Favorite Fall Picture

This is, and I think always will be, my favorite Fall picture. Gavin was 10 months old when this was taken. I put it up every Fall as part of my fall decor. I just love those chubber cheeks!

Bean Boy

I don't know I got so lucky, but my boy LOVES raw, green vegetables. Here he is snacking on some green beans fresh from the farmers market.

G is for Gavin

Gavin and I have been learning all of the letters and the sounds they make. With each letter we usually do some fun crafts, trace the letter quite a few times, learn a Bible verse that starts with that letter and learn a Bible story as well. For the letter G we:

Baked and decorated ginger bread cookies

Told the story of David and Goliath

Made a giant goliath and threw "rocks" at him

Memorized I John 4:8 - God is love

It's had its up's and downs, but for the most part it has been going well. There are a few things that Gavin DOESNT like about it. He does not like 'sit time/self control'. I make him sit still with hands folded and mouth closed for about three minutes every day. That way when we are in public and he is getting too riled up all I have to do is say, "Gavin, sit time/self control" and he closes that mouth! (I learned this trick from my super mom of a cousin, Beth!)

He also has a hard time with "book time". Book time, like sit time/self control, involves keeping the mouth shut. This is by far the hardest thing in the world for Gavin. I increase book time by five minutes or so every week. We've made it up to about 1/2 hour of silently looking at books. I am hoping that this will be so valuable to me when baby Charlotte is here and she is nursing! For now, it gives me some peace and quit to do some reading of my own!

Well, here are some pictures of Gavin and his ginger bread cookies

Michigan

Today Gavin and I are on the trian and on our way to Michigan! I love Michigan in the Fall! I am so excited to spend six days with family and friends! We have plans to go to a Cider Mill, celebrate some birthdays, go to Greenfield Village (Gavin's favorite) and have our annual Dobbertin Family Harvest Party. Gavin is excited to see all of his cousins, grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles! I am sure I will have lots of pictures to post when we get back! Hope you all have a great week!

Pumpkin Puree and Pumpkin Muffins

Last year I started using an actual pumpkin for my baking instead of buying it in the can. To be honest, the taste is not that much different, but I love it anyway. I love baking from scratch! Today Gavin and I made these yummy pumpkin muffins. I made half with chocolate chips and half with out. It was fun. Although, I was on my own when it came to getting the guts out of the pumpkin. Gavin did not want to get "gooey". What a nerd! Anyway, here is the recipe we used. It was very easy, time consuming, but easy!

Ingredients
1.5 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract

* pumpkin pie spice = 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t of ginger, 1/8 t cloves and 1/8 t of nutmeg!

Directions:
In a large bowl add the sugar, pumpkin, oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat well to combine. In a smaller bowl stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until moistened. Spoon into greased muffin tins, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Yields 1 dozen.

This recipe is very versatile. It can be used to make a quick bread as well. I also like to add a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the batter. If you are making it as a bread bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

This year don't just carve your pumpkin - EAT IT!

Another thing checked off my list!

We've been slowly making room for baby girl for awhile now. One of the things we had to do was to move our "office" out of the spare bedroom and into the front living room. Ever since we've done that its been in a revolving state of organization and chaos. I can never seem to keep it clean for more than a few days. The problem being there aren't enough spaces/places to put everything. Well, leave it to Brenda to give me some inspiration! After reading her post on her nifty mail center, I went to work! I ended up making a mail center and organizing everything else as well! I even added some decorative elements. Now, I love my workspace and don't mind that it is out in the open for all to see! Thanks Brenda!

I added some of Gavin's art work to the left there and I covered my white file holders up on the shelf with some decorative paper. You can't really see any of that really well.

This is the mail center. I actually had enough room to add more things than just the mail. I was able to add a spot for recipes I look up online, crafts I want to do eventually and even a folder for the organizing and decorating ideas that I clip from magazines!

Answered Prayer

I had a dr.'s appointment today. I was going to be seeing a different dr. than I normally do. My Dr. had to go out of town at the last minute. I had been planning on asking my dr. to do another ultrasound to try and get a peek at the gender of our little one. When I found out that I would not be seeing MY dr, I was a little concerned. I knew I wouldn't feel comfortable asking this new dr that I had never met. Since I found out this new information, I began to pray. I prayed specifically that the dr would offer to check for me without me having to ask at all. I knew it wasn't likely for him to take time out of his busy day to check this insignificant (not to me, but to him) thing. But I still prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. I really wanted to know the sex of this baby. So, we head into my appointment and I am sure you can guess what happened:

Dr. Says : Hi, I'm Dr. so and so
Shake hands
Ryan: Hi! I'm Ryan
Me: I'm Suzanne
Dr.: Who is this?
Ryan; This is Gavin
literally next sentence:
Dr.: Do you know what you are having?
Me: No, the baby wouldn't cooperate at the ultrasound
Dr.: Well, I'd be happy to take a look, if you want
Me (inwardly): WHO HOO
Me (audibly): that would be wonderful

two minutes later we were looking at our beautiful baby girl. Talk about a specific answer to prayer. God cares so much even for the small things in our lives!

Then Gavin pipes up: I didn't want a girl, I wanted a boy!
He's excited now, but it just took a minute. He just knows he wont be able to wrestle with Charlotte Mae Dobbertin.

Harvest Days

Gavin and I have been enjoying some fall crafting. We got this idea from the October Issue of Martha Stewart. Gavin has been seeing lots of Fall decor on peoples houses and expressed interest in adding some of our own. Gavin wanted to hang these in our front windows for all to see.



We decided to make a fall scene to hang up in Gavin's room. I think (okay, I know!) I had more fun with this than Gavin did. He enjoyed using the glue and he loved the idea, but I just went a little over board. At one point I wouldn't allow him to touch it anymore because he was trying to pick off the hay.

The Lincoln Park Zoo had some Free Fall festivities this past weekend. We got to pick and decorate a pumpkin, make a visor, watch a real John Deere blacksmith at work, and ride on some battery powered John Deere's. It was pretty cool. Gavin, of course, loved all the John Deere stuff!





I hope you are all enjoying your Fall! We sure are!

Peter Pan

So, hooray for the Disney Store putting their costumes at 40% off already. I was planning on making Gavin's costume this year. Then I saw how cute this one was and saw the price, I was SOLD! I think I could have made it for maybe $5 less and it wouldn't have looked nearly as cute. Gavin has hardly taken it off in the last few days. He loves it! I am glad he is getting his use out of it! He even fell asleep on the couch in it!

I was asking him to do something for me the other day and I said, "Gavin, can you . . . (whatever it was)" and he says, "Peter Pan will do it!" And he hopped right to it!

( side note: some of these pics were taken on my phone due to the loss of my camera. What happens when you contact the warranty department and are completely honest about putting your camera in the washing machine? Nothing, that's what.)

Here's another cute Gavin story, although it does not involve Peter.

He was asking us all these questions about God the other day. How tall is He? Can He fit in our house? and he was just going on and on about it. Finally I said, "Gavin, you are asking some great questions!" Gavin's response, "Yeah, I talk too much!" It was a hoot! Now we are wondering who told our inquisitive boy that he talks to much! Okay, so it was probably me in exasperation on a day when he wouldn't stop speaking to let me think clearly!

He is just growing up so much. I have really noticed it in the last few days. I thought the point of Peter Pan was NOT growing up? He is wanting to help me all the time with big tasks. I love it, but I just can't believe that he can do some of it! He is officially in 4T clothes now. Ryan and I were cracking up as we sent him off to Cubbies in a pair of floods and a too small t shirt. I knew it was time to drag out the next bin! I am proud to say I accomplished that today! YEAH!

Well, on to accomplish many more tasks! I am a woman on a mission!

Hope you all are having a great day!

Birthday

Ryan's birthday was a lot of fun. We stared out the day by making him his favorite breakfast - biscuits and gravy.



After breakfast we gave him his first gift - the video. He loved it! Later that day he told me it was his favorite part! After that we all got ready and headed downtown to walk around and hand out until lunch time. Then it was Ryan's choice for lunch. He picked his favorite place, the Cheesecake Factory! It was yum!

Then we came home and took a little nap. We were all still stuffed from lunch, so we decided to fore go dinner and skip straight to dessert. Gavin and I had made another one of Ryan's favorite things - Chocolate Cheesecake. It had been hiding in the fridge and Ryan hadn't discovered it! We put almost (we were a few short) 30 candles on the cake and sang Happy Birthday! Gavin had a blast.





Then Ryan, with Gavin's help, opened the rest of his presents! It was such a milestone birthday I knew he deserved more than our usual one or two gifts! Ryan was very surprised! It was fun!

I think that we were able to make the day memorable for Ryan!

mac n cheese update

Thank you for all who sent me some recipes for my mac n cheese quest. I haven't tried them all yet, but I will be sure to let you know the winner and post the recipe. I am so excited for my craving to be met! I hope one of these recipes does the job!

Happy 30th Birthday Ryan!

Warning: this video is a little lengthy. It just a little something I put together for my wonderful, hilarious, loving, hard working, compassionate, faithful, patient, thirty year old husband. He turns 30 tomorrow and I think I am way more excited about it than he is. I've been working all week at cooking up some surprises for him! I can't wait to show him this video tomorrow!

A bouquet of newly sharpened pencils

In the movie "You've Got Mail", Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks talk about how they love Fall and school supplies and the smell of scotch tape. Tom Hanks says, "I would buy you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils, if I knew your name and address." I love that. I know it's weird, but I buy school supplies every year even though Gavin is not in school yet. I just love a new pack of crayons, pens, paper, folders, tape, glue sticks. I could go on and on. It's strange, I know.

Well, our Fall schedule went into FULL swing this week. I love it. I always struggle along through summer with no structure. Now that we have weekly meetings and Bible Studies and AWANA to do every week, I am back to making my lists and gaining order in my house! It was a rough summer with being so sick and all. I can not tell you how I made it through. Most days it seemed like I was hanging on by a thread. I have to admit that there may have been more days this summer that I DID NOT make my bed than days where I did make it! However, all is well and back to "our normal" and I am feeling much better. My energy has come back and I have welcomed it with open arms!

I am on a quest to make the perfect homemade macaroni and cheese. I have tried about four recipes so far. I think I may have it down, with just one thing to tweak. If any of you have a killer recipe for it, please send it my way. I am just craving the right mix of pasta and cheeses! Please help!

No word on my camera yet. I sent it back to the manufacturer and am waiting to see if there is anything they can do for a waterlogged camera! I am sure they were surprised when they read our note! Who sends back a washed camera? It was worth a try, I guess. So, there will be a lull in pictures for awhile, I am afraid.

Well, I am ready to start crossing things off my list for the day! I hope you are all enjoying your Fall schedules!

Vacation, a tragedy, uncooperative child and a quirky little boy

Well, a lot has happened since my last post!

Vacation:

We had a BLAST on Vacation with Ryan's parents. We went to Night of Joy, the Magic Kingdom, Gatorland, Downtown Disney, the Boardwalk, had lots of pool time and so on and so forth! Pictures will be posted here and I have a video coming soon. Stay tuned for that!

A Tragedy:

One of the perks of staying in a condo on vacation is the fact that you have a washing machine available. One of the downsides of that is that you are usually so busy and in a hurry to wash your clothes. Thus resulting in not checking your pockets thoroughly. Unfortunately, I always have my BRAND SPANKING NEW camera in my pocket ready to capture any moment. I am sure you can figure out the tragedy. It's only a possession, though. It's just a THING. No Eternal value.

Uncooperative Child:

We had our ultrasound yesterday. Our baby is healthy and beautiful and apparently very modest. He/She kept the legs closed the entire time. No amount of running, jumping, or poking could persuade the babe to move them. So, we will just have to wait and see . . .

Anyone willing to make a prediction?

A Quirky Little Boy:

Today we are babysitting for Gabrielle, Gavin's favorite little girl. He was so hyper about it and was running around the house like a mad man. I found him under his bed in this little getup. I persuaded him to come out so I could take a picture. The quality isn't great, I had to use my OLD camera. But that's okay.

Labor Day Weekend!

We had an eventful Labor Day weekend this year! Ryan had to work on Saturday and Monday, but we made the most of it anyway.

Knowing it was going to be one of our last visits, Gavin and I decided to hit the beach on Saturday. It was nice and hot, so it was the only place I wanted to be! Gavin had a good time, as always and we even made some friends while we were there!

Sunday, we got up EARLY and went to the first service at church. After church we headed out to Ryan's grandparents house in Morris, IL. Ryan's mom and dad and some aunts and uncles were there, as well. We had a really nice time seeing everyone and catching up.

Ryan had to work again on Monday so Gavin and I did a little shopping with our new friend, Jillian. Then we all headed back to our house and Ryan (the grill master) grilled us some fabulous shishkabobs and we had a small feast! It was so yummy! There were some leftovers so that's what I'll be having for dinner again tonight!

We had such a great weekend! I hope you did too!

Gavin Talk

Gavin is FULL of questions these days. He never stops talking. He isn't always asking the easiest questions, either. Sometimes my answers take lots of thought and sometimes I realize I should have taken more time to answer them! We've had some serious misunderstandings! One of the more hilarious ones happened the other day.

Gavin was asking me the difference between two words that sounded the same but were very different. The explanation would take too long, so I will spare you the details and skip to the fun part. As I was explaining it to him, he was really struggling to understand what I was saying. He kept asking more questions so the answer continued to get more complicated. Finally Gavin responded with this:

" I don't really know what you are talking about, mamma. Maybe we should just stop talking about this."

I heartily agreed!

Another good one came awhile back, not sure if I mentioned it yet. We were sitting at the dinner table just chatting and Gavin spoke up and asked: "Does God have a butt?" You can imagine the laughter that followed that one.

This next story is one of my favorites and is Gavin's most recent misunderstanding. We were again sitting at the table eating breakfast and I was telling Gavin that someday he was going to grow up, get married and be a daddy. This is how the conversation went after I explained that:

Gavin: So then we will get rid of our daddy?

Me(slightly confused): no, You will get married and be a daddy.

Gavin: so wont we have to get rid of our daddy?

Me: no

Gavin: so there will be two daddys?

Me: No, You will grow up and get married to another girl and you will be a daddy in your own house.

Gavin: I don't want another girl! I want you! We can just get rid of our daddy!

Ryan (not too pleased): HEY!!!!

Lots of giggles between Gavin and I!!!!

We are so thankful for our little guy and all his crazy words! He keeps us on our toes and definitely keeps up laughing a lot!

Trying out his old carseat

at the Science and Industry museum!

We're Back!

We had a great time in Michigan with all of our family. We wish we could have spent a little more time with everyone, though. The trip was smooth and pretty uneventful. Gavin did great in the car, as he always does. He had a blast and got to do all of his favorite Michigan things: Ride the 4 wheeler at Uncle Jason's, play/wrestle with Cody and Chloe (the dogs), be with his grandparents, go to Greenfield Village, swim at Aunt Kimmies and play with his cousin Jonas. It was a pretty action packed weekend as we had to split it between both of our families. I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do, either. I was always too busy holding one of the new babies! But here are some pics of our trip and you can go here to view the rest!

Jas, Kate, Me, Ry, Gav and Will

Me and My Siblings! Herb, Kimberly and Andrea

Us with baby Will

Not a great pic, but I had to get one in of Tiny Ava. I just love her! She is a peanut!

Neglected blog

I have so neglected my blog lately! I've still been reading yours, though! Things have just been so up and down and so busy . . . and then there's facebook . . . Has facebook taken over the blogging world? A little bit maybe.



Anyway, we are doing well. I am 16 weeks pregnant now! Boy has it been a long 16 weeks. I am on the up and up, gaining more energy and spending less time with my head over the toilet! If it continues mimic my pregnancy with Gavin, I have about three more weeks of yuckiness to look forward to. Hey, I've done 16, I can do three more, right? yeah. right.




Gavin is doing well. We have kept him very busy this summer and there is no end in sight. We've been to the beach and the zoo about eight times, the children's museum, parks, had several play dates with our friends, went to the Brookfield zoo, visited with friends and family and who knows what else I can't remember right now. Gavin has loves all of the activity. He has earned himself a skateboard this week. Well, he's been earning it for awhile but was just rewarded with it this past week. He loves it! Of course I have him decked out in pads and wrist guards!



We are headed out to Michigan tomorrow to visit our families. We are all very excited about that. Gavin is anxious to see his grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and cousins (including two new ones)!

You can see more pictures from our summertime fun here .
So, hopefully we will be back on the blogging scene more regularly now. I have to say, I've kind of missed it!

7 years, almost!

Our 7th wedding anniversary is sneaking up on us! The actual date is August 18th. I can not believe that it has been seven years. It seems, in a way, that we were just married last week! On the other hand, it also feels like we have been married for forever! I don't remember what life was like not being married to Ryan. It seems as though we've existed as one for 20 years, not just seven. What a blessing to be married to a strong, spiritual leader who challenges me and makes me better every day. He helps me to be the best possible version of myself. Life is never dull with Ryan around, either. He is constantly making me laugh (even at myself) and keeping our lives interesting and FUN!


I have been thinking about all the things we have done and accomplished in these last seven years. Here are some of the highlights.

In the last 7 years, we have . . .



1. Moved six times


2. lived in five different cities


3. lived in two states


4. owned two homes


5. sold two homes


6. been through six different jobs (btw. the two of us)


7. have had eight nieces and nephews born


8. had one child


9. had one miscarriage


10. and have one baby on the way!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the last seven years!

Our first date

Our wedding (10 months after our first date!)

On our honeymoon

Just this past July

Absolutely!

What a busy summer this is shaping up to be for our family! We have spent many days enjoying the beach, the zoo, and Downtown Chicago. Yesterday we went to the Brookfield Zoo with some new friends from church. We had a really good time. On the way there, Ryan decided to stop at Duncan Donuts and get us some bagels. Gavin said he wanted a chocolate donut WITH sprinkles! I wasn't so sure that that even existed. Well, Ryan got back in the car and sure enough, it does! Gavin was in all his glory. This is how his response went . . .

Me: Gavin! They do have a chocolate donut with sprinkles (as I hand back the donut to him)

Gavin: HOLY COW!!!!

Me: Oh Gavin, what a special treat!

Gavin: ABSOLUTELY!!!!

It was so funny. He absolutely thought that that was a very special treat!

Yikes!

Okay, this is getting ridiculous! I guess I haven't really been all that concerned about gas prices since they have been going up and up and up and up (well, you get the idea). The reason I haven't been concerned is because, sadly, I don't think I have pumped gas more than five times in the last seven years. Ryan always makes sure I have enough. When we had two cars, he would even take my car out just to put gas in it for me. Is something I've never asked him to do, he just always does it! We drove into the suburbs the other day to visit with some family and we took advantage of the "cheaper" gas prices. When Ryan was done pumping he was like, "Check this out!" So I had to whip out the camera. When he's celebrating his 80th birthday this picture will be posted somewhere and people might say, "Wow, only $99 to fill up?"