Tuesday, December 10, 2013

2013 Christmas Concert

Gavin had a Christmas concert tonight at his school. He goes to a church center, so they were able to sing religious songs. His group sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Happy Birthday, Jesus."

I almost melted into a blob just watching a group of twelve, 2 year olds, sing these songs. There were no major meltdowns and everyone did well! They were all so cute.

(Note: I had Gavin's shirt all tucked in nice and he comes out looking a little disheveled. We tried!)




We sat a few rows back so that he wouldn't see us and be tempted to run





Shaking the bells during Twinkle Twinkle



So proud of himself! 



He went to bed with the halo on. Love!

All of his grandparents came to watch!



"My Gramma Cinny"

Here is a video of the end of "Happy Birthday" 

We enjoyed some refreshments and then he showed off his classroom to the grandparents before we left. 

What a special night!

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Give Thanks

It's hard for me to write down all of the things our family is thankful for. Where do we even start? Our days revolve around family so we'll start there.

Today we spent the day with the Trefethren/Lein group. We have started switching off holidays since it is too much work dragging everyone from house to house and by the time we're home, we don't feel like we've spent enough time with anyone. We drove out to Katie and Scottie's house with the dog in tow and everyone had a great time.

Grandma Cinny always has something new for me to play with!

The kids table. Gavin likes playing "drums" on his plate, so he got stuck with plastic.

Cooking up a storm


Politics, cars, life...

The three amigos

The Lein Clan.
 Gavin's adoptive grandparents. You can never have too many, right?

om nom nom ('a' for effort on the veggies Mark :) )

please-drop-something-please-drop-something...



You smile like that, Katie...it's getting posted

He had more fun re-arranging the crayon box than actually coloring



I've oddly gone from 20-something to old lady really fast. I refuse to shop on Thanksgiving; or even wake up to an alarm on Black Friday, don't get a paper to check the deals, didn't watch a flick of TV today (I just read a stat that families spend 14 hours on Thanksgiving watching TV...what?!) and enjoyed hours of my evening putting together a puzzle...that's about as old lady as they come but I love it! I did get to enjoy a teenie weenie mimosa today though. Win!
While there are always things to complain about (lack of sleep, heartburn that could kill a dragon, etc)...we have way more to be thankful for. We can't wait until next Thanksgiving where we get to spend it with TWO little boys and the Pound family!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

~The Best Days~

We had a wonderful rainy Sunday. We spent the morning sleeping in, thanks to Gma and Gpa Pound, and then headed to Pine Tree Apple Orchard with Aunt Katie, Gma C, Bruce and cousins Ellie and Leona. We spent the afternoon helping Gma C make homemade spaghetti sauce, meatballs and apple crisp! Finished the day off with some puddle jumping down the alley. I never thought i'd love fall so much, but this weekend made it all worth it!

Dad and Gavin watching the apple pickers

Bruce and Grandma!

Ellie




Pretty girl


Checking out the tractor




All aboard the tractor!




See ya, Gavin!





puddle jumping






Hot chocolate and goldfish- perfect rainy day snack!

~Pounds~

Sunday, September 22, 2013

How old are you, Gavin?

"Twooooo" *holds up all five fingers*

Gavin is a little spitfire. He's a ball of energy and since really learning how to express himself in words recently, he's a non-stop chatterbox.

The most recent concern is repeating what we say...although we don't say anything too bad, or swear...and it is often pretty funny.

"Gavin, did you toot?"
"I toot"

Many (almost ALL) of our conversations revolve around trucks or poop. Typical boy, right? Even when he hasn't pooped, he talks about it.

"I poop, mama poop, dada poop!"
This is great, especially when we're in public.

He see's dirt, and it must be poop. Ahh boys. He also loves sitting on his potty. He has yet to actually GO on it, but loves doing what we do, unrolling the toilet paper, pretending to wipe and putting it in his potty. He will happily sit for up to an hour doing this and having us read books to him. A perfect way to spend an evening, right?

He can now differentiate between an excavator, bulldozer, dump truck, garbage truck, tractor, bicycle, motorcycle, front loader, crane, "BIG TRUTS,"  etc. He's obsessed to put it lightly. In one car ride home the other day, he said "trut" at least 75 times. Mark and I gave up counting. He owns every possible vehicle, in toy size, and always wants a new one. I stopped buying them, since they consume our house.

As far as food goes, i'm still at a loss of what his favorite foods are. We don't give him too much junk but do allow the occasional frozen yogurt, DQ run, or oatmeal cookie...all shared of course! He refuses to sit in his highchair anymore and instead wants to sit at the big table with us, where his chin barely reaches over the table top. We are now picking rice or noodles out of the carpet, Troopers head and little crevices it shows up in.

He has recently started a new daycare that he goes to 4 days a week and he has not only picked up a whole new vocabulary, but a huge confidence boost. He tries to rule the roost at home and that only gets him so far, but he is definitely in a stage of testing boundaries. Most things we tell him not to do, he will do, just because we said not to....such as run into the street. Oy. He's got the same energy as his dad did growing up. His grandparents laugh about it. I'm sure the conversation one day went, "I hope you have a kid, JUST like you."

Naps are still daily, but have shortened down to 1.5-2.5 hrs, and he has pushed bed time back to 8-8:30pm. He's growing up fast and doesn't forget to let us know. He's moved to a toddler bed and will be moved again to a twin bed in a few months to make room for the baby! He doesn't fight growing up, but always reminds us that he's only two by snuggling, falling asleep in our arms and holding our hands often.

He still has an intense love for his grandparents. If either grandma or grandpa comes over, mom and dad don't exist. It's a nice little break and fun for them! He's a spoiled boy, being the only grandson on both sides. Our evening and weekends are almost always spent out of the house. He is anything but a homebody. We frequent the parks (any and all), the pool, take swim lessons, go to the Children's Museum, on walks, to lakes, indoor jungle gyms, etc. It's fun to be a kid again with him. Hopefully he slows down just a little bit when his baby brother comes in Jan!

Gavin will spend his second birthday with some of his closest toddler friends, at an indoor gymnastics center where they learn tumbling, sing songs and dance. We can't wait to celebrate with his little friends!

Gavin has blessed us over and over again. I can't imagine life without him...and honestly hardly remember it any other way. I can't believe it's already been two years and by three, he will have a brother to grow up with!

Love you, Gavin Elliot! Happy 2nd birthday buddy!

One day old, Oct 1st, 2011

One year old, Oct 1st, 2012

Almost two!

*Cheese!*