White Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!! It was a "White" Christmas this year. This year we headed up to Nebraska to celebrate Christmas with my dad and Kim. This Christmas was a special one since my dad turned 50 on Christmas day and it was Gavin's first Christmas. We had a great time just relaxing and enjoying the smiles and giggles from Gavin.

It was 4 days of R&R....it seems like all we do any more is go "gaa"over Gavin. It was an exciting 4 days as Gavin ALMOST rolled over from his back to stomach for the first time. We spent many hours playing with him on the floor hoping it would happen any minute!

Gavin was the perfect "Santa's Little Helper"...... and so was Gunner (the black lab) of course!

My dad just recently in the last year built a new house on 120 acres in Seward Nebraska....it is BEAUTIFUL!!! It was the perfect white Christmas. My dad and Kim watched Gavin while Courtney and I spent some time out in the timber! We got all dressed up in our winter gear and went stomping through the snow. We took a "gator" ride and I learned to drive a tractor for the first time.....it was so peaceful and beautiful out there. Gavin is going to love visiting Grandpa and Grandma D's place when he gets older. There will be a lot of fun things for him to do and get into! :)

Here is the awesome view from my dad and Kim's deck.....you can see for MILES!

We absolutely had the best Christmas ever! What more could we ask for than spending time with the ones we love and making memories! Thanks dad and Kim for an amazing Christmas! 

Gavin's Baptism

We were very blessed to be able to have Gavin baptized at Saint Francis of Assisi Church in West Des Moines on December 9th 2012. It was very special for us to have him baptized at St. Francis since Courtney and I were married there. We have always had a special place in our hearts for St. Francis. The baptism was absolutely amazing!! There were three other children that were baptized along with Gavin and it was a special baptism because it was the 2nd Sunday of the month. All of the children were FULLY immersed in the holy water. I had never seen that done before and it was truly amazing! Gavin did so wonderful....he didn't even let out one little peep! The day could not have been any better as all of our parents and most of our grandparents were able to come for the day. After the baptism was over we headed to Mimi's Cafe for lunch and cake (that Rose made)....THANK YOU to everyone that made it and helped to make Gavin's baptism truly special. 

We feel very blessed to have such a wonderful brother and sister-in-law in our lives, so it was no question that Tony and Jeannie would be Gavin's god parents. Gavin is a very lucky little boy to have such loving aunts and uncles. 

I absolute loved Gavin's baptism gown, it was handmade by his grandma....Thank You Dixie! 

We also want to thank everyone for the wonderful baptism gifts....his first cross, the perfect Christmas ornament. Thanks grandpa and grandma D!

His first bible....we have already starting reading it! Thanks GiGi!!

"That each of us may renew the commitment of our own baptism, renouncing sin and

promising to serve God faithfully in his holy Church, we pray to the Lord....Lord hear our prayer"

Gavin's New Toy

Christmas came early....given the fact that Gavin loves to kick and stretch his legs we decided it was time for the "Johnny Jumper". He still needs to grow into a little bit....but he sure does love it!

Gavin is 4 months!

Wow our little boy is now 4 months old. Gavin lights up our day with his smiles and giggles and our love for him grows stronger everyday. No one could have ever told me how rewarding being a mother truly is....I feel like the luckiest girl ever to such an AMAZING husband and son! Happy 4 months Gavin!

Gavin you have become such a big talker this month, you love to be talked to and sung to. One of your favorite songs is "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer". We sing this song before every nap and sometimes in the car when you get fussy. You also love it when mom and dad read books to you every night before bed... "Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site" is one of your favorites. One of my favorite things this month is how ticklish you have become. You are ticklish on your tummy and around your neck. It makes me smile from hear to hear watching and listening to you giggle.

You are still a great sleeper at night! You are going to bed a little earlier now around 7:30pm and still only getting up once at night to eat around 4:30am (moms goal this month is to eliminate this feeding) then waking up around 8am to start our day. You eat 6 times a day and about every 3 hours. At your 4 month check-up you weighted in at 14lbs and 5oz. which was in the 50% and you were 26 inches long which was in the 90%.

It is so amazing watching you grow....I love spending each and every day with you. I'm so blessed to be your mother Gavin Bo! We love you with all our hearts! We can't wait to see what next month will bring.

X-mas Ready!

Well, this past weekend was one of our first weekends in the new house with NO plans....every since we moved it has been go go go! So, we decided to put up our x-mas decorations this weekend....the tree and fire place mantel are all ready for Santa! The tree is kinda small, so we will be upgrading next year.....but for now all we need are some presents under the tree. 

Gavin LOVES looking at the lights on the tree and the cats LOVE playing under the tree. It is always fun seeing which ornament they will knock off the tree and break this year! Gavin was the prefect little helper as mom set-up all the decorations. He just hung out in his "baby bjorn" with mom. He loves riding around in it. This weekend was the first time we tried turning him around in it so he could see out....and he loved it!

Thankful!

Happy late Thanksgiving everyone!! This year I am so thankful for so many things, but mostly I am thankful for my wonderful boys!! This year I was given the greatest gift ever.....the chance to be a mom. Thanks to my hard working husband I also have been given the opportunity to stay home with Gavin. I thank God every day for the chance to spend each day with cutest baby ever! Our new family of three means the world to me! I never knew I could feel this much love. Happy Thanksgiving! Here is our cute lil turkey....trying out our new monkey hat! 

Here are some pictures of the past week spent back in Iowa visiting family. Gavin got to see a LOT of relatives....grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even some friends. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family.

Gavin even got to meet Araina....my friend Trish's little girl. She was only three days and as precious as could be.