The Easter Bunny

Drew and I went to the mall with some friends on Thursday, and while we were there, we saw that the Easter bunny was there too. Drew was very excited to go see him. He was so excited that he ran under a rope to get to him before it was our turn, and he ended up in someone else's picture! Drew adored the bunny!

He gave him a bug hug.

Drew was so cute with the Easter bunny. What a funny little guy!

Spring

Spring has finally come to us here in Michigan. We've been enjoying cool, but sunny days.
We went to a nearby park on St. Patrick's Day with our friends, the Scallys. Drew had a great time playing in the rocks with Joseph's bulldozer. It was such a hit that he now has one of his own just like it! Since potty training, Drew has been having trouble keeping his pants up without the extra bulk of a diaper.

Drew has always loved the swings.

Beth's father-in-law came to the park with us. He pushed all the boys on the swings.

We went to McDonald's for lunch after we finished playing at the park. I brought along some cupcakes, which are a St. Patrick's Day tradition from my childhood that I have chosen to carry on for Drew. They are my favorites! My mom posted the recipe here on her blog.

Happy Spring!

Third Birthday Party

Drew's family birthday party was last night. He celebrated with his cousin, Brandon, who turned 13 on Wednesday and Sherry, another family friend with a birthday this week. The party was at Brandon's house.
I apologize for this first blurry photo. It was the best I had to show Drew opening his gifts. Drew was quite spoiled this year by the family. He got lots of trains, a Thomas backpack, an engineer hat, scarf, and whistle, some movies, a Thomas bubble machine, some Moon Sand, an Easter outfit, and a train table! He got right to work playing with his new trains.

His cousin, Danny, who is about 2 months older than Drew, loves Thomas too. They had fun playing with all the new trains.

I made the cake again this year, and I tried to make a little section for each birthday person. Brandon loves to golf, Sherry loves the Red Wings, and Drew loves Thomas. Their loves were each represented on this cake.

Here are the birthday people while we sang "Happy Birthday."

Drew clapped at the end along with everyone else.

Drew got very serious when it came time to eat his cake. In this picture, you can see the big bruise on his forehead. We went out to see Jim at work on Friday, and while we were there, I took Drew to the ladies room to use the bathroom. As we were going in, the door came swinging back hard, and Drew got hit in the head by the doorknob. He cried, and in a matter of about 30 seconds, he had a big, purple knot. The swelling has gone down a lot, and the bruise is fading, but he still looks a little beat up. He also has a cold right now, so his first week of being three has been a bit rough!

Drew loved his cake!

Jim's sister and brother-in-law, Sharon and Larry, bought Drew this beautiful train table for his birthday. Sharon dropped it off at our house yesterday morning so we wouldn't have to take it across town in the rain several times between the store, the party, and back to our house. Jim put it together after work yesterday afternoon, and Drew has been playing with it almost all day today.

The table top is two-sided, and right now, Drew is using the side with grooves cut into it. He can run his trains along in the grooves instead of using his tracks. We can also flip the board and use our tracks on the smooth side.

We are so thankful for the three years that Drew has been a part of our lives, and we are thankful for all the people who love him and are so kind and generous to him. We are very blessed!

Drew is Three!

Yesterday was Drew's third birthday. This year Drew's birthday fell on his favorite day of the week - Tuesday, which is Library Day. Each week, the story time at the library has a theme. This week's theme was birthdays! All the stories were about birthdays, which was just perfect! After the stories, the children got to make birthday crowns.

Drew's friend, Joseph, goes to story time too, and the boys love Thomas. They had fun quizzing each other about the different characters in the Thomas magazines.

We always go to McDonald's for lunch after story time, and Joseph had gotten Drew some presents. I think Joseph was just as excited about giving Drew his gifts as Drew was to open them!

Joseph gave Drew a big Thomas Carnival set, which we set up last night. Drew loves it! He also gave Drew another train and some Curious George socks. After lunch and presents, the boys had fun playing with their trains and climbing around in the play area.

I made Drew's favorite dinner last night - pizza, and Jim's mom came over to eat with us. Drew took one bite. He was just too excited. After dinner, we gave him our gifts, and the gifts that my parents had sent for him. My parents gave him a Thomas place setting, a Thomas game, some books, and some money for preschool curriculum. Drew is very interested in letters, and numbers, and I've decided to get the curriculum and work through it with him at home. We are not planning to home school, but we want to give him a good start in kindergarten in a few years, so we thought we would work on some things at home to prepare.

Jim and I got Drew a Memory game, a Curious George Uno game, a Thomas t-shirt, some Thomas pajamas, a soccer net, and a soccer ball.

Jim's mom gave Drew a Harold the Helicopter (Thomas), which was a big hit! She is giving him another present at his birthday party this weekend.

Jim's mom took us out for ice cream after dinner. We went to Culver's. Drew got a chocolate custard.

Harold got to come along. After we ate, Drew told me he had to go to the bathroom, so I took him, and he went. It was our first public toilet success!

When we got home, we put together the carnival set and the soccer net, and Drew played happily! I think it was a fun day for him, and he is looking forward to his party this weekend. We are having a party with Jim's side of the family on Saturday, and we will also be celebrating our nephew Brandon's birthday, which is today, and another friend's birthday as well.

The "Motorcycle" Ride

It was in the 50s today, so we took Drew out for a walk and tricycle ride before dinner. We told him to put his feet on the red pedals and move them up and down. For most of the ride, he just rested his feet on the pedals and let Jim push him along. He was very focused on his feet. I asked him where he was supposed to keep his feet, and he told me that they were supposed to be on the red "mud puddles."

We stopped to say hello to a little dog.

He liked using his little bell and playing with the streamers.

We had been talking about a tricycle ride for a while, and when we asked him what he has riding, Drew said it was his motorcycle.

Drew turns three tomorrow, and it is hard to believe that three years have gone by so quickly! He is so much fun these days, and he has been making us laugh so much lately with all the crazy things he comes up with. I was able to get a little video from our walk today. Unfortunately, it cut off before he could talk about the "mud puddles."

Potty Training Update and Some Scrapbook Pages

Potty training has been progressing, and it has been taking up a lot of our time. Drew is getting better and better at going potty on the toilet, and we were excited this morning to find that he stayed dry through the night last night for the first time!
I have a few scrapbook pages to share today. This first one is a page about Drew playing with his tool bench - a Christmas gift from Jim's sister and brother-in-law. We love it when he wears the goggles! This page, as well as the others I am sharing today, is based on a sketch from Let's Scrap. This is a page about the snowman we built a couple weeks ago. I have had this snowman paper for a long time, and I was so excited to get to use it!

These are some older pictures (from last Spring) from when we went to see Curious George at the mall. Drew was so in love with George at that time, and he just loved seeing him.

That's all I have to share today. I hope you all have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!