Bovine Update

When we last left you, we hoped that Grant's presence would scare away the cow. However, yesterday Andrew and I were in his room when he grabbed his stick horse and started swinging it through the air by his window. The conversation that followed was priceless:

Kara: "What are you doing?"
Andrew: "I'm smacking the cow!"
Kara: "Why?"
Andrew: "Because the cow mooed at my feelings! And it made me feel sad."

So apparently the cow has moved on from scaring to offending. Poor Drewbie.

Holy Cow...or is it?

Andrew has something against cows. The disdain first appeared at the San Diego County Fair when Andrew was just 5 months old. We visited all the different animals and his interest ranged from mildly entertained to fascinated.

(mildly interested Andrew)

When Grandpa Jeff took him over to see the cows however, it was a different story. He suddenly became very agitated and while he didn't lose it, he came close. Tears welled up and his famous pouty lip kicked into high gear. His little legs began to kick wildly and he did all in his power to get out of there.

(Andrew and Cow face off)

Fast forward two years. We'd thought Andrew had gotten over his fear of cows. He plays with a few cow figurines and even has a stuffed long-horn from the Ft. Worth Stock Yards that he's named (very appropriately) "Cow." The feud, however, was simply building up steam. One day, out of the blue he came running out of our room screaming at the top of his lungs "Aaaahhhhggggg!!!! COOOOWWWW!!!" We believe the trigger for this event was the Chick-Fil-A TV commercial where the cows go through the office building at night. (Click here to go to the site, then click "commershals" to see the ad.)

It wasn't long after that we learned there was a "scary cow" that lived in Andrew's window. You could often hear him playing in his room only to yell out "Uh, Go Away Cow!" shortly followed by the sound of whatever he had in his hand hitting the window. It progressed to where he wouldn't even go in his room without first snaking his hand through the door to turn on the light, peeking in first, propping the door open, and then making sure we were in view (for a quick get away and/or rescue).

Grant recently moved into Andrew's room (yes, I've finally convinced Kara to move our poor little son out of the pack-and-play wedged in the bathroom). Andrew was very excited by this because the crib is right under the window and we told him that Grant would now be there scaring the cow away! We'll see how long it takes for the cow to come creeping back into the Nelsen home, if he dares show his face here again!

(Beware the Scary Cow...You Could be Next!)

Andrew, a.k.a "Drewbie"

Well, this post is a little late in coming, as it was supposed to be for Andrew's birthday...better late than never, though, right?

Anyway. I cannot believe that Andrew is 3! It seems like we've had him in our lives for so much longer than that, and yet at the same time, I can't believe how fast time has gone by. We love our Drewbert, he's a fun little guy. I've really enjoyed watching him learn and grow, especially this past year as he has learned to speak really well, read the alphabet and numbers, and express his emotions and desires. It's pretty incredible how much children learn in their first few years of life. Because of how much he has developed, I tend to treat him as though he's older than he is (which is probably a good and bad thing). But then I go check on him before I go to bed, and I see him curled up in his bed and he seems SO young and innocent. My angel baby, as I used to call him. Andrew is fun, smart, energetic, stubborn, loud, crazy, and most of all, sweet. Yes, he has his moments where I think he's a monster :), but he is also very caring. When one of us gets hurt or upset, he is so sweet when he tries to comfort us. I love him. So much! Happy 3rd Birthday Drewbie!!!

And now, pictures of Andrew from each birthday.

Brand new Andrew...not even a couple of hours old!

Andrew's first birthday cake...he loves it!

Andrew gets birthday pancakes on his second birthday.

Andrew gets a bike for his third birthday.

Oh Baby!

Let me give a quick shout-out to all of Kara's peeps! Since Kara has neglected y'all I thought I'd step in to fill the void. (That's right, I said y'all...we've been in Texas for over two years so that's how we talk now) FYI: "y'all" = singular, "all y'all" = plural.

Anyway...today's Andrew's birthday, and I've been thinking back over the past 3 years. Reflecting on it all, having kids has really made me appreciate the fun and funny moments in life and has really taught me to look on the positive side of things. (If you ever wondered about the cosmos being balanced I can tell you that they are, because Kara tries to shoot down all my sunshine with her pessimistic appraisal of our situations). So, in celebration of the funny moments in life I thought I'd share with everyone one of my hobbies. I like to collect funny pictures. In particular I really like to collect funny baby pics. Don't know why, maybe I just like to laugh at people who can't do anything about it. Whatever the case may be, here's a sample! ~John

Hey, Grant! I've got an idea...

How about you become an even worse sleeper than you were before? You could wake up at midnight, 2:30am, 4:30am, and then 6:30am! And THEN you could take only a 30 minute nap! I think that sounds GREAT, how about it?!?! Oh, wait...

Sigh.

I really do love you lots, sweet baby Grant, but still...I'm quite tired.

Once a month blogger?

I can't believe I'm turning into a once a month blogger! Things have just been too busy...and when it comes to deciding between sleeping or blogging, sleeping always wins. I'm about to head off to bed soon (I desperately need whatever sleep I can get, Grant is quite sick) but I thought I'd say "Hello blogosphere!" I will be back soon with lots of Christmas pictures. I bet you all are so excited you won't even be able to sleep! Here's one cute little picture until then:

Drewbie loved the Christmas tree and had lots of fun decorating it. Shorts in December...that's Texas for you, even though the day before had been freezing.

I'm baaaack.....

And I know you all missed me so dearly. I don't know if it's laziness or busyness (or both) but blogging has been rather low on my list of priorities. Anyway, we're still alive and well...or somewhat well, I guess...we can't all manage to be healthy at the same time, but such is life in the winter.

So, we went to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful time!! We decided to drive, and drive straight through, but it actually ended up being ok. Mostly because John is really good at staying awake...I however, am not so great...though that may have had something to do with seeing Twilight at midnight the night before we left. Worth it though. My favorite part of the drive was when Andrew coughed so hard he threw up all over himself. I was driving and John started freaking out "He's puking, he's puking! PULL OVER!" Before the car had even come to a complete stop John had opened the door and jumped out. SUCH a wimp about vomit. Seriously. Boys.

Anyway, we got to spend an entire week with John's family and it was lovely. Andrew was in heaven, having someone (or several someones in this case) to play with and entertain him constantly. He adores his grandparents and aunts and uncles, and it was so fun to see him with them. It was also great to have everyone get to see Grant, since they hadn't seen him since his blessing in July.

It was a relaxing week, we played a lot of Wii and ate a lot of pie. It was declared "Pie Week '08", meaning there was a new pie every day, with six pies on Thanksgiving day. Fortunately for me (and my waistline), while I make pies, I don't eat them (except for chocolate chip pie and chocolate meringue pie). I got to try some new pie recipes, so I had a lot of fun.

The night before we left we took Andrew to see the lights at Temple Square, because he'd been telling us all week that he wanted to go see the temple (so cute!). It was crowded and cold, but also beautiful, and Andrew had a great time. Before we were even out of the state of Utah we were missing everyone. We love Texas, but sometimes it's too far away. If only it were located between California and Utah...who needs Nevada, anyway?

Here are some trip pictures, most of which were taken by "Sydawg", who Andrew had a blast with. Thanks Sarah!