School Easter Egg Hunt

One of the many benefits in working so close to where Gavin goes to school, is being able to pop over there during the day when he has little things like this.  Honestly, I thought I would be gone from work at least twice as long as I was, but obviously I had overestimated the number of hiding places for eggs in the playground and the attention span of 15 2-3 year olds. 

I had this great idea of having Gavin wear something cute and spring like since I knew I would be taking pictures, but as soon as I tried to put it on him, he freaked out.  And surprising as this may be, he has not been picky over what he wears, up until this morning..... So after deciding it wasn't worth him screaming the whole way to school, I took the shortalls off of him and tried to put on a pair of shorts that looked decent with the t-shirt he had on.  Well that went ok, but then he pulled these huge UGA shorts out of his drawer and proceeded to put them on over the other shorts.  I was tempted just to let him go to school like that hoping he would get tired of the UGA shorts eventually, but I was a chicken, not wanting his teachers to think I had lost my mind.  So then I take the others off and he then finds the matching shirt which is also really big and puts that on.  I tried to explain to him that they were too big, but for some reason he just didn't get it..... or was it that he just didn't care, hmmmm?  So anyway, that is why my son is the only one in a huge basketball uniform while everyone else is in springtime or Easter appropriate clothing.  

His teacher, Ms. Chris told me not to send an Easter basket with him because she had a big basket and all the kids just put their eggs in it.  I don't know about you but the purple and hot pink basket that Gavin is carrying around, doesn't seem to fit any of those descriptors she used, does it??  Apparently no one else paid attention to her instructions and sent their children with their own baskets.  So only Gavin has the low rent, girly, shopping basket.  If he wasn't 10000% boy already, it might actually bother me instead of just being really funny.  But there is nothing girly about my son.....except his basket, LOL!!

This is one of Gavin's favorite friends.  He talks about this little boy and one other NON-STOP.  So sweet!!

This was my feeble attempt at a picture of the friends together.  Notice only Gavin's friend is listening when I tell them to say "Cheese" but even he isn't looking at me...

After the 3 minutes it took them to get all the eggs.  The teachers gathered them again for round #2.

I thought this was hilarious how Gavin got so excited that he bounced all of his eggs out of his basket

And this was round #3, they wasted no time getting off the starting line!

I think Gavin was kind of disappointed it was over!

Spring time

I am a few weeks behind with posts and pictures so if you have just come inside and are sweating like a beast, you don't need to wonder where we have moved to while you weren't paying attention since Gavin has on pants :-).

Every tax season after the first major deadline of March 15th, we get a tiny respite from our Saturday hours and get to take 1 Saturday off.  Usually I try and hold out for at least a week or two so the amount of time between my Saturday off and the end of tax season is as short as possible, to give me that much needed mental and physical energy to see it through those last weeks.  But this year, I could barely put two words together by the time March 15th rolled around, in fact I was so brain dead, I had completely forgotten that we got a Saturday off (I have been working here for almost 9 years.......).  So I obviously needed to take my Saturday immediately!!

Of course Gavin has no idea that Mommy needs to sleep late, all he knows is that I am home and he wants to take full advantage.  Luckily Clay keeps him at bay until 7, which honestly is the latest I have slept in MONTHS! so I was very happy.  Then we rushed down to Clay's parents to get a visit in before they headed off to dialysis.  Clay has been going down there several times a week to help his Mom exercise in the hopes that it will strengthen her heart enough so that she will be a candidate for the valve replacement she so desperately needs.  Anyway, Gavin gets sick of being in side so we all travel out to the porch.  Clay gets the bright idea to clean out a garden wagon and see if Gavin wants to ride around.  Silly Daddy, don't you know that once you start, you will never be allowed to stop???

Finally Clay gets to rest and Gavin pulls it around himself, I think he should have offered to pull his worn out Daddy around the yard a few times :-).

 Needless to say, he was dead asleep seconds after we got in the car.....There goes the afternoon nap for Mommy......

A couple of weeks later, we decided to head out to Kappa Delta's Shamrock Flag Football tournament at VSU.  This is a huge event they hold each year to raise money for Prevent Child Abuse and the Children's Advocacy Center of Lowndes County.  Clay used to play every year when we were in college and since I am a Kappa Delta, we both have very fond memories.  It is a two day event but Saturday it rained like crazy so we waited to head out there until Sunday after church.  It was a beautiful day perfect for being outside.

To say Gavin had a good time would be a serious understatement.  He screamed "FEETBALL, FEETBALL"  the entire time and kept trying to run out on the field to help the players out, or steal the ball, not sure which.  I was so excited to see Gavin so excited about a sport Clay and I both love.  I'm sure this will be an event that we can enjoy as a family for many, many years. Maybe one day we will even get to come and watch Gavin play!

How was your day

I pick Gavin up everyday from school and since I don't get off until 5:30, he is usually starving and cranky on the ride home.  So in order to expand our usual conversation of Gavin screaming "EAT" and me responding, "when we get home" 1,000 times, I have started trying to engage him in conversation.  Which I know will also help his speaking skills but I really do it for the selfish reason #1.  So this is how our conversation goes the first time I ask him a couple of weeks ago and pretty much every day since then.
Me: Gavin, How was your day?  Did you have a good day?
Gavin: No
Me: Really?  What did you do today?  Did you sing any songs?
Gavin: No songs, Mommy
Me: Really?  Well did you color?
Gavin: No color, Mommy
Me: Hmmm, well did you play outside?
Gavin: No outside, Mommy
Me: Well....what did you do today?
Gavin: Bite

And of course I immediately start laughing, so now it has become a game to him.  So now when I ask him how his day was, he immediately responds with "Bite, [insert name of school friend or teacher]" and has a huge grin on his face.  Thankfully during this period I have only gotten one note home about him biting anyone and that was last Thursday when he bit his teacher on the knee because she was the closest person around when he got mad on the playground.  Hopefully he is just teasing me because he knows it makes me laugh and not that he has gotten super stealthy about his biting activities.....Heaven help us!

And then on the other side of the spectrum, we were in the bathroom at Clay's new office Friday night and they had one of those really long light bulbs leaned up against the wall.  Well I didn't notice it and as I was putting everything back in Gavin's diaper bag, I hear this screech of metal against tile and as I turn around, I see him trying to pick it up!  So immediately I tell him "No, No, that will hurt you!" and as soon as I get it out of my mouth he looks up at me with the sweetest little face and says, "Me sobby, Mommy".  I almost broke down right there! And of course I give him big hugs and tell him that is alright and how proud I am of him for saying that!   I guess he learned to say he was sorry at school but we have never heard him say that, in fact I didn't even realize he would understand that so I haven't ever told him to tell me or whoever he has wronged that he is sorry.  Sweetest little boy ever or am I the biggest sucker ever??

And one last thing.  Over the past several weeks, he has started trying to sing little songs.  Most of which I assume he has made up in his head because I can't understand a single thing, but then I have heard him singing the ABC song.  And this weekend, we heard him singing, "God, God, Amen" and after a couple of times I realized that the tune sounded a lot like, "God our Father, God our Father, we give thanks...." And so I asked his teacher about it yesterday and sure enough, they have been singing that song before they eat their lunch everyday! So proud!!

Park and Cute Videos

And to finish off the past two weeks of craziness we took a trip to the park on Sunday after church and naps and then there are a couple of cute videos I got of him last night.

Sunday I caught Gavin singing his ABC's but as soon as I turned on the camera he stopped so this was me trying to get him to do it again.

Gavin has also recently started saying his name and yesterday started saying his last name as well.  There is also a short display of his toddler 'tude that is really funny right now but I know will need to be curbed pretty soon.

Wedding Debut

Clay's niece had asked us back in September if Gavin could be her ring-bearer.  After consulting with Aunt E and making sure his niece knew EXACTLY what she was getting herself into, we agreed.  Well those 6 months sure passed fast!

Friday night was the rehearsal and dinner where Gavin entertained himself by climbing/flipping himself over the backs of the pews onto the next seat.......Normally I would not allow this type of behavior but it was already WAY past his bedtime and I was willing to do about anything to prevent a meltdown/scene in the church and give the bride a nervous breakdown.   



Oh and did I mention that Clay had been commissioned to make some fruit art after his display at Gavin's birthday party??  And even though I had reminded him countless times we both managed to forget during our crazy week until someone at the rehearsal dinner mentioned it to him......  So off to Publix we go at 8:30 at night praying they have a watermelon and/or any other melons.  By this time, poor Clay had contracted Gavin's eye infection and was beyond miserable and his eyes made him appear as though he had been standing in a cloud of smoke from illegal drugs for the past two days straight.

When we ordered Gavin's suit for the wedding he was wearing mostly 12 - 18 month clothes so we figured ordering a 18 - 24 month should be fine and maybe even a little big.  Well thankfully Ashton kept asking me to have Gavin try it on and finally about 3 weeks ago we did.  WOW! that thing was TINY and HUGE!!!  The pant legs were about a foot too long but the waist was a good two inches too little.  Gavin is pretty long waisted but most 18 - 24 month shirts are plenty long.  NOT this one!!  We were hoping that once we got the pants altered that they would come up high enough to keep the shirt tucked in.

Thankfully we purchased a white shirt just in case.

As you can see, the vest was also too small and BARELY buttoned.

The tie was so short (clip on, couldn't be adjusted), it barely hit the top of his belly, so there was no getting out of wearing the vest.

But OH what a CUTE little boy he was!!!  no matter how uncomfortable it made him :-)

Since Gavin has adored Joey, the groom, since the 1st day he met him, we were hoping that Joey could just bend down at the front of the church and Gavin would come running to him.  Clay stood with him at the back of the church and I sat in the 2nd row hoping that if he wouldn't run to Joey he would at least run to me and make it most of the way down the aisle.  

I only got this one awful picture but he did such a GOOD job!  He came racing down the aisle swinging his pillow to and fro and made everyone laugh.

Joey had a reward for him, for doing such a good job which was also how I kept Gavin mostly quiet through the remainder of the ceremony.  Although Gavin kept yelling for "Daddy" and trying to get his Papa's attention in the next row.

The happy couple!

And I would be a terrible wife if I didn't show off Clay's recently discovered super talent at fruit carving!  Who knew!!

Week from you know where!

Springtime is always super busy for everyone, I know, and it has definitely been no exception for our family this year.  Since Clay is pretty much a single parent during tax season, I decided to give him a few hours of peace and quiet and take Gavin with me to the 13th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot fundraiser for the CAC on the 25th.  I know this sounds insane but I felt like it was do able for 2 main reasons. 1. I already knew the sound of shotguns didn't bother Gavin because at our SS Christmas party the guys shot skeet and it didn't phase Gavin in the least.  2. I was assigned as a volunteer to the drink cart, which consists of riding around in a golf cart and asking the teams if they want any water or soft drinks.  When I found out the night before that my brother and his girlfriend, April would be there, I knew that would only add to Gavin's fun time.

So off we went after I got off work on Saturday to Southwind Sporting Clays.  Once I mentioned to Gavin that Uncle Dave would be there, he couldn't quit saying Dave, Dave, Dave the rest of the ride over there.  I did get a bit concerned when I got there and the volunteer coordinator told me I had been reassigned to sit at the table and sell raffle tickets.....Of course she had no idea when she did that, that I would be bringing my toddler and since she doesn't have young children I am sure she forgot how impossible getting them to stay in the vicinity of the raffle table when it is outside and there is a BOUNCE HOUSE just 20 yards away is.  After about 30 minutes of chasing Gavin around the Kids Zone and trying my best to get him to stay by me, I admitted defeat and went to beg her to change us back to the drink cart.  Thankfully she did and it was smooth sailing from then on.

Gavin taking a break from the strenuous job of slinging water bottles and diet coke to play with sticks.













Uncle Dave and April

Gavin had a slight runny nose while we were there, but nothing unusual.  After we returned home and he woke up from his nap I noticed that he felt hot and sure enough he had a fever.....  It got higher as the afternoon wore on but nothing dangerous and his runny nose got worse and was accompanied by a nasty cough.  We skipped church on Sunday to spare all the other attendees from our germiness and when he still had a fever Sunday night and his eye was getting all gooey, we knew it was off to the Walk in Clinic on Monday.  Sunday night was not a good night, normally when Gavin gets sick, he sleeps even better than usual.  Not this time, oh no, not this time.  I can't even remember how many times poor Clay got up with him and each time Gavin would be screaming, "EAT, EAT" but then wouldn't eat anything.  His appetite had been off for about a week or two but I just chalked it up to toddler pickiness that I am always reading about.  

Gavin's eye looked bad on Monday morning but not awful however on the ride to the doctor he all of the sudden started crying and saying, "eye, eye, eye".  When we get there and I open up the back door to get him out of his seat, both eyes are now looking disgusting and producing excessive amounts of matter.  So in we go to the walk in clinic to be surrounded by 20 other highly contagious children slinging snot and coughing everywhere for almost 3 hours!  Every time I go there I feel the need to bathe in disinfectant when I leave!  When our favorite PA finally got to us, he said Gavin had the worst looking eyes he could remember seeing! Of course then I feel like a TERRIBLE mother for not taking him to Urgent Care over the weekend. Anyway, we get loaded up with prescriptions and it is off to the house.  The PA says Gavin needs to stay home at least 1 more day and probably 2.  Normally it wouldn't be such a big deal, however 1. it is tax season, 2. Clay is beyond swamped at work, with things that can't be done at home, and 3. I had already asked to take off at least part of Thursday so that I could take my Dad to have a heart cath.  

So the next two days are spent with me and Clay trying to alternate being home with a unbelievably cranky, hungry (but won't eat), non-sleeping, screaming, crying.  Wednesday morning we both agree that Gavin is NOT better and back to the virus breeding center we go.  Thankfully Wednesdays are not nearly as busy so we got in and out in a little less than 2 hours.  Gavin had lost 1/2 lb since Monday so in addition to a shot he got some Pediasure as well.  And of course after I go to Winn-Dixie to purchase some of that incredibly expensive stuff, Gavin decides he no longer likes it!!!  PRAISE the LORD, the shot started working not long after we got home and we could tell a noticeable difference by that night.  Which was good because Gavin was due to make his ring bearer debut at a wedding on Saturday!!

Hug

Gavin is growing by leaps and bounds everyday and he does or says something new at least a couple times a day.  But what he did this morning, completely melted my heart and made my day!  He had woken up right before I was leaving this morning and he was sitting in Clay's lap at the table.  I kissed him goodbye and then when I kissed Clay.  Gavin says, "Daddy, Daddy, hug"  He wanted a family hug before I left!  It was SO sweet!!  Man I love that little boy!