Little Devil

Thought you might enjoy some pictures of Gabe in his little devil costume! Eventhough Halloween is now half a month away! I'm late as usual!

Gabe had a great time trick or treating. Well, we trunk or treated where everyone pulls their cars into the church parking lot and gives out candy from their trunks. Look at him toting his bag, all opened up wide and ready for the candy! He totally "got" it and was loving that people were filling up his bag with candy! He really liked the cars where people had big candy bowls sitting out and he got to dig his hands in there and get as much as he needed! Isn't he a cute little devil?

Guess we'll get to find out in two more weeks just how much of a devil Gabe really is! Baby sister Layla will be here on November 30th - that's 2 weeks from tomorrow. There's a ton going on in our lives right now - we're (hopefully) only a few weeks away from being able to move into our new house, Layla is on her way, Christmas is coming up... Lots going on with us, that's for sure!!

As soon as I can, I will post pictures of Layla. There probably won' be too many posts before she gets here because of all that is happening but check back in early December and hopefully her beautiful face will be here on the "Land of Gabe" for you to "meet" her!

A few pictures for Pa

He'll understand...

And one from the pumpkin patch from Saturday!

Catch up!

Opps! I let September slide by without any posts!! Gabe is growing so much and changing everyday. I thought I should do a "cute things he says" post. But honestly, most everything he says and does is cute to us! Like, he's started saying "I love you" alot. It's so sweet, he'll cuddle up beside me on the couch and say "I love you mama". He also likes to love on his baby sister. Kind of a hard concept for him to grasp since she is still in my tummy, but he will pull up my shirt sometimes and give "Weela" (aka Layla) a kiss or a hug. And occasionally he will even give her his paci! He doesn't let have it for long but he will say "please" when he wants it back!

He also copies things you say now so you have to be very careful! I spilled my water all over the kitchen table the other night and said "Oh crap" and sure enough, what did Gabe say...

When we were at Walmart Saturday, he saw a Bob the Builder potty seat and he WANTED it! I asked him if I bought for him would he use it and he said "Yep" (Yep is his new things now, we try "m'am and sir" but it's not catching on too fast). So I bought it. I've been putting him on it before he gets in the bubbles at night and last night he sat there long enough and peed in the potty! He was SO proud of himself. He just grinned from ear to ear.

And speaking of Walmart, he is obsessed with the place! I don't know what it is. Last night the commercial for the Jungle Book movie came on and Daddy said, "Gabe mama needs to get you that movie" and he said "We go to Walmart?". Um no, not at 9pm, not on a school night anyway!!

He is doing great with his language skills. He can say pretty much anything he wants to say and he puts sentences together very well. Sometimes he says "Gabe's" or "Gabe" instead of mine or I but sometimes he says it the correct way too. He expresses himself and lets you know his needs and wants very well. He is addicted to "Chololate Milkshake" all of a sudden (chocolate milk). I guess it's better than all of the apple juice he used to consume! And this way I can skimp a little on the chocolate part if I need to and he is still getting his calcium!

He is certainly a joy to us with all that he does and says. I know he is going to make a great big brother! His little sister Layla Grace will be here via C-section on November 30th! Guess we'll find out then...

And now for a few pictures!!

UGA tailagate day at school
Throwing rocks in the fish pond...

(He likes to look for the "BIG rocks"...)

Watching the "BIG" waterfall on a recent trip to the mountians! He became obsessed with "Big waterfalls" after this!

It's my party...

Remember all of those birthday parties? Well they were certainly a blast! Each one of them!! By the fouth one, Gabe was actually saying "no more, no more" when you put presents in front of him! I guess he was a little overwhelmed but he really enjoyed every last minute of all of it!!

Here are some pictures!
Party #1 - party with my cousins Jessie and Eli...

Every night since then we've had to read "Curious George and the Puppies". He LOVES that book! Thank you Eli and Jessie!!!

Party #2 - school party

Yep, more cake!!!

Party #3 - pool party with Christian

This one was a really fun party for Gabe because there was swimming involved! And fun for Mama because she got to spend some time with HER friends too!! The yellow jacket sting that mama got was NOT fun, but it's now healed and forgotten and I'd take the memories back for it any day!

Party #4 - weekend at Pa and Nana's with cousins Jamie and JB

"Really? More cake?"

And a HUGE thank you to everyone who celebrated Gabe's 2nd birthday with him and made it a special day (week).

I am TWO!!!

Well, almost!! My birthday isn't really until Friday but mama and daddy say I get to have a birthday WEEK instead of a just a birthday DAY! How exciting!!! Yesterday I had a small party at Grammy and Pop's with my cousins Eli and Jessie. It was very exciting and a lot of fun! I had a "Ightnin Aqeen" (Lightin' McQueen") cake and got some really cool new books and some new tractors! After reading all of my new books, I feel asleep with two of my tractors last night and wouldn't let mommy take them out of my hands. Mama said she is sure that me rolling over on my tractors at 1:30 is what woke me up last night, but really, I just wanted to get in the bed with her and daddy. She says I am rotten like that! I know it...


Tomorrow I will have cupcakes at my school with all of my friends! School is going great! I am such a big boy in my new class. Some days I even go nap nap without my "Wee Bi"(that's my silkie and my paci incase you didn't know). I have a hard letting mommy leave for work in the mornings, but I am usually fine soon after that. I am really looking forward to my school party!!

On Wednesday I am having a small pool party with my friend Christian. We were not able to go to his birthday party so we are going to have a joint party with him and his mommy at the pool! We'll have a pizza and there will be even more cake!

Speaking of the pool, I LOVE swimming! This weekend, my mama and daddy bought me a cool life jacket and whenever I wear it, I am allowed to jump off of the diving board to my daddy!! But only when I am wearing my jacket! I am such a big boy jumping off the diving board! I really love it and don't get upset when I go under the water!

Let's see... more parties! On Thursday we are going to Nana and Pa's house and we will have ANOTHER pool party on Saturday! I can't WAIT to show them all how I can jump off the diving board! I'll have to remind mama and daddy to bring my jacket so I can do that! I am so excited about seeing everybody, especially Jamie and JB again! It's been a long time and I really have missed them a lot!

Last Saturday mama took some pictures of me. She said she needed them for my "Two Year Portrait", whatever that is! Here is the link to where they are! You can just click on it and see all of them! She has also posted a few of them below (but you really should check out the rest! I am SO handsome!)...

http://www.sueannhollandphotography.com/GabeTwoYear/album/

Thank you for letting me share turning TWO with you! Until next time...

Lots of happenings in The Land of Gabe

So much going on!!! We are in the midst of buying property, moving into and getting used to a new (to us) house, building a house, a new classroom at school, and growing a baby sister. Yes, that's right, I said SISTER!!! We found out last Thursday that "Gabe's little sister" really IS a little sister!! Good thing, becuase we have been referring to her as that for a couple of years now!!!! We don't have a name picked out yet, but we're working on it...

In other news, the land we have been trying desperately to buy for almost a year now will soon be ours. We will also hopefully be breaking ground on our brand new house in a few weeks. We are buying 24 acres just inside of Oglethorpe Co., really just a stone's throw from we were WERE living. I say WERE becuase we have also sold our house! The house Sean and I built together in 2000, only one year into our marriage, the house brought Gabe home from the hospital to, has been sold. We moved out on July 7 and closed on July 9. We are living temporarily in the house that once belonged to my fraternal grandparents and has been occupied by my brother and his family since 1996. They have recently moved and we were blessed to be able to live there for a few months while our house is being built.

In Gabe news, he is having to deal with change overload right now!!! He transitioned to a new classroom at school last week and started full time in there this morning. So far he seems to be doing really good in there but there will be a lot of changes for the little man. For instance, they do not allow paci's in this room. They are trying to teach them to be big kids and the paci must go. Ouch! This is really going to be a tough one!! Especially since he is dealing with the stress of a new home and new room on top of it all. He is having a hard time sleeping at night and has been ending up in our bed every night for the past week or so. I know it's probably not a good habit and hopefully one that he will overcome soon, but I know there is a lot going on in his little life and hate to deny him that if that is where he feels the most comfortable. He DID get to get a new pair of sandals - courtesy of Nana - that made him feel extra special! They are Thomas (a plus) AND they light up!! His first pair of light up shoes will hopefully help to make today and the days to come much easier on him.

I wish I had some recent pictures to share but with all that's been going on, I have none! I do plan to get him downstairs in my studio very soon and maybe work on a 2 year portrait! That birthday is just right around the corner!!!! I'll post some as soon as I can!!! For now, think about us as we change, change, change!!!!

It's Potty Time!

OK, so if talk of pottys and bodily functions bothers you at all, then skip this post, but I promise you, this is a good one!!!

One of my whole purposes for starting "The Land of Gabe" is because I really stink at journaling and writing down key events in Gabe's life. I have a journal I did for him while I was pregnant and it stops when he is only a few months old and even still there are HUGE gaps in it! So to fill out his baby book and other milestone charts, I always have to refer back to my old posts here to see when he did what! Well, I have a NEW milestone to share with you! Potty Time...

Here's how it went down: Yesterday I was getting out of the shower and Gabe came in the bathroom and was standing there talking to me. He started to pat the top of the toilet and said "potty".
So I said: "Do you want to tee tee on the potty"
Gabe said: "teetee. potty"
And he started to pull at his diaper and said "britches off"
"ok ok, buddy, let me get that diaper off"
So I picked him up and sat him on the potty. I had to hold him tight to keep him from falling in and I had to stick him way down in there to make sure if he did pee, he didn't pee on me. Then we waited. And he grinned. It was so cute. He was so proud of himslef. And then, he tooted. I laughed and said "Gabe made poots on the potty! Do you need to go smelly?" And as I said this I realized he was kind of pushing and next thing I knew - plop! He made smelly in the potty!!! We had daddy come in and look at it and we hugged him and kissed him and told him how smart he was to go smelly on the potty and what a good boy he was! And he was so proud, he even got to run around the house diaperless for a short time! THAT part was cool!!

Now, do I think Gabe has started down the long road to potty training. No, not really. I think it was a fluke thing, just being in the right place at the right time. He did make 3 more smellys in his diaper yesterday with no more talk of the potty. But do I take it as a wonderfully promising sign of things to come? YES! Most definitely!

Thank you for sharing in our potty delight and just for fun, a recent picture...

Gabe's little sister (or brother)

is coming along just fine! I had my first ultrasound Monday at 7 weeks and the heart rate was good and the baby measured exactly right on. My due date is December 9th! Just one day before my (gasp) 32nd birthday! When Gabe is in just the right mood, you can say "Gabe, what are you getting for Christmas"? and he'll say "a baby". It's the cutest thing ever.

In other news, Gabe apparently has a little girl friend! Her name is Kate and she is in his class at the day care. His teacher told me yesterday that they had a special concert outside and she looked over there at Gabe and Kaet and he was giving her big hugs. And then, and then, (this part is hard for his mama) he was kissing her square on the lips!! Over and over again. Oh my sweet little boy! At least she is cute.

This weekend we get to see Pa and Nana. We are going camping in our new camper for the first time (and taking our friends the ants with us because it doesn't seem like they are all going away before we go. Just goes to show you that just because it *seems* like a good deal...). For Christmas we got Pa a special treat where he gets to go drive a real race car on a real race track, really fast! So we are going to go watch him enjoy that gift and enjoy some camping in the meantime. We are really excited about getting to see Nana and Pa and Jamie and JB and Aunt Mary and Uncle Jason again. It's been a while. We won't get to see Grandma this time and we will miss her but we can understand her not coming - she doesn't like the heat and it is supposed to be HOT this weekend!!

And just a couple from Easter...

Gabe's big announcement

Gabe doesn't know it yet, but he is getting a new baby for Christmas! I am very newly pregnant - just a little over 4 weeks along. Gabe LOVES babies but I don't know for sure how he'll take to one living at his house 24/7. Please keep us in your prayers that everything will go OK and that Gabe will be as wonderful a big brother as I think he will be.

And just for fun, a couple of recents...

Old McDonald Had a Farm

I thought I'd share with you this cute little video clip of Gabe doing his animal sounds! This is one of the cutest things he does right now; especially the kitty cat. He does this little high pitched "meow" that is the cutest thing you have ever heard! He actually knows lots of animal sounds and lots of different words. He amazes me everyday with something new that he shows me he knows. Yesterday morning I left my pjs in the bathroom after my shower and apparently daddy had handed then to him and told him to "take these to mama" and he did! He brought them right to me in the bedroon where I was getting dressed. He takes instructions well (most of the time!) and is always willing to help out when you ask him. First I am going to share the video clip with you, then, if for nobody but myself, I am going to try and make a list of all of the words that I can think of that he can say...

Click here to view video

So now for the words...
Mama
Dada
kitty
tract-tor (which includes tractors, trucks, anything with wheels basically)
bubbles (he is obsessed with bubbles, baths, water in general...)
apple
juice
milk
banana
eat
snack
cookie
movie
hot
hat
foot
eye
mouth
nose
uh oh
moon
bird
bobo (for Hobo - the dog)
gee (for Maggie - the other dog)
wee (what he calls his silkie)
pie-ci or sometimes just pie or by (what he calls his paci)
bye bye
More added 1-19-07...
Pooh Bear
Light
Night (for good night)
shoe
rock (he loves to rock in his little chair!)
And I'm sure there are more! I'll come back and add them as I think of them!

Oh, and he's started giving kisses! He gives these big huge slobbery open mouthed ones too. He comes at you like he is going to eat your nose right off your face (and he did actually bite me on the cheek last night) but it's still so sweet. Makes a mama's heart melt!

Happy New Year!

So welcome to 2007. We had a rough ending to 2006 but things seem to be getting back to normal. Poor Gabe developed an ear infection just before Thanksgiving and it's seemed to hang around. The week before Christmas when we were back at the drs for one of our many rechecks, we discovered that Gabe had a wheeze in his chest so we started breathing treatments. By the next day I had decided to take him back because his breathing had gotten so labored. He was put on a steriod and we upped the frequency of his treatments to every 4 hours. Oh, and after Christmas Daddy and I both came down with some kind of achey fever flu like something. So THAT part was just not fun.

But Christmas was wonderful! Gabe got a ton a stuff and he is just getting big enough to enjoy it all. He woke us up at 6:30 am on Christmas morning, just like an anxious little boy is supposed to. Guess he knows more about it than he is letting on!

We spent Christmas Eve with Grammy and Pop and Aunt April and Uncle Ty and Jessie and Eli. We opened all sorts of neat gifts, from fun little wooden puzzles, which Gabe loves, to a fancy leather recliner, just the right size for a little 16 month old feller.

Santa Claus did make an appearance on Christmas morning bringing a DVD player so Gabe can watch his favorite Baby Einstein movies on the go, a cool 18 wheeler, and even a little minature guitar. He likes to sit in his recliner and play his guitar, just like Daddy.

On Wednesday we headed to Nana and Pa's to spend Christmas with them and Aunt Mary and Uncle Jason, Jamie and JB, and Grandma. Gabe had a blast playing with Jamie and JB. There was one night when I thought it would be next to impossible to get him to go to bed because he was so wound up after chasing Jamie all over the house! He really had a great time with his cousins.

Here are a few pictures so you can see how wonderful our Christmas was! We all hope you had a perfectly wonderful one too!

Dontcha just love the jammies!?!?

Just like Daddy...

In my hat that Pa gave me...

And then...