Cat People. It's who we are.

I am a cat person. Always have been. My children are very much the same. They are afraid of most dogs, and the ones they aren't, they get tired of quickly. So... we have cats. We had Mindi Lou, but Carrigan was too rough with her, so we gave her away. We had Tinsel, who was WONDERFUL, but chose to be a stray. :( -- we still spot him, so we know he is okay and probably being fed by a neighbor . Carrigan was heartbroken when he stopped coming around. She asked for a "tiny, tiny little baby girl kitty" for her birthday. She was very particular and wanted the perfect one.
Just the other day, we were driving home from the store and I spotted two little tiny baby kitties. Both girls. We were all thrilled! (minus daddy, but eh... )
We brought them home and they are just adorable! I didn't want two cats, so we gave one away to our neighbor-friends, so we can visit any time! (Gavin was still heartbroken)

Tara is the sweetest little gray & white kitten. She is small, much smaller than her sister, calm, quiet, and very willing to let Carrigan push her around in a stroller. She is perfect!
*UPDATE* Tara has been renamed Mindi Lou Part 2. :)

The second night in the house we smelled "the smell." Levi and I searched and searched.... but just couldn't tell where it was coming from. Out of frustration, I asked Carrigan where it was coming from and she replied... "*sniff, sniff* It's in my nose!!!" Gosh, it was cute. :)

(unrelated cuteness about the 4 senses)
We ran out of the kid's toothpaste, so they had to brush with mine. Mint of course... Afterward, Carrigan wanted a drink of water. She took a sip, with her fresh mint mouth and surprisingly asked, "What kind of water IS this???" Oh, it was funny. :)
I love my sweet girl. ;)

Gavin is 4.

I expected to lose it when Gavin turned 4. I had little panic attacks when he turned 3. I don't mind him getting older as much as I don't want him in school and away from me 40 hours a week. If we can manage to live directly across from his school with a full view of the playground, I might be alright...

39 inches - 25th percent
30 lbs - 5th percent

Gavin is still the same kind hearted, gentle boy he has always been. He has definitely taken on the role as big brother and is proud of it. Carrigan is a princess, but he is no prince. He is a knight in shinning armor. He takes pride in being mine and Carrigan's protector and being able to save the day.

He has a very big heart. He likes to learn about Heaven so he will know what I will be doing if I die, or what he will be doing if he does. He tells me often that he will miss me so much if I did and it can lead to tears. He will come up to me, give me a hug and kiss and say, "I like you and I love you so much". It's my favorite thing he says to me. :) He also knows he is my true love. I love Disney movies so much more since he was the one to refer to me as his true love first. :) -- He also doesn't want to get married if he can't marry me because he doesn't want to live in a different house. I love that boy. ;)

Gavin has a very set way about him. He likes to play by the rules. It doesn't matter if it is a board game, pretend play, or running around with friends, he knows the rules and they should be followed. He is not a child who runs around aimlessly, loud and out of control. He can be rough, and tackle, but there has to be some sort of order. This even applies to building with Lego's. You won't catch him just stacking blocks. He is making something specific. He is also very competitive with friends his own age. He wants to be the strongest, best, fastest and of course, the winner.

Food used to be a major issue, but now you could call him just plain picky. He still won't eat most fruits and vegetables, but he is making progress with trying new things. He will now eat spaghetti, take a bite of a hamburger, (just plan meat, cheese & bun) and likes things such as pop tarts, popcorn, pretzels and peanuts. He still only wants ice water to drink, but will on occasion take a drink or two of super chocolaty chocolate milk. He does love tea, but I try to avoid sugar at all cost....

Chocolate is THE best thing in the world (avoiding sugar, but wanting him to have calories is like arrrggghhhh ..... ) He loves Superheros and never will pretend to be the bad guy. He loves weapons (another thing I try to avoid at all cost) and video games (again... ugh) and playing with older children.... that has a lot to do with the "playing by the rules" thing.

He l.0.v.e.s. his Nana. He spends all his time right beside her when we are with her. He likes to write the names of myself, sister, daddy, Nana, Aunt Alicia & Madi. He can write his name by his self and the letter 4. He is very interested in writing, so I imagine very soon he will be writing quite a few words by his self. He also has a very good memory. We have been caught off guard by what he can recall. I hope this benefits him in school!

We still plan to keep him back a year from Kindergarten. He just barely makes the cut off date, and being small and shy, it only makes sense to hold him back a year. This way he and Carrigan will be in back to back grades too. Next year we are going to put both kids in a 2 day a week preschool and they are already excited about it. We will see how I do next year!

Trick or Treat!

Ever since we got back from Halloween at church last year, Gavin has been asking when Trick or Treating would be again. He had SO much fun going down a huge inflatable slide with Nana and going on a hay ride. He as to have asked 100 times this year. I asked them what they wanted to dress up as a couple of months ago. They went back and forth between so many things! Batman, Spiderman, Bumble Bee, Wonderwoman, Dread Pirate Roberts.... I wanted them to "match" so it made it sort of tricky. Our neighbor gave us some movies to borrow, and in the stack were two versions of Peter Pan. They fell in love and we had our costumes!

I went to the store for yellow hair spray color (not sure what to call it) but they only had blue and pink. I picked up the pink since I didn't want to come home empty handed, and let her decided if she wanted to use it. She did. That explains the hair.... and the pink stained car seat. :)

Sunday night we went to the church function. They got to do everything they were expecting to do and got goodies in their buckets. Monday night we went to the library and did a couple of crafts and they got prizes. Then came the BIG fun. We went with Nana Trick or Treating through her neighborhood. Gavin was SO excited. Carrigan was a little more reserved, but followed right behind him. There were lots of trick or treaters out and it was the perfect neighborhood. It was rare that two houses in a row weren't handing out candy. Gavin made sure say "Trick or Treat!" and make eye contact with everyone to say "thank you". Their sweetness even got them a few hugs to go along with the treats! Their buckets so full to the top! Combined with the night before, they came home with a HUGE stash!

I let a friend borrow my camera so I don't have any other pictures besides camera phone pictures of them in their costumes. Levi took the one above with his phone, and I think their facial expressions are too funny! I will be taking "official" costume pictures this week.

I asked them both if they'd rather have a birthday party or go Trick or Treating and they both said, "CANDY!" ha!

Carrigan is 3!

When I was pregnant with Gavin (and even before) I wondered what in the world it was like to have your youngest child not be a baby anymore. How surreal that would feel... how strange it would be to have conversations with your "baby". Now here I am. My baby is 3. I still don't believe it. One is 3. One is 4. Next year I may have a breakdown. *sigh*

39 inches (same height as Gavin) 95%
33.6 lbs - 75%

Carrigan is obviously very bright for her age, which is good because she looks much older! We have been told on more than one occasion that she looks 5, and have thought she was older than Gavin. She has been able to carry on a full conversation for a long time. It was always funny to hear our 2 year old use worlds like "ridiculous" and "hilarious".

Carrigan also has a HUGE imagination. She will pretend any 2 objects are people and they will have a long journey and colorful conversation. She likes to pretend she is the Mommy & Gavin is the baby or she is Tinkerbell and he is Peter Pan. If she is Buzz Lightyear, then by golly, you'd better call her Buzz Lightyear! Her favorite pretend is to act as a baby or a cat. She does not break character for anything. We can be out all day and she will not use words, only "meow". She will crawl and point if she has to. If she REALLY has to speak she will say, "uh huh" and "uh uh".

She is still very dramatic. As I was putting her in the car the other day, she started fighting with Gavin because she wanted to be on his side of the car. I jokingly said, "Fine, then I'll put you in the trunk!". She gave me her signature "mad at you face" and said, "I'm not a grocery! I'm not milk or a shoe!" I think she knows how to get a laugh to avoid being in trouble. :)

She is a girl who loves being a girl and the youngest. She reminds us often that she is "very smaller" and "just a tiny baby". It is funny because when she tells you about when she was a baby, she starts with, "When I was a baby kitty I...". She obviously loves kittens more than most things in the world. :)

Carrigan loves her Girl Baby. It's her only toy she is protective of. She will sit through a whole movie and LOVES when we bring home a new one. She doesn't like being at other people's house for very long. She asks to come home often and will even try to escape multiple times. Her favorite restaurant is Chick-fil-A. She loves the color pink, daddy calling her his Princess, and lipstick, eye shadow, & nail polish. She is a fruit lover and stuffs herself full of bread if it is included in a meal. Chocolate milk & red grapes are her weakness. She still needs Mommy to be in her room to fall asleep.... but hopefully not forever!!

We love every bit of her and can't imagine our home without her. She adds so much life and joy to each day. She is truly full of life and energy! We love you Carrigan Bailee!