Holidays, Holidays, Holidays!

I am eternally behind, but here are some highlights from Halloween and Thanksgiving. Better late then never, right???

Gavin was Spiderman this year-the cutest Spiderman I have ever seen that is! We went to our ward Trunk-or-Treat a few days early and then went trick-or-treating with his cousins on Halloween. Lots of candy and fun was had by all!

Our finished products (ours- has the tongue sticking out and the witch)

Every year Eric and Amy host a pumpkin carving party at their house. We had a great time as usual, even though Gavin hated the pumpkin guts- one touch was enough for him! ha

Carving pumpkins

Gavin riding the train at the pumpkin patch with Janeil, Rhiley, Austin, and Emma

Posing for his mandatory picture at the pumpkin patch

This year for Thanksgiving, we went to my Uncle Eric and Aunt Terri's new house and then over to the Vanus's. Somehow, I didn't manage to take any pictures at the Vanus's.I don't know what I'm going to do when I can't blame it on pregnancy brain. :)

My Dad and neice Rhiley

My Uncle Eric, who is a great drummer and graciously let all the kids play with his drums.

Gavin's Favorite part of Thanksgiving- playing the drums. He LOVED it!

Gavin's Birthday Party

Ok, so I am officially fired from keeping up with this blog. Gavin's 3rd birthday was in July. He had his party at My Gym and he had such a great time. Every time we walk past it still he asks if he can go play in there with his friends again

My beautiful Girl

Myah Kay

So these are a couple weeks old now, but I had to share. She is just so dang cute! She looks so much like her brother did at this stage.. it's a good thing there is a date on these pictures because their profiles look so similar, I'm not sure I would be able to tell them apart! :) Keep growing little one, we can't wait to meet you and your brother can't wait to play!

Small and Simple Things

So last night, I let frustration get the best of me. My blood sugars were all over the place, combined with being tired and well let's face it pregnancy hormones do silly things to you, and I was low yet again. As the tears started pouring down my cheeks, Gavin walks over to me and says, "It's OK mom, I will take care of you." He then looks at Ryan and says to him; "Let's get mom some juice and candy." Such a sweet boy! The mom guilt then kicks in and I'm now crying because my 3 year old is "taking care of me"- somethings wrong with that! After I calmed down, and drank some juice, I was in awe of what a sweet little spirit I was in trusted with. He thought nothing of this as it was small and simple to him, but to me it just showed me how open he was to the Spirit and how grateful I am for him and my adoring and wonderful husband. You guys mean the world to me! A simple Thank You is not enough for all you do for me. I love you both more than you will ever know.

Heart beat

I'm a little emotional right now for several reasons. First of all I haven't thought I would ever be here again for a very long time. But, I am so THRILLED that I am. Thanks to my new amazing little device (see previous post), my doctor gave me the ok to go ahead and try for another baby. We honestly thought that we would never birth a child ourselves again. But low and behold, here I am 7 weeks pregnant!!! I even got to see the heart beat on an ultrasound yesterday- and yes, I was one of those people who had to fight back the tears as I looked at my tiny little bean on the monitor. It is amazing that I am so in love with this little person who is no bigger than a raspberry. Grow big and strong, little bean, we can't wait to meet you!

baby and it's heart beat

What make my heart beat a little stronger each day? See below.. I am so grateful for my kids!

Gavin

Baby

Our gardens gone crazy!

Green beans.. woo hoo!
the forest of a garden! haha

So I'm the first to admit, we have no idea how to garden. We totally over planted our planter box and now it looks a little out of control.. Thinks are growing at least though! :)

Bonnie Springs

Me and Gavin on the train
My Loves- Ryan and Gavin- so cute!

The cute turtles

petting the burro

On Memorial Day, we decided to take Gavin to see "the stinky animals" at Bonnie Springs. It was a great day and we had a lot of fun, even if the animals DID stink! :)

I love this quote...

This quote was on the wall at the Aquarium. I loved it... I often wish I could see things through a child's eyes... I hope my kids will be able to keep some of the "magic" in life alive in them forever.

Salt Lake!!!

A couple weeks ago, we got to go to Salt Lake for a few days for my nephew Tyson's baptism. We had such a great time. Here are some pictures from the Aquarium there.

Me and Gavin looking at the penguins
Gavin posing for a picture

My sister Shelly with her kids Andrew and Jack

Andrew, Emma, Gavin, Jack, and Tyson looking at the fish

Our little Garden

Our Finished Product
Gavin posing in front of the planter

Ryan planting the watering system

In an effort to eat more "organic" fruits and vegetables this year, we are trying our not so green thumbs at gardening. Ryan and his dad made this planter box one afternoon and then we spent the next evening planting away. So far we have corn, tomatoes, carrots, squash and zucchini starting to grow! We are so excited!!

Home Improvements

We finally are doing some much needed home improvements after living in our house for over a year. We got a new mattress last week , and yesterday we got our cabinets resurfaced. They look beautiful! Light wood is not my favorite (sorry to those of you who like it, but I'm more of a fall color girl), and the dark looks so much better!

Bowling Night!

Luke

Shannon

Ryan after gettting a strike!

Me and Gavin

Dylan

Last weekend we took Gavin bowling for the first time. Dylan, Shannon, and Luke came with us and we had such a great time! Thanks for coming guys! :)

Gavin was very funny. He would throw the ball and start jumping up and down without and screaming "Hooray!" without even watching to see if he hit any pins. He also thought it was his turn after everybody . :) He did pretty good- the first half of the night, he was beating quite a few of us.

My new amazing little device...

I recently got a new device for my diabetes. It's called a continuous glucose monitor. I have a little catheter inserted under my skin and it takes my blood sugar every 3 minutes. It then graphs it out on a monitor and alarms if your blood sugar is either too low or too high. It's amazing! It also shows how you blood sugar is trending and lets you know how quickly it is rising or falling. It truly is a life saving tool! It alarms at me quite often!
So yes, now I have 2 "special boxes" as Ryan calls them. But it is worth it! They are hoping in the future to be able to combine this technology with the pump technology and make an "artificial pancreas" of sorts. Pretty cool...

Potty Training!!

Last month, we took the plunge and starting officially potty training Gavin. After a rocky first day, he got it. The next few days were followed by less and less accidents; now the accidents are few and far between! He's doing so good, and he thinks he is so grown up in his big boy underwear (which he is). I'm so proud of my little, whoops I mean big, guy!

New Year, New Attitude

This year for my New Year's Resolution, not only do I have my typical weight loss resolution, but I am also trying to adopt a new attitude. I have been in a rut of waiting for our baby to get here, and focusing so much on that, that I am missing some of the great things that I have. Don't get me wrong, I still can not wait to be told we have been picked and there is a baby ready for us, but instead of being sad that it hasn't happened yet, I am going to try to see that when it is the right child, it WILL happen. Adoption will always be a part of my life now, a big part, but so is my family I already have. I have the best son, and a wonderful husband, and they deserve the world. So here's to a new attitude! and hopefully it will make me a better mom, wife, and better person overall!

Christmas

Christmas was so much fun this year... Gavin is starting to be big enough to get excited. On Christmas morning, when he woke up, I said, "Gavin, Santa came! Let's go see!" He looked at me with fear in his eyes and said" He's not still here? Right?" I had to laugh. The little guy wanted the gifts but wanted nothing to do with Santa! After opening presents at home, we went to my sister Carrie's house with my family and then met up with Ryan's family at his parent's house. It was a great day.

Gavin looking cute in his new Christmas outfit

On his new bike.. he LOVED it!

Opening presents with Daddy