So it's been awhile...

...since I last posted. Life goes on. I have not exercised nor have I napped like I anticipated doing once Gavin started school. But I have run errands, done church stuff, and even had time to visit a friend. It's been so nice to be able to go to the grocery store without dealing with fits. Gavin continues to enjoy school, and his speech is improving quite quickly. He comes home with a lot of drawings/paintings/art projects. Some of them are pretty involved for a 3 yr old and I'm pretty sure his teacher does those while the kids play. Gavin has let his teacher take him to the bathroom at school a couple times, and has returned to his previous potty training status at home. As long as nothing too exciting is going on he's good to go. But if there's something fun going on all bets are off. We had dinner parties the last 2 weekends and he pooped in his pullup both evenings. I'm thankful I had the foresight to put a pullup on him before these dinner parties, and I'm thankful that Jake took care of both incidents without me even asking him. He's a great dad. And husband. Gavin continues to throw fits and act nutso pretty frequently at home. And doesn't listen. He responds to discipline (usually cries when put in time out) and seems to understand when I tell him why he is being punished but it does not prevent him making the same mistake again. And he finds trouble every time I leave the room. Every time. I go to the bathroom for 2 minutes and I find him hiding under the kitchen table eating jelly beans. One time it was the heel of the loaf of bread, like that was something really special. He can climb up onto our kitchen counter and reach the food in the top cabinet quite quickly. He's also escaped through the doggy door twice this week. Thank goodness for Jake, who installed child locks on the cabinet and screwed shut the doggy door today. And forget talking on the phone. When I try to do that Gavin goes nuts. He teases the dog, screams, and thrown himself down and throws fits. I told my mom I'm glad we were able to adopt Gavin because a lot of other parents would be beating him right now. We will not be doing that. Fortunately we do realize this is just a phase and love him anyway. He is still our loving, charming, funny little boy 60-70% of the time. And that other 30-40% of the time he just needs us to realize that little boy is still there, he's just hiding behind naughty behavior that will be outgrown with time. I am so thankful for prayer during this time, and for the answer to prayers I have received in regard to Gavin and parenting. I am also thankful that we have scriptures available to us and that we do a daily family scripture study and prayer to help teach Gavin morals, values, and about our Savior, who Gavin recently called "my fwiend Jesus," and has stated several times when pointing to a picure of Jesus "(he) loves me." Last weekend I hung up a picture of mine that I bought about 9 years ago when I was just starting to really think about how I would become a mother. I have not seen another piece of artwork that better represents infertility, the hope of becoming a mother, and miracle babies - and to me it perfectly symbolizes adoption. I hung it up in the hall on the way to our bedroom and I'm glad I did because each time I pass it I think about what a miracle it was that Gavin became our son, and how truly blessed we are to have him, fits and all.

(that's my reflection in the bottom middle, not part of the painting)