Ethan and Lauren got hockey skates from Grandpa and Grandma O. After skating both Saturday and Sunday after Christmas they are now loving this new sport!! Dad has even gotten himself a pair of skates and is enjoying sharing one of his childhood loves with them.

Niemeyer Christmas

After Christmas with the Overcashes, we packed up and traveled a couple miles to Grandma and Grandpa Niemeyer's where we all went to Christmas Eve service then home for a busy time of food, presents, and lots of big boys. Gavin has 5 big boy cousins on the Niemeyer side, so it is anything but boring!!

Christmas in Willmar

We traveled for our first overnight with Gavin. We set out on Sunday morning for Christmas at the Overcashes. We went to church and spent the day with Dustin and his family, Jen and Parker, and Grandpa and Grandma. Gavin got a cute cowboy blanket made by Grandma and a picture of Grandpa at age 5, dressed as a cowboy. Both of which will look great in his cowboy themed nursery.

Two Months Old

Gavin's two month well baby check up proved that the past month and a half had been some great weeks of eating. Gavin weighed in at 13 lbs 9 ounces (90%) and was 23 inches long (50%). He was pretty stubborn about being measured and wouldn't let the nurse fully stretch out his legs. Lauren was very upset when Gavin had to get 3 shots in his plump thighs and take one vaccination orally, which of course, he choked on and spit out.

Christmas and Mommy & Daddy's Anniversary

Tonight we celebrated Christmas by opening presents in our own living room. We are so busy traveling during Christmas that we started this tradition of opening gifts on our Anniversary. After opening gifts, putting batteries in toys, and untwisting hundreds of those crazy metal twists ties, we put the kids to bed and Mike made our traditional dinner of seafood for us to enjoy.

The Many Faces of Baby Gavin

When I was little, during Christmas we got out a favorite puzzle to work on as a family. It had a number of squares on it and in each square was a different rendition of Santa. The puzzle was titled "The Many Faces of Santa." I thought you would enjoy a good look at Gavin. These were all taken during the first week in December and I titled this "The Many Faces of Baby Gavin."

A Haircut for Gavin?

No we haven't given our newborn a hair cut but...a couple of weeks ago I found some extra long pieces of blond hair in my bathroom. It didn't take long to figure out who it belonged to. I asked Lauren why she cut her hair and she informed me it was so that her hair wouldn't get in her brothers face when she held him. Then I remembered that I had told her a day earlier that she needed to have a ponytail in her hair before she held Gavin "so that her hair didn't get in his face." She actually did a pretty good job....and as you can see below...she has bangs!

Mommy and Me

Gavin and I are enjoying our time together. He came along with me to my 6 week OB appointment and I held him on the scale with me and then passed him to the nurse and he weighed between 12 and 13 pounds. Here are a few things I want to remember about our early days together: on Gavin's "not-so-great" nights he is usually awake and eating or being fussy from 1 am to 5 am. All other nights he does a good job by only waking Mommy at 1 am and 4 am for a good feeding, diaper change, and quick snuggle before falling back to sleep. Gavin makes many baby noises; some very sweet and precious and some not so sweet like GRUNTS. I would say that he grunts an awful lot. Sometimes Mike and I laugh about it and sometimes (at 4 am) it makes me crazy! :) Gavin got a cold this week and has had a hard time sleeping at night. It has made me very sad, but he is cooing and smiling lots this week too, which makes my day!

My Boys

Ethan and his little brother fell fast asleep last night. Thought you would enjoy a picture of my sleeping boys!

Tuckered Out

After a long weekend of family and food, my crew feel asleep before Dancing With The Stars even began. Our Thanksgiving was great celebrating with the Niemeyer's on Wednesday evening at the Hanson's and dinner at our house on Thursday together with the Overcashes. Dinner was made in my kitchen, but my mom and dad stepped in and helped out because I had to stop to feed Gavin and because I wasn't totally sure how to cook a turkey! :)

Falling Asleep in Class

Tonight before bed Ethan and Lauren each got a book to read to Gavin. He was very attentive to Mr. Ethan and his book, eventhough it looks like he fell asleep during class.

And the Winner is...

I think that the consensus is in...and the winner is...the Nukie!! In this picture you will see a great look at the cheeks and Gavin's good grasp on his nukie. Enjoy!

Gavin, Lauren, Mommy and Cinderella

Tonight the three of us ventured out to the high school to be entertained with great singing, dancing, and acting in Into The Woods. It was a spoof on Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Baker and His Wife. All was well until the musical ran a little long and Gavin wanted to eat and Lauren fell asleep. Never occured to me what I would do with a sleeping 4 year old and a hungry but still sleeping newborn. Luckily my friend, Donna, and her girlfriends helped us all out to the car.

A friend is born!

Today Gavin's friend, Sam was born - exactly four weeks after Gavin. They were supposed to be only one week apart, but Gavin was two weeks early and our friend Sam was one week overdue. We were so excited to hear the great news and see the gorgeous baby. Sam's mom, Katie (my best friend from grade school and high school) is creating a blog for Sam too. It was fun to see pictures of him and hear about his entrance into the world. We are very excited to share motherhood together as this is Katie's first and my third.

Smiles and Cheeks

This morning, a little earlier than Mommy wanted (12:30 am) Gavin gave me his first little smile. Later that morning the public health nurse came and weighed Gavin at a whopping 10 lbs 12 ounces! He is surely gaining some good weight, especially in his cheeks as you can see in the photos.

Ethan's 1st Hunting Outing

Ethan, Daddy, and Champ went out Pheasant hunting this afternoon. It was Ethan's first time out walking with Dad. The weather was perfect, warm enough to wear light clothing, but cool enough to not work up a sweat. Ethan was very excited to go and came home excited too, eventhough they didn't see any birds or deer.

While the big boys were out hunting, Lauren helped me take care of Gavin. She is such a great big sister. She decided to take off his sweater because he felt warm. I snapped a quick picture as she layed next to him. She loves to hold him in her arms and up on her shoulder. She so badly wants me and Daddy to let her hold Gavin while she walks around. I am sure she is tired of hearing "Not yet, sweetie." She reminds me too much of myself. :)

Thumb or Nukie? That is the question.

Gavin hasn't been such a big fan of the nukie (pacifier) like his big brother and sister were. They literally sucked it up from the first time we introduced it. Gavin has had a different approach. He would prefer to nurse all day, but when Mommy says enough is enough, he will take the nukie, but we have caught him sucking his thumb on a number of different occasion. I snapped this picture while my friend Jill was holding him. We were getting ready for a big outing to "Dancing With The Profs". My good friend, Megan, was participating in this event up at Gustavus. She did a great job and we had a fun evening, although Gavin missed seeing her dance, he slept through it all...

2 Weeks and a Trip to see Dr. Knudsen

We love our Pediatrician! We went to see him yesterday for Gavin's two week apointment. He weighed 8 lbs 8 oz. and was 21 inches long, 50% in both areas. The nurse said she even tried to stretch him out while measuring him, but 21 inches was the best she could do. (He was 22 inches when he was born :) He cried throughout the entire appointment because he was hungry. Dr. Knudsen's comment to Gavin at the end of the appointment was, "It is hard to find something wrong when you are so perfect." That sure made his mommy proud!

Pretty as a Princess

I was feeling bad about not getting a picture of the beautiful princess so I found a picture of her at her 4th birthday party. Her Grandma made the dress and cake to look exactly alike. She was indeed a beautiful princess that day. I believe she looked pretty similar on Halloween morning...

Is it The Bee?

Here is the Niemeyer crew. Ethan is Spiderman, a favorite super hero for the time being. Lauren is a Power Ranger, thanks to dad's influence. She went as a beautiful princess this morning to preschool, but dad's suggestion after dinner was obviously the winner. I didn't get a picture of the princess because Gavin was up most of the night so dad told me to get some sleep instead of getting up to take the kids to school. The little yellow and black blurb in the background is Gavin as the bee.

Gavin took a little nap while he waited to see the loot that his brother and sister were out collecting.

Gavin's first Sunday at church

Today we were able to get the whole crew to church. It was fun to have everyone meet Gavin. We also did another first and went out for lunch with our friends the Stuewe's. Gavin slept the entire time we were eating...perfect time for everyone to eat and visit together! At lunch I discussed with Tracy that I wanted to start a blog for Gavin. During Ethan and Lauren's first year I wrote milestones and special events on a blank calendar, hoping to get pictures put into the calendar for each month. The pictures still aren't in Lauren's calendar. (I will get that completed too :) I promise) So after getting everyone settled for a little nap I began this blog. Pretty good for me!!! Gavin this is Mommy's gift to you, so that you can look back at this blog and read all about your first years of life and look at the pictures of you and your family. I love you!

Big Helpers

Ethan and Lauren have been great big helpers since Baby Gavin arrived home. They love to hold him, rock him, and watch him so that mommy can sit in the tub or put laundry in the washer. We have also been so blessed to have dinners coming from our great church family. We have been eating well, and mom and dad haven't had to worry about cooking :)

Adjusting to a family of FIVE!

Gavin's jaundice levels were high on Sunday when we returned to the hospital to have them checked. They had almost doubled. The pediatrician on call asked us to come back on Monday and have them checked again. Then on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. Finally on Wednesday Gavin had gained weight and his levels had decreased for the first time since he was born. We were very excited to not have to travel to Mankato on Thursday and to be able to stay in our jammies.

Niemeyer Family Heading Home

Here is a picture of the five of us ready to leave the hospital. It was quite the process getting everyone prepared for the trip. Ethan had to carry the backpack, Lauren was in charge of the diaper bag, Dad would carry Gavin, while Mom carried the flowers as she was pushed out to the car in a wheelchair. The humorous part was getting Gavin in the car seat. He was feeding quite often at that point, so Mommy had to make a trip to the bathroom (which at that point is not a quick task) nurse Gavin, get him in the car seat not crying, have everyone else suited up and head out the door. We made it all the way home to then turn onto Wood Duck Street when Gavin started crying again!

Ethan's Note to Gavin and Mommy

During one of the few visits that Ethan and Lauren made to see their little brother in the hospital, Ethan found the little white board on the wall and created a sweet note to his brother and mommy letting us know how much he loved us! I know that the stick figure on the bottom is Baby Gavin, but not quite sure what the other picture is...

Visitors and Ready to Go HOME!

After spending a night in the not-so-comfy hospital bed, we were ready to go home. We had some fun visitors on Thursday and Friday before we went home. Auntie Jen and Grandma Mary were present at my birth, Grandpa Oscar patiently waited outside "looking like a deer in headlights" as Dr. Gildner stated. Big Brother Ethan, Big Sister Lauren, Grandpa and Grandma Niemeyer, Marcus and Cousin Parker, Aunt Carmen, Cousins Brock and Brogan, Mayos, Stuewes, Jill Hass, and Glovers came to visit and hold me tight.

Gavin's Birthday

This morning Gavin Michael entered the world. After having contractions since Monday (my birthday) we finally decided on Wednesday evening about 10:00 pm that it was time to go to the hospital. I was concerned that I wasn't really in labor because I was technically still 12 days from my due date. But once we arrived at the hospital, the nurses checked me and said that I was staying to have this baby!! Things progressed in a somewhat textbook manner until about 2:00 am when I was at an almost 8 and stayed there until about 6:00 am. The nurses said that the bag of waters was still partially in tact and holding him in. His head wasn't able to descend until that bag of waters completely broke. At about 6:30 am it did indeed break completely, and for the next 15 minutes I was having to breath through contractions instead of what I wanted to do...PUSH. Finally the doctor arrived at 6:45 am and I told him I had to push and sure enough Gavin Michael was born 6 minutes later!! The doctor (not my OB :( - who had just left for a hunting trip that evening) was parked in a handicapped parking stahl, good thing he didn't waste time driving around looking for a legal spot to park!