Gavin's Birthday Card

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Gracie

Sometimes when I think about doing a blog post I imagine it taking hours as I sort through pictures, thoughts and memories. But really, it doesn't need to be so complicated. And honestly, I am one who tends to make things out to be a bigger deal than they really are. So I'm going to turn a new leaf and sometimes just post short, random, sweet nothings but they will still be somethings. How does that quote from You've Got Mail go? "...all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings".  If you've seen the movie then you get it. If not, you should watch it :)

As for turning a new leaf, that will have to come after this post!  ;)

On to Miss Gracie...

Love this sweet little profile

She turned 2 on March 1st.  A few things I want to remember about her at this age:

• we went on a little road trip to California in February and the kids LOVED the ocean and the beach. Gracie loved to play in the sand, and Gavin loved the waves and water 

 

she loved to pick up handfuls of sand and throw it, over & over & over

• Gracie is so independent. She wants to do most things herself and if you try to do it for her or help her she says, "me do it!" 
• she has a favorite blanket that she calls "mine bantey" (my blankey). It is actually a blanket that my mom made for Gavin when he was a baby, but somehow Gracie got attached to it & Gavin has been kind enough to share
• she loves her older brother so much and wants to do everything he does. She has sure learned a lot from him! They look so much alike and we always get told that she looks like a "girl Gavin"
• Her nicknames so far are "Gravy" and "Grapesy". The "Grapesy" is party because she loves to eat grapes, and partly because one day Brent asked Gavin to pass the grapes to Gracie and on accident he said, "here you go Grapesy"  He he...

We took her bowling as part of her birthday celebration and here she is looking so proud (and so grown up) after pushing that big heavy bowling ball down the arch thingy...

whenever we go anywhere that toys are involved she goes straight for the 

baseits (bracelets) necesses (necklaces) and fancy girly girl stuff! 

loved having her "oils" put on by Aunt Jaimee!

...and we can't forget about the cake!

 

We love you so much sweet pea!  Thank you for bringing much joy and happiness into our family.  Our lives would not be complete without you! 

 

A Conversation With...

GAVIN

5 years old
January 2012

My favorite food is… Hot Dogs & Pizza

My favorite sport to play is… Soccer

The best show on television is… Wild Kratts

The coolest person on earth is… My Dad

My favorite thing to learn about in school is… the ocean

The thing I do the most awesomely is… color in my journal @ school

If I could go anywhere in the world I’d go… on the Mickey Boat again

My favorite color is… green

When I grow up, I’m going to become a… doctor

My current favorite song is... Scripture Power

The book I am loving right now is… Things that go ZOOM

Three words that describe me are… smart, cool & happy

When I was little I used to… crawl when I was a baby

My favorite season of the year is… Summer

The absolute best thing about camping is… getting warm by the campfire

The snack I like the best is… vanilla pudding

One food that I really dislike is… green beans

My best friend is… Zailey, Zenick & Spencer

If I had one wish it would be… that we had a swing set

My best memory is… going to Chuck E. Cheese & Lagoon

“Let's do something else like this"

Gavin is 5!!!

Seriously, where does the time go!?! Gavin had a birthday in November and is now five. I really can't believe it's been 5 years ago that he was born. Life goes by so fast these days & it makes me want to just enjoy and treasure every moment I have with my kiddos and family.


Right now Gavin is going to a Head Start pre-school and he loves it. He has awesome teachers and is learning so much. He can write his full name, count to 100 and he is learning to read. He has a journal at school that he loves to color in every day. His teachers say he will sit there for a long time just writing/coloring in his journal. He sure doesn't do that at home! They said that's usually how it goes.


He also loves to play with his cousins and school friends. He had a fun time this past summer when his cousins came to visit from Maryland. He was a very sad boy when it was time to say good-bye to them! He is lucky to have his other cousins living close by though.

Here is a slideshow of some pictures from Gavin's first 5 years. As I was going through these and deciding what ones to put on the slideshow it made me realize what a fun life this kid has had! We are so blessed. Especially to have this little boy as a part of our family. We love you Gavin!

Gracie at 12 Months

I realized the other day that I haven't posted Gracie's stats from her 12 month appointment. I want that info on here for future reference! And I think it's about time for an up-date, so this is a good place to start.

Weight: 19 lbs 2 oz = 30%
Height: 30 in = 75%
Head Measurement: 18 1/4 in = 85%

Our little munchkin is growing up. She started walking at around 12 months and is now walking or running everywhere. She is the cutest little bug and is already 19 months old :( I was looking back at our pictures and videos from when she was 1 year and I can't believe how fast kids grow! She's already changed so much in just 6 short months.

Here's a fun video of Brent feeding Gracie some frosty...



Some things I want to remember about Gracie at this age:

- she wants to be just like her big brother and do everything he does.
- has become so independent and wants to do things by herself and her way (climbing up in the highchair, getting into her car seat, getting dressed/undressed, feeding herself, etc.)
- she is a big helper and loves to help with chores around the house. She likes to help load the clothes into the washer and "help" with the dishwasher. After she's done eating she wants me to hand her a wash rag and she wipes and wipes and wipes the counter clean :)
- some days I go volunteer at Gavin's school and if I don't have a sitter for her I'll take her with me. She loves it and thinks she's one of the big kids. She was pretty shy the first couple of times but now she makes herself at home and goes around playing with all of the toys & interacting with the other kids.
- is a great eater and sometimes eats more than Gavin. I have to say it's a nice switch to not worry about her getting enough to eat! :)
- loves to dance and sing

She wants to be big and is growing up way too fast. We love you Gracie!

What We've Been Up To...

January 2011

We had Chuck, Ginger & family stay with us for a few months starting in January. We loved it! Gavin was so happy to have his cousins around all of the time. Ginger and I enjoyed taking turns making dinner and watching each others' kiddos so we could run errands or whatever. She was also my work-out buddy in the mornings and I'm definitely going to miss that! At least they aren't too far away :)

Zenick and Gavin putting grapes in their cheeks...

Zaxton and Gracie in their favorite place: the cereal cupboard! These two were partners in crime & this was their favorite spot to get in to. Mostly because once in a while they'd get lucky and figure out how to sneak some cereal! (Check out the mischevious look on Gracie's face.)

We went to the "Cisco Disco". They had breakfast (fried Cisco, scones, hot chocolate, etc). Then we went over to the marina and watched people do the Polar Plunge! Here's Brent ready to catch some Cisco...

Our fam. I love the clouds in the background!

The kids keeping warm by the fire...

February 2011

Three boys in the tub!

One Saturday we went snowboarding behind the Rhino in a field by our house. Chuck snapped this cool picture where you can see Brent driving and me snowboarding.

Got the Rhino stuck a few times!

Cute cousins enjoying a day playing in the snow

As I was snowboarding Brent had to stop and I couldn't stop fast enough, so I ran into this hay bail!

They all zonked after a long day playing in the snow

The babies

March 2011

March was a busy month with Gracie's first birthday, finishing up Joy School, a trip to St. George, the babies' birthday party & some flooding we had here in Garden City...

I finished my turn of teaching Joy School at the beginning of the month so we were able to sneak away for a little trip to St George! It was SO nice to get out of the snow and be in the sunshine for a few days! Our original plan was to head down to Arizona from there and stay with some family, but unfortunately plans changed and we had to come back home early. But it was still a nice getaway! The good news is we had to get back for a job interview process Brent was going through and he ended up getting the job! Yay!

My awesome friend Ashlee used to live in St. George so she told us of some fun parks to visit. We found this one and it was really great. The kids loved it!

Happy swinging kiddos

Love these faces!

Gavin making a tunnel inside a tunnel & Gracie climbing through

Cute little monkey

After we played at the park for a while we noticed a trail so we decided to hike it and see where it led. It came to a cool look out with this great view...

Here we are at the St. George Temple. Beautiful!

We got to go to Zion's with our friends Matt & Heather & their adorable kids. We packed a lunch and hiked up to a look out where we ate and took some pictures. Then we met up with them later for dinner and hanging out at their cute house. Thanks Matt & Heather, it was so great to see you guys and visit with you!

Gavin checking out the awesome view

Getting up the nerve to jump!

Brent and Gracie at beautiful Zions

Gavin chillin' with the ladies!

So fun to go hiking together as a family
Group photo!

Cool waterfall on the river walk trail

Gavin and the balancing rocks

We also got to hang out with our friends Alan & Kanani and their cute family! They took us to lunch and then a rock climbing park. I wish I would have remembered to get a group photo, but I was too busy trying to get Gracie to take a nap in her stroller. Thanks for showing us a good time guys!

She has her blanket & her pacifier... she looks ready for a nap, right!?!

Cute climbing Gavin!

Dad & Gracie

In March we had a combined 1st birthday party for James, Gracie & Zaxton - the three cousins that were born within a month of each other.

Ginger's mom made an awesome car cake so we stripped the babies down to their diapers, put them on a tarp with the cake and let them go to town! It was so funny. James and Zaxton weren't too interested & Gracie kept acting like she was just going to dive into it! Poor Gavin had an allergic reaction so he was asleep during most of the party.

The spring run-off caused some flooding by our house. Luckily we don't have a basement, just a crawl space with nothing in it so we were okay. Some of our neighbors haven't been so lucky though. These were taken at the end of March when it started and recently we've had more flooding around here. And it's been snowing this morning so there's still more to come.