Gabriel

It's really really short, but at least I was finally able to upload something! Disregard the freaky shrilled momma voice at the end; if you watch his eyebrows you can tell he thought it was pretty weird too!

Handknits In Action

I may not have time to knit right now, but I sure am appreciating the stuff I made last year!

When I made the little green hooded jacket I was pregnant but didn't know it yet. While I started the teddy bear sooner I (more or less) finished him around the same time. I must say it worked out quite well! So far everything fits great. I haven't tried the brown hat or the baby mules yet but intended them to be a bit bigger anyway. (For more info on the white hat and cabled socks go here.)

I can't take credit for the afghan in the background. My mom crocheted it. It's so soft and warm! I love it! My grandma made Gabe a sweet little blue sweater, hat, mitt, and sock set too, and my other grandma made him a quilt. I have a post in mind for those soon, so check back soon for pictures!

I have been tagged

by one of my close college friends, Amanda. I'm excited that she has a blog now too!

But first, a couple of photos:

My mom came out for a few days when Gabe was born and couldn't help but notice how much Thomas likes pretending to be Robin Hood. He had made a hat out of computer paper and a yellow crayon that he wore the entire time she was here. Being the brilliant Nana that she is, she worked her magic and found him a shirt, cape, and hat. She told him she was sending him a surprise, but he had no idea what it was, and when he opened the package and put it on he was on cloud nine. He wrapped himself up in the cape and sat on the couch, and every time I walked by he would look at me and try to hide the biggest smile you've ever seen, but he couldn't. It was very cool. Thank you Nana!

Gabe gave us this smily photo about a week ago. He looks like that right before he flashes a great big ear-to-ear, tongue out grin. I also took a great short video of him smiling and making cute little baby sounds, but while it looked great on the camera it was way too dark on the computer. It could just be our screen settings, but what I'll probably end up doing is just taking another video using natural light. I have been wanting to share video with family who haven't yet been able to see Gabe in person, but at this rate they all will see him first!

Ok, now back to the tag!

The rules of the tag:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

So...

Six Random Facts and One Weird One:

- If you asked me at age three what I was going to be when I grew up I would have said a drummer.

- My first kiss was with Brian. It was June 1997, I was sixteen, and we were sitting in the grass under a big tree.

- I climbed a mountain (Mt. Monadnock) when I was five. (I had to be carried down.)

- Brian later asked me to "go out with him" on that mountain.

- If I could be anything I wanted to be I would be a stay-at-home-mom.

- I have lived in and/or visited California, Utah, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Maine, Florida, and South Carolina plus driven through Ohio and all the way up and down the East Coast, not to mention all the layovers across the country, yet I have never left the United States.

- I'm mildly obsessive-compulsive. Every box in my pantry is lined up and turned so that the nutritional label faces in and the colorful label faces out. If I see that Brian put one in "backwards" I have to turn it around. I know it's weird, but I still can't help it.

Now for my tags:

Stephanie - Friend, new mom who also loves to knit, and life saver for watching Thomas when I went into labor! (Plus her husband taught Thomas how to fish! He will never forget it!)

Melody - Childhood friend with whom I used to ride bikes and swim at the pond across from my house just about every day in the summer. She has two beautiful little boys and a career I some times envy just a bit. (She is a nurse.)

My Mom - Also my friend and the reason we pay for unlimited long distance calling. She will enjoy this game!

Jen - College friend and sorority sister I miss dearly!

Becky - My big sister and mom to three great kiddos. I dare say she loves babies as much as I do! She's a busy lady and probably won't have time to play along, but I'll tag her just in case.

Brian - Yep, my husband and best friend of all time. I'll still love him when he doesn't respond. (Note the date of his last blog entry.)

Carmi - He has plenty of his own great blogging material and a ton of blogging friends, so I would never expect him to play the game, but in appreciation of his amazing skill at keeping up with other bloggers and always having something so nice to say, I'll be sure to tag him too.

...Thanks Amanda, for tagging me! I've seen tags before but never participated. It's fun!

Taking It All In While I Can

More photos coming soon. I couldn't forget those sweet little tootsies!

Reminiscing

When Gabriel was born everyone asked me if he looked like Thomas. I wasn't sure at first although he certainly resembled Thomas from certain angles or expressions. Now I think there are more similarities than differences. Here are some baby pictures as evidence.

Thomas/Gabriel


Thomas


Gabriel

Thomas/Gabriel


Thomas

Gabriel

Thomas

Gabriel

It's harder to see in the photos than in person. In looking through some of my old pictures of Thomas I think they really could pass as pictures of Gabriel; I just don't have all the photos to match up.

Gabe does have his own expressions and differences, of course; for one his eyebrows are typically either crunched and serious or drawn high in interest or happiness. I'm sure he will soon take on some of Tom's mannerisms though, particularly with how much Thomas just loves entertaining his little brother. If only I could, I would show you how sweet it was this morning when Thomas came in to bed with us, and every time he laughed Gabriel smiled from ear to ear.

Still So Little

For those of you who aren't already aware, Gabe has been struggling with reflux - especially over the course of the last couple of weeks. We have had some good days and some bad although the good days seem to be coming fewer and farther between as time goes on, and the bad days getting harder. My heart aches to know he is in pain. Over the past three days he has spit up almost everything he consumed. On a good note though, after some help from his doctor and a lot of diligence at home he did gain a little between his four week checkup last Thursday and his follow up appointment on Monday. He is still a tiny (for his age) six pounds, fifteen ounces, but it's an improvement, and we're hoping his medicine will start helping soon.

In the mean time we're having to supplement with formula a little in order to try and grow his stomach, and I'm having some troubles accepting that but ultimately know it is what's best in the long run. I am optimistic that he will do just fine in time, but right now we're in work mode, just trying to figure it all out and make him feel better.

All that aside, he is doing well, smiling at us every day, and I'm eating up every moment with him, appreciating being home with him during the day for just as long as I can. Thomas is too, because this is his school vacation week, and he really is my big little helper.

Smiles

These pictures are really dark, aren't they? Oh well. I still love them. Some times you just have to catch a moment and can't take time to be picky about lighting!

Afterthought: This is a common problem for me. (I'm too lazy to edit the photos properly as our editing program is good but VERY slow.) Gabe's hair appears much darker online than it actually is, and my guess is that's why!

We finally did it!

We emptied out the crib and set it all up for Gabe! Becky made the quilt. Isn't it cute?! The photo doesn't do it full justice; it looks really nice in Thomas' room, especially with the sunlight gleaming in through the windows today. Of course we will take the quilt out before we put Gabe in there to sleep, for those of you that might be concerned about SIDS just by looking at the photo... Everything needs a disclaimer these days, doesn't it?

So where has Gabe been sleeping all this time, you ask? Well, he has been in our room at night and will continue to sleep there for a couple more months... and during the day? Well, see for yourself:

A Few Things About Gabe

1 - He sneezes in fours.

2 - He rolled all the way over last night (starting and ending on his back). I think he did it so early because I typically feed him in a laying down position at night. While I usually take him right to bed, last night Brian put him down on the bed for me until I was done brushing my teeth. I'm guessing he was searching for his bedtime snack!

3 - Guess who smiled this morning! He smiled twice, in fact, for Brian. I saw the second one. Yay!

Brothers

Last week Thomas missed three days of school due to a nasty virus. Then on Friday I made sure he had everything he needed, got him and Gabe all bundled up and ready to go, and piled them both into the car. We drove all the way to school only to arrive at an empty parking lot. The weather was dry so I had assumed I didn't need to check for a possible delay or cancellation, but sure enough school had been canceled.

Today we were on top of the two hour delay. Brian checked as soon as he woke up. He then spent about fifteen to twenty minutes de-icing his car before leaving for work. I was able to miraculously get myself dressed, get Thomas' and my breakfast, his lunch, his backpack, and his clothes in the amazing ten or fifteen minute block of time before Gabe woke up from a brief nursing session. The two hour alternate driving time didn't bode well with Gabe however. He doesn't appreciate being put down unless he is happily awake, so putting him down long enough to run out and start my car was painful. (Seriously, he sounds so mad when he is put down. His lungs have certainly reached a higher potential since week one!) -I already really dread leaving him alone (well, without an adult) for even a few seconds - even though I'm only right outside the door and have him in a safe place inside for less than a minute at a time. Anyway, I did what I had to and got him and Tommy situated, ran down as fast as I could, opened the garage door, and reached for the door handle on my car, which was completely covered in ice. (Yes, we have a garage. No, I couldn't park inside... That's another story.) I was able to knock loose just enough ice in order to operate the door handle, but the door itself was as stuck as they come and I had no way to break through ice that thick just then, especially considering the fact that my scraper was, of course, inside the car. It was the same on the passenger side. So... since Brian couldn't leave work and I couldn't leave the house Thomas missed yet another day of school.

The result? Some time for Thomas to catch up on missed work from last week and a good chance for me to share a little time with both boys; Thomas is such a great big brother. I can't believe he hasn't yet complained about all the times I have asked him to try not to make any sudden noises or to make sure he doesn't get too close at least until he is all better. Gabe is such a blessing and we treasure him at every moment. The same goes for Thomas. He loves having Gabe in the car next to him and watching him look around while he's awake. He can't wait until Gabe can giggle and play. What amazes me most is that even when I start to lose my cool from the lack of sleep and sheer amount of noise and chaos that sometimes exists around me, Thomas is always understanding. When he wakes up and comes into our room in the morning the first thing he does is check on Gabriel.

As if that weren't enough Brian is so helpful and understanding as well.

I am so blessed.

Loving My Boys

Someone tell me how to forget for now that I will have to leave this sweet little love at day care for nine plus hours per day in just over a month. The thought just terrifies me. I like being able to get Thomas out of school without having to send him to day care too.

He made his valentine cards yesterday before the super bowl. I was impressed at how quickly he managed to complete them all, even if he did complain of his hands getting tired.

We won't discuss the super bowl at all. I think it's better that way... Here is a photo clearly taken before it started:

And I couldn't help but include one more photo from today. There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby; don't you agree?