Floor Time

I try to be sure that Gavin gets Tummy Time and Floor Time each day. He likes his mat. He's starting to hit the toys, as he squirms around doing his stretching exercises.

Two Month Pictures

It's hard to believe that Gavin is already two months old. He and I celebrated the day in Grandbury with the ladies, so we took his two month pictures on Sunday and Monday. The blue monkey is joined by a panther, two objects--two months. We'll see if I can keep this up for all 12 months; the blanket may get crowded.

Dad took some pictures on Sunday with the blue monkey and Mallory the red monkey. Gavin LOVES Mallory. She has rattles in her fish and pineapple. Gavin stops to look at her whenever she's doing her hula dance.



The other thing Gavin loves is his Buzz mobile. After Dad made him mad snapping pictures, Gavin got to lay down in his crib and watch the Yellow Jackets swarm for a while, which calmed him right down. Sunday night, Gavin moved into his room and crib. He's sleeping just as well as he did in the bassinet in Mama and Dad's room. We've woken up at 3:30 a few mornings and even 5:30 one morning. I wish I could get 5:30 more consistently. It will come all in good time. I know one day I'll be longing for the simple days when all I had to worry about was feeding him, diapering him, soothing him, and playing with him.

First Day Trip

Dave tells me that I'm a slacker since my friend Lindsey has already blogged about the day. She did an excellent job describing the day and took fantastic pictures, which you can see here. My excuse is that Dean is older (5 1/2 months) and seemingly doesn't cry. Below are some additions . . .

While Dave was doing local missions work in a mobile home park, Gavin and I loaded up and headed out to Grandbury for a day of fun. I do feel a bit guilty that I was out living it up, while Dave was doing something worthwhile.

The occasion for our sojourn to Grandbury is the upcoming nuptials of a coworker, Leslie. Glenda got the use of her brother-in-law's lake home for a great day of shopping, relaxing, and chatting. Lindsey was gracious enough to drive. Gavin and I met her and Dean and loaded up. The boys napped the whole way.


After we dropped our things at the house and fed the boys, we went to downtown Grandbury to feed ourselves. "Aunt" Glenda held Gavin while Mama ate. Glenda has the magic touch with babies. (She held him during Easter Sunday services.)
Following lunch, we shopped our way around the square until it was time for our wine tasting at D'Vine Wine. The boys weren't impressed.After more shopping and a lost (and recovered) camera incident, we headed back to the house. Gavin was awake and ready for some lovin' from the ladies. Debbie, our school nurse, never holds Gavin when I go to the school; she doesn't want to pass anything along to him, so she got all her snugglin' in while she was germ free.


Dean loved Miss Barbara singing "The Wheels on the Bus" to him.

Leslie (in white), our guest of honor and Linsey, our newest counselor. (Yes, we have 3 "L" counselors: Lindsey, Linsey, and Leslie. )

Miss Robin and Gavin had the best time. He was mesmerized by her smile.
Gavin says, "Look, I can stand!"

All that shopping and napping and charming the ladies (and fussing) really takes it out of a fellow.

First Boo Boo for Gavin

Gavin is now two months old, and you know what that means....the dreaded two month check up along with his first shots. He is perfectly healthy, gaining lots of weight and growing like a weed. He now weighs in at 11lb 10oz, and is 23" tall. The shots were his least favorite part, but he didn't even really cry too much for them. It was more like silent screams. Kinda like when you bang your finger with a hammer and you can't scream because it hurts so much....that was him today. But 10 seconds later after Mom picked him up he was fine again. Here he is lounging on Mom after the dreaded doctor appointment - complete with Wile E. Coyote band aids.

The Smiling Boy

Sometimes I'm not sure if I want to smile at Daddy.
But he talks to me, and...
smiles, and makes funny faces....
and eventually I give in and give him what he wants.

Buffett Tunes

Here are a few videos from the concert last night. Sorry about the shaky pictures...I had to zoom in all the way to get some good images....

Southern Cross

It's Five O' Clock Somewhere

Brown Eyed Girl

Fruitcakes

It is that time again when all the parrotheads in Texas flock (pun intended) to Frisco to see Jimmy Buffet perform. This year we were fortunate enough to have two of our friends, Pete & Lisa, drive up from Austin to go to the concert with us. It turned out to be a crazy day. The local wildlife was in full force - much more so than in previous years it seemed.

We loaded up the truck around 2:00 so that we could tailgate, grill out and relax before the concert. Much to our surprise, parking this year was now $20 for "just parking" and $40 for "tailgating". Nobody in our party was too happy about this...especially myself. Their logic behind it was that they have to come back and pick up the tailgating trash afterward. I can see some truth in that, but come on...and extra $20 to pick up trash in a 10'x20' space? So we obliged and tried to give them $20 in trash to pick up. Here was our home base this year.

It took us 50 minutes to get through security (they didn't have near enough people at security), walk all the way around the stadium (because they weren't letting anyone walk on the breezeway behind the stage), until we finally got to our seats. The seats weren't as good as last year, but they weren't too bad either. We had a REALLY drunk guy in front of us provide the entertainment until his wife made him leave. After that, the concert went well, and all had a good time including Jimmy.

Unshaven Dave & Momma

Pete & LisaFin Heads - they had lights inside the fins this year....
The Coral Reefer Band
Jimmy with his cowboy hat

There was one more hiccup on the way out of the parking lot last night. There was a metal stake in front of where Pete was parked. We didn't see it when we pulled out and it ended up getting stuck on the a piece of the frame under his truck. Another car was nice enough to provide some light while I managed to pull it out from where it was lodged. Thankfully though, the truck is now worse for wear this morning.

And in case you were wondering, this was the longest we had both been away from Gavin. Grandma and Grandpa Fouts took care of him while we were away, and he was a happy baby from the reports we got. And yes, we both were missing him the whole time!

Still No Dishwasher

Poor Dave spent a good deal of time Sunday night washing the dishes while I fed Gavin. We were supposed to have our new dishwasher installed Tuesday. The guys came out; they measured; they said it wouldn't fit. I asked if they could take off a piece of trim; they said it wouldn't fit even with the trim off. They charged me a "trip charge." They left. I cried. Later someone from Lowe's called to see if I was satisfied with the installation of my dishwasher. A few measurements, consultations, and phone calls later . . . another company is coming out Friday to install the dishwasher. We think it will fit. Dave is going to remove the trim tonight to measure again. I can't believe it's this hard to get a dishwasher installed. Oh well, I'll know better next time. (The Lowe's representative said that the first company often says they can't install a Bosch dishwasher, but 90% of the time company #2 is able to get the dishwasher installed. My question: Why does Lowe's still contract with company #1?)

Oh well, I guess it makes for a good story.

Dave can't wait for my mom to get here to help him with the dishwashing duties. She arrives Thursday night. I guess Dave will get relief for a meal or two.

Easter 2009

We celebrated Easter by going to church. Gavin got a bit vocal during the prayer, so Dave walked him out to the Narthex. There, Aunt Glenda was walking in from ushering in the chapel and quickly whisked Gavin away from Dad. While Mama and Dad listened to the sermon, Gavin and Aunt Glenda did some bonding.

After church, Gavin got the Easter Basket that Peter Cottontail left for him.

And when Peter Cottontail was leaving a basket for Gavin, he left an urn full of flowers for Mama.

Dad worked extra hard getting a snapshot of the family on Easter Sunday. (At least Gavin looks happy.)

The contraption that we used in lieu of a tripod--maybe that will be our next investment.

What's a Pop?

I have enjoyed the Coke vs Pop vs Soda debate for quite a number of years. Growing up in Georgia, if you wanted any type of soft drink, you asked for a Coke...then specified what type by saying Sprite, Dr. Pepper, etc. In college I quickly found out that people from the Midwest think that "Cokes" are really called pop. It has become a little funny thing that we experience as we have traveled the country. Here's a map of all the counties in the US, and what they call their soft drinks. Very interesting....

Coupon Clippin'

I have started back on a coupon kick for some reason. Nothing really brought this about other than wanting to save some money on diapers. Miranda and I used to clip coupons for groceries after we got married. Then we lost interest and quit doing the coupon thing.

With another mouth to feed and rear to diaper, we have a renewed interest in saving some money. I am happy to say that by shopping sale items and using coupons we have saved 42% & 57% this week on our two grocery shopping trips. Not too bad if I do say so myself. Many of the things we have started buying are "stock up" items since the deals are too good to pass up. The highlight for the week was three bottles of Kraft salad dressing from Wal-Mart for a whopping 24 cents total! This stock up mentality might end up costing us some money up front though...the freezer is full to the top with frozen food. A garage freezer might be needed soon.

We even had to buy a new dishwasher this week, I found a 10% off coupon, and got free installation from Lowes. I have found that there is just about a coupon out there for everything you want to buy, you just have to do a little digging to find them.

Picnic in the Botanical Gardens

Wednesday to celebrate Gavin's six-week birthday and the beautiful weather, Dave, Gavin, and I met for a picnic lunch in the Botanical Gardens. It was a nice day; the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing. (Lately the wind has been crazy.) After lunch, we walked around to take in the natural splendor.

There were koi in a small pond.

This is how Gavin spent most of the time.

He was oblivious to the Japanese Maple.
Pretty azaleas. Not quite Augusta's, but not bad for Texas.
Mama and Gavin pose at the fountain. (Notice he's still asleep.)

One of His Favorite Things To Do

Gavin loves to lay on his make-shift changing table in Mama and Dad's room and look at the light coming in through the blinds. This is one of the activities that typically calms him down when he's fussy. I think he could lay there for hours, but we won't leave him there.



Often, he'll take a few minutes for some extra sucking time on his pacifier. I love it that he puts his hand up there to hold it in place.