Growin' Boys!

Somewhere along the way, my life turned in to a boy farm! Christopher has learned this month that Mommy is not a boy like everyone else in the house. This picture proves that I need a girl!

The boys have been doing so much growing and developing lately! Gabriel is sitting up and getting closer to crawling every day. He picks up toys, chews on them, and watches Christoher wherever he goes. It so cute to see Gabriel giggle at Christopher!

Look at those big eyes!

Christoher drew this picture a few days ago. He said it was a rainbow, Noah, and the ark. What a smart kiddo!

{and that is grape jelly on his face, not the beginning of a pre-teen wanna be stache!}

Ice cream trucks are a must for summertime! I never had this growing up, so I get just as excited as Christopher does when the ice cream man comes. I actually broke every rule I have as a mother and let him get a spiderman popcicle from the ice cream man before we ate dinner! Bad mommy!

Christopher has been to several birthday parties lately. These "jedidiah" teeth were a gift in one of the goodie bags from the Chuck-E-Cheese party he went to last week. He has never had something like this, and we were cracking up when he put them in! It was too cute to see his reaction when he saw his face in the mirror.

Gabriel is a baby food eating machine! He loves everything he has tried so far, except for the kiwi...that was a little tart! He is quickly catching up to Christopher. He is only about 6 pounds lighter...watch out buddy! And do you remember Baby Kyle? Well, he is getting SO big! We saw him over mother's day weekend and I couldn't believe how much he has grown. He is babbling, rolling all over, and still bald as a cancer patient! :) What a cutie.

Baby Food Makin' Days!

I finally took the time to get a big batch of baby food made for Gabriel. I have been getting by with just mashing up one or two meals at a time, but life gets busy and it's just easier to pull it out of the freezer when I'm in a hurry. I spent about 2 hours cooking lots of fruits and veggies.

The menu for this month includes:

* yellow squash and brown rice

* sweet pototoes

* green beans

* peas

* carrots

* blueberries

* broccoli

* mango

* pears

*kiwi

We have yet to try the kiwi and mango and I'm not sure how he will like them. So far, he likes everything he has tried. Sometimes he starts to yell at me if I give him too many bites of vegetables without a bite of fruit in between!

I love the way home-made baby food looks. The colors are so vibrant! I have the book Blender Baby Food if anyone is looking for a reference for making baby food. I use it as a reference for some things and to get ideas for yummy combinations, but you can pretty much make anything into babyfood...just use fresh ingredients and keep it simple!

Peek A Boo

Is there anything more precious to hear than a baby laughing? Especially when it's your own baby.

Mothers Day Weekend

This weekend I drove Gabriel to Edmond, Oklahoma to spend time with his Aunt Lauren and Uncle Eric. We had such a good time visiting with them and watching Gabe be his fun goofy self.

He showed them how he found his feet and tried to get them in his mouth!

He also had tons of fun playing with their weiner dog, Dexter! Dexter loved to lick all over Gabriel's face and body...which made Gabe giggle! Gabe kept trying to get Dexter to lick in his mouth...yuck!

He also tried to eat Dexter's ears! Dexter was a trooper. I think he is ready for his own baby soon ;)
Then Aunt Lauren took us Downtown to walk around a gorgeous botanical garden, called Myriad Gardens. We pushed Gabriel around in his stroller for a while and then we let him get out in the grass and play for a while. He had fun sitting up on his own (a new trick that he recently learned). He would hold on to the grass on either side of his body to help balance...so smart! :)

Inside the botanical garden is this huge "bridge" that you walk through. It like a giant greenhouse, and it is so gorgeous. You get all the beautiful plants and trees from the tropics with no deadly bugs or snakes.

Thanks Aunt Lauren and Uncle Eric for a fun weekend! We can't wait to come back and visit again!

When we got home from Oklahoma on Mother's Day, my in-laws were still in town. I had a good time visiting with them and seeing how cute baby Kyle is. Sorry...I didn't get my camera out for that! After they left to drive back home, me and the boys went to RibCrib for dinner. It was so yummy!

One of the best things about today was that Christopher told me "happy mama's day!" That was the first time I have ever heard those words from my own child and it was such a beautiful thing to hear. He is getting so big and I cherish every day that I get to spend with my little guys!

Random pictures and thoughts

Gabe is not a fan of his new homework assignment! He gets lots of tummy time with his toys out of reach until he gets mad enough to do something about it. I do eventually cave and help him out a little, but that's what Moms are for! He is getting his whole belly off the floor, but not yet getting up on his knees. I hope he is crawling by the time we go to Wisconsin in June...that would be fun!

I broke out the bubbles the other day when I was about to throw all the kids out the door! Just kidding, but it is amazing how bubbles can brighten your mood! Aren't Christopher's feet so cute!

The big boys snuggling on the kitchen floor. My boys have a sensitive side!
Christopher crawled in to Gabriel's bassinett. Instead of Chris telling him to get out, he thought it would be a good idea to take pictures. Way to encourage the kid. But they are cute pictures.
If I saw a picture like this of someone else's kid I would think "Wipe that kids mouth for crying out loud!". This is what happens when you have a two year old and a 6 month old...you stop caring if their mouth has crusty food on it from lunch...and it's after naptime already! I did eventually wipe it off. (note: I still care when we are out of the house!)

Bear is such a good dog! It is so cute to see them play together.

Chris was taking a shower and I was trying to get 5 more minutes of sleep. Christopher is so good at knowing when I don't want to get out of bed and he picks these times to try things he would never get away with. I crawled out of bed, rubbed my eyes, and walked in to the bathroom to see this...

My first thought...don't cats usually crawl into sinks?

6 Month Pictures

These are a few of my favorites. Some of them look so much like Christopher at 6 months!

We love cloth diapers!

Everyone knows I use them, but most people are a little aprehensive about them. Once I started researching cloth diapers, I decided I had to use them. I love them because I am not putting thousands of diapers in the land for our children to deal with years down the road, I never have to run to the store because I ran out of diapers, my kids have soft cotton on their bums instead of harsh chemicals and materials that will never biodegrade, and they are cute!

Well, I have been thinking about posting some information about cloth diapers, but then I ran across this post that has everything I would have to say and then some. So, if you are interested in cloth diapers this should be fun and informative for you. If you never think you would ever use cloth diapers, read it anyway...you never know! If you have any questions, I would love to answer them for you!