New Moon, opening night

Dale surprised me, drove all the way downtown (I had no idea where we were going)and had reserved seats for the 7:45 playing. Good thing, because everything was sold out till after 10pm. They even had a showing every 1/2 hr. until 5am! I couldn't believe it.

We had fun, after waiting in line to get in the theater an hour ahead, and after the girly teenage screams subsided. Can't wait for Eclipse this coming June!

24 weeks ( 5 1/2 months)

I love my little belly. I feel so much cuter when I'm pregnant (don't hate me). I'm about 32-33 inches around now.
Gavin wanted to take a picture of my belly today, so here's photography from his perspective.

Joy School

Since September, we've been doing Joy School (pre-preschool) on Mondays. Its been lots of fun and Gavin always asks if we're going to school. He's starting to understand the concept of tracing and the kids are doing so well now that they're more familiar with it. Last week everyone was actually there at Andrea's house, so I took a picture.

We're having a .....

GIRL !

These are pictures of pictures, so they're clearer as originals, but this is a great profile of her cute little nose.

She was doing some crazy things to move away from the transducer pushing her during the ultrasound. (and it didn't feel so great to me.) The lady thought it was so funny that she put her legs all the way over her head, so she took a few pictures. This is her gymnast move, with head AND feet on my right side.

She was finally tuckered out at the end. Here you can see her eyes, cheeks and mouth better. (the angle makes her
nose look wide, so no she doesn't have a bigger nose)

In these pictures, she's 13oz. and 10in. long.

She'll even be much cuter in person when we see her about the 3rd week of March, (the 12th-18th) at 6lbs 10oz - 7lbs respectively, depending which day it is. (that's my prediction)

Taffy Pull

Dale was determined to make taffy atleast once while in Houston. One day it wasn't that humid, and it worked. Unfortunately, it melted the next day in the cold humidity. At least they had fun playing tug-of-war.

Stake BBQ

Houston North Stake BBQ came equipped with the taste of a good 'ol bluegrass festival. Gavin danced the WHOLE time music was going. I've got lots of good video on my little camera, once I figure out how to play it back off the camera.

This reminded me of singing at "The Barn" and lots of fun memories with my grandparents when I was younger. I told Dale if I had known, I would have brought my spoons and broke them out right there. He said he'd go grab me some plastic ones. Haha, he's so funny. ; )

Gavin started this dancing group by the stage. It attracted lots of other kids.

Gavin with his favorite little girl, Aubrey.

Halloween

Gavin was Max from "Where the Wild Things Are". It's one of his favorite books, and the movie just came out in October, but we haven't seen it. Dale's mom made this costume while we were at her house this summer, which was good since there were no costumes like it anywhere. Everyone was so surprised to see him dressed as Max, for those who knew about the book or movie. One little girl thought he was a zebra. Gavin is practicing being a "wild thing" and scaring daddy below. Here's the movie link : http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com

Gavin learned to use the camera

Dallas - Oct 15

I successfully completed my first Road Trip alone, and with a 2 yr old in the car. We only had to stop for him once, and he had no accidents ! I was so thrilled. I picked up my mom at Dallas/Ft.Worth Airport, and spent Thurs.&Fri. with her. It was so great to just relax and see my mom. We went and toured Mary Kay HQ, amazing little museum, and ate lunch there. We also strolled the Plano, TX mall, had Godiva chocolate, of course, and watched Gavin play on humongous fake breakfast food. He also got to meet Geoffrey the Giraffe from ToysRUs ! It'll be a while till I see my mom in Phoenix again, so I was glad she was so close to visit. Miss her.

Why does he have a bed again ?

This is how I found him most nights in October. That solved the delema about whether or not we should buy him a twin mattress. Whats the point if he sleeps on the floor any way? The past 4 or 5 nights this 1st week in Nov. I got him to sleep in his bed, but really right now we don't care where he sleeps as long as its not in our bed. (which means "I'm" the one that can't be lazy and stay in bed at 3 or 4 am, when I get to go to his room.) At least I don't have to stay awake come 5:50 and go to work. That I'm grateful for.
[his play tent ON his bed so he'll sleep IN his bed, baby steps]

The Visual Child

[from Child Sense, by Priscilla Dunstan / Parenting magazine, November 2009, pg.28]
Visual kids learn by watching and imitating you [his father, and everyone else he plays with]. They enjoy organizing their toys by shape, color, or size, [see picture example below] and tend to learn to read easily. Too much visual input from TVs, crowds, and clutter can be distracting.
As Babies: Visual infants often get labeled "good babies" because it's easy to meet their needs. All that these babies need to feel secure and comforted is to be able to see their parent or caregiver nearby.
As Toddlers: Tantrums for these kids are very dramatic, with vivid expressions and copious tears [just to paint a picture for you on my less favorable days]. Offer a visual distraction, such as a brightly colored toy. Or just look away - he hates being deprived of an audience.
As Preschoolers: These tots get bored if they can't see what they're learning; think picture books, flash cards, and drawing on a chalkboard.

Our Visual Child

Isn't it great that we have so many resources out there these days to better understand these little people. Even the smallest of information and ideas can be helpful, and I love Priscilla Dunstan. She sure made my first time early motherhood easier with "Dunstan Baby Language". I'm going to need a refresher course soon.

Flu Bug

We had the Flu a few weeks ago. Dale from Sat-Thurs when he could go back to school, and Me from Mon-the weekend, and non-stop annoying coughing for another week. Gavin thankfully had no symptoms of being remotely sick, even though I had a 103 deg. fever for at least a day (slightly concerning when you're pregnant).

Gavin tried to be a good doctor. He learned to use our temporal thermometer, and my temperature was always "24". This is how he helped Dale the first few days:

Providing relaxing entertainment.

Keeping him warm and bundled.
Yes, that is Dale trying to sleep under there. I tried to rescue him, but he muffledly said he was fine, so I took a picture.

Camping with the Boy Scouts - sept 09

Dale is a Young Men/Boy Scout leader in our ward. Last campout, a bunch of families showed up when I didn't go, so Gavin and I decided to go with Dale this time. We were the only family, but still had a good time with the boys.

Gavin got to play football toss with the boys. They were so nice to include him.

Here's Dale supervising David cooking our camping dinner, beans and meat.

Boys making a fire. (I think they eventually just used a lighter, they forgot matches.)

He had no trouble going to sleep camping. Nothing to fear when you have mom and dad in a tent with you.

Tid Bits - sept 09

We finally got our new camera, killer steal on Amazon and 12 megapixel, and these are Dale's first test shots.

There's never as many photos of me, so Dale got me making dinner. I'm 14 wks pregnant here.

This is the only thing Lego I have from a Construction Engineering Banquet gift when I used to go to those in High School. Gavin LOVES making his different versions of a tractor.

Shadrach & Meshach, our Leopard Tortoises, now 3 1/2 yrs old.

flight from Phoenix -> Houston - mid Aug 09

These are the last pictures our camera we bought Christmas '06 just before Gavin was born... Broke. So I went almost 2 months without taking pictures, and I got real behind posting, but almost caught up now.

I let Gavin take this one of me.

The Biltmore Resort - end of July 09

This year, Dale is also the Dean of Delta Theta Phi (a law fraternity for legal professionals, male and female) at his law school. So, he was invited to the semi-annual conference at the Biltmore Resort, which happened to be right where we already were, in Phoenix, AZ! It was nice to have a 3 day weekend together to hang out at a Resort & Spa.

I went to the events I could, ate lots of great food and even got to listen to the Clerk of the US Supreme Court speak. THAT, was amazing. He has such awesome stories and teachings for life and leadership. Dale was so great and had made a reservation for me to get a "Champagne Pedicure" at the salon there. My toes felt very fancy.

View from the patio of our room out to part of the center walkway/courtyard. We even got to make S'mores one night on the lawn. I've never had S'mores served from a catering table before. That was fun.

Motorhome Trip to Flagstaff - July 09

My Grandma Dee called my dad on a Sunday and said she'd be driving through Flagstaff on Monday on her way home to CA. So good thing my dad had bought a little motor home from a guy the month before. I took off work and my Dad, us three girls, and our two boys pack up and headed up to cool country for a wonderful sweatshirt wearing day in the middle of July. It was great to see Grandma, and go road tripping with Dad and my sisters, just like we used to. We missed having mom though. She's the responsible one that went to work.

If you didn't know, Gavin has a love for his "Silkie Blankies", and I thought this was best case scenario for a 4 hr road trip.

Our "Yurt", a Native American style round hut my dad rented for us girls at the campground. It came equipped with wooden floors, a wood burning stove, and bunk beds. It was quite charming.

Inside the Yurt. We're blocking the boys, Hunter & Gavin, with a storage box to keep them inside.

The George Group:
Gpa Clayton, Gma Dee, Dad
Gavin, Me, Hunter, Megan, Lauren

Gma Dee & Dad
(He's wearing his good smile!)

Great Gma Dee & Gavin before bedtime.