5 Months

I say this every month, but I can't believe she is 5 months old!!! Really... I can't wrap my mind around the fact that my youngest child is 5 months. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was pregnant with Gavin, google-ing 1 month old baby... 2 month old baby.. for pictures of what I had to look forward to every month?

Carrigan is learning how to sit up unassisted.

She is all about whatever she can get into her mouth. Whenever Gavin gets close enough, she pulls his hair, paci and clothes. It is rare that Gavin finds it amusing!

She gives away smiles all day, but you have to work for a laugh. Her squeals are insanely loud.

The only ways she will go to sleep is by nursing or in her swing, which is becoming less and less effective. I bought another paci the other day that she will take after she has fallen asleep. It is really only useful in the car or when I am holding her. I wish she would take one while she is awake!!! And No, I am not glad about having one less thing to take away later. How many times have you put a paci in your child's mouth to "shush" them? -- That's what I thought! =)

I still need to swaddle her to keep her asleep. After it taking a couple of months to be able to swaddle her at all, I am wondering if I will be doing this forever.

Carrigan may turn out to be my strong willed child. I have let her splash in the bath with Gavin a few times, and as soon as I take her out, she cries. If she gets ahold of a magazine or newspaper, and you take it out of her hands... Yep... She cries!

With each month that passes, her daddy gets more tightly wrapped around his little girl's finger. Levi can go on and on about her eyes. He is constantly complimenting her chubby body, eyelashes, smile, clothes, laugh, and mannerisms.

Gavin was 5 months old when I found out I was pregnant with Carrigan. That still blows my mind!

Carrigan was doing everything she could to see the video playing on the computer. Gavin needed to help clean Carrigan after a paint project.

What did you say??

Gavin woke up from his nap Monday afternoon with a fever of 101.9. It has only gone up since then. Yesterday it reached 104.7. I called his Doctor's office and talked with a nurse. Want to know what she said? (some of you may know via Facebook)

"We don't consider 104 a reason to be concerned. Wait until it is 106 - 107 to bring him in."

EXCUSE ME??? Did she just tell me to let my child reach 107 before I get concerned???

So this morning my mom and I head to the doctor. Strep and flu tests come back negative. His lungs, ears and throat are all clear.

I said to the doctor, "Before you go, let me ask you something." I told him what the nurse told me and asked, "Is that not preposterous??

He had me repeat the conversation twice and wrote it down. He apologized several times for the bad advice I was given. He said he has only once ever seen a person with a fever of 107 and it was a man with heat stroke.

He then said he will personally give this nurse a lesson on what it is to have a fever. He wasn't pleased with what I had told him. And for good reason!!

It did make me upset because from what I told him, he said I should have brought Gavin to the ER. I would have if the bath he was in at the time of the call hadn't brought the fever down to 100.

I wasn't given any medication, but told if his fever persists, bring him back Friday. This evening his fever was 103.4. I am praying tomorrow we will be fever free.

Height: 32 1/4 - That is up an inch from his 18 month check-up!
Weight: 21.4 lbs

I Found My Camera!

The first thing we did after breakfast was swim. I lost the camera after that. How could I not remember I packed it in the toy/snack bag for easy access?



Levi and I were very surprised that Gavin didn't want to get into the pool. I suppose there was too much going on for him to want to get into a cold pool in a strange place. After a while, I let him dangle his feet in the hot tub. William joined in and Gavin got comfortable enough to at least get his legs wet.
Levi and I agree that Gavin is a little brother at heart. He will follow any child between the ages of 4-8. We were glad William was willing and happy to play with Gavin!
This video really isn't worth watching unless you are Levi. He is gone for 1-2 nights and appreciates anything I put up. I had intended on taking a picture of Bill holding Carrigan, but accidentally pressed record.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We took two cameras on our trip to see Levi's family and returned with only one. I am quite unhappy with this. I can only hope I had uploaded any pictures and videos that were on the camera before we left.

One thing we learned was we will not be traveling again for a LONG TIME! Even though it was only a 4 hour drive and we left and the kids' bedtime, Carrigan hated every minute of it. We stopped many times to comfort our screaming little girl. She hates, hates, hates the car!

I didn't take many pictures because my hands were always full. Both my children had a "look but don't touch" policy. It is no surprise to Levi and I that we have shy children.

Here is the big birthday boy, Camden! He has some of the most beautiful brown eyes you will ever see on a little boy! Gavin had fun jumping on the trampoline with Daddy and William.

To Melt Her Daddy's Heart -- and probably Grandpa's too

Just a few more days until you are back home Levi! I think she has gotten cuter since you left. :)

A Post For Daddy

We spent this weekend in Northwest Arkansas for our nephew's 1st birthday. (Levi's brother Carl and sister-in-law Crystal's son) I will post the pictures from our trip as soon as we find our other camera. We think it may have been left in the hotel room.

We got back home around 2:30 a.m. Levi woke up this morning and found out he will be spending the entire week in Hot Springs. When adding the time change, it is safe to say our week will be all out of whack. Levi usually puts Gavin to bed. He finally fell asleep watching Caillou close to 1 a.m.

So here are some pictures for a Daddy who will be plum miserable without his darlings for an entire week... wife included :)

A picture from our dating years...

A Boy and his Cookie

This morning after breakfast I gave Gavin a cookie to munch on. ( Don't judge. He can use every calorie he can get! ) A few minutes later I hear, No No! Go Go Go! Cooo Cooo (Cookie)

Gavin had climbed onto the step ladder to keep his cookie away from my dog, Baelin! In Baelin's defense, Gavin kept dangling the cookie over her nose, so I thought it was fair (and funny) to let it play out. As you probably guessed, Baelin won and ate the cookie. Of course he got a brand new cookie and ate every bite!

Totally unrelated, but I want to make sure I don't forget these firsts:

Yesterday Carrigan was mistaken for a boy. ?????
Gavin will now drink milk out of his bottle and hold it on his own during meals. (Again don't judge, I have been literally forcing liquids since he was 2 months)
Carrigan was told she looked like Daddy instead of Mommy.
Carrigan started playing in the Exersaucer and loves it!
Gavin loves pickles. Too bad they have 0 nutritional value!