Jackson Thomas

So FINALLY....after many weeks of being patient, we were able to go see our good friends Dave and Amanda's new baby Jackson Thomas. He was actually born on September 24 (a few weeks early) and weighed in at a whopping 10 lb 6 oz and 23 inches. However, despite his healthy size, he ended up in the NICU for over 2 weeks. It was such a hard and stressful time on Dave and Amanda but they were amazingly strong through all of it. He had some breathing problems that led him to need extra care for awhile but finally a few weeks ago, they were able to take their new baby home. I was able to visit him twice in the NICU which was such a treat but finally Chad and Gavin were also able to meet him as well. He is such a sweetie and loves to be held and snuggled...which I was definitely ready to volunteer for when we visited. We had a great night and while we cuddled Jackson, Dave got rowdy with Gavin. Gavin definitely found a new friend that night that was ready to wrestle and play with him. It was so much fun! Congrats Dave and Amanda!

Little Jackson only opened his eyes for a short time while we were there!

Gavin and Dave worked on their golf swing together.


We got to cuddle with 5 week old Jackson!

Then they played swords with the golf clubs...typical boys.

Chad was trying to remember EVER doing this with Gavin!

Dave was even reading Gavin some stories.

Then they created a new game...put it in Dave's mouth and Gavin will come get it with his mouth. I don't think Dave will have ANY problems raising a boy!

!

Dare to Scare

Saturday night we went to my cousin Anne & Dave's annual Halloween party. We weren't planning on going until the last minute when Chad's parents so kindly volunteered to babysit so our costumes weren't much but we still had a great time! There was a variety of costumes that night most of which weren't "scary" but they were scary in how REAL some of them looked! It was great so see all my cousins and we had a really fun time seeing everyone dressed up. Here we are in our alter-egos for the night.

Chad as "Joe the Plumber" and Jen as "Erin" and by that I mean my cousin who is a huge packer fan and pg...it is kinda silly and only made sense to my cousins, but the cheesehead was so worth it.

The cousies and Dave as the leader and his many wives from the Texas religious sect whose children were taken earlier in the year. Note the sad and submissive faces.

Joe the Plumber, Lars & the Real Girl & Ty Pennington.

I guess this should be called "Erin...and Erin."

I Heart Grandma & Grandpa

This past weekend Chad's Mom and Dad came for a visit and Gavin was in his glory. He had endless entertainment all weekend. It was only a matter of time before he had them in the basement in a full on wrestle-mania giggle fest. On Saturday we went down to Kankakee to visit Chad's Great Aunt Gen & Harvey and his Grandma and Grandpa Norton who were in from Detroit staying down there for Olivet's Homecoming. Amazingly enough, Gavin did great while we had a "formal lunch" to which I forgot to bring the booster seat. He loved spending time with his Grandma and Grandpa and we couldn't resist when they offered to babysit on Saturday night while Chad and I had a night out! It was quite a treat for us and for Gavin. It was a fun weekend and Gavin loved having a visit! Thanks for coming down and for babysitting! See you again in a few weeks!

Wrestling with Grandpa.

Lunch with the adults...we made do with a pillow and a belt.

Horsing around.

Grandma letting Gavin get into all her stuff that Mommy doesn't let him play with. :)
Hyper time before bed.

13 Months Came & Went

So, Gavin's 13 month update basically just came and went. I never did post anything about what he was up to but I feel like lately I am always playing catchup with this blog. Anyway, thought I should at least mention it so in two weeks when he turns 14 months and I forget to blog about it I won't feel so bad.

Regardless, there is nothing much new to report since 12 months...still no words, just a lot of "eee eee" and pointing. Hmm. He understands ALOT of things though that's for sure.

He is still a crazy boy and loves running around tackling things (and/or people), head-butting things (and/or people) and making himself laugh constantly.

He is starting to get a stranger danger complex...he used to be Mr Personality when it came to strangers but lately he just prefers Mom...even when he knows people, it is taking him longer to warm up these days. Although, I'll often catch him randomly waving at strangers as they walk by...to which most strangers get very excited. So, I'm hoping it is just a short phase.

Obviously he's been walking like crazy--he has no fear and thinks he can walk wherever, whenver, etc.

Two naps still--he does good with that. On an average day it is an hour and a half in the am and the pm. I can live with that. I like having two breaks a day but I will also like having my whole morning free when he gives it up.

He is a big eater...I mean BIG. He eats a lot and basically eats everything.

He is full time sippy cup and whole milk...transition went really smooth.

Each day when he hears the back door open he takes off at a run to the back door to see his Daddy. It's really really cute so I encourage by saying things like "Who's here?" because I seriously love it.

At 13 months...he is super fun but such a busy body. We're having a good time with him I just can't fathom what I'll do when winter hits...I'm just imagining going a bit stir crazy not getting out alot. Until then...we will keep going out and taking walks until we freeze our little buns off!

Good for Something

Husbands are good for something...well, alright, they are good for ALOT of things but in this case, good for blog fixing! I'm so glad my husband is smarter than me when it comes to computers b/c I was very discouraged about the issue I was having. Apparently to all of you viewers, it wasn't so obvious but all my profile stuff was at the bottom and the alignment of all the posts had gone awry. How this happened, I don't know but it had something to do with my "Fun in the Sun" post which I was dreading having to redo. However, Chad took a quick (very quick) look and had it fixed and his answer...just a simple HTML writing problem. He says he won't divulge his secrets ...and I am fine with that as long as it worked! Yay to Chad! Thanks hubby! You definitely are good for alot of things but today....you are great for blog fixing which translates into making your wife happy. And isn't that the ultimate goal everyday?!?! :) Love ya!!

Blog Gone Awry

Ok, so I have finally finished my Florida post and obviously you can tell it was quite lengthy. I have been working on uploading here and there throughout the day...so in the end, I had errors and I posted anyway...and now my blog is disfigured. Seriously...I don't know why or how to fix it. I just don't have the energy to figure it out either. So, if anyone has any ideas as to why this happened...help a girl out so I can continue updating as I do have lots more to post about! Thanks.

Fun in the Sun

Last week we went to Naples with our friends Ben and Carrie and their two kids, Taylor (3 1/2) and Zach (3 weeks older than Gavin). It was quite an undertaking and at times we definitely felt like the ratio of 4 adults to 3 kids was more than necessary. We had about 5 days of fun in the sun and it was so great! The weather was perfect which allowed us plenty of time for swimming and spending time outside. The boys golfed, we hit the spa and in between there were alot of fun times together. The kids were crazy for the pool and Gavin was crazy for the kids. He was often found trailing behind Zach or Taylor trying to do what they did, play with them or wrestle with them. It was a great vacation and we all had a blast. Here are a ton of pics...because I can't decide which to post and I just love them all...and its my blog so I can do what I want to. :) ha!

Two peas in a pod--these two played so well together.

Gavin and Daddy spent lots of quality time together (nice for Mom!!) Carrie and her peanuts.
I love these little buns...both sets!

Relaxing and watching a movie...for like 10 minutes until it was chaos again.

Cruisin the mall...the envy of all the other kids at the mall playland. That's right.

Taylor allowed her shadow to help her mix her "sugar."

Momma's Boy.

Lunchtime...aka Feeding Frenzy!!

Ahh...a moment of peace.

Aunt Jen and Tay..her response upon seeing this photo, "Wow! That's cute!" ..and I have to agree with the 3 year old.

But wow, she is darn cute.

An attempt at getting them all in a picture together.

The spicket...now that was a good time.

WWF...usually initiated by Gavin. He would run up to Taylor and bear hug her until they toppled on top of each other...again...and again...and again.

Imagine lots of sweating, high pitched screaming and laughing.

Followed by crying b/c inevitably someone hit their head.

Very cute group photo.

Time to get SILLY!

BFFs.

Zach and his Daddy.

Moms and kiddos.

At this moment both are shaking their heads "No-No" while staring at the temptation before them.

Rockin what he's got.

Harris Family.

Daddy and Gavin just doing some light reading.

Chaos at its best!