Gavin Grows Up

Gavin has all of a sudden decided to start talking! It's so fun to listen to him. We still have a hard time understanding him, but it's getting better. It's hard to get him to be quiet now! Gavin has been quite the handful lately. (Seems to be a common theme around here from the change of routine.)

He is so mischievous with his teasing personality. He loves to play in the water and "washes" things in the bathroom sink all the time. Awhile ago he decided my phone needed to be washed. It was so hard to be mad because he was so excited and proud that he was helping. Thank goodness my phone revived itself the next day and works just fine!

While feeding Logan, after the snowstorm the other day, Gavin escaped outside with his new bucket. With no pants, short sleeves and sandals. Thanks to the fence, our neighbors didn't see my half-naked son playing in the snow and call child services on me. ;) Oh boy...

I told Chase the other day he needs some more boy time with Gavin since he's quite intrigued with my makeup. This was his first attempt at mascara.

He has a robot shirt that he loves and was so sad when it was dirty and in the wash. He found it in his drawer a few days ago after getting the laundry done. He was so excited to find it and hugged it, saying, "ank ew Mommy! Keen! ank ew Mommy!" It made my day.

I need to find a good way to cut his hair. He used to love it and now hates it with a passion. So I only got the back cut the other day. Still trying to figure out how to get the top and front done now.

Oh Gavin, you make me want to pull my hair out and hug you at the same time.

Loads and Loads of Cement

Ever since moving in we've wanted to expand our back patio so we could fit a picnic table and, eventually, a pergola with benches and a swing. That area has been a weed/junk pile for the last two years and I was sick of it! So after getting a fence we figured we might as well pour the patio so we could enjoy our yard more.

That weed patch didn't seem nearly as big as it turned out to be. It was a much more involved job than we planned on, but thanks to Chase's Dad and help from mine, it's done and I love it! Never thought I would think of cement so fondly. :)

Lauren and Gavin had a ball playing in the sand, which subsequently, meant it was ALL over the house. I think I finally swept up the last of it! We still have a half-yard of sand leftover sitting in the driveway. Any takers willing to haul it away?

And Then She Was Five!

Lauren's birthday snuck up on us this year (not like we've been busy or anything. :P) We decided to get her a new bike since her DI special wasn't working out so well anymore. A little KSL searching and we found a good one for a good deal. I was nervous that she wouldn't like it because it's blue, but I didn't realize there are seashells on it, and since she's been into mermaids lately, she loves it!

The day before her birthday she told me she wanted a mermaid Barbie, pink, rainbow cake. Sheesh. With some Facebook advice and ideas I think I pulled it off.

Grandma Christensen took her to Beauty and the Beast a few weeks ago as her present, which she loved! Grandma Adair also took her out on her first "Birthday Date", which she loved as well!

I know five years really isn't that long in the grand scheme of things... but to me it seems like a lot!
Sometimes I forget that she's only five, still little, and I expect that she should know more than she does. But on the other hand... she surprises me at how much she catches and notices.

Lately we've been telling "Jesus Stories" at bedtime. She likes to tell the baby Jesus story about when He was born then I tell her another Jesus story from the scriptures. One night we had the discussion about how Jesus died and was resurrected then went to live with Heavenly Father. I told her that would happen to us too...I guess that was a frightening concept realizing that she was going to die (oops). I tried to convince her it would be a long time before that would happen and it was a good thing to go live in Heaven. I think she's okay with the idea now... I hope!

She's been doing great in preschool. She makes friends easily and everyone seems to like her. We went to register her for kindergarten (!) and they gave her the assessment to see how much she knows. The little stinker was either distracted or just didn't want to cooperate because the teacher said we'd need to work pretty hard on letters and counting this summer. Coming home afterwards she sang the whole alphabet, counted to 20 and wrote everyone's names in the family. Go figure!

She's testing my patience again. She can't seem to decide if she really wants to be a "big girl" or be treated like a baby. I can't figure out if she's just tired, figuring out how far to push the limits or just trying to get more attention. I think it's probably a mix of all three, I think. We've had several complete melt-downs the last few weeks that put me on edge. Please tell me this too shall pass, right?

We decided she will be great at Debate in high school. She is great at negotiating, arguing and trying to get out of things. She's too smart for her own good!

She has been so attentive with baby Logan. Every time he cries she is right there by him, trying to make him happy. She is his favorite and saves his biggest grins just for her. She is an awesome big sister, even though she can torment Gavin to no end! Lauren and Gavin are best buds that either play wonderfully together or they tease each other to tears.

We sure do love you Lauren! You've kept us on our toes from the day you were born and will continue to do so I expect!