Most beautiful baby?

So I'm entering Gabe in Regis and Kelly's Beautiful Baby contest....since I DO have the worlds most beautiful baby! What do you think? Does he have your vote?

Another layout

Yup - I did another one. While I was getting ready to go upstairs after working on the last one I thought - ok - I'll try just one more. And it came together pretty quickly. The journaling on this one reads:

This afternoon you had so much fun running around outside on the grass, playing with rocks on the ground and just being a big boy. I was sad that the weather is getting colder because I know you love being outside. Hopefully this Spring you’ll get to play outside a lot!

2006 Year in Review - layout

YIKES! I don't know how long it's been since I've put together a digital (or paper) scrapbook layout....way too long! So I put together a quick layout of pictures of Gabe. They are mostly pictures from the 7th of each month - so it chronicles the changes each month. And though he's grown up a lot in the last year, he's still a pretty darn cute little kid, and I can't believe it's been a year! The journaling reads:

What a year 2006 was for you! You learned how to sit up, roll over, eat solid foods, scoot, crawl, pull yourself up on things, climb the stairs, walk, play with toys, laugh, give wonderful kisses, take good naps - but most of all, you’ve mastered the art of melting my heart!

Cravings (aka - things that don't make me sick)

So I was thinking about it the other day, and it's funny - I go through these phases where certain foods are the ONLY thing that appeal to me. Anything else turns my stomach, and ends in nasty results. And I'll find one thing and go with it - until it makes me sick, and then it gets bumped to the yucky list. There have been 2 things that I have LOVED through this pregnancy so far (and it doesn't seem to be changing any time soon) - popscicles (particularly banana), and Icee drinks (preferably Coke flavor). These 2 have been tried and true.

Another one that has been recent is (now brace yourself - the thought of it might make you squeamish) - Kraft Easy Mac and Cheese. For some reason I have wanted it for the last 3 days straight. SO tasty! Now before being pregnant I would cringe at the very thought of Mac and Cheese out of a box - much less the "Easy Mac" variety - but it really fits the bill right now.

Something I found yesterday that really calmed my stomach was Dry Roasted Peanuts. Pretty tasty with something to drink. I think it might be the salt.

Now one thing I can't even THINK about since I found out I was expecting is Dr. Pepper. I can't drink the Diet variety, any of the "Berrys and Cream", or even the plain old original Dr. Pepper. This is pretty rare for me because I think that previously my blood was actually 50% Diet Dr. Pepper (and in less healthy times - the full of sugar variety). I haven't wanted to sip it, haven't wanted to guzzle it, and can't even think about it most of the time. I'm wondering if my "need" for the stuff will ever return....I guess it would be pretty healthy if I kicked the stuff all together huh?

Oh - and another previous favorite I can't seem to even think about - Pork Salads from Costa Vida. In the past I've been known by many friends for my comment, "We could pick something up from Costa Vida for dinner" - but now it's on the "no-no" list. I'm really hoping this one comes back - those salads are tasty!

Anyway - I know that you all don't necessarily care what the craving of the day is for me, but since this is a form of a journal...I guess it's a good thing to document.

Gabe's BIG News

Well Gabe has a big announcement to make - he's going to be a BIG brother!


I actually took this picture about a week after we had found out. I was snapping some pictures of Gabe and not getting any response from him. Then I shouted, "Gabe - you're going to be a big brother!!!" and this was the face he made. Kind of looks excited doesn't he?




So, we are expecting baby #2 this summer (possibly another August baby!). I'm 12 weeks and actually feeling better than I did at this point with Gabe. (But I've also had days I've felt much worse than with Gabe...so it's been interesting!) We heard the baby's heart beat at our dr visit yesterday, and are really excited about this new adventure we're embarking on. I'm excited that this baby will be close enough in age (exactly 2 years) that it will be able to hopefully be close to Gabe, and I'm also excited that my sister-in-law is due a few weeks before me, and the cousins will be close in age!


So if I'm not around on the blog as much as in the past - this is why. Just trying to keep up with Gabe, and being worn out by "baby #2".

Our Family

We had a family portrait taken for the Rhien family when we were in Farmington. The photographer also took pictures of the individual families. I'm planning on getting this one blown up to hang on our wall. I love the smile on Gabe's face - so sweet! That is kind of funny because he was a total stinker when we were taking the big family pictures - didn't smile in any of them. But at least we have this to prove that he is our smiley guy!

Christmas morning

We hardly took any pictures on Christmas morning...oops...

Gabe loved opening presents. But he was SO spoiled that after a while he just wanted to sit down and play with his new toys! We took a break and opened some presents later that night - which was also fun to spread it out for a while.

Thank you to everyone who sent the sweetest gifts! We were spoiled this year (all of us - not just Gabe!) Thank you for your thoughtfulness!


The day after Christmas we packed up to head to Farmington to see my family. I'll work on getting some of those pictures posted later on. Loved getting to see both families (everyone in both families too!) during this holiday season. It might have been short visits - but we love all of you, and enjoyed getting to spend time with you!

Christmas Eve

We were spending actual Christmas in Cedar City with just our little family, so we got together Christmas Eve with our good friends the Springer family. We had Mexican food (a Rhien family tradition) and even decided to take over a pinata to round out the celebrations. (which Cory STUFFED with tasty candy! He went completly overboard...) Our friends have a 5 year old and a 3 year old and we all had fun with the pinata - with all the boys getting a turn. It was fun to still spend the night in our own beds, but get to spend time with other special people Christmas Eve.

We came home and opened our traditional PJs. Gabe's were my favorite we've ever bought - he looked SO cute in them! Then we read our Christmas stories, tucked Gabe in bed and set out our Christmas goodies for the morning. One of my favorite parts of Christmas this year was that we got up late! I think it was after 8:00 when we got up and it was marvelous!

Our Christmas Decor

This year our Christmas decor was pretty low-key. In fact, when we got all the decorations out we realized that a bunch of the bigger decorations that had been stored in the basement was so dusty and needed a good cleaning. Cory said he was going to take care of it, but by the time we realized that it hadn't been done it was so close to Christmas that we decided not to worry about it. One less thing to worry about Gabe messing with.


But I did add to our Christmas decor this year with new gorgeous stockings and a matching tree skirt. (I even bought a few extra for future kids). We've never had an official tree skirt, so I splurged and got these from Pottery Barn and I LOVE it! We also got a new Christmas tree this year - pre-light! I LOVE it! The lights are all perfect and in place, and there are so many of them - it was gorgeous. Since we had a bigger tree we added some bigger decorations too. We got some big bells and wicker balls to stick in the tree. And I got a punched rusty tin lit star for the top of the tree. We didn't end up putting all of the decorations up on the tree either (the fabric ribbons I tie-on, or the wooden beaded garland)...but I was really happy with how it looked, so it was ok. Next year we might be a bit more into the decorating. This was just a tough year to get excited about extra work when I was feeling crummy...



Gabe did pretty good with the decorations - for the most part. We did have one break.....but that isn't bad for a 16 month old! By far my favorite addition to our Christmas decor was Gabe's smile when he put on his (way too big) Santa hat. He loved saying hat and wearing it around the house. He also loved spotting Santa Claus in other decorations (around the stores, in the newspaper, driving down the street in people's yards) - and always shouted out a hearty, "Ho-Ho-Ho". He did however think that Snowmen are the same as Santa - and also said "Ho-Ho-Ho" for them. I figure we can correct that next year :)

Visiting Santa

YAY! We finally got a picture with Santa (although, not the best pictures....) When we went to dinner in Salt Lake at Trolley Square we got to stop and visit Santa on the way out. Here Gabe is with his cousins: Linzy (back), Logan, Lexie and Lincoln.

At first Gabe wasn't too thrilled with sitting on Santa's lap by himself, but he warmed up to the idea.

"So big guy - I was thinking you could bring me....."

Ellis Family Christmas Celebrations

As a lot of you know Cory's family celebrates Christmas by all going to Salt Lake and going skiing. We went a couple of weeks before Christmas, and it was a great way to celebrate the season! This was the first time we've been in several years, and it was lots of fun. Gabe LOVED going skiing and spending time with his Mullen cousins. He even got to go skiing with Grandpa Kim! He loved it and can't wait to hopefully go skiing with them again at the end of the month. He even says ski - it's cute! We enjoyed spending time at the hotel, listening to the Tabernacle Choir perform (BEAUTIFUL MUSIC!), eating tasty food - but most of all, being together and making memories!

Gabe and Grandpa Ellis. He rode on Grandpa's back to ski. Even though it was pretty chilly he loved every minute of it. When Ashley and I took the little kids (Gabe and his cousin Linzy who's a year younger than him) back to the hotel Gabe jabbered to Linzy for a bit in his car seat. I could almost picture him saying, "And they took me up on the mountain on this ski lift, and then I got to fly down the mountain with Grandpa - it was so much fun! Just wait until next year when you get to go!" It was adoreable!

Ok - this picture was one that I had to take....and Gabe will hate me for it someday. We didn't have a swimming suit, and since it wasn't exactly swimming season - we didn't bother looking for one at the store. But we did have some "Little Swimmer" diapers, and I figured it was better than nothing. When we put it on Gabe he started strutting around - it was so funny. It reminded Cory's family of when my family came up to Island Park one summer and my dad had his Speedo swimming suit on. So they wanted me to take this picture to show Grandpa Rhien that Gabe's following in his footsteps.

Splashing up a storm with Daddy in the pool.

And this is what our little guy's toes looked like after spending a long time in the pool. I love the look of wrinkly little toes!

We celebrated Christmas early and Gabe LOVED the sweet gifts everyone showered him with. His favorite is the tractor from Uncle Coby. THANKS Coby! (and everyone else too!) My favorite gift was the amazing Family History Book that Tammy (Cory's mom) put together for all of us! What a keepsake and special gift - we truly treasure it.

The whole gang. We were even lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa Ellis come to visit!

We really have to cherish the times we get to spend together like this! Family is so important, and we're grateful that we got to spend some of the holiday season with this part of our family! We love you all so much!

Catching Up!

YAY! I'm finally catching up on some pictures from Christmas time. I'm sorry that I haven't been too great at keeping the blog updated. Been kind of busy, and just not really had time (energy) to sit at the computer for a long time to upload and go through pictures. But here we are!