Gabe's Point of View

Monday I let Gabe test his skills behind the camera.

He didn't really grasp the behind the camera concept.

A little shaky but better.

Also from Gabe's perspective, when selecting candy the below picture features four options. 

Gabe does this almost every time we let him pick a piece of Halloween candy. He lays out three or four pieces but typically there are duplicates. Then, he stares at his options for a few minutes before he picks one. Silly kid.

Halloween Happenings

October was a lot of fun, though starting November with a sugar hang-over was less than fun. Gabe partook in all the special occasions that come with fall and Halloween; the pumpkin patch, a costume party, carving pumpkins, making caramel apples, and trick-or-treating. I'm pretty confident that this is just a tease for the months ahead.

One evening I came home to Andy and Gabe making caramel apples. Gabe made it his job to dispose of any imperfect candies - by eating them of course.

Last week Gabe and I tried our hand at sugar cookies with orange frosting. He's so pleased with himself when he gets to help Andy or I do anything.

Grandpa and Grandma Holz hosted the annual Halloween Party. We can count on fun games, good food, and excellent company.

Superman came with muscles that Gabe willingly flexed.

Molly Grace was an Egyptian princess, Grandma Holz made her costume from scratch!

My handsome nephews were spies. They dressed in all black with special gadgets, but I'm pretty sure these three will always be hard to miss.

Andy and I dressed up as the 'Happy Couple', it took a lot of prep work.

Though this picture is out of focus, you can still see that Andy and Gabe are having a blast!

Despite the size of his pumpkin, Gabe was adamant that it should be carved. He was happy to help as long as he didn't get dirty.

Sitting with our completed works of art.

I'm pretty sure you can guess whose is whose.

The night of Halloween we walked our neighborhood with our good friends the Brancheaus. You may recall these good looking boys from a fishing expedition in an earlier post.

The lovely lady Gabe can't take his eyes off of it Naomi, she's pretty irresistible. 

Flexing muscles again.

"Up up and away!"

A Trip To The ER

What started as a jammie day in the basement ended with a trip to the ER. Gabe was running laps, throwing balls, and jumping into my arms. All was well until he tripped mid jump and landed with the back of his head on the fireplace hearth. There was an instant gush of blood...not cool.

I'm not sure that I could explain the motives behind my next steps since I wasn't really thinking, but I'm pretty sure I was nervous about getting blood on our new carpet. Despite the why, my first instinct was to grab Gabe, cover the wound with my robe, and rush to the upstairs bathtub where we sat while I called Andy. Mom-of-the-year award! Gabe was pretty calm, and I attempted to keep his face looking down so he wouldn't see the blood ALL OVER his shoulders, back, and me - but once he saw blood on the ball he had managed to hang onto during the entire trauma he became upset. 

Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa Holz live about two blocks away and Andy has a job that he can leave on the drop of an urgent call from his wife. By the time Andy got home, Gabe and I were changed, cleaned, and Gabe was asking to 'go the hosipal for a bambaid", sweet boy.

The first step was to apply a numbing cream with a cotton ball, then secure it with 'Go Husker's' tape.

Gabe acted like he'd never seen a television before, and proceeded to watch thirty minutes of cartoons as if that was our sole reason for the trip.

He only needed one staple, but you can see that about two inches of the fireplace tried to get the best of Gabe. After the hospital we grabbed some lunch then laid down for naps. It's been like nothing happened the rest of the day. Thankfully, since Julie was smart enough to soak my robe, shirt, Gabe's pajamas, several towels, and the bath mat there really is no evidence of the event...except Gabe's head of course.

Unrelated, Gabe's continues to talk A LOT, and says some funny stuff.

For example:

Gabe: "Mama, my bottom hurts."

Me: "Do you need some cream?"

Gabe: "I need a waffle."

Andy: "Gabe, what's your favorite drink?"

Gabe: "I like water, milk, and juice."
Andy: "Pick just one, your favorite."
Gabe: "No, I like three. I like them all."

Gabe: "Mama, I pooped my pants."
Me: "What? How did that happen?!"

Gabe: "It came out by itself!"

Grandma Holz: "Do you want a Halloween party?"

Gabe: "No."

Grandma Holz: "Do you want to wear your costume, eat fun food, play games, and listen to silly songs?"
Gabe: "Yes."

Andy: "Gabe, who are you going to marry?"
Gabe: "Mommy."
Andy: "She's my wife you can't marry her. Who will you marry."
Gabe: "No, no, no, my NEW mommy"

Recently...

...or in the last two months, we've been plugging along. Life feels pretty normal most of the time, with a regular rhythm of errands, meals, appointments, visits to the library, and getting together with friends. But with the change in the season we've added Husker games, a trip to the pumpkin patch, and our church small group has started meeting again.It sounds busy but it's really just evidence of how blessed we are by our community and family.

 In the last weeks of Summer we got together to say goodbye to our dear friends the Hovermales (far left on couch and floor). Kyle, Jess, Gavin and Maddox moved just days after this picture and we miss them! 

 Weeks later when big brother Sam (bottom right on the floor in the above picture) went to his Preschool orientation Gabe and I spend the morning with Anna and Thomas. We had a dance party, read stories, and the best part for Thomas and I was eavesdropping on Anna and Gabe. They sound like an old married couple with poor hearing. They are both talking to the other, but having different conversations and increase their volume when the other doesn't answer correctly.

 We like to pretend that Gabe and Anna will be getting married, in fact that's what Gabe tell us. And when you see pictures like this with Anna staring up at Mr. Gabe it just makes me so happy! (don't worry, we won't push this marriage, but we can pretend). 

 Andy was a groomsmen for the 100th time in late August (just kidding, it's closer to 8). Michael, the groom, has been in our small group for years and Sara, his bride, has been part of our church family for as long. It's such fun for Andy and I to know these people before and after getting married, we love sharing life with them.

 Gabe was able to go fishing with his friends Trevor and Jackson. He LOVES these guys, you might be able to tell from his face. It's also nice for Andy to have a good friend who's boys are so great to Gabe.

 In late September Andy took Gabe to campus on a game day. If you are willing to deal with the crowd and general excitement it's a great place for kids. You don't have to go to the game to enjoy the fun, the outdoor practice field is filled with football blowups, free handouts, and as you see above - balloons. 

Two weeks ago I helped host a conference at our church, it was the culmination of six months of planning and required that I be gone Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. While I was gone my mom sent pictures of Gabe in action, like this...which I believe he calls his 'squish face'.

I have every intention of posting more often, and keeping everyone up-to-date with how life is going. If it's on your mind, we are still waiting to be placed with our next child. This is the wait that many people who adopt experience, and for the most part Andy and I have been doing okay. Unfortunately people keep showing off their cute babies...comeonpeople.

Impressive, Actually, and Other Things Gabe Says

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Gabe has exercised some new behavior since turning three, one major change is that he is A LOT more chatty. Andy and I are generally amused but it's also put me in some tricky situations.

A while back Gabe and I were walking into Walmart when he started excitedly pointing and loudly saying "Mom, pirate! Pirate Mom!". Seemed pretty weird to me until I looked over my shoulder and saw an older man with an eye-patch walking in behind us. Awkward.

More recently, Gabe and I were paying the clerk at the gas station. She was in her early 20's with short hair and a lose fitting uniform. Gabe looked at her, then at me and earnestly asked "Is that a girl?". Ah...more awkward than the pirate as she clearly heard his question.

Typically, Gabe's increase in chatter is simple evidence of his brain growing. He's repeating words he hears us say like 'impressive', 'actually', and 'maybe'. If he runs fast he exclaims "That was impressive!", when correcting me he'll say "Actually, I did wash my hands", and maybe has come in very handy when trying to negotiate; "Maybe we go to the park...maybe we read four books, not three" etc.

He's also saying many harmless but amusing things. 

Gabe: Superman makes webs.

Mom: No, that's Spiderman.

Gabe: No, I said it right, you said it wrong. Superman makes webs.

Mom: Gabe, this book is about daughters. Do I have daughters?

Gabe: No

Mom: Oh, what do I have?

Gabe: A Mr. Gabe

This new ability is helping him to make better sense of things. We hear 'Why?' much more often and clarifying questions,  "What bolted mean?", "Is all girls mommies?", "What letter this?", and on and on. 

This stage is fun, and really forcing me to think before I answer his questions. He's a rule follower and systematic by nature so what we say become unchangeable truth pretty easily. Andy is usually the one pushing the limits, so I often overhear Gabe repeating my instructions to his daddy.  "No, those don't belong in here, those belong there Daddy", and "Daddy, you got to ask before you do that!".

Such a sweet face!