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!