Another Guardian Angel for Gavin

Matt's Papaw and Mamaw had the kind of marriage that many people strive for. They loved spending time together and their love for one another was obvious. Recently, Papaw had been battling cancer with Mamaw taking care of his daily needs. However, Mamaw got hurt at home and ended up in the hospital with a broken femur bone that was serious enough to require surgery. Without Mamaw to care for him, both of them were laid up in the hospital. They had wanted to room together, so the staff was diligently working on arranging that for them. Right before Mamaw went into surgery, the staff was able to get them together so they could hold hands for a bit before she went in. Matt's mom caught the moment on her cell phone camera.

After Mamaw came out of surgery, the staff was still trying to arrange for the two of them to room together. While they waiting to be together again, they wrote notes to each other that the nurses hand-delivered. Even the staff was touched by the tenderness of it. Finally, Matt's family was able to arrange for them to talk to each other by cell phones, because even though phones are not allowed in the ICU, the nurses turned a blind eye to it. That night, Papaw passed away.

Papaw was one of the most loving people I have ever met. He adored children and from the time he was young, children just gravitated toward him. He loved his great-grandchildren so much and cherished the moments he spent with them. I'm so thankful for the times that we were able to bring Gavin to visit Papaw. Of course, I still wish that we would have had more time with him, but I know that Gavin has another guardian angel looking out for him now.

We love you, Papaw!!

18 Months Old

My sweet Gav,

I can't believe you are a year-and-a-half! The time flew by. You are such a sweet and happy child, you make us smile everyday and we continue to be amazed by how smart you are! You are doing so well with your sign language and it seems like you are learning new things so quickly. Here are a few new things that you can do now:

• In addition to all the others you know, you learned two new body parts: forehead and elbow.
• You try to lift Daddy and I up from the floor if we are laying down and you want to play.
• You know how to run!
• You learned two new words: "Doggie" and "key."
• You can sign "key."
• You still love to be outside and will go out every chance you get.
• You LOVE spending time with Daddy in the garage and working on the cars.




• You got to ride with Daddy in the Chevelle for the first time shortly before you turned 17 months old and you loved it! You rocked back and forth in your car seat and had a great time. But now, you want to ride it all the time!
• You like to hold hands when you are walking.


Holding Hands with Grandpa C while walking to his house


• You know how to wash your own hair and will help me do it during bath time at night.
• You shrug and say, "Huh?" when you don't understand something.



• You can go up and down the stairs by yourself (although we still follow you closely and will continue to do so for a long time).



• You continue to go to bed very smoothly without any problems. You are a good sleeper and usually sleep from about 8:00 p.m. to about 7:00 or 8:00 a.m.
• When you get a boo-boo, you now say it with a really sad, pathetic little voice so that those who hear know the true extent of the pain.
• You know some new animal sounds: kitty-cat, horsey, and monkey.
• You know how to hit your baseball with your bat and you call it "B-ball."

We love you so much, Gav!

A Sweet Goodnight

Our nighttime routine is as follows - bath, drying off/pajamas, story time in the glider rocker, and then I sing “Gavin, Gavin, My Sweet Boy” as I lay Gavin in his crib. I cover him up and continue singing the song softly as I shut the door and walk down the hall. That way, I figured, he would hear his song softly fading away and it wouldn’t end abruptly. However, recently I decided that there would come a time when I would need to just finish the song, say “good night,” and close the door. So, I gave it a shot. On one particular night, I finished the song, then I gently rubbed Gavin's head and said, “Good night, I love you” as I walked to the door. His little head shot up and I thought, “uh oh, he’s not going to go to sleep now.” But, he gave me the biggest, open-mouth smile and waved “bye-bye” to me! It was the sweetest thing!! I literally had to hold my hand to my heart to keep it from melting out of my chest! Ever since that night, I am able to finish the song and lay him down and our bedtime routine continues to go so smoothly!

Leapin' Lizards!

Just two days before Gavin turned 17 months, he got to see what a complete chicken his mom is. We were getting ready to go to a baby shower and running just a little bit behind, so I was rushing to finish up and get going. I had just one window left to close in the house and then we could leave. I grabbed the window and quickly tried to slide it shut. Well, it wouldn't close all the way, so I slid it open again and then slammed it pretty hard hoping it would latch and close. At that very moment that I slammed it shut, a lizard tried to jump into the house right where the window shuts and I smushed his poor leg and tail in the window! I screamed so loud and must have jumped 3 feet in the air. Now, I have read stories from other blogging friends about finding snakes and giant spiders in their homes and I thought that would really freak me out. But a lizard??? Who's scared of a lizard??? Apparently, I am. I didn't know this until that day, but with the lizard flopping around and trying to free himself from the death-grip of my window, all I could do was tremble with fear. I have seen many lizards in my backyard and have never felt afraid of them, but I guess there was something about this one being caught in my window and flailing around that paralyzed me with fear. At the same time, I felt terrible and wanted to save him, but I just couldn't move.

Luckily, we have a friend who lives next door, so I ran and got him and he was able to save the poor lizard from a slow death in my window, along with the help of my little sister and her friend who arrived shortly thereafter. The whole time the poor lizard was caught in the window, all I could do was watch (and take pictures - oh, I am a terrible person!). I guess a career as a reptile keeper is not in my near future.

We're Back!

Well, the Rogers Family has been absent from Blogland for awhile now, because I have been extremely busy trying to finish up my teaching credential. So, any free time that I had (especially if I wanted to be on the computer) needed to be spent studying for my TPA's (Teacher Performance Assessments) and CSET (California Subject Examination for Teachers). After taking so much time off from school and exams, it was tough to get back into the swing of things, but luckily, I passed both TPA's that are required before student teaching (the remaining two must be done while teaching) and I took one part of the CSET and will receive my score tomorrow. Teachers sure have to go through a lot to become credentialed, but I know it will all be worth it someday soon! I can't wait to be in a classroom with young kids who are eager to learn and who will make my job so enjoyable.

Unfortunately, I have missed three milestone posts as well as some general family updates and desperately need to play catch-up. Although I wrote down a few notes, I have not written down all the new things that Gavin has done each month, so my milestones posts might be mixed up just a little since I am trying to do them all by memory. So, without further ado, I will now post the updates on our little family...