The Eldredge Family

Update - finally!

2010-12-15T16:38:00.001-08:00

My life has been a whirlwind to say the least over the past several months. I decided to go back to school and major in Human Biology, and plan to become a Physician Assistant. School has kept me quite busy, and I unfortunately quit taking as many pictures and keeping up with the blog.

In June we went to Utah for a triple wedding. My brother Scott got married, Michael's brother Jake got married, and Michael's brother Wilson and his wife were sealed. A busy and fun trip!

I now present to you our "world in a minute". Here is the last 6 months summed up with a few pictures.

Gabe enjoying a cold treat on a hot summer day

July - our family trip to Lake George. The boys LOVED the beach!

August - Uncle Danny moved out here for a month, but missed Utah and moved back.

September - Grandma and Grandpa Harris came for a visit

October - we found a great farm and the boys fed the animals

Halloween - a cow and a dragon

Mother's Day, Carnival fun, Put me in the Zoo

2010-07-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy few months! We had a great visit from Grandma Harris and Aunt Lisa. We took the boys to a local Carnival, which was fun for about the first 10 minutes. Gabe loved the giant slide and the truck roller-coaster. Nana took Grant for a ride on the Carousel. We also went to the Bronx Zoo with some friends from church. It was a great trip! The boys loved seeing all of the animals, especially the Elephants. Nana bought elephant stuffed animals for each of them, and "elephant" has become Gabe's new favorite toy. Then we celebrated Mothers Day. Michael took some fun pictures of us playing together. I also cut my hair short for the first time in almost 10 years. Wahoo! I love it short!

Mommy's sweet boys

Blowing bubbles with Grant

Playing together

Giant slide at the carnival

Riding in the truck roller-coaster

Grants first time on a carousel, together with Nana

Fun at the Bronx Zoo

Looking at the fish pond

Taking after Daddy and Papa...

Big fish!

Mimi and Papa visit

2010-07-02T18:55:00.001-07:00

We had a great visit from Mimi and Papa. Mimi ran the Boston Marathon (go Mimi!) so we got to spend a few days playing together before her race. Papa also took pictures of the race, and got an amazing shot of the winner crossing the finish line!

Gabe has also discovered his love for taking pictures. I figure it must be genetic at this point. :) Talented Papa and Daddy have passed on the photography gene. Michael taught Gabe how to use his old digital camera, and Gabe hasn't stopped taking unflattering pictures of us yet.

Snuggling with Papa

Reading bedtime stories with Mimi

Getting a photography lesson from the Pro

Enjoying the cheap thrills in life

grant hearts food

2010-03-08T18:38:00.000-08:00

Our sweet little Grant loves to eat. He eats just about anything in sight! We're constantly hurrying to pick stuff up off the floor before he gets to it. Here he is enjoying some of his favorite foods.

His first dum dum sucker (and Gabe's, which he stole!)

That'll teach mommy to leave her chocolates within reach!

Raman by the fist full

Check out those cheeks!

My new nephew!

2010-02-06T18:42:00.001-08:00

Proudly presenting....

Zack Colton Thomas

I already have one adorable niece Nelle, and last month I welcomed my first nephew. Katie and Colton are the proud parents of Zack, a cute and chubby little baby boy. Zack was born via emergency C-section in the same hospital as Katie. Much to the surprise of absolutely everyone, he weighed in at a whopping 11 lbs 2 oz, and was 22 inches long. He is the 2nd largest baby ever born at the hospital. I recently flew out to Utah to see Zack and visit family. While I was there, my talented Father-in-law took pictures of Zack and Katie. Check out more of Lloyds work HERE. I'm so excited to have Zack in our family, and I can't wait for Gabe and Grant to meet him (and show him all the wonderful and wild things they know!).

Christmas in Florida

2010-01-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

This year we had the amazing opportunity to spend Christmas in Florida. Nana Curtis wanted to bring her entire family somewhere warm, and to watch her grandchildren experience the beach for the first time. She got her wish, and this year we celebrated Christmas at Daytona Beach. We had a blast playing on the beach and swimming together. Gabe and Nelle were best buddies all week long, and we loved seeing them play so well together. The water was a little cool, but the kids had fun in the sand building castles and digging holes. Nana took Gabe to jump waves and splash in the bubbles, which he loved.

We spent Christmas day at SeaWorld, which was awesome! We saw the Shamu and Dolphin shows, which were Gabe's (and everyone's!) favorite part. It was fun spending time with the family and we miss being across the country from everyone else. I really loved Christmas this year, and not just because I got to wear shorts and a t-shirt outside on Christmas day. :D

Happy Birthday Grant!

2009-12-19T18:19:00.001-08:00

Today we celebrated Grant's 1st Birthday. We had a wonderful day with our sweet little man. We opened a few presents together as a family, including a new favorite wooden push toy from Nana that both boys played with most of the day. We had a really fun party with some of our dearest friends, and a certain 3 year old brother who'd eaten 4 too many cupcakes provided the entertainment for the evening. Grant had his first taste of a cupcake, and he seemed to really enjoy it. He actually ate about half of it before getting bored of squishing it to pieces.

Now that he's tucked away sleeping, I'm reflecting back on this whirlwind of a year. It seems as if tonight I'll go peek in on a tiny 1 month old baby, and not a walking little 1 year old. This year has flown by far too quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital snuggling my brand new (and surprisingly chubby!) baby boy. Grant has been quite possibly the best baby in the world. He's always been a wonderful sleeper, and I'm constantly amazed at how well he tolerates Gabe's pestering, smothering and toy taking. He's generally very happy and easily entertained. I'm grateful to be the mom of such a sweet, cute and loving little boy. My favorite "Grant" things are:

His love of snuggling pillows

His growl

His big sweet grin that makes his eyes shrink like tiny moons because he smiles so big

His slobbery kisses

His puckered lips - check out the cupcake picture below!

Here are some pictures of his birthday today (sorry, they're out of order and I don't know how to fix that!) and a few pictures looking back on the past year of his life. We love you Grant!

The infamous wooden toy from Nana

Laughing with mommy

A few days old

2 weeks old

3 months old

4 months old

5 months

9 months

10 months

Eating Birthday cupcake!

"You got to puck up your lips, like 'dis!"

walking man

2009-11-30T18:00:00.001-08:00

Grant is starting to walk! He is so excited and proud of himself. Here are some of his first steps.

Fall leaves

2009-10-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

I love Fall. I love the cooler weather and all the beautiful shades of color in the fall leaves. I especially love watching the boys play in the leaves and run around outside. Here are some pictures I took of the boys and Nana playing together. Michael let me borrow his camera, and I must say, I'm in love (with both the camera, and the camera man!).

The Harris Fam-Damily comes to visit

2009-10-18T19:04:00.001-07:00

We recently had a wonderful visit from my parents and two sisters. We always love to have family visit! Gwama spoiled her grandsons as always, and we put Grandpa to work around the house (as always, hee hee). It's nice to have all the extra helping hands. My family was also here for my birthday, which we celebrated by having dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Yum!

Grandma and Grant

My sisters Lisa and Katie with Grandma and the monkeys

A Grant sandwich

Grandma & Grandpa

Putting Grandpa to work again

Grant watching as Grandpa and Gabe work on the jogging stroller

Happy Birthday to Gabe!!

2009-10-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Gabe! I can hardly believe I have a 3 year old child! I remember my pregnancy with him like it was yesterday. Gabe had a wonderful birthday. We started the day with a party at a nearby park, where he ran around and played with some of his favorite friends. We didn't stay long because it was cold, and brought everyone back to our house. Later we opened presents, his favorite is the hotwheels set from Nana. (Such a classic!) We ended the night by going bowling, which Gabe absolutely loved. Happy Birthday little man!

Gabe is 3!

Pushing Mason on the swing

Blowing out his candles

Bowling

Can you tell he loved bowling? :)

Grant's payback!

2009-09-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite activities is taking goofy pictures on my Mac. I recently tried to get a picture with me and the 2 boys together, but Grant kept pulling Gabe out of the way to check out that cute baby on the screen. It was hilarious, so of course I had to film it. :)

Happy Birthday Nana and Uncle Wilson!

2009-09-29T17:24:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to Nana on the 24th and Uncle Wilson on the 26th!! We are so lucky to have Nana live nearby. She loves to come over and play with the boys. She takes Gabe outside to play, and plays endless hours of "store" and many other games with Gabe. She also absolutely love to feed Grant. He opens his mouth so big for food! (he takes after his father!). Nana has blessed our lives in so many ways, and we've especially loved having Nana with us in New York. Uncle Wilson was the very first Uncle to see both Gabe and Grant. He was here for Gabe's birth, and the first Uncle to visit us after Grant was born. Gabe loves to wrestle with Uncle Wilson, and no one will ever be a better Easter Bunny than Uncle Wilson was this year! Happy Birthday Nana and Uncle Wilson!! We love you!

Month wrap up!

2009-09-29T10:50:00.001-07:00

I know, I'm officially fired from my blog after not posting for over a month! :) We've had a very busy end of summer/beginning of fall. Here's what we did (in as few sentences as possible!)

In August, we took our annual Family Vacation to Lake George. This year Nana joined us as well, and we all shared a cabin. Gabe and Grant had a blast playing outside, going on long walks, playing at the beach and running around with the other kids. Gabe's favorite part was a large bell at the top of a building, which the night staff was kind enough to ring just for him. Every night Gabe would look out the window of the hotel lobby and talk to the bell, and it would ring back to him. :) We also took Gabe kayaking and this year he really enjoyed it (last year he screamed the entire time!). Also, Grant learned to crawl shortly before we left for camp, so he really enjoyed crawling all over the soft grass and playing in the dirt! I committed the most unpardonable sin and forgot my camera on the charger at home. Noooooo!!! Michael has a few pictures, but it may be a while before I can get some from him....

In September, some of our highlights have been finding great new toys at yard sales and taking a playgroup tour of the Fire Station and Airport. Here are some pictures of the firehouse tour:

Gabe and Kai, one of his friends from Vweek Summer Camp

Checking out all the buttons!

Gabe inside the Fire Truck

Gabe in Grant's walker - I'm amazed he fits!

2 cool dudes

Gabe's new store - a great yardsale find!

Who does Grant look like now?

2009-08-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here's our latest picture of Grant. Who does he look like now?

Grant

Does he look like.....

Daddy

Mommy

or Gabe?

trip to Utah

2009-07-30T17:43:00.001-07:00

Warning: picture overload! :) We just flew out to Utah for my sister Katie's wedding (see pics by Lloyd Eldredge below. More to come once Michael finishes his). We had a blast visiting family. We wish we could clone ourselves so we could see more people (actually I would sleep while my clone ran around!). Check out the captions to see what we did. Although we had a blast, I absolutely will not set foot on another airplane with 2 kids unless another sibling gets married. Flying across the country with a toddler... YUCK!

Gabe excited to be on the airplane (for 5 minutes)

Grant kept staring at Grandpa

Uncle Scott and Gabe, who thought the sprinkler was the coolest thing ever!

Grant and Great Grandma Harris

Kisses from Great Grandpa Eldredge

Mimi with Grant and Nelle

Boating with Nana and the crew

The awesome tube ride Uncle Drew took us on. (note Gabe fussing)

Me with Ma and Pa at the Restless Heart and Colin Ray concert! Wahoo!

One of my best friends in the whole world, Leslie

Big smiles for Papa Eldredge

Playing drums at cousin Nelle's house

Grant has a small obsession with Uncle Danny's facial hair

Katie's Wedding!!

2009-07-29T19:12:00.001-07:00

Katie got hitched! This past week we traveled to Utah for my sister Katie's wedding. She had a beautiful ceremony and reception, and is now a very happily married girl. Her husband, Colton fits right in the family, and we're excited to have him. Here are a few pictures from the reception, courtesy of Lloyd Eldredge.

whoever gave my son a blue snow cone is gonna pay...

grant, darby (scott's amazing girlfriend!), mom eldredge, me and mom harris

colton and katie - the happy couple

4th of July 5k

2009-07-06T05:54:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I love to run, and that I have a goal to run a 5k this summer with each of the boys. I ran a 5k with Gabe on the 4th. He did really well until the 2 mile mark, when we made our first loop past the finish line. He saw daddy and the crowd and figured we were done.... until we kept going. He was really upset that we kept going and started bawling. I made it about 50 meters past the finish area before I had to turn around with him and drop him off with Michael. :) I then finished the race feeling light as a feather without the stroller! The amazing part was that even with my set back with Gabe, I still managed to run my fasted 5k ever! Yay!

Rarrrrr!! Be scared, be very scared

Our first loop, just before the meltdown

A picture from our first race 2 years ago

Wrestling and fun with Nana

2009-06-23T18:06:00.001-07:00

The boys had their first wrastlin' match tonight (with help from daddy). Grant squealed and smiled the entire time. We also enjoyed some quality tummy time with Nana, who we love having visit every night. Yesterday Gabe had a blast with our Mac camera, so I included a few of those pictures.

we heart yard sales!!!

2009-06-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

One of my absolute favorite things to do in the summer is find yard sales. We find so many great cheap toys for the boys! Here are a few of my favorite latest finds, featuring the 2 cutest models I've ever seen... :)

Grant in his exersaucer - $5

(Ok, not a yard sale find, but a dang cute eating picture)

Snow cones... free

Gabe's new car $3 (I looked everywhere last summer and never found one, so I was VERY excited to find one this morning!)

My personal favorite find... ever! You can't put a price on this puppy!

Freihoffer's 5k

2009-06-08T18:46:00.001-07:00

On May 30th I had the opportunity to run in the Freihoffer's Run for Women 5k. It is an amazing race celebrating women, and over 4000 women ran that day. I trained a group of women following the "couch to 5k" program - some of whom had never run before. Everyone in my group finished and it was a very proud day for all of us. The finishing prize was a box of chocolate chip cookies... much better than a medal! (only half kidding... I love both!) I'm excited to kick off my running "season". Next I plan on running a few 5k's with each of the boys, and then if I can really be tough, running with both of them in the double jogging stroller. *flex*

(i cannot for the life of me get this picture to rotate correctly! sorry for the kinked neck you're about to get!)

Ashely, me and Beth. We ran the entire race together!

Road trip!!!

2009-05-27T13:08:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, I had a moment of total insanity and decided to take just me and the 2 monkeys on a road trip. Our friends Steve and Renee were getting married in Maryland, and I thought it would be a good idea to drive the rest of the way down to Virginia to introduce our friends to Grant and pick up all the baby clothes and toys we'd left in the attic during the move. Michael was originally going to come, but he needed to stay and take care of a family member who had been hurt in an accident. Apparently, my brain had completely fallen out of my head when I had the brilliant (and by brilliant I really mean very, very, very stupid!) idea that I could handle 24 hours of driving in the car with 2 kids all by myself. Fortunately I did have a few scheduled stops. We spent the first night in New Jersey with my friend Nancy from high school who I hadn't seen in years. She took us to a fun fountain on Princeton campus where Gabe was in total heaven. The tantrum he threw when it was time to leave was Oscar worthy. We got up early the next morning and drove to Maryland where Steve and Renee had a beautiful wedding on the beach beside a lighthouse. It was fun to see some of our closest friends from Buena Vista. Then we made the drive to Virginia and spent the night at our house. Thanks to McDonald's play places and many a stops on the side of the road, we finally made it home in one piece. If you look carefully in the car, you'll see wads of my hair, most of my fingernails, and the steering wheel which now looks crooked from being gripped so tightly and punched. I've decided that 12 hours in the car with 2 kids may very well be worse than the 12 hours of labor it took Gabe to get here...

Gabe and Kaden

Mommy and the monkeys

Nancy and I

Lighthouse wedding

Havre de Grace beach

Gabe on the beach

Grant eating rice cereal

2009-05-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

Today Grant had rice cereal for the first time today. Gabe was very eager to help, so I let him have a turn feeding Grant. He did a really good job, and was very gentle, and even served Grant small spoonfuls. It was very sweet to see Gabe take such good care of Grant. Grant seemed to enjoy the rice cereal quite a bit. It's hard to believe he's already almost 5 months and eating rice cereal. He'll be running along side Gabe in no time!

Good looks run in the family...

2009-05-03T11:07:00.001-07:00

Those of you with Macs know the beauty that is Photobooth Effects. :) Here are some fun pictures we took with it. If you look close, you can see tears on my cheeks from laughing s hard!

The boys

Gabe

Grandpa, Gabe and Uncle Scott

Gabe

Mommy and Grant

Daddy and Grant

Daddy, Grant and Mommy

Gabe's magic touch

2009-04-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

Bless our hearts, we try to get Grant to laugh all the time. He'll give us a few giggles here and there, but Gabe somehow manages to get him to laugh hysterically, time and time again! It just goes to show there's something special between brothers.... :)

Easter!

2009-04-14T18:36:00.003-07:00

We had a great Easter this year. Grandma Harris is in town visiting, and we've absolutely loved having her here. We had an Easter Egg Hunt at a friends house, and the boys got to meet the Easter Bunny. Gabe was a little afraid of him, but we did get a picture of Grant. Later, Gabe gave the Easter Bunny a big hug. :) On Easter Sunday, we dressed the boys up all handsome and took pictures. Getting the 2 of them to both smile and look at the camera at the same time was no small feat, but I think we got a few good pictures. I sure love my handsome boys!

Grant meets the Easter Bunny

Grandma Harris and the boys

my yin and yang

2009-04-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Having 2 boys is such an adventure. Gabe and Grant have a lot of similarities already, but are starting to manifest differences as well. They both are devilishly handsome, and very sweet. Gabe however, is my light haired, long haired baby who would fall asleep easily by nursing or snuggling up to mommy. Grant is my dark haired baldy who prefers to walk the floor until he's ready to be swaddled up super tight and rocked to sleep. Grant seems to be a little more mellow, but even a wild monkey would appear tame next to our very energetic Gabester. It will be interesting to see how their personalities grow as they both get older.

Tagged

2009-04-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged! Here's the 6th picture in my 6th folder. It's when I ran the Buena Vista Labor Day 5k with Gabe. I made him a onesie with "Baby's first 5k" on it. This was a really fun race for me, and I absolutely loved having Gabe with me. Many of you know that it's my goal to run at least one race with each of my boys. Stroller friendly races are getting harder to find, but I have high hopes that I'll race with Grant this year in the same onesie. My friend Jenn gave me a double jogging stroller when Grant was born, so I'd also like to run with both the boys sometime this year too.

I tag Rachel if she hasn't been tagged already! :)

The Joys of Potty Training...

2009-03-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

Today while Gabe was supposed to be napping, I kept hearing him repeat "want mommy come look at it". I finally decided I'd better go in and see what he had done. Much to my surprise, there on the floor was a very poopy diaper - open face - and Gabe in a different set of pants than he'd been wearing when I put him down. I don't know how he did it, but he got his own diaper off, and then proceeded to try on 3 pairs of new pants, with poop still all over his bum. As I looked around the room, there on his rug were little brown spots where he'd sat down to play with his toys afterward. Needless to say, I put him straight in the bathtub, and was extremely grateful we splurged last fall and bought a carpet cleaner. I couldn't help but laugh almost the whole time. On the plus side, he's clearly not comfortable being in a poopy diaper anymore, so I have high hopes that he'll be potty trained VERY soon. :)

Grant laughing

2009-03-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

One of my absolute favorite sounds in the world is a baby laughing. Michael and I have been trying to get Grant to laugh now for a while, with no luck. The day Grant turned 3 months old, I gave him a bath with Gabe, and Gabe got him to laugh! It was so exciting. Here they are playing together. What a fun little brotherly bond to share. :)

Best Buds

2009-03-18T16:59:00.001-07:00

I love having boys - and I really love having 2 of them. I must say, there are definitely challenging times like when they're both screaming at the same time, and changing poopy diapers back to back isn't very fun either. But then there are sweet moments when Gabe snuggles up to Grant, or tries to comfort him when he's crying. These moments are what we moms live for. Gabe is a great big brother, and really loves to be with Grant.

My sweet boys

Taking care of Grant

All 3 of the boys! (I could NOT get Gabe to smile!)

My sweet little baby boy

Gabe in boots

2009-03-09T17:51:00.001-07:00

Gabe must be getting inspiration from both Hailey and Aubrey these days. :) The other day I heard Gabe playing quietly, and found him putting my boots on. It was hilarious. He actually was able to slowly walk across the apartment to show Michael while I snapped a few pictures.

Potty in the BIG potty!

2009-03-04T19:12:00.001-08:00

Being the mother of a 2 year old brings a heck of a lot of frustration, but also a heck of a lot of FUN. :) Gabe has recently become very interested in potty training. He absolutely loves that he can do it all by himself. He has "big boy diapers" he can take off himself, a stool to climb up on the potty with, and a fun cars/truck potty seat that Nana got for him. He's very good at cleaning up afterwards and loves to wash his hands with the soap bubbles. His favorite part is the reward sticker he gets every time he uses the bathroom. At first the stickers were scattered throughout the house, and usually ended up on the bottom of my sock. I suggested he put them on a piece of paper on the fridge so that we could all see his special stickers. He got quite a kick out of that. So here is Gabe sitting happily on the potty, and his reward stickers - this is ONE days worth of stickers. :)

Who needs toys???

2009-02-23T10:44:00.002-08:00

Who needs toys when you have things like these:?

a comfy bathroom sink

a perfectly sized laundry basket

a brother to squeeze

a comfy couch nook

a nice warm daddy to fall asleep on

Family Pictures!

2009-02-13T16:30:00.003-08:00

As promised, here are our family pictures taken by Lloyd. He did an amazing job of capturing both the traditional family pictures - including the challenge of photographing a constantly moving two year old! - and some fun candid shots of us playing around. If any of you lucky Utahn's would like to have Lloyd take your family pictures, his website is in our link list to the right. Thanks again for great pictures Dad!

Mimi and Papa Eldredge come to visit!

2009-02-10T17:36:00.001-08:00

We were lucky to have a recent visit from Mimi and Papa Eldredge. I absolutely love my in-laws and spending time with them. Mimi was a huge help with a project I had for work, and both she and Papa were extremely helpful with the boys. They entertained Gabe and took him out for fun trips, which is always a treat for Gabe (both the outings and the company!). We also were treated to Mimi's amazing and very healthy cooking. I was especially thrilled to have our talented Papa here to take pictures of the entire visit. Here are some pictures he took. My Christmas gift was a photoshoot with our family, which I'll post pictures of soon. You can check out Lloyd's photography in our link list to the right. Thanks for a wonderful visit Mimi and Papa! We can't wait to have you back again!!

Mimi has the magic touch

Grant with Mimi and Papa

Nakey baby!

Mirror mirror...

Brotherly love

Happy Birthday Michael!

2009-02-09T07:44:00.000-08:00

Today is Michael's birthday. I thought I'd steal a fun idea I saw on Lacey's blog and post some pictures of his childhood. You can see what a cute little boy he was! I'm grateful to have such a wonderful husband who is my best friend in the world, and who makes me incredibly happy. He's a great father to our two boys, and I'm lucky to have such an amazing family with him. He even comes with awesome in-laws! :D Happy Birthday Michael!!

I totally would have had a huge crush on him!

Cowboy take me away...

Look at those curls!

Daddy and Gabe

sweet baby Grant

2009-02-02T10:39:00.001-08:00

When I look at the pictures of Grant, I think they look nothing like him. Maybe that's because the camera doesn't capture the special loving mommy filter over my eyes, or because at this age they literally change so much every day. Michael took these amazing pictures the other day, and this is the closest I've seen the picture look like my sweet little guy.

Brotherly Love

2009-01-25T13:55:00.000-08:00

Gabe is quite the involved big brother. He is constantly aware of what's going on with "baby gwant". He loves to help out with diaper changes, and then climb up on the chair next to him while he wiggles around. Here are some shots of the 2 of them together yesterday.

Chunky boy!

2009-01-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

Today Grant had his 1 month appointment. He weighs 11 pounds 4 ounces, and is 22 inches long. That puts him gaining 3 pounds and 3 inches in only 1 month! WOW! I must produce butter!! The Doctor was impressed with his weight gain and says he is a very healthy boy. He had 1 shot today and only cried for a minute. He is in the 86th percentile for weight and 68th percentile for height. I think he's one of the easiest and sweetest little babies ever. He sleeps wonderfully at night (I said AT, not through!) and puts up with his big brother mauling him multiple times a day to show his affection. Grant is going to be one tough little boy!

1 month old

2009-01-19T16:46:00.001-08:00

Grant turned 1 month old today. I can hardly believe it's been a month already! Time flies when you're sleep deprived! :) He's been such a wonderful baby and I sure love having him in our family. What better way to celebrate a 1 month birthday than in your birthday suit? :) And for comparison, the top photo is Gabe at 1 month old. (Would you have known if I didn't tell you? They sure look alike!)

GABE at 1 month

Grant in his birthday suit

Love that smile!

He still has him umbilical cord

Daddy's Boy

2009-01-13T13:37:00.001-08:00

I'm convinced that Grant looks more like Michael every day. (Lucky boy!) Here's little Grant spending some time with daddy this morning.

Fun with Grandma & Grandpa

2009-01-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

We recently enjoyed a wonderful visit from my parents, who came to help out with the birth of Grant. Gabe had a great time building block towers with Grandpa, and playing with Grandma just about all day long. Here's some pictures of the great tower that Grandpa built with Gabe, using every block we could find. It was almost as tall as Grandpa! And of course, more cute pictures of our favorite chunky monkey! Thanks for a great visit Grandma & Grandpa!

Proud Grandparents

Building towers

The BIG tower

Grant - finally caught a smile!

Who does Grant look like?

2008-12-26T11:42:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-12-22T13:09:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-16T10:07:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-12-03T14:35:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-12-02T17:29:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-29T12:11:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-29T12:06:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-25T17:07:00.003-08:00

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

2008-11-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-12T13:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-07T07:47:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-04T10:04:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-03T13:33:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-03T13:31:00.001-08:00

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.

My 2 favorite (and helpful!) boys

2008-10-30T16:03:00.001-07:00

Since I work a lot from home, I decided to buy myself a desk from Walmart that said "easy to assemble". Easy to assemble my foot! It took Gabe and I nearly 2 hours last night (well, 1.5 hours of work and a good half hour of cussing, stomping and angrily trying to get the screws in) just to put together the bookshelf. So this morning my wonderful hubby came to my rescue and with Gabe's help, put together my desk in no time. Here are my two wonderful helpers working together. I love my boys!

More Uncle Drew and a Halloween Party

2008-10-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

I found some more pictures of Gabe playing with Uncle Drew during his visit. They're not as good as the ones by the pro, but they show how cute Gabe and Drew are together.

Also, we had a ward Halloween party, and here is Gabe in his costume! He was terrified of the additional arms that kept following him around, so he needed his binki for comfort. :) Then at the party, the kids were given stickers to decorate their trick or treat bags. Gabe thought it would be more fun to put them on his face. At least everyone knew his name!

Ready for liftoff!

All smiles

Spider Gabe!

G-A-B-E

A hilarious idea for a dessert at the party. It's apple crisp. :)

I've been tagged!

2008-10-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

And here we have it - my first tag! It came from my dear friend who I've known since I was 11 years old. Love ya girl!

6 TV shows I like to watch:
1. The Office
2. LOST
3. Friends - I don't think I'll EVER get sick of this show!
4. Desperate Housewives (my guilty pleasure)
5. Darn near everything on HGTV
6. Scrubs

6 Restaurants I like to eat at:
1. Olive Garden - especially now that they have their seasonal pumpkin cheesecake! mmmm....
2. Red Lobster
3. Cheesecake Factory
4. Arby's (it's the Harris in me)
5. anywhere that serves Mexican
6. Sushi

6 things that happened today:
1. I scrapbooked like a madwoman! I'm 1 page away from Gabe's 1-2 year old book being done!
2. Went to the ward Chili cook-off/Halloween party (and ate waaaay too much!)
3. My LONG maternity pants finally arrived in the mail!
4. Made a pumpkin pie and treats for tonight's party
5. Had a visit from my friend Lisa B
6. Watched the first snowfall of the year out the window with Gabe. That's enough for me until Christmas day.

6 things I am looking forward to:
1. Winter being over :)
2. Birth of baby #2
3. Upcoming visits from family to NY
4. My new job
5. Wearing my comfortable and LONG maternity jeans from Target (I've only had capri's until now!)
6. Gabe being potty trained

6 things on my wish list:
1. To touch/paint my own toes again, bend over comfortably, and put my own shoes on. :)
2. Keyless entry for my car (now that we live in NY I actually lock my doors)
3. Affordable health insurance
4. Perfect skin
5. Free, unlimited airfare (I can dream, can't I?)
6. Sleep!!!

6 people I Tag:
1. Rachel
2. Lori
3. Papa Eldredge (he'll have to email me his)
4. Lacey
5. Jeniby
6. Janet

Cool dudes

2008-10-25T15:34:00.001-07:00

Here is Gabe with his Uncle Drew, with matching cool hairstyles. Gabe had lots of fun with Uncle Drew, and we miss him already. Once again, these great pictures were taken by our brilliant pro... hopefully we'll see even more of his work. :)

Window treatments

2008-10-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

Gabe has been settling into our new apartment nicely. Here he is looking out Michael's office window at the ducks and rain. These pictures were taken by a brilliant professional photographer, so you're all in for a treat. (It's awesome having a photographer right here in my house!) I love Gabe's reflection in the window.

Looking pretty

2008-10-19T14:19:00.001-07:00

Today while I was cooking lunch, Gabe disappeared into the back room.... and emerged like this. He had found my mascara and tried to put it on, just like mommy does. He actually did manage to get some on his eyelashes too! I think if we weren't laughing so hard, we may have taken more pictures.

Singing boys

2008-10-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here are my two boys singing together in the car. Gabe loves to be like his daddy!

Moving update

2008-10-19T14:07:00.001-07:00

We're here in New York! We had a lot of great help from friends and neighbors at both locations, and the move went even faster and smoother than I expected. Gabe was an amazing little traveler. The drive took 10 hours with the moving truck unable to go faster than about 60. He slept well and only complained to get out once. Our new apartment is great. We're unpacking and settling in quite well. We've already made some great new friends here, and we can't wait to get to know the area better.

Gabe playing in the moving truck. He loved running up and down the ramp.

the BEFORE at our apartment... AFTER is coming later.

The view from our balcony!

Gabe and Uncle Drew watching Baby Einstein together. Gabe loves Uncle Drew!

Happy Birthday to Gabe!!

2008-10-10T17:08:00.001-07:00

I am in total shock as I write this post... I can't believe Gabe is 2!!! My little baby is all grown up! We had his birthday party at Penny Park, and he had a blast. He spent the first few minutes in the dirt pile throwing dirt all over the place (and all over his head!). Then we had cupcakes and pizza and the kids spent the rest of the time playing under picnic table.

enjoying his cupcake

enjoying another cupcake

eating pizza with cael

the kids under the table. simple pleasures!

mommy and her birthday boy

he had a blast with the balloons... even after 1 popped.

Moving progress

2008-10-09T10:46:00.001-07:00

We're packing like mad men at our house, as we get ready to leave Buena Vista in 1 week from today. It's amazing how much JUNK you accumulate over the years. As much as I hate packing, it does give us the opportunity to clean house and get rid of stuff we haven't used in years. As you can see from this picture, Gabe has been a huge help. Trying to keep him from climbing the boxes is another story....

Ring around the rosie

2008-10-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

Here's Gabe and daddy playing ring around the rosie. Gabe actually knows and says most of the words. (Maybe only I can understand him, as I'm fluent in "Gabe-ese".)

Making cookies

2008-10-06T17:10:00.001-07:00

Gabe and I had fun making sugar cookies the other day. He helped me stir the dough, and then he did the sprinkles all by himself. He had a blast! He put almost all of the sprinkles on one cookie, and then proceeded to eat that one.

a natural sprinkle pro

so careful!

the best part of cookie making

Fun at the Mall

2008-10-01T17:41:00.001-07:00

Today Gabe and I went to the Staunton Mall to do some shopping and run around the play area. Outside of the play area was a mouse statue that Gabe decided was his new best friend. He hugged it, hung from it, and pointed out its eyes, ears, mouth, etc. It was really quite cute.

BIG CUTE smile!

hugs for mr. mouse

all boy - hanging from mr. mouse's arm

A little crowded in here?

2008-09-30T17:17:00.000-07:00

We've been debating about when to move Gabe from his crib to a big boy bed. For now we've decided to wait until after the move, so he has something familiar. In the meantime, it's going to be pretty crowded in his crib! Lately Gabe has insisted on sleeping with his big Pooh Bear from Nana, in addition to his monkey from Aunt Lisa he's slept with for forever. Today I checked on him and he'd piled all of his stuffed animals up around him, and made sure they were under the blanket with him. Now THAT'S love!

snug as a bug

snuggling up

Happy Birthday "Uncle Woogles"

2008-09-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

Today Michael's younger brother, Wilson, celebrates his birthday. Gabe calls him "Uncle Woogles", and we think that's pretty cool. Wilson spent the first month that Gabe was born visiting us, and helping take care of all of us. He did fast food runs, and even went to Walmart at 4 am to pick up baby Tylenol. We also loved having him here with Nana this past summer for another visit. Wilson gets married this winter, and we're so excited to have Jess be Gabe's newest aunt. Happy Birthday Woogles - we love you!!!

Happy Birthday Nana!

2008-09-24T14:10:00.001-07:00

Today is Nana's birthday. We enjoyed having her here this past summer. She is Gabe's little buddy. We hope you have a wonderful birthday today Nana!

New York, New York!

2008-09-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

(insert Frank Sinatra's New York, New York song here....)

da da da da da....

Start spreading the news,

We're leaving next month,

We want to be a part of it

New York, New York....

Big news!! We're moving to Albany, New York next month!!

Michael has been traveling to Albany quite a bit to do various photography and video work this past year, as well as taking educational classes which he has really enjoyed. He will be continuing to work on various projects and build his photography business as well. I was offered a job with an Accounting company (which I'm thrilled about!), and we've decided to leave our dear Buena Vista and move up to Albany. This move has happened very quickly, largely in part to my not wanting to move while hugely pregnant, with a newborn baby, or in the freezing cold winter time. So it's now or next Spring... and we decided now! We'll be about 3 hours from New York City and 2 hours from Palmyra, so if anyone wants to take a road trip, you're always welcome to stay with us. New York... here comes the Eldredge Family!

Bath time!!

2008-09-21T12:01:00.001-07:00

We recently moved Gabe from his toddler sized bath tub into the entire tub - and he LOVES it! He loves to splash around in the bubbles, and try to drink the water from the faucet. He's already started swimming around and making funny car/boat noises with his rubber duckies. (I swear, motorized noises are innate in little boys!) I think he'd stay in the bathtub for an hour every night if I let him.

his bubble crown, courtesy of daddy

getting ready for a swim

not sure why he loves to drink the hot water...

my little boy who is half fish

In Daddy's Shoes

2008-09-11T15:45:00.003-07:00

Gabe loves all things daddy, especially having shoes like daddy. He has a pair of small red crocs that match daddy's, and two pair of slip on shoes that are like daddy's too. Today he skipped the shoes that only look like daddy's and went for the real thing - daddy's shoes. Here he is playing outside in Michael's shoes.

Mess maker, mess maker, make me a MESS!

2008-09-11T06:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an impressive day of mess making for Gabe. At breakfast he kicked his highchair tray off and spilled his yogurt, strawberries and entire glass of orange juice all over the floor. We mopped the floor. Twice. Gabe helped. :)

At lunch he knocked his bowl full of torteloni covered in red spaghetti sauce on the floor. We mopped the floor again.

During dinner, mommy decided to move away from what appeared to be the "cursed" high chair and eat his happy meal in the living room at the coffee table. (Apparently, mommy's logic has gone out the window!) He spilled his chocolate milk all over the rug - and on the only white portion of the rug... not the grey speckled part that would have hidden the stain better. Gabe was a good helper and helped scrub the carpet. Twice.

I was grateful to get him to bed and hope for a better day today. Until he spilled his milk all over his highchair this morning... I'm in for it!!

Mopping up after our breakfast spill

Scrubbing the living room rug

What a good helper!

Gabe in the DIRT!

2008-09-06T07:57:00.001-07:00

Outside our cabin at Lake George was the perfect dirt pile for Gabe. One day he discovered it and covered himself in it! He even threw it on his own head! It was quite hilarious to watch. Thankfully he was pretty willing to take a bath afterwards.

Throwing dirt on his head

Laying down in the dirt

A close up of the dirt monster

Mommy and her dirt monster

Our camping trip to Lake George in New York

2008-09-06T07:44:00.001-07:00

For the past 2 weeks, we have been attending a summer camp in upstate New York (hence the total lack of posts!). We had a blast! Michael was busy doing a lot of photography and video work, so Gabe and Nana and I got to hang out together a lot. The camp is very family-friendly and organized a lot of fun activities for the young kids. We painted on a Tee-pee and roasted s'mores, went kayaking (which Gabe didn't think was too fun. We were in the kayak a total of about 3 minutes, and he cried the whole time) and played at the playground. They also had an ice cream machine, and Gabe was introduced to ice cream cones with sprinkles, courtesy of Nana. We had a great experience at V-week, and will definitely be going back next year!

Painting the tee-pee

Roasting s'mores with Nana

Getting ready to kayak

Playing outside of our cabin

Gabe's new haircut!

2008-08-19T17:50:00.001-07:00

Gabe had his second big haircut today. Michael loves his hair long, and I love it short and spikey, so every few months we cut it and let it grow back long. Here he is before (and happily eating ice cream) and after his big cut. It's a bit shorter than we wanted, but fortunately his hair grows back fast!

eyeing that ice cream!

showing off his new haircut

all day he's been touching his head and saying "haircut"

Gabe hearts balls

2008-08-17T17:34:00.001-07:00

Grandma Harris is in town visiting Gabe, and we decided to take all of Gabe's plastic balls outside to roll down the hill. Gabe had a blast doing that, and then we had the idea to put them in his rainbow pool. Bingo! Here he is combining two of his very favorite things... playing outside, and playing with balls.

Throwing balls down the hill

I'm not sure why, but this picture makes me think of Tom Sawyer

Big smiles in the new ball pit

Circular joy - and my new desktop picture

Baby #2 is a ......

2008-08-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

You'll have to hear it from Gabe himself! :D

Top picture is pretty easy to see. Baby has its legs up over the head. Second picture is a profile shot with the head on the left side.

Gabe in the SINK!

2008-08-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

Our sneaky little stink pot! The other day, Nana and I needed to get some things done, and we can usually buy time by putting Gabe on the counter. He loves to be "up high" as he says. Well, little by little, he inched his way from the counter to putting his feet in the sink. Next he turned on the water. Little by little - just like the frog in the boiling water - he made his way from the counter to completely in the sink, water running all over his lap. :) Needless to say, he had a blast. Good news is, it kept him entertained long enough to get some chores done! Since the mess was all contained IN the sink, my only cleanup was changing his clothes and soaking wet diaper.

Gabe's vacuum dance

2008-08-08T12:03:00.000-07:00

We found this play vacuum at a yard sale for 50 cents. Whenever Gabe vacuums with it, he does a goofy little dance. Hey - mommy has her signature "Happy dance", so it's natural that Gabe find a signature dance as well. Enjoy!

Gabe and Nana at the Park

2008-08-03T18:51:00.001-07:00

We have loved having Nana at our house for the past few weeks. She and Gabe go on walks almost every day, and play at the park several days a week. Here they are playing at the park tonight.

Gabe's trip to the Richmond Zoo

2008-07-23T12:16:00.001-07:00

On Monday, Michael flew into the Richmond airport, so Gabe and I decided to go to the Zoo while we waited for Daddy's flight to come in. The Zoo was actually pretty cool, but it was over 90 degrees outside and we were both cooking! We didn't stay too long, but we had fun while we were there. Gabe's favorite part was feeding the giraffe, who was VERY friendly! He also liked the flamingo's, the monkey's and the cows. Mommy liked getting back into the car with the AC on full blast.

PS... We're SO GLAD when Daddy comes home!! Glad as we can be!! :)

Feeding the giraffe

Up close and personal!

Pointing to the cow. Moo!

The monkeys! (There are monkeys behind us too!)

Gabe & Aubrey in the pool

2008-07-15T17:38:00.001-07:00

Today Aubrey came over to play with Gabe in the rainbow pool. They had a great time together and we got some cute pictures of them. The kissing pictures are great practice for when they get married someday! :D

Kissy kissy!

Cutest picture ever!

Gabe dumping water on Aubrey

Payback!

This one makes me laugh every time, so I had to share. I love their goofy faces!

Adventures in the Rainbow Pool

2008-07-14T18:09:00.001-07:00

There are few things Gabe loves more than playing in the water. Here he is playing in his new Rainbow Pool. Just like the public pool, it took him a minute to warm up to the idea of getting in the water. But once he did, he had a BLAST, and even dumped water on his head.

4th of July!

2008-07-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated the 4th of July with Michael's tasty homemade fajitas, and fireworks on our sidewalk. We eased into it gently with sparklers, which Gabe was terrified of at first. He warmed up to them within a few minutes, and even held a few of them until they got sparks on his hands and scared him again. Then he snuggled up on my lap while daddy pulled double duty lighting fireworks and taking pictures. It was a great night.

A Happy Birthday to my sister Lisa! She turns 21 today!

Harris Fam-damily comes to Virginia!

2008-07-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

We recently enjoyed having the entire Harris Fam-damily in town for vacation. This was Scott's first trip to VA, but the rest of the family had been here before. We took them mountain biking down Jordan Run (an old fire road that runs from the top of the mountain to the bottom... a very FAST and fun ride!). We also went to the swimming pool with Gabe and ate at The Hotdog Stand (a Buena Vista MUST!). Everyone's favorite was Panther Falls, which is where this mish-mash of pictures comes from. It has 2 large rocks you jump off of into the river. Everyone had a blast, and Gabe spent most of the time throwing rocks into the river. Dad Harris spent most of his time behind the video camera. :)

Daddy and Gabe

Mommy, Gabe and Grandma

Grandma playing in the water with Gabe

Danny jumping in

Scott, after the plunge

Lisa was happy she jumped

Katie waiting her turn to jump in

Grandpa watching Gabe throw rocks in the river

The classic Dad Harris - always behind the video camera!

Gabe's first trip to the pool!

2008-06-25T06:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we took Gabe to the public swimming pool for the first time. Grandma and Grandpa Harris are in town, so they came along to play. At first he wanted nothing to do with the water. So we started out with his toes, then his calves, then his knees.... until he was in. Once he discovered he could splash, he decided the pool was pretty dang cool. He had a BLAST the rest of the time and cried hard when it was time to go. I have a feeling we'll be making many trips to the pool this summer.

Splashing!!!

Mommy and her new water monkey

Splashing with Grandma Harris

Chillin' by the side of the pool, splashing his feet

Daddy's little buddy

2008-06-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

There are few things Gabe loves more than going to the park and playing with Daddy. Here are my two favorite boys having a blast together.

Gabe was pushing Michael down the slide here. hee hee

Happy Daddy's Day!!

2008-06-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a little something special for our Dad's. I tried to get Gabe to say this all day, and of course he would only do it as "nakey baby". :) You can also see him with his new obsession...

Happy Father's Day!!

2008-06-15T13:26:00.001-07:00

I am honored to celebrate Father's Day this year, and pay tribute to my 3 favorite dads. First to my hubby Michael, who is a wonderful father. A supportive father who watches Gabe during the day while I work, and teaches him how to wrestle. (see the clip below!). Michael teaches Gabe how to complete tasks, and makes Gabe his partner in crime. They have a great relationship, and I love to watch them play together. To my father in law, who is the in-law you dream of having!! His friendship with Michael, as well as his example, has been a strength to our marriage, and one that I am truly grateful for. He is someone who I regularly turn to for advice and counsel, and who shares my love of running (and inspires me to keep going!) To my own "Pa", who everyone knows I adore. I admit it, I'm a total daddy's girl. Thanks for fixing all of our stuff, and for being a support as I grew up, and continuing to be one now. (and for teaching me to love Journey!) I LOVE YOU ALL!! Happy Father's Day!

My matching boys

Blast from the past! Lloyd and Michael

The start of my daddy's girl days - we're twins!

Lloyd and Michael at the Jordan River Temple

Our dads in true form!!

Me and Pa dancing to "Faithfully" at our wedding reception

More from Nana and Uncle "Woogles" trip

2008-06-14T15:45:00.001-07:00

We have loved having Nana and Uncle "Woogles", as Gabe calls him, visit us. They decided to extend their stay and come to New York with us, which was AWESOME!!! Thanks for a great visit Nana and Wil!

Me and Wil after our ESP program, which RULES!

The 4 of us after Cedrick gave us all haircuts

Michael and I catch a snuggle

Ter and Wilson enjoying food at the Mill Street Grill. Thanks to Papa Eldredge for discovering the amazing ribs they have there!

Gabe snuggling his new Pooh Bear from Nana

Our happy family

Nana and Uncle Wilson come to Virginia

2008-06-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

This past week we have enjoyed a visit from Nana Curtis and Uncle Wilson. Gabe has loved going to the park with Nana and wrestling with Uncle Wilson. Michael taught Gabe how to wrestle with Gabe just like in the video clip below. It's pretty funny. Nana has been Gabe's little buddy, especially at the park and outside. We had a vegetable tray, and Gabe fed Nana about a dozen carrots (still trying to find those pictures!!). Nana has been my partner in crime at Walmart, and we've had a blast shopping there. We recently replaced the light bulbs in the house with energy saving bulbs, and took pictures of us flexing our muscles below.

We're headed up to New York for a week, and are excited that Nana and Wilson have extended their trip to come with us. Hooray!!

Gabe after eating spaghetti. More on his lap than in his tummy. :)

Our welcome message

Riding home from the airport

Coming home from the park with Nana

Showing off our buff muscles after changing the light bulbs.

The buff boys changed all the bulbs.

Gabe kicks daddy's butt!

2008-05-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

There are few things Gabe loves more than wrestling with Daddy. Michael recently taught him how to show his muscles before he tackles. Here they are playing together. As you can see, Gabe is one tough little dude!

Mommy's little helper

2008-05-28T07:00:00.001-07:00

Gabe LOVES to help mommy and daddy around the house. He helps swiffer the floors, and wipe down the cupboards with a wet paper towel. His absolute favorite thing to help with are the dishes. He excitedly helps daddy unload the dishwasher, and knows where all the tupperware goes. He also names the dishes on the bottom rack as he hands it to daddy to be put away. But yesterday, he DEMANDED to help wash the dishes, not just help put them in the dishwasher after mommy scrubbed him. So he pulled his chair over and helped scrub all the dishes. Then he happily played with the scrubber until mommy pulled him away, kicking and screaming :) Let's hope he always has this much enthusiasm for chores!! (not likely... so we'll milk it while we can!)

Tunnel vision, cabinets and bucket hats... oh what fun!

2008-05-23T11:03:00.001-07:00

Gabe is the center of our world. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past week.

Playing at Penny Park with Alexys Tobias

This is how Mommy keeps Gabe contained when he comes to work with her! :)

Ok, how dang cute is this picture??!! I love his cute smile.

My two favorite boys. Gabe loves to be like his Daddy

Gabe loves his hat!