Golden Birthday

At the very last minute we decided to have a little party for Gabriel's second (and golden) birthday. Our original plans were to head up to Gooseberry Falls and go hiking and let Gabriel throw rocks in the lake, which he loves the outdoors and throwing things so it would have been the perfect day for him. But in the end we had to change our plans and we invited some family and celebrated another way.

First we let Gabriel open up some gifts when he first woke up. We didn't want him to open up all of them so we hid some for later.

Then we got everybody and headed to the zoo! It was a beautiful day out and perfect for walking around. We also dressed Gabriel in about the cutest outfit ever, seriously, I think about 20 random strangers commented about what he was wearing while we walked around the zoo.

Gabriel loved all the animals, he kept making animal noises whenever we saw them. This particular lion kept looking at the children like one yummy snack. I for one was very thankful that there was the glass to separate the lion from her prey the kids.

We couldn't resist getting a few pictures of Gabriel in his adorable train outfit...

And then we actually found a train at the zoo and Gabriel got to take a ride with his Daddy and his cousin Rowan.

And we saw the seals...

Eventually we got a little tired of walking around and once the words 'presents' and 'cake' were mentioned Gabriel wanted to go home anyway:)

*We had cake in between these two pictures, hence Gabriel being naked. 

Gabriel ended up having a wonderful birthday party and everybody had tons of fun! Happy Golden Birthday Gabriel!

last day of one

The day before Gabriel turned two I was freaking out. I was not ready for my little boy to turn two, he was still my little baby, he was my one year old who seemed like he just had his first birthday. All day I was freaking out about it. I think I gave Gabriel a few dozen extra hugs because I felt like I was saying goodbye to my baby and having to accept toddlerhood the next day. I know, it's really only a day difference and it's silly but if your a mother you probably understand how that one day can make all the difference in the world.

After we tucked Gabriel in bed that night I went and hugged my husband for a long long time. I went on and on about how that was our last night to tuck in our one year old, we would never be able to tuck in one year old Gabriel ever again and we just lost our baby. Yes, I was being dramatic. Yes, I am ok with that. And yes, my husband thought I was silly, he even told me that, he's more logical then I am like that.

Later as we were laying in bed and my husband was trying to fall asleep and I was still going on about losing my baby I decided I needed to capture the last moment my baby was going to be one. So I got up, grabbed my camera and snuck into Gabriel's room. I stood over his crib and knowing fully well that a flash might very well wake him up, I snapped my picture of my sleeping babe. Amazingly, he didn't even flinch, so I took another!

And then I went back to my hubby and made him open up his eyes (he was half asleep after all) and look at my picture and talk more about my overly dramatic emotions about my baby turning one.

Then he told me to be quiet.

I hit him with a pillow.

He sighed.

And then... then I kept talking.

Then he fell asleep and then I took a picture of him too. After all, it was the last night he was going to be a father to a one year old Gabriel.

Colorful Bums

 My babies have colorful bums!!! Plain and simple their butts are colorful! Why? Because I clothe diaper of course! And now they are more colorful then ever before because today I got Gabriel's next size in the mail and since gDiapers just came out with their new line of colors I was able to order the new gPants instead of their old ones! So now I have the new and old colors and my babies bums are more colorful then ever! And yes, I am excited about it!

So from left to right, top to bottom we have galactic blue, vanilla bean, good vibe strip, gooseberry purple, goodnight blue, grubby knees grey, midnight black, great orange, guppy green, goo goo blue, go fish blue, and got chocolate brown! I also have grateful red (below) but currently it's on Gabriel's bum so it's not in my picture above... 

Thank heaven for colorful bums, they make your life a little brighter, literally!

Mystery Solved!

This morning when I got up to get Gabriel, Eli was still asleep in our bed where I had been laying next to him, so I left him there until he woke up. I got Gabriel and we ate breakfast and played a little bit, all the while Eli slept peacefully away in our bed. 

I ended up having to clean a little bit in our kitchen and Gabriel went and played in his room. I check in on Eli a few times and every time he was fast asleep and his pacifier was up by his hand where it had ended up at some point during the night. That was, until the last time I checked in on him. I peaked around the door and saw that he was still asleep, I smiled and turned to walk back to my cleaning duties and then I stopped, something was different. I walked in and noticed that Eli's pacifier was no longer by his hand but was now in his mouth! I was very puzzled. I didn't put it in and Gabriel had been playing in his room all morning, but then, Eli is too little to find the pacifier and put it in his own mouth so how did it get there. I figured it was no big deal how it got there and decided to go back to the kitchen and clean but in the back of my mind I kept wondering how in the world that the pacifier ended up in Eli's mouth.

Then Eli got up and I changed him and fed him. He played on the floor a little bit and was tired in no time. I put Eli in his swing to take a nap and then went and got a drink of water. While I'm drinking my glass of H2O Eli's pacifier falls but he was practically asleep so I was just going to leave it alone. Then all the sudden Gabriel walks by. He looks at Eli, proceeds to stop the swing, digs on both sides of Eli until he finds the pacifier, shoves it in Eli's mouth (literally shoves it in, there is nothing gentle about it) then pushes the swing so it will start up again and walks away! Apparently if there is not a pacifier in Eli's mouth then something isn't right in Gabriel's mind and he's going to help Eli out. So my theory is that Gabriel snuck into our room when he was supposed to be playing in his room, crawled on the bed and gave Eli his pacifier (well, probably more like shoved in his mouth, I'm sure Eli didn't have much choice in this matter) and then went back to playing... either that or I have a genius of a 3 month old who can already find his pacifier and put it in his own mouth, but I'm guessing the latter is highly unlikely! 

a simple letter

To All My Children, Present and Future,

I will never be able to give you all the things that you want. I wish and pray that I could, but I can't. You may have to fight for your dreams and work for the things you want. You may have to go without at times in your life. You might have to work harder then everybody else, you might have to fight and fight hard. I wish I could give you all the wonderful things in life on a platter, but I can't.

I can say, that I will fight with you for your dreams and guide you with God's help on your journey. I will work along side you for the things you want. I will go without more so then you so that you don't have too. I will not regret it.  I will not envy other mothers who have things that I don't because I will have you, my children, and you make my life brighter then any gem or stone ever could.

I can love you, I can be your friend and counselor, I can fight hard and work hard for you, I can comfort you, hold you, kiss away you hurts and I can be your Mother. I pray everyday that God will bless you and guide you, that He will show you His ways and His heart. I pray that things will be easy for you and that you will be able to follow your dreams. I know that storms will come, I don't want them too, but they will. We all go through tough times and though I pray you don't have to, I know that God will be with you through everything he puts in your path.

You can always come to me for help and I will fight for you, work with you, pray for you and be right along side with you. I will stand up for you, I will ask God for guidance in raising you, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe and happy and I will love you more and more each passing day, more then you could ever imagine.

I love you, each and every one of my children and I will continue loving you every moment that I breathe!

Love,
Mama