So much to be thankful for

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. Thanksgiving day, we went to my parents house for dinner. My sister, Laura was home from college and my sister, Emily and her husband Morgan we here from Greenvile, NC. This was the first time that Laura had seen Gavin - I am glad that he still looked like a newborn so that it didn't feel like she had missed too much.
This is a picture of Gavin in his turkey outift. He turned one month old on Thanksgiving. I can't believe that it has already been one month since he was born. I feel so blessed to have this sweet little boy and his lively and loving big sister.
My grandparents were there for Thanksgiving dinner as well. My grandmother held Gavin for about an hour and half. This was very special to watch. My grandma is nearly blind due to macular degeneration and I feel so blessed that she is able to get close enough to my children that she can see them. I know it is hard on her some times, but when ever she gets cuddle time with them you can see her get so much pleasure.
We had Gavin blessed at church the day after Thanksgiving. My dad performed the ordinance and it was such a special experience for me. Gavin was so good during the blessing - he was wide awake and didn't make a peep. Both of my kids have done this - we were joking that they have set a high standard for the other grandkids to live up to.
This is our attempt at getting a picure of the four of us. Mikayla was not at all cooperative, but I was glad to at least get the day documented.
Here is a picture of Gavin at 5 weeks old. He had his one month checkup and weighed 9 lbs. 10 oz. and was 22 inches long. His height is in the 75%, and his weight and head circumfrence are in the 50%. I can't belive how big he is getting. Oh! We also just got his first smile. This is my favorite thing, because it always comes when you are so sleep deprived and frustrated. That little smile makes you forget all of the bad stuff and revel in the joy of motherhood.

Piggy boy!

Well, I took Gavin to the pediatrician today because he has been fussy after his feedings and I was pretty sure he had reflux like Mikayla did. He does have it and they placed him on Zantac (yeah!!) The most exciting part of the visit though was when they weighed him. His last checkup was 16 days ago and he weighed 7 lbs. 1/2 oz. They are supposed to gain about 1 ounce a day so he should have gained right around one pound. Well, our little porker baby weighed 8 lbs. 10 1/2 oz. - he gained 1 lb 10 oz in 2 weeks!! I was a little worried because he only eats for 15-20 minutes and I was told by te lactation nurse that he should be eating 30-40 minutes. I guess I shouldn't be concerned.

This will be a long one...

Well, I have finally found a couple of minutes to update everyone with what has been going on the past two weeks. Well, Gavin Michael Matthews was born on October 22nd at 8:03 am. He was 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. My c-section went beautifully!! The recovery with this one has been so much easier than the first - a huge blessing considering that I have been having to chase after Mikayla a little bit. Gavin is such a sweet little boy. He is very easy to please...give him some food a place to sleep and he is set to go. He is much less demanding than his big sister was, another blessing since I am know the mom of two little ones. Mikayla has been adjusting better than I could have ever hoped. She loves him so much and always wants to hold him and tells me when he needs to eat. She has been such a big helper and I love watching her interact with him. Seeing her with him has probobly been the best part of this whole experience. It makes me tear up just sitting here sharing it with you. Here are some pictures of us in the hospital:

First photo of the three of us, thanks to the anesthesiologist.
First family photo. Gavin is about three hours old at this point.
This is Mikayla's favorite thing to do with Gavin. As you can see she is very comfortable.
Gavin all ready to come home from the hospital.

The day before Halloween, Mikayla's preschool class had a costume parade, a little program, trick-or-treating and a party. I was thankful to my mom for watching Gavin so that Jeremy and I could both go and take part in this. We sent he as a cheerleader, because her regular costume couldn't be washed and I didn't want it potentially ruined before Halloween. It was fun seeing her with her friends and singing and bouncing around. She has such a fun and bubbly personality - apparantly she keeps her teachers laughing all day long. I wasn't suprised, but it's nice to here that she is adjusting well to school. Halloween was so much fun this year. We had most of our family over that night and everyone got to see her and Gavin dressed up for the holiday. Mikayla was a princess and she had so much fun getting dressed up and wearing Mommy's makeup. She really go into the candy thing this year and couldn't understand why she could only have a couple of pieces and not the whole bucket.

You can't tell in this photo, but Gavins' sleeper says "Prince Charming" on the chest. It was very cute, Mikayla kept calling him "her prince"
Our sweet little Halloween pumpkin.

Okay, so that is a brief summary of the past couple of weeks. I promise to be good about keeping everone updated know that things are starting to settle down. Hope all is well and I'll talk to you soon.