Chatter Box!

In the last 2 weeks Gavin has had a "language explosion"! In fact, he pretty much doesn't stop talking! He is really starting to talk in phrases as well...some of his favorites are Mommy/Daddy "come on" or come here. He is also quite fond of Snowman, Tanta Clause, and Miderman! Gavin is also quite fond of our Christmas decorations...the bottom half of our tree has been rearranged several times, and we've had a few broken ornaments! He also loves to point out every light and rearrange the beads! We decided to get Gavin his own tree, thinking he would leave our big tree alone...didn't quite work as planned, but he does love his tree too!

Rearranging the Ornaments

Gavin also loves to be the "helper"...now if only we could get him to actually be helpful!
I love the look on his face in this picture...he's checking out Daddy's motorcycle ornament, which ended up in 2 pieces :)

Any tips on how to get him to stop picking his nose?

Just like Mom and Dad, Gavin is checking out the Sunday morning ads! We've looked through all of the toy ads SEVERAL times!


I bought Gavin these pjs after Christmas last year because I thought they were too cute...well turns out they aren't super practical! I don't think you can put a kid to sleep with a hood, and he can't wear them outside because they have footies! So after his bath one night we decided to let him play Santa!

So proud (and cute) in his Tanta pj's!

He also thinks he's pretty funny!

Gavin saw my tall rubber boots by the door one day...here's attempt 1

I've got them on, now how do I stand?

Attempt 2

Attempt 3...frustrated!

I did stand him up, but he fell over before I could take the picture!

G tried to put on his pants by himself...he got his legs in the right holes, but they were upside down...we'll keep working on that!

Big stuff in his new Spiderman hat! For the record, I don't like "character-wear", but wanted a hat that would cover his ears and neck...and this is what I found! He LOVES it :)

When the cold weather hits, we can at least dress in our Hawaiian wear!

So Much to be Thankful For!

Although we do frequently take time to think about how lucky we are, I think this time of year more than any other we do realize just how fortunate we really are!

Just had to share a few things we are Thankful for:

1. The healthy, happy, smart, SUPER cute little man we call our son! Gavin you are the love of our lives and we love you more each day!
2. My wonderful husband...Daddy we love you so much and you are a great role model and dad.
3. Our families - I don't know how many times I've wondered, what would we do without Grandma B?
4. Our friends - both old and new, near and far...we are truly thankful to have you in our lives!
5. Our jobs - I'm thankful that Cary has worked so hard (and yes someday we hope to have all our student loans off...maybe even before Gavin starts college) to get where he is, and I do think it is a perfect fit for him, and my job that allows me to be home with Gavin 2 extra days a week!
6. Our home! We are so lucky to be in a spot we love and can call home.
7. and last but not least...our sense of humor! This year we may need it more than ever to survive 5+ months of winter with a 2 year old :)

Now for some recent photos!

G has been helping me make dinner lately aka emptying the cupboards
Downtown Hudson Light the Night...I'm not sure if G enjoyed the firetruck or Santa more!

Gavin is super excited about using the potty these days! This face came from a small tinkle :)

Pumpkin Pie...yum yum

Gavin and all of his second cousins at Thanksmas

Gavin thought the rolls of wrapping paper were the best toy ever!

Sporting my vest...just like Daddy!

Blog Confessions...

So I have a blog confession...I really DO NOT enjoy updating Gavin's blog (as you've probably figured out when the posts don't come very frequently anymore)! At this point, I have no idea who even reads this, except for Scotty who informed me it was time for an update! So I got to thinking....why am I even doing this and the best answer was it is the only way I'm ever going to keep track of how fast our little man is growing! Having the blog in the back of my mind does remind me to take pictures, and I do like to look back and see how much Gavin (and us) have changed! In fact when I logged in I got a message that this was our 100th post! I probably should print this out and make it into a book or something, as I'm pretty sure Gavin may never have a scrapbook (I do have some pictures printed in a shoe box...but that's about as far as I've gotten with those too)! It almost seems to defeat the purpose to print out an online blog! So for tonight, I'll share with you how big our little man is getting!

I just love kids in their jammies!

Visiting Daddy at School

Seriously, how big is he? It seems that just in the last month Gavin has changed so much! He LOVES to play with balls, cars, trains, puzzles and coloring (especially with markers and pens)

Cheese!

He is pretty creative when he wants to get something...like here where he pushed his chair up to the island to try to reach the computer!

Gavin is talking quite a bit now...he knows quite a few body parts - including eyebrows, animals and their sounds, what treats are, and will point his finger at us and say "don't" or "no". He is enjoying looking through all of the toy catalogs that are out right now and picking out things that he knows, I'm amazed every time by the little things he can pick out!

Gavin had been pretty quite for a few minutes, this is what Cary found when he went to check on him...

Gavin had helped himself to the goldfish in his diaper bag!

G decided he'd better eat quick before Dad took them away! What else can you do but laugh?

Daddy and G get pretty creative when they play together!

Grandma B came to stay and play with us! G is a BIG fan of her and even said the next day...Grma B go bye bye :( We hope she comes to play again soon!

We took advantage of Grandma B's free babysitting services, and went out on a double date with Dan and Kristi! We realized the last time the 4 of us had been out to dinner without kids was for my 30th birthday (over 2 years ago, which was also before kids)...we decided we need to do it more often!

Cutest Little Chicken Ever!

We had lots of fun with Halloween this year...

G wanted nothing to do with carving pumpkins so he sat at the table and colored with us! Maybe next year.

Cutest Chicken and Monkey in town

Looks like trouble to me...

Spencer and Gavin sharing treats...this is hard to do at their age!

Ready for Trick or Treating!

This chicken says "Doodle Doo"

Our little "God-Monkey"

Entertaining each other while we waited for the trick or treaters!

Sweet little chicken!

Visit to Pipestone

G continues to entertain us everyday...his new favorite thing is finding people's "bellybutt" while he lifts up your shirt and pokes your belly button! He is getting very good at naming the parts of his body and is also improving his animal noises (although his pig impression still needs some work)!

Couldn't resist this shirt!

Last weekend we headed down to Pipestone to visit the Krusemarks. Friday night we all got together for pizza, Saturday we visited Great Grandma Sis...and mom and dad even managed to sneak away for date night while Grandma and Grandpa babysat.

Reading with Grandpa Dave

Mom and Dad before our date, we realized the last time we had been out to dinner alone was when we were in Mexico back in March...WAY too long ago!

We made Grandma and Grandpa laugh

We took a tubby in the BIG tub

Overall it was nice weekend getaway! We wish they lived closer so we could visit more often.

Finley came to play and see the fire truck one Thursday....

and Spencer ended up visiting too...the 3 musketeers!

G and Finley

Gavin and his daycare friends by the firetruck

Although the weather in October hasn't been the greatest, we have been trying to take advantage of the time we can spend outside!

A Giant Bullet will keep Daddy warm!

G looks like a Big Boy!

We just finished swimming lessons...G is getting to be quite a little fish.

Sad little sick boy!