All Things Round

Aren't these pictures cute of Gavin? How can you not like a cute, naked baby?

Matt's class went on a field trip today to the pumpkin stand. All of the children were very excited to pick out their very own pumpkins.

Quick Note

Just wanted to quickly note down what's happening before I forget-----which could be in two minutes, the way my mind has been working lately. Gavin got his first tooth last Sunday, the 10th, and his second tooth today. Now that most of the hair on the sides of his head has fallen out, it is starting to grow back in. It's really short and soft right now. His head looks a bit like a fuzzy tennisball. And I guess we can now say he is an "official" sitter. Yesterday he sat on his own for over a minute.

5 Months

Weight: 15 lbs. 3 oz.

Height: 25 inches

This month Gavin has focused a lot on using his hands. He tends to favor his left hand. Adam was the same way and ended up left-handed so we'll see what happens with Gavin. He is quite adept now at holding and grabbing things. He isn't interested in being on the floor. He justs wants to stand up on our laps. I'm beginning to wonder if he'll learn to roll over and sit on time. He can somewhat sit by himself--with his arm out front propping him up. For the past two weeks he's been repeating the same sound all day long. He's almost ready to cut his first tooth. We can see it just below the gum. He has a new schedule now. It's taken the entire month to kind of figure it out. He dropped a feeding and a nap. So, now he nurses 5 times/day and naps 3 times/day. He wakes up about 7:30am and nurses; takes a nap around 10am; nurses at 11am; eats lunch=veggies; naps at 1:30-2pm; nurses again at 2-2:30pm; naps for the last time at 5:30-6pm; nurses, and then nurses again at 8:30pm before bedtime. He doesn't sleep for long periods during the day. Each nap is only 30-40 minutes. But, at night he does great. Once he's in bed, he rarely makes a peep. I usually check on him because he's so quiet. As for baby food, he's happily tried cereal, carrots and sweet potatoes. We'll start fruit in a couple of weeks. He smiles a lot and loves to have people talk to him.

Hey, sweetie--come here often?

"I've fallen and I can't get up."

Robert's Birthday

Robert's birthday was this past Thursday. I think he had a nice day. He took the afternoon off----and took a nap. He didn't want anything too crazy, so we kept it low-key. We did the traditional things--dinner, cake and presents. The boys and I gave him a new bag for work and chocolates. Gavin gave him a nap on his shoulder.

Adam and Matt are thinking, "who's this crazy guy?"

40 Things

40 Things About Robert--

1. Robert was born October 7, 1970, in Logan, Utah--40 years ago today.
2. He is the oldest of three boys.
3. He is now the father of three boys.
4. According to his boys, he makes the best (Kraft) mac-n-cheese.
5. He enjoys playing soccer, baseball, tag, etc.. with his sons in the backyard.
6. He is incredibly patient.
7. He paid for all of his college education by himself--all 7 years.
8. He has had lots of jobs in sales and was quite successful at them.
9. His favorite meal is lasagna.
10. He LOVES chocolate.
11. He can fall asleep in two seconds.
12. While in college, he went to a singing audition. He did so well that he was called back to go to Nashville. However, he turned it down because he can't stand country music.
13. He used to deliver pizza for Dominos.
14. When he was 3 years old, he won a "cutest baby" contest and won a trip to Disney World.
15. He loves to read biographies and other non-fiction.
16. When he asked me out on our first date, he had it all planned out. I was really impressed. He didn't ask, "So, what do you want to do?"
17. His first mission call was to Peru. While in the MTC it was changed to Puerto Rico because of too much violence and the lack of safety for the missionaries in Peru.
18. He likes to pick out his own clothes and doesn't really like me to shop for him.
19. He has lived in four states--Utah, Kansas, Virginia and Nebraska.
20. He grew up with cats as pets. He named his first one "George Brett" after the baseball player.
21. He loves to negotiate. He is always trying to negotiate a deal or get a bargain.
22. He graduated for the University of Kansas and wants our boys to do the same.
23. He loves that I shop in the clearance section.
24. He wants to live near the beach, preferably Florida.
25. He tends to have a lucky streak. While in law school, he won a number of contests, winning us tickets to a Broadway play, a TV, many dinners out, and lots of t-shirts.
26. He works really hard at not watching football on Sundays.
27. He does the dishes! And the dusting!
28. He enjoys 7-11 slurpees. He's even been given the nickname "slurpee boy".
29. He tends to let our boys stay up late and will play with them while putting them to bed.
30. He likes to watch "Dog, the Bounty Hunter" and "Top Chef".
31. He has lived in Kansas for 28 years.
32. He likes to occasionally make a late-night run to Dairy Queen for a blizzard.
33. He works really hard at his job.
34. He would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to have season tickets for KU basketball.
35. Since we bought our house, he's learned to lay flooring, tile, do electrical and plumbing work, install appliances, do lots of demo, and paint even more.
36. He likes Coke over Pepsi.
37. He watches Sports Center every night.
38. He is low-key and laid back.
39. He was 26 when we got married.
and #40. He is very loyal and loving to his family. And we're happy to celebrate his birthday with him.

Weekend Update

We've had a nice weekend. Adam and Matt have tomorrow off from school so they're extra to have a longer weekend. The boys had a soccer game yesterday morning. One of the moms in our ward started up a mini soccer league because all of the other leagues in town hold their games on Sundays. So, most of the kids ages 4-7 in the ward joined up to have our own soccer league. The rest of the day was devoted to General Conference. Watching conference with children isn't usually quiet or relaxing. Most of the time it's a lesson in patience for me. We do have some type of conference activity and candy to keep the boys entertained and somewhat involved. We had conference bingo for them this time. I remember being Adam's age and watching general conference at our house in San Antonio and thinking, "this is so boring. I don't even understand what they're saying." And even though we heard lots of complaints and said multiple times, "put the ball away and come sit back down", it was nice to spend so much time together as a family. Any other Saturday would have been spent doing chores, errands, etc and we wouldn't have been together as much. Between sessions, Robert took the boys to buy new tennis shoes. We told Adam he has to finally get some tie shoes, not the velcro straps anymore. He struggled with learning to tie his shoes in kindergarten and hasn't wanted to do it since then. We explained that since he's older now it would be easier to learn. And it was. He got it down in just a few tries. Matt even learned how to do it. So, they did spend part of conference tying and retying their shoes. They're both at the age now that they only change shoe-size about once a year. And I've learned, through trial and error, that if we buy the better shoe brands (Skechers, Nike, etc) we only have to buy one pair per year. In the past I bought shoes at Walmart but ended up replacing them every 2-3 months. Now we just need to teach them how to ride bikes. That's for another weekend.