Updates on the Family...

...Sean has been riding his bike to work. That makes me proud.
...I head to Girls' Camp tomorrow and get to play with an awesome group of girls.
...We will bless Gavin on Sunday and found a sweet, simple outfit for him.
...Gavin's longest sleep stretch at night is now 5.5 hours. Hey, I will take anything I can get!
...I will return to work in approximately two weeks. I think I might cry that whole day. Careful Dentrix!
...We had professional pictures taken of Gavin and our little family last week. I cannot wait to see the results! Dustin Bradbury took them and you can check out his work at http://www.dustinbradbury.com/
...We saw the Dark Knight last week and love it! It was quite dark but I thought the movie was amazingly done.
...Sean got sunburned from the intense Park City sun and received second degree burns.
...Gavin's hair is starting to loose its blonde highlights and gaining an auburn color.
...We go for Gavin's two month appointment on Monday. How will I handle the shots?!?!

Picture Time (take two)

Some days he is all smiles!

(Refer to the Ptosis post for explanation of his eye)

And sometimes the smiles fade, and he is ready to move on.
And then some poops happens...And he always naps with Hobbes (his comfort giraffe).
At the Provo Library, they had a 'Mommy and Me' book time. I learned all new nursery songs which helped since I had been singing Christmas songs to Gavin. His favorite was 'O Come All Ye Faithful' by the way.
Nicole with one of her twins playing 'Wheels on the Bus.' All of our babes were asleep the whole time.
Hillary and Addie came too which were the perfect age and audience for this activity.
Car Seat row on the way back home! Notice them still sleeping...

An update on my son's pirate eye!

We went to the Pediatric Opthamalogist and here is the quick run down of the results:

• Gavin's right eye has the condition known has ptosis. Ptosis is when the muscle to raise and lower the eyelid is slightly longer and weaker than the other eye. Ptosis is also commonly called droopy eyelid.
• Along with time which can strengthen the muscle, the only real corrective action is surgery. And surgery will only occur around 3 or 4 years of age. Until then time is our only hope.
• We also learned that Gavin is near sided and only like 5% of babies are. Meaning he can see objects close to him but not far away. And the only corrective action for near-sightedness is glasses which he will have to probably wear when he is 1 or 2. I am going to be a mom of one of those cute kids with glasses!
• Finally his eyes do not lock on a object as much as the doctor liked. Once his eyes found an object they did not always stay together. This is a side effect of the ptosis that has to be monitored closer. We have to return to the doctor in about a month to check on all his progress.

You know you are the parent of a newborn when...

...you smell your baby's poop everywhere (even when he is not around).
...you start referring to yourself in the third person (i.e. Mommy or Daddy)
...you start to snap your son's outfit up from diapering when he poops in the new diaper before you are done.
...you have a son and you have been peed on-and it's been multiple times.
...you look back at your babe's birth photos and he looked like an alien. But at the time he was the cutest thing ever to be born.
...you buy diapers more than you buy milk.
...you cannot stop talking about him and cannot imagined what you talked about before.
...you look into your babe's eyes and see way too much love.
...you have mastered many tasks that should deserve two hands but now you can do it with one.
...you consider five hours of sleep in a row a 'good night''.
...you do laundry every other day (and usually none of it is adult items).
...your living room and entire house is slowing be overtaken with baby 'essentials.' (i.e. swing, activity gym)
...you think time stands still and flies by at the same time.
...you become more comfortable breastfeeding in front of people and places you never thought you would.
...you stop buying clothes for yourself and start buying clothes that could only fit your hand.
...you do not need to set an alarm clock anymore for your son will do that well enough.
...you started carrying a large diaper bag in the beginning and slowly resort to carrying less.
...your schedule now depends on when you have to feed.
...you whisper and tip-toe around at night in fear of waking the babe.
...you cannot imagine your life without your child!

Parenthood is the greatest blessing ever. We are so content with our little man. He brings excitement, joy, and laughter to our home everyday.

The Many Faces of Gavin

In trying to capture my boy smiling, I captured every other expression this morning. All the while he was all smiles in between the photos. I love him nonetheless.