Saturday in West Virginia

Looking at Papa out the cabin window


After a walk with Daddy



Climbing on the coolers on the deck


With Great Grandma Mickey and Daddy


Looking at pictures with cousin Wayne on the laptop

Rainy Day in West Virginia

It may have been a rainy day Friday in West Virginia, but it didn't stop anyone from having fun --- especially Gabriel.


Playing Hide-And-Seek between two chairs.


Acting silly in a chair that he discovered he could get into and out of all by himself.


The basket that we transported his toys in quickly became a toy!


Papa was not allowed to take a nap!

Cooler Bath

We took a long weekend and went to the Kendrick Family Reunion in West Virginia this weekend. It was a gorgeous weekend in a gorgeous park with great company. A challenge that we came across, however, was that Gabriel was too big for a sink bath in the kitchen, and the cabin only had a shower stall that was too tiny to bend over in to bathe him. So we improvised and took Grandma and Papa's cooler, filled it with water in the shower stall, and bathed him in that. He had a ball! He was trying to get into the cooler before we had his clothes off of him!

Diaper Box

Why do we buy the child toys when the diaper box has been a great source of entertainment since Sunday afternoon? He sits in it, puts toys in, takes toys out, pushes it around making car noises, and wants to be pushed around in the box.

18 Month Portraits

Our little boy is growing up SO FAST! He isn't a baby anymore!

Bath Tub Silliness

Gabriel thought that Mommy saying, "Hello" into the cup was hilarious. He decided that he wanted to do it too. It was so funny when he came up with his own version of "Heddow!" We are so silly!

Sleeping Boy

It was time for Gabriel to wake up from his nap on Sunday because we had to leave. This is what we saw. He had his blanket pulled up over his head and was sleeping so soundly. I felt bad for waking him up. I'd love to sleep that soundly!

Happy Meal Dinner

Daddy was gone tonight so Mommy decided that McDonald's would be a perfect dinner. Gabriel had a hamburger happy meal, and Mommy beefed it up a little with some peas and carrots. As you can see, the hamburger is history and the peas and carrots were barely touched. The odd thing is that Gabriel took the pickle off of his hamburger . . . obviously he is not his Mommy's child on this one!

Fun at Grandma and Papa's

Gabriel spent a fun afternoon at Grandma and Papa's house. He rode on his tractor in the driveway and then played on the next door neighbor's rocking horse,

Tricycle

Gabriel has been really interested in his tricycle lately. He wants to ride it so badly, but he is not quite able to peddle yet. This morning he got on the tricycle and asked for help --- meaning that he wanted Mommy to push him by leaning over the handlebars. At this point in Grace's gestation, it's not going to happen. So his alternative was to grab the curtain sheers and try to pull himself along. After being told, "No," several times and having his hands smacked, he still managed to pull the sheers out of the window.

Hi there, Baby!

In this video Gabriel is looking at himself on the camera's screen. I am (obviously) not very well focused on him because I can't see exactly what the camera is focused on. As he looks at himself, he calls himself "Baby."

Climbing the Slide

Gabriel has learned to climb the steps on the slide and go down by himself. What a big kid he is! Mommy is practicing taking self portraits --- silly Mom and Gabe!

Grampy Reading

Gabriel's favorite book today is David Goes to School. He brought Mommy the book in the morning and insisted that it be read to him 4 times. Then throughout the day, he would bring it to Mommy to read . . .again . . .and again . . . and again. When Grampy came to dinner tonight, we decided that it was Grampy's turn to read the book to him. That thrilled Gabriel!

Tears on Carousel

We went to the Greentree Mall Saturday. As we left JC Penney's, Gabriel was so excited to see the minicarousel. We told him that when we came back he could ride it. He was so excited to be put on the carousel . . . until we pushed the Start button. Then tears started! To get him through the ride, Mommy walked around with him holding his hand.

Play Ball

We got the exercise ball out tonight for Cousin Wayne to borrow for Candi (Come on, Baby Tomlin!) As soon as Gabriel saw it, he got so excited and said, "Ba-wl, Ba-wl!"
He played with it for a bit and was so cute because it's bigger than he is.

Mommy is Jealous

Gabriel caught some cuddle time with Daddy this evening after dinner. It is so rare for this little boy to slow down long enough to cuddle. Daddy certainly enjoyed it!

Pictures of Baby Grace

We went to Floyd Memorial Hospital Friday evening to do a 4D ultrasound. These are the best of the pictures that we got of her face. She was pretty active during the ultrasound. Her hands were up by her face for most of the ultrasound. A couple of times she was playing with her toes too. We think that we see a resemblance between Grace's ultrasound pictures and pictures of Gabriel as an infant --- particularly the flat little nose. We can't wait to see her in person!

Elmo Car

We went to Babies R Us tonight to pick up a few more things before Grace comes. While in the check out lane, Gabriel spotted the Elmo car. He pointed and said, "Elmo, Elmo!" We put him in the car, and he laughed hysterically.

Daddy's Hat

Gabriel has gotten to an age where I cannot get a good picture of him because he is always moving! Tonight he was playing with his Daddy's hat. It was too cute at he took the hat on and off and said, "hat, hat." I couldn't get a good picture of him with the hat on though.

Joys of Parenthood

There are many joys of parenthood: baby's first words, laughter, hugs, kisses, cuddles, etc. Well . . . last night Dan and I (and Grandma and Papa) experienced one of the not so joyous moments of parenting (and grandparenting). . . public vomiting. Yes, vomiting --- in public. We went out to dinner where Gabriel chowed down on Grandma's jambalaya. Then we went and had some ice cream for dessert. As we were all finishing our ice cream, the kiddo just starts to vomit A LOT. Everything he had eaten for lunch, snack, and dinner came up. It was so gross! You know, at the time, I had no opportunity to be grossed out by it. I was WAY too busy cleaning him up to think about how disgusting the mess was.

Anyhow, we experienced some joys of parenthood yesterday . . . and a very disgusting not-so-joyous time too. And just so you know . . .Gabriel is fine. He felt much better as soon as it was all over.

Reading and Rocking

We spent the day today at Grandma and Papa's house. Gabriel climbed up in his rocker with one of his favorite books to read.

Eating Machine

Gabriel has been an eating machine this weekend. Last night he begged for crackers all evening. Tonight at dinner, he ate all of his chicken (amazing because it was not breaded or in the shape of a nugget), had two helpings of pasta, and finished his carrots. We actually ran out of food that was prepared. He was still saying, "More, more" when I took him out of the high chair and sent him on his way with a second cup of milk. Notice that he laid his fork down because he could get the food in much faster with hands.

Stacking Cups

These stacking cups have been some of Gabriel's favorite toys since he was about 6 months old. Now that the developmental therapist works with him on stacking, he loves to sit down and build towers out of his cups. When they fall, he says, "Oh!"

Gabe in a Box

We went to Grandma and Papa's house tonight for a few minutes. Gabriel wanted to get into his toy box that Papa built. He played in there for most of our visit and played with his toys. Hey, less mess to clean up!