Gavin Douglas Lavoie

So an amazing thing happened to our family on November 23rd! Carly and Greg, my brother and sister in laws, had a beautiful baby boy! What a blessing, in the midst of a blizzard that was chilling Evanston to its core, these two were able to bring something or better yet someone so special and wonderful into this world! The family is now one person bigger and better because of this little guy. And what an adorable little boy he is! 8 pounds 4 ounces and 20 inches long!  A big healthy baby! I am such a proud Auntie! I love this little one so much already!

A Pool Party!.......In NOVEMBER!

So as I have said, Autumn's party went off amazingly. It was so fun having our friends and family come and visit her and share the celebration of her special day with her. She sure cleaned house on all those presents. My missy is such a fashionista! A girlie girl to the very core of her, so it came as no surprise that when she opened presents containing Barbies, faeries, coloring pages, stickers, puppies, clothes and shoes, she was in a complete state of bliss. She even went as far to point out that she "did not have this one, and this one, and this one" when she recieved her tinkerbell dolls and saw the other faeries on the back of the box! Greedy....Maybe a little.....Then after her party and swimming till they dropped, we called a day well done and went home, Autumn could not keep her eyes open! A successful party!

Turn Around

Where are you going, my little one, little one
Where are you going, my baby, my own?
Turn around and you're two, turn around and you're four
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of my door

Turn around, turn around
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of my door

Where are you going, my little one, little one
Little dirndls and petticoats, where have you gone?
Turn around and you're tiny, turn around and you're grown
Turn around and you're a young wife with babes of your own

Turn around, turn around

Turn around and you're a young wife with babes of your own

Turn around, turn around
Turn around and you're the young girl going out of the door

Where are you going, my little one, little one
Where are you going, my baby, my own?

Happy Birthday My beautiful Three Year Old!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Wow! First of all Autumn's party went swimmingly. We had a great turnout and I think she was in this unreal world that she could not believe that it was the day of her party, even when she arrived she was unsure what to think. However that soon went away and the festivities began. Playing with balloons and blowing bubbles and dancing to music with all our friends was a blast. Then we all sat down to sing Happy Birthday and eat her very Barbie, very pink and purple Cupcake cake. It was delicious with my Autumns favorite icing and a Barbie figurine on top. We accented that with some delicious cold milk and there were treats and cookies lining the party table. What a treat! After everyone had their fill of sweets it was time for the Goods! Presents stole little Autumn's attention and paper was flying. She was thrilled that she had Barbies, faeries, Coloring pages, stuffed animals and for the fashionista she is, she got new pajamas clothes and some sparkly new shoes that she wont take off!! After presents we made our way down to the pool where we had fun splashing and chasing each other. What a great day and to finish it out a blanket of snow to cover the ground at night. Which was fine except for the family that has to travel back to Salt Lake, they got stuck at a standstill in Parleys canyon for about an hour. YUCK!!
We woke up to a beautiful morning of snow all over the ground, at least a foot or so. It just makes the season that much more exciting. I cannot wait for the days to come!

Presents!

I am so excited for Autumn's birthday and Christmas this year. I try to do themed Christmases but this year it ended up being a themed birthday/Christmas. I am almost more excited than her for them to be opened! This year in celebration of Toy Story 3 coming out, we got her the Authentic Jessie, Woody, Buzz and Bullseye dolls, along with the Movie.  However since those dolls dont exactly come cheap we decided to split them up and give her Buzz and Woody for birthday and Jessie and Bullseye for Christmas.We also got her a snowsuit, gloves and boots so this year she can enjoy the nine months of snow we have here.

Then for Christmas I got a spectacular idea! This little girl of mine loves to color and create and draw, just ask my fridge, it is smothered in masterpieces. So I went online and found some awesome art stations for children. It has storage for all sorts of things like colored pencils, crayons, markers, drawing pads, coloring books, puzzles and so much more and it has a light so they can feel grown up along with a stool! I am so so excited because I really feel like she is going to enjoy what she got. Santa Claus is one smart guy to come up with such an idea. Then we also decided to get her a humongous toy chest for the mounds of toys she has! The Holidays just are not coming fast enough for my excitement!!!

The Holidays!

I cannot believe how close Christmas and Thanksgiving are. And even closer than that.....Autumn's birthday! A party this Saturday with close family and friends and presents coming out her ears at our house. My baby girl is going to be three years old soon! There just are not words to describe it. Having her at seventeen, going to school, working, raising a baby and keeping a relationship alive got so hectic time slipped away from me. But I took a step back the other day and listened to some wise words of wisdom from my wonderful brother. He told me to just love and make room for nothing else and that life would be what I want it to be, that it really already is but I need to take a breath and live and love to see it.

So I did just that and this is what I found......

My baby girl is going to be three soon. She loves the ABC's song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She loves watching Dora and Diego on T.V. because she then goes on adventures just like they do. Her favorite color is pink and she remembers mine is purple and she points out my favorite color to me on everything to make me smile, she lives to impress and perform. Dancing around the house and making up songs and then singing them to stuffed animal audiences. She is independent and likes to get her own drink and snack from the fridge. She loves rainbows and loves to color and draw her family and She fills up the fridge with masterpieces, she is deathly afraid of spiders, the give her the willies. When she cries, my whole world feels like its crashing down and when she laughs, there is no way to hide the smile it brings, she loves to talk and be friendly, in fact she talks so much she even does it in her sleep. She wants to help, she wants to learn and she wants so bad to just love and have fun......

My husband is the best. We dont have a lot, and I think that sometimes wears on him, as though he is not giving his family the best. However he goes to work every night and on days I have school stays up with Autumn so that I can achieve my dream. He works so hard and never complains about just how much he does. He loves to tinker, he loves to fix things and he is so creative and imaginative that it blows my mind with the inventions and thoughts he comes up with. He gives us everything we need though. Autumn and I have a place we call home, we have warm winter nights cuddled together, food on the table and love in the home and thats all we need to be happy. He does more than he realizes and he loves that little girl of his more than life itself. She has him wrapped around her finger, never has there been a more perfect duo. And as for him and I, its amazing that in such a small town I never had to venture out to find my soul mate, because that is what he is to me. I never am bored with him, I leave the house knowing when I come home he is there. I love when he embraces me because he is so warm and so full of love, it just sends me spiraling.

I am glad I listened to my brother. He knew what he was talking about, I just needed to step back and look at the whole picture. I am glad I did, the smallest details mean so much!

Where Is October???

Oh my goodness where did October go? This is crazy and now we are almost halfway through with November and I have been severely slacking on this thing! To catch up Halloween went amazingly. Autumn was the cutest little kitty and had the cutest home-made costume (which was also my very first attempt at being a crafty mom......I LOVED it!). It was the easiest thing to make as well. All I did was buy black sweat pants and a black turtleneck long-sleeve shirt for her and the rest came easy. The "ingredients" for this were tulle, felt, ribbon, scissors, hot glue, a wire hanger, and a hair band. Like I said....easy..... and she looked so darn cute.

On the Friday before Halloween, downtown Evanston Merchants host an annual trick or treat event where all the kids get to dress up and trick or treat at all the downtown shops and Court house. It is fun and safer for the youger kids and a chance to dress up one more day for the celebration. Autumn cleaned house on that and the downtown area had quite a turnout for how small a town we have here. Then that night we came home and carved our Halloween pumpkins. Autumn had a blast "knocking the pumpkins brains out!" She also enjoyed after the fact that we had cut out the face and the pieces would fit back in just like puzzle pieces.



Daddy's Pumpkin...Scary!



This year I got all into the Fall spirit....It is after all my favorite time of year.....and decorated my front porch to portray my joy. I thought it turned out rather well and I had alot of fun with it.

So then on Saturday the Neely family traveled down to Salt Lake City to visit family and trick or treat down there where we would be a bit warmer for the wear. We met up with my sister Stephanie and my sister Dawnene and her two adorable little girls. They were dressed as a devil and a cowgirl. Well low and behold when we arrived, after the glorious day we had had before, it was gloomy and wet. But that did not stop this clan. We visited Grandma and Grandpa and took Halloween pictures and then set out on our trek.

We visited the South Valley mall where we tricked and we treated until the bags handles were threatening to break off. Autumn saw so many interesting characters along with her favorite princesses. I believe she left a piece of her heart with them.

Stephanie was also a center of attention dressed as the Red Queen and might I say it was the best costume of her I had ever seen, definitely authentic looking.

 After the mall it was pouring cats and dogs. We attempted to trick or treat around the neighborhood, but if rain could ever be more wet than usual, this day was the day that it chose to be so. So the Neely clan went back to the Miller residence, got bathed, dried and changed and then settled down for dinner and movies and coloring. All in all a night to remember!!!