Happy Birthday, Gavin Jack!

Gavin's birthday is 4 days after Addie's (on July 18th.) I'm late getting to this post because we threw a birthday party for him and that pretty much took up my day!

My kids get a friends birthday party on their even birthdays (except when they turn 8, then we do a big family party after their baptism.) So, since Gavin was turning 6, he knew it was his year. He had been asking me how long until his party since March. And, he told every single kid he came into contact with that they were invited. So....it was a big deal to say the least. He had so much fun, and we did, too.

Looking back over the 6 years Gavin has been a part of our family brings a lot of smiles to my face. Now, mind you, much of the smiling I do now in remembrance comes from events that were NOT funny at the time! Gavin is, how do I say it, a challenge at times. He has been so full of energy from day one. In fact, he was so anxious to start his journey here on the earth he showed up a year early. Yep, he was a surprise. We planned on spacing 3 years between baby #2 and baby #3, but he totally snuck in when Calder was a month shy of 2 years old. Not only that, he was born 4 weeks early to boot! He even tried to pop on out before there was a doctor in the room to deliver him. The nurses literally crossed my legs for 10 minutes while they frantically tried to locate a doctor. Any doctor!

We lovingly began calling Gavin "Jack Jack" when he was an infant. His middle name is Jack (after my Grandpa) and most of our family calls him Jack. In fact, I may be one of the only family members he has who regularly calls him Gavin. Anyway, when Jack Jack was about 2 years old we saw The Incredibles for the first time. Have you seen it? Have you watched the extra feature called "Jack Jack Attack?" HILARIOUS!!! We laughed so hard because the Jack Jack in the movie was so like our own little Jack Jack, it was scary. Okay, so Gavin can't make things spontaneously combust into flames, but he comes pretty dang close!!! He is such a happy person (most of the time) and his energy can't be matched! He has such a joy of life and his excitement is often contagious.

Here are a few pictures to help illustrate the fun-filled, crazy life of our "awesome and cool" Gavin Jack...

Okay, so this first one isn't so fun-filled. When Gavin was just 5 weeks old, I caught pertussis (whooping cough) and passed it onto him. This was at the beginning of a small outbreak that occurred in the US which led to the discovery that our pertussis immunizations wore off putting us at risk to catch it. Since then, Utah (along with most other states) now require kids to get a booster of the immunization when they enter junior high. This is a nasty disease! I injured my ribs from coughing so violently. Gavin spent 10 days in the hospital and a couple of months on monitors at home recovering. It was a scary experience and I credit his doctor who knew exactly what was wrong (many infants die due to misdiagnosis) and, of course, our Heavenly Father's desire that he be healed and go on to do his work here on this earth.

Bring on the cake! As per tradition, we gave Gavin his very own 1st birthday cake and let him go. And he went!
Such a happy kid! (1 year old.)

At Bear Lake with Gary. These are Gary's friend Dave's dogs Kolob and Lambert. (2 years old.)
Just hangin' out! (A month shy of 3 years old.)

Preschool portrait. (4 years old.)
Looking like a water skeeter in the lazy river. (5 years old.)

Getting ready to blow out the candles on this year's doughnut cake. (6 years old.)

Gavin, we love you so much. Thanks for being you!!! Happy birthday, kid.

PS...stay tuned for some "outtakes" of Gavin in a future post. :)