Good News

My ultrasound went pretty well yesterday. Our littlest peanut was measuring right on and playing with his or her feet. That's right; we still don't know if it's a boy or a girl! He/she was positioned breech and sitting criss-cross-applesauce style with legs tucked in tight and the cord right in the middle. As soon as the technician saw the baby's position she said she probably wouldn't be able to tell the gender. She did show me the best shot she could get, and there was something there... It wasn't a very good picture at all, but it did look like we *might* be having another boy. She made it very clear, though, that the picture really wasn't good enough to tell so we shouldn't bank on it.

The only concern found at the ultrasound was a low lying placenta. Chances are that it will move up on its own, but I think it's likely that my doctor will want to order another ultrasound later, just to make sure, so we will hope this little peanut won't be quite so shy next time!

Here he/she is!

Reminder

Today is the last day to submit your boy/girl/height/weight/date guesses! That's right; tomorrow is the big day! ...Unless the baby doesn't cooperate, of course. In any case, the contest will end at midnight tonight. Details here.

...I declined all the other prenatal testing, so I always get really nervous before the big ultrasound. Here's hoping the baby is healthy and growing well!

Read All About It!

Thomas was officially awarded his green belt yesterday. We are all so excited for him! Next up: blue. Now we just have to find him a new tae kwon do place closer to the house! I hope the timing of our move and his switch won't delay the next belt too much. We are still scheduled to close on June 30. That's just one week from today! We don't have to be out of the apartment right away, so we will take our time moving and cleaning up here. We hope to do most of the moving on July 4 weekend though. Keep watching; I will post a photo of the house as soon as we have officially closed!

In other news, we are just back from a weekend in RI/MA for another big birthday celebration! This time it was Brian's grandmother. She turned 88 years old on Sunday, and she looked great. We always enjoy our visits with her, and it was nice to catch up with some other family we haven't seen in a VERY long time.

Here she is, the beautiful birthday girl, with Tommy helping her blow out the candles:

And here she is again, surrounded by all her children after the second of her birthday parties, enjoyed at The Old Grist Mill Tavern in Seekonk, MA:

We love you, Grandma!

While in the area we visited The Hall at Patriot Place. I had never been to Gillette Stadium... nor sadly even Foxboro Stadium, so I was excited to go. We had a nice time and brought home some fun pics. Here are a few of my favorites.

The trip was a fun interruption to a busy month. Tomorrow is Thomas' last day of school (and it's only a half day), and then we continue to pack. I am excited to spend more time with him this summer. We will have to keep extra busy. I'm thinking of lots of trips to the library and park as well as teaching him some fun new things at home (art/music/etc). Of course, we'll see how much time we actually have when it comes down to it!

Messy Monkey

I asked if I could take a picture. He nodded happily and then gave me this look:

Goofball.

Now he is running around, giving Tommy hugs. Seriously, I think he just gave him about twenty over the course of a minute!

Silly Monkey.

First, a reminder to submit your baby guesses if you haven't already. Here is a link to the original post. So far there have only been two votes for a boy! My ultrasound has been scheduled for Thursday, June 25, so all entries will have to be in before the end of the day on June 24. Hopefully the baby will cooperate. Ultimately, of course, I just hope everything is okay!!! Thank you to everyone who has commented so far!

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Today... I thought it was Gabe's turn for a video. We went to our friends' house for a few hours this afternoon, and he had fun on their slide, as always. He normally tries to climb the slide (probably in part because I tend to encourage it over climbing the wall since I know he is a good climber and will quickly realize how easily he can climb it on his own... scary!), but today he tackled the wall. This was his first try.

Gabe loves the video of Tommy practicing his poomsae as well as the YouTube video we used to verify each move when we were practicing. He has started lunging and punching (usually with a pointed finger) and making the associated sounds. It is the cutest. =)

Here, a few photos from today.

Enjoy your week!

Going for Green

Guess who tested for green belt today. He did a fantastic job. I wish I had been able to videotape him breaking boards; he broke his on the very first kick! It was awesome. Thomas had missed a lot of classes after his ear surgery, and I realized on Monday just how far behind he was, so he spent all week practicing and working really, really hard to learn all the moves and get ready for today. Brian and I couldn't have been more proud of just how far he came in such a short period of time! I think we might just be headed toward a green belt promotion! Great job today, Tom!

Saturday...

How was yours?

How could I forget?

In follow up to my previous post, these are the videos I did take this week. Watching them reminded me of some VERY important words I can't believe I left out. I mean, how could I forget words like, "door," "stuck," (more like "tucghk"), and "dog" (usually "docghk")? "Dog" is a really big one. Gabe goes crazy for dogs. He loves them!



"Door" can be such an exciting word, you know! ...The dog is actually saying, "Hop, hop, hop." When asked what a dog says, though, Gabe usually responds by panting. =)



This morning he reminded me of another great word, especially for a Saturday morning: "Yay!"

Enjoy your weekend!

Silly Monkey

Okay, I'm not really sure why I had to post a picture of these cookies tonight. I guess I just thought they came out looking really good. They're just from a giant tub of store-bought cookie dough, *hiding in shame* but the family likes them. I think I'm a bit unusual in that I prefer them after a day or so, when they've been in an airtight container or bag, and they become incredibly soft and chewy. They're not BAD when hot, of course. That's just how I like them.

Back to the topic of this post: I was thinking today about how cute Gabe is at this age, especially when he walks and bobs his head from shoulder to shoulder (not shaking as if to say "no" but going back and forth, starting with one ear on one shoulder and then moving the other ear to the other shoulder - you have to see it) or when he says the most adorable things with such excitement. He is pretty good at communicating now. He has been nodding and shaking his head to indicate yes or no for some time now, and occasionally the nod now comes with a "yeah, yeah, yeah" and the shake comes with a "na, na, na, no, no." Of course he also walks over to things and uses his words in conjunction to let us know what he needs or wants. Here, a few translations:

"Micghck" *with HUGE and rather long emphasis on the French-like "cghck" sound* = Milk, or milk, please! He hangs on the refrigerator if his cup is empty and nods with great enthusiasm if I ask if he would like some.

"Haaiiiieeeeee!" = Hi, oh my goodness, I am SOOOooo happy to see you! This is typically accompanied by a very fast toddler run and gigantic leg hug.

"Hi, hi, hi, hi." = Hi, did you know I know how to say hi, and I know what it means? Listen, and I'll say it again for you.

"Da dye." = Bye bye. This used to go along with an open and closed fist wave. It has developed into the open palm wave within the past week or so.

"Dot gaa." = All gone. (Really.)

"Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!" - always yelled very loudly and repeatedly, as demonstrated, and with common variations like "Mumee! Mumee!" = Help. I want this. Help me! This minute! Help! I'm one; I have no patience for such things! MAMA! -- He says this to Tommy and Brian too. We are all "Mama" when he wants something!

"Yucghckcghck" *see above for the emphasis on all the weird consonants at the end of this word* = Look what I found. It's a piece of paper. Or fuzz. Or a bug. Or a crumb. And it's on the floor. I want to throw it away. Let's throw it away. It's yucky!

"Eeeeewwwww" = Eeeeewwwww. (Okay, no translation really needed there... )

Both "yucghckcghck" and "eeeeewwwww" are often preceeded by, "Uh oh."

"Ooh, trucghkcghk!" - always with eyes wide open and a little dip from the excitement = OH, oh, oh! I hear a truck! A truck! I love trucks! Hurry to the window! I have to go see it right away!

"Cghkcghkcghkcghk" = We haven't figured this one out yet. In case you haven't noticed, it seems to be his favorite sound. He really does some times just utter the sound, but it also ends lots of exciting words like "blocghkcghck" (block), "bocghkcks" (box), and "boocghk" (book).

"Craa!" = Crash! -We like this one too. It has lots of good uses.

"Ay, ay, ay." = Ay, ay, ay. I don't really know what it means, but Mommy sure says it an awful lot. It's fun to say. Ay, ay, ay. Ay, ay, ay.

I'm sure I'm leaving out so many, but these are the ones that come to mind right now. He does have other words that sound pretty much as they are (ball, Dada, hot, hop, pee-ew, hey, huh, hmmm, and more). He really likes to react to things with sounds like "uh oh," "hmm," "hey," "oh," "oo," and "huh." Lately he's also been bopping things with a small cardboard tube and saying, "Bop, bop, bop." =)

I've tried to capture a bit of it all on video, but that always seems easier said than done.

As I know I've said before...

Silly Monkey! LOVE YOU, GABE!!!

Good Food, Fond Memories, and Cute Kids

Thank you to everyone who has commented so far my previous post. Please keep those guesses coming!

I wanted to share a few little things today.

First, look at what Brian made for dinner Sunday night.

I'm not sure what it was called, but it was delicious! It looked really easy too. He cooked all the ingredients in an oven bag, so the chicken came out very moist and tender. It didn't take long to cook the chicken either, which meant the veggies weren't too soft. Thomas didn't want to try it (as usual), but I noticed that once he got going he had no trouble finishing up what was on his plate this time! (He will probably never admit if he actually liked it! Silly kid.) We had some fresh bread with it and enjoyed it all very much!

Second, remember this post? Well I found more stickers that I had to show you all. These weren't necessarily my favorites, but I'm pretty sure you will know to what generation I belong, just by looking at them!


Star Wars, Smurfs, Rainbow Bright, ET, and Strawberry Shortcake!

Looking through all the stickers brought back so many fond memories, especially involving my cousin, Hannah, and my sister, Jessi. Those were fun times!

Last but certainly not least, here are a few recent pics of the boys. I took them over the weekend. Gabe was funny. He found the dinosaur shirt (too small) and absolutely had to wear it over the other two shirts he was already wearing. I think it's funny (and cute) how much he loves some things!