Gavin

This week Gavin is learning John 14:2. I asked him if he knew what it meant as we were going through it, phrase by phrase. He interrupted me to inform me that "prepared" means (and I quote) " I peed in my pair of pants, so I need to get a new pair."

Where on earth does he come up with these things?

Overwhelmed

I had an overwhelming day, to say the least. I can't believe it is finally over.

First, you get the long version for my venting purposes. If you would like to read the condensed, bullet point version please scroll down to the end.

It all started by getting up early and getting Gavin ready for school. I was so organized. I had his lunch made, the backpack packed and I even had every one's clothes laid out. I even had time to throw a load of laundry in, empty the dishwasher and make my bed before we walked over to school. Just as we were leaving, Charlotte thew up on the floor. My first thought was, "Typical middle child - had to get some attention in there somewhere on Gavin's big day!" I thought her breakfast was just too sweet on her tummy. So, I cleaned up the mess and off we went. I did great until Gavin started walking into school. He looked SO NERVOUS. I was sobbing hysterically. As soon as he was inside I was booking it home b/c I was so embarrassed. I was literally crying my eyes out. Pathetic, I know. But Gavin is such a mama's boy and he's been my best bud for the last 5 and 1/2 years! It was tough. So, I spent the next hour crying off and on and doing laundry and clinging to sissy (who wanted nothing to do with me - she was thrilled to have the toys all to herself. She went straight for Gav's Lego's the moment we stepped back into the house. It was like she had been waiting for this moment all summer long.)

Next, I was out of the house headed up to church to prepare for our big AWANA leader training tonight. I've spent weeks prepping for this. I've made power points, a 10 page handout, team binders, missionary hand outs for special sections and the list goes on. I'm not telling you this so you'll be impressed. I'm telling you so you can grasp the enormous disappointment that is coming towards the end of this post. Anyhow, I spent the morning w/ a friend making copies, assembling the packets and setting up the room. Charlotte was being SO GOOD this whole time. She is usually into all kinds of mischief at church. I kept on commenting on how good she was being. I figured that there was no one to compete for attention with b/c Gavin wasn't there. So, we left church and headed to Target to get some snacks for the meeting. By the time I got home, sis had fallen asleep in the car. I tried to transition her into her crib, but she just sat in there and talked for awhile. After a bit, she started yelling at me. I finally went in there and she was tucked away in the corner of her crib and she points to a big pile of puke on the other side. Nice. At this point, I figured she must be sick or something. I called the babysitter I had scheduled for the meeting tonight and told her not to come. It looks like I will be staying home. Weeks of prepping for this meeting and I don't even get to go.

I get Charlotte all cleaned up, do another load of laundry and then go and pick Gavin up. As soon as I see him, I start crying again. He had a great day, though. I thought he would be sad and would have had a rough time being gone so long. Not so much. He actually liked it. He had lots of stories for me. He was laughing at me b/c I was crying. When we got home I was hugging him and crying and he said, "Why are you crying now? I'M HOME!!" I thought that was funny. By this time, I was laughing too. I realized that all my tears were for nothing. He enjoyed himself. Whew. Then, I crashed. I felt the weight of the day. I tried to lay on the couch while the kids played, but I still had so much to do. Ryan came home and I started making dinner (while on the phone with some gals from church giving them some of my jobs that I wanted to do tonight). I was also prepping the snacks for the meeting. Dinner was almost ready, I was going to sit down and give Ryan on the low down on the meeting - something I thought I was going to get to do on the way. Then, Charlotte pukes ALL OVER THE KITCHEN. It was awful. I threw her in the bath, we ate our dinner in the living room. I threw the flash drive at Ryan with the power point on it and told him to call me on the way. Charlotte cried the whole time in the bath. Gavin was trying to make her happy, but he was only making it worse. I had ANOTHER load of laundry to do and puke all over the kitchen to clean up. It was ridiculous. After I calmed down a bit, I walked up to Walgreens to get some pedialite (and a coke!). Charlotte fell asleep on the way back which was heavenly. She is still sleeping. Ryan called me three times in the middle of all of this to ask questions. Then, I had to start on homework with Gavin. Are you kidding me? We finally finished, I played with him a little bit and then put him to bed. Then I had to clean up the kitchen, call my friend and cancel our play date for tomorrow and finish up the laundry (which still isn't done). I am pooped! Once I get Gavin to school tomorrow, I am coming home to CRASH!

Okay, here's the bullet point version (still kind of long, sorry!):

- get up early.
- as we are leaving to take Gav to school, Charlotte throws up. NICE.
- clean it up, rush to school.
- sob hysterically as I watch my eldest nervously enter kindergarten
- run home b/c I am so embarrassed at my lack of emotional restraint (I AM 33 weeks pregnant)
- spend an hour crying over Gavin and trying to clean up the house
- leave for church to prep for big AWANA training tonight (I've spent weeks preparing for this!)
- spend the a.m. with a friend setting up and assembling the training packets (while crying intermittently over Gavin.
- go to Target to pick up snacks for meeting (call my Dad on the way b/c I realized I missed his bday last week)
- head home, put Sis in bed
- she does not sleep. I go in after awhile and she is sitting next to a pile of puke.
- more laundry
- cancel baby sitter for tonight
- answer some e mails, fill out some forms for Gavin's school
- pick up Gavin, blubber all over him again, realize I am ridiculous and he had a great day!
- head home and try to crash - the day is getting to me - but the kids are ready to play
- go through Gavin's back pack and realize there are more forms for me to fill out and homework for Gavin.
- start making dinner, trying to make phone calls and pass some of my responsibilities off from the meeting, also prepping the snacks for the meeting
- sit down to dinner to give Ryan the low down on the meeting (he's running it). I thought we'd have time on the way to the meeting, but since I am not going, there is no such time.
- about to take one bite of my dinner and Charlotte pukes ALL OVER THE KITCHEN
- throw both kids in bath
- eat dinner with Ryan in living room while kids are in bath
- throw flash drive at Ryan with his power point on it and tell him to call me on the way
- more laundry
- more cleaning puke up
- more phone calls about the meeting
- cancel play date scheduled for tomorrow
- walk to walgreens to get some pedialite for Charlotte and COKE for me ( I am desperate)
- come home, Charlotte finally asleep, start Gavin's homework
- put Gavin to bed, clean kitchen, make lunches for tomorrow, fill out crazy forms

Now I am waiting for Ryan to come home to tell me the meeting was a success (hopefully!). I may not be able to keep my eyes open that long, though. Seriously, I can't believe this day did not kill me - God's grace. I am going to NAP tomorrow! Woo Hoo! I can confidently say that his has been one of the worst days of my adult life. I sure hope Sissy sleeps all night. I'm glad tomorrow is another day!

The Kiddo's

Just a little update on my two lovelies . . .

Gavin 5 1/2 years:



Wants to be a knight when he grows up
Favorite color - green
Loves to wrestle with his sister and has "body slammed" her several times
Favorite outfit - Loves hanging out at home in his "unders"
Is nervous about Kindergarten
Still loves broccoli and most all veggies
Is Mama's Boy
Has THE BEST imagination
Is a Lego master
Hates milk
Loves to play board games, but is a sore loser
Has lots of friends at church but
Could play by himself all day long
Is learning to read
Loves to be read to




Charlotte 18 months:



Constantly looks like a ragamuffin
Loves to talk even though you can't understand her
Says, "YEAH" to every question you ask her
Knows lots of animal sounds
Favorite outfit - a onesie paired with her crocs, no shorts or pants please!
Walks around the house with her blankie at all times
Drinks LOTS of milk
Favorite thing to play with - STICKERS!
My meat and potatoes girl
Is Daddy's girl
Is freaked out by Baby Einstein movies and anything like it
Loves to go outside
Puts her shoes on first thing every morning
Defends herself quite nicely
Likes to sit on the potty like a big girl, even though she doesn't go
Loves to climb on EVERYTHING
Has 12 teeth

Brother or Sister?

Gavin really wants a brother. He says, "I already have a sister, so now I need a brother." We find out this Friday what the gender of babe 3 is, so I have been trying to prepare Gavin just in case it is a girl. Today I said, "So, are you going to be upset if we get a sister instead of a brother?" He replied, ever so sweetly, "No, I will love a sister just as much!" How sweet is my boy! I told him I hope it is a girl so that I can always say he's my favorite boy in the whole world!

Growing, Growing, Growing

Not talking about my belly here, folks. Although, that is growing. It's my boy that is out of control these days. He's gone from a 10 - 10 1/2 hr. sleep schedule to a full 12 hours and sometimes even takes a nap! He is a sleeping machine lately. I caught him snuggled up on the couch with my favorite blanket the other day. I thought it was just too cute not to share with you!

Surprise!

Ryan informed Gavin and I last night that we should be getting a surprise in the mail in a few days! He wouldn't tell us what it is (although I think I know!), but he did give us a few hints.
1. It's black and white and red (read) all over.
2. It's something I will have to help Gavin with.

We are bursting with anticipation! I can't wait to find out if my suspicions are right!

Inspriational words

by Pastor Gavin -

I'm pretty sure Gavin will be a pastor when he grows up. He loves the Bible, he loves to follow rules, sees everything in black and white and has no problem confronting people when they are doing wrong.

Here are some things Gavin said and did today -

While using the bathroom he opens the door to inform me that he is singing "Jesus Loves Me" and he is singing it to God, because that's worship and God loves that!

I handed him a bowl of gold fish to snack on while he and Charlotte were playing and he looked at me and said, "MOM! We have to pray for this snack before we eat it!"

He brought me his Storybook Bible and asked me to read to him about "John the Cactus". I asked who John the Cactus was and he said, "You know, the guy who ate locusts!"

Sibling Rivalry

I really am astounded by how well my kids play together. They don't seem to mind the four years in between them! However, very often when they play someone ends up getting hurt and crying. I'm sure you can guess who that someone is. Well, I finally told Gavin that whatever he did to Charlotte to make her cry, I will do to him. That is SO something my dad said to my brother when we were kids. It sounded like a good idea when I said it.

So, fast forward a few hours. Gavin pushes Charlotte and she falls down and starts crying. So what am I supposed to do? Push my kid down? I don't think so. Gavin looks at me like, are you really going to push me down like that? I said, "Gavin, I am not going to push you, but you ARE getting a spanking."

I really need to think before I speak . . .

Have you ever threatened your kids with something ridiculous?

Gavin Talk

He was watching a commercial one day and he came up to me and said, "MOM! That lady on t.v. told me I should buy these girly things and I really don't want to! Why did she tell me that?"

We were riding in the car one day and he told me, "I can't wait till I grow up so that I can honk at people when I drive!" Can you tell his dad is a true city driver?

We often call Charlotte our ragamuffin and sometimes we call her "rags" for short. I heard him comforting her one day like this, "It's okay, rags. Don't worry. It's okay."

I was getting ready in the bathroom one day and I was puffing my bangs. Gavin stopped to check it out and he said, "If you had a bump it, it would be much better. You go from flat, to up!" Have you seen those commercials?

Gavin loves to sit on the window sill and look outside. When the first snowflakes started to fall at the beginning of the winter Gavin looked at me and whispered, "OH! It's winter now!" It could have been a hot chocolate commercial or something. It was too cute.

He was playing in the bath one day and he called me in there to see something. When I got in there he was using Buzz Lightyear as Jesus and he was walking on water.

I asked Gavin what I am going to do next year when he is at school. He said, "Oh don't worry mom, you'll just get used to it!"

I've been really bad about writing down his funny quips lately. I feel like I haven't done one of these posts in so long! I hope to be better about it. I can't wait until Charlotte starts talking and I can start a "Charlotte talk"!

Pictures

I realized that I never put up the kids 1 year and 5 year pictures. Thanks to everyone who voted on what Charlotte should wear. It really helped me out! I went with the most popular vote - the purple dress. Here are their pics! I think they turned out really well.

Sledding in the city

FORT!

What do you do on a snowy wintery inside day? You build a huge fort, of course! And you read books in it all day long!

Animal Crossing

Do ya'll have a Wii? We do. We bought it two years ago. We played it quite a bit at first, as everyone does. Then once summer hit, we stopped playing it altogether. Ryan even contemplated selling it. I talked him out of it and told him that we would play again once winter hit. We didn't. It just sat there last winter, taking up space. Well, last mother's day Ryan bought me Mario Kart with TWO steering wheels. We started playing all the time. It's my favorite game. I'm not crazy about video games, but this game, I L.O.V.E. Ryan then bought me Tetris - my all time favorite game. When I was younger, my family used to fight over who got to play - my parents included. Then after the newness of those games wore off, we stopped playing it again.

This Christmas, we bought Gavin Animal Crossing City Folk. I am once again obsessed with the Wii. Gavin loves it, I love it. We play it almost every evening. I confess I've even played it by myself after everyone is in bed on a few occasions! It's just so fun and addicting. It's my guilty pleasure and what I like to do to unwind.

What is your favorite pass time these days?

Miserable weekend

What a miserable weekend the Dobbertin's had! I was home with Charlotte every minute. I was so bored. Ryan took Gavin to the Shedd Aquarium on Saturday morning and then to work with him. When they got home, Ryan said that Gavin wouldn't eat lunch and needed a nap. He fell asleep on the couch and woke up with a 102.2 fever! I thought he had what Charlotte had. Then, we woke up at 2:00 a.m. to "Mom! I threw up! (BLAGH!) MOM! I'm throwing up!" Ryan camped out on the couch with him for the rest of the night. I was up with Charlotte for a few hours in the early morning. Ryan let me nap the rest of the morning while he hung out with Gav and fed him toast for breakfast. He kept it down. Later we gave him some pretzels. He did not keep those down. Charlotte is doing much better. I had a hard time keeping up with her last night and all of her mischievous ventures. She is one crazy kid. Currently she is nosing through the trash can looking through the discarded newspaper . . .

We have a lot to do this week in preparation for our trip to Michigan,Charlotte's birthday party, and Ryan's trip to Costa Rica. On top of that, Ryan has to have a procedure done today to see what is wrong with him. They are thinking he has an ulcer. We have to pick him up downtown this afternoon once it is over. I'm exhausted already! I hope Charlotte kicks this nasty habit of waking up from 4-5:30. It's really cramping my style!

So tired and feeling yucky! She passed out here on Gavin's bean bag chair.

Swim Class

Gavin is a little timid in the water. He is scared he is going to drown or something. I signed him up for swim lessons at one of our parks and rec. centers. He was really nervous the first time we went. The second time, he was fine! The night after his third class he actually thanked God for swim class in his prayer! It is so fun to watch his progress. The class meets once a week and goes all the way through March. I can't wait to see how well he is doing by then!

Gavin on the "island"

The instructors name is Ed and one of the moms told me she thought he looked like Drew Peterson. I thought that was funny!

And here's Charlotte confined to the stroller. I wont let her out for fear she'll jump right in. This girl is afraid of NOTHING!

Chirstmas Cuties

We had a wonderful quiet Christmas with just our little family. We decided to stay home after TWO trips to Michigan in November. Ryan had four days off, which was heavenly! So we just hang out as a family and enjoyed our time together.

The kids were fun and Gavin was so very thankful for everything this year. I loved that. When he opened a gift that was clothes, (which he doesn't like to get) he said, "Wow, mom! You were right, it IS nice to get clothes sometimes!" It was so cute. I know they aren't his favorite things to open up, but I was so proud of him for saying that.

Today it's back to the grind - Ryan is back to work, we are starting up school again for Gavin and even taking down the Christmas tree. I hope you had a very merry Christams!