This was sent to me from one of our Adoption agencies. For all you Mom's out there that felt overwhelmed at Christmas, or any other old day of the year:



Twas the night before Christmas, when all thru the abode
Only one creature was stirring, she was cleaning the commode.
The children were finally sleeping, all snug in their beds,
while visions of Nintendo 64 & Barbie flipped through their heads.

The dad was snoring in front of the TV,
with a half-constructed bicycle propped on his knee.
So only the mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter,
which made her sigh, "Now what is the matter?"

With toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand,
She descended the stairs, & saw the old man.
He was covered with ashes & soot, which fell with a shrug,
"Oh great," muttered the mom, "Now I have to clean the rug."

"Ho Ho Ho!" cried Santa, "I'm glad you're awake."
"your gift was especially difficult to make."
"Thanks, Santa, but all I that I want is time alone."
"Exactly!" he chuckled, "So, I've made you a clone."

"A clone?" she muttered, "What good is that?"
"Run along, Santa, I've no time for chit chat."
Then out walked the clone - The mother's twin,
Same hair, same eyes, same double chin.

"She'll cook, she'll dust, she'll mop every mess.
You'll relax, take it easy, watch The Young & The Restless."
"Fantastic!" the mom cheered. "My dream has come true!"
"I'll shop, I'll read, I'll sleep a night through!"

From the room above, the youngest did fret.
"Mommy?! Come quickly, I'm scared & I'm wet."
The clone replied, "I'm coming, sweetheart."
"Hey," the mom smiled, "She sure knows her part."

The clone changed the small one & hummed him a tune,
as she bundled the child in a blanket cocoon.
"You're the best mommy ever. I really love you."
The clone smiled & sighed, "And I love you, too."

The mom frowned & said, "Sorry, Santa, no deal."
That's my child's LOVE she is trying to steal."
Smiling wisely Santa said, "To me it is clear,
Only one loving mother is needed here."

The mom kissed her child & tucked her in bed.
"Thank You, Santa, for clearing my head.
I sometimes forget, it won't be very long,
when they'll be too old for my cradle & song."

The clock on the mantle began to chime.
Santa whispered to the clone, "It works every time."
With the clone by his side, Santa said "Goodnight.
Merry Christmas, dear Mom, You will be all right."



- Deanna Sinclair, the Mom of Twins


What a lesson in that. It's all worth it. No one can take the place of a Mommy. We are so blessed to form our children into the people they are going to be. We cannot take it lightly and we cannot take it for granted.

Christmas Recap

My apologies for not blogging sooner! It has been a busy busy busy last couple of weeks. We had Gabey's first Christmas and it was just wonderful. Other than him having a cold and later a fever, it couldn't have been better. Instead of the nickname "Baby Mo" from Papa Noisy, his nickname should be "Baby Bow"! He wanted ALL of the bows off of everyone's presents! See below:

Gabe also got to hang out with his second cousin, Hailey (Mommy's cousin Steph's baby). The two of them played well together. It was so cute to see Hailey talking!

Our Christmas Family Photo taken at the Farm:

The Cousins at Nana & Papa's house:

Every year, Nana has "Santa" (a good friend of the family - sshhh...) come out to the house to bring the kids some presents that she had picked up. This year all of the kids got books. Gabe was scared of Santa, so I had to hold him in order to get close! It is so cool that Greg's mom does this. I love that the kids will always remember Santa coming to visit them early on Christmas Eve.

Gabe did A LOT of walking on Christmas Eve as well as at my parents' house. It was so adorable! Here, Daddy is helping him get to a present:



Gabe was getting really tired from his cold, but we had to read the Christmas story. This is another thing I love about Christmas Eve. We used to attend the Christmas Eve service at our local church. We no longer attend that church, but one of the things we really miss is having a place close by to go to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. So, now we try and do something each year, whether it's reading the Christmas story, reading the Nativity from the Bible, etc... I am so glad we are allowing this special time.



Finally, here is a picture of the Baby's First Christmas ornament I bought Gabe and the handprint ornament we made with him. Hanging those ornaments on the tree will always be a special moment for me in future years.

My greatest Christmas blessing this year has been being Gabe's Mom.

2007 has been a wonderful year. Blessings you to and your families for a wonderful 2008.

The Stinker Chronicles

Look at this little stinker! It's becoming more and more difficult to get good photos of this little guy! He knows when he sees the camera and video camera that Momma's on a mission. Ain't he cute though?

I'm so looking forward to Christmas. I'm going to take a lot of pictures this year! I'm running out of photos for the blog, so I'd better get crackin'!

From all of us here at Gabe's Mom, Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

Ok, I'm a dork. I just realized something... This is our first year as Santa Claus! What a weird thing. I mean, I'm used to MY parents being Santa. What do we need to do? Get up at 1:00 am? Stay up until 11:00? Do we eat all of the cookies and drink all of the milk? Do we disguise our handwriting on the note back from Santa? Oh My! I guess we'll figure it out like all those parents from the past who have tricked their kids! At least we kinda have a practice year to get it figured out! Gabe's so little, he won't remember if we don't get it exactly right the first time...

I can't believe we're Santa. I know one thing... Mrs. Claus gets the cookies!!

Another moment brought to you by Gabe's Mom... One of "those" special moments you just can't wait for when waiting to have a child. To all of you moms out there who are waiting for a child this Christmas, believe me, it's worth every moment and when your dreams finally come true, you'll say that you'd wait all over again. I spent many Christmases waiting for a child. Believe me, you will have your Christmas miracle some day. This year, I've got mine.

Traditions

Ok, so I know wrapping presents isn't really a tradition specific to our family, but it was one of "those moments" you wait for when desiring to become a parent. We didn't have power yesterday because some of the electrical in our house was being fixed - or torn out - long story... So, we decided to wrap presents! It was too fun.

The little boy who won't wear a hat, sat around with a green bow on his head the entire time.

Yes, little Gabey, you are a gift!!!

So, this special moment prompted me to name some of our family traditions:

Greg's Family

• Christmas Cookies & Baking Day
• National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation must be viewed on Thanksgiving
• Kirby Kisses
• Christmas Eve - our designated time to celebrate Christmas together
• Fondue
• Celebrating Nana's birthday at Jay & Missy's Christmas day - unfortunately Greg and I don't ever make it to this ... we have my family's side's Christmas then.

Bri's Family

• Breakfast Casserole
• Staying the night Christmas Eve - although now that we have our family, we will stay at home and spend Christmas morning with Gabe under our own tree
• White Elephant Gift Games
• Grandma Chambers' pink jello & Aunt Margaret's Mona's Ravioli

To think that Gabe is going to grow up with these memories just warms my heart. I am so happy that he has three families (ours and his birth family) that love him so much. Speaking of his birth family, we will be getting together in January to celebrate Christmas and Gabe's first birthday. According to the arrangement we made, visits were to occur every 3 months and one phone call per month for the first year. Because we enjoy spending time together, we've decided to just keep that arrangement as long as it continues to work out for both families.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I'm so glad that we've decided to have an open adoption. I think about Gabe's birthmom every single day. I do. I always wonder, "what is she doing right now?" "Is she missing him right now?" I feel so much better knowing that she's doing ok. I don't think I could bear not knowing what happened to the special, brave woman who allowed us to be her child's parents.

Well, "somebody" just woke up from his nap. I'd better go get the little boy that puts a smile on my face every single day.

Gabe's Mom on Flickr!

Yes, yes it's true... I have finally gotten a Flickr account! Oooooh, Gabe's Mom LOVES Flickr. Please check it out! I will be periodically adding photos there.

My favorite thing about Flickr? You can search for photos you'd like to see... Type in Christmas tree and BAM! You have 8,937 (I made that # up) results of Christmas tree photos!

My least favorite thing about Flickr? I spend WAY too much time on this site. There are so many wonderful pictures to look at! If you need pose ideas, they're on there. If you need instructions on how to take a certain kind of photo that you find, I've seen that too!

So, go, explore Flickr!!

Oh yeah... This blog is about Gabe...:

Ok, so a co-worker of mine bought Gabe this absolutely adorable, soft robe when he was born and he's just now fitting into it. So, I thought I'd get some cute, after bathtime pics of the little guy. He was not having it. Every time I tried to get a picture, he'd pull at the robe to take it off, start crawling away, or just put his back to me... as you can see from this photo. I guess he's reached the age where I can't pose him anymore! Dang! I'm going to have to improve on my action shots if I'm going to keep up with a soon to be toddler!

He's just too cute. I love this little man.

Just Gabe

Ever since Gabe was really, really little, every time he had a bottle he would rub his ears. He still does this. Now, he multi-tasks - he holds the bottle with one hand and skillfully switches hands when the other ear needs a rubbing. It is still just as cute now as it was then. Caleb's Mommy suggested that I get photos of this, and I just had to. I don't want to ever forget this little "just Gabe detail".

He has recently discovered that he can pull my earrings out of my ears.

Every once in a while, he will reach up and grab my ears or his daddy's ears for comfort. In doing that, he has found my earrings. I have lost every earring that I've put in my left ear. I have no idea where they are going. I always check Gabe just to make sure he hasn't grabbed them, but he never has them. They just disappear.

So, on my Christmas list this year, I told my hubby, new earrings, PLEASE!

One Small Step for Baby...

As a birthday present for Daddy, Gabe took 3 steps today! Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We both love you very much!

You have been a wonderful father, friend, and spouse. We are so blessed to be your family!


Gabe has a great Daddy.

Baking Day

Yesterday was our 2nd Annual baking day at my in laws' house. We had a lot of fun! Sugar cookies were decorated, Kirby kisses, Magic Bars, Muffins, Thumbprints, and more were made. Gabe played with his dad and uncles while the girls were busy cooking away in the kitchen. We had a great time and I am already looking forward to next year!

Uncle Jeff was wearing a Santa hat, so I tried to put it on Gabe to get a picture. It was tough. He kept taking the hat off. But, I got this one and I'm thrilled with it! Its just one of those moments. I think this picture will always be one of my favorites. I love this little guy more and more everyday. Today he has just been so much fun. He's got such a wonderful personality.

Well, I should go now... gotta get back to cleaning while this little one is taking his nap.

Little Snowflake

Yep, that he is... one of a kind. Ok, probably shouldn't have done this, but I took the baby - 10 1/2 month old baby - out in the snow for pictures! Ummm...yes, I have a problem! My only defense: I love photography and I love this little guy! The only way I'm going to get better at photography and at Photoshop is to keep practicing, right?

Here, Gabe is cautiously checking out this stuff called snow while Daddy is holding him steady. Just recently, he has started standing without holding on to any support. Last night he stood for like 10 seconds! It was amazing and weird at the same time! I couldn't believe he was actually standing! I'm so used to seeing him attached to something else, holding on for dear life.

I talked with Gabe's birth mom last night and we're going to try and get together for another visit in January to celebrate Christmas and Gabe's birthday. It was so nice to talk with her. We talked for nearly 25 minutes and it was great to catch up.

Well, I'd better go... my baby has NOT been napping well lately. He rubs his eyes and he's so tired, but none of the "no fail" get baby to sleep methods are working. It's been really frustrating. I know he's tired, but he won't give in. To much to do and too much to see!

Christmastime & New Tricks

When we got married, we received a boxed ornament set from one of our dear friends. We have made it a tradition that every year we put this entire box of ornaments on the tree. At first when I saw them, I honestly thought they were a little gawdy. But then, after putting them on the tree the first year, I knew they had to go up every year. I love them.

This ornament features one of our favorite singers, The Chairman of the Board, Mr. Frank Sinatra. Greg and I love his music, so we have started collecting these ornaments. Each one of them plays a different Sinatra tune. This one happens to play my favorite..."Fly Me to the Moon".

And this year, we are adding a new ornament to the tree... Baby's first Christmas. By far, my favorite. This precious ornament was a gift from my parents. I absolutely love it. Merry Christmas, dear little one.

Why a picture of my baby's cute little piggies?? Well, my curious, smart little one has learned a new trick... get ready for it... Here it is:
He likes to play with the CD player! His favorite thing to do is turn the volume all the way up and then sit and wait for me to turn it down. Then, he turns it up again, and I turn it down.... This has become quite the game. Sure, I could put it up, but it keeps him entertained while I'm busy blogging...

I can't wait to spend the holidays with this little bugger... He's truly changed my life and brought so much joy into it.