Happy 3 months, Baby Gavin!

Today my baby is 3 months old.  Oh how we love this little guy!

"Blue Steel"

"Ferrari"

And "Magnum"!

Why do they have to grow up and get big so fast?!  Gavin is not even close to sleeping through the night yet, but I really think I would miss our multiple late night visits if he did.  He's a snuggler - I love that - and I like to think he likes me best.  :)  We call him 'the baby who never sleeps' because he's just always so awake and alert, looking around, taking it all in.  We love his cute smiles and the little giggles that are just beginning, and that he will sit and "talk" to you all day.  So cute and fun!! 

We had an impromptu 'kodak moment' the other day when all the kids gathered around Gavin in his little bouncy seat.  At first I tried to shoo them all away - he was having a super cute smiley time, and I don't really like to share those.  :) - but I realized I wanted to get a picture with all of them in it.  My camera battery was dead, so I had to use my phone (which takes forever!) so the kids' instructions were to look at me, keep totally still, and say "cheese!" until I said they could stop.  It seemed to be working - I actually got a couple of rare cute pictures:    

And then, my sweet, sensitive little guy had enough and we got this:

At this point, I really did shoo them all away, but JD was concerned and wouldn't leave.  I told him Gavin was scared from everyone yelling right by his head and just needed some quiet alone time to settle down.  With the most loving look on his sweet little face, JD says to him, "Why are you so sad, Baby Gavin?  We were just cheesing!" 

I laughed so hard at that, but the word play funny was lost on the 3 year old.  No harm done, though - a few minutes of peace and he was back to his happy little self.

   

And look!  He actually sleeps!  Sweet angel.

We love you, Gavin!  

But quit growing up and getting so big!  It's killing your mom. 

No offense to you, but . . .

What a great lead in/free pass to say what sometimes just needs to be said.  Wasn't it around 5th grade when I started (over)using this phrase?  Why, yes I do believe it was.  How can I be so sure?  Because I currently hear it all day long and yes, we do indeed have a 5th grader in the house.

"No offense to you, Mom, but Gavin is screaming and I think he may need to eat." Yes Nathan, I do hear the screaming. He does need to eat, but he will have to wait until we get back home - I know I'm awesome and all, but that's not something I can do while I'm driving.

"No offense to you, but we were sitting here waiting a long time." Yes Nathan, I realize that, and I'm sorry. Tell your brother to quit running around naked right when I have to leave.

"No offense to you, but it smells a little funny in here." Yes Nathan, I can smell it. I've been here all day, its 1 part sink full of dirty dishes and 3 parts wet dog.

And today's winner: "No offense to you, Mom, but you kind of have a frowny face on."

Wow. Really? A frowny face? So even though I was painfully aware that my baby was screaming in the car while arriving late for school pick up, and bringing them home to a smelly house, I was not aware (although also not entirely surprised) that I had on a frowny face. But, thanks for pointing it all out for me anyway, and also for securing the record for most "no offense" comments in the shortest amount of time. I think you might have even beat your old mom back in her days of not offending.

But you know, I don't blame him.  Nathan is a lot like me and I remember feeling pretty adult always saying no offense.  I mean, I thought it was a very mature and fairly safe way to point out the obvious about certain things that may not otherwise be well received.  I never wanted to hurt anyone's feelings so it quickly became my conversation staple and well, kind of a habit.  But, like all the other phases I went through, I outgrew it fairly quickly, and so will he.  In fact, I don't think I've said no offense to anyone since my hair was in a side pony complete with neon scrunchies.  It was useful while it lasted, and now I get to sit back and laugh hearing my kids say the same things I did growing up while hearing myself say the same things my mom did growing up.  Weird, isn't it? 

Oh, and no offense Nathan, but the dishes are your job, and it might smell a little less funny in here if you'd get them done and quit leaving them in the sink for days. 

Just sayin' . . . ;-)   

Birthday Mania!

Why is Dec-Feb so chalk full of birthdays in this family?!  We just finished up our seemingly nonstop celebratory fun streak with Jake's birthday on the 1st and Livy's on the 5th.  There are so many aunt/uncle/cousin birthdays in a 2 week stretch that we got a little sick of partying with the same group and decided to just take Jake's grandparents out to dinner for his birthday.  We always have a wonderful time visiting with them, and I'm so grateful that my kids get to know 'Grandma & Grandpa Great' so well. 

For Livy's party, we tried out the new season passes we bought for the family for Trafalga/Seven Peaks.  We figured we'd pretty much be spending every birthday there for the rest of the year!  The kids had a blast playing laser tag, riding the hopper and the pirate ship, playing in the tunnels, and Nathan and Livy even tried out the rock climbing wall.  It was pretty crowded since we were there on a Friday night, and I pretty much hung out in the gated off toddler area with Elle, JD, and Gavin - so I didn't have many picture opportunities.  Bummer.  Jake did snap a few with his camera, though, so they aren't great, but its what we have. 

We're thinking it will probably be a lot more fun when it warms up a little and we can drive the go-carts and bumper boats, ride the roller coasters, and play mini golf outside.  We still had a great time though, especially when Uncle Andrew, Aunt Sophie, and Kennedy joined us there and then came along with us for Livy's birthday dinner.

So, in honor of her 9th birthday - here's 9 things you always wanted to know about Livy:

1. She is an excellent student and a great reader.  I never have to worry about her forgetting homework or putting off book reports or big projects until the last minute - as soon as she is given an assignment, she starts on it right away!  She scores at the top of her class in all subjects (besides math of course, but she is, after all, my kid.) and truly enjoys school. 

2. She has great fashion sense.  She got some new clothes for her birthday and was super excited to show off her new threads to her friends.  She likes to accessorize with belts, scarves, jewelry, and hair things. 

3. At first glance, she may seem all girl, but there is definitely a competitive streak inside her that she gets from her dad.  You should see her race her mountain bike!  I laugh to myself when I hear her post-race re-cap with Jake (she got her winning strategy from him) and I hear her says things like, "I focused on the racer ahead of me, started to reel him in, and then picked the rest of them off one by one."  She has always been one to prove that she can do anything - especially if you tell her its something she can't! 

4. She is very independent.  She loves to hang out with friends, but she is perfectly happy alone in her room with a book.  She isn't timid at all and sometimes I worry about the fast approaching teenage years when that independent streak may not be so endearing, but I am proud that she is a strong girl and can really stick up for herself when she needs to.

5.  She is an awesome big sister.  Elle really looks up to her and JD is totally in love with her.  When he is mad at me, he will go crying off to Livy to make things better.  I rely on her a lot to help out - maybe a little too much.

6. She loves to experiment in the kitchen.  She would really enjoy a cooking or baking class - and always offers to help with dinner.  Having Grandma here over Christmas was like a dream come true with all the time they spent creating delicious things together.  

7. She is really creative.  She likes to color and draw and is always making cute cards and pictures for everyone.  She is also trying desperately to learn to knit, but her lessons have been limited to when Grandma is around and I feel badly that I am no help in that department.  

8. She loves to sing!  And she's not shy.  She will perform any time you ask her to, no fear.

9. She is an all around great kid and we love having her in our family!                           

My own little Noddy

Even though my parents have lived in the USA since the 60's, they are still British citizens and since I had extended family still living in the UK I got the to enjoy some different toys and characters growing up. Ever heard of Paddington Bear? Oh, and the newly popular Mr. Men and Little Miss books? I was in LOVE with them by the time I was 6 or 7. My mom recently gave me all my old books - its a huge collection that I won't let my kids read without supervision - but they think its funny I used to read them. Yes they enjoy making me feel old.  We discovered that they even have their own TV show on Boomerang now. J.D. loves it - especially Mr. Grumpy (strange choice for my "Happy JD").

Anyway, another book series I used to love was called Noddy. They were pretty old even when I used to read them - I looked it up and found that the books were originally published between 1949 and 1963, and then made into a TV series in 1955. He was a little wooden elf, I guess, or maybe a gnome?, who lived in Toyland, and even though he was a total sweetheart, he always seemed to get into trouble.  Yesterday, I was out running errands with Elle, JD, and Gavin and I stopped to get them what Elle calls a "terrific sandwich" at my favorite: Subway. Waiting at the drivethru, I turned around to ask them what they wanted and saw JD sitting in his carseat all the way in the back row and burst out laughing at the first thought I had - Noddy!  I hadn't thought of Noddy and all his nonsense for so long and yet, there he was sitting in the back seat!  I whipped out my phone and took a picture. (Does that sound odd to anyone else?  I guess not these days, who even uses a camera for taking pictures any more?)  I knew I wouldn't be able to describe just how much he looked like that sweet little mischievous gnome from my childhood books.  How could I not have thought of JD as a Noddy before now?! How had I not noticed the glaring similarities?!

What do you think?!



Really quick

Just a quick post - this one's for you, Grandma!  You wanted a close up of Gavin . . . well, is this close enough for ya?

 

You gotta love those sweet cheeks and big blue eyes!

JD is 3!!

So, the wildebeest made it through the terrible twos.  Now what - the thunderous threes?! - he's been 3 for 6 days and I'm ready to lock him up!  He has been getting into so much trouble, its starting to make me a bit crazy.  But, we sure had a fun time celebrating his birthday!  Since his actual birthday was MLK day this year, we decided to have his party the next day, but he got to pick a special birthday dinner that night.  After asking for pizza and cake probably a bazillion times (he was a little confused cause this was already on the menu for the party) he finally decided on pancakes.  I made him lemon poppy seed pancakes, and he added the sausage, oranges, and his absolute favorite food: yogurt.  We sang as he sat there and grinned from ear to ear, then blew out his candles.            

I love this face!!

For his party, we invited all the Utah cousins to join us for some fun at a new place called Monkey Island Fun Center.  Its one of those bounce house places where the kids can just run wild.  He got his "cachow" cake that he's been asking for since this summer and got to jump to his little heart's content. 

Even baby Gavin got to try out the slides.

And it wouldn't be a party in true J.D. fashion without some sort of mischief.  I came back to the party room at one point and wondered what he'd gotten on his face.  Well, he just wanted some cake.  Ugh.  Good thing I got there when I did.  :)

He just leaned over and took a bite out of the cake. 

They had this cool chair for the birthday boy. 

And then a monkey showed up!  J.D. made monkey faces at him, and then gave him a big kiss.

Uncle Adam was the biggest kid at the party.  I wondered who was having more fun!  :)

J.D. loved his presents . . .

. . . and then enthusiastically said thank you.  Yep, that's a cousin!  haha.

So, my little guy is 3.  I can hardly believe it!  He is such a ham and so entertaining to be around.  As mischievous as he can be, he is still a total sweetheart always wanting a "huggy" and saying, "I love you so much."  Even though he usually uses it to get out of trouble, I still think its adorable (and it often works).  At his 3 year doctor visit, he weighed 30 lbs and was nearly 37 inches tall, both of which are in the 25th percentile - the closest to average size any of our kids have been.  There's a reason we call him beefy! 

He is such a crazy but amazing kid, and it sure is fun watching him grow up.        



oops, forgot to blog our Christmas!

Christmas Eve: Since Jake's parents were still here visiting, they planned a really fun Christmas Eve - we all went up to Salt Lake for ice skating and the lights at Temple Square, then over to Michael and Kara's for soup and hot chocolate.  I don't have any pictures because, well, I opted to spend the evening sitting in the warm and cozy Joseph Smith Memorial Building with Jake's grandparents and my new little week-old baby instead.  I heard that ice skating was a blast though, and the lights were beautiful, but I had a great time too just enjoying wonderful conversation without kids interrupting, and "people watching".  Do you have any idea how many last minute Christmas pictures were taken in front of the huge tree in that building that night?  Want to guess how many I tried to ruin by sticking my tongue out in the background?!  Sorry folks, it was too tempting. :)  After Michael and Kara's, we hurried home to leave out goodies for Santa and sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn, and to make sure we were all in agreement about which of the wee hours the kids were allowed to wake us up in, and then it was off to bed.  Of course, our wake up call came in at the exact time (to the minute) that we had previously deemed the earliest of the acceptable times (I can just see them all sitting there, staring at the clock waiting before they pounced) and once we dragged our sleepy bodies out of bed to video the event - 4 excited kiddos came thundering down the stairs to see what Santa had left for them.

Christmas Day: Is there a child in America that didn't get a Pillow Pet this year?!  Even baby Gavin got the Bumble Bee.  Its super cute, and hopefully he'll appreciate it when he's a bit older and love it as much as the rest of the kids love theirs. 

 And my mom gave them all new pajamas, which they were supposed to have opened the night before, but we were home too late.  They just opened them first and quickly all changed! 

Jake and I decided this year we weren't going to get the kids any toys, we just got a big family gift instead.  We bought them the Mario Kart game for the Wii and 4 steering wheels - something we could all enjoy together.  Even Elle and JD like to play!  Elle does need a little help - or she just drives in circles, but JD actually gets the concept and could eventually finish a race on his own, if we were all patient enough to wait for him.  :) 

 We also attempted a real Christmas dinner, too!  Every year, we've been able to schmooze off some family for the great meal except for the first year we were married, and Christmas dinner that day was tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches if I remember right.  But, Jake was a hero and did a fabulous-o job of successfully thawing and cooking a turkey for the first time (or that's what the resident vegetarian heard anyway . . . not really able to say for herself).

Then a little later in the afternoon, Jake's family came by to open more presents and play some more Wii, and we played our traditional "nut in the pudding" game.  It was a great day and a wonderful Christmas.  

The next week, Grandma and Grandpa were brave enough to take our 4 older kids up to their house in Wyoming with them for some time away from parents and for some fun sledding and snowmobiling!  They baked, read books, did crafts, and played in the freezing snow (I think at one point they said it was -15!!) and had an all around great time that I don't think the kids will EVER forget!

What a great Christmas!