Happy 6th Birthday Gavin

Gavin's 6th birthday was on October 18.  He was able to take treats to his school which he was thrilled to do.  I had a half day from work so we got to spend some time together and then he had a dentist appointment.  He didn't mind, he likes to go to the dentist.  He picked out his favorite meal of cordon bleu pizza.  Papa 4 wheeler and Mama Kathy came in for a short while to help him celebrate.  We had ice cream and then called it a night since it was a school night.  For his birthday, he wanted a 360 trike as well so he could race his brother so that is what we go him.  He was so excited. 

Gavin is our worrier but has a huge heart.  If he gets something, he always wants to make sure that Griffin gets one too.  He is super sweet and caring towards others although he also loves to tattle as well but I truly think that is an age stage thing.  He has grown so much in the last year and ever since we had his tonsils and adenoids out last May he is our best eater.  He loves veggies and will try anything for the most part.  He is definitely our night owl and I think he would stay up all night if he could.  I can say that he can READ, yes he can.  We read together every night and he loves to try to sound out the words.  He loves school and his best friends are Tyler Curl, Griffin, and Daddy.  If he has a choice to go with someone, he will pick Daddy always.  He doesn't like to give hugs and kisses as much but he will if no one is looking.  He is very much a boy, he loves tractors, racing, and sports.  Gavin is also our outgoing child, he will talk to anyone for as long as they will allow him to.  This makes me a little worried but he does know what a stranger is and has told me that he won't talk to them.  He is also so curious about EVERYTHING but he will remember EVERYTHING.  All you have to do is say it once and he will remember it, so if I don't want to forget something I ask him to remember it for me.  He has a particular side to him too, his clothes, shoes, hair, and anything else you can think of have to be a certain way or he gets frustrated and upset.  We love him much and can't wait to see what the future holds for him. 

Baby Update

I went to the doctor on Monday.  She said that I am 30% effaced and not dilated at all.  I have a little over three weeks left so I wasn't surprised by that at all.  I had a sonogram today.  It was amazing.  He was moving his mouth and tongue.  She showed me many of his organs and that he is definitely a boy.  It was such a blessing to see it all.  She printed pictures but I'm having problems getting them posted.  The sonogram lady thought that he weighs around 7lb 6ozs give or take.  I was a little surprised but with Griffin being 9lb 6ozs I thought this one could possible be a bigger baby.  I see the doctor on Monday again so maybe I will know more.  I continue to pray for a good delivery and healthy baby.

The End to Farming

Papa 4-wheeler finished his combining a week ago.  The boys were a little sad that their last days of combining for this year ended so quickly.  I tried to get them out there as much as possible so they could enjoy the "new" combine.  

 Even if they could ride for a half hour, they were thrilled to do so.  I'm so glad they are learning.  At one point, there was FOUR generations out there helping (I wasn't really helping but more of supervising). 

The boys were even able to share their farming experience with the Curls, who have never been on a combine.  They really enjoyed it and had a great time asking Papa 4 wheeler lots of questions.  We are thankful Papa finished safely and with a good harvest considering the year.  Now it is onto plowing with the tractor.

A Little Boy's Curosity

Griffin has been very curious about the baby pretty much the whole time or since I started to show.  At the dinner table, he often ask if I'm feeding the baby.  I explain to him that when I eat food then the baby gets fed.  He is satisfied with that explanation for a while.  A couple of weeks ago, we were all getting our jammies on and Griffin wanted to know how the baby was going to put on his jammies.  He asked, "Are you going to take him out, put on his jammies, and then put him back in?"  I told him "No" but he just didn't understand why the baby didn't need jammies yet.  He often ask if he can talk to the baby so he will get his lips as close as he can to my belly and talks then he will ask if he can hear him.  Of course I tell him he can so he will continue to tell him whatever he thinks he needs to know at the time.  Super cute...  He also will rub my belly and ask if the baby is asleep or awake then he will want to know how I know.  Both of the boys have felt the baby move so it was an amazing experience for them and for me.  I was glad they were able to experience it.  Often times, they want to know what body part it is but I usually don't know so I can't really explain that to them but they are excited just the same.

Friday Night Birthday

Our great friends, the Curls, and our boys all have birthday pretty close together.  Katie's is Sept. 26, Griffin's Oct. 2, Tyler's Oct. 3, and Gavin's Oct. 18.  I thought we should have a big birthday and carving pumpkin party with them so we decided Friday would work the best.  We ate pizza then had homemade skillet cookie with homemade  ice cream.  It was all delicious.  We then carved pumpkins, not all the kids participated but the ones that did had a ton of fun.  Daddy was helping Griffin out with his I-l-l-i-n-i pumpkin.  Griffin really enjoyed digging the guts out of the pumpkin.  Last year, the boys really didn't like doing that part but this year is a different story.    

Jeff was helping Katie make a face out of her big pumpkin.  

Papa 4 wheeler and Mama Kathy ended up showing up but they were both just watchers or Papa 4 wheeler entertained the other kids while we worked.   

 Hottie, aka Bridget, made an adorable pumpkin contributed to Papa 4 wheeler.  It was suppose to be a tongue sticking out of the mouth but it looked more like a ciggy treat. 

 All of the kids together with the pumpkins.  We have (from left to right) a teammate pumpkin 12 & 7L-Griffy's idea, Illini pumpkin, jack o lantner pumpkin (5 of them), PC pumpkin Katie's idea, and then a St. Louis Cardinal's pumpkin Jeff's idea.  All of them awesome....

 Then a picture of them with the lights out....

All of the birthday kids... Mama Kathy's birthday is actually on Oct. 7th so we threw her in there too with a candle like the others.  We sang them Happy Birthday and then ate our yummy skillet cookies. 

Singing to them....

We were all completely full with both food and happiness.

Radar Farms

On Monday, we discovered Radar Farms.  We usually go to Tanner's Orchard in Speer, Illinois but I decided we should try something new so we loaded up with a good friend of mine and off we all went.  It was something new to the boys and I think they really enjoyed it.  Griffin was shy at first but soon opened up when he saw Gavin doing fun stuff.  Thankfully Gavin is willing to try anything.  They walked across big cable rolls packed with hay. 

Then they did Griffin's favorite thing there, jumping off of a pig shot into a pile of hay.  Look how happy those faces are...

CANNON BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes he really screamed that.

Then they were off to try the lawn mower cart rides.  Gavin had the idea this year to try them out.  He won't go on them last year at Tanner's but this year was a completely different story. 

Then onto Gavin's favorite thing, playing in a bin full of corn.  It was nice and cool in there.  I wonder how long it will take them to ask Papa 4 wheeler if they can play in the corn in the wagons when they are farming. 

They decided to help out the other kids that were buring a girl in corn.  Made me a little nervous but she was fine with it. 

Then onto this jumping pillow is what I think they called it.  It was huge and awesome.  Both the boys got to laughing and were bounced rather high by others.  Sometimes it was difficult for them to get back up the hill but they usually always made it. 

Next stop was on top of the hay castle. 

Back to the pig shoot. 

Last was the slide... Gavin went down this right away and loved it.  Griffin won't go down it at all at first then right before we started to leave Griffin ran up the hill to go down.  Each time he came down, he would say "one more time Mom".  A few or couple times later, it was one more time.  Someone said it felt like a butt massage coming down with all the ripples.  Too funny!!!

We ended our playdate with lunch at McDonald's.  Funny story there though, Griffin had his Bear's jersey on because the Bears were playing on Monday night.  Anyways, the McDonald's that we went to is attached to a gas station.  A gentleman with a Green Bay jersey on walked from the gas station over to McDonald's for lunch.  Griffin stands up in the booth and yells "Boo PACKERS!" as loud as he can.  The gentleman didn't do anything but I know he heard.  It was rather funny although we were a little nervous.  Griffin hid from being embarrassed as usually so we left shortly thereafter. 

A Little Baby Update...

I haven't reported a baby updated for a while.  A couple of weeks ago I was having some struggles but all of the test results have come back that I'm not going into labor early.  I have several Braxton Hicks contractions throughout the day but Dr. A says they are normal and with each pregnancy you get more.  My body is preparing for the time ahead.  His heart rate went rather high at one appointment 3 or 4 weeks ago but thankfully it came back down after being put on the monitor for a while.  I was rather scared but I was relieved when it came back to a normal rate.  I think he was just excited to hear Dr. A.  We do not have a name picked out nor do we have a middle name picked out.  It does drive some people a little nuts that we don't but he will end up with a name eventually.  Although Gavin would like his name to be Greyson now and Griffin still would like George the monkey.  I love the fact the boys are so excited about the new baby.  I think they will make amazing older brothers to our new little blessing.  Gavin also requested that the baby not be born on his birthday, the 18th, since that is his special day.  I told him I didn't think he had anything to worry about on that matter.  I have a little less than six weeks to go and it seems that the last couple of months have really slowed down or it could be just me.