It's A.... Girl!

At my 12 week appointment with the perinatal specialist, I asked the doctor to write down Baby Dub #2's gender and seal it in an envelope. When I was pregnant with Gabriel, we found out he was a boy during the ultrasound. The doc said "Would you like to know what it is?" and Perry & I were so eager to know right then and there!! This time around, we had a plan to make it a little different.

Big brother-to-be

I ordered a small cake from a local bakery ahead of time but had to deliver the envelope to them after my appointment in order for them to know whether to put blue or pink icing inside! 

My guess: boy.

Perry's guess: girl.

Gabriel's guess: girl. We asked him "Is it Miles or Georgia?" and he said Georgia... maybe he was echoing the last thing we said, but I think he just knew!

And I was wrong!! After making the first cut, I was nervous about pulling the knife out because we'd know right away by the icing smeared on it. I didn't even have to cut out a whole piece! Perry was so happy to know it's a girl like he thought all along!! I was in shock!! All the excitement and noise really upset Gabriel. But when he calmed down, we enjoyed some pink cake in celebration of our little girl!!! So thankful!

How We Found Out About Baby #2!

We had been trying to conceive for just a couple months. My body did not give me any of the typical signs as to what it was doing, if anything (ovulating, menstruating, etc)! Just like when we started TTC before Gabriel, I was given a medication to "jump start" my cycle. That was July. We tried our best not to stress over it. We were trusting the Lord's timing for growing our family.

In September, I decided to start taking a pregnancy test every couple of weeks. If I knew nothing else, at least I would know I wasn't pregnant!

It was Thursday, September 26. Perry went to class so I was going to get some errands done. As I was getting ready, I thought about how I hadn't tested in a while (19 days) so I'd do one real quick. Instead of walking away to wait the 2 minutes, I stood over the test and watched it go. I fully expected it to be negative! Two lines appeared very quickly!!! I shouted in delight and grabbed Gabriel, who was playing in our room just outside the bathroom; I must have scared him because his arms & legs went limp and he was silent! I squeezed him tight and spun around with him, then said "Mommy is sorry, I am just so excited! Mommy is happy!!!" His confused face searched mine and he replied "happy?". Once he realized I was okay and he didn't do anything wrong, he was all smiles and saying "happy! Mommy happy!"

I was completely surprised and felt overwhelmed with excitement & eagerness to share the news with Perry!! I realized I had ~2 hours until he would be home from class to come up with a creative way to tell him! I frantically ran around the house finishing getting ready and devising a plan.

Instead of errands (I didn't even remember what they were anyway!), I went to a children's consignment store, Target, and Dollar Tree. I hurried home and decorated the living room: it was silly and it was perfect. I hung 2 "Congratulations" banners and tied a "Congrats" balloon, a baby shower themed balloon, & a red heart balloon to a box of Sugar Babies. Gabriel wore a "Big Brother" t-shirt and was carrying a baby doll wearing a matching "Little Brother" onesie.

The anticipation of Perry walking through the front door was killing me! He was so confused when he first walked in, then he was so surprised!!! I had positioned the video camera on the mantle and caught his whole reaction on tape. Take a look.

Guess what??!!

We are expecting our second precious blessing in May 2014!!!! 

And the prenatal specialist said it looks like a GIRL!

Gabriel is going to be a big brother! And of course Perry & I are elated!

Water Fun

May. New water table & the hose.

You can tell in his eyes he was sick... but still wants to play!

Middle: Daddy must have sprayed him with the hose!

June. Pool.

Did not want to be in the pool!!!

But had lots of fun out of it!

July. The sprinkler.

I promise he got up and smiled after this wipe out!

Gabriel loves being outside. We had lots of fun staying cool (and getting dirty!) with water!

Gabriel is One & A Half!!!

Stats at 15 Months
Weight: 24 pounds, 10 ounces (52%)
Height: 32 inches (76%)

Stats at 18 Months
Weight: 25 pounds, 13 ounces (49%)
Height: 33 1/3 inches (75%)

Favorites
TV shows: Disney channel shows for 'tweens (Jessie, Good Luck Charlie, Dog With a Blog), Sesame Street, Sid The Science Kid, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, The Big Bang Theory
Foods: bananas, cheese, peas, Goldfish
Toys: John Deere tractor with trailers for farm animals, any car/truck, lawn mower, balls, bubbles
Books: Where's Spot, My First Words (slide book from Your Baby Can Read!), Little Blue Truck
Random: putting tops/caps/lids on things, sweeping/vacuuming/steam mopping, swinging, being chased around the house

Eating
He wants to hold hands while we pray before our meals. He does fairly well with a spoon & a fork. I found a special cup to help him learn to drink from a real cup (it has an insert that prevents big spills but allows a slow-flow to come through).

Sleeping
It's rare for him to wake up before 8:00am and sometimes he'll sleep until 10:00am! Gabriel takes a nap mid-day, usually 4 hours after waking up which is at 9:00am on average. He'll nap for 1 1/2 to 3 hours. His bed time is flexible. We typically start his night-time routine around 8:30 with him asleep between 9 and 9:30pm. I give him a bath, lotion up and put on pajamas, tell Daddy goodnight, say goodnight to things in his room (diapers, wipes, clock, light, etc), read books and pray in the rocker, turn on his music and off the lights, hug and goodnight kiss, and by this time we're standing in front of his crib and he's reaching for it! Lately he kisses me 3 times and when he lays down, pulls a stuffed animal under his arm and wants me to cover them both with a blanket! For most of May and some of July, he didn't sleep through the night- thanks teeth.

Diapers: size 4 Luvs and cloth
Shoes: size 6
Clothes: 18 mo (shorts), 24 mo and some 2T (tops)
Teeth: 12

Words at 18 Months Old
-apple "appuh"
-Autumn "aum"
-"bubble"
-"ball"
-banana "nah-nah"
-"Boo" (Perry's Dad)
-"bye-bye"
-cheese "jeez"
-"Dada"
-"duck"
-"Moma" (Grandma, my Mom)
-gross "goosh"
-"hi"
-"hey"
-juice "oosh"
-"kish" (Krissie)
-"Mama"
-"Nana" (Nonny- Perry's Mom, and Nana- my stepmom, Karlene)
-"out"
-"ow"
-"Bapa" (Papa, my Dad)
-pizza "pisa pisa"
-shoes "jhoos" or "oooz"
-"da" (ta-da)
-that "dat" while pointing was his 1st word besides "mama" and "dada"!
-"ut-oh"
-"yay"
-"wow"
-He tries to count to three "uhh - eew - oah" (1 - 2 - 3) before jumping off something or doing flips with Dad
-He knows what sounds a dog, cat, cow, duck, elephant, tiger, monkey, fish (he makes a fishy face), and of course, a car make. If you show him a picture when you ask, he can make the sounds for sheep, pig, and snake.

Other Communication
-On the day he turned 13 months old, he plain as day pointed to his nose when I asked him "Gabriel, where is your nose?". I got so excited and told Perry, "He knows his nose!!!"
-He has since learned his tummy, toes, hair, ears, eyes, mouth, tongue, arm, leg
-Shakes his head 'no' and nods his head 'yes'
-Signs: hungry, shoes, duck/bird, dog, hat

Significant Things by Month
February (13 months)
-Dedicated Gabriel to the Lord at our church's Baby Dedication
-Had a cold with congested cough

April (15 months)
-I did a trial run of weaning Gabriel but kept nursing for another week

May (16 months)
-1st time in the church nursery, Noah's Landing (his classroom has walkers-24 month olds)
-Stopped nursing. I am thankful for all 15 1/2 months! The benefits (physical & emotional), the discomfort (ouch), the hassle (pumping at work), the ease (it's always ready), the bonding with my baby boy. The night before my surgeries (May 6) was Gabriel's last time- it made sense because I couldn't pick up anything heavy (him!) up for a week afterward so Perry transitioned him to his new bedtime routine. That made it easier for all of us!
-Switched his car seat to forward-facing
-Gabe had a horrible cold that I'm convinced turned into pneumonia. I'm not one of "those parents" and don't plan on making a habit of out it, but I asked the pediatrician for antibiotics after 2 weeks of him being so sick. A week later, he was better!

June (17 months)
-Went to New York for my cousin Kimberly's wedding and met his Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa and other extended family!

July (18 months)
-Watched the 4th of July fireworks for the first time!
-Turned 1 1/2!!!

Kim and Rick's Wedding

In a sweet ceremony at a New York country club, my cousin Kim married Rick! They both grew up in upstate NY and met in college there. Now they live about 45-50 minutes north of us in Louisburg, NC! We took a road trip to attend their wedding and for Gabriel to meet more of his extended family (which will be in a separate post)!

All ready! "How do we look, Daddy?"

Color-coordinated family!

The ceremony started on an outdoor patio overlooking the golf course... The grandparents and mothers were seated. Thunder rolled. The groomsmen took their places and Rick stood anxiously waiting to see his bride. Then it started to rain! Within minutes, it was a downpour. I know Kim was really disappointed, but thankfully she hadn't started her procession yet! There was an indoor location (the red building in the background below) so the wedding party and all the guests moved inside.

We sat in the back in case Gabriel acted up and we had to slip out (but he was so well-behaved!). We could see Kim hiding!

Kim & Rick had a unique unity sign! Rick's initials are RQ and Kim's were KC, so during the ceremony they painted her "c" into a "q"! So creative and sweet!

The new Mr. & Mrs... so in l♥ve!

Congratulations Kim & Rick!!!

There was a beautiful view, despite the rain, from the reception "barn". She used our grandparents' cake topper, made awesome coasters with a picture they took in their travels, and DIY'd the centerpieces- everything was so elegant!

Parents and bridal party introductions

Love this^ peek from the happy couple

Sweet Father-Daughter dance and proud Mother looking on!

At our table was all Kim's Aunts (Terri & Martha), Uncles (Gary & Alex) and cousins (me & Amy)! It was fun, of course, and nice to spend time at the wedding with my family! Wish my Mom and my brother could have been there, then it would have been complete.

Kim's side of the family!!!

♥ My precious grandparents ♥

Kim & Rick created an ice cream bar instead of serving cake (although they did have a ceremonial cake cutting!). Gabriel's face lit up when he saw all those sweets!

The bonnet Kim is wearing for the Money Dance (and the bag Alexis is holding) were made by my Grandma for my Mom's wedding to my Dad!! You give money to the bride & groom for a dance with one of them. I tried to get Gabriel to dance with Kimmy. Too forced, I guess. His dance partners for the night? Besides Mommy. Aunt Terri & Amy!! He had a great time dancing running in circles!

Back to our room and so sleepy...

Father's Day

Gabriel & Daddy had a great time celebrating Father's Day together!! Sadly, it was my weekend to work, but I left Perry a surprise to find when he woke up!

All ready, serious guys heading to church, about to go into his classroom!

Lunch at Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe with Nonny & Boo so Daddy could see his father too!

Then they had guy time at home for the rest of the day! Gabriel loves his Daddy!! ♥

Mother's Day

Mother & son 2012  // 2013

Mother's Day was just 5 days after my surgery so I was pretty sore and had limited mobility... But it was still special! We went to church, and the weather was beautiful so we played in the yard that afternoon {well, I sat while Gabriel & Perry played!}

The owl shirt was one of my gifts - it says "Choose Wisely" and has Deuteronomy 30:19-20 on it

So honored to be chosen as Gabriel's Mommy. I enjoy every day with him! I love my boy so much!!!

Weekend at Papa & Nana's

Visiting the Virginia grandparents on their farm!

Checking out the cows with Papa. Gabe wasn't sure of them so Nana walked through them to show he didn't have to be scared!

Playing in the grass // That face = probably heard a bunch of cows loudly "moo-ing" all at once!

FYI: His t-shirt says "Don't mess with me. My Papa kicks butt!"

A John Deere tractor from Nana & Papa // happy out of the tub - but he does not like bathing in any other tub but his!

Tour in Troy

Perry and I met on April 12, 2003. Exactly ten years later, we are touring the school where he'll be studying! Happy 10-years-from-when-we-met Anniversary. I love you, Perry!!!

He's been on the waiting list for a while, but this was our first trip to Troy, NC. We got a private tour of the (small) campus and Gunsmithing department. It was interesting to see all the equipment, not to mention seeing guns on a college campus! Not the norm, that's for sure. Perry is even more excited now!!

We decided to spend the rest of the day exploring the area. It was so pretty!

*Gabe was with us. Surely we took pictures of him (when don't I?!) but I can't seem to find any...

We took the long way home to pass through Pinehurst. Since we need to live somewhere between Perry's school and a hospital for me to work at, we could live to the west of Troy toward Charlotte OR to the east toward Pinehurst. Well, we didn't care for Pinehurst. The greater Charlotte area will make a nice home for us in the future. We're looking forward to this next phase of our lives!

Easter

Saturday night: Gabriel's 1st Easter Egg Hunt, glow-in-the-dark style (idea I got from Pinterest!). We didn't get good pictures of the "glow". It was fun, though, and I will definitely do it again!

Perfect Easter Sunday: Easter baskets, celebrating Jesus' resurrection with the church, lunch with family, playing at the park.

Book What Is Easter?, bubbles, Peeps, crayons, toothpaste & toothbrush, twist-up frog;
Starburst jelly beans and Big League Chew for Daddy!

BUBBLES!!!

Black & blue boy (bruise on his noggin and blue Peep lips!)

♥ Family ♥

Kissy kissy!