HELP HELP I'M BEING EATEN!

The other day, I was sitting on the couch watching Gavin play. I happened to turn away for a minute, and then I hear a *thud* and then a squeal. I look up, and saw this:


No, his feet are not on the floor....too bad I didnt think to do a video, his little feet were kicking in the air, and he was not happy. Being the great mother that I am, my first thought was, 'ooohhhh! I need to take some pictures of this and post them!' Not something like, I should get him out of there. So, yeah, his new toybox was trying to eat him the other day. It was very amusing.

poor baby

So, yesterday Gavin was playing peek-a-boo with me, using the curtains to hide. He's laughing one minute, screaming and grabbing his eye the next. I figured he probably got some cat fur in it, or poked himself. So, I put him down for his nap, where he has a hard time going to sleep. When he wakes up (after only 45 mins) he was screaming worse than before his nap. I kept him from rubbing his eyes, hoping that it would get better. It didnt. He just wanted to be held, and walked. So, I call the advice nurse at hs clinic, and get put on hold for almost 45 mins!! When I finally talked to someone, I just had to leave a message. Fortunately, the advice nurse called me back relatively fast. She said that she was going to make me an appt for tomorrow (today) but she could hear Gavin screaming in the background. So, she advised me to take him to the ER, because it sounded like he might have something in it. So, we go to the ER (and got seen the fastest EVER) and they do the dye in his eye, to see if theres a scratch. Imagine my surprise when it showed not a scratch, but more a GOUGE. Gavin had taken a rectangular section off his cornea when he was playing peek-a-boo. Only my son would do something like that. But, poor baby! No wonder his eye was hurting! So, we got ointment to put on his eye, that would help soothe it, but also help prevent any infection to occur in his eye. The ER doc said that his eye should be healed in a day or so, since he's a baby and babies tend to heal faster than adults. Yeah, that's good....it takes 2 of us to put the ointment in, and we have to do it 3 times a day. We only have to do the ointment for about 3 days, so hopefully I wont have to do it at Joni's house. That would be interesting.

Anyway, Gavin's feeling somewhat better this morning. Although, he did fall and hit that same eye on the couch, so now he'll have a bruise there. Sigh. My poor baby. All I can think now, is "of course it's MY child who does something like hurt himself playing one of the calmest games babies can play. Of course!". Only Gavin.

check out my new riiiiide.....

So, the Jeep was finally on it's last legs. Russell and I talked a lot about getting a new car, but didn't think we would be able to. Fortunately, God smiled on us, and we were able to. So, here is our new ride. It's a Black 2003 Chevy Trailblazer, extended. It's got leather seats, which Russell says is good, since it makes it easier to clean up with kids. It's got 3rd row seating, so hopefully we can keep using it for a while. You know, that just depends on how our luck holds out with this car.

So, this is the outside...nothing fancy.

Front seats, the angle's not very good, but we have good leg room, and a cd player. I guess that's all that really counts...lol
Back..with 3rd row folded down. When it is, we have a HUGE trunk area. Lots of room there. Even when they are up, there is enough room for the stroller. That's all that really matters, right?
And, Russell took this picture for all you guys. It's the engine, obviously. I believe it's a V-6.

So, that's the car. Like I said, it's nothing fancy, but it's a bit newer than the Jeep was, and we have a warranty on it. We traded the Jeep in, got 1500 for it, and used that for the down payment. It worked out well. We actually bought it yesterday, but we were at the dealership so late that the tag guys left. Oh well, we picked it up this morning and saw our salesman. He said we were good luck cuz he sold us one yesterday, and he was selling another car this morning. We also found out, that if we get people to go to the dealership and buy a car, if they say Russell Brown sent us, we get a check. It's not a lot of money, but that's ok. Anything will help us. Ok...enough of my rambling. My little boy has a diaper rash and he's crying. Daddy's changing his diaper. Better go comfort him.

party: part 2

So, part 2 of my party posts are the adults that were there. Well, besides me. There aren't too many pictures of me in there. Anywho, here are the women.

Crystal Eagan: mother of 2, and preggers with her 3rd. She was one of the 3 pregnant women there. She is about 6 weeks behind me. She is in Russell's unit.

Michelle Gaul: wife of John Gaul, who is in Russell's unit, and is the head armorer. Michelle is also preggers. She is the second of he 3 pregnant women. I'm the third. Michelle is due first, though.
Melissa Munoz: wife of Agustin Munoz, who is in Russell's unit, and works with him in the Arm's Room. She is also a mother to two.
Nicole Maxfield: wife of Dustin Maxfield, in Russell's unit. She is a mother of two, also. All the other mothers each have a boy and a girl. She provided the party with the makings for a fabulous cheese dip, and now Robbie's addicted. This would be one of our two SOB's. This is Sarge. He wasnt too thrilled with all the people, or the fact that the kids kept putting Gavin's party hat on him. He just wanted to hide.
Ahh...and now for the men. Ok..I managed to get most of the guys into one picture (much easier than getting all the women...since most of them had kids to tend to).

From left to right: Robbie Blinn, obviously my brother. Russell Brown, obviously my hubby. Matt Gray (or Grey...I can never remember how to spell his last name) who is in Russell's unit and spends quite a lot of time here. He likes our food. Agustin Munoz, armorer and another man in Russ' unit. John Gaul, head armorer and another of Russ' fellow soldiers.

Russell and John...they had a company cookout that day and John got VERY burned. Russ didnt have to go, since he was supposed to have a 4 day pass this week and it got revoked. John let him go early most of the week.
Dustin Maxfield, another fellow soldier, and former Reservesman. And, obviously John.
Number 2 of the 2 SOB's. This one is Major. He didnt mind the kids, he actually played with them. And, he didnt mind the fact that they kept putting Gavins hat on him. He just sat there and chilled. He's good like that.
So, those are the adults, and the cats, of the party. Tomorrow, or maybe later today, I'll do the kids. There were 6 of them, not including Gavin.

PARRRTTEEEYYYYY!

So, tonight we had the birthday party for our little one year old boy. It ended up being a roaring success. We had a good number of people show up (that's a whole different post). 3 families with 2 kids each came, so the kids all played together. It was fun.

Gavin, wearing his oh-so-stylish hat and bib, with the banner that matched on his highchair. This was before dinner, so his high chair is nice and clean.

The cake that I make and decorated myself. Woot! I did a good job! And, I managed to write in cursive with frosting!

Getting his first taste of cake. He took the blue frosting off the cake, and it turned his lips blue. He really liked the frosting.

Enjoying his cake. At one point, he took the cake with both hands and shoved it into his mouth. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

His presents. From left to right. He got a block sorter, has different shaped that fit into the top. A bath toy that is a shark that can open and close it's mouth (with some help) and it can swallow two fish (that are also squirter toys). One of those doodle things for little kids...you fill the little pen thing with water, and they can draw on the board. Russ enjoyed it. A very cute sweatsuit. It's blue and brown, and it has a shirt that comes with it. 5 books...yes...5! Gavin was in HEAVEN when he opened all those books. He almost didn't want to rip any more paper! He got 4 Sandra Boyton books (Snoozers, Birthday Monsters, and Let's Dance, Little Pookie from Maw Maw, Uncle Robbie, and his fiancee Laura, and The Going to Bed Book from mommy and daddy) and he got a touch and feel peekaboo book. And, last but not least, he got a turtle that counts and tells you shape, and also plays music. He liked that too.

And, we sang to him. I don't really know how he felt about it. One of the guys started singing it, and Gavin freaked out..but then he stopped so I could turn on the camera. When it came time to sing it for real, I think he handled it quite well.

dont blink...

because this...

turns into this, all too fast.

To my sweet baby (or not so much baby) boy on his first birthday.
You have made my life wonderful. You are a joy to watch grow up. Just slow down a bit, will you? This year has gone by waayy too fast. Just last year, you were so tiny, and so helpless, and now look at you! You can feed yourself, you can walk, you can run, and no one told you to grow up.
I blame this on my mother. If she had been able to keep her kids from growing too fast, I would too. So, mom, or maw maw, it's your fault that Gavin is now 1, and it's your fault that he's growing too fast. Thanks..lol
Gavin, I love you more than you will ever know. You will always be my baby boy. Be strong. Be good. And, always, love unconditionally, as I love you.
Love, your momma.

So, I say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAVIN!

dang...I was tagged.

I was tagged by not just one person, but TWO! So, here you go Mom and Mandy! Here are six things you either knew about me or didnt.

1) I hate grape flavored things. Food, candy, and drinks. All of it makes me want to vomit. The only thing that I like that tastes like grapes are actual grapes.

2) When I have avocado's in the house, I like to make guacamole (did I spell that right?). It makes it last longer, and then I can eat it anytime.

3) I am not a morning person. Or a night owl. Or really an anytime person. Right now, if I could sleep all day, I would. As it is now, I take naps in the afternoon. But, if I could sleep for 24 hours a day, I would do alright.

4) I'm wrestling with my brain. I want a girl this time, and I want to know now. But, I still want my baby to be a surprise. What to do, what to do? I think I've figured it out.

5) I love love love romance novels. I love romantic comedies. I love tv shows that have to do with romance in any form.

6) I dont think there are six things that are unknown about me. Everyone pretty much knows everything. I dont try to hide things. lol

So, there you have it. I dont know anyone that I can tag, but there's mine. So, enjoy these tidbits. haha

more..better...newer...

And, for you Celeste, here is the picture with kleenex shoved up Kevins nose.

Heres the video of Gavin walking that's normal. You know, he's not walking up the wall? And, I'm not bribing him...lol