Recent pics and Memorial Day

Here are a some recent pictures of Gabe and then a few of he and Jayce at the pool on Memorial Day! I was excited to actually have a picture of them in matching swimsuits... not a great one, but at least it shows them... It never fails that as soon as I dress them alike, one of them has an accident or spills something all over it before I'm able to get a picture, so hurray for this one!

The one picture of Gabe with someone other than Jayce is of he and his friend Drayton... who is Jayce's good friend Mary Miles' little brother... Mary Miles was in Jayce's 1st little play group and poor Gabe has not really had all the social interaction that Jayce got to have through play dates and even nursery time... but then he does have big bro Jayce to entertain him... Anyhow, he and Drayton like to laugh at each other while Jayce and Mary Miles are playing!

We had a great memorial day with Jay being off work... we got to all go to the pool for a few hours and then came back to rest while Jay played golf and then all went out to the cabin for a big family cookout~ Jayce caught TWO fish out there so was of course thrilled!

On a side note... memorial day.. our church always does a special tribute to the men who have and currently do serve our country and it ALWAYS gets me choked up...it is so powerful... they play the songs for each branch of the armed forces and all those who have served and do serve come forward and it always amazes me just how many people are standing up front before us... these are the people I believe are the most selfless people in the world, willing to sacrifice all to defend our freedom... My dad is a Vietnam veteran, a Marine... and I know that the stories he has told me... and he has only recently been able to talk about his experiences... have almost always brought me to tears... I cannot begin to imagine what he went through, he lost his best friend in the war, and for years could not understand why the Lord had spared his own life... And, after sacrificing all he did to be there, he was literally spat upon when he returned home..Each time I think about this, I want to cry....Regardless of anyone's personal opinions and feelings about whether war is necessary, I cannot for the life of me understand how they could NOT be supportive towards our troops after all they do for us... ANYHOW, not to get off on a tangent... I just wanted to say thanks to all those who have given their lives and been willing to do so for my freedom and especially thanks to my dad! He is my hero.

sweet Jayce

I just wanted to jot down a few things Jayce has been saying and doing lately before I forget...

2 things Jayce says so often these days which I love are...

"tanks mom" (for thanks of course)... and he says it so often...

and he has started calling me "mama" again ever since Gabe has started saying mama... I love it, b/c mom was really sounding way too old... and he actually says mama differently now than he used to, it's like he's trying to mimick the way Gabe says it and it's so cute!

When Jayce prays, it is always so sweet and I am always struck by how simple yet genuine his prayers are... he truly says WHATEVER is on his mind and that's how I think it should be... God wants us to bring it all to Him! It is always a good way for me to find out what's going on in that little head of his when he talks to Jesus... I love it! When Jay is out of town, he will pray for God to bring him home safely and nearly every night he prays for his "cuzzies," for God to keep them safe... the other day during our blessing, he said, God thank you for making our house... and it was actually quite convicting to me that I do not express my gratitude nearly as much as I ought to during my own prayers... It's funny how much I learn each day from a 3 year old...

Jayce is very into calling people... he loves to pick up the phone and hold long conversations with each person in the family... friends too.. and he can't stand for me to be on the phone without letting him talk to whoever is on the line!

Jayce is very considerate these days and I laughed at his conversation with Jay the other morning... Jayce was having breakfast and Jay was leaving for work, Jayce said, "dad, do you want some yogurt with me? NO thanks, Jay replied (as if the man would ever eat yogurt)... Jayce replies... then some waffles dad? No, then some juice? No Jayce? How bout some milk dad? No thanks, how bout a "nana" dad? He wanted to make sure Jay got something in that belly before work!

And, speaking of something in that belly, Jayce's favorite thing to get with daddy these days, other than ice cream, is a biscuit and "bo rounds" from Bojangles... this is often daddy's bribe for getting Jayce going in the morning on school days... maybe this is Jay's way of trying to motivate me to start taking him!

Beach

So, we just got back from a fantastic long weekend at the beach! This was a significant trip for both boys... Gabe's 1st... and Jayce's 1st where he really knew what was "going on"... We skipped last year as I was SO prego and hot already, and just knew it would be rough trying to keep up with 2 year old Jayce! We went with our great friends Jay and Tara and their little boy Wallace (one of Jayce's best friends ever and ever)... The boys had a blast and for the MOST PART got along... we did have to work on sharing quite a bit and monitoring them with the golf clubs... making sure they were hitting the ball rather than each other...

Jayce and Gabe both really enjoyed the beach... Gabe eating sand and Jayce, throwing it, as pictured:)... Gabe enjoyed sitting at the pool watching big brother... thanks by the way Molly for letting me borrow that double stroller (where Gabe is sitting in the pool picture), it was very helpful!

We were really pleasantly surprised at how well they both did traveling... now that Jayce is out of that awkward time where he crawls out of the pack n play and he is used to a real bed, it makes things so much easier... hopefully Gabe will continue to stay in the pack n play as long as Jayce did... we are looking forward to our family vacation in a few weeks at Hilton Head!

Gabe has his 9 month appointment tomorrow and I'll post his stats afterwards... I can't wait to see what he weighs!

Gabe's 1st Beach Trip!

Baby Boy!

Baby Gabe has had 3 great accomplishments in the last 24 hours!

1) Last night, he was up on all fours and crawled forward twice... not very far, but did actually do tnat crawling motion... it won't be long before he's off... I'd better start pulling out the safety locks!

2) This morning, he said MAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have been working on this one for a LONG time! I was feeding him his bananas and oatmeal this morning when he shouted it out! I nearly dropped the bowl! I was SO excited! Then, I began to question myself... did he really say that or did I just THINK he said it when he was really saying something else... but over the course of the day he has said it about 5 more times and Jay and Jayce heard it tonight, so yea!!! It's about time I get some credit around here right?!

3) He REACHED for me! I have been trying to get him to do this forever too and he finally did today! That is the best feeling in the world!

We had a super mother's day Sunday out at the McLaughlin clubhouse... I will post a pic! Jayce, Gabe and daddy gave me a picture with palm trees that I wanted for my den,which I picked out for them, to save them all the headaches of shopping... Jayce also made me a card in Sunday School and Gabe gave me a small plant.. some type of pink lilly that is so cute! What thoughtful teachers they both have! I love mother's day and I LOVE my boys!

If I already wrote this... ignore, I am pretty much brain dead and do not have the time to look back.. but I wanted to be SURE I got this on here because it was so funny... Gabe LOVES to do blow raspberries... the other night, a telemarketer called and he started going crazy blowing the raspberries right in the phone... I just let them talk and pretended nothing was going on... it was quite humorous... they actually didn't seem to mind letting me go that night!

his words

Here are some of the sweet little things Jayce is saying lately...
I wanted to jot them down before I forget.. I know I will think of more soon...

"peanups" for peanuts

"crocodog" for crocodile

EVERYONE who is male and is our friend is "uncle so and so.... Uncle Jason, Uncle Jay.. it goes on and on..at least they are good friends so they hopefully don't mind!

Brothers

Alot of people say that Gabe looks like Jayce...and they do actually look alike to me as babies... although Jayce had a bit more hair than Gabe, and it was darker.... but it was still straight at that point, so I'll be interested to see if Gabe will have curls... here is a picture of them at around the same age...

New Pics!

These and the following 2-3 on the blog are some my friend Christina Grissett took of the boys in our back yard... She has just gotten into photography and is excellent if anyone is looking for someone new! It was so nice because she didn't try to get them to pose so formally, she just caught them doing what they always do, I love these pics! Thanks Christina!

Sweet Boys!

Gabe at 9 months

So baby Gabe is 9 months, so hard to believe... man it won't slow down!

This is a picture my friend Christina took of him...she has just gotten into photography and offered to come to pics of the boys at our house! She is SUPER! IT was the most enjoyable photo session I've ever had... you know how they can be mommies! Anyhow, she is great, I love her work and I LOVE this picture of Gabe because it shows how beautiful Gabriel's blue eyes are! I could stare at them for hours! I would KILL to have his curly eyelashes too, not fair!

Here is what he's up to...still nurses 4-5 times a day... could probably do with less, but I am always afraid he will not nap and then sleep as well if I drop one of those, so I've been hesitant to do that... Does anyone know at one point it should be that I stop feeding him as often? I only nursed Jayce for 4 1/2 months, so I'm kind of clueless in this area... I know for my milk supply he probably still needs at least 4... any suggestions?

eating solids like crazy... usually 2-3 jars a sitting... I do a lot of easy fresh foods with him too like bananas and sweet potatoes, and he is a big fan of these too... I've tried avocados but he literally gags... so I'm not sure he'll be like mommy with those, I love them! He loves pretty much all veggies and fruit so far, except for the avocados and he's not a big fan of green beans or mashed potatoes (which we tried at Red Bone one day when I'd forgotten baby food... does not like them at all)

Gabe is very demanding when it comes to dinner time... when he is in his chair... he will bang his fists on his tray until the next bite comes and say "ahh, ahh, ahh" until it is in his mouth or he becomes full... and this can take a while! I just heard about a great idea from my sister in law, who told me they make special feeders that you can put solids in or that you can put them even in a playtex nurser and cut slits in them so they can suck the food through them...She couldn't believe I had never tried this, I'd never heard of such... but this morning, I did let him have his applesauce this way while I was putting on my makeup for church, and it worked great! So, a new trick that I think will definitely come in handy... tonight, we tried it in his sippy cup and he liked that too, but just had a harder time getting it to come out...

Gabe is SO CLOSE to crawling... he gets up on hands and knees and just rocks and then rolls... he will scoot across the floor on his back really well... it looks so funny!

He rolls like crazy when I'm trying to change him and is so strong, it is getting really hard!

Jay and I weighed him the other day and he was 22.5 lbs, and Jayce was 20 lbs at 1 year, so you can see Gabe is trying to outgrow big bubba!

He STILL won't say mama... the more I say, say mama Gabe... the more he says dada...

My favorite thing Gabe is starting to do is to rest his head on my shoulder, put his thumb in his mouth, and cuddle! I know alot of babies probably do this from the start... but neither of my boys have been rocked to sleep... sounds harsh I know... but I wanted them both to be able to get themselves to sleep, which is SO wonderful... yet I think you then have to miss out on some of that wonderful cuddling... it's a trade off I guess...every time I'd hold him before, he was either eating, or whipping around, trying to see what was going on like a little turtle,or wanting to get down and in his crib, to get himself to sleep...but now, he will be content when he's tired to just rest his head on my shoulder for a few moments and it is the sweetest thing, I love it! And, LOVE being Gabe's mommy!