Little Buddy is growing up

When Gavin woke up from his morning nap we had puzzle time at his table (passed down from Reagan and Ella!) He's still too short to get in and out of the chairs himself, but with a little guidance he looks so cute up there! The puzzles kept his attention for about 10 minutes, I was impressed. Above you can see where at first he wouldn't let go of the chair. Since his little feet couldn't touch the ground I think he was afraid he might fall! Also notice how neatly stacked the puzzles are, and all the proper pieces are in their place... this lasted all of about 5 seconds!

He did great grabbing the little handles to pick each piece up.
This one must be tough - it required 2 hands! After every puzzle piece had successfully made its way to the floor, Gavin contemplates how to get himself down from the table. He turned himself around and did it! (The chair did fall down beside him, but its a step in the right direction!)

This morning I carried Gavin across the street to our walking trail (in a wooded area) and let him play a little. We played peek-a-boo using the tree trunks to hide.

He found this stick and wondered if he should bring it home for LT and Hogan?

And a cute picture from his bath Monday night. He was so happy to be home and back in his own bath tub again!

I love this little tush :)

Not the best quality photo, but just wanted to show off Gavin's newest skill... he learned how to throw ball! You can see by his facial expression that it takes mega effort to complete this task!

He also points at everything, and I mean everything these days! We go through his books and I'll ask "Where's the ball?", or "Where's the doggie?", etc. and he'll point at them and try to say the word back to me. "Ball" comes out like "baw" and "Doggie" is somewhat like "dawdee".

He's decided that he's tired of baby food. Not sure if this is just a phase, or he's ready to move on. He had his first "no baby food" meal at lunch today. I'm not sure if more made it in his belly or down his shirt, but he happily ate leftover meatloaf from our dinner last night, steamed broccoli, cheese, and applesauce. It was nice to not put up a fight to get him to eat and to be able to get things done in the kitchen while he fed himself! Even though he's over being spoon-fed baby food, he's still really into nursing. He nurses 4-5 times a day and drinks water out of cup with meals. Sometimes I can't believe I've been nursing him and providing him with that nourishment for almost 11 months. I'm so thankful for that opportunity!
First "all solids" meal

JDRF Walk

Gavin and I will be participating in a 3 mile Walk to Cure Diabetes in Nashville, TN, on September 19th. Click the link below if you are interested in either joining our team or donating to help find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes. We will be doing this for my cousin, Clay, who is living with juvenile diabetes.

Thanks!

My JDRF Walk Page

Hogan

Not sure if I've blogged about this yet- We have a new dog! We don't really consider her "new" since she's been in the family just as long as LT, but she's officially ours now. Hogan was my parents dog. We purchased them as a "package deal" from family friends when they were 6 weeks old- kind of a 2 for 1! Hogan stayed home with my parents and LT came off to college with me. Hard to believe that was 5 years ago or so! Well, with all thats going on in the lives of my family (David working in NY, having 3 year old adopted twins + Michael, etc.) things were getting challenging with balancing the needs of a dog on top of all the needs of the family. So, while we were in town for July 4th they mentioned looking for a home for Hogan. Jason and I discussed it quickly and told them the search was over - Hogan was coming home with us! The only condition was that they continue to pay for her medical expenses... both dogs are due for their yearly exams/shots in the same month and that gets expensive, let alone the costs of frontline & heartguard every month. Hogan is enjoying her new home - a fenced in backyard and a permanent playmate - what more could a dog want?! We're working on keeping her off the furniture (she slept on Kaylee's bed for 5 years!) but other than that shes great!

7/26: Last day of Vaca

Saturday we spent the day on the road driving home... a 9 hour drive turned into 11 with traffic in VA. Not a way we wanted to spend our Saturday, but at least we made it home safely. We debated getting things caught up on Sunday, but then opted for a beach day instead. Might as well enjoy our last day of leave together as a family - theres always time for housework later!

The beach was awesome - nice weather and dolphins were everywhere!

Our friends, the Mineo's, also came to the beach. Nico and Gavin had a good time together while Erik did some fishing. Mia slept 95% of the afternoon in front of her battery operated fan (gotta love it!) and Dani and I took in the views and tried to relax. I have a feeling we'll all be returning next weekend!

7/24: Family Photos

A few of my favorites...

Quality Time

Our 3 day escape to the Shenandoah Mountains felt like it was over before it even began. We had such a great time. Three days of quality family time. Our cabin was everything we could have asked for and more.

With an hour left of our drive to the mountains we were so thankful we had opted for a cabin, as it downpoured! When we checked in the cabin manager was relieved we had a Yukon, as our cabin was atop a mountain and the only way to get up was a small dirt road. After all that rain any other vehicle could have had a tough time making it up!

Though there were 9 other cabins on the mountain we never saw any proof of anyone else staying up there. We had our own 2 acres. We totally felt like we were alone and that's exactly the way we wanted it. The cabin had everything. A fully stocked kitchen and bathroom, the owners had thought of everything. A few games, books, and magazines were provided, as well as a radio. I was so proud of Jason, as even though our cabin was complete with a tv and VCR/DVD player, he never once turned it on or even acknowledged it was there. This meant so much to me. We instead used the time to talk, listen to the radio, dance and sing on the back deck, swim in the hot tub, and just have quiet time together. The hot tub was a definite bonus to the cabin. The first night we used it alone after Gavin went to bed and the second night we turned the temperature down and let Gavin join us for a dip before dinner. He couldn't get enough of it... He'd splash and start cracking up. I love to hear that deep belly laugh. He shared so many of those giggles with us on this trip. They are contagious and usually end in Jas and I laughing as well.

We had some great meals on this trip all provided by my amazing man. The first night he grilled filet's, squash, asparagus, and we had big & buttery crescent rolls. I was in heaven. For breakfast the next morning we enjoyed scrambled eggs with chopped tomato, peppers, and onion, bacon, yogurt, and oversized mugs of coffee. This was a good start to the day, as we'd be doing miles and miles of hiking a little later. For dinner the second night he grilled lemon pepper chicken and fresh corn on the cob. We ate that with a ceaser salad. There's something about an old charcoal grill that makes food taste so good. I'm so thankful for the time Jas spent to make our meals so great.

Onto hiking... What an experience! This was the first time I'd ever done real hiking and this was Jasons first time doing it for pleasure. Shenandoah National Park was a great place to share this experience. We planned our hikes out based on the locations of 3 waterfalls we wanted to see. Our first outing was on Dark Hollow Falls Trail. I didn't realize how cool it would be once we got to the elevation, so I was relieved we had packed a jacket and socks for Gavin. The first mile or so was pretty easy, all downhill. We stopped at Dark Hollow Falls to take in the views and snap some pictures then continued on another trail called Rose River Loop Trail. It was pretty rocky and I took one little tumble. Lukily it was a tiny tumble, as I had Gavin on my back in the pack and had my new camera around my neck. Everyone is fine! The next waterfall we saw was Rose River Falls. We unpacked here and had lunch then continued on the trail to Fishers Gap Overlook, a viewing location where you can see several mountains. We finished the hike back to our car... Covered in sweat and relieved to have hike #1 (about 5 miles) of the day completed. We drove to the Byrd Visitor Center to get a second lunch (hiking makes a girl hungry!) And to feed Gavin and get him a dry diaper before our second hike of the day. For hike #2 we took the Lewis Falls Trail to Lewis Falls, an 81' waterfall. This hike was a challenge as it was pretty steep and rocky, but at least I didn't fall! By 4pm we had completed somewhere between 7 and 8 miles of hiking and seen 3 waterfalls. We were proud of ourselves and called it a day. Gavin was great in his back pack and dozed off every now and then. He looked around most of time time and just talked. We had packed towels and our suits hoping to swim in the pools created by the waterfall, but it was just too chilly for that unfortunately. Everything else worked out just as planned. We used the self timer to get a picture of the 3 of us at the end of our day then headed back to the cabin for relaxation... Swimming, showers, dinner, a campfire, and rocking on the porch. I'm gonna miss getting to rock Gavin to sleep outside overlooking the mountains. We were all in bed by 10pm!

It's now back to DC, where we'll spend 2-3 more days with the family before heading back to Savannah.

Camping - err... "Cabin-ing"

Ok... So my big plans of real camping in the woods with a tent, fire, etc didn't happen. In planning we failed to realize all the needs of a baby. aka... Tons of equipment! Plus Jason said if we didn't do back country camping and only eat what we caught off the land then it wasn't really camping. So, we happily agreed on finding a cabin in the mountains. After internet searing and reading lots of reviews we found a nice cabin (still in the shenandoah mountains) complete with a front and back porch overlooking the scenery and a hottub! Its one big open room with a fireplace, kitchen, kingsize bed, room for Gavins packnplay, and a shower... Ahh - I was getting nervous about the thought of no shower for 3 days so I'm pretty excited about this cabin. We will be about 5 miles from Shenandoah National Park so we'll still get to do hiking and see waterfalls. As we loaded the car up for our trip we laughed at the thought of how was all this going to fit into our 2 person tent!?!? Good thing we upgraded our sleeping arrangements.

I'm looking forward to 3 days with just my boys. So many memories to be made over the next 72 hours. Sorry if we don't pick up our phones, we're busy enjoying one another!

Eastern Market

One thing I wanted to accomplish during our stay in DC was to run the 4 mile loop around the Washington Mall. We arose early this morning and headed downtown in our workout clothes. Starla pushed Gavin in the stroller while Jason, Jeff, and I ran the loop. We started at the Washington Monument and ran to the Capitol, then turned and ran to the Lincoln Memorial and back to the Washington Monument. Running up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial really took the workout to a new level - whew - the sweat was dripping!

I couldn't believe the amounts of tourists that were already in lines and waiting at the museums and monuments before 8am. Most don't even open until 10am!

After our run we drove the few miles to Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. Here they have a really nice area with vendors set up, some with fresh fruits and vegetables, some with pottery, furniture, clothing, etc. We had brunch at a nice restaurant and then walked the Market. We picked up fresh veggies to have with dinner. I enjoyed walking around taking pictures with my new camera! Yep, Jas got me a Nikon SLR camera - the D5000. I love it but have so much to learn. I either need to enroll in a class or get a photography for dummies book! Next time I'm in TN I'll have to take a few lessons from Michelle. Below are a few pictures from the Market.

7/18

7/17: Old Town Alexandria

This morning Pop and Gammy sliced up fresh watermelon to enjoy with breakfast. Gavin is known to get the juice all over the place so we opted to put his highchair outside. We brought our coffee cups outside and watched him go to town on one of his favorite fruits. He was in need of a bath afterwards, as juice was everywhere - there were even chunks in his diaper! The sink was the closest and most convenient solution - glad we sat him in there quickly as he had to pee as soon as that diaper came off!

Tonight we had a mini Fort Campbell High School Reunion - ranging from the class of '01 to the class of '05. We love any chance to get together with old friends, and it was nice to manage getting so many of us together. Steve ('02) and Becca ('05) Hoogland live here in DC and Megan Briggs ('04) drove up from Richmond, VA for the weekend. We met at Chadwicks Restaurant in Old Town Alexandria for dinner and drinks and then walked to Pops Icecream for dessert. Gavin enjoyed a taste of my cookies and cream icecream cone, though he wasn't too sure how to eat it. It was entertaining watching him try! Lindsey and I walked a bit of the old town while the rest in our crowd had a mini pub crawl.

Megan and Linsey at Chadwicks Restaurant

Megan and I in the restaurant

Becca and Lindsey on Kings St.

Jason and Gavin in Pops Icecream

Can't wait for the Army Ten Miler in October to see everyone again!

7/16: Nationals Baseball Game

Gavin's 1st experience on the Metro! He liked sitting with Pop looking out the window. Whew - this was also my first time ever on the Metro, I'm glad we survived! It's crazy having to keep track of when you have to get off and on, sometimes to have to run to catch the next one. Lindsey and Gavin had the doors closing on them at one point, good thing Jason was there to save the day! Our ride on the metro to the baseball game was good, not too crowded and no creepy people near us - the ride home was another story!

We made it to our seats! Thankfully there was free "stroller check-in" - we had no room at our seats for anything other then ourselves.

It was soooo hot/humid. (Can you see how sweaty Gavin was?) He napped for about 30 minutes, which was a nice break for us trying to keep him entertained and it also gave him that extra energy to make the late night out.

Awake and half naked! We had to keep the boy cool somehow :) Here he is cheering on the team!

:)

Gavin watching the game with his G & P

A family shot before we get back on the metro. We left at the end of the 7th inning trying to beat the crowd, but several other people had the same idea as us and it was still a madhouse. You can see Gavin's new skill of pointing above - He's saying "Daddy, Push me over there!"

I'm a bad baseball fan, I can't tell you if they won or lost?!

On the ride back home Gavin started having a mini meltdown and we had to do some serious entertainment to keep him busy. (Sorry to all the passengers that had to listen to us sing Little Bunny Foo Foo over and over and over!) We also had a little incident behind us of an annoying guy making a teenager mad, thus leading to the teenager showing him the knife he had in his pocket!! Creepy!

7/15

July 14

Gavin's 1st trip to the White House

(and he slept through it!!!)

Next we had dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill, a block or so away from the White House. Dinner was delicious! It was so packed that we could only get a 9pm reservation - Somehow Gavin managed to remain an awesome little boy. It might have been the tasty mashed potatoes he kept getting bites of!

Tomorrow we'll visit Arlington, as well as several other monuments/memorials and then Thursday we will be going to a baseball game.