tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-801404229135212892024-03-19T06:14:44.027-06:00.:|My Lil' Monster|:.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger124125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-88310183975466456872012-06-06T10:49:00.001-06:002012-06-06T10:51:07.026-06:00Blog Move<span style="font-size: large;">As you can see, it has been a while since I posted here. I was on a mission to get caught up, but it just wasn't happening. There are still lots of things that I wanted to post in my attempt to catch up, but I'm nearly a year behind...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I've been posting on my main blog, <a href="http://mrsrogersneighborhood.com/" target="_blank"><b><i>Mrs. Rogers' Neighborhood</i></b></a>, and I've decided to consolidate. I wanted to keep things separate at one point in time, but it has become too much work! It's taking time away from my family, and they are most important to me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This blog will remain here, but I won't be posting to it anymore. Thank you so much for being interested enough to read/follow this blog about my little monster! The posts will continue over at Mrs. Rogers' Neighborhood, so please head over there and feel free to follow there now!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<a href="http://mrsrogersneighborhood.com/"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>http://mrsrogersneighborhood.com</i></b></span></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-45063764638349098142011-12-09T16:15:00.001-07:002011-12-09T16:51:23.771-07:00Hockotch!Goodness...<br />
<br />
I have so much catching up to do, it HURTS!! I'm waaayyyy behind. It's really kind of sad, because Gabriel is growing and changing at such an alarming rate--I'm afraid I'll miss or forget things and that would be so sad!!<br />
<br />
The bigger and older my sweet little boy gets, the more fun and crazy life becomes.<br />
<br />
I am loving being his mommy, though, and I wouldn't trade it for anything ever.<br />
<br />
He is just so fun and sweet and full of light and life. Watching him learn and grow and develop has been absolutely astounding. He is just so smart! He picks up on things so quickly--seriously, this kid is sharp as a tack--he doesn't miss a THING!<br />
<br />
Right now, Gabe is in this parrot phase where he will repeat just about anything he hears. This is super awesome and incredibly bad--we really have to watch what we say. You never realize how horrible some of the things you say sound until you hear it come out of a two year old's mouth. Words like "shut up" and "crap" become 'swears' because you don't want to hear that coming out of your sweet little baby's mouth!!<br />
<br />
It can be pretty entertaining though. Calling for my husband from downstairs and then hearing a little toddler echo of "Muh-KAY!!" is HI-larious for reasons I just can't articulate. Even more so, the battle that happened the other day:<br />
<br />
Me: "McKay, get up--we have tons of stuff to get done." [he was dozing off on the couch]<br />
McKay: "Nooo....I'm so tired. Let me sleep for like ten minutes."<br />
Me: "How is it that you're tired? You haven't done anything all day. Get up."<br />
*Gabriel climbs on the couch and sits on Daddy*<br />
Gabe: "Daddy! Git UP!"<br />
McKay: [grumble]<br />
Me: "You heard the child. Get up."<br />
Gabe: "Yeah!"<br />
McKay: "Nooo...I'm tired...from homework...and stuff."<br />
Me: "No excuses. Get up!"<br />
Gabe: "Daddy!! No essusses!!"<br />
[Laughter erupts. He is awake now. Mission accomplished.]<br />
<br />
Gabriel will hear things and remember them hours and days and weeks later, after everyone else has forgotten. He has a favorite video that has a couple of Curious George episodes on it. One of the episodes shows George and some friends playing hopscotch. Gabriel has seen this episode dozens of times and has never exhibited any interest in hopscotch or even an inkling that he understands what the game is or how it's played.<br />
<br />
Last night....<br />
<br />
[Gabriel is playing pretend and we have no idea what he's doing, which is not uncommon.]<br />
Gabe: "Daddy! [which actually sounds more like 'da-yee' a lot of the time] Move! Ow-wo way! ...peesh ['please']..."<br />
McKay: "Oh. I'm sorry. What are you doing?"<br />
Gabe: "Hockotch!! One tew fee fo fy sits seden..." [he is now hoping around on the kitchen tiles, counting, but not staying in count with the actual hops. These hops are sporadic and not in any specific pattern or direction. All he knows is that you hop and count. We are totally caught off-guard.]<br />
Gabe: "Daddy! Yo tohn! Go! Hockotch!" [Like a good daddy, McKay plays along, even tossing the pretend stone. This continues back and forth for at least ten minutes. I'm still trying to figure out how on earth he go the idea to play hopscotch in his head....then it hits me....George...but he hasn't seen that in at least a few weeks. This kid's got the memory of an elephant.]<br />
<br />
I. About. Died. It was SO cute! Not to mention, hilarious!! I only wish I had captured video of it--oh, that would have been PRICELESS to have gotten McKay and Gabe playing 'hockotch' on the kitchen tiles!! And the way Gabe jumps is just too adorable for words. He really gets into the motion. You just have to see it.<br />
<br />
<br />
So, as you can see, I have a lot to share and catch up on!! Every time I think I've got a handle on things, something explodes and I have to drop the blog for a bit to keep our lives running.... I'll get it together soon - I promise! I keep thinking "Well, when this happens it'll make things a lot easier." or "That life event will give me a lot more free time." Nope. Doesn't work that way. And, sure, I do have free time here and there and, yeah, I totally fill it with useless crap sometimes. But...but....[insert excuse here]<br />
<br />
As Gabe [now often, and with just as much gusto as the original speech] would say:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>NO ESSUSSES!!</u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Gotcha, kiddo.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-64478546153132131272011-09-19T05:28:00.000-06:002011-09-19T05:28:07.210-06:00Road Block<br />
I have a few posts in the works, I promise. There's some new stuff and plenty of older stuff (May-August stuff) to get posted. I've hit a roadblock for the time being, though.<br />
<br />
My MacBook (Pro--holla!) has the dreaded "black screen". I did some homework while I was troubleshooting at home and found that there's a known issue with the NVIDIA graphics processor in some builds. If that's the case with mine (and I'm hoping it is!), the repair(s) will be free of charge. Cross your fingers for me.<br />
<br />
Until then, I only have our PC to work on and I hate it. I avoid PCs at all costs these days. Ours is pretty new - an HP Quad Core Desktop (6GB of RAM and a 1TB HD) running Windows 7 that we bought in February. We haven't had any problems with it so far, but....it's a Windows-based machine which, I guess, is a problem in and of itself.<br />
<br />
*sigh*<br />
<br />
I guess I'll just have to deal for now. The Simply Mac store by my house is really fast with repairs, so I shouldn't be laid-up for too long!<br />
<br />
[If you follow<a href="http://simplyashleyrose.blogspot.com/"> <u><b>my other blog</b></u></a>, you're going to see this same message there....sorry for the redundancy...]<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-52571803443072897382011-08-28T20:44:00.000-06:002011-08-28T20:44:58.303-06:00Potty Time!<br />
I'm dying to update everyone on recent goings-on, but this OCD.....I want to have things documented, and I want them in order!<br />
<br />
So I've made a deal with myself.<br />
<br />
I am going to post current stuff AND older stuff at the same time, but I'm going to pre-date the older stuff, so it will show up in order on the blog. What does that mean for you? Probably not much, but those who are using a reader or otherwise "following"the blog might be a little confused over the next week or so. I'll try to keep it to a minimum--I promise!<br />
<br />
Now for the big news: Gabriel has started potty training! I know what some of you may be thinking--too soon, right? That's what I thought. He kept showing all of the signs of readiness and I kept thinking "No. There's no way. He's too young. He can't be ready yet....can he?" I guess so. He started showing signs around 16 months or so. There were more and more as the weeks and months went on until it got to the point where I knew he was ready.<br />
<br />
For those who may be wondering, here are some of the major signs of readiness:<br />
<br />
-Stays dry for two or more hours at a time [Check!]<br />
-Has regular bowel movements [Check!]<br />
-Wakes up from naps dry [a lot of the time, yes]<br />
-Stops an activity while peeing or pooping in diaper [Check!]<br />
-Stands a certain way and holds on to diaper while "eliminating" [Check!]<br />
-Wants to imitate parents using the toilet [Check!]<br />
-Is able to understand and follow simple directions [Check!]<br />
<br />
Other (secondary) signs of readiness:<br />
<br />
-Can sit and play quietly for five minutes [Check!]<br />
-Can put toys and other possessions where they belong on his own [Check!]<br />
-Can dress/undress himself [uhhh....sorta....but not really]<br />
-Has a name for urine and bowel movements [he does the signs and repeats verbally whatever we call them]<br />
<br />
I did some homework and that really solidified it for me. Gabriel was ready. Holy cow, my baby is growing up! Lately, he comes running to the bathroom whenever he hears someone going and he wants to watch the whole process and then he asks to sit on the potty. When he is going in his diaper, he signs "potty", and if he's doing number two he says "Poop! Poop...." and grabs his diaper. He has actually been doing that one for a few months now.<br />
<br />
I hopped on my favorite shopping site (aka Amazon.com - I'm an <b><u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/mom/signup/info">Amazon Mom</a></u></b>! Are you?) to find a good training potty. I finally decided on the <u><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003G2YUTG">Fisher Price Ducky Fun 3-in-1 Potty</a></b></u>. So far we really love it!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKL_y0cF0uJMCQtEWsqTkgG9P9w0l77QtIffsNWzj73g30ICglpF4uGMRtNhA3orh2Il5kgHgedOJM0Xl4OrmQhD6vuSrsEuf0E3fmMOvTaeWDccbdmFTigwUKPLl9I6ILNjRGJHMUBkw/s1600/potty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKL_y0cF0uJMCQtEWsqTkgG9P9w0l77QtIffsNWzj73g30ICglpF4uGMRtNhA3orh2Il5kgHgedOJM0Xl4OrmQhD6vuSrsEuf0E3fmMOvTaeWDccbdmFTigwUKPLl9I6ILNjRGJHMUBkw/s320/potty.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It plays music when he pees in it and the seat comes off and fits on th big toilet for when he's ready to transition. The lid also folds down and it turns into a step stool!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQBLMaEa3M1N5BlKrRFFTXWYSqgoL3uhpYgNZmG8IUrtS6jwZd4-chpxpoF6xwivcBJcFdHn1pqE1Hm5Pvv6NKVZ71O19Lb-NHwqx-eopoPnJb3XnGdVSC8MUoMIss8om7MJOM-6tlRo/s1600/IMAG0280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQBLMaEa3M1N5BlKrRFFTXWYSqgoL3uhpYgNZmG8IUrtS6jwZd4-chpxpoF6xwivcBJcFdHn1pqE1Hm5Pvv6NKVZ71O19Lb-NHwqx-eopoPnJb3XnGdVSC8MUoMIss8om7MJOM-6tlRo/s400/IMAG0280.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjscvmhyphenhyphenx61jwbuyk5kSYioLcl0XEIdmviqouKU_RRJj_9Gile2GyK6z9GbCBABAo_Lasd2r1TRvPdzsFDlbXTC9ESLw1xpfo0zU6Ii26bIKEe9cDF4mwb_6UfyTqJOQY2X5jZGTQpz0cA/s1600/IMAG0281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjscvmhyphenhyphenx61jwbuyk5kSYioLcl0XEIdmviqouKU_RRJj_9Gile2GyK6z9GbCBABAo_Lasd2r1TRvPdzsFDlbXTC9ESLw1xpfo0zU6Ii26bIKEe9cDF4mwb_6UfyTqJOQY2X5jZGTQpz0cA/s640/IMAG0281.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
We also ended up getting him a potty seat for the upstairs bathroom. We let him pick it out so, of course, it has Elmo on it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimJ6n3hK4I6pynNxUvjB-RoHEa_r_HLXrTtLgGEU0WPpn39PDZqwWgcmzhanJ7AwsE4ZGJwyOtH4bBIE11ausLoRJtUUpXY4Js1NPXpasnsxvG2r99mprnR7VrLAtP6Es_Rxi2FBQDL50/s1600/IMAG0274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimJ6n3hK4I6pynNxUvjB-RoHEa_r_HLXrTtLgGEU0WPpn39PDZqwWgcmzhanJ7AwsE4ZGJwyOtH4bBIE11ausLoRJtUUpXY4Js1NPXpasnsxvG2r99mprnR7VrLAtP6Es_Rxi2FBQDL50/s400/IMAG0274.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4BdS33XhxVs1A08DxGD85mrXUbv7_nsnm8nfEnzxOe4Os3c22IZA0SD18MPUNBWu2sE_I7Sv7g7hpTf077-wGoy77BrgvS6dYXypJZjwpqikGCTN_urMz9kocC02gs3VY9slNsp5KSY/s1600/IMAG0276.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4BdS33XhxVs1A08DxGD85mrXUbv7_nsnm8nfEnzxOe4Os3c22IZA0SD18MPUNBWu2sE_I7Sv7g7hpTf077-wGoy77BrgvS6dYXypJZjwpqikGCTN_urMz9kocC02gs3VY9slNsp5KSY/s400/IMAG0276.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
So far, he has gone pee-pee in the potty 2-3 times in two days. Things are looking pretty good! That is not to say that we haven't had any frustrations....we've started just having him run around naked at home in the evenings. If he starts peeing (which isn't a big deal--there's no carpet downstairs), we grab him and put him on the toilet. It's working okay so far.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1SbZioqlPTigGwYoikbBhZisTFAHSLYJjAGIZ3eoIiSdh3m4ljR1mLo96wUwrIIfocd3ivJ7zLHivdG5h2RrV4MeWSexJDvooGN5ugFGlEvsIfwcWohlOFd_WeciVzZv1ZpwEX_NoeA/s1600/IMAG0285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1SbZioqlPTigGwYoikbBhZisTFAHSLYJjAGIZ3eoIiSdh3m4ljR1mLo96wUwrIIfocd3ivJ7zLHivdG5h2RrV4MeWSexJDvooGN5ugFGlEvsIfwcWohlOFd_WeciVzZv1ZpwEX_NoeA/s640/IMAG0285.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_mMcWv_ldms1WXRPdgg6J4nojwbmetzjl1gH4G-8cPZ6q9Tv7qaUqKhXSWo3f91UHkXN42_csmk-TkzN2GE_EAOdah7BYNPcza-3h5plVQU_sqCpbwZMtzvY97t4wHqy6ecR46mo7Wg/s1600/IMAG0287.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_mMcWv_ldms1WXRPdgg6J4nojwbmetzjl1gH4G-8cPZ6q9Tv7qaUqKhXSWo3f91UHkXN42_csmk-TkzN2GE_EAOdah7BYNPcza-3h5plVQU_sqCpbwZMtzvY97t4wHqy6ecR46mo7Wg/s400/IMAG0287.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLV7Z4KkgbkyxSaGIieMb_xfiBgYwjBbRzsilnUK5wicxiA2CQ7Tep_Wg0ZDy72_5iEvInh6haCKiC3s43ZNKyfRj-q2mTW8XBWtt03huJZeLIPmWJB89rapGfN3Z5pV5MvXeExP7m24/s1600/IMAG0288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLV7Z4KkgbkyxSaGIieMb_xfiBgYwjBbRzsilnUK5wicxiA2CQ7Tep_Wg0ZDy72_5iEvInh6haCKiC3s43ZNKyfRj-q2mTW8XBWtt03huJZeLIPmWJB89rapGfN3Z5pV5MvXeExP7m24/s320/IMAG0288.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pMy82exZNTJiRR3QlAC97BEpglmevfUWxMgU8uPXIXJarrbZpv8w7vRwwJXM2VndayzQsgcHUsCsOOBpLuXJpW3OLrQp9EQzpUhpHhljflQo3qbsAZQ1rGPfOADLedsOTekRUZ1-nAo/s1600/IMAG0289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pMy82exZNTJiRR3QlAC97BEpglmevfUWxMgU8uPXIXJarrbZpv8w7vRwwJXM2VndayzQsgcHUsCsOOBpLuXJpW3OLrQp9EQzpUhpHhljflQo3qbsAZQ1rGPfOADLedsOTekRUZ1-nAo/s640/IMAG0289.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
<br />
Keep your fingers crossed! Do you think we can have him potty trained by the time he's two? I think so. He did number two in the potty today!<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-70526236689832849042011-08-22T15:49:00.001-06:002011-08-22T15:49:05.671-06:00In my absence.......SO much cute stuff has been happening since the last time I posted. Take, for example, the following:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<object height="226" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" />
<param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/2267861546884" />
<embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/2267861546884" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="226"></embed></object></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
I die every time.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I just need to gather my thoughts and (lets face it) my pictures and I'll be up and running and caught up in no time! Thanks for your patience and support!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-2792100022698730932011-07-18T11:54:00.000-06:002012-03-26T11:54:50.632-06:00Off to Yuma!Right after the fourth of July, Daddy went to LDAC (Leadership Development and Assessment Course for the Army) for a month. It was a perfect time to go visit Mim-mim and Papa Ray! We flew to Arizona and got to spend a week with them!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrsFLOpJfYtW-ZBVHIS2BJJazbZCve8-BwFxzYAgrmkwf83Kht5PQztdfC3SJcui51tskJp7EH1T2DMn5rKrVp5UNZB0aXxyiAD0iquKh0j0nLrJEDTtxt130XlQr1WvpuTibnBLSQERd/s1600/Shopping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrsFLOpJfYtW-ZBVHIS2BJJazbZCve8-BwFxzYAgrmkwf83Kht5PQztdfC3SJcui51tskJp7EH1T2DMn5rKrVp5UNZB0aXxyiAD0iquKh0j0nLrJEDTtxt130XlQr1WvpuTibnBLSQERd/s400/Shopping.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Of course, we did some shopping--that is unavoidable when hanging out with Daisy! (Mim-mim)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ10eZAYlpCjZtUP9e_hBfiJnsmac8t_qzTt4Do2-D0Eyda4zpU1TxspG_-_Ms2tbIzrYdSjfOPPBbW-Q7K3cUlaYbZd4nO0qH7rbWz1fGSmj_pGPp2Q6dx0AtmWM11PecGOEs9o9M6Cyo/s1600/pool1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ10eZAYlpCjZtUP9e_hBfiJnsmac8t_qzTt4Do2-D0Eyda4zpU1TxspG_-_Ms2tbIzrYdSjfOPPBbW-Q7K3cUlaYbZd4nO0qH7rbWz1fGSmj_pGPp2Q6dx0AtmWM11PecGOEs9o9M6Cyo/s400/pool1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Gabriel got to play in Papa and Mim-mim's pool too! Pool time with Papa was one of Gabriel's favorite activities while we visited.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7Vmjam230tC3zPoiWOpdnvAwWHBTcftHQo9sk-KmfBPTHD052cThhsj5R6E8f0eg2oygPZCpjzkAL3V6hiEXUE12FTBRDgnNWsae7pRiaMe1rjGvaOs9YaBxkiLN2m_SyWXAH88QJ1_a/s1600/pool2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7Vmjam230tC3zPoiWOpdnvAwWHBTcftHQo9sk-KmfBPTHD052cThhsj5R6E8f0eg2oygPZCpjzkAL3V6hiEXUE12FTBRDgnNWsae7pRiaMe1rjGvaOs9YaBxkiLN2m_SyWXAH88QJ1_a/s640/pool2.jpg" width="324" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Daisy loves having her grandbabies with her - I get totally spoiled because she won't let me do ANYTHING! She gets up with him in the morning and feeds him. She dresses him. She even took care of bath time!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVATHOxGQFCCsDFo7BJcEgce6EPRCKGffiz6XyjyfflRW7rYpTrHXeq8Tli3IsXV0VDz_9bKA8vj13fL1oqxXqcRgoLPmeDN_SWRFxTQd6GcB5SqwdShJJtjeLC0yVnbgcFUZSDF7IaQD/s1600/bath+time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVATHOxGQFCCsDFo7BJcEgce6EPRCKGffiz6XyjyfflRW7rYpTrHXeq8Tli3IsXV0VDz_9bKA8vj13fL1oqxXqcRgoLPmeDN_SWRFxTQd6GcB5SqwdShJJtjeLC0yVnbgcFUZSDF7IaQD/s400/bath+time.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
One of Papa and Mim-mim's favorite pass-times is taking the boat out on the river with friends. We got to go out for a few hours and we had a blast!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGFBTt_XQUJP7oUeuLHHi5hECTpOF2KqS2aHWRUbcXIoU3JJMB64iApRa6687z1kzxC98NzrU9CBZx0VLqqQ-snyypXry0qwQU9FhdgfGK2e7cCEraNlFZjVpiuMi-cBzazLHeOPONnxF/s1600/driving+the+boat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGFBTt_XQUJP7oUeuLHHi5hECTpOF2KqS2aHWRUbcXIoU3JJMB64iApRa6687z1kzxC98NzrU9CBZx0VLqqQ-snyypXry0qwQU9FhdgfGK2e7cCEraNlFZjVpiuMi-cBzazLHeOPONnxF/s640/driving+the+boat.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Papa let Gabriel help him drive the boat</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7I7Z5yjfAjOAV7l_iYY5jwsWE3z_V4n8OgQgrbJPzI1Mv3rwS_Iczdz5qybyFD_MyZAT440f9JFKsB4u2zWcOg1YzXI1H1-AKeEiwOyl2XXk_Sbmh8mRB2lT4sfZhhX6aSwNJnFGxKZHt/s1600/on+the+boat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7I7Z5yjfAjOAV7l_iYY5jwsWE3z_V4n8OgQgrbJPzI1Mv3rwS_Iczdz5qybyFD_MyZAT440f9JFKsB4u2zWcOg1YzXI1H1-AKeEiwOyl2XXk_Sbmh8mRB2lT4sfZhhX6aSwNJnFGxKZHt/s400/on+the+boat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Everything is a photo op when you're out with Mim-mim and Papa!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGi8clfJ4cplIGF-zf3Q8nlht8xLXfgegMaagsCNgs5ndRKB4NbDaekgIPN-UM20l-uAXfM5Ca4A9_bMRfdxmHGqqsw3bY4xqINMlZvGgR5Q2wW_ZsdGt6hPSW5N8YZjca6Q1rXtK4H9D/s1600/playing+in+the+water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGi8clfJ4cplIGF-zf3Q8nlht8xLXfgegMaagsCNgs5ndRKB4NbDaekgIPN-UM20l-uAXfM5Ca4A9_bMRfdxmHGqqsw3bY4xqINMlZvGgR5Q2wW_ZsdGt6hPSW5N8YZjca6Q1rXtK4H9D/s400/playing+in+the+water.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We found a good spot and set up some chairs and a sun shade on a shallow bank. Gabriel loved playing in the water!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7L-OscKvwZVQ2kFgG8Ume_QnsyrrkEpfxlO81dqXdSKq-Vmu4GQZyHfwXSapWxzs1LrIAhVilpFePXhQEYTuWO8nI-BNjdF2mCRqZpcSRlZBNxss2HOgXZ9_segR15iVTd4puAwzo6HhE/s1600/cheetos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7L-OscKvwZVQ2kFgG8Ume_QnsyrrkEpfxlO81dqXdSKq-Vmu4GQZyHfwXSapWxzs1LrIAhVilpFePXhQEYTuWO8nI-BNjdF2mCRqZpcSRlZBNxss2HOgXZ9_segR15iVTd4puAwzo6HhE/s400/cheetos.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Of course, Papa just HAD to give Gabe the messiest snack he could find...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmUOYNoW4H98o5JuEB4gFfbfA6CZnskpLriUkvaC4D1Bt9_XSEGSXgtdHOZojB-950hr-_qoPkSGRD5Jxbp6oZEG7NRpSkKeHvX1nOLNaakoFd4q-HjC3ZMtGFXejKG5JPW3sqOfnSTrV/s1600/being+a+boy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmUOYNoW4H98o5JuEB4gFfbfA6CZnskpLriUkvaC4D1Bt9_XSEGSXgtdHOZojB-950hr-_qoPkSGRD5Jxbp6oZEG7NRpSkKeHvX1nOLNaakoFd4q-HjC3ZMtGFXejKG5JPW3sqOfnSTrV/s400/being+a+boy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We met up with some of Daisy and Ray's friends and their two kids. They have a son around Gabe's age and they became fast friends!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Jasmin happened to have her baby shower while we were there too. I have to say, this was the biggest baby shower I have ever been to. Ever. It was catered and there was a DJ. It was a huge party! It was long, too. So, while Gabe spent plenty of time being his adorable self....<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBekG9tnM4MzPxHgIORHqIH5ESlEHOj0jNm1f3Z7TWZZZuRSU55dIESRrK-Nha5L5_JsB97agTS9MXHt94KHRikSQJiW30lpznaUcRqhjpgLclbk3qgVa5exWm8nGZFrJVBmICxAaBKbTz/s1600/cute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBekG9tnM4MzPxHgIORHqIH5ESlEHOj0jNm1f3Z7TWZZZuRSU55dIESRrK-Nha5L5_JsB97agTS9MXHt94KHRikSQJiW30lpznaUcRqhjpgLclbk3qgVa5exWm8nGZFrJVBmICxAaBKbTz/s400/cute.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
...he also spent his fair share of time being a cranky little turkey...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZCU0oafuqksKkxULgDv88SyfglYnBPjqZqKELweVi_AvsA7iXsIjvKKL-h9EeDXAn6gtddBsLmnyvgvIVvasIq0pY85gXY34nutf0Va713-ntneSGpcBgZTI3R09PM80WxS197sRZAEJ/s1600/cranky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZCU0oafuqksKkxULgDv88SyfglYnBPjqZqKELweVi_AvsA7iXsIjvKKL-h9EeDXAn6gtddBsLmnyvgvIVvasIq0pY85gXY34nutf0Va713-ntneSGpcBgZTI3R09PM80WxS197sRZAEJ/s400/cranky.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
All of Daisy's friends (and their kids!) loved holding and playing with Gabriel - he kind of played musical laps all night...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjprLSPCB97X2_iNsMQVyTs6ZiaRXsrJA2CJkUptMBGU8g7JG6AyWSsZz8F4XVlyULir04Atqwu2_Zub7Zr5D2kgEb_D8Xmg8JkuzrF_5ustqQZiFOWQCzpUyU3hcbmOSawIDM-zK0kIu1R/s1600/musical+laps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjprLSPCB97X2_iNsMQVyTs6ZiaRXsrJA2CJkUptMBGU8g7JG6AyWSsZz8F4XVlyULir04Atqwu2_Zub7Zr5D2kgEb_D8Xmg8JkuzrF_5ustqQZiFOWQCzpUyU3hcbmOSawIDM-zK0kIu1R/s400/musical+laps.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
He was also a HUGE flirt. I'm going to be in trouble in about 14 years or so...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJ9sXT-dmOiZPOLsJeYhLVYFjacQbb9ej2niWf_4c6cLGUkk8AnWBZ6MUxMpDMu9t21l_mKSKED-pnEKSFglU7xhJPNG3D07fqTeoY_SiOELYhgxlrFKMU-SwX9LxCfcztp-U_Wp1pa9h/s1600/smooches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJ9sXT-dmOiZPOLsJeYhLVYFjacQbb9ej2niWf_4c6cLGUkk8AnWBZ6MUxMpDMu9t21l_mKSKED-pnEKSFglU7xhJPNG3D07fqTeoY_SiOELYhgxlrFKMU-SwX9LxCfcztp-U_Wp1pa9h/s640/smooches.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<br />
All in all, the baby shower was a lot of fun. I met a lot of Jasmin's friends and got to know Jacob's (baby's daddy) family as well! The food was great and so were the music and games.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjjJ8fXznyFOnV5HYm5f1OVVYAU7um43fD7yRf_rPPncrbsZjh0sXsIvDrXyGQk4bmYtjFw73YQUwhhp3rTPxt7SSGtSoPaG-dQl2BX3gS9GWFQ2q8NHIE25XFHWeAOwf24hBkOOIgm3XU/s1600/baby+shower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjjJ8fXznyFOnV5HYm5f1OVVYAU7um43fD7yRf_rPPncrbsZjh0sXsIvDrXyGQk4bmYtjFw73YQUwhhp3rTPxt7SSGtSoPaG-dQl2BX3gS9GWFQ2q8NHIE25XFHWeAOwf24hBkOOIgm3XU/s400/baby+shower.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
It was hard to leave at the end of our stay in Arizona. We had so much fun playing and shopping! Gabriel loves seeing Mim-mim and Papa Ray and has a hard time saying goodbye at the airport. So far, he has been able to visit them at least once a year. Hopefully that will continue!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-17630966571429926482011-07-12T10:39:00.000-06:002012-01-23T10:39:35.154-07:00Patriotic Americans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Our family has a proud military service history. The 4th of July is always a fun time. We look forward to it every year--family gathering, barbecues, fireworks. We love it! Gabriel and his classmates made little Patriotic handprints to decorate their classroom door:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgVK5MEOWH-K9Nw1AjKs7k1TXMNAHOriuRmYLo94RsdIgyPh1nbWM7eQxKAo67c8wiwuaVq5DHguZ_-C4BfU53Z-y0_TSIt8OKRvGVbbghbXIN07W8NCkpdcFwjv7TMYy3zgKO_jCuR6u/s1600/art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPgVK5MEOWH-K9Nw1AjKs7k1TXMNAHOriuRmYLo94RsdIgyPh1nbWM7eQxKAo67c8wiwuaVq5DHguZ_-C4BfU53Z-y0_TSIt8OKRvGVbbghbXIN07W8NCkpdcFwjv7TMYy3zgKO_jCuR6u/s400/art.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
We are, indeed, proud to be Americans! (How cute is that??)<br />
<br />
McKay and his older brother, Darick, are both in the Army. They both serve in the Army Reserve and are also both Army ROTC Cadets in the Cougar Battalion (BYU, UVU, SUU, and Dixie). The Cougar Battalion's "Cannon Crew" was a part of Provo, Utah's Freedom Festival Parade (the Freedom Festival is among the largest 4th of July celebrations in the nation). McKay's Reserve unit (also in Provo) was part of the parade as well! All of the reservists in McKay's unit and their families were invited to ride in Army Vehicles in the parade - it was so neat!!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXM76UOfyPsLqE4NAaKVhbAI7QFPxrXlujQahlKYDflllFMVs5IDXwzqpL89OkrntTBb71zoYyKSvkFmK0AbTk5GYAuZyGdlIiq7Lw08wLMmJ0lOXBpRfdMzxfgzT2ndBst1J5rg49ntE/s1600/freedomfest1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXM76UOfyPsLqE4NAaKVhbAI7QFPxrXlujQahlKYDflllFMVs5IDXwzqpL89OkrntTBb71zoYyKSvkFmK0AbTk5GYAuZyGdlIiq7Lw08wLMmJ0lOXBpRfdMzxfgzT2ndBst1J5rg49ntE/s400/freedomfest1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Loading up the cannon | McKay and his brother in uniform</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpnUJDmQabl8MXVzWEqjvZFTmUCbt63LXcRSE0xCCv7RKGvTWcinJiFfojDqa1vRwVauyRTqVlqko8neLFntMKT3f0OquslFkDszZkbm4_sbYSSV9m2NshcCxKOElK633Xq-ORnFXRmI5/s1600/freedomfest2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpnUJDmQabl8MXVzWEqjvZFTmUCbt63LXcRSE0xCCv7RKGvTWcinJiFfojDqa1vRwVauyRTqVlqko8neLFntMKT3f0OquslFkDszZkbm4_sbYSSV9m2NshcCxKOElK633Xq-ORnFXRmI5/s640/freedomfest2.jpg" width="430" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Gabriel and Daddy ready to ride in the parade!!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2e93t_CYlMOkBQ2R7mj68ES4FLk_uusXYhq8KtLD65e3C7AjUEW8jnkfHVixrTaq7bvlj9wFHO0rKNx_vI1_DZuJUvEnX_htOX6F_IOWeYXPyzKjsLX3VB2Kjt7O_wCahl5X1LvnBiAV/s1600/freedomfest3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2e93t_CYlMOkBQ2R7mj68ES4FLk_uusXYhq8KtLD65e3C7AjUEW8jnkfHVixrTaq7bvlj9wFHO0rKNx_vI1_DZuJUvEnX_htOX6F_IOWeYXPyzKjsLX3VB2Kjt7O_wCahl5X1LvnBiAV/s640/freedomfest3.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
In the transport truck waiting to get on our way</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6qwRQivP5IY-LqkVXgkIDZiZ8RC4MHKAApHfgIlVWabXifcIiq5NKZvyc5CquQRyFZqQzlOHhCqLtIPathFYchKbWsjvWNdFy6TZQh4OCGOe8pHIPrgb7LrZ8FSPw14aH6veM8u2Qpgk/s1600/freedomfest4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6qwRQivP5IY-LqkVXgkIDZiZ8RC4MHKAApHfgIlVWabXifcIiq5NKZvyc5CquQRyFZqQzlOHhCqLtIPathFYchKbWsjvWNdFy6TZQh4OCGOe8pHIPrgb7LrZ8FSPw14aH6veM8u2Qpgk/s1600/freedomfest4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Riding the route! Gabriel was so cute! He waved and blew kisses to everyone!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlgvAdb0ZyFuavP5V2aFiPheyd4Iwf99OY4LBjoay9OHTvZaxvBQjQLXyHOn0YnCuycTZo54Emc_nPsuCrzROphsRqMdrUKbSTQPIyJl-CV1bElwX-LWfoQt8tC1Afaabtu3hIt8SweWi/s1600/freedomfest5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlgvAdb0ZyFuavP5V2aFiPheyd4Iwf99OY4LBjoay9OHTvZaxvBQjQLXyHOn0YnCuycTZo54Emc_nPsuCrzROphsRqMdrUKbSTQPIyJl-CV1bElwX-LWfoQt8tC1Afaabtu3hIt8SweWi/s400/freedomfest5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
He was pretty pooped by the end of the parade. He got hold of Daddy's hat and wouldn't let go!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
In other July news...we gave Gabriel a mohawk.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBVbOe4iEYOR9WH5-QLedstaKefUiTLS_6frbs7jLfjqp6QHXpmUcioqQ4AQs0NiM1Q4EKZKS30y3FHYkwnMa5PkGEIomo4IAtVPzTx_bmoMb859Vrvv-__wiETg9sPcn0bYJ74WrYYb6v/s1600/mohawk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBVbOe4iEYOR9WH5-QLedstaKefUiTLS_6frbs7jLfjqp6QHXpmUcioqQ4AQs0NiM1Q4EKZKS30y3FHYkwnMa5PkGEIomo4IAtVPzTx_bmoMb859Vrvv-__wiETg9sPcn0bYJ74WrYYb6v/s640/mohawk.jpg" width="322" /></a></div>
The grandmas did NOT approve...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-84784810918772061472011-07-10T10:19:00.000-06:002012-01-23T10:20:45.846-07:00More of June<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Gabriel's day care center had a little summer party. They set up a few little pools and had a barbecue. It was actually kind of fun! Gabe was the only kid in his age group that came ready to swim, so he had a pool all to himself!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4rt9Uza1ZGJ7x7wnLcZ9ioVgSoTTeUD2KwQWrfryggkrdn6QeJ4sLyMyBPKlXDOn6xms6Fmv4104KIMWqCBbaMndbEIy1njIDqrfIO8tb78ArmmT5Slo0y7YZtTQY6BwhBCnAbtsB0-4/s1600/pool1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4rt9Uza1ZGJ7x7wnLcZ9ioVgSoTTeUD2KwQWrfryggkrdn6QeJ4sLyMyBPKlXDOn6xms6Fmv4104KIMWqCBbaMndbEIy1njIDqrfIO8tb78ArmmT5Slo0y7YZtTQY6BwhBCnAbtsB0-4/s400/pool1.jpg" width="395" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm7laMXa8l1w89j0MpKqtJWU7LtVE_3N5ectfzB0oXdB1_0kFSiMsWQX1AUmVFpVbTqIVX8IxXdgbi9iplLtf6moP0R6jXcrvOSZ9bcmJ2Pl8LZsIUxmf9FA4PdNRQTjqcOoJZeRc2KWFo/s1600/pool2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm7laMXa8l1w89j0MpKqtJWU7LtVE_3N5ectfzB0oXdB1_0kFSiMsWQX1AUmVFpVbTqIVX8IxXdgbi9iplLtf6moP0R6jXcrvOSZ9bcmJ2Pl8LZsIUxmf9FA4PdNRQTjqcOoJZeRc2KWFo/s400/pool2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCdjZcnsLDYsqYxQDntQj9lSBlTwpUo8Je9fPvb07kJ3ogy6vB6kqNHgn95utZH6D-wsT7stDBWp-CC3ZBJm7HpG9mxpjuBZVEmbwRmuUcTsLnvBvc0Vml8kGdG8eM9XMEVHQ00E6hU87/s1600/pool3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCdjZcnsLDYsqYxQDntQj9lSBlTwpUo8Je9fPvb07kJ3ogy6vB6kqNHgn95utZH6D-wsT7stDBWp-CC3ZBJm7HpG9mxpjuBZVEmbwRmuUcTsLnvBvc0Vml8kGdG8eM9XMEVHQ00E6hU87/s400/pool3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
We had another swimming adventure later on in June! We went to the Spanish Fork Reservoir for the first time and we had a blast!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3aeon_DkBR9TeOC0RYbDmLgFukIVriXB0NQQ8busSUW0nDIt2RVm0wjqN-fCmWJe4OWS2bPLyL-ubW3D6F0u0IoEiCE5blbKTJBuYSOPq7pQ6bjEjywiE1BugUr4Hz5AJBqrDWSOIkI89/s1600/res1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3aeon_DkBR9TeOC0RYbDmLgFukIVriXB0NQQ8busSUW0nDIt2RVm0wjqN-fCmWJe4OWS2bPLyL-ubW3D6F0u0IoEiCE5blbKTJBuYSOPq7pQ6bjEjywiE1BugUr4Hz5AJBqrDWSOIkI89/s400/res1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeEWaw7yhLBKnhRc3BARm8sqasN50-1KB6Wdl8TPYpjdPFoXIqiMsitMjDZb-k4AVjY9cSCGeOKefx3U8Ht3aFWSQrCZTiL77a-npm2IkT7FVaNH9Q-rscQOWElZODHpE7Fu_vlCJIOit/s1600/res2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeEWaw7yhLBKnhRc3BARm8sqasN50-1KB6Wdl8TPYpjdPFoXIqiMsitMjDZb-k4AVjY9cSCGeOKefx3U8Ht3aFWSQrCZTiL77a-npm2IkT7FVaNH9Q-rscQOWElZODHpE7Fu_vlCJIOit/s400/res2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg180lvbtZp7-KGSGW0LL2txkj9SQLekc-R46FjJeCQqXto9Oac2-ORF3SnO1tqEZ7v3pHpMZU6d1R0GinGTD9RCI28hVIJh4mPp8roBhfE_lhAir0x5CVaZTkgSH7c10yaOTZ6vHPulXuK/s1600/res3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg180lvbtZp7-KGSGW0LL2txkj9SQLekc-R46FjJeCQqXto9Oac2-ORF3SnO1tqEZ7v3pHpMZU6d1R0GinGTD9RCI28hVIJh4mPp8roBhfE_lhAir0x5CVaZTkgSH7c10yaOTZ6vHPulXuK/s640/res3.jpg" width="324" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ve5W7H-TwTIFerYXmXt86rL2eKABnQqMkKSdPP31z4gii3x0AEkI2qRimDuJVEkMyZbumbs4xhWWYjsR0qW5LwvAD0A4xQMjxc0Nze7STQ5fi6db9ioqGp47IEwNhRJFHMsKl24EXrUB/s1600/res4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ve5W7H-TwTIFerYXmXt86rL2eKABnQqMkKSdPP31z4gii3x0AEkI2qRimDuJVEkMyZbumbs4xhWWYjsR0qW5LwvAD0A4xQMjxc0Nze7STQ5fi6db9ioqGp47IEwNhRJFHMsKl24EXrUB/s400/res4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-83983647449458457902011-07-08T09:40:00.000-06:002011-10-10T09:56:06.019-06:00Summer FestBack in June, McKay's ROTC unit's color guard marched in the Orem Summer Fest parade. They marched behind the opening cannon with flags and rifles/bayonets, so (of course!) we went to watch Daddy march!!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZY4ZN3C2Es-Mn_IFY1FepAKE6eU5ENfT8cSA4F7JiON-fvVZiBGzBvmgot_S1ADG4wGm4IqUlwGM4SLTRSLPxWm_ODi2es2ufxJSd1SLf_C02d7gCobta7btCKZSxe_dMR11zuEM3l0bN/s1600/SummerFest1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZY4ZN3C2Es-Mn_IFY1FepAKE6eU5ENfT8cSA4F7JiON-fvVZiBGzBvmgot_S1ADG4wGm4IqUlwGM4SLTRSLPxWm_ODi2es2ufxJSd1SLf_C02d7gCobta7btCKZSxe_dMR11zuEM3l0bN/s400/SummerFest1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Waiting for the parade to start was the worst part. We were closer to the end of the parade route, too, so we had to wait even longer than anticipated...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflrLUh6h7hgL4zLRNPCrzZjhB_295IrZIg6FYyTCohKWie0KG7iXhwwFXrLG97ZsXZDVQ7wH4h-SvP78ifJG-4AQcGBlaHVwFeMWYDVE4-I50XqDUpyJnGTZpPBygGSj-T6gTH3I_KMe9/s1600/SummerFest2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflrLUh6h7hgL4zLRNPCrzZjhB_295IrZIg6FYyTCohKWie0KG7iXhwwFXrLG97ZsXZDVQ7wH4h-SvP78ifJG-4AQcGBlaHVwFeMWYDVE4-I50XqDUpyJnGTZpPBygGSj-T6gTH3I_KMe9/s400/SummerFest2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
He doesn't look too happy in the pictures, but he actually had a really good time! He was a little tired, but perfectly content. He's such a chill, kick back kid! I love it.<br />
<br />
Finally, we heard the cannon getting closer (they would stop every so many hundred yards and shoot the cannon off) and we knew we'd be seeing daddy soon! Finally, they appeared down the street, maneuvering around a corner. Darick called commands and McKay was an arms bearer.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGLJX2hdG2FI_bjkllLkO__bpVsYdO3_bN1vxykrLTlvjNRz74wEk7q936b01G0tuMkJR14L5k_p5iuODSyBgwqXNkYQ8UN2smA20roOY275DuDCN6sJTGwo3x_qugUr3C5Tr42rmv-L4/s1600/SummerFest3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGLJX2hdG2FI_bjkllLkO__bpVsYdO3_bN1vxykrLTlvjNRz74wEk7q936b01G0tuMkJR14L5k_p5iuODSyBgwqXNkYQ8UN2smA20roOY275DuDCN6sJTGwo3x_qugUr3C5Tr42rmv-L4/s640/SummerFest3.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's too bad we didn't know what side McKay would be on...he is the arms bearer on the far right in the bottom picture (above), so we didn't get a very good view of him and Gabe was kind of sad.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Since we were pretty close to the end of the parade route, McKay was able to double back pretty quickly and sit with us for the rest of the parade! Of course, Gabriel LOVED that. Such a Daddy's boy....</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwD3h3on7J_tp26Tu-WBz0K6mbfub3ONh5Cer7JFDrhstn8RoxdmNLrU-nX4_FVMYOSwxTGYg23r0KRhqPa5ZBsGPwjj7oDFIk_6JxJGVC_7_pO35fYK4kNrB9uqEelbSKlhQWfrrGHIPx/s1600/SummerFest5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwD3h3on7J_tp26Tu-WBz0K6mbfub3ONh5Cer7JFDrhstn8RoxdmNLrU-nX4_FVMYOSwxTGYg23r0KRhqPa5ZBsGPwjj7oDFIk_6JxJGVC_7_pO35fYK4kNrB9uqEelbSKlhQWfrrGHIPx/s640/SummerFest5.jpg" width="427" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-8071352366209128282011-07-06T12:48:00.000-06:002011-10-02T12:54:36.832-06:00Yellowstone, ho!Around the beginning of May, we took a trip to Yellowstone with our friends, Jeannie and her husband Stephen. McKay and I are WorldMark owners, so we were really excited to visit a new resort! Plus, I had never been to Yellowstone and I couldn't WAIT to take Gabriel to see bison and bears and Old Faithful.<br />
<br />
Jeannie, Stephen, and McKay got Stephen's car loaded up and then came and picked me up from work and we were off! It was only about a 6 hour drive - not bad! But as we got closer to Yellowstone, it got colder...and colder....and we started seeing snow....and then more snow....and then--holy crap!--it was piled up twice as high as our car on the sides of the road. Oh boy. We weren't expecting it to be like this.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtB5bM1-Yx9XqtOoyfHS04LUSRpdIMav1mg1M4g_V2to1d_GQUeOCZXo5SwNNvjKIH_CBvdTmOAxPpp13vTZc1ZAf2jH5tHupX93faug6GthfYD86TkLMfFt-AhYNGq2_j3q4svNUQlzw/s1600/yellowstone16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtB5bM1-Yx9XqtOoyfHS04LUSRpdIMav1mg1M4g_V2to1d_GQUeOCZXo5SwNNvjKIH_CBvdTmOAxPpp13vTZc1ZAf2jH5tHupX93faug6GthfYD86TkLMfFt-AhYNGq2_j3q4svNUQlzw/s400/yellowstone16.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This was a portion of the road with very little snow--we were actually able to pull over!</div>
<br />
<br />
Oh well. What could we do?<br />
<br />
We arrived at the resort and, my goodness, it was BEAUTIFUL.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRKCX0zRXUXI3YOap13A7ND-MZx9zY1AESQkNJK4cOYNHiTZoM18tW4AMP_bxWQDn3C5iPiE8GjP7b5XPJLzh02KT5S6AriDQFK-pbAYXY9becimuRue5t_i8eAE65z_xikLD7zVVCNg/s1600/yellowstone11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRKCX0zRXUXI3YOap13A7ND-MZx9zY1AESQkNJK4cOYNHiTZoM18tW4AMP_bxWQDn3C5iPiE8GjP7b5XPJLzh02KT5S6AriDQFK-pbAYXY9becimuRue5t_i8eAE65z_xikLD7zVVCNg/s400/yellowstone11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
We had a three bedroom...condo? That's how they always are with WorldMark, though. It's like a little apartment. There's always a kitchen stocked with all the dishes and utensils and cooking supplies, a washer and dryer, etc. We got a three bedroom so Stephen and Jeannie could have a room, Gabe could have a room, and we could have one. There were two nice bathrooms, a nice balcony, kitchen, dining room, living room, blah blah blah--it was nice! We got there in the evening, so the guys went to the game room and played pool while Jeannie and I went to a local grocery store to pick up food and other supplies. That's one of my favorite parts about WorldMark--you don't have to spend a ton of money on eating out because you can cook in your fully stocked kitchen!<br />
<br />
The next day we decided to visit the bear and wolf refuge near the resort. Lucky us! They just so happened to be doing a bear-proof container test that day! Every once in a while, manufacturers of bear proof containers will submit their product for testing. They put food in the containers and put them in with the bears to see if they can get into them (or how long it takes for them to get into the container). Some work great....others, not so much.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3RVkICBQIicLOuYvNtAwhtjfg6LoBcVIDxTYUwntg8_I6l4rqnBiJTLMf3moGC0sZjA5w9_Keq1s030pqwsjENVwD9jz8aq8aC92JwZHygcu53iTE_KH__CjWys0YgeuTIMYFqDP9tc/s1600/yellowstone4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3RVkICBQIicLOuYvNtAwhtjfg6LoBcVIDxTYUwntg8_I6l4rqnBiJTLMf3moGC0sZjA5w9_Keq1s030pqwsjENVwD9jz8aq8aC92JwZHygcu53iTE_KH__CjWys0YgeuTIMYFqDP9tc/s400/yellowstone4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Watching the bears and wolves was really neat. The people running the refuge are awesome.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3MG1av8Y-sNhAvqdLCa-q75Eh8MsulMWZVrIXVT_vt7ZC7b5g_1H5f_rA8PWUjMJPJRdkDRZsXaTO8c1pEnZva8rar4Xk3sKCcRYLkjwAiAEWKbOTYVQ1R2w7roU1BdOODWmjSziMu2M/s1600/yellowstone1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3MG1av8Y-sNhAvqdLCa-q75Eh8MsulMWZVrIXVT_vt7ZC7b5g_1H5f_rA8PWUjMJPJRdkDRZsXaTO8c1pEnZva8rar4Xk3sKCcRYLkjwAiAEWKbOTYVQ1R2w7roU1BdOODWmjSziMu2M/s400/yellowstone1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZWOzcijNcf-egc0ZYTB2hjoA_mGFjIVPTCdYR14SdCK6TP9gfGbESAvpmO5pUxbmOmH4pEhXKObfm_WbTblIetdvHF9A05q65foqx9wd670c2PlGiCJh2_alV20aHa0uEj67XsUjfBhM/s1600/yellowstone2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZWOzcijNcf-egc0ZYTB2hjoA_mGFjIVPTCdYR14SdCK6TP9gfGbESAvpmO5pUxbmOmH4pEhXKObfm_WbTblIetdvHF9A05q65foqx9wd670c2PlGiCJh2_alV20aHa0uEj67XsUjfBhM/s400/yellowstone2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpYbIYv8qu27sxZ6U8ClahrqNmn_O0DwsF3N7Ge7EOzp4EHalCnXTHhYXN8om498aqIcg2F3JvjcvaDo7Mycp8bbE3cVV78sSKkPlZKWsaXbiBtx_vrncyBpFDyj-YSxrOgosTB3seB0/s1600/yellowstone7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpYbIYv8qu27sxZ6U8ClahrqNmn_O0DwsF3N7Ge7EOzp4EHalCnXTHhYXN8om498aqIcg2F3JvjcvaDo7Mycp8bbE3cVV78sSKkPlZKWsaXbiBtx_vrncyBpFDyj-YSxrOgosTB3seB0/s400/yellowstone7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
There was a (kind of) weird little museum part...some of the displays were a little disturbing, so I'll spare you those...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZV1x6zSM3WxOYgz135Q6NZ0IRA0JLA9JMGQAgS_lrXXnunnTrqNPvicql5q00-ACkQpvKqPY3UXKJTkNej4b7Rm6vFu2kaQwoA1JOg62uprSgLmuyrkdNc-RbKZ93Xl606Z-3FS9n1c/s1600/yellowstone6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZV1x6zSM3WxOYgz135Q6NZ0IRA0JLA9JMGQAgS_lrXXnunnTrqNPvicql5q00-ACkQpvKqPY3UXKJTkNej4b7Rm6vFu2kaQwoA1JOg62uprSgLmuyrkdNc-RbKZ93Xl606Z-3FS9n1c/s400/yellowstone6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
They had a fun gift shop that we THOROUGHLY enjoyed!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqTbCmXSIZ_IezoKxf8OpZhNDMPJYZ6dgY001_JUTcAhxXWj1o2M5BMmXQED-R9fZTV-8MJJcRL_DuRDZFXFDj6JrEbA-68AgK9xNI-VXZaQeiy_MNJt1k12tHTM9Wvt_t6TxJRPbVrs/s1600/yellowstone3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqTbCmXSIZ_IezoKxf8OpZhNDMPJYZ6dgY001_JUTcAhxXWj1o2M5BMmXQED-R9fZTV-8MJJcRL_DuRDZFXFDj6JrEbA-68AgK9xNI-VXZaQeiy_MNJt1k12tHTM9Wvt_t6TxJRPbVrs/s400/yellowstone3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
After the refuge, we continued our journey into the park (We stayed in West Yellowstone and one of the entrances to Yellowstone National Park was like....five minutes away...or less) where we saw some buffalo!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLnd_E0ldhGMM5OPzVaDABPRiIUEKPS6wGO0e3SDTGasicnJKghyphenhyphenilZMo82h9xcQK2XnerOIp7ZqVNnk01iMM_fRhApqLPxqOf36eWUOivr2T5XvMMqjudYG0ylddtDuLDFJFq1elV-I0/s1600/yellowstone24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLnd_E0ldhGMM5OPzVaDABPRiIUEKPS6wGO0e3SDTGasicnJKghyphenhyphenilZMo82h9xcQK2XnerOIp7ZqVNnk01iMM_fRhApqLPxqOf36eWUOivr2T5XvMMqjudYG0ylddtDuLDFJFq1elV-I0/s320/yellowstone24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Those are bison in the upper-right portion of the top picture below!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjTxJYzUXY9ef28UNt59TD6sKXTRfNX9MH98CNAQOqHeg-cOhYyzcuUlu4B_Lw1XD23YOJtD4Z8bhy9ePV5bqZ8U-RI5vG7OZtzF9Tpiw_Is6lLByv6mNt19UPTQl9UBffNeTPJMK3QA/s1600/yellowstone15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjTxJYzUXY9ef28UNt59TD6sKXTRfNX9MH98CNAQOqHeg-cOhYyzcuUlu4B_Lw1XD23YOJtD4Z8bhy9ePV5bqZ8U-RI5vG7OZtzF9Tpiw_Is6lLByv6mNt19UPTQl9UBffNeTPJMK3QA/s400/yellowstone15.jpg" width="340" /></a></div>
<br />
Sidenote: Let it be known that Stephen RAN OVER MY FOOT at this point in the trip. It must be documented. There were some bison walking down the road right next to the car, so we stopped. They were on the opposite side off the car as me, so I opened my door and stepped out to get a couple of shots (Yes, I know that was unbelievably stupid and dangerous....but I had to take advantage of such an awesome shot!!). It was then that Stephen decided to pull forward. I guess he didn't know that I had stepped out of the car and that it was the only thing standing between me and a giant buffalo...? In any case, McKay was furious and nearly murdered the poor guy. This is the "awesome" shot I got....while being run over...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIupVkquapNpTNl-wRz9SXN_-w-yXMkssMwkx1bBokxS64JG5PBqghKCWn0ZwVrshV43zkp3bSLLo1f-XjOApqmhH2tH-zG-PUdLmnRjWoO-fw2uDiXMcJ0C2ZB3BHL2PP57JYgV6bX4/s1600/yellowstone25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIupVkquapNpTNl-wRz9SXN_-w-yXMkssMwkx1bBokxS64JG5PBqghKCWn0ZwVrshV43zkp3bSLLo1f-XjOApqmhH2tH-zG-PUdLmnRjWoO-fw2uDiXMcJ0C2ZB3BHL2PP57JYgV6bX4/s400/yellowstone25.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
wah wah waaaahhhh.....oh well....</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One of the major things I wanted to see was Old Faithful. I got my wish! I'm not sure if any of you have ever been to Yellowstone or know much about Old Faithful, but they can kind of predict when she's gonna blow, so there's a tentative schedule letting you know the general time when the geyser will erupt. We got there at the tail-end of one eruption and decided to stick around for another one. We had some time to kill, which meant we got to do some exploring and picture-taking!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrJHqQNqxRM7O1Y0MDWDLrVwtbss9-Ky7Sb6ppXW7GHq5ZQHdN6j71XwCKfbHFURHJ9nkPNov203BqAh_BPuWR25FZm977AxIkZKsah_RI9jebdH6hWIREk9Bds6UnU5afMnQOu6ovUU/s1600/yellowstone18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrJHqQNqxRM7O1Y0MDWDLrVwtbss9-Ky7Sb6ppXW7GHq5ZQHdN6j71XwCKfbHFURHJ9nkPNov203BqAh_BPuWR25FZm977AxIkZKsah_RI9jebdH6hWIREk9Bds6UnU5afMnQOu6ovUU/s400/yellowstone18.jpg" width="307" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOPep7Ftw38SYpGfQGdcSEsrVhePK5xRdRGlKYkBZR2m9-y4i-2t-ji_jTMXk05HQ5dPuukTYqeuxdDKcoCQMK2T2QfZFjl9hu_7cFVnZ6_2bvHBzBkkGNScu3SbomIzu0_drhdWngAo/s1600/yellowstone17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOPep7Ftw38SYpGfQGdcSEsrVhePK5xRdRGlKYkBZR2m9-y4i-2t-ji_jTMXk05HQ5dPuukTYqeuxdDKcoCQMK2T2QfZFjl9hu_7cFVnZ6_2bvHBzBkkGNScu3SbomIzu0_drhdWngAo/s400/yellowstone17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-w7O-3CeBcp9z-9SntsN_z-lE_o5vWVSIeCOKkgAy8j_arq3JOqhxXw6cIRYmtBwP4B7Kgaq-Fl0jfQHEAbN9uv4Jn6DJi5eKV6kmIxZ9hl-y8q9RcmtzQvupU17XJ9CtYrucF4sS1TA/s1600/yellowstone19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-w7O-3CeBcp9z-9SntsN_z-lE_o5vWVSIeCOKkgAy8j_arq3JOqhxXw6cIRYmtBwP4B7Kgaq-Fl0jfQHEAbN9uv4Jn6DJi5eKV6kmIxZ9hl-y8q9RcmtzQvupU17XJ9CtYrucF4sS1TA/s400/yellowstone19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEYpsEyX5TucoxO7-KCViQDn-VzfN75RDK0I8BC3sgVCVMW2ikAGgknospGvn8LMXz5vBmm8vPEJhMLpU-2gD-4C6uiDCVacmZO2esNienO0ZOf6ypeaKNRrirYVEI22FyWzeNl05P1s/s1600/Yellowstone20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEYpsEyX5TucoxO7-KCViQDn-VzfN75RDK0I8BC3sgVCVMW2ikAGgknospGvn8LMXz5vBmm8vPEJhMLpU-2gD-4C6uiDCVacmZO2esNienO0ZOf6ypeaKNRrirYVEI22FyWzeNl05P1s/s400/Yellowstone20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
There were so many beautiful things to see!<br />
<br />
Finally.....FINALLY! Old Faithful erupted. Over 30 minutes "late". I guess that'll teach us to predict nature!!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyshj-CN3k7ykmii-OiCVEKh-QXUEmIy8J7qw6F1GR8uDbW2BJfvU_Ux2VXlouTvBnY2bSNwa4YQFjdfcLHoEfOpZXMIRx4GvAa3MkROStdPcXjJqL05DdxLEdjVlqUaDIOG2aTtlbfV4/s1600/yellowstone21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyshj-CN3k7ykmii-OiCVEKh-QXUEmIy8J7qw6F1GR8uDbW2BJfvU_Ux2VXlouTvBnY2bSNwa4YQFjdfcLHoEfOpZXMIRx4GvAa3MkROStdPcXjJqL05DdxLEdjVlqUaDIOG2aTtlbfV4/s400/yellowstone21.jpg" width="338" /></a></div>
<br />
This other little geyser erupted around the same time and kind of showed up O.F. - it went WAY higher...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-XKjGznW13ncDhwE8QE57zuIB6UOS-_cg1fbGaSECZjybHd91PneDS0RncDROiWiT83Dy51AGGMrDozEHk_rzdkj9eOEIvRDBW8OtNuZDM9FLt1owjEri7UyR3SvGwxlBeQYIqPjk9Yg/s1600/yellowstone22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-XKjGznW13ncDhwE8QE57zuIB6UOS-_cg1fbGaSECZjybHd91PneDS0RncDROiWiT83Dy51AGGMrDozEHk_rzdkj9eOEIvRDBW8OtNuZDM9FLt1owjEri7UyR3SvGwxlBeQYIqPjk9Yg/s400/yellowstone22.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The next day, we decided to explore the resort and found the awesome indoor pool so we took Gabe swimming. And here, I insert my complaint: Sometimes being the photographer is the crappiest job!! I never get to be in any of the pictures and, as far as anyone else can tell, I'm completely uninvolved with my son or in family activites....sigh....<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCa0EK659uX9H-0pEnmblQJ1W7FoVUggU7W7lK87WS04zamI-UNh2_2Z-i2vEQgB_IKD6tC8hQfJdna8zymcAnIrPeqMf4MhZXY4pOnYduU1zV8F9YX7i_SZJxwQGcVbGL-wGI4blVls/s1600/yellowstone5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCa0EK659uX9H-0pEnmblQJ1W7FoVUggU7W7lK87WS04zamI-UNh2_2Z-i2vEQgB_IKD6tC8hQfJdna8zymcAnIrPeqMf4MhZXY4pOnYduU1zV8F9YX7i_SZJxwQGcVbGL-wGI4blVls/s400/yellowstone5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz7Y6rOVpF3aCtqreZ7bM6SP1LzfnXk8CH40asjUPZGFOBX0BHlOPrZnpCgWW0oTnCz1VDeIZhj_Y7JE-29h6No74nyhwhVOv9YVDo0Jmh6IgJnmGbWCddivUoXI2Z12sqVqyjkjka9bg/s1600/yellowstone8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz7Y6rOVpF3aCtqreZ7bM6SP1LzfnXk8CH40asjUPZGFOBX0BHlOPrZnpCgWW0oTnCz1VDeIZhj_Y7JE-29h6No74nyhwhVOv9YVDo0Jmh6IgJnmGbWCddivUoXI2Z12sqVqyjkjka9bg/s400/yellowstone8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMerDsrORwUQ106NMZdXLt2G-ixGMGgoUPujcYxyK7hyW3H5EbD5pN09LdoDsGomd9ehlEoyo0C23nh00QKTIsM_9t97gjQBbDflnCoew6zPykDO5lzIpktiP6rhKVeXdB8-LrMLXwJo/s1600/yellowstone9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMerDsrORwUQ106NMZdXLt2G-ixGMGgoUPujcYxyK7hyW3H5EbD5pN09LdoDsGomd9ehlEoyo0C23nh00QKTIsM_9t97gjQBbDflnCoew6zPykDO5lzIpktiP6rhKVeXdB8-LrMLXwJo/s400/yellowstone9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
After the pool, we explored the adorable little town of West Yellowstone. So cute, guys. Seriously. To our dismay, a lot of stuff was closed because "the season" wouldn't be starting until the following week. Talk about bad timing. Oh well...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwuwgSpyRqjOc-XGS2kgfMOuQOEXbrVXVoA1ZE5Id9kTddkMSs4SCPzLIStwRl3-UqGw6QUObptaFLNbK789vCuDoor6BjIYKhSmClVFG0Y2L5MdrdKh-vgrsFQJHo_qBX1SGj0Aq8JUs/s1600/yellowstone12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwuwgSpyRqjOc-XGS2kgfMOuQOEXbrVXVoA1ZE5Id9kTddkMSs4SCPzLIStwRl3-UqGw6QUObptaFLNbK789vCuDoor6BjIYKhSmClVFG0Y2L5MdrdKh-vgrsFQJHo_qBX1SGj0Aq8JUs/s400/yellowstone12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYxaegtHGFfzbGMLLSSHiCQlHax_uWAebiEUSJl9bQ79Knrojpz6TsXxRmFFeNUqJJLOB2cj7_ysgQ_WdEngzhIIoXTYEKWEgUpcybCwKrQogs8_RsaUcel4uanDm7yT5OfKsY1iXpv8/s1600/yellowstone13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYxaegtHGFfzbGMLLSSHiCQlHax_uWAebiEUSJl9bQ79Knrojpz6TsXxRmFFeNUqJJLOB2cj7_ysgQ_WdEngzhIIoXTYEKWEgUpcybCwKrQogs8_RsaUcel4uanDm7yT5OfKsY1iXpv8/s400/yellowstone13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
There were large, painted fiberglass bison all over town. I wish we had taken pictures with more of them!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkWQrqaSzeo-pL_S0mFCM_ugH6Votct4b_A4jJEuvhkg0JabqeipRCla4l4S9N0jt9FgygpdGQ1L6B8AjLijcehJ2VAta1ciZwr8aMUbAlyYN-7XO9oHrYqfj2yUNFnqve90XDR_N1YII/s1600/yellowstone14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkWQrqaSzeo-pL_S0mFCM_ugH6Votct4b_A4jJEuvhkg0JabqeipRCla4l4S9N0jt9FgygpdGQ1L6B8AjLijcehJ2VAta1ciZwr8aMUbAlyYN-7XO9oHrYqfj2yUNFnqve90XDR_N1YII/s400/yellowstone14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
All in all, it was a fun and memorable trip! We hope to return to Yellowstone (DURING "the season" next time) in a few years!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCuU5ZzNBp28zWs4PydQ5rU7N0iJDqE6wqFIyScsUlREaWDJapfEJgjtGA1FGrI8mnORbI5I6Qtc9CESKHTW3pH0ezPmxIRy-GuugvSj52t8z13Xy525a_rdORnpgE0RjnZB5w140vUM/s1600/yellowstone23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCuU5ZzNBp28zWs4PydQ5rU7N0iJDqE6wqFIyScsUlREaWDJapfEJgjtGA1FGrI8mnORbI5I6Qtc9CESKHTW3pH0ezPmxIRy-GuugvSj52t8z13Xy525a_rdORnpgE0RjnZB5w140vUM/s640/yellowstone23.jpg" width="416" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-73978208610307426652011-07-01T07:21:00.000-06:002011-08-30T07:22:16.301-06:00Bubble BoyI don't know why it took us so long to discover this, but Gabriel LOVES bubbles. It wasn't until about April/May that we introduced the two of them and he has been obsessed ever since. It's a good thing they're super cheap and easily refilled!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAO9lHW91BncpP9yfLUCie_dgmKlcMEESnGqGxf9XruULsIcagN9yul7e5m-c94eg_fV3ume9yNvbr4uqHC-M-0PCnDiAbyFEGIt9pdPSJu76VauI9O-V29mWhCe7tz54b4bV4yTkMdQ/s1600/bubbles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAO9lHW91BncpP9yfLUCie_dgmKlcMEESnGqGxf9XruULsIcagN9yul7e5m-c94eg_fV3ume9yNvbr4uqHC-M-0PCnDiAbyFEGIt9pdPSJu76VauI9O-V29mWhCe7tz54b4bV4yTkMdQ/s400/bubbles.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I'm thinking we may need to get him a bubble mower....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-50883238366754463502011-06-29T20:23:00.001-06:002011-06-29T20:27:34.577-06:00I have no clever title for this postThese are the rest of the little parts and pieces of April that I just couldn't <i>not</i> post....<br />
<br />
Gabriel started talking and imitating us a LOT in April, and we love it!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967335073910" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967335073910" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">We had a big milestone/first in April - Gabriel pooped in the tub! Did I really go almost 18 months without him pooping in the tub? Yes. But here you have it, ladies and gentlemen:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967346474195" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967346474195" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">FYI: I drained the tub and took Gabe out right after this so he wasn't sitting in poo-infested water. I was scooping out toys as the water was draining so I could separated everything from the turd. I scooped up what I thought was another handful of toys.....nope. There was a second turd! Eew! I just full-on grabbed a little poo log! It was gross. I love being a mommy.</div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Gabriel still uses signs even though he's starting to talk. People who don't know signs look at us weird all the time like "Uhh....what is your kid doing?" and people who do know signs get all excited - "Oh my gosh! Is he signing? That's so cool! What signs does he know?" I brag about it all the time. I just think it's awesome. Yeah, my kid is signing AND talking. Holla!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967357874480" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967357874480" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">My little dancer babe loves to move and groove to the beat. Most of the time, I get the camera on him and he stops. We were watching The Cool TV or whatever that channel is called (what MTV should be - they play music/music videos all day every day) and Gabe started feelin' it and was totally rocking out and dancing to the music. I grabbed my phone to get a video and, of course, the beat goes away for a minute....and he started looking for it! (Yes--the beat. He was looking for the beat)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967370594798" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967370594798" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">There. April is done now.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-72922877949083011942011-06-07T09:51:00.002-06:002011-06-07T10:37:24.215-06:00Easter ExtravaganzaEaster this year was a glorious mess. I was so excited because I didn't really get to do much with Gabriel last year since he was so little. No egg dying or egg hunts or Easter basket excitement....boooo!! So I was determined to dive in to it this year. First thing was first, though--I HAD to find an EXCELLENT Easter bunny for pictures. (Last year's pictures were hilarious!) I searched the web and called all of the obvious places. No one was going to have an Easter bunny. WHAT?! I was mad. But I just shrugged it off at the time and figured I'd find one eventually.<br />
<br />
Fast forward to the weekend before Easter. Gabriel's day care threw a little Easter egg hunt/party for all of the kids. I was PUMPED! This would be Gabe's first Easter egg hunt. I could not wait to see what he would do.<br />
<br />
Side note: I was a little apprehensive about putting Gabriel in a day care center. Who knows what kind of care he would get and what sort of germs he would, no doubt, be running around with all day? I love his daycare though! They have structured learning time and play time and naps and meals and snacks and whatever. They do cute little crafts now and then - this is what he "made" for Easter:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VmidW57MttUGxA_1JkY89L04IHmXLCrA3dHAsksQ25UMW2b6XzWwVg0hfZgkOH5lSuIntFrsWb7dHHRTPfw2LQKuJ6AHWGAF5lhMkqGbf2LsQ_XqC13WppVd6EKMjPs44W-jx5oJFqU/s1600/kl+crafts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_VmidW57MttUGxA_1JkY89L04IHmXLCrA3dHAsksQ25UMW2b6XzWwVg0hfZgkOH5lSuIntFrsWb7dHHRTPfw2LQKuJ6AHWGAF5lhMkqGbf2LsQ_XqC13WppVd6EKMjPs44W-jx5oJFqU/s320/kl+crafts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A cute little egg holder! Obviously, he just colored it, but I love that he is having arts/craft time! They helped him make a cute little Mother's Day gift for me too with his handprint in paint - framed and with a picture. *LOVE*<br />
<br />
Anyway, back to the Easter egg hunt! He was SO READY to be running around outside. He didn't even know what was going on.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbv66GMxExnTKLSNsd7qqClWMeXkkg7d4IEAYgzxcXAwT718Sj2Gbuo4XkmUfHyIoTv-m27RZKoq-wpnP1sXMtR16_5a-phWXFtw-oFps1gzDd2JdJAN3eXnswENdrnKEXFrz1JcuqFSs/s1600/kl+egg+hunt1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbv66GMxExnTKLSNsd7qqClWMeXkkg7d4IEAYgzxcXAwT718Sj2Gbuo4XkmUfHyIoTv-m27RZKoq-wpnP1sXMtR16_5a-phWXFtw-oFps1gzDd2JdJAN3eXnswENdrnKEXFrz1JcuqFSs/s400/kl+egg+hunt1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967362874605" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967362874605" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><br />
We had to keep grabbing him (he just wanted to run around) and tell him "Oh look! What's that?! Go get it!" and "Oh my goodness--another one! Go get it and put it in your basket!!"<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguR0qogPFb0glsbySHt3rWye6KlYn_KHXG6dPeAcuHAMabfYnMFpNYhUK4BrJMakTCfcld1SXDuJjWCIrbYTvgwy60E-WtgBTh0hneeADMGgKH5jmKAeZX_4NTWva1zfh1bYYrKNOMaKE/s1600/kl+egg+hunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguR0qogPFb0glsbySHt3rWye6KlYn_KHXG6dPeAcuHAMabfYnMFpNYhUK4BrJMakTCfcld1SXDuJjWCIrbYTvgwy60E-WtgBTh0hneeADMGgKH5jmKAeZX_4NTWva1zfh1bYYrKNOMaKE/s1600/kl+egg+hunt.jpg" /></a></div><br />
He eventually got excited because we were excited.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_F575onNoCAM1INVWtCJf5KlU5DQ00J6e0qDwaoANnQ4-HaVZn6cNse2w3xwmVp_Xnv1jdDu4DLbWczdNpuOphynREnxu7TpwH7PWyW6EMaBdIMqgc-UUDtQk-Me3Z0vOswUm0IBiog/s1600/kl+egg+hunt2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_F575onNoCAM1INVWtCJf5KlU5DQ00J6e0qDwaoANnQ4-HaVZn6cNse2w3xwmVp_Xnv1jdDu4DLbWczdNpuOphynREnxu7TpwH7PWyW6EMaBdIMqgc-UUDtQk-Me3Z0vOswUm0IBiog/s400/kl+egg+hunt2.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />
He loved squeezing the eggs until they popped open to see what was inside!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwXz7Ul46TO6hGHHaDOA2HzZnbeAuv6GNQwyt-hPbptpPKVZBqUiFzivT7_Zcafq2OPvH-Lrb1kdY13hnj8dZ6tOisjGUePdv_9-s-tEqzdpgSLTgEhmgycboOrQeOEhGL6dSJcNjeTg/s1600/kl+egg+hunt3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwXz7Ul46TO6hGHHaDOA2HzZnbeAuv6GNQwyt-hPbptpPKVZBqUiFzivT7_Zcafq2OPvH-Lrb1kdY13hnj8dZ6tOisjGUePdv_9-s-tEqzdpgSLTgEhmgycboOrQeOEhGL6dSJcNjeTg/s400/kl+egg+hunt3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
All in all, he was just here and there and everywhere, but it was cute and I think we all had fun!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4L05qNo8XR-YGS8cBm_a-SeXu-EH77X9tTzrJPTdVU7Qqh1GBjT6k8xupH4nk3nf7FLIuZCEcglrN8rKupIpAggo7Zp9AIezegXV5JunX3Hrx5I1BNut-zvwtoGD_-jUX7zKe7qxXIc/s1600/kl+egg+hunt4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4L05qNo8XR-YGS8cBm_a-SeXu-EH77X9tTzrJPTdVU7Qqh1GBjT6k8xupH4nk3nf7FLIuZCEcglrN8rKupIpAggo7Zp9AIezegXV5JunX3Hrx5I1BNut-zvwtoGD_-jUX7zKe7qxXIc/s1600/kl+egg+hunt4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Gabriel found a little friend at one point and they followed each other around and played together. It was really cute to watch! And then A. picked up a stick and started hitting things with it and I decided Gabriel needed to play...elsewhere...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAYE4h9Wc_IRcbouSUltBos6Q3JIQhiIyJ-YForiUR_Nk6p9CT4K48ln-ssIxEmFLPHnQxRHBKdY3niEkOLQ2hobradyyXhquwYriBN3Skt_2c5Dmivm06i_xRKxiAkNhtEd93syg4_M/s1600/kl+egg+hunt5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAYE4h9Wc_IRcbouSUltBos6Q3JIQhiIyJ-YForiUR_Nk6p9CT4K48ln-ssIxEmFLPHnQxRHBKdY3niEkOLQ2hobradyyXhquwYriBN3Skt_2c5Dmivm06i_xRKxiAkNhtEd93syg4_M/s400/kl+egg+hunt5.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><br />
After the Easter egg hunt and play time, they had lunch for everyone. While we were eating, my mom called to ask if I had found an Easter bunny yet. Nope. Well guess what? She found one for me (how? I don't know. The woman lives in Hawaii....) at the Riverwoods mall and it was the CUTEST Easter bunny she had ever seen. I was pumped! She sent me the URL for the information (times, location, etc.) and it had a picture of the bunny and the setup--seriously the cutest bunny and set up ever. It was around 11-12ish and the website said the Easter bunny would be there from 10am-7pm. Perfect. Plenty of time. We ran home to grab my camera (it was one of those "take your own pictures for free" setups, which I like better anyway) and we were off!! We got the the mall and the bunny was nowhere to be found. I called the number on the website and the stupid, snotty girl who answered says:<br />
"Oh, he's gone."<br />
"Oh...for lunch? When does he get back?"<br />
"No no--for the day."<br />
"Wait...what?"<br />
"Yeah. He left at noon."<br />
"And he's not coming back?"<br />
"Nope."<br />
"...at all? Not even on another day?"<br />
"Uh-uh."<br />
"But...your website says he'll be here from ten to seven.."<br />
"No--that's for the weekdays."<br />
"Uhhh....it says 'Weekdays eight to five, Saturday ten to seven.'"<br />
"Oh. Well that's a typo."<br />
"Are you serious?"<br />
"Yep. Sorry. I hope you have a nice day." -click-<br />
<br />
WHAT?! I was so pissed!! How do you have a typo like that? And here's an idea: FIX IT. Who on earth has an Easter bunny for pictures only from ten till noon on a SATURDAY?! The Saturday before EASTER, no less?! I was mad. But there was nothing I could do about it. I was bound and determined to find a dang Easter bunny, though. Had to. I called everywhere. Again. The best I could find in a 20 mile radius was a WalMart with an Easter Bunny cut out. A CUT OUT. I was absolutely crestfallen and ready to give up. I decided to call one more place. And guess what? Yep. They had an Easter Bunny! So we drove all the way to the A.F. WalMart garden center just to get a picture with him. And let me tell you, it was the creepiest one I had seen in person. We got there and I asked where he was and someone pointed in the general direction. I looked over and around the plants and spotted the head of the E.B. Holy crap. My heart jumped. He was NOT cute. Part of the head had been smashed, so the mouth was all lopsided and weird. They didn't even have anything set up. I was just creepster-bunny sitting in a chair in the garden center. Whatever. We drove all that way and there was NO ONE in the county with a freaking Easter Bunny, so we were posing with this creepy one whether we liked it or not.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvYMqd8smADFY8SBisabl8FMt13vZxvvsUmDLyZC9otmFdsRi4BjaJuAp7J0B9jSk_o3LGp3VNiW8kpJ9GA6BtaZ9MErW5w5eqsEFsAv0xpPmdA7hsTLN8X1TN3Cxp4h1s5wWkNBdmUg/s1600/crappy+easter+bunny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvYMqd8smADFY8SBisabl8FMt13vZxvvsUmDLyZC9otmFdsRi4BjaJuAp7J0B9jSk_o3LGp3VNiW8kpJ9GA6BtaZ9MErW5w5eqsEFsAv0xpPmdA7hsTLN8X1TN3Cxp4h1s5wWkNBdmUg/s400/crappy+easter+bunny.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">...yeah....Gabe didn't really know what to think...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was just a few days later that my family flew in. I had so much fun with the kids together! My mom and sister love to do all the little bows and headbands and flowers for Lily's hair so, of course, there was always some sort of girly stuff on the table or on the floor. Gabe decided to try out one of Lily's headbands for himself when no one was paying attention. Of course, we spotted him and thought it was hilarious, so we all started laughing. He tore it off his head (embarrassed?) and threw it before I could grab the camera....so of course we had to put it back on him for a picture and he was MAD. Gamma thought it was pretty funny...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtqO1ZSQtZLgicQhNxuvjzTSiJZ0JBPXvTXLOPQX8I0xXeuJ-96BI5KhsiH820PthXtHefkfXiu2x1mpgFaAldHTQ178-cL0rqDDMfys4iXkqIhpylEXAxVLXVDBzYXF3QQR4HCs7EGp8/s1600/gabriella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtqO1ZSQtZLgicQhNxuvjzTSiJZ0JBPXvTXLOPQX8I0xXeuJ-96BI5KhsiH820PthXtHefkfXiu2x1mpgFaAldHTQ178-cL0rqDDMfys4iXkqIhpylEXAxVLXVDBzYXF3QQR4HCs7EGp8/s400/gabriella.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My little Gabriella</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Dying eggs was pretty fun and relatively painless. I learned from dying eggs with Lily last year that you won't have much dye left if you just let the kiddos have at it. We let them drop an egg into whatever color they wanted and then we would set it aside and let them do another one, etc. Once all the colors were occupied, we'd let them sit for a minute and take all the eggs out and start again. It worked out pretty well!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil9HKozYH2itlueGK4hmRaYa3ylrG-9NUjXEIVUiSyhFR-GShtiOEyDVPilzONrhAmXYsbUt7e3bupT81Z3a-_mX9MWjgO9EIlmToWKty8DwnMatwNEHYfn42_tmvNgJSiGjxX19_s2Wg/s1600/dying+eggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil9HKozYH2itlueGK4hmRaYa3ylrG-9NUjXEIVUiSyhFR-GShtiOEyDVPilzONrhAmXYsbUt7e3bupT81Z3a-_mX9MWjgO9EIlmToWKty8DwnMatwNEHYfn42_tmvNgJSiGjxX19_s2Wg/s1600/dying+eggs.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Love that splash! (upper left picture) Good thing we had some old ugly towels to dye on!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfg4jx6j6bXs2A-k8fg_r7Ld-0u2uF0iMt08q7w66SRBebvGPrd8m6XUhCW0Ceb7uo4N9f51KOVsCKE38Mp-ITQ_JouLFYkGOEUJ0_AreQIT_4Dsp8CWnsh92kspOb_MjktQ5wyW5AAA/s1600/dying+eggs2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfg4jx6j6bXs2A-k8fg_r7Ld-0u2uF0iMt08q7w66SRBebvGPrd8m6XUhCW0Ceb7uo4N9f51KOVsCKE38Mp-ITQ_JouLFYkGOEUJ0_AreQIT_4Dsp8CWnsh92kspOb_MjktQ5wyW5AAA/s320/dying+eggs2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We still had a little bit of an egg dye mess, though....how do you like my little smurf baby?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzmpy8SVLbfiQsPe2K_3Dhlv3DiR_behffqgSL4pKzhcQ664oisYKA1Xplpbl1rVeVcMK2MoOy1b1raVYRXk4NoMQRjSx-E1tvyCfU-GYGqIKD-vTgKmNBjg15-th7BVz84h8DmvFL9U/s1600/egg+dying+aftermath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzmpy8SVLbfiQsPe2K_3Dhlv3DiR_behffqgSL4pKzhcQ664oisYKA1Xplpbl1rVeVcMK2MoOy1b1raVYRXk4NoMQRjSx-E1tvyCfU-GYGqIKD-vTgKmNBjg15-th7BVz84h8DmvFL9U/s400/egg+dying+aftermath.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our family does one of the usual Easter traditions--a new Easter dress/outfit. My mom insisted on buying Gabriel's Easter suit this year. I, of course, wasn't about to argue with that! The outfit she got for him was soooo cute. Check out my handsome boy in his Easter clothes!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEc-1qNhK488UMqbY5QG31L9ccQefu6kggMh2BoalOpjiX7lpGGL8IhhxP73iKxHxki7KzB_N01_KH9oZWyDJWg7I8FlNcrZKONvZqYWV6SWTQdMvSY_qrBoCPOQhCM7M1WGSP5kXLW8/s1600/easter+suit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEc-1qNhK488UMqbY5QG31L9ccQefu6kggMh2BoalOpjiX7lpGGL8IhhxP73iKxHxki7KzB_N01_KH9oZWyDJWg7I8FlNcrZKONvZqYWV6SWTQdMvSY_qrBoCPOQhCM7M1WGSP5kXLW8/s400/easter+suit.jpg" width="337" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What a little stud!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So another part of the hot mess that was Easter this year was the fact that my sister sent a bunch of stuff for Lily and Gabe and the rest of us from Japan. Of course, true to her character, she waited until the LAST MINUTE to mail everything (haha--I love you Candace), so her stuff was not going to get to us in time. That was most of Lily's Easter stuff....so we had to postpone the baskets until Candace's stuff got to my house. We did, however, do the Easter egg hunt ON Easter Sunday. It was awesome.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqEStOFZKwCADqyYv2XSoL0_oEZTWiXns5ueIXQhJ6Hu4pHgWeHXKrG8FT6CLtrTg8BXZjJb1j-1bI5qtuBoTTw_-Ok8SbGDQ0R37TiaYPrO-rB_OroZZv94UtKFXCAe3OeBhoD3y1y0/s1600/egg+hunt+lily+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqEStOFZKwCADqyYv2XSoL0_oEZTWiXns5ueIXQhJ6Hu4pHgWeHXKrG8FT6CLtrTg8BXZjJb1j-1bI5qtuBoTTw_-Ok8SbGDQ0R37TiaYPrO-rB_OroZZv94UtKFXCAe3OeBhoD3y1y0/s400/egg+hunt+lily+pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBDsRUV7JcMQ7xRwQhlph5T7YI0ypfieVX7VCniLxSO4yEG4GW1hqgB8Y5-1njE4iNLpmznSjFzGsT3nghtO50r5eetkIGYLpTlKKTZuYXqMumzIVkOMq2qZSUR21aEfXqDeOLwVkv4Y/s1600/egg+hunt+gabe+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBDsRUV7JcMQ7xRwQhlph5T7YI0ypfieVX7VCniLxSO4yEG4GW1hqgB8Y5-1njE4iNLpmznSjFzGsT3nghtO50r5eetkIGYLpTlKKTZuYXqMumzIVkOMq2qZSUR21aEfXqDeOLwVkv4Y/s400/egg+hunt+gabe+pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">McKay and I...I mean....the<i> Easter Bunny</i>....hid a bunch of eggs in my mother-in-law's yard (a few doors down from us--her yard is much bigger than ours) and then it was ON! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016626666169" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016626666169" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCtryQS9SX4MNroyDz8qpEHdo_yTHh2teL9TrrQb-ZtS7yMxbSB2FUOtYg5DBv1RhyfoGTp6EF71BXvLQfqwjOdamphTrVdbpxVf9KsYktC01XSZB7d1aQoY-XWL38dshwBR2Rjo8lFY/s1600/egg+hunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCtryQS9SX4MNroyDz8qpEHdo_yTHh2teL9TrrQb-ZtS7yMxbSB2FUOtYg5DBv1RhyfoGTp6EF71BXvLQfqwjOdamphTrVdbpxVf9KsYktC01XSZB7d1aQoY-XWL38dshwBR2Rjo8lFY/s400/egg+hunt.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQ1aN3zqyZsg64MHLbDZj-_NEMhYPHtCE6uEB898vdFEU7ok9uApn_t02TC1aYIs_UaCAk3d4TkKAGnAwAabR16kUksPAsDAXfofSBHS0n7ccIz5YqOjOc57Bq71rIt-FuBrPGLawxas/s1600/egg+hunt2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQ1aN3zqyZsg64MHLbDZj-_NEMhYPHtCE6uEB898vdFEU7ok9uApn_t02TC1aYIs_UaCAk3d4TkKAGnAwAabR16kUksPAsDAXfofSBHS0n7ccIz5YqOjOc57Bq71rIt-FuBrPGLawxas/s1600/egg+hunt2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Lily, of course, is a seasoned pro and she just had at it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDNfeh-jAazH25H30h-TXFADTQwz9YjLctzBAdlLstxMI5kfu5JlXFaLq988cDe5trPv2DW-mx3foQuWQnMG2uBilKq54aKTg6AIclo7hYELirctgJDn3YqnYp-FBHR-k3GBZXwTQf2M/s1600/egg+hunt3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDNfeh-jAazH25H30h-TXFADTQwz9YjLctzBAdlLstxMI5kfu5JlXFaLq988cDe5trPv2DW-mx3foQuWQnMG2uBilKq54aKTg6AIclo7hYELirctgJDn3YqnYp-FBHR-k3GBZXwTQf2M/s400/egg+hunt3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
She is such a sweet big-cousin. She saw that Gabriel didn't have many eggs in his basket, so she would occasionally find one and run over to Gabe and give it to him. It was so cute and sweet to see her sharing like that. Man, I love that kid! She would help us encourage him to find/pick up an egg, even though (I could tell) it was really hard for her to not pick it up herself.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjHgouPoCkSebvjY_nwEY1pHElcqBSxq-FFUZ5YNx5NBsH3Nj94fVuYrDG2t4lORhadMsbqNW5W_909L_7MlQLxBmg8x8w2DDXsL-2PKrh5goc9tA3o23BcKPXrHnJmYsncxjCpcH4-Aw/s1600/egg+hunt4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjHgouPoCkSebvjY_nwEY1pHElcqBSxq-FFUZ5YNx5NBsH3Nj94fVuYrDG2t4lORhadMsbqNW5W_909L_7MlQLxBmg8x8w2DDXsL-2PKrh5goc9tA3o23BcKPXrHnJmYsncxjCpcH4-Aw/s1600/egg+hunt4.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016629986252" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016629986252" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><br />
Lily was just so cute and funny running around looking for eggs. She would spot one, hold her basket straight out in front of her, and run to go grab it. And the way she ran was hilarious because the grass was so tall and hard to get through quickly.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016633226333" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016633226333" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQ5hA_WZzzpCcX-u7tsqXklzsD279o3PFv6NAzJtbNGogUqE0hqHnRD7EHf_Sl-ZS2vb9ebSWg6qLYWKYo4JeF_dUdJh2Tajo_K2RM06LL4G7lZjARnpUKWNQlfKsloBJlAF02tP5cwg/s1600/egg+hunt5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQ5hA_WZzzpCcX-u7tsqXklzsD279o3PFv6NAzJtbNGogUqE0hqHnRD7EHf_Sl-ZS2vb9ebSWg6qLYWKYo4JeF_dUdJh2Tajo_K2RM06LL4G7lZjARnpUKWNQlfKsloBJlAF02tP5cwg/s400/egg+hunt5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016637146431" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016637146431" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><br />
Gabriel was pretty disinterested in the whole thing and just wanted to run around and play in the tall grass (lawn mower=broken, so they had a jungle to search through!).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMZL8MQg60J6yfhk1YHshncXxfG5uKVFvEZYAOp6hRpJE1mLwtq2uLRvV6bkVEMnu8lk8nNm8Sn9BPn5axjBQ7AvBYNidPYdv76tF9kEMfGtJnph4jBwSjuzp0aR-fQoHyShZtREZMJQ/s1600/egg+hunt6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMZL8MQg60J6yfhk1YHshncXxfG5uKVFvEZYAOp6hRpJE1mLwtq2uLRvV6bkVEMnu8lk8nNm8Sn9BPn5axjBQ7AvBYNidPYdv76tF9kEMfGtJnph4jBwSjuzp0aR-fQoHyShZtREZMJQ/s400/egg+hunt6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016639986502" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016639986502" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQAZ0Htk4PgT9LFt8OGfm_bTc_l0AL_Osfq0inRaJwzEJ4UyW1V-gkb3Ewk5TPD46oCd7MVUuYG-O6BN03z1Vc_Tg9asdaXex9BFu_QQ6X5R9Mf2DDKaqZCnHcHZQJas4Fr8j4hZHAMo/s1600/egg+hunt7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQAZ0Htk4PgT9LFt8OGfm_bTc_l0AL_Osfq0inRaJwzEJ4UyW1V-gkb3Ewk5TPD46oCd7MVUuYG-O6BN03z1Vc_Tg9asdaXex9BFu_QQ6X5R9Mf2DDKaqZCnHcHZQJas4Fr8j4hZHAMo/s400/egg+hunt7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
After the hunt, Unka 'Kay (that's what Lily calls him) helped count eggs. When we saw that there were still a few left to be found, we went to do a sweep of the yard and came back to find that our count had been wrong--there was still another on missing....or was there?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfWWwULZsVsGT3-_Ot6JbADJj-v9LGJdgND5hOfFWawTWI0hpguv7BLmvvGUy14NmZBj4cMJhkt729sKzFnHEasPCAzBr7ddus9JEKlLnTbAjl-AgsZp69mpvzBXM3AGKkEtaV1gU1LlQ/s1600/egg+hunt8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfWWwULZsVsGT3-_Ot6JbADJj-v9LGJdgND5hOfFWawTWI0hpguv7BLmvvGUy14NmZBj4cMJhkt729sKzFnHEasPCAzBr7ddus9JEKlLnTbAjl-AgsZp69mpvzBXM3AGKkEtaV1gU1LlQ/s1600/egg+hunt8.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gabriel decided that he wanted an egg and he bit right in to one! He spit it out with an "Eeeeww!!" and we all had a good laugh. I guess eggshell is not very appetizing...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A little later while Lily was occupied in Gabe's room, we put together Gabriel's basket from Nana and Papa Rivera (oh yeah--Daisy sent the whole sha-bang. Easter basket and grass and eggs and candy and toys and everything!) and brought him in to dig through it while Nana and Papa watched on Skype!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMNC1BO4U3QOZIdp_OSZUbtl5tkNXQA4v3JmhgaLr-blR8lasZuzyGfnB4UEB9aDyEGDGNlcU439nfSeMDpjYvG6b5sXTsCqJYYFbaoMzPT4jSHuTVGbfcglta4TTAQcrQYron21e3pU/s1600/rivera+basket1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMNC1BO4U3QOZIdp_OSZUbtl5tkNXQA4v3JmhgaLr-blR8lasZuzyGfnB4UEB9aDyEGDGNlcU439nfSeMDpjYvG6b5sXTsCqJYYFbaoMzPT4jSHuTVGbfcglta4TTAQcrQYron21e3pU/s640/rivera+basket1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwXDMkt4mIvCucLhOXjsnhAxKBOk_WRwxr0jpNL9nIXSPpoh0_sJQmSwATIoym8uR4nroqCVLZJk0VLtA_q2JfaXTNQ-5mlvviwO-y5XNz4vkEJFuOAEKuwjLxpPOo69SxXAmhAxIh_0/s1600/rivera+basket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwXDMkt4mIvCucLhOXjsnhAxKBOk_WRwxr0jpNL9nIXSPpoh0_sJQmSwATIoym8uR4nroqCVLZJk0VLtA_q2JfaXTNQ-5mlvviwO-y5XNz4vkEJFuOAEKuwjLxpPOo69SxXAmhAxIh_0/s1600/rivera+basket.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">He was so cute--sharing with Nana via Skype</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RHx-Im35dDe-QnXZ1XeiWO9zGROTBHmZ5WjMK_3g-LZQltyAwtl9o1H_VgHdgyIelG34FyB8rg7BgqhpcoFuQRKUs2e_RXvF23rTKLxU1Q_Q3z2d-Mm9GSeQfj8e2dlFTufrOn7-Rxw/s1600/rivera+basket2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RHx-Im35dDe-QnXZ1XeiWO9zGROTBHmZ5WjMK_3g-LZQltyAwtl9o1H_VgHdgyIelG34FyB8rg7BgqhpcoFuQRKUs2e_RXvF23rTKLxU1Q_Q3z2d-Mm9GSeQfj8e2dlFTufrOn7-Rxw/s400/rivera+basket2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWhZdr1JtFd6vDJvAMHE_4i5dOkZozNnk8MabxMNUBUZ9g3DACJ3LY2RZwdxIt-mdPkoSWQq56FOedLbD5NscDuWLWTowod2QMmkjKZ-GuOgZBFGq9Y7y7tif3VqEQ_aGUkOPNmV9ojE/s1600/rivera+basket3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWhZdr1JtFd6vDJvAMHE_4i5dOkZozNnk8MabxMNUBUZ9g3DACJ3LY2RZwdxIt-mdPkoSWQq56FOedLbD5NscDuWLWTowod2QMmkjKZ-GuOgZBFGq9Y7y7tif3VqEQ_aGUkOPNmV9ojE/s400/rivera+basket3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">He would not take his eyes off of Skype (except to look at candy)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji81pQYgXhUcphcwFeseK44q_R3RrY2gD0xDW7WfcCNrJslTZavIZGKCSlz0WienzdzdJws9-znctNAHDFrkKRaezTaZ9Hk9iBpomjGG0SPM523gsqgD08bQrZ6UU5WdHMysIL9ib-Nso/s1600/rivera+basket4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji81pQYgXhUcphcwFeseK44q_R3RrY2gD0xDW7WfcCNrJslTZavIZGKCSlz0WienzdzdJws9-znctNAHDFrkKRaezTaZ9Hk9iBpomjGG0SPM523gsqgD08bQrZ6UU5WdHMysIL9ib-Nso/s640/rivera+basket4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I had to laugh--Daisy sent a chocolate bunny. From ARIZONA. Of course, it arrived as an unrecognizable blob, but Gabriel didn't care!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYar7gD0Qmqng3cZRFJ18B6xiETbxx8SVu8fcKnmzjd0KTTcAI5RHHDkHZXm0FKBP4zF8bwMqiD2Vu_EyEGa_eLhRD6vOPNOB7CBJn0rDuFl3RG_D3S7GqLV7nr6-83AmZ2YBwZhfjRc/s1600/rivera+basket5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYar7gD0Qmqng3cZRFJ18B6xiETbxx8SVu8fcKnmzjd0KTTcAI5RHHDkHZXm0FKBP4zF8bwMqiD2Vu_EyEGa_eLhRD6vOPNOB7CBJn0rDuFl3RG_D3S7GqLV7nr6-83AmZ2YBwZhfjRc/s400/rivera+basket5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A day or two after Easter, Candace's boxes (yes, plural--the woman is ridiculous!) arrived. We held the kids hostage upstairs while we put baskets together and then set them loose. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016642826573" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016642826573" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My sister totally went overboard, but Lily loved it!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016646786672" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016646786672" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBUFRwRh5mByXFVrzkq-hlQ-tXY-6XOY6WqikQH4VO9-zzoKderizuhdVXhbVL0sgBDf_UI-ubWjCuL7QqhEo6SAfP2HE8PU6WKEB1lw56-QE6Wboyj_KcMhnrKJUXUjNxmppxnl2J1g/s1600/baskets+lily.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBUFRwRh5mByXFVrzkq-hlQ-tXY-6XOY6WqikQH4VO9-zzoKderizuhdVXhbVL0sgBDf_UI-ubWjCuL7QqhEo6SAfP2HE8PU6WKEB1lw56-QE6Wboyj_KcMhnrKJUXUjNxmppxnl2J1g/s400/baskets+lily.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016648826723" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/2016648826723" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> She sent a super cute little dinosaur set for Gabriel along with a few outfits and a book too!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz8QbLJqdwKqLMaUT_SImyUwAVSaziNhODGnlz9bsUXBJxZwm1xPWnA_Nt_6KuLZ2CfyIGQvgf3wk9aWtP3ntY6cWrg6JUfjYMReLipmzGiPT5_0ptEn-IfKHy5f_ll_ngVS6NEBu2fDs/s1600/baskets+gabe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz8QbLJqdwKqLMaUT_SImyUwAVSaziNhODGnlz9bsUXBJxZwm1xPWnA_Nt_6KuLZ2CfyIGQvgf3wk9aWtP3ntY6cWrg6JUfjYMReLipmzGiPT5_0ptEn-IfKHy5f_ll_ngVS6NEBu2fDs/s400/baskets+gabe.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So yeah--Easter was a little messy and scattered this year, but we got through it and had a blast. It was so much fun having Lily here so the kids could spend Easter together again! We are very blessed and I am forever grateful for that.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-16703435619438576222011-06-05T17:07:00.001-06:002011-06-06T09:44:23.893-06:00April StuffsSo.<br />
<br />
Here I am.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">Playing catch-up again...</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Sorry about that.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">April was a fun month! My family flew in from Hawaii for about two weeks (minus my sister, who was still deployed at the time), which was a BLAST! Always nice to spend time with my mamma and my adorable niece, Lily. Plus, it's an excuse for the whole family to gather and catch up - we don't do it often enough and we're all less than a half hour from each other.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So they were here for my sister's college graduation, brother's birthday, stepdad's birthday, Easter, etc. Lots of fun stuff! I'll talk about Easter in my next post, though. (Including Easter in this post would just be way too much...)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I was so excited to see my mom and Lily. Since my mom has been Lily's caretaker while Candace has been gone, she has been posting TONS of pictures and videos of her on facebook and I was just dying to see her and get Lily and Gabe together to play. (Last time they were together, Gabe was just BARELY walking, so he wasn't a very good playmate for our wild and crazy Lily bug...)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">It was like they were never apart.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967372994858" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1967372994858" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUmG9LIkxxHy-m769Jo0cso9-9t20c6L8gbXg-Np7J7v2ROnTg3OT9JAmYu5YXrm3RR7O9AtjcIw05ylBnnoYuXLL1hy6W9mEiZZmFtTGOYLHgL1sdFwFPxE47HlL3gt-SnsFaihvi1k/s1600/lily+and+gabe+reunite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUmG9LIkxxHy-m769Jo0cso9-9t20c6L8gbXg-Np7J7v2ROnTg3OT9JAmYu5YXrm3RR7O9AtjcIw05ylBnnoYuXLL1hy6W9mEiZZmFtTGOYLHgL1sdFwFPxE47HlL3gt-SnsFaihvi1k/s400/lily+and+gabe+reunite.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Lily was such a sweet big cousin, always trying to help Gabriel (whether he needed it or not!) and constantly keeping an eye on him - "Weh's Daybul? I get him. Weh he go? Daybul!! I find you!!"</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRiG8h3JeCWCpTZ1TYU0FIsQRDID0fxfGnwwroBRFxbYBO2IpvK9EgNuUfbIB-aD4aIJNbLjqNCl1k0aNmKCbQiuhq524mhZ0AYfvmj9yh6QCYccuE-DQ5OuHutAEkAfeF8vgNF5Z0mpk/s1600/lily+and+gabe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRiG8h3JeCWCpTZ1TYU0FIsQRDID0fxfGnwwroBRFxbYBO2IpvK9EgNuUfbIB-aD4aIJNbLjqNCl1k0aNmKCbQiuhq524mhZ0AYfvmj9yh6QCYccuE-DQ5OuHutAEkAfeF8vgNF5Z0mpk/s1600/lily+and+gabe.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">He was such a boy about it too. He would pretend to be indifferent, but then if he hadn't seen Lily for a bit, he would get confused ("Wait....where'd she go? She's ALWAYS hangin around...") and go find her.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAvDkaALv9i4Jlh2NfpcFtfzHhKOFzxG_1rdK2LAxzQYPUz4Ts1y9Dbb_oW1oLhKVvbaACifgBsp5ZX0sBn2Do4olMqnL0FQJt1wSVwubWlDDzTOQmLEM1xAivlkfRlmCNUvBWXFvAlU/s1600/lily+and+gabe2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAvDkaALv9i4Jlh2NfpcFtfzHhKOFzxG_1rdK2LAxzQYPUz4Ts1y9Dbb_oW1oLhKVvbaACifgBsp5ZX0sBn2Do4olMqnL0FQJt1wSVwubWlDDzTOQmLEM1xAivlkfRlmCNUvBWXFvAlU/s400/lily+and+gabe2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Love those kids.</div><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I feel like every other post is about how much of a Daddy's boy Gabriel is, or about how big he's getting. But I just can't help it. He IS such a Daddy's boy and I love it so much. It is the opposite of what my worst fear was in coming back to Utah and getting remarried. They get along so well, though. McKay and Gabe are best buddies and I wouldn't have it any other way.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTDCHP4kIiYC4YvekG88S-MVOPDvzyRb7Fai9jct_rCQ4gPyqZpiKn7k5BchkbA822Ol6g4iETZYJucrKc9glsdRhaJzqcfpoOhpYz-6RGbZXr4IP6Ej2OugCuYaWMHvLGqcqUhGcPHE/s1600/daddys+boy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTDCHP4kIiYC4YvekG88S-MVOPDvzyRb7Fai9jct_rCQ4gPyqZpiKn7k5BchkbA822Ol6g4iETZYJucrKc9glsdRhaJzqcfpoOhpYz-6RGbZXr4IP6Ej2OugCuYaWMHvLGqcqUhGcPHE/s400/daddys+boy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Gabriel has officially adopted one of McKay's army hats (yes, I know the real name for it--don't lecture me, military people!). Seriously. McKay had to get another one because Gabe just won't give this one up. He wears it around the house all day every day.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">He even got ahold of McKay's beret one day and INSISTED on wearing it the whole ride home until Daddy had to take it back. Love my little cadet!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBRfU1PjTy9-w5ypuDcF6dExoVYE3lAReRidU1E8yuByl8SQ1pnjV-06FMcSBE2xypL8DIl0of2n5R3-VgPlKZ9hyo6MXHFaGyA1LGlcUXLBVA-v8WnbauWM3zPDOAJjD7GyVMIxVAgI/s1600/little+cadet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBRfU1PjTy9-w5ypuDcF6dExoVYE3lAReRidU1E8yuByl8SQ1pnjV-06FMcSBE2xypL8DIl0of2n5R3-VgPlKZ9hyo6MXHFaGyA1LGlcUXLBVA-v8WnbauWM3zPDOAJjD7GyVMIxVAgI/s400/little+cadet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">...and my awesome, handsome hubby! (even when he's smiling weird....and at a weird angle...)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCl0Y7mViicwjsIopZRYOjZE7rz2C3Eypc_9JrdwOZapqIL-m3xoqROTR7A9RV-1bVSbgsQms1XS2UHDMN3We74sCqM8XcuMCYvoVoQZF7Oi2UvJCXTBUMQY1kPJSjZqFBQi_ffXZm3Ig/s1600/hubbin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCl0Y7mViicwjsIopZRYOjZE7rz2C3Eypc_9JrdwOZapqIL-m3xoqROTR7A9RV-1bVSbgsQms1XS2UHDMN3We74sCqM8XcuMCYvoVoQZF7Oi2UvJCXTBUMQY1kPJSjZqFBQi_ffXZm3Ig/s400/hubbin.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I will never get over how fast Gabriel grows and learns. It kinda makes me sad. I try to enjoy every little second of every stage, but it seems like he is never in one phase long enough before moving on the the next!! STOP GROWING SO FAST, KIDDO!! This shirt is a 3T and, while it is a little big on him, I can't believe he's wearing it already. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhuuQEXI_VOBVMt86vbtQUKrHn0TI0oVzoDMZ5hhe2rZJs6U81s7aXOjikbFjeqf2U4vL_9dZPMt7mguel_E7oJWdI9H91GHWUJjlM8LzxKz-lqCRCsdWZsmmmh6yokyahlAxiskT_Bg/s1600/my+big+boy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhuuQEXI_VOBVMt86vbtQUKrHn0TI0oVzoDMZ5hhe2rZJs6U81s7aXOjikbFjeqf2U4vL_9dZPMt7mguel_E7oJWdI9H91GHWUJjlM8LzxKz-lqCRCsdWZsmmmh6yokyahlAxiskT_Bg/s400/my+big+boy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">He is eating more independently every day...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHth4z7YE9jMfB_JMkOp9TXVVIaBQ7Oy6CbtAi-yIzmRpyfTV8XEcV2_4QksCcobk503OdwVWWd5L1hglh04pic1aX5Xw4DO32P6vahgT4YITBf8GsEQeOo8j0X9V2Tm5ldpEML31d-lI/s1600/eating+cereal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHth4z7YE9jMfB_JMkOp9TXVVIaBQ7Oy6CbtAi-yIzmRpyfTV8XEcV2_4QksCcobk503OdwVWWd5L1hglh04pic1aX5Xw4DO32P6vahgT4YITBf8GsEQeOo8j0X9V2Tm5ldpEML31d-lI/s400/eating+cereal.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">...and always wanting to drink out of a big boy cup...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWfhRfnn8GtCfUr8Aqtv2wZZvMNYG-5QCHfsg9eT9-HMhuMP5Eab6IAlmQ-U85UdjuT_M5xDiU-aDPz-zjCfnemrB_hTnTNg9gta6rhHxRH8wKa1TymR-SOCHUvH9EduXLy8n3vjb5Yzo/s1600/my+big+boy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWfhRfnn8GtCfUr8Aqtv2wZZvMNYG-5QCHfsg9eT9-HMhuMP5Eab6IAlmQ-U85UdjuT_M5xDiU-aDPz-zjCfnemrB_hTnTNg9gta6rhHxRH8wKa1TymR-SOCHUvH9EduXLy8n3vjb5Yzo/s400/my+big+boy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">...and climbing all over things and scaring the crap out of me!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgba5aX4MPG_6xtOu_MilzQeRbQau-DkbYEKLeMBltiaj6rZH39Vduwmbv33d-XdY0DzMu2Ny3KQvZzDEotyl78umzl0UxhyMzcMzuvjlFviy8EIOZQjo1EOjJlnN-s-3fqpPwSP9S80sU/s1600/love+sac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgba5aX4MPG_6xtOu_MilzQeRbQau-DkbYEKLeMBltiaj6rZH39Vduwmbv33d-XdY0DzMu2Ny3KQvZzDEotyl78umzl0UxhyMzcMzuvjlFviy8EIOZQjo1EOjJlnN-s-3fqpPwSP9S80sU/s640/love+sac.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I just wish he would slow down a bit and let me enjoy all the cute little things that he does and faces that he makes. I think I take so many pictures because I want to be able to look back at everything and anything and be able to remember it to the tiniest detail. Even mundane stuff...like sleeping...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDbp-Szd5T7Dc_k07FnlJPCndY7W0peDCDNIDj2Ozqz3c-OYNnqJI1P1wVTUXaxW_rDOLqfIl4n3QCs-6-cfKb-EwV8W4TtJ6Pu3aHckNWIlo0qRApwGrM9X26gfKRO7LJm8xqUn2btA/s1600/sleeping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDbp-Szd5T7Dc_k07FnlJPCndY7W0peDCDNIDj2Ozqz3c-OYNnqJI1P1wVTUXaxW_rDOLqfIl4n3QCs-6-cfKb-EwV8W4TtJ6Pu3aHckNWIlo0qRApwGrM9X26gfKRO7LJm8xqUn2btA/s1600/sleeping.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-82256114095228887422011-05-31T22:03:00.000-06:002011-05-31T22:03:52.800-06:00I have no excuseMan, I got all caught up just to be lazy and not post for WEEKS and now I'm behind again....I'm so mad at myself! But I promise you that I am working on a couple of big catch-up posts, so keep an eye out for those! I need to get going so I can tell you about Gabriel's 18 month check up!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-29898156471345768152011-04-25T20:21:00.000-06:002011-04-25T20:21:39.271-06:00January, February, March! March! MARCH!I know this post title most likely does not make sense unless you grew up in my family, but whatever.<br />
<br />
So I hope Racheal doesn't scoff at me for this, but I didn't let Gabriel play with the gift she and the kids got him for Christmas until March. She got him these awesome crayons made especially for little hands. They have a bulb on one end that makes it so babies and toddlers can grasp them more easily and there's a giant crayon tip on the other end. They also stack inside each other. Gabriel LOVES them. But he doesn't color with them. He just wants to stack them....<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yWsWZK-8fvZtIsjyQx9_Co9dvuPhowC1FvjYwGlvAzawiI-j3qCpCxJbModunHuVb2YnXkvve2Zv4JcdJzu0ZeFhMOMep_CQkE6zIG2x5zCz2EbFAjZPkWowborg7M7d58S8aVIoZa4/s1600/march1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yWsWZK-8fvZtIsjyQx9_Co9dvuPhowC1FvjYwGlvAzawiI-j3qCpCxJbModunHuVb2YnXkvve2Zv4JcdJzu0ZeFhMOMep_CQkE6zIG2x5zCz2EbFAjZPkWowborg7M7d58S8aVIoZa4/s400/march1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1929868217262" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1929868217262" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">We have some awesome neighbors (on one side of us) who love to play with Gabriel. The dad is the coolest guy and his son and daughter are such cute kids!! Here, you can see his oldest playing with Gabe. He could see that Gabriel was fascinated by his skateboard, so he stopped and put Gabe on to go for a spin! Okay, so he didn't really go anywhere, but he stood on it for a few minutes!!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzwRI9meKfifLG_XhGSe0Bu5eC5XSvePz9jRWLHCkzgF0ZHGR7u1JCjzKi00ynO3oUxehPL06abjvI-vXHEZMHfF-T-76zNmHr-0hSpIXJ4HhmOqnRFQgEo5CFalaOdTdrF3y83vYbYw/s1600/march2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzwRI9meKfifLG_XhGSe0Bu5eC5XSvePz9jRWLHCkzgF0ZHGR7u1JCjzKi00ynO3oUxehPL06abjvI-vXHEZMHfF-T-76zNmHr-0hSpIXJ4HhmOqnRFQgEo5CFalaOdTdrF3y83vYbYw/s1600/march2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My friend's daughter's birthday was in March and we were invited! She decided to do it at Chuck E Cheese's and we had a blast! We got a few tokens and Gabe use almost all of them (all but three) on this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1929871577346" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1929871577346" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can never get enough of seeing my boys hanging out. It's one of my favorite things to see.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdq6WPrY4RW8nO-w7q9qJJ3hs9DSPREW7ZhYGTrZt6zmPSYNl6EN-J-Ck392rgObC4G1Ycytx_bqqWWYC8KreskSYCdT5g4M5QJIrdjtMn_ylAET6RZU_qFA0BKQo_IUzHbMKZdItT0A/s1600/march+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdq6WPrY4RW8nO-w7q9qJJ3hs9DSPREW7ZhYGTrZt6zmPSYNl6EN-J-Ck392rgObC4G1Ycytx_bqqWWYC8KreskSYCdT5g4M5QJIrdjtMn_ylAET6RZU_qFA0BKQo_IUzHbMKZdItT0A/s400/march+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Gabriel loves Elmo. I'm talking UNHEALTHY love. He is obsessed with Sesame street. He becomes glued to the TV. Normally if we have something on TV, he watches it for a minute and runs around playing with toys. He never gets like this unless Elmo is on:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1929868657273" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1929868657273" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Another gift from Racheal--the phone. It was an old toy that her kids used to love and play with and she gave it to Gabriel when we all met up at Daisy's house last fall. He LOVES this phone! It plays music and talks and lights up. She said each of her kids loved it too. We always keep it in the car for him to play with!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE87j2bDieaeY42Hb7fPZScHBqh7IL6oMuDF-i2xXtx-iRn_D7XzUwVwCkkBjFL6tEcIUakIT_HJJcckbdKlgrePP4lIRcr6AQXGTrNITG-jTKlNCtldncM2bfC3UPg8wJdCyVpvJ2UE8/s1600/March+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE87j2bDieaeY42Hb7fPZScHBqh7IL6oMuDF-i2xXtx-iRn_D7XzUwVwCkkBjFL6tEcIUakIT_HJJcckbdKlgrePP4lIRcr6AQXGTrNITG-jTKlNCtldncM2bfC3UPg8wJdCyVpvJ2UE8/s1600/March+4.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">See that third picture? He was calling Mamma.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So that was March. I know--I was a little skimpy with the pictures and videos last month. I have no idea why. Normally I have tons of videos to sift through and hundreds of pictures every month. But not March. It was weird for me too, people. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-21042090011186785002011-04-20T21:59:00.006-06:002011-04-20T22:14:22.274-06:00Fun In FebruaryOkay--in an effort to get caught up, I'm going to try to get February and March squished into just a couple of posts.<br />
<br />
Get ready for some blogitty overload, peeps.<br />
<br />
Apparently my sister has a magic touch. Everything she buys for Gabriel ends up being his favorite "thing" in that "thing category" (my vocabulary seems to be lacking tonight...don't judge me!). Remember <a href="http://ashsbabyblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/boy-and-his-blankie.html"><b>the blanket</b></a> from a couple of posts ago? Yeah. Like that. His favorite, most requested book is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" by Eric Carle. He. LOVES. That book. He loves the colors and the animals and the fact that it's a giant board book. The version of the book that my sister got him has a little slider window on each page that you can slide over and see a smaller preview of what is next--he LOVES that. And guess who bought it for him? Yup--Titi.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0yPBs50KWIFiaXpeLdLZje-r3Twpr2tdORsx638HvGs-9sU6jUWvsNpccZfhjweLeMnN0_R50WPzBA9aH8gQSO8w22RUFiTbC5mCENx7jaMse11ZsIPWS1v_HK088c-oiz96wR57NRIk/s1600/feb1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0yPBs50KWIFiaXpeLdLZje-r3Twpr2tdORsx638HvGs-9sU6jUWvsNpccZfhjweLeMnN0_R50WPzBA9aH8gQSO8w22RUFiTbC5mCENx7jaMse11ZsIPWS1v_HK088c-oiz96wR57NRIk/s400/feb1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1920593305395" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1920593305395" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gabriel continues to chug along with the sign language. I love love LOVE that he picks them up so quickly and starts using them every day. Here, I caught a video of him saying "More please", asking for more food. Smarty pants...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1921576449973" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1921576449973" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://simplyashleyrose.blogspot.com/p/getting-crafty.html"><b>I can be crafty</b></a> from time to time. SHOCKER! I know. I really like Gabe's monkey winter hat and I think it's really super cute. But it's brown and sometimes an outfit calls for something.....not brown. So I decided Gabriel needed another hat. I looked and looked and nothing fit right, so I decided to make it a little project! I found a simple pattern and crocheted it one evening while watching a movie. First hat ever. I think it turned out cute! And it works for all those outfits that need something other than brown...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzAfdIiMvh7nmd7pTMgW651quz7yHBZTFlSiECxauI0GznxHWrzyp5e6grxel7Bi0PnWDz3ZQJVEa9Fv9ndZFfX_X037OaX9qskPpQoDxLsH44gfZ_Ns3fASwE67f9Sg9TAZYCaxO7zQ/s1600/feb2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzAfdIiMvh7nmd7pTMgW651quz7yHBZTFlSiECxauI0GznxHWrzyp5e6grxel7Bi0PnWDz3ZQJVEa9Fv9ndZFfX_X037OaX9qskPpQoDxLsH44gfZ_Ns3fASwE67f9Sg9TAZYCaxO7zQ/s400/feb2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbP-yDXz5xfU-VoHZQ2gSGblCKhn6TWmrI9hBAGH4ljcIx_yEWdCl234OL9OGBcxos_qK7hvHl32-RFarh9ZwvQ2J2J3kWXbSTgUCxcwd8M0L4mvSxbmoVOeUzW_AjtYMeewSXjMk-EA0/s1600/feb4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbP-yDXz5xfU-VoHZQ2gSGblCKhn6TWmrI9hBAGH4ljcIx_yEWdCl234OL9OGBcxos_qK7hvHl32-RFarh9ZwvQ2J2J3kWXbSTgUCxcwd8M0L4mvSxbmoVOeUzW_AjtYMeewSXjMk-EA0/s640/feb4.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx411NFI7_pGqFI0YQDBn8TwibAnD6w8GBnQjp63VP-FK5wGlqE1thmNYk8Douk1ayD2fB5JYqvf9dRTxF48UtNybf4J3y29ifdHV7B86xFJzFcPfp7oDJ-HRGBthqGFs9NvpDhGipwEc/s1600/feb3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" id=":current_picnik_image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx411NFI7_pGqFI0YQDBn8TwibAnD6w8GBnQjp63VP-FK5wGlqE1thmNYk8Douk1ayD2fB5JYqvf9dRTxF48UtNybf4J3y29ifdHV7B86xFJzFcPfp7oDJ-HRGBthqGFs9NvpDhGipwEc/s400/feb3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>What do you think?! Not bad, eh? Especially for my first hat/beanie!!<br />
<br />
The way life has happened over the last couple of years has put a gap in a lot of my relationships with close friends. I hate that. When I moved back from Hawaii, I promised to do my best to get back in touch with them. I've done well...with a couple....and okay with some.....and not-so-great with others. Still working on it! One friend that I'm pretty positive I'll never completely lose touch with is Jackson. (Jack) We made a lunch date and actually <i>kept</i> it! No change of plans or postponing. It was awesome! He got to meet Gabe and turned out to be a huge hit with the little stinker! They got along really well and I hope we'll have lots more fun play dates with Uncle Jack! (Jack, if you're reading this, let me insert a *hint hint*nudge nudge*wink*...seriously)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATN6Ys3-EVgM-JU_66h2qzGgRjHUqR27BWTjbFhq_iwTcJzGNtH_C3-VXD6DRCcCbLpKW1-55cRxvjtd62HAARcXmAuWrJ_uv9a3LJHf3wwjLL-zw9TUDNqY8sfGt0mJS0uabJkzID30/s1600/feb5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATN6Ys3-EVgM-JU_66h2qzGgRjHUqR27BWTjbFhq_iwTcJzGNtH_C3-VXD6DRCcCbLpKW1-55cRxvjtd62HAARcXmAuWrJ_uv9a3LJHf3wwjLL-zw9TUDNqY8sfGt0mJS0uabJkzID30/s400/feb5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1921593610402" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1921593610402" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Have I failed to mention that my son is a strange, silly little man? If I have never mentioned it before, let me make it known now: the kid is <i>WEIRD</i>. But I really like it. Gabe has a handful of those "touch and feel" books. You know--the ones with different textures that help with sensory development? I kept seeing him wander off with one of the books. He would open it up and lay his head on it. I thought he was trying to tell me he was sleepy, so I would put him down for a nap. Then I realized that he was doing it ALL THE TIME. What the...? So I finally paid closer attention to what page he was doing this with....</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimnks-JlVSaLg4ulMqEw9jpXdg46KqbF2u4mRxwd9l9O08VE553qeI0_6P9vgNbQg5-UkOIhbCihXPPqmaQ8oPyElwSou05UyC7lQojWJkpoNOBNhu8aSJrNRnuOQOMYhHysLJKeCrp5E/s1600/feb6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimnks-JlVSaLg4ulMqEw9jpXdg46KqbF2u4mRxwd9l9O08VE553qeI0_6P9vgNbQg5-UkOIhbCihXPPqmaQ8oPyElwSou05UyC7lQojWJkpoNOBNhu8aSJrNRnuOQOMYhHysLJKeCrp5E/s640/feb6.jpg" width="322" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Yeah--if you can't tell, that's a furry lion. He likes the feel of the soft fur and he wants to feel it on his face....so he opens the book up to that page, lays it on the ground, and then lays his head/cheek on the book. Sometime for just a couple of seconds. Other times....five to ten minutes or so....HA! Silly boy. Check him out in the first picture--he's sucking his fingers and settled in for a good cuddle with that lion!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So Gabriel is really learning how to pull the strings and push the right buttons. When I scold him, he gets all sad and walks over to me and gives me the kiss face--the kid knows I'm a sucker for kisses. Tricky, tricky, Gabe!! He also knows I'm always down for a snuggle. I started noticing that he would cling to me and get all snuggly when we would leave a place and go to put him in his car seat. What a punk!! He doesn't want to get in the car (because who knows how long he'll be stuck in his (albeit awesome) car seat?) so he wraps his arms around me, lays his head on my chest and gets the most adorable look on his face. Man, he is goooood.... (and mom's a SUCKER!!)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyd8P0rBoMHlPD4EYVEyXEf7EScy-ERDRwX_bw4n-BfGAGz8CwBWiBWn5VClwAsTfPokcH19KtC61j7QMil-7zLKqLlDtFFH8jozDzQA5uR9xpXAwOe0dJ6qxCL6HypeeoqjNna86HIPY/s1600/feb8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyd8P0rBoMHlPD4EYVEyXEf7EScy-ERDRwX_bw4n-BfGAGz8CwBWiBWn5VClwAsTfPokcH19KtC61j7QMil-7zLKqLlDtFFH8jozDzQA5uR9xpXAwOe0dJ6qxCL6HypeeoqjNna86HIPY/s400/feb8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">If Gabriel got anything from me, it was definitely a love of sleep and relaxation. After an outing at the mall one day, we decided to stop by Cold Stone and get some ice cream. We grabbed a table and sat down to enjoy our treats and Gabe went right into chill mode! He propped his feet up on the stroller, laid back, and begged for waffle cone scraps. Way to go, kiddo!! That's my boy!! Hahaha! (You can see the begging in the first picture where he's signing "please"...)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiUpJ1mfYO7LDA8KVUiq8V4tk2Q5MRJ2yI-89PtaOinF2aVw7f2T-OI7VChWXeusON7mIopo9xjC9sVKjqc_c5UdFr1te1tXIo-gErrwlDYfZ6yUvVS3Qjfif1rwuD6ia362H5Kpyeys/s1600/feb7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiUpJ1mfYO7LDA8KVUiq8V4tk2Q5MRJ2yI-89PtaOinF2aVw7f2T-OI7VChWXeusON7mIopo9xjC9sVKjqc_c5UdFr1te1tXIo-gErrwlDYfZ6yUvVS3Qjfif1rwuD6ia362H5Kpyeys/s400/feb7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And finally, to round off February--pictures of Gabe swinging at the park!! We were in Spanish Fork (my old stompin' grounds!!) so we decided to stop off at Barry's (CLASSIC--Yum!!) and then headed across the street to play at the SF city park. Gabriel loves the swings. As far as going to the park is concerned--he only cares about that and running around. Doesn't give a second thought to the slide or the jungle gym or anything else (except for when Mama makes him take the slide at least once...)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9gtG_2coHlunNMWGZqgpUCn6SNCnQfLudhvlTGJBcDpzbQHTR68WX4MsPBQM-cDvqIminfMaXa8804zdKUKF___bpjzkPk6zlfHvGY9RPWfHO4x0N8neG8sD4I6S64KH5Vb92bkF-3TE/s1600/feb9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9gtG_2coHlunNMWGZqgpUCn6SNCnQfLudhvlTGJBcDpzbQHTR68WX4MsPBQM-cDvqIminfMaXa8804zdKUKF___bpjzkPk6zlfHvGY9RPWfHO4x0N8neG8sD4I6S64KH5Vb92bkF-3TE/s400/feb9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv1RZGkhRlCp2QalxJy8AHPWp0kpWpVrOz0ctaU9rshz4koToVUD0SWCBqF-FN6QnUwz6sQHEMsBinAszSqJvd_IryRJTkxx-XjfFcwS4ne4Jx8sAzlOMU3oTkAFfsbJalBmL3DuG9Axk/s1600/feb10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv1RZGkhRlCp2QalxJy8AHPWp0kpWpVrOz0ctaU9rshz4koToVUD0SWCBqF-FN6QnUwz6sQHEMsBinAszSqJvd_IryRJTkxx-XjfFcwS4ne4Jx8sAzlOMU3oTkAFfsbJalBmL3DuG9Axk/s640/feb10.jpg" width="164" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFV6DMQJbgEN5DYrvcReDG_dPI7wp4zPurrXNUkOPjQUJUJzsuTJv8trqhdEgyQMwdAeU-OA7EWFGmjPtCSxTpXGOj0koLLumDc0NYZkb9fP4oAfrMp4iSYVnsnXUnU3RmdBd-oZvjHog/s1600/feb11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFV6DMQJbgEN5DYrvcReDG_dPI7wp4zPurrXNUkOPjQUJUJzsuTJv8trqhdEgyQMwdAeU-OA7EWFGmjPtCSxTpXGOj0koLLumDc0NYZkb9fP4oAfrMp4iSYVnsnXUnU3RmdBd-oZvjHog/s400/feb11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Even Dad joined in on the fun!! I don't think he made a wise swing choice though...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv72KiQrF21U19h9WcZjNSFuObaIZFTlJW3YmIqxwAx2GR4CAYUM08zNh9G5dbndOX4OGMBjAL9t4ZdeBEOt6rYs_iZeip3O6_yzWy8y6hGYSqGma_Qa_pS17rT_qu2DiaLcrSKOHjaoU/s1600/feb12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv72KiQrF21U19h9WcZjNSFuObaIZFTlJW3YmIqxwAx2GR4CAYUM08zNh9G5dbndOX4OGMBjAL9t4ZdeBEOt6rYs_iZeip3O6_yzWy8y6hGYSqGma_Qa_pS17rT_qu2DiaLcrSKOHjaoU/s640/feb12.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1921619531050" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1921619531050" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1921628291269" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1921628291269" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So that was February, folks!! Did I wear you out? Sorry about that....but it HAD to be done!! Next up: MARCH! And I'm taking the same approach. But at least when that's out of the way I'll be able to show you all the fun and cute stuff that has been happening over the past few days and weeks!! (Seriously, the OCD in me will not let me post out of chronological order....)</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-86657939234905650152011-04-18T16:26:00.026-06:002011-04-18T16:26:00.390-06:00Wrapping Up JanuaryHoly crap. This is sad. I get further and further behind every week. Am I seriously JUST NOW finishing January?! I need to get crackin.<br />
<br />
Gabriel has been trying to drink out of things like a "big boy" since he was around six months old. But that was usually him trying to drink out of the rinse cup in the bathtub... Now it's everything! He always wants to drink out of a cup. We don't always let him because he would make a huge mess, but every once in a while, we'll give him a little bit of water in a cup.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827913348454" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827913348454" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Gabriel continues to dance and boogie his little heart out. I'm really bummed that I can never catch his most awesome dance moments on video, because they get pretty awesomely cute and funny. He always tones it down (or stops altogether) when I turn on the camera....if I can even get it and start recording in time...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827917108548" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827917108548" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827928588835" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827928588835" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Gabe lives in his own little world and I love that about him. There are times that he will NOT let me blog or work or cook or clean in PEACE, but then there are plenty of times that he plays independently really well also. I have no idea why he does some of the things that he does or what is going through that head of his. I may never know...I'm sure it would be interesting!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827925388755" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827925388755" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And that's it for January 2011!!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-44470404156083939302011-04-17T16:00:00.003-06:002011-04-17T18:57:23.733-06:00UN / FORTUNATELY - My Happy ListI decided to go ahead and link up to <a href="http://www.ourdandelionwishes.com/2011/04/my-happy-list_16.html"><b>Mamarazzi's Happy List</b> </a>this week. I have soooo many things to be happy about and thankful for!! And, though I didn't intend to, I feel a lot like <a href="http://thingsdaily.com/post/4685638418/airplanes-and-parachutes"><b>my friend</b></a> in one of her latest posts.<br />
<br />
I am HAPPY that Gabriel <i>loves</i> bathtime. He splashes and plays and farts and he is just hilarious and fun to watch! Plus, I love the smell of a clean baby!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhiAlI69vo32M8OfgU1r_FkVQpWj4r7hZruQ_L1HYPMI6PSz7vhMum7qGsr920uCi3VOMLBlsjRcNMLnr4RkXlVrjOrtPT3GKBGGBlyyYLV7CEVvUdBQzhveMXfiF1LsMsltleBKVilw/s1600/happy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhiAlI69vo32M8OfgU1r_FkVQpWj4r7hZruQ_L1HYPMI6PSz7vhMum7qGsr920uCi3VOMLBlsjRcNMLnr4RkXlVrjOrtPT3GKBGGBlyyYLV7CEVvUdBQzhveMXfiF1LsMsltleBKVilw/s400/happy1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">UNfortunately, while I was trying to take a video of his cute little naked tush, this happened:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827936189025" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827936189025" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you can't tell what happened at the end there--that was me dropping my phone into the tub. Now I'm "one of those idiots". HAPPILY, I have worked for a company that does technical support for mobile devices (without really telling you what company I worked for, I can say I supported the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch....) so I knew exactly what to do to avoid damage and I took action immediately. My phone is fine. :0)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am HAPPY that my son is healthy and happy and active. UNfortunately, that means he makes more messes and gets into plenty of mischief!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I am HAPPY that I have a baby gate. The Gabe-Storm <i>is</i> containable, people.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52EViUgyTyWG4z04SfyiUovGRMNFZKmPi8vy-bN8jQ0VujVNhWQuuAcq5qCvax90fMw62Ar_4H20GmO1zVxXnpg-L5J_GHF2x1wEMJF-aJtfHlAWBTFEzLdpGRXTC2DreNtsJkkgru_U/s1600/happy4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52EViUgyTyWG4z04SfyiUovGRMNFZKmPi8vy-bN8jQ0VujVNhWQuuAcq5qCvax90fMw62Ar_4H20GmO1zVxXnpg-L5J_GHF2x1wEMJF-aJtfHlAWBTFEzLdpGRXTC2DreNtsJkkgru_U/s640/happy4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>I am HAPPY that my son loves me so much that he can't stand the idea of not being in the middle of everything I'm doing. UNfortunately, that means he's always under my feet--which can be dangerous in the kitchen. HAPPILY, Gabriel is easily entertained by kitchen utensils!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5sCpfyZPZqeq-nRiXNABL2oztJgQD8775ta49Ow8kt0OcD7ekHqx9WV6gWjBwQIstMN_PH5AXOMCvKGMhRvD5CQ9J9HYiT31ju0SLhdDpaL8mfqfbYotsjdQWyOe7f53-_roXgqIaDTc/s1600/happy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5sCpfyZPZqeq-nRiXNABL2oztJgQD8775ta49Ow8kt0OcD7ekHqx9WV6gWjBwQIstMN_PH5AXOMCvKGMhRvD5CQ9J9HYiT31ju0SLhdDpaL8mfqfbYotsjdQWyOe7f53-_roXgqIaDTc/s400/happy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYwwInRRF0DSLOIHk_9NI6yd1AInobqWJ32CTPW-i7g46EIeHDxTLUW9aiFjSiOL_U7hCbILDbs_UehSCsQ3i3z0luju0mM_qElPBV6ezDF0cbGqyuZzJFoufMLBXorHNkjFBvzfVtcd0/s1600/happy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYwwInRRF0DSLOIHk_9NI6yd1AInobqWJ32CTPW-i7g46EIeHDxTLUW9aiFjSiOL_U7hCbILDbs_UehSCsQ3i3z0luju0mM_qElPBV6ezDF0cbGqyuZzJFoufMLBXorHNkjFBvzfVtcd0/s400/happy3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<center><a href="http://www.ourdandelionwishes.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o298/TheVasquez3/happylistbutton-2.jpg" /></a></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-53177306114336740402011-04-07T21:27:00.002-06:002011-04-07T21:32:57.980-06:00I.K.E.A.I freaking love IKEA. I get into trouble there, though. I see so many things that "make so much sense!" and it's all so inexpensive and I always end up buying things I didn't intend to. I also end up spending a lot more time there than I plan to.<br />
<br />
Gabriel took his first trip to IKEA with mommy not too long ago and he was a trooper!! Right in the middle of the bathroom stuff (I think...? or was it window treatments?) they have a little kiddie station that Gabriel LOVED. They think of everything.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQgHRIDfmIeOSwMZXJR0F7EvAvtb7-3rJJev7lGGVRA2lJHwCz4myF_Shn53eVgBr6jE-SQoo6JWsySnSVjHkhtqrdLf3PlL2UGNmh5Yyib94jlS7WMEonOBoSejHCy-t6Vz7DMJlWuE/s1600/ikea1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQgHRIDfmIeOSwMZXJR0F7EvAvtb7-3rJJev7lGGVRA2lJHwCz4myF_Shn53eVgBr6jE-SQoo6JWsySnSVjHkhtqrdLf3PlL2UGNmh5Yyib94jlS7WMEonOBoSejHCy-t6Vz7DMJlWuE/s400/ikea1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827932108923" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827932108923" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><br />
I have been dreaming up a cute little toddler room setup and the process has completely consumed me at times. I find myself spending hours online shopping and comparing - beds, dressers, toy boxes, book shelves...oh my...I cannot wait!! IKEA has a pretty good contender for a toddler bed - the length (yes--of the whole bed) is adjustable and it comes with a cute matching toy chest! I also found some cute chairs. Oh yeah--Gabe is totally obsessed with little chairs. If he finds one anywhere--or anything that somewhat resembles a chair--he will sit on it. Who am I kidding? He'll sit on anything. The other day I caught him sitting on a shoe. Seriously, though, the kid is like Goldilocks - a connoisseur of chairs. Only he's obviously not as picky if he'll sit on a shoe. He found a cool little chair that he liked at IKEA though!!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmYiX6JCABD99v24SgQ8ORKe05D7TP_1l61yqCIJoN5J85dQOLHQOhUwhcb5dsESf-MaPZCnoRtHUmTwf9_TrxsKB__nry2xgpkg_FHVn8fpOsWCwyeXiGB0Gvgdhcrl2Bomre0CIZYs/s1600/ikea2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmYiX6JCABD99v24SgQ8ORKe05D7TP_1l61yqCIJoN5J85dQOLHQOhUwhcb5dsESf-MaPZCnoRtHUmTwf9_TrxsKB__nry2xgpkg_FHVn8fpOsWCwyeXiGB0Gvgdhcrl2Bomre0CIZYs/s640/ikea2.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br />
I want to get it. I just have to find a way to convince McKay that the purchase is justified...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827934748989" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827934748989" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><br />
Gabriel took on IKEA like a champ!! He put up with my browsing and oohing and ahhing for hours without a peep! He actually kinda got into it with me. He would find something he liked and point at it excitedly and go "Ooh!" or "Oh! Wow!" Hahaha--crazy kid. He was pooped by the time we left though! He conked right out in the car on the way home....<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMQox_L_cK3r6J85VLjkCdrGoo2C2Plm7ZGjSX5zvev1f065IsN33hSEtWeDrLd3TwSfIrH0X6HQbWviWMMLk2utIMUAgE5aPgbtUuOc-vcUYVglSyj49XGSuJMBxmoS4ybv3OWNxy84/s1600/pooped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMQox_L_cK3r6J85VLjkCdrGoo2C2Plm7ZGjSX5zvev1f065IsN33hSEtWeDrLd3TwSfIrH0X6HQbWviWMMLk2utIMUAgE5aPgbtUuOc-vcUYVglSyj49XGSuJMBxmoS4ybv3OWNxy84/s640/pooped.jpg" width="434" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-88274497967230027162011-04-04T09:01:00.001-06:002011-04-04T09:01:00.176-06:00Mess MachineGabriel.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Can make.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">A <b><u>MESS</u></b>, y'all.</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXKVF2x0NR_MT0yxn3QFe6U-QohPEV9xPxPnJV7ZJKd384zwmmBj89xAX9vjLBHWl5JVygH6ycBA-pIVf2TKF3j2d5HYFjVLu3dWrh07rFgg1KDKbMlSgZNcP98Z9KKLxj-x-xyVkkQ8/s1600/mess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXKVF2x0NR_MT0yxn3QFe6U-QohPEV9xPxPnJV7ZJKd384zwmmBj89xAX9vjLBHWl5JVygH6ycBA-pIVf2TKF3j2d5HYFjVLu3dWrh07rFgg1KDKbMlSgZNcP98Z9KKLxj-x-xyVkkQ8/s1600/mess.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And sometimes, I just let him.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">He's a good boy, though, and he helps pick up too! Man, I love my kiddo.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827922788690" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827922788690" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-38085802426969607962011-04-03T20:51:00.001-06:002011-04-03T22:08:12.425-06:00Boo-boo :'(Okay, so this is a testament to just how behind I am. This happened in January. Ugh. I always say that I will get caught up and believe me--I really really want to!! But with a full-time job plus wife and mommy duties plus...stuff....makes for a busy life. Plus, I can be a little lazy. And I'm a procrastinator. Basically, there isn't really a good excuse. Aaaannyywaaayyyy.....<br />
<br />
So Gabriel was running around playing and he slipped and fell (we have hardwood floors and they can be a little slippery) right on his face! I turned to grab him and saw that he was bleeding. A LOT. I couldn't get it to stop. He split his upper lip...I wanted to cry! I was so upset that I couldn't fix my poor little baby - I was shaking!!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCswRY8YsICgjzS6nAyrUYFdB700qJUYv0CqUP2Wyva09pX6xmAnfpzea-dMzrfPQgEbe8jN62zwVRQNT66loSEhUwMkMWIIIA98l3UWXw-T2LMnA8khnP8E-UVNDsuW5xObDCaV_OWQ8/s1600/IMAG0053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCswRY8YsICgjzS6nAyrUYFdB700qJUYv0CqUP2Wyva09pX6xmAnfpzea-dMzrfPQgEbe8jN62zwVRQNT66loSEhUwMkMWIIIA98l3UWXw-T2LMnA8khnP8E-UVNDsuW5xObDCaV_OWQ8/s640/IMAG0053.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0ILkI5hdCNTbGWkLSKDgZ2bIJJLI6fbEKiipad8sfPwiB2FvbXJyBOe9IB3Ptm88r1wTkGY35zj-0Ay9SlqP6L9oKpPcmEo4QU7LJ5Rygx25rXppWMQlKfFQGD9SvIklfblOFkTPUok/s1600/IMAG0054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0ILkI5hdCNTbGWkLSKDgZ2bIJJLI6fbEKiipad8sfPwiB2FvbXJyBOe9IB3Ptm88r1wTkGY35zj-0Ay9SlqP6L9oKpPcmEo4QU7LJ5Rygx25rXppWMQlKfFQGD9SvIklfblOFkTPUok/s400/IMAG0054.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64ybuEsjx6oNKJavCyMhXG3UhNc2OJB-g75dLUPeaHoOS76zP-kJOKfCesx6izJ8HfcIa3LLRtQe7HKltftAsmAZAA1csF6h3epkoAqDJubOMjA9PRbQPKpBv-XFrmtcu-Cr_To8wy-s/s1600/IMAG0060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64ybuEsjx6oNKJavCyMhXG3UhNc2OJB-g75dLUPeaHoOS76zP-kJOKfCesx6izJ8HfcIa3LLRtQe7HKltftAsmAZAA1csF6h3epkoAqDJubOMjA9PRbQPKpBv-XFrmtcu-Cr_To8wy-s/s400/IMAG0060.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
It finally stopped bleeding and he stopped caring and just wanted to continue playing....I was left trembling and whimpering on the couch....<br />
<br />
He has since healed beautifully. There is just a tiny faint little scar on his upper lip that you can barely see. Looks like he heals like Mamma!! (We now have "house socks" for Gabriel that have little rubbery dots on the soles so he won't slip!!)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-86787898466341018692011-03-29T16:19:00.002-06:002011-03-29T16:19:00.711-06:00A Boy And His Blankie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before Gabriel was born, my sister sent a huge box of baby clothes to me. This girl has a problem with shopping. Seriously. When she found out I was having a baby, she went nuts!! She got him stuff in every size from 0-18 months and he's still wearing a lot of it! One of the other things she got for him was a blanket. It was one of those fuzzy, super soft blankets. When he was teeny tiny, Gabe didn't really care that much about it. But then when we moved to Utah, he became obsessed with this blanket. OBSESSED, I tell you!! I don't know why he suddenly became so attached to it. For a while, he wouldn't go anywhere without it. He took it in the car, to Grandma-ma's house, and drug it everywhere in our house. We started calling him "Linus" (Peanuts) for a while. It was all we could do to get it away from him long enough to be washed!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here he is in the car with it...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfzuMLhEea8jI8IBlacdvcFFLSx9HkqvZ5YocDHLixshLsZOWJDguLprlRdU6x_PBCKstqEO3p96lqUXKDdQeSj1yKTSm88iYNtX71EdrGHWQFfwMVFV8p1OgYc4_HFNThfOmnuvseH0/s1600/blankie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfzuMLhEea8jI8IBlacdvcFFLSx9HkqvZ5YocDHLixshLsZOWJDguLprlRdU6x_PBCKstqEO3p96lqUXKDdQeSj1yKTSm88iYNtX71EdrGHWQFfwMVFV8p1OgYc4_HFNThfOmnuvseH0/s640/blankie.jpg" width="325" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Draggin' it around Grandma-ma's house...I love those jammies...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_vwJSoJkxEp_IsiYCg71tBMESSeJ-h_efuD38KHeLNbksWtWM2dNX0DO8ZAltiB3A-XIAlnp3_gm444w9ayKxoX6x40echVoTt8Fp5sfx_VbTk5leL72XI4gzwvnIBwfMxevlK6_U0M/s1600/blankie2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_vwJSoJkxEp_IsiYCg71tBMESSeJ-h_efuD38KHeLNbksWtWM2dNX0DO8ZAltiB3A-XIAlnp3_gm444w9ayKxoX6x40echVoTt8Fp5sfx_VbTk5leL72XI4gzwvnIBwfMxevlK6_U0M/s400/blankie2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Video Proof!!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827911828416" /><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/1827911828416" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Finally, we were able to pry it away from him. So he doesn't drag it around with him near as much as he used to. However, he cannot, will not, absolutely REFUSES to sleep without it. If it somehow makes its way out of his crib and we put him to bed without it, he will cry until we find it and give it to him--which is really saying something because he is an outstanding sleeper!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-42220066031227401222011-03-27T13:27:00.000-06:002011-03-27T13:27:16.329-06:00Daddy's BoyFor my 100th post on the baby blog (100 posts!!) I would like to give a shout out to my two favorite guys. Both sweet, handsome, smart, talented, and strong. The first, my husband McKay who works tirelessly to finish his education and ROTC in order to provide an even better life for us, never says no to helping out around the house (and rarely even has to be asked), and continues to be the best example and most amazing father to Gabriel. The second, my sweetheart of a baby boy, Gabriel, who brings so much joy and laughter into my life and always knows when to give Mamma hugs, kisses and snuggles. I don't know what I would do without either one of them!<br />
<br />
I still can't get over how cute it is that Gabriel is such a Daddy's Boy! A lot of people assume that I would be a little upset or jealous about that but I LOVE it!! Nothing makes me happier than to see my boys hangin out, bonding.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPj5IbYc3ZNWr9dvELkMhA3p-BkT67EEr27WN-CSb7RfUGkherpZ33iFpBk7eGFXBQMnQ27QpnFF2nIDi1nWnNenHLNWSIxDF-BUnmUYnHudX8Rao3h_OfjRbt49hUgzfxrELULr80JY/s1600/daddysboy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPj5IbYc3ZNWr9dvELkMhA3p-BkT67EEr27WN-CSb7RfUGkherpZ33iFpBk7eGFXBQMnQ27QpnFF2nIDi1nWnNenHLNWSIxDF-BUnmUYnHudX8Rao3h_OfjRbt49hUgzfxrELULr80JY/s400/daddysboy1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Watching either Sesame Street or Veggie tales....<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CUx5-X3TCuhQkB9wguKjjdSXa56IdCEgfZGM13KMFzHJeBKepuNrw8CuE4fqFqt5ShuAiLOOd8tHdYF-rCL2UwcUFjmMjcYiPHxPzyQXm8CcpsInM34YgRd6uO9ZJ1kTzacB0jDH6bU/s1600/daddysboy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CUx5-X3TCuhQkB9wguKjjdSXa56IdCEgfZGM13KMFzHJeBKepuNrw8CuE4fqFqt5ShuAiLOOd8tHdYF-rCL2UwcUFjmMjcYiPHxPzyQXm8CcpsInM34YgRd6uO9ZJ1kTzacB0jDH6bU/s640/daddysboy2.jpg" width="322" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixFwXbWajFkbm4ZqSgahLYCcn4Ui8dWV70z9Mdw4IwThQU-obUZ_8NTgiq729ty04kJBZ9V_93EL-hl2mNkxgleoyIRDVO76oWeNp4ICKR8lM7SBtlECBeXuNApDL5AIA80zc802FgJI/s1600/daddysboy5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixFwXbWajFkbm4ZqSgahLYCcn4Ui8dWV70z9Mdw4IwThQU-obUZ_8NTgiq729ty04kJBZ9V_93EL-hl2mNkxgleoyIRDVO76oWeNp4ICKR8lM7SBtlECBeXuNApDL5AIA80zc802FgJI/s400/daddysboy5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Every day when McKay gets home, Gabriel gets the cutest little excited face! He runs as far as the baby gate will let him and waits for Dad to pick him up, saying and signing "Da-da" the whole time. He almost always takes McKay's hat and puts it on himself...then back on Daddy....then back on himself....etc.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxsk4kU_ZZK3qANoAHuS2UUOErXjb5pN-jf5hGJiDMc_hyypiEA1lIQEAHpulCUSm8gchsagRT2NpVgWqTjEeDYSgQUKKKxujVWFYSkUZl3QvpilNID7rjXo_bL8Fb7zAtPijwZzVeOMk/s1600/daddy%2527sboy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxsk4kU_ZZK3qANoAHuS2UUOErXjb5pN-jf5hGJiDMc_hyypiEA1lIQEAHpulCUSm8gchsagRT2NpVgWqTjEeDYSgQUKKKxujVWFYSkUZl3QvpilNID7rjXo_bL8Fb7zAtPijwZzVeOMk/s400/daddy%2527sboy3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Gabriel also loves to step into Daddy's boots and tries to walk around...but they are too heavy for that...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakfUrRg0pgEyZiLnUYEiXWkHWN5HHprPdrzZKSQJHniu4Lxsnkn5HHVEKE7wgM4sKxt5jTDFfVsZGeIENH8iF6fcm8XvyZcJAsVBEhpTYAqzsnnKDxHkCtalS7NfnAoD5JtwZ0HMS9UM/s1600/daddysboy4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakfUrRg0pgEyZiLnUYEiXWkHWN5HHprPdrzZKSQJHniu4Lxsnkn5HHVEKE7wgM4sKxt5jTDFfVsZGeIENH8iF6fcm8XvyZcJAsVBEhpTYAqzsnnKDxHkCtalS7NfnAoD5JtwZ0HMS9UM/s640/daddysboy4.jpg" width="430" /></a></div><br />
<br />
I love my boys! I am a very lucky girl to always be surrounded by such handsome, sweet, loving, helpful, funny, awesome guys!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80140422913521289.post-30201754363933147022011-03-18T21:55:00.000-06:002011-03-18T21:55:42.113-06:00That's My Boy!!I have always I hoped my kids would be lego maniacs. So far, my wish has come true! Gabriel LOVES his legos (duplos) that he got from Nana and Papa Rivera. I am LOVING it!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuajZfEHs1kI3nVVqgCjrwcsnavzOOfYkxpgEI3VnlkjB2ZYJEm5XP_SbL1WhZ36LTe8a44SVGtgCdBGmiAMK7c27tHVTMbfp3HdKqiWJA38WU_HWc_bX7J1jYiBra-4SYmLENSPqEdc/s1600/legos1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuajZfEHs1kI3nVVqgCjrwcsnavzOOfYkxpgEI3VnlkjB2ZYJEm5XP_SbL1WhZ36LTe8a44SVGtgCdBGmiAMK7c27tHVTMbfp3HdKqiWJA38WU_HWc_bX7J1jYiBra-4SYmLENSPqEdc/s400/legos1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9N1c81Q21LG_kwWAKVe5k5vfi12grMkRzmUyKUfaHye2TCnfgFF_za5j2oQnZ0eBe-CkfMCfYAnL0rBJxo8HTOcLE7JxwdrmVqVz4-pnk77qaL-8ihdsmwK_3cprR0d0x7if7afmYvdI/s1600/legos2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9N1c81Q21LG_kwWAKVe5k5vfi12grMkRzmUyKUfaHye2TCnfgFF_za5j2oQnZ0eBe-CkfMCfYAnL0rBJxo8HTOcLE7JxwdrmVqVz4-pnk77qaL-8ihdsmwK_3cprR0d0x7if7afmYvdI/s400/legos2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I have a bad habit of criticizing parents who spoil their kids (I do this <i><b>in my head</b></i> because I fully understand that everyone chooses to parent the way they feel is best and I know that it is not my place to tell others how to raise their children - get off my back!!) I think kids that are handed everything their little heart desires grow up thinking that's how life really is. I've seen kids whose parents gave them everything they wanted grow up to be unappreciative, entitled, irresponsible adults. So I don't buy Gabriel every single toy that I would LOVE for him to have...even though part of me wants to.<br />
<br />
I DO, however, buy him book after book after book. It is my <b><u>FIRM</u></b> belief that a child can never have too many books. Ever. So Gabriel is steadily acquiring quite the library. He loves his books and I love that he loves his books. They can be found in many different parts of the house. I cannot wait until McKay breaks down and lets me buy a book shelf for them.<br />
<br />
I adore my little bookworm! He knows the sign for book and if he can't find one on his own, he waddles up to me with an concerned/eager look on his face signing "book" and I find one for him. He settles into a comfortable position and proceeds to flip through pages, exclaiming "Oh! Ooo! Wow!" while pointing at pictures and mimicking the vocal tones and fluctuations he remembers hearing us use when we read to him. It is SO cute to watch.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssccHKoqxrZPdmcnLrO_rywBZ79iiCU24j4MSDPZS51nGBizwQEy4DYvfwwx_w8fINPlGYvW5eyjlho8tIxnxEOUWJlLdTD8H05IwuXmyuuutAbRXv2Yx3lnuHve9-kh4mctO8h4sLKU/s1600/bookworm1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssccHKoqxrZPdmcnLrO_rywBZ79iiCU24j4MSDPZS51nGBizwQEy4DYvfwwx_w8fINPlGYvW5eyjlho8tIxnxEOUWJlLdTD8H05IwuXmyuuutAbRXv2Yx3lnuHve9-kh4mctO8h4sLKU/s400/bookworm1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2wbn8CX4hgAR957VUz3bLeEtUFzrVheW1BeDhp1y6pcf1qAP6BxfzLmfk7JP5qYoEUPEGvKFci1KhyphenhyphenlGxAYA1OhQZHZhLYCjqjfGPQGZu7rA9wRkItH35anMGrZHDd5dq89mepBMUm2k/s1600/bookworm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2wbn8CX4hgAR957VUz3bLeEtUFzrVheW1BeDhp1y6pcf1qAP6BxfzLmfk7JP5qYoEUPEGvKFci1KhyphenhyphenlGxAYA1OhQZHZhLYCjqjfGPQGZu7rA9wRkItH35anMGrZHDd5dq89mepBMUm2k/s640/bookworm2.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br />
<br />
I am enjoying motherhood more than I ever thought I could enjoy anything. Gabriel is the absolute light of my life.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0