Florida with the Fam

My whole fam...Mom & Dad, Kyle & Heather, Chad & his girlfriend Lorien, Chad, Gavin & I all went down to Florida for a family vacation together. The boys stayed for 3-4 days and the girls stayed a week. The weather wasn't as warm as we would have liked but that did not stop us from lots of golf, pool fun & shopping. As usual, Gavin was extremely spoiled with attention (especially in the pool with his uncles--one day he was in the pool for 2 1/2 hours STRAIGHT btwn Chad, Chad and Kyle). It was a great time for our family to get together and we questioned staying right through Thanksgiving....if only it were that easy...

Starting out the trip with a brand new adventure.

Walking right into Uncle Chad's arms again...and again...and again...

Throwing a little weight around.
We went out for ice cream and of course Dad was the only one indulging in two enormous scoops!


Heather got in touch with her inner super hero.


Gavin was in his glory and thought everyone's ice cream was for him. However, the biggest hit of the ice cream treat was using his very own mini taster spoon to get some from everyone.

Most of the time, his spoon came back empty but he didn't care.

Chad ruining the cute couple's picture.

Finally we got him to go for it.

The ladies.

Grandpa & Gavin looking for lizards.

Playing with Uncle Kyle in the pool.

How Grandma and Grandpa spend their afternoons.

Hot tub time! Gavin was a bit leary of the bubbles.

Kyle thought this picture would be so great...Gavin chilling by himself as if you can't see Kyle's huge body underneath him in the water.

Playtime and wrestling.

Gavin's BFF for the week and the recipient of many unsolicited open-mouthed kisses.

This post basically proves yet again how spoiled I am....because each month this fall there is a post dedicated to a Naples vacation and each time has been so relaxing...and this one was no different.

My Little Accountant

Every parent dreams about what their child will grow up to be...after showing a very strong interest in this toy abacus...I have to wonder...do we have a future accountant among us? Maybe there is a little bit of Mommy in him after all.

Monday Morning Mom's Date

Cooper was showing Gavin the ropes.

All 5 just chilling on the couch.

Elena was checking out what all this "boy stuff" was about.

Each Mom with her coordinating child:

Front: Sarah & Cooper, Amanda & Jackson

Back: Me & Gavin, Lisa & Lauris, Becca & Elena

Fun in a bucket...yep, we got Elena in there too.

Dance party in Coop's room--he was teaching Gavin some moves.

I love Mom dates with the kids...it is so fun to hang out with my girlfriends and just be moms together. We watch our kids play and laugh and indulge in big mugs of coffee and homemade treats together. Don't get me wrong...there is chaos and in my case, lots of "no-no's" but it feels so good at times to just hang with the girls and be able to talk about everything from pregnancy bellies, bottles, time-outs, work-outs and everything in between. My friend Sarah hosted us for breakfast the other day and it was so much fun. The kids had a blast playing together and the time just flew by. Thanks Sarah--can't wait for next time!

14 Months

I have to create a quick post about Gavin at 14 months. I feel like seriously he is changing so rapidly and from month to month, he will TOTALLY surprise me with new things and what he is learning.

So here are the basics....

*Takes 2 naps a day usually equalling out to 3 hours but would often sleep 2 hours in the am if I let him...which I don't otherwise the afternoon nap is too late and too short.

*Eats everything but is starting to be preferential. If something better is on the plate, he will ignore many veggies and all meat. He is now often spitting out all the chicken and turkey we give him. However, his current favs are blueberries, yogurt, cheese and anything with spaghetti sauce.

*Wearing 12-18 on top...but those chunky little legs are barely long enough for 12 month pants...go figure right??

*JUST (and I mean just as in last night) cut his 5th tooth and the 6th is coming fast and furious on its tails.

Now for the fun stuff...

*He is learning so much new stuff...Chad taught him how to kick a ball (we are still working on throwing).

*He gave his very first kisses this weekend. He has only given out about a dozen b/c apparently he is quite stingy with them...unless you are a stuffed toy or animal...then he's got his mouth all over you.

*Obviously he is still very into waving and now clapping.

*I usually have to pull him out of the bathtub b/c he just loves to be in there until he is wrinkly.

*As for speech...still not too much to report...it is POSSIBLE (just possible) he is saying MaMa but I am playing it a little conservative here and am not quite ready to call it.

*He still loves to wrestle and headbutts all his big stuffed toys and/or pillows.

*He has begun climbing onto things himself...furniture, boxes...comical but dangerous!

*He loves books and will bring you books to read to him. He also loves toys that involve matching the pieces with the same shaped hole...he loves that stuff even though he never gets it right!

*He is still crazy for dogs and other animals and will often chase Maddie around with her rope just laughing his head off. His new obsession is the fish screen saver Chad put on--he just wants to sit on your lap and look and point at them...and talk in his own language to them of course.


Overall, he is just a crazy happy kid who I love to hang out with. He makes me laugh (and knows it) but he is becoming "smart." I'm not saying smarter than any other kid his age by any means but I am slowly starting to see the understanding in his face when I talk to him. If I say lets go look at the fish, he runs to the computer and there are so many little things like that which amaze me.

So that's it....life at 14 months. Its a crazy crazy fun time.

Celebrating 60

Chad's Dad recently turned 60 so we went to Detroit this past weekend to celebrate. We had a great time hanging out with family as usual. Saturday night us kids took Mom and Dad out for a nice dinner to celebrate his birthday while the kids stayed with a sitter. As always, Gavin loved playing with his cousins and was often found following them around laughing and having fun.

Mom & Dad H at the birthday dinner.

Nate & Christa
Chad & Jen

Dessert afterwards with the kids--Morgan helped Papa with the candles.

We ALL enjoyed cake and ice cream.

Gavin meets Wrigley for the first time...it went well in spite of the cat's unfortunate name.

s little pied piper.

Charlie Wendell

My cousins Erin and Craig welcomed a little boy on November 1st named Charlie Wendell. He was three weeks early and such a little peanut at 7 lb. 1 oz. He had a brief stint in the NICU while they regulated his glucose levels and checked out a dislocated hip but was home with Mom and Dad 4 days later. He is so sweet and has these fine little features that are just adorable. I was able to see him in the NICU for awhile and then last week my mom, Chad, Gavin and I all brought dinner down and spent some time with the Haans. It was a fun night and great to see how well they are adjusted. Congrats Haans! We can't wait to see our little boys grow up together!

If You're Happy & You Know It

CLAP YOUR HANDS!!! Believe it or not, Gavin has FINALLY begun clapping his hands. I can hardly believe it. It was like suddenly yesterday a light bulb went off, and he was like oh, THAT is what you want me to do! ha ha. Yesterday morning he watched my hands clapping...studied is more like it...then slowly moved his hands in the same way and just looked up at me with the absolute biggest grin on his face when he got it! He's been clapping ever since. It cracks me up!

I guess there is something to be said when your child does something months after the average child...the excitement is SO much greater because my gosh, we've been waiting for this for at least 5 months. I kid you not. Video to post soon I hope! :)

"Fall Back"

Ok...so we just had daylight savings time where we "fall back." Fine--I understand why we do it but I don't like it. I don't like changing all the clocks in my house and for the next few days wondering did I or didn't I change this clock? I don't like it getting dark at 5:00 pm (soon to be 4 pm) or that this means winter is just around the corner. However, most of all I don't like what this has done to my child's sleep schedule. Am I alone in this? We had such a great routine--bed at 8 pm and wake at 7 am. That I can handle. Now, Gavin is ALL off schedule...I still put him down at the same time each day for naps and get him to go to bed at 8 thinking that his little biological inner-clock will straighten out but nope, he is up at 6 am every morning. On the dot 6 am. That is just too early. (Not to mention, the evenings can get brutal with crabbiness since he is getting an hour less sleep a day since I am not putting him to bed earlier). So, I am writing about it b/c I am dreading tomorrow morning when I have to be ready for work before he wakes up...6 am?!?! That is too too early. So tell me, Moms who have been through this...does it get better? Will he adjust? Or am I stuck with a 6 am wake up call for now? Until then I'll just be dreaming in my one hour less of sleep nights of April when we can "spring ahead"....

Days Like These....

...are why I love fall. I love the fact that the weather is turning cooler but is still perfect for jeans and a t-shirt...and the leaves are starting to fall...and you sleep with the windows open but the covers tight up to your chin...and chad starts to get less busy at work which means he is home more...and Gavin just loves being outside so I get adorable pics like these...

Saturday (Play)Date Night

Saturday night we went for dinner over to my cousin's house for a play-date night. It was 3 of us couples who have little ones that are pretty much exactly the same age. In fact, we figured out that they are all within 48 hours of each other. My cousins Jordan and Jess Hoekstra have Cally who was born on September 12, Chad and I had Gavin 6 hours later on September 13 and my cousins Brad and Lea Huiner then had Zachary on September 14 around 8 pm. Needless to say, these kids were like three peas in a pod. It was hysterical. They just ran around playing together and following each other around. Now, this night confirmed our fear that Gavin is a bully. He likes to rough house and had done so with Zach and Taylor Leonard in FL but apparently it didn't stop there. Much of the night he went up to Zach Huiner and tried sitting on him, pushing him, pulling his shirt and bear hugging him...all done with a high pitched laugh and screams of delight. Of course, he wasn't trying to be mean but...when the other boy starts crying...you gotta call it quits. So...again, Gavin's behavior was out of control. It was still a great time though and we can't wait to get these 3 together again.

Let the "attacks" begin...

And when everyone is playing nice, Gavin goes straight for Cally's flower.

Cousin Cuties.

An attempt to get all 3 in a picture.

"Attempt" being the operative word (for the record, I think Gavin pushed Cally off so he could climb on the chair.)

Happy Halloween

We had such a crazy fun filled Halloween on Friday. Thankfully the day started with Gavin taking an awesome mornning nap so we could fit in all our other activities for the day. First , we went to Homewood and handed out candy to everyone. He was hysterical...once he got the hang of it, he just kept going back to his pumpkin and bringing candy to everyone. We were lucky enough to see Gavin's friends Jackson and Lauris there too. After we stayed for lunch, we headed to SSI to go see Daddy at work too. Again, my little dinosaur was a huge hit...handing out candy to all the ladies, laying on the charm. Finally, after a snooze in the car, we headed downtown to Hyde Park to go trick-or-treating with my cousins. It was such a beautiful night and we had a great time going through the neighborhoods, checking out the mansions and of course keeping our eyes open for Obama! We did hit his street but weren't allowed to actually visit his house! Gavin LOVED the whole thing...he just walked around and watched all the kids. He wasn't too sure about the getting candy part from strangers but really, can you blame him? It was a really fun night!

Our first stop...Homewood Disposal with his friends Lauris, Jackson and their Mommys.

Dutifully handing out his candy at SSI.

While at SSI, he decided to help Daddy with a few route changes.
Hanging with Daddy at work.

All ready for trick or treating....

Bea the fairy, Sam the spider, Gavin the dinosaur, Margot the chicken and Addie the spooky vampiress.

Strollin through Hyde Park.

The tail...sold me on the costume.

Taking a breather.

He need to be convinced to approach most houses (Notice Obama's campaign bus in the background!)

Following Bea's lead and helping himself after staring at the bowl for at least an entire minute without touching anything.

Pretty content hanging onto his one piece of candy.