Christmas 2011

Well I am only a month late in posting. Better late than never.
Well we started off the holidays with a wedding. Gavin and I flew to Salt Lake on Dec. 21st for my brother Alex's wedding. He was married to Katie McMullin on December 22 in the Bountiful, Utah Temple. They were married by Katie's Uncle Bishop McMullin of the Presiding Bishopric and it was a sealing unlike any other that I have been too. I learned SO much! It was so spiritual and we are so excited to have Katie in our family! We then had a Cafe Rio catered luncheon and the reception that night in Bountiful. I didn't take very many pictures because I spent the majority of the time chasing Gavin around. I really wish Zac could have been there, sadly he was the only one missing, and everyone missed him.

Grandma Jones and Gavin at the reception. What a cute boy!

Katie and Alex cutting their cake.

On the 23rd Zac's family drove down to Salt Lake to pick up Gavin and I so that we could spend Christmas in Idaho. Zac was also able to get off work a few hours early and drove the entire way making it to Idaho just before midnight. I was grateful he was able to spend all of Christmas Eve with us instead of driving 10 hours in the car. Grandma and Grandpa Barrus came up from American Falls to stay for Christmas as well and it was really fun. I think that Gavin definitely loved his first Christmas (where he actually kind of understood), and he came home with tons of presents!
On Christmas Eve we had a wonderful dinner and then we did the Nativity and a few games. Then everyone opened up the Christmas Pajamas. Gavin was SO happy to finally open a present.

All of us sporting our new PJs. This was taken in the now complete theater room in the basement. Gavin sure spent a lot of time in there.

 Everything on Christmas Morning.

This is the pile of our families presents. Gavin had so many that we just let him continue to open the entire time or we would have been there forever. Zac and I mostly got clothes and shoes because that is what we needed. Zac surprised me with a new Hair Straightener, because I broke mine the month before, and a new cutting board.

Gavin got Legos, Toy Story stuff, books, puzzles, clothes, and so much more. He really had a great Christmas.

Here we are on Christmas Afternoon ready to go to church.

I think everyone enjoyed playing legos with Gavin. He really loved building towers with Grandpa. And then of course knocking them down.

 Zac's parents gave us a Wii for Christmas with Just Dance 3. Here is Gavin trying it out. I do it for my workout somedays and Gavin LOVES it! He asks to do it all the time.

 This is the INSANE puzzle that we worked on. The goal was to start in on New Year's Eve morning and finish it that night.

 Here we are getting ready for the countdown, as you can see, we were no where near completion.

 Gavin got to help Grandpa set out the rolls for dinner. He really loves to help in the kitchen, I can't wait until we have a house where he can help a little more.

We FINALLY finished it just before midnight on New Year's day. This was THE hardest puzzle I have ever done. There weren't enough distinct colors because of all the blue that the pieces were impossible to sort. But it sure was rewarding when we finally finished.

I am so glad that we were able to spend a whole week with Zac's family for the Holidays. It is hard being so far away and when we do see family the time goes by so quickly. We were able to have time to just relax and enjoy being together and that was the best part. I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas just like we did.

Here I am at 27 weeks. I actually don't feel like I have gotten much bigger lately, but people seem to notice a lot more often. I feel like I have been HUGE for a while and I am a little scared of what the next 11 weeks will hold. I am now at my biweekly appointments which means this baby will be here faster than I think. And honestly I haven't done a single thing to get ready yet.

In the latest news, this is what I have been doing for the past week. See the big boy underwear? Yep, that's right, we've been potty training. The first day was AWFUL, I was beginning to think he wasn't ready. I was sitting him on the toilet every 15-20 minutes and he would pee as soon as I took him off. The second day he finally made it twice on the toilet but still there were LOTS of accidents. Potty treats really help, and to be honest, so does punishment. After he got the concept we would put him in timeout for about 30seconds and every time he didn't go when I put him on the toilet I would remind him that if he went in his underwear he would go in timeout.
The 4th day was Sunday and I had major anxiety about him peeing in the middle of Sacrament Meeting. But he did great, not a single accident that day. And he has only had a few over the last five days. He really is doing awesome and I haven't changed a poopy diaper in like 9 days! That is amazing! I am so proud of this little boy, maybe he is a lot bigger than I think.

Here is the video Christmas Morning. We all gathered in the front room for family prayer before going in to see the presents. Gavin didn't really enjoy his time waiting for Great Grandma and Grandpa. I have a video of when we actually walk in to see the tree but it is really dark and Gavin doesn't say anything because he is so interested in his toys. So I hope you enjoy this little bit of Gavin Christmas morning.