Drew: 10 Months

Drew loves: Standing (yes, still), practicing walking, exploring, reading his books, swimming, two particular drawers in the kitchen, stroller rides, and snuggling up on my shoulder (which I love, too!). He generally loves life right now, and he is always finding something to laugh or giggle about.

Drew hates: Spending too much time in the car seat, and when you walk out of a room faster than he can crawl to keep up. He's also battling a hint of stranger danger, but it usually passes within minutes. We've come a long way with that!

Milestones: Standing unassisted, taking a few steps (and then lunging forward into whatever will catch him), holding his own sippy cup (but not his bottle, come ON Drew!), saying "mama" in addition to "dada", waving at the door, giving high fives (that's a milestone, right?), and generally being just the cutest guy ever (another milestone, right?).

Some pics from this last month with Drew:

My friend Amy and I with our kiddos. Amy and I met on a volunteer abroad trip to Costa Rica while in college. She lives in California, but was visiting Seattle for the weekend. So great to see her after 10 years!

Drew and his buddy Miles discussing wagon arrangements. I nanny Miles two days a week, and get to take Drew with me. I nannied for Miles when I was pregnant with Drew, so it's really neat that Drew is now on the outside of me and loves playing with Miles!

Miles is really sweet to "baby Jew" :-)

Drew lovesssss Miles' house because Miles has a large assortment of toy balls. When we get there in the morning, Drew goes right over to where the balls are kept.

I cherish my days at home with Drew - he's so fun!

Drew has discovered the drawers in the kitchen. Every morning he promptly goes right to his baby silverware and dishes drawer, and then does this smile and laughs :)

Drew and Miles exploring the toy chest

It was really hard to get Drew to hold still for these pics!

He was having a blast chasing me around the bed...

And showing off his new standing skills!

Giving it grace: We just got back from a week of vacation at Kyle's family condo - it was wonderful! I've been putting off announcing that we are moving at the end of this month, mainly because everyone who reads this (hi Grandma!) already knows we are moving, so there isn't really much to "announce". But also because I just didn't want to even think about it until after the vacation (maybe I have some moving denial?). We are just moving up the street, but anyone that has moved knows that it's not the distance that really makes moving painful. It's just the move itself. I have moved dozens of times in my life, so I have a good idea of what to expect. Except that I've never moved a baby before...so that's got my head spinning. My good friend Keri just moved with her baby, so she gave me some good tips (mainly: give the baby to a babysitter on moving day and everything will go great. Thanks, Keri!). 

The fun part about the move is that we are moving in with my dad for a few years, with the goal of saving up money to buy our own home. We're excited about it, and so is my dad. Drew is excited too, he just doesn't know it yet! Again though, my head is spinning a little bit. I have been praying about how I will balance my relational roles all under one roof: wife, mom, daughter. Three men who view me differently, and who need different things from me. It's my deepest hope that all three of them feel comfortable in this combined family home, and that God would use me to that end. 

The big evidence of God's grace in our lives right now is his providence with our living situation. Despite my best organizational tactics, and attempts at minimalism, we are rapidly outgrowing our condo. We will likely make money on selling the condo, but not enough to serve as a decent down payment for a house. Seemingly out of nowhere came the idea to live with my dad for a few years. We prayed about it. We told him about it. We prayed again. Everything started falling into place. Weeks turned into months, and now here we are about ready to make the move. While is wasn't the provision we wanted (we were hoping for a money bag to fall out of the sky), it is certainly the provision we need. And for that, we are very, very thankful. Onward, to a new season for our family!