Serenity Now

Memorial Day Sunday is a day I always look forward to. We meet up with my mom's side of the family and after visiting graves we usually go to a park for a picnic and some sand volleyball or baseball. I LOVE my mom's side of the family and we always have a great time.
We met at Daxton's Place and after visiting for a little bit and finding out that my brother is engaged-( wahoo! We love Shaylee!!!) we got in our cars to head up to Wellsville. We had just finished belting Zack in when Austin started puking. It was everywhere and the poor kid couldn't stop. I started trying to clean him up and was dry heaving like crazy- it did not smell good. Michelle was still there and was awesome and helped us get him cleaned up and my mom brought some more clothes for him to wear. So we got him all cleaned up and started on our way again. About one minute in he started puking again so we decided to just head home. I was so bummed and upset to miss out, but poor Austin was pale as can be and not feeling good. He threw up two more times on the way home.
Aaron has had a sore throat for about a week and a half and about five minutes before we got home he started really feeling crappy with body aches, head ache, sore throat, and chills. So as soon as we got home he headed to the doctor to see if it was strep or something.
In the meantime I threw Austin in the tub as soon as we got home and Zack wanted to join him so I threw him in there as well. After getting out of the tub Zack thought he was being funny and threw his towel down and was running all over. Then he apparently thought it would really be funny to pee all over the carpet- it wasn't funny! I hurry and got them in their jammies and went to throw all of the puke laundry in the washing machine. While taking Austin's car seat apart Gavin started crying so I thought I would just hurry and get him out of his car seat and put him in the swing hoping he would be happy for a second. Well Gavin had exploded up to his neck so I hurry and cleaned him up and while doing that Austin puked again. So I hurry and stripped Austin down and cleaned him up again and then took Gavin's car seat apart and went to throw everything in the wash when Austin started throwing up again. I got him cleaned up again and got everything in the wash. About that time Aaron got home and was feeling horrible so he crashed on the couch and I went outside and hosed off the car seat and then came in and disinfected it. Then I hurry and got Zack dinner and had to feed Gavin and then finally found time to clean up the pee. Then it was finally bed time. It took everything I had to not break down and sob! I just had to keep telling myself to take a deep breath. It was not the night I was hoping for!

2 months old

I've been meaning to do this post for over a week now; better late than never right?
Gavin started smiling and cooing at us on May 7th. There is nothing better than those sweet little noises or seeing his face light up when he sees you! It took me about a week to be able to catch it with the camera.
He had his 2 month check-up on the 12th and everything looks great! I knew he was getting chuncky, but I couldn't believe how much he weighed. When Austin was 2 months old he weighed about 7 1/2 lbs and Zack weighed around 5 1/2 lbs and they were just coming home.
Gavin's stats:
Length: 22 3/4 in. 45%
Weight: 12 lbs 15 oz. 75%
Head circ: 40.5 cm 55%
I've never had a kid this high on the charts and I love it! I love all of his sweet rolls and I love that his cheeks are so chubby. He is such a sweet baby! My favorite time of day is at night when I get to just cuddle with him. I'm dreading going back to work and missing out on that time. He is doing much better at night and usually sleeps until around 4.
My favorite time of day:
Here are some more random pictures:
I'm so in love!!!

Lesson Learned

While out working in my yard yesterday Zack would not listen to my repeated warnings of staying away from the road so as I've done many times before I made him go in the house for time out. A couple minutes later when I went to go let him out I found that he had accidentally locked the door. When you turn the childproof thing on our garage door it locks it; so me and Austin were locked out of the house with Zack and Gavin locked in.

After calling Aaron and discovering there was no way to get in the house he was on his way home to help a damsel in distress. Then my neighbor the cop appeared and used some of his tools to break in to my house.

I don't know if I felt more relieved to have the door opened or worried that it was so easy to get in.

I learned my lesson that I need a new time out spot and when you have your neighbor open the door you should actually make sure that the knob is unlocked before you close it again.

My examples

This Mother's Day I wanted to do a tribute to 3 of the women in my life who have helped shape me in to the mom that I am.

First my Grandma Stuart-
She has always been my hero and one of the people I look up to the most. She is one of the most unselfish people I know and has unconditional love for everyone. I have so many great memories of girls' night at her house, outings to the circus, the Heber Creeper, making sugar cookies, and so many more with her. Since a young age I remember always wanting to grow up to be like my grandma. She taught me the importance of family and having strong bonds with them. Grandma thank you for always making me feel special and for all you have taught me, I love you!!
My grandma holding Gavin

Next my mom-
I'm ashamed to say the saying of you treat those closest to you the worst applies to my relationship with my mom. However, luckily for me it doesn't apply to how my mom treats me. My mom has an amazing love for her children. No matter how we treat her she has always been there for us and even still she is the first to offer to help us or do anything for us. When I found out I had to go on bed rest with Gavin she offered to take FMLA at her job and come and take care 0f us. Her and my dad will drop everything without a blink of an eye to come and help us with anything. She has taught me how to sew, garden, do yard work, and many other things. I love her tons!!!
My mom with Gavin

And last, but not least my sister Michelle-
She has such an incredible love for Daxton. I remember when he was born and how much she hated letting other people hold him when we would go to family things. She could never get enough of him and had so much love for that little boy. After he died they tried for over a year to get pregnant again and finally did only to have it result in a miscarriage last week. She helps me to constantly remember to be grateful for my 3 miracles especially when I'm frustrated and to never take them for granted. I'm so grateful for her example to me and I love her tons!!
Michelle and Daxton

There are many others I could mention (Mandy, Malinda, Cheri, etc) and I'm so grateful for their advice and love and encouragent. Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

Styrofoam?

Last night Zack and Austin were having a great time jumping and landing on their bums on the ground. Then Aaron noticed something on the carpet a little bit later and thought it was styrofoam and was trying to figure out where it came from.
Oh if only it was styrofoam. Zack's diaper split in half and there was urine soaked beads all over the front room and down the hall. DISGUSTING!!
Thank heavens for my parents and the carpet cleaner they gave us! Parenthood can be so glamorous.

27

I turned 27 on Wednesday. After my sweet baby helped me to have one of the worst nights that I have in awhile; I woke up to Aaron's amazing breakfast burritos. Then I opened presents and my boys spoiled me! I got dumbbells, a body bar, a digital scrap booking program, and a carbon monoxide detector. One of the best parts of the day came when I discovered I could do up two more pairs of pants! Wahoo

That afternoon we took the kids to the zoo. We all loved it and had such a great time together. We had a little picnic there and rode the train which was very cheesy, but the boys loved it. Our favorite were the orangutan, the little girl orangutan was hilarious!
Me, Zack, and Gavin with the "ele-fa-fant"
Me and the Gavster (the bear is hiding)
Me and Austin with the zebra
Our family
Then we came home and Aaron made me pineapple grilled chicken and homemade strawberry ice cream. I don't know why I ever cook with his abilities!

Overall I had a great day! Thanks to everyone who called, emailed, or sent me facebook messages!
I did have some news that put quite the damper to my day- will you please keep Matt and Michelle in your prayers.

We don't think it's bed time!

I just thought I would show you a great example of how our boys don't really go to sleep after we tuck them in for bed.

He Rolls!

Friday I put Gavin down for some tummy time. I think it's only the second time I ever have because with two big brothers it's not the safest thing in the world. To my surprise he rolled over! This video is the 4th time he did it. (Sorry for the bad lighting)

Outside

That is the word I hear constantly now. My parents and Michelle and Matt gave the boys these t-ball sets for Christmas and we were finally able to pull them out. They LOVE them! Their obsessions right now are baseball and golf. For some reason Austin likes to hold the bat like this and he gets so mad when you try to show him the right way, we're working on it.
Here's a cute picture of Gavin and his double chin.
The boys and I have gone on a couple of short walks (I still get sore after). I got them some sunglasses, I think they look like such studs (they are such a good deal at The Children's Place).
Gavin gets to snuggle with mommy.
I'm sure I look like I should be on an ad for birth control. :)
Yesterday I went and got the boys hair cut; when we got home they wanted to play outside, but I told them they couldn't because it was raining. Zack being the trouble maker that he is lately walked out and kept putting his hand in the puddle that accumulates on our driveway. I kept telling him you're going to get wet because they hate having their clothes wet, but he apparently didn't care. He started walking in the puddle and I decided that I just didn't care right then. Austin decided to follow his lead. They were hilarious to watch! I finally made them come inside because Gavin was very upset that he was being forced to wait for his lunch and they threw a fit. I'm glad they had so much fun!!
They thought it was fun to kick the water at each other and kept trying to get me and the car. It was pretty funny.
This video is after they had been out there for awhile and were drenched. You can hear poor Gavin crying in the background.

Easter

We had a beautiful Easter today. When the boys woke up they went and searched for their Easter baskets (our bunny hides them). They didn't get what we were doing, but were very excited when we found them. They got rakes for working in the yard with mommy, puzzles, and a book. Gavin got a new book and toy. (Austin is naked because he had leaked.)
After eating breakfast we colored Easter eggs; the boys didn't really get it, but we still had fun.
Austin and Zack had colds so we didn't go to church, but after Aaron got home we went up to my grandma's for dinner and the Easter egg hunt that she's been doing since I was little.
This was the hunt for all of the kids under 4; here they are getting ready.
Austin hunting with Uncle Dave.
Zack hunted with Daddy.
They both were expert candy finders. I would expect no less with the sweet tooth's their parents have.
My boys in their Easter outfits:
The grandkids:

My Boys

It's been hard to find the time lately to blog or do anything for that matter so I'm a little behind. We haven't done much lately so here are some random cute pictures of my boys.
My mom brought up their little trampoline for the boys last week and they all loved it!
Austin
Zack
I was getting ready to go on a walk the other day and this is how I found Austin and Gavin
I'm really glad they love him so much, but sometimes I feel bad for the kid. He never gets a break from them.
Aaron reading them all a bedtime story.
I usually make us a healthy smoothie for breakfast once a week. On Tuesday I made us a green smoothie- basically a berry smoothie with spinach. We all loved it!
Austin
ZackGavin looking cute in his bouncer while I'm making us breakfast.
Since it was such nice weather on Tuesday we decided to have a picnic outside for lunch.
Austin
Zack
Gavin getting a bath last night. I just realized yesterday that I haven't taken any pictures of him during bath time. I feel like a horrible mom! I don't know what's a better excuse:
I'm exhausted and not thinking clearly.
It's my third child and I don't have time.
Or most of his baths have been because he's peed on himself and so the rush to do a bath hasn't included grabbing the camera.
Or maybe I'm just a bad mom! But either way, isn't he adorable? It makes me so sad that he's already a month old! I love this boy!!
After bath: I love how clean and yummy they smell! But as you can see, he hates when we get him out and that cold air hits his little body.
I sure love these little boys of mine and I wish time would stop going so quickly!!

Fab Five

THE FAB FIVE:
OK! So this is how this works...
The first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me, just for you.

Of course there are some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! :)
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done some time within the next year :)
4. You have no clue what it will be... Could be lint from my dryer :D) Who knows? Not you, that's for sure. ;-)
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
6. I will send it anywhere! It doesn't matter where you live!

The catch? The catch is that you must repost this on your own blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!!

Newborn Pictures

One of my neighbors growing up and Aaron's second cousin Kami Nelson did some newborn pictures of Gavin for us when he was 7 days old. I love them! Granted it would be hard to screw something up that is as cute as my boy, but she did an excellent job! Here are some of my favorites (it was so hard to not post all of them!):