Gabe's New Love

While we were in Colorado, we discovered Gabe's new love:

Chinese food!

He absolutely LOVES it.

Check out this video clip- can you hear him "mmmmm"ing?
(Yes, I verbed that.)



On another note, Gabriel is 8 months old today!

What he's up to:

-crawling (for the last month) at the speed of light
-climbing up stairs, completely by himself
-pulling up to standing on everything
-eats anything and everything we eat (ex. scrambled eggs for breakfast, chicken pasta for lunch, etc.)
-two bottom teeth, and more on the way
-still happy as can be
-very vocal about what he wants
-recently has become addicted to his paci!

Graduation

Well, I did it!

I graduated.



I finished with a B.A. in English Writing a minor in Leadership, both with honors.



For now... I'm content.

I want to get a master's in speech language pathology.

We'll see!



The ceremony was fun and exciting (is that what you call it when the kid singing the national anthem is awful and forgets the words? and when the announcer says "transmissions" instead of "transitions"?)

The day started out so cold, but by the time the ceremony started it was hot! Gabe even got a little sunburnt. Oops...

After lunch we headed downtown to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate.

While we were there, I saw my girlfriends Susie, Kelsey, and Erin downtown for happy hour.

On Sunday, the fam headed to church and then we got to see the Ports:



their new baby girl Riley:



and our best friends Phil and Rebekah Johnston and Phil's parents!



It was awesome... I only wish we could've spent more time with them and that Aaron was able to be there.

Oh well, here's to a year of relaxation!

In case you were wondering...

I can breathe again!
(Well, almost, I have a cold/allergies... but that's beside the point.)

I'm done!
I took my last final this morning.

I think it's appropriate that in my first and last semesters I didn't get all A's.
Close, but not quite.
Oh well.

Now I get to relax with this cute little guy:


(Picture from the hotel @ Myrtle Beach last month.)

Oh, what's that you say? I can't relax?
Something about flying to CO this weekend for graduation and then flying to GA next?

Hmph.

Better be worth it.




Don't worry, he is.

my mother's day

My husband send me gorgeous pink lilies (my favorite!) for Mom's Day. He also sent the sweetest note. Isn't he great? He also sent my mom a chocolate tower, and sent his mom yellow roses. He could do all this while still in OCS. Amazing, that boy.


(They really look like this picture, too. I'll get my own picture up soon.)

EDIT: Here's two pictures of just one of my flowers! TOLD you they were beautiful.





In return, I had a mini melt down for him. Aren't I sweet? Ha. I guess that's what a month apart does to you...

I disgress.

My dad got me and mom a massage/facial package. Uh-maze-ing. Can't wait to do it! Dad, you scored a home run with this one. I'm assuming you are babysitting? :)

Gabe, in honor of Mother's Day, took a rest from CRAWLING UP THE STAIRS (yeah, you read that right- he's 7 1/2 months old...) and fell asleep on my chest. This is the first time that has happened in months, litearally. Once he learned to sit on his own, he quit cuddling. Tonight, he gave me a rare treat.

Hope all you other mothers had a beautiful day, as well!

a day of celebration

First Happy 34th Anniversary, Mom & Dad! Quite the accomplishment.

I really couldn't ask for a better set of parents to model my relationship with Aaron after. I could go on and on with the hundreds thousands of things I have learned from you guys, but I'll just say this instead: thank you.

I love you both very much!




and of course, Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I'm so thankful for you, and that I can call you my best friend.

I hope & pray that my babies will know and love you the way I do...
Gabe already does. In fact, I think he'd choose you over me sometimes, but we'll just ignore that.
Besides, you wouldn't really be doing your "grandmotherly duties" if he wasn't spoiled ;)

Ahem, back to the subject.

You are amazing, and I am so blessed to be your daughter!

Gabe is teething, which means he's pretty much inconsolable. He has his two bottom teeth already through, so I'm not sure what teeth he is getting now. None of them seem close to breaking the skin, but his diapers/grumpy attitude/biting-of-everything-in-site have clued us in that his gums obviously hurt.

On top of that, he's having separation anxiety, so anytime I leave his sight there is hysterical crying. He's also figured out how to stand up (he pulls up on EVERYTHING) so we often find him like this in the morning (oh, he usually does wear clothes...)




and then a minute later he moves onto this:




He's super anxious to walk, which has me a little nervous. He's not even 8 months old!

With all of his fussiness recently, the one thing that DOES make him happy is water. Let's just say that I'm not above putting him the bath tub and/or pool 8 times a day.

My Little Cubbie Bear

Gabriel loves the Cubs. He told me, and to prove it he picked out this outfit all by himself.

Don't believe me? Ok, I fibbed a little, teeny, tiny bit. But that's all.




We think he's left handed, so Aaron and I are banking on him becoming a very rich very talented left-handed MLB pitcher. No expectations, right?

People, I'm not kidding you. This boy is my retirement.