10 posts tagged “pictures”
Here are a few pictures from the Luna Moms Playdate yesterday. (Thank you Traci for taking pictures of Gavin for me!)
Here's the pictures from where Gavin was taste testing all the animals in his Noah's Ark toy...
He does this all the time, he rummages through the closet to find the toy -it's technically a birthday present he's not supposed to know he has! And once he finds it in his toy box, he pulls it down and fumbles through the holes in the side or throws the whole thing until the animals pop out, and then he bites them all for good measure...
Our adorable niece, Lauren, turned one on Saturday. We went to her birthday party (of course), and had a great time getting to see family we hadn't seen since her baptism when Gavin was 6 weeks old. She had a packed house and more presents to open than I think any one year old has ever had to open. She was so cute and did happily squeal about some of the packages (anything with Little People in it, her Dora ride-on car, and her Elmo purse).
She was very sweet eating her cake, she didn't smash into it, but delicately dipped her little fingers into the frosting and then tried her best not to smudge it on her face. (Of course, no one year old is very delicate when food is involved, so it was good that my SIL Allison had a backup birthday outfit).
Here are just a few of the pictures I took of her party.
Gavin didn't mind being passed around that much, he let us know he was upset quite a few times, but he handled it better than I thought he would. He didn't really like all the noise and excitement though, and retreated with Andrew to the den for a nap. Once he was asleep, Andrew put him down in Lauren's crib so he could sleep better
.
About an hour later, I heard him crying so I went to go retrieve him and found Lana (a three year old party guest, daughter of Allison's best friend) in the crib with Gavin. I'm not sure if she heard him crying first and went to check on him,or if she climbed in there with him and then woke him up. But she was very sweetly trying to soothe him, she had his pacifier in her hand, trying to give it back to him, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it. He saw me, and immediately threw his arms up as if to say, "SAVE ME!" So I rescued him and then helped Lana out of the crib, and then Gavin enjoyed some snuggles with Mimi and Papa before we had to leave.
Andrew is home DNIF (no flying until cleared by a doctor) today, hopefully he'll feel good enough for tomorrow, he's supposed to have an 88 ride (he busted a check ride, along with the other 3 guys that took their's Friday- which resulted in their class having to go in yesterday to work, even though it was Sunday). I'm hoping it's just a virus or something and not the fact that I came home to find that he'd eaten guacamole that was from several weekends ago. (We had made some Friday night, but had finished it off, he didn't realize that and found the bowl from about 2 weeks ago, and ate it while I was gone yesterday).
Once he clears up this ride, we'll be in the clear for Assignment Night and graduation that will be here before we know it. I need to go shopping to find something to wear!!
Yesterday was Wallace's 2nd birthday. He celebrated with his favorite flavor of wet dog food (Gromit got a can too), and then got his customary stuffed honking goose (It's one of his favorite toys, and he gets one on his birthday and it usually lasts the whole year which is a miracle with squeaky toys in our house). He got lots of hugs and kisses, and was called "Birthday whippet" all day. (Gromit was "un-birthday whippet). I went to the local pet boutique and bought him a box of gourmet dog biscuits (with dog "chocolate" i.e. carob). He shared nicely with Gromit even.
Then he got a nice long walk when Nana and I came home from shopping (for Gavin's first birthday party decorations). He was supposed to get to sleep on the bed, but today is final check ride day, and Andrew needed the sleep, so he can climb in bed tonight (I don't think Wally will mind that it's a day late).
I'm trying to find matching martingale collars for them both, I color code all of their things. Wallace wears blue (because of his blue eye), and Gromit wears red...because he's spunky like that. I can't decide on a design for the collars yet, and I'm having no luck finding "matching" collars in their colors. I found really cute sockmonkey designed martingales that come in red and blue, but we wanted more traditional looking martingales, so I don't guess I'll order those right now.
I can't believe Wallace is already 2, *crossing fingers that he'll begin to mellow out some more*. He really is the better behaved of our two boys. He's much calmer than Gromit, but he could still do to be much calmer when people come over to visit. It does seem like just yesterday we met Wallace, he was such a wiggly little puppy, who didn't appreciate being brought in from playing to be examined by us. (We were at the breeder's actually looking at Gromit and they mentioned Wallace being there- he couldn't be shown because of his blue eye, so no one really wanted him (buyers- not the breeders, they adored him!)
When we picked him up a few weeks later, and then moved to Texas, he showed us what an adorably sweet whippet was like. He's always been a momma's boy (unless he's running off-leash and then he's Mr. Independent). He's wonderful with Gavin and just a super well behaved dog. (Except for begging, he's hopeless!) I hope we have many many more birthdays with him :)
We got back yesterday afternoon from our trip to Biloxi, MS to see our good friends from Texas; Amy, Matt and Hayden. It's supposedly a 4.5 hour drive according to google, but they didn't factor in a screaming baby and pit stops for diaper changes...hence why we arrived about 6 hours after we left. ;)
The trip wasn't too bad, Nana sat in the back seat and played with Gavin while he was awake, and he napped a good bit of the way. He got his first taste of a french fry when we stopped for lunch, and he enjoyed perusing the gift shop at Cracker Barrel after we finally pulled over to take care of his much needed diaper change!
It was our first trip back to Biloxi since Hurricane Katrina. My dad was stationed at Keesler AFB from 1992-94, and we had been back a couple of times since then but not since everything we knew was washed or blown away! Getting down there I was surprised by how great everything looked, Gulfport looked like it had grown considerably. And then we turned onto Beach Blvd. and it was just amazing that 2.5 years later how much is still just gone and not replaced.
All of the beautiful grand old homes were just a set of steps leading to a blank foundation. The beach looked so empty and abandoned, the huge live oak trees looked better than I expected but were just a reminder of the homes they used to shade with their huge branches. On and on we drove, past essentially nothing. You could see that just a few blocks from the beach, there were new houses or houses that had survived the storm, but mostly just empty lots for sale.
I remember when we lived at Keesler, when school started in August, there was always a day of remembrance for what Hurricane Camille had done to the town. Several of my teachers had survived that storm, and I just remember what an impact Camille had on the town, and I remember seeing the boat that had survived the hurricane, that was washed up on Beach Blvd and they had left it there as a reminder. I remember seeing the old steps leading to nowhere, and now there's just so many more steps to nowhere. It was just amazing.
We finally made it to the base and made our way to our TLF room. Once we were settled, I gave Amy a call. They are staying at the TLF we actually lived in for a few weeks when we moved to Biloxi from England, it was always our favorite TLF stay. I'm not sure if it was because it was so nice (it was) or because we were just excited to be back in America for the first time in 3 years. Anyways, I sat and waited and finally the elevator doors opened, and there was Amy and adorable little Hayden! The last time we had seen each other, I was 7 months pregnant and Amy was about 8 weeks pregnant. And there we were with an 4.5 month old and a 10 month old!!
I was so glad to finally meet little Hayden. He's so sweet and such a happy little boy. He has the biggest grin and these such adorable chubby cheeks...I remember when Gavin had those chubby cheeks...and when he was still so tiny. (Not that Gav is a chunk by any means...but still, it's so crazy how fast they grow!)
We had to run by the BX to get me a pair of flip flops since I left mine on the doorstep while packing the car that morning. And then we drove through our old housing for curiosity's sake. I was shocked to see most of the houses along the back bay, were just gone...and then just across the street from them- everything looked just as I remembered it. As we wound along the neighborhood, nearing our old street (Patrick Drive) I was surprised to see many of our neighbors along the back bay's homes still standing...and yet our street was just gone. It was surrounded by a construction fence- but it doesn't look like Katrina was kind to our old home. My best friend's home was still there, and I just don't see how- she was right up against the water...but hers and several neighbor's homes were there and didn't look like they'd been harmed at all.
After the disheartening tour through housing we headed to the Marina park to walk around and swing (or so we thought). I noticed that all the magnolia trees my Girl Scout troup had planted as a service project were gone. I guess they didn't survive the hurricane.
We quickly discovered that there were no infant style swings, so we just sat on a picnic table and chatted, comparing the boys and swapping babies for kisses and hugs. Hayden wasn't too sure about his Mommy holding another baby- he eyed Gavin very suspiciously. Gav did swing on the swings with Nana, he sat in her lap (Mommy gets sea-sick on the swings). I of course forgot to take a picture of that, but he was very excited- I could hear him squealing in happiness about it.
It was really nice to catch up with Amy, I've missed her a lot! Our lives have changed so much in the past year, but we've gone through a lot of the same things, what with both of us having our little boys...so it was nice to compare our experiences. Hayden woke up (like Amy said...at exactly 40 minutes after being laid down...he loves his schedule ;) and I tried to put Gavin down for a nap, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it. We waited for Matt to finish his golf game and then we went to dinner. Gav fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep until the very end of dinner- and then started protesting that I wasn't sharing my food with him. We all had chicken tortilla soup at McAllister's Deli and so Gavin got bits of the bread bowl which he really liked.
Then we went home, and decided to meet back up in the morning. I let Gavin crawl around for a long time, and then fed him some Turkey rice dinner which he enjoyed more than anything I think I've ever fed him. The night was long and adventurous enough to be worthy of it's own post later today. But in the morning, we went for a nice walk around the walking track in front of our TLF. I admired Amy's amazing stroller (We're considering a jogging stroller) and then went for coffee at the little shop in the hospital lobby.
Gavin was napping this whole time (he'd been up since 6 am) and when he finally woke up we got some last pictures and hugs in before we had to hit the road again. Matt was off for lunch, so we were able to say goodbye again too.
The boys checked each other again while we took pictures...
The stars just weren't aligned in my favor today. I should've known it when I woke up to Andrew saying, from Gavin's room, "Boy! What did you do!?" Ahh it's such a joy to start a morning off with a big poopy diaper. Let me tell you. It was too cold to open the windows to air out the room, but did that stop us? No. It was just that bad.
I remember being told that a breastfed baby's poop didn't smell...I thought that can't be true. But it is. It's so unbelievably UNstinky compared to what happens once you introduce solids...But I digress, this isn't a blog all about poop. Although..the day did turn out to be pretty poopy to put it nicely.
We had agreed to drop our cable down to the basic basic "lifeline" (what the company calls it) channels, because we just aren't getting $100 worth out of our cable. That same price used to be premium cable, internet and cable phone in San Antonio. Here it was buying 60 channels, ridiculously slow internet, and a bad connection for our Vonage. Well, of course I put my life on hold between 8 and 12 for a technician to come out and adjust the cable. Did anyone show up? Of course not. Did anyone answer the phone when I called to complain? Of course not. Very convenient for their office to be closed. I got transferred to their Regional Customer Service, where Angel (that really was her name) got an attitude with me when I said (politely even) that I didn't really appreciate waiting around like I had nothing else to do but wait for a technician to come by. Honestly, I was polite and said I know she had nothing to do with it- but that I wasn't pleased. She works in Customer Service...I doubt I even rated on her list of disgruntled cable customers. But she wasn't very pleasant, and told me that there wasn't a service call listed for us, I said that we'd gotten the confirmation/reminder call last night and then she said, well, it shows that the tech showed up and switched off your cable. No one showed up, I can still watch HGTV...I told her that. And she was like...well it says they came by. I really didn't feel like explaining again that no one had showed up and that if they felt like giving us free cable, then who was I to complain...but I just said (quite exasperated by this point) Okay.
We'll see if the bill gets adjusted. And if it does and our cable never gets turned down...I can't say I didn't try and tell them. (Well, okay I have a big guilty conscience, so I'm sure I'll call and remind them, at least once more).
So after wasting 4 hours of precious time, I decided to head out and run my errands, which included visiting the Easter Bunny at the mall, picking up Gav's portraits, grabbing lunch and some baby food. I hit the mall first.
I know I got some strange looks, but I wasn't going to go through the ordeal of putting the baby back in the car, loading the stroller in the trunk, then driving a few hundred feet to the ATM. Once I got my cash, I strolled back and then had to stand in line (the Easter bunny had become quite a popular guy since I'd left.) The owner barely remembered me (it had been 5 minutes tops!) I paid, got a 5x7 that turned out well, and then he printed 2 wallets but touched them before they were dry so they were all smeared. I, of course, didn't notice this till I had gotten home with the pictures. So much for grandparents getting a copy...I finally resorted to scanning it and making copies. But they don't look all that great.
I did a bit of retail therapy in Books a Million..and then I headed out to pick up Gavin's 9 month portraits (The first session). I managed to get there at 2:05...they went to lunch at 2. I was starving, had a grumpy baby and I just didn't have any clue how I was going to kill an hour waiting for them to come back. So I decided to head home, hit the commissary for baby food and maybe Taco Bell for myself.
I got done with the baby food shopping fairly quickly. I hate self-checkouts, but didn't want to wait in line for a regular cashier (even the express lane was crowded) so I went through one anyways. I was jinxed and it didn't want to accept my money...finally the nice cashier figured out the problem (none- it just hated me). And I went on my merry little way to Taco Bell. Where I waited...and waited, and despite my screaming child...no one ever came to the counter and I just didn't think I could remain polite if I yelled out "Hello?!"
So we went home. Where I had to feed the "pterrible pterodactyl" first...(Oh if I could take a video of his squawking...you would understand what I mean)
He would have nothing to do with the oatmeal and pears with plums unless he was holding the spoon, which of course meant that the spoon was banging on the highchair still filled with sticky messy food and he had managed to get it all in his hair. At least I was smart and had stripped him down to a onesie by this point. I was starving to death, pounding migraine (as usual) and had made myself some tuna to eat with triscuits. ...I turned my back on it for a minute I was getting wipes to clean up the messy baby...and the dogs ate all of it. I think I screamed something not too nice and burst into tears. I'd had it. I threw (not literally) them outside and luckily found another package of tuna. I tried to get Gav to take a nap (he was rubbing his eyes and screaming a sure sign he needs a nap) but he would have none of it and dramatically wailed until I picked him up and plopped him in the floor to play.
I managed to eat in peace, I nursed Gavin till he fell asleep...he napped, I watched my bootlegged cable and waited for Andrew to come home..
The day continued to be rotten when he told me he was wrong, he's not off on Monday.When we went out onto the patio to relax, I lost a bet (a stupid bet) that if I opened the gate, Wallace wouldn't run away (we've been trying to work on his recall)...I'm not even going to touch on how bad of an idea that was...WHAT was I thinking?!!? Luckily, he didn't go far...and Zach helped capture him before too long. Andrew won his bet- Gromit didn't hardly budge from the gate when let out. (Though he did follow Boomer out UNDER the fence earlier)
Gavin pooped his way out of another outfit...covering us both in poopy and anything in the remote vicinity of his changing table. He got scrubbed down in the tub but then still had to eat dinner and play some more, depleting most of the cleansing effect of the bath with those two things. I took sanctuary in the bathroom for about 30 minutes...just sitting in the floor because I thought I might be going insane...I vowed not to come out until I felt like I could be nice...or until Andrew checked on me...I counted to about 10,000 before that happened...(hey the faucet drips, it made it hard not to count!) I know who really loves me...Wallace checked on me three times. He looked quite concerned too, and gave me several licks to try and persuade me to come out of hiding.
If you made it this far...I'm impressed, writing it was quite therapeutic- maybe the day wasn't as bad as I thought, but I definitely am exhausted from it. Andrew's asleep on the couch with Gromit, I think I'll share the bed with my true love tonight...Wallace ;)
Man! I thought it would years before I had to say that!! Nope...Gavin discovered a new talent. Slamming doors!
We have a long hallway that has a door at the end of it. It's a great design feature of the house that lets me close the whippets in one room and that hallway, and keep them from destroying the place. (I can't be too smug, I didn't decide to do this until after Christmas..after Gromit had destroyed half the living room. Now he's crated and Wallace has semi-freedom)...but back to the main story....This house has a lot of doors! And Gavin enjoys crawling over to all of them and slamming them shut. It's so funny, he giggles after it slams. And I'm going.."No! Don't slam the door!" (I'm afraid he'll get a finger shut in it!) and that makes him giggle even more!
Gavin had another sad moment when our friends Lindsey and Phil came over yesterday. Lindsey was going to help me decide how to decorate a diaper cake for a baby shower and Phil came along. He's already graduated from UPT so he's just on casual duty while waiting to go to his next plane for training. So he was in his flight suit...and Gavin eyed him as soon as he woke up (he had been napping in the swing) I got him out and plopped him down in the floor to play, and he saw Phil...just sitting there in his flight suit, innocently enough. I mean his only crime was (in Gavin's mind) was "Why are you wearing my Daddy's outfit!?" So he burst into tears and hung his little head down onto his chest and just bawled...I don't know what I'm going to do today when we go to the clinic. There will be a ton of pilots there, and I can't take it if he cries every time he sees a flight suit that doesn't contain his Daddy!! Gav's cold isn't any better, and he's so whiny. He doesn't want me to put him down at all. At least the weather has warmed up a bit, and maybe we can go for a long walk with the dogs later. He loves walks!!
As I mentioned in my post last night, we took Gavin to the park for the first time Saturday. First I went with my friend Elizabeth, and her son Jackson and then we went with Andrew and the dogs. It's terrific living on base, there's like 10 playgrounds, 4 or 5 in our neighborhood alone! I can't wait till Gav is walking because I know he'll enjoy it a lot more. But I still think he had fun, you can decide for yourself after seeing the pictures though :)
Then he tried out the slide with Mommy.
More dinosaurs!
It was a great day, and we can't wait to go back again soon!
This week was a big improvement over last week. The weather was much nicer (it hit 70 today!) and no storms after Tuesday, so Andrew got to fly plenty. His first check ride went really well and he starts formation flying tomorrow.
Lows:
Bad weather Tuesday was really scary, luckily the tornadoes didn't hit near us. How devastating for those it did hit :(
Highs:
Andrew passing his check ride with a great score- it was so nice to have that big hurdle out of the way, and he cleared up the two bad rides from last week with and excellent flight. Hoping to keep up that momentum for the ever exciting formation flights!!
Gav was so good in the nursery at church today, I worried about him- since it was our first Sunday at this new church, but they said he was happy, playful and even took a quick nap. It helped that his best buddy- Jackson is in the same classroom as him.
We went to the park for the first time yesterday.The weather was gorgeous and warm so Gavin got to try out the swings (baby seat swings), slid with Mommy and Daddy and climbed all over the big dinosaurs. The pictures are adorable- I'll upload them tonight and have a few to post tomorrow.
He also got to play with my brother's new kitten- Bella today. She's another rescue and is black and so cute. She reminds me so much of our black cat, Koi, who died on Halloween. Gavin LOVES animals and this was the first kitten/cat (besides Koi) that let him pet it. He even kissed her (which she didn't appreciate). Those pictures are also cute- I'll upload some of them tomorrow too.
It's a busy week for us, and I think I'm finally going to cut my hair off - so big changes ahead!!
-Until tomorrow, when I'll have a million new pictures to share!
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