I have creative friends!

Ok, I had to devote a blog to the food alone at the Halloween party we attended tonight. WOW - my friends have some creative minds when it comes to themed food! Lets just say I exceeded my weight watchers points allowance tonight and will be paying for it at the gym next week. I just couldn't resist all this amazing food! There were several other dishes, sorry I didn't get pics of everything!

Lil Ranger

Notice the shorts?!? Gavin was helping me with laundry today and found some old school ranger panties! He kept trying to put them on so I had to help him and tie the back so they'd stay up. He loved wearing them around the house. Can't wait until Jas sees this pic! He'd be so proud!

Pumpkin and Pizza Thursday

Thursday night we had a great time at our house. Dani and I "co hosted" Pumpkin and Pizza night! She made her homemade chicken pizza and then we all carved pumpkins. The kids watched Finding Nemo and they had a great time in the play room. Dani put Mia in a pumpkin - it was so cute! Mia didn't even care. The kids loved going outside once all the pumpkins were carved to see them all lit up!

Melissa made Jasmine, I made the smiley face, Dani made the cat, and Mary did the Elmo!

Pumpkins and Pictures

Today we stopped at a little "pumpkin stand" in Pooler. For some reason, there isn't really a REAL pumpkin patch in Savannah or the surrounding area like I have back in Tennessee. Gavin was just as happy with this stand, but I wish I could have taken him on a hay ride! He picked out this little one - just his size! We also got a medium one for us to carve tomorrow night.

Next, we headed to Tom Triplet Park to take pictures. I attempted his Christmas pictures, but it was too hot, and he was just so sweaty! I still got some great ones of him though! Choo choo, this little vest was Reagan's!

I ♥ him!

So silly!

See the sweat?!? This is why Christmas pictures didn't happen today!

But he did get to see his favorite - ducks! He tried to run after them and follow them into the water.

Next we headed to the Y so I could work out and he could play with his new buddies - I did a kickboxing class and then we headed home.

Photo shoot: Austin

This afternoon I met a friend at Tom Triplet Park to photograph her son, Austin. He sure is a handsome one! He did great. Thanks so much for meeting me at the park to let me get more practice behind the camera. Hope you enjoy the results. More will be added later!

Toy box Tuesday

This toy box was my mothers when she was a child - I'm so excited we are able to have it for Gavin and that he gets so much use out of it. Yesterday he learned how to climb in and out of it to get the toy he wants! He LOVES his school bus right now and it's always the first toy he goes for. Aren't his footed pajamas so cute? We found them 60% off at Carters this weekend!

Oct. 26 Back to the Doc

Monday I called as soon as the pediatricians office opened and got Gavin an appointment right away for his asthma. (I know I still haven't updated his 1 year old appt blog, but he was diagnosed with asthma.) He had been suffering for over a week with a lingering cold and asthma symptoms. I decided to make an appointment for him and am glad I did. He also had the start of an ear infection! He's on amoxicillin to fix the ear and she added him on Singulair to help with the asthma through the winter months. At his 1 year appointment he was put on a daily medication for his asthma called Pulmicort but that alone was not stopping his symptoms. We're hoping the combination of the two daily meds will help now. I am on the adult version of both of these medications to control my asthma symptoms (Advair and Singulair). Together, they control my asthma wonderfully, so I'm hoping the same for him. Unfortunately he is too young to take an inhaler, so his Pulmicort is given in the form of a breathing treatment that takes about 10 minutes every night. He is getting much better about sitting still on my lap every night and holding the machine in his mouth for that amount of time. He's doing so great and is making me so proud everyday. We get in lots of reading during that time and he is falling in love with certain books of his and wants to read the same ones every night. (Most have to do with animals!) Please pray for our little man and his asthma symptoms!

Oct. 24-25 Weekend

Gourmet Sunday Breakfast: Blueberry Waffles and Peaches!
And a little cottage cheese!

We had a nice weekend, minus the continued sniffles and wheezing. Saturday we had a co-yard sale with a friend to get rid of some junk, then spoiled ourselves with dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was soooo delicious and well deserved after how healthy I've been eating recently!

Sunday we stayed home in our pajamas all day. We had a day of cleaning and playing. I took everything out of Gavin's room and attempted to "redo" it with no asthma triggers. I removed all stuffed animals, extra blankets, and the crib bumper, cleaned the carpets, washed all sheets and curtains in HOT water, dusted everything with just a wet rag (chemical cleaners can trigger asthma), and then added an allergen cover on his pillow (I'm looking for a crib mattress one still), and put a HEPA filter in there. We are pretty sure his asthma is viral based (anytime he gets sick) but to be on the safe side I wanted to eliminate any possible allergen/trigger I could!!! There is now a gate up at his door and the dogs are no longer allowed in his room to keep the pet dander out. This was all a very difficult task, as I had to do it while Gavin was awake! But, he did great entertaining himself for awhile and I took several breaks to come out and play with him. The room is now finished and I'm very impressed!

BEACH on Oct. 23!!

Friday got up to 83 degrees in Savannah - a great day for a trip to the beach!

High 5 with Nico

(and snacking on goldfish!)
It was such a windy day and the waves were wild, so surfers were everywhere! Gavin and I sat and watched them for about 20 minutes - he loved it! These two walked by and said hi to him.

We're due for another hair cut soon!

Attempt at a shot with my little buddy

Double the Fun

Thursday we had a visitor - Nico spent the early afternoon with us! Gavin loved the company (and me too, as they entertained one another) Gavin enjoyed showing Nico everything in his play room, then we had some fun outside, came in for lunch, and then headed back out again. They wore each other out and Gavin had a good afternoon nap!

Nico decided to join in the ball pit fun. He kept putting the balls to his and Gavin's eyes - so funny!

Playing with my exercise ball (that I haven't used in awhile!)

We went for a ride in the wagon...

...then they took turns pulling/pushing each other.

A HUGE tree in our side yard... I love it!

Having some fun in his room. He never sits at this table, but since Nico wanted to sit, Gavin wanted to sit!

I LOVE this one - he loves every last one of those books on the shelf behind him!

(I intentionally made it blurry)

Miss Mia's Photo Shoot!

Today I had the pleasure of photographing my good friends daughter, Mia! She is almost 4 months and has the most precious little smile! She made me miss it when Gavin was so tiny (and not mobile)! I forgot how easy it was to snap pictures of a baby that can't run away!

Cooties, Cleaning, & Cuddles

The title says it all... Gavin and I have been hit with the cootie bugs since Friday. Since we've had to stay home most of the day, we've caught up on some cleaning and cuddle time! We've only suffered with colds (thank goodness no flu or H1N1!) but they still aren't fun. Anytime Gavin gets sick it results in asthma attacks, wheezing and that is happening again this time. I'm thankful I've been able to drink hot tea and take DaQuil and drink my coffee to stay awake enough to care for him, but I certainly feel bad for him that he's not able to do the same. No cold medicine for little buddy. Poor thing! Saline drops are certainly helping his nose though. He also feels so much better after a warm bath, so he's had lots of those this week!
Saturday morning I accidentally broke our nebulizer (it was mine from the 80's!) so I had to call in to the pediatrician to get Gavin his own breathing machine. I was so excited when we picked it up today. (We borrowed a friends Sunday/Monday) Wow how they have changed. Gavin's nebulizer is so much smaller, a fun color, and it comes with a book about a fish that has asthma, stickers to decorate the nebulizer with, and a fish mask. So cute! They are filing this through our insurance so it'll be ours to keep. I love the carrying case - it will be great for traveling!

Here's a comparison of the new vs. old nebulizers!

Gavin helped mommy clean the floors with the Swiffer. He played with that while I scrubbed on my hands and knees!

Ahh, clean wood floors make me happy :)

Also did some work on the master bath. I decluttered in there and made it a much more inviting environment for a relaxing bath every now and then - see, the magazines are waiting for me! I also found some towels to match the wall paper that was here when we purchased the house and got a plain while shower curtain. (It was much easier to replace the curtain and towels then to remove the wallpaper!)

Finally, Gavin and I have caught up on LOTS of books this week. He LOVES books right now. I hope he keeps that desire to read all his life! Reading is now the first thing we do in the mornings and the last thing we do before bed (other then kissing daddys picture) and we also do it LOTS of times during the day. I'm so excited he has an interest in this right now. It makes for great entertainment while we're doing all those breathing treatments!