My Little Love

We love our little boy. I absolutely adore him. I just look at him and think he must be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Everything he does is cute and no matter how fussy or difficult he is my heart still melts for him. Sometimes I feel bored with being in the house all day, everyday. Sometimes I feel frustrated when I can't figure out what he needs. Sometimes I feel exhausted and I'm not sure I can face the next day. But in a weird way whenever I feel these feelings I just love him even more. I guess the hard work makes it all the more sweet. Today we napped on the couch together and when I woke up he was so cute just lying there with one of his arms over his face and I felt really grateful that he is mine and that I have the privilege of being his mom and he is my son. He is my little pal and I am so thankful that we can spend every minute together. I don't think we ever realize the sacrifices mothers make but it makes me so happy to be able to give all of myself to him. And even though when I hold him and he looks right into my eyes and smiles it's probably only gas, it still makes all the difficulties and frustrations worth it. I love him.

Nap time

He really likes to sit and just hang out. Often little Gabriel just stays put while checking out the surroundings. He also enjoys small naps while sitting down. Nothing too extraordinary, but I really like the picture.

One Month

Happy 1 month!!!!

It has been one month since little Gabriel arrived. He is getting bigger and filling up really well. He sure loves to eat and to make deposits in his diapers. He is very alert and very active. He follows us with his eyes and turns his head very well. He has a strong little neck.

He loves being in the bathroom. No matter how sad or fuzzy he is, as soon as we set him on the changing pad he lightens up and all of his troubles seem to go away. Even before changing him.

We are very happy that he is here with us and we would not want it any other way.

I will be adding a video of him from last night while on the changing table,very shortly.

One Good Mom

My mom came out from California last week to come meet Little Gabriel. We had a really fun time with her. I am so grateful that she could come out since it's not an easy thing for her to do and it was up in the air whether she would even be able to. I have to say I have the greatest mom. One thing I have always admired about her is how hard she works - this woman doesn't stop. She is incredible. She got here Tuesday night and that happened to be a night the baby had really bad gas. She stayed up until 4:00 a.m. burping and carrying him. It was so nice of her to sacrifice her sleep to stay up and help me. Did she sleep in? Oh no, she was up early the next morning (several hours before me). When I woke up she was in our back bedroom, Little Gabriel's future bedroom, organizing and cleaning. This room was like a messy closet - everything and anything shoved into it. She worked her butt off all day to take care of this room so that I could have some order to it. I don't know how I would have ever gotten this room cleaned up without her. I probably wouldn't have. She also organized my kitchen cupboards, cleaned the top of my refrigerator, did lots of laundry, and many, many more things to help me have a more organized house.
Thursday night my stake held a special Enrichment evening. Sister Julie Beck, the General Relief Society President, spoke. She is actually in my stake, which I didn't know. She held a question and answer session. It was wonderful and I am really glad I got to go with my mom. We haven't been able to do something like that for a really long time.
Since we would not be together for Thanksgiving my sister and her husband came to Provo from Bountiful and we all had a Thanksgiving dinner. My mom spent hours cooking for us and it was dang good!
I just want to thank my mom for all she did for me. She has always been the kind of mom who would sacrifice anything for her children. Growing up she always put us before herself. I have a great model of what a mother should be and I hope that I can be as good as she was and still is. I love you, Mom!

Happy 3 weeks

Little Gabriel arrived 3 weeks ago!!!
He is now 8lbs 8oz and 21.2 inches tall.
(Oct 21st stats: 7lbs 8oz and 20.5 inches)
We are very happy in knowing that he is eating well and growing.
This little video is from last night after a very hefty diaper change, which is always
good news.
Enjoy!

Hanging out

Just wanted to add another picture of little Gabriel. He is doing great and growing. Erin took him to the Doctor for his 2 week appointment and we have the stats. I will add them when I get a more recent picture of him.

Casting something other than a ballot

We have had some really good laughs since Gabriel was born. And Saturday night was the best yet. My sister, Lindsay, was visiting and we knew Gabriel needed to be changed so we took him to the bathroom where we have our changing area set up. He had had a very minor blowout so I called Gabe to come look. He came in and was starting to wipe his little bum when Gabriel ripped a loud one. As he did he literally shot poop out, and halfway across the bathroom as you can see. I was standing dangerously close and jumped back to avoid being hit. I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard. I was struggling to breathe and as you can imagine my bladder is a little weak at this point...
As I was writing this post Gabriel started crying and wanted to be fed. I thought he needed a diaper change so I took him to the bathroom before I fed him. Ironically, the same thing happened, only worse! He shot poop all over my hand, the floor, even to the wall across from the counter where he was. It was a total mess and kind of hard to clean all by myself, as Gabe wasn't home this time. I guess this is my welcome to motherhood!

Happy Halloween

Here are some pictures from Halloween. He looked so cute! It was kind of hard to get a really good picture. He didn't like the socks and booties much... We love our little skeleton!

-Erin

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Happy Birthday today to my dad and little Gabriel's Grandpa Thom! Wish we could celebrate with you, but we will see you sometime soon! Hope you have a great day! We love you!