St. George

Early in May we traveled down to St. George to spend the weekend with my sister Lynsey, her husband Matt, and their two boys. We saw Brian Regan at Tuacahn. I had never appreciated him before – he always seemed overly goofy when I saw him on comedy central. But he really is funny. I laughed the ENTIRE time. It was like doing a million situps. I needed that.



It was fun to have my sister’s family with us and I’m learning what a funny thing it is to take a bunch of kids to a restaurant.

That weekend Gavin had his first swim…and loved it. He sat on the step of the baby pool and dove right in. Good thing we were sitting right there! I think he thought it was a giant bathtub.

It was fun to see him smile and have so much fun. We’ll be headed down to St. George again soon and I’m excited to take him again. While Brian and I played a game of shuffleboard, Gavin sat in his stroller and people watched for about a half hour – perfectly content. Sweet boy.

Eleven Months

What we do:

Pull, grab, climb, stand, cruise. This includes Gavin pulling himself up in the tub by the faucet. Stresses me out.

Visit Wilson, long stroller rides, get the mail, enjoy nice weather.

Crawl like crawling should look. Eat, nap, roll away during diaper changes, smile, lots of screaming, grind six teeth, sign occasionally, feed self with spoon sometimes, make messes constantly.
Unload cupboards, bang pans with a wisk, be loud generally.

Make mom and dad happy and proud. Just when we think we can’t love this guy anymore, we do. I do, however, recognize that we are in a new stage. He won’t hold still anymore – not hardly. I already miss that. I’ve had to chase a pooey bum on the run. I mean really, who’s in charge here?

I can hardly believe Gavin will be ONE in three weeks. This year has flown by...

Wicked Cool

Last week Brian and I were able to see Wicked at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake. We have had tickets twice before and were unable to go. Once we were moving and the other Brian had pneumonia. Luckily, Brian took pity on me and I flew myself to Denver a few years ago to see it with my friend Melanie. But Brian still has never been – until now.

It was absolutely AMAZING. It is the best show I’ve EVER seen – and I have appreciated many a musical… There is no time to look at the program to see who is playing what character or what song is coming next. Besides, we all know what song is coming next. And if you don’t, let me urge you to listen to the CD because you are seriously missing out. My attention was completely captivated. So wonderful. So funny. Beyond entertaining. Best $100 you’ll ever spend.

Spring Break 2009 - San Diego, CA

Scene 1: Take Gavin to G&G Robinson’s house for a six day stay. So strong while inside. Said goodbye. Not so strong when we got in the car. I wept. Brian kept driving.

Day 1: Flew to San Diego. Drive to sister Anne’s house two hours away. Listened to Wicked. Sang loudly to Ipod. Got carsick in a wretched canyon. Arrived and hugged cute nephew Cohen.


Day 2: Easter Sunday. Went with sis Anne to brother Dave’s (and Rachelle) house in Indio. Ate yummy food. Took pictures of more nephews. Forgot to take one of Anne and Paul. Shoot.

Day 3: Drove to Escondido. Wild Animal Park.

Beautiful sunny day. Free tickets from Brian’s friend. Saw elephants, parrots, vultures, gorillas, snakes, butterflies, tiger, etc.


Decided I’m not in shape - a very hilly park – lots of huffing and puffing. Will work out when I get home. Brian fed birds (lorikeet?) – Natalie just took pictures.

Brian swam in the ocean. It was freezing – he didn’t seem to mind that he was the only one out there. He was like a little kid.

Day 4: Took it easy. Chilly day. Old Town. Best Mexican Café I’ve ever been to – homemade corn tortillas. Speak to my soul – I haven’t had a tortilla that good in six years! (allergy…) Drove by the temple and to La Jolla. Freezing by now. Went to hotel and flipped between American Idol and Biggest Loser.

Day 5: Sea World! Atlantis rollercoaster – 2x – first thing in the am. Still to cold for everyone else, so line was so short. Saw polar bears, beluga whales, penguins, sea otters, flamingos, sea lions, dolphins, and killer whales. Felt like we were alone in the park – not crowded.

Best part: Brian’s friend from work has a cousin who is a killer whale trainer. Met with her. She let us in training facility – behind those locked gates! Personal chat – answered all our questions. “Do you know how cool/totally unusual your job is?” She does. Watched her in the next show. She was the main swimmer – very talented (and brave!) Afterwards she got us a free table at “Dine with Shamu” dinner. Yummy food. Whale up close. And again, free. So fun. Went home for two hours to rest.


Came back for nighttime dolphin then Shamu show. Way cool. Perfect ending to a sweet day with Bri.

Day 6: Beach. Getting warmer outside, but still chilly. Brian boogy boards. Comes and tells me it’s my turn. So scared. I don’t love the ocean. Fun to look at, awesome to listen to, but NOT fun to be in. Big waves, salty taste, possible sharks. Bri dragged me in. I cried. Later told me he thought I wasn’t going to make it. I calmed down. Boogied three waves and called it day. Scary, but fun 10 minutes. Walked down pier. Got minimal sun. Checked out of hotel and drove to Seaport Village. Ate at a BBQ place across the street. “Great Balls of Fire” scene from Top Gun was filmed there. (Came home and watched movie – confirmed – it was indeed filmed there.) Flew home.

Final scene: Gavin asleep at G&G’s house. Woke him up and he smiled. He remembers! Happy to be home. So happy to see my baby. Sad to feel like I forgot his face (not too much, but just a tiny.)


Best part: Reconnecting with Brian. Nothing else to worry about for six days – no obligations or interruptions—just us. He is still my very favorite person to be around. We have a lot of fun together. Happy five years to us!

Sun

It's been away from us here in UT for a very long time now. I was just about to get violent about it when all of a sudden, (I think it's safe to say) Spring arrived.

My tulips are about ready to show their color, the chapstick in my car is melty, and flipflops and capris are all over the place. It does my heart good.

Oprah

I am a loyal watcher. Wondering if any of you saw the show yesterday on moms... What did you think?

I know I've only got one kid and don't know a whole lot about the whole mommy thing, but I still related to a lot (minus the lady who shared that she peed in a diaper mid drive so she wouldn't wake up the kids...I didn't relate to that at all). I'm can be one who totally overdoes it and sometimes has beyond unrealistic expectations of myself. I think I have to be perfect at EVERYTHING. Turns out I don't.

I'm thinking I'm feeling better about saying no sometimes. Also, it's nice to know that my house doesn't have to be perfectly clean with a gourmet meal on the table every day - because let's be honest - that just is not true of me or my house. And I'm allowed to be tired after work. And that being a mom is hard and takes up a lot of brain time and physical and emotional energy. And that I'm not the only one! Yes, I indeed feel good about all of this.

I'll still working on making my house clean because it isn't a gift of mine - and the truth is that it's nicer when one doesn't live in filth. I just won't think that I'm the lowliest person on the planet anymore. :) I think they were right when they said you have to redefine yourself after a child. I want to be a mom more than anything, but I think the definition of me will always be a work in progress as I continue to learn and grow.

Nine Months

I love this boy more and more every day. Lately I've been feeling a little overwhelmed being a working mom. I know people do it all the time, but sometimes it's hard to me to feel like I'm really doing okay at something if I've got fifty somethings to do. I'm working on being patient about that. Luckily I get to go 1/2 time next year. I'm so excited to have more time with my little buddy.

I love picking Gavin up at the end of the day and have him reach out his arms for me to pick him up. If he's on the ground, he'll pull at my pant legs and want to get up to his mama. Melts my heart.

At nine months, Gavin army crawls with the best of them. I turn around and he's under the table or eating the pedals on the piano or investigating the garbages. He still likes to test the taste of things in his mouth. As you can tell, he's eating just fine. Last week he weighed in at 23 lbs 14 ozs. Chubba lub! (I still feel like my arms should look like Jillan Michaels, but they don't.) He's experimenting with all sorts of less-pureed foods. We're also testing out gluten, which I'm allergic to. Hopefully the breads and pastas and all things yummy sit well with him. He can feed himself and bottle and other foods. Sometimes I take away his independence because I just want to hold him while he drinks, but other times it's nice. He's got four teeth - two fangs on top and the two middle teeth on the bottom. I'm still getting used to his new smile!

He waves and babbles and laughs and jumps. Squeals and copies us and runs away. He's working on clapping and making his little fingers work how he wants them to. He's been watching Baby Signing Time and laughs and laughs. I know he understands "all done" but he hasn't done anything on his own yet. But at least I can blow dry my hair or get dinner ready and not worry that he's getting into trouble.



This is a happy, pleasant kid. He is usually sitting in his crib peering out the slats waiting for me to come and get him. He is pretty consistent at his schedule. He sleeps from 7-7 and then takes two good naps a day. I need the predictability - good for an OCD mom.

Yesterday Gavin looked at Brian and I and screamed at us - lots of times. He grabbed the side of his highchair and his face got red and he started shaking his head at us. He's got things to say and I can't wait to hear all about it. It's fun to see his little personality come out - pleasant or mad.



I look at this picture and cannot believe how fast the time has gone. He'll be one before I know it! But for now, we enjoy the moments. There are so many good things and we are learning so much along the way.

Just thankful, thankful for my sweet Gavin!