Crazy, busy, unexpected weekend

The weekend started out so great on Friday afternoon. We had some of our friends over for
A child friendly happy hour in the back yard. Kids got super dirty and had a blast.

Saturday began as a leisurely fun day. We decided to head to the Y for a family fun festival and the kids enjoyed it for sure. Sofia went to a petting zoo, rode a train, rode a camel for the first time and rolled around in one of those giant inflatable balls. She also practiced a little yoga! Gabe is pretty much always happy these days especially outside.

After naps, things got pretty crazy around here. The weather turned on a dime with hardly any warning! Suddenly the sky was black and we had a serious monsoon...complete with tons of hail, crazy thunder, lightening, and hurricane force winds. We actually went and stood in the hall because I really thought a tornado was happening. So scary! It sounded like we had a tin roof, it was so loud. The scary part eventually cleared but the rain, thunder, and lightning continued through the night. I think we got about six to eight inches of rain. Again, NO warning aside from the severe alert we got after the storm had started. Thanks weather service! So glad we were here and not out - apparently the fire department had to rescue some 150 people from flooded areas. Our friends' car stalled and then they couldn't even get to their house on the other side of the power line alley from our house! The streets were like rivers! We lost power around 5 and didn't get it back until 11 the next day.. We were so blessed though ...we drove around the next day and there were HUGE trees down, we saw one tree that sunk into a roof, a collapsed carport. Branches and leaves everywhere! It was very hurricane-esque. The scariest part for us was Gabes window shattering. It was either the high winds or a very loud clap of thunder. Not sure which, but it happened at midnight and Baxter was in his room. Bax came out so I went in to check and the window was in huge shards on the ground. Thank God gabes crib is not next to the window so he was ok. He didn't even wake up until I tried to move him to a pack n play in our room so mike could 'fix' the window (tape a garbage bag over it!). Then he started crying, woke Sofia up, and we all ended up in our room for the night. Well, mike eventually gave up since Sofia was kind of hogging the bed and he'd been up for a while trying to get Gabe back to sleep. So he went to the spare bed :)

The next day we went out for breakfast and coffee and checked out the neighborhood. While I was at church, the power came back on thankfully! Whew...and we areback in business over here. Window fixed and most of the debris has been picked up. So crazy.

We ended the weekend kind of spontaneously but it was great. We went to Memorial Park for a family run and then to Zoe's kitchen for some healthy al fresco dining. Such a great way to start the week! The kids had fun, as you can see, stuffing their faces :)

Mommy and Sofia day

Yesterday after school, my mom stayed with Gabe and I went to pick up Sofia from school. The plan was to get her dress for the wedding we are in in July. My good friend is getting married and I'm a bridesmaid and Sofia is a flower girl! I can't wait to see how she does.

So on Tuesdays it's nap day at school and she's been doing so much better napping at school. For the first couple of months she either wouldn't nap or would nap for like 30 minutes and be a bear the rest of the day! But I'm so glad I stuck with it and let her keep staying for nap because now she's taking much better naps there. I got there yesterday and she was OUT! Lights were on and kids were all up walking around and she wasn't budging. So sweet...I got to wake her and it was such a sweet moment.

She was beyond excited to go try on her dress...she was just staring at herself in the mirror and swooshing her dress...slight meltdown when we had to take it off :) but I finally convinced her. We got home and she of course wanted to wear it again and so I let her for just a bit and we practiced throwing flower petals (ripped up paper in a bucket) :)

Party Boy

We had Gabe's first birthday party at our house on Sunday.  We debated what to do for him because we now know that as emotional as ONE is, they don't care or know. . . but, we wanted to do a small gathering at our house so that's what we did.  Very casual, but ended up to be a lot of fun.  A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  And the weather was perfect party weather, thank goodness!  It was starting to look like rain but that quickly dissipated. Whew.

Playing with the water table from Aunt Jes and Uncle Adam.  He was soaked before the party even started but as you can see, he LOVED it!

Present from Grandma - his very own bounce house!  We won't have to leave the house all summer now! :)  

 Dinner time, stuffed mouth of course

Gigi, help me get this stupid hat off

Here's when we sang.  I'm very bummed the video didnt come out b/c my dad was taping and the lens cover was on ;(  I'm so happy we had video of his real first cake on his actual birthday!

Still not a fan of cake!

The after party. . . sugar high ensues.  Gabe just wanted to lie down in the middle while everyone jumped around him.  He thought it was hilarious!

Thanks to Mike's sister, Robyn, I could totally see the resemblance between these two now!  Neither were amused by cake!

Disney On Ice Take 2

For Sofia's birthday, we got her Disney On Ice tickets.  It was awesome because Grandma S got to come!  And even Mike got to come at the last minute.  These things are so much fun but maybe just a tad too long.  Sofia was mostly in a trance until the end when she got totally squirmy.  Too much talking in the performance if you ask me.  Stick to the songs!  This one was a little better in that each show had a princess (that's all she cares about) and she knew a lot of the songs. And Gabe was pretty good too until about the last half hour, poor guy, he was so exhausted.  But, overall it was a fun memory.  Who doesn't love Disney?

 First snowcone

Pictures - 1 Year and 3 Years

Here is a link to the photos we just got taken last week.  I really love them.  I'm so happy I decided to be in them.  I have so few of the kiddos and I together and these will be cherished forever.  I think it's so funny how some of these really were sweet moments and some of them were insane moments with a brief photographic moment, ha!  I laugh when I see the one of me chasing Sofia who was going after the doggies b/c the owner was getting real nervous with how much Sofia was going after her dogs!!!

(Sorry about the duplicates - something funky happened when I uploaded them).

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AYt2LNw5bN2FO


Gabe is talking more and more.  Well, in his little language :)  He definitely repeats.   Some things he "says" are:  Mama, Dada, Sister (Tu-tu), Uh oh, Nah-Nah, Bible/Baby = Baba.  Love his words!

He's also starting to stand up for himself against his sometimes bossy sister.  I asked her to help him the other day and he thought she was trying to steal his toy, and for the first time ever I saw this MAD look from him and he opened his mouth and went to bite her!!!! So naughty but it cracked me up pretty good b/c he had finally had enough of her stealing toys from him!  And it was the first time I had seen him bite out of defense instead of fun.  Yikes!  Bad, but still funny . . .

ONE?!?!?

As Mike put it, I can't believe this happened one year ago.  Our little angel Gabriel came into our lives to further bless us more than we ever could have imagined.

It's been such a crazy year, and Gabe has been such a trooper through it all.  He had quite an intense first year of life, and aside from some sleep problems, he has been such a happy boy, reminding us all to be happy.  I didn't think it was possible to bring even MORE joy into each day, but he has.  And craziness, too! :)  There is nothing like his laughter and his smile or when he's staring into my eyes while I nurse him.  Even better is his laughter combined with his sisters.  Nothing.like.it. Complete music to my ears.

Today, we had dual doctor appointments since Sofia's three year birthday was a few weeks before Gabe's.  The less I can go to the pediatrician, the better!  They both did AMAZING (a few tears from shots for Gabe :( but quickly got over it as usual!) Sofia was actually asking for a shot! I had told her she might get one so she was ready, but she wasn't due for any.  So funny.  I have to thank her doctor kit and Doc McStuffins for a better experience at the doctor these days :)  Plus, her doctor is pretty great with them.

So, here are their stats:

Sofia:
Height - 37" (40th percentile) I always thought she was tall but I guess she's about average height.
Weight - 34 lbs

Gabe:
Height - 30.25" (66th percentile)
Weight - 22lbs, 13 oz (51st percentile)
Head - 19: (93rd percentile) big brain ;)

I sure am blessed with some amazing, healthy, happy, loving, and hilarious children.  I am so thankful for what God has given our family and I try to look at them each day and remind myself of that.  They are the best things that have happened to this family and I am thankful.  They have shown me love that I never knew I had in my heart with a fierceness that I've never experienced.  They have forever changed my heart and how I view the world and I want to be a better person and make the world a better place for them.  They deserve that and more.

Opening presents with Gimmie - a personalized step stool to match sister's and cowboy boots from Uncle Matty

 Of course wanting to eat the paper

 Mmmm Spaghetti

And of course a cake video (We skyped with Grandma and Grandpa for cake time!)

http://youtu.be/f0cwjth1ahw

Open House

Tonight was Sofia's open house at school.  So much fun and cool to see what she does each day.  She LOVES her school and her teachers which is the best thing . . .

She was super excited about open house today, she had Mike and I cracking up.  She was running around crazy a mile a minute!  I think she really enjoyed having us there with her!  We got to visit her classroom, see all her friends and their families, see what she does each day in class. go to the playground, and enjoy cookies and punch.  I am so happy that we found this school for her; I really feel like it's the perfect place for her!

I only decided to add the blurry pics because it totally illustrates how it went.  She would not stop!

 With her teachers Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Bradford.  Saints in my book! 

SundayFunday

Sunday afternoon was pretty warm so we decided to turn on the new giant sprinkler ball we got Sofia for her birthday. We were having a blast until we realized fire ants had attacked Gabe while he was propped up on the ball. He just sat down and cried a little and we realized his foot had a bunch of them on it! So mi stripped him down and watched him closely for a reaction.

Luckily he was fine, but playtime was definitely over. Because of Sofia's incident a coup,e weeks ago, she was totally freaked out. We came inside and it was then I noticed that mike was starting to swell in the face so I made him go to urgent care right away! Scary! We do have an epi pen for him, but he said this felt nothing like the last time. I think there were far fewer bites this time, thank God. So, the receptionist and at urgent care and pharmacist told him some Benadryl should do the trick, and it did. Whew....

I could seriously do without ants and roaches!!

So much more than a Zoo Day

Today was another gorgeous day.  Started out with a nice spin class at the Y and came home for early naps.  Kiddos were super whiny this morning so I needed to get them down for naps sooner than later.  So, we had early lunches and early naps.  I decided while they were napping that today would be the perfect zoo day since they would probably be up earlier than normal and we hadn't been in a while.  I'm so glad I did.  It was just the kids and I so I could really ENJOY them.  And, sadly as a stay at home mom - I'll be honest - there's not a lot of time to just relish in your kids.  It's always go go go or "time for lunch" or "clean up time" or "don't touch that" or "share" or "NO!". .. you get the idea.  But, I thoroughly enjoyed each moment with them this afternoon and I'm so glad I was able to do that.  We leisurely strolled through the zoo, had an ice cream, saw all the animals we wanted to and - this is HUGE - rode on the carousel!  Sofia has been terrified of it for a while now and would refuse to go on.  So, when she said she wanted to and actually got ON, I was so proud of her!  We overcame a fear today!  So exciting :)  She wouldn't get on an animal so we sat on one of the benches (Gabe was bjorned) but she said next time she'd get on an animal.  A totally blissful day for me as a mother.  

Both with their tongues out. . .

Sofia was excited about peacocks.  I think she came to like them at the Milwaukee zoo b/c they roam free there. 

She was guiding us with her map

I had to capture the carousel moment even if you can't tell where we are and that Gabe's only half in it, sorry buddy!

Very cautious on the carousel 

New friends and treats with Gimmie

Yesterday was such a fun day - we had a playdate with new friends! What's great is that our kids are almost exactly the same ages so it makes for fun for all. It's nice for Gabe to have a buddy his age too! We were supposed to all meet at the zoo but with rain in the forecast we were invited over instead. I actually think play dates at home are so much nicer for the moms anyway ... Less stressful and the ability to talk :) we stayed much longer thank had expected which is always a good sign for fun times.

Today was a super productive day for me. It's amazing how much you can get done in two hours with no kids in tow. I went to FOUR different places ... Unheard of. Getting ready for Gabes (super low key) party and just general running around that needed to be done. So we had lunch over at Gimmies house and then put the kids down there and I was off. Back in time to have ice cream with the kiddos and Gimmie. Gimmies favorite thing to do with them I think. It is pretty stinking cute.

Poop and parties

It's all fun and games until someone poops in the tub.  Sofia used to do this all the time.  Gabe did it for the first time tonight.  While I am home without Mike.  Awesome.  So completely disgusting. I will spare the details but let's just say I used an entire (no lie) bottle of bleach on the tub and toys because I did not really know what else to do.  YUCK.

Who me?

On a more fun note, Sunday was our friends' daughter's birthday party.  So much fun to see old friends again and let all the kiddos play.  I got a couple of cake shots with the kiddos but of course in neither of them are they both looking at the camera!

Highs and Lows

Since Friday the weather has just been phenomenal here.  So, of course on Friday afternoon after naps, we headed over to the park.  We were there about 20 minutes when Sofia ran off to the sand pit to play like she always does.  The park was particularly crowded with lots of bigger kids so I asked her to wait for me (which she did not).  I just let her go as she normally does which is to sit by the sand pit, take off her shoes and run in.  Well, I was heading her way with the stroller and Gabe in tow and before I got to her I saw her get up, jump, run around and heard BLOOD CURDLING screams.  It was awful.  I was terrified.  She was screaming for me and running and saying "BEES!!!!"I of course ran over to her and found that they were ants.  I thought maybe she had just stepped in them but she was so frantic I couldn't figure it out.  I finally saw that she had SAT in a bed with a dress on so she got TONS of bites all over her little tush :(  It was so terrible and I wanted to cry for her because I know how bad that stings.  I also had a momentary panic b/c the last time Mike got bit like that we had to rush him to the ER because he had a Hitch (the movie) like allergic reaction.  Very scary, and he had to get an epi pen.  Thank God, after 20 minutes I figured we were safe and she wasn't even talking about them or scratching the bites any more.  My poor baby, but she's been good ever since.  What a tough tough girl she is, really. Not the best way to start off the weekend though, definitely started off on a low note :(

Today was much better, definitely a high to balance out yesterday's low . . . we went to a crawfish boil all day and it was the perfect day for it.  Nothing like the hot sunshine, cold beer, and a tray full of spicy crawfish, corn, potatoes and mushrooms.  YUM.  Sofia and Gabe were champs despite screwy/no naps :)  On the way home they of course fell asleep so I would run into a couple of stores while Mike drove around with them.  Perfection!  Here are some pics from the crawfish boil.  So much fun!  One big thing we missed about Houston for sure!

At first, Sofia (and the dog) were very curious about the live crawfish

It didn't take Sofia long to decide she wanted to hold one.  I gotta admit, I am impressed.  I would not touch a live one!  But I'll eat the dead ones! :) 

 And Gabe was super chilled and happy all day which was awesome for us.  He's usually a little more high maintenance but not today!  I think he likes crawfish boils as much as we do! Or just being outside. . . There was one other little boy there a little older than him.  He was supposed to be trying to nap and I think Gabe kind of hindered that idea. . . he was swinging his plastic crawfish around and might have knocked him in the face with it. . .

 My little party animal.