Family and Maternity Photo Session September 2012

These amazing photos were taking September 2012. I was 30 weeks pregnant, Gabriel is 2 1/2 years old. We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of our newest addition to our family! We're due in about 7 weeks. Gabriel is so excited to be a big brother! We hope you enjoy these photos.

Summer 2012

As you can see I've had very little time to do any updating on our blog. We do have some exciting news!!!! In March we found out that Gabriel was going to be a big brother!!!! Time has flown and we're just 4 1/2 short months away from the new baby's arrival. Other things have been going on as well. In May Gabriel and I spent and week in South Carolina with Nana and Granddaddy (Natalie's parents.) We all had such a wonderful time together. Mom and dad have a new dog, Toby, and Gabriel couldn't get enough of Toby. Of course he loves Sweetie too! Who doesn't love Sweetie. We got in the pool a few times but it was still pretty chilly but Gabriel didn't seem to mind it too much (it was me who minded it!) June has been pretty busy. I finally have started feeling better with this pregnancy. I'm 18 weeks along and getting bigger by the day. Gabriel loves to go outside and play in his pool. This past weekend I decided to get in there with him due to the extremely hot weather. I don't do well in the heat anymore so I'll take a pool of water any day. This weekend was fun. On Friday I helped out with World Changers from all over. (when I say helped out, I mean prepared their lunch and served them lunch with a great group of women from First Baptist Church.) I had a wonderful time. I'm always looking for a way to volunteer my time but it never seems to work out, mainly because of my work schedule. However, this time God provided a direct route for me to help out and I am so glad I did. Even though I was only there for about 3 1/2 hours I still felt like I made some sort of a difference. Saturday was spent recovering from Friday( me) and with my sweet family. Gabriel had so much fun outside in his pool and Matt had a blast as well. Sunday we got together in Murfreesboro, TN with my Aunt and Uncle and then headed to a birthday party with some friends. We had a great time. Thoroughly enjoyed our pizza from Old Chicago, but not so much dinner from McDonald's. Overall we had a wonderful weekend. Pictures are posted.

Pictures of Summer Fun!

A long time coming

It seems as if I've completely forgotten about this blog..... Truthfully, I hadn't but things have just been so busy lately. Gabriel turned 2 in February. We had a Fire Engine themed birthday party. He and all of his friends had a blast! It's April now, time flies these days. He's saying all sorts of things now and he's all over the place. In January we converted his crib into a toddler bed. He loves it. He is such a big boy now. More updates to come later hopefully.

Long overdue

Things have been so crazy that I keep forgetting to update the blog. This picture was taken yesterday while Gabriel was playing on his new bike. Of course he can't peddle it but he was having fun on it!

Motts for Tots

I'm excited to say that there is a new lower in sugar juice out there for tots!
Check out their website by clicking on the link below.

www.vocalpoint.com/mottsfortots

You will have to copy and paste into new browser window!

catching up

Evidently I have a lot of catching up to do. I haven't posted since Gabriel was 13 months old and now he is 16 months old. Time just seems to fly by these days, of course it seems that we are always busy so I am sure that has something to do with it. I cannot tell you how much we love that little fellow. He does so many adorable things, so many that I cannot begin to list them all. He has brought such joy to our lives. He is running all over the place now and rarely sits still.

At his 15 month check up he weighed in at a whopping 22.3 pounds and was 30 inches tall. I think he's had a growth spurt since then because when he stands up in the tub he seems taller than what he was. However, I have not measured him. Speaking of bath time- he is a ham! In our bathroom we had a special shower head just for him and he loves to stand under it and take a shower. Of course he'll sit in the tub and play for several minutes but then he's ready to shower off. He loves to let the water splash him in the face and then he just giggles when it tickles his lips.

Words and phrases he says on a regular basis:
Tree
Car
No
nana (for Nana and Banana)
outside
cheese
mama
dada
cat
doggy
diaper
dirty
hi

He knows where his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, feet, hands, and belly are. He is such a smart little boy! It seems that every day he learns something new. I will post pictures later!

Mr. Cool Dude

13 months old

I can't believe how quickly time has flown. Gabriel is already 13 1/2 months old. Of course he's into everything. He can say Cat, Dog, Shoe, Daddy, Mama, Tree and he loves to laugh. He's just plain funny. Of course he's walking all over the place and is trying to run. He gives kisses on command and loves to explore. He brings such joy to our lives.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

Last Tuesday Gabriel came home hoarse from Daycare. Neither of us thought anything about it because on Monday (Valentine's day) his daycare had a v-day party and he had a cupcake. The cupcake (AKA Sugar High) lead to a squeal fest in the bathtub Monday night. So needless to say we thought he just screamed himself hoarse. By the end of Wednesday he had a runny nose, was still hoarse and was coughing. Thursday he developed a 101 fever which led to Matt taking him to see the doctor. A nasal swab later and RSV came into the picture. I never dreamed of him having RSV, I thought maybe it was just a cold or something. Let's just say that thankfully he did not have to have any breathing treatments. Just fluids and a lot of rest. Poor baby ran 101 fever for 5 straight days but thankfully on Tuesday he was almost 100%. By Wednesday he was himself and we sent him back to daycare.

Gabriel's Chair

We also got Gabriel a "big boy" chair so he can sit with us safely and comfortably. It was cute watching him climb in and out of the chair.

Gabriel's first car!

We've already bought Gabriel his first car! It was so cute. Last night Matt was putting it together (note to self: don't put a toy together when the child is standing over you watching every move you make whining for you to get it together!) Let's just say he loves this thing!!!!

Hanging with Aunt Jen

Aunt Jen is one of my best and closest friends, however, we very seldom get to see one another. She lives in Chicago. She came in to celebrate this very special day with us!!! So here are a few pictures of Aunt Jen and Gabriel.

Gabriel's milestones

Gabriel took his first steps the day he turned 11 months old! He took a few steps toward me when I picked him up at Daycare. It took a week or so if taking anywhere from 2-8 steps at once, however now he walks pretty much anywhere he wants to go. Oh, not only did he learn to walk he also taught himself to climb stairs!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY GABRIEL!!!

Opening his first birthday present!



Gabriel's personal cake was the round one with the 1 on it. I am very proud to say that I made all the cakes and cupcakes!


On Sunday February 6th Gabriel turned one. It's so hard to believe that a year ago yesterday he weighed in at 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long. Now's a good 21 pounds and not sure on his height! He had a wonderful birthday party on Saturday. Lots of friends and family came to celebrate with us. 26 friends and family to be exact. Here are some pictures of his party.