All is well that Ends Well

Yesterday, Gabe and I walked to the park as a respite from the packing/unpacking that has consumed our lives for the last two weeks. At one point Gabe was climbing up a slide (with an incline of about 2% - it's the toddler slide) and fell, hitting his chin. He cried like crazy for about 30 seconds, but after rinsing his mouth out with water and getting a good look I decided he had merely bit his tongue on both sides and all would be well. He calmed down and insisted on playing more, so off he went. He was a bit cranky on our walk home, which I blamed on the fact that he's used to riding in the car to get anywhere, not walking in the stroller. But after a very short nap and noticing that his tooth was looking a bit funny, I decided to take a better look in his mouth. That's when I realized the park incident caused more injuries than a hurt tongue - he broke his tooth! The crack only manifested itself in the back, with the front face holding the tooth together. I called the pediatric dentist about one minute after they closed and left a message. But we became very good friends with the whole office this afternoon after spending the majority of our day there. Gabe now has one less tooth. Until he's 5 or 6 anyway.

So, Uncle Andrew, next time you ask for that big smile, this is what you'll see...


(minus the drug-induced hangover look)

Leg pits and more

Gabe thinks out loud much of the day and will announce what he's just about to do. This proves quite useful when he plans on hitting someone or getting into some other sort of mischief. During his bath, he'll announce what body part he's about to wash. Tonight he said "leg pit" and I looked over to see what he meant - and there he was washing behind his knees.

And some random pictures from the last few weeks...

Gabe loves when we let him "go on" the website: www.starfall.com. He loves his dad way more though.

He's also taken to helping me bake.

We've taken a couple of trips to NOLA and he's had a ton of fun with cousins, aunts, uncles, GG, and Pops. Unfortunately, I'm terrible at taking the camera out when we're there so we don't have a ton of pictures.

This is Gabe's cousin, Claire. She thought it was really funny I put her bow on her tongue. Sorry Caroline.

Itchy Face

Itchy face + finger painting =

Gabe had just gotten a taste of the paint right before I asked him to smile for this picture. You can see the look of disgust in his eyes, yet he still gave me the "big smile" I asked for. After each picture I took, Gabe ran to me to see the picture. His response each time to the picture: "yucky face".

But he sure got a kick out of it in the mirror.

Excavators, Sibling Class and New Orleans

A new type of utensil...

The sibling class we went to was interesting. Gabe was the youngest there by a couple of years. There were some sweet moments.

And some moments that if they happen in real life may land us on the news.

The shirt Gabe (and Brian) made for Kid B.

Gabe graduated with honors.

We also went to NOLA this weekend for the wedding of some close family friends. The picture below is of our family outside the LDS Baton Rouge Temple, where they were married. (There's your belly shot, Heath!)

GG and Gabe dancing at the reception.

We had a great time in NOLA with lots of family time. Unfortunately, we had such a good time, we didn't get the camera out too much.

Water

New Orleans Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day Weekend, we decided to be tourists in New Orleans, as there are a few things I've never done that I wanted to see/do. Our wonderful friends from MI, Brynt and Sarah Ellis came down to join in on the New Orleans fun. Gabe LOVED them and was so sad when we dropped them off at the airport. (We were sad to see them leave too.)

We did lots while we there - I won't bore everyone with the pictures - but the Street Car, French Quarter, French Market, Beignets, Sno-Balls (Sal's and Hansen's), the Aquarium, Oak Alley, Central Market, the Ferry, and a birthday party for Gabe all made it on the agenda. Below are a few pictures of the fun times on the street car. This obviously was a highlight for Gabe.

Gabe's party included lots of water fun for the kids. Some of the diapers did better than others. I guess there's a reason they make swim diapers.

Gabe wasn't interested in the slice of cake right in front of him, but he sure enjoyed digging into the cake itself.

And what would a party be without presents - and cousins to help open them?

Gabe turns two!

We had a little party for Gabe because he's made it quite successfully through the first two years of life. We are grateful for the little ray of sunshine in our family!