Mom's Birthday Bash

On Friday night, we celebrated my mom's birthday in Salem with a 60's themed party. Since her boyfriend is a drummer in a band, we also had some great live entertainment and had fun groovin' to the oldies. : ) Most of Mom's friends and family were able to attend, including the smallest relative, Baby Olivia. Here are some pictures from the festivities...


The food


The birthday girl!

just getting warmed up

emcee Derek


singing Happy Birthday


Boppin'


We really didn't plan this


proud new Mommy and Aunties


cute little family

we haven't been this dressed up since our wedding! :)

Gavin's new cousin!

Last night, my little brother Derek and his wife Meg, welcomed their baby daughter into the world! A name hasn't been decided on yet, so we're calling her Baby Horst for now. :) She was born at 8:30pm on 6/15, weighed 6 lbs, 3 oz, and is 19 inches long. She has short fuzzy dark hair, Derek's nose, Meg's ears, and a cute little squeaky voice.

It was very surreal going to visit them today because they're in the same birthing suite that we stayed in when we had Gavin 9 months ago. Maybe they put Meg in that room because her name is Meghann Elizabeth Horst and we share the same birthday, and that probably confused the staff. :) I also ran into some of Gavin's baby nurses there, so that was pretty cool. Although I don't remember much from those 5 days of drug-induced oblivion/recovery, our nurses really left a great impression.

Anyway, here are some shots we took today. You can also see more pictures on Derek & Meg's blog: derekandmeg.blogspot.com.

80-year age difference

Daddy is already a diaper changing champ

squeaky baby

Me (apparently I have gigantic hands)

Introducing Gavin to his little cousin.

(He's always a little unsure of new creatures.)

"between you and me, this little girl might need a new diaper"

This is totally unrelated, but these are the roses that are growing

in our front yard - thanks to the previous home owners. Gorgeous!

Crawling and other cute videos

Gavin turned 9 months last week and went from amateur status to pro in the sport of carpet-crawling in a matter of a few days. He's EVERYWHERE! He loves all things electronic (his favorite things are outlets, cords, cell phones, remotes, and laptops). So, as excited as we are to have him crawling, now we're having to learn to say NO to his cute little face. :) Paul and Gavin have really become best buds, and they crack each other up all the time (as you'll see in the 2nd & 3rd videos). He's such a cute little guy...so full of giggles and funny faces.

Here he is making a dash for the calculator (yes, we lured him for the sake of video)...

laughing at Daddy's kung fu moves...

just being his crazy little self...

Picnics & Puppies

Over Memorial Day weekend, we celebrated Paul's & Kristin's birthdays with a picnic at waterfront park in Salem. They have a giant carousel there, and Derek & Meg brought their dog Gabby, so Gavin was pretty entertained. Stay tuned for some crawling videos! :)


I'm not really sure I like this other baby...

But maybe she can teach me how to crawl...



Umm, Mommy, I don't know about this...

Wait, there's Daddy with the camera...Hi Daddy!

That was so rad, thanks Mommy!

More laughing & talking

Gavin is changing by the day now. He's SO close to crawling he can taste it, and he's making all kinds of funny sounds that crack us up. His latest favorites are "da-da-da" and "thppppt!", which is always followed by a long trail of slobber. Here are some more videos:

Daddy is playing peek-a-boo with Gavin here

Gavin telling us about his toys