My Helpers

I've have been hit pretty bad with morning sickness with this pregnancy.  Of course, having a toddler makes resting almost impossible.  All of my energy was spent taking care of him and the house was a disaster!  To make matters worse, Gary was out of town two weeks back to back.  I got an unexpected offer for help...my mom and niece offered to make to 8 hour drive and spend the week with me.  So, I accepted.  My mom was a machine, vacuuming the whole house, doing laundry, cooking, changing sheets, feeding the dog, cleaning up dog poop, etc.  And my niece helped too.  She washed the dishes every night without being asked more than twice.  It was a huge weight off of my shoulders, and I felt much more relaxed.  It was nice to have the company, too.  Thanks mom.  I love you!  Finite.

Expecting...

It's official!  As of June 1st, we confirmed that I am 8 weeks pregnant with Marchand baby #2!  I told Gary the same way I told him with Gavin...a positive pregnancy test.  To me, seeing is believing, and there wasn't much I was able to say with the plethora of emotions I was feeling.  Gary was ecstatic!  I was ecstatic...and nervous.  Still am.  I wanted this baby for so many reasons.  The two most important reasons being:  I want to be able to enjoy all of the baby things over again minus the new parent paranoia, and I want Gavin to have a sibling that he can bond with and conspire against his parents.  I'm nervous, too.  It's difficult to do it on your own.  Gary and I have created this island that we are on with no family close by.  And, we aren't exactly social butterflies, either, with tons of friends...only a few close ones with lives and families of their own.  But, we will manage.  We will more than manage...we will thrive with our growing little family!!

We have been managing with the horrible nausea, heart burn, fatigue and headache I've been having for the past 3 weeks.  It's been pretty incapacitating.  My house is a wreck, and I feel like my poor son is neglected.  We watch movies, and he plays outside while I lounge on the patio furniture.  Poor daddy.  He picks up the slack where he can, but he's working full time at a job and comes home to more work.  He's happy to do it, though....most days :)  Dinner has been sad.  I stocked up on frozen pizzas and macaroni and cheese.  Gavin doesn't seem to mind.  I got yet more nausea medicine from my doctor that seems to be helping.  It at least lets me function.  I thought that I wanted three kids, but I told Gary to remind me of how miserable I was when I start talking about another baby!!  Yeah, yeah.  It's all worth it, but it's hard to see the end and imagine going through it again when you're in the midst of it!

We spread the news with a picture, via text message.  We got to Face Time Aunt Michelle, which was pretty cool.  She actually got to see Gavin wearing his "big brother" shirt.  She started to cry when she figured it out.  That was cool.  Seems several people already knew including but not limited to: my husband, my sister, Barbara and my mom.  Weird.  Everyone is really excited and knows that Gavin will be a great big brother!

My boys...

I've been pretty unmotivated to blog lately because I thought I was unable to upload pictures.  But my wonderful husband "fixed" the problem (or showed me what I was doing wrong).  So, I can officially upload pictures again.  I started going through all the pictures that I've taken over the past couple of months and realized that most of them are of my boys.  I am unbelievably blessed to have such wonder men in my life.  I'm also very touched at the relationship they all have with each other and with me.  Here are some of my favorites.

Gavin was giving Jack a "drink" of water.  

Jack is a saint!

Lizard

"CHEESE!!"

Right now Jack is wishing he had thumbs...

Gavin has a drill just like his Dada.

Love, love, LOVE!

I love this picture.  Don't know why...

Mother's Day 2011

It's hard to believe that this is already my third Mother's Day! Gavin didn't really have anything planned, so Gary stepped up to help him out. Early Sunday morning, Gary slipped out of bed and started making breakfast. He then packed a picnic basket with everything that we needed to have a picnic out by the lake. Apparently, he scoped out a place we could sit and eat breakfast and feed the ducks and geese afterwards. Breakfast was great! Gary made breakfast burritos and individually wrapped them in foil. He also made some "to go" coffee. He thought of everything...blankets, bread, bug spray, camera, water, snacks for Gavin. It was truly a stress free experience...until we fed the ducks/geese. Geese are creepy. They have little teeth in their little beaks and horn like structures on their head. They make a sound that only a mother could love and they don't smell much better. And they are big! Bigger than Gavin! They were a lot of fun to feed, though, once I got over their creepiness. They came right up to us to eat and one of them even took bread right out of Gavin's hand...pretty gently.

Once we were done feeding the ducks, we went to the park to play. Gavin and Gary had a blast on the swing, and we all had a good time walking around.

We came home and ate lunch and put Gavin down for a nap. I took a nap, too.

After nap time was Pokeo's. You get to choose two hand made cookies to sandwich the handmade ice cream of your choice for the yummiest (and most evil) treat ever. It was pretty delicious. We then went to Toys R Us to get some stuff for little G and then went to Central Market for a light dinner (after the evil snack).

It was a great day, and weekend, to spend with my family. The weather was perfect. The company was perfect. I can't believe I get a whole day to myself, to do what I want just because I have the BEST job in the world...Momma.

Easter 2011

For Easter weekend, Mamaw and GiGi came in to see Gavin. On the way to the airport, he kept asking, "Where's Mamaw and GiGi?" He still doesn't get that we have to drive to get anywhere. He wants instant gratification! He was really excited to see them.

We spent the weekend just spending time and having fun. Gary and I got to go out for our 5 year anniversary dinner on Friday night. We went to Hibiscus, and it was delicious (that kinda rhymes). We got entirely too much food...appetizer, steak, two sides and dessert! Well, I had dessert. Ice box pie. YUM.

Saturday, we went to eat at Einstein's, which is no surprise. After Gavin's nap, we went to Build a Bear. It was really cute for a about 2 minutes, and then he completely lost interest in building his bear. He was much more interested in the accessories and vehicles for his bear and had to be forced to name and cloth him. So, he named the bear "Wee" (????) and got him a stroller that he pushed around the crowded mall on and off for about an hour. I'm hoping his love for Wee Bear grows...right now he's just an accessory in his stroller.

Sunday was Easter! Gavin woke up to a basket full of candy and toys! He was so excited! Later that morning, we did an Easter egg hunt and dyed some eggs. He really enjoyed the Easter egg hunt. We kept re-hiding the eggs for him to find. He enjoyed dying the eggs, too, although none of them are currently edible. He decided to smash them in the vinegar dye mess. It was a great weekend, and we really miss Mamaw and GiGi...but most of all, we miss the Easter bunny and his candy.

Gavin's 2nd birthday

It's been a couple of months since Gavin's second birthday, and I haven't blogged about it because I haven't been able to upload pictures to the blog. But, I decided to blog about it now before I forget...will post pictures as I'm able!

Gavin's birthday started the weekend before his actual birthday. The Friday before was like any other Friday...Gavin and I waited for Da Da to come home so we could go out to eat. We decided to wait outside for him and blow some bubbles. He pulled into the driveway, and he had someone in the car with him. It took me about 2 minutes to realize that it was my sister! She flew into Dallas to surprise me and Gavin!! He was soooo excited to see her! He yelled, "GiGi" and ran to the car. He gave her the BIGGEST hug and spent all weekend grabbing her hand saying, "Mon, GiGi". She brought him a bunch of things, including a "fort" and "The Mater Tales" DVD. They spent a lot of the weekend in his tent watching his movie or playing. It was really sad to see her go, but Gavin had so much fun with her.

On Monday, Nana flew in to see Gavin! She spent a couple of days with Gavin and then Gary and I went to Denver. Paw Paw came in on Wednesday to spend time, too. Gavin's party was on Sunday. Initially, his party was going to be a Mickey Mouse party, but by the time it was time for his party, he was into "Cars". So, invitations were Mickey and decorations were cars stuff. He had a great time! He wore his special birthday hat and wanted everyone to sing "Happy Birthday" to him several times. The weather was great, so the kids played outside for a while. It was a wonderful day!

The things Gavin says....

I can't believe that I used to be worried about Gavin's speech. He is speaking in 11-12 word sentences, knows his colors, shapes, can count to about 14, recognizes some letters and knows cause and affect (and really has been doing these things for some time) I think he's already smarter than me. He uses "I" and "you" correctly, for the most part and knows how to use "too". He's also so polite, usually. I really could just eat him up!! Here are some of the funny things he's saying lately:

At dinner when he coughs: "Mama-I ok"
At the table eating: "Mama, is that good?"
When I'm out of the room or not engaged with him: "Mama, whatchoo doin?"
When he sees the golden arches of McDonalds: "'M' is for Mama!"
When I'm talking(Nodding his head): "Oh"
When he wants to go to the park: "I take a nap and then I go to the park"
When he's being sweet: "I love you sooooo much, Mama"
When something unexpected happens: "Oh my, what happened?"
When he does something by himself: "Oh look! I did it!"
When he burps: "'scuse me!"
When I burp: "'Scuse you, mama!"
When he gets a cupcake: (singing) "Happ birtday to you, Happ birtday to Dadin"

He is so sweet. I literally could listen to him talk for hours. He already makes so much sense. I hope talking to him never gets old or any less cute than it is right now.