Gavin's 15 Month Old Photos from Casey Yu Photography

In May of 2010 we entered Gavin into an "Adorable Kiddo Tallahassee" photo contest with Casey Yu Photography and he won 1st Place!!!!

On July 10th we met Mrs. Casey Yu at Dorothy B. Oven Park and she followed Gavin around taking pictures of him while he explored the park.  She was very sweet and did a great job, interacting with Gavin and keeping up with him.  Below are my favorite pictures from the photo session.

Thank you so much to those of you who took the time to vote for Gavin.  TD and I think he is the most adorable, but it's nice to know others do too!!  Thank you, Casey, for a wonderful experence.  

Jacob Whitewater rafting June 2010....Awesome Photos

Ocoee River

Last Five Months of Troop 23 Camp Outs!

Last Five Months of Troop 23 Camp Outs!


It seems like every blog entry and email that we send lately starts with something like, “I haven’t had time to…” or “This is the condensed version because…” Maybe it’s just me, but it really feels like we’ve managed to pack something into every minute we have, for the foreseeable future. Jacob and Brie are both attending camps this week (The Art of Collage for Brie and the DBS Summer Camp for Jacob), Tammy and Gavin have scheduled play-dates with the SS&P group among other things (while still juggling appointments and drop-offs/pickups), and I’m crunching fiscal data like a machine (Or a champ? Nah, maybe like an over-achieving, under-paid state worker…). So, until the “foreseeable future” passes and we have an unscheduled minute to take a breather and gather some thoughts, I just wanted to fill everyone in on the last 5 months of Boy Scouts.

To quickly catch you up on Jacob’s standing within the troop, Jacob has earned both Tenderfoot and Second Class ranks and is currently one requirement away from his First Class rank. Jacob is the Assistant Patrol Leader for his patrol, and even willingly volunteered to be the Chaplin’s Aid tonight in the absence of the elected scout (which amazed me). After First Class, there are several ranks that are progressively demanding before Eagle, but the saying is that if a Scout can reach First Class, he’s on the track! Eagle Scout was never really the “goal” that Tammy and I had when Jacob signed up for Scouts, so it was unexpected when Jacob told us the other day that he wanted to get the Eagle rank. I think he realizes that this is a realistic goal that he can achieve. One that will make him feel good about himself, not to mention the prestige carried by the designation. So keep encouraging him! He’s a great Eagle candidate in my book!

Back to the fun stuff… Camp Outs!

March 2010- Providence Canyon, GA

15 or so Scouts, 7+ miles uphill, both ways, in the rain, 90lb packs, bears, coyotes and crumbling Georgia mountainside! Got the picture? NEXT!!!

In all seriousness, if you’ve never been to Providence Canyon and you get the chance, go. Make sure you get gas and such in Bainbridge because there’s not a damn thing on 27 all the way to Lumpkin! Providence Canyon is called the “Little Grand Canyon.” It was formed by poor farming practices, and is basically an eroded mountainside. The hiking trail starts at the visitor’s station and winds around the rim of the mountain (I call it a mountain, I’m from St. Pete. It might be a hill to some, but it’s a mountain to me!) down to the bottom of the canyon and back out. We hiked about 4.5 miles the first day, which included a hefty ascent that put everyone out of breath. A steep descent followed, into what we now know is clay swamp. 15 boys with packs in clay up to their knees wasn’t the best idea, but hey, what do I know? I guess there wasn’t a better way, so through the swamp we went. Fortunately only 2 or 3 decided to fall over. We made it through, hiked a little further and, luckily, I was in the group that took the first site. We set up camp, cooked chicken quesadillas and went to sleep.

Coyotes woke me up, and Jacob too at one point. I didn’t mind until something actually brushed the tent. Thought it was a coon, and still might have been, but there were definitely Coyotes in the camp that night. So, a HUGE Coyote tried to break in and eat Jacob… J

When we woke up it was raining. It rained off and on all morning. We had 3 miles left to hike. Doesn’t sound like much, but the first mile was a descent into the bottom of the canyon. The trail needed a “Slippery When Wet” sign. We got to the canyon bottom, took off our packs and got to explore the 5 fingers of the canyon. This was worth the trip! It was awesome to see the different layers of earth going up the canyon walls. It looked like one of those sand art jars that you made as a kid with all of the different colored sand (minus the weird colors, of course). And yes, there was a large pile of bear crap down there that had some of the scouts VERY nervous. The fingers weren’t but 15 yards wide at the widest parts, so running into a cornered bear had me and Mr. West a little cautious to say the least. Good news, though. No bear. After an hour or so of meandering, we packed up and started the extremely vertical climb out. Try it some time. You’ll understand.

All in all, a great trip. Jacob has probably outgrown his internal frame backpack. I think he’ll use mine next trip. I really love the Spring hiking trips… but not nearly as much as the Summer fishing trips!

We missed the April canoeing trip down the Blackwater River because it was Gavin’s first birthday. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world! We decided we would do a canoeing trip sometime this summer, maybe in August when we go to St. Pete. We’ll see.

May 2010- St. Andrews State Park Fishing Trip

I think there were 29 people total (scouts and adults), which is a big group for a camp out. I must say up front that the logistical efforts by a few adult leaders were outstanding. Even when we got to St. Andrews at 9pm, well past dark, and were given 3 sites that normally hold 1-2 tents that we were attempting to stuff 5 tents on (yeah, that’s 15 tents for math majors), we made it through with minimal injury. I tented with Jacob, who complained about the heat and the non-existent mosquitoes in our tent until he finally passed out. We were set to get up at 6am, but some St. Andrews wildlife member obviously had other plans. If I had a gun, or even a blowgun or something, I would’ve shot and eaten whatever bird decided he was ready to get up at 4am and party like a rock star. He eventually stopped… after everyone in camp was up. Waking up 8 boys (and some fathers) a few hours before a fishing trip was game over. No more sleep for Thomas. I got up and started taking pictures. Got a cool one of Jacob holding up the sun. Thought it would be one of the better pictures of the trip. Man, was I wrong!

We embarked on the Jubilee, a 100ft, 75-person capacity charter boat out of Treasure Island Marina in Panama City. After a fairly comical introduction by the crew, we claimed our spots (which I made sure were at the back of the boat) and were off. The captain told us we had 45 minutes of running to do before we dropped lines, so most of the kids went upstairs to explore. Jacob wanted to sit in his spot to make sure that no one muscled him for it! It paid off (for him and for me) because the next 5 minutes made my trip! We weren’t but a half mile or so past the jetties when one of the trolling lines took off. Jacob was the only person at the back of the boat, so the deck hand immediately put the rod in Jacob’s hands! He was fighting the first fish of the day, and it was a pretty decent fight! The deck hand worked with Jacob to get him comfortable with fighting and reeling (we hadn’t really talked about using the conventional at that point) and after a few minutes of the entire boat cheering Jacob on, he got the fish to the boat and the deck hand gaffed it to make sure he landed it. Jacob caught his first Kingfish, and the only king that would be caught that day! A definite keeper, it went somewhere around 38-40in. The look in his eye was the best part of the entire weekend. I could’ve not even wet a line and been perfectly happy with the charter… Oh, but we wet some line!

All in all, Troop 23 caught 207 fish, ranging from Jacob’s King to Vermillion, White and Lane Snapper, Amberjack, Triggers and even a few chicken Mahi. We caught several nice Reds, but the season didn’t open until June 1, so we were a week and half too early. We caught some short grouper too. I caught a dolphin (like, Flipper) that decided he wanted my fish. Well, I didn’t really catch him. He ate my fish and I kinda stared at him like, “Yeah, you ate it.” He came back up to the surface to see us. Nice guy. We caught several Remoras (one of which was so big, people thought it was a Cobia) and I caught a Goggle Eye, which, if you’ve never had the pleasure, actually freezes out of water like a possum (an opossum?). Crazy. Thought the lady was joking when she asked me if I wanted it posed for a picture… Here’s the picture! It’s standing on its fins like something you’d buy from a souvenir shop!

After 8 hours of fishing, it came to our attention that there was a ton of fish on our stringers. I started thinking about my filet knife. I started thinking about a way to get out of cleaning all these damn fish! It ended up like one of those MasterCard commercials:

29 people on a fishing charter: $1,450.00

207 fish@ .50/lb cleaning fee: $ 120.00 including tip

Not having to clean fish until sunrise: Priceless

Note to self: Bring fish cleaning money on any future charter boat. Well, well worth it!

We had a huge fish fry with hush puppies later that evening and everyone went to bed full. We saved the King for the next morning so Jacob could clean it, along with a stringer of fish for everyone else to clean (one of the requirements for the fishing merit badge). That was a mess, but it all worked out. Wish I could’ve gotten that bird. He was out again the second night. I had a place for him on the cleaning board.

This was one of my favorite trips with the scouts. It was Jacob’s first deep sea charter, and he did great! He caught all sorts of fish, battled the King, the conventional reel and the blisters from reeling in so much! He smiled a lot, which was awesome. I think we both did. I’d do it again in a heartbeat!

June 2010- Camp Daniel Boone

The details are fuzzy as I had to rely on a lot of, “Nothing really,” and, “I don’t remember,” but I think the verdict came back from Boone: Jacob had a blast! The scouts left at 5:30am on Saturday the 26th to drive to the Ocoee for Whitewater Rafting! After talking with Jacob, he didn’t fall out of the raft at all, but he got lit up by some kid’s T-grip a few times before he told him that if he did it again, he’d be out of the raft! Jacob said it was fun, I’d imagine it was freakin’ awesome! They camped at Mr. Snead’s cabin in Murphy, NC on Saturday night.

They arrived at Camp Daniel Boone on Sunday to set up camp and be ready for Monday. Jacob took Fly Fishing, Communications, Archaeology, Fish & Wildlife Conservation and Leatherworking. The only merit badge he didn’t come home with this time was the Fly Fishing merit badge, and that’s because he had to catch 2 fish on the fly rod and he only caught one. So, I’ll be off to Walmart this weekend to buy some flies so he can catch his second fish and get the merit badge. I know he worked hard on it, so we’re going to finish it! According to Bob, Jacob and Maks spent an afternoon teaching some disabled scouts how to clean fish. He said it was one of the highlights of the trip for him. Jacob said, “Oh yeah, I guess I helped them a little…” It’s amazing the difference in perception! We’re really proud of Jacob for giving some of his free time to help others.

Jacob said the food was wonderful and the weather was beautiful. I think it was in the low 50’s at night. Perfect. We were really glad to have him home on Saturday the 3rd though. Brie had only seen Jacob for like 2 days in 2 weeks, and that is really abnormal for them. She slept in Jacob’s bed while he was in NIH the week before, and a few nights when he was at camp too. She might have been the happiest to have him back! I was told there were pictures coming, but I haven’t even seen the pictures from last year’s trip, so I’m not holding my breath.

Going Forward

There are some beast camping trips planned for the next few months, as Jacob would say. We’re going to miss the August trip to the Ichetucknee Springs State Park on the 13th because we’ll be in St. Pete. I’m sure Jacob won’t mind missing tubing for fishing, though. I think there’s another backpacking trip, maybe to Torreya? And the JLT (Junior Leadership Training) camp out will be held at St. George Island again. That’s where they plan the trips for the next year.

Jacob’s in the process of finishing Citizenship in the World, Citizenship in the Community, Environmental Science and Cooking merit badges. We’ve started on the Disabilities Awareness merit badge at home. Hopefully his new laptop from the Division of Blind Services will motivate him to look up the few things he needs and to finish these 4 badges and get a good start on the 5th!

We’re all really proud of the accomplishments Jacob has achieved in the past few months of scouting. He’s shown a ton of effort and it’s always nice to take a child somewhere he wants to go rather than somewhere you’re making him go! Until next time, ka-kaw, ka-kaw (That’s my Eagle call. Yeah, I know that that’s not really how Eagle’s sound, but hey, you get the point!)!

Written by Thomas

Jacob's June 2010 Trip to the National Institute of Health (NIH)

Jacob's June 2010 Trip to the National Institute of Health (NIH)

As most of you know Jacob and I just spent the last week at NIH. We traveled up there for his second semi-annual visit. This trip was for a brain, spine and brachial plexus MRI, Radiology Speech and Swallow testing, blood work and an appointment with Jacob's Neurosurgeon, Dr. Ashok Asthagiri (Dr. A).

I am only going to write about Jacob's testing and the consultation with Dr. A in fear if I try and write about the rest of the trip, this will never get written. I will quickly say, however, that our flights were fine, but I prefer Delta over US Airways. Both boys did great on the planes, buses and subway trains. Our trip to the National Zoo was awesome, but extremely hot. And our stay at the NIH Children's Inn was very nice, as always.

Tuesday morning was the 1st time Jacob has done a full brain and full spine MRI without any anesthesia. I was so super proud of him! He only asked to get up once during the nearly 3 hour imaging. Jacob got his IV right after having blood drawn in the Phlebotomy lab and it took two tries in the same vein to get it placed. He didn't complain and handled it like a champ. Thursday morning he had an IV placed and brachial plexus MRI done all by himself. He went back into Radiology alone and said he didn't need me to come back and told me,"it's alright, I'll be fine." Jacob is so brave and grown up!

Jacob suffered some brief moments of speech loss a few months ago so Dr. A thought it would be good to have a baseline of Jacob’s speech and swallow functions for the future. Jacob hadn’t done the Speech and Swallow testing before and we were very thankful that it was not invasive. He drank juice, ate pudding and ate a cookie, one at a time. They took pictures during each and Gavin and I watched on the screen. Jacob got to watch too on a monitor right in front of him. The images were really neat. It reminded me of a Halloween movie! You could see Jacob's skeleton and the product he was eating or drinking pass through his throat, down past his heart and into his tummy. Jacob's swallow results were normal, but his speech results showed some slight atrophy in his tongue, most likely from one of the tumors in his neck. So, as always, we were given good news, but also bad news.

Our last appointment was on Thursday morning with Dr. A to go over the MRIs that Jacob had done this trip. Dr A compared them to the MRIs from the previous trip in December 2009. The good news was that the ependymoma (tumor inside the spinal cord) at the base of Jacob's brain stem has not really grown or changed in the last 6 months. Also the very long meningioma tumor growing near the middle of Jacob spine has not really changed, and although it is touching Jacob's spinal cord, it is not pressing on it - the spinal fluid is still able to flow through. (Thank you, GOD!! and Mrs. Bunny!!!) The other good news is that the left side Vestibular Schwannoma (Acoustic Neuroma or ear tumor) has not changed or grown at all and the schwannoma in Jacob's c-spine that has 3 parts and is branching out on both sides of Jacob's spinal nerves is still only pressing on the left side of the cord and has only grown a small amount.

These above are our answered prayers.

The bad news (which it seems we cannot escape from) is that the right side Vestibular Schwannoma (Acoustic Neuroma or ear tumor) has grown from 19 mm to 24 mm over the last 6 months. It is a blessing that it has not interrupted Jacob's hearing. Jacob’s audiogram and ABR testing, done here in Tallahassee in May, was within normal limits. The ABR did show on the right side where the signal (sound) is taking a bit longer to reach his brain than on the left. Dr. A discussed with us possible surgery with him at NIH and we talked about CI and ABI implants done at HEI in California. We also talked about protecting Jacob's balance and facial nerve and how big the tumor can get before it damages those nerves also. We are going to continue to watch it for now to allow Jacob to have hearing as long as possible on that side.

The other bad news was that there is another ependymoma (tumor inside the spinal cord) growing under the one at the base of the brain stem. It is seen on his other scans, but has not been growing considerable until now. They will be watching it as well.

We also discussed the continued loss of strength and use of Jacob's right hand. Dr. A said he reviewed the films of the brachial plexus, but they had not been read by the radiologist yet. He said he still did not see a way they could safely remove any of the tumors in that area - the brachial plexus is like a field of nerves all entangle in each other and there is not one large tumor that they see that could be causing the problem, but several that stretch across the field.

Jacob's optic nerve tumor was not discussed since Jacob's vision has not appeared to have changed over the last 6 months and is too hard to see on MRI.

We will return to NIH in 6 months for another set of MRIs. He will also have his eye, balance and hearing tests and appointments. We have appointments at Shands in July to have the scans at NIH reviewed by his doctors there to keep them in the loop and we will also be seeing Jacob's new eye doctor there in 2 weeks. Wish us luck!

Thank you for reading and please, please keep Jacob in your prayers

Trying to Catch Up..............

Trying to Catch up.....


I realize as I sit down to write this blog today that I am very far behind on everything that has happened over the last few months. I really feel like I could write a huge book if I had the time.


I didn't finish writing about our December trip to NIH like I wanted to, so here it goes...


A Condensed Version of Days 4, 5 and 6:


On the evening of the 4th day, we went on a bus to the Double Tree Hotel with all of the families from the Children's Inn. The hotel had a very beautiful and newly renovated lobby and restaurant. The hotel had roped off an area just for us and prepared a special meal selection. It was delicious! We were treated like royalty. It was a very nice break from reality for a few hours. The next morning we met with Dr. Ashok Asthagiri, the very young and brilliant neurosurgeon heading up the NF2 Study at NIH. He went over all of Jacob's scans with me and discussed his concerns. We talked about what he wants to watch and what could be done in the future. I will write a post dedicated to Jacob's medical findings on another day. I want this post to be 100% positive. Later that afternoon, after our 3 hour meeting with Dr. A., Jacob, Gavin and I took our second trip into D.C. on the Metro Subway. This time we were more prepared for the escalators, stairs and walking. I took a chest baby carrier and an umbrella stroller. We went the long way (walking, of course) to the Washington Monument, alongside the Mall and saw the Lighting of the Christmas Trees. Obama was on the lawn giving a speech, but we couldn't get close enough to see him. We also walked to the Lincoln Memorial and stood at the very bottom. We walked to and around the White House. The Capital was too far for us to walk, but we did have yummy pizza and saw a lot of other very cool buildings. D.C. was very old and majestic. I hope to go back when we have more daylight hours. It was an adventure for sure - it was so super cold and got late fast. We walked for 6 hours and finally headed back to Maryland at 10:30 pm to make sure we would be able to take the train. We had walked so much and so far I wasn't 100 % sure of our route back, but we found it without a hitch. That night I washed and packed our clothes and got ready to head home. Day 6 went well for the most part. My boys were wonderful travelers and we made it home on time. It was wonderful to see our family and be back in Tally. I had missed Brie and TD so much. Our next trip to NIH will be in May or June.


Since then, Gavin had his first Christmas (it was awesome), we celebrated the beginning of a new year and TD's Dad retirement from the Seminole Fire Department. We had a fabulous family trip to St. Pete to see family and Orlando to visit Rachel and go to Universal Studios. Brie won First Place in the Cobb Science Fair (she went to Regionals at FSU). Brie also won Second Place in the History Fair for the entire school. TD had a great hunting trip with his Dad on St. Vincent Island, I turned 35 years old and Gavin was baptized. Gavin's baptism was beautiful. Gavin also started going to the nursery alone at church, which was a huge step for him and me!


Other random thoughts.....


I'm still upset my Colts lost the Super Bowl, but I am thrilled that Spring Training started this week!!


I am super excited for Rachel, who recently found out that she got the job as head chef at the new Harry Potter area at Islands of Adventure.


We have had a lot of WONDERFUL family news lately!!!


I am excited that spring break is around the corner and the kids and I will be headed back down south to hit the beach and have more time with Gramma Gina and the rest of our family.


I am sooo looking forward to our family trip to the Florida Keys in June. I booked our hotel last week!!


We have had a really, really cold winter in Tallahassee so we haven't started a garden yet, but will hopefully do so this weekend. Winter soccer is over and Brie is done with soccer for now. She had a good season, but is taking a break from playing this spring. Jacob has been busy working on rank advancement at Boy Scouts. If he achieves First Class rank by next year, he’ll be eligible for the high adventure trip at SeaBase (which has locations in the Keys and in the Bahamas!). He will be attending Camp Daniel Boone again this summer. I am still trying to convince him to go to the NF2 camp in Salt Lake City, but he is afraid to fly without one of us. Jacob has also been very active with the Lighthouse of the Big Bend's Transition program. Right now they are working on applications for summer volunteering. The Lighthouse will pay Jacob for hours he volunteers. Jacob is looking into working outside at a plant nursery right now. I am thrilled about him learning to be more independent. Both Jacob and Brie are still up and down with their grades. Their report cards have been great - mostly As and Bs with only a few Cs, but the mid 9 weeks and weekly grades can be scary. There is a lot of weekly grounding and stress in our house revolving around school and we are constantly working on “listening” and “attitude.” But for all the stress, there are so many wonderful moments that heal those not-so-happy times. We have bundled up and recently gone to the Jacksonville Zoo and to our local Jr. Museum. We had a fantastic time when our family came up from St. Pete for Gavin's baptism and my birthday. We ate good food, laughed and loved!!


My parents are happy and healthy, TD's parents and grandparents are happy and healthy. Rachel is happy and healthy. TD, our children and myself are happy and healthy. Our extended family is all happy and healthy and my friends are all healthy.


I might be tired and the laundry isn't folded, my legs are hairy, but Life really is good.

My Gavin Notes

   

My Gavin Notes

 

Time is moving by so quickly. I want so much to spend time and write all about Gavin and how much he is growing and changing, but Life is so busy right now. I thought in the spirit of trying to keep my Blog up to date. I would paste my notes I keep for Gavin's Baby Book. The beautiful Baby Book I haven't even started on yet.......

As of 12-08-2009

Gavin is crawling like crazy, pulling up and feeding himself crackers and puffs. He can hold his juice cup and drink well from a sippy. He is walking around the table and with push toys. He loves clapping and waving bye bye. His top 4 teeth are cutting through (he has had the bottom 2 since 4 months). Gavin loves music and is bouncing up and down whenever music comes on. He has started babbling dada, lala, ga, and bababa

G gets very excited to see Daddy (TD)

12-17-2009 8 months old!

Gavin is really enjoying Baby Time at the library. He is starting to do some baby signs. All done and milk are two I have noticed. G loves his bath and anticipates it nightly. We made his 1st Build A Bear. It is a Bunny name Buck.

01-15-2010

Gavin has his 1st bad cold. He has had a mild fever, ear pulling and extremely snotty nose.

Lasted 5 days.

 

01-20-2010

Gavin goes to his 9 month appt. Dr. Kelch said Gavin looks great. He is healthy and doing all of the expected milestones, plus some. Even though he has been sick she said his ears and chest are clear!

 

01-29-2010

Gavin said milk!, twice. Plain as day. Jacob, Brie, TD and I all heard him. It was adorable. TD was drinking Coke from a clear glass and Gavin reached for it and said milk. It was really funny to think G has never seen milk before because he only nurses. Gavin has a very good appetite and will eat any baby food or solid given to him. He loves blue berries and strawberries. We gave him meat a few times, but the Doctor said to wait until a year. So no more meat.

Gavin is hammering on the nails on his work bench with the toy hammer - he gets it! He is standing alone for long periods of time and loving his swing on the porch that daddy hung up for him.

02-06-2010

Gavin and I shared the sweetest moment. TD, Gavin and I were hanging out in bed, talking and watching TV. Gavin was in the middle of us. Out of nowhere Gavin leaned over, put his hands on my face and kissed me on the mouth. (I didn't even have to ask for a kiss.) I felt so very loved.

02-07-2010

Gavin has been taking steps (1st 5 steps were on 02-03-10) and as of today is walking very freely all over the bedroom and living room. We have a walker!!

02-22-2010

Gavin is loving his Sign, Say and Play Class. He is using baby signs to communicate with us more and more. He is signing milk, bye bye, hello, more, all done and bath. All done is a very useful sign. We are working on the sign for love. He has done it a few times. He understands many other signs, but isn't using them to himself. We will start our second baby signs class on March 4th. Ball is Gavin's 1st work. He also says Mama and Dada for what seems to be on purpose for TD and me. He can say bubble and makes the quack quack sound for duck. Gavin loves butterflies and always wants to touch the ones hanging in our house. He also recognizing pictures of butterflies in books and looks up to where they hang to show us "his butterflies." He also get excited about pictures of dogs and cats in books. He gets that too!

Gavin follows simple commands very well. He will "put the ball in the basket" and will share his food. He loves to blow kisses and give kisses (open mouth). Gavin will throw his hands up over his head when you ask him "How big is Gavin." Gavin will shake his hands and wiggle his bum when we sing "Shake your sillies out." He still loves music and will dance when you say "Gavin let's dance." He is still clapping and starting to learn to roll the ball with an adult or with Jacob or Brie. Gavin still loves to play peek a boo.

03-01-2010

This weekend Gavin started shaking his head for no and making what appears to be a ssss sound for Yes. He has also started to feed himself with a spoon.

Gavin has learned how to crawl to the side of the bed, lay on his tummy and scoot off feet first. We worked on this for 3 days (3 x) and he got it. He is also getting very fast on his feet and walked for most of the time when at the park this weekend.

I am so in love with Gavin and with Jacob and Brie. (& TD) They really are little miracles of life God has given us.

Gavin is already so much an individual with so much personality and spirit. He has completed our family and my heart. I love all of my children so much. I feel so blessed to be their mommy and have each day as a new experience with them.

It is so amazing!!

Pictures of Gavin at 9 months