Some good, some not so good...

Let's just start out with the not-so-good parts of the week, and then I'll show you some of the better parts...By the way, thanks for your continued prayers for Gabi to get better. The "rattle" in her chest is MUCH better, although she has started a bad series of coughing while she's sleeping (mostly at night). So, that means a breathing treatment at night, which is a stimulant, which in turn means that we are awake for a couple of hours before she's ready to go back to sleep again. Unfortunately, the nurse also told me this morning that I shouldn't take Gabrielle out to many public places right now because the FLU is awful around here. That's a bummer...guess I will continue to get my errands/shopping done in the evenings while she's at home with Nick.

Okay, so this was my attempt at blending up steamed veggies and feeding them to her. Guess she's not quite ready for little chunks in her food yet...this picture doesn't really do her justice with all the carrots that even got into her hair--yucky!

These two pictures were a couple of the great bed-head that Gabi has become. I just couldn't resist some of the faces she was giving me while I was getting her dressed. Hopefully her hair will get longer and thicker someday.

A breathing treatment...makes me sad to see her not feeling better.

So, here are a couple of the "fun" pictures for this week...I think that Gabi wants to be just like Nick and I and hold the remote. I have yet to understand why she thinks it's so great to stick in her mouth when she has so many other teething-type toys that work better! :)

Who says a girl can't wear a little camoflague?

This weekend my parents were here from Nebraska, and this is one of the last pictures we took on Sunday night. My mom found this hat for $1 while we were out shopping, and thought that it was kinda fun. I don't think that Gabi was quite sure about wearing it though.

Oh what fun it is to climb!

Gabrielle's new thing lately has been climbing up on things, thankfully mostly low things for now. Some of them seem a little dangerous to me (like things with wheels), but from what I am reading in my parenting books/magazines/emails, she is in a stage of exploration, and I should let her do it. Could it really "crush" her creativity for life if I don't let her always do what she wants to? Sometimes I think that what I read is a little "fluffy" for my parenting. What is the consensous on that from you other moms who have already been through this?

Sick, but still cute!

So we are still doing breathing treatments 3-4 times each day in hopes that Gabrielle gets better soon. She seems to be in a fairly good mood most of the day, which leads me to believe that she's not physically feeling too bad. Still, I feel a little "home-bound" because I don't want her to infect anyone else. It was great just to get out to the grocery store by myself on Saturday while Nick stayed home with her. It was also good to see her smile at me when I came back home though...feels great to be missed sometimes, I guess! :)

Can you see her two front teeth? I've been trying to get a picture of them for quite some time!!!

She LOVES shoelaces right now...mostly just pulling on them until they are untied and then sticking the hard end-piece in her mouth. She's just so cute when she's being onery...

Looks like she might be ready to try some spaghetti soon! :)

Just relaxin' together reading a book this past weekend.

Personality Test

You Are An ISFJ The Nurturer -You have a strong need to belong, and you are very loyal. A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways. -In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. -You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. In love, you express your emotions through actions. Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well! -At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time. -You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist. -How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented. -When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut.

What's" Your Personality Type?

Very interesting that now I am an "I" (for introvert). I was an "E" (for extrovert) when I met Nick and we took this test...hmmm...
I think this describes me pretty darn well though. What do you think?

One of these girls looks just like the other...

Here are a couple of pictures I thought you might enjoy (especially if you are one of those people who thinks Gabi looks like me). Today I was going through some childhood pictures and scanning them onto our computer so I can print out copies for myself, and found the one on the top. There are several others that I think show Gabrielle looking like me, but this one was the closest up of me.

Anyway...hope you are all enjoying your week...Gabi's still on breathing treatments, and was coughing LOTS today, so hopefully tomorrow's better.

And then there were 6 Walkers!!!

No, we're not pregnant with triplets...there are still just three of us. But, Gabi did get three different Fisher Price toy walkers for Christmas this year. We know we are soooo blessed by our family and friends, not only from the "presents" we recieved, but also from your "presence" in our lives--thanks for the prayers and support while we are here in Texas!

What a week!

It's been a little crazy at our house the last few days. We took Gabrielle in for her 9-month check up and we came out with a breathing machine and perscriptions for $300 worth of medicine. Ugh! She had a little cough and a bit of a runny nose, but our new pediatrician down here thinks that she has RSV, and that we need to give her all these meds. She's on two different breathing medications three times a day (which take about 30 minutes each time), as well as two oral liquids three times a day.
On top of that, Nick and I both felt like we were coming down with colds Sunday night...perfect since he's flying back to Wichita Tuesday through Thursday this week. Please pray for us all...

Anyway...here are some cute pictures from this past week...

Look how tall she's getting (28" long and 22 lbs. at her appointment last week), and she's learning to climb/stand on most anything!

Nick tried to pick her up a couple of times, but she wouldn't let go of her toy walker. She loves moving around the room with it, and I can't wait until she learns to turn instead of "crashing" into everything! :)

You can almost see her two front teeth that came in a week apart at the beginning of December.

Nick looks totally enthused putting on the cabinet locks in the kitchen. Gabrielle's favorite thing this last week has been going into any room in our house and emptying things out of drawers and cabinets. Any suggestions on how to keep drawers shut with out drilling in those locks?

Sunday morning's beautiful bed-head.

Gabi got this trike from my parents for Christmas. They wanted her to have it as soon as she was ready. But from the looks of it, her legs have some growing to do before she will be able to reach the pedals! For now she enjoys Nick pushing her around on it the livingroom.

Good eatin'

Just wanted to share a couple of recipies that I have made in the last two days that were fairly easy and very tasty!

Creamy Pesto Chicken & Bow Ties
8 oz. uncooked bow tie pasta
1 lb. chicken breasts, cubed
1 can fat free cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup pesto sauce
1/2 cup milk
-Cook chicken breasts (covered) in oven at 350 degrees for about 30 min. or until no longer pink.
-Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.
-In large skillet, brown chicken pieces (about 5 min). Add soup, pesto sauce, and milk. Bring to a boil and cook on low for 3-5 minutes. Stir in drained pasta and heat through.
-I served green beans and garlic bread with this meal...yummy!

Turkey Tortilla Soup
1 cup salsa
28 oz. chicken broth
2 cups turkey pieces/cubed
1 large zucchini, chunked
-In large saucepan combine salsa and broth; bring to a boil. Stir in turkey
(I used holiday leftovers from our "bird") and zucchini; heat through.
-It says that you can top it with tortilla chips, lime wedges, sour cream and/or cilantro.

Enjoy!!!

Busy lil' girl

Isn't she sooo cute? I find that I am spending more and more time during the day following her around the house, picking up things that she's dragged here and there, as well as finding her in the middle of something--like taking all the books off her shelf. She's also pulling herself up on nearly anything vertical, so I am having to move things higher (since everything still goes in her mouth). I am just glad that I can shut doors to keep her out of rooms (like the bathroom). But as you can tell, she's not far from being able to reach the doorknobs...wow, time flies!!!

Playing with toys

Gabrielle's been pretty good at sitting on the floor and playing with her toys this week. Although, she sometimes thinks that she needs to be up and getting into everything--playing "let mommy chase me around the house" (pictures will be on my next post for that!).

Look at all my gifts!!!

So, my mom used to always take a picture of us sitting by the Christmas tree with all the gifts we recieved that year. But, since our tree is in our foyer this year (mostly so that Gabi won't touch it all day long), I opted for different locations. As you can see below, she got everything that she could ever want and more. The top picture is of all the clothes she got, and the bottom picture is of all the other stuff, mostly toys (some collectibles, etc.). Did I mention that she's really into books right now? Okay, mostly teething on them, but she likes to turn the pages too if she can get those board-books open.

Making our way back to Texas

We made the trip back to Texas in three separate days, mostly to get a little more time with family and friends. Sunday we made our way back to Wichita and stayed with Nick's dad and Judy, ate lunch with some friends on Monday, and headed to Altus, Oklahoma that afternoon. We stayed in the Hampton Inn, which was wonderful (and had only opened in September, so it was VERY clean). We enjoyed a little pool time before we went to bed. Did I mention that we were the only people in the pool that night?

On New Year's morning (Tuesday), we headed to the Peterson's for a quick visit and lunch. We had a great time talking, catching-up, and watching the girls play. Here are some of the pictures that I got...check out their blog (see top of our page for the link) for more pictures that Jill captured on her camera.

Sydney giving Gabi kisses.

Christmas with the Hoops/Reinke families

Opening presents with Grandpa and Grandma Reinke the day after Christmas. Another tradition that I am going to try to continue with our kids is giving them an ornament every year (with the intentions that when she's older, she has enough to start her own tree). This year I found "Baby's 1st Christmas" in the Precious Moments collections. Which leads to another tradition from one of my godmothers when I was growing up...getting a Precious Moments once a year. I think I might try to do that for Gabi too because the figurine collection that I have now holds so many "precious" memories for me over the years.

A doll (with lots of snaps, buttons, zippers, etc) and a fuzzy-bear-covered-Bible-story book from aunt Katherine, uncle Dan, and Matthew. They weren't able to come, but they sent our presents ahead of time...thanks!!

I'm lovin' the timer on our camera to get family pictures of everyone. When I grew up, someone was always missing from the pictures (or we had to call a neighbor over to our house to help).

My aunt Fern (mom's sister who lives in MN now) with Gabi fast asleep on her shoulder. I got to see all my aunts and uncles on my mom's side of the family (the Hoops') at our brunch during the week. There were also some of my cousins there too, but I guess I didn't take very many pictures that morning...oops.

Gabi loves to pull herself up on anything she can grab onto. Grandma Reinke's dining room chairs worked perfectly...and as you can see, she walked all the way around the back of them. Oh, and stopping in the middle to taste the spindles was a MUST! :)

Daddy and Gabi taking afternoon naps on grandma's couch.

Look at me...I'm such a big-girl!

Playtime with Grandpa Reinke. Gabi's trying to hold onto his hair (like she does with Daddy), but there's not as much there...sorry, Grandpa! :)

Grandma Reinke holding Gabi and the blanket that my Aunt Marlys made for us. The Reinke side of the family got together on Saturday night at my parents' house...unfortunately, not everyone was able to make it. But, we had a great time and lots of laughs to remember.

My cousins, Stuart and Diane's youngest son, Dylan (who is almost 5 years old...Diane was pregnant with him at our wedding) letting Gabi play with the zipper on his sweatshirt. He wasn't too sure about Gabi, but he warmed up to her by the end of the evening. Some of you might remember Taylor (Stuart and Diane's oldest daughter) who was our flower girl for our wedding. Can you believe she's in 4th grade now?! Unfortunately, again, I didn't take as many pictures as I wish I would have.

Getting ready to go to church on Sunday in her Christmas dress, coat, and hat. We even finally found some cute black shoes that fit her feet...for those of you who haven't checked out her little toes lately, she's got quick a thick foot across the top, which means that he feet don't fit in many shoes...luckily Payless has wide shoes, and they had these in a size 4W!

After church...no the sermon wasn't that boring that it put her to sleep. But, my parents still go to a small church in the country about a mile and a half from our house. When we were kids we knew we were getting older when we were allowed to ride our bikes to Vacation Bible School in the summertime. Anyway...they don't have a nursery during church, so Gabi sat and squirmed with us in the pew. She did pretty good...we even got several comments from other people saying how well behaved they thought she was...hmmm...?