2 Part Post - Jinx & Kicking

Jinx & Gabe. They are quite the pair. This is a very rare photo opportunity here. Normally, if Jinxi is laying down on the couch or chair, Gabe is right up in her face either trying to kiss her, tease her with a pretzel or cookie, or trying to get her to kiss him. He loves to antagonize this dog. Most of the time, Jinxi is pretty cool about it and just gets up from her comfy spot on the couch and flops down somewhere else. This morning though, Gabe and Jinxi were actually watching The Lion King together.

I love the look on Jinxi's face here - it's almost like, "If I can't beat him, I might as well join him". Either that or, "Not Lion King... Again...".

Poor dog. I know I've mentioned this before, but she used to be the baby. She used to get all the snuggle time in the world. Now, it just seems like she lays low until 8:00, and as soon as Gabe's in bed, she's up on my lap. I love this ol' dog. She's been a great member of the family.

Tomorrow night, Gabe's birth family is coming over for our Christmas/Gabe's Birthday visit. I'm very excited to see them. Gabe is too! Tonight before bed, we looked at the photo of all of us in his room and pointed everyone out. I didn't even have to remind him of their names... he did a great job. I also asked him who was coming over tomorrow and he gave their names! It was so cute... He said, "No kick M. & J.". He's on this kick lately (pun intended!) of telling us who he's not going to kick. Today, he told me "No kick church". A lot of times, when I'm on the way home from work, I'll call to talk to him and Greg. Here's how the conversation goes:

Gabe: Hi Mommy!
Me: Hi Buddy, how was your day?
Gabe: Baby no kick Will.
Me: No, we don't kick our friends.
Gabe: Baby no kick Patrick.

And on and on... I swear we go through Abbas and Papas, the babysitter, just about everybody he knows. I guess it's good that he knows he shouldn't kick... Sometimes he'll say, "Baby kick Will" or whoever. We just remind him not to kick anybody... and then we do it all over again multiple times a day!

Campin'!

We went on our first camping trip this weekend and it was definitely unforgettable! Friday, Greg took off work at noon and came home so we could start getting ready. I never realized how much work it is to prepare the camper, pack the food, pack the bedding, etc... For years, my parents did this for us kids and until now, I never realized what a big job it is. We got out to the campground a little later than we'd hoped due to not having the battery charged enough, but that wasn't a big deal... just a little frustrating at the time. Greg and his dad got the camper backed into our spot relatively easily, so that was good too. We had some trouble right away though, when we found out that the air conditioning wasn't working. This was not good news for me & Gabe! We both have similar heat tolerance issues!

Gabe & his "funny face".

Campin' breakfast - Pancakes & Sausage

(& Ketchup - Gabe'll eat anything with ketchup on it)

Long story short, Gabe and I went back home to sleep (thankfully we are not very far at all from the campground) and Greg stayed at the campsite with the repairman until 12:30. Then, Gabe's Dad was up really early because he couldn't sleep. We all headed back to the campground yesterday morning and enjoyed a delicious breakfast of pancakes and sausage that Gabe's Dad made. We spent a lot of the day inside the camper playing with Gabe, watching Toy Story, organizing the camper (Greg's parents had furnished the camper and we took some time putting things where we knew we'd find them). Once it cooled off in the late afternoon, we took Gabe to an awesome playground area that was perfect for toddlers. He had a great time but was totally worn out!

Gabe had a blast emptying Jinxi's water dish - onto himself.

After Gabers went to bed, Greg and I enjoyed an awesome campfire and a spectacular sunset. We had the opportunity to just sit and talk - he on his laptop and me playing my handheld Yahtzee game. Greg had music playing lightly and we just sat and talked. Since becoming parents - especially parents to a toddler - our relationship has kinda been put on the back burner. Often times, there isn't time for "us" anymore. So, it was really nice to just sit and talk - to rediscover my best friend. We absolutely crashed once we turned in (with the air conditioning set REALLY COLD) and had a great night's sleep. Gabe was so worn out that he slept all night too. Camping sleep is great.

So, were we roughing it? Ummmm.... air conditioning, laptops, Yahtzee, well.... Maybe not, but hey, if you don't have to, why do it? We had a fantastic weekend as a family and I am so looking forward to many more trips like this one.

PS to Gabe's Dad: Are you cooking something?
PS to Julia: Happy Birthday, Nutroll!

Julia Marie - 7 years old

The Cousins: Katie, Gabe, Braden, & Julia

Behind

I'm really far behind right now. There are so many new things that Gabers has been doing. One of the funniest things is he says "Uh Oh, Spaghettio!" Except it comes out like "Duh oh, Dada!" He also says "Oh, Big tractor!" But, it comes out like, "OH, Dactur!" It's just the cutest thing. In fact, the other night, we had to call both sets of grandparents just to have them listen to him talk. Papa Smith got a big kick out of "Dactur". He also says "I love you" and that comes out as "Dah Doo". I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing that. It really is just the most precious thing.

We're getting our Gabers back. He's been behaving a lot better than he was. He is still having some behavior issues, but at least now we feel like it's just normal behavior - that he's not sick or anything. He had a fever last week when the tantrums were going on, so we think he just wasn't feeling the best. Poor guy. They don't know how to express themselves at this age, so they kinda throw these little fits. I guess if I was trying to tell people I didn't feel good and they didn't get it, I'd probably throw a fit too!

We have just really been enjoying watching him do all of these new things. He's so funny. He's recently learned his colors - this totally shocked me! He will point to the wrong color when you ask him to point to one and then he'll laugh because he knows its the wrong answer! How smart is this kid! He definitely has his Daddy's sense of humor and mischieviousness! It's so funny how I can see a lot of Greg in his personality. He's smart, funny, a prankster, and gentle. If Jinxi's laying down, he'll come up to her and just give her a hug. Adorable!

Well, I've got a busy couple of days coming up... I'd better head to bed! Ok, one more picture... if you insist...

PS: Yes, we did have him on the train tracks... I hope this doesn't show bad parenting skills... We do have good listening skills. He was completely safe!

A Dog's Life

Do you ever think about what a dog thinks about when there's a baby in the house? Not just any baby, but a Gabey baby? A baby that likes to "ride" Jinx when ever she's sitting. A baby that likes to pull on her ears. A baby that doesn't ever let her just sleep?

I feel bad. Guilty is more like it. We have not been good about giving Jinxi some undivided attention. She used to be "it". I mean, before we had a child, while we were going through infertility, she was really a comfort to us. She filled a void that we felt. I remember one night after our miscarriage, Greg didn't know it, but I went in the nursery, laid on the floor and just cried. I cried and cried. Jinxi came in there and laid right next to me. Just thinking about her loyalty and her empathy, well, it makes me feel guilty.

This poor dog has had her world turned upside down. For the most part, she is handling it very well, with only the occasional snip, but it has to be hard.

I love this dog. She has been a part of our family. She has comforted us, she has brought us laughter, and she has loved us, unconditionally. Maybe we need to remember that more often.