"My sister"

Gavin is so sweet to the baby. He comes up to me and kisses my belly all day long! It is the sweetest thing. Anytime he sees a baby outfit he says "ooohhh!!!!" The boys are both so excited for their baby sister to arrive and I can't wait to see them with her! Gavin always tells me "that's my sister in your belly!" I love seeing the love that they have for her already!
Only 15 weeks left! WAHOO!

Door Lock

I bought some door locks for the boys' room and just barely brought them out of their package a few days ago when Gavin was throwing a fit.
He knocked them off in a matter of 2 minutes.
Didn't go so well.
When he was throwing a HUGE fit (says things like "you guys aren't being nice to me!" or "I'm not playing with you tomorrow") I gave no warning and switched the locks between his bedroom and bathroom. Now, their bedroom has a REAL lock on the OUTSIDE of the door.
This is a "Magic door".
If you throw a fit or are naughty, the door locks. The only way the "magic door" will unlock is by being nice and happy! (Blame everything on something else!) "Sorry, Mommy can't open the door, it won't unlock until you're happy!"
This has been a great teaching tool for Gavin. He can be fairly stubborn. He gets that from his Mommy!
Before the door lock, his fits would be loud and last about ten minutes. He would yell crazy things at us, throw things, hit things, and slam doors. WILD BOY!
I knew that I needed to teach him how to react to those feelings. He can't grow up thinking that's ok. When he gets locked in his room, he knows he needs to change his feelings from anger and frustration to happiness. He is usually in his room for only 2 minutes or so. I'm so proud of him!
Yesterday while getting ready for church he started to throw a huge fit. I locked him in his room and tried to get him to calm down. Bobby ended up talking to him thru the door but kept telling him the door wouldn't unlock until he was happy. I asked Brody to go tell Gavin that he wanted him to come out and play. This is what I heard:
Brody: "Gavin, do you want to come out and play with me?"
Gavin: (serious) "I can't, because the door is locked."
It was hilarious! He seriously thought he couldn't get out. Brody then opened the door and they were all smiles! I love my sweet boys! They are the best of friends!!

Mom's Butt!

Brody saw me walking into the kitchen yesterday and said "Mom, do you know what your butt looks like?" I looked at him confused and he proceeded to show me... he cupped each of his butt cheeks with a hand and lifted one at a time as he walked ... like a hippo!
Bobby and I laughed!
I then went to sit on the couch and walked past him. He tilted his head, looked at my butt, and said "Yep! I was right! That's what it looks like!"

Thank goodness I don't get too emotional about those things - especially while I'm pregnant!
He cracks me up!!

Primary songs

I love to sing Primary songs with my boys! They will both sing them randomly throughout the day (at the store) and we sing before bed. The other day, Gavin was upset and throwing a fit (he says "you're not being nice to me" a lot... just to get some sympathy. And it works. How can you be mad at that cute little face?!) He went into his room and started to sing "I am a child of God" with a wimper. It was so cute. He also said the prayer at dinner while acting like he was crying. You can't help but giggle at the cuteness! Tonight, the 3 of us sang "I am a child of God" (Gav's favorite) and "I'm trying to be like Jesus" (Brody's favorite). It was so sweet :)   I love my boys!!!

The pool ... once again

Yesterday while at the pool Gavin was trying to fill up a squirt gun but had no floaties. I kept telling him to get them on but he didn't want them. I was afraid of him falling in (for the third time this summer) but just kept an extra close eye on him. Sure enough, he fell in and everyone at the pool got to see a big pregnant lady (me) run across to save him. As I got up to him I could see that he was swimming but his face was still under the water. He was swimming right to the edge of the pool and reached up right as I got him out. I was so proud of him. He was so scared. It was not a fun experience. I kept telling him how proud I was that he just kept swimming. He held onto me for about 30 minutes after that. I got his floaties back on and he was more relaxed again. I'm glad he learned a little lesson and was just fine.

The boys have loved watching the Olympics and decided to do some swimming races in the pool. Brody has been swimming on his own all summer and is getting quite good! He bends down on the edge of the pool, says "go!" and dives in. He swam races with a 9 year old boy and beat him or tied every time. He loves being competitive!

Today, Bobby was home and we went to the pool again. It was fun. My mom joined us as well. I decided to try and teach Gavin to swim a little more without floaties since the little episode yesterday. He did awesome! We taught him to swim with his face in the water so his legs would be up behind him instead of directly underneath him like they were yesterday. Bobby would hold him and get him started, he would then swim about 7 feet to the stairs. That kid can hold his breath! I'm so proud of my 2 sweet boys.

This summer... both boys are riding bikes without training wheels and swimming without floaties!!! Brody age 5, Gavin age 3.

"Are you being mean to my brudder?"

Yesterday at the pool, Brody came up to me and said that a kid wasn't being nice. Gavin heard him tell me this and thought he should take care of the problem on his own. He swam up to the kid, got in his face and said "Are you being mean to my brudder?" The kid then said "No, I'm not!" Gavin: "Yes, you are!" Kid: "No, I'm not!" Gavin: "Yes! YOU! ARE!" I grabbed him and started taking him away from the situation but he kept trying to swim towards the kid, yelling at him. I put him on the side of the pool where he shook his head, rolled his eyes, waved his arms, and grunted. He is hilarious! He gets so dramatic! This went on for about ten minutes. The kid was 5 years old, like Brody, but Gavin doesn't realize the size difference :)  I'm glad he sticks up for his brother!

Gavin's "L"

Gavin doesn't know how to say his "L's" very well.
For example, tonight at dinner he told Bobby "I want a yot (lot)!" Bobby's response? "I want a yacht!!"
It was hilarious!

Gavin rides!!

Gavin learned how to ride his bike on July 11, 2012. Bobby took his training wheels off in hopes to get new ones since Gavin shredded one of them by leaning to that side too much. When he asked to ride his bike I told him he would have to ride with my help until we got new training wheels. He did great the first day so I decided to just teach him and forget about the new set! We hardly did any work with him. There were even a few times when Brody was able to help him ride. Brody would hold on to the back of the bike and run next to Gavin saying "pedal, pedal, pedal!!" It was the cutest thing ever! Gavin kept working on his bike riding skills and wouldn't let us help him. He kept telling us that he could do it by himself... and he did! He quickly learned how to start all by himself and we were so impressed! That's the hardest part. In the beginning, I would try to teach him to watch where he was going. I would tell him to look at the grass (if we were headed in that direction) and if he turned, he would still have his eyes on the grass :)  I told him to look up when he kept looking down and he would look straight up to the sky! It seemed to be a hard concept to grasp for a minute! Now, he tells you "I'm cruising!" and cruising he is! He loves to ride his little bike (that he got from his Nana and Grandpa for his 3rd birthday at the end of April) we can't believe how quick it went - 2 months from the first time he ever got on a "big boy bike"! It's the cutest thing ever to see a tiny tot cruising!

It's a GIRL!

I am 17 weeks pregnant with baby McGuire #3. We are so excited to be having a baby girl join our family! She is due 11-22-12 - Thanksgiving Day! Isn't that a fun due date? I have had an awesome pregnancy so far- definitely my easiest pregnancy! I got sick the week before I even knew I was pregnant and thought I had caught a bug or something. The test came back positive and the sickness never went away -- until around 11 weeks. At 6 weeks I was worse than I've ever been. My Dr prescribed me some medication but I don't like taking meds - especially while pregnant. So, I called my aunt who is a midwife and she sent me some amazing prenatal! My sickness slowly tapered off and I've felt great! Smells never got to me, I was only tired after the kids got to bed, and I only threw up maybe 2 times due to gagging. It's been awesome! I  haven't had any weird cravings, but I always love spicy food, Chinese food, and Dylan's chicken sandwiches whenever I'm pregnant. Some of my favorite foods like avocados and olives have sounded disgusting. So, compared to my boys, there hasn't been too much of a difference but being easier! I craved sugar like crazy with my boys, and too much sugar now makes me sick. I'm thankful for that! I haven't gained as much as before and I'm hoping it stays that way!
Baby girl had her first shopping spree a couple of days after we found out it's a girl. She already has 2 bathing suits for next summer!
The boys are so excited for baby sister to arrive! They talk to her in my belly and always ask about her. Brody has been convinced it's a girl since I told them we were having a baby. Gavin would get mad and say "no! it's a brother!" When he found out it's a girl, he didn't care one bit - I thought he'd have an opinion, but I really think he was just trying to be a stinker and disagree with his brother! He likes to cause a fuss sometimes!! :)
After we found out, Brody said "I was right!". We had been talking about how they need to be happy either way and all we want is a healthy baby. They are so sweet to me and the baby. I know they will  be amazing helpers and big brothers! We're all so excited!

sticky!

I took the boys to burger king (drive-thru). Brody said "don't get syrup! The last time I took them there I spilled an entire pack of syrup on the center console in my car and had to drive home one handed. It was a disaster to say the least!

2-wheeler!

On Wednesday, April 18 2012, Brody had his friend, Ben, over to play. While we were outside the boys hopped on bikes and scooters and started cruising around on our driveway. Brody was on his bike with training wheels and his friend said "Brody, you still ride with training wheels?!" (funny thing was that this friend still rode with training wheels at the time. Kids are hilarious!) Brody was confused and I was shocked! It hadn't really crossed my mind to start teaching him to ride a 2-wheeler. We tried to teach him last year when he first got his bike but he refused to keep going after a few accidents! So, after it was brought to my attention again I got Brody off his bike and removed the training wheels. I held onto his seat and guided him as he started to pedal. The first evening was pretty rough (especially on a pregnant mommy!). I was amazed at Brody's determination to learn how to ride. He would not give up! There was some improvement just after the first evening of attempting this new activity! He LOVED it! The next day we spent most of the morning outside, trying and trying. There were a lot of falls, bumps, and bruises and he now only has about half of each pedal on the bike. By the next day he was cruising! He now rides everywhere and loves it! I'm so proud of him. I'm proud that he never gave up, no matter how hard it was.

"The Shoe Story"

Today after church someone came up to us and said we needed to find sister Whipple and have her tell us the "funny story". We weren't able to find her after church but when we got home we saw her drive by so we flagged her down. She stopped and said "Did you hear the shoe story?". We told her we hadn't so she began telling us "A couple of weeks ago, I was in nursery with Gavin and he came up to me and said 'I like your shoes, where did you buy them?'"
She thought it was hilarious and said "He's definitely your son, Erica!" She was impressed that at only 3 years old he already knows how to impress a woman by complimenting her shoes! I'm proud!
She has been telling everyone about this cute little boy! He brings a special light to everyone he meets and melts hearts!! We love our sweet baby boy!

Lots of catching up to do -

Most recently -

Brody turned 5 last Wednesday!
I can't believe how fast the times flies.

To celebrate, we had a few parties... The first was last Saturday with all of his cute little neighborhood friends. When everyone arrived I tied pirate bandanas on their head, and gave out eye patches and telescopes. The kids played outside, then we followed a map to find buried treasure (a treasure box full of gold coins and necklaces), We ended with pizza, cake, ice cream, and presents. It was a blast!! A pirate themed party was so much fun! Bobby was talking with Brody about his party and Brody kept giving theme ideas - sports related, of course. Each sport he mentioned, Bobby said "we already did that one". So, he suggested something different like PIRATES!! It was a blast!
The kids in the neighborhood played pirates for a few days after.



The hidden treasure!





His pirate cake!

The treasure map that we followed (one of the points on the map was a Drain pipe!! haha!)


more decor

Birthday boy

Looking in the treasure box!

The digging site

All the kids waiting for Bobby to dig up the treasure

We found it!

On the treasure hunt





Cute little pirates!