Projects

Yesterday we made a *quick* trip to St. Louis to pick up some furniture. We were able to hit a few of our favorite stops (REI, Cabelas) and see some friends. We were also treated to a number of lovely St. Louis traffic jams!

This dresser is the reason we made the trip. It is for Gabriel's room and will be stained to match his crib. It has some cool hardware to attach once it's stained.

And because we made such a long trip to purchase the dresser the company gave us a "deal" on this bookcase. This will also go in Gabe's room to house his many books, stuffed animals, and other odds and ends. Gabriel officially has the nicest furniture in the house!

This is one of Aaron's projects... It's a desk he got free that was in bad need of being refinished. He sanded it down and will stain it. The plan is then to use it for his fly-tying bench.
We'll post photos of the finished projects.... whenever they are done!

Army crawl

A little sampling of how Gabriel is moving around now. He also gets up on all fours and rocks a little. It probably won't be long until he's crawling around the house! We better get busy baby-proofing...

Sunday afternoon nap

Everyone likes a nap on Sunday afternoons...

Swinger!

Here are some photos of Gabe swinging today. It's a bit shocking that I have figured out how to post video -- and it wasn't even hard!

First Swing Ride

Gabe got his first ride in his new swing today after church. Aaron did a great job of setting it up in the front atrium where Gabe can swing day or night, rain or shine, cold or hot!!!

Gabriel's Favorite Things

Gabe has a few activities that he particularly enjoys. The first is smiling and laughing. His dad is the BEST at making him laugh.


He also enjoys falling over and moving around after falling over. We suspect that he is going to be crawling very soon.

One of his ultimate favorites is holding onto board books and chewing on board books!

I can't read to him unless he has a book in his hands too.

If I don't give him a book to hold he tries to pull the one I'm reading out of my hands.

Then when I don't give it to him he gets mad and screams, and there isn't much point in reading to a screaming baby.

And finally Gabriel likes to take naps. He took about four of them today.

SIX MONTHS!

Gabriel's 6 month birthday was yesterday. It's hard to believe 6 months have gone by since he was born....

We had visitors for the big day. Grandma & Grandpa Flatau, Aunties Emily and Jill, and Grand Auntie Nancy stopped in on their way back from California to help Gabe celebrate.

Gabe's vital statistics as of today, 8-1-07 are as follows:
Weight = 17 lbs. 1 oz. (50th percentile)
Height = 29 inches (95th percentile)
Head Circumference = 17.25 inches (50th percentile)

Happy to be playing!

Sadie has made herself quite comfortable in Iowa

Ummm I don't think this needs an explanation or label.

Gabe showing auntie Jill how he can laugh

The church sign. I'm glad they added the T onto the end of
Aaron's title!

Aaron at work in his new office.

The crew in San Diego

For those who are interested, our new table. This has been a long time coming and we have been enjoying it very much!

We can almost always calm Gabe down by going for a walk around the neighborhood. It's pretty much the thing to do here in the evenings. All the cool kids go for walks and talk to their neighbors!

Gabe got a "Bob the Builder" ice cream cake from the Dairy Queen. It said "Happy Birthday Gabriel 6 Months". He even got to eat a little of the cake.

Me & my boy - one of my favorite cuddle times is holding a clean baby in his hooded towel!

Gabe is showing how he can eat peas. Yuck.

Auntie Jill was a pro at helping with Gabe's bath in the sink!

This looks like an innocent enough picture, right? Truth be told we were trying to capture Gabriel in his attempts to take a poop. It's really funny complete with red face, watery eyes and audible grunting.

Humboldt Happenings

It has been almost exactly one year since we started the blog! I hope you have enjoyed viewing it as much as I have enjoyed composing it!

We are continuing to settle in... Gabriel went on his first bike ride a few weeks ago. He didn't like it very much even though you can't tell from these pictures!

He would've wore his helmet but it was WAY too big! Soon enough it will fit though...

Mom & Gabe posing on the Three Rivers Trail. This is right before he started crying, then he cried the whole way back (about 5 miles).

RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Ride Across Iowa) comes to Humboldt!!! The town went all out preparing for the overnight stop for tens of thousands of cyclists, including Lance Armstrong himself. We didn't see Lance but we did see our community choir perform and they were awesome!

This really doesn't do it justice, but here you can see some of the trucks and tents for all the bikers.

Here's Gabe after the choir concert. He did much better on this bike ride and only cried for about a mile this time.

A cute little boy napping on the floor! Looks comfortable...

Connected!

We are now:
1. Officially connected to the internet
2. Unpacked
3. A pastor, pastor's wife, and pastor's kid

We still:
1. Miss our friends in St. Louis
2. Haven't switched our license plates and driver's licenses to be official Iowa residents

We have:
1. Been blessed with a warm welcome to Humboldt
2. Taken Gabe for his first bike ride (he didn't like it very much)
3. Fed Gabe solid food (he DOES like that!)

Here's a pic. of our living room a few hours after we closed on the house

Me & Gabe talking about our new house

Gabe dressed up like a gangsta for his gramma Mitzi

A sleepy boy playing in his new play contraption. The first time we put him in it his feet didn't touch the ground. Two days later he could touch with tippy toes, two weeks later he cruises around in it!

Here Gabe is helping cook in the kitchen. He had just gotten back from the ladies aid meeting at the church. He wore his "Little Lutheran" t-shirt to the meeting!

Gabe & his Uncle Jon sporting their backwards baseball caps...

A cute close-up in a cute sleeper from Gabe's friends Alex & Sabina.

This is the first time Gabe got to lay in his brand new crib! Gramma Mitzi and auntie Emily did a fantastic job staining the crib for Gabe!

Enjoying his crib...

OK, this was ordination/installation day for Aaron..... His relatives dressed Gabe up for the service (I told them to put the little hat on), except they have the hat on backwards.... This picture says it all! As soon as they got to the church, Uncle Jon said to take the hat off because it looks stupid. He might've been right!!! Check out his bib... How appropriate!

Gabe & auntie Emily cuddle in his room after they got most everything put away. We haven't hung up his pictures yet. You have to be careful about placement when you're dealing with concrete walls!!!

The fam

Mr. Clean?

Gabriel's latest trick is chewing on his toes. Babies have amazing flexibility!

This illustrates Gabe's lack of contentment when put down on the floor....

This is what we've been dealing with on a regular basis since moving to Iowa.... Fussy boy!

Here Gabriel models a cute sleeper from his Gramma Di Ann. Check out the feet!

Gabriel's first taste of solids are captured! July 2, 2007.