Christmas Time

Well we are full in the Christmas Spirit and now we have Jake & Zach here….YEAAAAAA! :) They arrived yesterday around 4:00 and will be here until Christmas day. We will be busy ~ Smores one night, an evening with friends, a graduation party of a friend and someone the boys look up too, Brown Bag goodies for the homeless, build a ginger bread house (we started the tradition last year & it was fun, only Jake & Zach missed out on it…but not this year), Santa will make a stop early for Jake & Zach so they can enjoy their gifts, Christmas Eve Service, and then Christmas morning with a Todd’s FULL breakfast meal, and LOTS & LOTS of LOVE!!!!!

Last Tuesday Gabe had his classroom Christmas Party! We made an ornament together, the children exchanged book gifts, and we enjoyed cookies!

 

A Tradition that we started this year is ADVENT! This year I just have the envelopes in a Christmas bag, so next year I plan on having something a little more creative! :) We were given an advent package at the Birthday Party for Jesus and I had been wanting to do one, so I was really excited. Of course Gabe does not get it all, but seeds are being planted! :)

Hope you all are having a Merry Christmas!

Gabe’s first Christmas Program

Oh my gosh he was super cute! I’m so mad though because our battery was not working for our video camera and I did take a little footage with my little camera, but I was moving around and it was shakey and did not come out that well!

The evening started with a Pancake supper, which he loved and when we first walked in a little boy ran up and started sayng” HI Gabe over and over” it was cute. Once we sat down here came another little boy that said the same thing, it was adorable! Then next thing I know Gabe is pointing to a little boy and telling me look mama its Eric, can I go say hi and I said of course honey and off he went!  I watched him walk over there with his little hands clasped together in front of his body and he smiled and told the little boy hi…I just realized how much Gabe is growing in that moment, what a sweet little boy! Oh and then he saw a little girl named Sienna, he said Mama I’ll stand by Sienna and you take picture, K?!! After dinner we headed over to see Santa… I wasn’t sure if Gabe was going to go for it, because during the day he kept saying he didn’t want to see him and that he “wasn’t” scared of him, which means he IS! To my surprise he was fine, I think seeing all his little friends going too also helped! :) Seth was a little questionable, but did fine.

I was so proud of Gabe he was well behaved and sat so still while with his class waiting to go on stage…awww he was so sweet singing his little songs: SANTA to the tune of Bingo, Jingle Bells, and We Wish you a Merry Christmas! When he first got on stage he saw me and ran towards me, gave me hug and then went back on stage!

My little Charlie Brown did wonderful and we had smiles that lasted all night!

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Seth’s mini 11 month photo session :)

 

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Our little monkey turned 11 months on Nov. 23rd and these are a few pictures we took a few days after.  He is still crawling like crazy and getting close to walking….I’m betting that will be a birthday surprise for everyone…Seth will take his first steps!

I can’t believe how fast he is growing!

Tis the Season….

Last weekend we got out all the decorations and Gabe was excited to say the least! :) OH I that it was fun last year with him, BUT this year WOW even more fun! He was ready to get Tigger & Pooh up in the yard…

 

Gabe and I went to a Birthday Party for Jesus…we had so much fun…

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Seth enjoying all the decorations…

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Our plan was to cut a tree in Elgin this year and one of our friends from church was going to use our fake one…but she ended getting one from someone else and we decided to save money and go with our fake one this year….it is still pretty, just missed going to Elgin…hopefully next year will make it! Gabe thought it was so cool when he got to get on daddy’s shoulders to be the star on and then he wanted to use his stool to put the ornaments on. Gabe also enjoyed his first Hot Coco! :) while watching Charlie Brown Christmas!

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Thanksgiving

We headed for Conroe last Tuesday after Gabe’s Thanksgiving Feast. Todd left around 3:00am Monday morning for Fl to see Jacob, Zach, and some of his family. That drive would be too much for Gabe & Seth…18 hours in a car!?!

 

It was hard to be away from him and I really wanted to see the boys, but they will be here in a few weeks! :)

We did get to SKYPE and that was fun!!!!

Our first stop was at My Aunt & UNcles for dinner and then we headed to my mom & dads. Matthew’s girlfriend Lindsey got in on Wednesday…she was a really sweet and fun girl! We just hung out around the house and Gabe got his ride on the tractor, we went to the park, had a quick trip to Kohl's, played a came of Cootie and mom cooked some for the big day!

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We had Thanksgiving at My Aunt & Uncles, the food was fabulous and the layout was like something out of Martha Stewart..lovely! So So so Yummy!! What a wonderful day after we ate we went for a walk then had a taste of ALL the pies that they made and then headed to the Park! That was fun…..some of us were playing horseshoes, a little hitting the baseball, swinging, sliding, walking and Gabe enjoyed the sand pit UNTIL HE RUBBED HIS EYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! POOR BABY!! I ran to him picked him up and ran to the nearest water fountain…there was a beautiful garden and luckily there was a water hose right there, we flushed his eyes out and you could just see all the sand! Once we made it to the car we got a water bottle and leaned him back and OH BOY He did NOT like that! But it was clean! When we got back to the house I got the boys in their PJ’s and Gabe had a little snack outside watching and listening to the music on my Aunt & uncles house! Seth enjoyed his first Thanksgiving, he LOVED the green Bean Casserole and the whip cream on the pies! He also enjoyed being pushed around in his ride! :)

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That evening the boys went down fast and I enjoyed some wine on the back porch with my brother and Lindsey. It was chilly but we bundled up and I even played a little guitar and sang! It was fun!

We headed back to Austin on Saturday since Rain was in the forecast I did not want to be driving in the rain!

We had a great time, BUT I sure was wishing I had leftovers..BIG TIME!!!! Oh well I got some Big Beautiful and very JUICY lemons from my Aunts tree! I am enjoying lemon in my water and will be making some lemonade, plus I won’t have to buy any for cleaning for awhile now!

So thankful for my family and my friends, God has blessed us so much! I hope everyone had a beautiful day. 

Brothers

It seems funny sometime to hear myself say…”C’mon Boys” Awww wow God has blessed me so!

Seth already looks up to Gabe and can Light up his face in a second as well as get a laugh from him!

Gabe is enjoying that Seth can now follow him and he wants so bad to have him truly play with him. He has being saying lately..”C’mon Sethy lets go play in the playroom”, I’m trying to get him to understand that he just can’t go with him just yet by himself!

Today when I took them to the doctor to try and stop this cold from setting in, I saw Gabe be protective of his little brother for the first time…After the Dr. checked Gabe’s breathing and was then checking Seth, Gabe leaned in very gently with the sweetest smile and put his arm around him and then started to pat his little head as if to say, “I’m here Seth it’s ok!” awwwwww

Seth is standing on his own for seconds upon seconds and can now hold one hand and walk a bit, he likes holding Gabe’s hand and mine while walking too! 

My little Blue eyed ;)

Seth has grown so much in the last few months and is doing so much more!  10 Months now and will be 11 months in just a few days!

He cruises all over the place and wants to walk, but I think he has figured out that he can follow bubba much faster by crawling, and let me tell you he would win a baby crawl! HA HA

He has his bottom right tooth half way in as well as his top left! Super cute and the top right is peeking thru as of yesterday!

He said mama first :) (probably because he hears Gabe say it ALL DAY LONG!) and says dada and now he has the cutest little wave and says bye bye!

He is still my smiley baby and so patient…he is totally a mama’s boy! Gabe, well he did love being in my arms, but was so much the child to go to anyone very easily (whuch was actually scarey sometimes)……NOT my Seth or Sethy as Gabe calls him! He will tuck his head in my shoulder and smile back at you, as if to say, “No thank you, I am just fine in my mommy's arms…I can see you just fine from here!” LOL

He is JOY and I no tears will be ROLLING when he turns 1!  

Excited!!!!!

I have started my classes to become a Kindermusik teacher!

Kindermusik is a wonderful way of learning and enhances the overall development of children thru music.  Music is POWERFUL in so many ways!!!! How awesome… ..my two passions, Children & Music!!

I will be taking the class online and will complete it in 15 weeks and then receive my license. ;)

I will be teaching a class to the 1 1/2 yr-3 yr olds accompanied with a parent and my friend Amy will have the 3-5 yr olds, and then my friend Sheri will be teaching sign language! The classes will be held at my church and we are looking at starting in January!

So when I have more details as to when the class will begin and what day and time, I will let you know. We would love to see your little one! :)

FALL & HALLOWEEN

Fall has been in the air and we are loving the weather! Absolutely beautiful!!!!

We took the boys to the Elgin Pumpkin patch with some friends of ours and I must say we were disappointed in the amount of pumpkins they had…they had more at our corner nursery!  The kids did have fun though with the hayride and sitting on the tractor and running around…..

                      SWEET

Vroom Vroom

Our Dear Friends Deena, Mario and Mia

 

How bout this one mama?

The kids did have fun, but when we got back home, Todd and I headed to the Red Barn nursery for some Pumpkin pictures….

Sweet Peanut

Sugar Bear

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I love this time of year! Hope everyone is having a beautiful Fall!

 

PUMPKIN CARVING

Gabe seeing the inside of a pumpkin for the first time was priceless!!

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HALLOWEEN~

What FUN we had! Gabe has gone went back & fourth with what he wanted to be, but one day he looked at a party city magazine and pointed to the DR costume and said I want to be that! :) COOL!

He made the cutest DR ever!

Seth was a monkey and OOOOOOOH what a cute little monkey was he!

 

We went to a Halloween Party and Gabe had a blast playing with his friends, eating hotdogs, and having some sweets! Then it was off to go trick or treating in our neighborhood.

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It was so neat to hear Gabe say Trick or Treat and to see his little face light up! He has changed so much in a year. It was so cute, because every time we got to a house, he would say you gonna come with me…he was a little hesitant, but had so much FUN!

9-23-09 Seth is 9 MONTHS

So Seth turned 9 months on the 23rd of September…I know for shame for shame on me for just now posting!!!! lol

What an amazing sweet little JOY he is! I took him to his 9 month check up on Monday and he now weighs 18lb 11 ounces and is in the 25%….our little man!

 

He is a crawling machine and pulls up to anything & everything! Now that he is on the move, OH Boy my days are very different! LOL Kinda hard to get much of anything done these days cause Gabe still has not gotten that fact that even when your hugging or trying to give Seth something he can’t let…he will fall. Sharing I thought Gabe was doing wonderfully at school and at church, but now that Seth wants EVERYTHING that Gabe has, well thats a little different. Were getting there though! :)

Besides crawling & pulling up Seth LOVES for you to hold his hands and walk with him! He just giggles and loves to chase Gabe, so cute! I made some mashed potatoes the other day and he was in Heaven! LOL He eats good except for the days when he is teething.He is sleeping good at night and wakes up sometimes at 5:00 to eat and occasionally at 3:00.

I can’t believe he will be 1 soon!!!

ABC’s & Moving & a’ Groovin –9-13-09

Sooooo Gabe has been saying the ABC’s for the past several weeks! Oh to hear his little voice sing that, what really gets me is when he sings Jesus Loves me & Twinkle Twinkle! He had  another great day on Thursday, he did cry again! ;( Oh  and a messy kinda funny thing is that on Tuesday he told me he pee peed on Mrs Tracy and on  her new shoes! I was like UH OH!!! So on Thursday I asked her about it…I told her he trys to be like daddy and hold it etc…. well she said OH he stands…well that explains it she was sitting him down! She said glad to know :) and we laughed! BUT that day when I picked him up….he had a new pair of shorts…the asst. teacher had sat him down as well! Poor teachers  - Mrs Tracy had not had a chance to tell her that Gabe stands. Needless to stay, a little late, BUT I told Gabe make sure you tell them you Stand to go pee pee!

 

Seth is CRAWLING!!! YIPEEEEEE! Oh boy as some of my friends say…my world is about to change! I remember this HUGE change with GAbe, but now Gabe’s world is about to change as well!  I told him earlier “Honey Seth is now on the move, so look out cause hes gonna get ya!” He laughed!!!! When Seth made the first few crawls on his knees…I cheered and he looked up at me and grinned!!!! OOOOOO I could eat him up!!!

Gabe’s first day of Pre-school

Well my SUGAR BEAR is officially growing up!!!! He has been talking about going to school and seemed excited about gong ever since we went to meet the teacher last week….however last night while reading our nightly stories and I began tucking him in bed…he said “Gabe not go to school” Oh no! This morning he was excited again…especially about his lunchbox! I had picked just a plain one up  with the intentions of going to cycle gear soon to get him one with a dirt bike….he saw his friend Jax’s over the weekend and I knew I needed to get that for his first day! He wanted to see what I packed…yes I drew a smiley face on the napkin, just as my mom did for me! I let him pick out his outfit, it was between plaid shorts with a blue surfer top and the rockstar…he chose the rock star! He did wonderfully…when we entered the room they had music playing and that really tucked on my heart strings and I could feel the tears welling up… I quickly focused on his little cubby and began telling him “This is where you will put your lunchbox when you come to school and then we put a name badge on him and they had the letter A waiting for him to paint! Those teachers ROCK…he was ready to go! I gave him kisses, said have fun and I’ll see you later! I went to a very brief parent meeting and then hung around a bit to sneak a few peaks! Yes their were other moms doing the same. :) I was totally bummed because my camera started acting waco and jammed up! When I picked him up he I peaked in and saw him doing puzzles…awwww he was sooo sweet! His teacher told me that during the day he cried and began getting tired…awww my sweet baby I mean BIG BOY! Anyway when he saw me he was excited…as we walked to the car he said “Gabe criiiiiiied at schoooool today. Then he began talking about clouds and playtime, oh and his lunch! Hee hee

I know he will have a great time and I will eventually get into a groove….just weird being so quiet!

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Labor Day Weekend

Mine started on Thursday ;) only because my dear sweet friend April invited me out for dinner…a few hours with no kiddos! We had some yummy Mexican food and a great l”little” drink to go with it! ;) The best part was talking with my friend…lve you April!

Saturday we went to the first UT tailgate of the season! Our sweet friends the WHITES which include Keith & April have been having them for years, they have a great spot and always have food and wonderful cold beverages! I made some yummy fiesta ranch dip, which was a hit and so glad cause it is SUPER EASY!! Our boys had a blast…Gabe and Jax played on Paul (poppy)’s trailer with their dirt bikes and cars going up & down the ramp! UT won of Course!!!! :) I swore this year I WILL be more involved in the season…every year I say this is the year! LOL I usually end up coming in towards the end of the game…not this year though! Oh and I got to visit with my friend Cindy over some new found wine…check it out CUPCAKE vineyards out of CA! We enjoyed some vino and chocolate, can’t go wrong with those! Of course I learned a few things from Cindy the chef…I swear one day she WILL have a restaurant!

Sunday Gabe & I headed for Sunday school…Todd stayed home with Seth, since he is getting over a little cold. We pretty much hung around the house all day and rested.

Monday we had breakfast at I-HOP and then hung around the house again, did a little yard stuff in the back and I wrote bills…FUN FUN!  Seth rode in the outside Swing…that was neat to watch…what sweet smiles and sweet laughs! We Grilled a Steak that Todd and I split and Gabe kept saying “I want some snake.”LOL oh and speaking of snake…in some pots we found a skin left behind of a pretty long snake!!!! oooooo!!!!

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A WONDERFUL LONG WEEKEND!

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CIRCUS

A few weeks ago Gabe & I went to the circus…a little mommy & Gabe time! :) We went with our friends Mario, Deena, & Mia! We had sooooo much Fun! We there for the pre-show, which meant we got to be down on the floor where all the action was taking place…we saw an elephant paint! :) Gabe’s favorite was the motorcycles and Tigers!!!! It was pretty loud and there was lots going on….so after after intermission Gabe was saying…I’m ready to go Home…he was tired! And of course we walked some in the heat, so that will make you tired too! We had a great time with our friends and Seth did just fine without mommy!

 

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Granny & Pawpaw Visit

We left last Wednesday and headed for Conroe to visit my Mom & Dad. Gabe could hardly wait…he reeeeeally wanted to ride Pawpaw's Tractor! The quiet house quickly became very loud and busy! We did a little shopping and Granny & Pawpaw played farm and dirt bikes with Gabe. I met my friend Laura and her 2 boys at the Woodlands Mall and the kids played in the Tree play area (really neat) and rode the Merry-Go-Round (huge carousel). I wish we lived closer…our boys are very close in age and we are going through alot of the same stuff. After the mall we dropped by to see my mom at her office, she was surprised! I was hoping  on Friday Night to get together with  Middle & High school friends who I have not seen seen since then!! But everyone already had plans or  was out of town…bummer I will have to catch them next time I’m in town! Todd joined us on Saturday…he rode his Harley and man was Gabe excited to hear him pull up on Saturday! My Aunt, Uncle, cousin and his girlfriend joined us for some bar-b-Q and lego fun :) …oh and my Aunts potatoe salad was AWESOME (avocados in it YUMMY)!  That evening Todd & I went out for the first time since Seth has been born! Seth has finally taken a bottle…so this makes things a little easier sometimes. We went to Laundrys and had a drink with some crab legs and listened to some good JAZZ and then walked along the water! It was reeeeally nice! Sunday Granny bought Gabe and Seth a few CUTEoutfits and then we headed back to Austin!

The boys had a lot of  Fun and it was a nice change of scenery for me….good visit! Next time we go it will be mid Sept. when my brother comes home from Germany!!!! I can’t wait to see him!!! I will be back in Oct. and plan on trying to see some of you my friends!! :) TILL NEXT TIME………………….

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A quick Update on the Boys

Hey Everybody!

Seth is now 8 months old and has not crawled, but scoots around on his bottom a bit and pushes back on his belly... the other day I came in the living room and didn't see him on his blanket, my heart dropped a little...I was like WHERE DID HE GO? (I remember doing that same thing with Gabe) His face was looking up at me...he had scooted backwards on his belly and his body was under the end table with his head looking up at me with a grin, "Like see what I can do"? hee hee!!! He has pulled up a few times and can stand holding on to something, but once he leans hes down! Oh but how EXCITED he is too be up on his feet! He so wants to play with Gabe and wants his toys...forget these baby toys lets move onto the Cars & Trucks! He has been saying ba ba for a while, but he says ma ma quite a bit and at first I thought he was just babling, but he looks at me when I come in the room and says it to me!!!! I love it...he said mama before dada...WOW! I think this is because he hears Gabe all the time! :) He does say dada too! :)

I can't believe Gabe will be 3 in December, just right around the corner! He will be starting pre-school (mothers dayout) soon and he is excited about that! I took him to the Dentist a few days ago because I noticed something on his tongue...he has geographic tongue....this is where your taste buds come off in clumps or patches...it can burn, itch, or be hot! You are born with it is not something you catch! This explains why he has been messing with his tongue and putting things in his mouth. But his Second year molar is coming in on the bottom left which is also why he wants things in his mouth! Hopefully he will grow out of it and it will not cause him too much pain or aggravation as he gets older.

Gabe and his “Good” Marbles

Being a good boy is a pretty big deal in our house lately….seems the “Terrible Twos” are in full throttle at our house! There have a been a few times, when I was saying to myself “ Uh where did my child go, has anyone seen him?” LOL  He earned 5 marbles and had been wanting a little people bus, or truck, so off to Target we went! Now obviously I can not by a $10.00 item every time he gets 5 marbles, but this time I made an exception. Next time he will be picking from his goody coupons! ;)

Jacob & Zach~ Summer Visit

Well the boys left last Saturday…they were only here for 4 weeks this year and that went by really fast! It had been since Christmas that we had seen Jacob, because he was in DC  during Spring Break and I can’t get over how much he is changing…he is not the “little bitty boy” I met so long ago! He is taller than me and his voice has changed!!!! He was a great help with Gabe, playing with him while I fed Seth or took a shower…that was really a treat for me! I watched a video of Zach from when we lived in FL (which he loved) and aww it just made my heart warm and made me miss them being little, what a ball of energy Zach was (still is at times) and he has some great dance moves! They are god boys and I’m grateful to have them in my life! ;) Gabe sure enjoyed having them here…his world definitely changed. He wanted to be just like his BIG brothers :) He has also been  Mr. Repeat & repeat lately, which was sometimes a good thing and sometimes a not so good thing. There were some moments that Gabe was bouncing off the walls with all the excitement of having his brothers here. My house was louder with all the boys playing and chasing Gabe around, Gabe LOVED it! Of course my house is still loud even with the boys gone…but that quietness still feel down upon us as always when they leave…makes us a little sad. Todd had to work pretty much the whole time, which is good cause we need the work, but I know he wanted to spend more time with them. Next year they will be here for the normal 6 weeks and looks like Jake may be staying longer since he missed Spring Break and will be making up the 2 weeks he missed this Summer! Zach is usually ready to go home sooner than Jake anyway and this will give them a break from each other….they need it! Hopefully they had good time… they did some skiing & kayaking which cooled them off a little in this brutal TEXAS HEAT!!!!  We miss them already and look forward to spending Christmas with them! 

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A Weekend with Granny & Pawpaw

We had a nice weekend..my Mom & Dad came to visit! They have not see Jake or Zach since Christmas, so they wanted to see them before they leave....they couldn't believe how much they have grown! We enjoyed brisket & ribs, we laughed about some fun kayaking trips weve taken, Dad gave me some pointers for my garden, watched some video of the boys wakeboarding and our trip to PA, went swimming in the pool at the "luxury" hotel they stayed in! :) for only $67 . It was really nice, a Hilton Garden Inn. Mom said they slept like babies in the sleep number bed with down pillows! :) and then went to church this morning! Of course they didn't come empty handed...as Gabe says "Granny got you a prize!", the boys got a Blockbuster card which they used part of today, Gabe got a Melisa & Doug puzzle and little Seth got some teething rings! Thanks Granny & Pawpaw!

See ya soon