Gavin's first bike race: Part 2

I loved watching Gavin just sizing this whole deal up. Am I supposed to go really fast? What do I get if I win? Who are these other kids racing with me? I like her helmet. Is that a tricycle I see? I thought this was a bike race!

Most of the parents ran alongside their kids on the sidewalk, so Brent took this picture from there. Gavin's the second one in the silver helmet. The whole race was like two blocks of the real race course that Brent rode later.

I think Brent said that Gavin probably got fourth place, and I liked how that didn't seem to mean anything to Gavin one way or another. We were so proud of him! And he had fun, which is always the most important part, as far as Mommy is concerned. Can you see the number pinned to his back? Though it was a just a fun ride for the kids, I liked how they got to do "real" things like put on their own racing numbers...just like Daddy. Both of our boys look up to their daddy so much. Happy Father's Day, Babe! You're a great dad :)

Gavin's first bike race: Part 1

Like father, like son, right? Are any of you really that surprised to see Gavin racing at 3 1/2? Well, to be fair, it wasn't really a race. It was a ton of kids eight years and younger SUPER excited to ride whatever they found available: There were scooters, tricycles, Strider bikes (balance bikes like Gavin's first one), bikes with training wheels and bikes with no training wheels. Occasionally, these fun kid races are held prior to the adult races which are held later in the day. So, for example, Gavin's race was at noon in Louisville, and then Brent raced later that afternoon in the same place.

There were so many kids that they had to divide the big group into three "waves," so Gavin was racing with other 3 and 4-year-olds. I have to say that he really was in the minority of 3-year-olds riding with no training wheels.

It was a really fun, informal, non-competitive event (like it should be) that was perfect for Gavin's first race.

"Butterfly Dabillian"

I love this picture: my babies looking up at the butterflies, as captured through the misty lens of my camera. Gavin used to call this place the "Butterfly Dabillian," and only recently (darn it!) did he start pronouncing it correctly: the Butterfly Pavilion. Thanks to Groupon, we just got a very sweet deal: $32 for an annual pass to the BP for our whole family + three guest passes!!!

Gavin was dressed in red to try to attract the butterflies to his clothes, and when that didn't work he resorted to straight inviting them to climb aboard his sleeve. Notice Gage on standby, as if he were saying, "So this is how we get 'er done?"


And just in the time that it took me to snap this picture of Gage with the butterflies, he nearly crushed this one in the picture.

This is the craziest thing that's happened twice in our lives recently: My little Gavin has held Rosie (the "pet" tarantula) at the Butterfly Pavilion!!! I won't even do it, but he's done it twice now, and it's unlocked a keen interest in spiders in general (oh goodie!), so we're reading about them and looking out for them everywhere now. Here's what I don't get: He's still pretty grossed out by them when we find them around the house, but if you present him with a GIANT fuzzy tarantula in his hand, he'll hold it!!! Go figure.

Here Gavin is "petting" a giant cockroach. Yep, that's my son! And I'm the one deathly afraid of moths!!!! (I can't stand those things, flying around our house and spreading their moth dust everywhere. Yuck! My son will be the first one to tell you that it has taken every ounce of bravery in me to "handle" the moths with a tissue at home.) I dare say that I may be passing this fear onto my kids, and it was so cute the other day when I heard Gavin telling one of his little buddies, "You know, Daddy says that moths are just brown butterflies." That may be semi-true, but can any of us believe that?!

Welcome, Baby Camille: Part 2

I got to be present for Camille's first bath at home! I think that Zach and Lorna described it as being terrifying, and Zach's line that I keep remembering and laughing at was, "Why didn't anyone tell me that being a parent was so stressful?!" I only laugh, of course, because it wouldn't have mattered if we had told him. You just don't get it until you're living it. And it's been especially stressful for them, of course, because of her initial health concerns.

Here we are, trying as fast as we possibly could, to get Camille changed and warmed up after her bath. It was fun for me to relive some of the "firsts" with my kids as I experienced them with Cammie. I remember Brent being so concerned about Gavin getting cold during his first bath that we had him totally bundled up, and then we'd remove each appendage one at a time to wash it and immediately return it to the towels and blankets. Lorna's totally naked approach with Camille was much more bold and resulted, I'm sure, in a more thorough (but perhaps also more terrifying) cleaning job.

It was fun to see where Zach and Lorna are living now. (My last visit to Austin was with Gage when he was 4 months old, and they have since moved to a different place in a different part of town.) This was taken on their front porch, and I just happened to be there during a rare and wonderful time when we could actually enjoy being outside. (It was in the 80's and with barely any noticeable humidity, which was not the case during my mom's recent visit when it was 100 degrees and wet outside every day.) They are renting a really cute place with a wonderful guest room where I stayed.

I remember Zach trying to get used to seeing me as a mom, and now I get what he meant. He's always been my brother, then he became a husband, and now he's a father! Seeing your siblings (and good friends) become parents is a wild thing. One of my dearest friends hardly ever sees me with my kids, and she was just telling me today that it's still hard for her to associate me with children. She has known me since high school, and most all of our memories together (aside from the ones from the last three-and-a-half years) are not with kids. What a whole new world it is...when our offspring join our lives!

On my last night in Austin, I offered to take Camille for an hour to give Zach and Lorna some sleep. What a precious time that was! Besides being a wonderful bonding time with Camille, it also helped me to understand her parents' fears and anxiety when she slept so still and quietly in my arms.

As I rocked her in her room, I thanked God for her and the moments I had right then to be her present auntie. I acknowledged that she was my niece, and I was her aunt, and I prayed for that relationship to be special throughout her life. I hope that we won't always live so far apart. My desire is that our kids would grow up playing and laughing together and being fun cousins that really know one another.

I'm so grateful that I got to go to Austin! Thank you, Babe, for being willing to watch the boys for the weekend. And thanks, Pam, for all of your help, too! I was one popular mommy on Monday morning at the airport. In fact, because I had to be touching both boys the whole way home, I eventually moved to the back seat and sat between their car seats. It was a really special reunion.

Welcome, Baby Camille: Part 1

It's true: My sweet, little brother is a daddy!!! Here he is holding his precious daughter, Camille Margaret (a combination of my middle name and that of Lorna's sister), who was born on May 4, to two wonderful parents who could not love her or care for her any better than they do...around the clock.

Lorna had to have an emergency C-section, which was not something that she or Zach had ever contemplated, and Camille had some complications in the hospital that resulted in a longer stay and a lot of anxiety and fear. I have really admired how Zach and Lorna have declared that they do not want to live in fear--because, let's face it, being a parent is scary anytime, but especially in their unexpected circumstances--but to trust in God who created Camille and, incredibly as it is, loves her more than even Lorna or Zach will ever be able to. They are awaiting the results of some genetic testing that will reveal if Camille may share Lorna's heart condition (Long QT syndrome), but we're all praying that this will not be the case.

As I write this, I'm reminded of the song that Gavin and I like to sing together whenever it's playing on the radio (with hand motions that I made up, of course): "Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other. God, you are healer, awesome in power, our God, our God. And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us, and if our God is for us, then what could stand against?" Let this be our declaration, no matter our circumstances and--the hardest to pray--no matter the outcome.

This was a funny moment, because I had just gotten out the camera, and Millie (I think that's how they're spelling one of her cute nicknames) had just pooped. So this was a rapid fire picture of the proud papa taken only moments before we went to make sure that Cammie hadn't just blown out her diaper...into one of the only outfits that fit her small, six pound body.

I can say, quite honestly, that my niece (!) is absolutely beautiful. Zach said that he was preparing himself to accept the newborn "alien" look for a few months as she settled into who she would become (which he hoped would become cute); but, instead, she just came out of the shoot adorable in every way. She has a darling fuzzy duck layer of dark brown hair (just like Mommy's and Daddy's), and her little arms and legs--though tiny and seemingly fragile--are really strong! Watching my brother change her diaper was so cute! And to watch me counsel him on when to strike (fasten each of the diaper tabs down as quickly and accurately as possible while she kicked her little chicken legs) was almost surreal. When did we both grow up? Get married? And have kids?

I was fortunate to be able to be in Austin for a long weekend to meet Camille in her first few weeks of life, and that was a very sweet time. More on that in the next post...

Sweet brothers...

Gage is starting to occasionally see the benefit of the TV, hence we have more shots of the boys together on the couch lately. As long as Gage isn't falling off of the couch--which, I'm sorry to say, has happened a couple of times--Mommy is happy with the momentary opportunity to work in the kitchen or do any other necessary chore that is made easier without one (or two) sweet lichen on her legs.

So I learned a valuable lesson recently: When you go to buy the kids something, don't choose two different colors. Give them one less thing to fight over, and get the same color, for Pete's sake! Forget the sentimental notion that the blue one goes better with Gage's eyes and the green one is more fitting for Gavin's. But then--even if I had bought two blue chairs--I can't help but wonder if they would just want whichever one was not theirs in the moment, because that's how kids are, after all.

Here's just one more shot of Gage playing "peek-a-boo," which ruins me every time. Today he was playing it with some of my friends between my legs. I love how much fun kids can have doing the simplest---and most repetitive--things.

Is he cute or what?! I can't believe that he'll be 17 months in just a few days! It's gone by too fast, which reminds me to savor every moment right now.

And this guy's a little giant! He's so tall...and coordinated and active and challenging and wonderful and funny and adventurous and fastidious and conniving... How can he be so many things all at once? But aren't we all?! Just a big, long list of paradoxes. For example, you'll never walk into a three-year-old's room that is cleaner and more well organized, really impressively under control. But, on the other hand, Gavin is also in a really destructive stage and is often out of control.

We're not usually all of one thing and none of another, are we? I'm learning this more and more...about myself and about my kids. We are complex, and God has made us uniquely and intentionally so. What a wonderful and profound mystery.