Happy Birthday My Sweet Boy!

It feels like just yesterday that I was rockin' my New Years Eve at Timpanogas Hospital with a new born baby boy in my arms. Words can't explain the love I felt in my heart that night and it has only continued to grow. I can't believe Gavin turned 4 today. He's growing up way too fast! I don't know how we got so lucky to have Gavin in our lives. I can't fathom life with out him. It really feels like he's always been here. Gavin has the biggest heart I've ever seen. He is still willing to give me cuddles and kisses. He'll walk up the stairs, smiles at me and says "I love you mom!" Nothing makes me happier. I'm sure I'll cry when that stops. He cares so much about other people. There's nothing he loves more than to be surrounded by family. And he always misses them like crazy when they leave. I have a ritual of going in his room after he's fallen asleep at night and giving him a kiss on his warm rosy cheeks. I've stood in his room many nights thanking God for sending us such a precious spirit. I feel so blessed and hope I can be the mother he deserves. We love you so much Gavin and are very proud of what a good, big boy you are!

My side of the family spent Christmas at our house this year. With Mom and Dad gone our house has become the Shumway Hotel. Except we’re not charging a nightly rate (hey there’s an idea). Even though things get a little crazy with so many people in the house I am so grateful to have such a close family. I love that we are able to get together so often. Although sometimes we seem to revert to are childhoods and start fighting like little children, we always seem to work it out. We’ve had so much fun together and I wouldn’t trade my family for the world.

The Quinn family has a tradition of unwrapping one gift every hour. So we decided to give it a try this year. I think it worked out really well. Especially for the kids because they were able to enjoy each toy as they opened it instead of just jumping into the next gift. However we were still opening presents till 8:00 at night.

Gavin has loved having his cousins around. The first thing he says when he gets up every morning is, “I’m going to see if Keely’s awake.” Today she wasn’t here when we got up because they had gone to meet some friends for breakfast. He was very disappointed. Then tonight they had to go meet another set of friends for dinner and neither of them could stand another separation, so Keely stayed here to get in a little more playing before bedtime. They are truly best friends and I hope they remain close as they grow.

We have loved having everyone here and will be sad to see everyone go. Hopefully we can all get together again soon.

P.S. Sorry mom and dad! We didn’t get many Christmas pictures because Lisa lost my camera right before Christmas and really slacked with her picture taking. We’ll try to get some more pics of everybody before they all leave.

Sledding With The Fam

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVE! 12/14

You are and wonderful husband and an amazing daddy. We are so lucky to have you in our lives. Here's to another great year! We love you!

XOXO,
Arah & Gavin

Why does this happen?

Somebody help me! I don't know why this keeps happening. Look at my post below. Every time I make a post with more than one paragraph it just automatically blends everything together. So I had to make my second paragraph a bullet point. Am I doing something wrong?

Once There Was A Snowman

It snowed on Saturday and Gavin was so excited to build a snowman. Gavin and his daddy bundled up first thing in the morning and got started. It hadn't snowed much yet so they had to work pretty hard to gather all the snow. They had to improvise on his eyes, nose and mouth. They used grapefruit for the eyes, a potato for his nose, and kisses for his mouth. He never did get any arms. But Gavin was really proud of his snowman. I had been gone all day, so I was really excited to come home and see their masterpiece. But when I got home it was devastating, the poor snowman had died. I think it just snowed so much that he could stand the extra weight and just gave up. Gavin said that he's just sleeping. I guess he's a glass half full kind of kid. We promised we would fix him Monday. But I'm kind of hoping he doesn't remember, Brrrr!

• P.S. I have to tell a totally unrelated, embarrassing story. Yesterday at church of all places I walked into the Men's bathroom. I don't know what happened. I guess I was just off in my own little world for a minute. There were 2 teenage boys and 2 little boys inside. It took me a minute to even realize what I'd done. And by the time I walked out of the Men's bathroom the teenagers were laughing uncontrollably. Needless to say I was bright red. But i'm sure they were nice enough to keep it to them selves, right?

Christmas Party Fun!

Last night was Gavin's Christmas party at Kids Village. We had lots of fun! He got to eat yummy treats, make snowman soup, and best of all sit on Santa's lap. They also had all the kids give a little Christmas performance. Its was really cute! You can tell the girl next to him is really into it. We're so happy to have found this school. Gavin loves it and is learning so much. When we left the party they gave us a little book with him and his classmates talking about their favorite food. Here's Gavin's:

PIZZA

1. Who makes it for you? My mom and dad
2. What's in it? Macaroni and Cheese
3. How do you make it? With macaroni. And some Cheese.
4. How long does it take to make? Like 45 minutes.
5. How long do you cook it for? 5 minutes.
6. How hot is the oven? This hot (Holds up 5 fingers)
7. When do you eat it? In 45 minutes

Toilet Seat Up or Down?

I haven't been that hard on Gavin YET about putting the toilet seat down when he's done going potty. But I've decided it's time because this is the lecture he gave me today."Mom you need to make sure that you put the toilet seat up when you are done going potty, so that I don't have to lift it up every time. Sometimes I forget and pee on the seat."

Thanks A LOT Lisa!

So I was talking to my sister Lisa the other day on the phone and she told me I had to DVR Sharkboy and Lavagirl for Gavin. She said it was Keely's new favorite show. So I took her wonderful advice and did and I haven't heard the end of it. He is OBSESSED with this show! He would watch it 5 times a day if I would let him. I've had to limit him to once a day, but that doesn't stop him from asking. It's usually the first thing he asks for in the morning and then again several times throughout the day. Oh, by the way, did I say thanks Lisa? So the other night after Gavin was asleep I went in to give him a kiss on his warm, rosy cheeks (I have to do this every night) and he said, "Why did you make me out of lava?" This, of course, is a line from the movie. He's always been a sleep talker, but that was hilarious! You know a child has watched too much of something when he starts quoting it in his sleep.

I kept hoping this wouldn't happen :-(

So I've been tagged. Thank goodness it's only 6 things. And if anyone ever thinks of tagging me with 100 things, you have to know now that I will NEVER do it, 6 is hard enough. Anyway here it goes...

1. I think I'm a little OCD. And here are just a few example of why:

• I change my pillow case at least 3 times a week. I can't sleep if I feel like my face is lying on germs and bacteria.
• I get totally grossed out by things with a lot of seeds, like pomegranates or kiwi. I can still eat them as long as I don't look at them too closely.
• I hate it when homes or buildings have ivy or some foliage growing on it. I feel like I need to get a large spatula and scrape it off.
• My towels have to be folded a certain way. If I ever have company and they fold my towels, I have to go back and refold them. I can't stand not having them exactly right.
• I am obsessed with not getting germs. I wash Gavin's and my hands constantly. And I carry Wet Ones and antibacterial gel everywhere I go. But I think this is a good obsession. Hey, we hardly ever get sick.
  

The lists go on, but you get the picture.

2. I love to read! It's actually a bit of an addiction I would say. When I'm reading a good book, it consumes me. I literally can't put it down and everything in my life gets neglected. Laundry piles up, dishes go unwashed, furniture goes undusted, my husband goes unfed... It's really a problem. I'll try to pace myself, but every time I walk by the book I can seriously hear it calling my name. So I have to limit myself to how many books I can read a month.

3. I HATE saying "I'm sorry". Steve will attest to this. I guess you could say I have a little bit of stubborn streak. (I wonder where I get that?) Even when I know for sure I was totally 100% wrong, I can't do it. I would honestly rather eat a bar of soap. But hey, the first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

4. I kissed Mark Mcgrath, crazy! When I was 19 years old, I was at a Sugar Ray concert and he pulled me up on stage and laid one on me. Steve likes to tease me about it. Whenever we see him on TV he'll say, "look, its your boyfriend." Oh well, guess I'll never live that one down.

5. I love dogs, and I don't think my husband will ever let me have one. He HATES them! I had a dog named Charnise growing up. We got her right after my big brother, Mike, was born and she died a month after he left on his mission. She was a member of the family. It was really hard on all of us when she died. But I was happy to have had her in my life.

6. I was 3 weeks away from going into the MTC when Steve and I got engaged. I had a calling to Independence, Missouri. It was one of the hardest choices I've ever had to make. I was so excited to go on a mission, and I never was going to be one of "those girls." When I decided to go on a mission, that was it. Nothing was going to deter me. But then this great guy from my singles ward asked me out because he new I was going on a mission and thought he was safe (ha,ha). And 2 months later we were engaged, and 4 months after that, married. Although this was a very hard decision for me, I've never doubted for a second that I made the right choice. And here I am, 9 years later with an amazing husband and our wonderful boy. Obviously God knew what he was doing.

I don't know what the rules are, like how many people I'm suppose to tag. So I'm just tagging Laura, b/c I know how much she loves to talk about herself and Julee, because she never updates her blog. Also Steve was tagged by the same person who tagged me, so stay tuned.

Tree Hunting

We decided to get a real tree this year, since my whole family (except mom and dad of course) is going to be here for Christmas. We always had one growing up and I was feeling nostalgic. It was a last minute decision, so we got to the tree farm about 15 minutes before they closed. And that was way too much pressure to have to decide so fast. Plus all the really good ones had been tagged by the early birds. We were freezing though, so we probably wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway. I hope it looks okay once we get it in our living room. We're crossing our fingers.

New York, New York!

I just got back from an amazing girls weekend in NY with some awesome friends, Lisa, Jana and Emily! We did a lot of shopping, eating, laughing, talking and saw a couple of shows. We were also able to hook up with a friend of ours that lives in New York, Emily D. It was wonderful to spend so much time with such fun girls. I forgot my camera, so you can go to Lisa's blog to see pics and read more about the trip.

Thank you girls for the belly laughs and pillow talk!

A Great 2 Weeks!

I know it's been a while since I posted, but things have been a little crazy around here. We just had our whole family here for 2 weeks. My mom and dad are leaving on a mission to Australia on the 12th and everyone came to spend time with them. Gavin had lots of fun with his cousins. And Steve had a lot of fun hiding in the basement with Dad and his brothers in law watching sports and playing XBOX. Luckily the basement was finished in time or we all would've gone nuts. It was really great to have everyone. I always love spending time with the family. We love you Mom and Dad and will miss you very much!!



P.S. Lisa finished her slide of the trip first, stealing the best song and the best pics. So I copied her song and used some of the same pics. If you want to see more pics you can go to Lisa's blog.

Such a Big Boy!

Gavin had a primary program today. And he did such a good job! He said his part all by himself without any help. We are so proud of him!

AT LEAST SOMEONE IS HAPPY ABOUT THE SNOW

Yesterday when it started raining Gavin asked me if he could play in the rain. So we put the raincoat and rain boots on and he ran out to play. A few minutes later he ran in and said, "Mom it's snowing!" I couldn't believe it, SNOW! Are you kidding me? Come on, I feel like Fall just started. I'm not ready for this. :-( I haven't even bought Gavin a new snowsuit or snow boots yet. I think I'm in denial, but Gavin loved it. He and his friends played out there for a good hour before I had to make him come in. And then we woke up this morning with a sheet of snow on the ground. That's it, I'm moving to Arizona!

What Were We Thinking????

As most of you know we are finishing our basement. It has turned into a love-hate relationship. We have tried to do most of it our selves. And when I say we I mean Steve. He has worked so hard and done an amazing job. And Gavin has been such a trooper. He's been so patient with us. But lately I'm just ready to wash my hands of it and hire the rest out. Our latest tasks have been finish work and painting and I thought no big deal, right? Wrong, I say again, what were we thinking? If I never have to spackle, caulk, sand, or tape again, it will be too soon. And Painting, YUCK! We have a deadline of the 22nd of OCTOBER (yes 2 days away). To be finished painting and ready for carpet! I hope we make it! Wish us luck!!! And yes I see the irony of my shirt.

Pumpkin Picking With Grandma Lynda.

We had lots of fun picking pumpkins, except when it came time to take the picture with Grandma. That mean look on his face wasn't because he didn't want a picture with Grandma. If you look in the left hand corner of the picture you can see a yellow squash looking thing with wort like things all over it (I have no idea what it really is). Well Gavin didn't want anything to do with that squash, let alone stand right next to it. It was totally grossing him out. Gavin OCD? nah :-)

Baby In The House

Julee and Ayden came to stay with us last week. Quickly it became evident that we don't have a baby friendly home. He's crawling all over the place and getting into everything. Cords, electronics, home decor, plastic bags, dog tails, you name it. As long as it's not any sort of a toy, Ayden will want to play with it. Luckily he had Julee, Grandma, Gavin, and me to monitor him. I don't know for sure how Julee keeps up with him at home. Gavin loved having him here and was very protective of him. Ayden loved playing with Gavin and watching him run around.

I going to give a little update on him since Julee is so terrible about it. (We love her anyway.) Ayden is almost 8 months old. He weights 23 pounds and is 29 inches long. He started crawling at about 6 1/2 months . His first words were hi, mom, and then Arah. Sorry Zeb. I know a lot of you probably don't believe me, but I heard it and I'm sticking to it.

Ayden is such a loving, cuddly boy. His mom has given him enough squeezes (we all know how Julee loves to squeeze) in his first 8 months that he has learned how to squeeze back. He'll sit and cuddle with anyone who wants for as long as they want. I love it!!

Zeb and Julee are great parents and they have a wonderful baby boy. We are so blessed to have that precious boy in our lives. We can't wait for then to come back and hopefully Zeb can Stay next time.

Vegas, Baby, Vegas!

Steve and I decided to take a quick vacation before my mom and dad left on a mission, so they could take care of Gavin. So my wonderful mom (dad was hunting) stayed with Gavin, and Steve and I went to Vegas. We had a ton of fun. I think the best part of the whole trip might have been the drive without a child in the car. We just listened to Harry Potter on our i pod and drove with no interruptions. Those of you with kids know what I'm talking about. We just hung out at the pool, saw a comedy show, walked The Strip, and hung out with some old friends (see slide show). We had a great time. Thanks Mom!

Let's Put It To a Vote

Today was picture day and a couple of weeks ago I decided that I was going to get Gavin's hair cut short right after pictures. But I took him to get a trim a week before pics and the lady totally butchered him. Luckily I was able to find a neighbor to clean it up, but I was still very unhappy about it being cut so short, b/c I wanted at least one school picture of him with his long hair. Anyway the point of this story is that I can't decide what to do now, so I'm putting it to a vote. I know many of you have very strong opinions on this matter (Grandma Gibby) so if you want your opinion heard then place your vote. Long, in between, or short (I don't have a picture of him with short hair so you'll have to just imagine it). And remember your vote counts;-) P.S. Don't pay attention to his cheesy smile, just look at the hair.

First Catch

Steve and Gavin went on their first fishing trip. Gavin was having lots of fun with his daddy until he actually caught a fish. He was just sure it was going to jump right of the line and bite him. Steve tried to take a picture of him by his first catch, but Gavin wasn't having it. If you look closely at the picture he is crying and trying to hide from it. But all in all Steve counted the trip as a success, because for the most part they had a great time. Plus they caught that HUGE fish ;-)

Gavin's 1st Day of School

Gavin was so excited to go back to school and I was too, of course. I mean two free hours three days a week! But the day of, I started getting a little anxiety for some reason. And on the way to school Gavin said "Mommy are they going to like me?" and that just about broke my heart. I hate that he has already started worrying about things like that. Anyway, when he went into his classroom and saw his teacher and the other students he was so excited he could barely hold still for the picture. I was just so proud of him. He seemed so grown up to me. I don't know what came over me, but I walked out of there bawling like a baby. Where did that come from? You can never truly understand the phrase "they grow up too fast" until you're a parent. They grow up WAY too fast!!

Conversations With Gavin

1/06/08

"Mom, it's kind of fun being sick." My response, "Oh really, why?" Gavin, "because then you and daddy have to get me anything I ask for." Way to look on the bright side kid!


11/11/08

Yesterday when I picked Gavin up from school (the first time he’s seen me since Thursday night) I was so excited to see him. I grabbed him and hugged him and said, “I missed you so much, did you miss me?” His reply, “Yeah, but when we get home will you tell me when your done cuddling me so I can go to Kyle’s?” That boy really knows how to make a girl feel loved.


11/06/08

Gavin looked outside today at about 5:30pm and said to himself, "Man, I just woke up!" I guess the time change is affecting him.

10/02/08

Gavin pointing at Steve's belly says, "Daddy you have a belly hole." Steve says, "No that's my belly button." Pulling up his shirt an pointing at his own belly button Gavin says, "This is a belly button dad, that's a belly hole."

6/02/08

Today I was explaining to Gavin why Steve and I were married in the temple. I was telling him we wanted to be sealed to our family for time and all eternity. That we are so happy Heavenly Father blessed us with such a sweet boy and we will be together forever.

Gavin - "You know what mom, when I was in Heaven I was thinking the exact same thing. I wanted to come to you and dad and be together forever."

Me - "So we were on the same page, huh?"

Gavin - "Yep, the exact same page."

How did I get so lucky?!

6/23/08

Gavin was out with some neighborhood kids today who were selling kool-aid on the corner when he ran inside and said,

Gavin - "Mom there's strangers outside!"

Me -"What!"

Gavin - "There's strangers outside and they wanta buy punch!"

Way to go bud!