it's been a while...

Now that school's in full swing, I'll most likely begin every new blog post with an apology for it being so long since the previous post. In the month since I last posted we've had a lot going on - Grammy came in town while Scott and I went to the Austin City Limits music festival, Gramma Joy and Grandpa Mark flew in for a weekend from Tucson to visit, Scott's been working like a crazy man to finish his project for grad school - so it's been a bit hectic!

Today I set Colin in the pack and play (that is still set up in our room from when the grandparents came to visit 2 weeks ago - I really should put it away!) so I could throw in some laundry. He's not yet mobile and crawling, but he's close, and when he sits on the floor he often leans forward to grab something not quite in his reach and ends up on his tummy in crawl-ready position - but then he immediately gets frustrated and just cries. So, yeah, I set him in the pack and play rather than on the floor hoping to bypass the crying part. The bassinet part of the pack and play moves easily, something that Colin quickly realized and took full advantage of:

The child is so ridiculously photogenic. He really likes the flashy lights on the camera, especially the colored ones some cameras have, so when you point a camera at him and he sees any lights he just smiles away. I think he looks a LOT like my brother Scott in this picture:

If you want to see pictures of anything in particular (grandparent visits, the kids outside, Gavin riding his bike, etc.) then please post a comment and I'll get 'em posted. You can count on a Halloween blog post next weekend - Gramma Joy made costumes for both boys, and they are a.dor.a.ble! She's amazing (and she sews well, too!) :)

1st football game

Scott took Gavin to his first UT football game today. Here they are in the backyard before leaving for the game, looking very handsome in their Texas garb.

We have season tickets in the student section (Scott being in grad school has its perks!) but sitting there requires you to stand. The whole game. On the bleachers. That's not terribly kid-friendly! This week Scott used his boss's tickets - thank you Scott's boss! - so he and Gavin had a place to sit and, from this high up, you can see everything.

There was apparently drama in the car on the way to pick up Stan (one of Scott's co-workers who went to the game also). We'd promised Gavin that Scott would grab a juice box for him, and then the juice box was forgotten on the way out the door. Gavin fell apart in the car, screaming and crying and declaring that he didn't want to go to the game (did I mention that Gavin missed his nap to go to the football game this afternoon?). Luckily, Stan had juice that he kindly shared with Gavin.

Gavin watched people more than the game. He thought it was neat to be up so high, and the stadium's size is a spectacle all by itself.

I love this picture - check out the band on the field! It was awfully bright, so poor Gavin is all squinty, but he's still the cutest little Longhorn at the game :)

time flies

Today Colin is 7 months old! It feels like yesterday that he was a teeny tiny newborn, and now he's sitting, rolling, and grabbing for the spoon so he can try to feed himself since apparently I'm too slow. I'm going to blink and then, like Gavin, he'll be in preschool and nearly 3. And then I'll blink again and they'll both be driving and in high school or off to college or or or... I need to blink less frequently.

Inspired by all this time speeding past, I spent a good part of the evening looking at old photos. Gavin definitely looks more like Scott's baby pictures, and Colin certainly looks more like mine. Though Gavin and I have the same eyes - you can really see it in pictures of me as a toddler. I found one picture of my brother Scott that looks just like Colin. It was wild! After delving into the old albums I pulled out my iphone and flipped through all the pictures I've taken with and saved on it. It was like reliving the past 2 years - and seeing Gavin at Colin's age is so odd, remembering what he was doing and wearing (Colin's grown out of all those outfits already, not surprisingly).

We spend so much time worrying about tomorrow, next week, next year. Every so often I have to remind myself to sit back and drink in the now. All too soon it will be gone. Gavin's been watching Kung Fu Panda (a LOT) and one of the characters says something about today being a gift, that's why it's called "the present." Too true.

pizza and Taylor and bath time, oh my!

This is what happens when I don't keep up with pictures. I end up posting about a bunch of random stuff because I want to share pictures from a bazillion weeks ago.

Gavin loves to help us cook. He will see that I'm getting ready to make dinner and he'll trot off to his bathroom to fetch his handwashing stool so he can reach, and then he'll be ready to lend a hand as we make dinner or whatever. Just the other night he did some of the measuring and all of the pouring of ingredients into our chicken marinade and peanut sauce for dinner. Here I have pictures of him helping Scott make pizza one night.

Angela and Taylor came in town to visit a couple of weeks ago. It was crazy to see how big Taylor is now! I adore his chubby cheeks. Angela had been trying to get Taylor to drink from a sippy cup and wasn't having a lot of success, so we were all thrilled when he drank from a straw cup we had at the house.

He's a roller, too, and is rocking on his hands and knees like crazy, so crawling will be here soon. Watch out, Ang!

While they stayed with us, Colin slept in the pack and play in my bedroom. We checked on him after he'd fallen asleep, to find his bunny sitting up on his face. Who knows how this stuff happens....

All the boys were decked out in their finest burnt orange for the first UT game of the season :)


And in more recent news, Colin loves to splash in the tub. He soaked me last night :)

school's in session - for Gavin too!

Gavin's been back to school for a week now. He is loving the Pony class and Ms. Sara seems nice as can be. He even ate all his lunch his very first day there!! If you remember last year, Gavin went on hunger strike when he started at TPK and refused to eat his lunch. Ms. Irma was always giving us updates on when/if he would eat, and it was time for celebration when he finally ate his lunch. This year, we don't have that problem. Yay!

The part Gavin loves most about school is his new lunch box and thermos. The thermos is just like Blake's, so of course it's cooler than cool. :) Gav was so upset when we left his lunchbox at Kelly's house last week because he wants it with him at all times! Today, he woke up when I was leaving for work at about 6:20 am, and what finally worked to get him back in bed to sleep longer was reminding him that he would be going to school today and taking his new lunchbox.

Colin started waking up numerous times in the night a while ago, and it was killing me. He'd eat at 7:30pm, go to sleep, wake at 10:30 to eat, and then again at 1:30, and 3 or 4am, and then I'd have to get up at 5am to get ready for work. Not pretty! The last few nights we've been turning on his white noise "sleep sheep" and using that to help him go back to sleep instead of feeding for those 2 middle of the night times, and it's been working like a charm. Last night he was a bit screamy but he fell back asleep fairly quickly. I've been actually rested the past couple of days! It's a miracle!!! I don't know why I felt like I had to feed him whenever he woke - I'm not the smartest person when I'm woken up from a dead sleep :)

Pictures soon! Angela and Taylor came to visit, and I still haven't gotten those pictures downloaded from the camera. Maybe I'll get to that later tonight...

busy busy busy!

Sorry the blog has been quiet - now that I'm back at work I'm just beat by the time I get the boys home. I try to spend the time between getting home and going to bed just playing with them (dishes, laundry, and other junk can wait - I need my fix of little boy giggles!) but I rarely remember to pull out the camera and document anything with pictures. It's always been that way with me, though. I'm too busy having fun to take pictures of the fun I'm having.

I started a classroom blog for my class this year, so I'm hoping that by being responsible for both I won't let either falter. I know, I'm funny, go ahead and laugh.

Colin is now a champion sitter. He will sit for long periods of time, playing with toys (especially the new one in the previous post's video) or talking and laughing and whacking me. He's a flailer! Bath time is now especially fun - I bathe Colin quickly, sometimes still using the sling for him to lay on just to reach all of his parts, and then he gets to sit up and splash to his heart's content. Gavin thinks it's great fun to be in the tub with his brother, too. I could watch the 2 of them interact for hours. Best entertainment ever.

Next week we get to meet Gavin's new teacher for this school year. He's excited to be in the Pony class with Ms. Sara! He goes to a Mother's Day Out program at a local church 2x a week. He loves going to his school and playing with his friends. Several of his classmates from last year will be in this year's class so that will help him feel comfortable (I hope). More on that after we meet Sara next Tuesday, and his first day of school next Thursday.

new toy

Scott stopped by the children's resale shop near our house the other day and brought home this fabulous new toy. It's one that you can set up a myriad of ways depending on the child's age/development. I think Gavin likes it as much as, if not more than, Colin :) It's fun to watch the boys play together.

Now that Colin can sit up on his own he's able to check out the world from a whole new vantage point. Watching him explore and discover is fascinating.

rolling

Colin rolled over yesterday! For real, not a fluke this time - he was on his tummy and rolled onto his back, a number of different times. Then today, he was on his tummy on the carpet and starting licking it - ew - so I rolled him onto his back, then I looked over and he was on his tummy again, so it's just a weekend full of rolling fun. Sitting, rolling, he's a milestone maniac these days :)

my men

Gavin's Happy Meal toy was a lego car. Scott was helping him put it together while Colin looked on. Colin was sitting up and I left him to grab my camera, and while I was gone he went from sitting to laying on his tummy. It's the first time he's made that particular transition - usually he sits with his face in the carpet, unsure of how he got there or how to fix it :)

Gavin was less than pleased that Colin attempted to eat the directions that came with his car. Scott reminded Gavin that directions are usually unnecessary (haha) which made everything all better. My engineers...

sitting up

Colin is getting more and more stable when sitting up without support. He doesn't do it for too terribly long before he falls to the side (or the ever-hilarious face-plant into the carpet) but he's getting stronger every day. When I sit him up in the bathtub he has the time of his life splashing the water with his hands. He usually lays on a sling in the tub that keeps his head out of the water, so he kicks like a froggie and splashes with his legs. The new splashing with his hands has him transfixed - he loves watching the splashes, and his eyes get huge. I still have to be *right there* in case he starts to fall over, but once he's more stable I'll get video. It won't be long, I'm sure.

my boys

I think I really am the luckiest lady in the world. I have the 3 best men in the history of ever, right here under my roof. Today after I picked the boys up from Kelly's we were playing in Gavin's room. I had to pump so I brought it in with me, and got myself hooked up. Colin started to fuss a bit, and Gavin jumped right in to play with him and entertain him. In this picture he's helping Colin chew on a teething toy. Colin kept dropping it - Gavin is pretending to feed him a cookie. They were both highly amused at themselves. :)

Colin passed out early tonight so it was just me, Scott and Gavin at Gavin's bedtime. He wanted his daddy to read the bedtime story he'd picked out so Scott climbed into bed with him. I love watching Scott with the boys - he's a fabulous dad. Gavin absolutely hero-worships him. Colin's face lights up when he sees daddy. So cool.

I've been pumping and giving bottles to Colin in place of breastfeeding in an effort to help him adjust to bottle-feeding at Kelly's house and to help him learn to self-soothe in ways other than the breast, since Kelly can't offer it when he fusses. It's been going very well, and he's taking bottles at home like a champ. And today he finished an entire bottle at Kelly's house! It took him all day to do it, but that's more than he's ever eaten over there. I'm hopeful that he'll get more comfortable soon. Things are looking up.

baths and bedtime

The boys are both so sweet in the evenings. (Afternoons can be a bit rough - today's sure was - but by bath and bedtime they've usually chilled out and are sweet as can be.)

After Gavin brushes his teeth, I always ask for a "fresh breath kiss." Totally stole that from Missy, and I'm glad I did. Any chance to get extra kisses makes my day!

Tonight wasn't technically bath night (we do every other night unless they're yucky), but Colin was a bit of a mess so it seemed prudent. He spit up big time at Kelly's, and tonight when trying applesauce for the first time (a HUGE hit, by the way) he got kinda covered in food. He was splashing, kicking, and talking up a storm in the tub so I grabbed the camera. Gavin elected not to take a bath but he does make a cameo appearance in the video.

Now that the boys are going to Kelly's during the day and I'm going back to work I won't have quite as many opportunities to catch their cuteness in action, but I'll try to keep up with posting stories and pictures after school and on the weekends. It's been fun to chronicle what we've been doing these past 2 months. I started a blog for my classroom, too -mrsdurhamsclassroom.blogspot.com - maybe I'll make it a point to update both at the same time so neither gets neglected (or they both do!).

squawkity squawk!

Gavin sounded like a martian from Mars Attacks when he was a little guy, and Colin sounds like a baby pterodactyl.

bananas and bikes

Colin had decided to take a break from eating cereal for a while (I was making it too thick, I think) but yesterday and today gobbled it up again. At dinner, he was happy and it was almost feeding time so we decided to try bananas. He ate nearly the entire jar! The first bite caused a "what's this stuff?" look, but then he just kept on eating.

He really liked the way the spoon felt against him gums.

We also had a bit of progress in the bottle department. He'd always taken a bottle without issue, but lately he's been chewing on the nipple and refusing to suck, which will make it hard for Kelly to feed him when I'm back at work. Today Scott brilliantly tried a sippy cup without the valve and Colin had a blast. He was grabbing for the cup, demanding more, when we'd pull it away! I'm excited that we have an alternative to the bottle.

Gavin got his strider bike a while ago, but he's just now getting comfortable on it. This evening he went around the block twice! The first time, we passed a couple of little girls in their front yard, and he sped up when he saw them. Show-off. The second time, he asked his dad where the girls were as they were leaving our front yard. Helpfully, his daddy told him they could "cruise for chicks." To which Gavin replied "we're lookin' for some chicks." Nice.

happiness and parties

Colin woke up in a great mood this morning! I heard him on the monitor, cooing and talking, having a grand old time with his crib friends (the animals on his crib bumper) so Gavin and I went in to welcome him to the day. He was smiling, laughing, happy to see us, so I had to snap a quick picture. I caught him in between big grins, it was the best I could do - I was more interested in enjoying the fun than taking pictures of it. Can you blame me?

When I picked Colin up I discovered that he had a very full, very disgustingly stinky diaper. A kid that can laugh and smile through that has a seriously happy disposition!

This evening we went to a party at one of Scott's colleague's house. Lots of grown-ups and even more kids. Gavin was shy at first (surprise, surprise) and he played quietly with some of the toys in the living room (the hosts have a 1 year old) alongside some of the other kids, carefully whispering to us when he needed to talk. So cute. We went out into the backyard after a while where Gavin was enthralled by the koi pond. He spent much of the evening watching the fish and sticking his finger in the water to see if the fish would come to him.

He also played with the sand table, another big hit. He loves our sand box at home, so I wasn't surprised. After playing and watching the fish, he took a break to eat some dinner then got right back to having fun. By the end of the night (a mere 2.5 hours later) he was talking to anyone around - yay! - and playing with the kids rather than just near them. So proud of how he used his manners in the big group and how he shared with the other kids. Gavin is such a sweet boy :)

pancakes

Gavin helped me make pancakes this morning. Such fun! We only got a little flour on the floor :)

I didn't get any pics of the cooking process but I did snap a couple of Gavin enjoying the fruits of our labor. In the first one, he made some kind of crazy face, so I took another of him taking a big ol' bite. (Please excuse the nastiness of my table, the flash shows off the area where Gavin was smearing his yogurt all over the table. Ew.)

He had to eat the middle section of his pancake (or "take-take" as he still says) before eating the perimeter. Seriously, I laugh with this kid all day long.

picture fun

I've decided that my new hobby needs to be learning how to work the "good" camera so that I can take pictures I'm proud of. The point and click camera works in a pinch but I'd like to learn to use a camera and take photographs rather than just snapshots. Does that make sense? Today I learned that I suck at taking pictures :) but I'm not ashamed - I'm motivated. I was too close to Colin (trying to keep him happy) so it was difficult to get the camera to focus as I'd wanted it to. Doesn't change that he's freaking cute.

His red hair is totally visible in these next 2:

Gavin was devouring his pepper popcorn while I was snapping away at Colin, and when he finished it he decided to join us. These 2 love laughing together. It warms me right up (like I need that with all the 100+ degree days, but whatever).

brotherly love

I think Colin is the best toy we've ever gotten for Gavin, and Gavin is Colin's favorite toy as well. They will sit and just laugh at each other for ages. Today Colin was in my lap and he started squawking away. Scott went to get the video camera to capture some of the cuteness, and by the time he got back Gavin had joined us. He and Colin are fun to watch. By the time we started taping Colin wasn't quite as forthcoming with all his crazy sounds but he did let us hear a little more and, as Scott points out in the video, apparently Gavin speaks Colinese :)

Dinnertime is so nice now, with all 4 of us at the table. Gavin has fallen in love with helping me cook so that (sometimes) motivates him to eat things he might not otherwise try. Colin has been eating cereal for a few weeks now. Today we tried oatmeal for the first time at dinner and he seemed to like it. Chances are, this kid will like anything we give him - he and Gavin are polar opposites when it comes to food and eating.

We'd been feeding Colin in the Bumbo seat we borrowed from our neighbors but I think he's getting too big for it. Today we pulled out the highchair. After he'd eaten his fill of cereal we put the toy on the tray. Colin was mesmerized! It kept him highly entertained while the rest of us finished our dinner.

After Gavin ate a few bites of his turkey burger he decided he'd had enough and he went to get his bike instead. Scott showed him videos online of other kids using the same kind of bike and it got Gavin interested again. He's been wary of the bike, choosing his purple tryke instead when we're playing out front, but today he seemed to have a lot of fun with his strider bike. It's way cool - no pedals, so he learns to coast and balance without the added issue of pedaling at the same time. No training wheels - he can just put his feet down. Scott brought the bike inside for Gavin to ride today so he could practice. It's usually an outside-only item but we made an exception today. I think it will resume its previous status tomorrow. :)

We went to visit Kelly at her house again today so that Colin can continue working on being less screamy over there. He had some fussy moments at first. Apparently he was hungry and after eating was much happier. We went upstairs to play in Allison's room (Gavin missed the kids - and their toys - a whole lot!) and he started to fuss again with Kelly holding him. She turned on a CD (nature sounds and music) and *poof* he settled down! Music may be the key. Colin spent quite a while in Kelly's lap, playing with toys and looking around, before he started to fuss again - and only then because it was naptime. I'm happy to see him starting to relax over there. We all know how wonderful Kelly is and it's high time Colin caught on!!

getting acquainted. again.

I go back to work in less than a month. When I went back before the summer, Colin went to Kelly's house but cried (screaming cries, at that) pretty much the whole time. We've been visiting with Kelly all summer - playdates out and about, at her house, and at our house. Colin will smile and flirt with Kelly all day long as long as I'm there. Our project this summer is to get him to be smiley and happy when I'm not there.

Today we had a trial run at Kelly's house for a few hours. Gavin and I took Colin over to Kelly's, hung out for a while, then left Colin there while we ran some errands and Gavin took a nap. It sounds like he did the screaming thing again. However, I really do think that if we keep up with it he'll get more and more comfortable at Kelly's house and with Kelly herself. She is so fantastic, I can't believe how lucky we are. She's taking her own time this summer to help get Colin comfortable. I don't think we could ask for more.

Now that he's past the 4 month point, it's okay to let him cry it out (we even called the pediatrician for some ideas and he reassured us on that) so that's pretty much what we have to do. When he's upset he doesn't have any interest in the bottle, so that's the other hurdle we have to get over. When he's not upset he'll take the bottle without issue. That's definitely a good thing! My hopes are high - I have to keep myself optimistic, the kids can smell fear! :)

visits with family

While Scott was in California for work, the boys and I spent a few days in Dallas visiting with family. I did the late evening drive - we left after dinner so the boys could sleep in the car - which was totally the way to go. Gavin surprised me by staying up until 9:30 or 9:45 both nights we drove. Colin slept the whole time both ways, but Gavin watched the cars and trucks and basically jabbered and blabbered the whole ride. He's a funny guy!

Grammy loved spending time with the boys! We went to see her at the office where she works, and Gavin asked if he'd get to see her tools. (When he visited Scott at work he got to go through the machine shop and see all the tools there, so of course everyone who works uses those same kinds of tools!)

Colin enjoyed snuggling with my mom - he fell asleep in her arms not long after this picture was taken.

My brother Scott was fantastic with the boys. He and Gavin became fast friends. When my mom and Gavin went to get Scott from his apartment, Gavin said "I love him" in his cute little Gavin voice, and when Scott ran into the Starbucks to get me a coffee before my drive home to Round Rock Gavin said "I NEED him! I need my Uncle Scott!" when Scott got out of the car. Except that Gavin doesn't actually say "Scott" - he leaves off the initial /s/ sound, and the final /t/ is more like a /k/. I'll let you sound that out on your own :)

I took the boys to visit my Grandma Wilma at her house while we were in town. At first Gavin was shy, but soon he was jabbering up a storm and throwing the ball for Grandma's dog. Colin was happy, like always, and had a grand old time watching Gavin have fun. Grandma Wilma gave Gavin a cowboy teddy bear - he's slept with it every night since.

We visited with Amanda and Aiden after we left Grandma Wilma's house. It was good to see them and catch up! Gavin was a little too shy (and tired) to play with Aiden but they seemed to have fun playing near each other at the McDonald's playground.

We also got to finally meet my cousin Angela's little boy, Taylor - what a cutie! They came over to mom's, along with Aunt Peggy (Gavin calls her Auny Piggy still, but he no longer oinks when we say her name!). I was having too much fun hanging out and spending time with them to think about finding my camera and getting a picture, but I'll just tell you that Taylor is adorable, with some of the biggest baby cheeks I've ever seen. He's just 2 months older than Colin so hopefully they'll be good buddies down the road.

After we got back in town, Gavin finally figured out how to roll all the way over and do a somersault. He's very proud of himself!

Gavin brought the Bumbo chair into my room the other day, and he climbed right in. I think his butt fits in there better than Colin's does!

Colin was playing in his jumper while Gavin and I built a "robok" with blocks.

We visited the library for storytime this morning, and the theme was birthdays. After building his robot together I made a stack of blocks while I was talking to Colin. Gavin took it, called it his birthday cake, and then we put some "candles" on it and he blew them out. Love it!

We head out tonight to Dallas for our visit with Grammy and everyone else up there. Wish me luck driving with these two! :)

a whole week....

We took Scott to the airport today. He's going to San Francisco for work (and then a couple more days for fun, lucky guy), and he won't be back until next Sunday. Poor Gavin, he was so excited about going to the airport and seeing airplanes that it didn't hit him until Scott was out of the car and we drove away that DADDY IS LEAVING. As we were heading to the exit of the airport he wailed from the backseat "but I neeeeeeed him! I neeeeed my daaaaddddddyyyy!" He is totally excited about talking to daddy on the "puter" now that he's been talking to Grandpa Mark and Grandma Joy on the computer (Skype is a wonderful thing) so that will be fun in the coming days. We are all anxious for Scott's return, though. It's just not the same without him here.

toes

I'm happy that Colin has found his toes. It's really cute when he grabs them and is insanely thrilled by it - he just laughs and laughs at his own toes. Priceless. And he'll be laying on the floor, playing, and then grab his toes and just faaallllll over onto his side. Also adorable. However, the toe fascination has started making diaper changes more difficult. The kid has got some serious grip!

first cereal

Colin had his first taste of cereal today! It was mostly breastmilk with just a bit of the cereal mixed in for his first time. He did really well! I can't say that he loved it, but I can't say that he hated it, either. I guess the most apt description would be that he tolerated it with a smile. He opened up for the spoon, let me put the cereal in his mouth, and then mushed it around in his mouth while most of it poured down his chin. We'll have to take a bath tonight to make sure we get it all out of his neck rolls, that much is certain.

Here is Colin tasting his very first bite of cereal:

And here he is again after eating more than half the bowl:

We had a difficult time with Gavin and food when he was little. Hopefully Colin won't be so hard on us :)

playgroup

I was so lucky to join a group of girls who all had babies between December and February while I was home on maternity leave. We met every Wednesday while we were all home from work, and now we meet about twice a month (one evening and one Saturday morning). It helps so much to get out of the house and talk to other moms who are going through the same things with their kids as I am with mine. Each mom has a different perspective and a different way of doing things. We can celebrate our children and our lives as moms, we can complain about how hard things can be or how our butts aren't going back to their original sizes, or we can just talk about what we've been up to since we met last. However it goes, I always feel a little more human after seeing the girls and the babies.

fun in the sun

Gavin loves to go outside to wait for his daddy to come home. You can find us in the front yard just about every day between 5 and 5:30, looking for that blue car to come down the street. Poor Scott, I call and bug him every day to ask him to call me when he's on his way home so we're not sitting outside in the 100+ degree heat waiting for him! As soon as Gavin spots Scott's car he yells "Daddy! There's my daddy!" while he waves and just generally gets all kinds of excited.

When Gavin was a wee guy he hated (hated) the way the grass felt. It was just a few months ago that he could handle walking through grass without shoes or sitting in it without having to be in my lap. Colin was having a blast pulling at the blades of grass as he leaned out of Gavin's lap and seems to love the way it feels between his toes. These 2 are so similar but so very different!!

We went back to the sprinkler park today to play with Kelly, Blake, and Allison. Gavin really missed them while they were on vacation! The kids weren't really jazzed about the water today and spent most of their time on the playscape and in the sand.

I put Colin down on a towel and he had fun making lovey faces at Kelly. I lovelovelove the toothless smiles! He also ate his first dirt today ... his fist dug into the sand and then went straight into his mouth. He didn't seem to notice the new gritty texture.

After a morning outside in the sun getting sweaty and running around, you'd think Gavin would have been pooped. But no, instead he seemed to be on speed and never napped, just ran around like a crazy man. Which stinks, since I could have used a nap of my own! I'll just have to work harder to wear him out tomorrow :)

Yesterday the boys were sitting on the couch and Gavin had asked to hold Colin. Picture time! Is it possible for me to be any luckier? Look at my good lookin' men!

Oh, and speaking of picture time... Scott's cousin Elisa made a hat for Colin, and it arrived in the mail just the other day. Gavin decided to have a clothing-optional afternoon, just his dinosaur skivvies and the hat from Elisa. What an ensemble, eh?

rolling over!

Colin rolled over from his tummy to his back yesterday afternoon! And I completely missed it. I put him on the blanket on his tummy, turned my back for 2 steps, turned back around and he was laying on his back, grinning up at me. We tried to get him to do it again, and Scott moved the laptop so he could take video with the webcam, but Colin refused to recreate his roll. Stinker. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled so I don't miss it the 2nd time!

sprinkler park

I took Gavin and Colin to the sprinkler park today and it was so much fun! It rained on us as we drove to the park, but once we got there the rain was finished and we could play our hearts out. A couple of the kids from Gavin's mother's day out class were there as well, but Mr. Shy Guy was more content to play on his own. It was nice to see some of the other moms and kids, though :)

Gavin ran back and forth through this section of sprinklers. It was a favorite spot.

When the sprinklers stopped Gavin went right to the spout to see where the water was. We're pretty lucky he didn't get splashed right in the eye when the water started up again!

This pole spouted water in all directions. Gavin ran around it and round it for what seemed like forever. He never seemed to get dizzy!

Colin had fun watching Gavin play. And, of course, he did some serious chomping on his fingers too :)

so well behaved

Today I met some of the other teachers on my team for lunch and I brought both boys with me. Gavin is such a great kid when it comes to entertaining himself! He sat through nearly 2 hours of grown-up talk and only told me he was ready to go home once. We brought his "guys" (action figure toys he keeps in the car to play with on drives) into the restaurant, but he elected to play with the strap on the highchair instead. Really, who needs toys? Colin had a harder time sitting for that long, especially as he got hungry, but I nursed him and he was fine. Of course, it was after Colin latched on that G told me he needed to go to the restroom, so I got to take Gavin to the bathroom while holding Colin to my breast. It was quite a feat to hoist Gavin up onto the toilet one-armed without dropping Colin! I am talented. These kids had better appreciate me :)

We've been video chatting with Grandma Joy and Grandpa Mark lately. Gavin loves seeing them! He gets shy at first, but then he starts goofing off and putting on a show. He gets so excited anytime his daddy says it's time to see if Grandpa is there to talk!

I need to take some new pictures of the boys to put up here. Colin is such a happy baby, always smiling, and I need to capture more of those adorable smiles :) We'll work on that tomorrow!

busy times!

Summer is a whirlwind. I can't keep track of what we're doing when, and it feels like we're always headed out somewhere. Poor Colin's having a hard time napping on the go, so I've tried to keep us to just one or two outings a day. Gavin is loving the Hoppin' Hippo in Hutto, a fun indoor play place with inflatables, a treehouse, and other stuff for the kiddos to play with. When we went on Friday he actually went into and jumped inside one of the inflatable bounce houses - a first for him! Usually he only goes in when his daddy goes with him, but this time he followed Bryant in and had a blast.

Colin's been talking up a storm lately. Today, every time he finished nursing he would lay in my lap and just babble away. So so so so cute!

Scott competed in the Urban Assault Race today with our friend Tommy, so the boys and I went to hang out with Roxanne, Vincent, and Thompson at their house. It was so nice to visit and let the boys play! We had a really nice time. Gavin went swimming in his underwear and made a big ol' splash in the kiddie pool (poor Thompson wasn't expecting that and got a surprise splash, sorry kid!), then played inside with all of T's fun toys.

Gavin is completely potty trained! He's in underpants all day and night, including naps and overnight. He has accidents here and there (his most common one is first thing in the morning if he doesn't get to the toilet in time for his "big morning pee") but they're really pretty rare. More and more he's telling us that he needs to go rather than waiting for us to ask (as we do every 15-30 minutes) if he needs to go. I'm really proud of how well he's doing. He's such a big boy!!

summer fun

Scott bought a little pool for the backyard, and Gavin loves it! While Colin was napping the other day Gavin and I went out back for a little relaxation in the water.

Today the boys were snuggling on the couch, and I had to get it on video. Colin was babbling up a storm and Gavin was being such a lovey dovey brother. I love my boys!!!!

Here's part 1 of the couch fun:

And here's part 2 of the couch fun after I took a break to snap a few pictures:

There's not a whole lot going on around here these days, just hanging out and enjoying each other. I'm off until August 17 so I get to stay home and play with the boys for 2 more months. Yay!! Tomorrow we're visiting the fire station, so that will be fun. G loves to wear his plastic fire hat and pretend to spray us with water :)

Here are a few pictures from when Grammy brought Aunt Peggy and Grandma Wilma (Weema) with her to visit (Gavin wasn't really in the mood for a photo shoot):

it's about time!

Okay. So I am a terrible blog-updater. I knew that when I started the blog, and I'm sorry! It's been so long that I'm sure no one even checks in anymore, but I'll post anyway :)

Here is Colin Andrew Durham! He was born 2/20/09 and so he is almost 3 months old now. I've been home with him while Gavin's been going to Kelly's house during the week, so Colin and I have had some fantastic bonding time. He's such a great baby. Seriously. How I have 2 great babies is beyond me, but I do!

In this picture he's blowing spit bubbles. It's a new trick.


In the next picture he's showing off that beautiful smile. He's recently started laughing, too - best sound ever!!!


Gavin didn't have a nap today, because he was so busy playing with his Grammy, Weema (not sure how to spell that, but there you go), and Aunt Peggy. He chowed down on his chicken at dinner, and started to get a little heavy-lidded at the end, and then he just curled up in his chair and went to sleep.


I took him to Colin's room to change his diaper and put on PJs and he didn't wake once. He just kept curling up on the changing table. So cute - and so much easier to change him when he's not awake to fight me or be silly!


I go back to work the day after Memorial Day, but only for 2 weeks since the last day of school is June 3. Then I'll be back home with the boys for the summer!! The timing could not be more perfect :)