Hello 2010!!!

Happy New Year! I read about this picture idea in a magazine and thought it would be fun. The idea is to take this same photo with the kids each year and then create a flipbook over time. So this is our first annual NYE sign photo. It ended up being kind of challenging to get a picture with the sign held in a visible way and both kids looking at the camera. Below are 2 other efforts, and there were many more just like these. It was comical. I think we'll have fun looking back at all the photos in the years to come.
Today is New Year's Eve, and we've had fun celebrating today. Cassidy and I went to a daytime party at the Children's Museum. We met some friends there and had a great time painting faces, making party hats, and waving a giant parachute as a big group. There was a "midnight" confetti drop that she talked about for hours afterwards! The kids will be headed to bed shortly, and Erik and I have food from our favorite local Chinese place on the way. We may not make it until midnight (we'll try - who knows!), but we're looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow, starting with a big breakfast in the morning. We are excited to start a new year, and also a new decade! I know plenty of people are ready to say goodbye to 2009, with all the economic troubles so many people faced. But I'll always think of 2009 as the year Gavin arrived, so for me, it was a year of great memories! Wishing you all the best in the coming year. Welcome 2010!

Our Holiday Travels

We continued our tradition of Christmastime travels this year, and had a great time seeing our families! We spent the few days prior to Christmas at the Reder house in Rockford. Cassidy and Gavin always have so much fun running around the house with their cousins. Just like last year, there was plenty of snow, so Cassidy played in the front yard with her older cousins and all the daddies. Over the course of a few days, we did a lot of relaxing, cooking, catching up, and sharing presents. Here are some of our favorite photos from our visit:
On Christmas morning, we made the short drive to the Brown house in Clarendon Hills. We exchanged presents with Grammy and Grandpa Brown, Aunt Mel and Uncle Aaron, and of course our favorite pup, Cooper. Cassidy got to spend another afternoon having fun in the snow, and Erik and I had an evening out - we saw the movie "The Blind Side." It was the perfect movie for the Christmas season - we loved it! Here are some fun pictures from our visit:
We feel so blessed to be able to spend Christmas with our families. It's something we look forward to each year!

Santa Has Arrived!

With our upcoming travels over the next week, we asked Santa if he could come by our house a little early this year. Last night, Cassidy helped us set out snacks for Santa and his reindeer. I suggested smarties for Santa, and Cassidy agreed (although she decided he would only want 1 package). For the reindeer, she chose 3 carrots. We placed them on a special green plate with a note, and when we woke up this morning, they were gone! Only 2 smarties and a last carrot nibble were left on the plate. They must have been in a hurry trying to get to all the houses that needed early deliveries. This morning, Cassie was almost too excited to go check out the tree to see what surprises might be there. She couldn't get herself down the hall, so Daddy carried her into the living room to take a peek (she was squealing and squeezing Daddy's neck with anticipation!). She was so excited to see the special presents that Santa had left for her and Gavin. We had so much fun opening gifts together and sifting through stockings.

Later on this afternoon, we went to visit with Santa in person. He was making a stop at a small, local grocer down the street from our house. Cassidy was pretty freaked out by seeing Santa in person. She just frowned at him for a few minutes, clutching onto Daddy for dear life. But then her friend Kristian walked right up to Santa to say hello, so she warmed up and eventually got on Santa's lap for a photo. Gavin joined her, and was fascinated by Santa's beard! Cassidy decorated a gingerbread man at a special station they had set up for kids, and then we went on our merry way.

In the days leading up to our early Christmas, we had some fun holiday festivities. Last weekend, Cassidy and Daddy decorated a gingerbread house together. At first, Cassidy was content to decorate, but then it dawned on her that these little decors were edible, and pretty tasty too. So from that point on, the focus shifted to eating the house. We had to place it on a high shelf for a few days just to keep it around. Thankfully, by now, everything has hardened to the point that those candies are there for all eternity, so now it graces the middle of our kitchen table.

This past week, Cassidy had her first Christmas program at school. It was adorable and hilarious. All the kids sang Christmas songs on the church altar, and then we celebrated afterwards with a potluck dinner and a special birthday cake for Baby Jesus. As for the singing, Cassidy joined right in for the first few minutes, doing all the hand motions and taking the cues from her teachers. But after a couple songs, her interest fell, and she stretched out on her belly and flopped her legs around while the rest of her class finished the program. Here are a couple short videos that highlight the fun:




And we can't forget to chat about Gavin, our little sweetie. He just had his 9-month check-up and is doing great. He weighs 19 lbs. (30th percentile) and is 29.5 inches tall (85th percentile). He is cruising along furniture with ease and is starting to practice standing on his own for a moment or two at a time. He loves to play chase, and can crawl very fast! He thinks his sister is hilarious and he desperately wants to do whatever she's doing, and have whatever she's having. Thankfully Cassidy gets a kick out of it and really enjoys having Gavin around too. They are becoming great pals. Here are a couple videos of Gavin on his 9-month birthday:



For the next couple days, we are going to enjoy some relaxation at home. We have some fun new toys to explore and some projects around the house that we'd like to tackle. Then on Tuesday we'll start our travels to visit with our extended families over the holiday. We can't wait to see everyone!

Preparing for Christmas

As I sit down to write this entry, we are in the thick of Christmas preparations. Our house decorations are up, inside and out; Christmas cards have just been mailed. I am making quick online purchases whenever both of my kids go down for a nap (Amazon gets the bulk of our business - just can't beat the huge selection and free shipping!). We have egg nog in the fridge and the car radio is tuned to 93.9 FM, the 24/7 Christmas music station. What a fun time of year! And beyond all this, the season is made even more magical now that Cassidy is old enough to get into the holiday spirit. We taught her about Santa and his reindeer, and about how this is a celebration for Baby Jesus. She even got to see a real reindeer with Daddy when they went on an adventure to our local nursery/landscape center (they keep one on site for the month of December!). One of her favorite activities is driving around the neighborhood in the evenings to see all the Christmas lights. The only problem is that we need to go late enough in the evening for people to have their lights on, but then it's so close to Gavin's bedtime that he passes out in the car before he's had his last bottle of the day (without those last 8 ounces, we'd probably have a rough night). So I think from now on those car trips will be special outings for Daddy and Cassidy, so that I can stay home and get Gavin tucked into bed!

Our days have been extra busy the past few weeks as we juggle the normal routine plus all the fun Christmastime activities. The kids' schedules sometimes get a little goofed up when we're on the go, and it was the cutest thing the other night when Erik and I looked over and saw Gavin, passed out asleep in his jumperoo. He had only been in there a couple of minutes, and he started out jumping away like he always does. Then Erik and I realized it had gotten really quiet (Erik was watching a basketball game on TV and I was catching up on e-mail, both just a few feet away). It was a sweet moment to capture!

We had our first snowfall of the season last week, and Cassidy was beyond thrilled. The first morning that we woke up to snow, she took one look out the window and was ready to put on snow boots and build a snowman at 6:15am. I convinced her to have breakfast first, but I think we had our little snowman, "Grass" as she named him, built before 8 in the morning. We only had 2 inches of snow to work with, but we did our best! Our neighbor saw us and came out (chuckling) to say good morning.

Less than 2 weeks until Christmas! We are enjoying the season and can't wait for all the celebrating to begin.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2009 was a whirlwind of fun. Cassidy and Gavin got to see all of their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins throughout our trips to Clarendon Hills and Rockford. We enjoyed two wonderful Thanksgiving meals, one on Thursday and another on Saturday. Gavin even got in the spirit of the holiday with a jar of mashed turkey and sweet potatoes for dinner. The weather this year was mild - no snowflakes in sight. So while I normally find time to huddle next to a fireplace with a good book over Thanksgiving, this year we actually took a couple quick journeys outside to play in the sun! And, I even got some reading in, and finished my book for my book club (The Help, I highly recommend!).

We also squeezed in great visits with a couple of Erik's old high school buddies, Howdy (and his family) and Paymon. It is always fun to see old friends! Hopefully Christmas will bring even more visits with old friends as we head to both of our hometowns once again.

Our Weekend Away - Austin, TX

In November, Erik and I had our first real trip away from the kids. We went to Austin, TX for the wedding of our good friends Mike & Megan, and took a couple extra days to enjoy the warm sunshine, take in the sights of the UT campus, and get a couple nights of wonderful uninterrupted sleep (except for that fire alarm that went off at the hotel at 7am, but that's no surprise for us - fire alarms always seem to go off when we stay at hotels - it could be a whole separate blog entry!). Anyway, Erik and I had such a fantastic trip and are so grateful to Grammy Brown who took great care of Cassidy and Gavin for 3 days on her own (thanks to Aunt Mel for lending a hand!). The kids were entertained every second of their time with Grammy - trips to the park, playing kitchen in the basement, playing the organ, and going downtown to watch the trains pass through Clarendon Hills. Grandpa Brown had an out-of-town conference that weekend, but came home in plenty of time on Sunday to have some great playtime with the kids. Here are a few pictures of all the fun they had!

All About Gavin - 8 months old!

Gavin is 8 months old now. We are having so much fun together! Here's a peek into what he's up to...
Gavin's mind is focusing on physical development these days. Meaning, Gavin likes to MOVE! He started out army-crawling at 6 months old, then graduated to real crawling a few weeks ago. We installed our baby gate at the top of our stairs this weekend and it was a huge relief. He has just started pulling up on things to get into a standing position. Next up will be cruising, then I guess we'll be moving on to actual walking! It seems to be happening so fast. As soon as I adjust to one stage, he has moved right along to the next. He is super-squirmy and loves physical play - being swung around, thrown in the air, rolled over and over, tickled - all these things make him giggle like nothing else can!

Gavin also just endured the arrival of his first 2 teeth (one on top, one on bottom) and has 2 more about to break through. We're doing our best to keep him comfortable. He is always gnawing on his little fingers and toys (sometimes Cassidy's favorites, which causes major distress in her world). Our latest discovery is pretzel rods - he loves to sit in his high chair and gnaw on them until there nice and soggy. I think the salt must be a nice bonus too!

Last weekend, Gavin learned to clap. It was so adorable to see him put it all together for the first time. He claps his closed fists right now and loves to perform if you ask him to "clap, clap, clap!" I find him practicing when we're not looking. Then when I call his name and make eye contact, he gets a big grin and starts clapping harder.

When Gavin decides to take a break from moving, he likes to "talk." He babbles throughout the day (ba ba ba, ma ma ma) and plays with all kids of sounds - every version of squeals, squawks, and squeaks. Gavin is a very happy baby most of the time. But on those occasions when something is not to his liking, he is not shy about letting us know. He is particular about certain things, and can get pretty fired up if they aren't just right. For instance, he likes his daytime bottles to be given to him while he reclines in his blue chair. He likes his nighttime bottle to be given as he lays on his back on a rocking ottoman in his bedroom. He hates lying still on his back, so the minute we lay him down after a bath, or throughout the day for diaper changes, he flops onto his belly and tries to crawl away. It's exhausting to get him changed and dressed - we literally have to hold him down to keep him from twisting and wriggling. He cries the whole time, even though we sweetly explain that this same experience will continue to happen multiple times per day, every day. Of course as parents, it's our job to look for the bright side of these traits, so we've decided that he will one day be an active, athletic, productive young man with strong opinions and high standards. :) Ha.

Gavin is on a consistent daily schedule now, sleeping through the night from 7pm - 5:30am (we have an early bird here, and would welcome tips to change this. Ha.). He's napping twice a day - one short nap in the AM and one longer nap after lunch. Luckily, he and Cassidy nap at the same time in the afternoons so I usually get a nice chunk of quiet time. He takes his bottle 4 times a day and eats 3 "baby food" meals as well. He loves to snack on Cheerios. He is getting more interested in sippy cups and I have a feeling we'll be letting go of that bottle soon. When Cassie leaves a stray toddler sippy in his path, he makes a crazy beeline to get there before I step in and mess with his plans. And we are so grateful to find that he does not have a cow's milk allergy like his big sister. He has yogurt in the morning for breakfast and loves it!

Fortunately, Gavin seemed to lose interest in his pacifier at around 6 months, so we were able to take that away without any fuss. That's a battle we are not looking forward to with Cassidy, so it's nice to know we'll avoid it altogether with Gavin. He has a special cuddle blanket that he uses to help himself fall asleep, and before lying down in his crib, he loves to rock with me in his rocking chair while I hum lullabies. He smooshes his little face onto mine and likes to have his ear directly on my cheek as his eyes start to close. He is my little snuggler! We love you Gavin!