Too fast

We had Joel baptized last night - finally! We had put it off this long so that his godparents from Mexico could be here. But because of all the flooding in Monterrey and around the border, they couldn't come after all and we had to ask my brother and Jav's sister to stand in as proxies for them. And considering our priest, Father Paul, believes in total immersion (which we went along with after much deliberating), Joel did really well. He was so shocked that it took him all three dips in the water before he worked out his scream. But he calmed down relatively quickly. It was a great service, and we had everyone to the house afterwards for barbeque and it was SO much fun.

I had spent all week trying to clean house which is relatively impossible with a baby and a preschooler. Somehow it all got done, and Jav and I worked like trojans all day yesterday to try to get everything ready before we had to get ready for Mass. I was determined, however, to relax and have a good time once everyone got here, and that's just what I did. My Mom suggested I channel my maternal grandmother (Mamaw), who used to throw parties quite a bit. She would never panic about anything, and would just have some wine and thoroughly enjoy herself. I did pretty good and I think everyone else had a good time, too.

Joel is losing that baby thing waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too fast. Of course size-wise he never really had that baby thing. And my gosh is he getting bigger. I can't wait to find out what he weighs and how long he is at the nine month check-up. Actually yes I can wait. As I said, it's all going too fast. But the biggest change is in personality, and how all of sudden he has a distinct one. He protests if you take a toy away from him. He's finally started babbling again and if he's awake, he's talking. He's trying to clap his pudgy hands together and gets so proud of himself when he gets even a little close. He is so laid back compared to the way Gabriel was. Gabriel had swim class for almost two weeks and Joel would just hang out with me, sitting on a beach towel playing with a water bottle or whatever I gave him. Sometimes he fussed a little if I didn't have time to feed him before we left the house, but all I had to do is hug him a little and he would stop. He's just the BEST baby. When he does get mad about something, he invariably says, "mama" really clearly.

Last week I had to get a little upset with him when he kept biting me on the shoulder (he has a really hard time when he's teething). After the first couple of quiet tries didn't work, I had to raise my voice quite a bit. He burst into tears. It was then that I had confirmation of how opposite his personality is from his brother, who was never too concerned if I got mad at him. Sensitive!!! Joel is starting to get into watching Baby Einstein more, and does some crazy half-running, half jumping moves all through a showing. I've got to catch it on video. Along with the clapping attempts and the sweet way he looks at his daddy when he comes home from work every day.

Gabriel is mostly happy with these changes. He just doesn't like it when Joel grabs one of his toys and starts chewing on it. Joel still can't quite get his crawler to work, and keeps scooting backwards and getting frustrated. If I'm not in the room, Gabriel will bring him a toy (or two or three or four) to console him. Mealtimes are getting more and more fun with Gabriel trying to get a laugh out of Joel. It doesn't take much! You'd think I wouldn't still be marveling over the fact that I am lucky enough to have had two of these wonders.

Buddies

4th of July weekend

Saturday morning: Waiting to head to the neighborhood parade.

Waiting to see if we would actually see the parade. They almost decided to not have it because of the weather.

The main reason we go every year.

Saturday night: Ranger Game! The rain held off for Joel's first game and the only one we'll probably make this year.

If you leave the third level just after the last strands of Cotton-Eyed Joe, you will run into Captain on the first level concourse. It's happened twice now. Just make sure you wipe off your humidity-filled camera lens so it won't look like your child is shaking hands with Captain in a fire.

Sunday afternoon: Gabriel watching Toy Story 3. He did great, but I was a blubbering sniveling mess.

Monday: Lunch at Philip and April's for a belated Father's Day and April's belated birthday celebration. Gabriel was determined to spend time with Uncle Dave, which we thought was so sweet. First he tried to get him to come play with him, but Uncle Dave didn't seem to want to. So he settled for a book reading on the couch.

All of the cousins!

Comparing boys

The boys at around 7-1/2 months. Lots of differences, but somehow the same.

Joel has his own baby language he's perfecting. Lots of grrrrs and bwas and a very sweet "ha" that might be Hi. When he gets excited he yells, "Heh". Lately when he starts to get upset he does a constant motorboat, so it's hard to take him seriously. His big ole chunky legs just kick and kick and kick some more. It doesn't matter if he's playing or excited or angry. He's starting to sit up for longer chunks of time. but still can't get his crawl to work. It's almost painful to watch him trying sometimes.

He is such a good little guy and hardly ever fusses unless he's just really tired. I would read a book and sing to Gabriel at bedtime every night (and still do). With Joel I watch the DVR'd Jeopardy while I feed him. The second kid sure does get short shrift. He gets so sleepy afterwards that he just wants his bed. If I try to sing to him he gets mad. Gabriel didn't want me to put him down. Joel wakes up alot at night. It varies from twice to four times a night, and I think it's mostly because of his tummy being upset due to something I've eaten.

Joel loves to be messy. Gabriel is a bit of a neat freak. Gabriel was a huggy baby, but Joel is even worse. He loves to be kissed, squeezed, tickled, almost to smothering. His absolute favorite thing to do is play peek-a-boo with his clothes (that I'm either about to put on him or I've just taken off of him). We couldn't believe it when we realized that's what he was doing. He covers his face up and his little hands just shake with anticipation, and then he waits for me to say, "Where's Joel?" Then he pulls it down and I shout, "There he is!" And he smiles and smiles.

The sweetest time we have together is during Gabriel's naptime. I bring him into our bed and feed him and sometimes we sleep. It's the most relaxed I have ever been in my entire life. I can see now why it's so hard to stop breast feeding. I was going to stop after six months, then it turned into a year. Now I think I might keep trying to do that nap time feeding and maybe the before bed one for awhile longer after he turns a year old. It's going to break my heart when I have to stop.

Last weekend

Gabriel with the white tigers behind him.

Joel saddled up at Lenah's party (on a saw horse).

Gabriel riding the zip line.

At the newly renovated Museum of Science and History with Bennett.

We had quite a weekend last weekend. Friday I took both boys to the zoo for the first time when Jav's Mom got sick and couldn't keep Joel. It was cooler and rainy and we got there when it opened. All the animals were out and active. It was so much fun! Even when we got rained on I just told Gabriel to pretend we were in the actual rain forest and he loved it. We rode the zoo train for the first time, too, but now I realize it's not the same train as the one that goes around Trinity Park (and the one Jav and I grew up riding). This one just goes from one end of the zoo to the other.

Saturday afternoon we went to the birthday party of Gabriel's oldest friend, Lenah. She is three months older than him. They met when Gabriel was two months old. I have never written about her in this blog because every time they get together Tia Sandra takes Gabriel to meet them, since Lenah is the daughter of his Tia's good friend and former roommate, Jacqueline. They have had lots of play dates, and went to see Elmo Live together. We decided it was high time that we joined him on one of the get togethers, which was her 4th birthday party. She had it in a gymnastics gym, with a couple of staff members on hand to take the kiddoes around to the different equipment. For a long time Gabriel didn't really participate, but then he saw the zip line and decided it was time to have fun. Then he went back to enjoy the long, skinny trampoline. It was a really fun party and nice to meet the rest of Lenah's family. It was weird because even her grandparents knew Gabriel.

Then Sunday morning Gabriel and I went to the FW Museum of Science and History to meet another couple and their little boy, Bennett, from our neighborhood Mom's group. This group is kind of a joke. There are about 10 moms on the group site but only two of them and me participate. The funny thing is that one of the reasons our neighborhood won Fort Worth Neighborhood of the Year was because of the Mom's Group. Our newsletter editor makes it sound like about 30 moms participate every time we have something planned, but in reality it was just two moms. I was out of commission for about a year being pregnant and then having Joel. But I decided it was time to reconnect with this group, which is in danger of disbanding due to the disinterest. We had a good time, and only really saw the Children's Museum area the whole time we were there. I want to go back and explore to see if the ticket prices ($14 for adults, $10 for kids) are as ridiculous as I'm thinking or if it's worth the money. I remember when it was free to get into this museum. Sad.

We're right in the middle of another crazy busy but fun weekend. More later!

Birds

I didn't pay much attention to birds before I lived in the rent house. Before that they were just creatures who made too much noise some mornings and woke me up. My appreciation for them started growing when I realized just how many different types lived around me. I hung up a feeder in the front yard and would catch myself staring at it for long periods of time. Then my walks with the dogs around the neighborhood heightened my interest, because I started listening to their calls. By the end of my time at the rent house, I could distinguish cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers, grackles, crows, and hawks. I loved hearing the sound of the whippoorwill during the night, and would occasionally get to hear an owl. The screech owls had a really neat call, sounding like little horses.

I now find them all fascinating. So much so that I could even find myself as a true birdwatcher, binoculars in hand and field journal in backpack. I constantly listen when I'm out in the yard and would love to learn more calls. There is a bird that migrates here every summer that has such a crazy call. It's really loud and seems to silence other birds, like when hawks cry out, but it's not like any hawk call I've ever heard. I know he's big, but he always flies over really high and likes to sit in the tops of trees so I haven't been able to get a really good look at him. He's really good at staying camouflaged. I heard him for the first time this morning, and smiled to know that he is back again this year. I'm determined to figure out what kind of bird he is.

My grandfather always had bird books so that they could look them up if they saw a new one, or if one just happened to come up in conversation. My parents continued the tradition and have a really big National Geographic bird book on their shelf. One day Gabriel was rummaging around for something to do, and tried to pull that heavy book off the shelf my himself. We helped him get it down, thinking he would want to give it right back once he saw that it was just a bunch of bird pictures. He sat on the floor and looked through the whole thing, asking questions all along. This impressed my mother so much that she gave him a smaller version of the book to take home.

He looks through it often, and has his favorite pages. He loves the page with the condor and vultures for some reason. He loves seeing anything with bright colors, and has always loved cardinals. But the neatest thing about it is that he will run to it to look one up if we see a new one in the yard. I told Jav during dinner one night that I saw a ruby-throated hummingbird drinking from our feeder, and Gabriel forgot he was eating dinner and hopped up to run and get his book. I love this, that he is such a curious child and wants to know more. I guess it just runs in the family.

Fight it!

Gabriel waiting for the garbage truck to go by where he can see it from the back yard.

Gabriel was getting ready to go spend an afternoon with Jav's Mom last Monday and I had told him to find some shoes. He came out with one blue croc and one tan croc on and announced he was wearing two different colors today. I loved this so much, because it was totally his idea, and because it shows an attempt to fend off some of the OCD that I know he has inherited from me. I know he has it, but that's a whole nuther post.

Every day this week he has come out with two different colored crocs. We have been getting great smiles at the grocery store and the library when people notice his feet. One man said to his wife as they passed us, "I bet he has another pair just like that at home." and chuckled.

TV

Before I had kids, I was soooooooo judgemental when it came to parents letting their kids watch what I considered to be too much TV. I usually would not say anything out loud, but my inside voice was all high and mighty talking about me never letting my kids watch very much TV.

Oh how things change once the reality of having children slaps you silly. I started letting Gabriel watch a half hour of TV just after turning six months old. It quickly became an hour. Then for a long time I tried to only let him watch an hour in the morning and and hour in the evening while I cooked dinner. This is still my idea of enough TV for a three year old. The only time he got more was when he was sick.

Now we just sort of "let the TV time fall as it may" each day. There are those days, you know the ones? Where I don't even have the energy to turn it off. It's just comforting to know that it's on, as if there's another person helping me take care of my kid. At least Gabriel still doesn't watch anything with commercials yet. Just PBS and Nick Jr. And movies. He usually sticks with one movie for two to three weeks, so we get to know them really well before they have to step down to their replacement. Right now we're on Hercules. I could sing you all the songs if you wanted me to. They pop up in my dreams at night.

I just started letting Joel watch, especially after finding the Baby Einstein DVD's we had put up when Gabriel got too old for them. How could I have forgotten them, as many times as we watched them? Gabriel is also enjoying seeing them again, and the two of them together are just so cute. Joel only sticks with a whole half hour if Gabriel is watching with him. But it just gives me a chance to cook dinner without feeling quite so rushed, which is nice.

So my attitude towards TV has softened, and hopefully I'm not ruining my kids' imagination. My favorite thing to watch during the day now is an episode of Jeopardy, to prove to myself that my own brain is not fried. And even though I don't think he understands a word, Gabriel likes to watch with me, proving that to a kid, any TV is good TV.

Joel

He has a farm animal puppet glove on his head. Gabriel put it there and told me to take a picture.

The top half while sitting in his new jumper.

And the bottom half. Wow.

I love this picture.

Joel (a.k.a. The Pudgelet) had his first big belly laugh last Sunday. We finally got Gabriel's Bozo Bopping Bag blown up from Christmas (!), and every time he punched it and it wobbled back and forth Joel just squealed and laughed with delight. Which of course made Gabriel belly laugh too. It was so darn cute! Joel can't take his eyes off of his brother if he's in the room.

He has his first tooth that's finally broken through on the bottom. I'm thinking another one is one the way the way he's gnawing on everything in sight. He's starting to communicate more with little noises (and big loud noises too). He is such a sweet and affectionate baby and loves to be kissed. He's trying to kiss back but all he can do is lunge at your face with his mouth open.

I think he may be days away from starting to crawl. This morning I found him in his crib on all fours for the first time. Usually he's just propped up with his arms and his legs are straight behind him. Then later at my mom and dad's he started rocking back and forth and my mom said, "Uh oh. He's about to take off!" All of a sudden my floors seem even more full of pet hair then they actually are with the thought of him sashaying around the house face down. Ugh.

His days of being a little helpless baby are over, which makes me a little sad even though it also makes things much easier. At least he still has that baby smell. I wish I could bottle it. I could take it out and remember these wonderful days even when he gets the sweaty boy smell.

Makes perfect sense.

I'm trying to teach Gabriel the days of the week. So today during breakfast this was our conversation:

Me: "What day is today?"

Him: (I thought he said) "Monday"

Me: "Good! And what day comes after Monday?"

Him: "Tuesday".

Me: "Excellent! Then what's next?"

Him: "Threesday."

And I realize that he's actually been saying "Oneday" instead of Monday all along.

I love that kid.

Signs

Gabriel had a library book about two months ago that was full of traffic signs. I never noticed how many of them were around us while driving until he started pointing them out to me. Leave it to a child to see things that we grownups take for granted. He had so much fun finding them and trying to figure out what they meant. This was the only sign in our neighborhood that was not in the book. And below that picture is why we have that sign. Our little neighborhood duck pond is so pretty, but I hate it when it gets really dry like it is now. I worry about our ducks, fully knowing that they don't really belong to me. I hope we get some rain soon!

First week of summer

So much to write about, so little time!

Joel is all about kicking his strong little legs. He does it when he's happy, when he's excited, when something is funny, and when he's tired. It already cracked us up, but then tonight he was sitting in his new jumper that I put together this week (go me!), and he did it standing up. When you combine those crazy legs with his intense stare of concentration and cartoonish classical music, you get full-blown hysterical. I thought I was going to lose my dinner I was laughing so hard. He had his six-month checkup last week. He's 21 pounds even and 28-1/2" long. The directions for the jumper say the baby can't be more than 30" tall, but I think he'll hit that well before he turns a year old. They don't make baby stuff for plus-size babies. Discrimination!

While at my gyn. office, I got really sad thinking about the fact that I will never be pregnant again. I know it's just plain greedy after receiving these two gifts, but I just can't help it. If we'd gotten started sooner I probably would have wanted at least one more, maybe even more. But I'm not quite crazy enough to act on this. My almost-43-year-old body probably couldn't take another one, to say nothing of the risks at our age and with our history. Sigh.

On to happier subjects! Gabriel has taken to peeing in the potty like a duck to water. He's letting us know when he has to go, stays dry all day, and he's gone at several places besides home and been totally comfortable doing it. I'm blown away by how great he's doing. We'll work on the other area. Bribes really seem to work with him, and he really wants us to get Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for him to watch (he found my old Rudolph book in a big box the other day and hasn't stopped talking about it).

Gabriel and I had a mid-week zoo trip, and the weather was surprisingly pleasant. It was supposed to rain that morning, and the temperature was around 85 or so. We explored the new Museum of Living Art (the new herpetarium), and it is truly incredible. The funniest thing that happened was in the Bug and Spider Room. Gabriel had been oohing and aahing at all sorts of snakes and lizards up to that point with no fear whatsoever. But when he got a look at the tarantula, he said, "Put me down. Put me down. I don't wike it." He ran in to tell me while I was making lunch yesterday that there was a tarantula in Joel's room. It was a little black spider no bigger than a nickel. Anyway, we also rode the carousel (which I'm wondering if it's the original one we used to ride as kids) and found the rather cheesy petting zoo, with one guinea hog, seven chickens and two goats to pet. We also found the penguin house and the kangaroos. We only stayed an hour and 45 min. and had a fantastic time. The only complaint I have about the herpetarium is that they got rid of the aquarium and the sea lions, which were always really fun to see. I also loved that big underwater room you could go down into and see all the fish swimming around. They have several see-through walls with fish and turtles, and even huge crocodiles, though, to make up for it. The komodo dragon exhibit is really cool too.

And I am working on the project of cleaning/fixing up our back porch. I figure we are going to spend tons of time out there this summer and I want to make it more inviting. We need to clean up Gabriel toys and get a "toy box" (heavy duty plastic box) to put them in. I want to add several units of storage drawers to put things like bug spray, suntan oil, and all the things I'm constantly running back inside to grab. We're getting Jav a small charcoal grill for Father's Day, which he already knows about because I had asked for it for my birthday but he really wanted one too. We are eventually going to get a wheelbarrow cover or tarp so that we can get it off the porch and I can store my potting soil, mulch, etc.. in it. We need to get some lawn chair covers too and get them off the porch. We only have two chairs with our table right now and I'd like to add two more. I want some pillows for the porch swing, some funky lights to hang, and some citronella candles and tiki torches to combat the mosquitos. And finally (this is down the road, at least next year), it would be cool to get a small dorm room refrigerator to have cold drinks available out there (another thing I'm constantly going back inside to get).

This will take all summer to get it right and spread out the costs, but I will be patient. We got the toy box today, so I'll start by cleaning up Gabriel's toys tomorrow and getting them stored away. I love getting organized!

Monumental day

Gabriel around 7 or 8 months old.

Wow. Yesterday was quite a day. I spent the whole second half of the day fretting about the dog's poop and trying to get Gabriel to pee in the potty chair, which he did several times before Jav got home.

Molly has had what we'll just call tummy issues for about two weeks. At first we just assumed she had eaten something crazy that messed her up for awhile. But when we realized it still wasn't better I called the vet. He suggested taking her off food completely for 24 hours (which was awful). Then the next day she got 1/4 of what she usually eats, then 1/2, etc... I was really concerned that something serious was wrong with her since this has never gone on for so long before. But finally, yesterday afternoon, (and an hour after I had called the vet to see why she still hadn't gone), all was better and seemingly back to normal. So now we realize our original diagnosis was correct: She ate something crazy. She's such a hound. But I sure am glad she's back to being a healthy hound!

After trying to be pretty laissez-faire about potty training for the past two months or so, (Mr. Metcalf would be so proud of me for the proper use of that term!), we decided it was time to get a little more pushy about things. It's now becoming a hinderance. I was going to sign Gabriel up for his first soccer class at the Hurst Rec Center, but they only take potty trained kids. So Jav and I came up with a strategy of telling him, "you have 5 more days with diapers. Then they're going away." Plus we got him a really neat toy that he could play with for a short time every time he used the potty chair. He found a mobile crane at Target that he just fell in love with, and off we went. We weren't supposed to start until Saturday, but he woke from his nap wanting to try. He was successful (for the first time, ever) around 6pm last night. I tried to call Jav but couldn't get ahold of him. He called on the way home and congratulated him like crazy. After that we took him every 20 minutes or so to try.

Today has gone well, although we're continuing the bribes for now. Gabriel got bored with the crane at some point this morning and asked for a diaper. So we had to come up with a continual "prize" strategy. He's gotten a new puzzle, an Elmo potty book, and a whole bunch of matchbox trucks, buses, motorcycles, etc.. And he got a chocolate cupcake with pink frosting after dinner tonight. He goes in every 10 minutes to see if he can go enough to extract a prize from the prize cabinet. Tomorrow we'll try to back off of the bribes a bit and see what happens. I'm truly amazed at how well it's gone, although it has been exhausting. But he's made great strides and hopefully is building his confidence every time he goes. We'll see.

Now if Joel starts crawling tomorrow we will have ourselves one humdinger of a weekend. I'm just joking, really. We already have. I'm just bursting with happiness because my Molly girl is better, and of course for what Gabriel's done.

Charlie

We have a new semi-pet. He is a crow. He is perhaps the biggest, most badass crow I've ever witnessed. And he has taken residence up in our yard because of our birdbath. He has claimed that birdbath for his very own. He guards it. He drinks from it all day long. And he dunks whatever he has decided to eat in it. Every day. We started seeing him every single time we went outside or left the house, or came back home. So we named him. Gabriel now says bye to him along with our other pets whenever we go somewhere.

One day there were pecan shells left in the water. Not so bad. One day there was a big wadded up piece of bread. One day there was the remains of a snake. No kidding. But the worst was the day I had to refill the water because Jav was out of town. There, lying in the very disgusting water, was a leg bone of something. I tried to convince myself maybe it was a rib leftover from someone's cookout. But this was just ridiculous, as it took up the entire diameter of the birdbath. Yuck.

Crows are pretty darn smart, we also have determined. Or at least Charlie is. One early morning as I left for a walk with Joel and Molly he came swooping down over my head and landed on a low branch and just stared me down. He was letting me know that I needed to change the water, which I had forgotten to do the day before. Jav said he did the same thing to him a few evenings before when he left for his run.

I haven't been able to get a good picture of Charlie. He's too quick for me. These really don't do him justice, so I'll keep trying. And even though I don't like the fact that he's not letting other birds drink from the birdbath (luckily we have some smaller water holders nearby), I still find the whole thing kind of cool. It's like we have The Discovery Channel on live right outside our window.

Perfect day

Gabriel's never really liked swinging, and he kept saying he was going to fall out of the tire swing.

Check out those thighs! (Luckily mine are hidden in this picture!)

I love this picture of my guys.

We stay so busy with our families that it is rare for us to have a "just the four of us" family day. So I think from now on, we will reserve Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Labor Day to be our Family Fun days, where we just do whatever we feel like and don't make any plans ahead of time with anyone.

Today, we started off with a trip to the donut shop, something we only do about twice a year. Then we took the boys to our favorite park in Arlington. There's tons of things to do and the entire playground area is shaded. Gabriel played himself silly while I just sat with Joel and let him take it all in. Jav held him and swung (is that right) for awhile. Then we went back to the car so Gabriel could practice pedaling his tricycle in one of the shady spots. He's starting to finally get a little better at it.

We went home to have lunch and then we ALL took naps, something that also rarely happens. It was wonderful! Then we headed out to Marble Slab for some late afternoon ice cream. Who cared if it was just before dinner? We didn't!!! We stopped at Lowe's for a few things for the house. Then had burgers and fries for dinner.

The kids are asleep, we're beat, but it's a good tired!

And I have to comment on our beautiful flag from the Lion's Club. We pay an annual fee for them to put one in our yard on five holidays. Many homes in our neighborhood have them, and it looks so pretty to see them lined up along the street. It's also a good way for us to remember, and begin to explain to Gabriel, what this holiday really means.

Covers

Wednesday songs are Old School Country and Cowboy Songs. I was singing the song below to Joel (the original version) and remembered this really cool version by David Byrne that came out on an album called Red, Hot and Blue. The whole thing is great, with various artists (Thompson Twins, k.d. lang, Annie Lennox) covering Cole Porter songs, and back when it came out all the proceeds went towards AIDS research. This is the best song on the album, though. I love the drum beat!

One reason I love having boys

You get to have funny conversations about penises.

During our zoo trip we stopped in one of the restrooms and as I was taking a seat Gabriel yelled out, "Mama you have a penis!" But I think he really meant it in the form of a question. That's just not how it came out. So I explained to him that "no, I do not have a penis. Boys have penises. Girls do not." I'm sure the other zoo patrons in the bathroom found this enlightening.

So after his nap a few days later, we had this conversation:

"Mama, you don't have a penis."

"No I don't. We found that out at the zoo the other day, didn't we?"

After thinking about this for a long time and apparently forgetting about our bathroom conversation, he said, "But animals don't have penises."

And I said, "Yes, many of the boy animals do. Certain animals, like maybe fish, might not. But boy elephants and boy monkeys do.

He thought long and hard again and said, "No they don't. They have tails."

"Well, they might have both a tail and a penis."

"Oh." At which point his brain was about to explode if he thought about it any longer, so he ran off to play.

Zoo!

Gabriel and I recently became members of the Fort Worth Zoo, something I've wanted to do for a long time. I've wanted to take him back to the zoo for a year and half, but pregnancy and then Joel put our plans on hold for a little while. We finally had our zoo day last Wednesday and we had so much fun. I am trying to do some "Gabriel and Mama only" trips this summer and the zoo will be a big player. The memberships will pay for themselves after three or four trips. We are going to go with Joel Tuesday if Joel's cough gets better by then.

We're so lucky to have such a fantastic zoo in our city!

House

Our dining room. We bought ourselves the mirror (way on sale) for our anniversary this

year. Now if we could just get it hung.

Our Welsh kitchen dresser, which I use as a mini buffet. I would love to get rid of the wallpaper.

One of two oversized chairs that don't work in our house. This one is especially bad because the cats decided early on to use it as an additional scratch post.

I have learned (a little too late for this house), that after moving into a new home, you really should live there about a year before buying any furniture or making any kind of design decisions. It takes about that long to get to know a house. To get the flow, the nuances, understand where the best walkways are, and where the best places to put certain pieces of furniture are. We made the mistake of buying chairs waaaaaaayyyyyyyy before this milestone was reached, and I have regretted it ever since. The rooms in our house are not that big, and we bought oversized chairs that just don't fit well in the room. We also purchased a square dining room table. I love it, but we really should have bought a rectangular one in order for our Welsh kitchen dresser and antique buffet to fit in our dining room. I already owned a gigantic four poster queen size bed before I met Jav, and it is too big for our bedroom.

So there are many things that need changing about our furniture. We are in the process of trying to decide if we want to make our front bedroom the master, the middle bedroom a playroom/office and thereby move both boys into what's now our room in the back of the house. This would mean moving closets too, and I'm not sure I have the energy for that right now. We really will need some extra room one day, especially when Gabriel wants his own room again. We could add on to the back bedroom going into the backyard. We might be able to add-on with a second story. I'd love to screen in what is now the back porch and build a deck around it. But with me staying home, none of this will happen for a pretty long time. And sometimes I feel like our decor is a little garage sale-like. Which always makes me think of When Harry Met Sally and the Roy Rogers garage sale wagon wheel coffee table. Hee hee.

When I ran all of this by Jav he said, in typical male thought process, "Why don't we just move to a bigger house?" Well, money is the first answer. But the second one is that I love this house, at least most of it. It would be so great to have an extra room for guests or an office, or preferably both. We both HATE our master bath and want to have it completely ripped out and redone at some point. The kitchen could be a bit bigger too. But I love the living and dining area and the yard. So do we pour money into it, knowing that we will probably not get that investment back if we ever sell? Or do we just move?

Our color scheme is a bit wacky too. The people who lived here before us had the walls of the main living area and hallway textured and painted. There's brown, kind of a mustard color, and an unusual yellow. It sounds horrible, but it actually all works really well together. Even so, one of our problems is that there's just too much going on with all of those colors. Especially when we get down to my furniture color scheme. I've always loved the movie Home Alone and coveted Kevin's house. Every room has some form of green and red to add to the Christmas spirit of the movie. Without even realizing it, I already have a red and green color scheme running through this house. (Not bright red and bright green, but subtler shades of each). The living room has a green rug and a burgundy chair. The kitchen has burgundy and green in the wallpaper border, and so does the Master bedroom. I'm not too jazzed about keeping the borders long-term, but they'll do for now. The quilt on our bed is red and Molly's bed is green. We painted the playroom an apple green, and want to go back and paint the baseboards and trim some shade of red. This all seems to work in my head, but I know we need to remove some of those colors from the wall for it to really work.

Oh well, it all gives me something to think about in my spare time. Ha.

First and last day of school

Gabriel's last day of preschool was today. He'll be in the 3-year-old class next Fall, with two completely new teachers. This year his lead teacher, Ms. Amy, had been his assistant teacher the year before, so the transition was really easy. Plus many of the kids were in his class last year too. Next year, so far only one boy, Luke (we all call him Lukey-Luke) will be in his class. Everyone else moved to three days a week. But that's cool because he and Lukey-Luke have become pretty good friends. I plan to have Luke, his Mom, and his baby brother over for a play date during the summer. She had Will two weeks almost to the hour after I had Joel. Every time we showed up to pick up the boys Ms. Dawn, his assistant teacher, said, "Here come the babies!"

Gabriel has really matured in many ways, even though he still has babyish moments. I really think they do a great job with the kids at this preschool. We are debating about whether or not to send Gabriel to this school up until he goes to kindergarten or switch him over to his private school for Pre-K. I'm glad we have some time to think about it still.

Ms. Amy and Ms. Dawn wrote on their goodbye note today that the thing they'll miss most about Gabriel is hearing him sing. That made me cry.