Merry Christmas

We had such a fun Christmas this year with little baby Gavin! Even though he wont remember it at all... he got lots of fun toys and clothes. He is gonna be one well dressed baby! Ren and I werent supposed to buy eachother gifts this year, but we both cheated. Except I bought him pajama pants and he got me wii fit plus. (totally fair right?!?) It was kinda a gift for both of us. Its nice to have cause its like I get a workout without going to the gym. Its been so hard to go tot he gym with baby G. We took our family pictures last week too. There are some really good ones. If you want to look at them you can go to our friend Patrick's blog. (He was the photographer and a very good close friend of Ren and myself) www.anibaldistudio.blogspot.com.

We blessed baby Gavin in church yesterday, and he looked so cute in his little white outfit! Ren did a really good job on the blessing... brought a little tear to my eye! In our church we give babies a special blessing when they are infants, and then they are baptized when they turn 8. So it was a special day!

McCotter Christmas Party

One of Ren's favorite clients invited us to their annual Christmas party at their new house in Rancho Sante Fe. They are the nicest most genuine people and Ren has really loved working with them over the past few months. So they have a huge Christmas party every year, and its all about the kids. There was probably 3 kids to every adult there and they have a Santa Clause come and the McCotters get gifts for ALL the kids and Santa hands them out! Its so fun. We met some really nice people and had a good time. Gavin got to sit on Santa's lap for the first time. His face looks funny cause his eyes just got huge! So Gavin got a noise maker toy and a candy cane from Santa. Ren ate the candy cane. It was a really fun night!

The Tube Amp

So if you know Ren, you know how much he LOVES great quality sound. I always tell him that he needs a bigger head to hold all his brains because he is so smart. He built his own 6 1/2 inch speakers and a tube amplifier to go with them. He worked so hard on them and it only took him like 2 days! He absolutely loves the set up he made in our upstairs bedroom. I think he was happier getting that set up than when we got married!!! We had our friends Jeff and Justyn over the other night and we just laid on the floor listening to music pretty much all night. He also made it so I could plug in my new guitar that my dad built me. I only know 3 notes so far, but Im learning! (and yeah, my hair is a lot darker... in case you didnt notice!)

Doctor visit :-(

Gavin went to the doctor today and he got 4 shots :/ Poor guy. So on top of him having a cold he has a big ol' bruise on his leg and a huge knot... he has been crying all night. Ren finally took bath with him and he loves the water so it calmed him a little. It was funny being in the doctors office, and all the mom's are worried about their kids getting sick from the other kids... and i'm the one sitting in the corner coughing and sneezing. He weighs 13.6 pounds now and is 26 1/2 inches long. Big boy!

O Christmas tree!

We got our Christmas tree up this weekend!!! I love the way a tree makes your house smell so good! This is Ren and mines 4th Christmas being married, and this is the first tree together. Gavin loves looking at the lights! We've been putting him in him bumbo seat in front of the tree and he just goes into a daze! We took our Christmas card picture in front of the tree today, but all 3 of us are sick with a wicked cold. We hurried and got our clothes for the picture on and then changed back into our pajamas and laid on the couch. Gavin has been doing okay with his cold. He is really congested at night so I have the humidifier going and have him propped up on a pillow to sleep. He cant keep his binky in his mouth cause of all his snot and he has a little cough. Ren and I just stared feeling sick yesterday. We both have sore throats and lots of flem and congestion. So if we feel this icky, I can image how Gavin's little tiny body is feeling. He's a tough little guy though and keeps smiling at me!

So close to laughing... but not quite there yet

Gavin has been getting bigger everyday! He is getting so much more fun because he is smiling more, and you can tell he is trying to laugh because he'll smile all huge and make a big grunt noise. We had a good rainy day yesterday with hail... G's first stormy day. We have him sitting in his little bumbo seat for a little bit each day and for the most part he loves it! He has been sleeping a lot better too. The past few nights I have got up around 3am to change his diaper and then I put him right back down and he sleeps until 7ish. Its so nice to get a good nights sleep! We all went to the temple the Friday after Thanksgiving, and Ren and Tad took the boy on a walk around the temple grounds... got some good pictures. Such photogenic boys! He is just so cute I love this baby!

Thanksgiving Day

I LOVE Thanksgiving! I love the excuse to eat all day until your insides feel like they are exploding... and its okay because... its Thanksgiving! I cooked this year at my house and there was 9 big people and 1 little Gavin. We had a lemon rosemary turkey that turned out delish... garlic mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, sweet potatoes, stuffing, salad, corn, and all kinds of sparkling cider! I made a pumpkin pie for the first time too this year. It was a Paula Deen recipes so you know it was yummy! I got a huge turkey so everyone could take leftovers, and Ren and I made turkey pot pies with our leftovers. So this year its a no brainer, I am sooo grateful for little Gavin. I am grateful for my little family and for a really good husband who loves me no matter how crazy I am. Im grateful for our church and the principles it teaches us. And I am grateful for the testimony I have of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I am grateful for our beautiful country and our freedoms... we really do have so much to be thankful for!