Drew's Favorite Friends

Curious George is Drew's favorite little friend. He likes to take him with us in the car and he always wants George to go to bed when he does.

We tell Drew that George is tired, and he needs Drew to go to bed with him. Drew usually walks right into his room cheerfully and goes to bed pretty easily. I came in to check on Drew before bed one night and found Drew and George sleeping under the covers just like this. I had to run and get my camera to take this picture.

Another recent favorite is Elmo. Jim's sister, Sharon, gave Drew this Elmo Live for Christmas, and he really enjoys playing with him. Drew is always finding Elmo (and George) all over the place - on TV, on different products in the store, . . .

Drew found this Elmo bubble bath at Target the other day, so now his baths even include Elmo. He loves to watch George and Elmo on PBS, and he can say each of their names. It has been fun to see Drew's vocabulary growing every day, and he is constantly surprising us by the things he repeats and the things he recognizes and names. He said his first sentence this past week - "Hi Daddy." when Jim called one afternoon from work.

Things are getting busy around our house as I prepare to go back to teaching on Monday. Jim, Drew, and I braved the cold and snow today to take my things over to the school and get things set up for Monday. I was able to get my desk and gradebook set up and do a little decorating of my own, in addition to what was already there. This week should be interesting as we settle into a new routine.

Lilly Ann

This is a layout I made a while ago using some pictures and mementos of Drew's time in the NICU. Memories of Drew's birth have been going through our minds a lot this week because the circumstances of Jim's new little great niece's birth today were very similar to what happened to Drew and me when he was born almost two years ago. We have been reminded again this week of the grace and protection God showed us both during that time, and we are so grateful for the healthy, happy boy that Drew is today.

Little Lilly Ann Huffman was born this morning by emergency c-section. She weighs 1 pound 9 ounces and is 12 inches long. Andrea, her mom, had preeclampsia, and at 26 weeks, her condition progressed to the point that an immediate delivery was deemed to be the best option for mom and baby. Andrea is doing well, but will have some recovery time ahead of her. Lilly seems healthy, but she will probably have a lengthy stay in the NICU. We are thankful that they are doing well, and we would ask that you continue to pray for their health.

Cider Mill and Sick Babies

Drew and I went to the cider mill this fall with Beth and Joseph and their playgroup from the hospital where Joseph was born. These are some pictures we took that day. I did this layout a month or so ago, but finished it this weekend with some stickers from Nora. Thanks, Nora!

Drew is still sick today. He has had a fever and an upset stomach all morning and is now napping in his bed. We are hoping he will be feeling better soon.

I would also like to request prayer for Jim's nephew, Larry, and his wife, Andrea. Andrea is pregnant and due in April. We don't have a lot of the details, but we found out yesterday that Andrea is at the hospital and having problems with her liver and blood platelet counts. The doctors were trying to strengthen the baby's lungs with steroids and were planning to try to deliver the baby today after another steroid treatment. It sounds a lot like what happened to me when Drew was born, only in their case, it is happening much earlier in the pregnancy. The doctors estimate the baby's weight to be around 2 pounds, and they are giving the baby about a 70% chance of survival. I will update when we hear any news.

Sock Monkeys

I wanted to share these sock monkeys I made as Christmas gifts for our friends' children. This was the first time I had ever made sock monkeys, and I found them to not really be that difficult, but rather time-consuming. I thought that they turned out to be pretty cute, and I hope that the children who received them will enjoy playing with them. I bought a pair of argyle socks to make a monkey for Drew for his birthday in March. I'll try to remember to post a picture when I get it finished.
I have two weeks at home before I go back to teaching part-time for the rest of the school year. This is just a temporary return to school - I am filling in for a teacher who is leaving to have a baby. I will be teaching fourth grade in the mornings and then coming home to spend my afternoons with Drew. This new schedule will be quite different for us, and we are praying that we will all transition well and that this will be a positive experience for our family.
Drew came home grumpy from morning church and napped badly this afternoon. When I got him up from his nap, I noticed that he felt warm. After taking his temperature, I realized that he had a low fever. We will probably be spending a few days at home.

After Christmas

We are back from a week with my family in South Carolina. We had a wonderful time there and a very nice Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Jim's sister and her family here in Michigan (my camera wasn't working, so I couldn't get any pictures of that celebration), and then that afternoon, we left for Greenville, SC. After spending Christmas Eve night in Kentucky, we continued our trip and arrived at my parents' house on Christmas afternoon.

Drew enjoyed a Christmas peanut butter and jelly sandwich while we all ate turkey dinner.

Drew was excited to play with the gifts, even before they were opened.

Nora's puppy, Paisley, loved Drew, and he had fun playing with her.

My dad bought this shirt from the BJ campus store for Drew. It is a 3T, so it won't fit until next year, but we tried it on him anyway.

We got spoiled this Christmas from all of our family, both in South Carolina and in Michigan.

My Parents

My brother, Mark, and my sister-in-law, KatieDad, Jim, and I went to the banana box sale at Save-More on Saturday morning. We were a little late, so we missed the best of the selection, but we filled our box with all kinds of different grocery items, and it only cost $7 for the whole box! If we lived in Greenville, I think we would be regulars at the banana box sales.

Our part of the box

My parents' part of the box. I think we did pretty well for $7!

We got home last night, and today is all about football and trying to get things put away and get our house back to normal after Christmas and a week away from home. After our long drive yesterday, we were too tired to do anything last night to celebrate New Years Eve. We were actually all in bed before midnight!