Start Em' Early

Sitting on Daddy's lap trying desperately to get to that straw!

Our little curious man has started really being interested in what we are eating. He also thinks he has to eat when he sees us eat. It makes eating dinner together fairly difficult...but produces funny moments such as this:
One day I was holding him in one hand and holding my pop in the other hand. The next thing I knew he had his little hands around the pop and was working his little mouth up to the top of hte straw! His favorite thing to do when Taylor is drinking out of a cold Coke can is to put his lips on the can and just lick it. He literally screams when we take it away!

Another thing Gavin loves is standing. Anytime he is laying down he will lift his head and his legs up. This is his cue to us that he wants to stand up. He grabs our fingers and pulls himself into a sitting, then a full standing position. He is always so proud of himself and gives us big smiles when he does it. He also loves to stand on the floor and hold onto the couch...with his mouth of course! Don't worry, I am holding him in these pictures.
Lately Gavin has been waking up at 5:30am. We will hear him on the monitor just babbling away to himself (he has really found his voice this past week!). We will go in there and if he is on his belly he will instantly roll over and smile at us. Most of the time we find him already on his back gnawing at the bars of his crib. It's hard to get mad at him for waking up at 5:30 when this is the face we get to see.

Gavin Meets Santa Claus

Silly Santa has his eyes closed!

In Sugarhouse there is this cute little shack where kids can get their picture taken with Santa. One Saturday night we were headed up to a game Taylor had to be at so we stopped by. I was a little nervous about how Gavin would handle Santa. He will honestly go to anybody and doesn't cry when he is held by strangers, but I was still worried. In typical Gavin fashion, he wouldn't really give us a smile, rather he was so interested in everything going on. He have us his "big eyes" which means he is really trying to figure out what is going on. Despite our dancing behind the camera and doing all the things that usually get him to smile, this is as good as it got. Gavin didn't have a problem keeping his eyes open...but Santa on the other hand was a different story! I was just thankful that Gavin's first meeting with Santa didn't end in tears!

This is the typical Gavin "I'm not sure what my parents are doing to me" face

This weekend we met up with a few of our friends and went on the Polar Express Train Ride. It is put on by this family in my class. Their extended family owns this land where you ride a 1/8 scale train. You can check it out at www.stringtown.us In the middle of the train ride you hop off at the North Pole to meet Santa. Again, Gavin wasn't quite sure what to do, but he didn't scream. After the train ride we ate out with our friends. They have babies as well, all at different ages, so it was fun to watch what each was doing and the stages that Gavin will be at before we know it. It was fun to go with them and then hang out for a little while.

Seriously Santa...keep your eyes open!

Presents From GGma and GGpa

Great Grandma and Grandpa Logsdon love to send Gavin things. He has received lots of Eureka College gear and Cubs gear. He has even started a baseball collection from all the ones they have sent from their travels.

Dear Great Grandma and Grandpa Logsdon,
Thank you for all of the gifts you have sent me. I am sad that I only got to see you for a day when you came to help mommy when she was sick. Will you come and visit me again soon! You don't even have to bring me anything, I just want to see you. I love you! Maybe I will come to Eureka college when I get older.
Love Your First Born (and favorite...so far) Great Grandchild,
Gavin

Gavin at Four Months

Gavin had his four month appointment on Friday. After he screamed last time, I begged Taylor to go with me to this one. We even got Gavin a sucker for afterwards to take his mind off of his shots. Lucky for us, the doctor discovered that he had another ear infection in his left ear. This is the same ear that he failed his hearing tests in when he was born. She said that we need to be very careful and watch his hearing closely, as she was worried about the chronic nature of his ear infections, and his failed hearing tests. We go back in two weeks to see if it's better. This is his third round of antibiotics for ear infections. If it's not better she is going to refer us to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. Hopefully we won't have to meet the nice doctor! Here are his four month milestones and favorites:

Height: 25.25 60th percentile
Weight: 14.06 lbs 37th percentile
Head Circum: 15.75 5th percentile

He is gaining weight! After the last appointment (he was in the 26th percentile), we were worried he was a little guy. I don't know where his tiny head came from...mom and dad both have rather good sized heads!

Here are a few of Gavin's Favorites:
Nicknames: Gav, Gman, Gavini, MisterMister, Little Man
Toys: His rattle, his exersaucer (he loves to stare and hit the bird on it!) He loves his Baby Einstein videos.
Dislikes: being in more than one place for longer than five minutes, going to sleep (he fights it every time), taking naps (seriously...this one sucks!), pureed peas, when nobody is paying attention to him.
Likes: Going to bed at 5 or 6pm, rice cereal and sweet potatoes, reading books, cuddling when he is tired, putting his mom and dad's fingers in his mouth, waking up at 5:30am, riding in the car and looking at other babies.
Milestones: He sits up very well nowadays and always tries to sit up when laying down, especially when he is getting his diaper changed, he started on solids, first rice cereal and now we are dabbling in vegetables, he is a master at grasping his toys and putting them straight into his mouth!

The Zoo

Taylor has been bugging me since we moved back to Utah to go to the Zoo. Honestly I put it off as long as I could. Being nine months pregnant in the summer heat and walking around the zoo was honestly the last thing I wanted to do. Lucky for us this week Grandma Stacy came to stay with us and bought passes to the Zoo. Uncle Matt even joined us for a little while. Taylor was in HEAVEN. We really went for Gavin, but I think secretly Taylor loved it more than Gav did.

 

Gavin's First Halloween

This picture is from Gavin's three month pictures... more to come soon!
We had quite the Halloween this year, and it was so much more fun with a baby who got to experience everything for the first time. I know he probably won't remember it but it was so fun to make family memories and to just be together all weekend.

For my school parade, Gavin was a penguin. It was only natural that we be a cute little penguin family. Our costumes may have been thrown together the night before, but honestly nobody was looking at Taylor or me!

Stacy (Taylor's Mom) was able to fly down Saturday and got to spend the holiday with us. We went trick-or-treating with my Aunt Gina's family. Bridgette could have cared less about trick or treating. All she wanted to do was hold Gavin. We had a delicious dinner and hung out watching the intense hail and wondered if we were even going to be able to go outside. We did take Gavin to the next door neighbors.

A little costume malfunction.. Did we mention this kid had 3 halloween costumes. He was originally supposed to be a lobster, but that costume was too small. Then we found the adorable penguin costume at the GAP and I couldn't resist. My mom bought him this dino costume because when I was pregnant we called him Little Dino. It's a 6-12 month costume, but we figured it would work for one house!





Poor Gavin crashed on the way home. He was all Halloweened out!
We had so much fun and even made it home to hand candy out to our TWO trick-or-treaters.

Boise Trip

I have to admit, being a teacher does have it's perks. Like two days off for "Fall Break". We decided to go to Boise to hang out with my mom while my dad was hunting. It was seriously one of my favorite Boise trips to date...despite the fact that so many family members were missing. We started the drive off after work on Wednesday, which made for a long night. Luckily this guy was amazing on the drive down...

The days to follow included crafting GALORE and a trip to the new Hobby Lobby.  My mom and I made Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations and I even got things for a new Christmas wreath (which I have since finished and can't wait to hang it up!) We went to Centennial's football game where everyone oogled over Gavin in his plaid onsie, puffy vest and beanie. He was seriously so adorable...even when he spit up all over. We also went to my cousin's football games and had fun in the rain. 

The day we drove down was Taylor' birthday and we were so lucky that my mom offered to watch Gavin for the night and gave us her free hotel room. We celebrated at Cottonwood Grille and it was so nice to be out just the two of us since Gav was born. I know I'm lame because I did not take ANY pictures of Tay's birthday celebration. We are also so awesome because we were in bed and asleep before ten. I guess you can tell we are parents of a three month old! 

Friday we took Gavin swimming for his first time. I thought he might love it because he LOVES his baths. Whoever gives him a bath ends up soaked because he kicks and splashes the whole time. Unfortunately we have a baby who is into EVERYTHING that is going on, so between the swimming lessons, the three year old trying to splash us, and the loud fountains in the baby pool he was a little overwhelmed. He never cried, but this is pretty much what he looked like the whole time...

We did get him to kick his feet a little, but there was absolutely no way he was going to smile. This was as close as we got...

Gavin loved hanging out with Grandma, and she was SO nice to takeover all the night feedings a few nights so we could sleep. We love you Grammy! We can't wait to go back to Boise, hopefully next time we can add more family members to the party. 

General Conference Weekend

This weekend my parents came into town. They say they came to see "us" but we know they really came to see Gavin. We decided to spend the day in Park City and couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and a happier baby. We checked out the Olympic Park, hit up the outlet malls, and some of us even did the zip line at the resort. We can't wait to go to Boise to hang out with them some more!This is what Gavin did most of the day! He loves being outside and in the sun.

Gavin at Two Months

Gavin had his two month check up a few weeks ago (I know he'll be three months old in a week and a half!) and here are his stats:

Height: 22 inches (25th percentile)
Weight: 11 lbs (26th percentile).
While we thought he was chunking up, it turns out he's kinda a little guy. The doctor said he looks perfect though, and chastised me for sleeping him on his stomach. That night we tried to sleep him on his back, and lets just say our attempts only lasted about 15 minutes. Not worth it. He loves his stomach. Often when he is fussy, if we put him on his stomach, he quiets down and turns back into our happy baby. The doctor did think that he was starting to develop an ear infection, so he put him on amoxocillin. That was not a fun 10 days. It made poor Gavy's tummy hurt, and his resulting cries, made our heads hurt. On a more positive note, he is sleeping about 6 hours the first strech, four the next and then two.
Somehow when we put him to bed at one end of the crib he ends up at the other, and usually completely turned around or sideways. This night he mananged to get his head smashed up against the bars and his arm hanging out. I love how his eyebrows are smashed down over his eyes.
He goes to bed at 8, and has on occassion only made us get up once to feed him. He has started sleeping in his crib in his own room. He is such a social little boy and loves to smile for anyone who talks in a high pitched voice. He and Taylor have this little game where they stick out thier tounges at each other. He is happiest when we wake him up at 6am to get ready for the day. We love our little guy and couldn't imagine life without him.

Some mornings when we both have to be out the door by seven, we will put him in the laundry basket in the bathroom so he can be with us. This day he actually fell asleep, which is a small miracle because he was on his back!

A Lot of Catch Up

Well, just when you think life can't get any busier, it does. I come home from work and am completley amazed at all the things that need to be done, but that fall to the wayside because all I want to do is hang out with my boys. Here, if you can handle a picture overload, is a quick and dirty, (ok, not really dirty) lowdown on what we have been up to the last 6 weeks or so.


We have been working on keeping the bink-bink in. We love finding him holding them in himself. We have also lost plenty of them (how does that happen?) We have been through 3 different kinds, as one day Gavin will just decide he doesn't like that kind anymore. He loves the bink-bink and we don't mind that he already has an opinion.

Grandma came and stayed with us for a week! What a blessing it was to have her here. She LOVES bathing Gavin and slathering him in Baby Magic lotion. One day I came home and his hair looked like it was greasy because Grandma got a little carried away with the lotion. She also did all the night feedings and let Taylor and I sleep through the night. I cherish those night! Thanks Mom!

Gavin had his first plane ride. I was a nervous wreck. I was afraid he would scream the ENTIRE time. He slept the whole time and charmed everyone around him.I was also nervous about how we were going to travel with a newborn and me still in a wheelchair. The nice lady at the airport wheeled me down to the plane and Taylor carried all the other stuff. The stewardess fell in love with him and gave him his first set of wings, a coloring book, and a certificate documenting his first flight. I'm sure there are many more flights to come!

We got to go home to Boise for Robbie's farewell and Gavin's blessing. It was a crazy weekend. We flew there, but because of some unforseen circumstances ended up driving home with my aunts and cousins. We loved the drive and Gavin did great! It was fun to be with my dad's family and Taylor's family for the weekend!

Our little trooper slept the whole 6 hour car ride back to Utah from my parents house. Why won't he sleep like that at night. He LOVES driving in the car and he is happy as a clam when we put him in his car seat...as long as we don't stop. When the car stops he instantly starts fussing and crying. When we start again, he's back to his happy self. We try to take the freeway as often as possible!

We have been fishing with Taylor. Despite the heat, and the lack of fish actually caught, we had fun just being together and exploring our new little town. Daddy did break his pole on the second fishing trip of the season, so I think the fishing is on hold for a while.

Gavin wasn't too sure about the whole fishing experience.

We have been taking lots of naps...that is when Gavin will sleep. Gman loves to sleep on his belly or on our chests. Call us bad parents, but he will sleep for HOURS on his stomach.

All ready for church. Just missing my matching hat!

We are making a Boise State fan out of our little man, and by the looks of it, he's not quite sure how he feels about it. It could have been because he was slowing sliding out of the recliner as we took this picture. Deep down he knows his roots, and he's proud to cheer on the orange and blue!

The day of the big game we all wore our Boise State gear. We even made a trip to Babies R Us in our matching shirts and jersey. We got plenty of stares and only two or three disapproving head shakes. We just like to think that they were jealous!

The game wore him out. Actually I'm pretty sure he fell asleep before the game even started. We will work on that next time.

The best part is just hanging out. We love our little Gman. The best part of the day is when I get home from work and we all get to be together for a few hours before all three of us go to bed...usually at nine. Call us old, or just call us the parents of an 8 week old!

Lessons I'm Still Learning

It seems that our luck has run out in the McFarland household. This past year we have been so blessed with NUMEROUS things, but with all the blessings comes the adversity. Not only do I have a torn muscle, but now my SI joint (two inches from my spine) is stuck in the wrong place. Just as the muscle was starting to heal, now we have a whole other set of issues to deal with. This new development has literally knocked me down. I can't remember a time when I have cried more (ok, screamed more too). Despite it all, some good has come, when I look really deep. I have learned a lot these past few weeks, and wanted to record them so I can look back and remember.
1. I have learned not to take ANYTHING for granted. Things so small such as getting into the shower, being able to reach things, and simply being able to pick up something that weighs more than 3 lbs. I watch people running past as we drive in the car and instantly start to cry because I once was not a huge fan of running. Now I would give anything to run again.
2. I never knew I could be in this much pain. I always thought I had a low pain tolerance, but now I wont complain as much over a stomach ache or a cold. I will also be much more aware and sympathetic of people in chronic pain. I now know what it is like to be in so much pain you can't even see straight.
3. I have learned quickly how many places are not accessible for people in wheelchairs. It makes me sad for those people confined to wheelchairs their whole life. I wish there was more that I could do. I have also not liked experiencing people staring at me simply because I was in a wheelchair. One person at a restaurant saw me walking funny, not even in my wheelchair and asked, "What's up with you?" I not so politely replied, "I tore a muscle during labor and now the joint is stuck in the wrong place." That shut him up pretty fast.
4. I thought it took a long time to get ready to go somewhere with a newborn, now it's me that people are waiting for. I can't wait for the day where it will take us 15 minutes to get out the door instead of 45.
5. I am still learning how many people are willing to help if I ALLOW THEM TO! Being extremely independent has it's downside, and that is my inability to ask for help. Taylor always tells me, "All you have to do is ask."
6. I have realized how many people love me. I can't count the number of encouraging words or texts I get. Some neighbors have brought me meals, family members have driven hours just to help out, and Gavin and I have spent countless hours at my aunt's while Taylor is at work. It just goes to show that I need to let people love me. I need to let people help.
7. Lastly, I have remembered (I already knew it, it's just nice to be reminded) how much my husband loves me. That man would do anything for me, and practically has. Middle of the night bathroom trips with me, all the nighttime feedings for Gavin, bringing me breakfast in bed every morning, taking me to all my doctors appointments and physical therapy, and simply telling me how beautiful I am every day. I bet he never expected to be pushing his wife around in a wheelchair, or handing her a cane, but he has taken it all in stride. Sometimes the pain gets the best of me and I am not so nice to be around, but he doesn't take it personally, he loves me even more.

The Bitter and the Sweet

This little guy is one of the sweetest blessings in my life. He is such a good baby and has made each day he has been alive such a joy. He has truly changed my life and has made me such a better person.

This on the other hand has been such a literal "pain in the butt". We got home from the hospital on Friday, and on Saturday I started feeling like I pulled a muscle in my rear end. By Monday I couldn't walk and was constantly in tears because of the pain. We struggled with what to do about it, and tried to self diagnose on the internet. On Tuesday we decided that I needed to go see a doctor, so to the Urgent Care we went. When the doctor asked me how I was doing, I immediately burst into tears. A combination of the worst pain I have ever felt and the inabilty to really be a mother to my newborn made for an extremely hard time holding back the waterworks. She prescribed me some pain medicine, which did absolutely nothing. I was so frustrated that the medicine didn't even touch the pain.

Wednesday we called my doctor who got us right in. When the exam left him baffled he sent us over to the hospital for an MRI. So for Gavin's one week birthday we spent most of the day back at the hospital, but thankfully it was for me and not for him. After the most painful MRI ever (I actually yelled at the technician when she moved me too fast) we waited for the results. The next day the doc called and told Taylor the prognosis. I had pulled my Iliacus muscle off the bone. Finally I knew what was wrong. We were glad it was not Siatica or a blood clot, but I was still in a LOT of pain. Stronger pain meds and possible physical therapy should help it heal within a few months. I thought earlier on this week I was improving. I could walk without help. I could lift my leg to get into the shower, and I even stood long enough to blow dry my hair. But the past few days I have seemed to regress. The tears continue to flow on a daily, sometimes hourly basis, due to a combination of sheer exhaustion, excruciating pain, and complete frustration. I will no longer take for granted the ablity to bend over to pick up my baby, to respond to his crying, to get up in the middle of the night to change a diaper, to simply make myself a meal. Thanks to all those who have helped us out these last 2 1/2 weeks. Thanks to our ward members who have brought us meals. I know that this too will pass, but as for now it seems like it's going to take forever. Prayers are appreciated!
This wouldn't be complete without a shout out to my wonderful husband who has taken on most of the nighttime feedings and diaper changes due to the fact that it literally takes me 10 minutes to get out of bed. Gavin loves the time with his daddy, and I am one lucky girl to have him be his daddy.