Warning! Longest Post Ever

These last few weeks have really been a whirlwind for us. We have been quite busy and adventurous! I feel as though I have been neglecting the blog. Life is just getting so busy, a great kind of busy. We have just been having fun and spending lots of family time together!

Here are some pictures of our recent outings.

This is Gavin's new sand table. My sister bought one for Gavin and one for my nephew Jonas. It is the coolest table. Gavin LOVES it. When we go somewhere, we can get Gavin ready first and send him outside to play with it and wait for us. He absolutely loves it. It is one of the best gifts he ever got! My sister always spoils him and gets him the coolest stuff!

Yesterday we drove all the way out to my parents house to go to the Oakland County 4H Fair. I was so glad that we made the drive. We had the best time! I even took the two kids that I babysit. They all had a blast. It was toddler day there and they had some great deals. We were able to get the kids a wristband to ride all the rides. We just kept on running from ride to ride. My mom was able to take a lot more pictures than I did, so I am sure that I will post more later. I got to go on all the rides for free b/c Gavin was too small for most of them and needed a parent with him! I was surprised that he was so brave and rode all the rides. There was this little roller coaster that he went on and DID NOT have a good time. They actually stopped the ride for him because he was crying. I took a little video of it and will post it later, but it is really sad. I had to stop videoing (is that a word) it b/c I had to go and get him off. They wouldn't let me go on that one with him so he had to go it alone. It was not a good experience. He loved the Farris wheel, though and didn't seem scared at all of that one. Anyway, here are some pictures of our day.

Here is Gavin showing off the painting on his hand. He did not want his face painted so they just did it on his hand. He wiped it off with a wet wipe shortly after. He was a little creep ed out by it.

Here is Jonas on the John Deere. They had a huge tent full of John Deere tractors. Gavin is obsessed with them. He has this little video all about John Deere. I got him a little John Deere toy at Target the other week. He just thinks they are so cool. He about flipped out when he spotted them all. He likes to call them Jonny Poppers, because that is a nick name for them b/c of the sound they make. This was the highlight of Gavin's day. If you ask him about the fair, this is what he talks about. It is so cute.

" Look mom, JOHN DEERE!" (okay, so I totally make him point to it)

We had a fun fourth of July. We headed out to my parents house on Friday night. We got out there late because we stopped at Great Lakes Crossing and had some dinner. But we arrived just in time for some little fireworks at home. My dad and brother, well, really all the men in my family, are pyromaniacs. They LOVE fireworks and blowing things up. Gavin really got into it too. He was a little startled at first, but he was holding some sparklers after a few minutes and loving it! The next day we went to my sisters house and swam for a couple of hours. It turned out to be a really fun day. We were so tired, especially me, so we had to leave earlier than we would have liked. We were sitting at the pool and I felt like i could barely keep my head up. I think that I slept most of the way home.

I love the above picture. Gavin looks so goofy!
The pyro trait being passed down to yet another generation . . .



He was very excited to be holding a fire cracker!


We were amazed at Gavin the other day when he woke up from his nap and seemed to be three inches taller than before he layed down! We decided that it was time to start tracking his growth on the molding of his door. We will probably do it every year on his birthday. It will be so fun to see him grow up ( literally ) over the years!

Last Friday we drove into downtown Detroit. It is only about a 15 minute drive from where we are. They have this new thing called the River Walk. You can walk along the Detroit river and see the boats and they have fountains and fun stuff to do. They have a carousal, but we actually never found it. It was very busy down there. We didn't know it, but every Friday they have a free concert and it was packed out. We had a lot of fun though and Gavin loved running around and playing in the fountain.

The only place that wasn't super crowded was Hard Rock Cafe. So, we decided to eat there. We were a little nervous because it was so loud, but it actually worked out really well. We didn't have to worry about our noisy toddler disturbing other people around us!

notice the skyline of Canada in the reflection of the building behind us

Well, that is some of the things that we have been doing. We have had lots of play dates with family and friends too. One day my sister Laura and I had eight kids between the two of us! It was crazy, but he had so much fun. We went to the park and we were even able to give six of the kids baths! We thought it was a very successful day!

I hope that you are all enjoying your summer! It is hard to believe it is half over already! I have to say though, I am looking forward to the Fall!

Jonas

My nephew Jonas is crazy! He is so brave and will just jump right in the water without even thinking about it!

Misc. Pictures From Summer

These pictures are my new favorites. I think that they are so funny. The best part is that he would not say cheese he just yelled at the top of his lungs "eye boar" "eye boar"!

My nephew Mason at my sisters pool.

Daddy is having a great time maxin' and relaxin'

Gavin loves his new sand table from his aunt "Kimber"

What a Week

Well, it has been a trying week for our family. I am truly amazed at the amount of grace and peace that the Lord has given us. As we say at our church, "God is good, ALL THE TIME." I believe that with every thing I have in me. Although sometimes it is hard to understand the why in situations like this, I really take comfort in knowing that God does work all things together for good for those that love Him. I believe that so much good can come from this, even if it isn't until much later. We are very thankful for what we do have - Salvation, church family, a strong healthy two year old, our Godly heritage, a strong marriage rooted in God's Word, a beautiful home, monetary provision, our health, friends that hold us up in prayer and point us to Christ, this list could go on and on. My point is that we have chosen to focus on what we do have instead of what we don't. We thank you for your prayers and we ask that you continue to pray as I am sure hard days are still to come. Thank you!

Eye Boar, Nonnie and the likes

So, Gavin makes up words all the time. Either that, or they are real words and we just have no idea what they are. He always walks around saying "eyeboar" and "nonnie". We ask him all the time what is eyeboar or who is eyeboar, but we can not figure it out. I can't think of anything that it sounds like. Same with nonnie. He just says them at odd times and it is never consistent. I am almost positive he has just made it up. However, I thought I would ask you all to help us crack this case one last time. If we can't figure it out with your help, I will just make up my own definition. So, what do you think eyeboar and nonnie mean?

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Well, I feel as if we just started this new chapter in our life and now it is closing for us. I went to the Dr. today and found out that our baby no longer had a heartbeat. It has been a sad day for us but we are doing well, overall. The hardest part is yet to come in the next few days. Please keep our little family in your prayers. We are confident in the Lord's timing and in His will. I love being able to rest in His sovereignty.

News

Well, I have tried to think up a clever way to spill the beans. I even lay awake at night and think about how I will blog this. When I finally get the chance to sit down and do it, I am too tired and too brain dead to actaully remember what I wanted to write.So, I guess I will just blurt it out.

Gavin is going to be a big brother! As Ryan says, "This is 2 of 6". Gavin is excited but I dont think that he fully comrehends it yet. I am due on January 20th, so I am about nine weeks along. I am sure I have shocked you all because of my post several weeks ago about having more kids! I am very excited. I have been feeling great, which is amazing to me since i was so sick with Gavin. I think it must mean that it's a girl! We will see . . . What are your predictions? boy or girl?

Videos

The Summer Has Officially Begun

We have had a very busy weekend and start of a new week. On Saturday we went over the Jason and Katie's house and they made us dinner. It was fun. They live on a lot of property and they have a four wheeler. I thought that Gavin would be very timid of riding it, but he LOVED it. He could barely sit down to eat because he wanted to ride it so badly. He did really well. Everyone took him around the yard a few times. Gavin loves his Uncle Jason and Aunt Katie. They are so special to him.






I also started babysitting this week. It has been a very challenging couple of days. When i got home on Monday we ate dinner and ran a few errands and then I went right to bed. I was so exhausted. Tuesday was better. We had a playdate with my neices and nephews and all the kids had a really fun time. I think that we are going to make that a weekly event. Today I have them all at my house. It has gone pretty smoothly so far. I am going to try and upload some video during nap time, we'll see how that goes. In the mean time, say a prayer for us as we continue in our busy/challenging summer!

What a week!

Our week started out great. W had a fun Mmorial day at my mom and dad's house. We just hung out and relaxed and grilled some delicious burgers. Then Tuesday rolled around and we were going to get our carpet installed to complete the basement. The guys came and then went and left us with two peices of carpet that did not match. It was so weird looking. I dont know what they were thinking! Anyway, it took them a few days to come back out here, but they finally did and they fixed it today! So here is the basement, almost finished. The poles have been wrapped since this picture.




On Wednesday Laura came over and helped me price stuff for our garage sale. We had fun and Gavin played outside in the water all day. I filled up his sand box with water and he had a little pool. He had fun experimenting with different things in the pool. He even washed some of my car for me! He was so good and so cute!





On Wednesday night the drama started to unfold. We had been in the house for several hours and Gavin was really really hot still. So I took his temperature and it shot up to 103.9!! Yikes! I was a little freaked out. I called the Dr. and she told me just to give him motrine and bring him in in the a.m. He slept good all night, but I didn't. I set the alarm for 1:00 so that I could give him some more medicine. He was still flamin' hot so I was gald that I woke up to give him more. We got in to the Dr. office by 10:45, which was nice. They took his temp and it was responding to the motrine, so that was good. Gavin was really good the whole time we were there. They even pricked his finger so that they could find out if his infection was bacterial or viral and he cried a little bit, but he was a trooper. After they pricked his finger he crawled up on my lap and went to sleep. So I was sitting in the Dr.'s office waiting for his results and he was sound alseep! It was funny. I didnt even know he fell alseep until I heard him snooring. I knew he must have been feeling so icky to just fall asleep right there, that isn't like Gavin. Well, the blood test came back and they said the virus isn't bacterial, so no antibiotics ( Gavin has been fortunate enough to never have been on any antibiotic) but they did discover that he is anemic, so they gave us some perscriptions and sent us off to the lap for more blood work. There was this eight year old kid there who was FREAKING OUT when they took his blood. He was running around hysterical and was even running into walls and stuff. It was horrible. Then it was Gavin's turn. I was already freaked out b/c of the weird kid. But Gavin did so so so so good. He just sat there and cried a little bit. He even watched them the whole time. Ryan was trying to get him to look away, but he wouldn't. I didnt even watch it. I had my head turned the other way and all I could feel were Gavin's tears hitting my arm. It was so sad, but he didn't even pull away or anything. He just took it like a man. After a long day and evening yesterday, his fever finally broke sometime in the night. Ryan had to work late and Gavin's fever spiked up to 104.2 one time. My dad called me in the middle of a very dramtic tepid bath (complete with a popcicle bribe) and I was balling my eyes out b/c i felt so bad for Gavin and he wouldnt get in the bath. I think that my dad was about to drive all the way out here, but I assured him that everything was fine and I was just being overly dramatic. He gave me some good advice and told me to put him in the shower. It worked. He loved taking a shower like a big boy. Well, he liked it when the water was warm. I kept on turning it down on him and by the end of the bath we were both in the cold shower and I was singing "Jesus loves me" over and over again. It's the only song that calms him down! We finaly layed down at 10:30 and went to sleep. I set my alarm every four hours to check on him and give him more meds, but I didn't have to give him any so that was nice. I took his temp. this a.m. and it was down to 99.0 Today has been pretty uneventful, well, expect for one huge diaper blowout that resulted in throwing Gavin's bear rug in the garbage. But he is napping now. He ate a good breakfast and I think that the worst of it is over. Here is a picture of Gavin from last night. We were layng on the couch watching the wiggles togther. THis was Gavin's most comfortable position. He layed there like this almost the whole time. What a boy!!!!

My Eight Weird Facts

I guess this shouldnt be too hard, I am pretty weird. . .

1. I can't chew gum - it makes me want to puke

2. My left ear is pointed like an elf - litterally, like an elf. In high school some of my brothers friends called me Keibler.

3. My nick name growing up was Pooter doot. (you figure that one out)

4. I am obsessed with making lists. I even have a list of all my lists.

5. I need about 10 hours of sleep per day (I usually don't get it)

6. I am adicted to Starbucks and CocaCola ( I know, both so horrible for you, but at least I get the Starbucks for free)

7. I didnt have any birth marks until I was pregnant with Gavin.

8. I have A LOT of Grey hair and i refuse to die it

Okay, there are my facts. I dont know how weird they were, they seem pretty normal to me! Oh, and it didn't seem right to do a post without a picture! So I had to throw this one in.

Splash Park

Today my mom and sister in law came down and we all went to the splash park. We had so much fun. It was almost 90 degrees today, so it was the perfect day for it. We packed a picnic lunch and spent the afternoon there. The boys had so much fun! Well, it took Jonas awhile to warm up to the whole experience. The water was very cold, so you couldn't blame him!

Big 'Ol What?!?!?!

Funny story. Last night we were hanging out in the basement watching some Wiggles (our new favorite) with Gavin. After awhile I layed down on the couch and Ryan and Gavin were sitting at the other end. Well, Gavin comes down to my end and pats me on the rear a few times and then says, "Big 'Ol Butt". Ryan and I just starting cracking up. It was the funniest thing we have ever heard. Gavin is always saying, Big Ol something. Like, he always let's me know when he has made a Big Ol Mess. But he has NEVER said Big Ol Butt. It was too funny. We were laughing so hard and Ryan was trying to tell him that that wasn't nice and that my butt, wasnt all that big. I somehow dont think he got the point due to all of the laughter.

Well, anyway, we finally cut the little guys hair. It was sad. I just kept on looking at all of the hair on the floor. I didnt realize that there was so much! After we cut it I took him upstairs to show him what it looked like in the full size mirror. He loved it, he started giggling and running around like a crazy boy! It was pretty cute. He looks all grown up now.

Baby Owen

Here is my new nephew! He is so cute and so tiny! He weighed 5 lbs. and 12 oz. at birth. Gavin weighed a whole three pounds heavier than that! Owen is just a little peanut! I got to dress him today and I felt like i was dressing a doll! It was so cute. When Gavin and i went up to the hospital to see him Gavin was loving it. He kept on saying, "Boy ( thats what he calls himself) hold baby?" and when I would tell him no he would say, "Boy tickle baby?" Then he kept on saying, "Tickle, Tickle" which really sounds like Teeckle Teeckle. It was so funny. But then when we went over to their house a few days later and I was holding Owen, Gavin was saying, "Mamma hold boy!" He did not want me to hold Owen. He was a little jealous! It was cute though! Anyway, here are some pictures of Owen's first day!

What's that?

Here is a little background before I tell you the real story. As most of you know, we have one son, Gavin. Both Ryan and I are very happy with our family of three and go back and forth about adding one more. We mostly think that it will just be the three of us for quite awhile, but sometimes the mamma in me would love to have another baby. I always think that maybe when Gavin is four or five we would have another one. Okay, that is that. Now here is the story.

Last night Ryan and I were relaxing and drinking some coffee and watching a little TLC. Well, there was this show on about this family with eight kids. It was crazy, it took this family an entire day to organize their garage! It was a little insane. Well, about half way throug the show Ryan pipes up and says, "There is a part of me that would love to have six kids!" Pan over to me - shock and horror registered on my face. I say, "whats that, now?" and he says, "I just really like the way that Gavin turned out and would love to have a bunch more of him." I say, once again, "What's that?" It still has not settled in that he is actually thinking this through. He just laughs and brushes it off and starts talking about something else. I didnt bring it up, out of fear, of course. But that was a huge bomb he dropped on me. Here I am thinking our lives will be one way, and then Ryan is over there thinking a whole different way! It was pretty comical now that I look back at those few moments. He probably changed the subject so quickly due to the look on my face. I suppose I have a lot to think about now!

How many kids do you want to have?

Awana

Our Awana program ended last night. I was sad that it was over for the summer, but glad to not have the time consumption anymore. Well, at least for a few months anyway! We had our awards ceremony last night and I was shocked at how proud I was of the clubbers. I felt like a proud little mamma! Here is the video that we showed at the ceremony. The kids loved seeing themselves up on the big screen. It was cute to hear them laugh when their picture came up!

Bathing Suit Woes

Well, summer is fast approaching and I know you are all searching for the perfect swim suit. If you go to http://landsend.com , you can make a virtual model of yourself and try on suits on line. It is fun and it is a good way to see what you look like in the different kinds so suits. Just a little tip!

Busy, Busy

I have been very busy this last week. I have been so motivated to get things done. I decided to babysit this summer for the family that I used to Nanny for before Gavin was born. I am super excited about it, but I know that it will be so busy. I have planned out our dinner menu for the whole summer and have started to compile shopping lists for each week. Before I start to babysit I am going to make a TON of meals to freeze so that I can just pop 'em in the oven when I get home. I am super excited about it. I love making lists and being organized. I also made out a schedule for the summer for the kids. We are going to keep busy and have tons of fun. I am excited. So this week I have been making lots of bread to freeze. This is my "new" thing as of late. I usually make waffles and stuff for Gavin in big bulk sessions and freeze them so that I can just pop them in the toaster in the morning. That way I know exactly what is going into his little belly. Well, lately I have been complaining about the expense of GOOD bread. So, I decided to stop complaining and start being proactive about it. I have a break maker, so its pretty easy. I just started thowing the ingredients into an there you have it, a delicous, healthy loaf. So, I started on Saturday and I have made about five loaves so far (they take about three hours to bake). Today I am going to make some pizza dough. I am pretty excited about it. It will be an experiment!
I also decided to stencil Gavin's room last week. I knew what i wanted to do in there, but I couldnt find the right stencil, so I just ended up making my own. It was so cheap, and I already had the paint for it. I think that it turned out so good. I have been putting it off for some time, but in the end, it took me about 45 min. from start to finish. I dont know what i was procrastinating for so long.
Well, I have several projects that need to be completed before I start my summer job, so I better get to it!
Sorry about the long post, I usually hate reading others people posts when they are long and about nothing in particular . . . I just didnt have much to write about!
Here are some pictures of Gavin's room.

Easter

Gavin was lucky enough to be able to get three easter egg hunts this year. Ryan's brother and sister in law, Jason and Katie, did an egg hunt for all of the cousins. It was insane. THey had 150 eggs for about eight kids. Needless to say, I confiscated most of that candy! My mom also had a hunt for Gavin and Jonas. It was cute. She put match box cars in the eggs. They loved it. Gavin pretty much dominated the egg hunt, although I think that Jonas must have come out on top b/c I think that we only brought home one car. I dont know how that happened . . . On Saturday, before Easter, we decided to give Gavin his Easter Basket and do a little egg hunt of our own before the maddness began on Sunday morning. He was so funny. I put him in the bath tub and had Ryan hide the eggs while he was in there. THen we put a trail of m n m's (Gavin's absolute favorite candy) right outside the bathroom and into the living room. He devored them in about three seconds. He was running around like crazy finding the eggs. Then he discoved some gifts that we had put on the coffee table for him. We got him Happy Feet, which I would NOT recommend (you live and learn) and some sponge paints and other fun things for him. Anyway, I took video of the whole thing. So, here it is, the whole point of my post!

The Boys on Easter Morning

Coloring Eggs on Good Friday

Jonas, Mason and Gavin on Easter Sunday

Herb and Ryan as kids - oh, I mean Jonas and Gavin on Easter Sunday

And just so you all know, I lost the battle. Gavin got the haircut. Actually, it was a compromise. Ryan didn't buzz it, just took about two inches or so off. I know, it was a little out of control, but you can't blame a mamma for trying to hold on to her baby!
This is a before picture from the other day at the park.

This is during the haircut. He actually sat pretty well.

Here is the after shot. THe front still looks pretty long, but it actually got trimmed up quite a bit, although, as you can see in the picture above, the back got the most cut off.

I hope you all had a good Easter celebration and looked beyond the fun of coloring eggs and egg hunts. I hope that your week was focused on Christ and the sacrofice He made for us. We had a great Easter. The best part was on Sunday morning. I was getting Gavin dressed and I told him that we were going to church and he said, "Church, Jesus Story!" I about cried. I am so thankful that Gavin is being penetrated with God's word at such a young age. I personally went and found each of his teachers on Sunday and thanked them for imparting Truth to my two year old! It was amazing to see that he already knows why we go to church! I can't wait to hear all about your Easter Celebrations!

B-Ball

Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
All shootin some b-ball outside of the school . . .

Thats for all of you old school Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air fans.

We have this really nice school one block away and they have a great playground for Gavin. But all he really wants to do is play some ball with the big boys! He is so serious when he tries to play. I hate to break it to the poor kid that there really aren't any good b-ball players in the family (unless being a starting guard in Jr. High counts). He should really stick to soccer and baseball. He just isn't aware that height is not one of our strong areas. Well, I guess there's always hope. I mean, there was Spud Webb who measured in at 5'7" and there is Nate Robinson who is 5'9" . . . We'll see. I guess I wont be so quick to crush his little dreams.

Anyway, here are some pictures of this past week at the park!





I had to throw in this last one of Gav on the swings. His face is so funny. I am not sure what he was doing/saying. Oh, and yes, I am aware that my child is in desperate need of a haircut. Its an ongoing battle in my house how his hair should look. I like it long and cool and daddy wants it short like a preacher boy. We'll see how it comes out in the coming days/weeks. I am sure I will post the event, if it occurs.