Safari!

We were invited to a super fun birthday party at Bayou Wildlife Park. We got to play w/ friends, ride a tram and feed crazy animals, and ride ponies! Here are some pictures. We had a lot of fun!

Here is Elliot on "Babe."


















Gavin on "Babe."






















Gav and daddy on the tram checking out some furry guys.















Daddy and Eli




















We'll post a video soon...

A day in nature

We met up with some friends at a local park. Saw cardinals, hawks, dragon & damsel fly nymphs, mosquito larvae (mom's fav), turtles, a blue heron, and lots of beautiful Texas wildflowers.



As always the nunu is on it's way back in to Elliot's mouth. It's days are numbered...


Gavin running around in the discovery garden.



Cool tractor in the background...


Elliot playing on the alligator tube.

Gavin checking out the creatures that live in the pond.


A cool snowy egret weather vane (apparently roosters are passe).


A little bit of bed head :o)

Just Pictures

Sad news

We have been dealing with a very sad occurrence in our lives. A few weeks ago, my mom (Nana to the boys) left this world and entered eternity. It was very sudden, but thankfully peaceful. We are still very much in a season of mourning and we will miss her tangible presence in our lives very much. Mom gave so much of her life to those around her--most of all her family. She continues to give us comfort in her passing, because she lived her life ready to leave this world. We know we'll see her again. She loved our boys so much and her absence from their lives is the hardest thing to face. Countless people have been praying for our family and I know that's the strength that we feel as we walk through our grief. We really appreciate each thought and prayer. Please let this sad time in our lives motivate you to hold your family close. We strive to do the same. ~Emily

Elliot Family Party Videos

Here is the birthday song w/ solitary candle for everyone who was too far away to join us for our family party. We wish you could have come to celebrate with us. (Gavin picked the key we started in; that's why mom sounds like a squeaky door :o).



Here I am digging into my cake. Those white bits are marshmallows. It was pretty yummy, but what gives with that gooey frosting?? No wonder kids end up eating mud...they think it will be buttery, chocolaty yumminess!



Well anyway, I couldn't get over that frosting, so mom & dad wiped me down and gave me 'clean cake' (no frosting). Smooth move! I ate plenty of that and then the sugar kicked in.

Elliot's First Birthday

We had a little family party for Elliot today to celebrate having him as part of our family for a whole year! He wasn't really sure about the frosting this time.

Gavin's Third Birthday

Here are some pictures from my 3rd Birthday.



This is me wearing my funny birthday hat. You can't really tell, but it has 3 candles on it. As you probably can tell, it's plenty silly :o).


Mom & dad brought me to ride the ferris wheel downtown. I get pretty excited about riding it.

I told you...pretty excited.


Here we are on the train. It chugs around the grounds where the ferris wheel is. It even goes in a glass tunnel through an aquarium filled with sharks!


That was fun, too!

Our Elliot is a Whole Year Old!

We are so blessed to have had Elliot with us for a whole year now. He is a ray of sunshine wherever and whenever. If you've spent any time around him you know what I mean: he has a ready smile that lights up the room; he will giggle at the slightest provocation and belly-laugh if you are at all persistent. He is always scanning the room trying to catch someone's attention.

He's been walking for a couple of months now which has opened up a whole new world to him: the backyard. I think he'd live out there if he could. He mainly just walks around, but he finds it very entertaining.

One of his favorite things to play with is a ball. He likes to carry them around, bounce them, kick them... He loves to play with someone rolling it back and forth. It makes him giggle his head off :o). He's also tried to throw it through a hoop already--watch out NBA!

His teeth have finally taken on a more conventional formation. He has 8 now: 4 on top and 4 on the bottom. He's been working on more for a while, but they are a little slower in coming.

His trademark look is the mowhawk he's been sporting for a while. The sides are starting to fill in, but there is still a distinct central swath that is thicker.

Pacifier use is decreasing and vocab is increasing. He still doesn't say too many things that are acually part of the English lexicon, but we recognize when he wants more, or milk. And he has some unmistakable non-verbal ways of getting his point across.

He waves hello and bye-bye (along with a grin, of course). And he loves to hear his name.

He is always happy, very curious, a bit stubborn, and seems to be as perfect as he can be. We are so very glad he's part of our family!

Playing Ketchup

I've been falling behind on posting pictures...and I like ketchup--so there's the explanation for the title. My uncle Zane took a few of these -- thanks U Zane!

This is me w/ the super cool book Miranda sent!


Daddy was helping Eli open one of his gifts.


Oh, yeay! More presents!
Elliot's studious look for the tambourine.



Flying!

See, that ended well! :o)

More Birthday Stuff

Well, I'm almost a year old, but I got to celebrate early and often :o). Here is a video of me chowing down my first cupcake. Mmmmm!

Birthday Bonanza!!

Well Elliot & I have birthdays in the same month. Mine was yesterday and Elliot's is in a couple weeks (on the 26th). Mom promised this won't happen often, but she combined our parties this year. She also did it last minute so several of our friends couldn't make it, but we had a really great group. We older kids (2 years plus) had a scavenger hunt in our back yard and had some pretty sweet headgear to help us out. Check us out. More pictures to come. ~Gavin

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Well, we had snow a couple weeks ago, but it looks like we'll have a tropical Christmas day (temp is supposed to be in the 70s): so I guess we are getting the best of both worlds this year in Houston :o). We've been sick, so blogging has been on the back burner...upstaged by sipping antibiotics, puffing on inhalers (that's Elliot, he had some lung congestion issues), and keeping the snottage under control. But, we didn't want to miss a chance to wish everyone the Merriest of Christmases and a Happy and Healthy 2009. We started counting our blessings on Thanksgiving day and we're still counting. Thanks to all of you for your friendship and love! We hope to see and/or hear from all of you soon!

--Gavin & Elliot (and parents :o)

Snow? In HOUSTON?

You betcha! Here's proof :o)

Elliot Toddling

It's really tough to catch the action, but Elliot has been toddling much more lately. He doesn't even wait for encouragement anymore: if he feels like walking rather than crawling, off he goes! He can walk about halfway across a room before stumbling or getting so excited he just lunges for his target (as seen in the video :o).

Christmastime is here!

Our church hosts a small Christmas festival. We went while grandma was in town. Here are some pics.

The skinny on Elliot

So here's the skinny on Elliot:
1) He's not skinny.
2) He's saying Mama (which doubles for mom & milk), Dada, and Gaga...the latter being his version of my name and the thing he says the most.
3) He's capable of eating anything. Mom found him crunching on one of my crayons and moments after she extracted that, she found him munching on a small screw that had fallen from a hinge he dismembered (by leaning on the door of a small cabinet). Crunch crunch.
4) He's a superstar at church because he laughs for all the ladies taking care of us. Guess I'm being upstaged.
5) He has a mohawk.
6) He dances like a white boy, but he likes hip hop. Dig?
7) He sooooo knows how to walk, but chooses to crawl much of time, probably b/c mom thinks crawling is really cute.
8) He loves to eat food, but only if he can feed himself; he's not real hip on the spoon-feeding routine.
9) He's only 10 months and he's already working the system: He climbs up on me and then shrieks in dismay when I roll over and he falls. How is that my fault?
10) The best way to get him to be still while changing his diaper is to sing numbers to him.
So there you go, 10 facts about Elliot who is already 10 months old!
Peace,
Gavin

Here's a video of my boy schoolin' the bushes. ...Somebody's gotta show 'em who's boss.

Thanksgiving

Well, we have lots to be thankful for--food for one thing! The video is Elliot enjoying food like only a 10 month old can. And Gavin didn't need any encouragement to dig into his grub either (note the cheek full).

Recent activities - photos :o)

Nov 11, 2008 Looks like Gavin wrote all these words, but he doesn't quite have the fine motor skills for that. These are just all the words he could think of for mommy to write down.

Nov 11, 2008
Here is a picture that Gavin drew. Mom asked him to draw a picture FOR Mr. Doug (our neighbor that brings him goodies all the time). He presented this to mom and said triumphantly: Look mommy, it's Mr. Doug! Granted it doesn't look a whole lot like the the actual Doug, but it resembles a human face on a rudimentary level. Mom was proud.

Riddle time - Gavin

How can you fit a whole pot into this small plastic container (with the lid closed)?

Lame-o

Yep, that's what they call it when you have a blog and you don't blog: LAME - O! Anyway, you're going to have to cut us some slack because we've been dealing with a stomach virus among other things, but that alone has caused many an extra load of laundry along with the extra baths needed to repair damaged hieny. :o(

Like father, like son - Elliot

So I caught Elliot playing with the remote control a moment ago -- a pretty big no-no around here. Feeling like I should be playing with him anyway, I just got out a big foam ball to see if he would drop the remote on his own. A second would have to be divided into many parts to define how quickly the remote hit the floor. :o)

Of course part of it was that he'd rather play with something animate (me) than push rubber buttons on a remote, but I see a parallel to daddy here. Jon will switch off almost any sporting event to go actually toss a football, play golf or whatever. I guess if our boys carry on like Eli he'll have eager participants when they are a little older...and I'd better get in shape...or get coordinated...or both, or I'll be stuck home watching football by myself. Ha!

Trip to BR

So we drove for a long time -- a looooong time, because a lot of our favorite people live in this place called Baton Rouge and we like to visit them from time to time (and we LOVE it when they come visit us :o). Anyway, I'm getting better at riding in the car for hours on end, but I still can't fall asleep in my carseat like I used to. Hhh.

Anyway, we had a great time! We saw lots of friends and learned some important things.

I learned that I am not two-and-a-half anymore I'm "two-and-a-three-quarters." Thank you Aunt Jess Concienne. Now sometimes that comes out before I even introduce myself because I love the reaction I get :o).

I learned how to climb into the treehouse at Nana & Poppa's by myself.

After four full days I finally talked myself into taking a bath in a new tub, only to realize anew that taking a bath is fun and a different tub isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I learned that I have a special bed at Greg and Miranda's house AND a special bed in Aunt Jael's room; who else is that lucky??

Oh! And I have a NEW COUSIN! Where did she come from?? Mom says she came from Aunt Melly's belly, but that rhymes and sounds like a whole lot of silliness to me. Anyway, I really liked going to see her in the hospital. I like saying her name: Lexi (it's the first L sound I've been able to pronounce). My comment was "I think she's really cute." We got to see her one more time before we left town, but I was a little distracted playing with my boy Leighton. I did perk up when Mom was holding her; it still doesn't sit well with me when mom holds other little babies---guess I'm not ready for any more siblings yet. But cousins are wonderful!!!

Well, we are back home and enjoying that. I'd better go watch the election results. My boy McCain better pull this one out (whatever that means...). Okay, a little late for a plug; polls are closed in most places...anyway... tootle loo!
Gav

Uh, already need an update on that jiggy bit...

So minutes after posting the news of my first unassisted steps, I created a need for an update by taking several steps in a row! I thought one was a rush...wow this walking thing is really cool!!!

Gettin' jiggy - from Elliot

I had a really big weekend. Not only did we drive all the way to Baton Rouge, but I took my first steps and said my first word!!! The first step was for Nana; she's very proud of that :o). I think my parents might have doubted it (they were away attending a wedding), but I am more than happy to oblige anyone who asks now: walking (stepping, really) is hilarious fun. All you have to do is reach your hands toward me and say "come on" with a big smile. I almost fall down laughing, but then I usually take one tiny step and then collapse, giggling into the waiting arms.

Now on to the other big news: my first word. Oh yeah! I said Mama!!! Mom & dad have both been working on me consistently, but I think mom was more insistent since Gavin said Dada first. I'm going to be her favorite! Haha!

I was introduced to Nana & Poppa's dog Bjorn this weekend. I crawled right up to him with only a hint of hesitation when he moved to meet me. He was a gentleman (he didn't knock me down) and I love big hairy things!! We had fun rooting around in the grass and I was really gentle petting him.

We stayed with our friends Greg & Miranda who are so much fun. They also have super cool stairs that are very fun to climb...funny this will probably be the only time that I can go up stairs, but I can't walk across the floor.

I'm going to let Gavin tell you about the rest of our trip, but we had a really good time seeing everyone.

In just general Elliot news, I now have a half a mouthful of teeth. The bottom four are in a nice neat row, but the top is--well, to put it kindly I have a bit of a pirate grin. One of the top middle teeth has yet to break the skin (it's soooo close), and I've got another gap on one side. Goes sort of like this tooth - gap - two teeth - gap - tooth. Aye matey, I'm a handsome feller!