Have Babies Will Blog

The Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:56:00 +0000

Before the big game Gavin was undecided on which team to root for...

Psych! He's a Saint's fan all the way just like his daddy!

We had a few minutes between games and BBQing to get our picture taken. Notice Olivia looks strange... that is the smile she chose to have in all the pictures so we went with it. One day she'll have to explain that to her boyfriend and we can all snicker and laugh. Oh wait- we did that already!

12 jumps on the pogo stick at the park- a new record. Olivia's at 8 so far.

The cruiser on her new two wheeled scooter.

My man giving me the sign to go!

Size

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:38:00 +0000

Just for reference:
Ava 5 years old- 45.5 inches tall 48 pounds
Olivia 6 years old- 48.5 inches tall 48 pounds

He Speaks!

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:34:00 +0000

You heard it here first folks- The Gavinator speaks.

As he laid silently in his crib out pops, "dada."

Rolling Around

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:08:00 +0000

At 3:52 PM today while watching football Gavin rolled over from front to back. It's a good thing too since we were thinking maybe the hospital gave us a broken model and we were going to have to return him for a full refund:)

New Year's Eve 2011

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:49:00 +0000

Instead of going to bed at 9 o'clock like a couple of old farts we decided to go up to the cabin and spend New Years weekend with our friends. Given that this is Gavin's first New Year it should be somewhat special right?

When we got there it was still a little nippy out so the kids took off in their jackets to walk the dogs.

By the afternoon they were climbing trees, riding bikes, raking leaves into huge piles and running through them, shoveling rocks to make a pathway with some pavers, and having a grand ol' time.

Nick can ride now without training wheels. Way to go!

Ava will be an expert tree trimmer one day!

And here's the happy family BEFORE the chaos starts.

So New Years Eve day Rachael and I take off to go have some girls time without the kids and we head out to lunch leaving the kids and the men with chores. We were gone a few hours and when we got back everything was done. It was awesome. Everyone followed directions, they ate some popcorn for being so great, and then it was getting dark so they all came inside.

This is when Olivia tells me she has a headache. Of course we don't have any pain reliever up in the middle of nowhere so I check her head and there's the fever. Again. We cannot seem to catch a break this winter with the stupid colds. So I have her lay down for awhile until dinner. As we are sitting around marveling over how good the Honey Baked Ham is... Olivia coughs. You know the cough that is usually followed with vomit. So we whisk her away from the table and put her to be with a washcloth apologizing to her for such a miserable New Years Eve. The hours roll on and now it's around 9Pm and the other two kids are getting cranky. Nick ends up in timeout so I put Ava to bed which leads to Nick going to bed too. I check on Olivia and her fever has broken and she is now sleeping. Yea let the good times roll right? No.

Midnight hits and we all celebrate and then a few minutes later Ava comes running out of the room and throws up. Can't take my kids anywhere the little pukers. She proceeds to barf until 2AM. So not only did Dave and I get any action on New Years Eve but we also slept in separate rooms so that he could hold the bowl while Ava threw up while I stayed with the baby in the other room to keep him from getting sick.

So the next day we head home, all kids feeling better, and once home everything that day and night go back to normal. Then the next night the kids go to bed and Olivia comes running out and throws up. Really? Have we not had enough vomit for 2012? Apparently not. I guess this is how we will be spending the next year... Yea, I say most sarcastically.

Gavin

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:50:00 +0000

See my smiling baby-

He loves to take a bath.

Especially when his daddy is there to play with him.

And also because his head is covered with ringworm. Yip. Ringworm. You'd think there would be a good guess as to how a baby could have gotten ringworm on his head but apparently it's just a fungus that you can get on warm moist places just like athletes feet. Since I've had a hat on his head most of the time I am guessing that is what happened. Neither dog has it... the other kids don't have it. I haven't gotten it from feeding him. It is a mystery.

Boys- man they start at an early age with the hyjinks. On top of that- behind his ears became really red from drooling I'm supposing and somehow became infected. So every day twice a day he gets cream smothered on his head, a different cream behind the ears, and a medication he swallows three times a day for the bacterial infection. I feel like a terrible mother that my cute little baby has hit the skids but his ears look 80% better, the ringworm is 75% gone, and the medication he still has to take for a few more days. Thankfully it's not an issue. He sucks it right out of the dropper. It must taste great.

So since we saw the pediatrician once again, on Gavin's 5th month birthday he weighs a whopping 19.5 pounds and is 27 inches tall. He no longer can ride in the cute little car seat that snaps on to grocery carts but instead the next size up seat. And since I switched the seat he is much happier not being stuffed like a sausage into the old seat.

Thankfully he still fits into his swing!

Fun Times

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:54:00 +0000

Juli came to visit the baby and brought-

the bunny. See the pure joy of 5 hours of fun with the bunny on Liv's face?

See the joy on my face as one kid sleeps.

Look at that cute little mug. Cutest little baby in the world. I can say that. I am the mom.

He is also a Saint's fan like his father and Uncle Scott.

This picture is just to reference his size. Gavin is almost as long as the changing pad. I gave birth to that without an epidural. Ouch.

Using the Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 23:41:00 +0000

Seriously? Is there anything these two can't do?

Olivia's first attempt at the "poto" stick. I don't know why she calls it that but she can jump on it!

This is a scooter that Olivia was given by Santa but since it has two wheels instead of three Ava has taken it over and she's good at it. Guess what she'll be getting for her birthday?

Christmas 2011

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 07:40:00 +0000

This is us waking up and heading downstairs to see if Santa left us anything. Frankly, I don't remember if we were good or not this past year. Should be interesting.

By the look on Gavin's face something hanky was left under tree... yes, another Christmas turd courtesy of Sugar. Off to a good start.

Well it appears some jolly ol' fat man ate the cookies.

And since he left crumbs Ava figured she would help out by eating the crumbs.

Ahh. The joy of still wrapped presents.

The ripping begins.

Even Gavin on his first Christmas got in on the wreckage.

Boy that paper must taste good.

The coveted pillow pet has shown it's head.

And some Wii will be a playin'.

Thank Goodness Santa gave Olivia her own music on her own MP3 player... Now we all don't have to listen to it.

Or so we thought. Thanks Liv you have a beautiful voice.

Mr. Hawkiepoo loved his new blanket and frog.

And his new snazzy jammies with reindeer feet.

My dad chilling out by the fire. Ha! Gavin's nose is still running. Thank goodness we aren't all well for Christmas that would throw off things for years to come.

This may be Gavin's first Christmas but he knows when something belongs to him and he wants it.

My mom back there clutching her coffee...

Ava's awesome present she made for me at preschool.

Viewing the carnage. It's everywhere.

Ava's new cat Snowy. She goes everywhere Ava goes.

I think the kids are lost in there somewhere.

We had a great Christmas followed by a fantastic Cioppino dinner. Dave and I were blessed this year with our new little Gavin and the completion of our family. The girls are loving school and their teachers. Things are just going really well for us. Here's to 2012 to be even better.

See in the picture over there by the red thing... that's my sanity slip slippin' away. Merry Christmas!

I wonder who's going to clean up that mess?

Kids Mass

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:30:00 +0000

Upon arriving at church for Christmas Mass I was dreading that the Mass would be a long one and the kids would get antsy. So to my surprise a woman walked over to us and asked if the girls would like to be in the play. Of course my two little hams said yes and ran away with her. And there we sat. The entire Mass in silence. Even the baby went to sleep. I literally could the angels singing.

Apparently Liv chose to be an angel. Go figure. It has wings. She would never pass on the chance to wear wings.

Ava was a camel. Dave thought she was a cow. Apparently he doesn't know the story of the three kings and baby Jesus. Isn't that where Christmas derived from anyway?

New Rooms

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:55:00 +0000

So Gavin was born and Olivia was pretty much displaced for 4 1/2 months. She asked me several times to bring all of her toys into her room but with all of Ava's stuff in there and the fact that some stuff needed to be cleaned and gotten rid of I just didn't have the time. So thankfully my parents came here for Christmas which allowed me a few days to paint Gavin room which brought all of Olivia's things out and into the hall so that I HAD to deal with them.

In a matter of two days Gavin's room was painted. Then I cleaned out Ava's toys and Dave put up some fancy new shelves to hold their belongings. Then he put up shelves in Gavin's room and we added the decorations and we were finally finished. Two great rooms that all three kids love. Olivia ran in to her new room to see the new creation and said, "Wow Ava look- here's my cradle too, and my jellyfish..." That made the week of work so worth every minute.

THE GIRLS' ROOM

GAVIN'S ROOM

Ava's X-mas party

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:28:00 +0000

Santa visited Ava's classroom this year and brought coal...

All the kids got to see first hand what they'd get in their stockings if they weren' t the best little kids Santa knew they could be.

Santa read, "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to all the good boys and girls.

Then Ava sat on Santa's lap and told him she wanted a remote control car since her old one had broken.

He offered her a candycane.

And that made Ava grin.

Olivia jumped right up there to tell Santa that she wanted a pillowpet.

And then the three posed for a group Santa shot.

Gavin's first picture with Santa.

Me and my boy. I have to say Gavin is one of the best decisions Dave and I have ever made together. He is such a great baby. He LOVES his sisters and the dogs, and really truly completes us.

49er's Game

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:18:00 +0000

Have you seen these two guys?

Let me explain who they are.... They are the proud recipients of two tickets to see the Steeler's play the 49er's. BUT... and that's a huge but. They didn't get just any old tickets...

Their tickets seated them HERE right behind where the players sit. They are about 8 rows back on the 45 yard line. The tickets were over $1000 a piece. Now look closely at these faces in the photo above and you will see in the glimmer of their eyes the words- FREE- written all over them.

In all honesty, they have these tickets every year but my dad doesn't want to drive all the way to SF for football unless it is against his team- Pittsburgh. So this was a good year for the both of them. Father-in-law and son bonding.

Snowtubing

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:49:00 +0000

Every year we go to the snow to play during the winter break. Sometimes we go up to the Mountains and go sledding down some pretty steep slopes and then sometimes we come HERE!!! The land of fun and joy!!! And TUBING of course!

Look at the little rascals all geared up for fun while standing atop the huge presents.

They were all gracious enough to let me snap their picture while they stuck their heads through the winter wonderland scene.

And for that they were rewarded with a train ride. Gavin's first train ride outside the belly.

See the rascals all pretend to smile for me. You'd think their faces were going to snap off. I received a lot of teeth.

My princess waiting for me to hop in next to her.

Who are these people and how'd they get in our photo? Awww- their Nick's parents and probably one of the coolest couples we could have ever met.

So the train ride ended and somebody had to get rebundled. Guess who? Yip, and he's not happy about it. I call him Mr. Crankypants.

The tube riding has begun and my baby is flying down the giant snow slide.

Here's Ava at the top getting ready to be pushed down the slide. Her little face is beaming.

My princess yelled, "WEEEEEEE" all the way down.

Nick and Olivia were in a race. Nick won!

And then there were the snowball fights and Ava gave me a big grin.

Gavin's first time getting near snow. Let's just say he didn't like it. After all the excitement we all went for some yummy hot chocolate and played at the park. Whew, what a day.

Not so- Tummy Time

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:19:00 +0000

Don't let this picture fool you. Gavin HATES tummy time. If I even think about putting him on the ground to do tummy time he cries. Everyone always tells me, "Wow, what happy baby you have. I don't think I've ever heard him cry." And then I show them tummy time. First the lip pops out, then the tears well-up and then I snatch him off the ground because he and I both know by this point it just ain't happening.

Back time seems to be enlightening so far. I mean hey- so what if he's 5 before he rolls over... he can sit by himself, pull himself up to sitting, eat well, and I think he even has a B.S. or he's just full of it.

Me and my kiddo doing what we do best together.

Amparo's Visit

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Amparo and her family came out to see us for a little holiday fun. The girls ran around giggling and play with everything and Gavin did his usual smile and laugh. It was good seeing them again and having the kids get to play together. I miss us not living so close to each other anymore but she's moving soon and we will be closer.

Liv's X-mas Pagent

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 19:46:00 +0000

Liv's class along with the other two kindergarten classes all put on a Christmas Pagent. The kids sang their little hearts out..

Here's Liv getting ready to use her bells.

Eating

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 19:44:00 +0000

That's my Gavin chowing down his grub!

The Big Guy

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 21:03:00 +0000

Sounds like I'm ordering a pizza right? Nope. It's just my huge kid. Gavin had his 4 month well baby appointment yesterday at 20 weeks old. He is 18 pounds 13 ounces 95%, 26 1/2 inches tall 88%, and his dome measured 17 inches 75% I think... Needless to say his pediatrician asked if I was now buying him 6-9 month clothing. I laughed and told him the outfit he's currently wearing is 12-18 months... and then he laughed and said, "Well you sure have a big one on your hands..." Really I hadn't noticed. My back aches from lugging him around each and every day.

He then asked if he's eating well. Seriously you need to ask? Yes, he eats everything from cream of wheat to that gross Gerber meat. I am making him all of his baby food but I can't blend meat down like Gerber can so they win.

And then it came time for Gav's vaccines. Before he was even stuck in the leg he began to wail because he just didn't want to lay down on the table nor did he want some random lady looking at his face. So then Ava begins to wail because she is scared for him and then Olivia screams like a siren because she panics when everyone else is crying. It was like a scene from a bad movie. I'm trying to comfort him, comfort Ava, and listen to Olivia tell me there's something red on him and my hand... Again he had to be laid down for a new band aid sans more crying. Upon leaving I made my next appointment and guess who will be joining us again- yip both of the girls. Gee I wonder who will cry next time. Probably me in the parking lot.

People ask me all the time how I manage to take three kids everywhere I go and stay sane. First, I'm crazy and second, I walk really fast. With three you learn to flee the scene of the crime almost instantly. I think with all the crying drama we were down a flight of stairs and in the truck in a matter of two minutes. Good thing I am not fat.

I Stand Corrected

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:23:00 +0000

Olivia didn't just give our phone number to one boy at school but rather two boys. Thankfully the second mom found me and let me know what she had done before letting her son call the house. The best part is this is the boy I've been told is the WORST kid in class. Thanks Olivia. Thank you very much. If you call our house don't be surprised if the number's been changed.

Figures

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:55:00 +0000

Just when I thought today was going to be this great day- Olivia gets her first phone call from a boy. Needless to say I felt sick to my stomach and barfed in my mouth a little bit. When he asked her to come over to his house for a barbecue I told her to hang up and go eat her lunch. I guess I'll be chatting with his mom tomorrow. I've only spoken to her once so this should be interesting.

AHHH

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:27:00 +0000

All seems right in the world today. Dave is back to work and feeling better post-operation. Olivia was dropped off for school on time and handed her teacher some fresh baked goodies for Christmas putting a big fat grin across her cute little mug. Ava was dropped off for school on time too and gave her teacher some goodies as well. I'm sure Ms. Karen will spend the rest of the morning explaining to her why she is not going to get to sample any of them but hey- at least it's not me:) And my Gavin is resting comfortably in his crib shouting out what sounds like sassy little baby swear words... I am sure I'll be paying for that later. But for now I have a moment to myself. Literally.just.one.moment. And poof- there it's gone.

Anniversary #7

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 17:54:00 +0000

We will be omitting any loving pictures of us on our anniversary today.

The day started out with getting up late for church but we made it on time with a little yelling and swearing. Yes. All from me. After sniffling our way through Mass we went to an "anniversary Sunday breakfast" so the kids could celebrate our special day with us. We sat there, staring out into oblivion wishing our food would just get to the table since it was now almost noon and no one had eaten. Dave chatted up the waitress about sports scores and kept an eyeball on the TV while running back and forth to the bathroom- stomach issues. I kept an eye on the baby knowing full well when the food came his eyes would pop open and he'd want to eat too.

Finally the food arrived. Birds chirped. Crickets all around. All you could hear was the scarfing of the fabulous food and the continuous blowing of noses. After we devoured it we promptly got up, ran for the truck, drove home, ripped off our clothes, and laid down. I'd like to say we had this wonderful day spent together remembering our love for one another but really it was more of a fend for yourself and we'll see who survives the day kind of day.

By the time the kids went to bed Dave and I regrouped and spent a few minutes together before going to sleep. Even in all the chaos and sickness it was still a nice anniversary. Dave had found a special song that he burned for me and gave me the CD to listen to and he read me the lyrics like he was reading a poem. His eyes teared up as he read and I saw the love that he still has for me. I love Dave with all my heart. I think that's what makes our marriage work. When the day can be totally crazy but at the end of it you can look at each other and know it was all worth it. Happy Anniversary David!

Deck the Halls

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:59:00 +0000

Gavin's first Christmas. He's excited.

Grandma B gave Gavin his first ornament.

My best Christmas present ever!

Merry early Christmas! We decked the Halls and put up the tree and had a great time doing it. Tonight we go visit Santa and gobble down some candy canes.

Gavin 4 Months

noreply@blogger.com (After Hours) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:36:00 +0000

My little Hawk all ready to fly on his 4 month birthday. You are a big boy my friend. So far you are 18 pounds and roughly 26 inches tall from what your dad and I can tell. You are a charmer and a ladies man. Every person I pass anywhere I go stops me to check you out. They just think you are so cute. So do I. You are one good baby too. I think you haven't given it your all at crying yet. You more or less just make the sad face and a little whimper and then it's over. I thank you for that. With all the chaos from your sisters it nice having someone easy. I love you little Gavin.