I want to remember...

-that Gavin holds my hand. He holds it in the car (I reach back from the front seat), while sitting next to me on the couch, at the breakfast bar, anywhere. He reaches for my hand, he initiates the hand holding. He likes to intertwine his fingers in mine and I love it every time 

-that when I come through the door after being gone or being apart from him, he runs to me. Drops everything, hollers "MOMMY'S HERE!!!" at the top of his little boy lungs, and runs as fast as his legs can carry him to launch up into my arms. It won't be long before he's too big to swoop up so every time, literally every time, I see him do this, I stop and really pay attention. 

-that his favorite place to snuggle is smack dab between me and B. And that he usually maneuvers between us because he wants me to himself and away from his daddy. :) 

-that he sings. SINGS. He loves music and really has a knack for rhythm and can hear pitches and keys perfectly. 

-that his little blue elephant is still his best friend.

-that he looks like a doll baby sleeping in bed with the well-loved stuffed animals from my and Brent's childhood.

-that he laughs from deep within his belly. He laughs easily and often and it's a wonderful sound.
-that he has the most perfect skin in the world. Smooth, unblemished, and still as soft as when he was baby. 
I'm sentimental today. Actually, sentimental often lately. We're welcoming a new baby in July and while we are ecstatic about this, over the moon and overjoyed really, it means that Gavin is growing. And so very quickly. He'll be 5 in November and magically caught between being baby and being little boy with the baby in him moving past faster and faster every day it seems. It overwhelms me how much I love him and how much it almost makes me feel sad to see my baby grow. The funny emotional tensions that come with being a mommy, I guess...

a pumpkin patch field trip

pumpkin patch field trip to detering orchards

perfectly perfect foggy and cold autumn morning

apples and cider and pumpkins, oh my!

summer

summer has certainly been far from expected, weather-wise, here in the pacific northwest, but despite gloomy mornings and cooler than desirable temperatures, we still find that the grey melts into warm afternoons and that the sun eventually stops pressing 'snooze' on its alarm clock to make an appearance for the rest of the afternoon and evening. 

i've been short on time for blogging and wish that i'd kept up with it these past months as we've done our best to fill the summer days with adventures - but alas. even the most well intentioned...

 going into summer, i was worried that gavin wouldn't enjoy his at all. that because brent and i are gone during the day, that he'd be short on activities and shorter still on time with us. God is faithful to hear our desire that we be home more than ever during this short season and our schedules have been allowed to adjust. this makes for late-start mornings, my slowly sipping coffee while G has breakfast, and when i'm not working from home, i AM home by 4 to make the most of the longer and warmer days. for some, this might be trivial, but for me, it's everything. God is good.

i had so much more to write, but brent literally just called from the living room, "hey, want to go to the scandinavian festival?" it's friday at 1:35 pm and he's home, too. i told you. we are home and free to do things like get up and go to scandi-fest. i am thankful. :)

more later. xo.

so glad

Being a working mom is difficult for me. I wonder, constantly, if I'm doing the right thing or if I'm somehow ruining something that can't be reversed because I'm not home all the time with Gavin. I know that what I do now is necessary and believe that God sees the desires of our heart and above nearly everything else, I desire that Gavin be allowed to grow and thrive surrounded by people who love him unconditionally and want all good things for him. These days, I'm not home with him all day, every day - but I do know that he's just not well cared for when I'm not there... he is loved. And that does my mama-heart an immeasurable amount of good.


When afternoon comes and I finally get to pick him up, we can't get enough of each other. He sits in my lap (sometimes, I drop everything in the entryway and we sit next to the front door) and tells me - words rushing, falling, and tripping over each other - all about his day, his friends, his new songs, and describes new whimsies no one can identify. This is one of my favorite times of the day: smelling sunshine in his hair and my heart soaring on the excitement of his words.


Yesterday, while we were driving home, his little voice piped up from the backseat: "I'm SO glad you're with me, mommy!" I wish there was a way for him to know that I feel just the same about him, too.

morning joy

Some mornings, Brent, Gavin, and I pile on the couch and just hold hands. Gavin always sits in the middle and as we are watching the news/drinking coffee/checking emails - you know, morning whatevers - he reaches to his left and to his  right, grabs our hands, and intertwines his fingers in ours. 

We, of course, stop everything and exchange a look over his head that wordlessly gushes over how precious we think our boy is. And as the minutes tick by, none of us move. Late for work, late for school - no one cares. We are lost in a bubble of early morning family joy and never are we in a rush to see it end.

gavin says #2

Just a few of the funniest things that have come from Gavin's mouth:

Gavin (walking around dejectedly): "I'm not happy."

Me: Well, what would make you happy?

Gavin: "Christmas."

Then he heaved a big, ol' sigh.

Lately Gavin's had a thing for pretending he's different animals. His most favorite ones to pretend to be are puppies and kitties. I can't even call him by his name when he's in animal mode. He crawls around the house on all fours while meowing or yipping away and likes to be "caught" and flipped on his back so we can rub his tummy. My funny boy.

While singing "Wheels on the Bus", during the part about the signal lights ticking, Gavin opens and shuts his palms while *tsk-ing his tongue. I love it and make him sing that part over and over again.

This past November, I braved the sock-loving crowds at Fred Meyer and came home with some footed pjs (for $4 a piece. a steal!) for Gavin. He's been really into wearing his Buzz Lightyear ones lately and one day, out of the blue, said "Look at me!", touched one of the buttons on his top, made a "boop!" noise, and stuck his arms straight out from his sides. His  wings! 

Last week, Brent picked up Gavin from preschool and his teacher gave this report: "Gavin got his hair pulled by someone today - but then he put someone else riding a trike in a headlock." That's my boy.

Preschool

Gavin started preschool this week. Whaaaat? I know!


The verdict is: he totally loves it! (Shocker, I know, but still!)


Funny story: for two months (at least) I have thought that Gavin started school on Thursday, January 5. I don't know how I got that specific day in my head, but I was convinced of it. Well, the night before the 3rd, while we had people at our house to watch the Super Bowl, it suddenly occurred to me that there was a small, tiny chance that Gavin could start school the next day (Tuesday) instead of Thursday. I got on the phone with the school's principal and just casually asked when the first day of spring term was - fully expecting her to say Thursday, just like I had always been planning.


Um, no.


She said school started the next day! She actually said, "School starts at 9, the doors open at 8:50. Will we see you there?" I cooly laughed (inside, though, I was dying...), said "Of course!", hung up and panicked. Just like that, the extra 48 hours I thought I had to plan outfits and shop for school supplies was just gone. To make it that much worse, we had people at our house and I couldn't fly out the door like I wanted to!


I restlessly sat through the last quarter and a half of the Duck game, cheered for their victory, bade my guests goodbye, grabbed my purse and supply list, booked it out the door, flew to two different stores, and feverishly snapped things up. Oh, and I might've called a girlfriend from college who currently teaches preschool to 'talk me off the ledge' (as I call it). I was already feeling major butterflies. =/


All of this to say, yes, come Tuesday morning, we had everything we needed, Gavin was woken up on time, and we sailed in to the school doors right at 8:50 AM.


(Ha - don't let the 'collected' tone of the last paragraph fool you, I was a wreck that morning. Ask B. I tried to internalize it as best as I could, but you can't blame a mama for being emotional! I will say, though, that one of my proudest moments of the day was that we made it without tears from anyone! Success!)


My boy is loving being in preschool. He's making friends and learning so much. I know it sounds so 'my kid is so awesome" to say this next thing - but, really, Brent and I already see differences in his speech, word usage, and sentence construction. He is happy and because of it, we are thrilled and feel so fortunate that he is in a school we all love so much!

Me and G - all smiles at drop off! :)