The busy days of late November in the Milgate household

I can say WE DID IT!  What was is "IT" you ask?  The Milgate household made it through a VERY busy Thanksgiving season.  It started on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, when we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner with our friends.  It was a blast because now we have two lil' ones joining our annual dinner, Gman, of course, and his girlfriend Maeve Sophia Fry, daughter of Charlie and Lisa Fry.   Always good times with friends.
The very next day, Sunday, November 21, Gavin Michael Milgate was baptized at church.  As I mentioned in my last post, he did amazing and went right to Pastor Ken (the pastor that married Brian and I).  Afterward, we had a couple friends and family over to Mom and Dad's house, which is conveniently located around the corner from church, for brunch.  Brian and I are enjoying Matthews United Methodist.  We officially joined a couple months ago and have become involved.   We joined a "young married couple" sunday school and I have been taking classes to learn my spiritual gifts.  I learned that I have the gifts of Administration (imagine that!), Helping and Hospitality.
Finally on Monday, November 22, Brian was inducted into the Honor Society fraternity, PTK. Brian has done so well since going back to school, he was invited to be a part of the Honor Society fraternity.  I gotta tell you, I was proud wife and mother that weekend!
 On Tuesday, I dropped the dogs off at the vet and then we got on a plane heading to Philadelphia to spend Thanksgiving with Grammy, Grampy, Aunt Queenie (aka Cynthia), Courtney, Nick, Melissa and Abigail.  We had a blast!  Gavin did amazing on his first flight!  He was fussy as we were boarding, but G and I sat in between Grammy and Brian, so we knew we would be ok.  He took a bottle as the plane took off and then slept the entire plane ride and sucked on his pacifier when we landed.  He did the same thing on the return flight.  We are traveling to New Orleans (which is a longer flight) in a couple weeks, so I am hopeful he will do great.  We all had a blast in Philly.  It was great to be around family.  Gavin and Abigail did lots of jumping in Aunt Queenie's jumparoo!   Now that we are back, I am trying to get engaged in the mommy network here in Charlotte.  Yes, there is a group of Charlotte mothers and they are called the Charlotte Mommy Network.  It's nice to connect with other moms and young ones around Gavin's age.  On the work front, I will begin working with a career coach in January (thank you Wells Fargo) and Brian will begin looking for a job, so if you have any leads, feel free to pass our way!  As always, here are a couple pictures to enjoy.

Gman on his baptism day

Brian gets inducted into PTK

We made lots of noise when B crossed the stage.

G and I were so proud

Grammy holding Abigail and Gman on Thanksgiving morning

Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Queenie's

G was WORN out after Thanksgiving dinner!

Roll Tide Roll

Adult trip (without the lil ones) to the Flyers game

Aunt Queenie and her princess Abigail

5 months and growing

What an amazing day!  Today Gavin was baptized. He woke up in a good mood, he eat, then went back to sleep for his morning nap while mommy and daddy got dressed, then woke up at the perfect time to get dressed.  He was great in church and the perfect little angel during the baptism.  He went to Pastor Ken (fyi- Pastor Ken was the pastor who married Brian and I) when he picked him up and loved watching the water being poured into the bowl.  He smiled when the water was placed on his head.  Have I told you about the love of water this little boy has?  G will take a bath with mommy or daddy and he will float in the tub on his back.  He loves playing in the water.  He will kick, kick, kick and make a mess, but he's having a blast.  After the service today, Mom had everyone over for brunch.  Brian and I told each other after that Gavin is one LOVED lil boy and we are thankful for such supportive friends and family.  When they say it takes a village to raise a child, they were not lying.

Gman turned 5 months old on Friday.  Time is FLYING!  I can't believe that this lil' boy was in my belly five months ago, it seems just like yesterday I found out I was prego.  G is walking in his walker, but he only goes one way and that's backwards.  He is almost sitting up by himself and he LOVES to blow bubbles with his ever flowing drool.  Gman has also found his hands and he loves to use them.  If you have long hair when you hold him, you can guarantee that it will be pulled and end up in his mouth.

It has been a very busy weekend.  Gavin baptized today, Brian is going to be inducted into the Honor Society fraternity on Monday night and then we are flying to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving on Tuesday.   I could not be more proud of my boys.  I will update you how G's first flight goes once we return.   I hope everyone has a VERY safe and happy Thanksgiving. 
I have placed a couple pictures below of Gman, enjoy!

5 months old

G in his baptism outfit

Pastor Ken, Gman, mommy and daddy

Here we GROW again

 I thought it was going to be AWESOME to stay at home full time with G, but the past three weeks have been hard.  I have been home for three weeks now and we are still trying to get into a groove.  I had it in my mind that we were going to jump right back into our routine where we were before I went back to work.  Well, NOT REALITY Nikki!  I was a bit of an emotional wreck the first two weeks because I was mourning the loss of my career.  I had been with Wachovia for nine years, my entire corporate career.  It's amazing how God does everything on His timeline because now I have the ability to completely focus on being the best mother and wife I can be.  I also have the honor to help my Aunt Cynthia (who did the toffee for my wedding) with her small business (http://www.queenskitchen.net/default.asp for those looking for holiday gift ideas) and all the while LOVING watching G grow every day.  

It feels like EVERY time Gman goes to sleep, he grows.  I put him to bed with his baby fat rolls and by the time he wakes up, they are gone because he has "grown into them."  He is over 16lbs and almost 27 inches long.  He will be five months old next week.  I can't believe it!  Time flies when you are having fun.  

He is a chatty cathy and loves to blow bubbles with his new ever flowing drool.  He also likes to choke himself by trying to stick his entire fist in his mouth (mind you, the boy has his father's hands and they are rather large).  He loves to people watch when we go out to eat or to the stores.  In fact, he is crabbiest when we do not leave the house.  I guess we have a little social butterfly on our hands.  There is nothing better then listening to Gavin laugh.  He is constantly laughing with his daddy.   He was a cow for Halloween and helped Grammy and Grampy hand out candy while Brian and I were at Brian's brother's wedding.  Here are a couple pictures of the growing lil man.  The bottom two pictures were taken by our neighbor, Jen Fagan, who owns New Shoe Photography, http://www.newshoephotography.com/.  Jen and her one year old princess, Sarah Beth came over to play in the red maple leaves. 
Enjoy!

Baby's First Halloween

Gman as a cow

Gavin trying to put the leaves in his mouth

My happy baby rolling in the leaves

It's been a while

It's October 24, 2010 and I am at my parent's house while Brian, Gavin AND Dad are snoozing!  The Buffalo game is on and the boys are asleep, surprise surprise!  It has been a while since I last blogged.

Things were a little crazy around the Milgate house for the last month.  I went back to work and then a little over a month later I was displaced.  It wasn't a surprise considering the last 18 months I have been taking apart what I had built over the last seven years.  I know it's going to be a blessing, but right now I am mourning a little.   I was at Wachovia for all of my corporate career, over nine years.   I am going to stay at home with Gavin for a couple months during the holidays and "figure out what I want to be when I grow up."  I am hopeful that I will be better with blogging.  :)

LOTS of change in the Milgate household over the past year and half- Brian and I got married, we decided it was the right time for Brian to leave his job and to go back to school full time, my company almost went under and were acquired (twice- first by Citi and then by Wells Fargo), and MOST importantly we got pregnant and had our lil Gman! 

Gavin is a bundle of joy!  He is growing like a weed and honestly I think he will be walking before he crawls.  He LOVES to stand.  Gman is a VERY strong boy and we know he is going to be taller than both of us.  We went to the Dr. for his four month appointment this week and he weighs over 16lbs and is 26 inches long.  We introduced cereal to him this week.  That was fun and a complete mess!  Gman is a very vocal baby (imagine that, have you met his parents).  He loves to tell stories to our neighbors Duck and Marie.  He has found his thumb, fingers and fist, all of which LOVE to be in his mouth.  Below are a couple pictures of Gman:

Gavin three months old

Daddy and Gman during the hay ride at the pumpkin patch

Mommy and Gavin at the pumpkin patch

Gavin four months old

Football Season is here!

Fall is here and that means football season is upon us.  Gavin is ready to hoot and holla (or in his case goo and gaa) over his football teams.  His teams were of course decided for him by his parents for now, but he has LOVED cheering them on to successful victories!  Gman represents University of Alabama on college game days and the New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills on pro days.  Below are a couple pictures of Gavin rooting on his teams:

Who Dat!

Roll Tide Roll!

Go Bills!

Growing with Gman (aka Gavin Michael Milgate)

We all know I had a blog while my belly was growing with Gman (Gavin Michael), but I haven't started one since he has been born. DRUM ROLL PLEASE... Here it is. I have started a blog to update everyone. I was using facebook to update with pictures, but as he is getting more active, I am sure I will have more to say than the one liner status updates. I have included a couple pictures of Gavin over the past couple of weeks. He has doubled his birth weight in 12 short weeks and growing longer and longer as well. Enjoy!

Gavin Michael, Mommy and Daddy at hospital

Gavin is here!

Gavin Michael Milgate at Presbyterian Hospital

Gavin asleep on daddy our first week home.

Gman loves to sleep with his arms up!

Gman loves taking showers!

One of Gman's last naps in his moses basket

Rocking out to Aerosmith

One month old!

Gman's first trip to the beach

He was NOT going to get any sun!

YEAH 2 months old!

Gman got his shots at 2 months!

GMM is so VERY handsome!

Gman likes to nap in mommy's breast friend

Gman LOVES his cloth diapers!