Valentines @ Mountain School

Valentines at school today was pretty fun! There were lots of crafts that Gavin did, and his favorite activity was making homemade shortbread of course. 

He also had a ton of fun in the sand box. Us parents were pretty amazed. We stay pretty far from them to observe, and while doing so we saw the coolest thing. All the kids in the sand box were making a "pipe" to carry the water from the well, down the hill to the sand box. After they got the water flowing, they all were making a huge "pool" of water in the sand box by digging out the sand. At one point someone yelled that they should see if they could dig a hole on the outside of the sandbox, to make the water flow out some more...they all worked together, and dug a huge hole outside the sandbox...and eventually the water came out! They all cheered and ran to show us. Of course we already knew because we were watching from above, but it was so cute! So cute to see them working together....and so cool to see that they actually did it! It was a pretty deep hole they dug, and they were proud. :)

He ended the day by climbing the tree with his buddy Ryan and Nora. They were all three up that tree in seconds...such monkeys. 

{Gavin 42 Months}

Dear Gavie,

Today you turn 3 and a half! I can't believe that you will be 4 in just 6 months! Its so funny, when people ask how old you are, you tell them three while holding up three fingers...then immediately say that you are ALMOST four!

You sure are a little man of opinions...and stories...and a HUGE imagination! You have a story and explanation for everything...and I have no idea where you come up with these things.

Funny. You are so funny. You are Mr. social with everyone you come into contact with, and are the worlds most outgoing kid. Shy is something you are not familiar with. Just today while walking to the library, you stopped and talked to SIX people...they were just walking along minding their own business, and you would talk to them. You always end your "conversations" with "Well, you go on and have a good day now!" SUCH a little old man, so sweet:)

Easy. You are so easy to take out these days. My partner. You help with everything, and its so great. You have specific jobs to do while we are out, and you will not forget them. Super helpful.

You fix fix fix things. All day long. Your valentines box from Ma was filled with colored tape, a tape dispenser, glue gun and lots of other goodies. You took out the tape and glue gun, and have been busy working on projects all day long. So cute.

You are still doing great with your eating habits. You know that you do not get dessert until you finish your plate, and almost every night you do. Some nights you need to see the dessert (and be bribed) before you finish your plate, but it happens! Favorite foods are eggs, kale smoothie, cheese, turkey, milk, almond butter and jelly by the spoonful, corn dogs(veggie ones), mac n cheese, rice, pesto, and ANYthing sweet. You ask for dessert after every meal, even though you only get it once a day after dinner...you sure try.

You are sleeping great at night as usual. You go in your bed at 8pm and get up at 6am. We don't hear a peep all night long.

Still in diapers for nap and night time...not much of an interest to potty train these times, so we may need to do a little encouraging. Your diapers in the morning are soaked to the max, so I am not sure how that will go! No hurry though, no big deal to us or you.

We weighed you this morning and you are 38 pounds. In size 4T clothes (some 3T pants, but they are very short!)

School is probably your favorite activity. Ok, it IS your favorite activity...you talk about it all day long, and you are so in love with everything about it. When I take you on Thursdays, you are just the busiest guy ever. Exploring and learning new things...its such a great place for you.

Gavin, you are such a sweet guy. You have your moments when you get frustrated with baby, but other than that, you are so good with him. You pick him up and move him when he wants to go somewhere:) You give him toys he wants. You tell me when he is sad and crying. Such a great big brother.

Thank you for being mommas little helper, and all that you do. We are so very proud of the little boy you are becoming.

Love you to the moon and back
Momma

Austin's 1st Birthday Party!

At 11am we had all our close family and friends over for a little pizza and cake celebration for Austin. He woke up right in time, and had a great afternoon. The weather was beautiful, and we all played outside. Austin showed off his new walking skillz to everyone, and was such a ham. He spent a LOT of time in Ma's arms, his favorite place. 

When it was time for cake, Austin knew what to do. He grabbed on to the big peice of cake, and just sucked away. He held it up to his mouth and sucked for 25 minutes. Then he ate and ate and ate. He ate so much, eventually he just dropped it and was done. Straight to the bath he went!

After cake was more playing, then everyone started to leave. Last but not least was Austin giving his Godmother Meghan lots of hugs and cuddles. It was pretty sweet:)

It was a very nice little party, and we are so thankful to everyone that came, and everyone that sent thier love from far away. We are so blessed to have such a happy and healthy little guy! Happy FIRST birthday Austie!

Happy 1st Birthday Austin!

This morning Austin woke up to some very special presents! He got to open his new toys with the help of big brother, and he LOVES his new stuff...especially his Octotunes! Thank you Cincinnati cousins!!!

After he opened his gifts, we had a nice breakfast and then he took his nap, and we prepared for the big party:)

{Austin 12 Months}

Dear baby Austin,

Today you turn one. 12 months ago you came into our lives, and we can not imagine our life without you. You fit so perfectly into our family...you make our family. You complete our family. I feel so happy and blessed to be your momma.

It just seems like yesterday when I went into labor with you. Looking back I am still as thankful as ever that you came into this world so quickly...it was not easy, but it was worth every second of it. You were a very healthy baby, and we were and are so proud. I will never forget those first few hours of your life...you were placed on my chest, and it was the most magical 2 hours of my life. I felt amazing and you were perfect. 10 months I worried that something might happen to you, and you were just so perfect. Still feels so surreal.

This past year has moved pretty fast. You have given us so much joy, and you keep us so busy. You are completing milestones well before you are supposed to, and growing up so fast. You adore your brother, and smile and laugh all day long. You think you are three years old too.

These days you have become quite the super napper. You have always been a great napper, but seriously, you LOVE your naps! You sleep for 3 hours in the morning and 3 in the afternoon...and we have to wake you up every evening at 6pm because you would keep sleeping! You love your warm and cozy bed, and you really love your blankies. When you see one, you grab it, put it on your head, and lay your head down. Whenever I am not working on a weekend day, I will let you take a nap on my chest, and I really cherish this time. I love it. You love it. Pure heaven.

Dancing man. You just love to dance. To any kind of music...any time. If you hear a tune you stop what you are doing and start dancing. If I start drumming my fork on the table, you will pull your arms in close, and move side to side. Adorable. One of your favorite things to do is Music Together class. You just smile and laugh and dance. The teacher loves you so much, and you are the most social one in the class. You walk up to everyone and "talk" to them...then move on to the next person. You even sit in the teachers lap, and I swear she sheds a tear every time...she just loves you! (plus none of the other babies do this;)

You have really taken an interest in toys these days, specifically shape sorters. You will sit down with a box and shapes, and try so hard to get them inside. The amount of time you will spend doing this is so long, its pretty amazing. If you get one inside, you clap your hands and smile. You also love the one with the three balls...you will carry all the balls around and then go find the box, walk up and put them inside and clap.

You have started this little fake laugh too. If you want attention or are very proud, you will fake laugh. its so funny, because your two top teeth show, and you look so darn cute.

You are our eater. You love to eat, and you do so all day long. You eat so much because you move so much! I don't know any kids your age that will eat 2 eggs, toast, kale smoothie, 2 cheese sticks, cereal, oatmeal, and carrots for breakfast! Its amazing.

You have started to try to run. You walk everywhere now, and are very sturdy on your feet. You climb, jump, and balance very well. Now you will try to run. Its so cute because you cannot do it yet, so you fall over, but you try. Fingers crossed, you have yet to hurt yourself (bad;)

Oh Austie. You are so much fun. We are really looking forward to this spring and summer...we just know that you will have a blast in the sand at the beach. And parks. And creek. Everywhere!

You still nurse 4 times a day (when you wake and before naps and bedtime) and you still very much enjoy it. I do too. Its a time for you to unwind, and calm down, and I really cherish this special time that we have. I am not sure how long you will nurse, but you get to decide when its time to stop...I really feel like this is best for you.

Now we are off to get ready for your big party...we have our very close family and friends coming over to celebrate YOU!

Austin, thank you so much for making me smile each and every day. We all love you so so much!

Momma & Daddy

Past week

Busy week. Lots of messes from baby. Cold weather and warm baths. Sunny days and park playdates. Washing windows. Can't believe that its almost Friday, and ALMOST Austin's birthday!!!

Chinese New Year celebration

Today at school we celebrated Chinese New Year! Gavin painted a dragon, played a "real" dragon, and got to hand out Chinese New Year red envelopes filled with good luck pennies. Such a fun celebration...and he will even tell you, "We celebrate Chinese New Year so that we can have GOOD LUCK ALL YEAR LONG!"