This is for you Kris!

This post is 95% for our dear Aunt Kristie for kicking my butt and getting me to FINALLY post again:) It's not that I don't like to post or don't have fun pics of my darling children, but life is just BUSY! Or maybe I'm just a slacker, either way here's what we've been up to since January (and I'm sure many of you will be relieved to see that my life no longer centers on Gavin's sleeping habits:)


In January we went and visited the dinosaurs at the Heard Museum and they were AWESOME! They had one that spit water that the boys carefully avoided and a life size T-Rex (it also roared and moved) that instilled proper fear into my dear Braden, if only I could figure out how to do that at home...
This is what the face of fear and awe look like...January also brought rice cereal back into our lives, mushy disgusting nasty rice cereal. But we love it because it also meant that Gavin was FINALLY sleeping through the night and I was finally sane again, so life was good, and Gavin didn't seem to mind, but he also didn't know any better:) This face would later be joined by grunts and screams any time the spoon took more than 5.2 seconds to re-enter his hungry little mouth. He's really intense about his food!

This picture is really 100% for Kristie, look SNOW in TEXAS, really it's true! AND there's enough for Braden to attempt to make a snow angel. It was a REALLY exciting day:)

Jacob loves and adores Gavin, sometimes I worry that he will love Gavin a little too much. This morning Braden was off at pre-school and Jacob really got to step into the big brother role (Braden can sometimes be a teensy weensy bit over bearing, you never would have guessed:) I had Gavin propped up in the bean bag and Jacob proceeded to bring down all his stuffed animals AND Braden's special blanket just for Gavin. Then he got cow and entertained Gavin with his cow puppet. He's such a sweet brother!

February brought carrots to our house again and as much as we love the rice cereal, thank heavens for solid food that at least resembles in some form real food. Gavin was a little unsure at first and than decided that they were much better than rice cereal so he better eat them. That lasted about 2-3 weeks until he realized the rest of us didn't have to eat everything smushed to a pulp and than he started demanding proper table food. At first we didn't know what was going on and were just beside ourselves that at 7 monthes he was so demanding and picky, but we don't call him the Gavinator for nothing, the little tyrant:)

I just had to post this next pic so everyone can see how much trouble these two really are. They thought it would be really funny to take all the condiments out of the fridge door and stack them on the counter. They were giggling like crazy so I finally came and checked on them and they were so proud of their mischevious little selves. It was at that point that I gave up, got Paul to clean everything up while I grabbed the camera, dear sweet wonderful children...

March was just gorgeous and so we hit the park A LOT! We found this awesome one tucked away that had great walking trails and huge trees and lots of great exploring fun. This is Gavin's first adventure in the swing, Let's just say he LOVED it to put it mildly:)

This was Jacob's first venture in the big boy swing and he was so proud of his clever little self. Braden helped me push both of the boys, he's loves to help mom, cause that's what big guys do, and superheros, which is what he is:)

And here is Braden giving me my first heart attack of the day as he jumped like 2 feet from one bench to the other. I swear I could already hear the ambulence coming for his poor cracked head. But Braden is a REALLY good jumper (Dear Dad, we really really really need a trampoline. Love, the couches)

In April our ward did a family temple trip activity. Both Braden and Jacob immediatly and excitedly pointed out the Angel Moroni. They were so well behaved with Braden helping us keep close tabs on Jacob, he really does help out so well with Jacob, I just love that kid! Aren't they all just so adorable:)

And finally here's my Gavinator in the bath. I can't believe how well he's sitting up all by himself! He's gotten SO big and he's doing so many things but he'll always be my sweet baby:)

So that's pretty much been our life for the past couple of monthes, just busy growing our wonderful sweet family and trying to stay sane while doing it! Hope you enjoyed the post Kris, hopefully I'll be better about doing it now, we love ya!

Braden's First Crush

It's finally happened, at just over 4 Braden has developed his very first sweet little crush. He has of course picked a beautiful girl with lovely red hair just like himself. He talks about her non stop and we do word search games that are filled with her name and we color pictures of her. Who is you ask, why that would be Daphne Blake of Scooby Doo fame:) Admittedly we have been watching A LOT of scooby doo and I assumed my kids would just really like that crazy dog and his crazy companions and little did I know that he would find love. Of course don't tell Braden he just says, "Mom did you know I like Daphne, she's so pretty mom" Not sure if this is healthy or not but at least he has good taste!

Sleep

I woke up this morning at 7:15, not at 4:45 and then back to bed again, but 7:15. What is even better is that I woke to the sound of Paul reminding me that it was time to get up, not to the sound of hysterical crying baby demanding attention. In fact I didn't even hear hysterical demanding baby until 8:35. Let me recap, Gavin went to bed at about 10:15 last night and I didn't have to get up with him, hear him or attend to his every need until 8:35 the next morning, THAT IS OVER 10 HOURS PEOPLE! I got to get up, get ready, and eat breakfast all before attending to his needs. I just wanted to share this blessed day with ya'll. Much sleep to everyone out there!:) (Of course Gavin would do this right after I write about him being a difficult kid, really he's just trying to be, well, difficult:)

The Gavinator vs the Jumper

As many of you are quite aware, Gavin is a ......special baby, perhaps better described as 'high maintnance'. He insists on pretty much constant bouncing and patting and attention while he's awake (which is not easy when there's 3) and then he only sleeps for 45 min-1 hour on average. He sleeps 7-9 hours through the night before feeding again and he demands that you stand and rock and bounce and pat while holding him in just the right position so he can scream at you for about 10 minutes before he will finally fall asleep no earlier than 10:00 (on a good day, but it's better than midnight which is what it used to be) This past week has been especially difficult with very fussy awake periods and very short naps, I have been exhausted by the sheer energy required to calm this teeny tiny little man, so it was much to my relief today when we discovered...the jumper.

At first he was a little unsure about this new bouncy thing

But then his brothers stepped in to show him all the many options this new toy offered. First Braden bounced him very gently. Jacob grabbed on and bounced him very un-gently and was asked to play with something else. Then Braden pushed Gavin to make him swing, he had to be told a couple of times to be gentle. Then he spun him like a tire swing and let him fly, he was very quickly told NOT to do this again. Gavin survived the ride and secretly I think he may have really liked it:) It was really fun to see the boys 'playing' together

After the help from his brothers, Gavin REALLY liked the swing and was actually bouncing himself. I'm really quite impressed for a 31/2 month old first time bouncer. I think this could mean trouble, but I'm not sure yet. Oh well, at least he's happy:)

But finally play time was over and the jumper came out victorious. I realized things had gotten quiet, too quiet, so I peeked over at Gavin and this is how I found him:I was so happy I almost cried. He hadn't screamed or even fussed, he had simply fallen asleep without any help at all from mom. So today I am thankful to whoever invented the johnny jumper that finally exhausted the fight out of our little Gavinater.

Horn Spanking

Whenever we are out driving Paul always feels it necessary to inform drivers on the road how reckless or absentminded they are by what has lovingly been referred to at our house as a 'horn spanking'. Braden has taken careful note of everything dad does. So Thursday we were at our favorite local Kroger where they have the blessed car cart that keeps my kiddos somewhat occupied while I try to get through the store without an extra box of yummy-o's tossed in my cart. After we had somehow managed to make it through the store past the tempting candy displays and through the checkout, Braden hopped aboard the car cart with Jacob and the two sat in there giggling their heads off as they 'drove' the cart. Trouble started as we headed into the parking lot. As we walked to the car I heard honking coming from the car cart and when I asked what they were doing, Braden said they were giving all the naughty drivers horn spankings, of course. When we got to the car Braden then proceeded to hop up on top of the car cart and direct Jacob in who to horn spank, and not just the cars. As people walked by Braden would point and say get 'em Jacob! and Jacob would of course oblige and horn spank these poor innocent bystanders. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or melt into the pavement at the activities if these mischevious little guys, ahhhh boys.

Stickers

So this post is a shout out to all the old Brownstone friends. Braden and Jacob were playing at the table this morning (getting horribly disfigured by the markers) when Braden walks over with a James sticker on his forehead and says "here mommy, here's a Percy sticker for you." Immediately I knew I too was expected to place the sticker on my forehead and in the same instant I was taken back many many many years ago to a Sunday afternoon spent in apt. 17 watching Veggie Tales and you guessed it with a sticker on my forehead. I really can't remember what induced a lovely group of sensible people to sit around with stickers on our forheads but I'm pretty sure it was all Eric's idea. Even worse, what made us think that capturing that moment on film was a good idea, but we did it anyway and now here it is back to haunt us and remind us of a time when we did silly things probably just because everyone else was doing it. And now as I write this post, have I learned from my past, absolutely not:) Here I sit again with a Percy sticker on my forhead because I still love to do silly things sometimes and more importantly because I love Braden and I wouldn't want him to miss out on silly days gone by. So here's a walk down memory lane for some of you and a good laugh for others.And now to see how life really doesn't change so much fast forward to today...Even with stickers on their heads they are still oh so handsome!

Super October

October is such a busy month for us! It all started with Braden's birthday. It was a very Thomas birthday full of trains and games.

Then there was Braden's Super Hero birthday party. It was pretty super if I do say so myself! We had a bunch of his friends over and just let them run around in the back yard and pumped them full of sugary goodness. Braden kept asking to play duck duck goose and hide and seek so we attempted to get a group of 3-4 year olds to play. I loved all the 'hiding' places the kids came up with and without fail at least 3 would be crammed into our 'bat cave'. Of course super hero capes were provided:)

Braden and Bradley had loads of fun playing Batman and Robin together, they continually kept Joker and Penguin from ruining our party:)

Next up in October came Jacob's birthday on the 19th. Paul was horrified that we didn't throw a huge party for him(it's the younger brother syndrome), but hey he's two, he'll be happy as long as there's cake and presents and both were in ready supply:)

Note the huge scab on his nose, 5 days earlier he tried to run away from me as we were leaving Grandma Wood's house and he tripped over his feet and ate the cement. This is actually looking much better than it did than. Jacob got lots of great gifts, but he especially loves Mr. Potato Head, thanks Aunt Kristie!

Gavin also turned 2 monthes old on the 19th. He's really losing the newborn look. Even more exciting, he's starting to coo and talk and smile and laugh. Newborns are cute but I love this way more.

Braden LOVES being a big brother!So October was shaping up to be a pretty fun month full of festivities, and then THIS happened... About 10:30 pm on October 25th, Paul was out in the backyard cleaning up his tools after a long day full of yard projects, when he heard a long screeching of brakes and looked up just in time to see a car crash through our fence, narrowly missing the tree tower. He rushed over to see if everyone was ok. There was a loud hissing sound coming from the man's car and he was telling him to turn his car off when he realized that the man had run over our gas meter, severing it at the ground, and the sound, that sounded like a car running, was gas spewing out of the pipes! We ran inside and grabbed the kids and got across the street as fast as we could. All we could do was pray and wait for the boom. Luckily emergency crews got there pretty fast and they had the leak shut off within about an hour and a half. It was about one in the morning when they finally cleared our house but we still decided to stay with Paul's parents that night. The man was arrested for intoxication and we were without hot water, stove, oven and heat for 5 days (this was not how I wanted to spend MY birthday, but who needs a hot shower anyways:). It was an adventure we hope never to repeat but we are so grateful for the Lord's protection through it all and the kindness of all our friends and neighbors.

Despite all the excitement we did still make it to church the next morning so Braden could participate in his very first primary program (he was splendid).

We finally got gas back on just in time for the next round of festivities. Braden has been watching Peter Pan almost non-stop for the past couple of weeks and was very excited about dressing up and trick-or treating. This is his Super Peter Pan costume. He wore it regulary in the days preceding Halloween.

Jacob on the other hand did not understand how much candy was at stake and was NOT excited to get dressed up. It was a fight I was determined to win and he thanked me later, or least he would have if he wasn't only 2.

Here's a picture of the pumpkins because of course we have to take one of these EVERY year. This year was a bit different because Uncle Jeff wasn't in the picture showing off his picture with dad:( Those two LOVE to carve pumpkins! Instead, this year I got a turn to carve a pumpkin 'with Jacob', a tribute to his love for Scooby Doo (It won the most original pumpkin prize at our ward's fall festival:) Paul's was pretty good too:)And here's what the boys did after trick or treating and mom's-first-attempt-at-from-scratch pumpkin pie.

This would be my sweet and affectionate boys watching "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" just as their father before them, ahhhh...traditions:)

The next day was my sister's wedding reception (She actually got married back in June so Francois' immigration paperwork would be easier). Doesn't she look pretty:)

And then the day after we had Gavin's baby blessing.

He looks so happy, can't you tell?:) We were really grateful for all the family we could have with us for this and especially grateful that my Grandpa could be there to stand in the circle with Paul as he gave Gavin a name and blessing.

So October and a little into November have been rather crazy for us. Fortunately now we'll have some down time, at least until Thanksgiving and then it'll be crazy around here straight on into Christmas!