Happy Birthday Gavin!!!

I can't believe my little guy turned 1 year old 2 weeks 4 months ago. And I can't believe I didn't blog about it sooner! Well, actually, I can believe that because I have been so stinking busy. 

I am pretty proud of myself, because usually I am not a planner. I don't map out decorations and favors and themes far in advance. I do a fairly good job of putting a party together, mind you, but generally I overlook the tiny details for the big picture. But for Gavin's first birthday party, I wanted to make it extra special. I went with a Safari/Jungle theme, and about a month before his birthday party (which was July 29th), I already had the plates, cups, tablecloths, and favors secured. I bought animal print balloons, and I even got zebra print duct tape and made the water bottled extra special by taping it over the normal labels. I also decided I wanted to make a pinata. I really wanted a pinata, and I didn't want to pay for a store-made one, so I successfully made one at home, and the kids seemed to really enjoy it!

Foodwise, I didn't do anything super extravagant. I knew Duane's time would be limited by the bowling alley, so I ordered pizzas and had some munchies and, of course, CAKE! I also took the time to make chocolate-candy-covered Oreos with animal cookie molds. It was my first real attempt at chocolate candy molds, and I was really happy with the results.

Gavin, like most 1-year-olds, didn't pay too much attention to the party. He didn't care for the pinata session (I think the noise scared him), but he had fun experimenting with the cake. My kids are not natural cake smashers, but once he got ahold of a fork, he really enjoyed flinging his little cake all around. I even let him play with it while I opened his gifts for him.

At his 1-year check-up, Gavin weighed in at a moderate 21 pounds and measured 30 3/4 inches, which put him at the 25th percentile for his weight and 88th percentile for height! How we got such tall and slender munchkins I have yet to figure out!

 

Also, the doctor discovered that Gavin's top two teeth have broken through, which puts him at FOUR teeth now. I love his little ornery grin with his bottom two teeth poking through.

He isn't walking on his own just yet, though he walks with assistance, and he took a couple of steps the other day! He also said "Ra-EL!" once or twice, though Rachel insists that he should call her "Sissy."

11 months!

I can't believe we are here -- 11 months (and some change) from the day Gavin was born. I feel like the first year with Rachel was so much longer. But then again, I was still learning how to take care of a baby then, and I only had one child to care for!
But seriously, where have the last 11 months gone? I am truly befuddled that I have an almost-1-year-old son!
So here are your 11-month updates on Gavin:

• At 11 months, Gavin still has NO teeth. I can see at least 4 below the surface of his gums, but they refuse to pop through! I feel terribly for him when he is gnawing on anything he can fit into his mouth (including my wallet strap, my chin, my shoulder, my fingers...)
• Going right along with the gnawing, Gavin is being weaned from nursing right now. I made it to about 10 months with minimal formula supplementation, and I am very grateful for that, because that is about 4 months longer than I made it with Rachel before she was getting half-formula/half-milk. But in the last few weeks, my supply has taken a hit, and in a couple more weeks, we will start Gavin on whole milk entirely (have already started here and there), so it is time to prepare my little guy for all bottles all the time! And this is just in time, because the little sucker BIT me the other night, so I would like to get him off the breast before his teeth finally come through!

Gavin is walking with assistance now (see video proof below). He hasn't taken those brave first steps on his own, but he will walk with us holding his hands, and he is very proudly walking running with his toy walker. This is ahead of where Rachel was at his age (she walked between 13 and 14 months), and it is probably the first thing he has done off-schedule from his sister (except she did get her teeth at 10 months).

True to form, my son really likes to talk. He gabs away pretty consistently these days. He now says "MA!" but I am not sure he knows what that means or why he is saying it. I have been counting for him, and he always smiles and tries to count back to me using his sounds. And of course, Rachel talks to him ALL THE TIME. They say sometimes the second child doesn't talk as soon because their older sibling answers for them. But my son doesn't seem to have that situation. He talks right back at her. I may need some earplugs.

• Much to Kim's shock and surprise, I am already almost done with preparations for Gavin's 1st Birthday Bash! I want it to be special, since he and Rachel will share a birthday party in future years and this may be the last he gets on his own...ever. I just got all the favors and decorations in, and I have the cake all planned out. I am also attempting to create my own pinata. But I am hopeful the heat wave we have been experiencing for a week or so will not resurface because I do not want people to melt at his party! 
• I have come to terms with the fact that Gavin is not a cuddler. Rachel would always let me cuddle her for as long as I wanted, but my little man only wants to cuddle when he is super tired or upset, and then only until he is soothed appropriately and then he pushes me away again. Sigh. I guess this is to prepare me for whenever a little hussy comes along and steals his heart away.
• As laidback as my little guy is (and really has been since birth), he does NOT like to sleep. He only sleeps about 10 hours each night with one 2-hour nap during the day. Rachel would sleep for 12+ hours at his age with 2 naps. But he is a party animal until he can't go anymore. :)

I am trying to do a little better at blogging with some regularity now that my schedule is lighter. I blogged so much more frequently when Rachel was a baby, so I want to make sure I cover Gavin's personality well. 

Mourning and Celebration

I have to tell you, June 2012 has not been the greatest of months for us and our friends.

My best friend Kim lost her mother suddenly and unexpectedly on June 1st. Another of my close friends unexpectedly lost her baby at 39 weeks (he was due today). And we lost our beloved Murdock yesterday. He suffered heart failure while he was playing with Duane and Rachel in the backyard before Rachel's 4th birthday party.

While our loss can't even begin to compare to the losses of my friends and their families (the details of which I won't expand on here, because they aren't my stories to tell), I think it is safe to say that June 2012 is not a month I would normally care to remember.

But as I mentioned, we had a birthday to celebrate this month, so I can't write off the month completely. My little girl is turning 4 years old! And yesterday we had to pull ourselves together to celebrate, through all the grief, and try to find the positive in the month of June.

It was a pretty hot day, but everyone managed to stay cool in the shelter and we had a great turnout of family and friends gathered to celebrate Rachel and Owen's birthdays. The kids loved playing on the playground, and we had a water balloon toss/fight. Rachel had requested a Team Umi Zoomi cake, and Owen wanted an Ice Age era cake (not the movie, mind you -- an authentic ice age era cake). The cakes didn't melt in the heat, though they did get hit with a bit of water from the water balloons.

Rachel got so many great presents. I mainly requested clothes for her, because she has more toys than she knows what to do with right now, but the toys she got were great and she has already enjoyed playing with most of them!

After the party, we went to my sister's house for a private Father's Day dinner with my side of the family. The kids played on the slip-n-slide and the trampoline, and later on we all gathered to play some Wii. Rachel beat pretty much everybody at bowling -- she is getting pretty good!

Late last night, after the kids and I went to bed, Duane took Murdock to his brother's house and they buried him on an island in the middle of his pond, next to his friend Daisy (the bassett hound). It seemed like the best place to lay him to rest, since we aren't planning to live in this house too many more years. This way we can visit him whenever we go to visit with the family, and we know he is close to people he loved.

It is eerily quiet in the house now. You don't notice all the things a dog does until he isn't there anymore. There is no clicking of his nails on the floor, no lapping of water from his bowl, no big brown eyes just staring at you, loving you unconditionally. I will miss my buddy. All the things he ate that he shouldn't have, all the fun times we had in the backyard as he ran around, how he always knew when I just needed a cuddle. I have so many wonderful memories of him. And I am grateful for each one. I hope we gave him the life he deserved, and I hope he knew we loved him very much.

So please remember to pray for my friends, their families, and my Murdock. And remember to appreciate every day with the people and animals you love.

Here is one of my favorite videos of Murdock.

10 Months!!

My baby turned 10 months old yesterday. That doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem like it was 10 months ago that I was in labor, anxiously awaiting his arrival. I have a good friend who is due with her son in a few weeks, and I look at her in awe, remembering how I was nearly as pregnant as she one year ago. The time has truly flown. It seems so recent that I was up late with my little man, watching Big Brother After Dark, letting him fall asleep at my side on the couch as Duane slumbered upstairs.

And now, here we are. At his last doctor's appointment, Gavin was 30 inches long and 18.12 pounds. That puts him at 90th percentile for height and 23rd percentile for weight. I don't know where we got this tall baby, but I am already looking into basketball lessons! =) His health is excellent, and he is exceptionally happy. It amazes me how happy he is. Everywhere I take him, it seems like someone remarks on what a good baby he is, and I am proud to say it is true. He fusses only when he needs/wants something or isn't feeling so great.

He isn't eating many solids yet, and he doesn't have any teeth. Though, neither did big sister at his age. He has started to crawl (before he just army-crawled) and pull himself up to a standing position. He really enjoys talking. His favorite word is "GA!" I can't tell what he is trying to say, but he says it with a lot of emphasis!

He loves  ADORES his sister, and she has informed me that I am to refer to her as "Sissy" in Gavin's presence. I can't imagine making it through the past year raising two children with a traveling husband if Rachel hadn't been so interested in helping take care of Gavin. I am starting to understand how people have more than two children -- perhaps they have helpful siblings!

And so, as I am preparing for my first baby's first second third fourth birthday party, I look back and marvel over the past 10 months. I hope I am doing everything that I can to make the most of each day with my children, though I know I could work less and enjoy them more. I am looking forward to some vacation time with them this summer, as I will be working summer hours and getting Thursday afternoons off! And I am already planning several trips to the lakehouse. We enjoyed a trip this weekend for Memorial Day, and Rachel put her swimming lessons to use. Gavin also really loves the water. I hope this trip was this first of many. =)

My New Year's Resolution

You may recall that one of my New Year's Resolutions was to run a 5K. I have been training to run since January, and my initial thought was that I would participate in the Commit to Be Fit 5K on Saturday May 5th.

But after a lot of thought, I changed my focus to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Saturday, May 19th.

Both are for great causes, but something about the Race for the Cure seemed to appeal to me more. So I joined Team Whitmore, which is the team my friend Carie joined and graciously invited me to join as well.

I have put so much time and energy into my training for this 5K. I can't imagine how much more time and effort it would take to run a half-marathon. I started this resolution because I was in awe of people who did that -- and I am finishing this resolution even more in awe.

There have been so many times where I wanted to stop running. I wanted to walk the rest of my 3.1 miles. I wanted to give up. And one of the things that has constantly kept me pushing forward has been the thought of the ultimate goal of running this 5K. And since I signed up for the Komen Race for the Cure, it has been the thought of people who are battling breast cancer. They don't have the option to give up, to stop fighting, to "walk" the rest of their journey. They have to give everything they have got to get through their illness.

That may sound corny or overly dramatic to you, but I guess I really don't care if that is what you think. That is what has pushed me forward toward my ultimate goal, and it is an important goal to me. I will run in my first official 5K on Saturday, May 19th. I don't know how fast I will run it -- but I will run it. After that, I am hoping to start training for a possible 10K. And, if I can, I really want to train for a half-marathon in October. I have a long way to go to train for that, but it is in my mind now as a possibility.

Until then, I promise to try to update more with fun kid pictures and updates. Gavin is getting so big. He is chasing Rachel around the house. Rachel is precocious, and I am already seeing some attitude in her personality. They both have birthdays coming up!!

Happy Easter

Have I mentioned I am too busy to blog? :) Freelance projects galore, for which I am thankful because it is helping pay off some lingering bills!

I managed to take some time to enjoy a Happy Easter with the family though. Rachel is getting so big. She is as sharp as a whip, and her love for her little brother has not faded one bit! She always comes with me to wake him in the morning, because she wants to be one of the first people he sees. Her hair is growing longer (FINALLY!) and I am trying to let it get longer for the flower girl responsibilities she has in August! We still have to pick out a dress for this, and I have to order my bridemaid dress. More on that in a moment.

Gavin is crawling now, mostly using his arms, but he has been up on all fours and rocking back and forth for more than a month. He gets where he wants to go without a problem though! He sits up by himself, and he is getting more and more independent. Soon I will have to put away my infant carseat again and install the bigger one for him.

He is also babbling a lot, and the most popular syllables are "GA" and "DA." When I repeat "MA" to him, he smiles a toothless (yes, still toothless) grin at me. He watches everything that Rachel does, so he shrieks quite a bit. And he LOVES taking a bath in his tub. He splashes the bubbles and laughs. His personality is so endearing, I am not really sure how you could NOT love the sweet baby boy.

As for me, when I am not working at work or at home, I am exercising to get ready for my 5K. A friend of mine from work is strongly encouraging me to train for a half-marathon in October, and the more I run, then more I think I may go for it. I am no professional runner, but my legs are getting stronger and my endurance is better. So I will start training in July and see where it takes me. It may not happen this year, but it will happen eventually. In the meantime, I am feeling a little bit leaner. I have been going to exercise classes at R Studio Live with my sister-in-law. We try to go Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we even made it to a Saturday class last weekend, which was way more intense than we bargained for! They teach Zumba, Kickboxing, Pole Dancing, etc. We have done Hip Hop, Kickboxing, and Zumba/Zumba Toning so far. I am pretty self-conscious when it comes to dancing because I have just about NO coordination, but when we took the Hip Hop class, I honestly had a good time. I am also 99% certain I looked like I was having a seizure for a good portion of the class, but it was a fun way to get some exercise, and that is fine with me. My goal is still to be down 10 pounds by the end of July.

No closing on the bowling alley just yet, but stay tuned. We get closer every day!

Life As A Mom

I was trying to figure out why I have such a hard time blogging. A lot definitely goes on in my life. I have a busy husband, two busy kids, a full-time and a part-time job, my brother just got engaged, friends are having babies, playdates are happening. Rachel had her first dentist appointment. I am still doing very well training for my 5K. The bowling alley is going to be in contract very soon.

That's when it hit me...I have so much to blog about that I really just don't have time to blog about it. I think that most moms out there can relate to me on this. Moms are behind almost everything that happens in each family member's life in some way. We are the behind-the-scenes puppetmasters.

So I began speculating what would happen if I weren't around for, say, a week. I would be whisked away to some remote island paradise, leaving my husband to take care of everything that I do at the height of my busiest season. But I would leave behind a To-Do list to help him throughout the day.

Now, don't get me wrong (because my list is obviously for comedy and doesn't cover everything a Dad does), my husband works his butt off. He is running a busy plant in Columbus and trying to start a bowling alley in his "spare" time. But the next time he comes to me and suggests that I just sit around or that I am not pulling my weight, I think I will give him my To-Do list and see if he understands just how much I do without him ever knowing that I did it.

Because that is the key to being a Mom, isn't it? We do all of this without documenting or saying that we have done it. We aren't doing these things to "get credit" for doing them. We just do them because they need doing. So unless you are Beyonce, J-Lo, or Michelle Duggar (who has live-in help galore), sit back, relax (easy for me to say!), and see if you can relate to my Life As A Mom:

LIFE AS A MOM

• Get ready in the morning (~6 AM).


• Get Kid #1 up and going (lay out clothes, check on progress as you get ready).


• Get Kid #2 ready (change diaper, change clothes, pack diaper bag with food for the day and milk, load into carseat as you argue with Kid #1 about what she is allowed to take to the babysitter/daycare).


• Drop off Kids (unload Kid #1 from the car, monitor #1 as you unload #2 to make sure #1 doesn’t run into the road).


• Full-time job (consumes ~8 AM – ~5 PM, including travel time; take phone calls throughout the day and squeeze in as many errands as possible at lunchtime, including shopping for kids clothing, birthday presents).


• THREE TIMES A WEEK: Rush home to squeeze in a 45-minute workout before picking up children.


• Pick up Kids (try to talk to daycare provider about Kid #2 as Kid #1 talks to you incessantly about what she wants to do when she gets home, make sure Kid #1 doesn’t take off into the street as you haul Kid #2 to the car).


• Drag laptop case, diaper bag, and purse/pump into the house with Kid #2, after you have unhooked Kid #1 from restraints safety harness.


• Put milk away for next day, place coats on hangers/wherever, put laptop safely tucked away as you listen to Kid #1 beg for a TV show and milk.


• Sort through mail and fret over the bill that has appeared out of nowhere for $200 that you thought you paid already/insurance was supposed to cover/you have no idea what it is for.


• ONCE A WEEK: Attend swimming lessons/gymnastics/soccer or whatever else you have #1 involved in to expend as much of her energy as possible.


• Argue with #1 about dinner options.


• Get dinner ready for #1.


• Change diaper of #2 and try to distract #2 while you get #1 settled with dinner and a show.


• Tidy the counter in the kitchen so it looks less like a bomb exploded there.


• RANDOM: Make beauty appointments to maintain the appearance of trying to look good.


• Feed/Nurse #2. Begin watching DVR’d show.


• Pause show to answer question from #1 about toys/shows/food/drink.


• Make dinner for yourself. Try to eat this and resume DVR’d show while #2 whines at you for more attention.


• Pause show. Greet husband when he gets home. Listen to him tell you that the counters look like a bomb exploded there.


• Bite lip as husband gets #1 hopped up on sugar.


• Play with #1 and #2 for 20 minutes.


• Get #2 ready to eat dinner. Tell #2 that he needs to eat his dinner while he spits it back out at you and makes noises with his tongue.


• Listen to husband about husband’s day at work. Try to be supportive and attentive, while eyeing what #1 is doing and continuing to feed #2.


• Clean dishes/unload dishwasher/load dishwasher with husband’s dishes/re-wash dishes that crappy dishwasher didn’t quite get clean.


• Clean up toys that #1 has dragged out.


• Empty trash in bathroom/kids’ rooms/kitchen.


• ONCE A WEEK: Do Laundry for Kids #1 and #2. This is a massive amount of laundry. (See item above re: shopping for Kids’ clothing.)


• Fold and put away laundry for Kids #1 and #2.


• Resume DVR’d show.


• Pause DVR’d show. Tell #1 to get ready for bed.


• Get #2 ready for bed.


• RANDOM: Give #1 and #2 baths so they don’t become smelly kids at the daycare.


• Argue with #1 to go back to bed at least 3 times. (See comment about husband getting #1 hopped up on sugar above.)


• Get #2 in bed. Monitor #2 throughout remainder of evening to verify #1 did not wake #2.


• Feed Dog. (Tell Dog to go away repeatedly throughout the night because #1 sneaks food to Dog and this gets Dog sick.*)


• *Clean up mess left by Dog when #1 has snuck food to Dog. Give Dog evil stare.


• Return downstairs to resume DVR’s show. Discover that husband has started watching his own show.


• Call family to finalize plans for birthday dinners.


• Pay bills and balance which bills will be paid with which paychecks.


• Check bank account and balance budget against what husband has secretly spent during the week.


• ONCE A MONTH: Arrange monthly playdate with friends.


• Research elementary schools for #1. Make sure #1 is preparing for Kindergarten.


• Maintain quasi-adult-like relationships. (Facebook is your main medium for this.)


• Listen to husband complain about you being on Facebook too much.


• Work freelance to pay for unexpected expenses and possible family vacation (see below).


• Resume DVR’d show to unwind your brain.


• Crawl into bed for 5-6 hours.


• REPEAT.
  
  WEEKENDS/DAYS “OFF”:


• Catch up on all sleep missed during the week.


• Organize coupons to go grocery shopping.


• Make final list to go grocery shopping. Ask husband repeatedly what he needs from grocery store.


• Go grocery shopping. You must take #1 and #2 because husband has plans to do something important. (When you get home, husband is still playing video game.) Listen to husband complain that you have no food.


• Clean house because #2 is close to crawling and your floor is gross.


• Schedule doctor/dentist/photo appointments for Kids.


• Attend doctor/dentist/photo appointments for Kids.


• Go to Church so #1 and #2 have some knowledge of religion.


• Attend monthly playdate with friends.


• Plan possible vacation for family. Balance husband’s schedule against possible dates to go that would be within non-existent budget.


• Make cakes for friends, family, etc.


• Attend family gatherings as scheduled.


• Try to have adult time with husband.
  CHRISTMAS:


• Go Christmas shopping with all your free time and stress about Christmas budget and making sure all gifts have been purchased.


• Decorate Christmas tree.


• Teach #1 the meaning of Christmas.


• Buy Christmas outfits for #1 and #2.


• Listen to husband complain about what you have/haven’t purchased.


• Try to decide whether you have time to do Christmas cards.


• 
  
  Wrap presents for family, Kids #1 and #2, and husband whenever they aren’t around for a few minutes at a time.
  
  
  LIFE AS A DAD


• 
  
  Wake up early.


• 
  
  Go to work (6 AM – 4 PM).


• 
  
  Go home.


• 
  
  Complain about house.


• 
  
  Eat food.


• 
  
  Complain to wife about job.


• 
  
  Complain about wife to wife.


• 
  
  Play with Kids.


• 
  
  Play video games.


• 
  
  Text friends with weekend plans.


• 
  
  Ask wife to do something with her “free time” the next day.


• 
  
  Help wife get Kid #1 to bed because wife seems busy. (Not sure what wife does with all her time.)


• 
  
  Tell wife she should get oil changed in her car at lunch the next day.


• 
  
  Go to bed. Ask wife for sex. (Give wife guilt trip if she turns you down.)


• 
  
  ONCE A WEEK: Do laundry. Wonder why wife has stopped doing your laundry.


• 
  
  SUMMER: Mow lawn once a week. Refuse wife’s offer to do this.


• 
  
  CHRISTMAS:
  o Go shopping for wife’s gifts.
  o Wrap wife’s gifts.
  

Workout Impossible

In my last post, I wrote about my new year's goals. I call them goals, rather than resolutions, because I feel like resolution is a strong and oft-overused term these days.

One of my goals is to run a 5K, and in my quest to fulfill that goal, I downloaded an application on my iPhone called Couch-to-5K. This is a great application that takes someone with very little running expertise (read: ME) through a 9-week interval training program that eases you into running, gradually adding more and more jogging to your workout until you are comfortable as a runner. I don't run. I am pretty sure I laid that out in my last post. But I have been through four "runs" so far in this program and I have enjoyed all but one of them.

First of all, this gives me a half-hour of "me" time. Sure, when the kids go to bed, I can sit on the couch and watch TV. But then I tend to fall asleep and I don't really get much out of that time to myself. This gives me time to watch a show while exercising my body and doing something good for myself, and I have a clear head afterward so I can THINK.

Second, I don't really "run" through these workouts. I do a brisk walk for the majority of the workout, as per the instructions. I jog at a decent pace through the jogging intervals of the program, and I think fairly soon I will have fewer and fewer walking intervals as I prepare for the 5K. So it is a steady pace for sure, designed for someone like me who doesn't have much desire to run every day. But the more I do it, the more I enjoy it.

As far as losing the baby weight, well, I have gone in reverse there. It seems that whenever I begin an excruciating exercise regimen, I tend to put on a pound or two, and this time is no exception. I haven't altered my diet at all, so that doesn't affect anything. So I tell myself it is just that muscle weighs more than fat and I have to be patient. It's all about my clothes fitting better and my body getting healthier, right?

Yeah, I need to repeat that to myself every day. Because it is really frustrating to kill myself every day, 5 days a week, to see no difference on the scale.

As far as my other goals, we are taking baby steps toward them. Look for big changes in 2012!