Mommy's Playground

Today Gabe and I visited one of the best playgrounds in town (there are a lot of them) to enjoy the warm weather. I noticed this plaque and hadn't realized before that the playground was dedicated to Jennifer Ruzicka. She was a pharmacist that worked at my pharmacy before we moved to Humboldt. She died suddenly of a brain aneurysm leaving 3 little girls and her husband (a local doctor) behind. Such a sad story but was fun to play there and honor her memory! Her husband has since remarried and her little girls have a great mommy again.

Gabe enjoyed the swings. The weather was so warm (about 90) so his face was all red.

I took 56 pictures while we there and only got these few really good shots.

It was a fun time - both of us were worn out from the sun and wind. Gabe got to come home and take a nap and I had to go to work.

He's Back

After 2 weeks in Minnesota Gabe made it home last Friday. He's been fun to have home and while we don't think he grew much during his 2 weeks away we have noticed a significant improvement in his speech. He articulates so well and says some really funny things. The plumber was here yesterday and for some reason Gabe thought his name was Mailbox so he kept saying "What mailbox doing?" or "Hi Mailbox". I tried to explain to Gabe that the guy's name was not mailbox but he just didn't get it!

All is well...

After some testing today for the little baby all is well! His heart rate is a little lower than they would like but he was kicking the crap out of the monitors (being naughty the nurses said) so they weren't concerned since he is so active.

32 weeks.....

Once again, this is the best picture we were able to get. Actually the nakey belly shots were better but I promised uncle Mikey there would not be anymore nakey belly shots.

I am currently 32 weeks into this pregnancy and am looking forward to the baby's arrival!

I've still been having some contractions (like I have for the last 2 months) and the doctor (Aaron thinks I have a crush on him) was a little concerned about the heart rate so tomorrow I have some testing to see if everything is OK!

What I do...

when Gabe isn't home:

I take pictures of the food I cook. Oh yea, and I cook. This pizza has hummus for the sauce, mushrooms, green onions, garlic, and mozzarella cheese. It was OK -- better left over the next day.


Laundry. Lots and lots of laundry.


Take pictures of my crazy dog sleeping. I can't believe he was comfortable like this! What a silly dog.

No Gabe :-(

I'm just letting y'all know that there are no new posts because Gabe has been in Minnesota ALL WEEK! He had to go up to help Grandpa Flatau and Uncle Jon get the corn planted and take care of the baby cows.

He plans on staying in Minnesota next week too.... We are missing our boy like crazy but know he is in good hands! I'll post some pictures of something this week... Maybe my belly. It's gettin' big.

Ready, Set, GO!!

Gabe and the neighbor boys, Payton & Mason, have been busy racing the last few nights! Although it looks like Gabe is "winning" in this picture Payton always won because he actually knows how to pedal....


Here the two brothers are in a dead heat... Oh wait... I don't think they had started yet!

On your mark........ set..........

GO!!! Gabe, we said GO!

Mud Hole

After Aaron washed his car there was a great mud hole for Gabe to play in.

He was upset in these pictures because of how dirty McQueen was. He kept saying "clean it off!"

Muddy face!

This picture is self-explanatory!

New Blankey

Gabe got a new blanket with Lightening McQueen on it! He likes it a WHOLE bunch and has been sleeping with it.

Help me...

Tonight we went to K-mart in Algona and did a little shopping. At one point Gabe followed me down an aisle saying "help me, need help". I ignored him and continued shopping. He came up to me with a bag of pretzels and said "buy that". I told him OK... and later we bought the pretzels.

Driving home (it's a 30 mile drive) Gabe opened the pretzels (it was a one pound bag) and we thought he was eating them. When we got home I went to get him out of his carseat and this is what I found:


I'm not sure how many were eaten but there is still half a bag left and some in the car. Anyone hungry?

A pregnant body from 3 different angles!

BACK -
I love that you can't really tell what's going on in the front!

SIDE-
Now THAT is noticeable!

FRONT -
Nothing too obvious with a black shirt on... but the belly button always gives me away!

Time outside:

We have been able to spend a good deal of time outside lately. Gabe loves to play outside riding his bike, playing basketball, and playing t-ball. Here he is shoveling the area where the dogs love to dig.


In this picture I hope you notice his eccentric outfit. Well it's mostly just the boots and helmet. At least in this pic he was on his bike. He usually runs around the yard with his helmet on. The neighbors probably think he has some special issues!

Our Pups

Rowdy:
The name says it all!

Maci:
Our sweet girl... She's been doctoring for her swollen left cheek.

Mmmm, Cocoa Pebbles!

Gabe has been on a huge cocoa pebbles kick lately. I think he ate about 6 bowls of it yesterday.

He is very good at operating his spoon...


And taking really big bites!


Chewing with his mouth closed is a work in progress..


He's got the giggling down to a science!

He requires at least one toy on his tray with him.... Insists on sitting in the high chair even though he is WAY to big for it.... And insists on the bibs we used when he was a baby. I tried to put a bigger 'toddler' bib on him and you would've thought I hurt him for how hard he cried!!

It's Official....

Gabe's a BIG boy!!!

We got his bunk beds moved into his room and the new bedding put on. Here he's trying everything out before he put his pajamas on.

Aaron put Gabe to bed after reading a few books, telling some stories, and praying. We gave him some time to fall asleep then Aaron went back in and took these pictures of him sleeping.

Apparently the transition was easy (so far)!

Gabe's faces...

These pics are the result of 2 days in a row of Gabe wanted me to take his picture. He gets mad if I hold the camera differently than he thinks it should be held.... Thus the pointing and mad faces. He says "no mommy, upside down"!

Happy Easter!

Here is a rare family photo of us. Gabe got many compliments on his outfit!


When Gabe and I came home from church the Easter bunny had already visited. Gabe loved his new truck, Elmo t-shirt, and Lightening McQueen PJ's. In fact he has already worn all of them today!

Easter Egg Hunt

Gabe and I went to an Easter "egg" hunt yesterday....



Gabe had no clue what to do and wasn't a big fan of all the people everywhere....

He only got 2 pieces of candy (that I picked up) but he LOVED meeting the Easter bunny. It's all he's been talking about since!



On the way home he was checking out his 2 pieces of candy.

Found the helmet!

We found Gabe's helmet that we bought when he was a brand new baby. It fits perfect and he LOVES it! So thanks to Joyce, my co-worker from St. Louis who gave us the REI gift card that bought the helmet....





He also loved riding his bike outside for the first time today.

Gabe's "helmet"

Gabe was "biking" last night as he calls it and he was asking for his helmet. I told him it was OK to go and get his helmet. He came back to me with this visor and wanted help putting it on. So he wore it for a while as his helmet.



He must've realized it wouldn't protect him much in a crash so he took it off!

Learning to Dunk

I taught Gabe how to dunk a cookie in milk tonight after the crying fit (see previous post).

I missed taking pictures of the actual dunking process but these are cute nonetheless!

Gus Dancing

So it happens that EVERY time I sit down at the computer Gabe comes over to me and says "Gus dancing, watch video". Usually I oblige and we watch the 'who let the dogs out' video a few times. We had already watched it once today and Gabe came over to me again and wanted to see the video. I told him no and he FREAKED. He was not happy with me as you can see in the video at the bottom of this post.

Follow this link to watch the fantastic Gus dancing:

http://rossandallison.blogspot.com/2009/02/every-parents-worst-nightmare.html

It's so funny that he loves that video of Gus. When Gus puts his little fingers up and shakes 'em Gabe always says, "do it mommy!" and I have to shake my hands just like Gus.