Day 21: Thankful for Time with Drew

Yesterday evening, Luke took Blake out hunting for a few hours and I got to spend time with just Drew. He, of course, was very upset about not getting to go along with Dad and big brother. He cried his little eyes out until I told him that we could taste some of my birthday cake (even though it was a few days early). We started out just taking bites of the frosting and eventually cut an entire piece. He must get his sweet tooth from his Mama because he loved it.... loved it to the point where he cried AGAIN when the piece of cake was gone! Ha! Gotta love this boy! We spent the rest of our time doing his favorite things - playing trucks, riding Lucky the horse and putting all the matchbox cars into an empty wipes container (over and over and over). Drew is such a laid back, stubborn, loving little man who fills my heart with happiness! I am so thankful for this time to spend with him!

It's been how long??

Has it really been that long since my last post? I'm so frustrated in myself for not documenting the events in our lives. My goal is to try and go back and capture the highlights: Easter, the 4th of July, the boys' birthdays, Blake's 1st day of preschool and so on... In the mean time here are some more recent pictures:

Our family at Nathan and Sadie's wedding in August

Drew enjoying corn from the garden

Blake enjoying the corn (Papa gave us the seeds)

Our only family shot during the boys' birthday party

He mastered the playground this summer!

It took this little man until August to finally warm up to the idea of playing in the water

In Grand Marais for the 4th of July!

Blake taking cousin Croix for a ride!

What a cutie!

Andrew meets Andrew

Every since Andrew was born, we had been wanting to take him to meet the man he was named after - Great Uncle Andrew Tomasoski. In October we got the chance to spend time with Auntie Val and Uncle Andrew. They were thrilled to have us visit and we had a wonderful time! Auntie Val spoiled the kids with candy and $2 bills (she's known for this!). Blake had a blast riding on her "motorcycle" (aka an excersise bike). But mostly we just loved listining to their stories and taking some priceless photos of the two Andrew's who were born some 80 years apart! What a memory! I know Drew will cherish these photos in years to come:

Auntie Val and Uncle Andrew with the boys

The Tomasoski Boys

Such a wonderful day!

Drew was all smiles for Auntie Val

Blake was very generous with the hugs!


Hopefully Baby Drew can grow up to be a fine man like Uncle Andrew

Going, Going, Gone!

Drew has been smiling more and more lately, but the smiles still come and go in an instant. It took me about 25 seconds to take the following pictures and his expressions changed so much during that time!

Going.....

Going....

GONE!


(P.S. Thanks cousin Paddy for the great baseball clothes! Drew loves them!)

Happy 2 Month Birthday Drew!

Wow! I can't believe how quickly the first two months have gone! Everyone says that time goes by so fast when you have little ones, and I couldn't agree more. Drew's second month was filled with:

• Learning how to smile


• Sleeping through the night (only 3 times, but I'll take it!)


• Transitioning into his crib and sharing a room with Blake


• Taking his first LONG car trip to lower Michigan, visiting the Detroit Zoo and "walking" in support of Pancreatic Cancer and in honor of his Great Auntie Rosie


• Visiting with Nana, Papa, Grandma, Uncle Mike/Auntie Elisa, Auntie Kellie/Uncle Jon, Auntie Meagan/Uncle Matt and the extended members of the Horosko and Konopnick families


• Attending his first playgroup - although it's more for Blake as Drew just tends to sleep during it


• Hanging out with Baby Ali and watching as Zoe and Blake run around like crazy


• Venturing to his first County Fair


• Growing out of all his 0-3 month clothes


• Having a well baby check up and getting shots :(


• Eating LOTS!!

Drew is quickly gaining on his older Brother. At his two month well baby visit he was 25" long and weighed an impressive 14lbs 7 oz. Since Blake continues to not make the weight chart we always get a weight on him during Drew's appointments just to be sure he continues to gain. Blake weighed in at 23lbs 7oz (at 25 months). So the good news is that Blake gained 8 oz in the last month (compared with his normal monthly gain of 3oz)!! The funny news is that the boys are now only 9 lbs apart! It's so funny how different the boys are physically!

(Looks like all the pictures appeared at the top of my post.... anyone know how to fix that??)

Eagle River Children's Museum

Blake inside the giant bubble maker

Blake LOVED the train display!

I lost count on the number of times he went down the slide

Driving the Ambulance

Cruising around the grocery store!

One of my goals during my maternity leave was to take some special "day trips" as a family. We decided to take the boys to the Eagle River Children's Museum in late August. The museum was great! There were several activities that were perfect for a 2 year old, along with activities for older kids that we'll be sure to do in the future. As luck would have it, the local news station was there filming a story so Luke and I got asked to share our thoughts on how we balance everything with two small kids and how we make time for eachother and our marriage. Luke quickly declined since he "would have to make something up" :) But I rattled off a few thoughts and then they took some nice footage of Drew hanging out in the Baby Bjorn and Blake and Luke playing around the museum. I'll try to add the link to the news story, but for now here are some pictures of our day!

Drew's Baptism

Drew's Baptism was held on Saturday, August 7th, following the 4:30 pm Mass at Queen of Peace and he was baptized by Father Mike Woempner. We feel so very honored to have our cousins Doug Tomasoski and Kellie Nickovich as Drew's Godparents. Both of their lives are great examples of the Catholic faith and we know they will guide Drew on his journey with Christ. He is blessed to have Doug and Kellie as his Godparents! Drew got to share his baptism with a little cutie, Katie Hartman. She was born in January at only 25 or 26 weeks and is a true miracle. Maybe someday we'll be back at Queen of Peace for a wedding ;)

Doug and Kellie with their Godson!

The whole family!

Introducing...

Andrew Luke Tomasoski! Drew was born on July 14th weighing 9lbs 2oz and was 21" long. I was induced at 6:00 a.m. and he entered the world at 12:23 p.m. The labor was about the same as Blake's, but the delivery was MUCH harder. After struggling to maintain his blood sugar for the first 24 hours Drew is now doing great. He is a chunky monkey and at his 1 week check up was already up to 9lbs 10oz. Big brother Blake is very loving and protective already. He constantly asks about "Baby Dew" (we're working on saying Drew!) and likes to give lots of kisses. Hopefully I will figure out how to post pictures soon! It's only been about 15 months since my good friend Sam created this blog for me :) Here's hoping I can keep it up as I know my mom would love the updates!