Andrew Brashier Gleason

Drew was delivered this morning at 6:35.  He weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces and was 21 inches long.  He was delivered by Dr. Heather Greer at UAB.  Loren and Drew are both doing very well.  We are thrilled to welcome this little guy into our family.

This has been a very special birthday for Jon, Loren and Drew....who were all born on May 23rd!!!

Waiting on a Baby!

It is May 20th, 2012 and we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our third child (due Wednesday)!  We have spent the last few weeks preparing for this wonderful addition to our family and also spending quality time with Anna and Ben.  The next few weeks may get pretty rough for them as they grow accustomed to a whole new world that includes Baby #3.  So, we've been to the zoo (twice), eaten smoothies (a favorite), gone on walks to the park and generally had a big ol' time enjoying our little family of just 4!  Here are some recent pics...this will be the last blog post until the Gleasonites are 5!!! 

EASTER...

Overton Park..

Gymboree..

Zoo train (Ben on full alert!)

Loving summertime!!

Ben is passionate about bubbles..  Can you see the joy in those little eyes!?!

Haircuts

This picture pretty much sums up Anna's opinion of her first haircut.  She was not a fan.

She cried when I put her in the chair, and even the iPhone was not enough distraction...so I held her.

We figured it was time for Anna to get her first haircut since Ben is a pro now.  I think this is #4 for him.  He was thrilled with his sucker and sat still like such a big boy while mommy dealt with Anna.

Here's Ben chillin in his chair after haircut.  Thanks Nicole!

Any Given Sunday

The Gleason house has changed considerably in recent weeks as Anna and Ben have decided that walking is much better than crawling.  The pictures below clearly demonstrate the joy that they share in their new freedom.  

They are also rapidly expanding their vocabulary.  Here are some examples:

Mom: "What does a horse say?"

Ben: "Neeeeaaaaa (smile)!!!"

Mom: "What does a cow/sheep/dog say?"

Ben: "Mooooooo/Baaaaaa/Wooooo (smile)!!!"

Other common words:

Anna: eat, socks, shoes, eyes, ben (pronounced Beeooww), daddy, mommy, Uh-Oh!, cow

Ben: No, Uh-Oh! (constantly), mommy, daddy, eat, please, door, animal sounds (above)

Anna is very silly...

It's good to have a partner...

Baby blue's holding strong...

Daddy is the new favorite playground...

Ben is that hilarious and rare combination of...

loves to be tickled... and is ridiculously ticklish (can't control himself)

Here come the tractors!

On our way out of town, we stopped by the John Deere dealership to let Ben and Anna see the real live tractors.  Ben has been obsessed with his tractor book, so we wanted to show him the real deal.  Note his serious face when he's sitting on the big tractor...although it could be because the sun was bright.

And a final parting shot until we post again...Ben woke up from nap like this one day.  Time for a haircut!

Playtime

Anna and Ben took advantage of the playground next door to Gran and Pop's house.

At one point during our visit we were finishing breakfast and Anna and Ben were being unusually content and quiet...this is how we found Ben when we checked on them.  He found a piece of Dove chocolate in daddy's stocking.  He's not very good at covering up the evidence.

Twas the night before Christmas

Our first "night before Christmas toy assembly" picture...I'm sure there will be many more like this in years to come.

Modeling Christmas pjs and eating a cheerio snack

Our stockings and toy display - train for Ben and a baby doll and strollers for Anna 

Anna actually liked wearing her headlamp and dad thought it was super cool that the kids have them now!

Sometimes it's more fun to sit on the box than open the present.  Also note that Anna has spent some time this winter in boys pjs because we got a lot from our friend Mac...she doesn't seem to mind!

The cozy coupe was the hit of Christmas day!  Good job Nana and Pop!!