Happy Birthday, Bug!

Dear Gavin,
We can't believe you're already two! Time flies when you're having fun! You fill each day with so much joy and we're so lucky to have you to make us smile. Mommy loves spending each day with you, teaching you and watching you grow. Daddy loves when you wake up before he leaves for work so he can see your smiling face before heading out, and can't wait to walk through the door each evening and hear you shout, "Daddy!"

At 2 years old, here are some of the things you've been doing lately. After our move to Arkansas, you're back to a good routine and are sleeping well most nights. You're so tiny in that big twin bed! Naps are getting better in your new bed, too.

A few weeks ago, you started eating so well. We were so impressed with the things you were trying and how much you were eating. Well, it's faded away...must have been a growth spurt! But, you do have your favorites. You love pancakes or cereal bars for breakfast. A bagel with peanut butter is your favorite lunch. For dinner, you love tacos, spaghetti, and hot dogs. Baked beans are another favorite. You crack us up when you eat them - one at a time with your fingers, not a fork. If we make the mistake of telling you we're having them for dinner, we get to hear, "Beans, beans, beans, beans, beans...." over and over again the entire time we're cooking. Our snacks these days are Goldfish, cranberries, pretzels, and fruit strips (from Target.)

You love playing outside. For your birthday, you got a basketball hoop from mommy and daddy, a John Deere tractor from Memaw, a water table from Aunt Briana and Uncle Ty Ty, and a cool climber with a slide from Mimi, Beepa, Rosi, and Sandy. You're such a lucky little boy. Being surrounded by farms is influencing you! You love to talk about tractors and we walk down to see the cows a lot. When inside, puzzles are a new favorite of yours. Of course, you love playing with your trains. We have to make sure to take at least one with us wherever we go! You love your cartoons, too. PBS, Disney Playhouse, and Nick Jr. are our friends! Sesame Street and Thomas are classic favorites, but lately you've been getting into Blue's Clues, Curious George, and Dinosaur Train. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Special Agent Oso are also good. But, it makes mommy very happy to see how much you love books. You sit in your room looking at books a lot. Going to the library for storytime is one of your favorite things to do. You're such a good boy!
Lately, you've started singing more. We hear "Twinkle Twinkle" a lot and thanks to swim lessons, we now get to hear you sing "Row Row Row Your Boat." Last week, you sang "The Clean-Up Song" to me by yourself. It was adorable. We love to hear you sing and watch you dance!

We couldn't even begin to tell you how many words you know. You never stop talking! We love how you're putting words together to make sentences now. Last night, you told Daddy, "Shirley break pig." You weren't very happy that she had messed up the pig you made with Mommy. You know all your letters, except you sometimes say K for X, and your letters 1-10. You can snap your fingers, hop like a frog, and make more animal sounds than we can count. You're so smart!

We love you so much, bug. Happy 2nd birthday! Thank you for another wonderful year of laughs and memories. :)

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday is back again!

The boy loves heels!

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. I tried all day Friday to get a video tour of the house to post, but it wouldn't work. I'm going to have to just post pictures - but those will have to wait until this weekend. Jackie is here visiting so I've been taking advantage of the extra person around and getting a lot of things done that I wanted to get done while she plays with Gavin.

In that past couple weeks, Gavin's developed a new love of going into my closet, putting on high heels and walking in them. He does a pretty good job, too! Here are a few pictures from two of the times he tried on his new accessories!

On our anniversary, I dressed up, even though we just made dinner here. I love an excuse to dress up these days, since I spend most of my days in jeans or sweats. :) So, after dinner, Gavin started playing with my heels again. The next thing I knew, he was marching all over the house. He loved the sound of the heel on the tile floor. These pictures and video will come in handy someday :)

Happy Anniversary to Us!

4 years ago it was a gorgeous day in Cincinnati for a wedding! We had a fabulous time celebrating with our families and friends. I wish we could go back and relive that day. :) The past four years have been full of memories, both happy and sad. We've purchased our first home, moved to two states, lost my wonderful grandparents, spent 9 long months apart due to Jarrod's job, and welcomed our amazing son into our lives. Every event has made us a stronger family. I love you very much, Jarrod. Thanks for everything!

Wordless Wednesday

Coloring Eggs

I'm almost caught up on pictures! :) The weekend after we moved here was Easter. Last year, Gavin was pretty small so we didn't do much for Easter. This year, he is all about eggs. Won't eat them, but loves to say 'egg,' hold them, point at them in the grocery, play with plastic eggs, find them... So, I knew coloring eggs would be a big hit.

Our coloring eggs experience was a big hit, but it lasted all of 2 minutes. We colored the 8 eggs we had left in the fridge, so I made 8 separate cups for Gavin. We showed him how to put the first egg in gently, but he wasn't so gentle with most of them. He dropped an egg in each cup, made a huge mess, and we were finished! I let them sit in the cups while he took a bath and then took them out to show him the colors. I thought I'd trick him into trying one on Easter by asking him if he was going to eat the eggs we colored. He said 'Yes!' very enthusiastically....then the egg sat on his dinner plate, untouched. :)

High Five for being gentle

Thank you, Mimi and Rosi!

Just before we loaded up the car to take mom and Rosi to the Ft. Smith airport, we snapped a few pictures in front of the fireplace. Thank you both for all you did to help us get our new house ready to live in. I've said it so many times, but we appreciate all you did so much! We're so lucky to have such a great family who supports us.

A sick little one

I didn't get to upload more pictures yesterday to finish playing catch up. Poor Gavin isn't feeling well. He took an extra long nap yesterday, then didn't want lunch. About an hour later he was running a fever. I gave him Tylenol, but about 45 minutes later he was screaming and crying for 2 hours straight. I took him into the doctor because he was exposed to strep last weekend. The nurse did a strep test while I was holding him on my lap - his lovely gag reflex kicked in and he started throwing up all over the both of us. :( The strep test actually came back negative, and the doctor said that there is a virus going around with high temps but no other symptoms. I think that's what he has. So, we're alternating Tylenol and Motrin around the clock. We had plans for the weekend but I think we're going to be stuck inside. I hope he feels better soon!

On another note, I just saw a picture Sara snapped of Gavin and me while we were at Shaw and thought I'd share. I feel like I don't have many recent pictures of the two of us. Thanks for sharing this one, Sara. I love it! :)

First Swim Lesson!

When we came to Bentonville to do some house hunting, we visited the Walton Life Fitness Center and knew we wanted to join. It's dirt cheap for Walmart employees and they offer a ton of kids' classes. The new schedule of classes came out while we were still in NY, and the classes started the week we got here. I didn't expect to start so soon, but if we didn't sign up, we would have had to wait until June to take classes. So, I signed Gavin up for a swim class, and I'm so glad we did. Jarrod hadn't started work yet for the first class, so he got to get into the water with him. I sat on the side taking pictures, which the lifeguard later told me wasn't allowed. Oh well - I captured his first swim lesson with Daddy! :)

Here he is in the locker room, all ready to go! What cracks me up is that this is the swim suit that we bought for him to wear last summer. Still fits!

Jarrod was the only dad in the pool, but he really enjoyed getting to do this with Gavin. Now, every time we go to the pool for classes, Gavin starts asking where daddy is.

Gavin is swimming to Miss Jo, his teacher. She is really good with the kids, and we later heard so many other parents telling us they request her because she is awesome at her job. We lucked out!

Watching Daddy blow bubbles - he's getting more comfortable, but still doesn't blow bubbles himself.

WLFC is definitely one of the perks of living here for us. I always wanted to join the YMCA with Gavin, but it was too pricey. I can't wait to do more classes with Gavin here. I just wish he would warm up to the child care. :)

Working on the house

We had 4 full days here in the house before our moving truck came. That gave us plenty of time to get the place cleaned and ready to go before the unpacking started. We realized that we didn't have a ladder to clean the ceiling fans and change a few light bulbs, but lucky for us, our neighbors are really nice! Within the first 10 minutes or so, we'd already met several of them, and Steve and Julie across the street offered us their ladder to use. Gavin really had a good time exploring it!

It made for a really neat train track, too! Multi-purpose ladder! :)

Mom and Rosi were a huge help while they were here. Gavin helped mom pull some weeds in the front yard.

He then decided to use the new sidewalk chalk we bought him to color on Shirley instead. Poor dog!

It's a lovely masterpiece, isn't it? :)

Mimi took a break from weeding to show Gavin a cool bug. Isn't she a cool grandma?

Once back inside, we realized Gavin wasn't around. He plays well alone, so I wasn't too worried. I found him reading books on his new bed. It made my heart smile. I had to snap a picture to remember that moment. I love him!

Springtime weather in Cincinnati

Back to the Cincinnati visit - While we were there, the weather was really nice! After visiting Shaw on Wednesday, we spent the rest of the afternoon with family. Grandma Ford and Aunt Shannon came over with Gracie and Jax. Jackson was born a month before Gavin, but is quite bigger than our little peanut! It was so fun to see them together. We played trains for a while, then had pizza and ventured outside. What a great evening!

"Catch!" One of Gavin's favorite games to play....but he waits until he's right on top of you to throw the ball. :) Love that smile, my little man!

Two of my favorite guys in the world! Gavin with his Beepa! What a great picture!

Gavin and Aunt Meggie....we love you, Meggie! Can't wait for you to come visit!

The kid loves bugs! Once Mimi pointed out a few bugs to him, he was searching for them everywhere. He'd pick them up and bring them right to me. "Here you go, Mama!" Um, thanks!

2nd cousins....I think??? :) Jax and Gavin

Looking at bugs with Beepa

Gavin and Mimi :)

Something was really funny....don't know what, though!

All that playing makes for a sleepy little boy! Here he is brushing his teeth while Aunt Meggie reads to him. Can you tell what the book is called? "Where is Brutus?" :) Gavin loves this book - he loves to say "Go Bucks!"

Thanks for some great memories! We love all of you and can't wait for our next visit!