Smith-Nandez Weekend!

So, it's a big weekend! My little sister, Jenny and her fiance, Rene are getting married! I am so looking forward to seeing my little sister marry the man of her dreams. Rene has been a real joy to get to know and I'm very happy to have him as a brother in law. When we ask Gabe who's getting married, he says, "Jenny and Uncle Ney". It's pretty cute.

I'm a little worried about a few things... Um, I have a solo, Gabe's a ringbearer.... and I have no idea how he'll behave, and I don't know what to do about my camera! I certainly want to take it with me to take some pictures, but I don't like a couple of things about that - It's not a camera you can just throw in your purse. I'll need to take my flash. I don't want to be one of those people that's in the photographer's way. Although I love my "big camera" (as most people call it!) It's not always convenient when going on vacation with a kiddo, or going to a wedding. I'm still going to take it, and just deal. :o)

So, it should be a pretty fun weekend. Congratulations, Jenny & Rene! I hope this day is full of wonderful memories!

my reasons for lack of blogging.....

Life as we know it:

• Gabe's Dad gone on 2 week long business trips
• a bachelorette party
• 1 or 2 photography sessions each week
• a toddler full of energy
• processing pictures until I go to bed
• IM's
• Tiredness
• Nonstop at work
• No smoking (never promise something on your kid... especially when life gets stressful!)
• Nearly late to work every morning (I swear Gabe knows when I'm running late)
• 2 weddings down, 2 to go
• Did I mention tiredness?
• Dental appointments

Ok, now there have been some really great things happening too:

• Gabe and I have really been bonding more - cooking together, laughing a lot, reading books (Love You Forever is our favorite right now)
• I'm totally engrossed in the Twilight series and I can't stop reading at night
• Gabe and I have the following conversation:

Me: I'll love you .....

Gabe: Foreber.

Me: I'll like you....

Gabe: for alldays

Me: and as long as I'm living, my....

Gabe: baby we'll be!

Reading this book to my boy nearly makes me cry every time. I always sway him towards that one when he nods his head and says, "Mom, just one more book?" Well, ok.....

My little Gabey, I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, and as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.

All my love,

Mommy.

He's a Firecracker!

Ah, my little pyro. Your Daddy has sure gotten you interested in fireworks! It is really cute to see you with a sparkler, and thankfully, you're still afraid of the big stuff, although tonight, I saw you carrying a Roman candle to Daddy.

I'm in for it.

You've been a little challenging lately as far as obeying... I say one thing and it seems like you want to do the opposite. You're my firecracker! But, you have been really affectionate lately - you've let me hold you, you've given more hugs and kisses. I guess that makes up for the, "No Gabe do it!" and the "No, bad Mommy!" statements I've been hearing lately. :) I love you, boy, but yes, it's been a challenging couple of weeks.

Speaking of "No, Gabe do it!", you STILL talk about yourself in the 3rd person. I think that is so funny! "Gabe go potty!", or "Gabe wants a hotdog for wunch", or "Gabe wike AAAAApple juice". And, speaking of potty, YOU are doing GREAT!! You go into the bathroom by yourself and go as long as you can get your pants, and you ask us when we're in public. You really have been a breeze to potty train. We're still working on #2 and during the night, but daytime, you're "trained"! Way to go big boy! Once you're completely potty-trained, we're getting you a fish tank.

I love you, my little firecracker! You're the light of my life.

Discovery Museum

Last Saturday, we went to the Children's Discovery Museum. That place is like seriously THE coolest place for toddlers. We took McCarthy and some of his family with us and both of the boys had the best time! Here's a picture of me & Gabers taken by our friend, Kenny.

Gabe LOVED being able to "paint the walls" without getting in trouble! He was having a blast making a mess! And, the people that set this up, totally knew kids. I was so impressed with this place.

Little McCarthy Man driving the RED tractor! (We love the red tractors!)

This was Gabe's favorite (we'll forgive him for the green... :). On the inside of this combine was a TV screen that made it look like you were actually harvesting corn. Gabe LOVED pretending he was going off the rows and driving crooked. So, I had to pretend he was driving crazy and say "Woah!". He was just laughing so hard and having the best time!

Here's Gabe and McCarthy in the tractor driving. Notice Gabe's tongue sticking out!

Gabe playing "Operation". This was so cool. They even had a real difibulator that they had made nonfunctional. How cool!?

Gabe and I were playing "store" and I was the cashier. Gradually, all these other kids came up to me and wanted me to "ring them up". It was so cute!

And here we are making a pizza!

Our friends, Whitney & Kenny. Love them guys so much.

So, overall, did we love the Discovery Museum? YES! What a cool place. They put so much thought into it and came up with so many details! I would've been able to spend hours there as a kid... Even as an adult! It was so fun. We will definitely be taking him there again. This could be a cool place to take Gabe with his grandparents to celebrate his adoption anniversary, our celebration of life day.

Had to share this picture.... We've been doing some remodeling and we put Jinxi's food in the spare bedroom. Gabe was being unusually quiet, so I knew something was up. This is what I found:

Look at his sad little face! This was before I even said anything! In fact, I think I was really trying not to laugh!

Witnessing a Big Kid

Just some things I noticed today that tell me I've got a big boy on my hands:

• "Mommy, Please apple juice." (apple juice given) "Tank you".
• "Ah Potty. Ah Pottttttty!!!!!!" -meaning he had to go NOW. He went on the potty chair and peed like a gallon.
• He sat in the stroller for at least an hour walk around town and behaved wonderfully!
• Didn't freak out when he didn't get his way. I was able to calmly talk him out of a potential tantrum.
• Played outside all morning and listened to Mommy when I said graham crackers - not cookies - were the snack and that he had to have his shoes on to go outside.
• He ate his entire soup with a spoon! And, he's drinking out of a big boy cup at meal time.

Isn't this awesome?? Such a great thing. But, kinda sad to see my baby growing up before my eyes! I know, everyone says it will go fast. But this fast?? Geesh. I'm so proud of my little boy today.

Why I love being a parent

As much as I've promised to be a better blogger, lately it just hasn't been happening! I think it's because I really do take a lot of time writing each post I create... revising, adding pictures, etc... I probably could do it faster, but I'm kind of particular. I probably need to get over that.

I've been thinking about this post for a while. What is my favorite thing about being Gabe's Mom? Well, I think after our recent trip to the Shedd Aquarium, I've discovered my answer. I'd have to say my absolute favorite thing about being Gabe's mom is watching him truly enjoying something and having the time of his life. I love seeing him happy. Seeing Gabe enjoy something, or experiencing something new is just the most wonderful thing to witness. He was so happy at the Shedd. He (and his friend, Caleb) were fixed on some of the exhibits and it was difficult to even get them to move on to the next one! I loved seeing the smile on his face and hearing the excited giggles as he saw one of the fish move towards him. Or, when he was delighted as a turtle began to follow his movements from behind the glass. Joy. Pure joy beaming from my son's face.

I am so blessed to experience that! I am so thankful that his birth mom was able to sacrifice moments like these to make the best decision for him. I always remember her when I think about things like this. Yes, she does see him every three months, but she misses out on the day to day experiences that make him smile. She misses out on him learning new things. She misses his big smile when he goes potty on the potty chair.

On the other hand, I guess she is missing out on the not so fun moments too! Tantrums, ah those tantrums, angry hitting when he doesn't get his way, and the runny noses wiped on my shirt....

Oh yes, those moments too! But, I think God gives us those wonderful moments like the new experiences, the hugs goodnight, the "love you too mom"s, and the "play little bit"s to renew us and recharge our batteries when we get weary from the not so fun moments. How amazing is that? It is mind-boggling to me that God would know how we would need those moments to forget about the temper tantrums and the hitting the day before. It just all melts away.

When Gabe wakes up in the morning (like if he wakes up on his own and he doesn't have to be woken up to go to daycare - he doesn't really like to wake up on someone else's time frame), that is my favorite time of the day. I've said that from the time he was born. This might be weird to say, but I miss him when he sleeps. I need the break by time he goes to bed, but I sure do look forward to seeing him first thing in the morning. I think that's another gift God gives parents.

So, I just wanted to get this down. My favorite thing about being a mom - a mom to Gabe, and my favorite gift - the blessings God has clearly given us in being parents. I can't get over how God had it all figured out. It's just amazing.

About Mother's Day

It was a great Mother's Day this year... We went to Gabe's Dad's parents' house and spent the afternoon there. We celebrated Mother's Day with my mom a couple of days before. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful mom and mother in law. They have been so supportive of us and our family. I hope that someday Gabe will feel the same about me. I am very fortunate to have my mom, Greg's mom and my sisters in law, Missy and Jen in my life because they are wonderful examples of what Moms should be. They have all taught me so much about being a mom - loving my child, teaching my child, disciplining my child, etc... I love each of these women so much.

Here are my awesome "in laws". We had a great Mother's Day with them.

My sisters in law and my mother in law.

Laughing at PawPaw. I love this picture even though I look like a major dork.

Gabe learning how to play baseball with "Uncle Jesse" (he calls Uncle Jeffy "Uncle Jesse"!)

Picking Momma a flower.

Gabe with his cousins. I LOVE this picture because this facial expression is SO Gabe.

And, it was a Happy Mother's Day for this Momma Bird too! These baby birds hatched that morning!

I know I should be used to the fact by now, but sometimes I have to stop and and tell myself again that I'm a mom! I just still can't believe that I am so blessed. I never knew that it would be this wonderful. I am really, truly enjoying this age. Tonight, Gabe and I played "Spiderman" up in the playhouse while Daddy mowed below. I never thought that the highlight of my day would be throwing fake punches and pretending to be "got by the bad guy", but it really was. We had an absolute blast. He laughed so hard, and so did I! He kept saying, "More Mommy!" and he'd just laugh and laugh and laugh. Just sitting here now, I could cry thinking about how much I love my little boy.

I thought of all of you waiting moms out there too, like I do every Mother's Day. I know how hard it is to hold out hope for your child. That you will conceive, or that your child's birth mom will stay healthy carrying your child, or that your overseas trip will be a safe one, etc... All I can tell you is don't give up - hold out hope. God knows the desires of your heart. Pray. Wait. Hope. Endure... I promise you...

God will fulfill the desires of your heart. He knows what is best for you. I prayed that God would fulfill my heart's desire and He did. Bigger and better than I ever could have imagined. He will do that for you too. I really believe that. And, if having a child isn't a part of His plan for you, I believe He will fill that missing piece in another way. I believe He will make you complete, as long as He is the center of it all.

So, waiting moms, I am thinking of you as I know this time of year is a tough one. But, know that those of us who walked in your steps still have you on our minds. I know I haven't forgotten how it felt to be a Mom without a child. So, until that moment...

Pray. Wait. Hope. Endure.

I believe God will provide for you too.