Koester Korp

Sheep, Sheep, Sheep, Sheep looking at me....

2011-07-21T00:19:00.001-05:00

Gavin read us a bed-time story last night and it cracked us up. I raced for the camera! We are cracking up at how he holds the book, and of course the enthusiasm of his reading. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odnJ1RhtV0w

Bedtime

2011-06-28T23:15:00.000-05:00

This video was from earlier this month but thought I would share it because it's so cute! Gavin wanted to hold London for bedtime stories. London loves these miniature picture books and was "reading" it to Gavin. On the page he has it opened to there is a horse on one page and a fire engine on the other. Notice London barking at the book, because that is what a horse says - right?! Like I said, this video was from earlier this month. He now has it figured out that a horse says neiiiigh, but so does a sheep.

Sportsmen

2011-06-27T17:08:00.002-05:00

The boys love throwing balls, swinging a stick and apparently practicing wakeboarding on the couch! We captured them playing together in the living room over the weekend - London playing lacrosse (or just getting dizzy) and Gavin wakeboarding standing on a book on the couch (because the cushions bounce better than doing this fun sport on the floor).

In case you can't make out their words....London starts out saying "cheese" because that is what you do for a camera. And Gavin tells us that he is "wakeboarding to Daddy's boat".

Sold! To lucky number 7!

2011-05-26T14:42:00.002-05:00

Most of you know we have had our house on the market for ~2 years. We put it on the market before we even got pregnant with London knowing that we wanted to start building a house on a lot that we purchased in a golf course community a few years ago. The past 2 years we have been through 3 realtors, millions of showings, open houses and foot-traffic through our house. Which also meant that our house had to be kept clean every day! That part was trying at times especially with two little boys and two full time jobs on the side. Aside from the painful moments, we also have a few funny stories; like the lady that wanted to bring her dog with her through the house as she previewed it. The kid who puked in the hallway during an openhouse. My pain pills from my c-section going missing. Me nursing London in the backseat of my car in the driveway during a few showing when I was on maternity leave. A realtor locking the neighbors cat in our house thinking he belonged IN OUR HOUSE. Oh the memories! ;)

Seriously, we do have very fond memories of our home. It's the only home Gavin and London have known. We will miss our little old house on Beverly. Which brings me to the subject line of this post. After 6 offers fell through, the 7th contract went through and we sold our house, closed last Friday 5/20 and moved into an apartment while we wait for the construction of our new house to be finished. We anticipate that we will be in our apartment through the end of the year and will probably be making a transition into our new house somewhere around the first of the year. Maybe we will ring in 2012 at xxxx Cxxxxx....we will cross our fingers. Our new permanent address is
xxxx xxxxxx xxxxx
Austin, Texas 78730
Please update your address books accordingly. We have a mailbox there and plan to just have our mail go to the new house rather than the apartment.

For those of you in Austin who want to find us, however, we are living at the Gables Westlake by the 360 Bridge and have a great pool. Come by for a dip this summer!

Best place to work - Austin

2011-05-26T11:07:00.001-05:00

Scott's company, Bazaarvoice wins best place to work in Austin....again!
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2011/05/11/bazaarvoice-sailpoint-win-abj-best.html

Good clean fun after a good hard rain

2011-05-16T21:49:00.000-05:00

Well treated Mommy

2011-05-09T12:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a fabulous Mother's Day! My boys spoiled me with pastries at Upper Crust Bakery following church, then a spa day complete with massage, facial and pedicure. Then we enjoyed splashing in the pool in the 100 degree heat in Austin. I couldn't ask for a better family or a better way to spend my day! I love you, Scott, Gavin & London!

Happy House

2011-05-05T00:44:00.001-05:00

We are so thrilled that our plan to build on our lot in Riverplace is finally happening. We still haven't sold our current house, but we are moving ahead with the hopes it will sell at just the time we want to move out. We can only dream.....

So we closed on our new construction on 4/15 and the bulldozer was there to clear the lot right around Easter. We had a family picnic out at our lot that night so we could catch a glimpse of some heavy machinery. Unfortunately they did their work all in one day and took the bulldozer home with them, so we just picniced in the dust.

Today, however there was a BUNCH of dirt delivered to level out what will be the backyard. So Scott and the boys played hookie to go watch the dump trucks and have yet another picnic (breakfast this time) in the dust. THEY ALL LOVED IT!

Here is the mesmerized crew....

I am going to ask a guest blogger (Scott) to write a post with more details and more fun (if you are in to tractors) really soon. Stay tuned!

Playing

2011-03-18T16:57:00.001-05:00

Sharing a video of each boy, just being a boy.

Gavin: Loves playing with his lacrosse sticks and throwing anything, not just balls. In this video he decides that a small beaver toy needs to be chucked across the living room.

London: Is starting to act like a boy and less like a baby. Here he pushes his tractor and makes a tractor sound with his lips. How do boys know how to do this? I had to learn at the age of 30+ to make this sound and apparently it comes naturally to boys at a very young age.

B-day and Baptism pics

2011-03-10T23:24:00.000-06:00

Our February family pictures are posted at the link below. Pictures include London's birthday, the boys baptism and the boys stay with Nana T while we went skiing. Enjoy!

https://picasaweb.google.com/joslen.koester/2011_February_London_BDAY#

London's first steps

2011-03-08T12:09:00.000-06:00

Leading up to London's birthday he was taking about 4 steps at a time, but preferred to crawl. The girls at day care would tell me he was taking more steps than that, but he had yet to prove it to his family. Last Tuesday following his one-year birthday he really started walking! I caught it on video as he was headed to the backyard (where all of the toys are). He was pretty determined to get there! Since then we have counted up to 35 steps at one time!! Go London!!

Skiing

2011-03-05T13:53:00.000-06:00

Scott and I have been lucky enough to ski twice this year. I haven't been skiing since February 2008 before I was pregnant with Gavin, so it was a treat when Scott surprised me with a trip to Vail in February for a Valentine's treat. We only came away with one picture since we forgot the camera and we broke Scott's iphone camera on the slopes. This one Apres Ski picture is our only proof of Vail. (Thanks to Leelee and Poppy for staying with the boys!)

Vail:

This weekend we spent in Tahoe with Bazaarvoice (Scott's company). They had a retreat for the sales team and their spouses and Scott was lucky enough to be invited since he support the sales teams (doing product strategy and development for them). We had a great time! Thanks Bazaarvoice! Thanks Nana T for watching the boys this time.

We are so anxious to get home and see our sweet little boys!!

South Lake Tahoe:

Our sweet 1 year old!

2011-03-03T15:06:00.000-06:00

We can't believe London turned 1 on Saturday! Leading up to his birthday he still seemed like a baby. But Scott and I agree, on his birthday and the days following he seems like he grew up! I guess that is what birthday will do to you. His personality has always been so delightful and fun, but it seems like a little spark was lit and he has been on fire! He started walking on Tuesday (up until then he was taking 4 or so steps but not taking off like he is now). I will post a video soon. But first things first. Here are a few of his bday pictures and his gift from Mommy & Daddy, a backyard splash table.

Happy (almost) Birthday, Sweet Baby London!!!!

2011-02-25T14:52:00.000-06:00

London's b-day is tomorrow!!! I can't believe he is going to be one! But I really can't believe that it's been a year of not being pregnant! HA!

London received an early birthday present this morning. A new table to share with Gavin for all of their fine dining experiences.

He also wore a birthday outfit to school today and took treats to his teachers.

We love you London!

This weekend the boys will be Baptised

2011-02-22T21:52:00.003-06:00

For those of you coming to Austin this weekend we hope you will join us on Sunday morning to witness our boys baptism. We will have brunch following church at 11:00-ish.

We are so happy you are all of part of Gavin and London's life!

Please join Joslen & Scott Koester
to witness the baptism of our sons
Gavin Brody
&
London Adler
Sunday, February 27, 2011
9:30am
Tarrytown United Methodist Church
Austin, Texas

Children are a heritage from the Lord
Psalms 127:3

London's First Haircut

2011-02-08T10:30:00.000-06:00

London had has first haircut on Saturday. Even though he doesn't have much hair, the little that he has needed to be trimmed. The stylist even commented that we were there to get rid of the Donald Trump comb-over look! Ha!

Before:

Haircut in action:

Snow!!

2011-02-04T16:03:00.001-06:00

Yeah, I know, it's been AWHILE! I can't believe I have abandoned our blog since early November. Well, I'm back, and I can't promise it's the last time to slip off the wagon....but it is a new years resolution to keep this little blog up-to-date and since it's February it's probably time to have those new years resolutions start kicking in!

We are experiencing winter in Austin! What fun! It snowed this morning and the boys went out to play in it. They both looked so cute all bundled up in layers, coats and mittens.

So the snow is the fun part! The not-so-fun part of the 20 degree temps is the frozen pipe under the kitchen sink! Thank God for husbands and hairdryers! Scott made his way into the crawl space and thawed out the pipe before it could burst. So all is good and warm in our household!

xo
joslen

Our Birthday Boy!

2010-11-07T10:28:00.000-06:00

Gavin is 2! We are having trouble uploading pics to our blog, but you can view them here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/joslen.koester/2010_11_November#

Car/Bus

2010-10-26T11:02:00.003-05:00

We got a new car!! Or car/bus as Gavin refers to it. Gavin loves riding in it. London, maybe not so much since I locked him in it yesterday at day care! The fire department came to save the day but couldn't get in to the car. It took Pop-a-lock only about 5 seconds to open the door once they got there. So much to learn with a new car. Lesson #1 was the locks automatically lock. Don't leave your baby and keys in the car!

Congrats Morgan & Clint!

2010-09-05T15:38:00.003-05:00

We are excited to have Morgan in our family and thankful that we were able to help this sweet couple celebrate in Winter Park. Have fun in Cabo!

July pics

2010-08-13T15:28:00.002-05:00

Our July pictures & videos are posted! http://picasaweb.google.com/joslen.koester/2010_July#

Preview:
* 4th of July
* Bo & Terri's wedding
* Gavin Videos - crawling in crib, eating corn on the cob, counting to 3
* London's 1st cereal
* London Videos - singing, dancing
* Waco zoo
* London 5-months

London's sitting and standing (doing one better than the other)

2010-08-13T13:40:00.004-05:00

London is growing up so fast! I can hardly believe he is approaching the 6-month mark! What that means is I need to schedule his 6-month professional photos. (Working on that BTW.)

He has mastered sitting up and can now be considered a "sitter" vs. a "supported sitter" He is eating baby food 2x per day, and he is now working on standing up. Here are a few pics of our sweet baby.

Such a cutie!!

Standing up in between the couch and the ottoman...bouncing like a pinball.

Toddler Bed

2010-08-13T13:08:00.005-05:00

...as you know London took over the crib a few weeks ago...after he out grew the bassinet and after Gavin figured out how to climb in/out of the crib and was forced to graduate from it. So Gavin has been in a pack-n-play for a few weeks until his toddler bed arrived. We set up his Big Boy Bed last Sunday and he loves it! He runs in the house when we get home at the end of the day and heads straight for his bed. He loves London to play in his bed with him too.

The first night he fell out of the bed and hit the hard wood floors. :( So we pulled the soft lambs wool rug up to the edge of his bed so he would have a softer landing. The next morning we found him sleeping soundly on the rug at 5:00am! But at 7:00am when we checked in on him he was sleeping back in the bed. Since then we haven't found him on the floor, but that doesn't mean he hasn't had a few more falls.

Here are a few pictures of his new bed.

First nap in his Big Boy Bed - last Sunday 8/8 (me sneaking a picture of him...I found him reading in bed instead of napping!)

First night in his new bed (only fell out twice)

Getting sideways

Happy Birthday, Grandma Ardie!

2010-08-13T12:21:00.003-05:00

WE LOVE YOU and hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Congrats Lansen & Heidi!

2010-08-08T23:24:00.001-05:00

My cousin Lansen got married this weekend to Heidi - I love her!! Congrats you two!!

Rihanna!

2010-08-05T16:17:00.000-05:00

One of my best friends from college (Nicole Beck)...well her husband Stuart met Rihanna! He just got back from LA where he watched Rihanna shoot a music video for Doritos! That's his job! Stuart you rock!!
The Beck Bunch: Rihanna!:

Zoo Crew

2010-07-28T23:41:00.004-05:00

Gavin, London and I went to Waco this weekend to meet up with Nicole and Brayden Beck (one of my best friends from college/Theta and her 1 year old son) from Dallas. Waco is between Austin and Dallas and just a one and a half hour drive for both of us. We met up about noon at the Waco Zoo, spent the afternoon there picnic-ing, meandering, and having fun! Then we checked in to a hotel, swam, had dinner, slumber-partied and came home Sunday. It was a great weekend! We had a ton of fun...evidenced by Nicole and I staying up until 3am just chatting after the boys all went to bed! We had fun and only created a bit of chaos.

The swimming pool at the Holiday Inn was indoor. Although I had brought a life jacket for Gavin to be safe in the water (since I had to keep my eye on two)...it helped out most to break his fall on the slick, wet tile surround. Not only was it crazy keeping an eye on two little boys, but keeping Gavin upright on his feet on the pool deck was challenging. (PS, Later on I provided some "feedback" to the hotel manager about the safety of his pool.)

Ok, so swimming was a little crazy...but how crazy could dinner at a hotel restaurant be...especially when you are practically the only party dining? Not so crazy until your kid plays by the window and takes down the full curtain rod, drapes and all! oops! There were only a few parties dining who weren't too disturbed.

Our chaos proved to be birth control for Nicole! She said she would wait awhile for #2! :)

But seriously, we had a great time seeing Nicole and Brayden...who by the way is one of the cutest kids ever and such a great demeanor.

Here are a few pics of our weekend:

London enjoying every moment of the 4-hour zoo tour

Brayden sitting on HOT monkey! We didn't realize it was hot though...oops!

The Zoo Crew

Biggest Popsicle EVER - for only $1

Me and my monkeys

London is 5-months (July 26th)

2010-07-26T22:29:00.006-05:00

Today is London's 5-month birthday! Here are his stats:

* laughs daily!
* rolling over from front to back
* his BFF is Gavin already! he can't keep his eyes off of him!
* eating cereal (ok, he has only had it twice but will now be part of his daily routine)
* sitting up .... for a few seconds at a time without support
* grabbing everything!
* he is the most patient family member!
* rides up-right in the stroller (without a car seat)
* sleeps through the night in his crib on his tummy
* weighs 15+ pounds
* sweetest baby on the block (and there are a lot of babies on our block)!
* crawls (but only in his sleep from one end of the crib to the other - and it takes all night)
* brings so much joy to his parents. WE LOVE YOU, LONDON ADLER!!

Day Care Family Photos

2010-07-23T12:47:00.003-05:00

At day care the boys have family photos that hang in their cribs. Well Gavin isn't in a crib, but it hangs next to his sleeping pad on the floor. We just updted them with more recent pictures of their families. Sharing.....

Promotion to ESP

2010-07-23T12:33:00.003-05:00

Gavin was promoted this week to the Early Preschool classroom. His third classroom at Children's Courtyard. This is a class of kids ranging in age from 20 months to 2 years old. In this class he meets up with some of his friends who are a bit older than he is who have already moved up. I am glad he will have some friendly faces in this class since he will be adjusting to a new teacher.

He started in the Infant classroom with Ms. Ashlie (who now cares for London) from 3-months of age through 13-months of age. Then moved to the Toddler classroom from 13-20 months of age with Ms. Shawn and Ms. Dezi. All of these teachers have been fabulous and I was really sad to have him move out of Ms. Shawn and Ms. Dezi's room. They love him so much and think he is so funny! They were both really sad that he moved up as well. Here are the notes they wrote to me on his last day in their room last Friday.

Ms. Shawn - I'm really going to miss Gavin! He is so much fun. I'm glad that we got to have him in my room! Can't wait to get London!

Ms. Dezi - I have loved Gavin being in Toddler 2. He will be truly missed!

Graduation

2010-07-15T15:37:00.002-05:00

We graduated London to Gavin's crib on Monday night and Gavin to the pack-n-play. (Note to parents: It's time to find a toddler bed!)

Two reasons....London is growing out the his bassinet and Gavin learned to craw into his crib (and therefore probably can get out and we don't want to risk him falling out).

Here's the proof...

Congratulations!

2010-07-13T13:29:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Bo and Terri who got married on Saturday July 10th. We were so happy to get to help them celebrate!

From the voice of London

2010-07-02T14:13:00.002-05:00

June photos...

2010-07-02T14:12:00.000-05:00

...are now posted
http://picasaweb.google.com/joslen.koester/2010_June#

Austin Zoo

2010-07-02T13:13:00.001-05:00

We took a trip to the Austin Zoo with our friends the Stansberry's in mid May and just now got the photos from Maria's camera uploaded to our Picasa page. There are a few pretty pictures here. Maria has an amazing camera!
http://picasaweb.google.com/joslen.koester/2010_May_Zoo#

Another BOY!

2010-06-18T12:22:00.004-05:00

Dirk and Kristen had a beautiful baby boy this morning around 8:30am. His name is Townsend Hague (pronounced hay-g). He is 7 lbs. 11 oz. Almost a full pound larger than Sawyer (his brother) was. All are doing well and Kristen is looking and feeling great!

Popsicles for dinner

2010-06-18T11:51:00.003-05:00

I had the freezer door open last night getting out dinner ingredients when Gavin grabs the Popsicle box and starts saying "mine". I rationalized with him for a few minutes and promised he could have a Popsicle after dinner, but he continued to cry, reach for the freezer and refuse to eat what was on his tray....the end result...Mommy caved in and Gavin ate chicken/carrots/potatoes/Popsicle for dinner!

At least he ate his carrots!

Tandem or Quad-andem?

2010-06-08T14:29:00.005-05:00

Scott bought me a tandem beach-cruiser bicycle for my birthday about 4 years ago...and believe it or not it gets a lot of use. It used to get more use from the two of us, before we had babies. More recently it was Scott riding solo to the grocery store or the Kolache Factory...or toting his guy friends to tailgate parties with the front basket filled with beer! Now it is the preferred mode of transportation by a 1 year-old you all might know.......oh, and the front basket is still filled with beer! :) Do you see Scott and Dirk's cooler in the basket!? HA

Do you see that little gray seat just in front of Scott? Well that is called a wee ride. That is normally where Gavin rides. However this weekend Sawyer and Dirk came over and the four boys rode to the swimming pool, so the little guys are in the trailer which is hitched to the back of the tandem. I think this crew needs a bumper sticker warning of WIDE RIGHT TURNS! Can you see the little guys in the trailer with their helmets on? Here is a close up of those two cuties!!

Busy Bodies

2010-06-07T14:46:00.002-05:00

Hi! We have been busy giving our blog a face-lift and posting our April & May pictures & videos on Picasa. Check out our April and May albums by clicking on Koester Family Photos on the right. After you click on that link you can visit each album by clicking on the name of the album then playing the slide show. Enjoy the photos and videos including London's visits with his uncle Kiffin, aunt Megan, both sets of Great Grandparents on Joslen's side, Mother's day, golf fun, Sea World, boating and the beginning of summer in Austin. Thanks for playing!

Generations

2010-06-04T10:34:00.003-05:00

In early May we took a family trip to WY/CO to see London's Great Grandparents. These are two very special pictures! Four generations on each side of the family!

Nana Teri & Great Grandparents Kelly & Ardie Bowen

Papa Howard & Great Grandparents Robert & Helen Wigert

L, L, L & L

2010-06-03T12:58:00.004-05:00

London is adjusting to daycare day-by day. Some days he comes home exhausted and naps from the time we get in the car throughout the night barley awakening only to eat. Other days he naps really well at day care and is bright-eyed in the evenings at home. They day care teacher, Ashlie, says he loves to be in the exersaucer (which is a toy in which he can stand. There is a picture below of him in the one at home.)

In London's class there are four kids with names starting with L. In addition to London there is a Logan, Lila, and a Leo. His bottles and belongings are labeled with his full name, not just his initials so hopefully nothing gets mixed up!

cutie pie!

2010-06-02T15:58:00.002-05:00

Baby London....he is SO sweet!!

May 26

2010-05-27T14:57:00.003-05:00

London is 3 months old! May 26th - yesterday was his bday!

Hiccups

2010-05-26T21:40:00.002-05:00

London had the hiccups and Kiffin decided that the best way to get rid of them was to scare the hiccups out of him. London thought it was pretty funny!

Spring time Friday fun

2010-04-23T22:29:00.003-05:00

Today was a GORGEOUS day in Austin! It was 90 degrees and we had a fun, fun filled day! It started out with a 3 mile brisk morning walk around the Town Lake trail with Leslie, Savannah and Brayden Sheiner. After our walk, Savannah and Gavin played in the water fountain to cool off and played chase while the Mommy's caught our breath.

The afternoon sunshine brought out sidewalk chalk and bug spray. Gavin has been getting eaten alive by the bugs when we play outside so we stocked up on bug spray and didn't let the bugs stop our creativity on the sidewalk with our new toy. Gavin and I drew on the sidewalk while London slept in his swing in the doorway and supervised from the shade.

The fun continued into the evening with pizza and ice cream cones at the Parker's. We played in the backyard with ALL of Hunter's toys and came home with Gavin's clothes in a bag which were soaking wet and muddy. Ahhh, boys will be boys. London and Hudson were happy, snuggly little babies. I can't imagine what this crew will be doing a year from now. These boys are all bound to be good friends.

Good times in Austin! Thanks for the fun day, Sheiner's and Parker's!!

Easter

2010-04-07T00:39:00.004-05:00

We had such a fun Easter since Gavin picked up on the concept of hunting eggs. We went to an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday where we saw the Easter Bunny, rode a mini train pulled by a tractor (two of our favorite things) and hunted eggs. When I say hunt I mean that 1-3 year olds and their parents ran around picking up eggs that were scattered across the grass. I am telling you, it was competitive and the eggs disappeared quick! We only got ONE egg and Gavin proceeded to throw it in the fountain! Oh well!

The Easter Bunny did not go over so well. Fear is the first word that comes to mind. Gavin was having nothing to do with the Easter Bunny and cried super hard and wanted as far away as possible. On the other hand, his cousin Sawyer couldn't get enough. Sawyer went back three times to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap and cried when they took him away.

Sunday we went to a nice church service, had a fabulous brunch that Kristen made, hunted eggs with Sawyer in his yard, and then moved on to our third and final egg hunt at the Bush's where there was quite the crowed and plenty of eggs to go around. It was great to see all of our dear friends and all of the sweet kids.

Thanks to Michelle Bush and Kristen Koester for such a wonderful weekend!

More pictures are posted on our family album (click on the link over there to the right!) :)

London Adler

2010-03-24T15:13:00.006-05:00

We welcomed London Adler on 2/26 and are so thrilled to have him as part of our family. He is such a sweet baby and everyone loves him! No one can get enough of him! Check out our March album on Picasa for his latest round of pictures.

Here is one picture that we just had to share. We took this when he was about 2 weeks old....and he looks almost exactly like Gavin did is his 3 week picture here. Wow! They must have the same set of genes!

London Adler - 2 weeks

Gavin Brody - 3 weeks (2008)

15 month videos

2010-02-16T23:17:00.003-06:00

Our 15 month old monkey....he loves climbing. He has just adopted the newest hobby of getting off the couch over the side arm. He is a little risk taker! Check out the video on our Picasa Web album - it is in the Jan/Feb 2010 album at number 37.

All About Christmas 2009

2010-01-18T20:19:00.003-06:00

We had a fabulous Christmas holiday and are finally getting the pictures up to show it.
We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day in Cheyenne, WY at Nana T's house. Then spent 4 1/2 days in Loveland, CO at Papa Howard's house. We were thankful to have snow since Gavin had never seen it or played in it before, but we did miss out on seeing one set of Joslen's Grandparents due to road closures and bad weather. We had a nice, relaxing, snowy holiday.
Our pictures are now posted on Picasa. Click on the link to the right to view the Koester Family Photo Album.

After the snowy weather we headed to Phoenix to spend new years vacationing with Nana T to celebrate Nana T's "milestone" birthday. We don't have any pics of Phoenix because they are on Nana T's camera...but will get them from her and get those posted as well.

Gavin seemed to change so much during our vacation. A few things we noticed that he learned while we were spending all of our quality time with him......
* He started feeding us! He shared his grilled cheese sandwich with me and enjoyed feeding me. Must say he literally was shoving it in my mouth!
* We are weening him off of his pacifiers and trying to just use them in his crib, so Scott taught him how to throw the paci into the crib when he gets out. He has quite the arm and loves this new game!
* He found his "nose". We are working on mouth and ears but nose is pretty interesting.
* Nana T and Papa H both have steps at their house and Gavin did a great job of "turning around" to go down backwards. Now at home he even turns around to go down our two steps on his tummy backwards. He is very responsive to this new command.
* It is so fun to see him remember who his Grandparents are. When asked "where is Nana T" (or Papa) he points to them! He does this when asked "where is Daddy" too, but some how can't find Mommy. We are working on that one!

Anyway, it was so much fun to have 11 days together as a family and see our extended family too. We enjoyed every moment of our Christmas vacation!

Gavin must have been a good boy this year because Santa was good to him. He got a motorized, green 4-wheeler. There is a video posted on Picasa with the pictures of him discovering it on Christmas morning and learning to make it go with just the push of a button. We had fun with this toy over the holidays!

Building Forts

2009-12-18T10:37:00.004-06:00

Gavin and his Daddy built a fort over the weekend and had so much fun playing chase!

Army crawl!

Having SO much fun!

Happy Birthday, Nana T!

2009-12-18T09:26:00.002-06:00

Nana T's birthday was yesterday so we ate a chocolate cupcake in her honor last night. Hope she is having fun in Denver for girls weekend!!

Mommy's Elf

2009-12-16T00:06:00.002-06:00

Gavin helped me string Christmas lights....maybe this is why there is only one string of lights in the house this year.

Elf Yourself

2009-12-03T00:03:00.001-06:00

This is a fun site! Too funny..check out what I made with Kiffin's photo..HA!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/CcNjyhvEC0rmETnk

Scratches & Scrapes

2009-11-19T10:04:00.004-06:00

Gavin took a tumble down the front step yesterday morning on our way out the door. I felt so bad! He tried to step off the small porch step without hanging on to the railing because he was excited about seeing the neighborhood kitty that always comes over to visit. His hands might have somewhat broken the fall, but he has a scrape on his forehead and his entire nose looks like the top layer of skin was scraped off. :(

Just in time for his 1st birthday pictures on Saturday!

Right now the camera is lost so I don't have any pics to share. Maybe that is a good thing.

B-Unit

2009-11-11T11:35:00.002-06:00

We have been waiting anxiously to find out this baby’s gender. We weren't able to tell at the 18 week full ultrasounds, so we convinced Dr. Barbour to do an ultrasound to see if we could determine the gender today. However, just like the ultrasound tech and the radiologist who looked last time, Dr. Barbour had a hard time making a determination of boy or girl.

The baby is breech with its bottom way down in my pelvic area, which makes it hard to see many angles of the baby’s pelvic area. Really the only angle he could see was as if you were looking directly down on the baby if it was laying on its back. Because we couldn’t get a profile angle it makes it hard to see a penis if there is one.

It could be a boy or it could be a girl. Surprise! In the meantime we figured this baby needs a name. Since Gavin's nick name is G-Unit (Gavin Unit) we decided this baby should be B-Unit (Baby Unit).

Gavin's 1st Birthday

2009-11-09T23:39:00.004-06:00

We had such a fun weekend with our ONE YEAR OLD! We can't believe he is one. We brought him home a year ago yesterday on 11/9.
There are a ton of pictures on our Picasa album. Click on the link to the right to access the Koester Family Photos.

ONE!

2009-11-06T17:19:00.003-06:00

Today Little Man is ONE! Can you believe it?!? He was born a year ago at 10:49pm. He is such a special edition to our family. He brings so much joy and so much laughter to our lives. We can't imagine life without him!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T16:25:00.003-06:00

Pictures are posted in our family album. Click on the link to the right that says "family photos"!

Our sweet giraffe loved his costume and the Halloween festivities!

Fall Festivities

2009-10-26T12:03:00.006-05:00

Over the weekend Gavin got his first haircut, we went to the pumpkin patch with friends, and Scott and I had a date night. Here are a few pics from our fabulous weekend!

Date Night!

Pumpkins with Sawyer

My first haircut! The lady did a great job, but I must say needs some hair help herself! :)

11 months old today!

2009-10-06T14:00:00.003-05:00

Today Gavin is 11 months old! I can not believe it was only (almost) a year ago he was born! Here are a few pictures taken today. Look at all of those teeth! The dishwasher picture...Scott was supposed to be supervising, but apparently Gavin was calling the shots! He crawled up ON the dishwasher lid.

On the Market

2009-09-27T10:08:00.005-05:00

Our house is on the market! We are hoping to sell it this fall so we can build a new home on a lot (pictured) we bought about a year ago in RiverPlace. It is a fully developed golf-course community and our lot backs up to a preserve with a stream that runs through. We are excited about the prospect of building a new home, but aren't getting too anxious yet until we have luck selling our house on Beverly. Feel free to pass along the listing.

http://www.teamhorizon.net/listings/listings.aspx?FileName=defaultlistings.x&ListID=341064

More Pics!

2009-09-27T10:06:00.001-05:00

Our August/September pictures are now posted to Picasa. Either click the link on the right that says Koester Family Photos, or visit
http://picasaweb.google.com/joslen.koester.

Enjoy!

Husker fans

2009-09-26T04:48:00.005-05:00

Thanks to Brayden Beck for my new Nebraska jersey! I got to wear it and watch football with my Papa, Megan & Kiffin last weekend. After the game we played on the golf course and in the sand trap. It was great fun and I convinced my parents to buy me a sand box!

Labor Day

2009-09-26T03:41:00.002-05:00

It's still September, so this post isn't too out of date. Over Labor Day Ashley and Courtney came to visit so we spent the weekend with the Koester siblings. So much fun! Sawyer and Gavin enjoyed playing together with Sawyer's new trike. Gavin wanted to push it but it needed some weight on the front, so Sawyer filled the role. The first video is Gavin pushing Sawyer around the driveway...with much supervision! The second video is Gavin (with no shirt) pushing Sawyer (with no pants). Who dresses these children?

One more makes 4

2009-09-26T03:37:00.003-05:00

We are having another baby in early March!! And we are going to find out the gender....soon! Here's a picture of Gavin's sibling...

Heres to catching up our blog readers

2009-09-26T03:34:00.002-05:00

I realized I haven't made a post since the beginning of August. oops!
So, here goes with news, photos, videos. We have it all...just a little late.
Stay tuned readers it's 3:30 am on a Saturday and I can't sleep!

Toddling

2009-07-30T21:17:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Gavin successfully took a few steps! We caught a few moments of his latest trick on video tonight.

Yes, this child does have clothes, but he just finished eating and we had to strip him and wipe him down....hence the diaper only attire before pj's. :)

coffee....uggg!!

2009-06-11T01:44:00.002-05:00

note to self....stop drinking coffee at 5:00pm! but in self defense, i don't drink coffee that often, so when I do I am a bit disfunctional at placing my order. there are just so many stats...that the most important was left off the order.....DECAF!!!!

geez.

Happy Anniversary!

2009-05-29T01:21:00.002-05:00

4 years ago.........

Creep or Crawl?

2009-05-28T22:44:00.003-05:00

Lately...Gavin has been creeping along by grabbing on to the carpet and pulling himself forward. He has also been getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth. Even doing 180's on his tummy. All signs of wanting to move.

This weekend he started moving forward on his knees. He favors pulling his left knee forward and kind of drags the right. So maybe we will call this "creeping". But he is definitely moving!

May Photos...

2009-05-14T00:09:00.002-05:00

...are posted. Click on Family Photo link over there to the right and check um out. Gavin's first (and second) swim, Mother's Day, 6 month birthday, etc.

April pics were just posted tonight too, so flip through that album as well for more never-seen-before pics!

Mother's Day Oh Nine

2009-05-13T23:20:00.003-05:00

April Pics Posted

2009-05-13T23:18:00.004-05:00

Our April Album is posted. Click over there in the right nav. bar on Koester Family Album and see the pics of Gavin's 5 mo. birthday, Easter, Nana T video, etc.

Mid-May pics to be uploaded soon too!

I (heart) my Nana T!

2009-04-27T00:12:00.002-05:00

Thanks for coming to visit me Nana T! I love when you babysit me.
Love, Gavin

5 Month Milestones

2009-04-07T11:27:00.006-05:00

Gavin is five months old! We can't believe it. He started rolling over on Sunday. He did it once in the morning, then in the evening before he went to bed he did it 6 or 7 more times -- we lost count! Apparently he has places to be and needs a way to get there! :) Video attached.

We also started giving him baby rice cereal last night to celebrate his 5-month birthday. He was starting to wake up in the middle of the night and early morning because he was hungry. So, the cereal will fill his belly a bit more before he goes to bed. I'm not quite ready for him to move to solid food yet, but he wants to ramp up to pizza eventually. And I hear that you should stop breast feeding before they go to college, so onward to cereal......next up purees.

March Photos

2009-04-03T16:01:00.002-05:00

Our March photos are posted on our web album. Click the link to the right that says Koester Family Photos to see them.

Happy Birthday, Scott!

2009-03-28T23:03:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to the BEST Husband and Daddy ever! WE LOVE YOU!!
joslen & gavin

Cowboy Koester

2009-03-25T13:26:00.002-05:00

A dear high school friend, Rachael Taylor, came to visit this weekend for her spring break and to meet Gavin. We were so thrilled we made it on her last-spring-break-ever agenda. Rachael is graduating from law school from the University of Wyoming in May. She decked Gavin out with a WY Cowboys onsie - Go Pokes, and he wanted to wear his cowboy boots with it to be just like is uncle, Kiffin!

Baby Laughs are the best

2009-03-10T12:23:00.005-05:00

Gavin laughing is one of the sweetest sounds!

March 6 - I'm 4 months old!

2009-03-10T12:14:00.004-05:00

March 6th marked Gavin's 4-month birthday. Here are a few pics of that day. He is learning to sit-up and we were able to capture the moment before he tumbled! Check out the link to the right to view more Koester family photos!

Lent

2009-02-25T13:00:00.003-06:00

Lent, or is it Lint? :) I was thinking about giving up cheese for Lent. I'm thinking that will be ridiculously hard, especially given the amount of pizza we eat. Quick, I need some suggestions for what to sacrifice during Lent. Giving up cheese means giving up pizza...I wasn't planning on giving up pizza!

Another question, when you give something up, do the rules state that you can indulge on that something on Friday's or Sunday's during Lent, or do you have to give it up the whole time? Where is the rule book on this subject?!

Manic Monday

2009-02-23T21:27:00.002-06:00

We are hoping to hit the reset button on the week tomorrow...wheeew...today was a Manic Monday! Started off with projectile spit-up all over the bed and floor. After spot cleaning the sea-grass rug (not easy to clean) and new bed spread we were off to change a diaper...when the little man decided to pee on the wall and all down the back side of the dresser. With so much activity before 8:00am we thought the day might be back on track. Not so lucky, Gavin, proceeded to get bit by a "friend" at day care! With that kind of friend, who needs enemies?! The good news is that he is fine! Just a little red mark. It couldn't have hurt much at all, probably just startled him. So, the accomplishment of the day = first "incident report" from day care. Rack one up in the "first" column.

Happy (early) FAT TUESDAY!!

Broken-mobile :(

2009-02-17T10:19:00.002-06:00

The Audi is trusty soldier...she survived a break-in this weekend. She was parked in front of our house and someone made their way inside the car and tried to forcefully remove the stereo! The Audi came out with the victory, but was a little damaged. Who tries to steal car stereos these days? As Kiffin said, that is so 80's! Anyway....she is lookin a bit tattered, but has new tires to help spruce her up! Grandpa Kelly would be proud. I think a mini-van could be in my near future..........

Another Man's Shoes

2009-02-16T23:48:00.002-06:00

Kiffin, thanks for getting my Daddy these cool shoes. Can't wait until I grow into them! -GUnit

Mommm! Stop embarrassing me!

2009-02-11T14:41:00.002-06:00

Lunch Ladies

2009-01-30T13:42:00.001-06:00

Thanks, Schematic Ladies, for taking me to lunch! Serena, congrats on your engagement and thanks for the the good laugh about Joaquin getting on BOTH knees to propose!

Peanut Butter is to Jelly as Waterproof Mascara is to Day Care

2009-01-30T10:32:00.003-06:00

....gigs up! Today is my first day back at work and Gavin's first full day at day care. I attempted to ween he and I both on to the routine early this week so that today wouldn't be so hard. In hind sight, that was like peeling the band-aid off slowly vs. the quick rip!

Monday I dropped Gavin off for an hour...I was in pretty good spirits but needed to call Scott and my Mom for support....just a few tears. Wednesday I dropped him off for about three hours....bawled my eyes out before I could even get out the door...the teacher had to give me a hug, and my hair-cut lady gave me a glass a wine while she did my hair to relax me! Thursday I dropped him off for two hours while I went to an eye appointment. He and I did just fine...no tears on my end that is. So, I thought today would be easy, especially since Scott was doing the drop. Well, Gavin was such a sweetie this morning. He was so cuddly when he woke up, so happy all morning...smiling and laughing all the way out the door with his Daddy. Mommy cried before the boys got out the door...then my Dad called me and I could hardly speak to him. Thanks for the call, Dad! I really appreciate you checking on me this morning and crying with me! :) I was able to get a little of eye make-up on. Why? So I could cry it off in the car and when I got to work. Kelly (my Director), thanks for the big hug this morning!

Decaf Only!

2009-01-25T20:43:00.002-06:00

So.....I don't drink much coffee or anything caffeinated for that matter, and it really should stay that way. For some reason Gavin just won't fall asleep tonight....he is wide-eyed, active, just wants to say up....really out of character for him at this hour. Well I did drink a bit of coffee this morning that Scott made because it just smelled so good! Do you think there may be a connection? :)
No more caffeine for me.

Rookie

2009-01-24T21:27:00.004-06:00

We are blog rookies and not sure what to even write about........can we just post pictures???

Happy New Year!

2009-01-12T23:10:00.002-06:00

So we are a bit late with the new years greeting, and we hope 2009 has been a good one, thus far, for our family and friends. One of our new years resolutions is to keep our blog current and keep in touch with our family and friends.

Cheers!

On the 1st day of Christmas...

2008-12-15T15:41:00.002-06:00

My parents took me to my first Christmas party. I only spit up on three or four people...is that a party foul?

Morning Movies

2008-12-14T01:09:00.002-06:00

"They" say your life will change with a new born, but never did we think we would be watching our Friday night movie on Saturday morning at 5am! The family fell asleep Friday night during our movie somewhere around 9pm, and when you are all up at 5am Saturday morning, what a better way to spend the morning than with cereal and a leftover movie!

Up and Running

2008-12-08T20:55:00.006-06:00

Hi All! We started a website to share with you the happenings of the Koester Family. We hope you will visit our site often for updates on Gavin, life in Austin, and see pictures!
Thanks for being a part of our life!