The best in a long time...

So I got some of the best pictures in a long time of Gabriel this morning. I dressed him in a Harley t-shirt he got from one of my co-workers in St. Louis (thanks Judy, I miss you!) -- I wanted some pictures to send to Judy so she could see how cute he looked. These were the results -- hilarious!

Then I took him to daycare and he had a massive diarrhea blowout and got poop all over this cute shirt. I hope it comes out in the wash!

He has his 15 month checkup tomorrow so hopefully I'll have an update with some vital stats tomorrow.

Camo man

Gabriel wears a lot of camouflage. But I can still see him - it's not that hard. He has been a very good boy this weekend! He have me his first kiss today - it was very sweet! And he only gives them ON the lips. And he even makes the kissing noise.... SMACK!

Going Green

In an attempt to make our yard more green and appealing....

I undertook removing all the dead stuff from our shrubs. If it looks like I'm IN the shrub it's because I am.

The other way we are greening up our yard is with this big lawn mower...

and snow blower. Now we can move our own snow next winter and not rely on our kind neighbors!

And since Aaron had to drive to Minnesota to get the mower he had to stop at Cabela's. And buy a gun.

So Aaron buys a mower, snowblower, & a gun. I cleaned up twigs. Pretty exciting weekend!

Moving Rock

With all of my spare time (yea right) I have undertaken a LARGE task...

of moving all this rock:

out here (or at least as much as will fit out here).

Thank goodness I have such good help!

At this rate we'll be done by the time he graduates from college. With his PhD.

What a good little rock mover. If only he would've been one of a triplet this would be going three times faster!

Any suggestions on how to expedite this project are welcome!

It's been awhile

I get lots of hugs from my mom.

This time I got one because I was sad. Really sad.

Then Grandma came to visit & I was REALLY happy!

I showed her how naughty I can be when mom changes my diaper.

Then I showed Grandpa how to pull a wagon.

Then I posed with Granpda for this dandy picture. They always say something about I never hold still and it's hard to take pictures? Whatever, they just need to be faster with the camera.

BRUISER!!!

I'm sure we've been the talk of the church since it looks like we beat our child....

Gabe face planted on our VERY hard floor Friday night and had a bloody nose and lots of tears!

Here's what it looked like on Saturday morning.... (It looks even worse today but I don't have a pic.)

I think his dad felt bad for him so he let him drink lots of pop.

Just kidding, only Aaron & I drink lots of pop.

Just like my mom & dad

Gabe picked up my head lamp and tried to put it on his head... I didn't know that he had ever seen us use a head lamp. Thats my smart little boy!

What the heck?? I can see the floor so much better now....

OK, get this thing off... Don't people realize how DORKY they look with these things on?

Right now, it's about me.

That title probably turned most people off from reading this post. I know I know - I'm not nearly as exciting to read about or look at as Gabriel.

I thought a little explanation was in order for the lack of frequent posting... You see I have been working full-time (or more) for about a month. The difference in "free" time is significant..... I don't think I've even taken a picture of Gabriel for over a week.

Since we left St. Louis and moved to Iowa I have turned to the retail world of pharmacy. Not necessarily by choice - the nearest hospital jobs are in Ames (100 miles) or Spencer (not sure how far, but too far). In spite of my reluctance to turn to retail it has been surprisingly fulfilling. It is not challenging and I miss the professional atmosphere of the hospital but I can do this thing for as long as is necessary.

What, you say, is fulfilling? Mostly the relationships but also it's the service. I love that pharmacy can be a service profession (if you want it to be) and I love to do just that - serve the community. Helping people, making them smile, putting up with the absolute WORST people, dealing with narcotic seekers, comforting family members and praying for our sickest.

I can't tell you how many dead, dying, deathly ill people I saw in the hospital on a daily basis and rarely did I shed a tear or choke up. Now in retail I am dealing with my first customer that is nearing death and I can hardly look his daughter in the eye or talk to his wife on the phone without tearing up.

OK, I'm getting depressed - time to switch subjects.....

The rest of my time involves my son and my husband and his job. Aaron's job has been taking up much (most) of his time lately. He does a great job balancing things and dealing with everything. We try to enjoy the little time we have together as a family.

Tonight I grilled some chicken breasts and asparagus in our atrium. We enjoyed dinner together (at 8pm after Aaron got home from church) out in the atrium while Gabe played around and watched the dogs. It was a nice time together.... The weather is improving and I think it lightens everyones mood.

I'm running out of things to write -- anyways I appreciate all of you who read our blog and keep up with our lives. A big thank-you to those of you out there who keep your own blogs going so I can keep tabs on you. One of my favorite times of the day is checking my friends' blog to see who has made some updates --

Keep checking back -- I'll only be working full time until mid-May (I think) so I should get better about posting again real soon.