Welcome Baby Tate!

Gavin is super lucky to the one of three boy cousins in the Cox/Goodson/greater Jeffers family.  If you know anything about my family, you know that I have a 5 sisters and a brother.  The irony is that of the two sisters that have had children, all of them have been boys!  God likes to keep us on our toes, I guess!  Well, the more the merrier because Katie (my sister) and Phil (her husband) just welcomed their THIRD boy into the world yesterday...and Gavin couldn't be more thrilled about having a new..and this time younger..cousin!
On the eve of Tate's birth, all the boy cousins decided to get together for a little male bonding.  Katie, Matthew and I took the boys to TU stadium and let them play on the football field.  We also happened to go on the hottest day in the history of America- but that's okay.  We tried unsuccessfully to get a picture of all three boys...but I mean really, who wants to pose for a picture when you can be running around playing with your "football game". 

For those of you who don't know my larger, extended Jeffers/Goodson family, this is my oldest nephew Bennett holding Gavin. 

And this is Paxen, the 2nd Goodson brother.

I must say my sister is the freakin' bomb to be 40 weeks pregnant and take her two children to an outdoor venue when it's 158 degrees outside.  She is one awesome mama. 

Fast forward 24 hours!  All were gathered at St. John's hospital with great anticipation of the fourth baby boy cousin to make his grand entrance into the world.  You would think after four grandkiddos, my family would be a little less excited to be awaiting the birth of yet another one...but that simply isn't the case.  All Jeffers and even some non-Jeffers were there when the big moment happened and my mother texted out "we have a BOY!" (we knew it was a boy the whole time, but there's something exciting about seeing it in a text message when you know he's finally here).  The next big moment came when there was the "unveiling" of the name.  We finally got to hear the name that Phil and Katie had been cooking up for nine months- Isaac Tate Goodson- but he'll be called "Tate".  My sister Anna brought birthday cake (a Jeffers family tradition)...and then upon hearing the name left immediately to go get TATEr tots with which to celebrate.   

I think one of my favorite things to ever see was Bennett and Paxen meeting their brother for the first time.  They were so sweet and excited to meet him.  They definitely knew he was theres.  They were happy to meet Gavin when he was born, but this was a whole new kind of ownership yesterday when they met heir new brother.  Bennett kept asking to see different body parts, just to make sure he was all there- "Can I see his feet?" "Can I see his belly button?"  And Katie was so sweet and would unwrap Tate and show him.  Bennett was finally satisfied with the baby inventory when he noticed that Baby Tate had nipples to- he must be complete.  Paxen was cute too and everytime Tate would make a little whimper would say "It's okay." 

We got to be privy to some cute Goodson family moments for sure...but don't worry- we were making ourselves useful by immortalizing the memories:

 And even though Gavin's a tad too young to get it, he probably could feel it in the air that something special was happening- that someone that will be a part of almost every holiday, every birthday, every family gathering and someone that is certain to be one of his very best friends was making his debut in his life.  Gavin's a lucky little boy to have three boy cousins all so close in age that will grow up playing, fighting, adventurizing and loving each other.  

Welcome to the world, Baby Tate!  We can't wait to get to know you. 

A few of Gavin's favorite things

Gavin is getting to the age where you can start to tell that he has preferences.  There are definitely things that he likes to do and other things that he really doesn't like to do.  For example, he really likes taking his bath.  For another example, he really does NOT like laying on his back to have his diaper changed.  I thought that this post could be dedicated to a few things that we have deemed Gavin's "favorite things"...for this week. 

Gavin's favorite chores to do around the house:  Laundry of course! 

Coming in at a close second is helping me organize his clothes drawers.

Gavin's favorite new toy:  This one is a tie for first place- or actually a collaboration because apparently paper plates and blue crocadile bath toys can only be enjoyed together. 

Not lying.  The paper plate was with us for two weeks until we finally retired it.  Little does Gavin know that there are about 45 more where that came from.  He especially loves waving it around in partnership with the blue crocadile.   I'm not sure why the two were such a match made in heaven, but they are.  The blue crocadile is still with us and though he is mourning the loss of his biodegradable friend, he doesn't have to be blue for too much longer- I'm sure before too long, we'll break out another paper plate. 

A close second in the "Favorite toy" category: his diaper box.

If you'll look closely in the corner of this picture, there is a nice, shiny plastic toy that mommy and daddy actually spent money buying...a toy that has lost out to the awesomeness that is the diaper box.  Why didn't someone tell us to save our money for when he's older and has a more discriminating toy taste?  Apparently right now the kid would be satisfied with a paper plate and a diaper box.  Live and learn. 

Gavin's favorite room in the house: The bathroom. 

I know, I know- he's a boy...but right now he loves the bathroom because it houses the bathTUB which is his real favorite. When Gavin isn't splashing around in the tub, he's standing on the edge of the tub, throwing his toys into the bathtub. We line the toys up after every bath to dry on the bathtub ledge and he goes and knocks them in one by one. It's very amusing.   

Gavin's second favorite area in the house: the room that holds the door stop.

Gavin loves the door stop.  It's springy, it's boingy.  It's everything you could possibly want.  He will crawl his little heart out and I think that he's going to look out the window or crawl to the front door...but no- he's going to play with the door stop.

Last but not least...Mama has to have a favorite, so we'll end the night with Mama's favorite jammies:

Sweetpea himself couldn't have beat that.  A friend gave us these jammies before Gavin was born and I waited and waited and waited until he could wear them.  I hope he never grows out of them because look how cute!!!  And really..how practical...for those hot summer nights, when you really don't want to wear a diaper OR pants, but you also don't want to be a flasher.  It's like a mullet for pajama wearers: business in the front, a little naked party in the back!