Thursday, December 31, 2009

Baby G's First Christmas 2009








A trip to KY and packing up to move is a big energy drainer, finally motivated to blog! We had a wonderful Christmas in KY and we even got to see some snow! We arrived late Tuesday night and stayed through Christmas until Monday morning. We enjoyed nana and papa time, aunt, uncle, and cousin time, and even some friend time! We usually have a jam packed visit and this one was no different :o).

Gavin didn't really understand the whole concept of ripping open presents...I thought he would enjoy tearing up paper, but surprisingly he wasn't that in to it. He did enjoy his gifts though! And he got some wonderful ones! Honestly, I don't know what we're going to do with this growing collection of toys! His first birthday is March 4th, so you can only guess how many more he will be getting!

Gavin's first Christmas gifts---I can already see that I'm really going to enjoy having my own children to start traditions with, sometimes I think I want a whole house full!


















We also got to meet the newest addition to our family while visiting KY...Miss Allie! And she is such a little doll, holding her made me realize just how much Gavin has grown. I'm hoping these two will get to grow up together and have a close relationship just as her dad (Todd) and I did. And LOTS of family vacations together ;o).



Gavin met the Wagner kids for the first time too! It was nice introducing my son to the people I grew up with. He enjoyed hanging out with them just as much as I did.





And last but not least...I had to get in a visit with my girls! Here we all are...





and I think this will be the newest tradition a group shot of all of our boys, but we WILL be adding a girl to that picture, thanks to my friend Angel!






Gavin's stats for his 9 month checkup:

Weight: 22.5 lbs. (80th percentile)
Height: 28 1/4 in. (50th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17 3/4 in.

At 9 months Gavin is crawling like a pro...belly UP off the floor, pulling up here, there, and everywhere...and traveling like crazy (while holding on to something). He has 2 bottom teeth and 4 of his upper teeth are coming in...ALL at the SAME time! He no longer wants anything to do with baby food, he's a table food eatin' machine and he feeds himself! His fave is definitely pasta or risotto. At the current moment he is NOT a fan of fruit AT ALL, which surprises me, since it's sweet...but we're working on that. He has been known to throw a few mini-tantrums, mainly by throwing his head back, but they never last long. His favorite thing to do is play with anything electrical (wires, cables, plug-ins) and to crawl up steps, now going down them as well (of course we DO NOT ALLOW this), I couldn't count the number of times I have to say "NO" to these little hobbies each day! He wears a size 4 diapers, but can still wear a size 3, the 4's are just a little more roomy. 12 months clothing. He sleeps in his crib very well now, bed at 9, rise between 6-7. He still naps 2 times a day, the time varies, usually between 1-2 hours each. He's becoming a mama's boy, following me everywhere I go (which I happen to love). He claps his hands, tries to talk, waves "hi" from time to time, and occasionally will give you "five". He does patty cake PERFECTLY (the whole song and the movements) that's one of his faves! He still enjoys bath time, but it's a struggle for me, because he wants to stand the ENTIRE TIME and well all know how slippery those tubs can be! He loves playing football with his daddy. He's a cuddler, Nels and I both said we wanted a baby that like to be cuddled and we sure got one! And he's also a biter right now---when I tell you that I had bruises all over my left arm from bites, I am not exaggerating! OUCH! And my boy is a people person, he doesn't know a stranger, and is full of smiles 24/7. I could go on and on about Gavin for days, he is a wonderful baby, with the most precious personality, and he's mine...thank you Lord for all your many blessings.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Santa Baby




Christmas is just around the corner!!! Less than a week! I can't wait for it to get here, but then it will be over...sooo... I'm conflicted ;o).

We are going to be heading to KY for Christmas and I couldn't be more excited. I was just there in November, but it feels like that was years ago! I'm really praying for a white Christmas...I want my husband and baby boy to see the snow so badly--and crazy as it sounds, I haven't seen snow in 3 years!!!!!!!!!! That is just ridiculous and shouldn't be coming out of my mouth, hah!


Gavin will be 10 months old in a few weeks, wow. Isn't my Santa Baby just the cutest little fella?

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Santa Clause is Coming to Town

You better watch out...you better not cry...you better not pout, I'm telling you why...Gavin's first time meeting Santa, could this smile be any bigger??? I think he made a lasting impression on Mr. Clause.



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He's such a good boy, he makes my heart smile not daily, but secondly ;o).

Friday, December 11, 2009

These are a few of my FAVORITE things!

Just a few things that Gavin does on a DAILY basis...

HE SMILES...
Big Boy!


HE Pulls UP and STANDS....
Standing Gav

HE Plays with Mommy's Phone...tech savy boy, hah!
Tech Savy Gav

AND He READS! Yea...he's a smart one!
Reading Gav

Monday, December 7, 2009

Oh Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

I know we still have 19 days until Christmas, but I figured it could never be too early to post anything Christmas related, since it is in fact, the most peaceful, relaxing, heartwarming, time of the year (in my opinion of course!).

So...just a little intro in to Christmas in our home. We actually put the tree's up just before Thanksgiving this year. Here we are beginning to get our tree together...and you see there is a sweet little rugrat crawling around under it! He loves plugs...so you'll see that he is all ready to plug it in and get those lights twinkling!



Here he is with his very first Christmas ornament. I bought this on our visit to KY...isn't it cute?! I always get an ornament with the year on it, so this year I chose this one...I just loved it!





Aren't those legs soooo "nibble-worthy"!!!


I didn't actually get a picture of the finished product...but I will, soon and I'm pretty certain there will be a rugrat under it again ;o).

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Night 3...C.I.O.

7 MINUTES PEOPLE! 7 MINUTES! Praise GOD! Again, don't know if Gav was extra tired or if he is getting the hang of this new concept...let's hope it's the latter of the two!

Night 3 Gavin walked around his crib for a few minutes, then layed down, rolled around with his blanket for a few, then BAM! Asleep...7 minutes, wow. Praise God again! I may be overreacting, but to hear your baby cry for 30-50 minutes the past 2nights, then only 7 minutes the 3rd night is just a blessing from God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Lord, please keep blessing us with this sleep business ;o).

Let's hope the remainder of the night goes well and that my baby boy has tackled sleeping in his crib, in his room, from here on out. WOOOHOOO!

Oh and one more thing...today Gavin went to the nursery at church for the very first time. What a big boy he has become. The caretaker's said that he was so good, that he just played and smiled the whole time. Here's the funny thing>>> when I was bringing him in to the service with us, there were times when I couldn't devote 100% of my attention to the pastor because I was tending to Gavin (who did usually sleep, or sit very quietly). These days he's a busy bee and likes to try to talk, so I thought it would be best if we took him to the nursery so he could play and I could listen whole hearted. Truth is...I found myself wondering off to Gavin and if he was okay about 50% of the time...what's a mommy to do?

No new pics...but here's a family shot...Gav was almost 5 months old in this photo.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Night 2--C.I.O

Ahhh...another night of "cry-it-out". This is definitely a difficult process, to put it mildly. I'll be taking this as a lesson learned...baby #2 will sleep in his/her crib and not in mommy and daddy's bed.

Last night, Gavin did sleep better. He woke up 2 times, but he put his self back to sleep within seconds. 2 times may sound like a lot, but just 2 nights ago, he would wake up and cry until we came to him, and would continue to cry until we picked him up (this was not the case last night). He did wake up at 6:30 this morning, but instead of bringing him to our room, we got up with him and came downstairs.

Tonight went somewhat smoother. Last night it was 50 minutes of c.i.o., tonight is was 32 minutes. I'm hoping it's because he is adjusting and not because he just happened to be more tired. Tonight we went in to comfort him every 10 minutes. It seemed like by the time 10 minutes had passed, he had began to calm himself somewhat. We went in 3 times, loved on him, cuddled him (while leaving him in the crib), and whispered a few "I love you's". He explored his crib more too. He made 1 lap around his crib, fell down, and went to sleep in a half sitting position. He's a fighter...that's for SURE!

Let's hope tomorrow night's time drops significantly and my baby finally adjusts to falling asleep in his crib all by himself, peacefully.

Mommy and Daddy want to see big smiles and no tears!

Friday, December 4, 2009

C.I.O.

I must say...hate is a strong word...but I hate the acronym you see as the title of this entry. C.I.O. means Cry It Out. This is the dreadful method we tried tonight to get my baby boy to sleep in his own crib. It is a very popular method, it works, but it is hard on baby and parents.

Since our visit to Kentucky in November, Gavin has been sleeping in bed with us. Two weeks in KY and here at home too. Not saying there is ANYTHING wrong with allowing your baby to sleep in bed with you, but Gavin doesn't rest well and we don't either. Gavin had been sleeping in his crib prior to our visit, but he quickly became accustomed to the new routine, and for obvious reasons, he loved it. He felt safe, he could roll over at any given moment and pull my hair, he could crawl onto his daddy's face to sleep, he could nest his head under my arm, he could sleep sideways in bed and kick daddy all night long. Yes, he loved it, for obvious reasons ;o).

So we decided tonight we would put him back in his nursery. The poor baby cried for 50 minutes! My sister-n-law read a book on this procedure and she has used it with all of her kids and they sleep like PRO's, so I thought I would give it a "go". How does it work? The first night, you lay your baby in the crib just as he is getting very tired, you comfort him/her, then walk away. The crying begins...you enter the room every 5 minutes consistently to comfort your baby w/o picking them up, then leave again. You do this until they fall asleep. Night 2 you comfort baby every 10 minutes and you continue adding minutes every night, until eventually, they know the routine and can put themselves to sleep fairly easy. The Dr. that wrote the book said it can take up to a week...yes 7 WHOLE DAYS!

My little angel, literally, fell asleep standing up with his arms hanging over the crib (how pitiful is that?)! He fell asleep standing up for 5 minutes, with little nods in between. Nelson went in and softly layed him down. He wanted to cry again, but that battle was over and sleep won. FINALLY!

Nelson and I felt horrible for leaving him in his crib to cry, but I know in the long run, he will sleep better, we will sleep better, all in all, it should just be better.

Long post, I know. But Gavin, when you read this someday, I surely hope you won't remember any of this C.I.O bull, cause it's NO FUN for any of us! I hope and pray this is the last time you have to fall asleep standing up, with tears on your face, and sadness in your heart. We love you little boy...to the moon and back...more than all the stars in the sky.

9 Months.







Yep. Here is my 9 month old boy, who happens to be the best present I will ever find under our Christmas tree!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Infinite, Unmeasurable, Absolute

I was on the verge of a bad mood this morning, until I looked over at this little boy, who brings me infinite, unmeasurable, absolute happiness.


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