Happy Birthday Gavin!

My sweet boy turned 2 this year. His birthday was on Thanksgiving day so we celebrated the weekend before. Thank you to everyone who came, helped and brought Gavin a present. I want to send you all thank you notes but it probably won't happen this year. Know I am grateful, please! I made the above monkey cake and cupcakes which weren't perfect but he liked that and it tasted good and I guess that is all that matters.

Gavin staring at his beloved Addison who he talks about daily.

It was a good party! I am glad birthdays only happen once a year though because they are a lot of work. Now time to prep for Mike's 30th birthday party. Oh boy! Between birthdays, thanksgiving and Christmas I am a busy girl!

I've been tagged.

I've been tagged.

Mixing things up with something different

1. Where is your cell phone? in my coat pocket...I think?

2. Your hair? In need of a cut and probably other things too.

3. Your Father is: a good story teller.

4. Your favorite food? Right now no food is my favorite. Not pregnant anything choclate.

5. Your dream from last night? I'm pregnant I try to forget my dreams as quickly as possible they are just plan weird and crazy.

6. Your favorite drink? diet cherry pepsi

7. Your dream/goal? Right now to not gain a ton of weight this pregnancy.

8. What room are you in? The living room

9. What is your hobby? Hobby, what is that? I like to read, watch tv, cook, workout and spend time with friends. Are any of those hobbies?

10. What is your fear? Something terrible happening to someone I love.

11. Where do you want to be in six years? Right where God wants me.

12. Where were you last night? At home with my family.

13. Something you are not. Perfect

14. Muffins. I don't really love muffins, chocolate ones top my list though especially the ones from Costco. No one tell me how many calories are in one of those babies.

15. Wish list items. Where do I start? I wish I were done with this pregnancy and had my new little one healthy and happy in my arms.

16. Where did you grow up? Maui, Guam, Tucson, AZ, Lewiston, ID, Lenore, ID.

17. Last thing you did: Decorated the Christmas Tree.

18. What are you wearing? Maternity Jeans and a stripped sweater.

19. T.V.? Watching "The Wedding Planner."

20. Your pets? Two very stinky, loving Golden Retrievers (Duke and Jemma) who love to eat my sons toys.

21. Your friends? Loyal, Godly, Loving and priceless.

22. Your life? Not what I ever expected. It is real, it's difficult, and often better than I expected.

23. Your mood? My tummy is upset but that's not really new so it is making me feel defeated.

24. Missing someone? Ok so this is sad but while I love bedtime I sometimes miss my little man when he goes to bed and he is there now and I kind of miss his little smile and voice right now.

25. Your vehicle? Envoy XL and I am thankful everyday for it!

26. Something you are not wearing? contacts but I have been wearing my glasses a lot lately.

27. Your favorite store? Umm I don't know that I have one.

28. Your favorite color? Red. It makes me happy and warm.

29. When was the last time you laughed? Earlier when my son sat totally dazed out with a big bite of turkey shoved in his cheek. He was so tired because he has been sick. It was so pathetic it just made me giggle.

30. When was the last time you cried? Yesterday. Just thinking about it makes me sad.

31. Your best friend? I wouldn't say I have one. Sometimes I wish I did but I have so many great friends I shouldn't.

32. One place you go over and over? Walmart. It seems like I forget something every time I go.

33. One person that emails me regularly: Baby Center

34. Favorite place to eat: Not pregnant, Wingers. Right now I wish I could eat at Red Lobster everyday.

If you're reading this and you have a blog, I tag YOU! IF not and you want to join the fun cut and paste this into an email and send it to me I would love to see your answers.

4 a.m. with a 2 year old

Gavin: MamaDada (has now become one word like Brangelina or TomKat).

He keeps repeating until 1 of us or both grunt in response.

Gavin (in a giggly sing songy voice): I two.

As he waves 2 tiny fingers in the air.

Gavin: Watch Open (portable DVD player)

Mommy: No you are supposed to go nigh night.

Daddy (firmly): Nigh Night Gavin.

Gavin mischievously giggles. Flopping closer to Daddy.

Mommy (silently): Thank you Lord.

Gavin: Sad?

Daddy: No honey we are happy.

Gavin: appy! appy!

Gavin: MamaDada, MamaDada, Mama Dada...

This all went on until we finally wisened up to the fact that he was not going to sleep. We put him back in his room where he was quiet but not for long.

Do you think he knows today is his birthday party?

This is what happens when babies don't sleep at night. They fall asleep in random places, doing random things.

So much to catch up on and so little energy or time. Well the newest news is that we are having a baby and most of you by now probably know that. Since I have done such a terrible job keeping up with this blog though it might be difficult to "Keep up with James'" and since that is the title of my blog I either should change the title or work on my blogging.

The last few months were just like my first pregnancy where I spent most of the time with my head in the toilet. I am starting to recover but still have some bad days.

We had a great trip to North Carolina to visit my family and since it would take me forever to upload the pictures here I will just redirect you to my web albums and have you check them out there. Gavin had a great time with the leaves and the me-oh or kitten. I will try to keep you all updated.

Take Care!

Pics:

Trip to North Carolina

http://picasaweb.google.com/emaillaurajames/NorthCarolina2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCMHL6rWjvOif0AE#


Aug/Sept/Oct (some more pics from North Carolina)
http://picasaweb.google.com/emaillaurajames/AugustSeptOctober2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCO7C--PJpfv91wE#

The Open...

Since we have been traveling so much and Gavin hasn't been sleeping on all of our trips we decided to break out the portable DVD player to see if he would be entertained by it. He most certainly was but not in the way that we thought. He will watch for a few minutes and then he begins to open and close the DVD player. Once it was closed he couldn't get it open again so he would hand it to me and do his most annoying whine and then I would hand it back to him and say don't close it. Then he would begin to whine again and I would turn around and ask "do you want me to open it?" This would go on for a while. I didn't always mind because it kept him entertained. Then one day we were loading the car and he spotted the bag that carries the DVD and he pointed and said with a big grin on his face "Open." He has taken to calling it the Open since he heard me say it so much. Now when in the car he will start chanting "Open, Open, Open" and at least I know exactly what he wants. Let's hope he starts actually watching the movies soon.

6 weeks in Review

Week One...

My birthday. I turned 28. Got a laptop. That I love. Was the personal attendant at a beautiful wedding.

Week Two...

Running, biking, swimming and repeat. The fun part carb loading and still losing weight.

Week Three...

I finished my first sprint triathlon. Which if you have ever been athletic doesn't sound like much, 1/3 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 3 mile run. If you are me and don't or haven't had an athletic bone in your body it sounded like a lot at first. I always knew I would finish but since I am competitive I had goals for myself. I met my goals which was really exciting. I wanted to finish in under 2 hours and in the middle. I was 23 out 43 in my age group and finished in an hour and 39minutes. My greatest accomplishment was finishing the swim 13th out of 43 in my age group. My only regret was not listening to a trainer who said I was a strong swimmer and should start out front instead of wasting time and energy passing people. Which is what I did because I freaked out and started in the back outside. I am confident I would have finished better in the swim if I hadn't started in the back. The important thing I had a great time and I am excited to do it again next year and shave some minutes off my time. Difference next year a new bike, a fuel belt, drinking water before (got so distracted I forgot to drink enough water and cramped up on the run) and starting in the front of the swim.

Week 4...

A trip to Gig Harbor to connect with good friends. We got to visit the zoo while we were there. Gavin seemed to run from one attraction to the next squealing. He had a great time. Our friend Jessica wasvery sweet and babysat so we could go out with our friends Nicole and Ian as couples without kids. It is always a nice treat to go out without kids. It was a great trip and we are looking forward to going back for Labor Day.

Week 5 and 6...

Catching up and life after 4 busy weeks. Gavin is talking up a storm and he loves to jump now which is the funniest thing to watch.

Hopefully I will update you on this week soon. I don't know how much there will be to tell but I will be sure to tell you a story about something.

A conversation in the car...

Mama: What does a cow say?

Gavin: Mooo

Mama: What does a horse day?

Gavin: Neigh, woof woof

Mama: Oh is that what a dog says? What does Dada say?

Gavin: Mooah (blows a kiss which is how he says "I love you" sometimes)

Mama: What does Mama say?

Gavin: Nooo

This comes days after his new song the only word "No" which is repeated at various lengths and notes. I guess I win the lame mommy of the year award. Toddlers!