Friday, July 27, 2012

Family Visits

We had the pleasure of my sister Becky and her family visiting for the week! They stayed with our parents which allowed us lots of time together. I really enjoyed seeing how her children have grown and visiting with all of them. Gavin absolutely loved all the time with the kids and attention they gave him. They were all so good to him! They played with him, helped keep him out of trouble as he wandered around, took him outside and chased him around and kept him safe, and they were so sweet in treating him as if he were more like a younger sibling than just a cousin. I really enjoyed watching them interact as well as having some time I could sit and enjoying visiting with Becky, Matt, and my parents.

We spent several afternoons with them over the week they were here and available. We did lots of fun things inside, outside and even had a fun trip to the mall. Gavin really liked the outside time. We brought over his pool one afternoon that was hotter and set that up to play in while a slip and slide and sprinkler were set up as well. Gavin wasn't so sure about the slip and slide but after watching his cousins he gave it a try a few times and started to enjoy it more. He mostly loved watching and chasing his cousins around. He got ahold of the sprinkler and attacked anyone close enough with that. No surprise there since he loves doing that to Scott ad me at home!

Gavin enjoyed our trip to the mall. Hr rode in his stroller some but he liked it much better when he was set free and the kids kept up with him to keep him safe. He liked climbing on the ride on cars too, as long as they weren't moving. He was not impressed when we put money in to make them move. Of course no trip to the mall is complete without a stop at Sears so Gavin can test out the tractors. He really loves tractors!

Annika took some pictures for me one day and I took a few some of the other days. I will work to combine the best ones into collages once I get get my computer to cooperate. I am glad I have these pictures but I always wish I did I better job with capturing more!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Vacation!

We had a wonderful time together while Scott was on vacation the last week! It started a little early because his department had a BBQ the Thursday before 4th of July week (that Scott takes off every year) and they were given the rest of the day off. So, Scott got home in the afternoon, much earlier than a typical day and he was off Friday, so we had a little over a week together! We had a lot to do before we could pack up and head to PA because the Terrain needed its spring/summer detail job. Friday, Scott got the Terrain washed and started all his work changing oil, rotating tires (we actually have enough miles on it now that it was necessary), waxing and all the interior and under the hood detailing. It is quite a job but Scott managed to get it all done so quickly. I was thoroughly impressed. Gavin and I had some play time while Scott was working because I knew we would have at least a day and a half (possibly 2 full days) of not as much fun with doing laundry, packing and preparing our lunch for our trip.

Gavin and I spent most of our play time outside because it was really hot. We filled up his pool and has the sprinkler on while we drank lots of water and ate lots of cold fruit. It was a lot of fun. We went in to visit Scott from time to time for a break from the sun and heat. Gavin really enjoyed seeing Scott and trying to help him with all the work on the Terrain. He even was putting on lug nuts!

Scott finished all the work on the Terrain between Friday afternoon to Saturday night with the exception of a few minor detailing items that he finished up Sunday while Gavin napped and after he went to bed. It was nice because it made it a bit easier for me to get what I needed to get done because Gavin wasn't as bored as he would have been since he had Scott to help entertain him.

Despite a few minor hiccups, we were packed up and pulling out of the driveway about 10 am Monday morning. It is amazing how long it can take to get three people ready and do the last minute packing and house preparations before we can drive away.

We were shocked with how much traffic there was and the seemingly constant construction zones were making it seem like we had a painfully long drive ahead of us. When you know you have an 8 hour drive running into so many slow downs and frequently stopping, we were really fearful for what was in store for us later.

Gavin did surprisingly well. Significantly better than any other long drive we have had. He does fine around town and has for quite some time but anything over an hour or two has still been a struggle. His new toys were a huge hit for a while and then we put on some cartoons for him to relax a bit more when it was nap time and he seemed to need a little help with drifting off to sleep. He took a reasonable nap (especially since sleeping in a car is never all thy comfortable no matter what you do) and we decided to start looking for a rest stop so we could have lunch and give Gavin some time to run around and burn a little energy.

We stopped a little way outside of Carlisle, PA, which is roughly half way. I was really glad we decided to go this route for lunch instead of just stopping in Carlisle. We got a picnic table in the shade and Gavin had a great time running around. He wasn't pleased when we needed to get back on the road but at least he had enjoyed running around for about 45 minutes.

The second half of our drive was a lot of the same. Significantly more traffic than we have ever seen and lots of construction zones. Gavin did great though. He was enjoying his toys, we played some games, and watched some movies. It was great that he has started to show more interest in movies. We watched some I knew he liked and when he was bored and wanted a change of movie i let him look through and pick one out to watch next. Even as we got closer, he was still doing fine. I'm sure he would have rather been playing outside but him not screaming the whole way (or even most of it) was such a nice change!

When we arrived, Gavin was happy to get out and immediately started to check everything out. Despite all the traffic and a significantly longer stop than normal we managed to get in around 6:30 pm. Not too bad. It was still plenty light enough for Gavin to check out Pappy's cars, pool, and some of the land he was going to roam for the next 4 days.

I quickly got things unloaded and set up while Gavin was busy outside so that when they came in for dinner, bath and bed that I wouldn't have to go searching for anything.

Gavin enjoyed checking things out inside as well. We let him stay up a little bit later since he had been stuck in the car all day and was really needing and enjoying all his exploring. Unfortunately, a few minutes before we were heading to bed he managed to fall and hit the corner of his eye pretty hard. Instant bruising and bump. He calmed down pretty quickly as long as we stopped trying to put ice on it. I was very grateful it wasn't anything that ended up needing an emergency room visit since we have manage to avoid those so far and being out of town would just make it a lot more miserable experience. Once Gavin was out, I was able to keep some ice of his head for a little while and I think that really helped the bruising and bump to clear up quickly. He had a nice scrape there but nothing worse than anything he had done before.

Surprisingly, Gavin slept fine. Apparently the injury and not being at home in his bed didn't impact his sleep, at least not the first night. Yay!

After breakfast and showers we headed outside for a bit before Gavin needed a nap. He really enjoyed having so much land to roam. We went up to check out the pool and were shocked it at how warm it was. Between the hot (and often humid) weather and the new solar cover Scott's dad had, it was 95 degrees! What a surprise! Usually the weather is such that you can't spend much (if any) time in the pool. Usually even if the pool is a good temperature the air temperature makes it a bit too cool to really enjoy much time without being cold. We were really excited that it was looking like we were going to have lots of pool time!

We didn't have too much time to play and for Gavin to explore before we needed to head inside for a little lunch and for Gavin to take a nap, but it was nice to get outside for a little bit before his nap. After his nap we headed back out and Gavin really started to enjoy himself. The afternoon consisted of some fun time in the pool, including Gavin deciding to test his new favorite thing of jumping by jumping into the pool. Good thing he decided to jump in to me the first time he tried it. He loved it an immediately wanted out singe could jump in again. That was most of what we ended up doing at the poll all week. Gavin wanted to jump in, over and over again!

He also took his first ride on the tractor. He didn't show much emotion while riding but he absolutely loved it. He couldn't get enough of riding around on the tractor. It is a good thing Scott's Dad has so much property because Gavin and Scott spent a lot of time exploring it on the tractor. They did actually make some good use of that time by cutting most of the grass as well but Gavin was happy as long as he was out for a ride. It was the first thing he asked for when he woke up in the morning and he continued all day long, whenever he wasn't currently riding. To say he loved it really is an understatement!

We had a very nice and relaxing rest of the week. We enjoyed a lot of pool time because the weather was so hot and Gavin enjoyed lots of tractor rides. We had lots of awesome food that Scott's Dad cooked for us. I was even pleasantly surprised that Gavin was mostly eating well. You never know with him so it was nice he was willing to eat a fair amount (at least compared to what he often does when we are not home). Although Gavin didn't sleep as well as I would have liked (especially since he has been sleeping so well the last month), it also wasn't as bad as the last time.

We saw Lori and her family a bit the last two days we were there and had a lot of fun with them. Gavin loved having Tyler and Jake to play with. He really enjoyed watching and following them around. Tyler and Jake were so good with Gavin as well. They were helping him and showing him how to do things. I wish we were able to see more of Gavin's cousins, he always has such a good time and they are all so good to him!

We had decided to head home Saturday so we had one day to unpack and relax before we settled back into our normal routine and Scott went back to work. We were hopeful Gavin would do half as well as he did on the way out. We planned to be on the road at roughly the same time (10) since that gives us about an hour and a half before Gavin would normally nap. We let him run around outside and he took one last tractor ride while I finished packing our bags and getting the car loaded.

Overall the drive was fine but the first couple hours were a but rough. Gavin had not slept well the last two nights, which meant I had not gotten much sleep either. He did fine for a little but but when it came time for his nap, he was a crabby mess. He was fighting it hard and so we had a miserable time for at least 30 minutes while he protested everything. Toys, snacks, movies, books, everything we tried. He did finally pass out but it was a rough unhappy ride getting to that point. He didn't really sleep long enough but at that point something was better than nothing. We were ready to stop at the rest area for lunch not too long after he woke up so that was great timing. Unfortunately, it was so hot that we weren't sure how long we could really stop. We saw a high of 107 while we were on the road and it wasn't much less than that when we arrived. Unlike when it was 97 on our way out, thee was no breeze, even in the shade. We ate our lunch, let Gavin run a little, used the rest rooms and then packed up and headed out. Gavin wasn't pleased but it was just too hot to be outside running around like that. Despite his initial protest in getting back in the car he did fine the rest of the drive. We had fun reading, playing, watched some movies and before we knew it, we were home.

Gavin was clearly happy to be out of the car. He was running around and pulling out all the toys we didn't bing with us, checking them out as if he were telling them he missed them. It was really cute. We were all happy to be off the road but Scott and I were certainly a little sad because we knew there was only one more day of vacation before we returned to our day to day activities. We also knew it would be a while before we had another vacation since the next time Scott will likely be taking time off is in November after the baby is born. Although we are looking forward to that because he is given two weeks of paternity leave and plans to take another week of vacation like he did when Gavin was born, that will be a busy time and is several months away. Then he will have time off at Christmas but that is even farther away! Usually Scott's vacation is better spread out but that just didn't work this year. It sure will be nice in November and December when he is around so much though!

(Pictures to follow once I get a chance to make my computer cooperate with the camera!)

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Baby Number 2 Update!

We had our anatomy scan for McClements baby number 2 today. Everything went well and we were extremely grateful that our ultrasound tech was able to get all the images they needed in about 45 minutes. This baby was much more cooperative than when we went in when I was pregnant with Gavin. We were there for about an hour and a half and had to go back for another 20-30 minutes in order for the ultrasound tech to get everything they needed with Gavin. He was just not interested in cooperating. This baby was mostly cooperative, although he or she was moving around a lot, our tech was really good and able to work with the constant movement. I am not all that surprised that he/she was moving so much since I have been feeling movement for so long and it has been pretty constant from that time on.

As far as we know at this time, everything looks good and we have some awesome pictures of the baby. Instead of scanning one in, Scott was able to get a great picture of the monitor with his phone!


So far this pregnancy seems to be flying by, it is really hard to believe we are already half way through! I am sure time will continue to fly by between vacation, family visiting, more summer fun, a wedding and preparing rooms (and us) for the baby's arrival. I am really trying to do my best to enjoy my time with Gavin because before long I will have two kids to take care of. I am looking forward to that but I am also sad that Gavin and I won't have as much one on one time. It will certainly be an adjustment for our little family!

Friday, June 22, 2012

It's hot, hot, hot in NY!

Gavin and I have been enjoying the very hot weather from the last couple of days by spending lots of time in his pool and with the sprinkler. We have had so much fun splashing around in his pool and running through the sprinkler. Gavin is no longer afraid of the sprinkler, he now loves it and especially loves when you run through with him. He laughs and giggles like crazy!

Trying to get me with the sprinkler!


Filling up his pool...



Taking a short break from the water to play with his trucks.


Asking for some help picking up the sprinkler to try spray me some more!



We are going to have so much fun outside this summer as the weather stays more consistently warm!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Catching Up

Well, it is certainly about time I play catch up and share some pictures and stories. Although we haven't done all that much in the way of play dates, outings or trips in the last two months, we have managed to have some fun around the house.

Gavin and I have managed to stay busy with some new fun things when I was up to being outside. He has discovered the joy of chalk, bubbles and especially the hose and being able to spray everyone and everything.

Notice the random lines all over, those are Gavin's handy work!


Attacking with the hose...




Discovering a love of popsicles!


Helping me clean on the rare occasions that I didn't feel completely horrible.


Tormenting ants and their ant hills!


Getting into trouble by running to the neighbors house and hiding behind trees/bushes where he can't be reached...


Desperately wanting a ride in the backpack and not wanting to wait for Dada to get home to do it... so I had to give him a ride!


Airplane!


Troublemaker... always finding something new to get into and climb!


Hiding at our other neighbors house... so much trouble!


Gavin is certainly a handful. I am grateful that most of the time I wasn't feeling well the weather wasn't great so spending time inside resting was ok. We spent time outside as much as possible when it wasn't raining or cold but no where near the amount of time that Gavin would have liked. Now that the weather is nicer and I am feeling better we are often outside several hours in the afternoon and are taking walks most days, at Gavin's insistence. We go outside and he plays for a bit and then asks to get into the garage and insists on climbing into his stroller and us going on a walk. Some days are longer than others, it is up to Gavin what path we take through the neighborhood and how long we are gone. I know to pack water for us both and some fruit and carrots to snack on to keep him occupied while he points to all the cars, trucks, mowers, dogs, etc, on our path. I am really enjoying the exercise. I wish I was getting more, but even a mile around the neighborhood is better than nothing!

It is funny to watch Gavin wander around and play outside. He tries to walk around as if he owns the neighborhood. He likes to try to run into the road. About half the time he willingly turns around and heads back down the driveway to find something else to do while the other half results in a meltdown requiring that I remove him and force him to do something else. Those are always fun. He walks into our neighbors yards as if he owns them and tries to get into their houses, sheds, climb their trees, torment their pets, and whatever other trouble he can find. I rarely get to just sit and enjoy being outside because Gavin is almost always on the move exploring something. If he could spend all his time outside I am fairly certain he would.

The TV was on way more than I ever want to think about or admit with me trying to find things that he would sit and watch when he wasn't interested in playing so that I could rest and he was out of trouble. Cars and Cars 2 were on quite a bit until he seemed to be tired of them so I tried other Disney movies and of all the ones we tried, Ratatouille became a favorite and more recently, Toy Story 3 (no interest in 1 or 2... crazy kid). I recently got into a Christmas kick (yup, already... Scott is wondering when I will move on so he doesn't have to listen to Christmas music/movies anymore) and discovered Gavin liked a made for TV movie, Santa Baby 2. No clue why, but he always stops and watches if it is on. He likes a show called the Backyardigans but only certain episodes. We found Knight Rider on our Netflix streaming as well and he likes to watch pieces of those episodes sometimes. I am grateful that he isn't all that interested in TV but what little he has taken an interest in is a bit strange.

I am sure there are plenty of things I have missed and will have to go back and share but any other pictures are on the camera and that is a bigger time commitment to get those offloaded and sort through. So I will save those for another time!

Uh Oh!

A picture that is too cute not to share.

Hiding behind a bush and tormenting it led to breaking off a piece of a branch and this face followed.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Coming November 2012...

McClements baby number 2! Also the reason I have suddenly become a terrible blogger. The first two weeks after we found out were fine, life as usual. Then the morning sickness and fatigue hit big and stuck around for the next 10 weeks. Thus making it virtually impossible to do much of anything, including much cooking and cleaning. I was definitely in survival mode and doing only the bare necessities with a ton of help from Scott. I know Scott thinks I am crazy, but this was so much worse than last time. There is no way I would have been able to get up, go to work, be productive and pretend to not be pregnant if it had been this bad last time. The fatigue was probably about the same, the morning sickness was worse. Much worse.

Despite how busy he has been at work, he still managed to come home between 5 and 6 each night to take care of Gavin. He often picked up dinner on his way home, entertained Gavin the rest of the night, gave him his bath and got him ready for bed. Then Gavin and I went to bed together. I was doing very little during the day and there was more tv/movie time than I care to admit but by the time 5pm rolled around, I was done. I was literally unable to function more than just getting into pajamas and into bed. I even had medication that was supposed to help. It was not the miracle I was told it would be, it merely made it so that I could mostly keep food down and do what little I needed to take care of Gavin during the day. He was a trooper. I feel bad that we did so little and a lot of what we were doing was either cut back or eliminated all together because I just couldn't do it. I hope it won't scar him for life, I try to tell myself, it could have been worse and kids have survived for many years and grown up to be perfectly normal. I am just glad that part is behind us now.


Luckily, the last week and a half have drastically improved. The morning sickness seems to be gone and my energy is slowly picking up a bit, although I don't expect it to return fully, anything is better than feeling exhausted all the time. I had started cooking more often again, though it was hard because I had quite a bit of trouble coming up with our meal plan for the week when nothing sounded good and even if something was appealing, by the time I was done cooking I was as interested in whatever it was. Now that I am feeling better though, I am really enjoying being able to cook and bake again and enjoy it. Our house is no longer in constant disarray, although I am still working to reclaim some areas from the last couple of months of insanity. I really want to have things back to normal before we really start making decisions and shopping for the needed bedroom changes we are facing for the baby.

I have some catching up to do with blogging (no surprise there) but in reality, there isn't much to share since Gavin and I have been sticking close to home and I was terrible about taking pictures. I am working on trying to remind myself to pick the camera back up and start taking more pictures again. I feel bad that I went so long without doing more than a couple of pictures on my phone. Even though we may not have done much of anything exciting, Gavin has changed a lot and I wish that I had been better about capturing that the last couple of months. I will be sure to post what we have very soon!

Despite the tough first couple of months, we are doing so much better now. We are so grateful to be having another baby. I have no doubt it will be a tough adjustment but it will be worth it. Gavin is going to be a great big brother! We are looking forward to all the wonderful things to come!