Cooper - 5 Months

Cooper is still my little baby, only 14 lbs. in his last check up. He's still 75th percentile for height and 30th for weight and head. Gavin was 14 lbs. at his 3 mos. check-up, so it almost doesn't seem right that Cooper is 5 months already!!



I made fun of this hat when my sister first sent it, (what mother could be so cruel?) but once I saw it on him with his lil' overalls, I just couldn't resist.



This one of his profile makes me laugh, the poor kid has my chin (or lack of chin)an long neck.



Cooper is eating rice cereal & oatmeal, but loves my homemade sweet potatoes the best (Gav did too!). He wasn't a fan of the peas, but I really DID try to make him like them. Not too disappointed though, Gav & I hate them too!



He is really a happy baby, until his tummy is giving him trouble. He doesn't fuss much for gas, but his stools are a struggle sometimes. Probably just still getting used to the new veggies in his diet....Gavin still loves being a big brother, especially now that we can tickle Cooper and make him laugh or now that he watches Gavin playing, and smiles when he shows him his toys & how they talk. Gav also really likes when their shirts match.

Corn Maze & Barn Party

In addition to trunk or treat, trick or treating, and a halloween party, we managed to cram a trip to the Corn Maze and the annual Barn Party into our weekend. As you may have seen in my previous post, my camera is slowly dying so these pictures turned out really crummy until my friend Lindy fixed them in black & white.




Gavin's Aunt Kristie went to the maze with us, and initially we just all pretended to be lost in the corn, but then there was a little while that we really didn't know which way to go, and I lead us down the same dead-end twice. Gavin loved wandering the corn field, and picking the ears off the stalks!


Gavin made a little friend at the barn party, here she is trying to teach him the square dance that the students all did...she was very helpful in offering to take care of him cause he is a baby and "I am 8 now!" - haha, they had fun, Gav seems to find a girlfriend everywhere we go!



We also painted a pumpkin!

Happy Halloween!

This year, Gavin just had to be Buzz Lightyear, so we decided on a whole toy story theme.


I had received this ridiculous red wig by mistake (while ordering Gav's Buzz costume), and the seller insisted that it wasn't worth sending it back, so there you go...it was fate.



We took Gavin out Friday night to trunk or treat at a local church, then to a few houses on Sunday and to the CSC Halloween Party. Now he has developed a cold, isn't that just part of the Halloween weekend festivities? Seems to be a tradition fo us anyway.

I really wanted to keep Cooper's costume simple, since it wasn't worth spending a lot when he doesn't care and would probably sleep through everything (I was right on that one). I looked for a baby horse costume, and never found one, so I just bought some cheap fabric and made him an alien hat. Gavin LOVED it! And I have to say, I felt a sense of pride in making my first ever halloween costume (yes, it was super-easy) for one of my boys.


I also made Barry & I's cowboy costumes. Already swimming with ideas for next years family costumes!!

Happy Fall!

I took Gavin on a brief (it's getting dark so early) scavenger hunt to find things that look like Fall (stolen from a more savvy blogging momma). He doesn't quite understand the concept of seasons, so it was a bit of a process to get him to understand that fall is a season. We made a list of all the things that we should look for that look like fall (red, orange, brown leaves, pumpkins, scarecrows, orange anything, corn, etc.) Luckily we have two neighbors that have gotten all their decor. out, so it was only a short walk before we could find everything on our list. Sadly, we don't have any leaves falling in our own yard, but I'm sure the neighbors didn't mind that we snagged a few from their yards. Highlight of the trip for me was Gavin insisting on smelling all the leaves that we picked up. He also seemed to only pick up the crumpled, broken ones, even though I tried to explain that we would rather have the pretty, unbroken ones to take home. We're planning to do a leaf painting later this week, and hopefully get him out to the corn maze this weekend. After our walk, Gavin wanted to get a pumpkin, so the next day we made a routine trip to Walmart and found our pumpkins, even a little one for Cooper.

As much as I don't look forward to winter, it is nice that it is finally feeling like fall, and that Gavin is getting big enough to enjoy all the fun things of fall: hay rides, pumpkin carving, jumping in leaves, etc. etc.

Gavin and his buddies at day care, she has plenty of leaves to play in. Gavin suggested we could put some in the van to take to our house....haha

Gavin's 3rd Birthday

This was the first time we planned a real "friend party" for Gavin. He helped pick out the Buzz Lightyear theme, and we went all out with games, favors, a custom cake, and 25 of his closest friends (haha). It was fun to plan, but I came down sick right before, and was so relieved when the weekend was over.

Space Ranger Games:
1. Jumping Contest: they had to jump from one line to the next, while trying to reach up & grab the balloon.

2. Moon Rock Hunt: they had to find a "moon rock" and open it up to find the prize inside (a slinky dog toy)

3. Parachute Testing: they had to drop a parachuting soldier toy from the top of the stairs and hit the target below.

4. Lung Capacity Testing: they had to each blow bubbles.

5. Pin the eyes on the alien

When it was all over, they each got a certificate as a "certified space ranger"

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Barry turned 31 this year, not a very momentous occasion, but our birthdays really aren't anymore. Gavin was excited to pick out a cake with candy on top of it(extra chocolatey), and to help blow out his candle.

Gavin's Buddies!

Being around college students all the time, gives Gavin some unusual best friends. It's nice to know that Gavin has so many wonderful young men in his life. Men who, alongside Daddy, will teach him important life lessons...




Lessons that will shape him into the man that God wants him to be...



Let's hope they use their powers for good. ;)

Cooper - 3 Months

Before time gets away from me, here's a 3 month update on Cooper....

He tried rice cereal for the first time on Sept. 5th.


It's going ok....
(the gibberish in the background is Gavin talking "baby talk")



He's over 11 pounds now, not sure on the exact number. Just now starting to fill out & eating like crazy right now. 4-5 oz. every 3 hours. We've started him on a little formula & been putting a little rice cereal in the bottles to try & keep him full. He is trying to hold his bottle on his own now, which is helpful when Gavin needs something. He also loves holding & chewing his chewy toy.



He also loves to suck his fingers. Pulls the passy out sometimes, just so he can suck on his hand.



He is starting to coo (sounds like "whoo" & "oww") & laugh but only in little spurts when he's being tickled. He smiles a lot though.
















Cooper,
Mommy loves you so much & wants to know what all you have to say. So, go ahead & grow up really fast so we can talk some more, but then you have to promise to stop growing for a little bit. I'm not ready to have 2 big boys, so just be my chatty baby for awhile. It will be so much fun once you can tell me what you like & dislike.
Mommy.

Quotes from Gavin...

I've seen several of my blogging friends post funny quotes from their kids, and have always intended to give it a try. Being today is Barry's 31st birthday, I thought I'd stick to the theme of funny things Gavin has said to or about Barry in the past month or so....

* "Daddy, you don't kiss mommy on the mouth, I kiss mommy on the lips!" (this morning after Daddy's birthday kiss).

* "Mommy, you can't fly me in the sky when I be buzz lightyear." me: "why not?"(pretending to be disappointed) "Daddy has to fly me cause he's got bigger muscles like me!"

* "Mommy, how 'bout I take the paper chains off, so Daddy can come home today?" (last time Barry was at a conference, we use the paper chain to count down the days til he comes home, which has lead to the confusion that the chain actually causes daddy to come home.)

* "Daddy is a boy, cooper is a boy, and Gavin is a boy like me! Mommy you not a boy like me, you a girl like Aly." (the dog, gee, thanks for the reminder)

* On the way to the campus house for dinner: "Mommy, Daddy has to do working at his job?" Me: "yes, he's working at the campus house" Gav: yeah, he has to do his working on his 'puter (computer) at his office. He has to do a good job like me when I do a good job on the potty" Me: "yes, Gavin, Daddy does a good job on the potty too. (laughing)" Gav: "yeah, he's a good job."

* "Mommy! Daddy need dis birfday card with the kitar (guitar) cause he plays his kitar at the campus house church!"

* "Daddy, you come to my carpet & I westel (wrestle) you! Grrrrr."



So, to sum up....Gavin's favorite things about Daddy are:
He plays the kitar at campus house church
He westles on the carpet
He is a boy
He has bigger muscles than me

Well, how can I compete with That!?!

Letter to Kerstin's Parents...

The students at CSC are putting together a book of letters for Kerstin Taylor's parents. The book is full of memories of her & her legacy at CSC.
Here is the letter that Barry & I wrote for her memorial book:

I (Barry) first met Kert in the summer of 2007. I was in the gal’s hallway of the CSC house working on some apartments broken plumbing when this new face comes bouncing down the hallway toward me. She introduced herself to me, telling me she was a resident of the house and I remember her telling me how she would look forward to getting to know me and my family. Little did I know at the time just how well she would get to know me and my family.

I (Christi) first met Kerstin during move-in weekend in 2007, the year Barry & I moved back to Macomb. She was living at the Campus house and Erica Polley, a friend of mine since childhood, was her new roommate. In the course of visiting Erica & helping her get settled in her room, I had my first conversation with “Kert.” I knew that day that Kerstin would be one of those students that we would be particularly close with. She was the first friend that I made amongst the campus house students and has been my closest friend ever since. Within a few weeks of meeting, we had Kerstin visiting our house and taking care of our Dog Aly when we were gone on weekends. Aly typically is very wary of strangers, but warmed up to her so quickly and loved to snuggle in her arms so much that Kert became our regular dog-sitter. Later in October of 2007, our son Gavin was born and Kerstin was the only campus house student that came by to meet him in the hospital, she was nervous to hold him, but we made her do it anyway. We didn’t often leave Gavin with a sitter until after he was a year old, but the first time he stayed with someone, it was Kerstin. He was about 9 mos. old, and we had a good laugh at how Kerstin put his diaper on backwards (the Velcro straps were in the back). She was so proud to tell me that she even changed his diaper all by herself, and then felt silly when I showed her how much easier it would be if the straps wrapped around toward the front. We knew then that she hadn’t had a ton of babysitting experience with really young babies, but we really didn’t care. We trusted Kert more than anyone. We would often receive a call from a person in the community asking for a college student that could babysit, and she was always our number 1 recommendation. People were always thrilled with the attention she would give their kids. We remember when she babysat Grant Downin one summer, she did a bible study lesson with him every day that summer. She mentioned that he was like the little brother that she never had, and I reminded her that most people don’t love their little brothers near that much! She would have been an amazing mother, and raised her kids to love the Lord and people as passionately as she did. I am saddened to not have gotten to have seen that dream realized for her.

We often find ourselves thinking of many of the college students as though they were our own children. Seeing them grow & develop into adults is one of the greatest parts about working with college students. There are many times that we feel so proud of who they have become (knowing full well that we have had very little to do with that growth), some memories of Kert that have made us proud include:
• The week of 5-6th grade camp that she worked at with me last summer. She talked during the mission’s time about all the mission work that CSC is a part of and all the various trips she has been one. It was then that Barry & I realized that Kerstin in her 4 years at WIU & CSC had gone on every trip that we have taken at least once. She truly had a heart for serving people, even though going on one of these trips would require her to scrimp & save to come up with the cost. After this years’ mexico trip, I was told that she has now officially built every part of the Casas por Cristo house, each year having taken on a different portion of the building project. Which having built these houses myself tells me that she has volunteered to take on the least desirable parts of the process, which many students try so desperately to avoid (i.e. pulling the chicken wire, insulation, tarring on the roof, stucko). In addition to that, I know she was always willing to help get dinner ready, pack sack lunches, and wash dishes, while the other students were off playing cards or taking a nap. Many people take a short-term mission trip, but Kerstin had missions as a lifestyle.
• Kerstin had quite a reputation around campus to an extent that I did not even realize fully until this past few weeks. She worked in Sherman Hall, essentially just shredding documents & making copies, but there isn’t a person that I’ve spoken to that doesn’t know exactly who she is and how friendly she always was. Kerstin was always that way, 5 minutes into a conversation with her & you knew that you liked her. Others around Sherman have stopped through mentioning that they had heard that we had lost a student, but weren’t sure if they knew who she was. As soon as I would pull out a picture of her, EVERYONE knew her… ”Oh, she was the girl that would always be humming as she hauled boxes up & down the hall” or “she would always have her ipod in, looking like she was jamming out to something” or “she met me one time, but always remembered my name and ALWAYS said hi when we passed each other in the hallway.” Even the president remembered when she had stopped by for a piece of candy from our reception area and made a point to introduce herself and shake his hand. She was always so personable with everyone and I know I will continue to hear of how people remember having met her.
• She had a very special friendship with my son Gavin. In addition to having babysat for him off & on, she was one of the only people he would always give a hug to. He knew, as did the rest of us, that her hugs were very special & just made you feel so loved. I have so many funny memories of the two of them… Kerstin dressed as a mime for Halloween one time & had her face all painted white, Gavin got really scared & wouldn’t believe that it was her & that it was ok to give her a hug. He kept telling her to wash that icky stuff off her face, she was trying to not speak but mime everything, but took a break from that to explain to him that it was just silly paint on her face & that it wasn’t scary. Last fall, Gavin gave Kert a big hug after bible study & then patted on her chest with both hands as he looked up at me & said mommy “what’s dis?” We laughed for a long time… oh, the funny things kids say.
• After being to Juarez, Mexico just one time, it seemed obvious Kerstin had left an impression with those we worked closely with who live in El Paso. I can remember the first Casas por Cristo mission trip I took with Kert, and it was her second year going. As soon as we got out of the van in El Paso, one of our team leaders who lives in El Paso sees Kert, and calls her by name as they give each other a big hug. This is not a surprise since hugs were one of Kert’s specialties. I would venture to guess that if we were to revisit the homes where Kert helped build, she would be one of the few people the family members could remember by name. Kert’s actions in Juarez are just another example of her impartial love for people.
• Kerstin was also one of the favorite people with the kids who lived at Shiloh Christian Children’s Ranch in Kahoka, MO. Kerstin made three trips to Shiloh with CSC, and just as was the case with the people in El Paso/Juarez, it was the case with the children of the Penfield home at the Shiloh Ranch. She was remembered by the kids each year she came back. They would greet her by running to her and hugging her. She also spent time with these same kids out at Lamoine Christian Service Camp where Kert helped one or two weeks each summer.

We are so thankful to have known and loved Kert over the past 3 years. We are better for having known her & her tremendous heart. We won’t ever forget the impact that she left on our lives, the ministry of CSC, and the WIU campus. Thank you for allowing us to borrow her for these past few years, for allowing us to be her family, and for allowing her to be a part of ours.

Grandma Pam

Grandma Pam has had some major improvements in the past week or so, she is finally off the ventilator for good this time. The trach (sp?) is out & she is talking great now. With this HUGE step forward, she seems to be more motivated & eager to move back home (still a ways away). She has been a little confused off & on about what her body is capable of doing; thinking she can get up & walk or use the bathroom, but it's been over 100 days that she's been confined to the hospital bed. I can't tell you how happy I am that she has been making progress; my worst fear was that she wouldn't improve to the point of being able to see Gavin & Cooper anymore. The hospital still won't let them back into her room, so we are eager to get her moved to a rehab. facility that will be more kid-friendly. Grandpa Jim brought her a birthday cake & we got to be there with her on Sat. for her birthday. of course, they didn't let her eat the cake, but Gavin dug into it & then the nursing staff also enjoyed it.
We are looking for more improvements in mobility & for her bed sores to heal up so we can get to see her more often. Right now the trips with both boys are tough as it takes all day to get there & back & Gavin gets restless in the waiting room, but we are so thankful that she is awake and getting back to her old self again!!

Looking forward to having a picture of her & the boys to post real soon!

It's been awhile...

So, I've been away from the blog for almost a month now, partially because I've been busy with 2 kids & partially because somethings have transpired that I haven't wanted to commit to paper (or computer screen or whatever). Here's a brief overview of the last month, I'm sure more details will follow:

1. Cooper is now 9 1/2 weeks old. Still very long & skinny, totally the opposite of Gavin. He is eating well & sleeping VERY well (almost too much at night). He has started to coo (sort of sounds like he's saying "how") & is giving big smiles anytime he is well-fed. Still totally feels like a newborn though, only 9 1/2 lbs.

2. Gavin has been having a blast this summer. He got two new boys at day care to play with & has completely outgrown the pull-ups. YAH!! I think a lot of the credit goes to having two boys close to his age that are potty-trained for him to watch everyday, he wants to be a big boy around them, but still wants mommy to baby him at home. He is starting to enjoy "reading" books at home, he flips through the pages & tells you what is happening & why the people are happy or sad or whatever. My favorite is his Noah's Ark book when he says "these people are being mean to God, and God is sad, they are hurting him." So funny that he picks up so much on the facial expressions in the pictures & regurgitates stuff that I have told him only once before.

Now on to the crappy stuff....

3. Barry's stepmom is still not doing too well. She was temporarily moved to a nursing home in Galesburg, but that only lasted for 2 days before she came down with an infection & had to be sent back to ICU. We did get to take advantage of the time at the nursing home & brought the boys over to see her. She had been so disappointed not to get to see Cooper up close. (I have to admit that I am relieved not to have to take Gavin back into that nursing home, though, he was really scared by all the people he saw in the front lobby, he didn't want to go back.) She is still on a ventilator & having trouble keeping her blood sugar at a good level given that she has the infected bed sore. We are still hoping that she will find the strength to get off the ventilator for good, so she can start moving towards more mobility & getting moved back home, but that seems to be far off.

4. On July 29, we lost one of our students from the campus house. I say "one of our students" but what I should say is our favorite student (if you're allowed to have favorites. Kerstin Taylor babysat for Gavin, dog-sat, & house-sat for us for the past 3 years we have been in Macomb. She is the one female student that I instantly bonded with & that we accepted into our family without hesitation. We are feeling a great personal loss & at the same time trying to discern how to meet the needs of our "kids" who have lost a friend. She was loved by everyone & known by everyone & we don't even know how this coming school year will be impacted with the loss of such a great leader, friend, and servant. I had a very brief talk with Gavin, not sure how much to even try to explain to him, but not wanting to just never mention her again. He just simply said that he would go see her at Jesus's house in a couple weeks; I told him not til he gets a lot bigger. They still haven't released her cause of death, but it seems to have been heart failure or something similar, very quick & unexpected.

5. We found a house that we were just in love with, and everything seemed to being falling into place: we had a great renter for our home, it had a pool, was totally within our budget, had a small room off the master suite (my scrapbook nook), and was only a block from our day care lady, but in the end another offer was accepted. It was at first very discouraging because we are so ready to move & get Cooper settled into his own room (or a shared room with Gav). It's been an emotional roller coaster for the past 6 mos. trying to sell our house, every week or two having someone that seems interested, then having it fall through. Every time we have found a house that we liked, it has been sold so quickly. We've heard that houses just aren't selling this year, but everything we want to buy certainly has. I'm trying to be patient & just let God work it out, but it's so hard at the same time. There is so much second guessing involved, I could make myself crazy re-thinking whether we should have offered more, or if we should have taken that ridiculously low offer that we got a few months back. We're at a place now that we really don't want or need to profit from the house, just sell it so that we don't have to own two places at once.

5. School starts in less than 2 weeks, and I think this is the first time I am happy to say goodbye to summer. I miss the hustle of students in town, and the busyness that overwhelms us at times but reminds us that we are doing something productive. I have missed the college students, at times they seem to be my only friends, and have missed Gavin's friendships with them as well. He has 50 some aunts & uncles that smother him with attention, so I know the summers are probably a bit of a letdown for him as well. I am excited to see how my new position really takes off when the kids are back in town as well. It's been a slow summer for me with trying to learn a new position in the midst of taking a 6-week maternity leave.

I've done a lot of thinking this summer...about my role at home, at CSC, at our local church and I've decided that I haven't been putting myself out there as much as I should to get to know people, students, my co-workers. I let myself stay busy at home with the kids so much that I have come to realize that I haven't formed the kinds of deep friendships that I had back in Downs. I have a few close friends, but in the absence of a small group to be involved in, I haven't felt quite the sense of community that I once depended on so much. I know my life as a campus minister's wife & as a mom is unique & to some extent limits my ability to have close friends, but I have made that an easy excuse not to get close to people. I'm not sure what I need to do to break out of my rut, but I now know I'm going to have to try more, friendships don't come as easy for me as they used to.


P.S. I hate how long this is, without any pictures....sorry

Proof that he is my son

Just because people always insist that Gavin is a "little Barry." I thought I would post these two pictures that showed up on my camera last month. I would assume Gavin took the one of me judging by the odd angle. See, he DOES look like me!

Cooper - 6 Weeks

It's hard to believe that Cooper is just over 6 weeks now. He has grown & changed so much and of course I have been so busy enjoying him that I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon, so now to quickly sum up how the last 6 weeks have been....

* The c-section went as planned. I went in to surgery at 7:30, and he was out at 7:39 without any complications. The worst part of the whole ordeal was the 5 attempts it took to get the IV in my arm. Also, have to say having a catheter put in is sooo much worse when you can actually feel it.

* Cooper was 7 lbs. 8 oz. & 19 3/4 in. long. His face looked so much like Gavin's right from the get-go that I was really having a hard time not calling him Gavin (still happens every now & then.) There wasn't much debate about his name, it was the name we had picked for Gavin, but then Barry changed our mind (yes, that's how I meant to word that) and he became Gavin. So, I finally have my Cooper. Gavin calls him Bubba or CJ, but Daddy is trying to make Coop stick, so we'll see...

* My recovery wasn't too bad, but the first 2 days home from the hospital were the worst part, just did soooo much more moving at home than I was doing at the hospital. I was so thankful to have my sister & her kids staying with Gavin. He was so busy having fun with them that he didn't feel abandoned by me or Barry. Boy, did I miss him that week though, it was nice to be home so I could have more time with him.

* Cooper had his one-month checkup (which actually ended up being at 5 weeks 5 days, and is now 9 lbs. 4 oz. & 23.5 in. long. He's 80% for height & 20% for head size & weight. Kind of the opposite of Gavin, at least in regards to his weight. Gavin put on weight soo fast & his head always seemed to big for his body. The biggest indicator that Cooper is really long: We had to move the straps on his carseat up to the second set of holes cause he sits so tall in the seat. I also noticed that the seat only goes up to 29 in. & he is already over 23! If he grows another 4 in. in the next 6 weeks, he'll be out of this carrier way earlier than Gavin was!

* About week 3, we all came down with colds that were pretty nasty. Gavin's only lasted a few days, but Barry was sick for almost 2 full weeks. We'll all saw the dr. during that time & probably dropped $200 on medicines (I know at one point I was taking 4 different things everyday & several of them more than once a day.) What a relief it was to get past that time.

* We spent week 5 in Indy with my family, so Gavin got more time to play with Addie & Avery. He enjoyed fishing, swimming, papa's boat, the big playground, the rock climbing wall, fireworks on the 4th, and probably the highlight of the week: Seeing Toy Story 3 at "the big movie place." He is still talking about how we can see Toy Story 3 again next time we go to gramaw & papa's house. We were also able to get some good pictures of the whole family & take the kids to get cousin pictures together for the first time.

* I started back to work this week & actually survived my first few days without any tears. It was rough trying to settle down to sleep the first night, with my mind racing about everything I needed to take to day care & remember to talk to her about. I was anxious but it helped that I feel really comfortable with our day care situation now. Nikie has been so good with Gavin & really understanding of how tough it is to head back to work. I'm surprised how easy the transition really was. It helped that Cooper gave me & Barry his first real smile the weekend right before he started at day care. I knew it would be any day now, and was nervous about him having some of his "firsts" at day care when I wasn't around. Now, if I can just get him to save his first laugh & his first steps for me that will be great!

* On a sort of unrelated note, we've been making trips to Peoria every weekend that we are free as Barry's stepmom has been in ICU at a special hospital there. She had bulging discs in her neck that required surgery the week that Cooper was born, and was left partially paralyzed. Since that time, she has made tremendous progress in regaining mobility but is still on a ventilator & unable to see the kids until she gets out of ICU. Prayers for her continued recovery would be appreciated. How hard it must be to not be able to see the boys, when I know she really wants to. We've discovered that we can hold them up outside her window, but she won't be able to hold them for quite awhile still.

Here are some pictures of the past 6 weeks!




 





 

The dimple

Early morning hours

4 days to go....

I'm only 4 days away from my scheduled C-section, and really starting to go stir-crazy. I had kept hoping that I would go into labor sooner & not have to spend the 3-day weekend at home waiting, but have since given up hope that things will progress any sooner than planned. I don't think all the castor oil, foot rubs, and walking in the world can make this baby come out any sooner.

Gavin is getting very excited now that his paper chain is down to enough links that he can count them all by himself...he insists that the babies bed should be in his room, so we may have a little fight about that when we move the bassinet back into our room. After a few nights of the baby crying, surely he will change his mind about wanting to share a room.

To help kill the time this weekend, I'm hoping to find as much fun stuff for the 3 of us to do as possible. In lieu of our usual garage sales on saturday, Gavin will be competing in a fishing contest, which I would imagine will be pretty funny. Maybe if he has good luck there, he'll be asked to go on the Pim boys fishing trip, as they never seem to catch anything (except a lot of slack from the wives they leave behind...)

Unfortunately, none of the area pools are open yet, but we may have to get a kiddie one with how hot it will be. Would be nice to lounge in a pool at least once this summer, not sure how much I'll get too post-surgery.

Next post, you should see some pictures of the newest Reed Boy!!!

Baby Gavin - Oct. 2007

I've been taking a trip down memory lane lately, thinking about what Gavin looked like when he was first born & how funny his facial expressions were.
Only 18 days (maybe less) until we get to meet his little brother. I can't wait to see how excited Gavin is after waiting so long for "Bubba" to arrive.
He's probably starting to think there isn't a baby at all, just mommy's big tummy.

He has a paper chain on his wall, and loves taking on off everyday, but doesn't seem to know what he is counting down towards....





I have a funny feeling that Bubba will look just like Gavin, and we'll have a hard time telling the pictures apart.

Gavin is now a certified big brother!

Gavin's chosen attire for watching the cardinals game!

Gavin singing

Gavin has become quite a singer these past 2 months. While Daddy jokes that he is tone deaf, I'm just impressed he can remember all the words to some of his favorite praise songs...

Gavin's new favorite game: lining up all his cars to make a big choo-choo!

Flowers from barry!

Starting New...

This week I am making the transition to my new position in the President's office. I've really enjoyed being with the fun, outdoorsy faculty & students in Recreation, Park and Tourism, but am excited for the new challenges that this promotion will entail. This change was originally scheduled last November, but this time of year seems perfect for a big job change. The weather changing is a bog motivator to look at what areas of life I can start fresh in, and where I have grown stagnant.
With a new baby coming, hopefully a new house purchase soon, and a new job, I'm feeling very overwhelmed with all this change, but I know that past periods of extreme change have also been times of extreme blessing.
When we first moved to Macomb 3 years ago with a baby on the way, a new house, and no jog prospects for me, we found very quickly that once the dust settled we saw God's hand in all the transition. So, this time around, I'm trying not to worry or be anxious about how the next 3 months will play out but just keep trusting that the house, baby, and job will all fall into place.

On a side note, Barry picked out (and he did pick them out, despite my skepticism) the most beautiful flowers for my first day at work. I love that even though I have insisted often that in general flowers bug my allergies & just seem like a waste of money, he knows I still like them every now & then. It's an even bigger deal when I know he is sweating our finances & pinching every penny. Nice to know he thinks I'm still worth spoiling!!! Love you Barry!!!

Let's go fly a kite!

We took Gavin out to fly a kite last monday, and although he was very excited at the idea, we didn't get it up very high in the air. There really wasn't enough wind, so we are looking forward to a day that is windy, so he can really enjoy it!
The pictures of him trying to make it fly are much more amusing than the ones of mommy running around dragging it.



Gavin after he gave up trying to make it fly...