Grand America & Zoo Lights

Yesterday we met up with the Garfield's ( Ryan, Jodi, and Quayde) in downtown SLC. We first went to the church history museum. After, we went to the Grand America to look at their Christmas decorations. They did really fun window displays around the world. We took Gavin to the toy shop and ate macaroons from the french pastry shop. Later, we headed up to the Zoo Lights. It was really cold, but a lot of fun!

 

Just for Fun

Gavin loves to pick things up while he walks. Today it was a pan lid. Silly boy!

His eyes kill me! They are so gorgeous!

My little thumbsucker

Or he loves to carry my phone around everywhere

Gavin and I were in the mood to take some fun pictures today! That's all!

The Scariest Minute of My Life

I'm going to get a little personal today and talk about something that I haven't mentioned much before, I feel like it is good for me to write about it.
Before I became a mom, I wasn't much of a worrier. I had always heard that once you become a mom, that you worry about everything. Before Gavin was born, I didn't have much anxiety either. Being a mom makes me anxious. Especially at night. when Gavin was a newborn, I was constantly waking up during the night to go check on him to make sure he was breathing. I didn't sleep very soundly, and my worry kept me up a lot of the night. I'm constantly worrying about things that could go wrong, even though I know I can't control them.

Last night was a scary and hard night.

It all started when my Mom took Jayden, Gavin, and I out to dinner. We were finishing our dinner, when we noticed that Gavin was choking on a piece of food. At first he started to cough, but after a few coughs, he couldn't breathe. Gavin looked up at us, helpless. The look on his face is one that I will never forget. Something was wrong. Next, comes the scariest minute of my life. All in a panic, we jumped up from the table, looking in Gavin's mouth. Jayden picked him up out of his highchair and started doing back blows ( which is like the hemlich maneuver for babies) After a few times hitting him on the back he started to cough and breathe again. This frightened Gavin and he was shaken up because of it. I'm so grateful that Jayden's instincts kicked in and that Gavin was only without air for a few seconds. Still that even that took place in less than a minute, seemed like an eternity. As a Mom, watching your baby not be able to breathe is a horrifying experience, and you feel so helpless. Gavin was back to himself in just a few minutes, and he was acting completely normal, however it is something that I will never forget. My mom and I had tickets to a musical over on the U's campus. I knew that Gavin was fine, and that Jayden would take good care of him, but it was so hard to say goodbye to him after a traumatic event like that. The image of Gavin not being able to breathe has been haunting me all day. Last night was not a good night's sleep either. Gavin woke up around midnight, and didn't fall back asleep until 3:30, which meant I didn't go to sleep until about 4. But I actually didn't mind. We cuddled and played together and even watched an Elmo. It was comforting to hold him in my arms and know that he was safe and healthy. As Jayden and I were talking about this that had happened, it raised many questions. Are we prepared in an emergency like this? We both have been trained on child first aid/CPR, but were we current on our knowledge. Last night we did some research to see the proper ways to administer first aid/CPR. All parents should know and learn these things, it could save your child's life. I am embarrassed now that I wasn't that prepared for an emergency.

I thank my Heavenly Father for watching over us and protecting us. I have felt the hand of the Lord many times, especially after my anxiety picks up a bit, to help me calm down and have a feeling of peace. This event opened my eyes, and makes me want to slow down and just appreciate the little moments in life. Hug your loved ones close!

For those Mom's out there...do you experience anxiety at all? What do you do to help cope with anxiety and worrying? I would love to hear from you!

Last night, after a long day

Watching Elmo at 3 in the morning

Gavin Meets Santa

Gavin met Santa for the first time last night. We had our ward Christmas Party and Santa was there for all of the children to meet. Gavin liked Santa at first. When Jayden was holding him, he kept on making his "wow" face and sound. When he sat on Santa's lap, he was handed a candy cane and Gavin was pretty calm, just taking it all in for a few minutes. Then all of a sudden, Santa made a weird noise, or something happened that freaked Gavin out! He started bawling and practically jumped off Santa's lap! It was pretty cute and funny!

My Favorite Reads this Year

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to read. However, this last year, it is safe to say that I haven't done as much reading as I would have liked. ( I'm thinking it was something that has to do with having a newborn and finishing school) haha. Now that I have more time, I am starting to read more and more. I forget how wonderful of an outlet it is. I love to take baths and read books. These are my favorite books that I read this year. And they are all SO different!

 I just finished Mindy Kaling's book, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" and I really loved it. It was a quick and easy read. I know a lot of people either hate or love Mindy, but I think she is great. She is funny and real. She doesn't sugar coat anything and you can relate to her like a friend instead of a celebrity. She keeps it pretty real, and I like that.

 

The "Night Circus" was one of my summer reads at Lake Powell. I loved this book as well. I'm not usually one for books about magic or fantasy, but this one was excellent. The details were superb. Erin Morgenstern really gave great visuals. There was also the perfect amount of love story. 

Les Mis is my current read. I have a goal to finish it all the way through ( the unabridged version, which is over 1200 pages). I am only about 100 pages in, so it might take me a while. But I am really enjoying it so far, and I am SO excited for the movie to come out on Christmas Day.

 I really enjoyed "Kisses From Katie". It hits home and is close to my heart, because the book is about Uganda, which I visited back in the summer of 2010. Katie Davis is a great inspiration and she tells her story in a beautiful way. She also has an incredible love for her adopted children and for God.

I read the Elegance of the Hedgehog right after Gavin was born. I saw the movie first, which I loved. The book was great as well. Muriel Barbery is a wonderful author. I feel like it took me forever to read this book because I didn't want to finish it. It is such a great story, I would read just a little bit everyday to drag out the story. Does anyone else do this?

Do you have any great book suggestions? I am always looking for new books to add to my library.

Festival of Trees + a Birthday

This weekend, Jayden, Gavin, and I went to the Festival of Trees. We went to the Festival of Trees last year, but I had to waddle around, and had to sit down every few minutes because I was SO pregnant with Gavin. This year it was fun to bring Gavin and go as a family. Our favorite part was the Gingerbread houses. There were a few trees that were our favorite. We really liked the Sesame Street and Elmo trees ( these were Gavin's favorite) and the University of Utah trees. Tonight we celebrated my dads birthday. We had dinner at my parents house and had a yummy dinner and cake.

"The Shire" from the Hobbit

The Sweet Tooth Fairy house

Snack break!

My favorite one from Ice Age

Jayden tickling Gavin while in line to see the trees

Sometimes it's really hard to get a good picture....Gavin wouldn't smile at all!

Or look at the camera....

One of my favorite trees, the nightmare before Christmas

One of the Sesame Street trees

Now that's our kind of tree!

Happy Birthday Dad!

The yummy birthday cake that my mom and I made. Chocolate cake, peppermint mousse, chocolate ganache, and crushed peppermints!