little wonders...

This picture was just after a haircut and I actually just gave Gavyn another one yesterday... I figured out that he holds pretty still and is captivated by the stuff in the tub so I cut his hair while he's taking a bath and just wash it down the drain. It should work for at least a little longer. :)

He gets pretty stir-crazy so we bought a 5$ kiddie pool at Target and put 1/2 inch of water in it on the balcony. He liked it the two days the nice weather cooperated after we got it. Our complex opened their pool last weekend so as soon as I figure out my swimwear and the weather warms up, we can give that a try.

He is also getting more creative with entertaining himself... some ways make us happier than others.

And I finally finished the carseat blanket I've been working on! I even made a reenforced hole for each place the straps come through. Hope baby girl likes it.

(Gavyn's baby is modeling it for us for now)

And Gavyn's vocabulary has exploded! He learned "hair", "comb", and "cookie" just this week and it's only Wednesday! It's so fun to be able to communicate with him more and he's so proud of this new-found ability. 

just an update...

He's getting so big!

Gavyn has been chatting up a storm- sometimes I swear he doesn't stop talking. I just wish I could know what he thinks he's saying...

He says "baby", and "CA!" (for "car"), a lot, "dada", "please", "picture", "bear", "pillow", "diaper", "bottle" (not for baby bottles, but tubes like Butt Paste), "ball", "bowl", "bush", "star" (he thinks flowers are stars, too.) ... I know there are more, but I can't think of them. We haven't gotten two words together, yet. I'm excited for that.

 We have been enjoying some great weekend weather lately. I don't see how people can look at a forecast that calls for rainy all week and sunny Saturday and Sunday and not believe in God... 

We have been playing at the playground, taking walks around shopping centers, and we went to the Olympic Sculpture Park downtown this past Sunday. Gavyn was mostly interested in the gravel...

And last Saturday we were very blessed! A man from Jared's work was giving away a digital piano on the condition that we "pay it forward" when opportunity presents itself. 

And I couldn't tell you if Jared or Gavyn is more excited. 

But they're both pretty excited!

Jared has had very busy weeknights lately so I have been occupying myself with my new fetish: making baby shoes!

dancing. shoes.

I finally got a video of Gavyn dancing! He loves the into music to "Cheers". 

And I made these baby shoes yesterday! 

Rainy Days and Mondays...

A few weeks ago we got together with some friends we haven't seen in nearly a year. (It doesn't seem like we've lived here long enough to have friends that we haven't seen in a year...) 

They were feeling sorry that they couldn't get together with family for Easter and they remembered that we're loners too. It was so much fun to see them again and meet their new daughter, Marin. 

We had a classic easter dinner complete with ham, roasted carrots and asparagus, scalloped potatoes, strawberry, pear and kiwi fruit salad, and cheesecake for dessert.

And Adeline adopted Gavyn as a new friend surprisingly well. (she's the one in the white dress)

Seattle seems to be teasing us with good weather on the weekends so Gavyn and I have been getting creative during the week. He stood on our windowsill and watched the cars on the highway for almost half an our. Occasionally yelling out, "Ca!" (car) and pointing.

He says "please" now and I've been trying to get a video of it for a while, but every time I pull out my phone, he stops and gets interested in it instead. He usually goes to the fridge and taps the door and says, "please", over and over, asking for his sippy cup. It's one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

This time he only said it once, but it's still cute.

We have a little park within walking distance so we took Gavyn there one sunny Friday afternoon when Jared was home early. He likes the swings, but seems to especially like them with Daddy.

And yesterday we went to the park by Lake Sammamish and Gavyn picked some flowers for me. It was a beautiful day. 

He played in the gravel/sand stuff by the beach and tried to eat it. Jared thinks he's smart.

And soon there will be two.

Big news!

We got a new stroller!

We found a Phil and Teds Explorer on Craigslist for a great deal. The previous owners had been given it as a gift, and had only used it three times. Ours is black like this one, but the inserted seat pads are a bright lime green. And, my goodness, does it have all the bells and whistles...

It has a few different configurations and can convert as our needs change. It can serve as a single jogging stroller, for baby and toddler, and two toddlers. Pretty nifty.

These are the baby girl clothes we bought at Target. You know, to be ready.

I made some bow clips for our baby girl. :)

And we bought a glue gun. We didn't have one before.

baby girl!

In case anybody missed the announcement: IT'S A GIRL!!!

and here are some ultrasound pictures

it came!

We got Gavyn a crib!

He is officially a big boy now, right? ;)

It converts into a toddler bed and also works as a headboard/footboard on a twin size bed.

Probably won't be long now...

And we finally had some good weather so Gavyn and I went to the park and tried out the swings.

Lately...

In case anyone doesn't know... Molly and Alex got married last month. We flew out together on February 28th and it was the most challenging flight for Gavyn to date but it was nice to be able to pass him back and forth across the empty seat between us.

Molly and Alex were sealed the next morning on February 29th. We had lunch and my brother, Michael, took Jared to the airport to fly home; he doesn't get paid time off, and that would have made for a very expensive wedding for us. The happy couple, Ellen and I went downtown Denver and took some wedding shots. It was really fun and we got some beautiful photos that I hope they can look back at and remember the day fondly.

There was a guy smoking pot around this place. Cropped him out. (that's why they're so happy.)

We spent the next few days building the reception. This was the fruit bedecked cake plate. And I believe this is the only photo we got before people started eating it at the reception.

The reception was beautiful. I wish I had a picture of it to prove it. ;)

And I don't want to talk about the flight home, but this is what we found when we got home.

I love my designer.

Life is a lot slower at the Davis home. Gavyn really likes to follow me around everywhere I go, like a little duckling. He is walking like a pro and chatting up a storm with occasional real words. He says, "Dada" a lot and seems to look for Jared all day, "Mama" when he's hungry and occasionally in reference to me, "cup", "car", "baby", "wow", "yeah" and we're working on "up" and "book".

He is a very happy boy and loves exploring.

Daddy did his hair.

A tree fell down behind our apartment and shattered across the lawn. It was so odd, I thought I would include it.

And I emptied the photos off my phone and found this one.

It was just so sweet I had to share.

We have ordered a crib scheduled to arrive tomorrow that I'm very excited about. And there are signs of spring everywhere.

Life is good.

happy birthday to you!

Here is little Gavyn with his birthday cake.

Nothing fancy, but he seemed to like it well enough. :)

ball!

He says "ba" (ball) now. A lot.

I will get his birthday cake eating video up as soon as I can. It was adorable!

blocks

He's pretty cute still...

catch up...

Wow, so much to report.

We spent Christmas in Oakley, Idaho with Jared's side of the family. The weather cooperated nicely this year and provided for essentially uneventful travel. The two hour plane ride seemed so much easier than the three it takes to get to Colorado. There and back were Gavyn's eleventh and twelfth plane trips, if I'm not mistaken. (with so many, we've sort of lost track)

Gavyn had a great time almost-walking with Grandma and Grandpa Davis.

And found a new best friend in Aunt Temperence.

We went to Rock Creek to see a million Christmas lights.

And it was very, very cold.

Jared and I did some paintings for the Great Room in the Davis house. (to represent each of their artists) Guess which one is who's...

We went to Carino's for my birthday dinner.

And enjoyed some turtle cheesecake.

And since we were leaving early in the morning on the 29th from Boise, Grandpa Davis and Temperence joined us in a hotel for the last night and Grandpa helped us all get some sleep, because Gavyn certainly wasn't...

A couple of weeks ago, if you didn't hear, Seattle got snow.

Lots of snow.

And ice... Lots of ice.

We lost power at our apartment and had a cold day at home together on Thursday the 19th. Some friends just down the road called and invited us for some dinner and a warm place to sleep - they still had electricity. We enjoyed their company until about 10:30 that night when their's went out too. So we played a few more games by lantern and turned in.

The next morning we decided not to impose any more, since they were in the same predicament we were, and we headed out. The arterial roads were fine so we stopped by Target to get some canned soup to warm up on our camping stove and decided to go to IHop for breakfast. Apparently everyone else had the same idea and it was more crowded than I've ever seen. We really wanted a hot breakfast, though, so we toughed it out.

It was a whirlwind weekend and wouldn't want to repeat it any time soon, but we learned about the state of our emergency preparedness and will be better equipped for next time.

Gavyn is as cute as ever and has learned to say mama and dada as well as a few new sounds.

Here's a demo of his new favorite.

Last week Gavyn developed a new look. A rash started on his thigh and spread to his chest so we went to the doctor.

Unfortunately neither she nor her colleague could tell us what it is, so they referred us to a dermatologist who was just as stumped. She gave us an antihistamine and we have a follow-up appointment in a couple of weeks. It seems to be traveling out along his arms now and has almost completely disappeared from his chest. Since we can't seem to find out what it is, my only hope is that we never see it again...

Jared started his new job at Wizards of the Coast here in Renton, WA. He is technically employed by a talent agency with a year contract to work on the website for Magic, the Gathering. (it's a nerdy card game with creatures and such and the game-play reminds me of Settlers of Catan, a little)

He has a desk-mate named J in his w-shaped cubicle that he is starting to settle into and make his own. He had a Freudian slip one day when he came home and was telling me about his day; he called her his cell mate. He is really enjoying the freedom of having his supervisors trust him to do what he needs to and not have someone checking on his progress every twenty minutes because there's a deadline. And I think he is enjoying working with people again.

We are so very blessed and are excited for the adventures February will bring!