Excerpts from my mama heart

I haven't done this in a while.  A long while. And, really, it's a shame, because the bigger that the kids get, the faster I am forgetting these moments.  The ones that make me want to freeze time.

John is out of town.  He left on Sunday and gets back Saturday.  Today is Wednesday.  Gracie was already sick when he left and Gavin has gotten sick since.  This morning, Preston woke up early and found me cuddling up with Gracie in her room.  He joined us.  We hung out talking with Gracie smiling between us.  She LOVED being the meat in our little cuddle sandwich.  He seemed so old, yet so young and sweet all at the same time - - glimpses into the future and the past all at once.  When I got up to start getting things ready for them both to leave for school, he stayed with his sister.  Her TV was on and he was watching with no sound, reading the captions.  I came back in about ten minutes later (unbeknownst to either of them) to give Gracie her morning dose of Lasix and I could hear him talking to her.  He was half talking and one-handed signing to her while rubbing her back, telling her he loves her, that he hopes she has a good day at school and that he and that he really likes her new room.  Needless to say, I left quietly not wanting to disturb the sweet exchange and to compose myself.  I am incredibly proud of the brother he is to his sister.  I refrained from grabbing my camera... instead, jotting down here, and keeping mental picture that I will remember always.

Giants... We believe!!!

Enjoying another game with my big, toothless boy!

Another date at the yard with my favorite 7 year-old.  Huddy on the mound, watching him warm up with Posey and cheering the Giants on to win the first game in their next big streak!!! We are all about positive thinking!  We believe in our team!

(Update: They WON!!! I blogged this from the park!  They did it!  We knew they could!)

Integrity Counts

Beyond proud of our big boy today.  He received the game ball for being honest about a play at first base where he didn't quite make the potential inning-ending out and the coaches were debating the call (which was in our team's favor).  Preston was asked if he got the out.  He said, "No." And he was right.  It was super close, though!  Ultimately, this changed the direction and tone of the game and we lost.  But, most important, the life lesson was not lost at all. 

Fairyland Family Fun Day

As a fun family outing to celebrate Gracie's birthday, we went to Fairyland in Oakland. It was a beautiful, warm (but not too warm) Sunday and everyone had a wonderful time. So thankful to Nana for the great suggestion... it was a perfect day for Gracie.
(It can be really difficult to plan a party for Gracie as her health is so fragile and unpredictable. We decided that we'd do a family outing that she'd enjoy instead of hosting a party that could, quite easily, fall right in the middle of a migraine cycle for her. It wouldn't be about her if we were having a big shindig that she couldn't/wouldn't enjoy or would cause her undue stress!)
 

Our beautiful birthday girl!
Gracie thoroughly enjoyed all of the varieties of plants, shrubs, flowers and trees at Fairyland.  She spent a ton of time inspecting leaves and flowers as we strolled through the many gardens on the property.

Hilarious to me... Preston was being a ham after watching me take a gazillion pictures of Gracie with a dandelion in the parking lot before we'd even entered the park.

All three kids loved the old, small carousel.
Gavin is not pictured as I couldn't manage to hold him and take a picture at the same time!

Snippets of the Gav-man enjoying Gracie's birthday outing.
It just so happens that the baby girl in the top left picture shares the same birthday as him.  Gavin was trying so hard to talk to her about the "mama" aka, Snow White.  He was adorable looking at the various character and animal statues.

Gracie enjoyed the magic show for about ten minutes.  Unfortunately, the first ten minutes were mostly really corny jokes and, by the time the action started, she had totally lost interest.  Preston, however, had a blast. I'm not sure who had more fun, Preston watching the magic show or John and I watching him while he watched the show.
At one point he terrified us by moving seats when the man was about to juggle "blades" and told the kids in the front row to watch out for their lives.  He moved so fast that it took us about three minutes to realize where he had gone... still near the front, but way over to the side!  LOL!  He LOVED the juggling and fire-eating.  His facial expressions were priceless!!
 

'Nuff said.  We have to get better about making sure we are in pics with the kids! 

 

A picture is worth a thousand words... so here are several thousand about how much our girlie loved her special day!

Gavin... all smiles with rocks in his pockets, rocks in his hands, rocks in his mouth... that about sums up what's going on anytime he is outside right now.  Well, that and one of his brother's hats if he can get his hands on one!

If it can be climbed up and jumped off, Preston will find it!

ONE Snow Day (Gavin's birthday, part two)

On Sunday, February 17th, we took the kids to the snow. It was a beautiful, spring-like day and perfect conditions for our crew. We expected Gracie to have the least amount of fun (she wasn't feeling 100%), but it turned out she likely had the most fun overall! And, miraculously, she seemed to feel fantastic the entire time we were there. As I mentioned in part 1 of Gavin's birthday post, we took 331 pictures that weekend. So, once again, this post is all about the photos we love from our snow day!

Love them!

Gracie with her "men!"

Celebrating ONE year of being a Flock of Five!

Preston having fun!

Love this... not posed... both of them genuinely happy to be sledding together.
His grip on her got really tight as they started down the small hill... he wasn't going to let anything happen to his Gracie!

LOVE!
 

Gavin... in the snow for the first time... and, of course, he ate it!

One of my most favorite pictures of them together... ever.

 

Lookin' so very pretty in all the spots where she posed and relaxed!

 

Sledding with my boy!
He giggled the whole way down.  So did I!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

Pensive Gracie!

Rockin' her coat and posing like a true diva!

Daddy and Preston sledding (and spinning!)

Mommy and the big boy!

Gavin with Nana and Mommy
She comforted him after his hands got too cold from eating the snow!
(He was not interested in mittens!)

 

LOVE the pure joy on our faces!

My handsome "big" boys!

A snowball fight between Mommy and Preston... hilarious!

"Um... there's a little tree right there!"

 

ONE-derful (Gavin's birthday, part one)



ONE-derful ONE!!!

Gavin turned one on Saturday, February 16th, and we spent the whole weekend celebrating!   John left for work at early-dark-thirty that morning (and left a sweet note for his baby boy!), so I packed up the kids and their stuff (no small feat!) and drove up to Nana and Papa's and John drove up after work late that evening. 

As per usual, we took an excessive amount of pictures throughout the weekend... 331 were downloaded and that was after I had deleted many directly from the camera!  Needless to say, that's why it's taken a bit to post any pics of the little man's birthday fun!

On Sunday, we had a yummy breakfast feast, took the kids to play in the snow and then returned to celebrate with dinner, cake and fun. These are the pics from Gavin's "birthday photo shoot" and the cake. Part two will follow soon with all the snow fun! :-)

"One"

Love this little guy's sweet face!
(Like Gavin's shirt?  Check out my friend's Etsy page here.)

The many faces of the Gav-man

 

The Cake

 

"Ummmm... what is that glowing thing?"

What is that, Nana?

"I am not sure, but I think someone just said I get to eat this..."

How to eat a birthday cake!

 

Diving in!
(Not feeling so unsure anymore!)

"Mmmmm... you said this is called 'frosting,' right?!"
"Good stuff!"

"Hey... this birthday thing is pretty fun!"

"Did you see that big bite I took?!"
 

"I LOVE cake!"