nine

yesterday, gabe turned nine months old. here are a few things about nine month old gabe:

-he loves to practice standing with no hands. he looks like a surfer swaying back and forth, but he has surprisingly great balance, even in the bathtub.

-bath time is one of the most wonderful times in our house. often, it lasts for 30 minutes or more, because gabe loves it so much.

-he is currently growing at least three teeth, all on the top. (maybe more, but it is hard to tell because he wont let anyone look in his mouth.) this makes for a very temperamental gabe.

-he entertains himself very well most of the time. he loves to pull toys out of the basket one by one and play with them each for a few minutes.

-he is getting a little clingy to mom and dad these days, but only when he is tired or uncomfortable (like when he is teething). for the most part, he is still very comfortable with anyone that comes around.

-he is trouble! always into something be, he certainly keeps me on my toes all day. he almost always has something in his mouth that he shouldnt. he has already broken a dinner plate and a vase.

-he climbs. he climbs stairs, baby gates, couches, his piano. anything that is climbing height is fair game.

here is a video of gabe in st pete this weekend.

i think that it sums up his new curiosity well!

kendall and jonathan's wedding

last night, we went to the wedding of kendall and jonathan, two of my friends from flagler. gabe was so cute in his cordaroy jacket, and after the long week we had, was also extremely exhausted! he fell asleep for half of the reception (very unlike him) and woke up a little unsure about the whole thing. when everyone welcomed the bride and groom in with cheering and clapping, gabe burst into frightened tears. he did eventually calm down enough to dance with the bride. congratulations mr and mrs higgins!

handmade gifts...

here are the gifts that i handmade for this christmas...

gratitude wrap for sarah (and then, after i finished and loved it SOOO much, one for each of the women in our community group).

a tea wallet for sarah...

a scarf for katie, two more scarves for ofie's friends, three cowls for my mom's friends, a coloring caddy for emily, and a calendar organizer for hailey.

i didnt get pictures for as much of it as i would have liked, but i plan on making many more of each to stock the etsy shop that i plan to open at the end of january (or sooner, if i really get sewing!) i already have made to order scarves and cowls in there, but hope to completely stock it up soon.

st. pete...

after our visit to madison, we headed down to st. petersburg to see steve's ato and ata. they were thrilled to have us, and it was so good to see them as well. we crammed a lot of visiting into our day there, and even found time to take in a gulf coast sunset (beautiful!). steve took a little time to talk to his grandparents about their life in cuba (which we got on video...) and we were able to visit with his aunt julia and uncle joe from st. thomas.

madison...

the day after christmas, steve, gabe and i headed to madison to have christmas with my family. the trip included two very rowdy games of scrabble and 4 adults, 1 pack and play, and a puppy sleeping in a small camper! it was really a lot of fun. in the morning, my dad met us for a little gabe time. although it was a brief visit, i really enjoyed having alittle time with my parents and seeing my sister and brother again.

christmas

what a beautiful and exhausting day! gabe's first christmas could not have gone better. he was not at all interested in the wrapping paper. steve and i gave him a little piano, and he played obsessively with it all day. when he hit the keys, he opened his mouth in astonishment and joy and started jumping up and down. i made homemade cinnamon rolls (delicious and definitely going to be a yearly tradition) and a batch of jam thumbprint cookies to give away with the homemade hot cocoa mix i put together a few nights ago. while i was in the kitchen, steve and gabe played in the living room and watched "its a wonderful life" and "curb your enthusiasm" (a gift to steve). at one point, steve came to me with the piano box and out popped a thrilled (yet slightly confused) gabe. it was such a nice and slow-paced morning.

i took so many beautiful pictures of our morning together (probably too many), and was so excited to share them, but somehow, at the end of the day, i managed to erase them all. dont know what happened. guess i will have to savor that one in my memory.

in the late afternoon, we were joined by john, ofie and katie. we had a big dinner and opened more gifts, and just enjoyed being in the company of the people we love. i stole a few pictures from katie of gabe, so here is what i have to offer from our day...

but dont worry, we still have two (yes, two!) more christmases to go. one tonight and one tomorrow, as we travel the state of florida visiting family. i am sure that i will more than make up for the pictures lost in the next few days.

until then, merry christmas!

play

today was busy. i had a lot of cleaning and baking to get done before tomorrow's festivities, and steve only had a half day at work. after lunch, we took gabe to the park down the street to play. he loves to swing, but the slide is not at all interesting to him.

this afternoon, a couple of my young life girls, brianna and quell, came by with quell's baby, marcel. gabe and marcel are not sure what to do about one another, and didnt so much play with each other as around each other. they are still a cute pair, though.

mom, you're embarrassing me.

one day, gabe will be so embarrassed by these pictures.  yesterday, he took his diaper off all on his own and was crawling around with just a shirt on.  it was really cute and funny until he peed on the floor...

west augustine christmas lunch

a few weeks ago, i had an idea. a majority of the people who live in our neighborhood are either very poor or homeless. over the years, we have gotten to know a few of the transient individuals who frequently walk by our house. in st augustine, there are not many services for the homeless. the only shelter here is very small, and we have a very large homeless population. so i decided that we should have a lunch. through the generosity and efforts of many people from our church, we were able to host a lunch today in the field across the street from our house. it was a traditional christmas meal (stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and apple pies...). we picked people up from the local shelter, and invited neighbors as they walked by (we live on the main street). it went off without a hitch, and i was really happy that we had a LOT of people, both from our church and from the neighborhood. we got close to running out of food, but did not.

i love our neighborhood, despite its many obvious problems, and we really care for our neighbors. it was a huge encouragement to me and steve to see other people from the church supporting us and our choice to live where we do. what a blessing to have them all come alongside us to serve in such a big way. God has certainly been faithful to us in providing us an amazing church full of people we love.

here are a few pictures from the lunch.

a safe home

how can we not feel safe with an attack gabe in the house?

you are my sunshine

today, i spent a long time in gabe's room watching him play. sometimes it catches me by surprise that i have a little boy. it was such a simple and beautiful afternoon spent together. i hope i will always remember how i felt... a little proud, a little sad, sitting in the warmth of the sunshine just watching.

a look back

today is our third anniversary. third. it is hard to imagine that three years have already gone by, and yet i can hardly remember what it was like before. i am continually reminded of God's grace in our lives as i look back on three years of love and learning. i am blessed beyond words to have steve to walk through life with.

2003

2006

2008

::like father, like son::

giving himself a hand

gabe can stand now. most of the time, he pulls himself up on a bed or a door or a chair and holds on. but, he can definitely hold his own for a little while. i finally got a little video of it this morning. notice how he claps for himself at the end... he claps for himself all the time these days. no need to work on this kid's self esteem.

helping with the laundry

reach into drawer
pull out folded laundry
throw on floor
chew on socks
repeat