9 Months a Peanut

Our sweet baby boy is growing and is now 9 months old... holy macaroni. I feel like it was just yesterday we brought him home. He is surely showing his maturation by finally sleeping through the night!! Yea! 8pm-8am with no breaks in between. What a big boy! We are so proud. Patrick and I threw a party the first morning we woke up and he was still asleep... then when he did it a week in a row... we threw a bigger party. Although he is getting older he is not gaining too many pounds. I think he has his mommy's genes and is going to be petite. Still around 15 lbs, but we go to the doc Friday, so we will update you then. Some other new things: He is loving music and dances now. I need to catch this on tape because his little bounces are hilarious and he only does it when music is on. He is concentrating very hard on... well, pulling all the papers out of the trashcan, pulling all the Tupperware out of the drawer, all my clothes out of the drawer, and all the clothes out of the dryer. He loves to destroy things. He's a true boy. More than any other place in the whole house, I find him in the bathroom... staring into the tub. He will always love the tub, although lately he is wanting to stand up the whole time he is in the tub... he's crazy. He loves me to read to him and is starting to copy all the sounds I make. When I say "poop" he responds with "p p p" and when I say "dad" he responds with "da" and in the mornings when he wakes up I can hear him crying, "Ma... Ma... Ma." It is so sweet. Sometimes I leave him for a while so I can hear him say my name more! He is eating TONS. He eats 3 HUGE bowls of food every day (food his daddy makes by the way... on Wednesdays when mommy works). He is still nursing some, but I feel that may end soon. He loves sweet potatoes more than anything else and he hates peaches. He is truly the sweetest boy ever. He waves to us and smiles at us all day long. He giggles a lot, but also has a very serious side, like I said before... when he is emptying things. Below are some recent pictures. Enjoy!

Daddy making Gabriel laugh!

Very Serious.

He loves when we push him around the house in this box!

What a ham! He stopped and smiled when he saw I had the camera.

Daddy and Gabriel sleeping on the couch... Patrick is so faking it for the picture. With the Olympics on right now, do you really think Patrick is asleep. No. We do not miss one event.

Mom-Mom dragging Gabriel around in a shopping bag! The simple joys.

Standing up in the tub. He laughs every time.
He thinks he is hilarious. He must get it from his mom.

Thank you for everything

Ok, so no pictures of Gabriel on this post... but I promise to put some more up soon... I had kinda a reflective day... so here it is.

St. Gertrude once asked Jesus to heal one of her friends... Jesus responded with this: "You trouble me, Gertrude, by asking me for the cure of your friend. I sent her this sickness as a trial. She accepts it with admirable submission to my will which gains great merit for her, and I thus prepare a more beautiful place in Heaven for her for all eternity."

I think this story is perfect for our reflection on holiness... do we accept everything God gives us with submission to His will? Can we really say, "Lord, thank you for everything?" Because sometimes he gives us stuff that we are not happy with in the moment, but we know is for the ultimate good of our souls.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately while I sometimes watch friends or myself struggle with different difficult things God has given. On the other hand, I also reflect on this when I notice the blessings I have in my life, the amazing miracles God has granted me. Do I respond the same to both? Because ultimately the difficult things AND the blessings are GIFTS. He is so good, so holy, so perfect that He wills all things for our well being, even if we do not see it.

There was a night when St. Monica prayed so hard for her son to not leave on a ship to Italy. She wanted him to be converted so badly and she just knew that if St. Augustine left he would have no chance. She begged the Lord on her knees, with sobs and tears... and Augustine left on that ship in the night. You see the Lord had to say no to her prayer in the moment, so he could say yes to her lifetime plee... for him to be converted. It was in Italy that Augustine met Ambrose and was converted.

We have to trust Him. He knows what He is doing. He makes all things new... all things good.

A beautiful prayer a very holy priest once taught me... and I think written by a saint... I say this every time I receive the Eucharist.

Thanks be to Thee, My Lord Jesus Christ

For all the blessings you have given to me,

For all the pains and insults you have borne for me.

Oh, Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother,

May I know Thee more clearly,

Love Thee more dearly,

And follow Thee more nearly.

Amen.

I think this is all He asks of us every day. A young woman named St. Therese once said something like this (I think I reworded it some... ) If you desire to know God, then it is because you already know Him. And if you desire to love God it is because you already love Him. If you desire to be in His will, then you probably are, at least pretty darn close. He is so pleased with your desire.

This is what He asks of us. To abandon ourselves completely to Him. To tell him thank you for everything and mean it.

Handsome Boy and His Nursery

So, I promised my sister-in-law, Jeanne, to finally put up some pictures of Gabriel's nursery. With her living in Italy she loves to be a part of everything from afar. Even though she lives the farthest away from me, she seems to be most in touch with what is going on!
I love that about her.

So, Jeanne, these are for you!

The CRIB... love those naps.

Rock a bye baby.

Poopy diapers live here.

My sweet boy after waking up from his nap yesterday. As you can see, there is a bear in the corner of the picture. I caught him tickling his ear and talking to him... we are lowering the crib today. I am afraid he is going to try to jump out to play with his friend, the bear.

Classic.
I tried so hard to keep him awake before we left for the chiropractor because I love when he sleeps in the car the whole way there. As you can see, even laying him on the ground on his back did not do the trick. He was exhausted. He played so hard that he decided not to wait on his mama any longer. Ohh, gotta love boys who play hard.

Our first attempt at sitting in a big boy seat to eat dinner. He looks happy here, but after a few bites he was hanging off the seat trying to get down. Time for a high chair.

He is drooling so much, my mom suggested bibs all the time, so we don't have to change him ten times a day from being completely soaked. Therefore, we try to stick with the season and sport our bibs accordingly. Still no teeth.

Always Happy!

His Great Mom Mom Peg sent him a life size train (lifesize for him anyway). We couldn't resist. He didn't like it, but it was hilarious. As my dad says, "Oh, Kristi, you are so laid back with him. You laugh when he laughs. You laugh when he gets mad. Nothing bothers you." I didn't realize that I was like that. But, I think I am. I couldn't stop laughing even though he was mad.

Christmas morning. It was hectic. From the Bentley's to the Zimmerman's. I had to explain to him that I had to pack his clothes in there and he didn't get travel that way... he had to get in the carseat again. By the way, Gabriel did this all himself. I did not help him climb into this suitcase. He is a mess.

Isn't he handsome? He told me he wants to model for Baby Gap.

He managed to find these tins in my bag and then stand up while balancing his hands on them... he thought he was so hilarious.

Yesterday I was trying to work for Vandy+Catholic and did everything to occupy Gabriel in the meantime. I have never tried television with him, so I thought I would give it a try. I found a show with talking dogs. Since we have turned the living room into a play room, the coffee table is pushed up in front of the TV. He crawled over to the table, climbed up and stood watching TV with his chin resting on his hands for like 15 minutes. He was so intrigued. I caught it on video. And laughed so hard.

Merry Christmas!

Gabriel met Santa and Mrs. Claus for the first time today.  He behaved wonderfully and is enjoying his first Christmas season so much that he has decided to stop sleeping well at night.  That could also be because are at my parent's house, so he is in a different bed and a different room.

Kristi and I hope all of you have a joy-filled Christmas!

Almost 7 Months and A MANIAC!

Here are a few pictures of some crazy things I have witnessed lately.

Our sweet baby is growing into a crazy boy. This guy can not sit still. For example, yesterday I was visiting my friend Katherine and when getting ready to leave, I put him in his car seat, ran to the restroom and when I came back, he was on the floor playing. Yes, he climbed out! He is crawling, climbing, standing on his head, rolling everywhere, eating everything he can get his hands on, and talking up a storm (baby talk that is). I sometimes feel that he is trying very hard to explain some very important things to me (he uses his hands and everything)... if only I could understand the gibberish.

It is amazing how soon you can see a personality emerge in such a small person. I can already tell that Gabriel has a curiosity about life "beyond his months" and is super determined in achieving goals... he stops at nothing when he makes up that little mind to do something. He also has a sweet gentle side because as busy as he is, he loves to cuddle and be close. As Patrick says, "He is perfect. It must be because he has perfect parents!" Haha. Yeah right... just wait. He is only 7 months. We have the terrible twos to get through and I do not even want to begin to think about having a teenage boy in the house. We'll see how perfect we are then!

As always, I am so grateful to be a mom. Patrick always asks me if I am happy. I think that is good to consider, because being happy is important, but on the other hand I think having joy in your life is even more crucial. I have found that nothing has brought me more joy in life than being a wife and mom. Glad this was God's plan for me.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday was my daddy's birthday! I was so happy to celebrate with him. He even let me help him blow out the candles. I prepared by hanging a birthday sign, picking out a card, helping mommy wrap his gifts... well, I kinda just ate the wrapping paper... and by singing really loudly to him. I tried to be really good all day long, so mommy could make him a yummy dinner and clean up the house from our crazy Thanksgiving trip. I LOVE BIRTHDAYS. I even got to stay up past my bedtime! Now that I know how much fun this is, I can't wait to turn ONE in May. Happy Birthday, Daddy. I love you.

Our Crazy Man is Growing

What a man! Watching TV and holding on tightly to that remote...
he must get that from his Pop-Pop!

6 months and 10 days old. Today our trip to the doctor gave us some new info ... our little peanut is 15 lbs even, getting super tall at 26 3/4 inches, much more active than most 6 month old babies and very laid back. Our doctor called Gabriel a "she" about 3 times (being corrected by Patrick every time, of course!) and by the third time, he said, "I am so sorry I keep doing that. Honestly, he is just a real pretty guy." Patrick and I took no offense and said thank you to him. The doctor also kept asking if he is always "like this?" Letting the doctor throw him around to check out his vitals and then looking in his ears, moving legs to check reflexes, etc... Gabriel just kept smiling at him. We responded and told him, that indeed, Gabriel is always chill and seems to get along with everyone, nothing bothers him and he rarely cries. He truly is going to trick us into having another baby much sooner!

We are so enjoying this new phase Gabriel is in right now. He is up on all fours, rocking back and forth, army crawling everywhere, and loving his solid food... sometimes he grunts while I am feeding him, indicating I am not dishing it in fast enough! He loves shiny things and chews on ANYthing he can get his hands on. There is a video below of him going after the camera... a shiny thing... he stops at nothing till he can grab it.

As always, being a parent just gets sweeter and sweeter. I thank Jesus daily for giving us the opportunity to love and teach one of His children.