Happy October!!!

It's been such a long time since I last posted, so I'm sorry for the delay. To be fair, we have been quite busy lately. We had a trip to Texas in September, and we've all been suffering from colds since then, so blogging has not been much of a priority! Anyway, we are all feeling better now so I hope to be a bit better about posting.

Everybody asks, so I'll just tell you: no we don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet!!! We'll find out on Monday (if he/she cooperates), and I'll be sure to let everybody know asap! I am feeling a lot of wiggling and a few kicks, so I am guessing that the baby is healthy and happy. It's not as busy as Gabriel was, but it's still early. Gabriel really loves the baby and often wants to lift my shirt and give the baby a hug and a kiss. Or sometimes he wants to push on my bellybutton like button and say "beep," but usually he's being sweet. Lately he's started saying, "Baby. Out. Baby. Out. Now!" I think he knows that there really is a baby in there, but I still think he'll be a little surprised when a baby actually does show up in our home! He loves other babies and likes to help out. Stroller Strides has been great for that. He sees lots of pregnant mommies and new babies, and he is fascinated with all the babies! He likes to give them bottles and toys, and he loves to fetch a diaper or burpcloth for them. He could sit and pet them for hours!!! And he's never been jealous when I've been babysitting or caring for someone else's little one. All this gives me hope that our new baby will be accepted without too much jealousy or animosity. We'll do our best to make it a smooth transition! I really like my cousin's idea of the baby bringing presents... okay, so maybe I just like presents! I also hope to encourage G to take ownership in the situation... after all, it'll be his little brother or sister. Any other suggestions?

We've had a few fun trips since my last post. The weekend after I ran the Annapolis 10-miler, we took a little family trip to Annapolis and wandered the town. We had a great time checking out the shops and the boats, and we finished off the day with a little tour around the Naval Academy. It was really fun, and Gabriel loved the cannons and the guys in uniform. We sat and watched boats for ages! We decided to wait for visitors to come with us and take a ride on one of them. I can't wait!

Our trip to Texas was really great. It didn't go exactly to plan, but we got to see everyone we intended on seeing and Jake got to go to the Aggie game. Nathan and Lauren hosted us in their new, lovely house, and their dog Remmy babysat Gabriel for us most of the time. Thanks, cousins!!! We had such a nice time with them, and I am soooo jealous of their house. It's the perfect size with a more than perfect sized yard, in the perfect town. And Lauren has it decorated so nicely that it almost feels like a show-home, but a little cozier! Anyway, Jake had a Track & Field reunion, I had a Squadron 16 reunion, and we had a Boone family reunion to attend, so we were busy! We also made a little bit of time with each of my parents, as well as a visit with Cookie and Dewayne (who are actually like family anyway). My mom and Jim bought Gabriel a stuffed Reveille dog, and now he won't part with it. He feeds it, sleeps with it, and I have to kiss him goodnight and good morning every day. It's so cute! We met up with the Sarles' at this awesome restaurant in Houston called the Rainbow Lodge for brunch. It's lovely, and I really want to go back!!! We had our own little room, so it was fairly easy to visit (although we were a pretty large group). Aunt Beth gave G a personalized sippy cup (that I love), and now he has to have his juice in it every day. It's great! And my dad brought him an old toy tractor. Although it was a bit heavy in my suitcase, Gabriel loves it and plays with it all the time. The steering wheel actually turns the front wheels, and G loves to "drivps," which is his interpretation of "drive."

Unfortunately, I got food poisoning while in College Station, and then we all three got colds, so we came home in need of a bit of rest! We are pretty much healed up now, and we've even started back running again. It's a lot slower now since my bump is getting bigger, but we're still healthy and happy little joggers. Gabriel loves it and will often point to the stroller and say "stroller - run" or "ride, ride!"

Here are a few recent pics. As soon as I finish the roll in my camera, we'll have some cute pictures of Gabriel in Texas to add as well. Enjoy!

Gabriel loves to "ride, horse"

After the 10-miler with a few Stroller Strides ladies

In Annapolis

On the Naval Academy campus checking out the Boone Walk!!!

My two block-heads















Our new rocking chair!

Run, Mama, Run!!!

So much good news to share!!! First of all, today I ran the Annapolis 10-miler!!! I had to be careful because Annapolis is quite hilly, and it was rather warm and humid today. I made sure to keep my heart rate and body temperature down, which meant that I had to walk a bit on some of the steeper or longer hills. I was really happy that I finished with lots of time to spare, and I had a lovely day with a few of the Stroller Strides girls. We ate cookies to our hearts' content, did a little sports clothes shopping, and we even got sports massages. How great is that? And our awesome hubbies took care of our babies while we were playing! We've been training for 10 weeks, so it was rather bittersweet to be finished with the race. Although it was very satisfying, I am still sad it is all over.

The reason I had to be careful on the run is that Gabriel is going to be a big brother! We are due for a second little one around the beginning of March, so my 10-mile training schedule had to be a bit altered :). We are so excited to be awaiting a sibling for G, and we are really happy to have a little baby again. Keep us in your prayers!

As for Gabriel news, he is just talking, talking, talking! Whether it's babbles or words or mimicking us, he just doesn't stop. And it's adorable! He learns so much every day, and he's starting to use words together (for example: "Mama, read, back" means "Mama, read me this book. Here, take the book back so you can read it to me"). He's getting more independent, especially around other kids. I looooove seeing him make friends and play with the kids at Stroller Strides, and he loves to just be free to run around and be silly.

Here are a bunch of pictures from our little hiking excursion along the Appalachian Trail to the Annapolis Rocks (not in Annapolis). We have some way cute videos I'd love to share, but Jake is a bit slow moving them over (hint, hint). We'll get 'em up as soon as possible.

Gabriel is looking for cats and dogs

Still looking

We made it up to the Annapolis Rocks for a picnic

Gabriel and his walking stick!

Gabriel playing hide and seek with his walking stick

Notice Gabriel's pet rock

He carried the rock for a quarter mile!

Who is this cute little person???

Sometimes as a mom, you just have to ask yourself who is this person in front of me??? I definitely feel that way about Gabriel lately. It's as if he's having a new word explosion! In the last three days, he has said so many new words that I absolutely cannot keep up. In the past, we would be excited about a new word every few days. Now it's by the hour - sometimes by the minute!!! Here are a few of my favorites: read (with the sign), sing, flag, burp, nut, rock, please (with the sign), bright, swing, pop, back, frog, boat, and at dinner tonight he said bean for the first time! What a smartie!!!

We've had a fun week so far, and it's only Tuesday!!! Yesterday after Stroller Strides, we took a tour of the downtown firestation. It's close to the park, so we all pushed our strollers the few blocks over to the station and got to check things out. Gabriel looooooved all the trucks. He would have done anything to play with all the buttons and levers, but he had to settle with getting all greasy playing with the wheels (yuck). The real excitement came when they had a call and we watched the ambulance take off, and a few minutes later one of the big firetrucks came back to the station after another call. The firemen were all great, and our tour guide was a daddy himself, so he was great with the kiddoes. Some of the young single guys didn't know what to do with all the tots running around asking silly questions! Overall, it was a very fun little outing. We picked up Jake afterward, and found a hidden gem... there is a Ben & Jerry's here in Frederick!!! We've been here all this time and never knew it! How great is that?! Yea!

Today we took a day off. Jake still had to go to work, but Gabriel and I decided to stay home and chill out. We colored on a big cardboard box until we were colored out, played with trucks and cars, snacked on every fruit we could find in the fridge, and played with every ball in the toybox. When we ran out of things to do, we just spun in circles and giggled! Then snacktime came about, and we decided to try something new: popcorn! I got out the popper and we just had a blast watching the kernels pop and jump. That's when he said pop for the first time. I didn't think he'd like it much, but I was wrong. We nibbled on popcorn while we played for the next hour. He liked it so much that he said "ummm" with almost every bite! It totally felt like our own little party day :).

Although we have been busy, we've had lots of fun little outings. We get tired of running (or Jake's old sports injuries flare up), so we'll strap on the rollerblades and take Gabriel out in the stroller. He absolutely loves it, and spends the whole trip singing, waving at passersby, and yelling out random words or sounds! It's really fun for all three of us. We've also taken a few weekend hikes on local trails. We first tried Catoctin National Park, near Thurmont, and had a nice little trip. Recently we wandered around the Monocacy Battlefield National Park trails and had a nice time and a lovely little picnic. Gabriel had fun, but got so tired he took a nap right in the carrier! It didn't look very comfy to me, but he was out like a light (but still holding his train, of course).

Since it's been so long since I left a post, I've included a few older pictures. The ones in the water are from Wimberley, Texas, and the motorcycle is from our little trip to Amarillo for Jake's sister's high school graduation. Enjoy!

What a Wonderful World!

Sometimes it seems like life is going by so slowly; each week meanders by, each day is filled with a thousand jobs, chores, and errands. It takes forever to make dinner, an eternity to drive across town, and the trip to the grocery store takes ages. And then I turn around and my sweet little baby has turned into a sweet little boy! When did that happen? How did he grow several inches overnight? When did the nighttime routine turn into a relaxing and joyful moment that I look forward to and linger over? How in the world did Gabriel learn to empty the dishwasher, set the table, and drink from a big boy cup? We still have temper tantrums and separation anxiety and selfishness and occasional nap refusals, but this phase we are in is so loving and peaceful that I simply can't even imagine it getting better or richer, although I know it will! It's been such a joy getting to know our little "Butter Bean," and we still feel so blessed by all the wonderful things he's brought to our life!

Tonight was especially nice. We had a fun day outside at the park, pool, and on the swing reading books and being silly, so Gabriel was really sleepy and ready for bed. We hopped over next door for a moment (he loves our neighbors on both sides - lucky us!), and he got to play with their little poodle while I had a cup of real Colombian coffee - yum! Gabriel even got to taste his first dogfood... yuck! Okay, he liked it but we all said yuck. Anyway, we finally got him bathed and booked and to bed (with a lot of giggling and snuggles), and Jake and I sat outside on the swing to enjoy the breeze after the sun went down and watched the lightning bugs and the lightning and thunderstorm. It was awesome! We are finally feeling like this is home, and this is where we are supposed to be in this phase of our life. Tonight just made us feel so cozy and at home and at peace.

As for new news, not too much to report. We had a very chilled out weekend. We went to Linganore for the Wine and Jazz Festival which was great! The music was really good, and we met up with some other Stroller Strides families. Gabriel just had a blast and thought he owned the place. He went from blanket to blanket visiting the other families, playing with toys, eating their goldfish, and dancing like a star! We tasted a few of their wines, and found some that were really nice. It's lovely and if you come visit we'll take you there :). I am still running and planning to run a 10 miler in August. Last Thursday I was supposed to drive 15 minutes east of here to meet up with some girls for a hilly run... I got lost and ended up halfway to Baltimore! It took me an hour and 15 minutes to find the place, and the girls were well finished with the run. I ran the route alone anyway and really enjoyed the challenge. It lifted my spirits and boosted my confidence. We'll do it again on Thursday, and I hope to actually make it on time this time!!!

G is just talking away. He now says a few more words: yuck or it's yuck, truck, dark or it's dark, step, stop, and a few others. He can make monkey sounds and a modified fish face. He's almost reaching the pedals on his tricycle, and he can occasionally make it move a bit! He still loves watering the flowers, but he's eating less of the soil and is no longer afraid of the worms. We still smell every flower. He likes to help me clean up and copies everything. It's so fun to see him be silly and we all get the giggles! Tonight he was yelling, patting his head, slapping his knees while crouching, then cracking up -- it's so great!!! There are a million little things he does that are just so big-boy. Our little baby is not much of a baby anymore, but boy we love him!!!

Happy June, now that it's almost July :)

It has been a fun month for us, but busy. We started out the month with a visit to Texas to watch Jake's sister graduate high school. It was a nice few days, but Gabriel's favorite part of the visit was definitely Pippy the puppy. They became great friends, and they loved to kiss. Okay, it's kinda gross, but very cute. Pippy would run up to Gabriel, and G would open wide for a big kiss and giggle like crazy!

We had a layover in Austin, so we had a quick visit with some of my family as well. I got to see my little sister, my mom and my step dad. We also drove up to Rogers to see my Grandma, and Gabriel got a quick visit with his cousin, Aubrey. Gabriel loooooved feeding her cookies!

Although it was a quick trip to Texas, Gabriel grew in leaps and bounds! He did great on the planes (we rode 6 planes in all!) and he slept very well in his pack and play. He loved on everybody and showed off his tricks! He even learned to make bubbles with an electric bubblemaker and a bubble wand and he walked up a small flight of steps without holding on or climbing!!! In Wimberley with my parents, Gabriel got his first little red wagon and he looooved it! We rode around and watched the deer (although G tried his hardest to abandon ship and run after the deer). We even took a little trip down to the river and played on the rocks and in the water. Yay!

Once we got home, we went to our first strawberry farm and picked berries in the scorching heat. Gabriel got a little fussy, but then he realized that all these red things we'd been picking were edible!!! He was much happier after he discovered that!

Gabriel and the Pippy puppy kiss in Amarillo

Angie, Gabriel, and Aunt A'Landra go for a tree climb

Daddy and Gabriel take a little dip

A Mama deer and three babies

A ride in the Radio Flyer



Bubbles!



Gabriel loooooved Gramma Alice's bird bath!



Gabriel climbing the stairs and telling us all about it



Feeding cousin Aubrey

Angie and Gabriel at the Strawberry Farm

Testing out the results


Picking a berry with Daddy Jake


Trying to convince Gabriel to put berries in the basket, not straw!