Flowers for my wife!

These are the beautiful tulips that my sweet husband brought me the other day. I love tulips, and I love that he remembers that! (Can you tell that Brent loads the pictures and writes the titles and that I usually write the blog entries?) Oh, and by the way, don't you love this picture too?! Brent captured it earlier today, and I love the lighting and the colors.

Fishy face :)

Brent's been trying to capture Gavin making this fishy face, and I think he did a good job here. He makes this face when he's concentrating on something and also when he wants to be funny.

Gavin's a whole lot of fun! He keeps Mommy on her toes. My Peruvian friend, Flor, said it well when we were at the park the other day: "Es bien activo." (He's quite active!)

Play times in the sun and snow...

Gavin is pretty darn proficient on slides these days. His positions of choice are on his little tush or on his tummy. (I'm dreading the day that he tries to go head first!)

How cute are father and son here?! This was the consolation prize (a new park near our house) after driving all the way to the zoo--"cock cock" (peacock) all the way, coming from the back seat--only to find that we had arrived thirty minutes after it had closed :( We felt so bad, but Gavin seemed quite content to play at the new park and was so happy to have Daddy around on the weekend.

Gavin was initially freaked out by the merry-go-round until the big kids got off and Daddy taught him how to hold on properly (totally Brent!), at which point he wanted to stay on for the rest of the afternoon.

After the 14 inches of snow we just got here, I bundled Gavin up and took him out for a bit today. Here he is with one of his favorite buddies, Reagan, whose name he just mastered!

I was so proud of him for keeping his mittens on!!! I can't wait to take him sledding soon. Today I just pulled him around our neighbor's yard, and he was thrilled until he realized that Reagan had gone inside.

The new hotness!

Well, after waiting throughout the winter for parts to arrive and pieces to fit, it all came together in late February: my new hotness! If I don't win a few races this season, I guess I'm out of excuses. Now, if only I could figure out how to get it to pedal for me!! I'll be testing it out on our team trip to Moab from April 2-5.

Gavin being goofy...

Now if I could just get him to keep the sunglasses on outside where he really needs 'em!

One day I turned around downstairs to find Gavin hiding in the dryer. Funny boy! (Don't worry the dryer door is totally broken and it is impossible for it to close on him. In fact, we have to prop something against the door to wedge it shut just so it runs. Probably time for a new dryer sometime soon.)

We have to admit that our little monkey really enjoys jumping on the bed.

The background on this picture was supposed to be a blog entry of its own awhile back, but then life got in the way again and it never happened. So, here's the gist of it: Mommy locked Gavin in the car with both sets of keys!!! Freaky! Thank God, a friend had recently told me that I could call 911 if that ever happened to me--since it's a legitimate emergency--and they could come to the rescue. So this initially horrifying moment turned into a memorable day for Gavin when the fire truck arrived and presented him with his very own fire hat and a "Junior Firefighter" badge sticker. And just so you know--though I hope that you'll never find yourself in this situation--it's a free visit, and the firefighters that came to our house were amazing, quick and so kind and gracious.

Baby Madison!

Way back in January (please forgive the tardiness) we welcomed our new niece, Madison Paige Geib, to the world! She was born on January 20: 6 lbs 6 oz & 19 inches long. What a precious little creature! Jackie and Karl are happy parents indeed.

Here's Uncle Brent holding his new niece.

I'm an aunt! Look how small Madison is in this picture. I was in awe, of course, and was almost unable to remember when Gavin was that size. (Actually, to be accurate, I guess that he wasn't ever that size since he was born 7 lbs 12 oz.)

How many words does he have?

So Gavin's 18-month doctor's visit was today, and among other things, the doctor asked, "How many words do you think he has?" He could tell from our pause that we had long ago lost count, so that was a good enough answer for the doc. Our son is so verbal...and go figure, with a mom like me! Here are some of our favorite words:

-"wah-oooh"--waffle

-"bup"--up

-"ticky"--sticky

-"bee-uhl"--beetle

-"hnake"--snake....a close cousin to "hnack" for snack, so I guess he likes the "h" before his "n's"

-"ibbit"--ribbit, the sound of a "fog"

-"tiss" & "huck" (Hug was a new word today, and he quickly put it into action at bedtime when I was trying to leave his room for ten minutes. Could you leave with him standing at the edge of his crib saying "huck" and reaching for you?! I didn't think so.)

It's so exciting to see him learning new words and then putting them into action so quickly thereafter. There are entire books that he'll "read" to us now!