Happy Birthday Erik and Gabe!

This past Wednesday was Erik and Gabriel's birthday!  That's right, they were born on the same day:  March 31st.Gabriel turned one! I can't believe he's already a year old!  Erik turned 27.
My mom, brother, and sister came down a week proir to Gabe's birthday. Saturday (March 27th) we had Gabe's 1st B-day party with friends.  It was a blast...I'll do a separate post later (Sorry...I'm way behind!).  Erik's parents and sister (my in-laws) came down the day of their birthday and took us all out to The Cheesecake Factory.  Gabriel and Erik both got spoiled with lots of presents!  

 

Opening up some Gabie-gifts

 

Erik's Cake

 

Gabie's new slide!

 

At The Cheesecake Factory

 

 Erik and his presents. 

  

A rocking horse Mommy got for Gabe

Gabriel's Adorable 1 Year Portraits

Here are Gabriel's one year old portraits.  I got them taken at JCPenny.  I had a half off coupon and they had a discount on the package I ordered so I got a GREAT deal!  I paid HALF the price of what I paid for ONE wall portrait for Gabie's 4-month sitting with a professional from 365 photography!   Wish I had known before what a great deal JCP can be!  I think they turned out SUPER cute despite me ending up in the pictures (I TOTALLY was NOT planning to be in them!!).  I get to pick these up in a few days and I'm way excited!!

Walking!

Gabriel has started to walk! He took two steps yesterday (from my mom to the foot rest) and then today he walked a few steps from me to Erik when we were at the park. Erik said he took a few steps on his own a few days ago...but I didn't see it. I can't believe he's started walking. Its kind of all the sudden, because earlier yesterday he stood up all on his own for the first time (during sacrament meeting!) and I thought it would take him more time to get used to standing on his own. Guess this guy is a fast learner! I'll try to get a video of him walking soon. My cute little guy is growing up way too fast!

Thanks, US Government!

I would just like to say thank you to the US Government for its generous tax refund, making it possible for the poor to go out and buy themselves a new Samsung 42" Plasma TV!! Thank you!! We are thoroughly enjoying the benefits of Socialism!!


Also I would like to thank each of you that has worked hard for you money so the Government can give it to us. Couldn't have bought our TV without you! Thank you!! You're awesome!

Happy to be Done!

I started Gabe on this new formula that's vanilla flavored. If any of you have trouble getting your kid to drink...this stuff does wonders! Gabe goes crazy for it!

So crazy, in fact, I have trouble keeping up with his diaper changes. We had an embarrassing accident the other night at a friends house where he peed through his diaper and all over me. Plus I was extremely stupid and forgot to put diapers in the diaper bag and didn't bring and extra clothes. Luckily we got to borrow some clothes and a diaper (okay, not the diaper...I'm sure they don't want it back)

I started giving Gabe bottles a few months ago and I knew that that was the beginning of the end of nursing. With this particular formula, however, the complete end of nursing is not too far off. Just a few more weeks and we'll be totally finished!!!

Gabe will be turning one in a week and a half (holy cow!) so I think we've done pretty well as far as nursing is concerned. In all honesty I've been ambivalent towards nursing . In some ways it has been the best thing because I know he was getting the best food he can get plus it is very convenient. In other ways, it is the worst because I felt so tied down. All things considered though, I'm very happy with my choice to nurse Gabe and very happy to be done with it!

"So... Are You Keeping Yourself Busy?"

I know a certain someone who, almost every time she sees me, asks "So......are you keeping yourself busy?". I'm sure she just says it for conversational purposes, but seriously....I've never had so much to do in my entire life! Taking care of Gabe, cleaning house, running errands, teaching piano...plus I have a huge list of books I'd like to read and I do like to have a social life. On top of this, I always seem to have some project going. I don't ever watch TV, so that that gives me a bit more free time to do all this stuff. Here are my most recent projects:


Beaded earrings for my Mom's b-day (I'm posting this hoping she won't see this before she gets them...a month late). These pictures don't capture how sparkly they really are.



The apron I made myself. I'm sure I could have bought one for cheaper...but it wouldn't have been as cute!



I finally did something to Gabe's room! I painted the letters and put them on the wall. Really a no-talent project. I'm still missing an animal on the upper left...I'll hopefully put it up soon.

White Tank Hike

This is a week late..but better now than never! Last week was Erik's spring break. On Thursday we went with some friends to White Tank park. We ate lunch at the park and then hiked up to a small waterfall. The weather was perfect and the hike was reasonably short. The only difficulty we had was maneuvering the stroller over the parts where the path got rocky. It was a nice break to get out of the house and be outside! Gabe loved the hike too!