Gavin's March Review

As promised here are some pictures of the fun time we had with Gavin throughout the month of March.

Gavin finally will take a bath without acting like I'm trying to drown him.  This may not have happened in March (could have been February), but it's been wonderful.  Of course the minute I try to take a picture of him he starts crying and wants to get out. So the picture may look like he's angry (which he is) but it has nothing to do with the actual bath. 

True to our family dynamics Gavin is 100% boy and loves sports.  With a Dad like Bob and a brother like Zack it's no surprise.  I am so glad that it's starting to warm up and we can finally spend some time outside.  Gavin has mastered the stairs so there is no keeping him contained anymore!  We also got window well covers so I don't have to worry about  the boys falling down the window wells or throwing stuff in them. 

Now just to finish the fence on the side of the house and we'll be golden.  (If your new to this blog we actually had a fully fenced yard but every year our fence blows down on one side of our yard).  We get really bad wind where we live and the gate just can't withstand the wind. This year instead of the gate breaking apart the fence finally gave up and broke.  So we are moving the fence back so we don't have to worry about a huge gate anymore.

Zack use Gavin as his personal art stuido.  I left for a few minutes (Bob was home).  When I came back Bob was like "look what Zack did".  Poor Gavin had this X on his forehead.  The worst part was the first line Zack drew was hard.  He really pressed down!  Not sure exactly how he achieved this but at least it was pretty easy to get off.  And Zack had a time-out!  So far it hasn't happened again... crossing our fingers.

One day when it was not raining or snowing we were able to go to the park.  I convinced Gavin to go down the slide all by himself.  The big slide.  It was pretty funny, he tried to crawl down the slide.  I wasn't able to get pictures because I had to catch him, a few times crawl up the slide to make sure he didn't face plant it.

And finally we always take time to smell the roses.  Well in our case look at the green plants.  Gavin was very inthrawled in touching the plants that we have in our front yard.  If only we had pretty flowers to look at and smell.  Guess we'll have to wait until his Grandma's Pionies bloom.

Like I said in Zack's post I wish I was better at taking daily pictures.  Since April is almost over maybe I'll start in May :)

Zack's March Review

Even though the title sounds like it, Zack isn't writing this post.

First off I have to say I miss doing a picture a day or Project Life.  It's my own fault that I'm not doing it and I keep telling myself that the next month I'll start again.  But here it is already the middle of April and I still haven't started back up.  I loved doing Project Life (even though I haven't gotten all my pictures in my album and I did miss a few days here and there).  If you don't know what I'm talking about you need to check out Becky Higgins Blog.  I loved it because even though the pictures were of our everyday life you could see how much the boys grew up in just the one year.  It really is amazing how much in one year they change so much. 

Okay back to the original post.  I just wanted to do a quick review of the month of March with what Zack has been up to.  Don't worry I'm not going to leave Gavin out, in the next day or so I'll have Gavin's March post. 

Zack LOVES his boots.  Mabye it's because he's basically learned how to dress himself this Winter so his primary staple whenever we went outside was boots.  But he loves them.  He'll be walking around the house in just his underware and his boots.  Quite the fashion statement.  When we leave the house he always trys to find his boots before I can find his shoes. 

This picture shows Zack wearing his boots.  But he couldn't find his other boot and I was trying to get him out the door.  Because he loves putting on his own shoes and couldn't find his other boot this is how he wanted to leave the house.  Don't worry I found his other boot, but such the funny kid!

Zack loves to play Superman.  Today I took a picture of him flying high in the sky.  He loves when I throw him on the couch instead of setting him down on his feet. 

No this isn't a picture of Zack just waking up.  I can only dream.  This is just Zack playing in his bed.  He loves to hide from me when I'm trying to get him dressed.  Which can be frustrating since I'm usually in a hurry to get somewhere.  He does like to put his toys to bed (and time-out).   Any suggestions on how to get a Toddler to sleep in his own bed? 

We thought with it being Spring we'd be done with the snow, but no such luck for us.  But that didn't stop us from getting dressed in ski pants and jacket and  playing out in the snow while Dad shoveled snow.   After Bob had shoveled the driveway I realized it was just slippery enough that Zack could go down on the sled.  Hehehe I tired it first and it was pretty fun.  Our driveway is sloped just enough. 

We had one of Bob's friend living with us for about a year.  His son had a helmet and since seeing him wear the helmet while riding his bike Zack HAD to have a helmet too.  So while at Wal-Mart we happened to be near the bikes and Zack saw the helmets.  He immediately picked one out.  Of course the first one was Toy Story but was WAY to big.  So he either could choose from Spiderman or this one that blinks.  And like his boots (which blinks) Zack loves the blinky lights.  He was so excited to wear his helmet and ride his bike.  Too bad Mother Nature had other plans.  So he got to ride in the basement.  Now if only he'd actually pedal his bike.  Any suggestions on teaching how to peddle... LOL.

 

So those are a few pictures of Zack throughout March.  Of course there was his first Dentist Appt, and St. Patricks Day but those got their own post. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day from these little guys.
P.S. this was suppose to post the day after St. Patrick's Day... Stupid Blogger.

This year instead of buying the boys tshirts I decided to try my luck with making them shirts. I think they turned out pretty well. It was pretty simpl. The four leaf clover was ironed on then sewed on, and the lucky I just painted. They looked pretty cute.

Pictures of Gavin

Every time I try to get pictures of Gavin without fail he scratches or bumps his head just before I'm about to set the appointment. I normally take the boys to JCPenney's to get their pictures taken but they don't "edit" any of their pictures. So you are left with whatever they take. Which is a good and bad thing. The pictures you get are true to life pictures. But little blemishes like a scratch on their face I'd like to have removed if possible. Enter Deanna. I happened to mention this to her and she recommend a place that her friend had gotten her child's picture taken at. She contacted her friend and got the name... fotofly in Draper, UT. I looked them up on their website and they looked really cute. For $79 you get all the pictures from the session on a CD. NO other charges. No sitting fee, no additional charge for extra people in the picture (immediate family only). And no obligation to buy any prints. Of course they sweeten the pot by offering same day prints for only $4.00 ($3.00 if you order in the first week). I liked their concept and their photo gallery was really cute. Unlike JCPenny's when you look at their photo gallery the pictures could have been taken at ANY JCPenny's. Also I liked that their backgrounds and props weren't cheesy. They had natural looking backgrounds that weren't curtains (well two are curtains but they are super contemporary looking). So I booked a session that worked with our schedule and within a few days of being told of this place I had Gavin's pictures taken.

I must say I am really happy with how they turned out. The girl was awesome with Gavin. From the get go she had him smiling (which if you know Gavin he doesn't smile until he assesses the situation and deems the person worthy of a smile). I really did love the backgrounds.

So take a look:







Gavin is such an awesome little kid. He totally understands what we are saying to him. He loves to help and is always taking care of his garbage and clothes. Well the garbage thing is a little annoying because he throws EVERYTHING away. He's done with a bowl; into the garbage. We'll have to hide our keys, when Zack was in this phase my mom and Bob lost their keys. (we found mom's keys a year or so later -- bob's are still missing). And I did find my phone floating in the toilet. That was a fun week. Luckily Bob has a work phone and my Aunt Jolene was getting a new phone and gave me her old one. Gavin loves talking on the phone. He can say ball (which was his first real word). And he says lo lo lo on the phone. He calls Zack-- Kah. When it's nap or bed time I ask him if he wants a bottle which he gunts a yes and nods his head. Then I say you want to go to bed? And again grunts and nods his head. For the most part he just rolls over and goes right to sleep. His naps are about 2-3 hours long and he totally sleeps through the night. He's a rock star!

Gavin we love you so much and you are such a wonderful addition to our family. You love brother so much. You are definitely a momma's boy but when you need special attention Daddy is your favorite. We love your little personality. You are growing up way to fast but it's been so much fun to watch!

First Dentist Visit

Last Tuesday was Zack's first dentist visit. I felt bad that I haven't taken him to the dentist yet and he's already 2 1/2 years old. But I've heard conflicting times as to when to take a child to the dentist. Some places I've read to take them after they are two some websites say three and some say when they get their first tooth. In Zack's case that would have been like 4 months old. And I'm sorry a 4 month old does not need to visit the dentist.

I'll admit I was a little nervous for my little guy to visit the dentist. Don't get me wrong. I loved going to the dentist when I was little. He was super nice, the office was fun and we got prizes afterwards. Luckily I knew someone that worked in a dentist's office and I've heard really good things (from her and other patients) about him. So we gave it a try.

Zack is fearless. I love that little guy! When we got to the denstist office he immediately started playing with all the toys and exploring the room under the stairs. It was awesome. Gavin of course played too. That was my other concern I couldn't get a sitter for Gavin so I was worried that if Zack had a meltdown or something I wouldn't be able to help because I would already have my handsful with his little brother.

After I filled out the majority of the paperwork for the first visit the dental assistant called Zack back. She told me that normally the first visit is a lap visit and they quickly look at the teeth but mostly just pretend denstist. I really didn't have a lap available for Zack because Gavin was already buring himself into me because the lady was talking to us (he's such a shy little guy). So I asked Zack if he wants to sit on mommies lap and have the dentist just look at his teeth or sit in the big chair and have his teeth cleaned. He chose have his teeth cleaned. And off he went with the Dental Assistant. I had to hurry and grab all my stuff to catch up to them. Zack just jumped right into the dental chair and was ready to go. They wanted him to lay down but he wasn't really comfortable doing that. He also didn't like the headphones in his ears so he didn't watch or listen to the movie that was playing in the ceiling.

The dental assistant cleaned his teeth, gave him a little floride and flossed his teeth. And he did wonderful! He listened to her, held his mouth open big and wide and sucked the water sucker (don't know technical name) when she asked him to. I was so proud of my little guy!

And of course I took pictures.

Pictures with the Dental Assistant. Don't mind the huge bruise on his forehead. He ran into a table the week before and it still hasn't completely healed.




Goodie Bag!!! Zack got a toothbrush, sticker, floss, a prize from the prize bucket and a tocken to buy a prize from the candy machine. He totally lucked out.



The dentist checking his teeth. I was worried because he had a brown spot on his back molar that I scrub at every night and thought was a cavity. Come to find out that it's just mother natures way of sticking her tounge out at good dental hygiene. The dentist asked if Zack got a lot of ear infections when he was a baby (which he didn't) but all it takes is one ear infection and medication to damage enamel that hadn't come in yet. So the enamel was stained and soft on the back molar, we made another dentist appointment for the next week (today) to have it fixed. No drilling or shots. Just a little sanding and a filling.

Happy 1st Birthday Baby!

Seriously can you believe it's already been one year since Gavin came into our lives. What a trip! I love that little guy so much. I can't even imagine him not in our family. He has a such a wonderful personality.



His 1 year stats:
30.7 inches tall (between 75 and 90th percentile)
25.3 pounds (between 75 and 90th percentile)

Verdict he's a big boy! And we love every inch of that little guy!

For Gavin's birthday I took the boys to the park. Yes I realize it's only March but they are getting tired of being in the house and it was warmish. The trip didn't last very long because Gavin fell on the slide and cut his lip. He was bleeding ALOT! So we ran home and got the blood to stop. Probably not the best start to his birthday.

When daddy got home we went to Famous Daves for dinner. (I'm not a fan -- still not.)



Afterwards we went to Grandma and Grandpa Speakman's house for Grandma's traditional first birthday train cake. Gavin was a little hesitant in making a mess with the cake. For the most part he just picked off the candy from the cake. But after we gave him a piece he really got into it. Oh yeah and the little stinker would not look at the camera. GRRRR.





It was a pretty low key day, but we knew that Saturday was going to be the big day. Gavin's first birthday party with family.

I got to admit I get a little crazy with parties. I have big plans and a lot of ideas but in the end I'm rushed because I'm a procrastinator and try to get everything done the night before. This party was no exception to the rule. I've been planning his party in my head for over a month now. In my mind it looked amazing. The party still turned out amazing but just a little different then I had planned.

For dinner we had Sliders (mini hamburgers), pigs in a blanket, salads and chips. The food turned out really good. It was fun to have the little hamburgers I think. I just thought it was appropriate to have little food for our little birthday boy. I originally wanted to have the party to be a car theme but it ended up being more of a color theme. I found some fabric to make a banner for Gavin's birthday and the party pretty much centered around that. But it was perfect. Hopefully Gavin likes the color green because that's what we've pretty much picked for him :).


I made the banner for behind his high chair, cupcake toppers and his t-shirt. I must admit I was pleased with how it all turned out. I wish I knew how to make the cupcakes look more professional but I tried. One day I'll take a Cupcake decorating class... yes that is my dream. But until then these will have to do.



After dinner we had Gavin open presents. And when I say Gavin I really mean Zack opened the presents, quickly showed them to Gavin then moved onto the next present. Poor Zack didn't quite understand the concept that it was Gavin's birthday and not his. Luckily Gavin is good at sharing for now and allowed Zack the opportunity to help him with his presents and even let him play with most of them.



Then it was time for cake. Not really sure why it's so exciting to have a one year old devourer a cake but it's tradition. Gavin didn't really get into it too much. I know my mom has better pictures then I do of Gavin but these will have to do for now.




Like I said all in all the party was a wonderful success. It was for a one year old who won't remember a thing about the party but I wanted it to be perfect for my little man. He's a wonderful guy and we are so lucky that he's healthy and chose to be a part of our family.

And some more pictures from the party. These are our party guests (minus my dad, Debbie and Lori who had to leave early)





Gavin also enjoyed playing with the decorations when the party was over. I think this was his favorite party of the entire night. Poor guy had people overload and didn't want to be put down for more then a few minutes.

My baby is walking! I am so excited for this new step in Gavin's life. It's really surprising how quickly it happened. Well it shouldn't be that surprising he's been walking along the couch for months. But every time we try to get him to walk he'll just sit down and crawl. But the other day my mom was over watching the boys and she showed me what my little man was up to. It's so exciting! He's now in his second or third day walking and he's doing so well. At first it was only a few steps then he'd fall and be caught. But now he'll pull himself up on anything and walk, stop, turn and go somewhere else. My mom calls him Frank because watch the video he's our little Frankenstein!

I love this stage!!!