Gavin {9 Months, late of course}

Oh Gavin! At nine months, you:
1. Still breastfeed about 7 times per day
2. Refuse all baby food and eat any table food you can get into your mouth.
3. Are walking!
4. Say Mama, Dada, Buba, Nana
5. Weighed 17lbs. 13 oz(9th percentile)
6. Are 27.5 inches long(23rd percentile)
7. Have a 17.5 inch head(23rd percentile)
8. Make us smile and giggle constantly
9. Sleep 9-2 at night then toss and turn in the bed with mom, nursing about every 2 hours until we get up. I would be less excited about this but you go right back to sleep after nursing.
10. Can climb up the stairs well and are learning to climb back down backwards.
11. Still love your binky!

Wedding, Yeah!

Luke(my good friend Abbys little brother) got married this weekend and we were blessed to get to be a part of their special day! My boys were so good at the wedding. Payton and Grayson were adorable as part of the wedding party We ate and danced with our friends and had a grand time. Kate, the bride, was gorgeous and Luke couldn't have looked happier although he looks a bit perplexed in the picture above.

What a week...work, work, work then family camping, then the wedding! I think I need about 6 days to recover instead of just one.

Rough Night

Last night was a ROUGH night...I think Gavin is trying to make my milk supply keep up with him and Logan, well I don't know why he was up all night. Steve finally got out of bed about 4 and came down stairs with Logan in tow.

As much as it pains me that Logan wakes up at night, he is so fun to watch through mostly closed eyes. He tiptoes into the room(not sure how I hear him even if I am dead asleep). He looks over the edge of my bed, and if I can sleeping(or appear to be) soundly without Gavin in bed, he tiptoes quietly out and gets back into bed putting himself back to sleep. If I am awake nursing Gavin in bed, he crawls up into the rocker/recliner with the boppy and goes to sleep. Rarely before 4:30 does he try to get up and stay up. THANK GOD!

Family Camping {2012}

Howell family camping was WAY different this year. There were only about 24 of us in attendance. My great grandma who is now 90, was in a bad enough health state and coupled with confusion, could not attend. This is the first year since I have been born in 28 years that either she or my great grandpa was not there...way sad! My grandma Wilma has been battling some health issues too and was unable to attend.

Of the three great aunts that I have, only 2 could attend...one without any of her kids. The other brought all of her kids. It was more of a Dickerson/Howell reunion! We did find highlights though. There was no crowding of tents, or chairs, or vehicles or campers. We had PLENTY to eat. No one had to wait in line for boat rides. I am struggling to grasp that as I grow older, some things my family has always cherished seem to slowly be drifting away.

This was Gavins first beach/swim trip and he had a blast! I do love my little water babies. We had fun playing at the lake then retreated to a nice cool hotel room for some comfort. Steve and Christopher went and fished and the little boys and I were CRASHED when they returned.

I m hoping for better attendance next year. If not, my family will continue to honor this yearly trip as it is a great time spent together.

Cousins

Danes birthday party was today. The kids stayed with Nana last night so we met them at Cassoday for the party. This is the best pic I could catch of the four cousins. It reminds me so much of the Howell/Stalnaker bunch when we were little. There were 5 of us, stair stepped about 10months apart. Ethi is due with #5 any day now and we will have the next little group of terrors!

Gavin is walking!

So I am having some major issues with blogger...hence the big lapse of posts! I switched back to the old blogger long enough tonight to let everyone know that Gavin took his first steps tonight. Daddy and Mommy were both here to witness. I was so afraid with all my hours at work here lately that I would miss it. He's growing so fast!

Horns?

Gavins attempts at walking are leaving him pretty banged up.

His bruised up little forehead reminds me of devil horns...only he truly isn't very evil at all though we all have our moments! It's not gonna be long and he will be chasing the big kids.

Playdate, FInally!

We have REALLY been missing our friends...the other night, Logan was having a particularly bad night...I think he got three time outs and two spankings in 1 hour. Each time he got in trouble, he would cry "Paaaaaaaayyyyyyyttttttttoooooooooooooooon!" Steve was particularly annoyed by this. I told the girls, no questions about it...we HAVE to get together!

So we rallied the entire crew. We had to steal Ashley's girls from their grandma for the day. The kids had a great time and I must add that it was wonderful to spend time with girlfriends. Planning for this day made me a bit sad that our good friend Jamie and her daughter aren't close enough to have fun with us. I texted Jamie while I was thinking about this and was a bit teary. We love you Emma!

The way things are going, it will probably be Pumpkin Patch season before we all get together again!

4th of July {2012}

This year for the 4th we stayed home again and hosted the annual 900 Block of South Denver Neighborhood Block Party. Have I mentioned it has been SUPER hot? I think mother nature is trying to beat last years record of 53 days in the triple digits. At least I'm not preggo this year!

Gavin got so exhausted he had to crash for awhile. Kate and Tyler came to hangout with us for the evening too! I did miss my crazy brother. There was nothing lit of fire that wasn't supposed to be(sad!). Five years ago and pre-children we would have been out at the Varleys drinking beer, having bottle rocket wars and trying to light the pasture on fire. Wow how times change!

Logan loved fireworks last year. He would light off(with assistance of course) whatever we would let him and thought snappers were the bomb! This year he really wants nothing to do with any of it. We ended up watching the evening display with the four of us laying on our bed in the AC and watching all the crazies through the windows. I will admit, this seemed like a great excuse not to be hot and biten by all the bugs! I love these boys of mine and each holiday brings more smiles, giggles and joy.

Need a Cool Off?

It is HOT!!! We spent some time this afternoon trying to stay cool in the water. Like any other activity, 20 min later the boys were bored with that and out of the pool. Thinking back, I don't think either of the boys has ever been in a real pool. We don't go to the city pool here because it is insane. I think this needs to go on the list though for things to do before the end of the summer. Maybe, if I ever have a day off, we can go to Haven and go swiming at their city pool with the cousins and Nina!

Nipple?

OH Gavin...how you love to suck on anything that appear so to be a nipple...
tonight it was Daddy's guitar case.
And you are so cute while doing it, who couldd blame you?
You crack us up!  Thanks for all the joy you bring to our lives.

P.S.  Mommy says thank you for being such a good nurser!

Firesnappers!

Logan really hasn't been into fire works at all this year...odd since last year he wanted to light anything we would help him light!  I finally talked him into doing some snappers with me(he calls them fire snappers).  Honestly, it's too stinkin hot to sit out and do fireworks so I am satisfied to abide by his wishes to stay inside and away from all the load noises, out of the heat!

He loves american flags.  Last night he was waving his flag for Uncle AJ and he had a LOT to say about it.  If you want to see the video, click this link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCsT3eIr_Fs&feature=youtu.be