Tomorrow's the Day

So we are moving in less than 24 hours and I can not wait to get it over with. Boxes are everywhere and poor Gavin keeps falling because he has no room to walk. The movers will be here at 10 am and hopefully it will not take long and we will officially be living in our town house. We went and checked it out again yesterday and they have painted everything fresh, put in all new carpets, and put all new tile in the kitchen and bathroom's. I just really hope that we like it as much as we think we are going to. When we get settled down a little bit I will of course write all about it.

As for the Bailey situation, we took her back. Friday afternoon we were on a walk and she started attacking Jacob's leg. She ended up taking a bite out of his leg by his knee. We decided right then to take her back, Gavin's face is right around that height. We made an appointment for Monday morning to take her back. By Saturday morning though we had decided that maybe we should give her another shot because she is just a puppy and didn't know that was the wrong thing to do. But by Saturday evening Ellie was talking about taking her back and when tender hearted Ellie started turning it seemed like it just wasn't meant to be. Than later that night she lunged at Ellie's face while she was lying on the floor so that just seemed to be the end of that. We still had to keep her on Sunday and every time I walked her she would attack and bite my legs. I know puppies have a tendency to chew and play bite but she was crazy! The funny thing is that we picked her because when we walked into the puppy room she was the most calm and least aggressive out of all of them. My theory is it was because she had just been fixed and she was still recovering from the surgery. Either way we took her back and hopefully she will find a better home. As bad as the situation was though we all still enjoyed having a dog -well the first few days when she was normal- so maybe someday in the near future we will find the RIGHT dog for us.

In case you forgot what Gavin looks like

LAUGHING LIKE A MANIAC











CHEESY SMILE






















SWEET SMILE




















FEEDING HIMSELF















HOT STUFF

Much to talk about

I realize that I never even mentioned getting a pet and then all of the sudden I have pictures of our new dog. We had been talking about getting a pet for our new place which has a much more reasonable pet deposit than our current place. We started out talking about getting a cat, which would have been the easier and smarter thing to do, but we ended up talking about dogs. I also thought that since I am currently a stay at home mom that now would be the best time because I would have a lot of time to devote to both child and pet. We went this past Sunday to 'start' looking for a pet and we went to the Humane society. We looked at many dogs and finally settled on Bailey. We asked if they would hold her for 2 weeks until we move and they said they don't do that. So next thing I knew we were walking out the door, puppy in hand. I was in shock because I naively believed that we really weren't going to get a pet until we moved and that we were just looking. We had to rush out when we got home and get puppy supplies. So now we have had her 4 days and I don't know exactly what to say about her. Overall she is a really good puppy and hasn't had an accident on the carpet since the first day and she doesn't bark much through the night at all. But she does chew on anything that comes near her mouth and that includes my son, which is not thrilling to me. To be honest it is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. My whole life I have grown up with pets - dogs, cats, mice, guinea pigs, hamsters and fish, and I have wanted my own pet for years and especially since Dottie died this past April. Also when I was Gavin's age my parents got a puppy, Daisy, who I loved until she "went to live on a farm" when I was 10. So I envisioned that happening with Gavin and Bailey and so far it isn't much like that. I realize not much time has gone by but it is a different dog and different child and maybe it just won't work. Gavin is very interested in her but he is also a little scared of her especially when she gets frisky and he doesn't understand why he can not step on her when she is sleeping and why he can not chew on her bones. Also he has not taken someone taking part of his attention away from him well. Ever since we got her he has been extremely cranky and gets upset very easily. So everyday I have to deal with trying to train a puppy, a crying baby, and trying to get ready to move. The whole situation is VERY stressful and I will admit that I am starting to really wish we had gotten a cat instead. I guess I just let my pre-mother brain take over and that part of me really, really wanted a dog but now I realize that my present mother brain is realizing that it might not be the best situation. I haven't decided yet if it is best to keep her or not. I don't want to give her up because she is a cute dog and Jacob and Ellie totally love her, of course they don't spend all day with her and Gavin trying to make sure one doesn't hurt the other, but it is possibly not the best time to start our pet family. We will give it a few more days and hopefully things will get better.


On to other news, we are moving in a little less than a week!!! This coming Wednesday. I can not wait. I am so tired of boxes everywhere and never having anyplace to put anything except on boxes. I am a little worried about how Gavin will react though. It will be a very big change for him to not only be in different place but to have his own room. If he is upset by the new puppy, I think moving will definitely not help. The problem is that he is just like his parents and he neither of us take to change well. Once he does get used to it, I know he will love it. A whole room where he can touch and play with anything he wants and it will all be his. Plus the first thing my mother said when I told her we were moving was "Now I can get him a lot of stuff" :)
I am a little nervous about the packing, I started out well but Gavin would unpack everything I packed and soon it became tiring. My Aunt Judy is coming this Monday - Wed to help though, so thank God for her. We are going to have a busy week ahead but I am looking forward to the new place SO much.


Gavin is growing so fast. He now has 6 teeth! 4 on top and 2 on the bottom (even though I think I can see where more are about to push through on the bottom). This past Saturday I went to put on his size 3 shoes on that he had just worn the week before and they would not fit. I couldn't get them on for anything. Luckily we were on our way to the store anyway so we got him a new and bigger pair. The funny thing is that now that he is walking he walks really funny when he is wearing shoes. He lifts each foot and shakes it before placing it down. Speaking of walking he loves the fact that he is more mobile. The other night he just 'ran' around and around the room laughing the whole time. It was so cute to watch. His other favorite thing to do is dance, even though Rachel asked if he was dancing or having seizures, it is dancing. He has bopped to music for months but lately he has added moves that are hilarious. He shakes his head all around and he puts his hands together and waves them around. No matter what he is doing, when he hears music he starts shaking his head. Yesterday I got the invitations in the mail for his first birthday. It is still 2 months away but with the move and everything I wanted to plan it a little before. I am looking forward to it, not only is my first baby turning one but it will be nice time to spend time with friends and family that we do not get to see much since we moved down here. Some of them haven't even gotten a chance to meet Gavin yet.

So we have a LOT going on in the next few days and weeks but hopefully when all is said and done everything will be better for all of us.

Oh and did I mention that it was 70 degrees here yesterday? I love living in the south!

Happy Valentine's Day

Gavin is growing so fast!!! We can officially say that he is walking now. This morning he just woke up and he could walk better and farther than ever. This afternoon I got a bottle ready for him and he literally ran across the room towards me, he never got shaky or needed to grab onto anything for support. I just stood there repeating 'wow' over and over. Also he has learned to wave and it is the cutest thing ever. When he first started doing it I didn't know what he was doing exactly. He would be walking and he would stop and start clenching his hand. Finally I figured out he was copying my wave and when I wave to him he will wave back (most of the time). It is SO adorable. At snack time he gets a little biter biscuit and at first he would shove the whole thing in his mouth and gnaw on it. All of the sudden though he figured out that if he just bit into the front of it with his teeth it works out better. It is so amazing to watch him learn and develop right before my eyes.





My Gavin is all boy. He doesn't care a bit for fuzzy, cute toys. His favorite thing right now is a plastic sword that he found in his dad's stuff while we were packing. It is cute to watch him walk around with it like he is getting ready for a duel. I am not sure where he got the idea from though because we don't let him watch t.v. so it must just be something that is inherent in little boys.




















En garde

Great Weekend

We just had a really good weekend. Lots of good times and good news. Friday Jacob passed this test he had taken at UPS and is now able to move to another department that will be easier on him physically. The test was really hard (I know because I helped him study for it and MAN was it confusing) it was 300 questions and he could only miss 6, he was really happy when he passed. Then we found out good news about Jacob's upcoming class schedule. We were worried that messed up ITT would only give him 1 class, like he is taking this quarter, but they scheduled him for 3. That is good because it puts him on track to graduate at the end of summer!!! Saturday we got our taxes done and found out we are getting a very nice sum back which is so amazing. Those of you who know Jacob will not be surprised to hear that Sunday morning Jacob ran out and bought a Nintendo Wii. We spent most of the evening Sunday playing Wii sports and surprisingly (at least to me) it is a lot of fun. I think I threw out my shoulder playing baseball though. Also over the weekend Jacob gave me my Valentines present.. a beautiful necklace. This is the first jewelry he has bought for me and I was happily surprised. I'm a girly girl and I love jewelry. Then today my Aunt Judy babysat Gavin all day and Jacob and I got to spend the day out and about celebrating an early Valentines day. We got to do dinner and a movie for free using Christmas gift cards. We had a really nice time. Thanks Judy!!

Also over the weekend Jacob brought these cookies home that are his new favorite and he had Ellie and I try them. Gavin watched our every move, hoping we would share and was extremely disappointed when we didn't. Shortly after, Ellie and Jacob both left the room and I started to talk to Rachel on the phone. I wasn't facing Gavin for like a minute and I didn't think too much of it but Ellie came back into the room and she was like "Gavin, No". I turned and he had managed to get a hold of the cookie container himself, take the lid off, and pretty much drool and chew an half the cookies. I couldn't believe what a stinker he is, when he wants something he is GOING to get it, no matter what. So he was covered, his shirt, bibs, and socks and drooly chocolate all over them. I actually started to wipe his face off then I thought it might make a cute picture though I should have gotten his clothes more because they were the most covered. So here are 2 pics of my little stinker after his first taste of chocolate....

Walking

Gavin is really close to just taking off and walking. This past Sunday he decided that he would hold his hands up over his head to help steady himself. It seems to work because now he is able to take 3, 4, and occasionally 5 steps all by himself. He likes to practice walking from his walker to the couch and back. Sometimes he will get on a roll and just go back and forth for half an hour. I wanted to get some pictures of him in action to put here but it is almost impossible on a regular camera, I always get the before or after shot. Here are a few that sort of came out. The last one is the funniest. He looks like he wants to keep his eyes closed waiting for the fall that is sure to follow.

Picture Day

Well Gavin managed not to fall and get bruised up before his pictures on Friday. I realized that he is falling less, I think he is finally getting his balance right while he 'walks' around. So Friday afternoon at 1 Gavin was all dressed up and looking good for his pictures. He even sat still and everything looked like it was going to turn out. One little problem, Gavin would not smile. He was a little overwhelmed by all that was going on but mostly I blame the photographer. When we were there last we had a woman who was really good. Gavin was only 3 months old but she had him smiling and took so many good pictures that we couldn't even decide which one's to get. Unfortunately we had a "snow storm" Thursdays night into Friday morning and she couldn't make it to the studio. And by snow storm I mean maybe an inch and a half that had mostly melted off by the afternoon, but every school was closed and people were acting like we had just gotten hit by a blizzard. So we got stuck with this guy who was NOT good at all in fact I think he scared Gavin. This is what he did to get 9 month old Gavin to smile- he put a pink party hat on his head, he dusted his face with a brightly colored duster and he told a chicken crossing the road joke. He was really bad. Maybe with an older child those methods may have worked but not on a nine month old. Gavin started crying when he told the joke, seriously. So this photographer has the idea for us to take a little break to see if Gavin would get in a better mood. So we went and sat in the lobby and he played with toys and was fine. While we were there a lady came in needing a copy of a picture disc and she came and sat by us. She said Gavin was good looking (not pretty) and asked how old he was. When I told her she said that her son started walking when he was nine months and it looked like Gavin was too. I said he is not quite walking yet and she said "he is so close to walking he IS walking" O.K..... Anyway this lady was really nice and she had Gavin smiling, she even found a rubber duck and handed it to him and he loved it. When we went back into the room to try again I came so close to asking this total stranger to coming in with us to make him smile. I didn't but looking back maybe I should have. So we go back into the room and Gavin is chewing down on the rubber duck and when he put it down we managed to get 1 half smiling picture and then Gavin decided he wasn't sitting anymore and crawled off. In the end we got 1 good picture and he is holding the dirty rubber duck in it. Basically an hour wasted. The picture is decent but not great and I realized today that Gavin looks a lot like Macaulay Culkin in the picture. It is eerie. We are planning to get his pictures taken again for his first birthday and I think I will make sure we get the lady photographer to do it.

Here is the 1 picture we got. This isn't how it looks exactly because ours are cropped so there is not so much black background, but you get the idea.