This and That

This is going to be a mixed up post. I have so many tiny things to say that aren't really a full post in themselves.

Gavin

We are going through a lot of stuff with him lately. I feel like I am in the midst of parenting a sixth grader. It is hard. It really feels like parenting up until this point was so easy. Basically just making sure he is healthy and happy. Now, it seems like the happy part is just so difficult to accomplish these days. He is pretty moody and we go through stages of him feeling loved and accepted, to times of him so angry and feeling hate towards himself and everyone else. I am guessing he is learning to deal with his emotions but here we are, stumbling, blind, groping for a way to help him survive this. I just pray we are handling it okay. I want him to love himself, but not be too arrogant, and to love others, too. We talked with our pastor, and basically his advice is to listen and let Gavin know that no matter what, he can tell us anything. He also said to ask questions to help him open up and sort through his feelings and then just tell him it is normal to have feelings like that.

Last night, he ended up getting upset at dinner and said that he hated himself(I can't even remember what led up to this). This is how we handled it. I tried like Pastor said, "Gavin, what makes you feel that way? Why do you hate yourself?" He kinda reponded something like, I dunno, or I just do. (Not really an answer) So then, I just started naming off ways that I see him: how he taught himself to swim last year, picks up dances and movements so quickly and easily, all the kids at school that like him, how he is so loving and thoughtful to his brother and us, how helpful he is around the house, how funny and crazy he is, basically the coolest kid ever. It did turn his thought process around, but at the same time, I don't want to just give him empty praises to make him feel good. Maybe he just needs to work through these emotions. I am just really struggling with this and wish someone could just tell me exactly what to do. I am so afraid of messing Gavin up to the point of him needing counseling and therapy because of me.

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On a lighter note: Gavin has come up with some funny stuff in the past few days as well. (I can't decide if this first one is funny or sad)

We were out to dinner on Saturday night. Eddie and I were talking when Gavin mentioned that he was shooting all the little animals. The kids menu had all these cute cartoon baby animals all over it and Gavin had drawn red crosshairs on each one of them. (I am terrified if I mention my distaste for stuff like this too often, he will hide it from me) We just laughed(me nervously) and told him that baby animals were too cute to shoot and to save it for big animals like lions and bears.

I had nursery duty on this past Sunday. The guys picked me up after the service and when we got back to the car, Gavin asked why I had nursery that day. I told him that I had to help take care of all the babies. He said, "Why you had to breastfeed all of them?" LOL "No, mommies, only breastfeed their babies, I just play with them, hold them, and change their diapers while their mommies are in church. "

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Owen

Yesterday in the car, Gavin was saying that he wanted to be an astronaut when he grows up. He turned to Owen and asked him what he wanted to be. Owen said, "The icecream man". LOL (You have to know Owen, he has a MAJOR sweet tooth)

Owen also has this habit of saying Mam and Mister.(He brags on his good manners. LOL) He will use it in funny contexts though. If he wants to hand me something, it is, "Here mam." or he will say, "Here Mister."



This picture is me(on the far right) with my two pregnant friends, Amanda(middle), and Nina(far left). Amanda is due 3 weeks before me and Nina is due 4 weeks after me.

My joint baby shower with Amanda was really nice. We had a wonderful group of ladies to dote on us. We both received so many nice, girly things and enjoyed great desserts and fellowship. I do wish that more of my pictures turned out. Some of them were just really blurry, my eyes were closed, or I looked like a total goof with crazy facial expressions.