On the move

Well I think we're in trouble! Gabe moved non-stop today. He wouldn't sit still for story time, he wouldn't sit down and play with toys he loves, he wouldn't sit and play ball (that's when we know there's a problem!) The second I'd set him down to sit down and do something - off he'd go. He'd roll onto the ground, and then he'd be off either scootching around (is that a word?) - or rolling like a rolly-polly.

All day long I was grabbing him as he was rolling off somewhere else, or getting into something. If he can be so exhausting when he's this little I'm nervous for the upcoming months!

And not only was he moving around like crazy - he also was SO noisy! We went to Walmart this morning and as we'd pass every cart he'd start yelling out - kind of like, "LOOK AT ME!" Then the people would look at him, he'd wave at them and give them a bashful/flirty smile. Oh goodness - he knows he's cute!

Then when we got home he was super vocal again - either laughing or just kind of yelling out. And while I made dinner and he snacked on some Cheerios he came up with a new sound that means, "Hey mom - I'm out of Cheerios - fill me up!" that would come out loud and clear every time he'd need a few more to snack on. What a character!

So I'm hoping that he is this vocal and fun with my family this weekend. We're driving up to Rexburg to watch Jed and Laura walk in graduation from BYU-I. I can't believe it's been 2 years already since I walked in graduation - WOW! I miss Rexburg, and I look forward to our visit. Most of all I'm excited for my parents to get to spend some time (all-be-it a small amount) with Gabe. They haven't spent any time with him since Christmas! He's a totally different person now (Hey - he's a totally different person than he was a week ago!)

Anyway, we're off in the morning if Cory ever makes it home from the shutter job he's installing. He thinks he'll be gone until like 3 am, and then come home for a couple of hours and hit the road again. I'm lucky that he's supporting me and coming with me after having such a busy week! Gotta love him.

Have a great weekend!

These are just some pictures I took of Gabe tonight. The weather is so gorgeous right now that we have to spend some time outside. Gabe loved the grass, and it was all I could do to keep him from eating handfulls of it.

Already?

Ok, I know that with raising a boy comes messes - LOTS of messes. We'll have burping wars, jokes about farts and other bodily functions, and he'll probably stick stuff up his nose and think it's funny. However, I did not think that the fascination with all things BOY would start before he even reached 9 months!

Tonight as Gabe was eating a graham cracker in his high chair Cory and I looked over and noticed that he had a chunk of it sticking out of his nose. He looked at us and was SO proud! He truly thought that he had done something pretty charming and amazing.

Oh BOY - do we have a long road ahead of us.

Scrapbooking into the night...(or morning)....

I sat down this evening after Gabe went to bed to get a project finished that I have been meaning to do for a few weeks now. I got that done (sorry - can't share it right now.....) and then as I was showing Cory a couple of digital layouts I'd done while he was out of town earlier this week I decided to do "just one quick page". I found a layout I loved on-line and I was going to scraplift it. Well, I totally didn't end up doing much of anything that looked like this layout (funny how that works out) and it didn't end up being a quick page. Now it's after midnight, and I figured I'm still up - I might as well post a couple of layouts to the blog. So here ya go. Yesterday I also did a fun 2 page spread about Gabe and Grandpa Great Whisler - but it's a paper layout, and I need to scan or photograph it in order to show you - so you'll have to wait.

Have a great Monday morning!

Happy, oh so darn happy!

Last night I was getting Gabe ready for bed and I got really emotional. I am so lucky! My life is wonderful - absolutely wonderful. Not only am I richly blessed with an amazing family, my husband had a good job, I have a beatiful home, the weather is gorgeous - SO many things to be thankful for. I just sat down and snuggled with Gabe and cried some super happy tears (I had to explain to him that tears aren't always because we're sad....not sure if he had any idea what I was talking about).

So what are some of the things that are keeping me smiling today? There are hundreds, but here's the short list:

1. A big cold Diet Dr. Pepper from Brad's Food Hut (best ice in the world)
2. Listening to the new Dixie Chick's song on iTunes (Can't wait for their new cd to come out on May 23rd!)
3. Going swimming with Gabe last night. Just he and me and the SUU swimming pool. He had a blast and loved watching the "big kids" splashing and playing - they captivated his attention and I c0uld almost hear him say, "I wanna play with the big kids mom!"
4. Finding the Lean Cuisine Thai Chicken meals I've been looking for at the grocery store (tasty, and only 4 Weight Watchers points!)
5. Speaking of Weight Watchers - having a loss this week (I've now lost over 40 lbs!)
6. Putting on my new jeans that are comfy, and even pretty loose. (I can even get into a pair of size 10 - they're snug... but they can zip!) and wearing a shirt that was one of my favorites, but I haven't worn in a couple of years.
7. Plans to go see the play "Seussical" tomorrow morning with Gabe - I am giddy with excitement - SUU does amazing plays and this one will be fun.
8. New library books. Thursday we go to the library and it's by far my favorite day of the week. Gabe loves it and I can't wait to pull the new books out of our book bag to read!
9. Nap time - I love when Gabe takes naps! The last couple of days they've been mini-cat-naps, but today we're doing better (and what am I doing? Wasting time on the computer....)
10. Trying to teach Gabe to say Mommy - only for him to say Da-Da over and over again. I love his little jabbers, and even if he likes to say Dad - it's still music to my ears!

So what makes you happy? Leave a comment and tell me the simple (and not so simple) things that make you smile. Have a great day!

a digital layout

I haven't actually created a layout for a while now. Doesn't seem to be enough time lately. So my goal was to finish this before going to bed. Now I'm awake, and I am going to struggle getting to sleep....oh well. Enjoy the layout!


All of the elements from this layout come from this great website - Digital Design Essentials. http://www.ddecd.com/Index.html This site is one of my favorites for digital scrapping. I have a lot of her work. Another really great site is Heather Ann Designs. Check them out!

Easter Photos

All snazzy and ready for church. I love how Gabe looks in green, and his Easter outfit was the perfect look for him.


After church the "Easter Bunny" paid Gabe a visit. He got a couple of fun books and a pop-up ball toy. He loves balls - and this one is fun for him to hit a button and have balls come popping out at him. The bunny ears weren't a hit....well, unless you count him eating them. If we count that - he LOVED them.

Easter egg hunt & brunch

This morning we went to an Easter egg hunt and brunch put on by our friends the Easters (with a last name like that I guess they couldn't resist putting on a party). It had rained a good part of the day and night yesterday, so we had the egg hunt at the park and then had brunch at the church. There were 80+ people there and it was really fun. It's a tradition for their family to do this - so we'll hopefully enjoy it with them again next year. Next year Gabe will be all over the hunting for eggs I think. This year he liked to suck on them, and shake them to make noise.

Then after the egg hunt we had brunch. Gabe LOVED the orange slices - he couldn't get enough of sucking them to death. I can see lots of orange smiles in his future.

We hope everyone has a great Easter weekend. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some cute pictures of Gabe in the bunny ears I bought him (much to Cory's dismay I must add...)

There's no place like home....(and Gabe's 8 months old!)

HAPPY 8 MONTH BIRTHDAY LITTLE GUY!

Well another month birthday for Gabe has gone by. On Friday he turned 8 months old! It was fun that for that day we got to spend it with family. We had gone up to a home show that Cory was helping his dad with at UVSC campus and so we got to see lots of loved ones.

In the afternoon we went up to Grandma Marilyn's first. She gave Gabe an adorable homemade Pound Puppy that she had and he fell in love with it. He also started waving when he was at her house. I've been working with him on waving hello and goodbye for weeks - and nothing. Then out of the blue he starts waving like crazy while we were at her house. SO FUN! I was happy that she got to be there for the first waves.

Then we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Whisler's house. It was great to spend the rest of the afternoon with them. Gabe loved playing with Grandpa on the floor and liked Grandma's "Here comes a little mouse...." (Which I remember from being a little kid!) Grandpa really seemed to be doing better, and we were so grateful for the time we got to spend with them. It was fun hearing from them how adorable Gabe is (I know he's aorable - but I love hearing other people say it too!)

Last stop for the day was out at Aunt Ashley's house to see Ashley, Gabe's cousins, Uncle Coby, Grandma Tammy and Grandpa Kim. The cousins were all more than willing to take pictures with Gabe, and always wanted to hold him and be close to him. They gave him loves, sat with him, read to him, and had a great time. They were really disappointed that he couldn't come out with them to roast marshmellows. We promised that this summer we'll try to make that work. I wish I had gotten more pictures - with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Ashley and Uncle Coby!

On Saturday Gabe spent most of the afternoon with cousins and Grandma while I got to go to lunch with my good friend Jessica. I always have a great time with her, and wish that we lived closer. And she introduced me to the BEST store in Lehi - with fabulous home decor items. We will definetly be going back there!

Then Gabe and I hit the University Mall. WOW! I can't believe how different all of Utah Valley is since I grew up there - but the mall is always a big reminder of that to me. And it was so crowded, I was relieved that I don't live in such a crazy area anymore. Nice to visit.....but that's about it for me. Gabe did pretty good on the drive home but since he'd slept so much in the car on our way home, he wasn't too excited to go to bed, so we were up into the night.

As always, it's good to be home. Dorothy really knew what she was talking about when she said, "There's no place like home......"

Haircut

I took Gabe in for a haircut today. What a funny boy - he looks so grown up! I can't believe how a little haircut makes him look like a littl toddler! His cowlick is even more noticeable than ever (although I don't think there's been a day that's gone by that it wasn't noticeable...)

I think in the last picture Gabe looks like Grandpa Whisler. I don't know what it is exactly, but I think it might be in the cheeks and eyes. Pretty cute!

Stop Mom!

And there are just some times when Gabe is sick and tired of me taking his picture. Poor little guy.

Gabe's room

I thought since Gabe will be 8 months old this week (crazy huh?) That it might be a good idea to finish decorating his bedroom. I've had most of the stuff since he was born, but I hadn't painted it, or put it up. Now we're done (at least most of the way)....

We painted one wall blue in his room.....I am now officially not a fan of painting just one wall - specifically if that one wall is such a dark color (this is like a denim blue). After we painted Cory and I looked at eachother and said, "What happened?" Literally the room looked like it shrunk to about 1/2 of it's size. That heavy wall really closed us in. But it's dark enough that I don't really feel like painting over it. It looks better once we got stuff up on the walls. I'm also going to have one of those vinyl sayings made in red to go across the top of the wall. I'm still not sure what I'm going to have it say yet....(any suggestions?)



This is a shelf I bought several years ago when we were in Rexburg, but I finally got around to painting and distressing it. To the left of it is a mirror that I painted the frame of. (You can also see the darn cord for the tv....someday we'll get that fixed....)



Here's a view looking across Gabe's room towards the door. We also painted the letters to his name above the door and hung his quilt on the wall (still not sure if I love it there...) It's being held up by 2 rustic metal stars that you can't really see.

This wall also has some more rustic metal stars. I didn't take a close-up, but the 2 stars grouped together have some cool rivets in them. I loved them the second I saw them. And here's Gabe chilling in our chair. I am SO glad we bought that chair, it's the best place to rock him, feed him, and read stories. So comfy!

So there's the tour of Gabe's room. It's pretty typical for Cory and I. We couldn't stray too far from the reds, blues, tans and stars....gotta keep a theme going I guess.

Spring is here!

Gabe enjoyed spending a few minutes out on his swingset today inbetween General Conference sessions. The weather was beautiful, and he kept squealing with delight. I can't wait to show him all of the different parts of spring and summer. We already have talked of adding a slide to the swingset, and buying a small kiddie pool for us to splash around in during the summer. Should be lots of fun. Right now we're off to take a walk - another one of Gabe's favorite things to do!

Get the boy a haircut!

Oh dear - somebody get the boy a haircut! He's getting so shaggy and hairy! It hangs in his eyes, it's hanging over his ears - and it's overall too long. I hate to cut his locks, and have it look too funky - but he's getting a little rough looking. So we'll see if I get up the guts to take him in. He's so wiggly, that I could see a real mess....or some kind of a scissor related injury.....

**Edited: Gabe AND Mommy have haircut appointments on Wednesday....hope we can wait that long.

SOOOOO Big!

How big is Gabe? SOOOO BIG! I can't believe how much he's grown the last couple of weeks. It's like he's just gotten bigger, older, all of that stuff I don't want to have happen :).