Growing Up Gwyneth

Catching up from Sept- Dec San Antonio!!

2009-12-15T19:42:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!! Wow has it been a busy few months! I can't believe I have not posted an update since right after school started!! We have been doing so much!

The first thing we did was take a trip! Jason had to go to San Antonio for a week long seminar. I have a flexible work schedule, so it was arranged that we would go with him. This was going to be Gwyn's first plane ride!! We told her she was going to ride in an airplane and the first thing she said was "To go see Aunt Brooke?" (we told her in July after we saw Brooke for the holidays that we would go on vacation to Montana and see Aunt Brooke. She talked about this every day!!) We had to explain that the Montana trip would come later. This time we were going to San Antonio. She was very excited to go on a plane.
Here she is on the plane.

Then we had a layover in Houston and got on another plane. She was tired.........

While we were in San Antonio Gwyn and I shopped and played everyday almost ALL day!! Jason was in class each day from 8-5 so we would have breakfast with him, then go to the room and relax (she watched tv or played while I worked a little bit). Then Jason would come to the room for lunch. After lunch Gwyn and I would shop, play, swim, site see, just in general have some great Mommy and Gwyneth time.... I LOVED THIS! In the evenings we would go on the riverwalk and eat dinner and then just enjoy time together. This was a WONDERFUL time for us!!

Here are some pictures from this vacation:

At the Alamo

Petting the horses (Gwyn wanted to pet EVERY horse we saw!)

Trolley ride

Gwyn really enjoyed the vacation and did not really want to go back to school once we returned. We both got a little spoiled from spending ALL of our time together! She quickly got back into her routine and all is wonderful now! She still loves school and is learning so much from Miss Jenny.

I will post more later on the other things we have been doing since school started!!

Love to everyone!!

Christmas Day 2 and 3

2009-12-15T19:20:00.000-06:00

I am trying to get pictures on here each day of her opening her gifts, so far the record isn't great, but I will get better.
So far she has gotten:
Day 1 Computer
Day 2 Digital Camera
Day 3 Doll House Night stand
I dont have pictures of her opening the computer because there were technical difficulties witht the camera (read: dead batteries). When she got the night stand she had just woken up and wanted us to take a picture later.... I will post one tomorrow!

SOOOO you have a couple of pictures of her with her new camera....
She is having so much fun and taking lots of pictures (of the couch mainly).... I will post some of her pictures when I can get her camera!!

She took her computer to school today for show and tell. She had fun showing it to her friends.

Check back tomorrow for new pictures!

Twelve Days of Christmas

2009-12-14T12:20:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! It has been a while since we updated this blog... Sorry about that, we have been very busy so there are many things to tell you about.
We have a tradition here that Gwyn gets presents from Mommy and Daddy for the twelve days before Christmas, one present a day and then Santa comes to visit on Christmas Eve.
Her fist present was a toy laptop from V-Tech. She has wanted this for a VERY long time. Since she sees mommy work at home all the time, she wants to work too! She could tell us what store, what dept, what aisle to find the laptop and she could tell us what color she wanted. She is VERY specific! So, that is what she got for day 1. I don't have the picture of her opening it downloaded to the computer yet so I will post it with tomorrow's picture of what she gets tonight!
We hit another milestone last night.... we bought a big girl booster seat for the car....no more car seats...Mommy is kind of sad, I blink and my baby is a big girl! However, very excited that some little feet will not be right in the back of my head anymore when I am riding in the car!!
We are really getting excited for this weekend, we have our family Christmas in KC. I just love getting to see everyone (or almost everyone, we will miss those that don't make it..... )
We stay very busy around here trying to soak up everything we can in this almost 3 year old girls life!!
Just for some laughs:
Gwyn says great things all the time that make me laugh I will try to get on here more often and share them, but for now, here is her latest!

Singing holiday songs for her program at school: Gwyn" Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is four!"
Check back soon! I will update this even if its just a picture of her opening her present each day, I will post for each day until Christmas!!
Love to all!!!!

Cute girl

2009-09-14T10:52:00.000-05:00

NOTE: This blog update is from momma, she's feeling kind of sentimental today, beware!!

Every once in a while I look at Gwyn and just smile, I just can't believe she's my baby girl! She is so amazing to me and does so many great things. She really keeps us on our toes because she is SO FUNNY!
This weekend we went to dinner with some friends that reminded me of something I saw in one of my baby books, you can measure a child's height at 2 and double it, that is the height they will grow to..... Gwyn was 3ft tall on her 2nd birthday! Yes, she should grow to be 6 feet tall..and yes, she can dribble a ball :-) Thinking about this, she could be
    Yesterday we were in the car on the way to church and she was singing with her CD (like ALWAYS). If you have ever been around Gwyn when she sings, you know that she sings in different voices, she sings like a monster (really deep voice with cute faces to go along) like a diva (Mirah Carey has nothing on my girl....) and then in a normal voice. Well, on the way to church, she was singing and finished the song in a really high pitch, I asked her if that was her diva finish, she said "no momma" and then sang in an even higher pitch..... "that is" I about lost it!
    Last night for dinner Jason had cooked some new noodles, they were in 3 different colors. She separated the colors to eat them and as she put them in her mouth she would close her eyes and chew them up. After she swallowed she would open her eyes again, she did this with all three "flavors" I asked her if they tasted better with her eyes closed, she said (with a very straight face) Yes and closed her eyes to eat some more!

    Today she wanted her hair in "2 pony tails" so that is what I did and I just had to take a picture because she looks SO CUTE!
Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

Dress Up and Puppy Love

2009-09-12T09:38:00.000-05:00

Good Morning everyone!
Gwyn has received many special gifts in her short life time. One is the people that love her. Her Godmother, Kyung Won (or Aunt K Dub) loves her and thinks of her at all times! This summer she went home to Korea for her sister's wedding. She brought back with her a hand made Han Bok(I think I spelled that right...) for Gwyn. This is a formal Korean dress. It is absolutely beautiful! Gwyn put it on when she first got it and I got to snap some pictures. Aunt K Dub is in the pictures with her. Aren't they beautiful?

Gwyn loves to watch cartoons and one of her favorites, thanks to Granny, is Yo Gabba Gabba. Well, yesterday she got a Yo Gabba Gabba costume for playing dress up. I had to wash it immediately and let her wear it. She likes to play dress up!!

Gwyn also loves her animals. Boston, our golden retriever that we got when I was 4 months pregnant has bonded with her since the very moment we brought him home. He was very protective of me when I was pregnant and now he lets her do just about anything she wants to do to him because he knows SOMEWHERE in all the torture, he is going to get petted! They love each other. She also has a stuffed toy dog that she takes just about everywhere as well. This morning she was eating breakfast and watching Seasame Street when I walked out and saw this, HAD to run back and get the camera.

I hope everyone has a great day!
Love to all my family and friends!
Gwyn

School and Friends

2009-09-09T10:43:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! Well, I had my first day in the 2 year old classroom at school yesterday! It was so much fun. Mommy had to take lots of pictures of me before school yesterday.... At first I was just fine and having fun smiling for her

But a girl has her limits.... Mommy just had to take one more.....

I think Mommy got the idea that I was DONE with pictures, let's go to school already!!!

So after that we went to school and I got to see some of my good friends that I had not seen all summer. I was really happy about that. I sat right down and started playing but had to get up because Mommy wanted a hug and kiss goodbye. There were no tears this year (from either of us!!)

I go to school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Some kids go MWF and some go T Th so I get to see a whole new bunch of kids on Tuesdays!!
When we walked in today, my Uncle Dan's nephew who is just a couple of days younger than me was in my class!!! Mommy said it was Dan and Shannon all over again just starting a few years early! We sat down and started playing together. I bet Mommy brings a camera next Tuesday so stay tuned for some pictures of me and Uncle Dan's nephew!!!

I have one friend that was born a few months before me and we go to school and church together, we have been friends the entire time and she got to come over last week for my first play date!! We played and played and then we helped Mommy clean up all the mess without even being asked. Mommy said that I can have Safi over anytime I want. Here are some pictures from the playdate (come on, you KNEW she took pictures of it)

I really like playing with Safi, she is a good friend!

Check back soon to see what else I have been up to! I am sure there will be lots of stories to tell.

Love to all of my family and friends,

Gwyneth

Life of a 2 1/2 year old

2009-09-02T15:16:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!! As usual, I look on here and see that is has been a really long time since I last updated! I apologize again!!
We are really busy and Gwyneth is just doing so much all the time. She is so much fun and constantly amazes us (while she cracks us up!!)
She is getting ready to start her last year of Mother's Day Out...next year is preschool! We are very excited about this year and think that she is going to have so much fun. We found out that Tuesdays are going to be "THE DAY" at school this year, all of her friends are there with her on that day, please keep Mrs Jenny in your thoughts on Tuesdays!

Gwyn has a big girl bed now. We got her a full size bed! She is fully potty trained during the day and we are working on the night time, pretty close there too!
Gwyn's babysitter went back to college so she has been spending time with Granny and Grandma which equals BIG TIME SPOILING! She is loving it!!

Gwyn got some new pads to protect her when riding her bike.... she loves to wear them.

Gwyn has entered the 2 year old "WHY stage" she is very inquisitive. I try very hard not to say "because Mommy said so" but sometimes that really is the answer!

She is really enjoying her music right now. She loves to sing and dance! Especially after bath time each night.

After visiting family on the 4th of July she has been totally in love with her Aunt Brooke and Baby Matine Howell. (You cannot just say Matine, she corrects you, it's Baby Matine Howell!") She can't wait to go visit them on vacation, so Brooke and Peter- this is your official announcement, our next vacation will be in Montana, whenever we get to finally take one, we will be there!!!

She is learning to make decisions around the house, she has planned our dinner menu each night this week so far! I ask her what meat she wants and she tells me, then we go through vegetables and whatever else, she makes the decisions!!! This is good for me and Jason because we can never decide!

She loves to work around the house. I have learned that the way to get her toys picked up is to tell her that she can help me with laundry or sweeping or cooking (basically any chore other than picking up toys) if she will pick up her toys. She always picks up very quickly so she can help me! I am hoping that she doesn't outgrow this!

Her favorite thing to do on Saturday's is to visit the bookstore. She likes going there more than she likes getting toys. She loves to sit with her baby dolls and stuffed animals and read to them! It is so cute to watch!

I dont have any new pictures to post because I cant find my memory card from my camera! I will find it and post some pictures soon!!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T21:03:00.013-05:00

Today I am going to tell you all something that I have known even since before I was born..... I HAVE THE GREATEST DAD EVER!!!!Today's pictures are all pictures of me with my daddy.

Daddy-- I love you and am so happy that you spend the time with me that you do and that you love me as much as you do!

I am one lucky girl!!!!

These are pictures of when I finally got to meet my Daddy!!

This is my daddy feeding me when I was 5 months old. At this time, that was one of my FAVORITE activities!!!

This was my first Christmas and I am opening one of my presents.

Here we are sleeping, please note our positions (this was not posed). We probably had a basketball game on, it was January after all and in this family you gotta keep up for your bracket pick in March!!

Here I am playing my Great Grandad's piano with my daddy. This one makes mommy cry every time she looks at it! She says that when she was little Grandad wrote the names of the keys on them when he was teaching her and they are STILL on there!

Here I am cooking with my daddy. I love to help him do just about ANYTHING. We cook, we play, we watch basketball, there isn't ANYTHING my daddy won't do with me. (I told you, I am one lucky little girl!)

Here I am on March 23, 2009. My second birthday, as soon as I woke up I wanted a big birthday hug from my daddy!

Here we are giving Boston a MUCH NEEDED bath! This was a fun time for me!!

Well, as you can see, Daddy and I do so much together. I am very lucky to have him. I love you and look forward to all the happy times we have yet to have!

Happy Father's Day 2009

Love,

Gwyneth

Cooking, zoo and family... GOOD TIMES!

2009-05-15T16:10:00.017-05:00

Hey Everybody!! We have been really busy lately.

We had a great time at Easter. We went to Grandmas on Saturday night and Duffy and I hunted for eggs. Mommy and Daddy helped me to color some eggs and I got to hunt for them on Sunday. That was fun!!We went to Granny's on Sunday afternoon and I got to play with Rose and Viv (that is ALWAYS fun!) Below are some pictures of me coloring eggs. We had lots of fun doing this!!
This is a bunny face I made at Mother's Day Out. Idecided to wear it at home and Mommy thought it was just TOO cute and needed to be included in the blog.

We visited Uncle Scott and Rosa for dinner a few weeks ago. While we were in Tulsa we went to the zoo and saw some great animals! I really liked the Polar Bears.

I've been cooking with both Mommy and Daddy. I made cookies with Mommy and bread with Daddy. (All gluten free, of course). The cookies were so good that I decided one just wasn't enough and I snuck back into the kitchen and stole another one! Mommy was cleaning and Daddy was in the living room. I got it eaten before either one of them could get to me. Well, then I got in TROUBLE, I will not steal cookies again!

Other fun things that have been going on here are : I got a Sit and Spin. I have fun with this especially putting my Elmo on it and spinning him around.

I went to the doctor (not as much fun, but had to do it for the 2YO well check up) I weigh 34 pounds and I am 37 inches tall.

We had Mother's Day and that was a good day. I got Mommy the new Michael J Fox book because she loves him. We went to brunch after church with Aunt K Dub so I had my mommy and my God mother!! Then I wanted to cuddle with Daddy all day! Mommy wanted me, but it was a Daddy day for me so Mommy just read all day.

My cousin Matine was born and I can't wait to meet her!! I prayed everyday for her and Aunt Brooke (Peter too) and now she is here! I can't wait to see her, however, I can't quite call her Matine yet, Mommy keeps reminding me, but I am used to saying Baby girl Howell. I will get it!

This weekend was really fun for me. I went to my first FRIEND birthday party!!! We played and made a button and jewel craft that mommy really liked! Here are some pictures of me playing with the birthday girl Ally Grace and my friend from school and church, Saffy. We got to play in a pop up house that was full of beans to scoop up and play with. Typical of myself, I got the vacuum out and started cleaning up... The other moms wanted me to show the other girls how to do this as well. It was fun!!

Today, Daddy and I gave Boston a bath. This was so much fun!!

Well, I think this is all for now. I will try to keep this updated more often so there are not so many pictures at once each time!!!

Love to all!

Gwyneth

Long Time no posts......

2009-04-13T11:59:00.010-05:00

Wow! I just realized that we have not posted anything since NOVEMBER!!! For my far away family, I apologize! Brooke, just so you know, I will not put up with that from you! We have to see pictures of this beautiful baby girl Howell....often!!! This family already has a slacker blogger so you have to keep up with what you have been doing :)

OK so to catch everyone up on Gwyneth...

Well, she is TWO! I can not believe it. Somedays she is two with a vengenace, those are fun times. I really am enjoying this stage because she is changing so much SO FAST I am usually afraid to blink.

We had her second birthday party,it was an Elmo party. She was so much fun with her cake. We sat the cake in front of her fully prepared for her to just tear into it and she sat there and waited for a fork!!

She is almost completely potty trained and we are SO HAPPY! She still has accidents, but amazingly, those happen at home. She likes to go to the potty when we are in public.....maybe we should be out all the time :-)

She has a huge vocabulary, she can count and say her alphabet. She is working on spelling her name. She is in size 4-5 clothes and she is 3 feet tall!

She loves to go to her grandparents house (either one she just loves to go see all of them!!) We are lucky to have all of them so close because they spoil her with such love!!

She enjoys going to "school" 3 days a week while mommy works and Grandma's house 1.5 days a week.

She loves Basketball, both watching and playing with Daddy.

She is still a daddy's girl so anything Daddy likes pretty much goes!!

Since it has been so long since I posted, I am just going to put some random pictures of her on here so you can see how she is changing and some of the things we do around here.

This is her singing along with her birthday card, it is Ariel and she is singing "Under the Sea". Gwyn is quite the little singer! In the background is her kitchen that mommy and daddy got her for her birthday.

These are pictures from Valentines Day, her birthday morning and just lounging with Boston!

ELECTION DAY- Making History

2008-11-04T11:44:00.005-06:00

Mommy says that today is a historical event. SHe wanted to make sure and have pictures of me participating in this event for my scrapbook. This morning we all got up really early and went and stood in a parking lot for about an hour. Then I sat on Mommy's lap while she colored on a piece of paper and Daddy took our picture. Then I did the same thing with Daddy while Mommy took our picture. Mommy and Daddy said that this is something that is very special and it is how our country decides who will lead the country. They want to make sure that I see how important it is for me to voice my opinion and vote so that is what we did REALLY early this morning. Mommy says tomorrow we will get the newspaper and use those pictures and articles in my scrapbook as well. (BTW- Mommy never scrapbooks so I am not sure when she will put these pictures in there, at least she gets them to the blog!!)

Here are pictures of me voting with Daddy and Mommy!!!

18 MONTHS!!!

2008-09-23T09:22:00.003-05:00

Today I am 18 months old! I am posting some of my favorite times from the last 18 months.... Some of these you may have seen, but I really like them so I am posting them again. I really appreciate everyone checking up on me...Keep checking there will be more to come!
Love to all,
Gwyn

This was taken last weekend at the church playground. Daddy is fun to slide with!!

This is me in the bathtub, I love my bubble maker!!!

This is the fourth of July. I played baketball with my daddy. This was the first of many times to come!!!!

Talk to you soon.

Love,

Gwyneth

Chores

2008-09-18T17:09:00.008-05:00

I am not even 2 yet and I do all the housework! Today I am going to post pictures of me cleaning the house. I love to help with all the housework. Mommy and Daddy let me help with washing dishes, making tea, doing laundry, vacuuming and dusting and just about anything I want to do they at least let me try! I really like the vacuum!!!

This is me helping to make tea.

This is me vaccuming, I LOVE DOING THIS CHORE!

This is me helping Daddy to put batteries in the gate.

What would they do without me???? I do all the chores!

Cousins

2008-08-21T09:45:00.003-05:00

Today's post is about cousins... I have 3 cousins that I absolutely adore. I learn so much from them and enjoy every minute I spend with them. Sometimes at home mommy will catch me just looking at their pictures. When I am upset mommy or daddy can show me a picture of my cousins and I instantly stop crying.

Mommy tells me that cousins are very special and that I am super lucky to have the cousins I have.

Mommy says that some of her best family memories are with her cousins. She says that she is very lucky that even though some of her cousins live very far away, like Aunt Brooke, they still have a close relationship. She says that cousins are very special and can be just like having a brother or sister!! Mommy says she doesn't know what she would do with out her cousins.

I am glad that I have my cousins here close to me! Rose, Vivan and Duffy, I LOVE YOU!!!

Today's pictures are of me and my cousins having fun doing all sorts of things. I hope you enjoy the pictures!!!

Gwyneth Says.....

2008-08-17T21:20:00.003-05:00

Hello! I don't have any pictures to post right now, but I wanted to update everyone on what I have been doing.

Today in Sunday school we had a lot of fun and kind of surprised my mommy and daddy when they picked me up. Miss Marissa decided that my hair was long enough to play with and she put in pggy tails. Everyone thought it was so cute. I think mommy will fix my hair like that again and take a picture of it, we will put it on here for everyone to see. This week my babysitter started college so mommy is working from home most of the week and Granny is watching me some of this week and next week. I will have a lot of fun!!
Today I got to see a baby that was a month old! He was sleeping and I tried to wake him up and tell him hi, he never woke up for me!
I am very excited about school starting again. I love getting to see my friends!
Mommy had to get some work done tonight so Daddy and I played by ourselves after we dropped mommy at home. Daddy and I went to Grandmas and played, thanks for walking with me grandma.
I am really getting into this potty training, there are so many neat things in restaurant restrooms, I have to check each one out. Today I checked one out 3 times (sometimes I go just so I can see the cool stuff, I don't think mommy has near as much fun on those trips as I do, but she always goes with me).
I am now climbing, mommy and daddy are talking about making my bed a toddler bed.... that sounds fun!
I think I better go to bed now so I will close with one last thought.... Good luck Uncle Scott on your test tomorrow, we will be thinking about you and hoping everything goes perfectly. We love you.
Love to all!
Gwyneth

Trout Fishing in America and other things I enjoy

2008-08-07T10:17:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone! I have really been busy so I haven't had time to update the blog. Mommy received a great picture of me during our Vaction Bible School so that will be the picture for today. See if you can find me in there. The picture is of the nursery (my class) and the PreK 3 and 4 year olds.

First I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Pop Pop!! I hope you are having a great day and I love you!

Next I need to catch everyone up on what I have been doing....

I am now potty trained! I still have accidents sometimes, but I really like this potty chair thing, especially when we go out places... I always tell mommy I need to potty and I get to check out the bathrooms, there are some really cool things in there although mommy usually tells me not to touch anything.....

I have learned where all of my major body parts are and I can point them out on myself and other people too.

I got to go to my first concert the other night. Has anyone else ever heard of TROUT FISHING IN AMERICA? They are a group that does children songs and they were here putting on a concert so mommy and daddy took me.We went with my friend Gavin and his parents (they are friends of mommy and daddy) I had a lot of fun and there was a neat bathroom there too, I went many times!

The other night we had cousin Vivian's birthday and there was a petting zoo in Granny and Pop Pop's backyard. There were lots of animals and we got to play with all of them. I liked the goats and rabbits best. THAT WAS FUN! I was so tired when that was over that I did not even want to take a bath but mommy and daddy made me anyway.....

Well, I need to go for now. I will post more later.

Love to everyone!!!

Daddy's Girl

2008-06-25T15:35:00.002-05:00

Note: Today's entry is from Mommy... I can not be held responsilble!!!

Today I went home on my lunch break to see Gwyn as I always do. Our routine is that I feed her and hold her to put her to sleep for her nap. When I got home she was really excited to see me and we hugged just like we always do. I got her lunch ready, fed her and scarfed some food of my own very quickly so I did not take time from her....... I then get things ready for her nap. She is being very sweet and loving, we are having a great time. When we go into the bedroom, I am talking to her, she is smiling and hugging me and saying "mamma, mamma, mamma" (She is a very loving child). We get on the bed and we are ready for her nap. I hug her and kiss her and I say "Whose girl are you?" (I KNOW, I KNOW, If I did not want the answer, I shouldn't have asked the question!!!) She looks at me as sweet as ever and says............. (wait for it)..............

DADDA !

Yes, my sweet little girl, she is ALL DADDY's girl! She loves her Daddy so much....It's great to see them together, I can never tell which one of them is more in love! We are a very lucky family!

Getting ready for the 4th!

2008-06-20T13:03:00.004-05:00

Hello!! OK, Mommy and Dady are getting really excited they keep talking about going to the Cottongim's.... If I remember correctly, last year when we went there that is where Aunt Mandy and I played together and mommy couldn't find me.... Now, I no longer need Aunt Mandy for mommy not to be able to find me, I do a fine job of hiding from her on my own!! (Note to Aunt Mandy, stick with me and this year we can have some fun with Mommy :-))

I got a new swimsuit/lifejacket for this event and I think it is really cute so that is what I am using for the picture today.

I need to go for now so I hope everyone has a great day and I will many of you SOON!!! I can't wait!

Love you all!

Gwyn

Life of a 1 year old

2008-06-17T15:01:00.000-05:00

WOW! I have not updated you since Mommy's birthday. Boy, do I have a lot to catch you up on.... I have been BUSY! I turned 1 year old in March, I started walking in April! Now that it is June, I am climbing (mommy doesn't like that part very much).

I am wearing a size 4T clothes. Mommy and Daddy are always buying me new clothes.

We had Mother's Day and Father's Day. For Mommy's Day she just wanted to spend time with me so that is what we did then on Father's Day, Daddy said the same thing so that is what we did. They really like spending time with me which is why I never get to update this thing and tell you guys what is going on, Mommy and Daddy are always with me :-)

I don't have a lot of time right now, so I am just going to post some pictues so you can see how I have grown. I will try to write more later!

For those of you I will see on the 4th, I CAN'T WAIT!!!

The pitures are: 1)Me and Daddy goofing around, 2) My birthday present from Mommy and Daddy 3)Me in one of my favorite places--the BATHTUB!4)Me wearing the ONLY hat I will keep on my head, can you see why, it makes me look adorable don't you think? 5) My and my backpack, mommy cried when daddy took this because she says it makes me look like a big girl, I like it!!6) This is me and Brendan (aunt Michelle's son) playing ball at their house in Fayetteville.

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

2008-02-02T22:22:00.001-06:00

Today was Mommy's first birthday to spend with me, and boy, was it packed! Granny and Papaw had everyone over for lunch and strawberry cake--Grandma & Pappy, Aunt Jen, Uncle Scott, & Duffy, Aunt Angela, Vivian, & Rose, even Aunt Michelle & Brendan were all there. We played, ate, sang Happy Birthday, opened presents, the works!

Then, Aunt Kyung-Won, Daddy, & Mommy went out to dinner. I tried to make friends with everyone who looked at me. My trick is to stare at people until they look my way, then I smile and wave. It works every time! You should try it some time!

There's lots going on these days. I played in the snow for the first time (I'll have pix posted soon), Mommy has been spending more time at home with me, Daddy just opened his new office, and before long we will be celebrating my birthday (March 23, Easter Sunday--mark your calendars)!

Sorry I haven't updated sooner--but I've been awfully busy what with cutting teeth, fitting into my 3T clothes, crawling around the house, and eating everything Mommy & Daddy put in front of me (and some stuff they try to keep away from me). I'll try to do better, but it's already past my bedtime!

Love to all!
Gwyn

My Buddy Boston

2007-12-06T10:08:00.000-06:00

Here I am with one of my favorite toys, Boston. He's a lot like my other stuffed animals--soft, cuddly, warm--but he's much bigger, and he moves on his own!

When I'm playing on the floor, Boston is close by. Mommy and Daddy think I'm mean to him, but all I do is pull his hair, yank on his ears, and stick my fingers in his eyes, nose, and mouth. They even get nervous when I share my toys with him!

I had a great time on my first Thanksgiving with Grandma, Pappy, Aunt Jen, Uncle Scott, Duffy and Aunt Mo, but I missed Granny, Papa, Aunt Angela, Uncle Shawn, Rose, and Vivian since they went skiing.

Mommy and Daddy sure are busy! Mommy just got a new job so she can spend more time with me, Daddy is moving to a new office soon (he says to look at northwesthlc.blogspot.com to see a picture), and everyone is excited about my first Christmas.

I've got to go--Boston is calling me!

Love to all, Gwyn

Catching up

2007-11-11T18:50:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone!! I am sorry that it has been so long since I last updated this, you know a baby has so many things to do, I have been very busy......
I now have 2 teeth and I am working on a third. I am rolling over and getting pretty much everywhere that I want to get and some places mommy and daddy don't want me to get. I said my first word, it was BABA, mom and dad said they figured it would either be about food or the dog because those are my favorite things! I am now 24 pounds and I wear 2T and 3T clothing. I keep mommy and daddy busy buying clothes all the time! I am learning to dance with my daddy, we have a lot of fun with this. This last week I got to spend time with a bunch of different people because my grandma is out of town visiting my Aunt Phyllis. I got to spend time with my Aunt KW, my Granny, and my daddy.
I am putting a picture of me on here that shows me clowning around on my ABC mat with my daddy.... I will try to keep this updated more often! For those of you I have not seen in a while, I miss ya and I love ya!
Gwyn

The Tooth...

2007-08-14T21:33:00.000-05:00

Well, hopefully from the title you know what I am going to talk about today........
Tonight my mommy and daddy celebrated their anniversary and went to dinner WITHOUT ME!! ( They were not gone very long, I thought they would be gone for at least 2 hours, that is what they told Miss Amanda, but it only ended up being about an hour!!) I think they must have missed me :-)

Well, I have been having this really bad pain in my mouth and mommy keeps sticking her fingers in my mouth and looking for something, I had no idea what, until today! This hard white thing is now in my mouth sticking up from my gum, mommy found it and it made her cry. The stupid thing had been making me cry for 2 days!!

Mommy is taking vacation for a whole week and she is going to spend it playing with me, she is really looking forward to this. She has mentioned something about giving me real food, I don't know, but it sounds good to me!!
Thanks to everyone that has been posting comments, I really appreciate it. Mommy reads them to me and then tells me about the people that leave comments. It helps me to get to know you better.

Daddy said that Aunt Brooke called today, mommy really wanted to talk to her but she was at work. Mommy said that we will call Aunt Brooke later, until then, Aunt Brooke, I love you!!

Talk to you all soon I hope.
Love you all,
Gwyn

Ramblings of a 4 1/2 month old......

2007-08-10T17:54:00.001-05:00

Countdown to Moe continues.....7 days!!!
Today Grandma came to play with me. I am still really working on getting that tooth to come out so I drooled all over her the entire day. She says she doesn't mind (I think I would mind if someone drooled all over me all day, I guess that is why she is the grandma!!)
Right now I am sitting on mommy's lap while she types, I am telling her what to type!!!
It has been so hot that I have not been able to go outside for a few days, I really wish it would cool down, I need to go strollin'.
I saw that my Uncle Chris and Aunt Margret checked the site and left me a message, THANKS!!
I wish all of you would leave me little notes so that I know who is watching me grow up. Mommy fixed the site so that EVERYONE can leave messages, you don't have to have an account anymore, she did not realize we could do that.
I got an email from my uncle Mike that he sent a package to me, I can't wait to see it. Mommy and Daddy said Uncle Mike makes great stuff, they showed me the cross that he made them and the basket that he made mommy, they are both great!
Tomorrow I get to see Aunt KW, I haven't seen her in 2 weeks, I really miss her. We will have lots of fun.
Well, I guess that is all for today.
Love to all of you!!!
Please leave me notes.
Gwyn

Countdown to Moe begins.......

2007-08-09T21:17:00.001-05:00

Ok, for those of you that don't know, Moe is my aunt Mariolyn. Last time she was here we cuddled and slept a lot!! I really enjoyed my time with her. Mommy and Daddy are telling me that next weekend we get to go see her AGAIN!!! I can't wait so I have decided until then, I will make my blog sort of a COUNTDOWN TO MOE (makes for a great title). Anyway, I have 8 days until I see her!!!!! I am attaching a picture of us today so everyone can see my Aunt Moe with me.
I am starting to get a tooth and boy does it hurt!!! It makes me a little cranky!! This afternoon was a daddy day and we ran some errands, I slept and he ran errands.
I guess that is all for today..... stay tuned to find out if that tooth comes through or not.

Tuesday

2007-08-06T22:01:00.000-05:00

Hello all, I guess you are surprised to hear from me so quickly..... well, I said I would try to do better about keeping up with this. Today I played with my Grandma. I was supposed to go to Wal-Mart with mommy (not my favorite place, but I would've gone) Mommy took me to see Daddy at work before we went to WM, he just couldn't leave me so I stayed with him and mommy went to WM alone!! I definitely got the better end of that deal.
Not much else happened today. I do have some pictures to show everyone so I am going to put them up here and let that be the posting for today. The first one is of Daddy and me in Uncle Terry and Aunt Pam's pool. The second one is me in my exersaucer looking so cool, don't you think??
Tune in tomorrow.
Love you all!!!!
Gwyn

Catching up....

2007-08-05T21:35:00.000-05:00

WOW! It has been a month since I last told you anything..... Have I got a lot to say....
First I will quickly tell you that I met a lot of my family on the 4th and I had a really good time with all of them. My aunt Mandy was so much fun, I spent time with her and my Aunt Ahna (I think I have them wrapped around my little finger, we will see the next time I see them. I CAN'T WAIT! I bet Aunt Mandy won't move with me until she tells my mommy :-)
There were lots of people that I did not get to meet, I hope they all show up at Christmas. Mommy and Daddy tell me all about them and I want to meet them for myself.
I think my mommy and daddy's gift was a hit this year, they gave a Razorback picture frame with a picture of me in it..... Who wouldn't want that?????
I got to swim for the very first time and I LOVED it! Daddy held me and walked around with me in the water, it was fun. We stayed in the pool house which is really neat, I hope we get to do that EVERY YEAR!

I am growing so much everyday. I am now 4 months old, my mommy and daddy say that the time has flown by!! Each weekend we have to go buy new clothes for me because I keep growing. I am wearing a size 18months clothes right now! As of last week I said good bye to my pacifier, I discovered that I have 10 things attached to me that I can suck on so I did not need that thing that I had to hold in my mouth!!
I got to play in the nursery at church for the first time, mommy usually makes me sit with her, but today I got to play!!! I really liked that. I start Mother's Day out program in a few weeks, I think that will be fun. Mommy and Daddy will be at work and I get to play.

Tonight was a special night, we celebrated my Papa's birthday. I got to play with Vivian and Rose, Aunt Angela fed me, Uncle Shawn played with me, Granny held me and made me smile, Papa read a book to me that I got him for his birthday. I had SO MUCH FUN!!
Well, I will try to write sooner next time!!! Thanks for checking in! Leave me notes and tell me what you want to hear about!! Love you all.
Gwyn

My first 4th

2007-07-04T21:22:00.000-05:00

Tonight was my very first 4th of July. We went shopping all day and got me and mommy new clothes. We went to dinner at Aunt Angela and Uncle Shawn's. I had a lot of fun over there. We went outside and watched the fireworks. Mommy jumped more than I did. When we came home I was a little restless so daddy took me outside to rock a little bit, Boston went outside with us and did the funniest thing...... Everytime a firecracker exploded he ran around the yard like he was chasing it and barked at it. I thought this was really funny and I laughed a lot!!!
Tomorrow I get to spend the whole day with my daddy because mommy has to work! Daddy and I are going to have lots of fun, tune in tomorrow and I will tell you all about it!!!
Happy 4th of July everyone!!!!

2007-07-02T07:23:00.001-05:00

Reading with mommyy

2007-07-01T21:14:00.001-05:00

Daddy took this picture when mommy was reading to me. One of their favorite things to do is read to me. Daddy usually reads a story to me and mommy at night before I go to bed. Soon I will be reading to them!!
Last night we all went out to celebrate my daddy's birthday. This weekend mommy took me shopping for my daddy's birthday present, I got him a play tent for us to play in together (pretty smart of me, huh). I am excited about this week because my daddy is taking some vacation days so that we can spend some time together just the two of us while mommy is at work (she doesn't think its fair, but she did get 8 WEEKS with me while daddy was working).
If you are keeping up with my blog, post comments on it, I like to hear from you guys and see what you have to say.
I can't wait to more of my family, mommy and daddy have been telling me all about you!

Our "LITTLE" girl

2007-06-30T15:36:00.000-05:00

Well, We had to go shopping today for new clothes, it seems that our little 3 month old baby girl has out grown her current wardrobe (mind you I just bought all new clothes 2 weeks ago). She is now wearing clothes that are sized 12 months!!! She weighs about 16-17 pounds. We are now looking for a new car seat because the one we have was supposed to last for 1 year and up to 20 pounds. She will hit that 20 pound mark LONG before her first birthday.
We are still enjoying every minute. She leaves us with lots to laugh at and be thankful for every single day. For those of you that we will see on the 4th, we CAN'T wait!!!Sorry, no pictures this time, I haven't updated from my camera yet, I will for next time.
Stay tuned as the adventure continues.......

2007-06-28T06:45:00.001-05:00

Gwyn and Daddy were spending some quality time together reading, playing, and laughing. I got this picture just as she was either about to kiss him or bite his nose! This picture was taken in early June.

The Collins FAMILY!!

2007-06-27T21:42:00.000-05:00

Introducing.......GWYNETH

2007-06-27T21:30:00.000-05:00

Gwyn's very excited parents have created this blog so that all of our far away friends and relatives can watch her grow just as if they were here. Plus it gives her parents just one more outlet to brag about how lucky they are to have this amazing gift!!