November

In early November, we took a Saturday morning trip to the zoo. Right at the entrance, they had some really pretty fall colors!

Daddy & Sutton checking out the penguins. Sutton said he wanted to sit here and watch them for a long time.

My handsome boy.

Sutton's little buddy Hunter and his daddy Weston came along with us to the zoo that day...I think it was Hunter's first time there.

I mentioned that I got Adam a projector for his birthday. Well, the first night we opened it up, we didn't have any screens to project it on, so they watched a show on the ceiling.

Telling Daddy goodnight one evening and playing with his beard.

Sutton's cousins Aubrynn and Breegan had a joint birthday party at Pump It Up. Sutton had lots of fun, but was still a bit too small for a lot of the inflatables. He sure liked driving around the cars though!

After play time, it was cake time!

The birthday girls:

One day, I decided Coldstone ice cream for lunch seemed like a good idea...and here are the many tries to get a smile from this boy. I was unsuccessful.

I always think our street looks so pretty in the fall. So I finally stopped one day to take a photo of it. Looked so much prettier in real life.

I thought Sutton looked like a little hipster in this outfit.

Just running around our front yard.

My point of view. And this was over a month ago, so you can imagine what it's like now. :)

We got this ad in the mail from a chain photography studio that will remain unnamed. Boasting about "friendly photographers that move" made me laugh.

Just me and my boy.

Ginger and I while photographing our last wedding before my baby gets here!

Daddy made a leaf pile for Sutton. He ran around and jumped in it with only socks and no shoes, which made me cringe, but whatever...

We hung out with Grandma Ancy and Papa Bruce one Sunday evening. Grandma is always so good about playing with Sutton. I like that he can be interested by something like buttons in this age of technology.

Putting on his own shoes.

I was working in my office one morning while Sutton was at school, and these were all things that made it seem so cozy!

Always interesting to see yourself at work...

Sutton trying to feel the baby move.

He's discovered that when the heater comes on in the bathroom, the floor vent will make a balloon float.

We took Sutton to a free train show at a church by our house one Saturday. He loved it. He even got to make a tree! It's now proudly displayed on his headboard shelf.

He likes to cuddle. I like that he likes to cuddle.

Our Christmas tree!

Sutton and I took a trip to Kansas City the week before Thanksgiving to see Rachael, Matt, and Rowan. I picked him up from school and we headed straight out, so he took his nap in the car that day.

Rowan and Sutton were little buddies, but Sutton was very bossy to her. I'm sure that's how it will be when our new one arrives too. Rowan called him "Sut." Cutest thing. She'd walk around saying "Sut? Sut?" when she woke up in the morning before he did. We ended up staying an extra night as a precaution due to some cold/icy weather, so we got to spend 3 nights there! We had lots of fun but sure missed our daddy.

And Rowan is the cutest little thing that ever lived, the end.

When we got home from our trip, Adam had used his free time to completely clean the house, and he even put up a shelf with this little arrangement in our bedroom. The candle was lit and everything when we arrived home. :)

Sutton's favorite movie Planes came out on DVD, so we had a movie night.

He loves to light candles...just like his mama! {Well, he doesn't do the actual lighting, but he likes looking at them.}

My parents watched Sutton so Adam and I could have a date night at the movies. We ate cheese fries and watched the second Hunger Games movie. So good!

I had to document the day that I could no longer fit in my t-shirts and had to start wearing Adam's.

Sutton waiting for his grandma and grandpa to come over to play.

I ordered some prints for our family! Hooray!

Our new nephew Carson Michael was born the day before Thanksgiving! We are so excited. My brother Michael and his wife Sara didn't find out if they were having a boy or a girl, so there was a lot of anticipation. But he's here and he's perfect!

I have 12 nieces and nephews on Adam's side, but this is our first on my side.



Something I never thought I'd see: my brother changing a diaper. :)

                       

                       

Sutton was really cold after his bath one night, so he cuddled up in his bed while I got his jammies ready.

He made this Thanksgiving headband at school and I asked him if he wanted to wear it on Thanksgiving Day. He did. Awesome and hilarious. We also took my weekly belly photo on Thanksgiving Day that week, and Sutton wanted his own belly photo.

After photos, we headed to Hutch for lunch with my family. Sutton couldn't even stay awake on the drive there and it was only 10am!

But he was excited about the food! His favorite was the cranberry jello that my parents make with pieces of fruit all chopped up in it. And a turkey made out of chocolate and cookies.

Our car was having issues, so we had to borrow Adam's parents' car for awhile. One day, Sutton asked for sunglasses while we were driving, but I only had Grandma Janet's in that car. So that's what he wore. :)

Went for a donut date with my little man over Thanksgiving break.

On the way out to the Thankscamping campsite, I saw some wild turkeys.

A few photos of my boys on the last morning of Thankscamping. Sutton slept out in the tent with his Daddy two nights out of the five nights that Adam was out there. I didn't stay out at all, but went out there each evening to hang out and eat dinner that was cooked over the campfire.

Sutton set up the following photo. He told Daddy where and how to stand for this picture. :)

Sutton {3.5 Years Old...And Some Christmas Lights}

I've been meaning to do an update for Sutton at 3.5 years old, but wanted some photos to accompany it. I also wanted to do a shoot with him in front of our Christmas tree this year, so we just combined the two and here we have it!

At 3.5 years old, Sutton...

*You weigh about 36 pounds and hit just below my waist. Some people say you look big for your age, but I think you are pretty comparable to the other kids in your class. But you still have a very large head.

*You wear size 3T clothes. 4T underwear and tighter fitting jammies (like the ones where the pants are leggings).

*You have been potty-trained since just before your birthday in June and we never have accidents (knock on wood). You still wear a pull-up to bed for nap and night time. It's generally dry after your nap but pretty wet in the morning.

*In the last month or two, you have become able to go pee all by yourself. Sometimes you don't even tell us, you just disappear and we'll hear you going in the potty. It's so wonderful that I don't have to drop everything I'm doing to help you pee.

*...but you still need help when pooping. :)

*You sleep from about 8:30 or 9pm to 7:30am. You've always been a good sleeper. We use an "alarm clock" that is a night light...the light turns off at 7:30am so that you know it's okay to get up. You are very obedient when it comes to sleeping and not coming out of your room til your clock turns off. So much so, that when you're sick we have to explain to you that it's okay to come out of your room during the night if you don't feel good and you need us.

*I don't think you wake up much before 7:30am on your own (i.e., you're not just lying in bed forever, waiting for your clock to turn off) because we have to wake you up two mornings a week for preschool around 7:15am, and you're generally still sound asleep.

*You take a 2-ish hour nap around 1:30. Sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. I was worried for awhile that you were going to give it up because your naps got really short. So we moved your bedtime from 8pm to 9pm and that solved all our problems. :)

*Our bedtime routine consists of changing into jammies, reading a couple books in your bed, singing a few songs (Mommy sings you Twinkle Star, I Love You Lord, and Hush Little Baby while Daddy sings Puff the Magic Dragon when it's his turn to put you to bed), praying, and kissing you goodnight. You always go to sleep without a fuss, which I am so grateful for.

*When you wake up in the morning or from your nap, you like to come out of your room, close the door (you always close your bedroom door) and go lay your head down on the couch for awhile before you're fully awake.

*You always eat a waffle or toast with peanut butter for breakfast. And sometimes a banana. The lunch favorite is a meat, cheese, and mayo sandwich. Dinner would probably be mac n cheese or spaghettios. You love apples, grapes, and strawberries. You're venturing out a little and you say you like carrots and broccoli, though it can still be a struggle to get you to eat them.

*You go to preschool on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 8:15am to 11:15am. Your teacher is Ms. Tracy and you love going. You say that you color, dance, sing, have recess, have snack, go to PE, go to Social Group, go to music class. You learn about a different letter each week and always come home with that letter stamped on your hand.

*You are always saying "Say?" You've shortened the phrase "What did you say?" into "Say?" I hear that a million times a day. I think you say it more out of habit than because you didn't actually hear what I said.

*You love all things with a motor: airplanes, helicopters, and race cars are your favorites.

*You love to play the "What Am I?" game that you learned from your favorite show Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. For example you'll say "Ribbit ribbit!" and then I have to guess you are a frog. Then you say "your turn!" and I have to make a noise or describe something that you guess. You could play this game forever.

*You used to be obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and we still watch that show somewhat often, but lately you've been loving Caillou, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and Handy Manny better. We still don't have normal TV, so you just have to keep watching the same episodes over and over on Netflix, but you don't seem to mind.

*You have such a kind spirit. You are not destructive or uncontrollable like a lot of little boys we've seen. Generally, you try to obey what we tell you and you genuinely care about other people. You have your moments of being naughty and not listening, but I feel like for a 3-year-old, you are pretty calm and obedient.

*That said, you love being a boy: running around in circles, making loud race car noises, crashing your cars together, jumping off the furniture. But if we ask you to stop, you do. I make an effort to let you get your energy out in the ways you choose, as long as it's not hurting you or anything else...even if it's making a mess or not my first choice of activity.

*You love your Daddy and want to be just like him. We always talk about how you're going to grow tall like Daddy. But you and I have a special connection. You are very attentive and often you'll just come up to me and say "Mommy? I wuv you." and give my leg a hug. I love that you do that.

*You're very aware of the fact that we're having a baby and that me being pregnant limits what I can do. You never get mad when I tell you I can't play on the floor because it's hard for me to get up and down. If I tell you to be careful around my belly, you are. You're SO excited to be a big brother, and you talk about our baby all the time. You say "I'm going to teach our baby all sorts of things! Like how to play with cars and how to crawl..."

*I feel like I have a handle on how to discipline you when we're at home, though Daddy thinks I need to be more strict. Your punishments for misbehaving (which usually means you're not listening, or you talk back) are normally losing a toy, losing TV watching privileges, and time outs in your room. But I don't feel like I have a handle on disciplining you in public. When you act up while we're out, I always get so self-conscious and feel like I don't know what I'm doing.

*You've learned to put on your own shoes (the neon green running shoes with Velcro straps). All we have to do is tell you which foot they go on.

*You love to make silly faces and it's generally hard to get a real smile out of you for a picture because you love to make faces instead.

*You know your full name, how old you are, my first name, Daddy's first name, and that we all have the same last name. You can count to around 15 or 16 on a good day. You know the alphabet. But more than all that, I feel like you comprehend concepts really well. Whenever you ask me a question about how something works or why something is a certain way, I do my best to explain it to you, even if I feel it's beyond what you can understand. Then I ask you if you understand. You usually say you do, though I don't always know if that's the truth. You'll often surprise me by explaining it back to me at another time, or remember things that I totally didn't think you would.

*You love to make people laugh. Just like your dad. You're so funny and keep us on our toes. I'm sure there are a million things about you that I'm forgetting to write down, but at least we got the basics of you at 3.5 years old!

29 Weeks {Baby #2}

How far along? 29 weeks

Weight gain: Don't know.

Baby is the size of a(n): Acorn squash...2.5-3.8 pounds

Food cravings/aversions: MILK. I LOVE MILK. Plain milk is AMAZING when I'm super thirsty (which seems to happen a lot, especially in the middle of the night), and chocolate milk is the perfect drink after supper before I go to bed. Mmm...I'm gonna have to go have some right now.

Sleeping: Lots of turning still due to hip pain, but I feel like I've been sleeping pretty hard. Except Sutton's been sick this week, so that kept us up a bit more than normal. I've been sneaking naps when I can...I've been more tired lately (somewhat reminiscent of the first trimester tiredness) and I got a little over a 2 hour nap yesterday while Sutton was napping. It was glorious.

Milestones: Definitely felt hiccups this week. My belly is to the point where you can just see him move across it all the time without having to feel it. And sometimes it gets really hard.

How I'm Feeling: I threw up this morning for the first time in months. That wasn't fun. I'm hoping that's not a sign of returning morning sickness and it was just a fluke thing. I've been having a lot more trouble at my photo shoots as far as moving around, getting up and down. Afterwards I've been having some pretty bad pain in my belly for the rest of the night. Not sure how this will affect the shoots I have between now and February.

Interesting things that happened this past week/anticdotes: I MAY have had a couple contractions, but nothing that was painful, so probably just Braxton-Hicks. I didn't really have those with Sutton so I'm not 100% sure what they feel like. But it's prompted me to start thinking about getting his nursery somewhat ready and possibly our hospital bag packed just in case he decides to come early.

Adam's 30th Birthday

Adam turned 30 way back at the beginning of November. Some of the moms of his students went all out and snuck in his classroom to decorate it. There was black 30 stuff everywhere...streamers, balloons, the whole nine yards. The night of his actual birthday was a Tuesday, so we just went out to eat at Red Robin with Chad, Tara, & Kohen.

That Friday, we had a few friends over for a costume party. Adam thought it would be a great idea if people dressed up like him. And they did! Ha. Here's Luis as teacher Adam and Val as sporty Adam, with Izzy as an (non-Adam) octopus.



Scott is regular Adam and Ryan was...Adam El Luchador?

Chad, Tara, and Koehn went above and beyond and dressed up as our family. It's Adam, Gina, Sutton (notice the red hair), and even Baby Dreher #2!

And then we took photos in our costumes. Adam was Maverick from Top Gun, and I (once again) was the pregnant cheerleader. Sutton had taken off his Dusty costume at this point.

I got Adam a projector for his birthday that I found an awesome Groupon deal for. He was able to snag some big screens that his school was getting rid of and we mounted one in our basement to watch movies on. For his party, he set one screen up in our garage and hooked up his old Nintendo 64. So that's where the boys spent most of the evening while us girls talked inside.

I got him a white cake with white frosting (think wedding cake) because that's the only cake he likes. Maybe I need to learn to make wedding cake. {Thanks to Tara for these next photos because I totally forgot to take any.}

Sutton was very excited to sing Happy Birthday and help Daddy blow out the candles. Happy 30th Adam! I'll meet you there soon! ;)

28 Weeks {Baby #2}

How far along? 28 weeks

Weight gain: Not sure...if you haven't gathered, I only weigh myself at doctor's appointments.

Baby is the size of a(n): Eggplant, 2.25 pounds

Food cravings/aversions: Junk. Gah. Chocolate, pizza, etc. 

Sleeping: Still lots of turning over, but sometimes it's harder to breathe these days when I turn at night. All my insides get jostled (sorry if that mental image grosses you out) and I think they take up the space where my lungs normally are.

Milestones: I feel that movement is different now. Instead of sporadic kicks all the time, movement is slower and longer and moves my entire belly now. I think this is cause he's already taking up so much room in there!

How I'm Feeling: This pregnancy has been pretty rough on me. I'm trying to stay patient and positive, but I just feel gross most of the time. The biggest complaint at this point is probably the pain I get towards the end of the day on the skin above my belly button. I think it's from the weight of my belly stretching the skin down. So I've been trying to wear my belly brace more, and that helps.

Interesting things that happened this past week/anticdotes: My nephew Carson was born last Wednesday! So fun that these two BOYS will be so close in age. Hopefully we'll get to see lots of each other as they grow up. I have 13 nieces and nephews, but Carson is the first on my side, so it's pretty exciting!