More April Pics and Updates!

Where did April go? No idea. All I know is it's still cold, cold, cold and rainy. I want more sunshine and temps of 70s...sigh.

It's been a good month. Gabe has really taken off too! He loves puzzles. I had some old puzzles from when I was a kid and brought them out for him and he's been figuring them out and doing them on his own. Crazy. He's putting a lot more two-word phrases together as well and understanding so much more. He's just so fun to watch and play with.

Here's some more zany pics!

Our little pirate!

I was painting mine and he wanted his done too!

Gabe got in his stuffed animal box and Archie piled them all in around him. It was so cute and fun!

Easter was so fun this year with Gabe. He even helped color the eggs!

He thought it would be fun to get inside his blocks bag! Then he got stuck!

Archie's helping him out.

March Madness...February Too!

 It's been a crazy month! OK, not really but it sure feels like it! Lots of pics I didn't get up so here we go!

 Lots of chocolate eating!!!

 Gabe got a big pencil from his aunt for his birthday!

 Kleenex fun!

 In February we headed up to Midway for its Ice Castles!

 Had some friends over for book discussions and dancing Wii style!

 Archie built a fort for Gabe in his bedroom.

That's about it. Pictures are worth a thousand words, right?

PS...It looks like a nice day today! Yeah! I hope we can go out and enjoy the sun and warmer weather!!!

Love ing the Weather

....until Gabe starts throwing all the wood chips at the rest of the neighborhood kids...sigh. But then we go back out and all is good again the world.

Today is Archie's birthday and he came home for lunch and we got some Subways and headed over to the park. It was so nice. Gabe just ran around and tried the big slides at last! He is getting braver and braver. Soon he'll be swinging with no fear!

Can't wait for the permanence of the weather to hit...nature walks, hikes...we're going to get one of those stroller trailers for bikes so Gabe can ride along. Yeah!

Also, for one more month, we have story time at the local library that I just discovered...so we're going to do a few of those too.

Gabe is putting so many words together now and learning to really communicate. He keeps telling me "sit" when he wants to read a story or for me to watch him build his blocks.

Just got a new kid's cookbook with Dora and Diego...hopefully Gabe will want to help out and we can have some cooking time together too and maybe he'll actually want to eat something!!!!

February In a Nutshell

Let's see...Gabe turned 2 and we had a lovely birthday party for him at Pirate Island. We managed to be sick for half of the month from Gabe and I, then Archie, and back to Gabe and I...sigh. Gabe also went to his two year checkup. He is still a nail...skinny, tall, and a big head! But the numbers are starting to even out a bit. Still has really large feet, though, like his daddy.

Gabe also has started saying "goodbye, Mommy. Goodbye, Daddy." "Sit!" "Daddy is asleep?" He was just so cute when he said these things.

Archie gave me Turbo Jam for Valentine's Day! I'm having a lot of fun with my new workouts. They're killer but not too killer and they're fun!

GOALS for March:

1. Stay unsick.
2. Eat healthy 6/7 days during the week.
3. Start training for some 5Ks in the Spring and Summer!
4. Cook more at home.
5. Be consistent with my homework.

Time will tell! And yeah for more Spring weather!

Birthdays and Fun and Kitties, Oh My!

I'm such a slacker with this blog...I know. Here are some updates of pics. Gabe had a wonderful birthday! We went to Pirate Island with close family and he had so much fun with his cousins and looking at all the arcade games. Lots of fun with cake too!

Waiting for a table at Cheesecake Factory New Year's Day!

He is just getting so big now. I love seeing him grow and learn. He's getting quite the attitude now. He knows the word go and he has no problems using that on us and pulling us wherever he wants us to go. He's also so great at recognizing many letters and he is starting on numbers. He's walking up the stairs now all by himself.

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The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy with all of us getting sick once and then twice! Grrrrr. I cannot wait til Spring!

Frodo's favorite winter spot...

This was sooo funny!

Valentine's Day was also fun. We still had little Gabe with us but we hit a semi-fancy restaurant and dessert and good snuggles. Gabe had fun with his new coloring book of hearts and stickers.

My parents, Archie, his cousins, Katie, Aunt Cristi, and Uncle Ty

We're really excited for summer. We've got some fun vacations planned and Gabe is old enough to start really enjoying the outdoors. We've been so cooped up this winter....we need to get out!!!!!!! I'm going insane....!!!

His cousins Bradley and William

Some funny things with Gabe...when he starts yelling gibberish at us and pointing and basically putting us in our place. He told me one time to get back! I couldn't help but just laugh!!!

Happy Birthday, Gabe!

My little boy is now 2 years old! I can't believe it. He is getting so big. It's been a rough two years but a fulfilling two years. I can't imagine life without him now.

As of today his favorites are:

1. Dora the Explorer.
2. His two stuffed Walmart Tiggers.
3. Milk and chocolate milk.
4. Suckers.
5. Daddy.
6. Kitties
7. My Neighbor Totorro
8. The color red (everything is red to him!)
9. "Reading" his Dora book and his Dr. Seuss books.
10. Throwing anything and everything.

Happy Birthday!!! And here's to another wonderful year together!

January Wrap-up

January started off fabulous! Great holidays and some fun resolutions. I started counting my calories and I did great for a week....then I got sick, Gabe got sick, and I'm still fighting my back pain issues...so I haven't been able to get a lot of sleep and just haven't felt all that well for the past little bit. But I'm still working on my exercise and being positive. I'm getting some physical therapy and I'm going in to see a neurologist soon...so here's hoping my neck and back and stuff get feeling better! I wish I could somehow survive on no sleep. I could get so much more reading in and writing and all that stuff. Oh well....

But I did read six books in my spare time and finished two others from December. We also got a new bed and so far so good.

I have some pics to put up but have been way too lazy to actually get them off the camera! Gabe is growing like crazy and is doing so many fun things. He walks up the stairs and down them all by himself. He's learning more of the alphabet and some numbers. I hope to post some pics by the weekend. We're looking forward to his 2 year birthday next Wednesday! I can't believe how old he is now!

This month I'm hoping to finish off 4-6 books, blog more than once a month here....you know, I'm hoping to actually think of being creative one day!!! Oh, and to keep plugging away at my homework...sigh....Can survival of a month be a goal????