Embrace the Camera: June 28, 2012

Have you ever had a babe who wasn't into having their picture taken? Well, that was little miss on this particular morning. We ventured out to a new park and she was much too interested in her new surrounding then in staying still and offering up smiles for pictures. She's a keeper smiles or no smiles!

I love the hippy chic headband in several of these photos. 

Daddy, well ... he's not such a fan of headbands of any kind :) 

P.S. Daddy did pick out this bright, fun outfit!

@17 months

Hello precious one,

You are SO incredibly adorable! Daddy and Mommy look at you so often and then just smile at your cuteness.You are ridiculously fun at this age! You have to be the most mischievous of the three at this age/stage in life. You are a STINKER with capital letters. Your favorite play place is in the shower or anywhere there is water (ahem, the toilet!); you have a love affair for sissy's American Girl dolls and tote them all over the house loving on them. 

Your current stats:

Diaper size: 3

Clothing size: 12 - 18 months

Sleep pattern:

1 hour morning nap and 2 - 3 hour afternoon nap

Sleep from about 7:30PM to 7:30AM

You still take your paci to go to sleep, but it doesn't leave your bed

Vocabulary:

mama

dada

papa

mmmm-ma (mema)

eena (Tina)

good girl

this

yes

all done

bu bu (puppy)

nana (banana)

more

night night

bye bye

mo (milk or drink)

snack

bubble bath or bath tub

hot

sis

bu bu (bubby for brother) 

YOUR FAVORITE word UP

You refuse to:

- use silverware and prefer to eat with your hands

- give kisses on a regular basis :(

- be buckled into your car seat at times

You love:

- showers & bath time

- singing the ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Patty Cake, but your favorite is Row Your Boat. You sing the Row, Row, Row part every.single.time!

You're a master at:

running laps around the house

crawling up and down the stairs and then back up again

being a female version of Lioness from the Charlie Brown show carrying around your beloved Aden & Anais muslin blanket

eating twice your weight in food each and every day

overfilling your mouth with milk from the sippy and leaving a milk trail behind you (we could do without this)

oogling over baby Micah

capturing your Mema's attention and beaming at your Papa

wrapping Mr. Wesley around your little finger 

wrestling with Dawson

having dance parties with Gabrielle & Mommy 

staying attached to Momma's hip at periods throughout the day - this is fairly new. You lock your legs on tight in hopes of me not putting you down. It's a bit hard to resist when you look up at me with your baby blues, arms extended and say "up". 

 

You are a constant ray of sunshine to our days. I don't know that it is possible to love you anymore!

We are crazy about you baby girl!

Many, many thanks to our talented friend Christiane Branstrom for the everlasting gift of sharing her photography talents with us. 

Wish List Check

Braces! Tomorrow marks one week since this monumental event took place. I know it may seem a bit crazy for a nearly 37 year old to be happy over the fact that she is sporting braces, but truth be told I have wanted them for 20 - 25 years. I wore retainers as a teen and that was all good until I threw away lost at least one paired with the fact that it was removable which meant I wore it when I chose to wear it. You get the point. I didn't reap the benefit that braces provide. Fast forward to recent days when I had a detailed visit with the dentist, which led to several visits with an endodontist (praise the Lord it ended up being a dead tooth and not oral cancer which was a possibility) a root canal, a crown, several replaced fillings, a custom fit night guard and recommendations from both providers to see an orthodontist and I found myself sitting in his chair several weeks back for a consultation. He (Dr. Jeff Thompson) confirmed what I already knew. My bite is severely jacked. I have what they refer to as a deep bite and I apparently grind my teeth at night which has resulted in trauma to my teeth (ahem, aforementioned dead tooth). My consultation visit was on Wednesday the 6th, I returned the following day to have a couple of spacers placed and then had the braces put on Wednesday the 13th. 

This is me immediately after leaving the office. Cheese.

And again once I was home. 

I Instagrammed this photo with the caption "Beautiful Smile in the Making" and I'm excited for that day!
The real reason behind proceeding with opting for braces is honestly to correct my bite but I would be completely lying if I didn't say I'm also pumped to get the resulting beautiful smile!!

I quickly learned that eating is a luxury and isn't the easiest of tasks when acclimating to braces. I have also learned my toothbrush is my new BFF. I am brushing my teeth a LOT!

I'm documenting this next part, because I know I for one will want to recall this information in the future, but also for comparison for when our kids are sporting braces of their own in years to come. 

Treatment Fee: $5850

Cost of ceramic uppers: $400

Records Fee: $305

Anticipated Insurance Adjustment:$1007

Anticipated Insurance Payment: $1000

Anticipated Out of Pocket Cost:  $4548

Interest Free 24 month financing: FREE

Parents, you have my permission to choke now :)

Memorial Day 2012

Doh! I added this post and forgot to hit the publish button.

We spent Memorial Day with Papa and Mema at Deanna Rose Farmstead. Daddy had to work and missed out on the fun. It was a perfect day to enjoy the animals & beautiful garden area.We made our rounds making an effort to stop at each "attraction" and allow time to take it all in.

McKenna would have been perfectly content spending the morning at this small play structure. 

She owned that steering wheel & stood her ground when anyone else wanted a turn!

One of the kids favorite things to do while visiting DR is to feed the baby goats. It's an inexpensive means to five minutes of laughs. The goats act as if they are famished jumping up on the kids, gnawing at their clothes & staking their ground in order to attach to the bottle only to have the kids yank it right back out of their mouths in pursuit of the next victim.

I know every parent says this and I make no apologies, but our children are beautiful! Sometimes I look at them and think "WE made YOU! Your Daddy & I did that. Dang you're cute!"

And then I look at pictures like this and I am reminded how very blessed our kiddos are to have thee most fun loving grandparents to invest so much time, energy & love in them!

{This picture was taken of Mema 5 months post chemotherapy. Isn't she rockin' some incredible hair?! MJ has a bit of an obsession with it. There isn't too many times that Mema is holding her that she isn't running her hands through it.}

All About Me

Week 2 of Summer School Computer PowerPoint Assignment

Name: Gabrielle

Hobbies: Work, Play, Go to school

Summer Vacation: Fishing, Iowa, Splash Cove

Family Members: Dad & Mom, Brother Dawson, Sister McKenna

3 Fun Facts About Me: I'm funny, I have a dog, I love school

Goals For Next School Year: Stand Up for Others, Get Work Done on Time, Be Nice

Sis, I know you won't read this for years to come but I want to confess to you that I was that mom. The one who made you review all your school papers with me. The one who asked lots of questions and prodded you for more information. I got such a kick out of some of the answers you gave for this PowerPoint assignment. When I asked you what you meant by work, you stated "you know, school is my work." I appreciate the simplicity of your answers to your summer vacation wish list. I can promise we can and will make each of those "vacation" wants a reality and have fun in doing so. It's when I got to your goals section that I realized that you aren't such a little girl anymore. You have grown in your maturity as well as your thought process. You push us to answer tough questions about whether or not Santa Claus and the Easter bunny are real; how a baby is born (You believe that God tells a momma when the time is right and then the doctor applies a magical lotion to mommy's tummy and the doctor is able to remove the baby without any cuts or scars. I'll keep allowing you to believe this until we feel you are old enough for a bit more truth behind how God really designed mommy's to bring babies into the world); and you want a better understanding about the trinity.  My hope for you is that you will honestly work toward achieving those goals in the upcoming school year and that you will implement the "be nice" goal not only at school but at home with your siblings.

You are in your 3rd week of summer school and are really enjoying it. You're expanding on your math skills, keeping your nose in a book during your reading session, loving the acting class and getting more and more eager for the presentation & really getting good at finding your way around the computer. We have been spending time during Dawson and McKenna's nap time going over your work, reading together and most recently playing games on the American Girl website. I'm so glad you are enjoying your summer school session but am also secretly looking forward to July when we will have our mornings together to plan some fun outings.

Embrace the Camera: May 31, 2012

These pictures are "old" by better than a month, but they are still treasured memories non the less. On April 27th I had the opportunity to take our #1 on a Mommy/Daughter date to watch our favorite senior ONW Ravens dance team member tear up the stage. Ms. G and I got ready in a last minute rush of furry & ended up looking like a me and mini me in our leggings, button front cotton shirts and flat ironed hair.

I still can't tell you who enjoyed themselves more - Gabrielle or me. We both thoroughly enjoyed each of the performances. We had a couple of favorites. There were two senior boys who did a hilarious number to the theme song from Titanic and a pair of girls who nailed a hip hop number, but most memorable was the guest number done by the mom's of the dance team. Some of those mother's can really move.

We laughed, smiled, ate oodles of candy together & shared smooches.

All photos taken on my IPhone hence the awful flash affect

I love this girl! My girl! Her Daddy's girl for sure!! She makes me want to bang my head against a wall in frustration & anger at times. She also melts my heart and makes me want to become a better me. She pushes me and challenges me in every way. She grows me in my faith as I strive to help her in her own childlike walk of faith. She asks questions and tough ones at that. There is no skirting the truth with her. She wears her heart on her sleeve and is ever so tenderhearted. When our night came to an end she broke down in tears. When I pulled her into my arms for a hug she looked up at me and said "Mommy, I'm crying because I am just SO happy right now." She then turned to find Courtney and eased her way into her arms for a hug. I want to provide more of these times for her where I can carve out time for just us. 

To embrace the young lady she is becoming.

To show her she is and will always be so important to me.

Courtney & family, Thank-you so so much for a wonderful night! We love each of you.

Linking up with Emily who encourages you to get out from behind the lens and capture YOU with your kids, spouse, friends, etc.