"Our Little Love Bug Turns One"

I can't believe it has been one year already....I sit here in awww in how much joy this little boy brings to our lifes. He truly is a blessing and we just love him to pieces!! Well, we had big plans to spend his birthday yesterday at the zoo with some friends to celebrate. However, on our way home from Iowa and his party Gavin got sick. He had been running a fever for the last two days along with a cough and runny nose. He did wake-up fever free yesterday, so I think we are on the down hill slide. However, no zoo yesterday.....we spent the day resting up! But we did still manage to squeeze in a little birthday celebration!

Happy 1st Birthday Gavin Bo....you are our perfect little boy and the best addition to this family.

Weight and Length: Will check back after 1yr. appointment

Hair and Eyes: Very little hair to speak of....but seems to be blonde and is starting to come in more. Big Beautiful Blues Eyes.....that squint when you smile. I think it is the perfect mix of mom and dad.

Favorite Foods: Bananas, Blueberries, CHEESE, mangos, avocado and milk. You drink milk and water from a sippy cup during the day. We are still nursing at bedtime....however I don't think that will last much longer as you are already "some" nights starting to wean yourself. This will be extremely sad for me, however it will be easy since you are weaning yourself.

Favorite Things: Anything that makes noise! You love to bang things together and push buttons. We have some farm animal books that make noise when you push the button that you love. You also really like your "blue blanket"....you have to have it for every nap and at bedtime.

Wake-up & Bedtime: You wake up between 7-7:30am and are bed for the night at 7:30pm
Naps: Morning nap is 1.5-2 hours around 9:30ish and afternoon nap is 1.5-2 hours around 2:30ish

Accomplishments: Started walking at 11 1/2 months. You are like a little sponge and like to mimic what we do....in the last 2 weeks you started to: blows kisses, raises your hands for "so big", and pat your head when we say "oh my". You also are starting to show an interest in using sliverware to eat with. Also, in the last week you finally have your first tooth coming in!!!

Gavin Facts: If we had to pick one word to describe you it would be smiley! You smile all the time...and really are a happy baby! I have people come up to me all the time saying how precious you are and how much you smile.

Happy 1st Birthday to our favorite little boy!

Love: Mom and Dad 

A Bug Party!

We had Gavin's first birthday party this past Saturday back at my parents house in Waterloo. I had so much fun planning Gavin's party and picking out all the little details to match. I decided to go with a bug theme and it truly was perfect! All the bright colors and patterns were so much fun! Gavin even wore a navy zig-zag birthday tie to match! It ended up being the perfect day outside and we had a great time with family and friends!

The Decorations: 

I had a basket full of "worms" as favor gifts for all the kids to take home. Along with "Ants on a Log" 

The Food: 

We enjoyed "Spider Bite" Sandwiches, "Butterfly Pasta", "Fruit Fly Salad", "Chips & Slug Salsa" and some "Sweet Nectar" for the adults. 

Grandma Rose made Gavin's Buggy Cake and some "Creepy Crawler Cupcakes" for everyone else. 

We even had "Bug Juice" for the kids to enjoy.....

Family: 

Friends: 

The Cake Smash: 

Gavin had never had a cookie or anything real sweet until his first birthday cake....Big Thanks to Rose for making Gavin's first cake so perfect! He loved it! 

Styling in his birthday hat.....he was the cutest birthday boy I had ever seen!

The After Party: 

After all the kids were in bed....we sat out by the fire enjoying the beautiful night! It was the perfect way to end a great party!

He is Walking!!!

Gavin took his first steps over the 4th of July and is now walking all over the house! He has been "truly" walking since last weekend. We are so proud of our little man....he loves to walk around the kitchen table holding his blue blanket! It is the cutest thing ever. I'm trying to post a video, but I'm having some technical problems....so hopefully I will have a video up soon!

2013 Swim Class

For the past two weeks I have been taking Gavin to his first swim class at Frontier Pool here in Olathe. Today was our last class. Gavin loves bath time, so I thought it would be a good idea to get him enrolled in swim class this summer. He really seemed to enjoy the pool....however I think he enjoyed watching all the other kids swim rather than focusing on his own swimming skills. Our class was at 11:30 (which worked out perfect with his nap schedule) and lasted for 30 minutes. We learned some new songs, and some basic swimming skills. He not only liked the water....he also really enjoyed helping me put on his sunscreen! lol On Monday Gavin's great-grandpa/grandma Doerr were in town and were able to come watch us at swim class.

Bridget & Ryan's Wedding

This past weekend we headed up to Des Moines to celebrate my good friend Bridget's wedding. Bridget had asked me to help decorate and set-up for her reception....and I loved it! I felt like I was working again. I forgot how much fun I have setting up for weddings! We headed up Friday and stayed with Brenda and Jodi. Court and Gavin hung out at the house while I headed to the reception hall to set-up Friday night. This was the FIRST time that I did not nurse Gavin before bed....Courtney gave him a bottle of milk instead. I know Court did great with him, but it was a sad moment for me! Anyways, the set-up went great and I was able to make it back in time to hang out on the deck at Brenda and Jodi's. We had a great time chilling on the deck enjoying a fire and some smores. We even got to listen to little miss Ava sing....she was so cute! Then we finished the night with some karaoke!

On Saturday my mom came to Des Moines and stayed at the hotel to watch Gavin as we went to the wedding. This was her first time babysitting Gavin and they had a great time together!

Gavin is 11 Months!

I can't believe we are approaching Gavin's 1st birthday! Gavin has been such a blessing to us in so many ways! I can't even remember what I did before he was here....this truly has been an amazing 11 months!

Well, these days it gets harder and harder to get Gavin to sit still for pictures.....and this month he was not that interested in getting his picture taken. Either way he still is as cute as can be! The biggest change this month is his walking skills. Gavin wants to walk, walk, walk....he is taking about 5-10 steps all on his own. He loves to grab my finger and go. I think we will have an official walker soon.

Gavin is still a great eater.....he eats anything I put in front of him. We started him on whole milk this month during the day with his meals since he is only nursing in the mornings and at bedtime now. Every month is gets a little harder for me now that he is nursing less and less. I love that time we share together and it makes me so sad knowing it will be coming to an end soon. Anyways, he did not like the whole milk the first day, but warmed right up to it by the second day. He still really likes his bananas and blueberries....but one of his new favorite foods is peanut butter toast! 

He decided he no longer wanted his tie on for pictures.....he wanted his blue blanket instead! He is so dang cute!!! Happy 11 months Gavin....we love so much! 

Celebrating the 4th of July

This year we decided to head up to Nebraska's 4th of July City "Seward" to visit my Dad and Kim and celebrate Independence Day! We always enjoy visiting my dad's because it is so beautiful and peaceful up there. I truly can not wait until Gavin is a little older because I know he is going to LOVE exploring my dad's "farm" (when you have 120 acres I think it is safe to call that a farm).

We had a wonderful weekend enjoying many festive activities! We took Gavin to his first 4th of July Parade in Seward.....which he enjoyed. He sat in his stroller patiently watching the parade, and loved watching all the big tractors and trucks. However, he was not a big fan of all the loud sirens.

Gavin enjoyed showing off his patriotic side all weekend....my cute little "American" boy

He even had cute little patriotic shoes....however they were a little to big! 

You can't celebrate the 4th of July with out some festive 4th of July "treats"...we enjoyed "Firecracker" cupcakes, "Stars and Stripes" trail mix, and "Star Spangled" spritzers. Kim also made an amazing mexican dish one night, and of course we celebrated the 4th with some classic burgers and brats!!

Even Gavin got to enjoy a special festive breakfast....he could not wait to get his hands on it!

One of our favorite things to do at my dad's is to sit out on the deck and enjoy the AWESOME scenery and wildlife. We sat out on the deck every night enjoying our cocktails and "Star Spangled" spritzers. We even got to watch the fireworks from the deck! Sitting out there enjoying my dad and Kim's company is the BEST!

Gavin also enjoyed being out on the deck....he loved the fresh air and the large deck to walk back and forth on. He had his morning snack out on the deck and the key was keeping Gunner (the dog) away from eating Gavin's cheerios.

Gunner was very fond of Gavin. Even though Gunner licked Gavin every chance he had, Gavin started to warm up to him and even enjoyed chasing him around in his walker.

This was the best 4th of July celebrating as a family of 3....Thank You dad and Kim for making it so special for us!