Update...

There are a bunch of new posts below but I am still behind and needing to catch up on MORE!! I can't believe that I am 29 weeks and only have 11 more to go!

Which could really be only like 9 if I'm early, right :) why is that what pregnant girls do?... we all want our babies a little early... those last few weeks can be torture... I guess that's why! I can't figure out why doctors don't just tell women that their due date is really two weeks later than it is and save us some stress? And another question.... why don't they adjust their scales like 5 pounds lighter? They wouldn't have to say anything, they'd know what we really weigh and they'd still be aware if there was a problem in weight gain it could be their little secret and imagine how happy women would be? Maybe I should think about becoming a consultant for ob/gyn's I can think of a little advice for them!

Although I might complain a bit more lately and am a tad more sarcastic and cranky I really am so grateful for this baby boy and I am getting really excited to finally meet him! I LOVE my new doctor and am so happy that I made a change early on... he is amazing and just what I need from a doctor... I like someone who is competent and smart, has time, is easy to talk to, remembers who I am and some details about my life, is a friend who is calm and concerned and genuinely cares... I know that seems like a long list but being a pregnant girl means high maintenance and don't they tell them that in med school? the poor guys! Anyway he's got all that and more and my pregnancy is going well. last appointment I drank the delicious orange glucose beverage and passed. I have contractions when I do much of anything, my sciatic nerve shocks me unexpectedly and I'm sure onlookers think I'm crazy (or they've just been pregnant before) my heart burn continues to be horrendous.... and that's not even half of it but I think I better stop there.... just a regular old pregnancy I guess but I can definitely tell I'm older and fatter and it's my fourth... How do people do this 8 times? I will never know :) I do however feel very grateful to be part of such an amazing miracle... and I know that this is the most important role I will ever have. I am humbled and overwhelmed everyday by the responsibility we have as women and mothers and I am grateful for the trust I have been given.
We had a great time with family in town last week and did lots of fun things! Glen's parent's came up to Logan and took us to dinner Monday and it was so nice to see and catch up with them. Overall, life is good! there's my up to date update for now ...Stay tuned for more.

child labor...

I don't mean the kind that involves "breaking your water" and a new baby...(although that is constantly in the back of my mind now days) in case you were confused about the title :) No, I'm talking about the kind that involves sweat shops, walmart, children working for free etc... My kids like to think that whenever they do an extra job around here that they deserve something in return- money, treats, a night out at the movies etc... We tell them that work is just part of life and helping is part of being in a family blah. blah. blah. but I must admit that after this job I sort of felt the same way... I wanted a reward too... because well, it was super HARD and dirty!! Ever see that show on the Discovery channel called Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe?... He goes around doing all these hard usually gross jobs that most people don't even know exist! I love the show and I'm telling you I've been thinking about submitting this job... When I say what it is you might not believe me... because it sounds fairly simple... So here it is... We've been peeling off wallpaper. I know, I know it doesn't sound that bad but unless you've done it, you just don't get it... so let me explain. We have two rooms in the basement, one is our guest room, the other one we have been using as our toy room. But with the new little bundle on the way we decided we'd move the big boys downstairs and that meant moving things around and fixing things up a bit... so here's what it took...

Wall paper is put on a wall with glue or comes with an adhesive back... that is how it sticks on! I'm not sure how it is made now days but back when this wallpaper was put on I think the glue must have been better than "gorilla glue" you know the kind that isn't made to un-adhese? the kind that holds metal and makes it though a tsunami... that's what we were looking to peel off. First we had to wet the paper border A LOT and after lots of scraping, prying, and scratching the first layer came up about 1/8 of an inch at a time and then we'd re-wet that area hoping to losen the next 1/8 inch piece. But that is not all... that my friends is only the FIRST layer and only the PAPER. under that pretty sports paper comes a layer of brown paper and under that is a layer of bionic glue... after hours of getting through those layers, we realized that before this lovely sports border was put up there was a vehicle/transportation paper border up first. the sports border was just placed on top of it. So we are talking about layers and layers. Each little piece that we peeled off was just thrown about the room in frustration...
glue + water = sticky. we had it in our hair, on our clothes and didn't think that if if hit the lower wall or base board that it would re-stick itself and we'd be scraping there too! but wallpaper is a beast and it did re- stick which just gave us more work!! I seriously went into this job thinking it would be a 2 hour project um, no... try two weeks with about 2 hours spent everyday sitting, aching, cursing, scraping!!!

The boys were all excited at first because this was going to be their "new room" and the thoughts of using a spatula to scrape on the wall sounded fun... I agreed until we started! spatula's didn't even begin to work... thank heaven for pampered chef pan scrapers they saved us, but getting a grip on those little things was the trick. My fingers have just now started to get some feeling back in them and it's been a good month since we finished. Evan and Eli are just the right height for the job and really did help me a lot when they weren't complaining :) When we finally finished the scraping and the clean up I was DONE with the room. Glen patched the holes, slapped on some primer, taped and re painted! It looks amazing and we are planning on moving the boys in this weekend here are some before pictures...

and hopefully I''ll get around to some AFTER pictures... I guess the after is the reward huh?

P.S. although wallpaper is the new rage according to some top designers/decorators. Take my word for it and only put it up if you NEVER plan on having to take in down :)

My First Pie...

Yes that's right, I am ashamed to admit that in all my years I have never made a pie. Well, actually I have used a graham cracker crust and done dessert pie's a few times... but never a real dough pie. pathetic, I know! I have always loved chicken pot pies. Here in Logan there used to be a store called "mom's pie's and goodies" and they sold the BEST chicken pot pies that I have ever eaten... until now! I avoid the ones in the frozen section at the market because the fat grams and sodium are enough to give you a heart attack just reading the label. so you can imagine my delight last year when my dear friend Emily (xoxo) showed up at my door with a homemade chicken pot pie, a delicious loaf of homemade french bread, fresh fruit and I'm sure there was some scrumptious homemade dessert too! She is just like that... perfect and such a great cook and I am totally missin' her so I dedicate this post to her (isn't she lucky!) I loved the pie so much and I asked her for the recipe thinking for it sure it had to be this five hour recipe and that in actuality I would probably just pass it on to my mom because it would be too hard for me! Well it didn't look too bad but I never got around to making it until a few weeks ago. It's a hard knock life for me... being pregnant in the winter is the WORST I've decided... can't really go outside- too cold, getting fatter- with looming thoughts of being fat all summer, feeling uncomfortable... and then -no friends! This ward basically has no enrichment program, and really no activities... its been so hard to get to know girls or anyone for that matter... I am in the nursery and we have no neighbors... I know I should probably be the one doing more BUT it's easier right now to put it on everyone else :) plus I am a bit cranky and I might be a little extra negative about it here- I know! :) so anyway I decided that I "needed" a warm chicken pot pie to make me feel happy plus I knew that it might also bring warm thoughts of my friends back in Lehi... especially Em. (why does food have to be so comforting?) Well first off I had no idea that you could buy a dough pie crust in the refrigerated section at the market... I figured I'd be doing it the old fashioned way, like my grandma does, making the dough, chilling it, rolling it out- something like that? But no, I could just buy it? Great!! Anyway to make a long story short... well, I guess it's not that long of a story because actually this chicken pot pie was short and EASY... seriously!! you cook some chicken, put the crust in the pan load in the veggies sauce and cooked chicken and wa-la... it's done an hour later and so delicious. It's the perfect meal and practically fat free :) So try it, even if your not a fan of chicken pot pies... this one will change your mind!! Here is the recipe...

P.S. I sure love you Emily Bradley and miss you and all your mad skillz... like crazy!

Chicken Pot Pie

INGREDIENTS
One refrigerated pie crust
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2 med. Size potatoes cubed and boiled (do not over cook)
1- 1 ½ cups frozen peas & carrots
½- ¾ cup frozen corn
1 can cream of chicken soup
½ soup can of milk
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Put pie crust in bottom of pie pan
In a bowl combine all veggies and chicken
In a separate bowl whisk together Cream of chicken and milk
Pour soup mixture over veggies and chicken, stir gently and pour mixture into pie pan over crust. Follow pie crust directions… place top crust on as directed.
Place pie on cookie sheet (to catch drips) bake for one hour.
Serves 6
NOTES
Can mix up the veggies adding whatever you like. Try with beef and mushroom soup. Broccoli and ham? Be creative. FYI: Whatever the pie consistency is before baking is pretty much like it is when it is done… make sure it’s not too runny, if so… add more veggies. Yummy served with homemade bread and honey butter, and fresh fruit salad. ENJOY!!

THIS....

candy jar

reminded me of something that my friend Sunny Jo would use for decorating. I'm sure her's would be a hundred times cuter somehow, just because everything she does IS. I love filling glass jars with stuff and she uses candy a lot and I just figured
Valentine's day = conversation hearts.
Well I knew if I had this candy jar sitting around in full view that Gabriel was going to drive me crazy asking for some EVERY minute. So I thought up a little scheme... I figured three bags of conversation hearts would be plenty and they were even on sale... cheap decor! I dumped them into my jar and was so disappointed... it was barely 1/4 of the way full! Well Gabe saw me dumping and kept saying "want one, mommy" (how in the world did he know??... I swear my kids have a six sense for candy) Well here's where my scheme came in. I told him that these little pastel things were just decorations and not for him. Well he knows what decorations are... ALL the things around the house that he is not allowed to touch! So he just continued to watch me fiddle with the jar and... it was working!!! Well I had Glen pick up more packages of conversation hearts on his way home from work and that evening as I was dumping more of them into my jar, I somehow poured them wrong and little candy hearts scattered all over the kitchen floor. I couldn't move fast enough to gather them all up before Gabe came to investigate! Sure enough he grabbed one and stuffed it in his mouth and his eye's lit up! shoot!!!!
Well the funny thing is that since then Gabe calls conversation hearts... all candy for that matter "det-o-rayton hawts" (decoration hearts). what a silly little guy! So my scheme didn't work after all and Gabe ate a few too many conversation hearts this month. Each time I would pull one from the jar for him I'd read what it said. some of the things are just weird so I started to tell him "this one says I love you!" so now if we hand him a conversation heart and ask him "what does it say?" he turns it in his little fingers, and studies it... like he's reading, then he answers "I wuv you!" before he pops it in his mouth and runs off.
He completely melts my heart...

Valentine's Day... sort of

Last year when Evan was in second grade his "Valentine box" won first place in their class contest. This year there was no contest but that didn't stop Evan from his big ideas.... first he wanted to make his Valentine box look like an airplane or a car but as the day got closer and closer and we still had not gotten around to making it... he finally decided, the day before, that he wanted to make a football field Valentine box! It sounded less time consuming but I was still sort of hoping that he'd go for the "decorated paper bag option" that most of his other classmates (with loser parents) :) would be making! I know, I know.... awful of me! But for crying out loud... I am pregnant and cranky!!!!! So I called in the troops (Glen) because pregnant or not...no son of mine is going to show up to school on Valentine's day with a lousy paper bag to keep his Valentines in!! Sorry about that loser parent comment. I guess there might be kids out there who don't really care what kind of Valentine box they have....but I was a kid once too and I remember how good it felt to sit with my dad creating awesome projects that everyone in school admired... Now I know that it's not good to be PROUD but there is not much more important than having some self esteem and by darn if making the coolest Valentine day box is going to help my Evan somehow, someday

then THAT we will do....

Evan and Eli heading off to school for their class Valentine celebrations...

I had been looking forward to Valentine's day for awhile not just for the extra LOVE :) but because BOTH of my sisters were coming into town with their families!! Sara's kids (from L.A.) had a week off of school for "winter break" and Julie's husband (from N. Y.) had a week off of his residency. It is not very often that we are ALL together! We usually don't see their husbands much so it was a big deal to have everyone here. Julie and Ruby (her baby) came a little early and stayed a bit later than the others and it was so GREAT to have some extra time with her! Everyone was due to arrive on Valentine's day... talk about LOVE!! it was perfect!

The boys were having their celebration at school and Julie and I decided to host a little Valentine celebration of our own with some of our long lost cousins :) We planned a little luncheon where we ate shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches, fresh fruit, poppy seed green salad, chips, and we drank festive raspberry, lime sprite. Dessert was to die for... fluffy, moist, sweet and tart raspberry cake- YUM! The food was delicious, the company was even better!!

After lunch, the kids played, the girls chatted and we ended with cookie decorating for the kids

Gabe LOVED it...

Ruby was totally concentrating on the placement of each decoration, so cute!

me and Gabe make a good team... my favorite part is the cookie, his is the frosting! Too bad that once he's licked off all the frosting, I'm too grossed out to eat the cookie! Guess team work is not the best way when it comes to cookie eating!

a look at his hard work... mmmmmm!

I should clarify...When I wrote that we planned lunch with some of our long lost cousins I was sort of joking. It's just that we don't get to see them as often as we'd all like! We have a "special" connection with these "Merrill girls" They belong to my aunt Kathy who is my dad's twin sister! There are five sisters.... Keri Jean, Tera, Miranda, Toni, and Katie (and two brothers, who's wives Becky and Stacy... we love) Our families just click! I have never met more loving, funny, talented, sweet, cute, perfect girls...and you'd think at least one of them would not fit the mold... maybe even the sister-in-laws...but NO, they are ALL that way and aren't we lucky that they're family?! We sure think so and boy do we love em' ! Here's a little group shot of just some of us. a few live out of state, some were out of town, others were busy etc....(see what I mean about not getting to see each other!) We had a great time as always and are looking forward to our next cousin get together!!

me, mom and Julie on the left, my aunt Kathy front and center,
then Toni, Edie and cute Katie in front

When the boys got home from school... they sorted their loot, read all their Valentine cards from classmates and that was just the beginning of a weekend full of sugar highs! and yes, that is a manilla envelope behind Eli that was holding his Valentines... there was not an option to make a box... does it make me a loser parent that I love his teacher for it... hmmmm? :)

My adorable little Romeo's

All you need is LOVE...

Every year on February first we start our "love traditions!" Usually we have metal mailboxes that everyone decorates. One year Glen even made wooden posts and we placed the mailboxes outside everyone's bedroom doors. That was fun!
We set mailboxes out for the purpose of exchanging love notes, treats, trinkets, letters etc... because it's such a fun way to feel the love leading up to Valentines day! If you leave something in the mailbox, you raise the little flag on the side etc... I love it! Well this year we didn't get started on the first of February and when I went to buy the little metal mailboxes they were SOLD OUT! So we used "love buckets" instead

Valentine's day to the rescue...
It seems like Valentine's day hits at just the right time... holidays are over, not a lot to look forward to for awhile, winter is long, we are all cooped up in the house sick of each other and then suddenly it's February... LOVE MONTH and we need it!! We started by talking about Valentine's day, how important it is to show love and especially to TELL love... the boys are always excited about love month and Glen and I like to do special little things for them too. It really takes the blues and day to day monotony away ....for at least a few days anyway!! :)I set up this "love bucket station" It had all the supplies needed for love notes... stickers, markers, paper, tape and a few treats too! Here's Eli busy in love...

My favorite note from him said " skies are red, skies are blue... and I don't know about you"
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Hmmmm??
Evan and Eli spent lots of time cutting out hearts and Glen was challenged with patience during our "loving" due to all the "paper pieces everywhere" :) Gabe scribbled a note everyday for his brothers but didn't want to leave a treat taped to their notes... he couldn't figure out why he couldn't just eat them!! we posted our love notes for everyone to see and be reminded all month of our... LOVE One reason that we didn't get started on February first with this little tradition is because I was busy crafting these little Valentines....

I used old wood scraps and they were pretty "distressed" After lots of sanding and several coats of paint they looked okay. I modge podeged paper onto the blocks then placed vinyl letters on them. I made some sets for my mom and my aunt to give to their VT's, I mailed some to my sisters and delivered more to some of the girls I have sort of gotten to know around here. It was a big project but fairly easy and gave me something fun to do :)
... you know the saying.... "all you need is love"??... well all I can say is that we needed it...
we felt it more.... and it was nice!

and just in case you were wondering...
I am totally in LOVE with these wrestling boys

Painting

Evan needed to paint his pine wood derby car one evening and I knew that if we got the paint out... EVERYONE was going to want to paint. So might as well just make it a craft night!
project tablecloth, aprons, paper, wood, paints, and brushes- I got it all out and they were so excited!

Evan deep in concentration...

Gabe has only painted with water before... so he was curious but not quite sure??
... especially when paint got on his hands!

I love the facial expressions below! My other boys were not like him. Gabe does not like to be dirty and I swear we wipe off his hands and chin 15 times during every meal "ah! ticky fingers mommy" he says and if he ever slops a piece of food or beverage onto his clothes he gets all upset and insists that he needs a"new shirt" He cries and says "oh-no all wet"

after lots of reassurance...
he finally went back to painting, but look how he's holding his "dirty" hand :)

and then suddenly... this?

and this....

why not paint Eli too...

we were all shocked and laughing which I'm sure just egged him on...
now there's my typical BOY... DIRTY and loving it!

Small Infirmary

I decided that I wasn't going to say anything about Evan's little accident... but once I told my mom I figured everyone would find out anyway:) I don't mean that in a bad way... she's just close with her family and loves to share exciting stories! My mom and all of her sisters have this "silent pact" where if anything happens in their life my grandma (their mom) is the last to find out... if she finds out at all! She is never told about sickness or accidents or life changing decisions etc... They don't tell her because she tends to "worry"or "overreact" well my mom is heading down that same path (like mother, like daughter) She doesn't even have to say anything and I know what she is thinking..."how could you have let that happen, didn't you hear about that accident on the news???? The crazy thing is that when we were kids we went snowmobiling, got thrown from motorcycles, rode bikes with no shoes, wrestled, jumped out of swings, swam without life jackets etc... I guess maybe it's one of those live and learn things? who knows? anyway... with the house full of boys I'm going to have... accidents are bound to come along, that's just part of being a kid and a BOY! Anyway with all this intro I'm sure your dying to know WHAT HAPPENED?

Well it was not that big of a deal luckily... Our neighbor across the street has four wheelers and snowmobiles. He is always out with his kids pulling them behind one or the other out in the field next to our house. They always invite Evan and Eli to join in on the fun and they have been doing it all winter! Saturday Evan flew off the tube being pulled by the snowmobile and hit the snow, or I guess I should say ice... pretty hard on his little head and lost several layers of skin... think giant rug burn. Well he came home crying, although trying to be tough. He said he couldn't remember what happened (red flag) felt a little dizzy and had a headache... I am not an over- reactor (inherited this trait from my mom) plus in my years of nursing I learned to stay calm... for the sake of the patient. I told Evan he was going to be just fine! I cleaned him up and put a movie on for him hoping he'd just relax... since looking in the mirror, he had sort of freaked out! Meanwhile our neighbor came to check on Evan and said he felt really bad. of course it wasn't his fault and what do you do? Stuff happens. Well a little later Evan said his stomach didn't feel well. Gabe has had a little bug this week, so we were already in "sick mode"I figured now it was Evan's turn... but I was still a little worried about his head... Well he threw up and was still complaining about feeling lightheaded. I decided to google before I made any big decision. Sure enough, reading on google made it pretty clear that most likely Evan had a concussion, just what I suspected. I knew that we needed to watch him carefully but I couldn't decide if we should take him in for a CAT scan. Glen phoned the local doctor (poor guy) He's in our ward and just happens to be an ER doc. I know he does lots of neighbor/ward consulting, which is so nice. He advertises himself and says please don't ever hesitate to call with questions what an incredible guy! anyway he gave us the run down of a concussion and what we needed to do and watch for and that's when my calm walls came down. I suddenly realized how lucky we were that Evan was even ok! ANYTHING could have happened, what if he would have broken his neck... my thoughts just kept spinning and I realized that everyday lots of things can happen and that there are more safety precautions I should be taking and basically... MY MOM WAS RIGHT! of course! Learn from the past and other people's mistakes too... It's just... where do you draw the line between living life, not holding back and being too careful?... I guess by being more smart and safe while not holding back on fun and living, right?....

Well... We woke Evan up every few hours through the night, which wasn't a big deal because Gabe took a turn for the worse and was up a lot too! Needless to say we vegged all day Sunday... Gabe went through 5 outfits. Don't ask me how, because he really hasn't eaten for like a week?? He went from throwing up the first day to diarrhea the rest of the week which escalated yesterday... and today we are back to throwing up. He cried this morning for cereal. I figured the poor kid has got to be hungry and is finally over the bug... a little dry cereal should be fine... but NO! I think his tummy just felt weird and he thought it was hunger when really... it was that darn bug, still here. So we are back at it! Evan went to school with a note saying that he is to sit still, no recess, jumping, running etc... and the promise that I'll be sitting by the phone (in between disinfecting my house and loads of laundry) in case he calls and wants to come home. Glen went out the door for work with a box of kleenex, a water bottle and throat lozenges... I am thinking I'm bound to have something.... lets say, no later than Wednesday!? which just happens to be the day my little sister Julie is coming into town from New York followed by my other sister Sara and her family... GREAT!! think positive, think positive.... wash hands constantly, drink plenty of water and I'll be fine right? We shall see... wish me luck, running this small infirmary!

note to self... call and cancel (much needed) lunch date with friends for today...(sigh)

Super Bowl Party = Family, Food & Fun

I like football. We catch several NFL games throughout the season but I never really know the rankings of teams or players. I am not that into it, even with all these boys around!! But I do LOVE Super bowl parties... because, well they are just another reason to plan a party! When I hear which teams are playing in the super bowl each year I try to pick one to cheer for.

here is my criteria...
1. Best team colors
2. Team state closest to Utah
3. Cutest quarterback and/or receivers
4. Most creative mascot or logo
5. Players with a good story... charity work, upbringing, beating the odds etc...
6. The underdog
7. The opposite of Evan's #1 pick... it drives him crazy:)

Whichever team meets the majority of my criteria is the team who gets my rah- rah!! (lucky them!) This year it was the Cardinals!!
(although if cutest coach would have been part of my criteria I might have gone for the Steelers...but anyway...)

We invited (the usual) my mom and dad and my brothers family over for the big night! When everyone arrived we had them vote for teams and final score. Of course, there were prizes waiting for the winners... my dad was sure he would win and hoped it would be a big screen TV! I had my personal assistant
(who just happens to also be my husband) design these vote ballads.

Everyone placed their bet... I mean voted. After all it was Super bowl SUNDAY! Then we tossed them in a bowl anticipating who would win!!

We ate. A LOT. deli sandwiches with every topping and spread imaginable, chips, grape jell-o, fresh fruit with dip, veggies and a variety of drinks to wash it down. Then, around half time we broke out the "super bowl treats" and they were not the ones featured on the Biggest Loser... oh, no!! We are talking... BUTTER popcorn, peanut BUTTER bars, DOUGHNUT holes, CHIPS & salsa, individual CANDY baggies filled with M& M's, mini CANDY bars and ju-ju hearts, we had CAKE and to wash that all down... ROOT BEER FLOATS!! It was ridiculous, seriously and so good! All diets went out the window, except for mine... I have been on the eat for TWO dietary regime so I just basically upped it to, eat for FOUR... maybe FIVE!

Glen hooked up speakers to our TV (someday I will by this man a big screen with surround sound and his own giant cushy chair, drink holder and all... someday!) We pulled up all the couches, brought out the pillows and just layed around because this pose just wan't going to work all night...

Gabe took a break from playing downstairs to FINALLY hold baby Elsa! He has not wanted anything to do with her up until this day. We'd say, "hold her" "kiss her" "look at her" and he refused, even cried if we got her too close to him... so weird! But finally I asked again and this time he opened his arms and held her. (sigh) hopefully he'll be all ready for our new little guy and know just what to do!!

P.S. look at his eyelashes... (another sigh)

and now back to FOOTBALL... We fast forwarded through all the commercials. I know, they are one of the best things about the super bowl... but not too family friendly and the game didn't last FOUR hours like it usually does.... it was perfect! Super bowl 43 was one of the best games... so close and exciting! I thought my team had it but then the Steelers...stole it, (no pun intended) and won!! WHATEVER!...in the end it turned out to be a great PARTY and that's all that matters anyway, right?
My brother Steve ended up winning the...
drum roll please... SKOR CANDY BAR (get it, skor... like score?! hee hee)
(sorry no big screen TV) but refused to take the title of winner or the candy bar... he passed it on to the second place voter, which was Evan, who shared it with Mathew who was our third place voter... Next...Everyone who guessed the winning team won a candy prize, but by that point no one wanted to even THINK about another piece of food, even candy or chocolate for that matter... and so...that wraps up our Super Bowl XLIII P-A-R-T-Y!
Go STEELERS!!

Gabe hearts playdough and Eli...

....followed by lots of other ramblings

hmmmm.... I am speechless!! I decided that the title tells it all and there is really no need for me to explain that Gabe plays with play dough everyday!! We make gingerbread men and he sings "run run as fast as you can" It's not quite that clear- but close. He sways his little body as he sings and makes the men run. He also makes them hug each other and the gingerbread men have short conversations with each other "Hi" "have a good day" etc... I love his imagination... I swear he is too little to be this smart?? :) ok, it looks like once I get going I am not so speechless after all.... so here goes....I might as well share SOME of my favorite things about Gabe ( 21 months) right now....

when he hears the back door to the garage open he yells "daddy home!" and runs with open arms to greet him... EVERYDAY!

He folds his arms and kneels down when we do morning and evening prayers. I love to peek at him while we are praying... he's still and just listens- its so cute! the past few weeks he's been saying "Gabe's turn" and he offers the prayer which is usually "Heavenly Father... bless mommy, bless Eli, bless Evan ...name o' Jesus AMEN!!"

He walks up and down the stairs all by himself and if I try to hold his hand he says "by yourself, mom" actually he says that about most things lately ... he is all about doing things by "yourself" and is often seen dragging his chair around to stand on... giving him a little added height!

He says "thanks, mommy" EVERY TIME I do anything for him or hand him things and it is usually in his high pitched sweetest voice... this kid has manners!! He tells me "good boy, mommy" whenever I do something just right... like set up a track for his trains or zip his zipper on his coat... he is a little ray of sunshine and just warms my heart all day!!

When I yell upstairs for the boys to come down for dinner or whatever it may be... he puts his finger over his lips, sticks out his neck and whispers "too loud, mom" "shhhhh" and anytime one of his big brothers is getting in trouble with a lecture... he worries and cries and tries to get in between to give someone, anyone... a hug. Hugs fix everything.

When he is nervous he puts his fingers in his ears and when it's really scary he closes his eyes too!!

He tries to hide his smile when he is embarrassed... I love that face!

His favorite book to read as bedtime is Dr. Seuss "There's a wocket in my pocket" He has it memorized and if we say the first part of the sentence on each page he finishes it.

He loves to watch TV and movies...Barney, Elmo's world, little people, Curious George, and Thomas the tank engine are his favorites.

He stands in the shower all by himself... he looks so little in there.... he loves to let the water pelt his back. Then he proceeds to wash his hair and name each part of body as he suds them up!

He is so smart... can sing lots of the words to twinkle twinkle little star, I am a child of God, We are a Happy Family, the itsy bity spider and Once there was a Snowman. He counts to ten and loves to tell us the color of things... he is best at identifying blue, green, and yellow. Not only can he say EVERY word possible he comprehends and can have a real conversation too.

He has blond curls at the back of his head... I thought he'd lose them when I cut his hair, like my others did... but he hasn't- I love them. He has eyelashes to die for... dark, long and turned up at the ends. his cheeks are like velvet... his whole body is. I kiss him a million times a day. Sometimes he tells me "no more kisses, mom" but I can't help myself!

Can you tell I could go on and on??
and seriously I still can't even begin to describe to you how cute he is... his voice, his sweet personality, his spunk, his expressions... I am so in love with this baby!! I don't want to forget the little things...but I know the details fade pretty quickly. Why do they do that? Maybe if we could really remember how cute they were as babies and toddlers the growing up years would be easier somehow!! I guess all these little things just build in a mom's heart and you'd think by now it would burst... but a mothers heart is never too full.
(those last few lines are dedicated to my sister Julie who is gagging on the cheese right now!)