Christmas... and other stuff

Uncle Jon helping Gabe color

Snack time -- complete with bed-head

Bath time at Grandma's house -- the farm animals were looking on....

Checking out the real cows

Look what the mailman brought!

M&M's and matchbox cars -- a perfect combo!

cracking open a new present...

Christmas dinner!

Cruisin' the halls with Uncle Jon.

COLD winter days...

It has been cold and stormy in Iowa over the last couple of weeks. Gabe likes to wear these special "socks" as he calls them -- and of course read books.


We finally found some boots and snow pants for Gabe - we took him outside Friday night and he LOVED the snow! Here Aaron is showing him how to make a snow angel...





We sent him down one of our hills on this sled and he thought it was hilarious!


Aaron was snowblowing for about the millionth time -- check out the sundogs!


This drift is probably over 10 feet high by now...


Here's the view from inside the atrium..

This is how Gabe likes to wear his hats.

My style of poetry:

This photo is all the proof that you need -
Gabriel will be a big brother indeed!

After gagging and retching and choking a bunch -
I'm feeling quite better and can usually eat lunch.

The 5th of July is its time to arrive -
we need lots of prayers that baby will thrive!

Lindy looks forward to growing a belly -
here's hoping her butt doesn't turn into jelly.

Aaron's a grammar snob that's now on my list -
he made fun of my poetry and so I am pissed!

In spite of Aaron's snub I love him more and more -
we are pleased that our family will soon number four.

Lazy days

I felt a little guilty when Gabe copied me by lying down on the couch and covering up.... Must mean I spend a lot of time doing this!

He spends a lot of time reading his books

We went to our first Christmas party of the year tonight. We had a good time with my co-workers from Larry's Pharmacy and Gabe even got a new bulldozer!

Time for a haircut

Yesterday Gabe had his hair cut by a professional. He was pretty much terrible (I had to hold his head like a vise and pin his legs between my legs while he screamed).... but luckily Linda did a great job and I gave her a big tip!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Because I needed a reward for surviving the morning we went to HyVee to have a late breakfast. Gabe enjoyed his doughnut.

His teeth were green from the frosting but you can't really see it here.
When we came home I put him down for a nap and he didn't go to sleep for over an hour. Do you think it might have something to do with the sugar filled doughnut and diet-coke I let him drink???

Waking up is hard to do....

Gabe is a great sleeper and I captured him trying to wake up from his nap a few days ago.

Gabe's Christmas Tree

I got Gabe a little tree for his room Monday. We put it up and decorated it and as of Tuesday morning he has most of it dismantled and pulled apart. I should have known better -- but he really likes it and goes up to it and says, "nice, pretty".

Reading with Dad!

Fox??

Gabe was trying to learn how to say fox -- he still hasn't mastered it... but I sure think it's funny to make him try...

Lots of love all around

On the farm...

Gabe got to spend some time at his favorite babysitters house last week. I think he mostly played with Sara's little brother Nick -- and had a great time with all the animals!

What do cows eat?

I like the couch...

The central theme running through these pictures is............... me on the couch! I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately so I spend a lot of my spare time on the couch.

Here Gabe is dressed like a little man.... but he has my shoes on. He is always putting our shoes on!

This morning Gabe kept bringing me books from his bedroom and asking me to read them. He only let me read the first two nursery rhymes in this book (I read them over and over and over). They were 'Ring around the rosie' and 'Humpty Dumpty'. He always said "crash" when we read Humpty Dumpty

Aaron calls this spot on the couch my cocoon. I try to fold up my blanket and put away the pillow when I'm done... but mostly it just waits for the next time I need to relax. When Gabe wants me to get up he just comes and pulls on my arm or leg and says 'up'.
And in case any of you are worried about the lovely curtains you see in the background of our pictures we have new ones on the way! Hopefully they work ok, they were SUPER cheap... so we'll see! I guess they can't be any worse than what is already there! I'll be sure to post pictures once they are installed.

Sunglasses & cookies

Today Gabe found these sunglasses of mine (they are on his head) and came out saying "cute, cute". He was right, it was cute!

My friend Bethany got married last weekend and I brought home the favors for Gabe....

It was a box full of little cookies and he LOVED them.

He pretty much ate the contents of the entire box in one sitting.

The new flooring....

Aaron has been working hard remodeling our bathrooms... Here are some pictures of the new flooring.





This is a shot of the bathroom -- you can see where he has repainted the tub, replaced the toilet, sink, and counter top.

Bery Hot! (Again)

I captured this "bery hot" in context... I just love how he says it!

MMMM, cookie dough!

On Sunday Gabe helped me mix up some chocolate-chip cookies. Since we both love the dough we still haven't baked the cookies! We shared a spoonful tonight and Gabe kept saying "more" when his mouth was stuffed full!

Hat.... and Bery HOT!

Tonight Gabe discovered a new hat to wear around the house... and I captured my absolute favorite thing he says on video, although he didn't say it quite like he normally does. I'll keep trying to get it just like he uses the phrase every day!

When dad is gone....

Gabe feeds the dogs LOTS of extra food mixed with water.....


And runs around with his hat on backwards....

And goes for walks with his mom!

Happy Halloween.....

Well here it is... The obligatory Halloween post. Gabriel dressed up as a cow (thanks Grand Auntie Linda) and had a great time trick-or-treating. We made it to a few houses in our neighborhood, Larry's Pharmacy (where I work), and a number of church members houses in town. He only got scared once when a couple of high school kids in masks jumped out of a pile of leaves.

Here we are just leaving the house heading across the street to Gabe's first trick-or-treating experience!

Here he is heading to his 2nd house and this time he kept his hat on.... for a little while!

He had to eat his first piece of candy right away!

His favorite place to sit at the pharmacy....

Gabe and Carleen were sharing Tootsie Rolls!