A breakthrough?

I'm not sure if it is a breakthrough, or just a step in the right direction. I am definitely grateful for every little step though. :) I was writing in a previous post about how we had six months to get Gavin's terrible two-ness under control. Well, now the official countdown is four months...

The first sign that things were improving was after our weekly trip to the grocery store. Usually, this trip begins with a struggle even getting him in the grocery cart. So our first stop is straight to the bakery to get a cookie sample. Then I think to myself - OK, I have five minutes to shop uninterrupted while he eats his cookie. Once the cookie is gone, you never know what is going to happen. He might briefly entertain himself by transferring groceries from his front seat to the back. At some point, he usually wants to get down and help push the cart. I try to avoid this as much as possible, knowing that he likes to take things off the shelf and put them in the cart. If I can leave the store without a full-on tantrum (about leaving, something he wanted to put in the cart, etc.), it was a good day.

Part of this breakthrough is due to the fact that he knows his letters. Last week, he sat in the back of the cart gazing intently at the ads attached to the side. His face lit up as he pointed out each letter and told me what it was. It was the best, most relaxing shopping trip we've had in a long time!

There was a period of time where it seemed that everything was a battle. Getting him into his carseat, eating, changing his diaper, changing his clothes... I was so exhausted by the end of the day! I tried my best not to give in and to be consistent. It seems to finally be paying off as the battles are once or twice a day, instead of all day long. Now we just have to get his whining under control. One simple whine can mean - I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm bored, I need help, I want up, I want you to play with me... any number of things. So we're trying not to give him what he wants until he can tell us with words. At least one or two anyway.

Four months to go... I hope we can do it. :)

The Spring Fair

I'm not so sure I would call it the spring fair this year... because it was actually snowing earlier that day. Snow at the fair... that has to be some sort of a record-breaker, right?! :) How ironic that we had just been at the daffodil parade one week before and the weather was gorgeous, 80 plus degrees. Then the next week, snow at the fair. Crazy I tell you.

We had a fun time though, even if it was freezing! Gavin wasn't quite old enough to go on any rides in the fall, so Jacob has always gone by himself. He was prouder than anything to take his little brother on the rides this time! It was cute to see how seriously he took this job. On each ride, Jacob put his arms around Gavin and tried to comfort any fears he might have. He was sure to tell me after the ride what a good job he did taking care of Gavin.

Another highlight was watching Gavin with the animals. It was as if all of the pictures in his books were coming to life! His eyes were huge as he heard each animal making its sound. I'm sure they sounded a lot different than the sounds mommy makes for them at home. ;) There were also horses who were trained to dance to Mexican fiesta music. I've never seen anything like it... pretty entertaining for sure! Scones, rides, dancing horses, chocolate chip cookies, caramel apples, you just can't beat the fair! :)

April 15th

Today is a special day for us. A day that I more often forget than not. I always remember our anniversary, birthdays, even the day we met (mostly because it was over the fourth of July weekend). This day always seems to fly by though, and I usually don't realize it until a few weeks later. Today is the day that Adam proposed to me.

He put a lot of thought, planning, and creativity into this day... so it will always mean the world to me. The last thing he wanted was for me to suspect anything, so he waited for me to decide what we were going to do. That way, I would never dream that it would be that special moment. The one where you want to freeze everything in time... exactly what he said, the look on his face, putting the ring on your finger, what you said, your heart beating a mile a minute, emotions sky-rocketing. That one.

Luckily, I couldn't have picked a more romantic place to go. I had been wanting to show him Whatcom Falls for a long time. God's creation at its best, filled with hiking trails, waterfalls, and my personal favorite, a perfect spot to go cliff jumping. It was too cold to go cliff jumping that day, but we walked hand-in-hand through the trails together. We eventually discovered that we were completely lost. However, we came across a beautiful waterfall with a log outstretched from it so we sat down. Adam pulled out a game of giant checkers from his backpack and we played.

Thankfully, I won. OK, so he probably let me win now that I think about it. I only say this because I (along with my entire family) am super competitive with any type of game. If I win, I'm in a pretty good mood afterward... but if I lose, it takes me awhile to get over it. ;) I remember Adam saying with a smile, "You think you're so good, huh? Try this game then." He brought out a chain of letters, only the letters were all mixed up. It actually said - morilywarmuley. My job was to solve the puzzle, or to rearrange the letters in my head until they made sense.

This game took me FOREVER. No kidding... probably fifteen or twenty minutes to solve. I kept looking at warm and thinking it was one of the words. I can't remember what other words I found, but there were a lot of them. Finally, after several guesses and frustration starting to creep in, I miraculously saw the word "will". Then I found "you". Funny enough, I was still completely clueless and had to cover up the letters "will" and "you" to see what was left.

Then I saw them. The words "marry me". My mouth dropped to the ground and I completely froze in disbelief. This isn't what I think it is... is it? My question was quickly answered as Adam knelt down on one knee with my engagement ring. The whole experience took my breath away. Can't breathe. Heart pounding. Indescribably excited. Crazy in love. I said yes, and we hugged and cried in each other's arms. And we found our lost way out of Whatcom Falls to celebrate.

I remember calling a long list of people in the car. The same list of people you call when you have a baby. Adam thought it was pretty silly that my first instinct was to call all of my family and close friends. My mom was first. It was a scene straight out of Father of the Bride. "Mom? I'm engaged! I'm engaged, I'm getting married! AHHHHHH!"

It was a beautiful day that I will always remember. When I look at my ring, when I see the morilywarmuley chain, and hopefully... each year on April 15th.

Half-way there!

Random thoughts...

1. Right now, Gavin is singing himself to sleep in his crib. It sounds like this... "Winkle, winkle liddle ar. Oh I onder what you are. Up a up a whirl so igh. Ike a dima in da ky." Nothing could ever sound sweeter. (Big sigh)

2. I actually heard him sing the entire alphabet song a few days ago. He brought me his Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book and could point to and name almost every letter!

3. I attribute part of his ability to do this to starfall. This website is Jacob's new-found love and Gavin will sit right by him, soaking in all those letters, sounds, and songs.

4. Today, we were driving by a neighborhood where my friend used to live. Jacob hasn't seen her in over a year, yet he pointed to the apartments and said, "Mommy, that's Gwen's house. I don't see her lately."

5. He also said the other day, "Do you remember Katie, mommy? I went swimming with her." It took me awhile to figure out that he was talking about his swim instructor from last summer. I couldn't believe that I even remembered her name!

6. When I give Gavin his sippy cup, he says "elcome" instead of "thank you." It's pretty cute.

7. I found that when Gavin calls out for me in his crib, he really just wants a hug. If I go upstairs and give him a big squeeze, he smiles and lays back down again.

8. Gavin broke Jacob's piggy bank tonight. Yep, the special one I was talking about in my last post. I thought he would be devastated, upset at Gavin, or show some sort of mixed emotion. His little eyes got big and his mouth gaped open in disbelief. He looked at me and asked in a hopeful tone, "We will get a new one mommy?" I had Gavin give Jacob a hug and say that he was sorry. Jacob hugged him back and seemed to accept his apology. I was super proud of him.

9. Adam and Gavin spent the first part of spring break with the stomach flu. I have to say, Gavin handled it a lot better than Adam. ;) Especially being pregnant, I felt very fortunate to slide by without getting sick. Thank goodness!

10. My friend had a scheduled C-section this week and gave birth to her first baby. She specifically requested an epidural instead of a spinal block, and it went really well. I want to get an epidural too... hopefully I will be able to.

11. It's been one year since I started this blog!

Big brothers

Gavin is almost the same age that Jacob was when I was last pregnant. Although he'll say "ba-bee tu-mee" and give my belly kisses, he doesn't quite get it yet. He probably won't until the baby comes home and he desperately tries to pull him/her off my lap (and proceed to climb on himself). I just envision that happening anyway. ;) I remember Jacob used to say things like, "Baby take nap. Baby go bye-bye."

One of the reasons I feel so blessed to experience being pregnant with a third baby is because of Jacob. It's a whole new world watching the older sibling glow in excitement over the baby-to-be. He brings down my prenatal vitamins to make sure the baby is healthy, practices taking care of the baby with a doll, and asks me questions constantly.

"Mommy, when does the baby come out of your tummy?"
"You drink water when the baby is thirsty?"
"Your tummy grows because the baby is getting so big?"
"I want to give the baby a hug."
"Mommy, I will take good care of the baby for you."

Jacob has a piggy bank and loves to count his change and dream about the things he can buy. He mostly dreams about buying gumballs. I finally found a gumball machine when we were at Babies R Us and used one of his quarters to buy one. He clutched it in his little hand all day, talking about how happy he was. When I asked him if he was going to eat it he said, "No - I'm going to save it for the baby..." Seriously. love. this older sibling cuteness. ;)

Our ultrasound

Here are some pictures from our 18 week ultrasound on Monday. It never ceases to amaze me how a baby can grow from conception to having a four-chambered heart, spine, brain, eyes, nose, lips, kidneys, arms, legs, ten fingers, ten toes... all in less than 18 weeks! What an amazing, beautiful gift from God. Our sonographer was awesome ~ showing and explaining every detail as she took measurements and lots of fun pictures! I watched in complete awe and anticipation. I think I was especially focused on soaking in all of the little details because we are waiting to find out if our baby is a girl or a boy. :)

The sonographer knew the sex of the baby and was trying to be as neutral as possible when she talked. I asked her if it was hard to do, but she said that she always stays neutral (saying baby or peanut) whether parents are finding out or not. That way, she isn't as likely to say the gender by accident if they aren't. I was definitely over-analyzing everything she said though, thinking to myself... did she say that because it's a boy or because it's a girl? I guess we'll find out in August!