Even though we are snowed in and getting cabin fever, we have been able to go outside the past few days for a bit. There is about 2 inches of fresh snow on top of the thick layer of ice and then tons more snow under the ice. The kids are able to walk on top of the ice without breaking through.

Heidi likes to help shovel the snow while eating the snow!!

Graduation

I am now completely graduated and have received my transcript and diploma. For my graduation ceremony, I walked out of my front door and onto the front lawn of our house. It was a brief graduation ceremony that consisted of this picture with my kiddos!

Gabe at 7 months!

Gabriel taking the toys out of his toy basket.

Gabriel is now 7 months old. Time has really flown by... He is babbling like crazy, has been saying 'dada', likes to eat frozen bananas and chew on ice cubes with his mesh feeders. He also can feed himself puffs now. He does pretty good at sitting up by himself, but we still put the boppy around him to cushion an inevitable fall. He has figured out how to squirm off of the furniture so the days of propping him up in the corner of the furniture is out now! He loves to be outside watching the kids and dogs play. He still does well in the car and can now hold his own bottle.

Gabriel at six months!

Well my baby is now over six months. I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the kids.

Gotta love the slobber drip!!

We have started solid food and I have been making my own food. I found the information at www.wholesomebabyfood.com. It is very easy and very in expensive, especially during the beginning phases. So far he loves sweet potatoes, he likes butternut squash, not a big fan of bananas yet, and this morning I gave him a piece of cantalope in the mesh feeder so he could gnaw on it. He also likes wheat baby cereal, oatmeal but not a big fan of the cereal with fruit.

Gabriel jabbers all the time and loves to have conversations. His hands now fully work and are very fast. Last night we were at TSC and I was carrying him, before I knew it he had grabbed a tag and was putting it in his mouth. He loves to take off his socks, even when told not to, and shows that he has them off. He loves playing with toys and can now really play with the toys on his exersaucer. His favorite toys are his black and white cow, his John Deere seed toy, and mirrors. He still loves to have his blankie up by and on his face when he is sleepy and still takes his paci. He also loves to chew on the Razberry pacifiers that help soothe his gums.

He is such a content baby and goes with the flow. He does have a happy squeal and a mad squeal to express himself. We are so blessed to have our Gabriel!

Chuck E Cheese!

Eric, the kids and I all had the day off from school last Monday. So we decided to go to Lima to Chuck e Cheese (see photo), the Lima Mall (I got great deals with %50 off the clearance prices at Old Navy!) and then we went and Leif redeemed his Toys R Us certificate. Everyone had a great time. Well Gabe fell asleep at Chuck e Cheese but still, we had FUN!

Family Update

I haven't updated for awhile, okay it has been over 2 months, so I will let you know what we are up to. Currently Leif and Heidi are enjoying 'decorating' Gabe's playtent with his links and toys. They like to go in and out of the door also. They have found a new fondness of Gabe now that he smiles and laughs at them. Today I lowered his highchair so that he was closer to the action yet still safe from the roughness. He enjoyed it. So did Leif and Heidi.

Gabriel is about 15 pound now and is wearing 6-9 month clothes. I thought I was going to have to buy some 6-9 month pajamas for him because we didn't have any except for the blanket sleepers that drive him nuts, but I looked in the 9-12 month box of boy clothes and found fleece 12month sleepers. I tried those and they actually fit him very well. That is good because when he is 9-12 months old it will be too hot to wear fleece to bed plus we got to save money.

The house seems to be going good now that the furnace is fixed. We hope to get the dining room completely finished within the week if possible. Almost all of the Christmas decorations are down now and everything is back to normal with a new furniture arrangement in the living room.

Tonight we travel with Papa and Greeba to Wauseon to watch Papa referee. Heidi is very excited because she wants to see Grace again.

Gabriel Smiles!!