Merry Christmas Eve!!

Yayy it's Christmas Eve and I have to say I'm pretty pumped!! This is the first year gavey will actually be excited to open his presents and not just play with the wrapping paper :) I hope!

Gavey is currently taking his little nap and then were off to Riv to help with the Christmas Eve service and I can't wait! I feel like we're normally on the road or with family and that were never at our house on Christmas. I miss New York but there is something to be said about starting our own little traditions. Then bry and I are going to exchange gifts tonight so we can enjoy christmas morning with gaveypants. I just picked up groceries to make my famous creme brûlée french toast!! Skinnytaste thank you very much!

And can I just say my morning started off well a little klutzy?! So I get up at 5:30 all ready to run 5 miles at 6 am. Bryan was begging me to run on the treadmill but no I'm a real runner right? I'm tough and can brave the cold early in the morning!! Ha umm no. Within the first 2 minutes I tripped on a block of ice, fell forward and and bang my knee and elbow SO hard!! Ahh!! I literally grabbed my elbow and turned around to run home and then realized I didn't hurt too bad so I made myself finish my fun . I felt great until I took a shower now oh man it's so painful!! Bryan and I are hot messes... Him on crutches and me limping with an elbow that doesn't bend all the way! Ha perfect!!

Alright I probably should get my gavpants up. My new fav gav thing: every time he sneezes or coughs he tells Bless you!! Like yells it! Ha. And now he fake coughs just to be silly and say it. Silly gavey.

Mommy and Daddy Rewind.

Alright. Wow. Can I just say it's a huge relief to get Mr. Gaveypants update Done. Done. Done. Now look at me on a little blogging roll :) So much has happened in the last few months that it's a little cray cray. (haha is it bad I stold this from Bryan?! Kidding. Not really.)

So let's do a quick run down on what's new with the fam:

• I'm all signed up and officially running another full marathon. Yikes! What have I gotten myself in to? Thankfully it's not until Memorial Weekend so I still have plenty of time to get it together. The Corr's are running the half, Laura's running the half and I think I know a couple others who will be out there, so at least it will be fun to have friends out there running the race too!! My official training starts January 20th although I'm working on strength and speed until then. Hopefully it helps and I feel better than I did after my last one. I literally felt like my body was going to fall apart limb by limb. Awesome.
• Bryan was SUPER pumped to play on a men's league soccer team with people from Riv until his first game...the poor guy tore his achillies tendon and had to have surgery a couple weeks ago. He has to be on cructhes and in a boot for at least another 2 possibly 3 months. The Dr said he won't be able to run again for at least 9 so no Bayshore race for him :( Boo! He's had such a great attitude about it all, I'm really proud of him. I have to admit I took it really hard at first bc I'm selfish and just thought about all the work this was going to make me. It has been tough but I think I'm now in the swing of things and everything will be just fine. I just feel bad for him because he is so limited on what he can do. He just wants to be able to walk up the stairs or into the kitchen for a glass of water without it being an ordeal. I know there is a lesson in this somewhere and maybe he needed the downtime... Plus it was kind of nice having him home for 3 weeks!
• We went home to New York for Thanksgiving and it was so great to see me gram. She is so awesome and amazing. I would give anything to live back home agian so I could be closer to her but I know that's not in our plans for now. We were supposed to go home this last weekend for Christmas but Gaveypants was sick so we had to cancel. I'm hoping to get home again in January so we can celebrate and see the family again. We've had a lot of bad news and it's been a horribly trying time for my family between my aunt being in ICU since Thanksgiving, certain family members who have well done a few things that are really hurtful, a cancer scare with another person in my family, ugh. Seriously everything has been so heavy on my heart that I don't think I can take much more bad news :( It weighs so heavily on me and I wish I could fix it but I can't...I can just be positive and be there for my family the best I can. We will get through it. As my gram says, "this to shall past." I have a great hubs and group of friends who have been so great in carrying me through this hard time that I think I'm finally on the other side and can see hope and forgiveness. Wow this was deeper than I anticipated! :)
• Bryan's parents moved to DeWitt and now live about 5 minutes down the road from us. They've been such a huge help with Bryan being laid up. They stop over and help out with Gavin, hang our curtains, Christmas Lights, set up our Christmas tree, take the garbage out, have us over for dinner. Their move was perfect timing. Plus Gavin loves going to see them and Ben their dog who Gav's obsessed with. It's also been helpful since our sitter goes away to school we only have her on the weekends, so it's nice to have back up childcare if we have plans or need a night out. It's been really great. I also love that Gavey will grow up close to family and have that many more people cheering him on when he becomes a little athlete.
• Our house is off the market...I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but we decided to take a break from showings, etc. Granted now I have someone coming to clean every other week so that would have made my life easier before. Trying to pick up with a extremley active toddler is not easy, in additon to keeping the rest of our house in order. I think we're back on the 4-5 year plan. We're going to stay here for a few more years, make this house a bit more like we want it, and then see what's out there. We had our house painted and deck redone with new stairs, railings, paint etc, over the summer and it looks so much better. We also are (as a type) getting new insulation put in, and soon our basement will be done with a bar, play area and new living space. I'm so excited!! If Bryan keeps this up I just might not want to move...Maybe that's his plan! Dirty trick Bry guy.
• Oh and in sad news...One of my professors who I worked so closely with over the last couple of years just suddenly passed away. It comes as a complete shock. I honestly can say I've never met someone who cares so much about his students and their success as he did. They think it was a heart attack but no one knows for sure yet. My prayers go out to his wife and family during such a busy and what is supposed to be happy, time of year. Campus will not be the same without his smiling face, dry humor, and to be honest...putting me through the ringer to win his business. I did it, but he def made me work hard for it. In doing so his new business might put me over the edge this year, and also it made it so worth it. He only did it because he cares about giving his students the best, and because he's so invested in them and was willing to learn and try new things. Cheers Mark, rest in peace.

Alriggghht. I think it's time this girl wraps up her blogging for one day and hits the gym!! In a couple weeks it will be packed with all the new year resolution-ers so I need to enjoy it while I can :)

Let's Start Over. Gavey.

I'm not even going to say it...Ok I will. I'm the worst at this! I always get so overwhelmed because I have so much to catch up on and I don't know where to start. So I'm going to do my favorite little bullet points in an attempt to quickly get up to speed. I'll do one all about Gaveys and the next about our family updates. Thennn hopefully I'll feel caught up and ready to jump into this again. I love going back and reading what happened in the last year, and at this rate I will have nothing. Yikes!

What's new with you Gavey?!

• You are a jabberwokke. As in you don't stop talking and I LOVE it!! Seriously SO freaking cute! My favorite thing is every morning when you wake up and come downstairs you say, "I need Coffeeeee Momma" Then I say "Gavey are you sure you want Coffee?" and you say "I silly Momma". Yes you are! You are a silly little guy. You love to laugh, play jokes and just be a little goofy goofer. You also sometimes refer to yourself in the 3rd person "Gavey wants to watch Thomas pease". Adorable! And you even called daddy "Bryan" and mommy "Dorelle..or more like "Drell" a couple times. Please don't do that. I'm already self conscious people think I'm your nanny and if you call me by my first name it will confirm it in some people's minds.

How did you get your Owwie?! Let's ask Daddy...

• You can count! We actually discovered this a little over a month ago, but when I say "one" you said "two" and we took turns all the way to 10! You love counting especially your food and your cars. You line everything up and say "one, two, tree, foh, five..." You're a genius. I will call it now.

You still haven't quite figured out how to ride in a car yet though...

• You are border line obsessed, probably to the point where it's unhealthy, which Thomas the train. ahhh. We now have your Geotrax taking up my living room, and you're on your way to having a little wooden Thomas the Train collection. Well Stephen and Juliette got you started with your first wooden thomas, tunnel and tracks, and Santa might help add to that this year. If you're good! ;)

Your favorite toy...which now takes up half of my living room floor thanks to you and your dad's new obsession.

• You were sick, as in really sick for the first time ever last week and it was heartbreaking. You've had little sniffles and coughs here and there but this time you had a fever. Ugh. I think this is the first fever you've ever had and it was so hard on momma. We spent the whole week doing nothing but snuggling, and cuddling. You slept constantly, and had no appetite or energy. The only thing you wanted was "fresha" (your word for water which I Love!! "I want fresha pease momma!", and CooCoo's which is your weakness...Cookies!" So you my little lovey got all the CooCoos and popsicles (freezies) that you wanted. Thankfully you kicked it by the weekend and your back with Stephanie today!

Poor little sleepy guy

You love your sweets!! Uh-oh


• I don't know if I mentioned this before but Stephanie now watches you at daycare and we honestly couldn't be happier. She used to watch you in the nursery at Riv, and daddy and mommy know Bob from the welcome team. He also is a teacher in DeWitt and the football coach, so they are definitly such great people. You can feel the love when you walk in the room, and it's way better than that horrible place you went to before. Ugh. Don't even get me started. I will not recommend them to anyone. Ever. Now I couldn't be happier and I have such peace about where you are. It's the best feeling ever. You also love Tommy and Drew, Neena's friends little twins! This morning you said, "Bye momma, go see Tommy". Ha! Tommy better not be moving up in the ranks over momma, K?!
• You're still off the charts in terms of your height and you weight around 27-28 lbs... I think we can even sneak you into the MAC tot watch tomorrow as a 2 year old because you're such a big guy. Woo Hoo! Everyone is always impressed when they hear your real age because they always think you're older because of your size and how chatty you are. It's cute but don't get to grown up on me because I want you to stay my little baby BFF forever.

Helping mommy make you MORE cookies!

• Your favorite pastime is riding along with momma and daddy at night checking out the Christmas lights. You always get so excited and say "OOOH Lighhhhts! Wowww!". I am now officially that person who drives around DeWitt Light Watching. I'm old.

I'm sure I'm missing so much but these are the major fun highlights for now. I promise to try my best to keep this up to date because I still have dreams of printing this off for you at some point so you can always go back and see what you're up to and when.

I love you so so so much little guy. In the wake of this horrible tragedy in CT it makes me look at you and want to hold you so tight and never let go of you. I want to protect you from everything. All of the evil in the world, but I know I won't always be able to do that. I want you to stay innocent forever, always see the good in people, and know that no matter what your mom and dad love you way more than you will ever be able to comprehend. I can't imagine my life without you. You are the greatest thing to ever happen to me and for that I am so thankful and blessed. I love you Gavey.

...WE Did It!



Such a big boy!! Suit shopping with Daddy!



Well. We Made it! Gavey did so great at his first day of big kid school. I'm so proud of you baby!! When I finished my work and rushed over to see you, and there you were sitting backwards at the little kids table chatting and smiling. Whew! What a relief!

I LOVE that I get a little sheet at the end of the day that tells me about everything you ate, how long you slept, and what you did. Yesterday you read "Barney Goes to the Zoo", marched in place to the music, ran around the playground, played with musical instruments and cooked food in the pretend kitchen. I'm tired just writing all of that out, sounds like one fun filled day to me!! You did so great with the exception of NAP TIME! Just as I suspected. Instead of sleeping the 2 hours you typically sleep, you slept 20 minutes. Total. Gavin!! I had a feeling you wouldn't sleep very good. You're very stubborn when it comes to sleeping and if everything isn't like you want it, you won't sleep. I hear stories of kids who can be playing and fall asleep. Yep, that's definitly not you. Hopefully you ease in to it a bit more today and sleep a little longer. You didn't go to bed until around 9:00 last night which is WAY later than your usual bed time so maybe you'll be a little tired out by nap time. We were too busy out celebrating Carly's 21st bday. You ran all around the restaurant and were THAT kid. Daddy even won you  ball so you kicked that and threw it at different people and ran from one end to another. I used to be so annoyed with parents like that, but yep we were totally them yesterday. Normally when we go out we make you sit in your highchair but since yesterday was a PARTYYY we had to let you get a little crazy, right?! Ha.



Carly's Bday!



Alright now that we have the play by play of your first day at school, this girl needs to get ready. THREE student presentations through out the whole day today :( Boooooo. I wish they were all first thing in the morning so I could get them out of the way but not how it's going to work.

Perfect way to start our day!!

First day of Big Kid School

Posing with Daddy before my 1st day of School!

The day has finally come...

Gavey started his first day at Playhouse Child Development Center today. I was such a wreck about this yesterday. Ok, maybe a wreck is stretching it but I had a little pit in my stomach all day...Then this morning I had to go in and wake him up for the first time in forever since little sleepy pants usually can sleep in however late he wants to. Anyways, he got up, ate a little breakfast, and snuggled and watched Yo Gabba Gabba. Once daddy was ready and after we took lots of pictures, we packed the car, and drove you to your new big kid school. And you know what...?

It really wasn't that bad!!

Part of me is a little excited for you.We walked in and it seems so peaceful and fun and relaxing in there that I think you're going to LOVE it! They had music on in the background, and there was only 3 other kids all around your age. The most there will ever be is 6 and I'm ok with that. If there are more than 4 kids than there will be 2 helpers which means you will always get lots of love and attention which is wht's important to me. I never want you to feel neglected or unloved, or ignored and I know this won't happen here. ((I'm such a mom! Ha!) They also serve breakfast every morning, so all I have to do is pack your lunch M-R since Friday is pizza and applesauce day. How fun is that?! You also follow a loose curriculum where you have independant play, and then craft time and sensory play where you will play with music, dance, read books, play with play-doh, etc. In the morning and afternoon you get outdoor play time which I know you will love since you love being outside. They also told me to call anytime, and really made me feel at ease. You know what Gav? I think this will be a harder adjustment for me than for you! The good thing is, this week I'm primarily working from home with just a few student presentations throughout my afternoon so I can get you early, and let you ease into this whole thing...or let me ease into this whole thing.

The only thing I'm a littttle nervous about is nap time. We have a little routine where we eat lunch, and snuggle and then you go up to bed no problem. It will be a little different here since you sleep on little beds, and in a big room next to your little friends, and no mommy... :( Jenn said it usually takes around a month to get into a routine so I'm glad they realize that and they will do everything they can to make it an easy adjustment for you. They play light music, dim the lights, read a book and then quietly go down. I kind of wish I had a nap time like this, it sounds amazing! I think you should enjoy it, because some day you will give anything for a little nap during the day!! :) I also packaged your MoMo so that should make it a little easier. You started asking for it at night, and if we don't have it upstairs for you to hold before you go to bed you won't go to bed. You just say MoMo, over and over again. It's the cutest word ever and it's so adorable you need your little MoMo for bed time. ahh so cute!

MOMO:

Alright well Mom needs to get cracking. I have presentations to plan for an office to clean, and marketing material to organize. Oh shoot and my expenses. Ugh. Forgot about that one. Well, while you are off playing, singing and dancing I will be cleaning, organizing and prepping. Woo Hoo! Let the fun begin!!!

Gavey Mommy Day

Guess what my favorite day is in the whole world?? Christmas?! No... New Years?! No... My Birthday?! Close... but my absolute favorite day ever are Gavey Mommy days. I mean technically EVERY day is Gavey Mommy day, but on our special ones it's all about Gavin and doing fun things!

Today's Gavey Mommy day was full of lunch dates, shoe shopping and hair cuts. We then finished it off with pizza and wine (or water in a sippy cup for Gavman) at Rellis. Seriously today was so fun. The weather was perfect and everything went according to plan.

We started our day at the gym where Gavey played with his little buddies in tot watch. It's so cute to look over while I'm running and see your little nose and eyes peering over the window at me. Although sometimes I get a little tired of waving and turning my head to the side, but you know what, if it makes you happy I would upside and backwards. I really should get up and run outside while I can before the weather gets cold and save the treadmill for winter but maybe tomorrow ;) My pace has definitly improved though, I average 8:30-8:40/mile which is exciting seeing as I used to run 10 minute miles. While in Chicago I ran down Navy pier at 7:34/pace but I think I always get over excited when I run somewhere new...or I should just run outside more?! Ha. Ok I'm getting side tracked.

Anyways, we started our day at the gym, and then we came home and read books. I actually tried to get you to watch Yo Gabba Gabba so I could answer a few e-mails but you said, "Noooo books!" So, we grabbed Thomas the Train and read it. Then we read it again. Then you ripped a page, and we read it again. Then it was mommy's favorite time of the day. Gavey's nap time!!! My time to pick up the house, catch up on e-mails and sample/track for the new semester. However after about 35 minutes you were ready to get back up and hang out...I would be lying if I said I ran up the stairs the minute I heard a peep out of you but, I didn't. I let you cry for like a half hour....ahhh I know I feel guilty. But I was in the middle of trying to solve a beginning of the semester crisis that really needed my time. Sorry big guy!

We then got up and had snack then made our way to the other side of town. You see, I've been smashing your little feets into your shoes and you've been ok with it, but I started to get the impression they were too small. Especially after we went through FOUR pairs of shoes this morning and every pair you cried and cried the minute I put them on...mind you 3 of the 4 you've never worn ugh!! Anyways, I thought maybe we better go shoe shopping. So away we went to stride rite, and Gav!! you are a size 7!! The shoes you've been wearing are 5's!!! Ahhh!! Oops! So 98.00 later we were out the door and you my friend are set with 3 new pairs of super cute shoes! I also bought you your first pair of Sperry's so we can be matchy matchy. You love them and the minute you put them on, you slid off the bench and ran around the store...until you got distracted by the full length mirror. You then stopped and hung out there for awhile. Ha. You're totally your father's son ;)

Then...I have been kind of feeling you look like Bruce Jenner lately. Well Bruce before he got his latest haircut. Your hair is long and and mullety in the back. You've had one slight trim before that Ashley did but I didn't want you to have a full blown hair cut yet. Anyways, we walked in and they bribed you over to the seat with three suckers. You were ok with the sucker until you had to sit on the booster by yourself. I then held you, and she cut your hair. Gavey you did so good!!! you just sat there with your sucker and smiled at yourself in the mirror the whole time. I am so proud of you. You now have a super short hair cut and look so grown up so it's a little bittersweet. You're known for your "crazy" hair but, now you can be known for the super big kid with the double crown...which explains your crazy long and uncooperative cowlick.

THEN... we left and went and saw daddy at work. We got to see him and Jackson's momma. You didn't want to leave daddy though, and his one customer said, "there's the movie star. that boy is going to be a movie star someday." Ha. I don't know about that, but you are a star in my book ;)

THEN...we ended our mommy/gavey day by hitting up the DeWitt park. You played with a little girl you met Elizabeth who's 2 1/2 and you're actually a lot taller than her. She's either really little or you're really big, or maybe it's happy combo of both? You LOVE going down the swirly slide. this time you actually didn't run down it, or go down backwards or on your belly. You sat like such a big kid and went down without a problem. Must be the haircut. You did this over, and over, and over.

THEN...when daddy got home we played with your trainset than went to Rell's for Thirsty Thursday. The pizza hit the spot and so did the wine... ;) you were so good. When we were leaving you ran into your BFF Carly and played with your new ball and didn't want to leave her. Perfect ending to the night.

Alright, now that we have the play by play of our day, I think I'm going to kick my feet up and try and convince your dad to watch Top Chef with me...and maybe go find another glass of wine.

Raising the Bar

I was talking to one of the pastor's at Riv yesterday and he made such a great point that I now can't stop thinking about. Well ok I mean yes I can stop thinking about it, but it keeps popping back into my mind... It was about being a mom/dad in today's society and how so many guys graduate from college, and live in their parents basement instead of leaving the "nest" and starting their lives as individuals and as men. I was telling him how even though Gavin is still little, things like this make me think. I want to raise a successful son who grows up, has a great job, great wife, etc. I don't want my son to be one of the crazies who goes into a movie theater shoots people, or a son who's on teen mom, or in and out of jail. He then stopped me. He said something along the lines of, "That's a good goal, but why not raise the bar?"

Why not set your standards for your son higher than that?". He said how so many times in society we talk about not wanting our sons to be deadbeats, or murderers, or "losers" but that should be a given. What we should want is to raise our sons as strong Christian leaders and men. Raise them to be a man who stands up for what is right regardless of the costs, a man who respects women, a man who stands firm in his faith and is God fearing. I know a lot of this sounds so old fashioned, but I mean is it really? This is the type of man I married, and shouldn't this be the standard of the man that my son will become?

I know this is pretty deep. A lot deeper than pretty much anything else I've wrote on here but it's one of those things that caught my attention. He's right, why shoot for the standard when what I should be doing is raising the bar on my own standards...I appreciate the reminder. Which is why I'm writing it here. So I don't forget :)

Happy New Year!!

Ok well not really. But kind of. My new school year starts in a week and I'm honestly SO ready to get started! For those of you who don't know, I work on college campuses as an outside sales rep. When the semester begins again...so do I! I met with my manager last week and we spent a couple hours going over my 4th Quarter Plan. I'm pumped because I'm ready to close my year off strong and make my number. I want to be able to look back on Jan 1, and know I gave it all that I have. She also left me with a really great thought. "Pay attention to what and who you surround yourself with." I love this because it's so true! If you surround yourself with positive, motivated people, you too will most likely be positive and motivated. If you surround yourself with negative people, full of excuses, you will be that person. Such a great reminder.

With the "New Year" starting, I was thinking what better time to start this up again?! You would think since my summer is a little lower key I would have been blogging my life away. I think that I do better with this when I have a little more structure and motivation to sit at my computer. This summer has been such a CRAZY fun whirlwind!! Literally every time I think hmmm maybe I should jump on the old blog, I end up going outside for a run, playing with Gaveypants, hanging out with Bry and just relaxing and enjoying every minute. I think I also turn into a little anti-computer over the summer since I'm attached/live on it during the busy season. In some ways I'm kind of bummed because I feel like I missed keeping track of SO much!! But, I guess it's better now than never, right?!

We also have a few new BIG changes going on now that summer is coming to an end...

First. I think we're going to take our house off the market....and I have to say I'm pretty happy about this! Trying to keep it clean for showings when my Gavs is running around drinking the cat's water, throwing toothbrushes in the toilet, and pulling everything out of my cupboards is so stressful. Not to mention constantly cleaning the fingerprints off of the doors and mirrors, chasing the cats outside, and making sure our lawn is mowed, garage is clean and toys are back under the porch. I'm stressed just writing this. Ok. This doesn't mean we're going to turn into dirty dumpy people, but this does mean, I can relax and enjoy my house, my son and my family a little bit more. To be completely honest, I think we put our house on the market out of boredom. We were bored with our house, we want something newer/bigger, and it just seemed logical. But, you know what? We're not motivated in the sense that the thought of selling it, finding a new house, and moving is NOT what we want to do. I actually love my house and I want to be here a few more years. I want to turn the basement into a movie/play room, and redo the outside, and ENJOY our house. We've only been here a few years, and you know what, I'm not ready to leave the house that is our first family house. I'm still too attached :) Needless to say this is a huge relief, and I'm ready to take the for sale sign down, and not have to drive around DeWitt like a creep because I have people looking through my things. Now we just need to tell our realtor.... I think I'll leave that to Bryan ;)

Next- Gavey baby is going to start "school" soon!! He was supposed to start this week but since Carly isn't going back to school right away, we get her for another 2 weeks. We've been SO lucky this summer. She watches Gavin and Jackson (his little BFF) at either my house or Natalie's house. It's so nice because the boys play so good together, Carly is great with them, and she will pick him up on the way, or come here and watch him. We've been beyond lucky this summer and a little too spoiled!! Since Cindy- Carly's mom who Gavey used to go to retired right before the summer was over, we needed to find a new one. He will be going to Playhouse Child Dev Center in downtown DeWitt. When I went to check it out I LOVED it!! There is only 3 kids in the "toddler/baby room" and the most she will take is 6. They have the whole upstairs, and their own fenced in area to play outside away from the bigger kids. They also have a "light curriculum" where they read books, learn little lessons, play outside, etc. It costs a lot more than what we were paying but I think he's going to love it. Although...we may have another option. I swear I'm like a serial daycare dater in DeWitt BUT... I just found out that one of the people who go to Riv runs a daycare out of her home right down the road from me!! Her husband is the highschool football coach, teaches HS biology in DeWitt, and she watches Gavin in the nursery at Riv. I absolutly love her because she always comes up to Gavey and talks to him, and tells me how he's so good and that she loves watching him when she's in there. I mean seriously, who better to take care of him?! Ahh! I hope it works out. Plus the ironic thing is, one of my best friend's friend's (did you get that?!) sends her boys there. AND she only takes kids who's parents are teachers because she likes to have her summer's off...Um perfect, because we have Carly lin the summer! Ok I need to take a deep breath, because I only talked to her hubs about it today and he gave me her number to call tomorrow. I would just be beyond ecstatic if it worked out....If not, I'm still very very happy with our other choice. Either way, he'll be in great hands and one happy little boy :)

Alright well this wouldn't be an official update without any words on my Gavey Gavva...Ok so wait. To be honest I'm not sure where to even begin because it's been SO long since my last little update so let's try and give it a whirl:

• Your favorite word by FAR is No. Whenever you're asked a question, the answer is No. Gavin, are you a good boy? "No." Gavin, do you love momma? "No." Gavin, are we going to have a great day today? "No." Gavin, do you want to play with Jackson? "Yes". Such a stinker you are!!
• The only show you will watch is Yo Gabba Gabba. I'm not going to lie, I tried to get you into Bubble Guppies because I think they look so cute but you weren't having it. Granted it's not like you watch that much TV. Only when momma is trying to make dinner/breakfast or I try to squeeze in a few e-mails here or there... Shhhhh!! ;)
• Your diet consists of graham crakers, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, milk and water. Seriously that's it. You won't eat anything else. All you want is hot dogs and mac and cheese. Although, I did make zuchhini, onion, and cheese "cupcakes" the other day and you ate them rigth down! Woo Hoo!! I need to find more fun things like this that I can "trick" you with. Your dad's not a fan that I called them cupcakes though. He got his hopes up a little too much when he came in the door, and I told him I made cupcakes for dinner. :)
• If you could live at the park you would. You LOVE it. You love climbing up the slide. You literally get mad if you start to climb up and then you accidently slide down. Ha! You climbed up the huge curly slide the other day when we were there just the two of us. Hey Mr. Strong man- slow down!!
• You love to run!! If I say Gavin, let's run! You pick up your little knees and run as fast as you can. Seriously. So. Cute. You also still LOVE to kick the soccer ball all over the backyard, wrestle, and jump on me if I'm laying down for 2 seconds for a breather. You're 110% all boy! That's fo sho.
• Nothing makes you madder than when I get out my laptop and shut it if you get close. Holy temper freaking tantrum.
• When we walk places and you decide you don't want to do it anymore you stop and sit down, and then lay down. Take today while at church. I'm walking across the room trying to find your dad, and you decide to lay down on the ground and scootch on your back across the floor. While there are like 100 people trying to walk around you, and while I have my arms full with your sippy cup, diaper bag, blankey, and a cup of coffee. Thank you Gavin.
• You are a little talker. Everyone has been commenting on how much you talk now. It's so cute and I am constantly video taping you like a creeper. Your fav words are HIIIIII (really loud) and BYYYYEEE (REALLY loud and repeatedly) whenever you walk away from a person, the cat, a book, really anything. My favorite word that you say is Bubbles...Your dad always says Good night Bubbles, and you say Bubbles back.. He just does it so you say it but I'm afraid you're going to think "bubbles' means goodnight at this rate!!
• Whenever we put you down for bed, you yell BYEEE and then we shut the door and you say Bye another 4-5 times and we repeat it back. It melts my heart every time. Can we do this until you're 30 and still live with me?! Ha kidding. Unfortunatly. :(
• You sleep with 4 blankets. Three of these are little mini ones and you gather them up every night before you go to bed and have to snuggle with them during our Ba and Story time. Then you have your big star one that we cover you up with. You can't sleep without them. All four of them. (Although tonight I hid Mo-Mo your monkey little blanks so I could wash it without you seeing it.... Yesterday when dad tried washing your star one you kept taking it out of the clothes basket and when he put it in the washer you had a melt down. Yikes.
• Last time we went to the Dr's you were in the 100th percentile for height and I think 78th for weight. Such a big boy!!

Alright. This is a NOVEL. I guess that's what happens when you update this once a year :) It's now 11:30pm and I need to get some sleep...It is wayyy too late for this girl!! :)

Long Time No Blog

Wowwww...This has definitly been a no blogging record :( Boo! I kept thinking you know I should just hurry up and write this but then I get overwhelmed by how much more I have to say. So let's get a quick run down of everything new in our life then hopefully I'll jump back on the blogging bandwagon!!

• You had your Dr. Appt this week you're in the 75th percentile for weight and 97th for height. What a big kid we have on our hands!! You had to get 2 shots which always makes me SO sad but you did great and took it like such a champ! We got a sticker on the way out the door and you were so proud of it!! Good job baby boo!
• Your right eye is starting to turn in slightly towards your nose so we have to take you to a specialist in the next few months. I just made your appt but I have to say I'm a little nervous. Thankfully it's not noticable at all so I'm hoping since we're catching it so early you'll be fixed up in no time. Although I think you're perfect and wonderful not matter what!
• You spent your first WEEK without both mommy and daddy! We lived it up in Riviera Maya while you got to hang out with papa and grandma at our house. They were so wonderful and stayed in our house so you could be where you were most comfortable. Thaknfully we were able to Skype all week which made it easier for us, although you couldn't figure out where we were. When you saw us for the first time after we got home you ran around screaming and smiling. It was the best feeling ever. Since then we're not able to sneak out of your site but you know what, I'm a-ok with that!
• We successfully threw your dad a SURPRISE 30th bday party in June. It was the weekend before his birthday and we rounded up 20 of our friends and I rented out a suite at Lugnuts stadium. He had no clue and I even got him a little choked up a few times. Best wife and mommy everrr right here! It was So hard not saying a word since I've been planning this for MONTHS but I pulled it off!! Now I can't wait to see what he does for my 30th bday next year. Although I might be in a ball crying since I'll be leaving my 20s...ugh. Speaking of which I really need to make a 30 before 30 bucket list.
• You're quite the chit chatter- Hi, Bye, Uh-Oh (your fav!), No (your other fav!), Weeee, Cat, Ball, Up, Down, Done, Momma, dadda, Oh Wow, Dog, Duck, and I think there are more but that's all I can think of for now...
• You love reading books. Your favorite is the little cats and dog book you have, and we are now in the tradition of reading your little bible that Ken and Cindy gave you. It's so fun and you love it so much. Perfect little night time tradition.
• Our house is still on the market. LOTS of showing, one offer that we rejected, and that's about where it stands. I'm ready to sell it only because I'm sick of cleaning so if it's not sold by the end of August we'll take it off. I really am kind of whatever about the situation. If we sell great, if not we will eventually so I'm not too anxious. Just sick of cleaning like a crazy person. (although it prob is a good thing?!)
• Your fav show is STILL Yo Gabba Gabba. We were watching at night until you decided you would be a trickster and wake up in the middle of the night for a week straight SCREAMING and nothing would settle you down until we sat on the couch with you and watched Yo Gabba Gabba. Then you stopped, smiled and had the time of your life. Until we turned it off. Stinker pants. So I'm trying to put an end to it...except when I'm trying to clean or do e-mails. Then I turn it on and let you watch it as long as I need you to :)
• We just drove ALL the way to New York, just you and me and you did so great!! You literally cried less than 10 minutes the WHOLE trip and that was just a little whining before you fell asleep. I couldn't be prouder of you and although I was a wreck the whole time driving, I have to say it was kind of fun. It was our little time together and I appreciate it. Now we just need to get through Sunday just you and me and the family while we're home and we'll count this a VERY successful trip. We did get to hang out with Kara and Caleb today and Brian, Tricia and Carrie tonight, so I think we have a fun weekend in store. I just need to make sure I get my run in Mr. get up at 6:00 RIGHT when I'm about to go out the door and hit the road.
• We still need a daycare. I'm in daycare denial and I need to snap out of it before everything is full and I'm out of luck :( That will be the first thing I do when I get back next week...maybe.

Alright so this was a quick update. I'll elaborate on things later but I want to take a quick shower before you my little babykins wakes up and we go hang out with Carebear. Woo hoo!! Fun Fun day!

Random Little Catch Ups

Ok so I never printed this and had it bound into a little book...Go figure :) We'll just add that on to my to do's, that may or may not never get done. Ok scratch that. We'll put it on a little wish list. Perfect!

Soo what is new in the world of Mr. Gaveypants?! Well. Gavey Baby had his 12 month well baby check up and it's confirmed- you Mr are one big boyyy. You weigh I think 23lbs (it was a week ago the details are slipping...I'll double check later) and 33 inches long. That puts you in the 75th percentile for weight and 100th percentile or height. Yikes. The funny thing is, when I was 8 months pregnant my OB Dr Barton called it. He said you're going to have a tall baby. I thought he was kind of crazy because how would he know but he totally called it. You also had to get your little 12 month vaccines- ugh that gets harder and harder for me! To hear you scream and see tears rolling down your face literally hurts my heart to watch. I wish I could get them for you :( BUT if it means that you're going to be healthy than shots it is! You are also such a healthy little boy, your never sick, your eczema cleared up off your little belly, and your ahead of things in terms of motor skills and how great you walk. Good job big boy! I'm proud of you! You're off the charts already, and I'm not surprised. The nurse said when giving you your shots your the strongest 1 year old she ever met because you kept kicking her and pushing off of her. It made watching the whole shot process that much worse because you were fighting it. I guess you have a little stubborn streak- I wonder who you get that from?! Must be your daddy ;)

In other Gaveygavva news you...

• Say: Bye Bye, Dadda, Momma, Uh-Oh, Boo!, ball, cat, nana, Done!, more, no!and I swear youre always saying "What's that!" but I could be wrong. That is what it sounds like though...I guess we'll see.
• You LOVE LOVE LOVE Yo Gabba Gabba. Like seriously whenever you get a little whiny we just turn it on and all you have to do is see DJ Lance's orange hat go across the screen and you start laughing, marching and dancing and clapping. I think you think it's your own private show...speaking of which. If you Gabba Gabba ever comes to town we're there! Apparently gone are the days I'm dying to get Britney tickets. Ha
• You run. Like literally RUN around the house and want us to chase you. It's fun at home but to be honest I wish you wouldn't do it in public because I'm paranoid of losing you or someone kidnapping you. I've heard too many scary stories. Like the one the other day in Holt...Ahhh. People are so terrible.
• You love gram! Seriously it melts my heart. I think I mentioned this before but Gav it's the sweetest thing ever. We went home to NY last week and you would always tilt your head to the side and just smile at her and then run up and give her a little hug. Thank you Gav, you have no idea how much that means to her and me :)
• You are obsessed with hugging your stuffed animals and the cats. But you kind of hug head butt them. You crouch down and then rest your head on them. So cute! I need to get a picture. You also are so good at petting the cats now, you look at us and pet them so gently. Don't get too attached though, your mom and dad are secretly hoping they run away or we can get rid of them soon. Shhhh!
• You love going outside to play. Literally all I have to do is say Gavey want to go outside? And you grab your ball, go to the sliding glass door and pull on the handle. Smarty pants.
• You also love to play peek a boo with your hands now. So cute! You will do it out of nowhere and put your little hands over your face sometimes foreverrr and then pull them away and yell Boo! Ha it makes me laugh everytime. Although I think sometimes you get mixed up and you cover your head and then yell Boo! That makes me laugh even harder ;)
• You eat like a big boy. We've gotten rid of the bottle except for your night time bottle and thats just because I don't know what else to put it in...I guess we could cut the bottle out all together but to be honest we love our night time cuddles and rocking you. It's the longest you'll sit still and let us hold you. Aww if it was up to me we'd be rocking you asleep with a bottle until your 18.
• Your carseat is now front facing! WOO Hoo! We think you hate it though because now we're always turning around looking at you. Before you were kind of in your own little world and could choose whether or not to look at us in the mirror. Now you have no choice, we're always turning around and staring. It makes our life easier because we can hand you snacks, pick up your sippy, and play boo so easy.
• You had your first all night party the other night at Val and Brians. We spent the night at their house on the way to NY and you were up until 1:30 partying like a rock star. Ahhh! But the good thing is you slept most of the way to NY and then took a long nap once we got to grams. You also were a little scared of Charlie but I would be too if something kept jumping on me and knocking me down. Sorry Charrrlie.
• You are ALWAYS running our dishes through the dishwasher. We never know if we washed them or if you clicked the button but half the time we open it and the dishes are "clean". So then we end up washing them again. You also move the dial and set the timer so out of nowhere it will start running. I guess we need to watch you like a hawk. You try to get the stove but we get you everytime. Sneaky pants.

I guess that's it in the world of Gavin. By that's it I mean I just wrote down pretty much every detail of your life. Ha. I apparently got on a blogging roll. In the world of your mom and dad, we have an offer on our house. This brings so many mixed feelings. Ugh. Do we accept it? What should we counter? Do we want to move to Holt, Okemos, Williamston or stay in DeWitt? DeWitt has such a great school district we love the town but most of our friends are in the Holt area...Mason is nice too but there isn't a lot of houses in the market out there. Such a big desicions so we're saying lots of prayers that we make the right one. It will work out I'm sure We're not in a huge hurry to sell so our biggest thing is we don't want to lose money on our house and then we'll be fine. I guess we'll wait and see what happens. The biggest thing is figuring out where to move to...I don't want to regret moving to one town when we should've just stayed here. Big desicions up ahead. Yikes. I'm sure we'll be happy wherever we move, and regardless we'll be in a bigger house with more room for Gavey to play and more room for us to live. Perfect! Granted we really love our house now. Ahh we need to learn not to be so wishy washy! Ha. I doubt that will ever happen.

Alright. Its 8:30 and Gavey still isn't up yet...We need to make a quick trip to the gym and then come home so I can get ready for my presentation tonight. Thankfully Carly saved the day and is coming over at 1:00 to watch you until your dad gets home. Whew! Another reason why I love DeWitt. We have the best babysitter we could ask for. What to do what to do...

I'll add pics later. I hope! :)

Happy FIRST Birthday Baby Boy!!

Wow...I am the mommy to a ONE year old. Seriously Gavey where did this last year go?! We're packing up the bottles, my living room no longer has baby swings, play mats, or bumbos. Instead we have tents with tunnels, every kind of ball you can imagine, and baby gates to help keep you in one spot because you're constantly running through this house as fast as you can. We have to put the cat dishes on the counters, which you can now reach unless we push them to the back, you eat what we eat, (on the healthy nights! Ha!), and you could spend every minute of your life kicking the ball around the backyard if we let you. What happened to my little snuggly peanut?!

I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me a little sad that you're growing up and it's happeneing SO fast, but at the same time it makes me so proud and so excited for your future. You have such a big personality and you're really coming into your own little person. It's so fun to see. You love to laugh, and do things to make me laugh. When I laugh you laugh...which isn't always a good thing esp if it's when you're doing something your not supposed to! Oops! You also love to blow kisses and give kisses and wrap your arms around my neck and lay your head down. It's so sweet! All of these things you couldn't do a year ago, which makes me realize maybe you growing up isn't all that bad? Right? It makes me wonder what are you going to be doing a year from now?! I have to say I hope this next year goes by a littttle slower. I have a feeling it might seeing as the first 3 months of your life are a COMPLETE blur to me. I'm not going to miss the 10 feedings, midnight, 2am, 4am, 6am and on and on and on. I'm also not going to miss the spit up, big baby burps, and having to spend an hour making sure I have everything I need to take you to the grocery store for 10 minutes.

This last year our whole life has been turned upside down, but in the best way imaginable. I used to freak out if everything wasn't in it's exact spot in our living room and kitchen. Now I'm sitting here typing this and I see a soccer ball in the middle of the floor, we have a colorful tent with a tunnel to crawl through on the other side of me (which by the way I swore I would never let you have toys that were primary colors because they didn't match our living room! Ha I was crazy. I admit it), there is a huge bear next to the TV, and a shoe lying in the middle of the walk way. Granted I"m sure this will all be picked up before bed bc I haven't change THAT much but the fact I can sit here and look around at this somewhat chaotic mess says a lot :) I also would choose spending a weekend at home with you overnight a night out on the town anytime. When I go to the mall, my first stop is The Children's Place and Gymboree, and even though my house may be the "messiest" it's ever been, it's also the cleanest since I constantly have to vacuum and sweep your gold fish off the kitchen floor. (As cute as you are, I will never think smashing them up in a million pieces and then pushing them on the floor and laughing is cute... well not that cute ;) I could go on and on about how everything has changed, but it doesn't matter. It's the way our life is now and I wouldn't want it any other way. You're the greatest thing in my life and I am so proud of you Gavey.

So how did we spend YOUR big day?!

We had a Gavey Mommy Day!! I think we're going to do that every year, it was so fun. We started out with waffles topped with a scoop of ice cream and a candle. (Which by the way you wanted to grab so we blew it out and made a wish for you ;). Then we went to the gym where Emma and everyone yelled Happy Birthday Gavin and had your name on the big birthday calendar. From there we went to Play in EL and played with Stephen and Juliette. You seriously love that place. It was so nice because we had it basically to ourselves, so you were able to slide down the slide, run around with the big bouncy ball, walk over the little bridge and dance on the stage in the cutest little tutu! Ha! Your dad wasn't too happy with me but seriously I love little girl tutus and I don't have a girl to put them in so you my friend got to experience it. I think you liked it too. I promise I won't tell :) We then came home and you took a quick 45 minute nap, and we then played some more. When your dad got home we grilled out and you got to have your first little chocolate birthday cake with another candle. Which again, you had no idea what to do with it. But you LOVED the cake! Uh-oh I hope you don't have a sweet tooth like your daddy!! After dinner you were so tired we skipped the bath and you were ready for bed...and so was I! Wow we've had a lot of mommy gavey days together but for some reason this one I think tired me out more than you! Yikes!

Ok so this is kind of allll over the place. I was hoping I could think of something really great and insightful to write for your 1st bday but honestly I don't know where to begin or what to even write. So there you have it. Happy First Birthday Gavey Gaverson Godiva. We love you so much and I can't wait to see what the next year holds. I love you baby boy!

Perfect gift from Val and Brian... Hooded Towel, a whole pail of sand toys and the box :)

Let's get this weekend starrrrrrted

Can I just say I'm so excited the weekend is here! Finally! Well it will begin the minute I can walk away from the conference I'm working at. I'm ready to pack up my bags and get home.  It's kind of funny because our table is set up directly in between the desert tables and everyone keeps sneaking out to grab a desert but they look at me for permission! I can't tell you how many people I've had to tell to live a litle or treat themselves! Ha! It's interrupting with this very important blog that I'm writing. The nice thing about being here is I've been able to do all my expense reports (2000.00 worth- Ahh! I'm the worst. Hands down. The worst!)...clearly I haven't done them in a few months! Shh! AND I got all my follow up done for the week and e-mails caught up. Plus I got to do it with one of my favorite people ever- Kelly! We had a nice dinner at Troppos the other night complete with yummmmy martinis! Love a fun girls night out :)

We have a very fun weekend coming up. Well minus tonight but I have to say I'm REALLY looknig forward to tonight. We're going to stay in, clean the house and do laundry! HA! What has my life turned into?! Our goal is to get everything done tonoight so we the rest of the weekend is easy peasy. Tomorrow I think we'll hit up the mall and tomorrow night DATE NIGHT What what?! Carly is babysitting who Gavey loves and who we love because we can go out without worrying. Brybear wants to do dinner and the Lorax, this girl wants to do dinner and a night out :) Although the Lorax does sound fun! Ha! We are apparently regressing.

We're still not sure where we want to live. DeWItt?! Holt?! Mason?! What?? Ahhh. It's kind of fun because we're in a good position where we can just take our time until we find exactly what we want. The hard part is narrowing down WHERE we want to live. DeWitt is such a nice town, great schools, and comfortable, but all of our friends live like 20 minutes from here. Maybe they all just need to move to DeWItt?! Perfect solution.

What's new with the Mr. Gaverson Godiva?!

Gavey you are going to be 1 in a little over a week!!! WOO HOO! Big boy! You're nothing but fun, and I'm loving every single moment with you. Work is in it's busy mode but the minute I pick you up to the minute you go to bed we enjoy every second. You are quite the little soccer star, you love kicking the ball up and down the living room, and up and down the living room. It's so fun to watch! You also LOVE to laugh! you do something and literally crack up and then look at me and crack up again! Ha! I'm smiling just thinking about it. You're such a happy little guy I can't help but be happy when we're hanging around and chilling. You're so awesome and I love you so much!! You also are getting very good at waving and saying "Bye bye" AH! Adorable! You are offiically off formula which is so nice. Although I'm dense and didn't realize that Vitamin D and whole milk are the same thing! So you my friend have been drinking organic whole milk like no one's business. Although now I don't know if I want to switch you, with all of these food scares I really dont' know what to do. Ah! I need to educate myself a little bit more so I know what I'm talking about and putting into our bodies. It can be kind of scarey. Yikes! You are obsessed with waffles which make breakfast SO easy! You sit there eat it, drink your water and we're done! Perfecft! Quick and easy- my favorite :) Your newest trick is pushing anything that you can get your little hands on, up against the bookshelf and standing on it to reach the higher shelves! You also pushed it against the blanket basket, climbed on top of the laundry basket to the blanket basket to the entertainment center! Gavey! Alhough we probably made it seem like it's a good thing to do since we smiled, laughed and took pictures the whole time! Oops! We need to work on that! If only when we laughed it meant you were doing something wrong! Ha! We'd be set

Ok this is random. Nothing like a good conference to help carve out time to blog. Woo hoo! Ok I think it's time to bounce everyone else is packing up and I'm sitting here typing like a creep.

Where is my Baby Boy?!

Well he's been busy getting bigger, smarter, and funner (is that a word?!) over the last how many months since I"ve last posted anything?! Ahhh! Seriously! I feel terrible, and then I kept thinking, I need to update. I need to update. But the thought of that is so overwhelming. So here I am, taking the bull by the horns and getting it done. We're going to do this bullet style for now until I post again because I'm trying to get this written while you're having bath time with daddy. For some reason Bullets always seem faster?!

• You are the most fun kid I've ever hung out with! It's been in the 70's and 80's this week and we've played outside everyday! You love the park, swinging, eating dirt (Shhh!!), chasing after the big kids yellling HEYYY! and wondering why they're not listening, and climbing up the slide and then sliding down. You literally are so strong you pull yourself up by holding the side of the slide and then climb. Seriously Gav, you are my little iron man.
• You say Mommma and it's the sweetest thing in the world! You've said ma for awhile but now it's mommmma. Ahh. Love it. You also throw your hands in the air and say done when you're done eating, say Heyyyyy when you want someone to look at you, and say Uh-oh. You also still love to say Dada, Ball, Cat, and Cindy even thought you said one of your little friend's names...Genius I tell you!
• You gave up baby food about a month ago. This is good and bad. Good because it's easy to feed you because you'll eat what we eat. Bad because I just spent a small fortune on Plum Organic baby food and we have literally cases of baby yogurt, and baby food for you to eat but you won't. We'll just have to find someone who needs them I guess?!
• You're a little jokester and a lot of times you act like you're going to do something you shouldn't and then you look at us and laugh and run away. Silly Boy!! For example, you run up to the stove, act like you're going to grab the knobs, look at us, and then start laughing and you're off!! You also know what the word No means and you get serious everytime you hear it.
• You're favorite food in the world is shredded cheese, grilled cheese, and peanut butter and jelly
• You have 5 teeth and I think a few others coming in...and they are SHARP! Yikes! You started laying your head on my shoulder and than biting last week...After my slight little yell you stopped. Serves you right ;)
• Our house is officially on the market and we're ready to move. Ok not really. We're verrrry torn about where we want to move to?! We want to stay in DeWitt because it's such a nice area, but then again most of our friends are in Holt...Hmmmm...What to do?! We also just found out Cindy is retiring so now we will need to find a new daycare. It's the saddest news ever because we love her and she's so good with Gavey man...Maybe she'll change her mind?! I hope :)
• I'm a runner again! Woo Hoo! Wait didn't I say that a few months ago?! No, I mean now my distance is back and I've taken a lot of time off. I'm running about 8:58 pace which for me is good right now. I want to get up to running 10 plus miles again but that's my goal for this summer. Crim, here I come?! Maybe! Last night was so great...Gav I love you but your dad and I were able to sneak out for a 9:00 run after you were in bed thanks to papa and gram .They watched you while we got to run around the town after dark like the old days...it was kind of nice.
• You have a mullet and I want to cut your hair in the worst way but NO ONE will let me! Ahhh! Maybe I'll do it and see if anyone notices?! By then it will be too late and you'll be trimmed up perfectly :)
• I'm slightly depressed Desperate Housewives has 4 seasons left. I cried like a baby. Ok wait more than a baby during the last episode. I always had a little thing for Mike Delfino... ;)
• We went home to NY this last week and had the best time ever with gram. Seriously I wish we could move back there. I do but I don't. Ok this is what I wish. That we could move her here. Perfect!!
• FYI I literally have about 15 bites on me from trying to eat dinner outside tonight. OMG. I'm going crazzzy over here.
• Work is crazzzzy. Is it May yet?! Ha. Still love my job, but hate that I'm so busy. I've gotten really good at doing my follow up before picking up Gavin and then hanging out with him until he goes to bed, which is around 8:00. Then brybear goes to the gym and tanning and I have my time to either work or watch my trashy reality tv that he hates.

I think that's it?! Ok probably not but it's a start!! I'll have to go through and add pics later. My new goal- post every Friday. Let's see how well I do? :)

I'm drawing a blank here so let's leave it at that :)

So Mr. Gaverson. You're in bed sleeping and taking the longest nap ever. I have to say I'm VERY ecstatic about that. Is that bad?! I was able to catch up on my e-mails, clean the kitchen, and watch Top Chef which has been sitting in the DVR forever. Hmmm I wonder if I should attempt last week's Bachelor? Now that is what I would calll living it up! The TV is basically non-existant in our lives now that we have you. I'm starting to get the sense we should just get rid of it?!

I'm feeling like it's a bullet point kind of a day...


• You had TWO Dr's appointments yesterday. Thankfully they were right across the hall from each other so that made it easy. Esp since they were only 25 minutes apart- but it worked out perfect!! You had your well baby check up. At 9 1/2 months Dr. Spates was SO impressed that you've been walking for the last few weeks, can say 4 words, wave hi and bye, and she thinks your one strong (and handsome!) little boyyy. But doesn't that go without saying?! Now on to the stats- you're 23 lbs putting you in the 75th percentile, and 30 inches (wait I need to double check this). I do know that you're in the 90th percentile for height which doesn't surprise me bc you seem soo tall. The best news is your perfectly proportioned, not too skinny not too chubby- just right! Ok shoot. I think I hear you waking up... Maybe not. You know if your dad plugged the video monitor back in I could check for sure but I have no idea where he hid it?! Bryannn.




Chilling in the Waiting Room...Mom kept directing me towards the Power tools and
away from the Kitchen Set. I'll thank her later.


• We then had a dermotologist appt because you my son have a little rash all over your belly. We switched you to organic non-bleach, non cholorine, non-latex, no scented, non everything for your diapers but no change. They think it's eczema that's flaring up since it's so dry. Ugh I feel so bad for you! We've been greasing you up with Aquaphor like nobodys business and now we have to put a little ointment on you and go back in two weeks. Hopefully that takes care of it. Poor itchy baby!
  



Hiding on Dr. Randall. Shhhh!


• We (as in your dad and I- you could care less :) are in the process of house shopping!!! WOO HOO! I'm so excited. We're not in a hurry to sell because we like this home, but I feel like we're out growing it. Your stuff is every where and I'm feeling cramped. This house was perfect for the 2 of us, but now that you're here it's time to move on. Plus we live on a somewhat busy road so I'd rather be on a quieter cul de sac or side road. We actually found a gorgeous house right down the road (well off on a side road down the road) that's double the size of this house 4 bedrooms instead of 3, and a great backyard. That's what sold us on this house- open floor plan, nice backyard, deck, etc but this was has the same stuff just bigger. Plus the kitchen was just completely redone. The pics look great but we're going tomorrow to see if it's too good to be true. We're happy to be working with our realtor (shout to Cindy Beckwith since everyone in the Lansing area should use her!!). She is so great. Anyway since we're not in a hurry to sell we can take our time, until that perfect house comes along. Then we will either sell this one or rent it out. Preferably sell though...We'll see. It's just so exciting! We'll for sure be staying in DeWitt because I LOVE our town, our gym, our DeWitt friends, and Gavin's daycare. If we moved too far I'd still bring him to DeWitt for daycare since I love where he goes, and he loves it too.
• Tonight is Tony's Surprise 30th bday party in Spring Lake. I was very excited to wake up to bad weather bc I thought that meant we could get out of it...Unfortunatly the sign is shining again so I think we still have to go :( I would much rather just chill here, maybe go out to dinner, or even go somewhere with your daddy-o for the night buttttt it looks like you'll be hanging with Aunt Renee and we will be surprising Tony and driiving home 2 hours in the morning. Booo. When did I get so boring?!
• Work is back in crazy busy full swing but I love it! I'm having a hard time figuring out how to balance a long day on campus, e-mails and follow up, keeping the house clean, and eating but hopefully I'll figure it out...Hopefully for everyone's sake because my house is a disaster during the week, who am I kidding it's a mess now, and your dad has lived off of take out the last few days. Ugh. The good news is things are falling into place, and I don't think I've ever been so motiavated to close as much as I can. I was talking to one of the candidates who's applying for a position in my district and I told her to do whatever she can to get the job, work hard, and think outside of the box because she wants to work for Pearson. It's a great company and I truly LOVE what I do. It was great talking to her because it was a reminder to me that I'm fortunate to have a job that i love so much, and that can be so rewarding in lots of different ways.

Alrighhhht. I made it! I made it through this whole thing without you waking up!! Well I think you did, but i think you must have fallen back asleep. I would go check but I think I would much rather snuggle up on the couch and wait until you're REALLY ready to get up. Maybe by then your dad will be home, and between the two of us we can convince him that we both would much rather stay home and hang out. Sorry Tony. :)



Mom's chilled out and now let's me watch YO GABBA GABBA like we did this morning.
I had fun dancing and shaking my head to the beats. Don't mind my dirty house :)