn't cost me a dime...I actually dug out some of my old acrylic paints from my college art class days, so this was expensive paint, but hadn't been used in years, so I figured it was fine.

During naptime, I painted some wheels and other details so that he would realize it was a cah.

When he got up, he got some rides in his sweet new wheels. Then he decided his turtle needed a ride. (This turtle is like his babydoll. It's actually for a sprinkler in the summer, but he puts it to bed at night and likes to carry it around). Oh....and feel free to press mute on this one. My voice is NOT like it sounds in my head...

Leap Baby

2012-01-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

You know...like leap frog? Adam and Sutton found a fun new game tonight. To translate, he keeps saying, "Go!"

This was about 2 seconds before bedtime tonight, so when Adam stopped, Sutton threw a fit and was real mad. So I tried to continue the fun, and it lasted about 3 jumps. But alas, I am shorter than Daddy and knocked the poor boy over. Then it was REALLY bedtime. Sorry, baby.

Today with Sutton

2012-01-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

I realized I hadn't blogged many photos of the baby since he got his new haircut. It's already quite a bit longer than it was (that boy's hair grows fast), but you still get the idea. As I've mentioned before, Sutton is in love with dancing and music. He always wants us to turn on the radio. And in his mind, dancing and jumping are one in the same. So today he was dance-jumping around the house and I grabbed the camera. His current favorite song is Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People. :)

When I first got my camera out, he thought he needed to sit down and pose.

But this boy is constantly on the move (and his mama is constantly tired...in a good way), so he got up and resumed the jumping.

One thing that many of you may not know is that Sutton is a very strange child. Quirky, if you will. We are always laughing.

There you have it. My strange cute baby.

Natalie Got Married!

2012-01-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

My friend Natalie got married Saturday, and it was a beautiful wedding! I was the photographer (of course) :) but I also got to go to all the wedding festivities that I normally don't get to go to since we're also friends! It was super fun. The weekend before we went out on the town for her bachelorette party...

The bestie - Rachael - was a bridesmaid in the wedding so it was fun for her to come down and hang out two weekends in a row!

Rachael, Natalie and me. We all met up at K-State and have kept in touch over the years.

In her embarrassing getup for dinner. :)

Then this weekend, we had the rehearsal dinner on Friday. It was great food and company.

The view of Wichita from the Petroleum Club at night.

And Saturday was the big day when Natalie became Mrs. Hinkin! It was a long day but it was so amazing to be a part of it. Here's the photo I posted on my photography blog of the happy couple.

Unfortunately the wedding was smack in the middle of Sutton's nap time, so he and Adam couldn't make it to the wedding. They came to the reception for about an hour before Sutton needed to go home and go to bed. Side story...Natalie has a brother named Sutton which is how I first heard the name. He was an usher in the wedding, so at the reception, I introduced Sutton to Sutton...it was cool because big Sutton told me that he's never really met another Sutton!

The Funk Family 2011 {Christmas 2011}

2012-01-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas, my family all headed down to our neck of the woods for an updated family photo and Stromboli. First, we braved the cold and went to a park close to our house for a photo. Our last Funk family photo was taken before Sara and Sutton had joined our family, so we needed an updated one. We used the ol' self-timer, and Sutton did amazingly...we got these in about 5 minutes!

The one above is my favorite. Sara and my brother Michael, my dad Bruce and mom Nancy, me Adam and Sutton.

Then we went back to our house to make Stromboli/calzones using a method my mom found on Pinterest. I'm very blessed to come from a household with two amazing cooks. My dad even worked as a chef at a restaurant either before I was born or when I was very little. So I never lacked good food growing up! Unfortunately, that gene didn't really pass on to me.

We loaded it with all the favorite toppings, then mom cut the sides into strips so they could be braided over the top to close it.

It was a family affair. Everyone helped. Fun memories in the making!

Crazies.

My family is all strange. :) Me excluded. :)

They came out golden brown and delicious. YUM.

Michael and Sara headed back to Colorado the next day to move into their very first house! They're officially homeowners. So excited for them and can't wait to see it!

That's the last Christmas 2011 post. Thanks for sticking with me. :)

Celebrating with the Drehers {Christmas 2011}

2012-01-02T08:46:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas evening with Adam's family. His parents decided to fore-go the traditional holiday meal, and instead they'd gotten Papa Murphy's pizzas the day before and then baked them on Christmas. It was a great idea, and super delicious.

In stark contrast to my side where Sutton is the first and only of his generation, on Adam's side, he's the twelfth grandkid out of thirteen! Lots of them live out-of-state so we don't often see them, but he still has a great time playing with his cousins who live close.

We'll start the photos off with the traditional Christmas photo of Grandma Janet with Bailey sitting on her lap. They started this when she was teeny tiny, and she's nearly outgrown the lap, haha.

Sutton has issues with us trying to get a photo of all the kids. He chooses that moment to decide he HAS to be held by me or Adam.

Then we opened gifts. Always the favorite part for the kiddos.

Adam's parents had Jones Soda made with our photo on the label! How fun is that!

Ed has an on-going battle with the plethora of squirrels that frequent his backyard. So Adam's sister and fam got him "squirrel underpants" as a joke. Didn't know they made those, did ya?

Adam plays a lot of chess, especially in his classroom...he's taught all his students to play (p.s., I don't even know how, shhh....). So his dad made him this amazing vertical chess board! He got glass pieces to go along with it. Very cool.

Sutton really likes this massager thing that his grandparents have. He has to play with it every time he goes over there. He really likes it when you massage his back. Or his belly. :)

The hit of the night for Sutton was the bubbles that were in his stocking. He looooves bubbles.

By the way, if you're wondering why everyone is in pajamas, Adam's sister Jessica had the fun idea to do a pajama Christmas. She even bought Sutton his own pair. Super cute.

We had to do our annual photo in front of the Christmas tree...I love our little family.

Then Adam showed Sutton the fun train that went around the bottom of the tree. He even got to push the lever to make it go.

Then he decided that a little dancing was in order. Per usual. :) This makes me smile every time I look at it. (Someone's cell phone rang at Lowe's today while we were in line and Sutton started dancing, and the people behind us thought it was the cutest thing and just oogled over Sutton.)

Okay, back to the train.

Breegy! This is our niece who has a special bond with Sutton. She's loud and awesome and all over the place and Sutton was scared of her for awhile, but now they're best buds. She always exclaims "BABY SUTTON!!!!" when she sees him. I think he'll always be "baby Sutton" to her, which is so sweet.

She and I are pretty good buddies too. She calls me "GEEMA!!!!"

So we tried again for the grandkids photo. Sutton freaked...

...so we gave him a cookie and an unopened box of candy and he was good to go.

And the boy cousins. We're sad Madeline left early and wasn't included in the kids' photo. Buuuut...she's a freshman in college, so...she's kinda old for that anyway. :)

Christmas Lunch {Christmas 2011}

2012-01-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

After Sutton's morning nap on Christmas Day, we headed to my grandparents house to have lunch and spend time with them.

We learned that Sutton loves ham salad sandwiches and jello. So that was good. :) After lunch, I wanted a photo of the three of us on Christmas.

Sutton is a hot body, so we stripped him down and he went shirtless for awhile.

Sutton's great-grandma Norma and great-grandpa Melvin got him this awesome little chair that's just his size! Grandma called Sutton over to one of their bedrooms to help her get the chair out, and he carried it from the kitchen all the way out to the living room to show us.

Then he had to try it out. :) He LOVES this chair. We put it in our basement, where we play a lot of the time, and he's always sitting in it. Sometimes he moves it around the room to wherever we're sitting so that he can sit in his chair next to us. This was a great gift G&G Hiebert!

Next, Sutton helped everyone open their gifts. He sure loves tearing wrapping paper...but he can't part with that helicopter.

We took a group photo before we had to head back to Wichita for Sutton's second Christmas nap. Adam and I snuck one it too, before our evening activities. This is my mom and dad, brother and sister-in-law, grandparents on my mom's side, and us. My mom's an only child, so this is the whole fam on that side. So glad we all were able to get together!

And Sutton with his great-grandparents. I think this is a framer!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

Have I ever told you that I have the best husband?

See, I had to work last night. New Year's Eve weddings are apparently kinda popular as I had one last year, this year, and already have one next year. Luckily this year, I was able to finish up shooting around 9pm and head home to ring in the New Year with my hubby.

We didn't have any big plans or parties, but that was totally fine with me since I was tired from working all day.

I got home, unloaded all my gear from the car and came up to the front door. There was a sign taped to it that said to go change into comfy clothes and head out to the studio in the backyard. It said Adam would be joining me momentarily. So I changed, and headed out back. I opened the door and it was dark, but there were bunches of candles around the perimeter of the studio, Coldplay blasting (LOVE their new album, by the way), lots of chocolate, a couple movies laying on the table, and a slideshow of these photos playing on my computer:

Isn't he the best? He walked in a few seconds later and we curled up on our MonsterSak, set an alarm for 11:55pm, and watched a movie to ring in the new year. Couldn't have asked for a better ending to 2011!

Please note Sutton's new look....where did all his hair go?! We cut it using the clippers Adam uses to cut his own hair. My baby is a big boy!

Also, I plan to have more Christmas posts coming, it's just been a super busy week! Back to real life after a great vacation, I suppose. :)

Here's to a fantastic 2012!!

Our Little Family {Christmas 2011}

2011-12-27T11:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning has been set aside for Adam, Sutton and I to have breakfast together and then exchange our gifts. Since Sutton had had such a big night the night before, we actually had to wake him up on Christmas morning so he'd go back down for his morning nap in time for us to head to Newton for lunch. So much planning comes along with having a kid around the holidays!

Every morning when Sutton gets out of bed, he has to bring these two blankies with him. They HAVE to be in his high chair with him while he eats breakfast, and then after that he doesn't need them again until he goes back down for a nap. Kids are strange.

(See the blankies in the high chair?) He really wanted to play with this toy from the night before while he had breakfast. I okayed it since it was Christmas. :) Meanwhile, Adam made us waffles, eggs, and bacon. Yum.

Then it was time for presents. He loved tearing wrapping paper by this point, the problem is that he kept getting tiny pieces, which would then stick to his hands with static cling, and he'd get so frustrated and wave his hand around til they fell off. So the unwrapping was quite a slow process. :)

I helped him open one of his faves...an aircraft carrier that came with like 10 airplanes and a helicopter! He can kind of say "helicopter" or at least the "copter" part of it, which is real cute.

So many airplanes! He still hasn't parted from the helicopter. That's definitely his favorite.

Diesel snuggled onto my lap so I asked Adam to get a photo, but Sutton wanted to be in the picture, which made Diesel want to leave. I also realized that this was our first Christmas without Axl since before we were married. Missed him.

Adam also got an airplane (like father, like son), but his was too nice and high-tech for Sutton to play with.

Sutton got a basketball goal! We showed him what to do and he likes to play, but the problem is that he won't put that darn helicopter down and so he struggles to pick up the ball with one hand.

Doin some Christmas squats.

He loved all of his presents but soon went back to bed for his morning nap so he would be happy at lunch at his great-grandma and grandpa's house. More to come on that later...

Christmas Eve {Christmas 2011}

2011-12-26T19:12:00.000-08:00

For my side of the family, our tradition is to do our big Christmas on Christmas Eve. So after church, we head over to my parents house for a dinner spread of junk food with everyone's favorites. After that, we hang out and open gifts, talk, and the newest tradition...we watch Sutton and laugh at his hilariousness.

Sutton helped hand out gifts...with his tongue out for extra concentration, of course.

My brother Michael and his wife Sara came from Colorado as they do each year. It's always so good to see them. They closed on their very first house the same day they drove here and will start moving as soon as they get back. Exciting!

My beautiful mom playing with Sutton.

Michael sells Milwaukee tools, and as you can see, our dad is pretty proud. He got some tools for Christmas this year!

Sutton had a good time dancing with his Grandpa Bruce.

Rory was real tired. He fell asleep buried in the wrapping paper. :)

Grandpa Bruce is really fun when he reads books.

As usual, the boxes and paper are the best part for Sutton. He got lots of rides in this box.

I tried to take a photo of Adam and I but my lens was too close, so we had Sara take one of us.

We put Sutton to bed in the pack n play so we could stay awhile later. He went right down...he was so tired from all the presents and playing. When I got him up to go home, he just kept sleeping as I carried him from their house to the car, then from the car into our house. He's such a good boy! I was so worried about having to be so many places over the holidays since he still takes two naps each day, but he was perfect. Couldn't have asked for a better 2nd Christmas for my baby Sutton!

The First Gift {Christmas 2011}

2011-12-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

During the day on Christmas Eve, we decided to let Sutton open one gift to get warmed up. He obviously didn't remember opening gifts on his birthday, so at first he didn't know what to do...

...so he set his cup on the box. :)

Then, he realized the gift wasn't where it should be, so he tried to put it back under the tree. I just love him.

Adam showed him how to rip the paper off, and he became a pro by the time Christmas was over.

A toy airplane made of WOOD instead of FOAM like his others, so hopefully the dogs won't destroy it. Or at least it'll take them a little longer.

We got a "WOW!" and then he had to come show me. Love this last photo of him.

Sutton {18 months}

2011-12-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

A year and a half. I have a one and a half year old. Weird.

We don't have a ton of photos for this post because, well, it's Christmas Eve and we're busy. Plus, I'll be taking a bunch at all of our family stuff, so I think we'll have 18 months covered. :)

Sutton baby....at 18 months:

*You're saying a ton more these days. The faves are please ("peeeeeeeee!"), go, uh-oh, puppy, mama, dada, baby, cracker, as well as the constant babbling in Japanese. I'm loving that you can tell us what you want/need.

*We started brushing your teeth this month and you think it's really fun. Mostly you just suck all the gel stuff off your toothbrush, but you get so excited when it's time to brush your teeth. Most days we do it together.

*Unless we're at home, you're usually very shy around other people. You've warmed up to your grandparents and will be goofy around them, but pretty much everyone else...you just sit and stare and don't say or do anything.

*You think you can get anything you want if you say "peeeeeeee!" And it's never a calm please, it's always extremely enthusiastic.

*You like to go to the cupboard with all your snacks and open it and say "cracker? cracker?" until we'll get one for you. Luckily the shelves that have your snacks are high enough you can't reach.

*You're wearing 12-18 month size clothes and we just moved you up to a size 5 diaper.

*You like to jump on command. It's one of your tricks. It's real cute. You crouch down, and then spring up and get about 1/2 an inch of air. :) Sometimes, we'll just spend 10 minutes jumpin together.

*Your hair is getting redder since we're not outside as much for the sun to bleach it. Everyone comments on your red hair. It's also super long (but our awesome haircutter is on maternity leave, so we wait) and curly. Didn't think the curls would come back after the first haircut, but they came back with a vengeance!

*You love to play with airplanes, cars, crayons, your slide, and balls. Most things get turned into airplanes so you can fly them.

*You are quite the little dancer. You put on a show for all our friends the other night at a Christmas party. You make me so proud with how fun you are.

*Favorite foods are graham crackers, goldfish, mandarin oranges, yogurt. Apple juice is consumed by the gallon these days.

*We're still doing 2 naps each day, but there have been a few days lately that you slept in til 8:30 or so, and then only took one nap. Bedtime couldn't come soon enough though.

*Bedtime is and almost always has been super easy with you. You like going to bed and sometimes even gather up your blankies and start to head that way on your own. We lay you down without a struggle and you close your eyes. We often hear "singing" over the monitor awhile later, but you stay in there and sleeping, so who knows.

*After bathtime, you like to "escape" while you're still naked and not let us catch you, giggling hysterically. It's pretty cute.

*Whenever we go somewhere in the car, we typically have your blankie and pacifier with us. Every time we start unbuckling you, you lay your blankie down on the seat next to your chair, and then pop out your pacifier and put it on top. I'm glad you've decided that you only need those things in the car, and not in the store. :)

*I think you weigh around 27 lbs. You like to play on our scale, and this morning, that's what it read. You move around so much though...who knows how accurate it was. I also noticed today how tall you're getting. You're gonna be taller than me before we know it.

*You can be very cuddly. I give you so many hugs and snuggle your face next to mine all the time. You've started putting your cheek up to my cheek and smiling since I do that to you a lot. I love it.

*You still love your daddy, but are coming back around to wanting me a lot too. I appreciate that.

Sweetiepie, you are my favorite baby in the whole world. I love you more than I can ever say and am loving seeing you grow up into such a handsome and fun boy!

Today with Sutton

2011-12-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

This evening, I decided to be intentional about taking some photos of Sutton for no reason because....well, I haven't done that for quite some time! So here's an evening with Sutton at nearly 18 months old.

He'd just woken up and couldn't quite part from the pacifier.

After he'd eaten some dinner, he was happier.

Tried to get him to pose by the tree...I think he looks like me here.

This guitar is what we got him last Christmas. He loves it now. :)

Then he had to put it down to dance to the music it was playing.

I asked him to go sit by the Christmas tree and he did! He loves the Christmas tree.

Not a huge fan of bath pictures being online, so I took a few, but will just post these. He loves the undressing part of the bath...he's okay with the bath itself as long as he can be standing...once his head gets wet, he usually gets mad so we leave that til last. Although today he was so distracted with toys that he barely noticed the hair-washing. Hip hip hooray for successful/happy baths!

Love you sweet boy! I'll try to take lots more photos of you during Christmas time than I have been!

Christmas Card and Life

2011-12-20T10:33:00.000-08:00

Hello! Is everyone ready for Christmas? I feel like it totally snuck up on me this year, but life seems to go faster the older I get, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Here's our Christmas card this year...Merry Christmas from the Drehers!

Front

Back

Sutton is so fun these days. He's at such a great age, and we are just enjoying every minute. He gets excited about things...like we rearranged our basement during his nap, and when he got up and came downstairs and saw the changes, he yelled "WHOA!" And started dancing. Dancing is pretty much our life now. He dances whenever he hears any music, cell phones ringing, or when he thinks there should be music playing. I just love him.

Here's a video of him "brushing his teeth." Disregard all the clothes in the background.

And lastly, Adam's last day of school for the year was Friday, so we went out that night to celebrate by...getting a pet Bearded Dragon! It's actually for his classroom, but he wanted to get used to caring for it and have it used to people by the time he takes it to the school after break. So here's the un-named Dragon who's been living at our house and eating crickets (gross).

2010 vs 2011

2011-12-19T10:26:00.001-08:00

I pulled up a photo of us from last year on Christmas to print out and put in an ornament, and holy cow! We've changed a lot in the past year! (For the better, I think.) :)

Illuminations at Botanica

2011-12-15T12:57:00.000-08:00

So.....................

I have this really awesome husband.

He planned a date night for us. Had me mark it down on my calendar. Wouldn't tell me a thing.

Finally, the day of, I'm bugging him about what we're doing, how I should dress, what kind of food we're having for dinner.

He caved and told me we were gonna eat at the Olive Garden (I love, he hates) and then go to Illuminations at Botanica. Probably the only reason he caved was so I could dress appropriately.

Sunday afternoon, I got all dolled up for our hot date. Our babysitter arrived (aka Grandpa Ed), and we got in the car. Adam asked me which Olive Garden I wanted to go to. I said the west one, since we live on the west side. He was like "Ehhh...I'd rather get out of our neighborhood and not see any of my students, let's go to the east side."

Whatev. Sounds good.

So we drive over there, and it's raining, which I figured would ruin our later plans, so I began to look up movie times as a backup. We decided on a movie to see instead.

We get to Olive Garden and it's PACKED.

I go up to the host stand (I'm always the one who puts in our name at restaurants...is that weird?), but Adam walks right past the host stand and waves me in, as if he had a table reserved. I follow.

We wind around to find a whole table full of friends! (They're all east-siders, hence the sneaky sneak east side Olive Garden decision.) Hooray for a surprise triple date with some of our besties. (Apparently, I had a very surprised/weirded out look on my face.)

We had a great dinner and conversation (it matters not), and then we made a group decision to brave the cold and head to Botanica anyway. We bundled up and walked around Botanica in the freezing mist and had lots of fun! We took photos on our iPhones at a particularly lit up spot.

Love these girls!

I tried. Adam didn't.

Story of our night. Adam and Luis love each other.

"Gina, you have really soft skin!" Uh, thanks Val. :)

Mmm...wonderful.

The gang. Ryan & Melinda, me & Adam, Luis & Val.

Thanks for the awesome date night, Adam!

Airplanes & Dancing

2011-12-09T06:59:00.000-08:00

The boy is obsessed with airplanes. OBSESSED. I don't know how it happened. I mean, yeah, his dad flies RC airplanes, but I wouldn't think he'd understand the concept of loving something just because his dad loves it at this age. Who knows. By the way, this video is tame compared to a lot of the reactions Adam gets from Sutton when he starts flying a plane.

And there's an airplane video that he really likes to watch (and dance to...dancing is big in our house these days) that Adam made from footage from when they went to Oshkosh this summer. He put some good songs to it, one of which is a song by Adam's brother Matt's band Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy. He loves his uncle's band!

The Unforgettable Fall of 2011

2011-12-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

So I had this huge post all written up.

We had an extremely difficult fall. Both personally and professionally, it was just one thing after another.

I'd been thinking about the post I was going to write about it for some time. I needed the outlet, needed to "vent" so badly. So I wrote it all down. And it was long.

And then I (with the help of my ridiculously level-headed and awesome husband) realized that I could have it much worse. And I have so many things to be thankful for. I'm so blessed.

I'm completely and irrevocably in love with my life.

So I'm not gonna publish that post.

Instead, I'm going to write a post about how grateful I am for all the blessings in my life. God has given us so much, and so often I take those things and even Him for granted. I'm so undeserving.

In my version of the 12 Days of Christmas, I present to you 12 Things I'm Thankful For:

1. My beautiful healthy baby boy Sutton, who has completely changed my world for the better.
2. My amazingly handsome best friend, my husband Adam.
3. Our families with whom we all have a good relationship, and we live close to.
4. Our awesome group of friends who are such a great support system through all of life's hardships.
5. Our warm, inviting home that I absolutely still love over 3 years later and never want to move from.
6. My booming, successful photography business...I can't believe that I get to do what I love and that I have so much business I have to turn some away.
7. Being able to work from home is such a great thing, especially now that I'm a mom.
8. My wonderful new studio in our backyard...I think it's too cool for me. :)
9. Diesel. He's such a great dog. I guess I should throw Sadie in here too, though she's questionable at times. :)
10. Our finances can be both a blessing and a curse, but I'm grateful that we're able to pay our bills each month.
11. Our working cars, washer and dryer, dishwasher, water line, and heater...I'll try never again to take these simple luxuries for granted.
12. Jesus, without whom none of this would be possible. Without whom we wouldn't celebrate Christmas!

Life. Is. Good.

And to finish this post off with some photos, my two most favorite people in the world, playing together. It doesn't get much better. :)

High-fives!

I'm a pretty lucky girl to get to live with the two most handsome boys on the planet!

My new favorite photo. :)

The Hat

2011-12-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

I mentioned a hat that Sutton LOVES to wear a few posts back. My parents gave this to me for Christmas last year, and Sutton found it in the closet and loves to wear it while he plays. The funniest thing to me is that he just goes about his business as if wearing the hat is completely normal.

Decorating the Tree

2011-11-28T07:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we finally were able to have a free second to decorate our Christmas tree. This artificial tree has seen better days...it has lights that don't work and lots of bare spots...but I'm usually able to pile enough stuff on it so you can't notice. :)

During Sutton's nap, I assembled the tree and put up the garland and beads. When he woke up, I showed him the tree, and he thought it was pretty cool. He played with the beads and then started patting the tree a little too roughly, so I had to show him to "pet it nice" like we do with the dogs.

Sadie decided to pose nicely with the tree before Sutton got up, so I had to get a photo.

Here he is, checking out the tree with his bedhead and blankie. :)

I thought Sutton could help me with the ornaments, so we dug them out and started putting them on the tree. I showed him what to do, and he immediately started putting them on (by setting them on the branches, not hanging them) but the problem was that he'd immediately take them off. And take off ones I'd just hung too.

He finished up by digging through the ornaments, and running around the house yelling in joy. I'm pretty sure he loves Christmas already. :)

More Turkey :)

2011-11-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Newton to have lunch with my family for Thanksgiving. I've been feeling weird about not taking many photos of Sutton lately, so I brought my camera. After we were thoroughly stuffed, we hung out, Sutton was our entertainment.

My grandpa decided to comb Sutton's unruly curls. He wouldn't let go of me, so I couldn't get far enough away to get a good photo of this. So here's what I could get:

Sutton got to play with some vintage Lincoln Logs that were my uncle's when he was a kid. I thought this photo was pretty funny.

He had lots of fun playing on the floor with my mom, his Grandma Nancy. He was being an ornery little booger and scattering them all over the place.

Then he got whiny so we went outside even though it was pretty cold. He doesn't care...he's always happy outside!

And we finished up the afternoon sitting on a bench with my cousin Faith, swinging our legs.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-26T15:07:00.000-08:00

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving...how about you?

Adam's sister Jessica heard about this Thanksgiving Day 5k that she thought we should do as a family. So (almost) the whole Dreher clan and my mom signed up, and we've decided to make it a tradition! We had several of our friends do it as well.

I didn't take a ton of photos because I didn't bring my camera since I was going to be walking. Before we left, I took a few of Sutton in his awesome race shirt.

He was warming up for the race by running to give his daddy a hug. :) If I haven't said it before, it is the CUTEST THING to see the bond between my husband and son. I love them separately, and I love them together.

The rest of these are from my phone, so they're itty bitty, but you get the jist. Here's the whole group of us just before the start of the race, and then Adam and Sutton and I on the right.

My mom and I on the left. Adam ran with Ryan, Melinda, and Luiswhile pushing Sutton in the stroller (all bundled up and ready to go on the right). My mom and I walked with Val. The rest of the family walked and ran in small groups.

After the race, they had soup and muffins for runners, so we partook in that and then headed home so the wee lad could nap. We went over to Adam's parents for a late afternoon Thanksgiving meal. Then we played for awhile in the backyard with all the cousins and dogs. Here's Sutton with two of his cousins.

After dinner, we headed out to Scott's land to begin Thankscamping, as is our tradition. Adam's dad agreed to stay overnight at our house with Sutton so I could actually stay out and camp for the night. It was so fun! I haven't gotten to stay out for the past 2 years, and we had some great weather, so it was perfect. Luis & Val and Ryan & Melinda joined Adam & I, Scott, Adam's bro Matt and his girlfriend Shay this year. A great group to camp with. The guys cooked lots of awesome food over the campfire, we played cards in the tent, and drove Scott's Gator around. Didn't take a lot of photos, but here's what I have. Our campfire on the left, and Sutton with some cheetos on the right. He is obsessed with them now.

Val, Melinda, and I hanging out by the fire trying to stay warm.

We have one more Thanksgiving celebration with my side of the family on Sunday, can't wait. I love the holidays!

Sutton { 17 months }

2011-11-26T14:52:00.000-08:00

Stop everything. This post and these photos are TWO DAYS late. This is the first time that has happened. Ah well, such is my life right now. :)

SUTTON!!! You're 17 months old! You're a little man now! Here's your monthly photo, this time I enlisted Daddy's help since last month's didn't go so well.

Sutton, at 17 months:

*You love to walk and climb and run and jump. You are all over the place. You think it so fun to wrestle and jump on us.

*You're so in love with your dad. You prefer him over me and you want to be just like him. It makes me sad, but I keep telling myself it's just a phase because you've gone through an only-wanting-mama phase too. We'll see. You copy lots of things he does which is really cute.

*You have several words, including water (still sounds like agua), uh oh, blankie, mama, dada, Diesel, cracker. A new favorite (of ours, not yours) is please. We really have to have something you want, and we have to ask you like 15 times, but then you'll finally sometimes say "peass?" It's like a little hiss almost, ha. One day, we went back and forth saying "ba-BY!" to each other for about a minute.

*You understand so much. If we're playing downstairs and I ask you if you're hungry, you run over to the stairs to go up to the kitchen. When we're upstairs and I tell you that you need to be changed, you go over to your room and wait by your changing table. We have to spell around you alot. You know, like when we're trying to get out of the house and I ask your daddy to pack an s-n-a-c-k. :)

*Bath time typically goes well until it's time to wash your hair, then you hate it. You refuse to sit down in the tub, and have for several months, so I always have to stand in there with you to get the job done. You like to stomp your feet to splash.

*You're still in a size 4 diaper, but I just bought some 5s to start wearing at night because we have a lot of pee at night and your clothes are usually all wet in the morning.

*You wear sizes 12-18 months.

*You're into hats lately. You found a hat of mine you like to wear around while you're playing, it makes you look like a little British baby from the turn of the century, haha. I need to get a photo. On Thanksgiving, we left you overnight with your grandpa (more to come on that) and when I came home the next morning wearing a stocking cap, you ran and hugged me and had to point to my hat a bunch.

*I feel like we need to cut your hair again already.

*You love to laugh and squeal. You're really good at cracking yourself up, especially when you're tired.

*You're such a good little dancer. You dance to the Backyardigans obviously, but you also dance in the car to the radio and sometimes when our cell phones ring, you dance to them.

*You still love airplanes and puppies. You point out both things before I even see them sometimes.

*You still take two naps each day, though you can be flexible and take one sometimes if our schedule is weird. You go to bed around 8pm and sleep straight through til 7am or so.

*You like to play with my makeup while I'm getting ready in the morning, brushing the brushes on your face and touching the eyelash curler to your eye. I think you probably should start watching your daddy get ready instead of me...

*As evidenced in the photo above, you love to point, and even double-point. A lot of times, you point at nothing.

*You started drinking juice this month. Apple juice is the fave. We usually water it down unless we're driving and stop somewhere for a drink. You love the Tummy Tickler's brand that have fun toys on the spout. You found them in Dillons today without me noticing, so I had to buy it for you.

*I see this face a lot throughout my day...dirty face, looking up with those beautiful brown eyes.

You are my beautiful, amazing boy! I love when you let me rock you to sleep and I just start at your face and thank God for the privilege of being your mom! Love you sweetiepie.

10 Years Ago...

2011-11-23T06:05:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago today, my life was forever changed.

See, there was this really cute guy that was my brother's friend and I never thought he even noticed me and totally thought he was out of my league but I was definitely crushing and then one day we started talking online and we realized we were both into art and so we made a date to hang out and he put his arm around me and I had so many butterflies and then he asked me out and then we kissed and then he said he loved me and then I went off to college but he still said he loved me and then he asked me to marry him and I said yes and we got married and we had a baby and I LOVE THAT CUTE GUY SO MUCH I CAN'T EVEN STAND IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's the short version. If you want the long version, click here to read through the posts when I wrote about our love story.

Ten years ago, Adam and I had our very first date. I was 16. He'd just turned 18. Now look at us. I can't believe it's been ten years, but on the other hand, I can't remember life without him. I mean, I've spent more than a third of my life with him!

Happy 10 years to the love of my life, father of my son, and most amazing best friend I've ever had! I love you so much Adam. I sure hope you stick around. :)

Adam's school's Winter Banquet, February 2002

My junior prom, spring 2002

Summer 2002

Our first (dating) anniversary, November 23, 2002

My high school graduation, May 2003

Summer 2003

Getting ready to head off to college, fall 2003

Engagement photo, summer 2005

Our wedding day, June 3, 2006

Christmas card photo, fall 2009 (we knew we were pregnant, but nobody else did!)

Maternity photos, spring 2010

Our baby is finally here! June 2010

Our 5th wedding anniversary, June 2011

Sutton's first birthday, June 24, 2011

Our little family now, fall 2011

Us.

Recipe

2011-11-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

I'm not great in the kitchen, so when I find a recipe that is easy enough for me to make and is GOOD, I've gotta share. I made this yesterday, and Adam and I both thought it was wonderful. (Totally looking forward to leftovers for lunch!) I'm sure you will too, as long as you're stuffing-lovers like us. I made this one other time for a dinner with my parents, but it'd been awhile, so I'd forgotten how great it was.

I started it at 9:30am with frozen chicken breasts, set it on low, and it was good to go by 5:30pm. Made the house smell amazing too. :)

Crockpot Swiss Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:
6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
2 cups stuffing mix (flavored stuffing makes it awesome)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
Directions:
1. Lightly grease or spray crockpot
2. Place chicken breasts in crockpot. Top with a cheese slice.
3. Combine soup and milk, stirring well. Spoon over cheese.
4. Sprinkle with stuffing mix.
5. Drizzle melted butter over stuffing mix.
6. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours or high 4 to 6 hours.

ENJOY!! You can thank me later. :)

Best Video Ever

2011-11-15T17:06:00.001-08:00

Three Videos

2011-11-15T12:27:00.000-08:00

This is all I can do these days...videos. So I hope you like them!

First, (and I know it's dark) we have Diesel. We recently got a new bed and it's a lot higher than our old one, so Diesel can't get up there on his own. Heaven forbid I forget to put him up there when I'm up there. The whining doesn't stop.

Next is Sutton being a weirdo and moving his highchair backwards. He's recently discovered this maneuver and thinks he's so smart. Then he hears an airplane and starts waving at it.

And lastly, another dance to Backyardigans. This one is way better than the last one I showed you.

Favorite Show

2011-11-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

Let me first start this post by telling you what's going on in our neck of the woods.

Monday and Tuesday, we had some crazy awesome rain, and even a little snow! Monday evening, I found that the basement was a little wet and just assumed that it was a minor leak from all the rain. Tuesday morning, Adam got up and found two of our basement rooms flooded and also found that there was no water pressure from any of our faucets throughout the house.

Long story short, our main water line broke.

Wonderful.

Adam stayed home from work to try to clean up all the water with his dad, plus he was sick, so he tried to get a nap in too. Rough day!

The plumber isn't able to come fix the pipe til tomorrow, so we've been without water since Tuesday. Showering at my in-laws and using water out of jugs to brush our teeth has been quite an adventure. And our house smells less than fresh. Ugh. I went to McDonald's this morning to use the restroom, ha!

Anyway...at least I've been working a TON lately so we have a little money that we normally wouldn't to use for the repairs. Look on the bright side, right? :)

On another topic...since we don't have a TV, Sutton doesn't know about many shows. We just recently discovered the Backyardigans on Netflix and he LOVES it. Mostly he just loves the opening song, and then he goes and plays during most of it, randomly dancing when they start singing again. Funny boy. I got a little video this morning of him being enthralled... (I think he bit his lip at the end and that's why he starts crying.)

My Little Family

2011-11-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

Hi!!

As I previously told you, we had our family photos taken by the lovely Jaclyn Lippelmann last week. I finally had a chance to sit down and edit all my favorites. So here they are!

Sutton didn't give us many smiles, but I was totally okay with it. I know more than to expect my 16 month old to smile for photos, lol. So I love this one despite that:

And this one:

We part our hair the same. :)

The boys goofing around...

I'm so glad she got this one because I LOVE that this is how he holds our hands. He never wants our whole hand, just a finger. :)

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

Is that not the cutest train conductor you've ever seen?

Sunday evening, we took Sutton to trunk-or-treat at a church in Adam's parents neighborhood. (Those aren't bruises, we tried to make him look dirty.)

It was pretty chilly so we had to put on his sweatshirt.

He held onto that cracker the entire time we were out. Never ate it.

Sutton's favorite cousin was WonderWoman.

And his older cousin was BatGirl.

He got lots of candy but no chocolate! Bummer.

I was wearing a long black wig (hence the intense eye makeup) but it got real annoying and I had to take it off.

We tried to take a cousin picture when we were all done. It didn't go so well. Sutton was sick on and off this weekend (not sure if it's teeth or a cold), and he wasn't doing so hot at this point.

Happy Halloween 2011!!

Us :)

2011-11-01T19:19:00.001-07:00

Just one quick one from our session tonight with Jaclyn! We got a ton of great photos, I will hopefully have a chance to post more soon. Oh, and some of Sutton in his CA-UTE Halloween costume. :)

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

Last year, I wanted to take Sutton to a pumpkin patch, but we knew he wouldn't even notice and we didn't end up having time. So this year was his first time to go to the pumpkin patch (and actually, mine too!), and he had a bunch of fun.

My bestie Rachael was in town staying with us this weekend for our friend Natalie's bridal shower that was on Friday night. She hung out with us the rest of the weekend, and went on this little excursion with us. It's always so fun to have her here.

We took lots of photos. :)

After not being too sure about all the people and clinging to his daddy, we climbed through some old tires.

The teeter-totter was a favorite.

The giant slide was probably the adults' favorite. We all took a turn riding with Sutton down the slide.

Sutton loved walking through the paths in the corn maze. He was totally fine just walking ahead of us and leading the way through.

Adam tried taking him into the corn off the path, and Sutton got real upset and made Adam come back out.

So...we were a ways away from this sign and I totally thought it said "Can now" and I couldn't figure it out. Got made fun of the rest of the day...

Next we went over to the actual patch where they have all the pumpkins. There were some haybales that were fun to sit on at the entrance. A lady who worked there got so excited when she found out Sutton's name because she had a father's uncle's grandma's neighbor whose last name had been Sutton. Or something. :)

We found this cute baby growing in the pumpkin patch. We took him home.

Out of all the pumpkins, this was the one Sutton wanted to pick up. It was rotten on one side. We didn't end up going home with any...they'd been pretty picked over by October 29th.

We took a short hayrack ride back to the main area with all the games.

And then we went to pet and feed the goats, which Sutton had a great time doing.

Daddy helped him ride a tricycle, and they almost got ran over by a big kid going WAY over the speed limit.

And of course we had to get a family photo before we left. It was windy. :)

And one with Rachael, Sutton, and me.

We got home and Sutton started acting cranky and tired, I pulled him onto me, and he laid right down and slept there for about 40 minutes. Which NEVER happens anymore. He used to nap on me all the time when he was a baby, but he hasn't for several months now. He felt really warm and ended up having a fever. Most likely from the teeth he has coming in. We gave him medicine and Rachael got some cuddles in while I made dinner. Poor little lamb. After the Tylenol kicked in, he wanted up and was back to walking around and babbling again.

We used a wet washcloth that'd been in the fridge to try to get his temp down, and he would take it from me and start rubbing it on his forehead like I'd been doing. He's so cute.

Sutton's First Haircut

2011-10-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon, my lovely friend Sage came over to our house to trim up Sutton's unruly mop of curls. He looks SO handsome now. Sadly, my photos don't really give the full effect. But it's okay, because I know you've all seen how crazy it was, and I have lots of blog posts from this weekend in the works, so you'll be able to see all angles of the new hair. :)

Here he is with his (and my!) amazing hairdresser! Thanks so much Sage, you did an awesome job as always!

Friends & Dancing

2011-10-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Sutton's friends Reid and Austin came over tonight so Audra and I could hang out and the boys could play. They had a great time!

And then he was watching some movies on YouTube and he really got into it. Notice the crazy hair that's getting cut tomorrow. When I showed him this video on my phone, he started dancing to himself dancing, haha.

Sutton { 16 Months }

2011-10-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

Oh, Sutton. This is all I could get from you this month:

I tried real hard too. This may be a two-person job from now on. Ah, well. SUTTON! At 16 months:

*You're getting more words. Dada, mama (sometimes), cracker (a new one), water, blankie, uh oh, Diesel.

*You love crackers and fruit and yogurt and Teddy Grahams. You also love sharing our drinks and drinking out of a real cup without a lid.

*You are pretty stinkin' awesome and cute, but you LOVE to throw fits. Ugh. It's frustrating. You'll throw one at the drop of a hat. Or even sometimes for absolutely NO reason. You're real stubborn and have been known to sit in one spot crying for almost an hour before giving in and doing what you're told.

*Your Japanese is improving every day. :)

*You're pretty obsessed with your blankie and pacifier. Mostly the latter at nap time and bed time, but you love your blankie all the time.

*You understand so much of what we say. Today I asked you where your pacifier was, and you led me all the way into the bathroom and over to the tub. You'd thrown it in the tub earlier and had remembered! I was so proud. You often find your shoes for me when I ask you where they are.

*You love being upside down and being tickled under your chin. You just giggle hysterically.

*There is a definite order-of-events when you're tired. You get giddy and delirious and laugh at the weirdest things right before you get soooooo cranky that you just can't even handle it.

*You're still obsessed with airplanes. We have to stop what we're doing every time you hear one we have to stop to look in the sky. We have a box from one of your Daddy's RC airplanes in the patio room that has pictures of airplanes on it, and you always have to stop and point to them all when we pass by.

*You like to plan ahead. When you're about to go down steps, you lay on your belly about half a mile away from the step and scoot all the way backwards to it. If we're sitting on the floor and you're going to sit on our lap, you stand about 10 feet in front of us, turn around so your back is to us, and back into our lap. You also open your mouth wide about 10 seconds before you actually get your cup up there to take a drink. Pretty darn hilarious.

*You're still taking two naps a day, but I'm thinking those days are numbered. We've had a few one-nap days here and there, and sometimes at least one of your naps is pretty short. You've slept in late a few days lately, which I've greatly enjoyed although it makes me freak out a little and want to come check on you.

*You really really love being outside. If we're outside and you're whiny, I ask you to go find me a stick and that always works. Apparently you just need a purpose.

*You have a funny habit of opening your mouth and tilting your head to one side when you run. It probably shouldn't be called running but I think that's what you're trying to do. When you get excited, the mouth is always open. Sometimes you pant too.

*You love your cousin Breegy. She loves you too. You two get along so well and she has even taught you some things! Like when you saw her painting a pumpkin, you grabbed a paintbrush, dipped it in paint, and put it on your pumpkin. I can't believe what a little sponge you are.

*Since we had to stay with you in the hospital a couple weeks ago when you got croup, we know that you weigh right at 24 lbs. You wear 18 month size clothes though some of that is still big. You're evening out! You're getting so skinny. You wear size 4 diapers still.

*Bath time is (cross your fingers) getting better. After I strip you down, sometimes you try to get into the tub yourself. You're still always pretty glad when it's over but at least you don't scream throughout the whole thing anymore. I try to make it as pleasant as possible and turn the space heater on to make it warm in there.

*You love to go to the park to play but I think you get sad sometimes when you see older kids running and doing things you can't do yet. It's okay, we'll get there soon. You love the swings and sometimes leaving them causes a meltdown so we try to leave those til last.

*My days of getting any work done while you're awake are most definitely over. House work AND work work. I'm struggling with that. A lot. It's probably my biggest struggle right now. Hopefully I can figure out this working mom thing. I think it's harder since I work from home. Thus why I'm up at 12:22 in the morning blogging... :)

I love you sweet boy! You and your daddy are the loves of my life and you amaze me every day. YOU. ARE. AWESOME.

Two Years Ago

2011-10-24T09:11:00.001-07:00

Two years ago today we found out that we were pregnant with Sutton! So much life has happened between then and now, it's crazy.

Little man is also 16 months old today, so hopefully we'll get a chance to take some photos one last time before the big HAIRCUT!

Chair Re-Do

2011-10-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here's my biggest and best project yet. (But don't look too close.) :)

And I gotta throw a funny one of Sutton in here. Adam's mom found this velour track suit for him and he's wearing it this morning on a run with his Daddy.

Video Extravaganza Part 2

2011-10-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

Last week I was at the hardware store, and Sutton decided he needed to buy some things. Sorry for my finger being in the way part of the time.

Sutton's cousin Breegy came over last week and they were chasing each other all over the house. Sutton thought it was sooooo funny to block Breegy in the hallway.

I had parked the vacuum in Sutton's reach and he jumped on that opportunity.

Last night, he was having trouble going to sleep, so we got him out of bed and played him some nursery rhymes on youtube. He likes to dance to them. :)

Meeting Ezra

2011-10-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

That kinda sounds like a movie title, doesn't it? Sweet.

Well, the day after Ginger's little baby Ezra was born, we went back to the hospital so I could see him and Ginger again, and so Adam and Sutton could meet Ezra.

I took a photo of Sutton in the elevator because I thought it was cute that it was his first time in a hospital/elevator. Little did we know...

When I was holding the baby, Sutton wanted nothing to do with me. When Adam was holding him, Sutton wanted me. After we handed Ezra back, Sutton was really clingy. There was definitely some jealousy going on.

I tried to get a photo with the two of them but Sutton wasn't having it.

We finally got him to look at the baby and touch his hand while Adam was holding him. We decided that no one in this family is ready for another little one quite yet. No matter how cute they are. :)

Our Hospital Adventure

2011-10-17T20:43:00.001-07:00

Many of you may have read on facebook/instagram that we had quite the scare this weekend with Sutton. Figured I'd write out the whole story here.

Saturday evening, we put Sutton to bed and he was completely fine except for a runny nose, but kids have those all the time. He woke up once with a hoarse cry around 9:00 so I went and rocked him a bit and laid him back down. Adam and I watched a movie, and just as the end credits started to roll around 11:15, Sutton woke up crying and hoarse and couldn't calm down.

He was struggling so hard to breathe and I was scared his throat was closing or there was something in his lungs, he just sounded so horrible. Adam ran out to the store and got saline for his nose and an aspirator, but those didn't do anything. We gave him ibuprofen, sat with him outside, sat with him in the bathroom with a hot shower running for steam, but he was feverish and the hot bathroom just made it worse.

Adam and I traded off trying to calm him while the other one Googled his symptoms. I finally figured out from what I was reading online that it was croup. I made an off-handed plea for advice on facebook, and a girl I know said something about if his chest was caving in when he was trying to breathe, that he definitely needed to see a doctor. We felt his chest, and it was definitely caving in, so after 2 hours of crying and struggling to breathe, we finally decided to take him in.

On the drive there, we were still questioning whether or not we were overreacting, so Adam suggested calling my BFF Rachael who is a NICU nurse in KC. She works nights so I figured she would either be awake and working at 1:15 in the morning, or would answer anyway since it was me calling. She answered and was actually awake at the hospital, but not working...her sister-in-law was in labor. She heard Sutton wheezing and immediately asked "Is that Sutton?!" I told her what was going on and she confirmed that we should definitely take him in because he needed help breathing.

We got to the ER on the west side of town and they heard how bad he sounded, so before we even filled out any paperwork, they took us to a room and started a breathing treatment on him. I laid on the hospital bed with Sutton on my chest and he just started calming down and breathing easier almost immediately when they gave him the racemic epinephrine.

They said that typically, they just do a dose of steroids for croup. But Sutton sounded so bad, that they decided they needed something that would act faster and gave him the epinephrine. The down side to that was that it can elevate the heart rate, so he would need to be admitted to the hospital and watched overnight. After the breathing treatment, they gave him the steroid mixed with apple juice (which he didn't take willingly). They left us in the room while they called over to the big hospital to arrange for a room and transportation for him.

Meanwhile, Sutton was exhausted from being up so long in the middle of the night, but he was in an unfamiliar place and was just really upset. We tried giving him a popsicle, but he didn't want it. So we got a cup of water with a straw (his favorite) and he drank a few big gulps and then we turned out the lights and I laid down with him and he fell asleep.

Due to liability issues, we couldn't drive over to the hospital ourselves, so an ambulance came to get us. Adam went home to pack a bag for us and to bring our car to the hospital and Sutton and I rode in the ambulance. They strapped his carseat to a stretcher for the ride, which was really hard for my heart! He was just so little on this big stretcher. He was so tired that he didn't mind that I wasn't holding him, and he fell asleep in the ambulance.

One of the paramedics that rode with us and checked all of Sutton's vitals on the ride happened to be our pastor's son who we've known for several years. He'd seen my facebook status and then Sutton's name on the order, so he figured out it was us before he'd gotten to the ER. It was nice to have a friendly, reassuring face during the ambulance ride.

I took some photos with my iPhone to document Sutton's and my first ambulance ride. Here'd Jared checking him.

Snuggling with his blankie...he fell asleep right after this.

When we got to the hospital, they took us up to the peds floor and into our room. They hooked Sutton up to monitors to keep track of his oxygen levels and heart rate. After Adam got there and all the initial checking in and talking to nurses and doctors, we laid him down in the horribly scary looking crib and he went right to sleep.

Adam and I got to share a tiny hospital bed to try to get some rest. We finally laid down about 4am. Sutton woke up around 7:15 and was a little scared about where he was. Breakfast wasn't delivered for another hour or so, so he got some crackers and a banana Adam had packed.

We did two more breathing treatments Sunday, and a lot of waiting. They would come in every now and then and listen to his lungs and everyone kept saying that it was all up in his throat, not his chest. That his throat was still pretty swollen/inflammed, and that the croup might flare up again and be as bad as it was at the beginning. He got some Tylenol too, but hated that.

After awhile, a lady came it to ask what kind of toys Sutton would like to play with while we waited in that tiny room. So he got a few balls, some bubbles, and some random (safe) medical supplies to play with. He felt like the cords attached to his foot were a huge pain and got mad at them. We ended up unplugging them after awhile because he was acting completely like himself and we weren't too worried.

He ate really well the whole time we were there. After his crackers and banana, he had eggs and a little grits for breakfast. Adam ran out to Panera to get us breakfast, and Sutton ate some of our yogurt parfait too. For lunch, he got roasted chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, peaches, and a roll. He ate a pretty good amount before refusing any more and putting his pacifier back in. :)

We waited and waited to be discharged after the doctor finally came in around 1pm to check him and talk to us. A lot of miscommunication going on at that hospital. Ugh. Sutton found ways to entertain himself while we waited.

We finally got to leave around 3pm, and since he'd been up most of the night and had only had a few short naps, he totally crashed once we were in the car.

They told us the croup could flare up again that night, and actually they shouldn't have discharged us Sunday, we should've stayed another night, but that's a long and annoying story.

Anyway, we'd been told that cool air helped, so we took Sutton out for a walk yesterday evening when it started getting close to bed time. We walked for about 30 minutes and then decided to head home and switch to a different stroller that reclines more so he could sleep in it. I stayed home to try to get some work done, and Adam walked with him for about 2.5 hours, while he slept the whole time. He finally texted me late and asked for a cheeseburger and drink and to come pick him up from a parking lot he'd been walking around that is about a mile from our house. While Adam ate in the car, I did a few more laps in the parking lot before we loaded Sutton into the car and headed home.

When we got home, he seemed pretty wide-eyed and happy, so we let him play until he started acting drowsy and put him to bed late. We bundled him up and opened his windows and had a humidifier by his crib, and he slept clear through the night without a peep! We were so surprised, and SO thankful.

Tonight I decided to take him on another walk after dark so he could breathe in the night air. I put his hat on, and stuffed bunches of blankets around him.

He fell asleep after about 10 minutes. So I walked to McDonald's and got a drink, I even went inside and he didn't wake up. We walked home and I parked the stroller in the garage and even with the bright light in there, he still didn't wake up. I let him sleep there for a bit before getting him out and letting him play and have his bedtime snack. He's been in bed for about an hour now, and is doing okay so far!

Such a scary thing to have your baby be so sick and to feel so helpless. I'm glad the doctors were able to help him feel better and that he seems to be doing so much better today. Adam is a great dad and took the day off today to be with us at home and make sure the little guy was really taken care of. Love my boys more than words can express!

End Table Makeover

2011-10-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

My second piece of furniture to re-do was a bit more challenging than the first, but still pretty easy! I just scuffed up the finish on the original, did a coat of primer, two coats of red paint, and a top coat, and affixed a new handle (which...looks upside down but functions better this way, so who knows). Here's the before and after:

Why did I choose red? Well, my living room is shades of brown (which is so unlike me) with red accents (more like me). This table is setting in my living room and looks fabulous. I even got super inspired, pulled out my sewing machine that I had never used and had gotten at our wedding and made a red pillow! I'd show you a picture but it's just a red pillow. :)

Ezra Cole Skillen

2011-10-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ginger had her baby early this morning! I had the privilege of going to the hospital to take photos of everyone lovin on the new baby BOY and also of Avery meeting her new little brother. Sutton's giving me a run for my money right now :), but I figured I at least had to post one photo.

Congratulations Ginger, Joe, and Avery. You have a precious little boy!

Buildin' Stuff

2011-10-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in that video from the last post, ~~we're~~ Adam's Dad is renovating our shop in our backyard. It's getting SO pretty. I'm loving it. I've taken bunches of photos of the process and will do a big post about it when it's done. Yesterday Sutton and I were in there and he just got to work.

Please excuse the spaghetti stains on his shirt (reminds me of that song "Barbeque stains on my white t-shirt..." I hate country music, by the way). :)

He really needed to clamp some things.

I *think* I've finally convinced Adam to let me cut Sutton's hair! He's not happy about it, but he's not gonna stop me. When it finally set in that I'm actually gonna cut off those cute curls, I got a little teary and now I'm putting off making the appointment! See, I act all tough, but when it comes down to it... :)

And a cute one of Sutton helping his Grandpa Ed.

And in other news....GINGER IS HAVING HER BABY IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS!!!!! She's having a c-section in the morning. I'm heading to the hospital afterwards to take photos of the new little one meeting his/her big sister. I can't wait! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An Evening with Sutton

2011-10-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Sutton and I went to the park tonight while Daddy was at class and I got a video of him and his newly discovered method for going down the slide.

And check out his big smile on the swings. He loves swinging and had to swing in EVERY SWING on that part of the park before moving on.

Then we came home and played in the driveway, as is the norm these days. He wants to be independent, but needs to constantly be watched, so we sit on the front porch steps while he walks around gathering sticks and pointing out airplanes. I got a few photos of the fast little booger as he was exploring.

He's been doing this a lot with his tongue lately. Not sure what that's about...

Will somebody please tell this baby's Daddy that he NEEDS a haircut?!

The next three are a series. He was "getting me," and they get blurry because my camera just couldn't keep up with his incredible speed. :)

Then he decided he needed to go under the car. And he got stuck, so I had to go rescue him.

We moved on to the backyard so the puppies could join us. He found a random airplane (why do we always have random airplanes lying about?) and played with it for the next 15 minutes til I told him it was time to go in.

Then he had some important business to attend to in my office.

Taking some notes...

Thinking about important things.

Busy night! I try to keep busy while Adam's away so we don't miss him as much. Maybe next week we'll go on a Mommy-Baby dinner date after the park. :)

I'M NOT PREGNANT :)

2011-10-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

I just realized that the photo I'm about to post will probably make it seem like I'm pregnant, so I thought I should nip that in the bud and make it abundantly clear in my blog title that I'm not. :)

I've had several friends recently announce that they were pregnant, and so I've been seeing lots of sonograms. The really early sonograms always make me think back to one of our first ones with Sutton, where he looked like a teddy bear.

I seriously laugh outloud when I see this. Can you believe that little nubbin is our Sutton bear?

We don't plan to have another baby for awhile, but I'll keep you updated. :)

I'm going to *try* to remember to take some new photos of Sutton today because I know this blog's been majorly lacking new material lately. We plan on going to the pumpkin patch this weekend, so I'm sure we'll take some there if nothing else!

Woofstock 2011

2011-10-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday was pretty much the perfect day in my books. After a long, exhausting week of work, I didn't have any shoots all weekend! It was heavenly to have no work and be able to relax (aside from editing photos during nap times) for once.

So Saturday after Sutton's morning nap, we fed him and headed over to Woofstock. For those of you who don't know, it's a little festival at Sedgwick County Park that's geared towards dogs and dog-owners. There are lots of booths you can walk around and look at, shop, and let your dogs try dog beds and test out tennis balls. Our local radio station 105.3 The Buzz (my fave) puts it on, so they emcee and have contests and music too.

We hadn't gone the past few years because I've had weddings, so it was fun to go again. Sadly, we did not bring our puppies (gasp) as we felt it would've been tough to wrangle two dogs and a kid who wants to walk but needs lots of help, especially on uneven ground.

I think we've officially out-grown onesies and are in real shirts now. Another milestone. Sigh. Sutton loved walking around and pointed out ALL the dogs so he could make sure we saw them. He calls puppies "da-DEE!"s.

One of the rows of vendors. On the other side of these tents there were dog runs where you could race your dog against other people's. We decided our dogs would fail miserably because Sadie would get distracted by all the people and Diesel would want to sniff everything along the run. And he's fat.

We met this tiny little tea-cup chihuahua whose name was...Sadie! Polar opposite of ours. Sutton thought a dog that tiny was pretty fun.

Then we met two big dogs that were really furry. He wanted to talk to them, and he kept sticking his hands in their mouths. Luckily they were really nice and laid back. So were the owners.

There were lots of dogs in Halloween costumes. We saw several tutus and some top hats. We also saw some Dobermans that were Axl's coloring and very pretty. It was weird to see Dobermans whose ears stand up like they're supposed to since Sadie's weren't fixed properly and flop down all the time.

And the whole reason we went...I got to meet Kellie Rasberry! She is one of the DJs on the morning show I listen to - Kidd Kraddick in the Morning. I can only listen to it on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I'm working and don't have Sutton (I stream it through my computer), but I've been listening to it since my college days when I mowed and trimmed lawns at a nursing home (weird, I know). The show is based down in Texas and they get all kinds of celebrities and I totally felt weird that I know everything about her and she wouldn't even remember me 2 seconds later. Oh well. She liked Sutton's strawberry blonde hair since she's a redhead. :)

So to finish up our perfect Saturday, we spent the rest of the day just hanging out with no obligations, had Panera for dinner, and took a trip to Lowe's for some of the supplies for our many house projects. Today we rearranged our living room and gave our house a good cleaning. We had lunch with my parents, supper with Adam's parents, and took another Lowe's trip in between. Great weekend! Feeling very blessed.

Video Extravaganza

2011-09-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

Feel free to skip this post if you're not a grandparent, uncle, aunt, or someone else who is as obsessed with my baby as I am. :)

I've taken a lot of videos of Sutton in the past two weeks, so I thought I'd share them all in one big video extravaganza post.

First, we have Sitting on a Box:

Next is him enjoying his Slide. Over and over and over. Also notice his smacking noises as he's going up the back each time:

He really wanted to get his Daddy's attention since he could see him through the window. So he stood on the table, Smacking the Window:

"Talking" during dinner. There aren't any real words in here. Just his baby babble. And watching his puppy chase a fly:

This is the Sutton original dance move. He loves dancing lately, and it's always the same arm movement when he hears music. He even danced to me singing today. Dancing and Talking:

Saying the two Animal Sounds I mentioned in yesterday's post:

And we try again in Animal Sounds 2. He gets really into the sheep one here:

Sutton {15 months}

2011-09-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

15 months?! I feel like I've prepared myself for you being every other month, but 15 crept up on me. Do you have wrinkles too? :)

Sutton, at 15 months:

*You're walking like a champ, you hardly crawl at all anymore.

*Your hair is so long and curly but Daddy insists we can't cut it.

*You just learned where your belly button is.

*Your vocabulary hasn't increased much since last month as far as what you can say, but you understand so many more things now. You say water, blankie, uh oh, dada, all gone, hi, airplane (in your own way...) but you understand hungry, truck, puppies, shoes, upstairs, outside and lots more. This is such a fun age, teaching you new things and seeing you learn so quickly!

*You babble all the time in your made up language. Still sounds Japanese. ("Goya, goya?")

*Just today, we started working on animal sounds and you're picking it up really fast. You're repeating "oink oink" and "baaaaa" really well, so we've been doing those over and over all afternoon.

*Anytime you hear an airplane, you have to look in the sky for it, or look out the window. So glad we live in the air capital.

*One of the things I really want to remember about this age is our walks. We've been going on walks (just the two of us) in the mornings lately, and we always have to stop when you hear an airplane and I point the stroller so you can see it. We watch it go by, then we keep on walking.

*You're a very stubborn little guy. Lots of fits and tantrums. Usually when they're bad, it just means you're tired.

*You still take 2 naps a day. Your morning one is usually 2 hours or less after you get up, and then your afternoon one is 2-3 hours after you get up from your morning one. You can usually last for a little longer in the evenings, but yesterday you had 3 naps again because you couldn't quite make it til bedtime.

*Your favorite foods are mac n' cheese, animal crackers, puffs, grapes, yogurt. We might be phasing out of the goldfish.

*You're getting so skinny, but you eat a ton. And you still have your squishy cute thighs and arms. Love those.

*You LOVE drinking water. You drink so much of it every day. I should take a cue from you.

*I can't really go grocery shopping with you anymore. Unless I bring a snack. So I usually have to plan it at snack time, and that doesn't always happen, so sometimes you get an extra snack on grocery days. If you don't have that to keep you busy, you're constantly standing up in the cart (which you think is hilarious) and then you hug me and hold on...it's really hard to push a cart while you're doing that. On our last grocery trip, you said "HI!" to every single person we saw.

Ohhhh...the gap-toothed grin. Haha.

*If we're eating and you see it, you have to have some of our food. Or at least you think you have to. So sometimes we have to go hide from you if we're eating. :)

*You're becoming more independent and at the same time you have your little bouts of "needing" us. You will lean towards other people when they hold out their hands to hold you, you'll go toward them if you're walking. You play by yourself all the time, especially if we're in the basement (you just love it down there) or outside. But if you're tired, you screeeeeeam to be held and cling to my legs. And when I drop you at daycare, there's a bit of separation anxiety even though you LOVE playing with all the kids there.

Gotta put those sticks into the neighbors' yard.

*You're in size 4 diapers, though we could probably go up to a 5. You wear 12-18 month size clothes...the bigger ones fit over your head better, so that's what you wear mostly.

*You sweat constantly, and I'm cold normally, so I'm always having to dress you cooler than me.

*You look best in blues and whites and some shades of green. Though really, you're cute in everything.

*You love being outside. We spend lots of evenings on our driveway (since the backyard has dog poop and the cement of the driveway is easier for you to walk on). You walk all around the driveway, picking up sticks and throwing them. Sometimes we'll take your 4-wheeler out there and you ride around on that. You always gravitate towards the street, so we're trying to teach you that that's off limits. You scream when it's time to go back inside.

The overalls shoot came about because I was going to clean your closet out...well, get all the clothes that were too small out at least...and I found these overalls that I'd totally forgotten about. SO CUTE! I prayed that you hadn't outgrown them before we even used them, and you haven't! They fit you and are just a tad big, so we'll definitely be rockin these this fall. Maybe I'll make your Halloween costume around them?

The closet didn't get cleaned, by the way. :)

Love you sweet baby!

Piano with Avery

2011-09-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

Today Ginger and Avery came over for a lunch and a little play time. Not sure how much more we'll be able to see each other before her little baby comes! Avery was so excited to play our piano, and Sutton just stood next to her for the longest time watching before he decided he wanted to play too.

Black and White

2011-09-22T15:38:00.001-07:00

Pardon me while I cry a little because he's already older than he was when I took this 30 minutes ago. I can't handle the cuteness.

More to come from our overalls photo shoot...

Balancing and Belly Laughs

2011-09-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

I blog about all the fun, cute, awesome stuff Sutton does, so in the spirit of keeping it real, let me just tell you...he's in a bit of a difficult phase right now. He throws lots of fits, disobeys all the time, and really likes to hit.

But I love him. And we're working on it. :)

I got a couple videos yesterday of him being super happy and fun. So here you go:

You can see a little bit of the whininess coming out in this one:

Spoon!

2011-09-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Sutton's been trying to use his spoon himself during mealtimes lately. He knows what he's supposed to do, he just can't quite make it happen. And, after a long wait, and after I do the sign for it (thanks for teaching him, Becky!), he finally says "All done!"

Wire Stand {My First Project}

2011-09-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

Since I'm a photographer, you all may think that that means I'm creative in other areas, crafty even.

I AM NOT.

I wish I was, but it's just not a skill I have. My dream is to find something I'm really good at making and to open an etsy shop and make millions, but I don't see that actually happening.

In my pursuit of furthering this skill, I have been given several pieces of furniture that I plan on refinishing. We're 1 for 1 so far. I started small and easy. It's a black wire stand. Required no sanding, no priming, just needed a punch of color...and 2 coats of spray paint did the trick.

Before:

After:

Just a fun, bright teal since that's one of my business colors. And below, you'll see it serving it's purpose: holding my photo sleeves and mailing supplies in my office. I thought about doing the "dipped" look and dipping the legs in bright green or something up to the bottom shelf, but I think that's a little ambitious of me at this point. :)

State Fair 2011

2011-09-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Not quite sure why, but I love the state fair. It's so dirty and Kansas-y and full of questionable people, but I love it. Maybe it's just the time of year, maybe it's that I know I get to spend a few hours with Adam doing nothing but indulging in fair food. Who knows. It's fun.

And Sutton actually enjoyed it this year! Several people asked us if this was his first fair, and we said no, it was his second but that he was really little the first time around. I remember last year, hoping that this year he'd be able to do more. We've still got a ways to go, but he made the fair so much more fun than it's been in the past years.

(Disclaimer: All pictures were taken with our little point-and-shoot because it's SO much easier to carry around, but looking at these kind of makes me want to scratch my eyes out because I had no control over the exposure.)

Had to have our pre-fair snack of goldfish. Just readying the tummy.

It was a lot colder this year than last. And a little rainy. For those of you who aren't from Kansas, it cooled down from 100 degrees last week to about 59 this week. I guess I shouldn't be surprised...after all, it IS Kansas.

We first stopped at the indoor food court to feed Sutton his (non-fair-food) lunch. He kept giggling during lunch...he was just excited to be there, I guess.

My first purchase, the annual bierock.

Adam got things started off with a slice of pepperoni pizza.

Sutton was enjoying his mac n' cheese.

Then we walked over to the livestock area. I hadn't been here in past years - I didn't even know where it was! But we wanted to be sure to go there this time since we knew Sutton would like seeing the animals.

Umm...weird.

Then it was over to the petting zoo. Another new thing for us. Sutton had fun petting all the animals.

Can I just say that I have the most attractive husband in the world? And now that he's a Dad...oh my gosh...it's all over. I'm just smitten. :)

Teeny baby goats cuddled together for warmth. They are not yet trained up in the ways of the world, they weren't begging for food like the older kids. (Haha, get it?)

This baby piglet was TINY. You totally can't tell the size here, but take my word for it. There were two others to the right sleeping under a heating lamp, so they must've been pretty new!

The camel tryin to give me a smoochie smooch.

This one had its tongue sticking out the whole time.

See?

Then it was time for more food. Fried cookie dough! Holy cow. SO GOOD. But they gave me three cookies and after two, I was done...they were just so rich. Adam got some roasted corn, but that picture must've somehow got deleted. Sad.

Then we had to make a stop at the John Deeres so Sutton could climb around a little. We decided to make this photo a tradition. So here he is last year at the fair, and this year!

Had to test out the hot tubs.

Enter the caramel apple. This was his FAVORITE. He was begging for a bite, so Adam let him try it, and he couldn't get enough. We had no idea how crazy he'd go over this. Adam ended up eating most of the caramel off and then just giving the rest to him.

Lol. So I know this is an unattractive picture of him, but it made us laugh so I had to post it. GET IT SUTTON!!

He honestly, held onto the apple on the stick for the next hour until we left. I had to pry it out of his hand in the carseat on the way home and he got real mad but he was making a huge mess and it was turning all brown and gross.

Our little family at the fair! Such a fun day and fun memories. Can't wait til next year when Sutton can try more of the food and get really excited about all the animals. (Please notice he's still holding the apple.)

Ginger's Belly

2011-09-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

As usual, I'm just working away these days so I apologize for the lameness. In addition to all my photo work, we have some awesome new house projects in the works to make it more photo-business-friendly. I'm sure I'll blog about those soon!

Last night I got to photograph my dear friend Ginger's belly! She's expecting her second little baby on October 14th. She and Joe have NOT found out what they're having, and I just can't imagine. They have such self-control. :) At the end of her session, we had to re-create a picture from my pregnancy when she was all skinny. Payback. :) Thanks to Ginger's mom Barb for taking the photo!

Isn't it weird that there are TWO little people in these photos who you can't see, and one of which was our little Sutton-bear that we hadn't even met yet?!

Flying with Dad

2011-09-14T10:09:00.003-07:00

Happy Birthday Grandma

2011-09-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Mom and Sutton's amazing Grandma!

(Disclaimer: Disregard the massive amount of dog nose marks on the window.)

Window

2011-09-08T07:45:00.000-07:00

Sutton gets excited to watch the puppies play outside through our big window in the dining room.

And another boring video for the grandparents. Please ignore my overly excited "HI BABY!" (Who knows.) This is one of his favorite places to play in his room.

Slow Cooker Recipes

2011-09-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

HI!

Miss me?

Life got the better of me again. Alas, I don't have any photos for you BUT, I have TWO great slow cooker recipes for the cookily-challenged out there like me. I've fallen in love with my crockpot. I was inspired by Kelly's Korner Blog's crockpot recipe link up. I fished through the recipes and have tried two that were both awesome. So I thought I'd share.

Salsa Chicken

2 chicken breasts

Taco seasoning

Cream of mushroom soup

1 cup salsa

8 oz sour cream

Put chicken in crockpot, top with seasoning. Mix salsa and soup, and put on top. Cook for 6-8 hours on low. Just before you're ready to eat, add in sour cream and let it get warm. Serve in tortillas, over rice, or in taco shells with lettuce, cheese, etc. We shredded it all up and made kind of a thick sauce/dip/amazingness with it.

Amazing Crockpot Chicken

4 chicken breasts

1 stick butter

1 brick cream cheese

Dry Italian seasoning packet

Put chicken in crockpot, top with seasoning. Put butter and cream cheese on top. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. You'll probably want to mash up the butter and cream cheese at some point. Once again, we shredded up the chicken after it was done cooking and served it over rice. YUMMMM.

You should try them both and YOU'RE WELCOME. :)

I have one more main dish to try (Chicken Tacos) and then a few sides that I might make during the holidays to take to gatherings with family and friends...this year I might actually make something instead of just running to Dillons. I'll try to make my Dad proud. :)

Life

2011-09-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Adam's started classes at WSU for his Master's in teaching, so that means that Sutton and I get some quality Mommy-Baby time while Daddy's gone one evening per week.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: life with this baby is getting so much harder! In a good way, of course.

He's full-on walking now, and he loves to be in my lap. So most of our time is spent with me sitting on the floor playing with him or reading (since we have no TV, shucks), and he walks/crawls around on top of me, onto the furniture, over the dogs, down his slide, behind the couch...and then does it all over again.

Luckily he's still taking two naps each day (though they seem to be getting shorter and shorter), so that gives me a little break.

I'm also having to discipline a lot more. He's becoming a stubborn and defiant little bugger. We've had two time-outs and the biggest issues are hitting (us or the dogs) and throwing his food on the floor. He mostly does the latter because he thinks it's funny when the dogs get his food.

I wouldn't change a thing! I'm amazed every day that this ridiculous baby is mine and that he's so perfect. Just today in the grocery store, a checker couldn't get over how handsome he is, and after she finally asked why he was so handsome, I said "He has a very handsome Daddy." Just gotta get a little bragging in there. :)

In addition to that crazy little man, work has been ridiculous too. Not that you care, but to make myself feel better, here's what I have on my plate right now to get my business up and running again:

-finish tweaking my website and get more photos posted
-design new business cards
-design ads for marketing
-design all new forms (model releases, new client info, print releases, etc)
-decide on and order packaging (for prints, mailers, discs, etc.)
-re-working how I do babies/kids photo shoots with an option of an indoor location

All that in addition to my regular workload, which is stacking up a bit. I've got 7 wedding albums to design, 2 weddings to edit, lots of portrait shoots coming up that will need to be edited, answering emails, and all my bookkeeping stuff.

Phew!

I can't think about it all at once or I'll lose sleep at night.

But...if any of you are interested, you should go check out my new website. Once it's finished, I'm sure I'll post about it again, but I love how it's turning out...so pretty! Click here or on the photo to get to it, and be sure to bookmark ginadreherphotography.com!

The Basket

2011-08-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

A few more from the basket shoot...

We tried using his cute bucket hat that is *almost* too small, but he didn't like that one bit.

Just to show you the extent of the ridiculous hair that I'm not allowed to cut.

And my parents have requested more videos. I'm happy to oblige because I have millions on my phone. :) This one doesn't get good til around 0:25, he always takes a little while to warm up on screen.

PS - I've been feeling weird lately about uninspired posts. I apologize and have all kinds of ideas to begin blogging about once my life and my business settle and calm down a bit. Bear with me!

Baby in a Basket

2011-08-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

Ohmygosh.

Prepare yourselves for cuteness.

I can't even handle it.

The Slide! The Slide!

2011-08-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Going a little video crazy lately, I know. I got a new phone with video capabilities, so it's always with me. Hopefully these are fun for other people to watch. :)

This one's for Auntie Rach and Uncle Matt. The laughing and flailing is pretty tame compared to what he was doing just before I started recording...

Fun with a Laundry Basket

2011-08-28T16:09:00.001-07:00

Sutton { 14 Months }

2011-08-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

You thought we were done with the monthly updates. So did I. But...he's been changing so much lately, I thought it would just be wrong to not document it.

First, I wanted to show you what I have to work with. He has no attention span. Getting him to look at the camera? Good luck. But this shoot actually went well - he didn't try to crawl away. :)

And the photos we got from it:

So at 14 months, Sutton:

*You're starting to talk. Your words include dada (your clearest word, you actually say it TO him), mama (only if you're feeling especially generous, and it's usually only something you yell just to hear your own voice), all gone or all done, water, blankie, hello, uh oh. Most of these you won't say on command, and sometimes we don't realize that you've said a word because you don't articulate very clearly. :) It's mostly just inflection more than actual words, but I can understand you.

*You also like to yell when I yell. Like if Daddy's in the other room and I yell "Adam!" you immediately think you need to yell "AAAH!"

*You mimic everything we do. You love putting our phones up to your ear and saying "Hello?" Come to think of it, you do that with a lot of things that aren't phones, pretending they are.

Such a doll baby. :)

*Your walking is getting better every day! I think we had about 5 steps in a row today, and some of the time you'd stop in between, get your balance, then take another step, stop, etc. We got so proud of you, and then you got so proud of yourself!

*You're ticklish under your chin and on your belly. You have the most awesome belly laugh.

*Your hair is ridiculous but your Daddy won't let me cut it.

*You eat LOTS and all the time. Breakfast is oatmeal and a banana. Lunch and dinner are a protein, a fruit, a veggie, and some yogurt. You get an afternoon and a nighttime snack of goldfish. Even if you've just eaten and you see us eating, you think you need our food. You take out your pacifier and reach for our food and whine when we don't give you any.

*Meal and snack times go like this: we set you in your high chair, you take out your pacifier and have to set it on the table (not on your tray), and we give you your water. You drink your water and then have to set that on the table and THEN you can begin eating.

*Since I've been working out 3 times a week, you've been going to the nursery at the Y. You do really good there and I've seen you crawling around by yourself on their jungle gym thing. The ladies there all know you and you seem like you know them. We've also been able to take you to the nursery at church. Hooray for being able to go to church again!

*You love being at Becky's twice a week while I work at home. I hear good things about you laughing and playing and trying to feed your veggies to Shep. :)

*You're really into cuddling lately. We sit or lay with you on the floor a lot and you like to crawl over to us, lay your blankie on us, and then lay your head on that. It's really cute. You also like back scratches and you LOVE us to play with your hair, it just mesmerizes you.

I was thinking back to how things were a few months ago and how they've gradually changed without me even noticing. You don't ever sleep on me anymore and you used to take your afternoon nap on my chest every day I was home with you. You don't let me hold you like a baby unless you're extremely tired or sick. You're becoming more social with other adults and kids and you used to ONLY want me. I love that you're growing into such an amazing little boy. I miss your baby habits, but hopefully we took enough photos and videos to remember it all.

The Moment We've All Been Waiting For

2011-08-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

These are literally his first steps ever. I can't believe I was videoing. I was mostly just testing out the video on my new phone, and then he WALKED. :) He's done it one more time this weekend. So exciting! He's getting to be such a big boy!

Lens Caps & Airplanes

2011-08-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

The boy was in desperate need of a photo shoot today. He was just looking so cute. I SHOULD be spending this time that he's napping working, but alas, his cuteness overrides my better judgement.

He stole my lens cap, and then he thought I needed it back. I let him keep it.

Look at that baby with his feet crossed and his chubby cheeks + chin.

Uh oh, We lost the bottom lip again.

He really thought I needed the lens cap.

"Mama, don't you need THIS?"

"FINE. I will come make you take it." This was a big deal - he's never crawled in grass before, he doesn't like how it feels.

"Oh wait, I hear an airplane."

"There it is!"

Gotta make the airplane noises.

My sweetiepie looking handsome as ever.

And on another topic...I've lost 6 pounds in the past few weeks! Hooray! I only have 4 more to go til I'm at my college/wedding weight. After I was done breastfeeding, I really was determined to get not only the baby weight off, but also the extra few pounds I'd gained since we got married. I've been exercising three times a week (step aerobics classes at the Y, elliptical, stair stepper), and eating around 1300-1400 calories per day. The Livestrong app is my best friend for counting calories!

The Scoop

2011-08-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

Goldfish: Check.

Water: Check.

Blankie: Check.

I was working in my office at home a couple days ago, and needed to occupy the boy. It was snack time, so I gathered all this things and set him in the Bumbo so he couldn't move. (He can't get out of the Bumbo without help...his legs are toooo chubby.) :)

My office at home.

Did you catch that?

Well, it's true! I've moved my office back home and am in the middle of transitioning back to working on my own, as Gina Dreher Photography.

Technically, I've always been Gina Dreher Photography, just working out of the Gingeroot Studios building, but most people thought I worked for Gingeroot.

I moved all of my office stuff back home two weeks ago today, and I gotta be honest, it feels really good. I'm still keeping my Gingeroot website (along-side my new one) and meeting clients at the studio through November. Why the change? Read on...

1 - Money. Money's usually the culprit. We had a pretty great space for the studio in downtown Wichita, and rent was pretty high. In order to afford to keep paying rent, I would've had to start working more, and I just wasn't willing to sacrifice my time with Sutton and Adam for work. I'm a strong believer that family comes before career.

2 - I'll be able to charge lower prices to my clients. Pricing has always been a struggle for me. It's a hard line to draw because there is so much time, effort, and talent put into each and every photo shoot I do, but often people think "Why is she charging that much to click a shutter...doesn't seem that difficult." HA. Little do you know. That aside, I'm not an extremely wealthy person, so I know what it's like to budget and to have every penny be precious. It's been hard for me to charge the high prices we had to in order to cover studio expenses. My move back home will allow me to lower prices some, which will give me such a peace of mind.

3 - I'll get to have more personal relationships with my clients. I'll start this off by admitting that it was a very awesome thing to have a front desk gal at the studio to field phone calls, return emails, check in orders, and do lots of other little things. BUT it really ended up making my client relationships not as close. I'm excited to be able to have more face to face (er...phone to phone, email to email) time with people and get to know them and their families more!

The transition is and will be somewhat messy and difficult, but I'm genuinely excited to be working at home again, and to kind of re-start this little photography business of mine.

I wouldn't be where I am today without all of my repeat clients, who've become some great friends. If you are ever in need of photos, please keep me in mind! I have no idea how this transition is going to affect my business and income, but I can only hope for the best and trust God with it all. I have such a peace about this decision...I feel like that can only be God telling me this was definitely the right move.

So, just a little self-promotion to end this post. :) I'd LOVE to take your photos. I'll be starting to advertise my lower prices for 2012, and I will be running specials now and again via facebook and Twitter, so be sure to "like" my facebook page by clicking here, and follow me on Twitter - @GinaDreherPhoto.

My new website is in the works, www.ginadreherphotography.com, and will hopefully be good to go within the next week. And you can always reach me via email, gina {at} ginadreherphotography.com, and by phone, (316)619.8536.

If you got through all that, good for you! Thanks for reading and caring, and I hope to snap your photos sometime soon. :)