California Love

So we have been here now for almost a week and we are all finally getting rested again. It seems that with all the fun and excitement coupled with the traveling, we all get very worn out! I am wondering how we are going to handle the trip home! We may just have to crash for a couple of weeks to recuperate.





On Friday we went out to pick up the Christmas tree. Gabriel had never gotten to do that before so we all, kind of, let him pick it out himself. He walked all over the lot searching for the perfect tree. Of course, he liked the biggest ones so we had to direct him to the section that was more in the price range that Mow Mow and Popeye were looking for. I just can't see spending over $100 for a tree that is going to die in a few weeks!



Other than that, we have done a whole lot of nothing. Mow Mow and Popeye were given a ton of Thomas the Tank Engine toys and a play table so many hours have been spent working on that.





Of course, Ah-Ah had to make a smoothie for Gabriel.

Michael has been having a great time as well. He and Ah-Ah are buddies.



Also, Michael pulled up to standing all by himself! Once he got up he looked pretty proud of himself, but then it was like he couldn't hang on much longer and needed someone to rescue him!




We are looking forward to Christmas and New Years and our trips to see family and friends. Also, of course, our trip to Disneyland! We miss our home and friends there, but we are fully enjoying our time with family.

More snow...and ice!!!

So, we've been having many relaxing days inside lately because of temperatures in the teens, snow and ice making going outside pretty difficult for us warm-weather folk. Finally, we had a few good days where we could go out and play for a bit. Today Michael got to be outside for a few minutes and take a quick sled ride with brother Gabriel.

He didn't like the cold too much and a car coming up the road scared him, so his little adventure only lasted a few minutes!


He was much happier in the warmth of the house...poor little guy!

Brother stayed outside for quite a while and got many sled rides from Mow Mow and Dad Dad. The pavement was so icy that they could pull him up and down the driveway and sidewalk without scraping! So much fun! We have had a great time here in Nebraska and will soon be making our next trip to California. We're going to get to thaw out a bit and have some winter and Christmas fun, California style! Stay tuned for more updates from the Golden State.

Gettin' in the spirit!

Fun in Nebraska!

Here's a slideshow of all the fun that we have had so far on our trip. Go the website below. Enjoy!

http://www.rockyou.com/show_my_gallery2.php?instanceid=93539486

SNOW!!!

So today we woke up to snow here in Omaha! I was so excited that I actually went and got Gabriel out of bed to come see! It was actually 8:45 in the morning, and he is usually up more than an hour before that, so I thought it was safe to wake him :) We had a great day just watching in amazement through the windows from the warmth of the house. Gabriel got bundled up and went out to play with Grandma, Grandad and Ranger for a few minutes, too, while I captured some moments on the camera. We then came inside to warm up with coffee and hot chocolate. We truly enjoyed the first snow day of the season!

I love you so.....

....much!

That is the new inside joke that Gabriel and his Grandma have come up with. One of them will say the first part, then the other is supposed to answer with "much". They've been doing it since a few days ago so now he likes to say it to me and Grandad too. He's such a loving little boy and he is starting to become so clever. Sometimes he's so clever that it almost makes you wonder how old he really is...13, 15, 18??? He is definitely very big for his britches!

We've Arrived!

After two tiring plane rides and traveling all day, we finally made it here to Grandma and Grandad's house in Nebraska. I just wanted to report that I am back online now and will continue to post to the blog while we are here. Keep checking back for the next couple of months for updates on our gallavanting across the country.

Motor Skill Update

So, Michael had his follow-up with the physical therapist at the end of last week. She was amazed at his progress...as am I! He is sitting independently now and is rolling around like a little steamroller. He also tries very hard to get toys that are around him and will do whatever he can to get them in his mouth. In three weeks he has transformed into a mover and shaker! We have one more follow-up when we return home, just to make sure that he is still on track. I really think that he just does things a few weeks later than most babies his age, but once he gets around to doing those things he is a very determined little guy!

The Creativity of a Three-Year-Old

Here's a little video of Gabriel and Ranger playing together...well its really Gabriel teasing Ranger, but any attention is good attention for Ranger!
I also thought that I would share Gabriel's incredible ability to clean up his things. Now these pictures look like I was the one who put everything away...but, I promise it was Gabriel! Notice how the folded up table and chairs are lined up so perfectly? He also lined up all his big toys that don't fit in the toy box in a neat little row. I think he possibly got his perfectionism from one of his parents...hmmm maybe both? Ha ha!

What a beautiful sunset.

After two days of rain, this is what God gave us to look at tonight...absolutely amazing!

HALLELUJAH!

IT'S RAINING!!!
Check out how much water is in Gabriel's play table!



Our fountain runneth over.


Here in North Carolina we have been in an exceptional drought all summer. We have had serious water restrictions and have been praying for rain. Yesterday we got about 2 inches and today its been pouring buckets and they were expecting to get 2 more inches before the rain storm is over. This has definitely been a God-send! Praise the Lord!

Another accomplishment!

I still can't believe that Gabriel, our first born, is well on his way to becoming a 4 year old. Although his next birthday is still 6 months away, the things that he is doing now constantly remind me that he is growing up so fast.

What, you say, is the accomplishment that I am speaking of? Gabriel can now give himself a bath! Of course, I am there directing every scrub of the Tow Mater poof and making sure that he is adequately removing the day's grime from his hair, fingernails and such...but, that's still a big accomplishment for a 3 1/2 year old! Since I am able to bathe both kiddos at the same time now, it really helps that while I am cleaning little brother, big brother can kind of take care of himself. He takes so much pride in these little things that he can do for himself. I love to facilitate and sometimes just observe these little victories of my big boy.

Graduated!

Michael has now graduated to the sitting up bathtub! He and brother Gabriel are loving all these things they can do together.

Just thought I would also capture the amazing blue-ness of the little one's eyes. Gabriel also has some very amazing eyes, really dark and a rich brown. I have to admit that I think we have some very handsome little men!

Michael, 6 months

So, we had Michael's 6 month well-baby check the other day. He is now in the 15th percentile in weight and the 70th percentile height! I couldn't believe it...but I knew that after he grew out of his 3-6 month jammies in about 3 weeks, something was going on :)The doctor was a bit concerned about his motor skills. He is borderline on his gross motor skills because he was not really rolling over and couldn't lift his chest off the ground by straightening his arms. He is just a bit better on his fine motor skills, but I think that's just because I keep really small things away from him and don't know whether he would try to pick something like that up. I think he is just more interested in figuring things out by looking, listening and feeling things...not so much on trying to get up and move around. He has always done things a few weeks later than his peers anyway, and just today he did much more rolling around and trying to work for things. So, I have a feeling everything is just fine.


My sweet little baby is growing up :)

Blogs anyone?

So in this day and age I know that many of you out there probably have blogs of your own...If any of you know of any of our friends that have blogs (or if you yourself have a blog), please give us the address. We would love to keep in touch with all the friends that we can!

Random Stuff

Just wanted to catch ya'll up on some things that we've been doing for the past few weeks.

1. Gabriel's obsession: He has a box of cars that he uses to make parking lots on the carpet (parking lots are just a long line of cars all facing the same direction like a row of cars in a parking lot). This is his newest invention...he calls it a "Gabba Gabba". For all of you familiar with the show "Yo, Gabba Gabba" on Nick Jr., please give me your input on why you think he calls it that...I'm perplexed :P



2. More sweetness.



3. Learning to sit! Michael can now sit up all by himself for a few seconds without falling over. If he is a bit supported he can sit for quite awhile and play with toys.



4. Happy Mommy! Gabriel took this picture of me...not bad for a 3 year old :)




5. Mmmmm....coffee!





6. Our new bathing technique...this seems to work really well right now, at least until Michael can sit up by himself in the bath with Gabriel.









We've been well (all except for Mommy's back going out a few weeks ago...we had a lot of help from Auntie Rondi and Mimi Pelikan to help us around the house and get Mommy to the doctor...I'm all better now...just needed to take it really easy for a few weeks). We are planning our future trip to Nebraska and California for the holidays and are very excited to be with family again. Although, we haven't been too lonely lately as we have spent a lot of time with Uncle John's family over at Mimi and Papa Pelikan's house while Uncle John has been home for his R&R from Afghanistan. I just know Aunt Rondi will post a great blog about their time together...wink, wink ;) We pray that all of our friends and family are happy and well!

Some serious cuteness!

So, this looks staged...but, Gabriel actually started singing on his own, so I told him to start over so I could capture it. I'm so proud of my big boy :)

Another milestone!

Guess who slept 10 hours straight last night???



Michael did!!! Yay for Mommy!!!

Ah-Ah was here!!!

It's been a while since we posted last, but I thought I might catch you all up on our goings on around here.

My "little" sister was here for a week at the beginning of the month! She had so much fun spending time with her nephews...reinstating her as the greatest Ah-Ah in the world!



Lot's of fun at the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens



Hunting lizards...look closely...see!?!



Pretty butterflies!

Michael was enjoying the ride.









We also celebrated her 21st birthday while she was here! Happy Birthday Ah-Ah!!!











She tried a margarita...

...It made her have funny faces, so she opted for a non-alcoholic beverage :)



There's so much more that I could share, but this is a good picture of the fun that we had with Ah-Ah. We hope that she'll make her way back here some day ;) We always love when family comes to visit.