Gabriel Scoots

Sarah was out this morning learning to be a coffee barista (Italian for bartender... in case you didn't know) so daddy and Gabriel had 'man-time'. We spent a lot of it on the floor playing, and you cannot leave Gabriel alone. This boy can roll, and he can now scoot. Last week he didn't know how to scoot. Thought I would share a short video of him scooting to his toy:

Grammy and Papa

My parents made Gabriel a shirt...

6.5 month checkup

Gabriel just went to the doctor. Here's an update on how he's doing.

Gabriel is now 6.5 months old. He weighs 17.2 pounds and is 27 inches long. He's in the 35th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. He's a very happy and healthy boy. Well, he wasn't so happy after his flu shot.

Gabriel has had several different types of solids now. Mostly vegetables and some fruits. Sometimes I give him 1/3 of a slice of toast. He munches on it until it's soaked through with slobber, then it usually falls in his lap. Once in a while he'll actually swallow some.

He can sit fairly well, and topples over once in a while. We put pillows around him for when he falls straight backward. Sometimes he'll fall forward, over his feet, and end up on his tummy. He loves standing in his exersaucer (it that holds him up and has toys within reach). His favorite toy on the exersaucer is the sun. He pulls on it hard enough to rip it loose from its spot. When this happens, the toy usually ends up on the floor, and I find Gabriel staring at it. It's like he's saying "How did you get down there?"

Gabriel is now fascinated with tags. Tags from clothes, toys, etc. If it has a tag, he'll find it and play with it!

Most days, he takes 3 naps, but sometimes he only needs 2. I assume he'll be doing 2 naps regularly pretty soon. He has been sleeping 12 hours at night for quite some time. I like my evening and morning time with Richard before/after the baby is awake :)

He's still cute and cuddly and sometimes I want to squish him and cover him with big slobbery kisses. One of my favorite things is when he begins to reach for me. This is new, and oh so precious! When daddy comes home, Gabriel gets a big smile on his face and stares at Richard as he changes and puts away his things. After that Gabriel and Richard have their time together, and that's when Gabriel seems to laugh the hardest.

Peaches!

Peaches are my hubby's favorite! So, I decided to can some peaches this year so he could have them when they're not in season. It was my first time canning. My in-laws sent me this book on canning and preserving. The book is super helpful, by the way. I recommend it if you are interested in canning. Even with the book, though, I was nervous to try it for the first time. So, I do what I always do when it comes to kitchen things... I wait for my mom! When she came to visit, we bought fresh peaches from the farmers market (AMAZING!). We spent half the day canning peaches. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I think doing with someone else is the best method. We pealed the peaches by blanching them in boiling water. Then we sliced them and stuck them in jars and filled the jar with a very light syrup. Then, we dunked the jars in boiling water for 30 minutes, and voila! After the jars were all done, we realized we could have packed the peaches in a lot more. Look at these. They are practically half juice.

So we got a little better the second round.

Of course, you have to eat some while you're working.

MMMMmmmmmm...

Garden Happenings

~I just realized I forgot to publish this post. This is from a couple weeks ago.~

Veggies I've harvested in the last week: Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green bell pepper, carrots, zucchini and spaghetti squash.

These are my massive spaghetti squash! I like to bake them and eat it with salt and pepper.

See this zucchini? This is what happens when you leave town for a week. It's huge! I had two this size. Since my mom is here visiting, she cut one up into a zucchini boat. Yum!

Zucchini boat.

Cloth Diaper Video

For those who don't understand how far cloth diapers have come in recent years. I should get mine today. I can't wait!

Cloth Diapers

I did it. I made the switch. I just ordered a bunch of cloth diapers! We decided to make the switch since cloth is SO much cheaper than disposable. Originally, I didn't want cloth, because I thought it meant using those old rectangular fabrics (the ones I currently use for burp cloths) and a huge safety pin, kind of like in the cartoons. But cloth diapers have come a LONG way since then. They're actually cute! On top of that, cleaning is much easier than I thought. Almost everything can simply be put in the washing machine.

Here is the type of diaper I ordered. http://www.bumgenius.com/
It's a one-size diaper that adjusts as your child grows bigger. So Gabriel will be able to use these until he's potty trained, then he can pass them on to siblings. I'm estimating we'll break even by the end of this year, but will save  hundreds of dollars next year. If we have other children, we will end up saving thousands of dollars.

So I ordered my diapers a couple days ago, and am not being very patient for them to arrive. I'm really excited! Who knew you could get so excited about new diapers? Anyway, they should arrive tomorrow. Yippee!

Sweet Home Alabama!

Well, home to our family that is... which makes it a home away from home for us! We just got back from a visit. Gabriel got to meet his cousins, aunts and uncles. Plus we celebrated Bob's 70th birthday! It was a great time, and we are already missing everyone. I am really sad that we forgot to get a family photo, but here are some other good shots we took.

Gabriel and the next youngest cousin, Aiden.

Playing with his cousins, Chase and Aiden.

 First time in the swimming pool.

 Bob, aka Paw, with the young'uns.

 Ella copying Gabriel.

 Evan teaching Gabriel to play the drums... Oh wait, Gabriel just wants to eat the stick.

 Katherine and Gabe.

 Everyone pile on the birthday boy!