Toddler Transitions

This will be a quick post.  I've been reflecting on big steps that Gavin is making recently, and wanted to document them on my virtual baby book (well, the blog's not just a baby book I suppose, it's my venting board as well!).

Potty training - boy, we're turning a corner!  Accidents are getting less and less frequent; in fact, rare would be a good descriptor.  Gavin is consistently using the potty, asking to use the potty (instead of us having to ask and remind him several times per day).  He is getting better at "holding it" until we're at the potty, which sometimes can be a 10 minute car ride away.  And at night, he is almost always dry now (95% of nights).  It's not a struggle to get him to the potty any longer.  And he is getting better about re-dressing himself post-duty (a major step to being ready for preschool in the fall).

Speaking of preschool - we've enrolled him!  Gavin will officially be starting a two day (half days) program in the fall.  Crazy!  We filled out the oodles of paper work earlier this month and sent in our deposit.  He's ready.  I'm excited to see how he blossoms, not that he needs blossoming, but it will be good.  On the playground or outside in our neighborhood, he LOVES to make new friends.  He's such a pleasant little guy!  Runs up to other kids, introduces himself, many times gives hugs (maybe a little creepy, but he's three, right?).  I'm excited to see him make friends at school who he gets to see regularly.  Given he doesn't go to daycare, preschool will be a good social opportunity for him.

And my final thought for this quick post - the pacifier fairy!  She visited!  After our trip to Florida, it was time.  Really, it was probably time a year or more ago but we had other things going on that were more important than a silly pacifier.  We knew the time would be good - no major events or trips planned when he might want his "bye" extra (this is what he's called his pacifier since he first started talking).  I've heard horror stories of other parents who finally took their children's paci's away.  We planned ahead.  The day after getting back from Florida, we began to tell Gavin that a pacifier fairy would be coming soon for his "bye's".  She would be bringing them to littler babies who needed them more.  Gavin quickly decided that the fairy was Tinkerbell.  So, we went with it.  I guess part of me liked the idea of Tinkerbell since I don't have a daughter to overplay the princesses and fairies with - gosh, wish I did - so, Tinkerbell it was. 

We spent a couple of weeks talking with Gavin about how Tink would be coming to take the "bye's" at night and that maybe she would leave a little surprise for him in exchange.  He had lots of ideas about what the surprise would be (mainly various different Thomas and Friends trains).  The night came when we put all the "bye's" in his nightstand...and the next morning, Gavin discovered "Ferdinand" the train in his drawer.  His first day at nap time, he was quite upset with Brad, saying he wanted to be little and have his bye again.  He didn't want to be a big boy.  He wanted Tink to take Ferdinand back to Meijer (he knows that all things come from Meijer...or Costco, the "big Meijer").  That nap was the only time he got really upset.  That evening and all evenings to follow, he doesn't even mention his "bye's".  Overall, it went very smoothly!  And to think I was dreading taking this little comfort away from my big boy!

Gosh, the past few months have been filled with such transitions - from little to big.  A big boy bed, expanded conversational and social skills, potty training, talk of preschool, good-bye "bye", more and more independence and learning.  I'm loving it, but also missing so many things about the baby and toddler stages.  These fleeting days go by so quickly.  But our love for Gav just grows, I suppose, with each quickly passing moment.

March For Grace

March of Dimes is holding their annual March for Babies walk on Saturday April 28. Brad and I are putting a team together. We invite you, our blog followers, to walk with us, make a donation, or both.

I've put together a webpage with details on the walk and how to donate. Visit here.

April 28, 2012
Foremost Insurance
5600 Beechtree
Caledonia, MI 49316

Walk Distance: 3.3 miles
Registration Time: 9:00 AM
Start Time: 10:30 AM
Chapter: Grand Rapids Division
Phone: (616) 247-6861

3 Year Photos

I'm overdue with this post, I know. Better late than never. Here's a sampling of my favorite photos from Gavin's 3 year session the beginning of March...

Florida - Year 8

Can't believe we've been going to our beautiful beach each year for the past eight years now! It's just paradise there and we look forward to our week of relaxation each year. This year was nothing but fab - perfect weather and 99% perfect company. Gavin had a blast. It's fun to see each year how much he advances from the prior year. This year, he was much more independent and much more "trustworthy". He loved running in and out of the ocean. Loved playing in the sand. Loved jumping into the pool all by himself...seems like hundreds of times each day (jumping in like a "submarine" as he called it). Loved spending time with Momma and Dadda and MaeMe and BaPa.

The only thing that would have made it 100% perfect would have been keeping a 10 month old little girl from putting sand in her mouth. That didn't happen.

Here are some fun photos to document this year's trip...

We had to keep with the Easter traditions, even when on vacation for the week preceeding the holiday. Eggs were dyed!

Can you spot our Grace?

We went on an Easter egg hunt at the local Zoological Gardens - Gavin was able to have a couple of birds on his arm/shoulder. He's still talking about how "the blue bird AND the orange bird, they walked right here on my arm (as he points to his arm)".

My favorite part was feeding the flamingos right from our hands! One of the flamingos "Featherstone" (if you've seen Gnomeo and Juliet you know who I'm talking about), thought Gavin's hair was food and gave him a little peck.

3 year photos to be posted soon!

Update Desperately Needed!

Goodness, what has happened to me? Clearly I've been a blogging slacker as of late. Well, I'm going to work on getting things updated. I have three-year photos, Florida vacation update/photos, Easter happenings, and some randomness to get documented. Geesh...

More to come shortly!

Friendship

I've been putting this post together in my head for the past several days and just need to get to it...so here I go. It's random how I've come to wanting to write about this, but it will all come together, so stay with me.

This past week has felt very stressful to me. I think there were a few underlying reasons, and then added ones, too.

We learned two weeks ago that our offer on a new house was accepted! It's a house, and neighborhood, that we've been keeping an eye on for several months now, waiting for the right time to possibly place an offer. It's a bit surreal, but after a week of back and forth between our realtor and the builder, they accepted our offer! So, we'll be closing in the next couple of weeks and listing our house on the market. We won't move likely for a few months, until our house sells. It's all working out quite well, as the builder will be renting from us while he builds his next house. So, with the new home comes extreme excitement thinking of this next phase in our future. It's a beautiful, newly constructed craftsman style ranch with everything we're looking for, including a wonderful neighborhood with close proximity to our favorite park. It's also creating some anxiety - just the thought of the busyness that buying and selling a home brings - packing, moving, a larger mortgage payment, though this is what we've been saving for and working toward - it's all a bit overwhelming to think about at times.

All week, I've been thinking of Grace and the nine month milestone we passed on Friday. I'll frequently check back on the blog to when Gavin was the age that Grace would have been. It was emotional looking back on nine months. It was just after Gavin turned nine months that he started crawling. And he was eating finger foods. And easily maneuvering into a sitting position on his own. Grace would have likely been doing all of those same things...in cute little pink outfits with bows in her hair. On Friday, I had to travel to Detroit for the Michigan Pharmacists Association annual convention - for some CE and also to deliver a presentation. The weather was horrid on Friday morning, so the very long drive and day added some extra stress.

So, back to the title of the post...friendship. Amid the stress, I've come to a deeper realization this week and really over the past year that friends are such a blessing. I've been getting together with a group of high school friends about monthly for the past year or so for dinner. I was reflecting on my drive on Friday about all of them, and certainly other friends, and all that we've been through in the past couple of years. I think getting together with this particular group of gals brings such great comfort, as they can relate to the pain I've experienced in life, my grief and my struggles to "keep going" even when I just don't feel like it. They've been there, too. I'm not sure how among the eight of us, we've all had such hard lessons in life at such a young age.

What brought us all back together a couple of years ago or so was one of our friends who's husband was ill with terminal cancer. Not even thirty yet, and just a dreadful diagnosis and courageous fight for life. Ben's passing hit home for all of us - it could have been any of our husbands who we lost...just when we needed him most, just when our lives together were really getting started. Lindsay is one of the strongest people I know, even though she would never admit it. The rest of the group - there's me, and all of my baggage from the past year, and others who are struggling with other significant life events - an ill parent who's too young to go, fighting against the odds like Brad's dad (stupid, retched cancer), miscarriage, divorce, and most recently a wife who walks hand and hand with her husband as he seeks sobriety and seeing the world in a whole new light.

None of us ever imagined in our care-free days as friends in high school that God would call us to travel these journeys. None of us, as we wed our husbands, would have REALLY taken to heart the vow in "good times and in bad". Life is good, right? Everything is going to be a fairytale. And here we are, at times wishing the world would just stop turning, trying to manage through these very real, not so great experiences. Being strong women. Keeping our families going.

I've really enjoyed having these friends...and so many more than just this group of eight. My support system of family, co-workers and friends are such a blessing. So much so, that I just really wanted to blog about them. To document this point in my life where I can really say it's been nice to have them through the bad times - and the good times. We do a lot of laughing when we're together which is so therapeutic, thanks for that ladies. And here's to hoping that the crappy life events subside a bit and we can regain some normalcy. It would be nice if life was a little more boring at times, huh?

Cheers to good friends!

Three!

Saturday, Gavin turned three! We started the day at the local YMCA for that last class in a series of six weeks - a sports sampler. Gavin has really enjoyed the class and interaction with other little boys his age. Crazy, but today was the only day we took pictures. So, here's my favorite...Gavin walking on the balance beam, picking up tennis balls along the way on the "course" set up by the coach. Gavin has excellent balance, so this activity was right up his alley. He also got exposed to the basics of rock climbing today, though he's too little to "really" climb. Over the past weeks, Gavin has been exposed to soccer, basketball, running (which he's also really good at), hockey, duck-duck-goose, walking like various animals (dinosaur, crab, elephant), and of course today's wrap-up gymnastics/rock climbing. It's been fun!

Busy day...we went right from the Y to final touches before the big party! This year, we opted to buy a cake instead of making our own. I've had a great time the past two years making an extra special cake creation, but this year, I couldn't find just the right Thomas idea. At least one that I felt I could successfully accomplish. Nothing like going to a kids birthday party only to find that the mom went crazy staying up all night and there is no cake to be had. To keep my sanity (what little I have left some days), I decided I was fine with buying the cake. In exchange, I was able to focus more on the food - turned out good, complements 50% to Pinterest.

Here's the cake. It's "okay", not great, but okay...

Gavin's favorite part of a birthday party...BALLOONS! We rarely have them in the house, so they're always a hit when they're here.

It was a Thomas theme...with an angry bird thrown in. We went to a birthday party last week for a friend's daughter who had an angry birds theme. Gavin fell in love with giant red bird balloon, so Elizabeth promised him one for his party. He didn't forget the promise and was ecstatic to have him join him on his birthday!

All grins for the happy birthday song and candle...

And the gifts couldn't come soon enough. So many thanks to our friends and family for your generosity. Gavin loves all of your creative birthday gifts!

So, three. Gosh, can't believe it! Gavin is growing so big in all that he does. He's certainly building his personality and pushing the limits for more and more independence. And just when we think he's too little to do something, he surprises us by accomplishing it. For Christmas, he got a few 25 piece puzzles. We opened one of them a few days after Christmas and forgot that it was open sitting on the floor. Next thing we knew, we turned around and he had it all put together...in a matter of five minutes or so! Who knew he could do it all by himself!

Gavin's creativity seems to grow exponentially lately as well. He reenacts stories and adds fun little twists. He's very into the word "and"...really more like "AND" (major emphasis on the word). Here's how a typical statement flows (actual example from today, after playing the game Mouse Trap, talking about a couple weeks ago when he played it at Brad's aunt and uncle's house...took me a minute to place what he was talking about): "Ava and Lexi chased me up the stairs, AND they took balloons from my hands AND they stuck them to my shirt and hair AND we ran around AND the marble on the game didn't work right"....the story goes on. He really is growing to love playing with his cousins. We got iPhones a month ago or so, so a few nights a week we get a FaceTime request from them. On both ends of the phone, it's all giggles and amazement that they can talk to each other and see each other and run around and still see each other. Gavin finds it quite amusing. We're fortunate to live so close.

Potty training is usually going okay, though the past few days there have been more accidents than normal. Typically, Gavin is able to stay dry all day, though we still put him in a Pull-Up for naps (when he takes them, he's been "playing" through them most of this week). And he doesn't stay dry at night yet. A few nights, but not most. We have our days that using the potty is a struggle. Mainly, I think it is just that sense of independence and not wanting to do what we think he should do just to be different than us. Ah, the joys of toddler power struggles! We learn to pick our battles I suppose.

We go for a three year well child appointment tomorrow morning, so we're anxiously awaiting the update. We haven't had to take Gavin into the doctor at all the past year (quite an accomplishment really! Though we've seen the dentist twice for tooth/mouth injuries.). So we're excited/nervous to see how he's doing. I've blogged about Gavin's history of falling off of the growth chart for weight around one year old, then back to the 3rd percentile at two years (another huge accomplishment). We'll see where he ranks now. He's still generally a skinny kid, but around average height. If only they made 3T length pants in a 24 month waist, we'd be all set!

Gavin's doctor is my primary care physician as well. I haven't seen him (other than bumping into him at a restaurant) since a few days before Grace was born. He cared for me during my entire pregnancy with Gavin and delivered Gavin. He's been my doctor for about 25 years. With all that happened with Grace, I of course was referred to an OB and MFM specialist, so I only saw my PCP once a week or so in the hospital. It's going to be emotional seeing him tomorrow, knowing how much he cares for our family and our well-being. And knowing that he won't get the chance to care for Grace and watch her grow at each well child appointment. She would have been 9 months old this week. Gavin's birthday party would have been so fun with her crawling around!

Anyway, here's to hoping that three is just as fun and rewarding as two. We're very blessed to have our Gavin! Sorry God, you can't have this one!

Our Almost 3 Year Old

Gavin's big boy skills have really been advancing lately. This week, we made valentines for Grace. The heart below was the "body" for an owl made from different size hearts (we copied it from Pinterest, so cute!).

And Gavin started to practice writting his letters on a new reuseable mat we picked up last week. He did pretty good, with little direction. Brad just told him to use the pen to stay in the lines. I think the "S" is my favorite...it looks really nice :)

Big Boy Bed!

We made the transition to the "big boy" bed over the weekend. You can see the excitement in Gavin's face! Tonight is night three and he's doing well. He did realize just today that he can get out of the bed, so we'll see how that transpires in the days to come.

So, the baby crib (that should still be in use) is taken down and stored away, sigh.

I love it when we're cruisin' together

So, here's the run down of the cruise. I know that many of our blog followers are interested in the details as you contemplate a Disney cruise for your families. I'll start by saying I would highly recommend it. We had a great experience!

Here are some of the things I want to remember:

1. Gavin loved every detail of traveling on this vacation. Usually, parents dread a day of travel to and from a vacation destination with a toddler, but our travel days were lovely. From the rental car drive to Detroit (we originally planned to fly out of Grand Rapids, but changed flights due to bad weather) all the way to our destination, Gavin loved the little things. He loved riding in the "new car", riding on the bus from Alamo to the airport, helping with the plastic totes at security, riding on the "big jet plane" (a huge highlight as he looked at the "city" below and went into the clouds close to Grace and Grandpa), riding on the "tram" at Orlando airport to get our luggage, riding on the little bus to the hotel, staying at the hotel, riding on a "big bus" to Port Canaveral and FINALLY arriving at the big boat. He soaked in even the little things that we adults pay no attention to - like the tram ride, what adult cares about that? Gavin, he would have been completely happy riding that tram all day long (why did we spend thousands on this vacation again when we could have just gone to the airport?).

2. From the moment we arrived and dropped off our bags, everything was service, service and more service with Disney. They pay close attention to the little things to assure you don't have to lift a finger (except to eat excessively at their buffets and such and drink their Bahama Mamas). Our room was impeccably clean and tidy. Dining was a great experience (aside from a toddler with limited attention span at a sit-down restaurant). The nursery and kid's clubs were staffed with caring caretakers who made you feel very comfortable dropping off your most precious possession (aka Gavin). Comparing it to our Royal Caribbean cruise last year, the service and level of "stuff" on this boat was by far at a higher level. Granted the boat is only a year old, vs. 20+ years old last year...probably makes a difference in the experience.

3. Gavin at "daycare" was funny. He called the nursery and kids area (Oceaneers Club) "daycare" because that's what it is called on Toy Story 3. He's at the age now where he can easily recall and tell us about things. We brought him to the nursery twice - once for dinner so that the rest of us could have an adult evening, and one for a nap in the afternoon so that Brad and I could go act like kids and ride the water slide on the boat (see below for details on this). When we picked him up, we asked how it was at the day care. Here's his response:
Brad: "Gavin, how did you like the daycare?"
Gavin: "The girl tell me I can't see momma and dadda."
Me: "that's right, momma and dadda weren't there. What did you do at daycare?"
Gavin: "the girl ask me if I want to play with her. I said no, I no want to play." "I have to wait for the elevator, that's what the girl TELL me (emphasis on "tell" - no idea where this came from, they don't take the kids out of the nursery area)." "I take the red ball (probably from another kid) and I throw the blue ball (again, probably AT another kid)".
Not sure how this kid is going to do at preschool in the fall, it will be an adjustment!

4. Fun things on the boat - the Aqua Duck water slide for big kids (and the big kids at heart) was a blast! There was generally a long line, but it was worth it for the thrill. Gavin loved Nemo's reef splash pad and the Mickey pool (though the pool was crowded). More on Nemo's reef and "the incident" below. The adult area on the boat is heavenly. You'd never know you're on a ship full of primarily little kids when you enter the "18 and older" area. We spent an afternoon there while Shirley and Gavin napped/rested in the room. It was great - relaxed in the sun, enjoyed a couple adult beverages, lounged in the adults only pool. You can't even hear all of the commotion on the other 3/4 of the ship.

5. Evening shows - incredible! Broadway quality, fun, captivating, attention-grabbing even for an ants-in-his-pants toddler. The shows were some of my favorite things about the cruise. You would easily pay $75-$100 per person for a similar show on Broadway.

6. The Characters, oh the characters! They are just as I remember them as a child and now I get to see my child enjoying the pure delight of meeting these icons. I think I had just as much fun hugging and high-fiving them as Gavin did! Disney really does bring out the child in you!

7. The beach - Castaway Cay was a blast! Because I work full time, I don't get the luxury of as much one-on-one time with Gavin as Brad does. While we were at Castaway Cay, Brad and Shirley went parasailing (which turned into a somewhat frightening experience for them). Gavin and I got to spend a couple of hours just the two of us playing at the beach. It was so much fun! We built sand creations and filled our little man-made pond/river with water over and over again. It was pure bliss soaking in all that my little boy enjoys! I think he spent 45 minutes running back and forth between the ocean, filling up his bucket, dumping it into the "pond", watching the water trickle back to the ocean, and doing it all over again. I contrast this to our Florida vacation last year where he mainly was interested in just running away from us on the beach. It was fun to see his heightened concentration this year. And his pride in his creations - last year in Florida he was more interested in demolishing our sand castles. This year, he wanted to help build and maintain them. I'm excited to see him enjoy more beach time in a couple months when we return to Florida for our annual trip.

8. Nemo's reef. So no vacation is complete without a little accident, right? Gavin was so looking forward to spending time at the splash pad, Nemo's reef, on the boat. He watched the videos online over and over again leading up to our trip - declaring his excitement for Nemo's Reef and Mr. Ray's slide. Well, day one of the cruise, Brad and Gavin headed to Nemo's Reef, first thing. Shirley and I stopped at guest services with a few questions and then met them up there. Gavin's second time going down Mr. Ray's slide (granted, it's a pretty small, age appropriate slide for toddlers), he come barreling down at a very rapid speed and crashes his face into another child's head. This child was definitely far enough away from the slide for Gavin to go, or so Brad thought, so he was given the "all clear" to head down the slide. Well, some bleeding gums later, Gavin was back at play...but it sent Brad and I into a panic as he continued to complain about his teeth and nose hurting. And here we are at sea with no dentist and limited health care access. Bad mom (and pharmacist) that I am, I didn't pack any children's pain reliever with me, so headed to the ship store to get some ibuprofen. I was questioned at length when buying it by the clerk, who I think was concerned he might have a fever (they, rightfully so, take those things very seriously on the cruise due to the risk of rapid spread of infectious disease). I told her it was just for some tooth pain...she continued counseling me about how they had Anbesol for kids if I wanted that. In rare form, I snipped at her and said I was a pharmacist and I had it covered. I feel bad about that, but just let me buy the ibuprofen already! Maybe I'm extra sensitive when it comes to protecting my kids, since I wasn't able to do this for Grace. I pretty much failed in protecting her. I take Gavin's health and well-being very seriously because I know what it feels like to not be able to protect. I'm sure I'm on the road to being too over-protective. So, we've been keeping an eye on his teeth - swelling is gone now, but I think it may have damaged his front tooth. It's possible it will turn brown...but there are much worse things in life, right? At least he is alive, that's the ultimate in worst thing in the world.

9. Back to more fun (we didn't let the tooth thing ruin our time) - I want to remember Gavin's fun little game each time we walked to our room. He would run down the hall, turning at each door, and exclaiming in a goofy voice "This is my room"...for about 50 rooms before we got ours. And there was a slight "kink" in the hallway along the walk to our room. Brad casually mentioned the kink one day and Gavin just though that word was so funny and continued to talk about the kink ("hink") throughout our days aboard. "We have to walk through the hink." "Here comes the hink." "Momma, hold my hand through the hink." It's probably one of those things where you had to be there to totally appreciate how funny and cute it was - I'm sure it sounds pretty "every day". But it sticks with me and I chuckle just thinking about it and his little dialect as he said it. And I know by documenting it on my blog, I'll think back on it in the years to come and smile! Ah, the very simple things can bring such pleasure!

10. I know that Grace was with us. We had a few butterfly experiences on the boat - and at times when you wouldn't expect to see a butterfly (like when we were at sea). One of them was so beautiful, a variety I've never seen before. It was brown and a bright coral orange color. A woman who was passing in front of us at the Mickey pool walked by holding a pair of shoes. And there was that little beautiful Grace butterfly perched peacefully on one of the shoes...breezing right by us. I love when I see butterflies!

11. Having Brad's mom Shirley along was spectacular! While she (as usual) refused to be in any photos, she really was with us! We all loved having her along to share in our memories!

12. I loved the boat's horn. A typical cruise ship has a pretty standard loud bellowing horn. The Dream had a horn that bellowed as well, but it had little tune to it - When you wish upon a star... Again, just a little detail by Disney that makes you go "huh, that's cute." Disney prides themselves on these moments...they all help add up to an exceptional overall experience!

13. Okay, this post is getting long, so I'll end with one last cute moment I want to remember. One day, I was getting ready quickly in the morning. I changed in the bathroom into a bright pink sundress. When I came out, Gavin looked at me and said with wide eyes "Momma, you look like a princess." It melted my heart! I certainly didn't look like a princess (no makeup, hair in a quick ponytail), but to Gavin, I was a princess.

To wrap up and to benefit those of you possibly planning a Disney Cruise, I say go for it! It was a perfect mix of Disney "stuff" and also relaxation. There are a ton of activities planned for kids as well as adults - we were busy from sun up to well past sun down. If you're interested, I saved copies of the daily activities brochure I can share so you can get a taste of a typical day. If your kids are a little older - fully potty trained and not taking naps any longer - they will get the most out of it. But even for little ones, it's great. And if they are used to daycare, they will do very well acclimating to the Oceaneer's club (it's like day camp) that they can check into for anywhere from 30 minutes to the entire day. Very professional counselors and staff - and trustworthy. This cruise was much better than our Royal Caribbean cruise for many reasons, so go for it if you have kids.

Here's a video of our photos (too many to post individually). Caution, it has music...



And here's a link to photos with captions in case you prefer this viewing option.

Cruise Teaser

We're back from the cruise (as of a couple hours ago), and because I'm still in vacation mode, I'm posting just a "teaser" quickly. More to come on the cruise (INCREDIBLE!!!). I just loved the pillow on our bed, so I thought this would set the stage for the larger blog post to come soon! Disney's attention to detail is impeccable!

Cruise Bound!

A quick post today as we prepare to head out for our Disney Cruise! After a weather scare last night, we've rerouted our flights through Detroit instead of Baltimore, so it should be smooth sailing!

Last weekend we played in the snow, this weekend we'll play in the sun, pool and sand! I have to say I'm very excited. It's a big step to normalcy to be taking this vacation and it feels good. Certainly, I'd trade the vacation a gazillion times over if we just had Grace with us. I went to visit her in the midst of a snow storm yesterday...gosh I wish she were here to go on this trip with us. All of the Disney Princesses and fun little girls have is missed - in fact it's like a dagger through my heart to not have those experiences. For now, we'll dwell in the excitement of her brother enjoying all of the Disney heroes. And enjoy our time with Shirley. We all really need this vacation!

So, we're off soon. If I'm able on the ship, I'll try to post some photos. Otherwise, stay tuned next weekend for the update! And pray for us that our crew/captain make wiser decisions than the tragedy in Italy. I suppose we have Buzz Lightyear and others to keep us safe!

Christmas Day

One final post to wrap up my Christmas blogging - Christmas day! Gavin had an absolute blast with Christmas this year - the lead up all the way through the big day. We started the day prepping food for later, as we hosted the Clarks at our house for the first time ever. We even made a turkey, which I was nervous about. It turned out great!

Here's Gavin first thing in the morning (after sleeping in until 9:30am!) checking out his and Grace's stockings.


Gifts, gifts, and more gifts. Santa sure was good to Gavin this year! Here he is opening the most coveted gift of all, James from Thomas the Tank Engine. He's only been talking about Santa bringing him James for about two months now. So glad the big guy delivered on this one :)

Cool cuttable food for his kitchen.

A couple gifts for Grace - solar powered butterfly lights for her tree at the cemetery.

And butterfly home decor for our house (sorry, the glare is bad).

A last minute ask from Santa - a garden gnome. He ended up being Gavin's favorite gift. He is made of plastic resin, but Gavin insists on snuggling with him when he wakes up from a nap and in the morning. The gnome also eats meals with us. Ever since seeing the movie Gnomeo and Juliet, Gavin really likes gnomes. Now he has his own Lions Gnomeo.

A gift for Momma...oh-la-la!

And one for Dadda - double oh-la-la (Socks, so exciting! Granted they are "fancy" socks!)

Toddler in a bag...sorry, had to include this one because it is just so darn cute!

Christmas with the Clarks. Only one photo taken, as it was all happening so fast. Huge contrast between the Gavin and Clark Christmas gatherings - the Gavin's open one gift at a time, spending at least 5 minutes discussing each gift (even the small ones). The Clarks rip through everything in about 15 minutes total. So, one photo. I did get some video of the cousins opening their iPod Touches...so excited about them!

Gavin had a blast hanging with his cousins, as usual, for the day. He really thrives on the energy and has so much fun. Christmas was very different this year without Mark there. His presence was missed greatly. Brad, Gavin and I visited Grace and Mark in their respective cemeteries on Christmas eve. We got about 2 inches of snow the night before, so we made both Grace and Mark a little 2ish foot snowman, complete with carrot noses. It was fun to make them, even though they melted within hours. I know they both were celebrating up in heaven together. And looking down on all of us as we worked the best we could to make our Christmas a good one, all the while missing them so, so much.


Modeling his new Buzz PJs (he also got Woody). He wouldn't take them off for the rest of the evening.


That wraps up Christmas 2011. All in all, a very nice few days.

Happy New Year to all of our blog followers! 2011 was bittersweet for us - many wonderful moments. Priceless last memories with Mark. Welcoming our daughter into our lives, even if it was just for a glimpse. I'm hoping 2012 will be more on the sweet side, with less of the bitter.