Dear Andrew...

Dear Andrew,
I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. I couldn't wait for your arrival. I remember the nights that I would pray for a safe delivery, a healthy baby and for a son that seeped compassion. You were born on Election day...the year of the "questionable chads". Grandma Crawford thought your name should have been Chad. We obviously knew your name should be Andrew...after Jesus's disciple Andrew. He was a great man. Mom and dad watched the election unfold in our room. We were tired of hearing on EVERY station about the drama. It didn't seem to bother you though. You were such a mild mannered little baby while in the hospital. You didn't cry, you didn't fuss. You just slept.... THEN YOU CAME HOME! You cried, you fussed and you didn't sleep. Your daddy and I had all of these child care books out on the nursery floor trying to figure out what was wrong with you. We took you to the Pediatrician the next day to find out that you just wanted more to eat. Nothing wrong, you just wanted more grub. As you got older, you became more and more fun to hang out with. I loved going through your many stages. It was always fun to see what you were going to be obsessed with next. You loved Elmo, Thomas the tank, and Buzz Light year (to the point you really thought you could fly to infinity and beyond). Now your days consist of trying for hours to complete an olley on your skateboard, playing and assembling your Lego's without wanting help and playing with your Pokemon cards. I love watching you grow up. You are learning things on your own and learning how to become a great young man. I am proud of you Andrew. I am proud that you think of others feelings and how to be a servant to them. You are becoming the young man that I have prayed that you would become. You are special to me and to our family. Love, Mom.

Andrew gets a trophy for perfect attendance
Below...Andrew as some super hero he made up... Andrew as some other character... For Andrew's 7th birthday party, he wanted kids to bring animal shelter items instead of Birthday presents. That following Monday, we delivered the items to the animal shelter.


Andrew had his 8th birthday party on Friday.

I haven't posted, because I was up in Michigan this weekend to see my sister and dad. Anyway, the party was simple and sweet. Andrew had a big celebration at the bowling alley last year, so this year he got the scaled down version of a party. Of course, we had such a difficult time with trying to pick who to invite. I felt bad because there are other boys in his class that he is pretty close to. We just couldn't do all of the kids he wanted to invite. At school, he had a little party where he brought cupcakes that were baked into ice cream cones. THE KIDS THOUGHT THESE WERE GREAT. My mom use to make these for me at my school parties. Hers were much more decorated than mine. She use to put a sour cherry candy on top....I couldn't find them. After the school party, the 3 boys he invited came home to play Lego's and to learn Pokemon. I guess that is the "IN" thing to do. It was really funny watching the one boy Isaac teach all of the other boys how to play. I am not kidding you when I say he explained it once like a 2 minute lecture) and all of the boys picked up on it. We had cake and Ice cream and pizza. We played a few games of Freeze dance (look at the video below...hilarious) and then the boys headed to the movies to watch the opening night of Madagascar. Mommy stayed home with Elliott. I missed all of the smelly boy fun.