Day 39: Summer Nights (6/30)

I love that at 8:46 PM (that's a fact, because I checked the exact time when I took the picture) the sun still hasn't set. This is my favorite thing about summer.

During the winter, I hate getting out of school and having two hours before it's pitch black outside. 

Granted it is harder to lay down Gavin for the night but I would not trade the effort for the extra hours of sunlight.

I also wanted to include a few pictures of my parents yard:

They both work so hard on the yard. I never realized how much work goes into maintaining a home, maybe because I've never owned a home. They are outside every day working on something. It's amazing how wonderful the yard looks and how much they have to work at it.

I love the Babinec stone. I hope that one day, we can own a home and have a Nickell rock outside our home. The flowers bloom all summer making the yard that much more beautiful. The pond is something my mom has been wanting and working on for years. She loves the pond, I love the natural rock surrounding the area.

One day, my yard is going to be just as wonderful.

Day 38: Gavin's Big Day (6/29)

Today Gavin walked!!

OK, OK maybe he didn't exactly walk but he took his first steady, calculated step!

Just last week Gavin wasn't standing on his own, but in the last week has has gone from standing a few seconds when I let go of both his hands to transferring from objects standing including a step and with nothing within grasping area actual steps!!

It's so exciting and sad at the same time.

I am so excited to see Gavin learn so quickly. It's amazing how fast his mind and muscles develop. He is so resilient to keep trying over and over again hoping to get a different result instead of a plop to the floor.

However,  I must say that Gavin has the softest, slowest fall that I have ever seen from in a baby.

I will not be surprised if Gavin is walking in the next weeks. Oh Lord, help us all; not only will we have an avid climber but a walker too!!  :)

Not only is Gavin making he way into the walking world but today he also wanted to try his way into the feeding world. I was trying to be witty but I don't think it worked!

Anyway, at supper Gavin was bound and determined to feed himself. Every time the spoon got any where close to his grasp, he had a tight grip on the spoon. And the big boy brought the spoon to his mouth every time!!

He loved it! A mom can tell when her baby feels accomplished and he did today! He was a mess after feeding himself a large bowl of Chicken and Veggies.

I ♥ love ♥ Gavin Clay so much!

Day 37: Family History (6/28)

Almost every year, Grandma Schluge's sisters come down to Oklahoma to stay a few days. They came down during this week because on July 4th my grandma is having a rather large family reunion and they both wanted to be a part of the family gathering.

Grandma's sisters are Rita and Lori. They are my grand-aunts. It is a joy to come over and spend the day with them; what is just what Gavin and I did today.

In this picture, my mom made lunch and they all sat down to talk about family history. Mom has The History of Our Family book which she is determined to fill out properly and to the best of her ability. With "the girls" around the table she figured she can get a lot of family history.

It started out, who was born when, when and who did they marry and a lot of when did they die questions. It has turned in to a remember when session. It is so interesting to listen to them talk about the past and tell stories about the past.

I enjoy these days and I hope that Gavin will one day grow up and have the same opportunities to listen to remember when stories about our family and it's past. ♥

Day 36: The Grouch (6/27)

Today being Sunday, we went to church. Our family is Catholic so mass last about an hour. During that hour the priest gives a homily-- a sermon, usually on a Biblical topic and usually of a non doctrinal nature. The homily was about Oscar the Grouch. 

He talked about how life is all about attitude. Oscar the Grouch chooses to be the grouch that he is and that other people's attitude towards life is also their choice. He stated that those who don't like what's happening in their life can change it by the attitude they adopt.

What's this have to do with me you ask?

My father's attitude towards life is a bit pessimistic. He can always find the worst in any situation. If you can point out all the positive points about something/someone, my dad can point out every negative point. We have grown up with his, to say the least, bleak attitude all our life; we are used to it.

We joke his attitude all the time; so when Father Mikus mentioned the Oscar the Grouch like attitude, my mom and I both looked at each other and smiled.

After mass, we went out to eat at the Rock Cafe. During the meal, Sami Jo and I decided that Dad's name for the day was "Oscar."

When our food came, my dad, Sami Jo and I all had hash browns. Sam drew a heart with her ketchup, I drew a baseball and "Oscar" drew a frowny face!!

Day 35: Softball Summer Heat (6/26)

Oklahoma weather is so extreme. Today we played softball (surprise, surprise!), our tournament started at 4 o'clock in the afternoon but that did not mean that it was so dang hot!! It was the most miserable softball weather that I can remember -- and I've played a lot of softball.

It was so hot that as a team we all pitched in to buy a canopy that will be used at every tournament. Just a little shade makes such a huge difference.

I started playing in pants but didn't even make it 15 minutes out of the truck before I had to change into shorts.

We did win the tournament, run-ruled all the teams we played today. It was a lot of fun.

Day 34: I Wear my Sunglasses at Night (6/25)

the song is "I Wear my Sunglasses at Night"

sang by Cory Hart

here are some of the lyrics that apply to Gavin

On the guy in shades, oh-no

Don't masquerade
With the guy in shades, oh-no
I can't believe it
'Cause you got it made
With the guy in shades, oh-no

And I wear my sunglasses at night

Day 33: Uncle Greg's Birthday (6/24)

This is my cousin, Ava. She is my dad's brother's daughter. It's really not that hard to figure out but it seems that a lot of people (maybe just Oklahomans) like to give a family tree explanation for each relation.

I like just cousin.

Today or rather tonight (does it really matter?!) my family went to Uncle Greg and Aunt Shanda's home to celebrate my uncle's 42nd 29th birthday. They have two daughter's Allisha (who is in high school) and Ava, she's four. There is a wonderful story about how Ava came into the family and I would like to tell small part of it.

My aunt wasn't feeling well. She was having stomach pains and thought that she had some kidney stones. She went to the doctor and told about her about the pain. (Apparently, it's routine to run pregnancy test on all women under a certain age, whether they claimed to have started/gone through menopause.) After she was checked out and test(s) were ran, the doctor comes back to tell her surprise, surprise she's pregnant. But not only is she pregnant but she's SIX MONTHS pregnant.

Aunt Shanda tells the story much better but this is a public site and I don't want to go into detail about other people's life. But she always ends it the same, "Now I know why God gives women nine months because three months is not enough time!"

Back to my post, (I seem to be wandering more and more lately. Maybe that's why some of my posts are so long) we all enjoyed an evening of family and fun. With family sometimes so close it's hard realize how much you don't get together. It seems that after each get together we always say, we need to do this more and this was fun.

I have a few more pictures from tonight that I want to share. I really couldn't chose just one!

Day 32: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (6/23)

 

As you may know I love to read and now that it's summer, I have a bit more time on my hands to do so. Of course, not as much time as I have in the past now that Gavin's here. However, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Back to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I was visiting with Sharman, Rennie's aunt, when she mentioned that she just got through reading this amazing  book. Unless it's a well know author/book I am somewhat skeptical on exactly what amazing means, so on Sunday when we dropped off Gavin she handed me The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Here is how the jacket reads (the summary):

Harriet Vanger, scion of one Sweden's wealthiest families, disappears over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to see the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

Honestly, to me, I got lost in the mumbo-jumbo the first time I read it and had to read it a second time through. I do pride myself on my ability to read and comprehend well so admitting this was a little difficult for me. I thought it sounded OK not all that interesting but I thought I would try it anyway because it was recommended to me.

IT BLEW ME AWAY!! I LOVED IT.

I am sure that I say that often enough with books but this time I truly mean it. I was kept guessing until the end and I couldn't read it fast enough to figure out what happens. In most books you can see the story line and where it is going but in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo it was unapparent until the end what was going to happen.

I really only suggest books to people that I know many different kinds of readers my like. I don't go around saying, "OMG, you need to read this!" after every book I read but this one is a definite MUST-READ. There are, as far as I know, two more book in the series. I believe the author died shortly after finishing the third book, I may be wrong. But I know that you read the first book you're going to want to read the second two. I have already ordered the second book off of Barnes and Noble's website and am patiently waiting for the book to arrive.

Please let me know if you read or are reading any of Stieg Larsson's series right now. I love talking about good books and rarely get to do so.

Day 31: Matchy-Matchy (6/22)

Today, my husband and I woke up, dressed, and got in the car. It wasn't until we stopped for gas got out of the car and stood next to each to other that I said, "Hey baby, we match!"

Rennie hates when couples do this on purpose or otherwise but we had already left and there was nothing he could do to change it! He just made a funny face and fake laughed.

I thought it was funny. Notice that even our shoes are the same colors. I soon as I noticed it I thought, this has to be my picture of the day. Rennie even reminded me about taking the picture and picked out the spot to take it!

Day 30: Ritas on the River (6/21)

After a long day, we went to have margaritas. I haven't had many drinks since Gavin was born so I haven't gone out with the intention of drinking to get a little tipsy. Which was exactly my intention tonight, just to let you know Gavin was staying the night with his aunt, so Rennie and I have the night to ourselves.  (Ew lala!!) 

Anyway, we found this place called Ritas on the River and they made a margarita that was HUGE!! I don't think you can image this size so to help, I took another pitcher to show the width of this margarita.  

That's Rennie hand that is covering the top of the glass. I drank all of mine and most of Rennies' drink. I have to say that I am a little tipsy and tired.

So I guess that I am going to head to bed. I enjoyed my night out with Rennie and I will enjoy my full night's sleep but I can't wait to see my little boy tomorrow.

Good night! ♥

Day 29: Happy Father's Day (6/20)

Happy 1st Father's Day to my husband Rennie.

...and Happy Father's Day to all those dad's out there, there's only one official father's day one the calendar but I can only hope that you appreciated and loved everyday of the year!

Day 28: Thomas Rooney's Godmother (6/19)

Today was Thomas Rooney's Baptism.  To me that means a new member into the Catholic community but also a fun filled day full of family, babies, and food!

The baptism started at 10 AM, so those of us that live in Stroud were up and at em' at 7 AM. We had to get dressed and make our hour drive to Tulsa. It's always a wonderful day when we are able to spend time together, so everyone was in a pretty good mood for being up at 7 AM (except for Sami Jo she's never happy when she wakes up!).

John and Molly chose John's brother Thomas (Tommy's name-sake, which I have a short antidote about what I like to call Tommy at the end of the blog) and our sister Dana to be the godparents. Not because I am her sister, but Dana makes a wonderful Godparent!! She's always getting a little something on a holiday, at the very least a card. Tommy couldn't have a better Godmother.

The ceremony took less than half and hour and we were all on our way to Molly and John's home. There was going to be food and fun. Between the Dowdells and the "Babinec" girls there were 11 children ranging from ages 3 to weeks old! It is so much fun to be packed into a house with so many wonderful families and gives the babies a chance to meet new friends and take over the house. We couldn't have asked for a better Saturday.

So about what we like to call Tommy: because he is named after John's brother, John and Molly like to call him Tommy. Being a Babinec we like nicknames and some of my favorite Tommy's nickname are: Tom-Tom-A-Roo, Tommy-Two-Shoes.

Congratulations to Molly, John, Jason and Tommy Dowdell