Holding baby sister

Gavin wasn't too sure about holding Ali at first, but now he asks to hold her. And volunteers to pick her up if we aren't careful. : )

The Water Jug

Gavin is learning to be self-sufficient now that he isn't an only child anymore! He got in the pantry and got his nursery water out, took the lid off and started drinking out of the jug.

"Ali in carseat"

Gavin has been looking forward to Ali sitting next to him in the car, so he was very excited the first time they got to ride in the car together.

I'm a Big Brother!

Gavin is very excited about his baby sister. He has been a great big brother so far. He keeps pointing to my stomach and saying "Ali isn't there anymore, Ali over there"! As soon as he wakes up he wants to know where she is and what she is doing and he keeps tabs on her all day to make sure she is doing ok. He loves helping with diaper changes and putting lotion on her. This picture was taken the day she was born. He got to come and meet her as soon as he woke up from his nap.

Pictures with Ali

We figured since our days before Alayna comes are numbered now we should probably take a few pictures. Gavin loves to talk about her and hang out in her room. We just hope he is this excited when she actually gets here! He tells me that she is going to jump out of my tummy. If only it were that easy. : )

"Hi Ali"

Hugs for Ali. : ) He gives kisses too, but we weren't able to get a picture of that. He was too quick!

New Year's Eve

Gavin's shirt says, "Daddy's Helper", but he was actually mommy's helper. He loves to help me cook, so I let him assist with some of the food for New Year's Eve.

We had friends come over and spend New Year's Eve with us. Gavin had fun playing with Alessia and we had a great time after we got the kids to bed. : )

Christmas with the Deverman's

We went to Jason's brother's house for christmas with the Deverman's. Gavin and Caleb had a lot of fun playing together, which was the first time Caleb actually wanted to play with Gavin. Unfortunately, since it had been such a long day the evening was cut short so we could get everyone to bed. Gavin got a soccer ball and clearly thought it was a basketball! We will have to work on soccer after it warms up outside.

Ear Checks

It is possible that Gavin has had way too many ear infections. He got a flashlight for christmas and wanted to check everyone's ears with it!

Christmas Morning

Santa came!

Gavin loved his new bike, but had zero interest in trying to pedal it. He thought it was much more fun for someone to push him around. Everyone got a turn pushing him around the house! After a few days we finally made the bike disappear until summer. He asked where it went, but then soon forgot about it. : )

He loves his new tent, but always wants mom or dad to go in the tent with him. It just isn't quite big enough for that!

Christmas Eve

We hosted the Christmas Eve celebration. Gavin was able to have a gift exchange with 9 of his second cousins. They all had a lot of fun playing together and getting geared up for Santa to come. In all of the chaos we didn't get very many pictures, so unfortunately this was the best one. It isn't easy to get 9 small children together for a picture! The look on Gavin's face really says it all......way over stimulated! He couldn't even focus on opening the gift by himself. : )

Christmas #1

We celebrated christmas with the Bratcher's a few days early so we didn't all have to run all over on christmas day. The kids thought it was awesome to celebrate early! Gavin and Libby are just having a good time watching Mia open her presents.

Big Boy

Gavin looked like such a big boy sitting at his table like this drawing. This was after he had spent his last day at daycare with the older kids (with the bad weather they only had a few kids and had them all together). I have a feeling he saw one of the other kids sitting like this. : )

Christmas Tree Pictures

We decided to test out our new camera and take a few pictures in front of the christmas tree. Gavin did great, but Abbey failed to cooperate.

Mia's Birthday Party

We helped Gavin's cousin, Mia, celebrate her birthday at an indoor pool party. Gavin had a blast and got to stay up way past his bedtime!

No Santa!

After waiting in line to see Santa (with much excitement)..... Gavin decided when it was his turn to sit on Santa's lap and get his picture taken that he was having no part of it, so we walked away without even a high five for Santa. However, the train (which didn't have a line at all) was a huge hit. He rode the train twice and we had to pry him away from it and he talked about riding the train the rest of the day. I guess this year Gavin's gifts will be delivered by train....who needs Santa.

Sick Day

Gavin stayed home from school because he was sick. He wouldn't eat his breakfast so I gave him a bowl of cheerios and water. Apparently that is all he needed to make him feel better (and of course Dad's shoes!).

Go Illini!

Suited up and ready to play!

Our Little Indian

Gavin made this hat at school and wore it during their Thanksgiving Feast. He wanted to wear it all evening until he took it off, jumped on it and destroyed it.

Tractors!

Gavin got all of these tractors for his birthday and he loves playing with them! He is not partial to Cat though, he loves his John Deere tractor too.

Christmas Pictures