The Ultimate Birthday!

What a wonderful birthday! I will never forget this milestone. Travis Averyt G. has truly been the ultimate gift on this day. His birthday was Tuesday, October 18th. He is a beautiful 9 lb. 10 oz. baby boy, 21 inches long at birth. Thankfully, I was able to have a natural childbirth, laboring for 8 hours. Our baby boy has captured our hearts. We are so very grateful to God and full of joy--beyond description!

I recently heard that one should not count the years but make certain that each year counts...This is my motto! Happy birthday to my twin brother, Austin, who has been there for me in so many ways. I love you!

PS. Mommy, I've never seen so many flames on a cake!! Should we call the fire department???
-E

Daddy's Lil' Helper

It looks like we have a mechanic on our hands... His small size (reltively speaking!) really allows him to work (and stand!) where Daddy just can't reach. He's such a big helper!

Although his rates are quite reasonable, I have my doubts about his reliability. One day last week, I found he left a screwdriver up in there! I'll have to have a word with his shop manager...

All aboard! Wooo-wooo!

This weekend E and I gave Mom a break and took a trip aboard the traveling train show at the Austin Convention Center. http://www.trainexpoinc.com/shows/2011Austin.html

They had all sizes of trains; from Z and N Scale...

HO, O, and even G Scale...

And even up to "E" Scale!

Here are a few videos of E having a blast powering his very own train car!
(In case you are wondering, the cool train whistle came from the red pump seen in the picture above).

Big Boy

EJG soon to be a Big Brother, already a Big Boy! We are so excited to see him and Baby G grow up together!

"The mother of boys work son-up to son-down." ~Author Unknown
What a true blessing and honor to be the mother of such a sweet boy and one on the way!

Deserving of a treat after his first day back to preschool at our church. He is in a class with 8 other boys and 2 teachers at Pecan Street Preschool. Their class name is the "All Stars." He will go twice a week and is already talking it up about seeing his friends. He told us today that he got to go to "Jesus' house" aka chapel!

"If only this box had wheels!"

E is quite the train engineer with his new set which we found for a steal on Craigslist.

The boys and their toys!

Just like daddy! Multi-tasking to the extreme extent.

Date night thanks to "Kids Night Out" at our church. Boy, how we look forward to the evening out once a month. E does, too!

We have now reached 90 days at 100* + temperature. We are hoping this is the last of it as the -ber months are about to start. What a blessing to have made it through this record heat Summer being pregnant. Truly a labor of love! Above is E with his new construction set in which he and Nana built "Rollie."

E got to spend some quality time with Nana and B-Bob this Summer while mom and dad enjoyed the downtime together! Our favorite half way point to make the swap is in Round Top, TX where we always enjoy eating at Royer's Cafe. Did you know it is a sin not to get ice cream on top a Royer's slice of homemade pie?? Their motto: "Life's too short not to eat dessert first" and "Stressed backwards spells Desserts." Love this restaurant and the sweet owners!

This is a picture with Ethan's latest find from the garden, a tomato horn worm. He wanted to save it for show-and-tell in school which we made a great attempt at doing...

Here is E mastering his bubble blowing skills. Once out of bubbles, Papa put some dish soap with a bit of water and he was at it again! What fun!

GiGi and E blowing bubbles back and forth! Look at that smile :-)

Hiking Buddies

Daddy used to think mountain biking was the best way to enjoy Walnut Creek, but Lil' E is teaching him a whole new appreciation for the trails. E is turning out to be a great trailblazer and always has an opinion on which fork in the trail to take. This post catalogs part of our recent trip which included racing, "cooking dinner", resting in the shade, tickling, tackling huge mountains, and ending with an exhausted trip back to the car on Daddy's shoulders.

On your mark...get set...GO!!!
This track star doesn't let a few roots slow him down. Daddy had a hard time trying to stay in front so all the pictures didn't show E's rear. As it was, only half of the pictures I took captured his posterior!

"Hey Daddy, whuts over dere???"

"Silly Daddy! That's you and me!"

"Daddy. You wan some pizza???"

"Daddy. Its a weaf!"

"You lay down over dere, Daddy. I lay down righ here!"

Beautiful Baby Bump

Momma received a wonderful gift of Belly Art by a local Austin artist. This was a great chance to relax and reflect on the Miracle that is Baby G! This open heart design allowed for Baby G's name to be painted inside the middle. With a little help from photoshop, we are able to keep his name a surprise until the big reveal on his birthday!

Lil' E's hands did a great job keeping Baby G's name secret from all of you!

As noted in an earlier video post, E loves telling Baby G good night after his "painting" sessions. This evening, he got to marvel at the artwork on Momma!
WEe love you, Baby G! You truly are a masterpiece!

Tractors, The University of Texas, and Theaters

As mentioned in past posts, we have been creative on outings this Summer while trying to stay cool. One such outing with hosted by the Pflugerville Community Library entitled, "Tractor Petting Zoo." It was a chance for kids to get their hands on all kinds of city trucks, tractors, and equipment. E especially enjoyed touching each and every lever, handle, and wheel. Nana was in town to experience the fun:

Check out Nana with John Deere Green!

E and I ventured to The University of Texas one afternoon as I felt like it is never to early to start the UT influence...while there we checked out the Tower and the Co-Op. I found a shirt that says, "Future Longhorn Arriving Soon." I have worn it often this Summer! While on campus, E noted all the longhorns and kept saying, "There is Papa's longhorn!" Too cute!

Here we are at the Bob Bullock Museum across from UT. We went to see the 3D Imax called "Born to be Wild." It was a great documentary which was just long enough to capture E's attention of all the babies in the wild.

At the beginning of the 3D movie, he was grasping to try to reach out for the animals...