Da Bears!

Gavin, like everyone in this family, is a huge Bears fan.  He was all decked out in his Bears gear and ready to watch the game when he spilled milk all over his Bears sweatshirt.  So Mommy took off his sweatshirt, and it seemed to unleash the true Chicago Super Fan in Gavin.  Enjoy the pics!

 Stretching out and getting ready to cheer on da Bears!

First things first, time to select some game time snacks.

Puffs aren't quite a polish sausage, but they'll have to do.

"Mom, I only had a baker's dozen of those puffs, but these pants are already starting to sag!"

Showing off the Super Fan physique.

 Contemplating who would win in a fight, Coach Ditka, or a hurricane named Ditka....

Wiping up the Eagles fans' tears....DA BEARS!!

Thanksgiving 2010

What a great 5 days off it has been!  This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Gillespie family, which is a slightly bigger dinner than the Mayner Thanksgiving.  Here's a before pic:

Side note, Gavin had a blast running up and down the length of the tables in the basement.  He also loved watching his "cousins" army crawling underneath all the chairs!  I wish I would have gotten some pictures of this.  Gavin loved trying to play with the other kids (who are at least 3-4 and older).  His favorite thing to say right now is "Hi!" so he was a very welcoming guest at Thanksgiving dinner.  Tyson (one of Gav's "cousins") told his mom, "Mommy, he's funny!  He keeps saying hi to me!"  So cute!

Dinner was delicious as usual (thanks to the Carroll family and everyone that helped cook and clean!)  This was the first Thanksgiving where Gav could sample the cuisine, but once he saw the bread, it was a struggle to get him to try anything else.  He ended up eating about 4 rolls, a little bit of turkey, some corn souffle, and some jello.  Gavin has an incredible appetite right now, and really eats about 5 meals a day (breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, dinner and second dinner!).  Here's a pic of our view of everyone enjoying dinner (keep in mind that we still had about 15-20 people that aren't in this shot!

Gavin hijacked the camera from me to take this pic of Grandpa enjoying his Thanksgiving dinner.

Gavin enjoys a post dinner story time with Aunt Allison.

Friday morning was spent laying around by the fire, instead of fighting with crazy people for LCD TV's, but by Friday afternoon, Gavin was ready to get outside and play.  Gavin LOVES to play outside, which I am so grateful for.  (It always makes me happy to see Gavin use his imagination when he plays, instead of just punching a bunch of buttons on some singing, spinning toy.  I fear the days when Gav will completely tune me out while he texts his girlfriend and listens to his "young people" music on his iPod, so I'm enjoying the days when he's not completely addicted to technology.)  Anyway, it was unfortunately quite cold outside on Friday, and we lost one of Gav's mittens, so we had to improvise:

Yes, those are adult sized stretchy gloves on Gav's hands.  They didn't last very long, so we decided to take Gavin to Monkey Joe's (an indoor kids place with a bunch of inflatable stuff) so that he could burn off some energy.

Playing in the "mini monkey zone," a part of Monkey Joe's that's meant for the littler kids.  The rest of the place had this huge inflatable climbing walls, slides and bouncy houses.  I was a little tempted to jump in myself!

 You know Gavin is thinking hard when he sticks his tongue out like that, just like his Daddy!

Gav's attempt at blowing kisses to Grandma.

 Look at that grin, what is this kid planning?

Gavin wrapped up the holiday weekend with a visit from his cousin Bryce.  Bryce is 2 weeks old now, but still in that sleepy newborn stage.  Gavin did at least pay attention to Bryce this time, but he still wasn't too interested in his first cousin.  Here's a pic of Daddy helping Gav to get an up close view of baby Bryce:

My Cousin Bryce

This Wednesday, Gavin's first cousin, Bryce Robert, came into this world!  Gavin is very excited for a best bud to pal around with, and Ryan and I are excited to be an Uncle and Aunt!  We couldn't wait to meet the newest addition to the Gillespie family, so our little family of three headed out to Geneseo this weekend to meet Bryce and congratulate Shane and Karyn in person. 

Before we met Bryce, we stopped at St. Ambrose to catch one of Bren's basketball games.  Gavin was excited to see Uncle Bren play, and even attempted to say Uncle Bren (although it was right in the middle of one of Bren's free throw shots...Gavin doesn't understand basketball etiquette yet!).  Gav also loved the sound of the ref's whistles and all the clapping.  And Gav did such a good job of flirting with the cheerleaders that one of the girls threw him a mini basketball!

Gavin and Grandma both were nervous watching Uncle Bren play!

 As usual, having fun with Grandpa.  I'm sure Grandpa was explaining all the officiating to Gavin.

 Tuckered out on the drive from St. Ambrose to Shane and Karyn's place, but still clutching his prized basketball!

Baby Bryce!!  What a cutie, and so little! 

 Proud Aunt Erin, and Bryce's daddy in the background.

 Ryan gets a turn with cuddling Bryce.

 Oh my goodness, look at this bundle of cuteness.  Bryce loved snuggling up into Ryan's sweatshirt!  We miss him already!!

I would have loved to get a picture of Gavin and Bryce together, but Gavin was tired and more interested in one of Karyn's teddy bears than Bryce, so it didn't happen.  Maybe Gav will take more notice of his cousin over Thanksgiving!

This past week was pretty busy.  Basketball season started at my middle school, so I worked a few nights keeping the scorebook.  And Gavin has started getting several molars, which apparently isn't a very fun experience for anyone involved.  So I completely forgot that we had a few cute pictures from the weekend before that I never posted.  Last weekend, Larry, Mary, Bren and Kevin came up to our place to see Gav and celebrate Kevin's 21st birthday!  Gavin loves spending time outside, so we took a little trip to our neighborhood park.

Gavin loves to steer the playground.

 Daddy always takes the cutest pics of Gav.

 Playing on the baseball field with Uncle Kevin.

 Having a lazy morning with Grandpa and Daddy.

Halloween!

Last year we "celebrated" Halloween with Gavin by putting him in a puppy costume he absolutely hated for about 2 minutes.  I then tried to hand out candy to packs of teenagers while juggling a cranky 2 1/2 month old.  This year we decided to go for a costume that didn't have fuzzy hands and feet, so we made Gavin a cowboy/old west sheriff.  I didn't really think through the fact that this costume still required a hat, so we spent at least an hour before we went trick or treating trying to convince Gavin to wear his hat, and every time we tried, Gavin just took the hat off and chucked it in our faces!  But miraculously, when we headed out to get some candy, Gav kept his hat on the whole time!

The milk chugging sheriff

 "Stick em up Mommy!  Give me all your candy or I shoot!"

 Ready to uphold the law

Riding in the traditional old west wagon

 Gav's first trick or treat!  He LOVED his sucker!

 A good sheriff never cracks a smile

 After 4 houses of trick or treating, we're ready to head home!

 After struggling to get Gavin to wear his hat at all, he demanded that he wear it for dinner as well!



Gavin's favorite activities

I logged on here to blog about Halloween, but when I uploaded the pictures from our camera, I noticed we had some good pics showing a day in the life of Gavin.  So here is a short blog:

Gav starts the day with a snuggle from Rufus while watching Yo Gabba Gabba...

 ...Then he moves on to arts and crafts....

...And he doesn't like when we limit his freedom of expression!

 After a nap, Gav likes to take a chauffered ride through the country

 All that fresh air makes Gavin very hungry, time for a snack...

 ...or not.  Time for bed!

Pumpkin Patch Take 2

So this weekend Gav and I spent some time with my parents while Ryan pounded away in the basement (Ry is hard at work turning our unfinished basement into livable space...we're all very excited for a whole extra floor to flood with Gavin's toys :).

Saturday we tried to take Gavin to a place called Monkey Joe's (I know, the name alone sold me) but Gav was passed out cold after the 10 minute car ride to get there, so we turned right around.  Then the Hawkeye game was on, and sadly we watched that debacle.  But we did leave at halftime to take Gav to the park nearby.

 Like usual, Gav was really only interested in the swings.

 When Grandpa pushes Gavin, they play a game where they high five after each push.

The rest of Saturday was spent mourning the Hawkeye loss, although Gav didn't seem too upset.  He spent the rest of the night coloring pumpkin pictures and throwing footballs backwards (we've decided he's practicing to be a center someday!)

Sunday morning Gav and I took a great 2 hour nap, slept through the rain, and woke up to a beautiful, sunny day.  So we decided to head out to the pumpkin patch I went to as a kid, Sonny Acres.  Sonny Acres is a little different from how I remember it as a kid...there's a few carnival-type rides now, and maybe some more food, but for the most part its still the same laid back pumpkin patch.  Which was a welcome change from the insanity that was Didier Farms the previous weekend!

 Another petting zoo and Gav can't wait to get in there and start petting some farm animals!

 Grandma makes for a good bodyguard.

 Gav loved this petting zoo as much as the last one.  He kept running around in circles and making happy, giggly noises!

 Getting a sheep kiss.

 I had to include this pic because it looks like that goat is taking a bite out of Gavin.  I'm 85% sure that didn't actually happen.

 Gav's first pony ride!  I had no idea what a workout it is for the parent when your kid rides a pony.  These guys were going pretty fast, and Gav hasn't really mastered finding his center of gravity just yet :)

 "I'm on a horse."

 Getting ready for the train ride with Grandpa.

 Gav was very serious about this ride, while Grandpa was just trying to squeeze his 6 foot frame into a ride meant for 5 year olds!

 Apparently Gav did not inherit his Grandpa's love for trains.  I'm sure Grandpa has plans to change that.

 The obligatory cut-out picture...and Grandpa getting his head stuck in the pumpkin!

 OH. MY. GOD.  Look at that scary clown.  I am terrified of clowns and haunted houses so this is the perfect storm for me.  Gav thought this clown was funny while I was having a mild panic attack.

 "I love Sonny Acres Mommy!  Let's come back next year!"