Langston Family Blog

We all had a great day. Gavin II even got to pet this baby alligator :) At the end of the day, he left with a party hat and was perfectly content with ringing in the new year at the zoo...at noon!

The zoo looked great but there were signs of Katrina everywhere. Gavin was looking forward ti the sea lions but, unfortunately, they were evacuated to Texas and have not returned as of yet! The pictures and souvenirs are pretty cool...

I could not resist posting this picture. The Chimps have always been a favorite of mine. Today, not only were they cool just chilling out on top of a pole, the chimp actually carried a box in his mouth while he climbed the pole and then put the flattened box on top of his head for some shade!! It was really funny. Gavin II kept saying "what is he doing??"

It was a really cool day to see the animals. They were all up close so that they could be viewed well which is great when you are 3 feet tall! He loved it; he loves animals. It was kind-of a lazy
day for some of the animals (i.e. rhinos)

The Audubon Zoo had a "Noon Year's Eve" for little kids where there was an apple cider toast at noon. There was a lot to do for kids and it was a lot of fun. Gavin II got to enjoy some time riding in his wagon - thanks again to Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Scott and Jack - we love it!

Tonight, Gavin and I took Dave out to Lager's while Meg set up the house for his surprise party. We pulled the "we have to go pick up the baby so we better get going" routine. Gavin and I pulled it off pretty well and got Dave to his party without him being any wiser to the situation. It was a lot of fun - as much as any 30-year-old can handle!! :)

Happy 30th Dave!!

Congratulations to James and Lauren Bolles. They unexpectedly had their baby today. The baby was not due until late January - surprise!! Katelyn Elaina Bolles was born this afternoon weighing in at a hefty 5 pounds, 8.2 ounces and 18.5 inches long. What a peanut!! We cannot wait to see pictures of their petite little princess! Mom and baby are doing well.

Congratulations as well to big brother Carter!

Pictures to be posted as we receive them!! :)

I wish you could've seen Daddy Gavin in this picture. Gavin and Gavin II both had their sunglasses on (which are the same style) and they looked identical. Gavin II is definitely a carbon copy of his daddy!!

Gavin and Gavin II both got much needed haircuts yesterday. Gavin II was starting to look like a homeless boy! They both look so handsome with their new cuts. Gavin II did very well sitting in the big boy haircut chair - it may have helped that daddy was sitting in a chair too!

We were reunited with Scott and Jennifer Christmas night. They spent Christmas with Jack in Thibodaux with Jennifer' s family. Jack was adorable, as always, in his Christmas outfit.

Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Scott and Jack gave Gavin II this great Radio Flyer wagon. It even has drink holders - how cool. Mardi Gras - here we come!!

These are some of my cousins.
Picture # 1 - My cousin Michael Paul. His hair was a topic of conversation Christmas day!
Picture # 2 - My cousin Ray's wife, Christina, and their 4-month-old baby boy, Ray Jr.
Picture # 3 - Me and my cousin Dana. She is the mother of my godson, Josh
Picture # 4 - My cousin Johnny and his wife, Jennifer. Jennifer and I have a lot in common due
to the fact that she is a PICU nurse at Tulane. Johnny works in respiratory
therapy for Eagan Home Health.

This is my precious godson, Josh. He just turned 12. Is he not going to be a heartbreaker? He is the sweetest 12-year-old you will ever meet - so polite! Gavin II loves him!

In the afternoon, we headed over to my Aunt Joann's in Hammond, LA. It's always so nice to have everyone together. I actually got to go this gathering because I did not have to go in to work until 1am. We have so many cousins and it's nice to catch up with everyone.

This is my cousin Michael and his dog, Peanut. Gavin II goes nuts (no pun intended) over Peanut!! He chases him around and cracks up laughing. He is a cute dog - he weighs about 3 pounds. Peanut got his sweater as a Christmas gift from Mike's mom, my Aunt Faye.

Christmas morning was great as usual. We got so much stuff!! Gavin II got this big Thomas tent that he went nuts over from Juju and Pappy. The highlight of the gifts that Gavin and I gave was this shirt for my brother, Shaun. If you know Shaun, you know how appropriate this shirt is. It states "I'm really excited to be here". Very, very appropriate!!

It was a wonderful morning! We were all spoiled as usual!

Myself, Gavin and Gavin II visited my 89-year-old Great Aunt Mary on Christmas Eve. She is my grandmother's twin sister who we have adopted as our grandmother since our real grandmother passed away when we were very young. Juju, Pappy, and Shaun joined us as well. We have been visiting her on Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember. We wore out Gavin II again - but notice - he is still clutching his train.

Nana and PaPa came over Christmas Eve to have lunch with us and give out gifts! They were more than generous despite Katrina this year. Gavin got 5 new trains and was beyond excited. We cleared off his train table so that he could actually use the track we have. He got so many presents...gotta love those grandparents!

Our good friends Natalie and Richard stopped by Christmas Eve. We were so happy to see them. I have not seen Natalie since she has been pregnant. Damn Katrina! She looks gorgeous. Natalie is practically a professional soccer player - she has not changed a bit - just has a cute little belly :) She is still coaching soccer at 6 months pregnant - that's Nat!! Natalie is a New Orleans native but she and Richard live in Texas. We have been friends since sophomore year - we have shared lots of crazy party nights together. Richard has been dealing with the aftermath of Wilma in Miami and just returned yesterday. Poor guy! She and Richard are probably two of the funniest and nicest people we know! So glad we got to visit!! Merry Christmas!

One of the many things that I love about the holidays is family!! I have both of my brothers in town at the same time. Scott lives in Mobile and Shaun is still in school in Hattiesburg until May when he graduates. Scott, Jenn and Jack will be whisking back to Mobile - Shaun will be in town for a few weeks for Christmas break.

This is the train table that Gavin made for little Gavin since he had accumulated so many trains and train tracks. It started out with the track being put together and nicely laid out on the table by big Gavin. Now, as you can see, Gavin II has made it his own :) He loves it this way. He puts everything on it - trains, cars, train tracks, legos, blocks - pretty much whatever he wants to play with on it. We are thinking of bolting the tracks to the table!

So, the first picture is an appropriate age for a child to be using a bouncy seat - 6 weeks old. I am not sure that this seat was designed for a 2 1/2 year old to still be using it! Gavin loves this chair and I don't think we could pack it away if we tried. I am not even sure we'll be able to allow our next child to use it because I don't think he'll allow it! He calls it his "drinking chair" because that's where he sits/lays to drink his sippy cup. When he sits in it and lays down, it nearly touches the floor. I just found these two comparison pictures to be really funny.

Ochsner's Christmas gift to us were these Katrina t-shirts. I like them personally. I am not a huge fan of the color but I like the idea. People really pulled together during Katrina and after at the hospital. It was definitely an event that will not be soon forgotten. I have never seen so much stress than I did during Katrina. All nurses who evacuated had to be back at Ochsner the Saturday after the storm - that included me. We had to stay for a week since the nurses we were relieving had stayed a week. It was really hard for everyone to leave their families and come back to the city at that point in time. It was a very emotional time. Anyway, cool gifts except for the color.

The back of the shirt is a picture of what some nurses did to let the helicopters know that Ochsner was open. They laid out the word "open" with red biohazard bags on the roof of the parking garage. Believe it or not, We were not busy until about two-three weeks after the storm.

We had our Ochsner pediatric Christmas party this afternoon. It was great fun - lots of food!! I'll tell you something - nurses know how to cook and eat!! Gavin II came with me and handed out my Christmas presents for me to all the nurses. He was a hit! In the above picture, he is playing pool on the mini pool table. It's great working on pediatrics because when he comes with me, there are always toys available to keep him busy!! He did not want to leave!

Yesterday, Gavin II and I stopped over at my parents' house (Juju & Pappy). Gavin II started telling my mom about all the trains that he wants for Christmas. They made a list of the specific ones he wanted. So, Juju used her cell phone to call Santa and give him Gavin's requests. My mom said that his face was priceless when he thought she was really talking to Santa! My dad also made some realistic "ho ho ho's" from the other room - he really got excited thinking it was Santa - it must be so cool to be 2 at Christmas time :)

I have to say - using the parenting technique of "Santa brings presents to good little boys" really works because if there is one thing that kids will behave for - it's presents. Gavin told me that he wanted presents so he was going to be a "good listener" - those are his words.

Gavin II got a pair of rain boots at Target. We all kept telling him that he could wear them to splash in puddles. Every day, he would see them and say "it's not raining yet" in anticipation of being able to splash around. So, on Saturday, he finally got to use them!! He was so excited that there were puddles! The problem was that it was freezing and he came back inside soaking wet and cold like an ice cube :) He didn't care - he loved every minute of it - gotta love being a kid!