Finally Gabriel's Birthday

This is my Gabey Baby. He's a nut. Yes, of course a Buckeye, but also just a nut in general. He says the funniest things, he has a wacky sense of style, and everything is all in with him. 

I'd be lost without his bear hugs, his crazy questions, his constant chatter. Last week while in the bathroom he tells me he needs me to call Dad. He chatters on about how Dad just needs to come home early today. When I ask him what he needs, he just tells me that he has a few more important questions to ask him. I tell him he can ask me, but Gabe insists only Dad knows the answers to his questions. The boy is only three. I know I'm in for it as he gets older.

For weeks I heard of nothing else but his Fire truck party. His cousins had both had fabulous parties, one monster themed and the other school bus themed. Gabe decided then he was having a firetruck party and talked of nothing else for weeks. Every day I was asked if it was his party yet. The day finally came and he had his fire truck party. Then a few days later he was asked by a friend how his party was. He responded in typical Gabriel fashion and began, "The problem was..." then went into a monologue about how he had to share his party with Peter. Oy that kid...

On his actual birthday he got his own cake. I even tweaked my frosting recipe to make it peanut butter flavored. I think it was a hit and he didn't even have to share it.

For Christmas Gabe wanted Buzz Lightyear, then for his birthday he wanted Woody. We watched Toy Story 3 last night and I couldn't help but see my little guy in the character Andy. It made me think how quickly time will fly. On those days where his little boy antics wear me out, I needed the reminder that one day I will miss them. So today I gave him an extra big bear hug.

Happy third birthday little guy!

Friday Funny

Or at least mildly amusing to my probably poor sense of humor...

After the five oldest leave for school, most days we come home and I try to do as much housework as possible. Some days I nurse the baby endlessly (it is amazing how even though this is my fifth nursing baby I am still surprised how much my day is consumed feeding her). Other days I run errands while I have fewer to load and unload. On rare days I chuck it all and take the kids for a walk.

On our walks I often wish I had the foresight to give the name Paul to our little Gabriel. That way when those passing by told me my hands were full and asked their names I could tell them I was walking Peter, Paul, and Mary :)

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

I'll let you decide which one is the Butcher, Baker, and Candle Stick Maker...

Wordless Wednesday

Lasagna and Chocolate Pudding-- A Deadly Combination 

My Baby is Two

*Although not the baby for long, he will always be my Gabey Baby...

Gabriel's birthday caught me unprepared again this year. First trimester fatigue (which should be going away any day now), my dad's 60th birthday last week (again no blog post), and just the busy-ness that comes with a family of soon to be eight children left me scrambling to pull together a birthday. Thankfully, all our little two-year old was concerned with was a cake and maybe a present. While everyone else got their much needed Sunday nap, I went out at the last minute and got a cake and attempted to find a fitting present.  My Gabe is a balloon lover, but after last week's fiasco I decided to forego the balloons this time.

Little Gabriel brings such joy to our home. His smile lights up the room. He recently has taken to wanting me to hold him on the couch. He hugs tighter, pinches harder, and smiles bigger than any two-year old I know. He has a way of giving orders to his siblings that make them actually want to do what he says, I think he has us all under his spell.

He's my little airplane lover. While Joseph is a wheels kind of boy, Gabe is a wings sort of boy. He loves to read books and to run, run, run. I have a feeling he'll be the one to watch sports with me as last week we were watching a sports clip on the Internet, when it was over he continued to ask for more game, more game. He is also relentless in any request. He'll ask over and over and over again until he gets his way.

Two years have certainly passed so very quickly. Two wonderful and exhausting years with boys. How blessed we are!

The Kind of Day I'm Having

Every now and then we have one of those days around here. I admit they have been less frequent than a year or two ago, but things have been on a crescendo and I knew the day was coming. Dh has had to get up for the early Mass the last two days. The boys simply do not sleep through Dad getting ready in the morning, no matter how quiet he tries to be. So the last two days they have woken up more than an hour earlier than normal. Then naps were thrown off yesterday because they were both so tired. Mom, too, is still suffering from early pregnancy fatigue and is bone tired. I need a nap.

Then this morning hit. When dh called at 7:15 I had already had it up to my ears. Gabriel was overtired and would cry, or scream, or whine every time Joseph came within three feet of him. Joseph can of course sense this and hones in on the scent. My nerves were shot. Then shortly after breakfast they were caught with markers, hiding behind the rocker writing on the walls. OY!

The last straw was when I was summoned to the bathroom to find this:

Boys, seriously only my boys, would think to do this...

Clues

If you find yourself in one of those moments where things are just too quiet...

Chances are you're going to find a mess like this in your living room...

Then you might find yourself in another moment of panic when you can't find the baby -- anywhere!

Just remember to stay calm, remember the alarm hasn't beeped warning of an escapee, no one is crying, swear he was just at your side seconds ago, follow the clues...

And you'll find him

More Mischief

  A face like this must mean mischief, right?

In this case it sure did. It was the smile of conquest. A dare-devil climb that had led to the ultimate prize for a sweet-toothed, quite adventurous, little 17 month old boy-- Mom's basket of peaches.

 He savored his prize-- the whole basketful!

Then, he left this in his wake...

And much to his father's chagrin, he also left this:

To Call or Not To Call

Dh often jokes about the phone calls he gets from me at work. You know the type, the ones where he is diligently working to support our family, the demands and pressures of work exacting all his energy and then I call... AARRGGHH both boys are in the bleach I will be cleaning it up all afternoon... AARRGGHH if I hear two girls bicker for one second longer I'm gonna blow...  AARRGGHH there's a toothbrush in the toilet what do I do... AARRRGGHH such and such appliance broke and I can't do what I need to do.

Today was one of those days. While occupied, I heard quite a thud. Since I didn't hear screams, I assumed all was well. Turns out, all was not well. Our large picture mirror had fallen off the wall and broken, thankfully no one was in the room. I spent lunch sweeping up pieces of it. I thought about calling dh to vent about things falling off the walls, messes that take hours to clean, and little ones who seem to be inexorably drawn to such things when I desperately need them to stay elsewhere. I thought about calling but remembered how frustrated he already was.

I had just gotten off the phone with him. He was frustrated at the news that the Consulate had rejected one of our adoption documents because a staple had fallen out as he was trying to photocopy the document. Yes, because of one little staple we now have to regenerate a document, take it to the bank to be notarized, then take it to the County Clerk for certification of the notary, then take it to the Secretary of State for certification of the County Clerk. After all this, he will have to hire the courier again to walk it into the consulate to get authentication. Needless to say this will take a significant amount of time and money-- all because of one staple.

I thought of all this and quietly cleaned the mirror, put lunch on the table, and went on with my day. Then this happened:

And I really wanted to call. 

Instead, I quickly went to work and bathed two boys, then washed the cans and bottles (did you see the syrup dripping down the bottles?

 Then I mopped the floor.

Dh came home to two freshly bathed boys already in their jammies, a clean kitchen, and a mopped floor. Needless to say, he owes me!

P.S. When dh was reading this post he graciously reminded me of these phone calls too:


AARRGGHH the printer won't work...
AARRGGHH a bird just died at our back door...

Child Prodigy

My dear little Gabe has acquired some new skills.

 

It turns out he is quite the musician. 

If the whole professional rock star thing doesn't work for him though, he'll have his monster computer skills to fall back on.

Wordless Wednesday

Peek-a-Boo Edition

 

Wordless Wednesday

Clean Teeth Edition

Gabe is so excited there were no cavities!

Life in the Danger Zone

“Security is an illusion. Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all.” --Helen Keller

Around here we live life on the edge.
*Now we know how all those fingerprints and smudges got all over the window... Dh had almost gone so far as to accuse me of making them as I watched out the window for him to come home :)

We also take risks.
*A rambunctious two-year old pushing his one-year-old brother in a rickety toy cart through a mine field of misplaced toys and wood furniture, not to mention six other people-- what could possibly go wrong?

Most dangerous of all, though, might be dh with a new mop!
* A mop that steams and came in a box that reads, "Goodbye Dirt, Hello Cleaner Home!"

Yes, we love danger! (and clean floors)

Chores

We start 'em young around here :)

My afternoon plans now include bathing a little boy and cleaning my downstairs bathroom.

1, 2, 3, 4

This morning it occurred to me that right now, for just a few more weeks, I have:

a one year old,

a two year old,

a three year old,

and a four year old.

Both Bophie and Joseph have birthdays coming up so it won't last long, but it's pretty cool when you think about it.

A Day Late

Or a week late... Depending on how you look at it.

I wanted to post a few pictures my very talented little sister took over the weekend when we celebrated Gabriel's birthday, a week late because of the lingering sickness in the house. Then yesterday got away from me. What was to be my Wordless Wednesday is now a Thursday post which means I get to add my commentary, right?

Little Gabe is such a cutie I am not sure I should add anything to these sweet pictures. He is definitely a photogenic little boy, but maybe I'm just biased.


Look at that smile, I don't think it is just me... He's a cutie pie! A cutie pie that is growing much too quickly.
His temperament is as sweet as his smile. Unless, of course, someone is taking away a toy he would like. He also has some fussy moments when he isn't being served food fast enough. I thought it was only teenage boys who would eat you out of house and home, but this little one is very fond of eating. He knows the crinkle of wrappers much too well.

He makes up for it with his cuddling. His sweet kisses melt my heart, until he uses those teeth to bite my cheek. Then I yelp, he laughs, and is lucky that sweet smile keeps him out of trouble.

Wordless Wednesday

Gabe Attempts To Give His Mom a Heart Attack

Happy First Birthday Gabriel

We still have a few flu-bug leftovers, so birthday celebrations are on-hold. Still, it is unbelievable to me that a whole year has gone by since I first held this little one in my arms. I knew when he was born this year would fly past so quickly. I truly tried to savor every moment with this sweet baby. Still, here he is growing too quickly for his old mom.

My sweetie, I say he's a lover not a fighter. He holds onto me tighter, he wants more attention, and still he's almost always pleasant. He is, however, learning to make his will known. As number six he has to have some survival skills. He yells when Joseph tries to snatch his favorite snacks, he clamors at my feet if I stand long enough for him to catch me. Dh says that Gabe has a certain look of satisfaction whenever I pick him up and carry him around the house. He throws his arms in the air in an effort to be tickled. He makes me smile.

Song credits again go to Tia Ciferno. I can't say enough about her Heaven Sent CD.

Time Out

Look at this sweet boy.

Those who know my house, may have guessed he might be sweet but he's not so innocent. They probably recognize that he has not found a cozy spot to nap, but rather was relegated to the "Time-Out" stairs. Some blog followers may recognize the stairs too. They are used quite frequently these days.

Today they were used when that sweet boy waited until I was occupied putting the baby down for a nap. Then that darling boy snuck into my pantry and found the pancake syrup and a paper plate. He then filled the paper plate with syrup, only it wouldn't hold all the syrup. So he let it spill out all over the coffee table, and then he watched as it ran off the coffee table onto the floor (dh, if you are reading this, take a deep breath, then be thankful it was in the piano room and only got onto the wood floor not the carpet, and I managed to clean the whole mess. Also, dh, we could use another bottle of syrup for the wonderful leftover pancakes the kids are looking forward to for breakfast tomorrow.). The syrup looked so good as it made delicate designs on my coffee table that my adorable little son decided to stick both his hands in the plate and try to lap it up. This left him, all his clothes, and the floor, further covered in the sticky mess.

It's a good thing that boy is so darn cute when he sleeps. Otherwise, I might not have been so understanding when less than ten minutes after the syrup incident was cleaned, I found myself cleaning up the brown sugar from his attempts to reorganize my lazy susan. No wonder he fell asleep in time out today, he has spent his fair share of time there.

Since I needed a little bright spot in the day, Gabe decided to flash his best "ham-it-up-the-camera-is-on-me" smile. The cuteness is almost unbearable.
Little Gabe, though, has me wishing for a time out. He is all-Mommy all the time right now. Whenever anyone threatens to take him from my arms he clings to me with two fist fulls of hair, especially the little hairs on the back of the neck. The few times I get him down, he clamors trying to climb up my leg. My only respite comes when he is somewhat placated by food. Then sometimes he just collapses.

They sure are cute when they sleep :)

Gabe's New Motto

Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can sleep.
— Anonymous from the Army and the Fire Service