Smiles

Family Home Evening

During our Family Home Evening lesson last night, we learned that Heavenly Father created all animals, as well as everyone in our Family. This morning the first words out of Gabe's mouth were...

"Want Heavenly Father to make cats. And cows. Heavenly Father makes lambs. Heavenly Father makes cheese. I want a frog."

I love little minds.

The Two's

Joshua is now two months old.
He weighed in at 13 lbs 13 oz and 24 inches. That's almost 7 lbs and 5 inches of growth in the last 2 months.

He's a very happy baby. He smiles and laughs pretty much any time anyone says, "hi Josh!".

Gabe is two years old (and some change). The two's are a bipolar experience. Sometimes I wonder what on earth Gabe is thinking. Today, I tried to figure it out. Here are some hypothesis':

"If I put a bell pepper down my shirt - will I still be able to eat it through the shirt? Let's see. Well - no. But I still get that nice crunching in my mouth, so I'll go ahead and chomp on it anyway."

"How far will the milk go if I first stick my head down my shirt and spit it through my shirt?"

"If I take my dirty diaper off during nap time, can I make cool things with the contents on the carpet?"

"I bet if I pour cup-fulls of water onto the bathroom floor it will make a REALLY BIG bathtub to swim in." (I actually remember thinking this myself when I was little. I remember attempting with my friend, Susan. I foiled the plan when I got out of the tub to inform her mother not to worry, we were not overflowing the bathtub. Kids are so much smarter these days.)

"Maybe I'll scare mom if I put this blanket over my head and walk around. OUCH! Darn bookshelf."

After an hour (yes, only an hour) I tired of translating Gabe's actions into words mainly because Josh wailed half the afternoon from a little body full of vaccinations.

While these two's are full of exploratory mischief, they're also littered with moments of sweet tenderness. For example:

• Last week Gabe played with some friends of his (and their saintly mother) while I ran an errand. As we drove home, I asked Gabe my normal questions --- "did you have fun?" "what did you do?", etc. When I asked what he did, he responded with, "I missed you."
• Today he crawled up on the bed to kiss a sleeping Josh (this is not unusual in and of itself) and he said. "I love Josh." After a moment or two, he looked at me and said, "And I love you, mom".
• A few days ago, I wanted to take Gabe and Josh to the store and was feeling frazzled b/c Josh was upset and Gabe and I did not have the same agenda (meaning, he was dawdling and I was in a hurry). I finally picked Gabe up so I could just put him in the car myself, and he looked at me calmly with a hint of confusion and more than a hint of concern and said, "It's all right mom." Then he patted me on the back and said "It's all right" a few more times.
• We've been running most mornings for the last week and Josh and Gabe sit side by side in my new running stroller (thank you Hector and Marguerite). One day, Josh was having a hard time with this arrangement, but calmed down pretty quickly. When I glanced down to see why he had calmed down, Gabe had his finger in Josh's mouth and was letting him suck on it (a trick I showed him a few days prior).

At the end of the day, I'd say the sweet moments are worth the exploration-of-boundaries moments.

Lots of love

We had lots of family in town over the last couple weeks and it's been so fun!

3 Generations --- Grandpa, Daughter/Mom, Boys

LOTS of family came in town for Josh's blessing. What a blessing to have such a strong support network.

The men that participated in the blessing. Again - we're so blessed to have a strong support network.

My wonderful parents drove all the way from Utah for the weekend festivities.

Grandma with the kids.

First drum set.

SMILES!!!

Rock star Josh. He likes to sport the Mohawk look these days.

Parenting

I am working on a post with pictures. But I've thought a lot about parenting in the last --- well - two years - but a lot more in the recent months. This video really touched me and reminded me the importance of truly BEING with my children. How often do I just get down on the floor with Gabe and play? Or take the time to sit and coo and smile at Joshua? Probably not often enough!!

Cousin Love

Claire and Gabe, March 2010
1 point for Claire

Gabe and Claire, August 2010
1 point for Gabe

Are Iris and Joshua gearing up for the same rivalry?

Waveland, Mississippi

A typical Sunday evening at hotel Garcia, Metairie, LA

Kids y Abuelos

We went to Houston this weekend to see Caroline, David, Elijah, Claire, Iris, and the ever-hospitable Schmidt family. Here's a picture of Caroline and I and the kids. Iris and Joshua are 4 days apart. (Yes, Gabe and Claire are also quite close in age - they were born 3 days apart.)

Gabe wants to be like Brian in every way - including how he puts on shoes.

And more pictures of the noise-box sleeping. Doesn't he look calm and serene? You would never guess at the grunts, squeaks, and other indescribable noises he produces while in slumber.