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!

More Pictures

This one is just too funny to not post it!!!

Not too much to say, other then we are just in love with our little guy. These are some pictures from yesterday and today. The ones from the top are from his first bath at home. Which that is a great story for later.

The little things in life

I can admit now that during this couple of days sleep has been almost absent. It does not matter if its morning or night, I feel just as tired. Who could have thought that such a small boy with a very tiny digestive system could go through so many diapers in a day. I have to admit that it makes me VERY happy when I know that he has a dirty diaper, because this means that he is eating!!! Little Gabriel has been struggling a little bit with breast feeding. It is because of this, that when he gets a dirty diaper, I know that he is getting some food.

It is the little things in life that mean the most. He will eventually not struggle eating, and eventually will be able to sleep a whole night without waking up, someday he will be able to go to potty by himself. Until then Erin and I will enjoy the blessing that it is to be a parent, waking up about every 2 hours , and not remembering if its day or night, or when was the last time we had something to eat, wondering if the last time he woke up was 1 minute ago or 1 hour ago.

I say it again, I admire parents and the sacrifices they make, especially mothers. I cannot believe the kind of energy and patience that Erin has and the love that she shows little Gabriel. No matter how loud he cries and how much attention he needs, Erin just calms him down. Love you Erin ;)

(Our little boy is 3 days old)