Chris and Whit

Obviously this blog is devoted almost 100% to Mr. Drake Weaver, which is just how I like it however; I decided it might be a good idea to jot down a few things about Chris and I for the 2011 book's sake.  So far, 2011 has been a good year for us.  It has been full of changes, another move and a new start at school for me, but all is well and we are happy!

 (This is solely for me, so anyone that may be reading this, please don't feel obligated to read the entire post!  It's long and journaly... beware!)

The quick re-cap:

Back in May, I found out that I had been accepted to the nursing program at Dixie.  It was a really tough decision to make, but in the end we decided to make the move back to STG so I could accept my spot and work towards my nursing degree.  During the same time, Chris was offered the chance to move back to take over the STG market for work, which kind of made the decision to move a no brainer.  We really, really loved living in northern Utah and were super sad to leave.  We loved living so close to the sibs and are seriously missing our Sunday night get togethers.  Luckily, my program is only three semesters long.  Hopefully as soon as I am done, we can move back north and still have the sibs around for a few years!

Going back to school has been bitter sweet for me.  I have known for two years now that this was what I needed to do and getting accepted so quickly confirmed that feeling for me, but man is it hard to leave my boy and be gone so much.  I absolutely love my program though!  All of my professors are amazing, the other people in my class are the very best and I am honestly excited at the thought of being a nurse someday.  I just wish that I would have done this ten years ago.  I know that at the time, it wasn't the right decision for me but I can't help but regret the time I spent pursuing my accounting degree.  Oh well though.  There's nothing I can do about that.  Because my program is pretty demanding of my time, I am constantly taking Drake from place to place.  Fortunately though, I have my family close to help me. I am so very grateful for all of them and truly could not do this without them!  None of them realized that they were signing up for nursing school too!  Mom, Dad, Pam, and Aubs help me with Drake every single week and have made these last few months wonderful for him.  He LOVES being able to spend one on one time with Grandma and Aubs and has the best time at their houses.  He cries almost every time I pick him because he doesn't want to go home! Mom and Dad have been amazing, as always!  They are more help to me and more supportive than I ever could have imagined!  They have always, always supported me in all that I have done but this time around I have really needed there help and they have been here by my side every step of the way!  I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for them, the Weavers and Aubie.  I absolutely could not do this without them!

 Although I feel guilty about being gone so much, I am so grateful that Drake is able to build such strong relationships with his grandparents and aunts and uncles.  I have always been so grateful for the relationships that I have with Omie and my aunts and uncles and I want more than anything for Drake to feel the same way someday.  He has been blessed with the very best grandparents and aunts and uncles and I want him to always have a strong bond with each of them!

Chris is still as hard working, loving, and sexy as always! He is always wonderful, but he has been especially amazing these last few months.  When I first started school, we all kind of had a rough time adjusting to my schedule and we even questioned our decision to move in this direction but after working through it, we're back on track!  Chris is the world's best dad and anyone that has been around my child for more than two seconds knows it!  Drake is still completely OBSESSED with Chris and absolutely cannot get enough daddy time.  I know he loves it, however; I'm sure there are times when he feels like he needs a minute to breath without the two of us in his face, but he never, ever complains.  He is so patient with both of us and puts up with our "bi-polar" moments, as I like to call them!  As much as Drake looks like Chris, he is still most definitely more like me in the personality department, which I'm sure is a bit exhausting for Chris at times!

Chris is so very close to being done with school.  He has one more measly credit that he needs to take during Spring semester and will officially graduate in May.  Luckily though, he is done with all of his major classes.  I can't even begin to explain how proud I am of him!  He has never been a school boy and had absolutely no intention of going to school after his mission, but he made the decision to go back and get it done a few years ago and I am so grateful that he did!  He did so well in his program and is now even tossing around the idea of going to Grad school.  I am really excited for him to be able to pursue what he loves in a year or so.  He has always worked so hard to make sure that we always have insurance and once Drake was born, to make sure that I could stay home.  I am so grateful for a husband that is willing to do that for me and for our child.  As Tet would say, "he's such a good man!"  I am so lucky to have him as my man and plan to hold on tight forever!  

Other than school, work, and being parents, there isn't much else to report about us!  Life is really busy and my schedule is kind of a nightmare right now but I truly am happy!  This year has brought about a lot of changes in circumstance for people that we love and as hard as it is to see things change in life, it has also made me re-evaluate how greatly I have been blessed.  I have a husband that loves me and still wants to be my man, even after seven years.  I have a beautiful little boy that makes my life complete, and I have an amazing family that is cheering me on and holding my hand through this crazy time in my life!  Even though life is never just as we think it should be, I am learning that it's most important to try our very best to just be happy with who we are and what we have been given in our lives.  As crazy as it is to be 28 and kind of up in the air with our plans, I am oddly okay with it because I know that the things that are most important in my life are still the same and stronger than ever.  Just this morning as my husband crawled back in bed with me for a snuggle for the third time, I reminded myself how truly blessed and happy I am.  It's really the littlest things like that that have helped me to realize that the bigger things that don't always go my way, aren't even important.  Life is what I make it, and I am grateful for the good and the bad times that have helped me to see that!         

Things he says.

I just pulled out my blog books from the last two years and am now kicking myself for being such a slacker.  I wrote down WAY more things about Drake last year than I have this year.  I was faithful about my monthly Drake posts but for some reason just stopped when he turned two.  It's pretty unfortunate really.  I guess the thousands of pictures I have will have to suffice.  Today however, I do want to write down a few of the funny things that he has been saying lately.  There's no way that I'll remember them all but at least its a start!

Lately he has been saying, "I are" instead of I am and he usually says "I nare."  He'll say things like, "I nare going to watch Mic," or "I nare going to play with Dylan."  He also says, "I nem" instead of I am when he's using I am correctly.

One of his new favorites is, "those are not the rules."  He likes to tell me this when I tell him, "those are the rules," typically when I'm telling him no.  I have to bite my tongue in order to not laugh back at him.

Yesterday he told me, "You don't talk to my Gram like that!" Nice!  Obviously he's been told that a few times.

Usually when Drake gets "in trouble," he has to have a "talk" with me.  He very rarely has to go to time out anymore but he does have to have talks when he is doing something naughty.  Typically when he has to have talks, I end the conversation with asking him if he understands.  A few weeks ago I told him to climb off of the elliptical machine and he told me, "I not get down...understand!"  I about lost it!  I had to fight with all I had to not bust up laughing!  It was really one of the funnier things he has said to date!  Obviously he was being bratty but it was hilarious, non the less!  He has said this to me a few times since then and every time I have to turn away so I don't laugh at him.

Another new development is the use of "cause" at the beginning of every sentence.  He says things like, "cause I need it," or "cause I want to..."  The other day he told me, "Cause I need my black jeep, cause I want it, cause Santa Claus is going to bring it to me if I'm a nice boy."  He has also been saying, "cause why," a lot lately.  He'll usually ask me "cause why" 20 times when I tell him or ask him to do anything.

Today he has really been on a role and has said quite a few funny things.  The very best though was, "don't say that kind of crap!"  Horrible I know, but when I told him that we didn't talk like that, he proceeded to tell me to, "chill out mom!"  Oh dear!  And then... later today he started running around telling everyone to, "shape up!" Ya think he's heard that a time or two!?  I think I might be in trouble with this little boy!  He remembers EVERYTHING!

Drake was seriously the easiest kid in the world to potty train!  I need to write a post about that for my memories sake but in this one I just want to write down what he now says.  Whenever I ask him if he needs to go potty, he quickly answers with, "no, I need tell you," and he always does.  I am so dang proud of him and can't help but smile every time I hear, "I need tell you!"

Recently, he has also started telling me that he needs either one more thing or one more time.  He'll stand right in my face and tell me, "just one more time mom," or, "just one more mom."  This is usually accompanied by chuckling from the peanut gallery (mom and Chris) which doesn't ever help my cause!  My child has us all wrapped right around his little finger and loves to let me know it!

Every night he tells whoever is nugging and putting him to bed, "just one more minute."  He'll try it three or four times and usually gets a few extra minutes out of us.

He loves to chase the dogs around the house but he loves bossing them around even more.  If they're outside he'll run out yelling, "get in the house."  If they're in the house and barking he'll chase them and yell, "stop that barking!"  Again... he's obviously heard these way too much!

Another favorite phrase as of late is, "you sneaky bugger!"  Chris told him that the mice in his prophet book were sneaky buggers and the phrase has just stuck.  He now calls all of us at home sneaky buggers and loves to say, "you sneaky bugger momma," or, "you sneaky bugger Gram!"

Funny Drake pronunciations...

- sool (school)
- recsue (rescue, as in buzz lightyear to the rescue)
- imponey (infinity, as in to infinity and beyond)
- noke (milk)
- beeu (blue)
- egular (regular)

Well... that's all I can think of right now.  I need to be better about keeping a running list so these posts will be better and easier to get done.  Drake is honestly at the best age!  He keeps us laughing constantly and has such a sweet and yet super funny personality!  He is also as Te-Te would say, "such good boy."  I know that I am biased as his mother, but I have to say that my little man is a well behaved child.  He has his moments, just like all kids, but for the most part, he is an incredibly easy child.  I have been so blessed and am extremely grateful to have him as my little son!

[10.26.11]

This morning when Drake went to pick out what cereal he wanted for breakfast, he grabbed his box and said, "this is perfect!"  I say "perfect" all the time and I guess he's gonna hang on to that one too!  While he was eating his cereal, he wanted me to look at him so he could show me that he only had one more marshmallow left.   To get my attention and have me look at him he said, "mom, open your eyes!"  He's been saying that one for a few weeks now and always says it when he wants you to look at him.  I guess he thinks if we're not looking at him that our eyes are closed.  Funny kid!  

Seven...

Today we celebrated SEVEN years as Mr. and Mrs.  

Sometimes when I think about seven years, it seems like a really long time but when I look back at the last seven spent with my sweet man, I am amazed at how fast the time has gone by.  We have surely had our ups and downs but as cliche as it sounds, I really and truly love my Christopher Weaver more today than I did the day I married him and honestly, I love him more than I ever imagined possible.  Although neither of us are perfect, he is perfect for me.  He makes my world wonderful and I am so grateful to call him mine!  

Due to other activities this month, we decided to keep things low key and stick closer to home.  We celebrated by going to dinner Saturday night in Springdale.  Dinner was delicious and the weather couldn't have been better.  We ended the night with ice cream and a peaceful drive home.  It was a perfect night spent with my man, just how I like it!

Unders continued...

Early this morning, little Mr. Weaver woke me up to tell me that he had to go potty. We made it to the bathroom, striped down the jammies and then were able to add a potty sticker to the chart, all at four in the morning! Pretty good, if you ask me! He has also been waking up from naps and in the morning with dry pull-ups. Never thought that would happen! We're definitely making progress!

Unders

Today marks day nine of Mr. Drake Weaver wearing unders and I think it's safe to say that he is in fact, potty trained! Hallelujah!  I have been putting this off for months for fear that it would be a complete nightmare but my little dude was a champ and made the process super easy.  He has had four accidents in the last nine days, which seems pretty good to me.  We still have to remind him to go and sometimes have to haul him into the bathroom while he protests, but all in all, it hasn't been bad.  I do have to give most of the credit to my mom though.  She was the one that finally put her foot down and said "he's ready," and put him in the unders.  She is amazing and has helped me more than I ever could have imagined with this and pretty much everything else I have going on in my life right now.  (more on that later)  

Bye-bye diapers... hello big boy unders!  

Dear Te-Te and Oma...

Last night I was thinking...

I have been the worst niece and granddaughter, ever!

I know how much you love to see pictures and read about Drake's adventures.

There is really no excuse for my complete lack of blogging other than pure laziness!

No excuse... no excuse!

Keeping this thing up to date so you can see your baby is the least I can do!

You both bless my life on a daily basis.

I can definitely do my part to bring a smile to your face!

All of us here in Utah love you ladies so very, very much.

I hope you enjoy this massive update! 

** These aren't exactly in order.  I was just trying to get them on here and didn't want to take the time to order them by date!  xoxo

In June, we all got together and took Big to Cars 2.  We had been waiting for the movie to come out for months and were all excited to see it.  Big of course wore his Cars shirt to the show and made sure to bring his "Lightin'" too.  After the movie, Big and I went to Costco for a hot dog, per his request.  He sure does love a good hot dog from Costco!  As for the movie... it was okay.  Definitely not as good as the first, but Big liked it enough to sit still so I guess it was a success. 

After a chat with my playgroup girls, I decided it was time to take the plunge and potty train.  The very next day, Biggie and I headed to the Dollar Store to pick out "potty prizes."  Letting him pick whatever he wanted was one of the most fun things we have ever done!  When we walked in, I handed him a basket and told him to go to town.  It took him a few minutes to understand that he could choose anything he wanted but he got the hang of it and before long we had a whole basket full of prizes.  When we got home, we unloaded our bags into his basket and laid out all the unders.  Oh was Big excited!  He couldn't wait for Dad to come home so he could show him his prizes!  It was adorable and was definitely an afternoon with Big that I will remember always.  We had so much fun!  As for the actual potty training... that only lasted three hours the next morning.  He ended up peeing three times in three hours and didn't seem to care one bit.  I could tell I was going to get frustrated with him so I bagged it and have yet to buckle down again.  He has been wearing unders for the last few days and is more than ready to be completely potty trained but I've been lazy and haven't wanted to make the transition yet.  We'll see how he does this week.  Maybe I'll stick with it, maybe I won't! 

This it typically what I get when I ask him to say cheese and smile for the camera!

One Sunday in July, B and Bah came over and brought Biggie some poppers.  We weren't so sure that he'd like them but as it turns out, he thought they were very cool and blew through both bags within a few minutes.  He especially liked the multiple pop approach and would throw three and four at a time.  It was fun to see him get the hang of it.  I'm sure that poppers will be a new favorite in July!

One weekend while Mom and Dad were in town, we all headed up to SLC to go to the soccer game.  I was a little nervous bout how Big would do with the crowds but surprisingly, he did great!  It was s fun night spent with the fam!

For playgroup back in July we went to Color Me Mine in Orem.  I wasn't so sure about taking my two year old to paint ceramics but it actually turned out to be so much fun.  Big LOVED painting and made Grammy a beautiful plat for her birthday!

While mom was visiting in June, we were able to meet up with Nick and Melissa for dinner.  It was great to be able to see them both, even if it was only for a few hours.  We love them both and wish we got to see them more often.

Bah is such a good sport and is always willing to play with Big.  Big LOVES Bah!

One night while mom was visiting, we met B and Bah at BYU to see Bah's senior project.  He had been working so hard on it and it definitely showed!  His concept was so cool and the display looked awesome!  We were all so proud!  Bah even let me keep some of the awesome shadow boxes!  We love you Bah!

Because we didn't have a backyard in Orem, we spent lots of time in the front.  Our neighbors hated us, I'm sure, but you do what you gotta do when you have a two year old!  One of the favorite activities was squirting things with the squirt bottle.  On this particular day, Big discovered that he could squirt water into Dad's tail pipe.  He was pretty proud of himself and loved "washing Dad's car."  

Playing at the Provo pool was definitely a favorite summer activity.  It is right across the street from B and Bah's house so we often times met them there after work and played for a few hours.  This was our first time there and it did not disappoint!  Big had a blast and would have stayed there all night, had we let him!  He is truly a water baby!

One Sunday during the summer, we decided to take church vacation and drove up to Deer Creek for the afternoon.  We had such a good time!  We just sat on the bank of the lake and let Big throw stones.  The weather was beautiful and the scenery was too!  We truly loved living so close to the mountains and really do miss being so close to so many fun places.  

This was our last trip to The Eating Establishment in Park City.  We LOVE that place!  They have the absolute best breakfast and we made sure to take advantage when we could!

On the 1st of August, we celebrated Grandma Weaver's 80th birthday!  Rhys and Pam were in town, along with Dan and Ellen and their family.  It was so fun to see everyone!  We spent the day together and had a great time!  Big loved being with his Grandma and Grandpa and Bachie all day and was such a good boy.  At one point in the day, we all ended up Cottonwood Canyon at a nature reserve.  It was pouring rain outside so Big and I stayed behind and waited for everyone else while they walked around the lake.  While we waited, Big discovered the art of taking pictures.  I have over 100 pictures on my camera of the floor, his pants, my feet, his eye ball, and the chair.  It was pretty funny to see what he captured!  After the nature walk, we all headed to one of Grandma's favorite restaurants for lunch.  It was such a fun day spent with the Weaver family!

 When we arrived in St. George from Orem the weekend that we moved, Grammy and Pops had a huge surprise for Biggie!  They built him a dirt box and had boxes and boxes of new trucks waiting for him!  It was better than Christmas, it really was!  He was so excited to see all those trucks and all that dirt! He LOVES to play out in the dirt box and especially loves it when Bah plays with him.  Biggie is one spoiled little dude!

 Before I started school in August, I decided to take Big to the dentist.  I was kind of nervous about how he would do but he was actually perfect!  All the girls kept commenting about how well he did for never having been before.  Luckily, he was cavity or "bug"free and still talks about going to the dentist.  Phew!  So glad that it wasn't a nightmare!

 Playing with "Minnie's softy."

 Feeding the ducks was a huge hit!  Big LOVED throwing the bread to the ducks and still talks about getting bread for the ducks.  We definitely need to go back, especially since the pond is right down the street.

 After watching Big constantly wipe water from his eyes while swimming, I decided that we should try some goggles.  We took him to the store and let him pick out which ones he wanted and tried them out.  He didn't wear them the whole time but he definitely like them and looked adorable wearing them!

 Another trip to paint!

 Pops and Big have discovered "bammin'" at Lowes!  The first time they went, Big built a little school house picture holder and kept calling it bammin' so now we all just refer to going to the Lowes workshops as going to bammin'!  I''m pretty sure that Pops looks forward to it even more than Big does!  The goggles and apron are by far my favorite!

 

Phew!  That was a lot of catch-up!  Hopefully this was a good little "Drake Fix!"  I still have lots more to do and will work on it more this week.  Love you two so very much and hope to see you soon!

xoxo

:: Two and a Half ::

[06.30.11]

I'm not quite sure where to even start with this post! I have so many things to remember.  I have been telling myself that I need to sit down to write these things down for months now and am just barely making the time to do it.  I feel like a big time slacker mom right now but hopefully I'll feel better having this done!

Drake is now almost two and a half.  His actual half year mark isn't until the end of July, but we're close enough to count it!  It is still unreal to me that my little one is this old already, but I'm happy to report that time seems to be slowing down, just a tiny bit.  It seems like he has been at this stage for longer than all those before.

So far, the "terrible twos" haven't been too terrible, knock on wood.  I can't say that these last few months have been a cake walk with Mr. Drake Weaver but all in all, life has been good.  He has become such a funny little boy.

His vocabulary has exploded as of late and is pretty dang hilarious!  Some of his new favorite phrases are: "I sure do," or "I sure did" He uses these all the time now when you ask him if he liked something, had fun doing something, if he loves someone or something, etc.  He has started saying, "I don't know," and using it correctly when you ask him something.  He'll also say, "I don't know that kid or car or whatever.  "How 'bout again" or just "how 'bout..." is also a regular.  He sounds like a Canadian when he says it.  Lately while playing his Buzz game he has been saying, "second place!" when he finishes a level.  I honestly have no idea where he picked this one up.  I could see him hearing "first place" somewhere but second place???  "Dang it" is also a favorite around here.  He started this one a few months ago and has since added to it.  Now he says, "bum dang it."  Horrible, right!?  I asked him the other day what bum dang it means and he just looked at me and said, "bum dang it mom!" and gave me the "duh" look!  I had to bite my tongue to not laugh.  Obviously "bum dang it" isn't the most horrible thing he could be saying but I've been trying to ignore him when he says it because I definitely don't want to encourage it.

Today while we were out working in the yard, he repeated something that he said a few weeks ago and I about died!  A few weeks ago, I was standing at the door to the garage and Otie ran out into the yard.  Drake was standing there with me and saw Otie run out and proceeded to yell as loud as he could, "get that freaking dog in here!"  I was so mortified then and hoped that when I didn't even acknowledge the fact that he had said it, he wouldn't think to say it again.  Well, I was wrong.  Today, Otie ran over to the neighbor's house and you bet Drake yelled again, "get that freaking dog."  Obviously he has heard Chris and I say that and obviously we need to clean things up and be more careful!

This week he has started with the "I not's."  Everything is, "I not" do this or "I not" do that.  Today I told him he'd need to go to his room and shut the door if he couldn't be nice and he responded with, "I not go to my room for time out and shut the door," hands on hips, and with the most stubborn face you've ever seen!  This might be the death of me!  The last few months have also been filled with endless, "I need my dad, I need my dad come home, I need to nug dad, I need my daddy back," etc.  To say that Drake is a daddy's boy would be an extreme understatement.  My son is OBSESSED with his dad and asks for him ALL DAY LONG and continues to say "I need my dad," even when Chris is home and in the same room.

[08.16.11]

Continuation of the "two and a half" post...

My son is no longer a baby or toddler.  He is really and truly a little boy.  He has gotten so big these last few months and just this last week especially, I have been amazed at how much of a little boy he is.  He is growing up so quickly!  It's hard to believe he is now closer to three than two!  Here I go again with trying to recap the last few months of his life...

Back in March, we moved Drake to a "big boy" bed.  We kept him in the toddler version of his crib until we moved a few weeks ago.  For the most part, he did really well with it but towards the end of our time in Orem, he began to have a hard time sleeping in the little bed.  He has gotten so long and thrashes like a wild man in the night.  I think he just ran out of room.  Every time he ended up in our bed, he slept like a rock and always positioned himself horizontally between Chris and me.  Definitely not the most comfortable for us, but he was obviously the happiest that way.  Nowadays, after making the move back to STG, Drake is sleeping in a queen size "big boy" bed and has been as happy as a clam.  He has all the room he needs to thrash and sprawl and has slept better these last few weeks than he has all summer long.  I'm pretty impressed with my little man and how easy it was to transition him from his crib to a bed.  I really expected it to be quite the fight and have been sweetly surprised with the ease of it all.  Having him in a queen has definitely been nicer for everyone.  Now Chris, Grammy and I have room to "nug" and read books at bed time.  (not all at the same time, on different nights!)

Speaking of "nugging," Mr. Drake Weaver sure does love to "nug!"  Not so much with me, but always with Daddy and usually with Gram.  He has his special spot on his daddy and quite often falls asleep there. (sprawled across Chris' chest with his head stuck right in Chris' neck. Definitely not comfortable for daddy, but daddy NEVER, EVER complains!)  Drake also loves to pull the nug card at bedtime.  Our standard bedtime routine consists of books, music and always, always nugging.  There is not a night that goes by that we don't hear, "I need to nuggie ya!" Pretty priceless, really!

"ya," has officially replaced all of the "you's" in Drake's vocabulary.  Everything ends in a ya.  "I need to nuggie ya, I need to come with ya, I need to see ya, I need to help ya," etc.  It's been pretty funny to watch this evolve.  I'm sure he hears us say ya, but I guess I never really realized how often we said it.    Funny, the things the littles pick up on!

Who would have thought that my little bug would genuinely have a favorite color at only two and a half?? I sure didn't, but he surely does!  Green, green, green.  Drake Weaver LOVES green!  He pronounces it gween and usually wants all things gween.  When we moved, Gram let him pick out new bedding and you better bet that he picked the gween one without any hesitation.  Tonight when Chris asked him what kind of treat he wanted, Drake responded with, "a green one."  It was perfect!

We have been doing lots of swimming lately.  Swimming is the activity of choice most days, especially now that we are back to the oven that is STG.  I am so grateful that Drake loves the water as much as he does.  He could stay in the pool ALL DAY LONG, no joke.  He has really gotten the hang of kicking around the pool with his wings on and is perfectly happy to entertain himself as long as he has a few cars that he can put down the slide before he goes down.  Before we moved, we played at the city pools.  I was a little skeptical of the whole public pool thing, only becuase we have always been spoiled, having the Weaver's pool to play in, but I was again very surprised at how much fun we had.  Drake loved most of them and never wanted to leave.  He was even a super brave boy and would go down the slide at the Scera pool with anyone that was willing to take him.  His two favorite slide partners were daddy (of course) and then Bah. (a very close second to dad)  Swimming lessons are an absolute must for next summer.  I really should have done it this summer but I never got around to it.  As much as I love having a fishie for a son, it does make me really nervous.  He needs to be able to float on his own, ASAP!

Due to spending so much time in the sun this summer, Drake's hair is as blonde as can be and his skin is so very tan.  He looks like he belongs in California on the beach.  His tan lines are some of the best I have ever seen!  There is nothing cuter than a dark little back and a super white little bum running around!  I am so grateful that he has his daddy's skin and not my poor freckled mess.  I can only hope that the freckles don't start to appear later on down the road!

Drake has still yet to become a good eater.  He's actually still pretty horrible.  His food of choice is still about the same, with only a few additions here or there.  I feel lucky if I can get him to eat a few times a day and most of what he consumes is fruit, cheese, and sometimes some crackers.  Fruit snacks are still a staple, as well as soy milk and V8 fruit juice, but other than that, it's hit and miss with most other things.  He has been liking cereal and "nok" (milk) lately though.  When he's in the mood to eat it, he'll eat a lot, but he's not ever consistent.  Veggies are pretty much non-existent in his diet, which worries me, and so is meat.  He's always up for a good ol' Costco hotdog but you can't really count that!  I may end up with a vegetarian that only eats fruit.  How sad would that be!?

Mr. Drake Weaver is certainly an independent soul. He loves nothing more than to tell me, "I need do it by myself." He will rarely let me help him do anything. Some of his favorite things to do "by myself" are... Turning on the vacuum, turning on any light, turning the bath water on, turning his "usic" on, blowing on his food, buckling the big buckles in his car seat, brushing his teeth, etc.

Speaking of his "usic"... He sure does love it. It's a race to the cd player every night to see who can turn the music on first. For the last six months or so he's been listening to a funky lullabye cd that both Chris and I are completely sick of but that Drake seems to like. I decided this afternoon that it was time for a change though. He's been loving his disney movies lately so it seemed fitting to create a new bedtime arrangement with the songs from Beauty and the Beast and Tangled. (yes, I do realize that both can be and most likely are considered "girl" movies, but Drake loves them so we watch them! I am anxiously awaiting the release of the new Lion King movie so my husband will get off my back about the girl movies!) We'll see what kind of response the new "usic" gets tonight at bedtime.

Just this week, little Mr. Weaver started to sing songs with me. Well actually, it's only one song (Five little monkeys jumping on the bed) but it's darling, nontheless. He will only interject during the "bonked his head" and the "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" parts but he sure does give it all he's got! He is a very stern doctor!

Since moving back to St. George, we have been much more consistant with taking Drake to the nursery. I was super nervous about how he would act the first week but he completely surprised me and was perfect. He cried for two seconds when we first walked in but it was short lived. He played the entire time and was not anxious to leave when I picked him up. Every time since then has been easier. Today he waltzed right in and didn't even look back. I was floored! I am so grateful that he has adapted so easily to a new nursery and seems to really love it. The nursery leaders are darling, which I'm sure helps quite a bit. Either way though, I'll take it! Yay for nursery!

This last weekend our little fish discovered the joys of jumping off the rock at Grandma and Grandpa's. He mastered the slide last year and has been loving it, but the rock has seemed to give him a newfound sense of adventure. He is even more fearless around the water than he was before. Kind of scary.

Angry Birds, Angry Birds, Angry Birds... oh how Drake loves his Angry Birds! He thinks it's beyond awesome to be able to pull it up and play it all by himself. Sometimes I feel like a crap mom for letting him do it, but most of the time I am just so amazed at how well he navigates around the ipad. It is crazy to me how quickly he picks up on things. Fruit Ninja and the Rio version of Angry Birds are also favorites. He knows the difference between all three apps and loves to switch between them.

A few months ago, mom bought him some new "church" books. He is totally a creature of habit and was hesitant to give the new books a chance, but has since become obsessed with his prophet book and can pretty much narrate the entire thing. Just last night, I quizzed him about it while at Grandma and Grandpa's and he did surprisingly well remembering everything without it in front of him! Pretty darn cute, if you ask me.

Drake has become quite funny and he knows it! He has started to do the funniest things when he runs and is showing off for the family. He won't do any of his tricks on demand but when he does bust them out, it's pretty dang hilarious! The "pumps" and the "tricky run" are two of his most popular and we are constantly bugging him to show us. I was so happy to have caught the pumps on video the other day. Now I can watch it whenever I need a good laugh!

First names have become the topic of lots of Drake's conversations as of late.  He loves to tell us what everyone's name is.  He knows all of the correct names but he still calls the aunts and uncles by their nicknames, which I love!  My very favorite though, is Bah's.  When you ask him what Bah's name is he says, "Bear," instead of Jared!  Sorry Bah, looks like you'll be stuck with Bah or Bear for good!

"Red means stop, gween means go, ellow means go slow!"  One of the new things that he has learned.  He likes to remind us all the time what each color means.  Today when I laid him down for nap, he had to tell me all three before we could nug.  He's getting really good with his colors.  Recently he has started to point out cars that are the same as mine or mom's but in a different color.  He'll say, "There's a white car lust like mommy's."  It's amazing to me that he can pick out my car so easily and makes sure to tell me what color it is every time we get in.

This last month he has gotten really good at going potty in the potty.  We attempted a month or so ago to do the legit potty training but I gave up after three hours and haven't really tried since, so all the progress he has made has been purely on his own.  He now tells me all the time that he has to go potty and has learned the art of going on demand.  It's pretty hilarious really!  He knows that when he goes he gets a potty prize so he tries REALLY hard and will sit there forever if there's something in the basket that he wants.  Sometimes I give in and give him a prize just for trying.  Trying is part of the practice, right!  Now that I am in school, I am really hesitant to move completely to undies due to my crazy schedule so we may have to wait until I have a break.  Hopefully by then though, it'll be super easy to transition due to all his practice!

 A few months ago little Mr. Weaver learned the difference between handsome and pretty.  He now knows that boys are handsome and girls are pretty.  Every few days we seem to go through the list of everyone we know and he'll tell me whether they are handsome or pretty.  Yesterday Otie got a hair cut and Drake told me no less than a hundred times that Otie was handsome but that I was pretty.  It was darling to hear him explain it to me every time!  Otie was handsome because he got a hair cut and I was pretty because I was a princess.  I was a princess because I was wearing a long maxi dress.  Every time I wear it he tells me that I'm a princess.  Last night before bed we were nugging in his bed and he told me that I wasn't a princess anymore because I had my jammies on.  Oh how I love to be his princess!

A few months ago, I started going back to the gym regularly and would take Drake to the daycare at the gym.  He had a hard time at first but quickly got the hang of it and soon really liked going.  After a few weeks, he started asking me if I was going to "mouskersize" when I went to the gym.  Mickey "mouskersizes" instead of exercises on the Disney Channel, which is obviously where he got it from.  I was surprised though that he put two and two together.  I don't ever remember telling him what I did at the gym, but somehow he seemed to figure it out and from then on, mommy and daddy mouskersized at the gym!  Just this last week, he has started to say exercise and it kind of makes me sad!  Hearing him tell me that I was going to mouskersize was so very adorable!



Well... I think that'll about do it for now.  The very worst part about the catch-up game is knowing that you are forgetting things, and I know that I most definitely am, but I have to get this thing posted.  It's been way too long in the making.