Christmas, Take 3! Our Trip to Pittsburgh!

Well, we had quite the trip to Pittsburgh! We arrived home last night after a very long 5 days away from home. Although we loved seeing family and friends, Gavin has apparently reached an age where he no longer travels well.

Gavin did reasonably well on the drive to Pittsburgh. At least not any worse than previous long car trips. He slept okay the first night, not as well as he had been sleeping at home, but not so bad it wasn't manageable. Unfortunately, it was all down hill from there. He was a bit more whiney Christmas Eve, but seemed to do ok after he napped a little more. We decided that since he had taken a second nap and woken up a bit later than normal, we would attempt staying a little later at the annual Christmas Eve party. It started at 6, so we were hoping he would do well enough to not have to leave at 7 to get him into bed by his normal 7:30 bedtime.

The party was wonderful and it was great to see everyone. Unfortunately, Gavin didn't seem to feel that way. He had a meltdown as soon as we stepped in the door and I don't think he ever really recovered because he basically ignored everyone all night (even all the kids) and was either off doing his own thing (which he would abandon if anyone came over to him) or was demanding to be carried around by Scott or myself. At that point, we probably should have just left at 7, but we tried to stick it out a bit longer. We ate (Gavin refused to eat anything... ugh) and tried to make the best of it but had to abandon the party a little earlier than we wanted. By the time we got out the door and made it back to Scott's dad's house, it was clear that it was going to be a long night. I got him into bed as quickly as I could (which took a bit longer than I would have liked because we had to replace the batteries in his glow worm, what great timing for those to die!) and hoped for the best. I was exhausted by that point, so I got ready for bed, put Muppet Christmas Carol on and fell asleep pretty early. That didn't seem to matter since Gavin woke up fairly early and refused to go back to sleep, so I brought him to bed with me, which there was not enough room for. He tossed and turned a lot and was generally unhappy the rest of the night. He then decided that getting up early would be awesome. Not so much.

It was a rough morning because he was crabby from not sleeping. I did what I could to distract him but it was pretty useless. He was just going to be miserable until naptime no matter what I did. He took a good nap and was ok the rest of the afternoon. We headed over to Lori's for a few hours to have Christmas dinner and spend some time together. Gavin did much better than the previous night. He was actually interested in Tyler and Jake and playing. He had a lot of fun running around with them. It was nice to see someone closer to the "real" Gavin. We headed home to get Gavin in bed at 7:30 and hoped that maybe tonight would be better since he had been more "normal" that afternoon. Nope, another rough night. Just as bad, if not worse. A lot of tossing and turning and general crappy sleep. Awesome.

He woke up early again Monday (ugh!) and was crabby all morning. At this point, Scott and I are trying to decide what to do. We had wanted and planned to visit some people Monday and Tuesday because we were going to head home Wednesday, but Gavin was so miserable, it was making it really hard on us. He wasn't sleeping and he wasn't eating so he was constantly whining (something very out of character for Gavin, unless he is teething). After Gavin took a good nap, he was ok so we decided to try and stick it out and go to visit some family.

We had a lot of fun and Gavin enjoyed their dog and running around somewhere new for a little bit. After that, both Gavin and I were done so we headed home for the evening. Scott went out a little later to visit a friend because Gavin and I were not up for going as well.

Even though Gavin slept worse (I thought that wouldn't be possible), I tried to remind myself we only had one more day and we really wanted to visit some more people since we only see most of them once (sometimes twice if we are lucky) a year. Gavin's mood improved a bit after his nap so we packed up and headed out. He did a little better with the other kids this time and was more willing to run around and play, so that was nice.

Bed time was the same, terrible sleep and Wednesday morning was the same crabby kid, mixed in with all the last minute packing that I couldn't do the night before. Awesome.

Our drive back was pretty miserable. Gavin hardly slept, was whining almost the whole way home and nothing made him happy. He wanted nothing to do with movies/shows, snacks, drinks, toys, music, nothing! It was a really long drive and we were all miserable and generally unhappy by the time we got home.

Gavin's mood quickly improved when we got home. He was seemingly very happy to be home and running around. This was the happiest I had seen him in almost a week! I have no idea if it was because he was happy to be out of the car or happy to be home, but it was such a nice change from the whining of the last few days!

I was hopeful that maybe just being home in his bed, in his room and with all the normal things we do, he would sleep better. Not so much. Although he did seem to sleep a little better, he was still up a lot more than normal and woke up for the day earlier than normal because of that. The only thing that makes that a bit more manageable is that he wasn't crabby all day! Wahoo! I can deal with and work on his night sleeping if he is at least his normal happy self during the day!

Although Gavin's sleeping and mood were awful, it was great to see everyone and I am happy we made the trip. Gavin has never traveled well because he hates long car rides but traveling has never impacted his mood so that was a bit shocking. I really hope that changes for the better soon, otherwise vacations are going to be quite difficult.
Well, we had quite the trip to Pittsburgh! We arrived home last night after a very long 5 days away from home. Although we loved seeing family and friends, Gavin has apparently reached an age where he no longer travels well.

Gavin did reasonably well on the drive to Pittsburgh. At least not any worse than previous long car trips. He slept okay the first night, not as well as he had been sleeping at home, but not so bad it wasn't manageable. Unfortunately, it was all down hill from there. He was a bit more whiney Christmas Eve, but seemed to do ok after he napped a little more. We decided that since he had taken a second nap and woken up a bit later than normal, we would attempt staying a little later at the annual Christmas Eve party. It started at 6, so we were hoping he would do well enough to not have to leave at 7 to get him into bed by his normal 7:30 bedtime.

The party was wonderful and it was great to see everyone. Unfortunately, Gavin didn't seem to feel that way. He had a meltdown as soon as we stepped in the door and I don't think he ever really recovered because he basically ignored everyone all night (even all the kids) and was either off doing his own thing (which he would abandon if anyone came over to him) or was demanding to be carried around by Scott or myself. At that point, we probably should have just left at 7, but we tried to stick it out a bit longer. We ate (Gavin refused to eat anything... ugh) and tried to make the best of it but had to abandon the party a little earlier than we wanted. By the time we got out the door and made it back to Scott's dad's house, it was clear that it was going to be a long night. I got him into bed as quickly as I could (which took a bit longer than I would have liked because we had to replace the batteries in his glow worm, what great timing for those to die!) and hoped for the best. I was exhausted by that point, so I got ready for bed, put Muppet Christmas Carol on and fell asleep pretty early. That didn't seem to matter since Gavin woke up fairly early and refused to go back to sleep, so I brought him to bed with me, which there was not enough room for. He tossed and turned a lot and was generally unhappy the rest of the night. He then decided that getting up early would be awesome. Not so much.

It was a rough morning because he was crabby from not sleeping. I did what I could to distract him but it was pretty useless. He was just going to be miserable until naptime no matter what I did. He took a good nap and was ok the rest of the afternoon. We headed over to Lori's for a few hours to have Christmas dinner and spend some time together. Gavin did much better than the previous night. He was actually interested in Tyler and Jake and playing. He had a lot of fun running around with them. It was nice to see someone closer to the "real" Gavin. We headed home to get Gavin in bed at 7:30 and hoped that maybe tonight would be better since he had been more "normal" that afternoon. Nope, another rough night. Just as bad, if not worse. A lot of tossing and turning and general crappy sleep. Awesome.

He woke up early again Monday (ugh!) and was crabby all morning. At this point, Scott and I are trying to decide what to do. We had wanted and planned to visit some people Monday and Tuesday because we were going to head home Wednesday, but Gavin was so miserable, it was making it really hard on us. He wasn't sleeping and he wasn't eating so he was constantly whining (something very out of character for Gavin, unless he is teething). After Gavin took a good nap, he was ok so we decided to try and stick it out and go to visit some family.

We had a lot of fun and Gavin enjoyed their dog and running around somewhere new for a little bit. After that, both Gavin and I were done so we headed home for the evening. Scott went out a little later to visit a friend because Gavin and I were not up for going as well.

Even though Gavin slept worse (I thought that wouldn't be possible), I tried to remind myself we only had one more day and we really wanted to visit some more people since we only see most of them once (sometimes twice if we are lucky) a year. Gavin's mood improved a bit after his nap so we packed up and headed out. He did a little better with the other kids this time and was more willing to run around and play, so that was nice.

Bed time was the same, terrible sleep and Wednesday morning was the same crabby kid, mixed in with all the last minute packing that I couldn't do the night before. Awesome.

Our drive back was pretty miserable. Gavin hardly slept, was whining almost the whole way home and nothing made him happy. He wanted nothing to do with movies/shows, snacks, drinks, toys, music, nothing! It was a really long drive and we were all miserable and generally unhappy by the time we got home.

Gavin's mood quickly improved when we got home. He was seemingly very happy to be home and running around. This was the happiest I had seen him in almost a week! I have no idea if it was because he was happy to be out of the car or happy to be home, but it was such a nice change from the whining of the last few days!

I was hopeful that maybe just being home in his bed, in his room and with all the normal things we do, he would sleep better. Not so much. Although he did seem to sleep a little better, he was still up a lot more than normal and woke up for the day earlier than normal because of that. The only thing that makes that a bit more manageable is that he wasn't crabby all day! Wahoo! I can deal with and work on his night sleeping if he is at least his normal happy self during the day!

Although Gavin's sleeping and mood were awful, it was great to see everyone and I am happy we made the trip. Gavin has never traveled well because he hates long car rides but traveling has never impacted his mood so that was a bit shocking. I really hope that changes for the better soon, otherwise vacations are going to be quite difficult.

A few cute pictures from our trip (we didn't take as many as I would have liked because of trying to manage Gavin's mood, but we snagged a few good ones). Enjoy!


Christmas Eve - Playing the piano!

 The bear chair!

His new favorite toy... Fisher Price Little People Tractor!

 Christmas Day - Checking out his new keys!

 

Checking out a game controller...

Hmmm...

Giant moving and talking truck!

Getting a ride on Jake's new scooter!

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful day and Christmas season it has been this year! I am so grateful for the time we have been able to spend with family and friends. I am especially grateful for the two weeks that we get to spend together this time each year! I am so grateful to be a mom to the sweetest little boy ever! We had so much fun picking out presents for Gavin, wrapping them and helping him unwrap and check them all out. A truly awesome Christmas with the best family I could ask for!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas, Take 2!

This morning, we had our Christmas! We decided that we didn't want to have to take all of Christmas with us, at least not this year. (Who knows what we will do next year.) So, I had everything wrapped and ready to go from us and we arranged with Santa to arrive early. Santa arrived last night and left lots of awesome packages under the tree and in our stockings!

When Gavin got up this morning, I let him go in to see the tree and turn on the lights, like we do each morning, but after that we closed the door to wait for Scott to wake up.

We had some breakfast while we waited (some yummy pancakes). I was surprised that Scott actually got up on his own and it was pretty early (especially for Scott) because it was barely 8 am! After Scott was really awake, we went in and gave Gavin some presents to open. He opened a present in (next to) his stocking first. It was a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer stuffed animal that "sings". His face lite up and he ran off with it, clearly a big hit. He then had zero interest in opening anything else. No real surprise there. Although I am glad he isn't in a rush to tear through all the paper/presents at once, I wish he had more interest in opening things in general. Oh well, I am sure he will be more interested next year!

After a bit of encouragement, he opened a couple of other little things. He had a set of alphabet and number magnets for the refrigerator and a Sarris milk chocolate snowman also in his stocking.

While Gavin checked out his new magnets, Scott opened the presents in/next to his stocking from Santa. He got the new Primus album on vinyl, Sherlock Holmes on Blu Ray, a box of turtles from Sarris and also a peanut butter filled milk chocolate Santa from Sarris! I checked out my stocking next and I found the new Harry Potter (the last movie, part 2 of the last book) on Blu Ray and a milk chocolate Christmas tree from Sarris!

We convinced Gavin to help us open a couple of other Santa gifts for him under the tree before we took a break. Santa left him Cars 2 on Blu Ray, a Cars 2 clock (for his wall - it fits right in with the decals he already has on his walls) and another Lightening McQueen car to play with! He was really excited about the clock. He loves the clock that is on the wall in the living room so now he has one of his own for his room! We got that up on his wall and then put Cars 2 on because we haven't seen it yet.

 We enjoyed watching Cars 2 and Gavin and I opened up a few more things to play with while we had the movie on (since he wasn't all that interested in watching it for more than a few minutes, no surprise there). Gavin opened up his presents from us. He is well on his way to having a nice wooden train collection. He has several of the Thomas sets and cars now. I had a lot of fun setting up the tracks in lots of different configurations and showing Gavin what to do and how to push the trains around on the tracks. He had a lot of fun trampling the tracks I set up, ripping them up as I set them up and checking the trains out. He really loves the windmill and the trains.

Trains!

The aftermath of the Gavin tornado...

 

We had a pretty quiet day after that. Gavin had fun with all his new toys (including running over everything with his remote control car from Grandpa and Grandma) while I cleaned up all the boxes and wrapping paper and started to get things out and ready for packing. I knew I had a long night ahead of me with packing so I tried to get Gavin to help me clean up some toys and pull out what I could so I just had to get it in our suitcase. He wasn't really interested and just pulled out everything we managed to get put away, so I gave up and just accepted I would be up late getting everything ready to go. At least he was having fun, right?

After Gavin was asleep, I got the rest of his toys put away and spent the next 3 and a half hours getting everything packed up and loaded what I could into the back of the Terrain while Scott finished up the fall/winter detailing and wax job. He did a great job and the Terrain looked awesome. Too bad we will likely be driving through some rain and snow tomorrow so it won't look that way for long.

I think we had a pretty successful day! We had lots of fun for "Christmas" and even got ready for our trip to Pittsburgh a bit more quickly than I thought, considering I hadn't done as much beforehand as I typically try to before a trip out of town. Now we just have to try to get as much sleep as possible before our long day of driving!

Christmas, Take 1!

We get to celebrate Christmas three times this year! The first with my parents, the second together as a family and the third with Scott's family!

We celebrated with my parents tonight. They were kind enough to give us the option of the day and location. After considering our options we decided that today, Sunday, was easiest and that we would rather have it at our house so that we would have more time (instead of having to leave by 6:30 to get home for Gavin's bath and to get him into bed). That also meant that I needed to figure out what in the world to make for dinner and dessert. Scott offered to help by grilling something, since I did not want to make something traditional like a ham or turkey. I ended up taking him up on that because between everything else I needed to do for the dinner, getting the house ready and grocery shopping for the last few days we would be in town (and a few things for the trip), one less thing to worry about was really nice.

So, after considering a lot of options for our dinner, Scott grilled steak. I made my stuffed mushrooms (the way Scott and I love them). My Mom made my Grandma's recipe for potatoes and some crescent rolls. It was all delicious! Although I do love to do most or all of the cooking, it was really nice to not have that level of stress in getting it all done with Gavin wanting and needing things as well. I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for dessert and we had some vanilla ice cream with them. A very delicious end to our meal!

After some visiting, we decided to open up presents. Gavin was running around like the crazy little boy that he is, so it was hard to get him to sit still to rip the paper, but he did help a little. Once we got the paper off of his first present, he was very excited because there was a car! Not just any car, his first remote control car! He was so excited for the car to be out of the box, I felt bad that it needed batteries that we didn't have. So, we have to run out and get batteries tomorrow so that we can get it up and running. He loves it already so I can imagine he will be really excited once it is moving around when he presses the buttons!

 Since Gavin had his new car, he wasn't really interested or all that helpful in opening anything else. We helped him open a really awesome book of The Night Before Christmas that has a recording of Grandma's voice at the beginning and then you can either read the book or it will read it to you. My parents made us two really awesome photo books, one of Gavin's first year and one of the family reunion we had in August.  We have already enjoyed looking at them several times. I am sure we will spend a lot of time looking through them, especially considering how often we just look through photos on our computers. I opened a couple of things for me, two great Christmas CD's (both of which are on the Christmas Pandora station we created, so I am really excited to listen to the CD's now! I also opened a beautiful new sweater (I can't wait to wear it!) and a few new Christmas movies. Scott opened a new shirt, sweater, some fancy socks and a leaf collector thing. I couldn't believe how many things they gave us! It seemed like the presents just kept coming. They are so thoughtful and generous.

We gave my parents a gift certificate to a local Italian restaurant that we love and they had not been to yet. It is a really nice restaurant and since my parents enjoy going out to dinner, we thought they would like to check out a new place. I can't wait for them to try it, I hope they love it too!

It was a really wonderful evening with my parents. We had a lot of really good food, conversation and fun. We are so grateful that we were able to spend that time with them and celebrate Christmas (even though it was a week early because we will be in Pittsburgh for Christmas day). We are so fortunate to have them and to be able to be able to spend so much time with them! It was a great way to start our week of Christmas celebrations!

Gavin Through A New Lens...

We have been test driving a new lens for our camera. A friend of Scott's has the same camera and let us borrow a lens that he has to see if we liked it. It is intended mainly for portrait style and low lighting photos but can be used for all sorts of things, including improving the video performance of the camera. His friend was nice enough to let us borrow it for the week.

So far, we are very impressed. It takes phenomenal photographs and video! Everything you read when looking into DSLR cameras tells you to stay away from the kit lens because they are never very good. After all the reading, I decided that I still wanted to start with the standard kit lens to get to know the camera and then we could explore what other lenses might be good for us to add later. After using the camera for a few weeks, I think the kit lens does a pretty good job so I was in no hurry to replace it. Now that we have used another lens, I can understand why some would complain about the kit lens. I still like our kit lens and think it does a good job, but a more specialized lens will always outperform a general purpose lens that they typically sell with a new DSLR. It was a lot of fun to take photos with and we decided that at some point in time (in the somewhat near future) we will be buying this lens because of what a great lens it is!

Getting out one of his favorite toys!

Gavin exploring the Children's Museum!

Enjoying some time with the tree before bath and bed!

We are really happy with the few pictures we took (and kept since many more were taken but not really worth keeping or sharing) and are so grateful we were able to borrow this lens. I am continually impressed by what amazing photos this camera can take! I love that we have even better photos of Gavin because we sure spend a lot of time looking through them after he has gone to bed for the night!

A Climbing We Will Go!

Gavin's new favorite activity is to climb, anything. He has been climbing and using toys (or anything available, like the phone) as a step stool but he has really been working on climbing on things like beds, the couch, chairs and footstools. In the last week he has perfected getting up on the master bed, couch and footstools. He loves to climb up, jump/slide off, climb up, rinse, repeat. He is always so excited and proud of himself when he gets up. I haven't managed to get a lot of very good pictures, but I will share two that are halfway decent because Gavin is just so cute when he is climbing!

I imagine that before long he will start trying to climb other things. That will certainly keep life interesting!

O, Christmas Tree...

Gavin is in love with the Christmas tree! This morning we headed in and turned on the lights. His was all smiles!

 

He kept talking excitedly at/about the tree, pointing at it, running from side to side while checking it all out. It was so funny to watch! Thank goodness we are able to close it off though, he ended up "banned" from the tree for part of the day because he kept grabbing the lights and trying to pull them off the tree and eat them. Oh well, no real surprise there given he still loves to put everything in his mouth. I am sure it will be an interesting couple of weeks trying to let him enjoy the tree without it doing serious damage to the house or Gavin!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Yay! Christmas! My absolute favorite time of year! I love everything about it. The shopping for the perfect present for those we love, decorating the house, Christmas movies, Christmas music, the smells of Christmas, the happy (and ridiculously emotional) feelings and the time with friends and family! Although I don't particularly love the increase in crazy driving and crowded stores, I am able to mostly avoid these. In previous years I did the majority of my shopping online. This year, I had a list done very early and started picking things up months ago. Next year I hope to manage to finish up even sooner!

Well, decorating the house wouldn't be complete without a tree! The rest of the house has been decorated for several weeks but I was still anxious to get our tree! Today we decided it was finally time to go pick one out. We decided not to cut one down this year because trying to contain Gavin while Scott cut and I held the tree was not going to go well. So, we headed to Home Depot because Scott noticed that they had some nice looking trees when he had been there a few days before.

Scott made fun of me, but I brought our good camera to take some pictures of our adventure! I am glad that I did because it was a lot of fun and Gavin loved exploring!

It didn't take us long to find a great tree!

We had to go a bit smaller than we would normally pick out (we usually get one as tall and fat as possible) because we were relocating our tree this year. We had decided that the tree needed to go into Scott's shack because we needed to be able to cut Gavin off from it completely. We figure Gavin will love the tree, lights and ornaments and will want to sit/stand by it all the time, but we also know that Gavin likes to touch everything. Gavin and free reign on a Christmas tree just doesn't seem like a very good idea. So, closed off it is!

So, we paid and loaded the tree in Scott's truck and headed home. Scott took care of cutting off the bottom to help the tree start taking more water again and he carried it in!

He said it was a lot easier than past years, probably because it is also several inches shorter and significantly skinnier than we have picked out in the past.


Gavin was very interested in what we were doing and was in the middle of the action. All he has seen so far is the tree in position and he is already really excited!

 

Scott and I got the lights up and a few ornaments (the rest and the tree skirt to come another night since it got late and we got sidetracked with working on our Christmas card too).

I am excited to see what Gavin thinks in the morning when he sees the lights on!

Party!!

A friend of mine had a party at her house today. Technically, it was a "purse party" (or what Scott calls a Tupperware party) but even though I was not interested in buying anything at this time, she still wanted Gavin and me to come and visit. I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (her favorite) to bring. Scott and I tested them out last night and they were delicious and I forgot to take pictures. I am getting better with the piping bags so they actually looked pretty good too.

Anyway, Gavin and I packed up some toys, diapers, drinks and snacks and hit the road after he took a short morning nap. There were a lot of people there and a few other people I knew and haven't seen in a while. It was nice to catch up and Gavin had a great time. He chased her dog Charlie and Charlie chased him. Gavin also enjoyed my friend's niece and nephew that came with her sister in law. They were so good with him and enjoyed playing with him and showing him things.


Charlie posing for the camera!

 

Charlie and Gavin sharing toys under the kitchen table... Gavin loved that he could easily walk under the table and spent a lot of time playing with Charlie there!

Gavin intently watching as Vinny shows off his really neat trucks!

I absolutely love watching Gavin interact with other kids. He watches them in awe and looks for opportunities to join in. Sometimes he just swoops in and swipes something (he is sneaky about it too... we are working on it) but often he just wants to be involved. It is so sweet that almost all the kids we come into contact with are so willing to incorporate Gavin! I really hope that as he gets older he will do the same for those around him!

I am so glad that we went, it was a great day, well worth the drive to get to my friend's house, about 50 minutes away. When we got home, Gavin was so excited to see Scott. Even though he was busy constructing his antenna, he took a break to let Gavin play so I could finish getting dinner ready and on the table. It was really yummy! Chicken enchilada soup with cheese quesadillas!

After dinner, Gavin and I made a fort in the dining room. We have done this a few other times in various ways but I have never gotten pictures of it.

I was quickly reminded why that was the case...

This was up for seconds before he came along and flattened the whole setup. Even though he loves being inside, he loves pulling it down just as much! He is such a crazy, funny kid!

Before long, it was time for bed. It never ceases to amaze me at how quickly days pass, whether it is a day we spend all day at home playing or we are out and about, at the end of the day I always wonder where it went!