Who does Grant look like?

So who does our handsome Grant look the most like?  

Grant

Michael

Jenny

Gabe (at the same age and in the same outfit as Grant above)

Grant Michael Eldredge is here!

Baby Grant is here!

Grant Michael Eldredge was born Friday, December 19th at 8:03 am.  He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 5 oz!  We had to ask them to weigh him twice because he was so big.  He has great big chubby cheeks - perfect for lots of kisses!  My C-section went very well and I'm recovering nicely.  I even decided to come home from the "hosipal" a day early.  I missed Gabe too.  :D  Grant is a wonderful baby and has slept almost the entire time.  He wakes up to eat and briefly opens his little eyes, and then it's back to sleep again.  Gabe likes being a big brother already, and likes to give Grant kisses.

His first picture in the hospital.  Check out those cheeks!

Snoozing on Grandpa

Opening his eyes

Brothers

Kisses!!

When the lights (and much more!) go out

We recently experienced a huge ice storm that left around 300,000 people in our area without power... including us.  We had quite a series of adventures as well.  First, I left to get something for us to eat (hard to eat without a stove, fridge or microwave) and found out just how bad the outage was.  There was nothing with power for miles around.  While I was gone, Michael went out on our balcony to take pictures of the ice storm.  Gabe decided that would be an ideal time to play with the lock on the door, and locked Michael outside on our 2nd floor deck.  Michael was locked outside for almost an hour, before he finally decided to jump off the deck, which totally traumatized poor Gabe.  Fortunately he was able to get back into our building and back to Gabe.  

We were blessed to have wonderful friends who still had power and invited us and another power-less family over to stay in their home and wait out the anticipated 4-14 day power outage.   Fortunately our power was restored after only 2 days, but we still have friends who don't have power and don't anticipate getting it for several more days at best.  

beautiful but dangerous

Gabe playing at the Hunter's house where we stayed for the power outage

Gabe meets Nelle!

Today Gabe met his cousin Nelle for the first time.  Here are some great pictures that Papa Eldredge took of the 2 of them together.  I'm so excited Gabe has a cousin - and such a cute one too!  I can't wait to meet my little niece someday!

kisses!

Gabe reads Nelle a story

2 goofy Eldredge kids

more kisses

Daddy & Gabe - the best of friends!

Gabe absolutely loves to do things with daddy.  I love to watch them play together and just spend time together.  Gabe also likes to bring monkey along for most of the activities they do together.  Here are my 2 favorite boys spending some quality time together - stretching and snuggling.  

This week they're on a special boys trip in Utah.  Michael's younger brother Wilson is getting married on Saturday, and Michael will pull double duty as the groom's brother and wedding photographer.  Since I'm due in 2 1/2 weeks, I get to stay home and SLEEP as much as humanly possible.  :)  We spent all week getting Gabe excited and prepared for his special airplane ride with daddy.  We got him a special backpack which is just like Michael's carry-on backpack so he can carry his own diapers and toys.  Today when I dropped them off at the airport, he put on his backpack and marched right in the airport, with a quick "bye bye mommy" and a wave.  I was expecting him to throw a fit, but was so proud of my big boy who excitedly went in the airport with a smile.  This mommy is going to miss her boys!!

Stretching together.  Even monkey was stretching.  :)

Big snuggles and smiles

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

For Thanksgiving, we were invited to some friends house for a dessert party.  Our hostess had made handprint cookies for the kids to frost like Turkeys.  Gabe picked out red frosting for his, and put on the chocolate chips by himself.  His cookie was okay, until he discovered the frosting... then it was awesome!  Mmmmm!!!  He spent most of the evening slowly wiping bits of frosting off his cookie until he'd wiped it clean.  :)  

Yesterday Gabe and I went to Walmart to pick out our Christmas tree.  He chose red ornaments and the multicolored lights.  He thought the lights were the coolest thing he'd ever seen... until the red balls came out.  :)  He helped put the ornaments on the tree and we had a big talk about how we don't throw the "Christmas balls".  (So far we've only lost 1 ornament).  He loves to sit by the tree and name the colors of the lights and softly touch the ornaments.

Playground Fun

We have a fun little playground in our apartment complex that Gabe loves to play at.  Here are some old pictures that Michael took.  I can't wait for the weather to warm up so we can go back again.  

Burrito Gabe

Tonight Gabe decided that after a long evening of driving cars on his car mat, that it was time to wrap himself up like a burrito in the mat.  It was hilarious.  He had a blast entertaining himself for a good half an hour.  The rest of our evening was then spent jumping on the couch cushions.  Ah, what a little boy I have!  

Gabe's big boy bed

We've been debating about when to move Gabe to a "big boy bed" for a while now, and after some research (and seeing how well Aubrey did in her big bed bed!) we decided now was a good time.  I wanted to make sure that Gabe was well adjusted before "brudder" arrived to take over the crib.  Gabe took to the bed immediately and hasn't even asked to go back to his crib.  His first nap we could hear him awake for an hour playing in his room, but since then he's stayed in the bed and fallen right asleep.  He even excitedly runs to it for nap time now.  (I hope this lasts!)  Here he is in his new toddler bed, yet another great find on my beloved Craigslist.  :D

He still insists on sleeping with Pooh Bear and Monkey

Pretending to sleep - he even makes snoring noises

Monkey see, monkey do

Gabe loves to do just about anything that mommy or daddy is doing.  Here is a clip I put together of him doing just that.  If you listen carefully, he will copy a lot of the words Michael is saying.  The sound isn't that great, so you may not hear it clearly.  (pay no attention to the large pregnant woman in her husband's xl sweat pants!)

Countdown to Baby #2 begins!

This past Tuesday, Michael and I met with our Dr who will deliver our handsome little baby boy.  We are very happy with him and the hospital we'll be delivering at.  He agreed with my previous 2 doctors that my chances for a VBAC (vaginal delivery after cesarean) were very low and didn't advise it.  (My pelvis is too narrow front to back)  It also turns out that our little man is breach, so that completely rules out any option except a scheduled C-section.  We don't have a definite time yet, but our delivery date is December 19th.  That means in 6 weeks from today, we'll get to meet baby #2 face to face!  HOORAY!  I must say that although I'm not looking forward to the recovery period again, I am very relieved that I know exactly when the baby will arrive, and that I don't have to go through labor again.  (Now watch this little guy throw a wrench in my plans and decide to come early!)  

We heart Fall

I love Fall.  The changing leaves, the cooler weather and call for sweaters... and of course pumpkin pie (or pumpkin anything!).  This year because of the move we've actually had a short fall.  We left Virginia just before the peak, and moved to New York just as the peak was ending.  We did get to take some fun pictures of Gabe playing in the leaves outside, which he thought was pretty fun.  He's wearing his new jacket from Papa and Mimi Eldredge, which by the way he demands to wear when we leave the house, and he must have it zipped up!  Thanks Mimi and Papa!

Our apartment

They're finally here!  Here are some pictures of our  apartment.  I also finally figured out why some of my pictures were really foggy (especially the ones at the library).  It wasn't a dying battery, but a lovely finger print smudged over the lens... courtesy of a certain 2 year old who got a hold of mommy's camera when she wasn't looking.  :)  So, my apologies for half of the pictures being smudgy.  I realized it about halfway through taking pictures today.  

Our dining room/play area.  This way I can work while Gabe plays nearby.

Kitchen.  I hate the cabinets, but love the new appliances!

View from Michael's office into the LR and DR.  We found these couches on Craigslist for a freaking steal!  (Hence my new addiction to craigslist...)

My handsome husband hard at work in the office.

Master bedroom.  My desk is in the corner.

Guest Bathroom/Gabe's bathroom.

Gabe's room.  It's almost the same size as his old one, so things fit perfectly in place.

Our trip to the Library

Today Gabe and I went to the Library.  The library here is fairly new and HUGE.  Some of the locals here call it the "Clifton Park Temple".  Let me just say, it is AWESOME!!  They have almost the entire second floor devoted to a nice closed-off (and nearly soundproof!) area just for kids.  They have a large foam play area with books to read, lots of toys to play with, and tons of puzzles.  They also have several computer stations to play interactive learning games, and a large activity room where they do story time for various age groups.  One of their activities is PJ story time that takes place in the evening.  Kids can come in their jammies and hear stories before bedtime.  Way too cool!  Gabe and I had a blast today, and we will be making the Library a regular weekly (or bi-weekly!) activity.  It's especially nice with the cold weather rolling in.  The pictures today aren't the greatest.  My camera was about to die, and I was surprised the poor thing actually took these few pictures.  

Gabe loved moving the beads around

doing one of the many, many puzzles we did this morning

reading in the foam play area

in true Gabe/boy form... climbing on the foam books  :)

8 months!

Here it is... my 8 month pregnant belly!  It's hard to believe that I only have 6 1/5 weeks left until he's here!  We have our first appointment with our doctor here in New York tomorrow.  I'm excited to meet him and to hear the baby's heartbeat as well.  Depending on time (and our baby sitter!) we may also tour the hospital I'll be delivering at.