Family fun

This weekend we got a chance to relax from travels and to-dos and just enjoy hanging out with family. My parents came down from Michigan for the weekend, and Joe and Rachel made the trip out to the burbs (our house in Fishers) a couple of times to join in the festivities. Of course, Gavin was the center of attention and seemed to thrive with the extra people around to entertain him.

Because Aunt Rachel was coming over we had to squeeze in time for a photo shoot. Gavin didn't really get a good nap in, so we were a bit worried, but he turned into quite the charmer - especially when his clothes came off. I may be a bit biased, but these are some of the cutest baby photos I've ever seen:

• Gavin Thomas - 5 month photo shoot with Aunt Rachel

We also managed to capture this hilarious video of Gavin laughing non-stop for about 3 minutes. He gets in these funny moods from time to time, and we happened to have the video camera handy. I've been laughing to myself all day as I've thought about this video. See for yourself:

• 3 minutes of Gavin laughing

Those of you who have been following our blog posts know that Gavin hasn't had the best track record for sleeping. I've actually been convinced that he really hated it with a passion. But God seemed to know that we were wearing down and that it really was better for Gavin to be getting more rest, so he gave us a revelation - forget the crib; let him sleep in his car seat. It's like magic. Lorrie tried it while I was out of town last week and he set a new record the first night - 7 1/2 hours straight (well maybe he woke up once or twice and needed his pacifier re-inserted). Unbelievable! It worked so well that we're going to stick with it for a while. Basically every night he's now sleeping 6-8 hours. Everyone seems much happier - especially he and Lorrie. We're very thankful for these small miracles.