Gavin: ten and eleven months

I can't decide whether to call Gavin a happy boy, or a grump. It's about 50/50. Either way, we love him and he makes our family better!

He took his first steps at 9 1/2 months and by 10 months he was a full-time walker.  Even though he could crawl much faster (at first), he was determined to walk everywhere he went.

He's got a big belly laugh, just like Liam. When they get each other laughing it is just about the cutest thing in the world!

Gavin really does think he is the boss of me. As soon as I pick him up, he is pointing at where he wants me to take him or at something he wants me to give him. And if I don't, he just points harder (leaning his whole body) and starts yelling.

His favorite things are balls, doors, and exploring all new things.

He hates sitting still. Diaper changes are pretty much torture... for all of us ;)

It took a bit longer than my other kids, but he is finally a great sleeper! He'll usually get 9 or 10 hours at night, a great morning nap, and a short afternoon nap. And most of the time I can just lay him down once he's tired. He may cry for a minute or two, but that's it!

Words that describe Gavin: friendly, outgoing, persistent, funny, brave, cuddly, tough, so cute, and so so fun!
2 words that definitely do NOT describe our sweet boy: easy-going and patient.

And it's almost impossible to get a picture of him now!

the girl

-Jenna had her first piano recital!! She picked her two favorite songs from the past couple months and memorized them. It was just about the cutest thing ever, and I'm so proud of her!
Between her songs you'll see her dramatically move her shoulders up and down. That's because I told her to take two big breaths before she starts the second song, so she wouldn't go straight into it and sound like one song. So funny!
The video ends before she takes her bow because Paul wanted to applaud, which I was sad about. It was almost the best part!



Paul surprised her with flowers afterwards!

I'm so glad that she's enjoying it, and I'm proud of her for the work she put in to practicing this year!

-I was so excited this week to finally be able to chaperone Jenna's field trip! Gavin doesn't need me every two hours, and Paul was able to take the day off. I remember how excited I was to have my mom come on field trips, so I definitely wanted to make this happen!

We went to a local farm to learn about animals and a bit about gardening. Farmer Tom was amazing with the kids, and we all had a great time. It's easy to spot Jenna in her bright pink BYU hat:

There were two dogs and three crazy turkeys that followed us almost the whole time and provided entertainment between activities.
The kids got to pet pigs and cows, feed goats, hold chickens, collect eggs, and tour the garden.

At the end it started to rain, so they had the kids help carry the chicks across the creek to their house, and then we all ran to the bus! It was a rather abrupt end to a very fun day!

 

-Jenna has gotten into jump roping lately.  But when Liam is around, it almost always turns into a game of horse and buggy:

Poor little brothers...

the boys

-I was so excited this week to take my boys strawberry picking!

It took us a little while to get any in the basket because they were eating them about as fast as we were picking them!

For the next week, every time I opened the fridge Gavin ran as fast as he could to steal a yummy strawberry!

We finished off this beautiful day in our backyard, playing with (and fighting over) the soccer ball and the rocket.

 -I had to document this extremely rare moment: both the boys are napping at the same time!! Liam fell asleep while I was walking with Gavin to get him to sleep. I hardly knew what to do with myself!

-I don't normally do the matchy-matchy thing, but we got these hand-me-downs from my sister-in-law and how could I resist?!

During church, Liam's nursery leader came out into the hall at the same time I brought Gavin out for being loud. She said she had to do a double-take because they look so alike.

These boys... you just can't help but love them!

Mommy's Day

-We got a little surprise at the library this week when we were checking out: We found out we had maxed out my card limit. So Jenna got her very own card! I snapped this picture as we were leaving - these are just the books that she insisted on carrying; we also have a large bag full!

-These peaceful moments make my heart happy:

-Gavin is loving the swings now (yay!) and Liam is such a big guy on the big swing!

I couldn't get Liam's hair to go down that morning, haha! But I kind of love it ;)

Then Liam discovered the fun of dandelions:

-It's hilarious how much fun the boys had with a couple of empty diaper boxes!

-On Saturday the big kids started to earn their keep around here! And enjoyed every minute of it!

-Mother's Day morning was perfect! I got to sleep in while Jenna cleaned her room and the boys cleaned the play room, and then we had delicious waffles while I read Jenna's card and coupons for me (I plan to use them all!).

Church was awesome because Paul gave a talk on charity! It was so sweet when he talked about his mom and the amazing example she has been throughout his life. I love so much that he is such a mama's boy and gets teary talking about her (even though it thoroughly embarrasses him)! I hope that my boys and I will have a similar strong connection.
Church was not-so-awesome because Gavin didn't get a nap beforehand, and Paul had to run to work for a bit after Sacrament Meeting. Poor Gavin was so tired that he just screamed and screamed while I was trying to teach my class. Luckily my friend heard him, took pity on us, and walked with him around the building until he fell asleep. I'm so grateful to have the support of these awesome women!!

Paul made us a yummy steak dinner, the kids saw The Wizard of Oz for the first time, and we had a little picnic for dessert (and threw some kids around!).

I'm so grateful for all the mothers in my life who teach and inspire me!!! And for my three littles who made me a mom! I know this is what I am meant to be doing, and I couldn't ask for anything better!

a golden birthday

I'm absolutely loving Virginia in the spring! It is so colorful and so beautiful. Everyday I'm amazed by the trees, flowers, birds, and skies. I think we would be lucky to live here forever!

Jenna and the whole first grade had their big performance this week. Jenna had four lines, which she quickly memorized and delivered perfectly, and there were lots of songs about bugs and seasons. The whole thing was pretty darn cute! Gavin had a blast clapping, Liam enjoyed his applesauce, and then we went out for frozen yogurt afterward.

We also celebrated Earth Day recently, and Jenna insisted that we clean up around our neighborhood. Since there are new houses being built nearby, there was plenty of garbage from the construction crew.

My little environmentalist

This little bookworm has really been in to mysteries lately. I think it all started with Scooby-Doo. Then she got a Nancy Clancy (Fancy Nancy) mystery for her birthday, and that led to Nancy Drew Clue Crew books.
She carries around her detective notebook and spyglass, and asks me to leave clues for her to solve a mystery. It's really hard coming up with "mysteries" but I try my best.

Liam is finally starting to love books! I just had to pinpoint his interests. It started with If You Give A Mouse A Cookie (he loves pointing out the cookie) and then zoo and animal books (he loves to say the animal noises).

Liam's vocabulary has taken a big leap forward recently. My absolute favorite is when he says his own name. Most of the time it's just "iam" but still the cutest thing ever! And he'll finally say I love you, which sounds like "I ove eew!" (but he likes to be silly and just say "I... ove... iam!")
One day I was talking about Jenna-fish (as we often call her) and Liam said "Denn-ishy? No. Denn-Rahr!" I guess he thinks it matches her personality better!

Gavin has been my little helper around the house ;)

He also hit a wonderful milestone this week: waking up happy! Until now Gavin has woken up screaming, presumably because I am not there waiting to immediately pick him up. But now he plays with Liam in the morning and talks to himself happily for a few minutes after his nap. Walking in the room to a smiling baby is just heavenly!

Paul sprained his ankle last week. He stepped just wrong into a ditch while jogging across the field at work. We iced it, wrapped it, and then he spent a couple of pitiful days "stuck" in a recliner watching TV and being waited on. How terrible for him ;)

Kali had her golden birthday!! 30 on the 30th!

It was the first of my birthdays that Paul hasn't had something really big at work, so he was able to take the day off! That seemed like enough of a gift right there, but Paul made absolutely sure that my golden birthday was special!
In honor of my 30th he got me 30 gifts, wrapped in gold, and had me draw a number to open one every 30 minutes! So much fun!

Each one was thoughtful and absolutely perfect for me. I think he got everything I had even mentioned I wanted for the past year! From massages, flowers, and candy all the way up to this beauty:

So much fun to be had! I've wanted one for years :)

Between opening 2 gifts an hour, getting my nails done (courtesy of my awesome mother-in-law), and going out for lunch and dinner, the day just flew by! I loved this day, I love my life right now, and I LOVE my sweet family!

My 20's were amazing, but I think the 30's are going to be even better!!!