Busy People

Ok, so this is my 4th attempt at posting this blog post so let's see how it goes. Wow... we have been busy people lately. I just don't know where the time goes and why it has to go so fast. I started full-time college a few weeks ago and it is definitely keeping me on my toes and very busy. I am taking Anatomy & Physiology, Anatomy & Physiology Lab, and Nutrition and have already had three quizzes and have three test in the next couple weeks. Although these classes seem like they are going to be very time consuming and difficult I do think I am going to learn a lot and take many things away from them. In January I will be starting the Nursing program and I am very excited to enter that phase, scared a little, but I have faith that I'll make it through it.
Aside from school, our family has been staying busy by attending two 1st birthday parties and a baby shower. By the time we got to the baby shower and Gavin saw balloons he said "birthday party... eat cake"... why wouldn't all kids think that when they see balloons its for a birthday party especially since there were 3 parties in two weekends. We all had fun at all the parties and the birthday boys did so good with their cakes and both had such a great turn out that you could feel the love. At each party Gavin really thought it was for him... its so hard to convince them at this age that the presents, cake, and balloons aren't for them... ha.

here is his sporting some glasses party favor from Jaxon's birthday party... I love this picture.

We have been throwing around the idea of changing Gavin's bed into a 'big boy' bed for the past couple months. He has been sleeping in a full size bed at the babysitters for quite some time so we couldn't decide if we wanted to buy a twin bed or just convert his bed into a toddler bed for the time being. His bed converts to both a toddler bed and a twin bed so it wasn't about buying the actual bed but about getting the mattress. With the annual Stokes trip fastly approaching I figured it was as good a time as any to make that transition. He did so good the first night and with only had a little hesitation about falling asleep but he has a routine of wanting multiple water drinks before bed so really it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Of course I was worried that he'd get up in the middle of the night and go outside because this child can open every door in the house and has been able to since shortly after he could walk, example, he lets Patch in from outside all the time without us knowing. He has done so good with staying in his bed and he is so proud of himself. Since then he has fallen out twice but hasn't any since the first week and is sleeping really well. Every morning when I go to get him out of bed he is sitting in his bed reading a book, it is way cute. He knows that when it's dark he needs to be in bed, so last week one night he was rubbing his eyes around 7:00 and I asked if he was tired and he said "yes" so I asked if he needed to go to bed and he looked around me and out the window to see that it was still light out and looked back at me and said "not dark, no bed time". Here lately he has just grown up and is thinking more logical... it's very interesting and cute.
Lastly, I took him fishing with a friend of mine and her kids and although his fishing pole is at my mom's house he used her sons and actually reeled in a fish on his own for the first time. I was so proud of him. He thought it was cool but then kept pressing the release button which would then slam the fish into the ground. It was kind of funny but I did feel bad for the fish.

reeling it in...

helping him show it off...

Our summer has been filled with many things and is coming to an end and we are welcoming fall with open arms, it can't get here fast enough. All in all, we have had a great end to our summer. I know it was a long post and I have more pictures to share but at this point, I'm just happy that I was able to update everyone on a few things and just share a few pictures. I'll really, try to get better about the blog... just bear with me :)

Potty mouth... I mean head

Hmmmm, what do you say when you walk in on your son sitting on the potty, giggling with a wet head? That's exactly the image I walked in on a couple weeks ago. Sometimes it helps Gavin with using the potty if we leave the room SO I decided to leave him alone to do his business but before I left he asked for his brush that was sitting on the counter. I thought 'what harm can that do?' Well, when I came back in the room I heard giggles and saw him with a wet head, I almost instantly knew what happened but you can never to be too sure with a child so I asked him how he got his hair wet. He was still sitting on the potty and gave the biggest smile and pointed between his legs at the water... yep, exactly what I thought. He had dipped his brush IN the toilet water and brushed his hair and thought it was the funniest thing ever. Good thing he hadn't actually gone yet but still it was toilet water. Well, ladies and gents that wasn't the last time he did that. The next night I asked him to go wash his hands before dinner but on his way back he grabbed his brush and as I was on my way back to help him wash up it hit me to run. I heard the loudest giggle and he walked out of the bathroom with a trail of water behind him and yet again a wet head. We now refer to him as toilet head... sometimes. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of him but maybe you wouldn't want to see that anyway. For now you can enjoy some picture of him just being a cutie.

I don't think staying clean is part of making pudding.. love it

Some like it HOT

Some like it HOT but I on the other hand do not like it hot. I don't know how many more of these 90+ degree days I can take, I am definitely a fall/winter kind of girl, now get me a pool in my backyard and I may sing a different tune. Not only has it been insanely hot, Gavin ran a pretty high fever last week. We still don't know exactly what he came down with but we do know that it wasn't Streph so it was most likely a flu bug. It was pretty rough for a while and his temperature actually got to 105 Monday night but all is well and he is thankfully doing much better.
We are all preparing for me to finish my last couple weeks at work and to transition into becoming a full-time student. I must admit that this is very nerve racking for me, I've worked pretty much every day since I graduated from high school so not only am I changing careers I am having a huge lifestyle change but I am so looking forward to this change. It has been a long road to get here but I am going into this with open arms and an open mind about the journey I'm about to embark on.
We have been staying busy with keeping cool and enjoying our family time together. Gavin is doing so well with potty training but still doesn't really ask to use it unless we bring it up, however, the babysitter told me that today he told her that he had to go #2 and she brought him to the bathroom and in a matter of seconds he went in the toilet. He is so proud when he makes people happy and does something good, he is definitely a praise child but that's okay but he's learns quick that way. We seriously worry about him when he is in school though. I have told people that I think we are going to have many calls from school about him goofing around because this child, I kid you not, will repeat what he's doing 20+ times if you laugh at what he's doing. If he finds that he's making you happy and getting laughs out of you, he will repeat it until you no longer laugh... asking him to stop doesn't work. I have to admit that I kind of like that he likes making people happy and he likes being a clown, it keeps things interesting and we have a hard time not laughing with him. His new favorite thing is his Buzz Lightyear backpack, he has to take that thing with him everywhere and it's so cute seeing him wear it. I can definitely wait for the real thing though... he's already growing way too fast.
Anyway, I've rambled enough so here are some more summer pictures.

a summer storm rolling in


mmmmm, watermelon

still loves playing in the curtains...

wearing his backpack

almost looks like he's waiting for the bus

Name that Tune

I have to jot this down, and share with all of you that this morning Gavin did the cutest thing. Isn't it funny the things kids will do when they don't know you are listening or watching??!! Well, this morning I heard him in his room awake and just jabbering like he does every morning except this morning was a little different, he was singing. Gavin and I sing songs in the car and our two favorites are 'Twinkle, Twinkle" and "ABC's" so that is exactly what he was singing and it sounded so cute. Every time we are done with 'Twinkle, Twinkle' he continues with 'bup bu bup bu bu bu bu' which can only mean, 'up above the world so high'. I know you all got that out of his rendition, right??? Then he started in with 'h....i....j....k...." pause "q...". I just found it so cute that is he able to remember songs and sing without my help, it was a very cute moment for me. Of course the battery on our video camera was dead so I didn't get to get it on film but he can bet I'll be waiting outside his room in the mornings now to catch it.

Summer Fun

Our summer has already proven to be very busy. We have played in the lake at my parents house, had mini-Big Surf parties, gone to the movies, worked on potty training, gone to Kansas City to visit my sister and many more. And to think, it is only the second week in July. I have been busy with my on-line class which will thankfully be over in a couple weeks. Jim has been busy in the yard and Gavin has been busy keeping US busy. Gavin is getting so good with potty training, still going more at the babysitters but he will actually go for us at home sometimes so that's a huge accomplishment. Just last week he went 6 times at home, what a big boy!!! He amazes me at how smart he is, he picks up on new things, most times, the first time he sees it done. We are going through the typical 'mine/my' phase and I've been told they still do this in kindergarden (i-yi-yi). He still really loves to read books and will sit down by himself and attempt to read, he is singing along with songs and still dancing up a storm.
Here are some pictures from our summer adventures.

this is what happens when a 2 year old is left along for 5 minutes










'The Crying Giant'


wandering amongst the headless men




this was in the entrance of the Kemper Museum


inside the birdie




look at the size of that flower

My Favs

Here are some of my favorite pictures of my favorite model.

BAD blogger

Yes, I have fallen prey to the bad bloggers... how dare I??!! Let me explain... work has been super hectic, I started night classes again, we have been running non-stop and just this past Monday I came down with a stomach bug which left me barely able to lift a finger in which Jim had to call in sick to work for me because I couldn't move, let alone talk. Needless to say it's been a little crazy around our house lately. Let me catch you guys up on things that are probably a bit more interesting... Gavin's speech has come leaps and bounds, he's still not ready for spelling bees but we can tell a dramatic difference and it's so much fun. He mimics every single thing we say, has for a long time, which I think has helped with his speech... even when I said 'crap'... yep he said 'crap' and it was so hard to not laugh. Just as last year and the year before he is such a water bug, he actually gets mad if we tell him he has to get out of the water. My mom and step-dad live on a lake and we went there over Memorial Day weekend and if we would have let him float in his tube all day I think he would have been happy. I was able to get him out to do some tubing with me though, he wasn't even scared, he just laid back on me the entire time. The next day we took him to the campground to visit Jim's family and he got to swim again in the kiddie pool. I don't know what it is about kids and water but they just go together so well.

Gavin has moved to a 'big boy' bed at the sitters and is doing really well. He is such a big boy and only has set backs on Mondays after spending the weekend in his crib at home but then is right back on track and sleeping good for her. I just don't know if I'm ready for him to be that grown up so he's still in his crib and will stay that way a little bit longer until Pam, his babysitter, says it's disrupting his sleep at her house too much. Besides, if it isn't broke then don't fix it... right??!! He is also using the 'big boy' potty to go to the bathroom, of course not every time but Pam said that one day he had no accidents and used the potty a couple times even before lunch so that was a huge success. I just wish he would use the potty for us at home, I guess having other kids to go with makes it easier. I can get him to stand in front of the toilet and prep and make a grunting noise like he's trying but so far he's only gone a couple times at home but we know he'll get there. So other than the normal 2-year old happenings we are still hanging in and enjoying our time.

I have started taking more professional, that's what I call them, pictures of Gavin to save us some money and really I just love taking pictures and have found a new hobby. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get time... promise!!! Hopefully our next update won't be as far out.

"helping" me make chocolate pudding

me & Gavin tubing

Rob tubing

Gavin cheering on Rob

Jim and Danny fishing

he LOVES watering plants

'and here's where the rocks go...'

he thought he was hot stuff driving a boat being pulled by a truck... hehe