Before and After

Since today was the first day in what feels like weeks that we could shut the AC off and open the windows, I decided ... why not paint the kitchen? Our kitchen has been dark blue since we moved, but we decided it was time to lighten things up and match up the walls with the rest of the dining and living areas. I got started on the priming while Gavin napped and then roped Don into the rest of the project when he got home from work. We are leaving the tape up until we're sure there's no blue showing through (will need daylight to check that), but not bad for a day's work! Now we just need to do the dishes...

"I love to swim!" 

It's hot outside, but Gavin is staying cool

Heather gave Gavin this onsie a couple months ago and although it's still a little big, I couldn't resist putting it on him today. It's adorable for a baby, but let's hope 20 years from now he's not wearing t-shirts with these kinds of messages (or worse!) on them.

5 months old!

We may not have peace in much of the world today, but we can call the detente between dog and baby a small victory. Gavin used his new-found ability to reach and grasp to pet Keely on the nose yesterday. She responded by licking his fingers and then walking away.

Celebrating 3 years!

We spent a few days in Door County this week to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Time flies when you are having fun! We got some much-needed sleep while my parents watched Gavin for us, ate way too much good food and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. It was the recipe for a perfect trip!

Naps. They're a good thing.

Mmmmmmmm

Gavin had his first taste of solid food this week. That means rice cereal. Ever had it? I haven't tried it. Does that make me a bad mom? It looks like you could make a pinata with it so I haven't been tempted.
The first couple tries, Gavin looked at the spoon like he had no idea what we were trying to get him to do. By the fourth and fifth nights (which was last night), he was opening his mouth wide and asking for more. It can't taste that bad, right?

Family weekend

We hosted Don's brother Chris and his fiance Kathy this weekend, who visited us from the D.C. area. We had a great time hanging out on the terrace of the new Madison Museum of Contemporary Art on Friday night, where we ate at the new restaurant up there (called Fresco) and enjoyed the view of downtown Madison. The first shot is what happens when you ask a member of a bachelorette party to take your picture!

When in doubt, wear your fairy wings

I recently took in the movie "The Devil Wears Prada," and it got me to thinking about fashion (and my lack thereof lately). Ultimately, I have decided it is most important to wear what makes you feel good and puts a smile on your face. This may not happen everyday, especially when you've got a baby in the house, but in those moments that it happens, it's something to be happy about. Exhibit A: my niece Caroline stepping out on Michigan Avenue during a recent family vacation to Chicago.

Four months old!

Gavin was baptized this weekend and also enjoyed a visit with Mimi and Grandad as well as Aunt Heather (his godmother), Uncle Rick and cousins Anna and Caroline. Our good friend Jerry (the godfather) also joined in the festivities Sunday.








We underwent major preparations to try and ensure Gavin would be in the best mood possible when he appeared before the whole church: getting up at 6 a.m. to try and make sure he could eat and nap and take care of business BEFORE putting on his pristine white outfit (which we decided was akin to what tennis players wore at Wimbledon in the 1920s). At any rate, it was a rough morning waking a sleeping baby (something you should never do), getting him fed, having him make a mess on Don and waking him up a second time from a brief nap. By the time we got to the church for the 9:30 service, we were about cashed in. Luckily, the baptism was early on and when we got up to the front, Gavin was in a good mood and when the pastor declared him baptized a huge grin spread across his face for all to see. The congregation did a collective "awww!" and I nearly bust into tears from happiness and exhaustion.

Best. Ice cream. Ever.

There are moments in life where some things taste sooooo good you have to "take a break" to appreciate them. Case in point: Haagen Dazs Mayan Chocolate ice cream. Words cannot describe how good it is. The Web site is pretentious and sort of hilarious with how seriously it takes this new ice cream flavor, i.e. "We went back and unearthed the ancient origins of chocolate just so we could bring it to you." Check it out and for the love of god, buy the ice cream!!!
http://www.mayanchocolateicecream.com

First Father's Day

Gavin gave the best present ever when he let both mom and dad sleep in until 8:30 a.m. (yahoo!). He spent the rest of the day showing off his new shirt and discovering his own feet for the first time.

The Fever is clearly catching!

Devastated By U.S. World Cup Team's First-Round Loss,
Nation Grinds To Halt
June 15, 2006
NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, and WASHINGTON, DC—With the Dow Jones average down over 600 points, factory productivity in a downward spiral, and workplace attendance down by nearly a third, experts say the U.S. World Cup team's heartbreaking 3-0 defeat at the hands of Czech Republic on Monday has brought life across the soccer-crazed nation to a virtual standstill.
"What happened in Gelsenkirchen has indeed dealt a grievous blow to the morale of the American people," said President Bush, who had promised his constituency a swift and speedy victory in the World Cup this year and whose popularity has taken a 9 percent hit since the U.S. team's loss. "I want the citizens of this great nation, the world's only remaining superpower, to know that I grieve alongside them and urge them to be strong in our hour of darkness, and urge them to return to their jobs and schools despite their heavy hearts."
continued at http://www.theonion.com/content/node/49524

World Cup Fever

Who's got it? We do! OK, at least Don does and the rest of us are along for the ride. We hit Hawk's Bar (Madison's official World Cup Headquarters) on Monday morning, to watch the first U.S. game of the tournament. We had a great time hanging with other soccer fans and I loved the spectacle of it all.

We also enjoyed visiting with Hawk as well as friends who were there: Sean, his dad Mr. O'Brien, Polly and Dan (who said he was glad his boss works 2 buildings away and didn't know he was watching the game instead of working). The U.S. sadly lost 3-0 to the Czech Republic, but have the chance to rebound Saturday against Italy.

Cute cousins

We spent the weekend and part of this week in Minneapolis visiting Jenny's sister Heather and her family. Gavin got to spend some quality time with his two cousins, Anna (6) and Caroline (3). Anna delighted in singing to Gavin, making funny faces and anything else she could think of to get him to laugh. As Heather said, she's on track to becoming his favorite babysitter a few years down the road : )

3 Months Old!

This is what my mom promised would be the "magic time," and I'd have to say we agree. Gavin smiles a ton, thinks his reflection in the mirror is the most hilarious thing ever and seems to know who we are more and more each day. He "talks" a lot, much more than he cries. He is super strong and we have a feeling that once he starts moving around, we're in trouble!

Shameless Plug!

Our friends Otto and Hathaway are open for business!

We're hoping to check out the new place ASAP and toss back a pint of "Hatha-weis"

For more info: http://www.aleasylum.com

Grey Matter

How much do I love Grey's Anatomy? So much so that I gasped and yelled at the TV during part one of the season finale last night. I think it sounded something like this: "Oh my god, it's Burke!" Don thought someone we knew had actually been harmed. When my favorite show takes the summer off I am going to have to find some other way to let my brain escape for an hour each Sunday night. There's always reading, or yard work or gourmet cooking, but none of them involve the high drama and eye candy this program provides. I found this great blog http://www.greyswriters.com/ that my fellow Grey's fans should check out.

And They're Off!

Thanks to many friends who came over yesterday to watch the Kentucky Derby with us. 40 brats were consumed along with mint juleps (Thanks Troy!) and Kentucky Derby Day Pie (think gooey chocolate chip cookie in a pie crust). Four party-goers split the $24 in winnings for correctly guessing Barbaro would win the race.

I want to be on the blog!

So here I am with its true star! I was reminded at dinner with friends the other night that I need to make sure I end up in some of the baby pictures so Gavin knows I was there : )

Double Vision

When we took Gavin to the doctor this week, she took one look at father and son together and said to Don, "Well, your genes just plowed right on through didn't they?" Looks like his red hair and blue eyes might be here to stay!

Motherhood --- tales from the front

Gavin had his 2 month doctor appointment yesterday -- weighing in at 15 pounds, 10 ounces and measuring 24.3 inches.
He also got his first round of vaccinations. Don held his hands, one nurse held his legs and the other administered the shots. What did I do? I stood back and averted my eyes and cried. It was a striking moment in which I was hit by the fact that I am his mother and there was nothing I could do but listen to him cry in pain. I can only imagine how much harder parenthood is going to get, but also how much more love we're going to feel for him with each passing week.

Gordy strikes again!

Jenny's dad was kind enough to make us a new bench and coat rack for our house -- a plan cooked up by Jenny in her ongoing and usually unsuccessful campaign to de-clutter. Still, the bench looks awesome and it's nice to have coats hanging somewhere other than the dining room chairs for a change.
Too bad we didn't think of the idea earlier ... it would have made it a whole lot easier to put on shoes while 9 months pregnant!

Gavin... a man of many moods

Happy Easter!!!

We celebrated the holiday by eating ham and tons of other food at Jenny's parents' house (recently damaged by the tennis-ball sized hail that hit Madison). As you can see, Gavin was so excited about the event he decided to sleep right on through it.

Update on the G-Man

This is what 6 weeks old looks like...

Gavin and his Goldendoodle

Many people have asked how Keely is dealing with the arrival of Gavin in our household. As you can see here, she is doing just fine and enjoys hanging out with our boy!

Triviatown

We hit the Wisconsin Film Festival on Saturday to see a screening of the documentary "Triviatown," which featured our own team, The Cakers, from a couple years back when we placed 6th. Several team members made the trip from out of town for the event and everyone gave the movie "thumbs up." In short, our team was juxtaposed against other teams that take the event way too seriously. We were shown for who we are: fun-loving trivia nerds that get together every year to eat, drink, be merry and answer some questions. Trivia is this weekend and we won't be playing heavily, but will be stopping by Saturday to introduce Gavin to everyone.

One month old!

Is the smile for mommy or because of gas? Doesn't matter!

Time is flying between blog postings! Gavin is doing great and growing at a fast clip -- he's already too tall for many of his 0-3 month size clothing. Now if only all that getting big and strong would tire him out enough to sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time : )

First play date...

Gavin hung out with 7-month old Claire this week and the two of them had a good old time -- though there was not much interaction on Gavin's part, to be honest, we're looking forward to these two pals seeing each other again soon!

So who does he look like?

Gavin is now in his third week and we are getting some sleep, believe it or not, but it's in small increments of 1 to 4 hours. We'll spare you any photos of his parents with bags under their eyes!!!

One week old!

We are getting the hang of being new parents -- including dealing with lack of sleep combined with the sheer excitement and happiness we feel right now about having Gavin in our lives. Thanks to everyone for your calls, e-mails, cards and flowers welcoming him home this week!

GAVIN!

Gavin Price Smith
Born Feb. 26 at 1:14 a.m.
8 pounds, 13 ounces -- 21 inches long
Enjoys eating, sleeping and occasional staring contests
See more photos at: http://www.stmarysmadison.com/internet/home
stmarymadison.nsf/graphics/nurseryframe.html/$file/nurseryframe.html?open&URLID=7D4Y7S6A2M