Lots to be thankful for

Its been a busy but fun holiday weekend, and we certainly have so much to be thankful for on Gavin's first Thanksgiving.  Gavin spent his first Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Mayner's house.  We didn't know it at the time, but Gavin was coming down with his first cold, so we didn't capture many pictures in between the fussing and sleeping, just this one of Gavin and Grandpa watching some football:

Gavin also met his great grandma Gallagher for the first time this weekend.  Here he is with great grandma and Ryan.  Gavin and Daddy decided to match for Thanksgiving :)

And here is Gavin with me and great grandma

We spent Black Friday avoiding the malls and the crazy women screaming and crying over the last cashmere sweater (that actually happened last year!).  Instead we decided to get our Christmas tree!  We thought that since its Gavin's first Christmas we would start the tradition of going to cut down our Christmas tree.  So we looked up Christmas tree farms in the area, we bundled up Gavin and we headed out on a half hour drive to the closest Christmas tree farm.

When we arrived, Ryan and I looked at each other and said "Where are the trees?"  But we decided to soldier on in the spirit of Christmas.  So we put Gavin in his huge snowsuit and bjorned him and headed out on our search for the perfect tree

The owner of the farm found us wandering around confused, and told us that we would have to hike along a trail to find the trees.  This "trail" was basically a half mile mudslide, and the trees at the end didn't look very promising, so we ended up taking a short video and then turning right around.  After two hours of driving all over Lake County, we ended up buying a tree out of a lot 10 minutes from our house, and Gavin slept through most of the tree picking process.  Oh well, maybe he'll muster up some more excitement next year!

That wasn't the end of Gavin's exciting weekend, he was also baptized today!  Luckily, most of Gavin's immediate family was able to make it (Gavin says hi Uncle Bren! He knows you would have loved to be there), and the mass and ceremony was really beautiful.  Gavin didn't cry at all when the water was poured over him, but we figured he wouldn't since he loves bath time so much!  And Gavin did pretty well during the mass, only a few moments of him deciding that what he had to say was more important than the homily.  Even Father Gene told Gavin that he did a great job.

After Gavin's baptism, we had a nice time back at our house celebrating Gavin's first day as a member of the Catholic faith.  Overall, a great weekend, one that made me sad to have to go back to work tomorrow!  But only 3 more weeks before Christmas break!  Below are some pictures of Gavin's baptism today:

Gavin with Mommy and Daddy

Gavin standing on the baptismal font.  He wanted to stand during the entire mass, which means Daddy got an hour long bicep workout

Gavin with his godparents, Uncle Kyle and Aunt Allison.  You can't really see his outfit that well, but it was a cross between a lounge singer and a waiter at a wedding reception. But secretly, I really loved it!  Good thing we had the baptism now...thats a 9-12 month outfit, and they don't come any bigger!

Gavin with Grandma and Grandpa Mayner.  He is barefoot because I started stripping him down during the homily before I realized he didn't need to just rock his diaper to be baptized. 

Gavin with Grandma and Grandpa Gillespie...look at that little tummy sticking out!  That shirt would not stay tucked in no matter how hard I tried.

Gavin and his cake...he seemed way too excited by all that sugar, even though you can't really tell in this picture. 

And here's the Gavinator hanging out with Uncle CJ.  Gavin was just about partied out at this point.  Hence my ability to get this blog done tonight, since he was completely passed out by 7!

3 months = 1/4 of a year = 0.25 of a year

My 8th graders sadly still don't understand how I just did that math in the title, but Gavin is now 3 months old!  He had his checkup earlier this week, and our future linebacker is up to 17 lbs 2 oz and 26 inches long.  He cried bloody murder through his whole appointment (Daddy tells me, I got to skip out on this one and unsuccessfully teach fractions), but then he smiled when he got his shot!  That was very nice of Gavin to make the nurse of doom's day who just has to give out shots all day.

Gavin was very serious for his pictures this month.  We think it has something to do with an ongoing beef Gavin has with Rufus.

Gavin looking tough (in a too tight 6-9 month onesie!)

Gavin giving Rufus the business

Rufus going down for the count, who wants a piece of Gavin now?

Mommy steps in to referee and all is forgiven

Besides beating up Rufus, Gavin also enjoys standing 24 hours a day.  What happened to our baby?

And here's our 3 month letter to Gavin:

Dear Gavin,

Three months ago today, you came into this world. It seems like so long ago and like it was yesterday all at the same time. Daddy and I can hardly believe that the little peanut that was born 3 months ago has turned into the big boy we see every day now!

This month you’ve done lots of new things. You’ve started to grab things that you want to hold or look at, and you’re getting better at it every day. You’re also starting to learn about new things by putting them in your mouth. Everything in our house is now covered in slobber! And tummy time is becoming less frustrating for you now that you can push up on your arms and hold your head up high to see what’s going on.

You also started daycare this month! Mommy went back to school, and was sad to have to give up our days of hanging out together, but you seem to really enjoy your days at “school.” Miss Jeanne really likes all your hugs and smiles, and all the other babies like playing with you too. You’re the youngest baby there, and you love to watch all the older kids crawl and walk and play. You even have a girlfriend who is always making sure that “Gavin baby” is happy :)

While we’re excited to see all these changes, and can’t wait to see you grow bigger and learn more, we’re sad too. Already you’re not our baby anymore. You’re not this tiny little boy that just sleeps in our arms and sighs. You’re not all curled up and scared of this big world. Now you’re looking at everything, grabbing whatever you can find, trying to stand in Mommy and Daddy’s arms, and pushing up on your tummy to see the world. Before we know it, you’re going to be rolling over and crawling and we’ll be struggling to keep up with you. We’re trying to enjoy every little second we have to hold you and kiss you now, because soon you’ll be “too big” for such things. But don’t worry Gavin, no matter how old you are, you always be our baby boy. Happy 3 months Gav!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Monkey see, monkey do

This week hasn't been very eventful, but since I've been blogging at least once a week since Gavin was born, I didn't want to stop now! 

This was my second week back at school, and Gavin's second week at daycare.  He still likes "school" as we call it, but Miss Jeanne has already noticed that Gavin likes to be held basically at all times.  So we're working on trying to show Gavin that its fun to play on his playmat or in his bouncer chair.  He's not a believer yet, and I'm probably not helping the situation.  I know that all too soon, Gavin will be squirming to get down and I won't be able to hold him nearly as much as I want.  So if he wants to be held now, he won't get much of a fight from me.

This weekend, Uncle Kyle and Aunt Allison came to visit their favorite nephew.  We watched Iowa almost win against Ohio State, and when Gavin realized that Mommy and Aunt Allison were sad about the Iowa loss, he decided to cheer us up with his new monkey hat. 

Baby clothes are a dangerous thing.  I used to have enough problems trying not to blow tons of money on clothes for myself, but now I have things like monkey hats that just call out to me.  I can't even imagine how deeply into debt we will plunge if I ever have a girl.

Gavin is also becoming more like Daddy every day.  Here he is relaxing on the couch, watching a Bears game and surfing the internet.

Also like Daddy, Gavin still really likes naps.  Even though now Gavin can face out in the Bjorn, he still has a hard time fighting off sleep when he's in there.

That's all for this week's blog.  Gavin turns 3 months on Tuesday, so if school isn't rocking my world this week (1st trimester ends Thursday, which means grades are due!), we'll post his 3 month pictures sometime this week.  Ryan and I are estimating that Gav weighs about 17 pounds and is 26-27 inches long...still a "bruiser" :)

Blog about the bog

It was such a nice day that we decided it was time for Gavin to have his first trip to the Volo Bog.  We had went there in the last few days of Erin's pregnancy to try and "start things" and thought it was a pretty cool place.  There's a half mile floating boardwalk through Illinois' only quaking bog with an open water center (yeah we grabbed a brochure).

Here's some pics from the trip.

Gavin "Bjorning" in the parking lot... not quite sure about this bog thing.

Gavin deciding this just might be okay... I mean there's frogs and dogs and logs in the bog.

The 1/2 mile boardwalk... much easier to walk with the baby on the outside.

Mommy and baby watching the geese and the beavers. (Daddy not getting them in the shot)

It's November and everythings dying.. Daddy thinks it makes it easier to see the bodies that obviously have been tossed in the bog throughout the summer.  Gavin really liked the splashing and the russle of the grass and leaves.

Gratuitous cute baby in a hat shot.

Family bog shot.

As the sun sets Gavin decides the bog is a pretty cool place.

Gavin and I had the life of Riley, and Riley had it good...

That's a quote from my grandpa Gallagher, and it fits my mood today pretty well.  Gavin and I enjoyed a lovely 11 weeks together, but now its time to go back to the real world of teaching and working.  I'll admit, in those first few sleepless weeks where Ryan and I had no idea what we were doing, I was ready to hand Gav off to anyone who would take him, and was counting the days til I went back to school so that I would have a break from this baby I didn't understand or know how to take care of. 

But now that Gavin, Ryan and I all function a little more smoothly as a family, I'm definitely bummed to have to give up the gift of being able to spend all day with him.  Sure, its still trying at times, and I am glad to go back to teaching so that I have a part of the day where I play a role other than "mom," but I will miss seeing this face all day:

haha, ok, maybe not that exact face, but for whatever reason, that picture makes me laugh every time I see it.  I always imagine Gavin saying something to the effect of "I do not approve of this degradation."  I'm of the opinion that Gavin has a very extensive vocabulary and just deems us not important enough to use it.

During our last week together, Gavin and I went on some more play dates, went to Andy & Shari's for Halloween brunch and the Iowa game, and handed out candy to the trick or treaters (we only had about 30 trick or treaters though...very strange.  I now have 6 giant bags of unopened candy.  That is not the post pregnancy diet I had planned)

Uncle Andy was starting to lose it, but given the way the Hawks played I don't blame him.

Gavin loves to stand, but hates tummy time (which helps him learn to roll over and crawl).  He thinks he should be able to walk already and gets annoyed when he can't do it.

Me and G.

This next picture is actually from last weekend but its so cute I had to post it.  My mom sent me this pic, which looks like Gavin is a drunk getting bounced out of the bar by Grandpa.

The other exciting thing that happened this week is that Gavin learned how to grab something he wants!  Gavin has been planning the attack on the toys hanging from his playmat for weeks now, and when they least expected it:

The Gav Man strikes!  Watch out brightly colored duck, you're next...