Gavin's 1st Dance Recital and Fun with Mommy at the Park

Gavin's cousin Desiree had a dance recital this past weekend and since I LOVE dance stuff, I was overjoyed that Clay agreed to go especially since it didn't start until Gavin's bedtime.  I wasn't holding out much hope for being able to stay much longer than her first dance so I was overjoyed when I realized that Gavin was enthralled!!  He just stared and stared at all the dancers and clapped his little hands to the music!  It was so stinking cute.  There was even a little boy in the recital so I am using that as further proof that it is a good idea for Gavin to take dance for at least a year to see if he likes it.  I have not completely sold Clay on the idea, but I have a couple of years to win him over :-).

Clay ended up having to go to Ft. Valley with his Dad at midnight to fix an ice machine and didn't get home until 7:30 Saturday morning.  So Gavin and I packed up and headed to the park so that Daddy could get some much needed sleep.  It was super hot, but we managed to amuse ourselves and stay hydrated enough to give him about 2 hrs.

Gavin insisted that I go down the slide with him......

We finished up the day with swimming and yummy quesadillas with the Singletarys, but unfortunately I completely forgot to take a single picture....

This weekend, my precious little boy turns 2!!!  I can not believe how this year has flown by, it makes me sad to think about how fast he is growing up.

Catching up-April

Yikes! I just realized it has been over a month since I have posted!  I will try and condense as much as possible.

Easter
Clay and I traveled to Gainesville to see his Mom, so Gavin spent Easter with our wonderful friends, the Singletarys and Aunt Zi.  They were so sweet to him, they even had an  Easter bucket for him with lots of stuff, since his terrible Mommy completely forgot.  

Looks like he really misses us, doesn't it.....

The wonderful Easter bucket they made him!!

All dressed up and ready for church, aren't they absolutely adorable!!!

All tuckered out from Easter egg hunt #1

Thankfully we made it back in time to witness Gavin hunting Easter eggs for the second time that day.  He wasted NO time in getting down to business, let me tell you!

 All I know is that we have a LOT to live up to next year.  But what a wonderful blessing it is to have such incredible friends!

Gavin also spent the next weekend with them so that Clay and I could go back to Gainesville and be there for the rest of his family, when his Mom passed on.  The next week was pictureless and filled up with all the things that come when a loved one dies.


Isn't this just the sweetest picture!!

Family portrait on the cheap.....

The video below is of Gavin and Clay playing with a balloon.  It is kind of long but just listen to Gavin's laugh, it is so adorable!

The weekend before last, we went to Quitman so that we could go fishing and Gavin could "drive" us around.  It was hotter than the 3rd level of you know where, so Gavin was over the "fishing" within 5 minutes.  I managed to loose a couple of good sized fish and Clay caught 2, so not a wasted trip in the least!

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.