9 Months

That's right, 9 months already. With Mike being gone this week, I scheduled Gabriel's 9 month check up for next Thursday. I will let you know all the fun height and weight stuff then. My guess is he weighs at least 21 pounds. But for now here are a few updates on what's new with Mr. Gabe.

* He is a talker~he has been very vocal all along but now he is starting say some words along with all the babble. His first was "mama" but he only said it twice so I am not even sure it was real. For sure he is saying "dada" and "bye-bye" although bye-bye comes most often after whoever has already walked out of the door. I noticed today he was making a sound that kind of sounded like when I am calling Mia down from her room. He did it every time I would call her. He stopped whatever he was doing, looked around, and kind of listened for her to come down the stairs. Somewhat like this:

Koleen: "MEE-ah"

Gabriel: "deeee-ah"

Anyway, it was very cute.

* He is starting to pull himself up with whatever he can grab onto. The crib rail was the first thing. It will not be long until he is trying to climb the stairs.

*He likes playing in the dog's water...Ewww! Anytime he gets a chance he is heading for it. He tipped it over once and got soaked. Now he just splashes in it for as long as he can before I pick him up and take him back into the other room. Then he is off again.

Trying to corral Gabriel while folding laundry. (This picture reminds me, I need to get online and order some diapers.)

Dog water, fun!

So true :)

Green Girl

We try to be a health conscious ~ earth friendly family. I guess we are doing a good job because today shopping for school supplies Mia picked the Earth Friendly pencils (made from sustained yield forests) and Recycled paper and folder. She also reads the ingredients list on almost every thing she eats looking for the "Bad Partially Hydrogenated Word" or High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Jackson County Fair

Almost a month ago we took the kids to the County Fair with Grandma Teresa. This was the first time I have gone in a long time but Mike and Mia have made sure to go every year for the last 3 years. Mia and Gabriel both loved seeing the animals. It even got Mia a little interested in 4-H, she would love to have a bunny!

"Camping"

We have wanted to go camping all summer but with Mike being super busy with work and all the other things going on we just have not found the time. Last weekend Mike's mom and dad went away for the weekend, so we went "camping" in their backyard. It was a last minute decision around 6pm so we packed the van and made our way out to Grandma's house. We got the tent up and the fire started just before dark. After getting ready for bed we sat around the camp fire and roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. Gabriel sat watching the fire for a long time before falling asleep (without a fight). During the night somehow Dutchess rolled over and opened the plug to the air mattress so out came the loud pump. Gabriel did wake up once but went back to sleep easily after drinking a bottle. So overall it was not too bad of a night with four people and two dogs in a tent. :)

The next morning at 5:30am it was time to wake up, or Gabriel said it was. Mike took him inside to make a bottle and try to get him back to sleep. After my two heaters were gone, I got really cold so I was glad we had a place to "cheat" as Mia put it. Mike made breakfast and I took a nap on the couch. After it warmed up out Mia rode her bike around the yard and we started up the fire and roasted hot dogs for lunch. I didn't get any pictures of the "camping" but I did get some on the way home.

Even Dandelion was exhausted.

Quilting & Crawling

I told you I would have some pictures of Mia's bookmark she made at Jo-Ann's and the quilt she made at The Ella Sharp Museum. Also I scanned one of the pictures from Monday, it didn't turn out wonderful but it is cute. So here they are. :) She is so crafty!

Exploring "The Ella"

Mia's Quilt

and the Bookmark

Mia has been so busy with fun things lately that I have not given any updates on Mr. Gabe. 

#1. He is crawling! He has been mobile for quite awhile now but he finally decided to give crawling a chance and is he good at it. I thought keeping up with him before was hard but WOW this kid can move. 

#2. Another tooth. I can't believe how fast this kid is getting teeth. Now he has the next one on the bottom left. That is 7!

#3. We got a new toy today and Gabriel loves it. It is a super cute giraffe that you put balls in the top and they roll out the bottom. 

One Day Wonders

For the last few years Mia has gone to Ella Sharp Museum for a week during the summer and taken art class. With everything she already had going on this summer (going to D.C. & Williamsburg, going up north, going to Girl Scout Camp with her daddy, and don't forget crocheting at Jo-Ann's and with Aunt Cori) she decided to pick a few "One Day Wonders" to participate in this year. 

It all started on Monday with "Secrets of The Ella". The kids spent all day exploring every nook and cranny of the old buldings at the museum including the cellar and the cupola in Ella's house! 

the cupola

On Tuesday was "A Day in the Life". Mia took the super cute bonnet she got in Williamsburg and went to work. They did chores and played games just like the pioneer kids did. They made peach jam and biscuits for their morning snack, churned butter, and made ice cream in the afternoon. 

Tomorrow is the last wonder, "Quilts are Fun". They will be making a 9 or 12 block quilt. I can't wait to hear about it and let you know how much fun she has.

Another Trip for Daddy = Lots of New Posts!

So everytime Mike is away I like to put up at least one post a day. Where is he going this time? You guessed it, another "Geek" conference. This time I kind of wish I was going too. Only becuase it is in Europe. Mike will be spending 4 days in Germany and 4 days at Drupalcon in Szeged, Hungary. Oh and 2 days in the air, that is 10 days with no Daddy, and 10 days of blogging. :)

Graham Crackers and Milk

Around here one of our favorite snacks is graham crackers dunked in milk. I went into the living room after putting the dishes in the dishwasher from dinner and saw Mia and Gabriel having a little snack. It was just too cute, so I had to take a bunch of pictures and share them with you. 

Graham Crackers

Yummy!

with milk

and crumbs.

Summer Reading Program

This is the second year that Mia has participated in the Jackson Public Library's Summer Reading Program. For every 15 minutes she reads she gets to circle a picture on a sheet, after 2 hours of reading the sheet is complete and she gets a prize and a paper bug to put in her bug jar that is hanging on the wall at the library. I know there have been times that she reads and we didn't record the time. But for the times we have recorded Mia has read 32 hours so far this summer! Because the new American Girl movie was coming out this summer she started with reading all of the Kit books. 

Last year she read all of the Magic Tree House books and loved them. On Magic Tree House website they even have a "Passport" you can print out and when you finish reading one of the books you can take a quiz and get a stamp to put in your passport! 

We took a trip to the library yesterday and I told Mia on the way that she could get as many books as she wanted this time. You should have seen the look on her face, it was like I told her she could get as much candy she wanted at the candy store! When we got there she grabbed a basket and started to fill it. She packed as many books as she could fit into that basket and headed to the checkout. She ended up getting 17 books and 1 CD Nancy Drew Music from the Motion Picture. She decided to do a report on China (most likely Olympics induced) and so she picked 6 books on China. And is starting to read the A Series of Unfortunate Events books. 

 

Crochet 101

Aunt Cori came to visit for almost a week. Her plane came in the same day we got back from up north. This was perfect timing because Mike went to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky to spend 4 days on a house boat with some Ubercart (the shopping cart he uses on the websites he develops) guys. I am calling this little venture, Geek Camp. 

So when Mike was away at Geek Camp, Cori, Mia, Gabriel, and I just visited. I told Cori I was getting spoiled seeing her once a month for 4 months now. Next time we see her will be Christmas, the kids will change so much! Cori also taught Mia how to crochet. She was working on chaining and told me she was making me a line! Now Mia is taking a crochet class at Jo-Ann's for 2 nights. She is making a bookmark in the class and she is having lots of fun with it.