All is Well

In three days time, he grew taller.

His hair got longer.
And he managed to get that much cuter.
While I know he was well taken care of by the grandparents, our family of three is right back where it needs to be- together.

On the Mend

Things are beginning to smell like roses, literally. I can now catch a faint whiff of the beautiful roses my mother and mother-in-law both gave me for my birthday. To say that reminds me how blessed I am to have such women in my life.

I've managed to do a little laundry, catch up on some reading and am now in the middle of watching Fiddler on the Roof. It's a movie I've never seen but always been interested in. Oh, but I had no idea how long it is.

Being ill has caused this tug-o-war in me. I know I need to rest, but man what a great time to catch up on all those to do's on my list. However, I have the feeling that if I don't rest, I may find out what it will take to get me to that point. I know D.'s already not too happy that I'm planning on returning back to work tomorrow. So for now, I bid adieu. The Fiddler calls.

Quarantined

Lysol...check
Mom's homemade noodle soup...check
Tamiflu...check

Those could only mean one thing, I have the flu and a sinus infection to boot. I almost said I was sick as a dog, but then I thought, "What does that phrase mean?" and "I have to be sicker than any dog." Okay, maybe not a dog with rabies. I digress.

We shipped Gavin off to his grandparents house, praying he doesn't get this, and D.is sleeping in the other room. I've had some vacation time this week except that I haven't been able to muster the strength to dream of putting my feet in the sand.

Speaking of strength, I think I'm going back to bed.

Happy Birthday Mr. Washington!

George Washington and I have a little thing in common- we share the same birthday. It's technically tomorrow, but lucky me has a wonderful husband who coordinated some fun activities for this weekend.
I first met up with my life-long friend (yes, we've known each other since before I can remember and coincidentally were college roommates) at our Alma Mater for none other than a cupcake decorating class. We had a blast and walked away with some new ideas and lots of frosted deliciousness.

Afterward, I picked up the boys for a benefit in town to help one of the teacher's I work with and her family. This family has amazing strength despite dealing with several severe illnesses and I was so proud to see that it looked like the whole town showed up.

Then it was on to the Chocolate Bar to meet up with some of my dearest friends. Remember her?


Someone pointed out that there's a lull in the conversation every seven minutes, but for the nearly three hours we were there, I think there might have been one. Oh, and if you're in Houston and haven't visited the Chocolate Bar, please go now. Here's a look at our smorgasbord. That's right folks- it's just one piece of cake and it could feed an army.

D. and I then left to go see a late night showing of Avatar. And I do mean it was late.

Today, my family blessed me with a birthday bash at my parents' house. It is always sweet to have all of our family together and I know we truly, truly are blessed to have parents and grandparents from mine and D.'s family in the same room. The boys are also at an age where they can play pretty well together.

I blew out of few candles for you Mr. Washington because those clearly couldn't be all mine.

Evenings Greetings

A Few of My Favorite Things From Today

• My twenty-month old's front

• Side

• And Back

• My grandparents

• Seeing my son get the same "sugar" from my grandmother that I used to and still do get

• And then seeing my son pass out his best squishy hugs to his great grandpa

• Watching Gavin brighten someone's day

• Homemade Valentines

• Sweet youthful hands entwined with those that have a wealth of stories to tell

• This picture
  

Children's Museum

My grandmother is going to be beside herself because I'm posting blogs two days in a row. Yesterday, my sister-in-law Dani invited Gavin and I to the Children's Museum with her boys and their neighbors. We hadn't been back since the first time we went last summer. Gavin wasn't quite walking at that time. So with his walking shoes on, we were set for an adventure.

Since I was off from school in honor of President's Day what better way to celebrate than to play with Lincoln Logs. I'm not sure that any towers were constructed, but Rome wasn't built in a day either.

I think Gavin's eyes glazed over when he saw the phone booths. Who is it Gavin?

It's Aunt Dani!

He even had a hand at trying to open the vault.

Which way to the toddler area Logan?

At just eight months apart, I think these two are going to get along pretty well.

Gavin put a jump in his step as soon as we arrived in the Toddler area. He played with the balls.

Didn't want to cooperate for a picture with Mom.

Drove trucks down a ramp.

And just eight months since Gavin's last trip here, he played in the same blue car. He didn't grow that much did he?!

Moms were tired, but I think these three enjoyed themselves quite a bit.

Valentine's Day Recap

It was kind of nice that Valentine's Day was on Sunday this year. It seemed like we celebrated all weekend long. Gavin made his babysitter a Valentine's card. He definitely had it in his mind how it should be decorated because he wouldn't dare color on the back of the heart or any of the other Valentine's hearts he made. Even if he is a little hard headed sometimes, I love that his personality is becoming more evident every day.

Our parents were so sweet to us. D.'s parents watched Gavin after our nephew's first birthday. (Happy Birthday Logan!) D. and I went out to eat and spent most of the evening in Rice Village. Then after church on Sunday, my parents watched Gavin. We were going to go watch a movie, but because it was so crowded, we just rented one and came back home after getting ice cream. And you know what? That was perfectly fine with us.

Balloons were a huge hit with Gavin! The grandparents sure do know what gets this kid smiling. To be clear, the big batch were Me Me's balloons, but he did leave with one or two of his own to add to his collection.

Below are a few pictures of our cute cupid delivering his Valentine's cards. I don't have pictures of Gavin with my parents because we forgot the camera, but we did take a few when we picked him up of him opening his little Valentine basket from us. I think he liked the cup full of foam hearts from us the most. There's nothing like dumping them out and putting the hearts back in the cup over and over.