Gavin's 1st Birthday

Well, my baby is one year old today. If only we truly could “put time in a bottle.” Why does it have to be so bitter sweet sometimes to watch them grow??? I always tell Tanner that he can’t grow up and he has to stay little, to which he replies,” No, I can’t. I have to grow.” I was already cheated on my infant time when Gavin was born at 9 lb. 15 oz.-yes, almost 10 lbs. He came out like a 2 month old baby. He was so aware and has done everything really early. He is just in such a hurry! On the bright side, he is the most loving, sweet little guy, and we all love him a ton. When he was 6 months old, I wrote an “All about Gavin” post, so here is his tribute at 12 months:

Gavin is a sweet angel boy. He loves his brothers and sister and all the attention he receives.

He still loves his Dad so much, and runs to him to be picked up when he comes home. And quite frankly, prefers for him to carry him around the rest of the evening! But, he is still a Mama’s boy too. :)

He currently has 8 teeth and he is a very good eater. Sometimes he just gets into the pantry and takes care of himself!

He is officially in need of his first hair cut, and it is happening next week. Oh, the sadness… they just look too old after this!!!

He took his first steps before he was 10 months old, and he can run now. He just started climbing on the table…I am thinking I would love a counter height table right now.

When the back door is open, out he goes! He can climb up and down the stairs correctly with no problems and can get out in the backyard very fast. He cries when the door gets shut. I am anxious for summer but whoa, he is not going to be happy being contained in the house while the kids go in and out!

I would say his first word was Da-Da. He “talks” all the time and it sounds so cute. Sometimes we just laugh.

He is at such a fun age, so we are all having a great time with him.

Happy Birthday sweet Gavin. It has been a great year. We love you!

Spring Break day #5 Friday the 18th: Living Planet Aquarium and Ikea

Okay so our sweet 7-year old(Tanner) loves sharks. He has been to the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas and seen their Shark Reef and was so amazed by it, he cried when he came home! It is pretty incredible, and well worth the dough according to Brandon. Well, I thought we better visit the only place I knew of nearby that has sharks so off we go to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. The sharks are small but cool, the touch pool with rays was fun and the jelly fish are pretty, but to pay as much as the zoo? We felt a bit ripped off, but hey we try to entertain our kiddies. We stopped at Ikea on the way home and we had never tried their play area for children. It was a success! At first I was nervous...I don't normally do the drop off at a playland type thing, but the kids were really excited about it, and it is very safe and clean, and there is pretty much no way for them to escape! We wandered around Ikea with Gavin and arrived back to pick up the kids after the hour. They were happy and we went and bought a few little things. Next time, we are thinking about doing it and going and eating at the restaurant for a date night! We still haven't tried the restaurant. Now, we are just so exhausted from this weeks activities. Tanner said, "What are we going to do tomorrow?" I thought..."How about nothing???" ;)

Spring Break day #4 Thursday the 17th: Hogle Zoo

It was at first a little chilly, but it warmed up and turned out to be great weather. The rare white alligator is still on display there and it is a pretty neat creature! It has blue eyes and we got a great view of it. Zach's favorite part was the train and the playground; Megan's favorite part was the zebras; Tanner's favorite was the white alligator; My favorite was the baby giraffe! How cute that was. Dad's favorite part was the leopard and the wolf pacing at each other through the chain link fences that separated them. The wolf even howled a bit. Very entertaining.

Spring Break day #3 Wednesday the 16th: Bean Museum...again!!!

Yup, that's right. Tanner was dying to go again, and show his Dad all the wonderful creatures that he saw on his field trip and since it is free, I was happy to oblige him. We met down there during lunchtime for another day of fun. Sidenote: The twins look more like each other than ever before. I started noticing it when Diane our bus driver said it. Now I can see it. I guess they ought to since they are twins after all. Gavin looks like Tanner so we say they are the other set of twins(or our bookends if you will)

Spring Break day #2 Tuesday the 15th: Eating out at "Max and Cheese"

So there is this fairly new little children's restaurant near our home called, "Max and Cheese". It is a place that is supposed to have kid food and fun stuff for kids to do. Well, the kids did have a fairly good time and Tanner loved his hotdog cut into an octopus(an "octodog") but I think it probably needs to be tweaked a little, or it will go out of business. It is a little pricey and the kids play area is not very visible from the eating tables. A no no for me. I like to see the kids better. We enjoyed playing Candyland on the built in game board on the table. We just asked them for the game pieces and played a couple of rounds. All in all a fun time, but by no means Chuck E. Cheese!

Spring Break day #1 Monday the 14th: Discovery Park

Dad was out of town for a couple of days, so we kept busy. First stop: meeting my book group friends + kids @ Discovery Park! The tire swing was a big hit and the weather was beautiful! A perfect spring day. Oh, and stopping for Happy Meals on the way home was a hit too.

Elder Ballard's talk

Need I say more? Oh, how us hard working young mommies needed his talk! Isn't it true that there is always something in conference for everyone? Go to www.lds.org to read or hear it if you are a young mommy.

"It is crucial to focus on our children for the short time we have them with us and to seek, with the help of the Lord, to teach them all we can before they leave our homes".

"Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction".

The Bean Museum

I went with Tanner's class to the Bean Museum and to the park for lunch. They really do have some great "stuffed" animals there! They had a presentation with live animals also. Different kinds of lizards, turtles, and a snake. The kids were able to pet some of them. Tanner got to hold a piece of elephant skin! He loved the cougar, crocodile, Hammerhead shark, rattlesnake, and Kodiak bear. They even had a Liger...remind anyone else of Napoleon Dynamite???(flippin' sweet!) I enjoyed going on the field trip with Tanner and having a break from the norm. The kids started chanting "BYU...BYU...BYU" as soon as we entered the campus! The bus was definitely not a quiet place! Even though I was in charge of 5 energetic boys, it was still good times hanging out with my first born. :) Love that kid.