Pure Joy

Our hearts have been overwhelmed with the joy of bringing home our new son and assimilating him into our family. We have also been completely humbled and filled with joy for another part of our family, David and Stephanie (and Maddie). We have seen the Lord's perfect, unfailing plan for their lives over the past almost five years, through infertility and then adoption. Tomorrow is the day they will get to have and hold their son, Tyson. We have watched them struggle and learn through this process and in turn we have learned. The Lord has been faithful to teach and change their hearts and it is now the perfect time for them to actually have the son He planned for them to have before the beginning of time. We cannot wait to meet and to hold this most precious gift and new beloved member of our family. Congratulations are in order for David, Stephanie and Maddie Cavin!

He's Here!

Our sweet Tucker arrived yesterday, May 26, at 3:01 pm. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 3/4 inches. He's a healthy baby boy and we are enjoying our time with him. More updates to come but wanted to post some pictures of his first hours.

Date with Daddy

*this post brought to you by Matthew A. Cavin

So I had been planning on hanging out with Grey before Tucker came. On Friday night Meghan and I went on a date with the help of some awesome babysitters. When she went to go get dressed, she invited Grey to help her pick out what she was going to wear on her date with daddy. Then Grey started saying, "I go on date wif daddy."

So the next day after our morning ritual of breakfast, mickey mouse clubhouse, and coffee, Grey and I headed out to go feed the ducks at a local pond. We had to run through the sprinklers to get down to where we were headed. As we were walking down the walkway, we had a little daddy/grey talk about how tucker was coming. I was reminding him how he was going to be a big brother, and how he would have to teach tucker certain things. Most importantly I talked about how much daddy and mommy love Grey so much and Tucker won't make that go away. We talked about how Tucker was part of our family now. He probably didn't understand half of what I was saying, but I just wanted him to know that he would always be daddy's little buddy.

Anyhow, Grey and I have been to this pond before, but we were never met with such a crowd of pond creatures. There were probably 15 ducks and about 20 turtles. Grey kept yelling, "DUCKIES! TOME (come) HERE!" We threw out quite a few carbohydrates, but I'm pretty sure they liked the whole wheat bagels the best.

After feeding the ducks to the point that they went away, we heading off to "the woods" (some trails behind a local neighborhood), and went for a hike. Grey was so excited to go exploring in the woods. He was jumping off of the tree roots and running over all the bridges (I happened to find a pile of bones from a large animal piled up in one of the creeks) and he eventually sat on a big tree stump to eat his snack.

All around, it was such an awesome time with my little buddy. This was the best time that we have ever had together, and I look forward to many more like it.

Truth Through Grey's Eyes and Ears

In an effort to write down the memorable things that happen around here, this is my conversation with Grey this morningwhile waiting for Daddy to cook eggs for breakfast:

*We typically have the Today Show on in the mornings while eating and such*

Grey: "Mommy, pay wif daddy"

Me: "play with daddy?"

Grey: "No, PAY wif daddy!"

Me: "Oh, pray with daddy?"

Grey: "Yeah. Turn t.v. off and pay wif daddy."

At first I laughed pretty hard. After a minute I got tears in my eyes. (this is happening more often) Matthew and I know that the Lord has been speaking to each of us very clearly lately about some things and we have been really really excited about the conviction and activity of the Spirit in our lives. I will be the first to say, He hasn't exactly been that clear with us. This was a great morning to turn off the noise, prioritize the Lord, and bask in His glory because our 2 year old son reminded us of what our lives are really about.

mmm mmm Strawberries!

I am thankful my son shares the same love of strawberries that I have. His love for the ripe, red fruit may even be a bit stronger than mine. He couldn't control himself when we went to pick. He may have picked 2 to put in our gallon to take home but ate all the others he picked. He must have eaten 20 strawberries. I'm not kidding. We had a blast and couldn't quit laughing the whole time. These are the most beautiful, perfect strawberries I have EVER seen. (and I have picked them for many many years. ask my mom ) They taste like they have been dipped in sugar straight off the vine!

Wake up!

Usual when Grey wakes up in the morning, he yells "Mommy!" and then runs into our room to wake us up.

This morning it was a little different. I heard him yell "Daddy!" and proceed to run into our room. He went directly to Matthew's side of the bed (usually will come to my side first) and said unprompted "Daddy, I wove you!"

What a fun way for a daddy to wake up!

2 Year Stats

One of the main reasons I am even investing in a blog is because I will actually document things that we do, things we are learning, and how our family grows. I enjoy typing as opposed to writing and hopefully will get each year bound in a book as I was recently informed that you can have done! Perfect!

So in regards to our family growing, I took Grey for his 2 year well visit today. It was quite the event as we were there for an hour. I appreciated Dr. Cominsky’s thoroughness. He realized Grey had never had his 3rd immunization for Polio or Hep B! Unfortunately that meant 3 shots but I told Grey all about them. I find that when I warn him ahead of time, he does really well with most things and of course shots keep you healthy and strong. (which I heard about the rest of the day) He then seemed very excited about the shots…until the needles hit the skin. Only a few tears and screams and then a Thomas sticker and some bandaids healed the hurt. Now when you ask about his shots, he smiles really big as though he defeated them.

Official Grey Stats as of May 12, 2009

Height: 33.5” 25%
Weight: 28 lbs. 11 oz. 50-75%
Head Circumference: 50 cm 75-90%

God has given us a healthy, growing 2 year old and a 2 year old is what he is. I know that the Lord will supply with us with what we need to guide and direct his heart for the rest of his time under our roof. I have spent a lot of today reminding myself of that truth :)

At 2 years old, Grey is talking A LOT! Everyday I am amazed at the sentences he forms, how well I can understand him, and the connections he makes in the world around him. I enjoy listening and interacting all day. He is eating like a champ, trying new things now like meat, veggies, and pasta. He still hates pasta and rice and most bready things. He is currently into playing with his trains and coming up with new patterns for the track, figuring out the magnets on the trains, and imagining where the trains are going. He loves to read “all by self”, to have me draw all of our family members under his instruction, riding his truck, counting, putting coins in his piggy bank, using his flashlight in dark places, working in the yard, “loving” Oscar, using his tools to fix things, singing ABC’s, singing ANY song, playing with neighbors and friends makes him happier than anything else, playing golf, playing in his sandbox, cooking, going to bed like a big boy, figuring out how anything works, and dumping all toys out and not clean them up.
He is challenging and fun all in the same breath. He throws fits when he doesn’t get his way (which I thankfully have to will-power NOT to give into), but then apologizes for stepping on my toe or wacking me with a golf club. He can give a crazy mean look, but then give hugs and kisses that warm my soul. He can look at me and do exactly what I told him not to, but then can also be obedient and fun loving! Each moment brings a different emotion, reaction, or “look.”
I love watching him figure out the things around him and then hear what he has to say about them. He mentioned the other day that Tucker was going to be born. This was what he said to me: “Mommy, Tucker going to be born... (pause) Just like Jesus.”

Matthew and I are enjoying him to no end. It becomes more and more obvious how shapeable he is. We hope to continue seek the Lord first to mold and shape his heart “just like Jesus.”

May 4, 2009

I pretty much documented Grey's 2nd birthday in pictures. Matthew took the day off and we hung out as a family all day. We didn't do anything spectacular but it was nice and relaxing and fun to just simply enjoy Grey.

Trying out his new tricycle

Grey loves his new tracks and tunnel

we played a lot in his sandbox

helped daddy plant azaleas

played Elefun with Brooke

Had dinner with Greg, Ashley, and Brooke

and practiced sitting on the potty! What more could a 2 year old ask for?!

Tucker Ellis

We went to the doctor this morning for another ultrasound to check on Tucker's size. Four weeks ago, he was 5 lbs. 9 oz. Today he weighed in at 7lbs. 7 oz. which is less than I was expecting. We were glad about this knowing he can stay in there for the duration. We got to see all his little parts moving around but did not get to see his little face today which was a bummer. All is well in the womb!

We then went to see Dr. Hilton who said, "Yep, gonna be another 9 lb. baby." She measured and checked me. I am 1 cm. dialated and 50% effaced. I was also a little surprised at this. I can't remember when and how I progressed with Grey so maybe it was the same. She was happy about this though and said it could happen at any time! (not like super soon but I'm on the way) Matthew is going to be about 4-5 hours away all next week so we wanted to get a good feel for how things are looking. I mean really, no one can say anything for sure so we'll just wait and see what happens. Grey may be driving me to the hospital in the middle of the night :)

We did discuss the issue of me not preferring a c-section because of Tucker's size so Dr. Hilton said it would be best to schedule an induction around a week before he is actually due. This ensures that his lungs will be developed and all will most likely be well. (as well as anyone but the Lord knows) As of now, I am scheduled to go in May 25 in the evening to be induced. We are really very excited but know that Tucker could come sometime before that as well. We do know that the Lord has the perfect day and time for him to join the world and we can't wait to meet him. I'll hang in there until then!

Party!

We had a Mickey Mouse party for Grey's 2nd birthday on Saturday. He had LOTS of fun with his friends and cousins. It was nice spending time with family and friends, celebrating our sweet son's 2nd year of life.

Here are quite a few pictures. We enlisted our great friend Greg to take pictures for us again so most of these are from him :) There are a few that Matthew took.

playing in Grey's new sandbox with Greer and Uncle Chad

Cousin Picture! (poor Hannah had just had a run in with Oscar's dog run)

Brooke and Grey being silly

Opening presents

mmm cake!

finished his and moved on the Poppie's