Wondering...

what I should try first--potty training, big girl bed, or getting rid of Gabrielle's paci (only used in bed)??? And, I'm open for any suggestions from you experienced mommies out there...

Pink toes and carpet too...

Our matching toenails...I loved the color so much that I bought a bottle after my pedicure.

And then Gabrielle got a hold of the bottle and accidentally dropped it on the tile...which broke and splashed out onto our bedroom carpet. This picture is of the carpet after I scrubbed it with various products for over two hours (*sigh*).

Splash park fun!

We went to the park and the splash park on Saturday morning (Memorial Day weekend) with Nick.  Gabrielle really enjoyed herself, and I think this park area will be one of our favorite places to be this summer.

Gabrielle sitting under one of the sprayers painted like an octopus.

Standing in the middle of the circle sprayers.

Taking a quick picture together before we left...fun time in the sun!

Who knew?

...that Gabrielle might have some musical talents?  :)

While we were unpacking one day I found my bells.  Gabrielle immediately picked up the mallets (using correct form, I might add), and had a blast playing them.

CHEESE!!!  May be we've got a percussionist on our hands...

Trying out the slide whistle...she did really well with it too!

Good times!

We had such a great time with Katherine and Samantha this week, and were sad to see them leave.  Here's just a few more pictures of our fun week together.

Gabrielle enjoying a cob of corn.

Cheese...all finished!

Samantha fell asleep after eating some of our "magical" cheese.

Hanging out with my two favorite little girls.

Saying goodbye at the Houston airport...see you soon!

Music and dancing

Gabrielle "sharing" the piano with Samantha.

Wouldn't it be neat if they both took lessons as they get older and then actually played duets with each other?

Samantha's fingers on the keys.

Gabrielle pulled Samantha up off the floor and started dancing with her.  Samantha's still mostly  crawling...although she did take her first steps while she was here.  So, it was super fun to see them dancing together!

  

Gabrielle obviously wanted to sit a little higher, and this box did the trick...she's my little monkey!

Fun at the parks

Swinging at the park.

The splash park turned on while we were enjoying the swings and slides at the park (it's right to the south of the park).  So, we went over there with our clothes on and let the girls play in their shirts.  Obviously Gabrielle was a little standoff-ish at the beginning.  

Gabrielle loved the water!

I LOVE this action shot!

Samantha enjoying the water and sun.

I love Gabrielle's giggles in this video...

Did I mention that we went back the next day with the girls in their swim suits? So much fun!

Our first visitors

My sister, Katherine and her daughter, Samantha, came to visit us just one week after we had moved into our new house.  I enjoyed a week full of fun and some much needed girl-talk.  We even got a couple of boxes unpacked and some pictures hung on the wall.

Gabrielle thought that Samantha was just the right size for her baby-doll stroller...unfortunately, then she thought that she needed a ride on it too.

Cheese!  Just one of the words that Samantha started saying while she was here with us...guess I'm used to Gabrielle saying it now.

It was pretty nice during the evenings, so we spent some time outside while Nick grilled.  The girls had a great time playing on the slide together.

More cheesy smiles.

This picture really shows how much taller Gabrielle is than Samantha.  Can you believe that they are only a year apart in age?  May be Samantha will grow a lot this year to catch up with Gabrielle!  :)

Happy Mother's Day...a little late

What to do?

Gabrielle's been a real trooper lately while I've been unpacking boxes and getting our house "put together".  She's also been a pretty big help when I've given her a task or two to "help" me with. 

Putting her baby to bed...and making sure she reads her a story first...

Guess we are creatures of routine around here!

Checking out the internet?

Okay, not really.  But, she really likes watching our screen saver go through all the pictures that we've uploaded at one point or another.  And, the fun part is that she points and yells out whoever is in the pictures.  My favorite is when she sees herself as a baby, and "recognizes" herself.

Moving!

Moving again...yes, that's right.  Moving day #1 in Odessa didn't start out all that well because the movers didn't show up until mid-afternoon (AFTER I had to pick Gabrielle up from MDO at church--ugh).  But, they made up for it by bringing a total of six guys to get everything done on day #2.  

The super-big truck with all our stuff inside.

And, can you believe that they drove Nick's car right up into the back too?  It was a pretty tight fit, with all our stuff in the front...cool that we didn't both have to drive though!

Side view...and some of the nice packers.

Gabrielle hanging out on the sidewalk (after not wanting to take a nap).  May be she was doing a "sit-in" to tell us not to leave.  

Sorry, sweety!

Moving all our stuff into the new house in Nederland, and not wanting to take a nap.  She finally fell asleep in the stroller (after begging us to strap her in and push her around a little bit).

I felt so bad that her head was hanging down, so I transported her to the floor in her bedroom to finish her nap.

Ooops...the backside of my arm still had paint on it from painting the Smurf-blue pantry a new-clean white.  This picture was taken after we had gone out to eat at Texas Roadhouse...

We parked right next to this van during supper, and just HAD to take a picture to show you how many mosquitoes they truly have here.  This was the grossest bumper I had seen in a long time.  Time to break out the Benadryl cream, I guess!

Found

I finally found the cord to hook the camera up to the computer, and uploaded the last month of pictures to our lab top.  Hopefully I can get a new post or two done today (since I am taking a break from unpacking, organizing, cleaning, and decorating...*sigh*).  

Gabrielle and I have also been going to Story Time at the local Library on Wednesday mornings--unfortunately today was the last one until their summer programs begin in June.  Did I mention that I even met another friendly mommy there?  Yea!  AND, on top of that, I think that we may have found a church home already too...more to come on that later, hopefully.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers during our transition to a new home here.  I know we couldn't have done it without all of your support!

Batman!

Hope you love this video clip as much as I did the first time.  If you can imagine, Nick was ecstatic about her learning to sing this song (and like to watch the old version of the show with him too)!  

Painting is a little messy...

...but, she loves it, so what can I say?  

We went out and bought a special painting smock that she wears now every time that we are using the paints.  And, it definitely came in handy when she spilled the bowl of water on her lap one afternoon.  Who knew that she would sit still enough to enjoy painting.  This first paper ended up with a hole in the middle of it from too much water/paint on it.  What a special memory to have on my refrigerator right now!

Pigtails

"Cheeeeese!"

That's a MUCH better smile in my opinion!  :)  

I just can't believe that her hair is long enough to braid.  Now, if she'd just be patient enough with me to get it done like that more often.

2-year check up

So, I can't believe that my little girl is already two years old!  We went for her two-year check up, and found out that she's still in the highest percentiles for height (36" tall) and weight (30 lbs.).  Everything else was good...and can you believe that we didn't even have to get any shots this time?  Yea!  Gabrielle didn't even cry when she saw the doctor (like she used to always do)!

We did, however, have to go get her blood tested at a lab to figure out whether she needs to take vitamins or not.  And, she also had a lead-test done since we live in a house that was built before 1978.  Everything checked out just fine, and she didn't even shed a tear--what a brave little girl she's becoming!

Walking with daddy to the car after the appointment.

Happy Easter (a little late)

Family picture before we headed to the 8:30 Easter Day service at church...I really liked the option to go early!!!  I wish that little circle didn't show up on my forehead from the flash--bummer!

Chuck & Judy (Nick's dad and step mom) pose with Gabrielle before church.

After church we found eggs that the Easter Bunny had left for us in the backyard.

Running through the grass to find the next egg.

Gathering all the eggs for her bucket.

Tasting some of her treats.

After lunch Gabrielle and Nick got out their guitars and "played" together.  Check out Gabrielle's "cheese" face!

And, now you know why Gabrielle opens her mouth when she plays her guitar...she's really starting to imitate us a LOT!  :)