whippetmom’s blog

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day. I really had fun, and Andrew and Gavin spoiled me :)
Even the whippets behaved, so it was a very nice afternoon.

In the morning, at church, there was a baby dedication service. So we had Gavin dedicated. Here's a few pictures from that. Our pastor, said a few things, nice things I'm sure. I was distracted by keeping Gavin from pulling the plants off the altar or yanking out our friend Elizabeth C.'s  hair. Then the babies were returned to the nursery!! (Smart decision!)

Followed by bathing Gavin, because this is what he looked like after his lunch...

Messy baby

All clean!

 I later went to my parent's to see my Mom and brother (Dad was working). Gavin enjoyed playing in Nana's kitchen (banging all the cabinets, and chasing kitties). Then Uncle Matt put together one of Gavin's birthday presents (a little early), a Little Tikes castle for him to crawl and slide around on. Since we'll be moving shortly after Gavin's birthday, we thought he should get to enjoy it a bit before his birthday. No pictures of that, but he really enjoyed himself!! He got scared once he climbed to the top but Uncle Matt rescued him, and he was all smiles again.
He continues to be a regular little parrot- he tries to repeat everything we say...Mom was telling him about his birthday party coming up in a few weeks, and he said, "birtday?" with this adorable little grin.

Then we came home to pretty quiet night at home. Gavin was a big sweetheart all day, he gave me lots of kisses and hugs. He gave me the perfect Mother's Day present on Saturday when he finally said "Mommy" (while hugging me) *tear*

It's finally graduation week! Andrew "graduates" this Friday from pilot training, I say that sarcastically because he won't really graduate until the finish all their remaining flights in the T-38. It was allowed to return to flying last Friday, and he's got about 16 flights left. I'm nervous about him getting back into the little death trap (as it's shown itself to be recently) but I know he has to do it to graduate. Then he's got survival training to complete before we move to Louisiana. I have a feeling he'll miss Gavin's 1st Birthday :( But I guess Gavin won't remember it anyways.

We've got a busy day ahead of us. Lots to get done for graduation!!

Show us one of your plants.

I bought Gavin the Fisher Price Little People's Noah Ark toy back several months ago at a children's consignment event with the idea of stashing it away for his birthday in June. Well, it's been in his closet for months now, and he never bothered it. But now that he knows how to open the closet doors- he climbs into his closet every day and drags it out. I don't know why I even take it away from him...obviously he loves it, I just wanted it to be a birthday present, so I keep putting it back into hiding.

Well, last week when my best friend, Laura, came to visit, he got it out. He dumped all the animals out in the floor, and then one by one would hand me the animals. When we got to the alligator, Laura was telling him, "Oh look, it's an alligator!" And he says, "awwagayga?" with this adorable little puzzled look on his face. I swear it sounded like he was saying alligator. Laura and I just looked at each other...I'm pretty impressed even if it was just coincidence.

This morning, Andrew didn't have to go in until late, and he heard Gavin banging around in his closet, so he peeks into his room and saw him with Noah's ark out again. He'd peeled the top off, and was reaching into the ark, digging around and pulling each animal out one at a time. Then he'd bite the animal, look at it again, and throw it on the floor. Taste testing, I said. I really wish we'd captured it in a picture, but when Andrew came to get me- he saw us and crawled over to us.

According to Gavin, the closet is a big fun place to play in, or close yourself up in it...depending on the day.
One day last weekend, we were in the adjoining room to his room, and he was banging around playing, and then started squealing...so we went into his room, and he'd closed himself into the closet. (It has sliding doors) and he could only open it just a bit (probably because he couldn't see what he was doing on the inside), and you could see his little face (half of it anyways) and tears were just dropping off his little cheeks. It was so sad. So we had to rescue him. Now he thinks it's funny to play peek a boo in the closet, and crawls in there, slams the door shut and waits for me to say, "Where's the baby?" and then he pops out, giggling.

He's such a funny little boy :)

This must be some kind of joke Gavin's got going....he slept in all last week, till 7:30 or 8 even. Which I'll admit, was a little late, especially for days where we have to be somewhere by 9.

 This week, he's decided 5:45 is the best time to get up. So 5:45, every day this week, I hear him squawking, and banging his crib. (He stands up, grabs the rail and rocks back and forth- violently). My bedroom clock is set 15 minutes fast (originally to keep me from running late, now it's so I don't cry when I see what time I'm getting up).

None of this would be so bad, if Gromit could sleep through the night. I mean really, our son has been sleeping through the night (barring teething, grumpiness, a cold, a cough..and a few other things :) ) since 8 weeks old. But the dog who's almost 2 years old...No, if he has to go potty in the middle of the night, you either get up and let him out (even if he could totally hold it) or he'll leave a poop surprise by the back door. If he gets up and shakes his blanket off of him and then he gets cold...he'll whimper until you get up and tuck him back in. I get up twice a night most of the time. But if he gets to sleep in the bed, under the covers- he could sleep all night and until 11 am if you'd let him.

*sigh*

This is why I'm still  napping whenever Gavin does, and I go to bed no later than 9 pm. Not because of my baby...but because of one very stubborn manipulative dog. That's pitiful!

Gavin's vocabulary is expanding all the time...(or what we call his vocabulary!)

He learned "uh oh" appropriately enough on the way home from our Assignment Night.
He was in the car seat, and just kept going..."uh oh, uh oh, uh oh". No kidding Gavin! A big uh oh of a night.

Saturday morning he was in his room, throwing books off the bookshelf (Thank you Jackson for teaching him this trick) :) And he kept saying, "Uh oh, Uh oh" as each book hit the floor. He'd turn around and grin at me as he cleared off each shelf.

That night he learned how to clap (finally!) during bath time, and now he claps all the time, hoping to get a reaction out of us. It comes at some inopportune moments, like when Wallace was grumpy and got kicked off the bed for being snappy. Gavin laughs and claps.

He said something that sounded a lot like "thank you" ( tankshu) after he helped Nana turn off lights in the kitchen yesterday. (He's a very talented light switch turner offer).He'd flip the switch and she'd say "Thank you" and then he repeated it.  And "doggy" is a regular exclamation.

In unrelated matters- he crawled into the cleaning closet this weekend when I left the door cracked, and single handedly pulled the vacuum cleaner out into the living room. He must've heard me say that I was going to vacuum :)

Right now I'm trying to coerce him into taking a nap so that he'll be a charming little boy at a baby shower this afternoon and not a vicious little tyrant like he can be when he's tired.  It's not working...

It was eventually going to happen, disappointment in the Air Force. Unfortunately I was hoping it wouldn't come in this form. Andrew got his assignment Friday night, B-52. Not what he wanted or expected, but its what we got.
The downsides I suppose, are that it only goes to two bases; Barksdale in Shreveport, Louisiana and Minot in Minot, North Dakota. We thought we were joining the Air Force to see the world....I guess our "world" will just be a bit smaller for awhile.

Andrew's far more disappointed than me. But he's still taking it pretty well. I think once we get to Shreveport this summer he'll be more excited. Everyone says that's a great base, and that once the guys get over the initial disappointment in not getting their "fighter", they love the B-52. It's more family friendly from what we hear...and as my friend Cheryl said, " The B-52 is much safer (than a fighter) --Hooray for safety!"

I've googled Shreveport and think it will be really fun, there's a ton of shopping, museums, exhibits, zoos...they have good schools near the base and good housing, I think we'll really love it. And for the grandparents...you're only 5.5 hours away!! (except when we move to Minot...and then I'll just say, that's going to be a long drive to see us)

Everyone has been really supportive of us, and that's made me feel better about it. We know we got this for a reason, we're not sure what yet- but I think it will be fun to discover what that reason is. :)

Stolen from IrishLuckyLass:

My husband.......
is asleep on the couch. It's 2:00 in the afternoon, because they didn't have anything to do at work today, in preparation for tonight's big night...he's annoying me because he acts like he shouldn't have to help me clean the house for his parents who will be here any minute. He deserves a nap right?

Maybe I should...vacuum and wake him up...oh wait. Here he comes :)

I love...
rainstorms, good hair days, finding long lost money in my coat pockets when it turns cold, snuggling with Wallace and Gromit on the weekends (the only time they can sleep on the bed)

People would say that I'm....
quiet, shy, short

I don't understand....
math, why dogs like to eat poop and then kiss me unsuspectingly

When I wake up in the morning....
I lay in bed praying Gavin will play quietly in his crib for a few more minutes so I can get 2 more minutes of sleep

I lost....
nearly all my hair after having my son. It fell out for 6 months straight, I'd find my hair in all the weirdest places...

Life is full of...
dirty clothes, dust, dog throw up, unloaded dishwashers and dog hair on every surface in this house....I'm sorry, I'm not in the best of moods right now...;)

I get annoyed when...
my house is dirty. Cleaning is therapy to me. I need some therapy right now.

Parties are...
what tonight is all about (Assignment Night!)

I wish...
It was 6:30 and we already knew what plane we (meaning Andrew) got and where we're moving next.

Dogs...are asleep in the backyard, they're happy- I'm happy so long as it doesn't rain :)

Cats...

Sigh, I miss our cat :( He had to be put to sleep on Halloween last year.

Tomorrow...
is Saturday, and I can sleep in...no wait, I can't (who gets to sleep in with a baby?!)  but at least I have nowhere to go...sadly I can't go to my friend's wedding, so we'll be at home...vegging out.

I have low tolerance...
for new foods. I'm picky.

If I had a million dollars...
I'd move to England, live in a charming little cottage, and grow a million flowers...I'm not sure where Andrew and Gavin fit into this....I suppose they can come along ;)

I'm totally terrified...
of thunderstorms. It's a bit irrational, but what can I say?

So now that I've spent my time doing this instead of tidying up, and now Andrew just left to go meet his parents and bring them back here....I'm panicking...I look like a complete wreck!! GTG

Sometimes when you're not really paying attention to what someone is saying, you hear strange things...

Like last night Andrew was talking about work tomorrow (today) and I was admittedly not really listening. I tuned out for a few moments and then I heard, "Show whippet ate a clock!"  Confused, I decided I needed to start listening again...Our dogs are whippets, and all of a sudden it seemed that one of them had eaten something important.
(Not unlikely in our house). So I said, "Show whippet did what?"

Andrew was confused...and said, "huh?" I repeated myself, and then he said, "Ohhh, No! I have to show up at eight o'clock".

Hmph, what I heard was far more interesting than an early morning show up time...don't you think?

Well, it's a start. I hope they find out what's wrong (if anything).

My heart is with all the families and friends of the two pilots lost today. I can't believe we're dealing with this again.
Here's a link to the story about them suspending training. No word on how this affects Andrew's graduation date in 2 weeks...
Air Force suspends T-38 training

Another T-38C crashed today, this time at Sheppard AFB in Texas. Both pilots were killed, again.

I was okay this morning. It was Andrew's first day back flying the T-38. He was going to fly down to Mobile, AL and I was okay. Then he called me at lunch and said "I'm okay". My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach.
"What happened?" I frantically asked. "There was another crash, at Sheppard".

He is driving back from Mobile tonight. Now I'm not so okay. I can't believe for the second time in just over a week, there's another T-38 crash, and two more pilots are dead. Now I think I'll never be okay with him climbing back in that jet.

Please pray again for these two pilots, and their families that they will find peace.
Please pray the Air Force figures out what happened, and that it doesn't happen again!