Poor Baby

I took Gavin today for his twelve month well-baby visit. I guess it was his twelve months and two week visit to be exact. When we were there recently, I made note to bring a blanket for the cold table in efforts to have a calm baby on my hands. That somewhat worked, but from from the minute I set him on the scale, let's just say someone gave their lungs a workout.

While we waited for the doctor, I sang to Gavin, gave him puffs and played the tickle game. Anything to distract him. When the doctor did come in, boy, did Gavin show him how well he had been practicing the wrinkled nose and scrunched up face. However, I got to hold him most of the time and that helped. I think he was even a bit sleepy from the Tylenol I gave him beforehand.

But then he was wide awake. First they drew some blood from his finger for a routine anemia check and then he had to get two shots in each leg. He let me know he wasn't a happy camper. By the way, you should watch Jim Gaffigan's new video. The bit he does on "happy campers"is pretty funny.

The doctor said Gavin was doing fine and we could switch him to regular milk now. At twelve months and two weeks, he's:
28 3/4 inches in length: 20% percentile
18 pounds and 4 ounces in weight: less than 5% percentile
18 1/2 inches in circumference for head size: 70% percentile

We have a small boy, but he's always trended that way. For those of you who are squeamish, don't read on. On the way home, I noticed something brownish/red on Gavin's mouth. As we got further down the road, I noticed more of it. He had been sucking on the band aid where they drew blood from his finger, and so he had smeared the blood all over his face. Needless to say, I pulled over and got him cleaned up. Here's a picture of the brave boy who is now fast asleep. You can only see one of the two band aids on his leg and the one on his finger right before I took it off. You wouldn't know he wasn't a "happy camper" a little while earlier with that big smile on his face.

A Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday

Since it might take a while before I can gather everyone's pictures, I'm going to go ahead and post what pictures I have from Gavin's 1st Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday. I can hear some of you asking, "When will he have his second Caterpillar party?" No, there won't be a second Very Hungry Caterpillar, but this was his first birthday. I've actually already come across some really cute ideas for his second birthday, but maybe I'll let summer go by before I start planning.:-)

Beware, this post is going to have quite a few pictures. First let's start with the cake. I got the idea from here a cake someone else had done similarly. As soon as I can figure out the links, I'll post it.
And this is what it turned out to look like:

Making red icing is really, really hard. I know you can buy it already made, but I wasn't having much luck finding it. There's a good reason why we decided to have his cake outside (red and green icing don't mix with tan carpet and furniture.)
I actually liked Gavin's personal cake just as much, but the little guy wasn't having any of it.

In fact, he couldn't get past having the icing on his fingers and this is about as far as he got with his cake.

After the paint fiasco at Mother's Day, I'm really beginning to think he may be more of a paint brush kind of guy.
I made Gavin's banner using the die cut machine at work. I strung it with ribbon and taped the pieces on the back to each other. I think it did best hanging against a wall because of the weight of it.

Here's a little bit closer shot.

The kids party favor bags were filled with a Very Hungry Caterpillar coloring sheet I rolled up and tied with twine, fruit shaped snacks, bug stickers, and a mini pinwheel. I found his labels off etsy.

For the adults, I bought these cute party crackers on sale. I first saw something like these on the Mr. Bean show. They're pretty popular in Britain. When twisted, they make a firecracker pop sound and there's a prize hidden inside.

I don't really have a wide shot of the backyard, but we set it up two large tents or else all of our guests were going to be large puddles of sweat in the 90 degree heat.

I had a station for all of the kids to plant a seed to take home. They decorated their pot with washable markers and bug stickers and before they left I tied them up in cellophane bags and red ribbon so that parents wouldn't have a bunch of soil dumped in their cars.

While the kids were planting, I scattered plastic bugs around the yard. One was a prize bug with a blue mark on the bottom. The child who won, got a large pinwheel lollipop. I think the kids really enjoyed the bug hunt. After some time of playing outside with the other toys and ball pit, we headed inside for some refreshments and food.

For the food, I had prepared with the help of Nonna and Me Me the foods from the Very Hungry Caterpillar book. We had things such as a large fruit salad, watermelon, cheese and summer sausage, lollipops, cherry pie and chocolate cake brownies.

D. scanned in pictures from the book to put on the front of the table, and my mom helped me create an outside scene on top of the table using butcher paper and die cuts.



Gavin even took a couple more steps that day.


He then opened presents while everyone else cooled off inside watching A Bug's Life.

We are so blessed by having all of our family and friends celebrate this wonderful first year of Gavin's life.

Heritage

Today could be called "great." I gave Gavin his first butterfly kiss and he laughed each time. He has been practicing clapping his hands and he crawled through my legs like a tunnel. In fact, I'm not ashamed to say that we had a crawling race. That little guy is fast! We even got caught in a thunderstorm coming out of the store. I didn't mind since we haven't had rain in over a month. That little man also did the sweetest thing this week. I was showing him pictures of our family and when I asked where Momma was in the picture, he turned to me and gave me the biggest kiss. He's a smart one!

Last night, we had the pleasure of celebrating D.'s grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. These don't come often anymore. I can attest to that because I could only find one 60th anniversary card in all of the stores I searched through. They are the sweetest, most well-dressed couple you'll ever meet. In the nearly ten years I've known D., they've always made me feel like family. They look just as good now, as they did then.

The funniest thing about the whole evening, is that the guests of honor were late. It was a surprise party, so we really can't blame them. The "plan" was for them to come back home after Wednesday evening church and be surprised. Well, everyone including those who also went to church that night, were at my in-law's house wondering where they were. However, they had decided to do a little shopping. Here's a picture of my watch I took to commemorate that part of the evening, but it's kind of one of those, wouldn't understand unless you were there, funny instances.


D. and I are blessed with such godly parents and grandparents. In fact, my grandparents will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year, and both of our parents have been married for 36 years. I'm going to have a lot of planning to do the year both sets celebrate their 50th anniversary! It's well worth it though to have the examples of their marriages before us.

For D.'s grandparents, I made them a family tree. I have my sewing machine I received for Mother's Day this year, but until I learn to use it, it was hand sewing for me. I think it turned out pretty good, although I wish there was something different I could have done with the leaves. Maybe I'll think of something if I choose to do another one with the leftover fabric I have.


Here are my two men looking very dashing that night.

And I even got in some quite snuggling time with Gavin. He only sat still because he was so tired.

Me Me- it was a really wonderful night!

Father's Day

Yesterday, we got to spend the day with all of the wonderful fathers in our lives.
The Morton side:


And the Moore side:
Don't you think we need a few little girls to even things up a bit?

And my sweet husband on his first Father's Day. Gavin was born just two days after it last year, but in my book D. was already showing wonderful attributes of being a great dad. He proved me right.

Life's a Beach

On Gavin's actual birthday, D. and I thought it would be fun to take him to the beach for the first time. First birthday, why not partake in the first time on the sand and in the ocean (or Gulf as was our case). Neither D.or I had been back to Galveston since Hurricane Ike devastated it nearly a year ago, so I wasn't sure if this experience would be very pleasant. However, I had read that it actually looked better than before since they were redoing the beaches.

So, with one grandmother in tow and another meeting us there with a blond-haired similar looking cousin to Gavin, we set off. When we got there, the beaches did indeed look better.


I love these next pictures of Gavin and D.'s feet together.




Ayden was so sweet to give Gavin a kiss on the cheek, but what was so funny to us is that Gavin reached right out to give a kiss back. Yes, Gavin is in just his diaper. I specifically remember asking D. if I should pack a swimsuit with all of the many other things I packed for the day. The response I got was "no" because we were only going to be on the beach for a few minutes before eating. First, the water was coming in too high, so off with the shorts and then when he started playing in the sand, we wanted to save the rest of his clothes. I'm not sure why because we had tons of other clothes for Gavin in the car, but I think I wanted him to stay in the outfit that went with his hat featured in later pictures.


After a fun time at the beach, we went to eat at the Rainforest Cafe.

I was a little worried that all of the lifelike animals would frighten Gavin, but he seemed okay with it all. We sat by the very friendly and hungry elephants. Ayden and Gavin were having a ball.

Actually, we were all pretty happy especially when they brought out the Volcano, a two brownie, ice cream and whipped topping decadent birthday treat. This pic of Gav is pretty priceless.


On the way, home Gavin conked out pretty fast. I think he had a good birthday.

Thank you Me Me and Nonna for making it so special!

June 17, 2008

That's the date you breathed your first breathe, but it's not the first time you brought joy into mine and your Daddy's hearts. That would be from the first day we knew we were having you. You came into this world under the canopy of a beautiful moon with narrowly a few minutes to spare of being born the next day. To express how much we have been blessed this year as well as how much we love you, your Daddy and I each wrote you a letter. Here's a couple of excerpts:

"Hey Gavin, I cannot believe you are about to turn one. When I found out that I was going to be a dad, my heart was filled even more than I thought it could be. I see your fun-loving personality and sweet demeanor and wonder what you will become. I hope and pray that you will become a godlier man than me. I hope and pray that you will be more giving than me. I hope and pray that one day you will become a better father than me. I hope and pray that you will find your way through life and that your mom and I will be part of that.... Take care Gavin, and know that I love you so much no matter what!" Daddy

"Gavin Liam - Oh, how you captured mine and your Daddy's hearts from the get go. You may be on the smaller side for your age, but you make up for it with your larger than life personality.It's neat that at times, people say you look like me and other times, you look just like your Daddy. I think you're a perfect mix of looks and characteristics. One thing is for sure, you are a child who almost always has a smile on your face. The joy you show is passed on to family, friends and stranger alike. I pray that your Daddy and I will be godly role models as you begin to pick up on the things we say and do. We desire for you to love Jesus and to one day know Him as you personal Lord and Savior. May we help sow the seeds now for that harvest time. We love you dearly and this year has brought us so much joy as we watch you grow. Happy Birthday sweet pea!" Mama

There is so much more that could be said about our little guy. We have been truly blessed and can't wait for many more birthdays with you Gavin.

Red Convertible

Since it was a hot June day, we decided to take the new, red convertible for a spin. G. had been wanting to take it for a test drive since he got it yesterday for his birthday from Nonna and Poppy, and since D. got home from work early it was the perfect opportunity. So with baseball cap donned and another new toy in hand for G., we were off.



Even at five in the evening, it was scorching hot here. D. tried to talk me into pulling him too, but I didn't go for it. Maybe next time. Thanks Nonna and Poppy. We think he likes it!

Birthday pictures to come once I can gather them from everyone.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

D. always says the sign of a good sleep is wild hair especially when it comes to Mr. Man. Some days he has really, really good sleep. After waking up from a two and a half hour nap this morning, we're not really sure what kind of sleep G. was having. One side of his hair was laying down nice and smooth, while the other was out of control. You be the judge.

I Want My House Back

Our house is for sale. We made the hard decision about two months ago when we put it on the market. It's hard because it's the first house we have owned, the house we brought G. home to and in just four years in it we have made so many wonderful memories. We were also blessed to have family and friends write scripture all over the frame of the house when it was being built. Needless to say, it has special meaning to us.

I know there will be other houses that we will love although neither of us wants to move around. We're kind of a one-home, let's raise our children, and sit on the front porch (we don't have a front porch) growing old kind of folks. Plus we made the decision to sell the house for several great reasons. Still, I want my house back. It's weird thinking that people are touring our house several times a week and it's really hard to keep it spit-spot, show house clean all of the time especially now that our wee one is getting into everything.

As the complaint of wanting my house back runs through my head, I'm reminded that our time on Earth is just temporal. Instead of yearning for this physical house that will one day be no more, I should daily be looking forward to my permanent home in Heaven. 1John 2:17 says that the world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will will of God lives forever. While I'm still struggling with what God's will is for my life, I know that my temporary desires will pass away one day. Since that's the case, it's probably best that I don't spend so much of my time fretting over what might sell in the near future.

Since you've followed me this long through my little pep talk to myself, I'll leave you with this treat: a sneak peek at G.'s first year birthday pictures.


***Update***Today we were supposed to have someone come at 2:30 to look at the house. At 12:20, we get a phone call saying they rescheduled and are coming at 12:30. If you do a little math, that comes out to they will be here in ten minutes. Needless to say, I definitely wasn't ready. The house was pretty much picked up, but I was in the middle of feeding G. lunch. D. called them back and told them they would have to hold off until at least 12:45, but the realtor never got the message. The door bell rings at exactly 12:30, and flustered, I told them they would have to give me a few minutes especially since G. was crying over wanting more strawberries and he needed to be changed before we left. I didn't tell them all of that of course, but I did make it out of the house with a mostly clean baby. I think he still had some strawberries on his forehead. As if it's not that obvious by now, I really want my house back and God still has a lot of work to do with me!

Weekend Happenings

My family swears (if they did swear) that they heard me yelling for joy at approximately 8:30 a.m. Saturday. That's about the time I turned in my last bit of paperwork at school and officially started summer vacation. Saturday was technically a work day, but I'm glad to have said a quick hello and goodbye.

And with the beginning of summer, that only means that G.'s 1st birthday is right around the corner. We assembled his birthday present and let him try it out early.


He seemed to really like it. At his babysitter's, the big girls (18 months and 2 years old) sit at one just like it. I think he felt like a big boy.

His little feet could barely touch the floor. This picture turned out kind of neat by accident.

That is, he seemed to like it until he slipped and went sailing under the table, but that wasn't so bad either.

I was feeling a little left out in this next picture because the boys were wearing their shark p.j.'s and conveniently had a shark nearby. It was like they had planned it.


Not much went on Sunday except for church. G. slept most of the day because of his teething. We did take him outside for a little while and he seemed to enjoy it. The Moores are all looking forward to more relaxing summer days.