Where oh where did my little baby go??

Gavin Mark Ballif has now entered 'toddlerhood', and I can't say that I'm too happy about it. Actually, yes, I am happy, but sad at the same time. He's definitely not a little baby anymore! Since he finally figured out how to walk 6 months ago, it's been like BAM! He started talking, getting attitude, growing teeth, you know, the whole 'welcome to toddlerhood' thing.

Yep, 2 years old. Wow. Gus Gus (as we call him, because he stuffs his whole meal in his mouth at once, and over the next few hours, gradually swallows little by little...I'm not kidding. He looks just like the mouse Gus Gus on Cinderella) has been my slow growing/developing child. But seriously, it's probably my fault because I haven't wanted him to grow up! He's in the 5% of height and weight and he only has 6 teeth. But he's completely and perfectly content with life and himself. He's talking more and more, telling us his likes and dislikes, and even where his body parts are (his favorite is butt, thank you big brother Logen for teaching him that!)

He loves Popsicles, ice cream, cheese, gum, chocolate (that's my doing), bath time, brushing his teeth, and his sucking his two fingers while playing with his belly button. He loves being outside, loves playing with his older siblings, loves hugging his dog, and loves chillin' on mom and dad's bed watching TV before bed.

Gavin dislikes nutritious food, in fact he has become such a picky eater that it's starting to stress me out. He doesn't like holding still, or anyone MAKING him do something. He doesn't like going through the car wash, he puts a blanket over his head until we're done. He has taken to coloring with markers, usually on himself or the walls. But for the most part, Gus Gus is a pleasure to

have around and stays content with most anything.

For his birthday, we went to Village Pizza, since pizza is one of the few foods he'll eat, and then went home for cake and ice cream. He got a Littletikes play set, and a fire station truck set. His favorite is the swing on the play set. He'll sit there and eat Popsicles while his big brothers fight over who gets to push him.

I love this little guy so much and couldn't ever imagine our family without him! It's been such a pleasure watching him grow and develop into such a loving, humorous little guy. We love you so much Gavin!!! Happy 2ND birthday!

Tubby

I can't believe my baby is almost one year old! I can't deny how much fun I've had already with this cute little person, & to think that Bob was "done" with 3 kids! Gavin is so cute & so fun to have around...I know, every mom says that about her children, but in Gavin's case, it's true. He is the only one of my kids who managed to produce "baby fat", and I've been getting a kick out of it. I mean, come on! Look at those adorable rolls! This is the only time in life when rolls are CUTE, especially with some butt crack showing.

I'd like to tell you how terribly advanced my little tubby is, as most parents do, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. In fact, I might say that I have a, oh how shall I say this, procrastinator (yeah, that sounds good) on my hands. I know he CAN roll, I've seen it when he wants something real bad & no one is around to give it to him, but he just doesn't LIKE/WANT to. I guess I don't blame him when his siblings jump at his beckon call (I wish they would do that for ME). Jessi tells me, "but I don't like his face when he cries, it makes me sad!" Maybe I'll start crying more, 'cuz she obviously enjoys my angry face. Anyhow, I've come to the conclusion that his extra weight & Ballif sized head is hindering his ability to crawl, as well. That most likely is not true, but it makes me feel better. I mean, really, those rolls CAN'T be the easiest to carry around on those small little bones! Trust me, I have the biceps to prove my point, from carrying him. But I'm not too worried, a little embarrassed, yes, when I see babies younger than him zoom past him on the church floor. That just means he'll stay "my little (or big, I should say) baby" longer! He has, however, started talking, and I honestly can't remember off hand when my other kids started talking, so I can't say or not if that is normal or advanced for this age. But every achievement he is making (with his procrastinator attributions) truly delights me. Even if it is only an "uh-oh", or (MY most used around the house) "neh-uh", or "da-da", or "ma-ma". I'll just quit worrying and start enjoying!

I forgot to mention why I put this pic on here. This is Bob's brother's grave, Mark, the one we named Gavin after...Gavin Mark Ballif. I know, how touching. :)

Yellowstone National Park

For Memorial Day weekend we decided to go to Yellowstone, since we hadn't been since I was pregnant with Logen. Despite the LONG drive up there, and Logen's scheduled question "are we almost there?" every 10 minutes, & Sawyer's geographical curiosity question "are we still in Eagle Mountain?" on every pit stop, we had a lot of fun. Pops and Grammy came, too, as well as Mike, Kindra, Kylie & William Jones/Stock. We saw lots of elk and buffalo, 2 bald eagles, a couple of coyotes, a fox, a wolf, & a far away mama bear and her cub climbing the hill...I think that's all. Anyhoo, we all had a great time. I love it up there! Since there was a lot of photos, I put them all in a slide show below this post. (You might want to scroll down to the music thing & pause it since there's music in the slide show.)

Spring Break

I remember Spring Break being warm...don't you?! I guess I shouldn't complain, it could have been worse...like snowing. We kept having to postpone going to Hogle Zoo because

of rain, but we did make it on Friday. It was a little chilly at first, but by the time we left, it started warming up. But it was still fun! This was Gavin's first zoo visit, and quite frankly, he could have cared less. He was just happy to be outside! I love the zoo!

I could sit all day watching the monkeys and gorilla. I just can't get over how human-like they are. Sawyer had a blast and kept saying "let's go check sumfin' else out!" He started a temper tantrum when we were leaving, until we mentioned McDonald's...then life was good again.

Easter 2009

Didn't we just get through with Christmas?! And now it's already past Easter?! I guess that's what happens with time, it's inevitable! Anyway, Easter has come and gone, and what fun it was! The kids had fun sleeping in the same room that night, in fact they had a "sleepover" the whole week of spring break...whatever gets them to bed without a fight! As the Easter Bunny was making his stop at our house, he had to chuckle to himself when he saw the kids' new Easter shoes outside their bedroom door for him to put candy in them. This was a tradition my sisters and I did when we were growing up, and my kids remembered it, without my reminder this year...what fun!

I found this cute website called http://www.myfavoritepal.com/ that carries matching ties from infants to adults. So, I found blue and white polka dot ones to match Jessica's blue and white polka dot dress...so proud of myself! Dinner at Grammy and Pop's was fun, too, along with the egg hunt. But wasn't quite the same with Tamie, Jared & Irish not there.

This year I only bought 2 bags of candy and filled the rest with bubbles, toys, puzzles and snacks they don't get very often...I mean the EASTER BUNNY only put 2 bags of candy in this year. AND I didn't hear any complaining...guess Bob was right (dang), they really don't need tons of candy! Being a kid is so much fun! Next year will be even funner, with Gavin being a little older and being able to join in. But this year, he was happy just being there!

Laughin' Gavin

The other day Logen got Gavin laughing really, really hard. By the time I grabbed the camera, he was pretty much done, but we did get a little of it!

First haircut

When Logen was 4 months, I completely shaved off all his hair (what little he had of it), because I heard it makes hair grow in thicker. Poor kid...he looked so funny, it really accentuated his ears. But he now has thick (and a lot of) hair! Anyway, I couldn't bring myself to shave Sawyer's head because of the way Logen looked, but I wish I would have because his hair is sooooo fine and thin. So, I've been really torn on whether to shave Gavin's hair. After finding several sporadic hairs that were a good inch or two longer than the rest of his hair, I decided to shave it, just not as short as I did on Logen...enough to even it all up. He did really good! He didn't cry until I was done...must have been a little head massage for him. Doesn't he look good?! (Pictures courtesy of Jessica)

Valentine's Day 2009

I never really liked Valentine's Day when I was growing up, but my mom always made it fun. By passing on my mom's tradition, I hope my kids look forward to this holiday. Instead of roses for each kid, I make sugar cookies with their names on them, and give them candy and a toy. I needed a way to justify getting Mario Kart, so I talked them into wanting it for Valentine's Day. They originally didn't want it, but I did, so that just tells you how good I am at convincing! But now I can't pull them away from it. And growing up, all the kids in our neighborhood would leave valentine's on door steps, ring the door bell, & run. But no one around here has even heard of that, so our neighbors must think we're even weirder than normal! But the kids love doing that, probably because it's like playing a joke!

Growing too fast

On January 29th, Gavin turned 7 months and got his first ear infection. I hope he has better luck with his first birthday! I've been lucky with my kids being able to avoid ear infections, until now. Sawyer had a little one, once, but this one was a pretty good one for Gavin. I hope this isn't a new trend for him. Anyway, this whole experience helped me realize what a good baby he has been. Sure, a little clingy at times...but honestly I like that; it makes me feel loved and useful :). He only cries if he's hungry, tired or one of his brothers is bothering him. So when he woke up in the middle of the night and didn't want to nurse or do anything but cry, I almost started to panic. But now he's back to his cute, happy little self and I have started appreciating him being such a good baby. Although, I fear what the future will hold with him...because he has now started clenching his fists in the air while grunt-crying when he doesn't get fed or picked up as fast as he would like. Great...pay back.

Cute little Gavin

It's hard to believe that Gavin is already 4 months old. I wish I could get rid of the baby weight as fast as I put it on! Anyway, back to Gavin. I think his eyes will probably turn out to be hazel...although Logen's were hazel until he was about 1 or 2...then they went brown. Not as brown as Jessi's, and definitely not blue like Sawyer's! Everyone has their opinion on who Gavin looks like... but as his mother, who is always right, I think he's looking a lot like Jessica. :) They have a lot of similarities...neither of them have dimples (except on the chin), both have a round face, and they even have the same vein showing between their eyebrows. Despite his cute looks and contagious grin at whoever looks at him, he is an absolute joy! He was sleeping about 6 hours at night, but then all of a sudden went back to waking up every 3 hours...growth spurt? I don't know, but he is probably the chunkiest of my kids! None of them had rolls of fat, but he sure does...and it's adorable! He's starting to grab at things and pull them into his mouth. It's funny to see him concentrate on something in front of him and go cross eyed! I'm not quite sure if he'll be a thumb sucker, too. He loves sucking his fists and actually gets his thumb in there, but gnaws on it more than sucks it. It doesn't matter...my kids are all going to need braces regardless if they are thumb suckers or not! Gavin loves to talk, too. If you just look at him, he'll break into a huge grin and then start talking to you. I always answer him with a "really?!" or "you're kidding me!" and Logen asks me if I know what he's saying...I tell him "yes" and then he drills me after every "goo" and "gaw" from Gavin on what he just said. I thought Logen was kidding, but nope...he really thought I knew what Gavin was saying! I could use this towards my advantage...haha! Anyway, Gavin never lacks love in this household...the kids ALWAYS fight over who gets to hold him. And he is always being smothered...literally...with kisses. We all love Gavin and are thoroughly enjoying him and his cute little personality that is coming out.