Our New Address!

Wow has it really been 5 days since I said I was going to post pictures from Trevor's b'day party? I don't know where the time goes. (Yes I do) We've been lost in the overwhelming whirlwind of MOVING. We have so much to do that we don't even know where to start. Good thing Granna and Paw-Paw are coming to help. They're actually on their way right now. They're 2 hours into the 5 hour trek across the Pacific. Hope they're not tired, b/c I'm putting them right to work. ;)

We got our keys yesterday, so it's official. We're home-owners! (Scary huh?) Our new address is:
Drew, Alaina, and Andrew Ladner
87-1072 Anaha St.
Waianae, HI 96792

So, there you have it. You can find us now. Our cell phones are the same and our home phone will be the same too. (We just won't have it connected until Sept. 10 because Oceanic Time Warner Cable is SLOW)

So, I have to get back to packing, but I promise...one of these days there will be pictures. I won't have Internet until Sept. 10 as well....so I may be on hiatus.

Until then...

Stay tuned...

Yesterday was Trevor's 4th birthday party. I can't wait to show you all the fun we had....so stay tuned. There are plenty of pictures on the way! My camera battery died, so I have to charge it so I can download the pictures.

This is what you called POOPED!

Andrew didn't have a nap today. He was too busy playing to take time to nap and once it reached a certain time, I quit trying. I didn't want him to be up all night.

Later that afternoon he and I walked to the beach, as we do on many afternoons. It was such a nice day. We walked along the shore singing "The Ants Go Marching." He likes to "march" in the water's edge and make a big splash. He also threw some rocks into the water while I searched for sea glass. It was a fun afternoon.

We got back to the house around 6 pm and he wanted to swing in his blue little tykes swing. He was asleep after two pushes! You can tell that he's totally pooped! I took him inside and let him sleep for about 15 minutes, woke him up to give him a bath (he was filthy) and feed him. He went right back to sleep around 8:30 and didn't get up until 7:45 this morning. I fell asleep on the couch at 9, got in the bed at 10:30, and felt GREAT this morning!

It's amazing what a little sleep will do for ya!

Boys and DIRT!

What is it with little boys and dirt?

Today we were outside and Andrew thought it would be a good idea to go digging in the bag of potting soil. He had it everywhere! You can gather by these pictures that he was just putting the dirt on his car trailer, which he probably thought was a dump truck. I'm glad I caught him when I did or there's no telling what he would have looked like!

Surprise from Maggie!

Today Andrew got a letter in the mail from Maggie. (For those of you who don't know, Maggie is the adorable daughter of my best friend, Erin) The letter was wishing him well soon and it included a page of stickers. The best part....the stickers were all kinds of sports balls....all of which Andrew calls "basketballs."

He was excited to get a surprise from Maggie and he had fun wearing his stickers all day.

Thank you Maggie!

Recovery & Moving Update

Andrew is still doing really well. He was a little less cooperative when it came to diaper changes today, but still showing no signs of discomfort throughout the rest of the day. We went to a friend's house today who has a pool and he wanted to get in something terrible! But the doctor says no pool or no ocean for 2 weeks! YIKES! We took a walk down to the beach tonight and had a picnic supper. It was a lot of fun. We were at the store when we told Andrew that we were going to the beach and he got really excited, but he wanted Chiquita to go with us. He very insistently told us "Chiqui go beach too" over and over again until we finally went home to get her. So Chiquita "went beach too."

Andrew likes to be Mommy's little helper around the house. (which I love-most of the time) He loves to help me unload the dishwasher. I let him put the spoons and forks in the drawer while I put up all the breakable stuff. Don't worry, I take out the knives before he gets started! He loves it. He likes to tell me what he has in his hand at the time; "Mama..spoon." I just have to go behind him when he's finished and put the utensils in the right spot. ;)

He also likes to rearrange the fridge. I caught him taking everything out of there the other night. Once he got it out, he put it all back in and shut the door...all while talking on his cell phone.

One afternoon I sat him up on the counter while I gave him his medicine. He was "talking" on my cell phone. I asked him who he was talking to..."Daddy." Just a few minutes later, Drew pulled into the driveway and saw him, so he called my phone. He got so excited and said "Daddy home!" It was cute.

OK MOVING UPDATE:

We are doing our final walk-through on the house on Monday, where we will sign all the closing documents. We have a meeting to sign the final loan papers Tuesday morning, and we should get keys in our hands on Thursday!! So we're about to get really busy around here. My parents are flying in Friday. We're going to get busy painting the interior and sealing the garage. The bi u-Haul move will be on Monday. Happy Labor Day...we will be laboring!

Recovery Update

Wow! God has been so good. I didn't know what to expect after Andrew had surgery. I figured he'd be in a lot of pain, which translates to an angry baby, but that hasn't been the case at all! From the time we got home from the hospital yesterday until he went to bed last night, Andrew was running around playing like any normal toddler. He was the same this morning too. The only time he even remotely acted like something bothered him was last night when I changed his diaper. As I put on the ointment he winced a little bit and said "oooh." But that's the extent of his discomfort. I'm so glad that he's not hurting!

Keep praying that things go smoothly. We'll keep you posted!

Andrew's Surgery

Some of you knew, but for those of you who didn't, Andrew had a minor surgery today. He had a penile cyst (Smegma) removed along with some extra skin that was said to be the cause of the cyst.

He woke up at 7 am, we left for the hospital at 8:30, checked in at 9, and had the procedure at 11. He couldn't eat anything before hand, but he did well. He didn't ask for anything. I guess we were so busy that he didn't have time to think about it. When we got there to check in, there was a hot-wheels Hummer that he played with. He was not to happy to find out that there wasn't a battery in it. He tried over and over to get that thing moving!

Then the clerk came over and put on his ID bracelet, or anklet! We were handed a pager and told to wait in the hospital's main waiting room until the pager went off. Then we reported to the surgery center to check in there, where we got to wait a little longer.

When it was our turn, a nurse came and got us to check Andrew's vitals and get him set up to go in. He wasn't very cooperative, especially when they put the heart rate monitor on his big toe. (You know how he hates band aids, so you can imagine!) He changed into his little hospital pj's and I put on my gown to go back to the OR with him.

This is where it gets tough. I was allowed into the OR until the anesthesiologist got him to sleep. He was scared and didn't want to sit on the table, so a nurse held him down and I held his hands while the anesthesiologist put the mask on. At this point I've completely LOST IT! It was so hard. I just wanted to pick him up and run out of there. Before hand he had warned me that it would take about 15 breaths for him to go to sleep UNLESS he was crying. Well...it only took 4 breaths...if you get my drift. As soon as he was asleep they escorted me back to the waiting room where I cried some more in Drew's arms. I didn't like him screaming and begging me with his eyes to get him outta there.

Next is the hard part....WAITING. Drew and I sat in the waiting room for what seemed like forever. (In reality it was only about 30 minutes). Dr. Sutherland came and talked us through the surgery and post-op care. Then he took us into the recovery room to see Andrew. He was still asleep when we got there. He looked very peaceful except for the oxygen mask and all the cords. He woke up after about 30 minutes. I figured he'd have a fit when he saw the IV and the monitors hooked up to him and the doctors thought we'd have to sedate him. But luckily we were able to take out the IV before he woke up. When he came to, he didn't mind the rest. He looked so confused when he woke up and immediately climbed into my arms. He was a little woozy! It was kinda funny because he was all smiles, but he couldn't quite sit up straight yet. (Looked a little drunk) He was really happy to see that his Daddy brought him a Pooh balloon!

We had to sit in recovery for about an hour and then we were good to go. They gave Andrew some pain medicine during surgery that will last 4-6 hours, so he's pain free! I just hope he stays that way for the next few days. He has 20 or so tiny stitches that will fall out on their own in a week.

Drew and I were very proud of him today. He was a brave little boy! Please pray for him in the upcoming week that all goes well and he gets back to normal soon. Of course looking at this picture on the car ride home, he looks pretty normal already!

Glued to the Olympics

Our family is a big fan of the Olympics. I especially enjoy the swimming since there are many Auburn swimmers represented. It's exciting to watch people you know compete in the Olympics. Needless to say we haven't been doing much packing lately. We'd rather cheer on the old U.S of A!

Andrew is even getting into the competition. He likes to watch from the comfort of his recliner. All he needs is a remote in his hands and he'll graduate from toddler to "MAN."
Drew has been flying nights this week and it kinda throws off Andrew's routine. When I start making dinner he starts asking, "Daddy home?" since this is normally the time that Drew comes home. He doesn't understand. So he's been fighting sleep a little more than usual. I think he keeps "waiting up" on Daddy to come home, but when he doesn't and Andrew just can't take it anymore, THIS is what happens....
Apparently he was born with his Daddy's ability to fall asleep sitting straight up! :)

Tattoo Artist

So I found out what happens when your toddler somehow finds an ink pen while you're doing the dishes.....
His face says it all....BUSTED!
At least he's proud of his work. He laughed the whole time I was cleaning him up.

'Lil Beach Bum

Andrew and I went to the beach the other day and his get-up was so adorable that I just had to share it with all of you. :)

I didn't take my camera down to the water, so I'll just have to tell you about his adventures. He had a blast walking along the shore collecting sea glass and shells. He even met a little boy his age, though I don't know if he actually liked him or just the Elmo shirt that he was wearing. Either way, it was cute. He got brave and walked down to the water a couple of times. This is a big step for him because normally the sound of the waves scare him. It seems he's getting used to it now. This is good news because if you know me, then you know I LOVE LOVE LOVE the beach. (However, I could do without the sand sticking to me)

Andrew was having such a good time that he didn't want to leave, but his Mama was STARVING and it was almost nap time, so we called it quits.

Here are the pictures of his royal cuteness...
He worse those sunglasses the whole time we were at the beach...too windy for the hat.
Movin' in for the close up
Can't you just hear him say, "No pictures, no pictures, please!"

And remember how I told you it was close to nap time????

That's right...he fell asleep while eating his lunch. He was POOPED!

Farewell to Alan

Ok, so once again, I find myself behind. Oh how I long to be a punctual poster.... (HA!) One can dream, right?

Anyhoo, on Monday night some friends of ours gathered at the home of the Trammells (for those of you who don't know...they're from Alabama...Alan's parents live in Douglas!) to say goodbye to Alan. He left on Wednesday for another tour in Iraq. We got together to eat some burgers, pork chops, and homemade ice cream. (Yes, I made it...can't have a cookout without it)

We had such a good time. The Trammell's have 2 children; Hudson (almost 4) and Hannah (almost 1) Andrew enjoyed playing with Hudson's "choo-choo's" and Hannah enjoyed chasing after Andrew's sippy cup. They were our after dinner entertainment. It was so funny to watch. At one point Hannah crawled across the room, pulled herself up on Andrew, snatched his sippy cup, and pushed him to the ground! It was hilarious. Andrew was LOVIN' it. (the little flirt) After that he would go lay down on the ground and call out "Hannah" as if to say "come and get me." I managed to get a couple of pictures.

He had so much fun with Hudson and Hannah. We're going to have to get together more often and let them play.
Fun on the slip-n-slide
Hudson having fun
Look how beautiful she is!
Drew with Hannah. He needs a little girl doesn't he?
Hudson enjoying Daddy's delicious burgers!
A hug from Hudson.
She's got her eye on that sippy cup!
She's goin' for the swipe! I wish I had caught a picture of the tackle...it was funny!

House Near Completion!

We've been dying to know how the house looks since we haven't been here in over 3 weeks, so first thing this morning, we drove over.

The first thing we noticed as we drove down the street was that the house had been painted!! I was so excited. Ask Drew...I was like a little kid at Christmas. I could hardly contain myself as we walked in the house.

The first thing we saw was our tile. It is beautiful! You kinda get an idea what it will look like when you're picking it out, but you never fully get the idea until you see it completed. We were very pleased with the way it coordinated with the appliances and counter tops. I can't wait to warm it up with some color on the walls.

We didn't get to look in the master bedroom or bath because there was a crew there finishing up some details and we didn't want to get in their way, so those rooms still remain a mystery. I can NOT wait until we move in. (except for that whole packing thing) So let me re-phrase that....I can't wait to decorate my new house. There...that sounds better.

The construction supervisor was there and he said that we're looking at doing our final walk through on the 26th of August and closing on the 29th. From what we saw today, I don't know what they're going to do for the next 25 days because the house looked done all except the touch up work. Oh well. We'll see how it goes. Here are the pictures from today...
Our painted house~
Living room view from front door. (Carpet is covered with plastic to protect it)
Kitchen from dining room
Hooray for my kitchen!!! I can't wait to start cooking in there!
Kitchen tile (20in x 20in)...goes down the hall and into guest bathroom.
Downstairs guest bathroom. (still have to put in the shower door)
Andrew's bathroom upstairs.
Stairway. Drew loves the open banister.
Mama and Andrew on the sidewalk in front of the house.

Long day of travel

Well, I'm confused. I just typed a long, detailed post about our travels and our arrival home, but for some reason unbeknownst to me......EVEN THOUGH THERE IS AN AUTO SAVE....nothing saved and therefore I have nothing.

So long story short....Andrew did a great job on our flights and he got to play on a playground inside the Seattle airport. He was excited to see his Daddy and he was glad to see us.

Drew is off on Friday and Monday! Hooray! First thing we're going to do...go check out the house.