Avery Einstein

Avery and I were having fun on the trampoline and a little static electricity came to play with us....

10 Month Catch-up...

Life has been really crazy the past ten months and blogging got left behind. But, now that I have finally come up for a little air, Drakesinthedr is back! (even though we aren't even in the DR anymore). Here is a recap of what we have been up to....

We felt the Lord was calling us something "new," so in January we began the process of selling our things in the DR and preparing to move back to the states. It was VERY hard to leave and say goodbye to so many woooonderful friends that had become so dear to us over the past three years. They were three hard, challenging, and stretching years, but also three fruitful, FUN, and adventurous years! Our life in the DR was full of so many blessings and we

experienced the Lord in new and fresh ways being outside of the comforts of US living.

Saying goodbye to Marlene, her husband Paco, and their kids Drelin and Paco Jr. I met Marlene on my second trip to the DR when I was 12 years old!

One last trip to the Santo Domingo Zoo with our friends the Salmonds.

The Women's Bible Study I was so blessed to be a part of.

These ladies truly showed love to me and accepted me as I was. It was so wonderful to be a part of a group of ladies that were of all ages and from all walks of life.

Saying goodbye at the airport to our dear Ana and her daughter Tata. Their family became a part of ours and my heart aches each time I think of them- I miss them so much.

We arrived in Orlando to stay with my parents on March 19. I was 8 months pregnant. Elliott stayed a week and then had to return to the DR for a month to finish up some final work. We missed Elliott ALOT while he was gone, but we also managed to have some fun... :)

We went to the beach...

we went to the park...

we swam in the pool...a lot...

and Avery baked with Mia!

Elliott joined us on April 19!! We were SOO glad to be reunited as a family of 3 (almost 4!).

Happy Easter

Avery loves bubbles.

Then on May 19 at 6:11am Lucas Elliott Drake was born. He weighed 6 pounds 7oz. He came 8 days early and I had a relatively quick and easy labor.

Avery came to the hospital with her Big Sister shirt on and was VERY excited to meet her brother "Lukey."

On June 4 Avery turned 2. We had a simple little party for her with my family. My sweet grandparents and aunt drove down from north FL to celebrate Avery's life and meet Lucas.

Avery loved her new Elmo camera.

Elliott's mom, DD, came to visit us in Orlando and meet Lucas.

John and Kate came to town and we got to spend the week together at New Smyrna Beach.

We officially became "mini-vaners"

We found this "choo-choo track" in the neighbors trash a few days before we left Orlando and it quickly became Avery's new favorite past time.

On August 5 we celebrated 5 wonderful years of marriage!

On August 9 we packed up the van and drove to NC to spend time with Elliott's family.

Grammy got the family together for a Clam Bake!

We left NC and flew to Colorado to attend a Debriefing and Renewal program at MTI, where we did our pre-field training in 2008. It was a wonderful week of processing all that we learned and experienced in the DR. It was so refreshing and "validating" to be with others that had lived and served all over the world and were going through many of the same things we are.

Lucas was a little more excited about the flight than Elliott.

And last but not least, we are now in Lookout Mountain, GA for the next 3 months.

Making cookies with the kiddos.

Lucas loves it here!

Hopefully the next post will be ALOT shorter and sooner :) Thanks to anyone who actually made it to the end.

Long Avery Update

Well I realized that I have been terrible about updating the blog, and I also haven't been so great in writing down all that Avery is doing these days, so I thought I would tackle both at once. This post is more for my own records and for our families back home, so feel free to skip to the pictures :)

It is so hard for me to believe she will be 17 months next week- I feel like we were just having her first birthday party last week. Time is flying!

- Loves to play outside. Every morning after breakfast she grabs her red ball and baseball hat (ha) and stands at the front door waiting to go out and play. She loves to run, run, run, run and is pretty good at kicking a ball.

-Loves, I mean LOVES, shoes. It is her favorite word to say and she always points out peoples' shoes. Every morning after I get her dressed, she runs straight to her closet saying shoes and insists I put on the pair for her that she picks out. She also loves picking out my shoes. Same thing- after I get dressed she runs to the closet and comes out with a pair of shoes. She is actually pretty good at coordinating my shoes with my outfit- If I have on running clothes, she brings out my running shoes. If I have on a dress, she brings out my flats. If I have on shorts and a tshirt, she brings out my flipflops.

-Ridley is her best friend. She follows him around all day and loves to lounge on him. She now likes to pat him on the back and say "good boy" (It sounds more like bo-boy, but she's got the right inflection when she says it).

-She is starting to talk more and more. She can say: no, eyes, nose, hair, hat, hot, brrr, dog, bear, bird, boo-boo, uh-oh (her new favorite phrase- says it all day long), aww, shoes, boom, poop (she is always very insistent in letting me know that she has a poopy diaper), cheese, please, Dad...and others I know I am forgetting.

-Very affectionate- she loves to give hugs and kisses. For kisses she puckers up her lips and says mmmmm-mmmm until you kiss her. When she gives hugs she says "awwww."

-She still doesn't say any words in Spanish, but it is so cool to see how she understands it. If I ask her to give me a kiss in Spanish, she puckers up and gives me a big smacker.

-She goes to bed between 7-7:30 most nights and wakes up at 6:45 or 7 in the morning. She takes one nap around 11 and sleeps for about an hour and a half. She is finally better about going down for a nap and falls asleep pretty quickly.

-Her favorite foods are grapes, oatmeal, broccoli, cheese, yogurt, goldfish, smoothies, and tofu.

-Loves to sing and dance.

She is so much fun and brings us so much joy!! We love you sweet Avery Elizabeth Drake!!!

Avery with her Taiwanese friends at Para Te

Playing in the park

Avery at the beach with the Breul boys. They buried her and she loved it.

This was right after a big wave came and splashed her.

How Avery is currently napping

Fishy Fishy

On Saturday we went to the National Aquarium. It was such a fun and relaxing little family outing!! The aquarium is on lots of property right on the ocean with a beautiful view of the blue, blue water below. Avery loved the fish and would point and say "dat, dat, dat" every time she saw one. The aquarium has a new play area for kids and Avery enjoyed toddling around and playing. Then we found a nice shady spot under a palm tree, ate some Bon Popsicles, and watched Aves run around in the grass. Large areas of mowed grass are a scarcity here in the big city of Santo Domingo- so the three of us were loving it!

Look at Avery's little crossed feet- cracks me up.

Such a big girl!

There was a little group of special needs kids sitting next to us and they all wanted to come over and take pictures with Avery. They were the sweetest little kids ever. The little girl, Brittany, was so good with Avery and kept kissing her on the head. It was such a special moment to see Avery with these precious children. I felt the Lord smiling down.