February 8th

There NEVER seems to be enough time in the day to do all of the things I need, want, and must do. An extra hour or two a day would be nice.
In less than a week, our sweet baby Gabe will be 2! Its seems only yesterday they were putting me into the hospital hoping to keep him inside for a few more weeks. He didn't last those "few" weeks. Not even a week. But today he is a smart, happy, cute, spoiled, and into EVERYTHING little boy.
This weekend, we will be celebrating his birthday party with family at our house. He LOVES Mickey Mouse, so a Mickey Mouse party it is. I have made mouse ears, and mouse buckets for this weekend. Greg will be trying BBQ again. **side note** We have had BBQ already 3 weekends in a row. This weekend will be 4 YES 4 weekends in a row. I am a little tired of BBQ. But we need to make sure we knew what we were doing BEFORE we actually feed it to people.
Here is hoping for a Great Second Birthday for our little surprise!

I love this time of year. Weather the boys can play in for hours. The breeze, the leaves changing and being able to snuggle up with my boys. BUT I DO NOT like the snot that comes with this weather. Gabe has already had an ear infection and a cold. Sometimes the weather is bi-polar. Shorts one day, Jeans and long sleeves the next!


Jacob is now in 4th grade. It seems that he has grown up soooo much since starting school in August. He has also developed quite a smart mouth. He gets is honest from me (and from Greg also). Somedays its worse than other. I hope all make it thru the TEEN years...Lord Help US!!
Jacob is bowling in a bowling league this fall. Its his "sport". He loves it. He gets better and better as the weeks go on. His elementary school offers band starting in the 4th grade. He is now a drummer. "Lazy Bones" is about the only song he knows. Imagine hearing that 15-20 minutes a day...EVERYDAY!!!
Gabe is growing like a weed. He is now 19 months olds and a HANDFUL!!! He weighs 23.8 lbs and ais 31 inches tall. He got his 1st haircut a few weeks ago. He no longer looks like a baby, but a Toddler :(


Gabe is a VERY polite boy. After screaming, yelling and throwing a fit- he says "Thank You" for giving in and giving him whatever he was wanting. I Pick my battles with both of my boys.



The males in this house (Greg & Jacob) are excited about football being back on TV. I am not a fan nor do I pretend to be one. I always try to find soemthing else to do during that block of time on Saturdays. Jacob gets so worked up about Alabama Football. I remind him that its just a game. No matter if your team wins or loses- the earth with continue to rotate and world will survive.
Today I purchased my 1st bag of marshmellow pumpkins...MY FAV!!! And I am already planning how to decorate the house for Halloween. YES......I LOVE this time of year. (But NOT the Snot!)

LONG LONG OVER DUE

I am LONG over due for an update. Gabe is now 14 months old and in 2 weeks Jacob will be 10 years old.
Jacob update 1st.... He is now in a bowling league for kids. It is a work/learning experience. Jacob enjoys it and that is really all that matters. This past grading period, he was awarded the Perfect attendance award AND the Good Citizen Award.

Not a great picture of him. He was worried that his class would be leaving him, hence the BAD smile.
We are working to plan his Birthday Parties. For the last couple of years we have bribed him with big presents so that we would not have to do a birthday party (I know, we are awful!) His Family/Friend party will be a St Louis Baseball theme party. We are also doing a bowling party with school friends. He is saving his money up to buy himself a bowling ball.

Gabe update...He turned 1 in February. He is not walking yet, but he is starting to stand independent. And he is crawling, pulling up, and getting into EVERYTHING. I have realized he is ALOT OF WORK!!! I guess I forgot from Jacob how much work he can be.
Gabe has a nice little vocabulary. Its werid that he is already talking. Since Jacob had a trach, he had no spoken words/language until he was over 3 yrs old. So, it amazes me that Gabe "talks".
I will TRY to update more often. We are having Family pictures taken next weekend. I am looking forward to it. They are being taken at Centennial Park in Nasvhille. Hoping EVERYONE cooperates well with the Photo Shot!!! And I am praying for BEAUTIFUL weather.

Merry Christmas To All!!

Wow! Where has this year gone!! I can not believe that in 3 days it will be Christmas. This year has really flown by.
Jacob is out of school for Christmas Break. That means he is bored from the time he get up until the time he goes to sleep. And for some reason he thinks that I was put on this earth to "find" his things. If only he would clean his room, I am sure the things he can't find would be found.
Gabe is 10 months old. He is getting to sooo big! At the last Drs. visit he was 16lbs 8 ozs. The boy can put some food away. I just wish Jacob would do that.

A week ago we had snow. In the South, snow doesn't usually happen until January or later. It is rarely found in December. Everyone in the house was sick, expect for Jacob. He did make it out side to play in it while the rest of us watched from the living room window. The bad mother that I am DID take Gabe out in his reindeer outfit for pictures.

Where has the time gone!!!

WOW! Its been a long time since I have updated my blog. Gabe is now almost 8 months old. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE!!!

I am not sure of Gabe's weight. Since he is so healthy, we do not have to go to the dr every month like we did with Jacob. BUT we did put him on the home scales and it looks like he is around the 14 1/2 pounds mark. To say that he eats well, is a BIG understatement.
In August, He had a hernia repair. He did great except for the fact, he does not like to miss a meal. We went back for the follow up visit, and the dr even commented on how he looks as if he gets ALL of his meals and then some.
Gabe is now eating cereal, fruits and veggies. He likes his cereal with a little fruit mixed in. He loves pears, apples and bananas. He HATES peaches!!! And he doesn't know why I continue to give them to him. He loves carrots, squash and sweet potatoes. We have not tried anything green yet. They just look nasty to me!!! He wishes he could eat sweet potatoes all of the time!!!

Gabe has started to roll over to his tummy. He would like to know what the big deal is. He can't see much on his tummy, so he prefers to be on his back or sides. He is now sitting unsupported for 10-15 seconds at a time. He is right on track with his development with his due date. And you can get him to do almost ANYTHING if food is involved.

Jacob has now finished up the 1st 9 weeks of school. At the beginning I didn't think we would see 4th grade. BUT as the weeks went on, we got into a rountine and it looks like we just might survive 3rd grade.
Jacob has had his 2nd set of tubes put in his ears. Jacob has some hearing loss. Hearing loss that does require a hearing aide. He does not like his hearing aide. He complaines and says it makes everyone loud. Of course, he picked out a red hearing aide that has a red ear piece. It looks like Big Red chewing gum is stuck in his ear. He has yet to wear it to school this year. We are hoping that the tubes will help his hearing improve.
I did not go back to work this fall. I am again a stay at home mom. It seems busier this time around. I guess with an older school age child it would be. My day is planned around Gabe's eating and Jacob's school times. I really do miss my co-workers, BUT I could not imagine not being at home with Gabe like I was with Jacob. I still do get to see some of my former co-workers. I just don't have to be there at 645 in the morning to see them :)

This summer we made a family trip to St. Louis. Greg took Jacob to his 1st Major League Ballgame. HE LOVED IT!! The game had a 3 hour rain delay and went into several overtimes. They did not make it back to our hotel room until 1am. Both said it was fun and worth it.


We went to the zoo, the Arch, Budweiser, Grant's Farm and to the City Museum. The City Museum has a Wonderful playground on top of the building...aka the roof!!! It was cool and I think Greg had as much fun there as Jacob did ;)

My favorite time of the year is upon us. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Halloween. Its the only day of the year when you can be whatever you want to be, and its OK. Jacob plans on being an Alabama Football player (no surprise) and Gabe will be a little Monkey since he is our Monkey Boy!!
I will try harder to update more often.......

One Month & Counting

Gabe has been home for a month for little over a month now. And BOY am I TIRED!!! It has been quite an experience this last month. Last week at the dr, Gabe weighed 8lbs 1 oz. I would not be surprised AT ALL if he now weighs 9 lbs. The boy can put away some milk. Greg has nicknamed him TB...meaning two bellies. We are not sure how he hasn't exploded with all the milk he takes. Some nights we are up 4 times and other nights we are only up twice. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the nights we are only up 2 times. The next day I am not as tired or cranky. (last night was a 3 time night)
Gabe has the sweetest smiles. And he cries to be picked up, only to give a sweet sly grin when he gets his way-he knows how to work me. Yes, I am afraid that he is spoiled ROTTEN already. I manage to get NOTHING done around the house. But I do manage to hold him a big portion of the day.

Gabe has found the backyard, through the window only (its TOO HOT for anyone outside these days!). He has also found himself in the mirror. And I love to see his eyes light up when the ceiling fan is on. He can watch it for hours. Gabe has started hitting at toys with his hands. And he helps to hold him bottle up-just in case I drop it, his hand is there to keep the flow going.

Gabe has graduated from Newborn diapers to size 1's. He has also started wearing some 0/3 month clothes. The next few weeks and months should be fun and quite interesting.

2 Weeks Home

Gabe has been home for two weeks now. It has been quite an adjustment for all of us...including the cat and the dog.
At his weight check this week, he weighed 6 lbs 3 ozs. Since he has came home, he has ALMOST gained a pound. Its werid to go to a drs visit and actually have a child who gains weight. We were always lucky if Jacob gained an ounce or maybe two. We even considered ourselves lucky if he didn't lose weight.
I have came to the conclusion that breastfeeding is like a baby buffet. You can eat anytime you want and stay for ever how long you want. It seems to be a NEVER ending buffet. Supply and demand has become quite a problem for Gabe and I. He demands more and my supply is going down. This milk factory can not keep up with the chunky monkey that lives here.
Gabe has some interest already. He is really into looking at our lamps. Either he likes them or thinks we need new ones. He spends quite a bit of time just looking and studying them. He also loves to lay on the floor and "talk". He is quite noisy!
Our dog, Spanky, has decided that Gabe is his new best friend. He has started sleeping in Gabe's room. I think its mainly because Gabe is the only one who doesn't kick Spanky out when he starts snoring at night. Plus, Gabe has a rug in his room and Spanky's smell is not on it yet.
The cat is a whole different story. Bootsie doesn't understand WHY we now have another person in this house. She doesn't like the other people in this house, so do we really expect her to like this one. BUT she does get up with me most nights and go to Gabe's room for his nightly feedings. She has only been within about a foot of Gabe. She studies him and he "talks" to her. She does not like it when he talks to her or when he is on her bed (aka our bed).
Jacob spent most of the last week in Alabama. He was of course spoiled rotten by too many grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. He told me that everyone kept asking him about Gabe and he didn't want to talk about Gabe.
Jacob is really into holding Gabe. The only problem, he does't like to hold his head. According to him...it feels funny. Yesterday he decided that he wanted to change Gabe's diaper. He got the new diaper but changed his mind once Gabe tooted. He said he smelled like poop. Last night he wanted to pick him up and bring him to me. That didn't happen. If you can't hold his head, then you can't carry him. When Gabe has more head control, we will talk about carrying him to me.
Here is a picture taken of Jacob and Gabe on Jacob's awards day. He receive 2 awards (or as he calls them rewards). He received the most improved in all subjects and the most inquisitive award. That's a nice way of saying you ask to many questions. And he does.