Happy Easter '08!!

As good as Gabe did at Christams we had to take him back to have his picture taken with the Easter Bunny!!! This we are going to do every year whether he is screaming or smiling it's just nice to have.

We had a super fun Easter and I know the older Gabe gets the more fun it will be!! We did get him some tubby toys and some new books in his Easter basket.

The tubby toys were very needed so that was good!!! We are also trying to read more to him and these were some great Christian stories.

On Easter we go to Grammie and Papa's because they have the best yard for hunting eggs!!!

Gigi and I made matching outfits for all the kids and they looked adorable. Out of all the pictures everyone took so far I haven't seen a picture where all the kids are looking at the same time.

We had a really nice lunch and relaxed for a while before hunting eggs. Uncle Andy and Aunt Angel gave Gabe a new froggy book that he really likes!! Grammie and Papa also gave the kids an Easter book, bubbles and some eggs with candy in them. Gigi and Pop Pop gave all the kids new Easter baskets, Gabe got a turtle with some new trucks and candy.

Gabe hunted eggs and actually found 3 eggs. He will do better next year!!

It was just a really great day and we all had tons of fun!!

These are a bunch of cute pictures I had that I just had to put on. Emma is just so sweet looking in these pictures!!!

Good Friday a.k.a Gigi Camp

On Thursday night Charles came home with Pop Pop for a two night sleepover so Gigi took Friday off and had all the kids over for what Angela referred to as Gigi Camp. The kids had so much fun all getting to play together and Gigi had a full morning of activities!! I made a bunch of collages because there were just so many cute pictures I wanted to put on!!

First thing was egg coloring and they liked doing that. Emma and Charles were the only ones who could do much of it but Gabe did watch me color eggs for him. Next year he will be right in there with the rest of them. After that we had to blow up the pool Gigi bought and the kids were very impatient while that happened.

We then went in and let the kids all make their own Bunny Cakes and they all turned out so adorable!!! Next year we know that the Mommy's have to ice the cakes ahead of time because the kids were very anxious to start decorating. Gabe's bunny had lots of jelly beans mostly because Mommy loves the Starburst jelly beans!!!

We had extra cupcakes so we iced all the big kids a cupcake to have after their lunch. We had a picnic on the deck, grilled hot dogs and mac-n-cheese!!! We had the kids ready for the pool because we knew they would be filthy. All the kids had their own way of eating the cupcakes and it was so funny. Emma liked licking the icing, Charles would pick it off and then Gabe just shoved the whole thing in his face!!!

Then they all played in the pool, it was a big shark with a sprinkler on the shark head. Charles and Emma loved playing in the sprinkler and Gabe liked the pool better when the sprinkler was off. They all had a great day and hopefully this will be a tradition!!!

9 months old

WOW!!! He has now been out about as long as he was in!!! Look how cute he is!!!

I know I say the same thing every month but I can't believe how fast time has flown by, he is really growing up fast!! I don't have his weight and height update because he doesn't go to the doctor till next Wed. after that I will post them.

Taking his picture in the glider is nearly impossible now so I do the best I can and do still end up with some really great ones.

Well yesterday was a big break through in walking!!! He has taken a couple steps but never more than one till yesterday. He let go and took 4-5 steps about 6 times yesterday afternoon!!!!

I was so excited and couldn't believe it, he's only 9 months!!!! Gigi came by after work and he walked for her, then when Daddy got home he did it for him a couple times too!!

He also really loves to talk and likes to tell me when I make him mad. He will scream when I tell him "no" and pitches fits. He loves saying "momma", "dada" and "baba"!!! He also growls a lot it is really hilarious!!!

He loves giving kisses and they are wonderful and slobbery!! He started waving on Saturday and it is adorable. I will be working on getting him on video walking and waving this week!!! That was a picture when he was waving, I didn't have the video camera that day.

He also likes taking his diaper off now and I got a picture of it that one day I won't put on the blog. I am sure I am forgetting things but I will put anything I don't remember now on when I update with his measurements.

Spring Training

Last Saturday was our first spring training game and we had a lot of fun!!

We had to wake Gabe up from his nap to go so I was worried what kind of mood he would be in, but he loved it!!!

Uncle Alex and Pop Pop came to the game as well. We like to sit out on the berm (which is the grass for those that don't know) so that we have room to stretch out and Mommy can get some sun. Gabe liked being able to crawl around on the grass and play with his toys. The sun definitely wore him out and he ended up taking a little nap on Pop Pop.

It was just a really fun day hanging out as a family and enjoying the thing that Daddy loves the most next to Gabe and I!!
There are going to be many more games for us this month!!

Here is Gabe with his Uncle Alex, so cute!!

Learning new things...

Every day it's something new with Gabe, he is constantly learning new thing!!

I still can't believe how good Gabe has gotten at walking!!
The best walking is with his hippo but also does really well going sideways along the furniture.

I really wondered how long it would take him to figure out how to pull the dvds off the tower and the time has come. He would always stand up at it and try but couldn't figure out how to pull them from the top to get them down. I have only let him do it a couple times and that is going to be it, with nearly 150 dvds on it, i refuse to pick them up behind him everyday!!!

That is one of our beautiful end tables in our living room that my Papa Bates built for us. Gabe always wanted to get to whatever is on the shelf underneath but eventually he decided he could crawl up onto the shelf and sit on it. He will sit there until he falls over!!! He leans up against the love seat until it moves enough that he falls in between them and gets stuck. It is really funny but also not funny because he gets furious when it does happen!!!

He also has found the dog bowls and loves to splash in the water!!!!
If the bowl still has food in it be will pick up a hand full and then just stare at the food. I am sure if I left him alone with it long enough he would try some!!!

Then there is the pulling the diaper bag down and playing with everything he finds in it!!

This is just a really hilarious video of Gabe and Daddy playing with Foxy!!!