Gabriel's First Christmas!

Well, we had an eventful yet subdued Christmas this year. We did the first round of gifts on Christmas Eve. Gabriel and I were still both under the weather, but it was fun to celebrate as a little family together.
Gabriel enjoyed his Mega Bloks set.
He is also enjoying the puzzle and Fridge Farm from his Aunt Angie & Uncle Matt. And of course books are always a hit with Gabriel.
This was the year of blocks. Gabriel received Mega Bloks, Haba Fantasy blocks, and soft Knock-Knock Blocks. We're having fun building towers and knocking them down.
The bus from Uncle Brad is great fun. Sometimes Gabriel gets brave enough to practice walking with it. I'm sure he'll be moving all over the place before we know it.

Christmas with a little one is so fun and creates quite the mess. :)
On Christmas Grandma Cherlyn, Grandpa Greg, and Great-Grandma Champion came down. Bless their hearts for risking getting sick. Luckily none of them have caught anything from us. The musical kit was a HUGE hit. I think Gabriel is having fun exploring the instruments. At Kindermusik I think he is too distracted.
The day after Christmas Grandma and Grandpa Wood came for a visit. It was great seeing them. Although my poor mom got sick while here, as well as Brian. :( But, fun was still had.
Currently Gabriel is a fan of clearing off tables.
Grandma built some great towers for Gabriel to knock down, and Grandpa enjoyed giving Gabriel a ride on his new tricycle. (Although I'm not sure Gabriel shared in the excitement of the ride. lol)
But, he likes the tricycle in rocking mode.
Thanks everyone for making Gabriel's first Christmas so special!

A Trip to the Hospital

12/22 Gabriel had a day of running errands and what not. A normal day for us. He was doing fine and being himself. But, when I went to feed him his nighttime bottle (7 p.m.) he only wanted a couple of ounces. Shortly followed by 5 projectile vomits in 25 min. We rushed our little guy to the hospital (where he threw up 3 more times). They attempted to hook him up to an IV. They stuck the poor guy 6 times trying to do it!!! :( He was so dehydrated and lethargic and was turning yellow. He was just lying there, not moving, and not very responsive other than he knew he wanted his mommy to hold him. His white blood cell count was at 28,000 (normal is 5,000-10,000). This led them to believe he was fighting of an infection. After not having a wet diaper for 12 hours it was determined that our local hospital wasn't able to do what we needed them to. They couldn't get a new IV hooked up and it was just becoming torture for him. The hospital decided that he should be transferred to TX Children's Hospital.

So, Gabriel and I got in an ambulance and were taken to TX Children's where we would be joined later by Brian (who went home to take care of Grace's needs for a few minutes) and Gabriel's Grandma and Grandpa Navarre. When we arrived at the hospital I vomited and began having diarrhea issues. It was quickly determined that Gabriel and I were both suffering from what they call the Winter Vomit Virus. (Fun, eh?) So, now Gabriel and I were both sick. After more tests and getting an IV hooked up (which only took the children's hospital 1 try) we were told that Gabriel and I should be pretty much back to normal in 48 hours. We finally were able to get him to start drinking some Pedialyte (he wouldn't drink any because he was too dehydrated before).

We were discharged at 11 a.m. yesterday. Cherlyn helped us out around the house yesterday afternoon. Today Gabriel seems to be doing a little better. He's drinking half strength formula. According to his pediatrician he should be back to regular eating tomorrow (we're hoping.) I was still battling a fever this morning, but that seems to have cleared up now. Luckily Brian seems to have been able to avoid it. I see a very relaxed Christmas for us. Which is a shame with it being Gabriel's first one. But, the greatest gift of all this year will be to have a happy healthy baby boy once again.

9 Months Old

The little munchkin turned 9 months old yesterday. 3/4 of a year old already! He looks more and more like a little boy every day.

His current stats: 21 lbs. 1 oz. and 28.5 inches tall.

His favorite activities: Learning to say daddy and doggy. Pulling to a stand on just about anything and everything. Chasing Grace around the house. Climbing over objects. Reading "Water, Water Everywhere." Jingling jingle bells. And...admiring presents under the tree!

Favorite food: Cheerios

The Holidays Are Quickly Approaching...

Being me, and taking after my mom, I am done my Christmas shopping. But, I know some of you out there are now going into full shopping mode. This year I have found a new love for homemade products. They're unique, good quality, and reasonably priced. As I began my voyage into cloth diapering I quickly realized that some of my favorite diapers were WAHM made. (Work At Home Mom) They know what a mom wants in a diaper and they almost always provide fabulous personal customer service. They come in more varieties of style and patterns as well. I also got a custom made necklace for my Sister-in-Law for her birthday from my cousin, Johanna. For Christmas I ordered Gabriel some baby leg warmers (for when he's crawling around showing off those cutie diapers!). I've even been inspired and made a few myself.

So, this year, consider the handmade item as a gift. The greatest part...you didn't have to make it yourself. And maybe even better...you're supporting someone else and their family.

I love looking around www.etsy.com . And if you're over there check out Johanna's shop: Metal, Cloth & Wood.

She's also a member of the Jersey City Craft Mafia. I'm dying to try Lollibomb Beauty. :) And katrinbird designs is pretty cool looking too with her jewelry from upcycled clock gears.

Those are just a few things to check out. Of course there are a plethora of wonderful handmade items to be found out there, and they often have ridiculously fast shipping. It may just be the perfect way to say "Merry Christmas" to a loved one this year.

The Bradens + The Children's Museum = GREAT TIMES!!!

Today we met up with the Bradens while they were in town for Thanksgiving. We thought it would be a great idea to take the kids to the Tot area at the Houston Children's Museum. It was WONDERFUL!!! I am so taking Gabriel there on a regular basis. I loved that they had crew going around changing out the toys on a regular basis so they were pretty clean. (Matt and Angie...Barrett would love it.) We miss the Bradens!

The ball pit was good fun.
That smile makes my day, every day.
They were so funny. Stealing the ball that the other one had. Gabriel was obsessed with Kase's hair.
They had this big ramp with small steps and little road bumps, mirrors and textures on the walls. It was really for toddlers to practice walking on I think, but we took the whole thing up crawling across. Gabriel really enjoyed it, and kept checking Kase to make sure he was okay behind him. He even went to offer him assistance once on the stairs. So sweet.

These flowers spun around. That was good fun. He likes to know that Brian or myself are seeing him do it so he looks at us to make sure we're watching him.
This was a light switch that turned the light on and off in a little bear bedroom. Gabriel loves to turn the light switches off in the house. We're teaching him to conserve energy early. ;)
Spinning blocks. Good times.
A giant Lite Brite board. This thing was COOL!!!
Gabriel seemed to enjoy the sled while he was on it. But, when I took him off he cried. So we thought maybe he wasn't done. Put him back on and he cried louder and reached for me to pick him up. I think he was just hungry, but who knows. It was soooo fun, and if the kids weren't hungry we totally could have spent a lot more time there.

When you're a mom your pictures always turn out with big exaggerated faces in them. They don't tell you that before you have kids...so I just thought I'd let you know now. :)

Thanks for coming to play Bradens. We hope to see you in December!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Gabriel got to celebrate his first Thanksgiving with the majority of the Champion family at our home. He was very much a mommy's boy that day. I think the crowd overwhelmed him a bit. He did get to spend some time with his Grandma Cherlyn though which he always enjoys. :)
Shortly after this group shot Gabriel became very upset (he didn't nap very well) and I took him back to his room to try to get him to nap (unsuccessfully) while everyone else had Thanksgiving. I reheated mine later...not my ideal, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Even though he didn't nap well he was able to pull himself back together and eat some of his baby food. Real people food still throws him and makes him upset quite easily.
A few Puffs can almost always put a smile on his face.

Happy Birthday, Grace!!!

Grace celebrated her birthday on Nov. 21! (Actually the day she joined our little family.) It has been 6 years since she became our baby and I treasure every little moment with her. She is truly the most loving, patient, kind, and best of all...she's ours! She will always be the first baby of the family. Grandma Cherlyn and Grandpa Greg gave her a giant box of dog biscuits. Yum! And Mommy made her homemade cupcakes from scratch, and icing from scratch. We also went on a nice walk all together in the lovely weather we've been having. We LOVE you, Grace!!!
While Grace attempted to get some quiet time for herself the rest of us had some fun playing. I just adore every little moment captured on "film" of Brian and Gabriel together.
Bath time is so fun!
Where did you come from, Mommy?! :)

Gabriel is working on giving kisses. He presses his open mouth to your mouth. Soooo cute!
Hello, camera!

Kindermusik Fun

I decided to take some pictures of Gabriel at Kindermusik. He really enjoys himself there, especially now that he can crawl around.
The class can be very...busy. Yeah, that's a good word for it.
This is Gabriel's little buddy, Isabella.
Gabriel's favorite game is peek-a-boo with the scarves. I toss one on his head and say, "Where's Gabriel?" He pulls it off with a big grin and I say, "There he is!" He LOVES it. Then we put the scarf on my head and do the same thing only switch mommy for Gabriel where appropriate. He pulls the scarf of my head, and just thinks it's the greatest.
See...he loves it!
Miss Diana, his teacher, always takes some time to dance with each baby. So cute!

What a weekend! (And Gabriel is 8 months old!!!)

On Friday Gabriel and I met up with Grandma Cherlyn for the Nutcracker Market in Houston. What a zoo that was! But, what a fabulous time we had!!! Gabriel was PERFECT the entire time. He handled the crowds marvelously and Cherlyn and I picked up quite a few Christmas goodies!!!
This Saturday while I was taking care of a little boy with a fever, Brian went car shopping and came home with an Infiniti G37 Journey. It's very cool and has all of the bells and whistles. He is also very excited about the amazing deal he got on this car. I'm so glad he's happy with it. He deserved a new car! He works so hard and the beloved Maxima just isn't as pretty as it used to be. I drove it a bit yesterday and it certainly has pick-up! lol
Today Gabriel is 8 months old! Again, where does the time go??? Last week he was 20.6 lbs. and is somewhere around 28 in. long. Hard to measure him now because he gets up and crawls off. He is still very thrilled with the birthday sign. Now he takes it and crawls off with it down the couch. I think another tooth is coming. He has a major runny nose, drooling buckets, and that little fever on Saturday and part of Sunday. I hate seeing my little munchkin sick.
I know this picture is a little blurred, but I just adore that smile. Nothing can warm my heart like that smile can.
Yesterday I got a bit of me time and I completed our new Christmas tree skirt! Isn't it fabulous? It has yet to be ironed. I like the ruffled edge.
And because I know my mom is curious...this is our new dining room table. Well, sorta...long story. But, when ours arrives this is what it will look like. This is the one from the store...ours temporarily. Mom...I will take a picture of the painted island when the other kitchen table isn't in the way anymore.
What a weekend it was!

Gabriel's Christmas Stocking is Complete!!!

Thanks, Cherlyn for sewing it together. Since she did our other ones I figured she had a better idea of what to do. But, I did all of the cross stitching, and started before Gabriel was born! :) On to the next kiddo's stocking.

This picture is on here because I am in love with that smile! His teeth show in this picture so if it will let you click on it to enlarge it you can see his two pearly whites on the bottom.
I also made Gabriel some baby leg warmers. Now that he's crawling but it helps to protect his knees when he doesn't want to wear pants. Makes diaper changes easier too, and shows off his adorable cloth diapers.