It All Started with a Little Skittle...

All of Gabby's cousins (she was napping) cuddling with G.G. (Photo by Danielle McIlroy) It seems that the topics I am most excited about are the ones that leave me with writers block...I know what you're thinking, Amber who never stops talking can't think of what to say? Well the truth is I have plenty to say it's just does not do justice to the wonderful time we had, but I'll at least give you a glimpse at our fun.  Hopefully the pictures (mainly my sister-in-law's pictures) will depict the amazing time we all had visiting with each other, because a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Gabby met her cousins Molly, Reagan, and Cate for the first time when she was about 2 1/2 months old and she hasn't seem them since (besides in the thousands of pictures I've shown her to make sure she knows who they are), until about a month ago that is!  Gabby and Molly have a special connection because they were born 6 days apart and the last time they sa...

Anyone who knows us well, knows that we had "difficulty" becoming pregnant with Gabby.  After a year of trying (and praying) we were really disappointed, so we decided we would try anything at this point (besides fertility drugs).  My doctor tested both of our fertility (by the way our insurance didn't cover this so find out before you get tested so you don't have $1000s of dollars of surprises).  The procedure I had done, called an HSG test, was very painful, like more painful than labor pains! Also, my doctor did not tell me this, but when I was researching online a lot of people stated that the HSG test cleans out your fallopian tubes and a lot of people get pregnant quickly after the test.  I also started taking cough syrup twice a day that had guaifenesin in it because my mom had mentioned once that it helped her get pregnant with me (I told you we were desperate). Finally, we more mockingly than anything made a vision board (my mom was always trying to get us t...

So we are going to have some out of order blogs, basically because that describes our lives over the last three months! Our world is disorderly, turned upside down, and pure chaos. Gabby, Michael, and I moved out of our house on September 12th and officially sold our house on September 16th. It was a week of long days, with me packing and cleaning, Michael constantly moving, and Aunt Ellen helping us by watching Miss Gabrielle. When Gabby was at the house “helping” us pack she could unpack two boxes as fast as I packed one! Needless to say moving took us literally the entire four days we had (and we had been packing boxes and moving items to storage two weeks prior to the official week designated for “the move”). While being “homeless” we stayed at my parents’ house. Gabby loves going to Grandma and Papa’s but apparently is not interested in living there. The first 4 days we were there, Grandma and Papa were in Las Vegas, which was nice so Gabby could get used to living there. T...

Today was a day of pride for Michael, because Gabby attended her first ever Texans football game. To celebrate I surprised Michael with a new red Texans shirt and even found one at Good Will for Gabby for $1.  You would be surprised how many battle red shirts I found there for such a low price.  I think Michael enjoyed Gabby and I fully participating in the event, attire included.  If you have never been to a professional football game, it is a day event.  We left the house around 9:15 and didn't get home until about 4:30.  Before the game we allowed Gabby to walk around to burn off some energy.  She danced and met three of the cheerleaders, who signed her shirt and took a picture with her and Daddy. Once in our seats Gabby was not too sure about the loud noises, but quickly acclimated when given (usually forbidden) snacks.  Gabby received a lot of attention including hi-fives and behaved surprisingly well throughout the game (e...

Everyone knows that being a parent is full of sacrifices and some are more difficult than others. So far being a Mom I have "sacrificed" my skin thanks to stretch marks, my youthfulness, thanks to the worries that cause the new wrinkles I notice weekly, my pretty legs thanks to the varicose veins I received during pregnancy that never went away, the comfort of sitting thanks to the back pain I have had ever since pregnancy, a good night’s sleep, and the list goes on... However, none of these things truly feel like a sacrifice (although I do miss sleep and my non-damaged body) they are just part of being a mommy and I wouldn't trade parenthood for anything! Today, however, a very difficult sacrifice was made, although I know it was the only choice. Ranger, the dog Michael and I had for 7 ½ years, was given to a new home today. He bit Gabby on her head when she was about 9 months old and then about a week ago he nipped at her and unfortunately that was the last straw. M...

Today is Michael and my 6th wedding anniversary.  We've had a great day!  Michael and I are officially Texan's season ticket holders and Gabby is in a wonderful mood (even though she woke up at 5:00 a.m.). We went out to eat for dinner and Gabby was a little ham.  She waved at the people in the other booths and adopted a few new grandparents.  Gabby had an entire table of elderly people talking to her as she blew kisses to them.  Then she played peek-a-boo with the man at the booth behind her and had the attention of the young guys at the table next to us.  Michael and I don't think we could have had a better day.  Gabby gave us the best gift ever, being an angel.  We had the best day ever! We don't plan on doing anything too exciting today, but having a day to relax and celebrate the family we've created sounds good to me! Happy Anniversary Husband! I love you! P.S. Thank you for being patient and agreeing to take pic...

Once there was a tiny girl who really loved saying out. She loved the word so much that she yelled out and raised her hand every time she saw a door or her dog. Whether she wanted the dog near her or to keep his distance she would click her tongue and then excitedly yell, "out!" Quickly "out" changed from a new word to a distinct name. Every time Gabby wanted to feed her puppy bites of her snack or wanted to pet his soft fur she would gleefully cry, "Out!" It was more than just a word it was Gabby's term of endearment for her puppy. It came to the point where one day the dog unconsciously began answering to the name out. He excitedly ran up to tiny Gabby wagging his tail waiting for treats.  So in Gabby's small ever expanding dictionary "out" means "dog." Mommy and Daddy are to blame because we constantly yell, "Out!" whenever Ranger walks through the baby jail threshold (a story for another day)!

My sister-in-law had four pregnant bridesmaids, who now have four babies no more than a month and a half apart.  In the top picture they are lined up from youngest to oldest.  The babies basically slept the entire time, but I think all of the mommies enjoyed visiting with other adults and talking about their experiences.  I hope that we all get together often.  It is fun to watch the babies grow and to spend time with girls who went through the pregnancy experience with me.

Since the moment Gabrielle was swaddled and brought to us we began calling her Houdini, because even with the nurses wrapping her tightly she somehow always managed to get her arms out of the blanket. Then we started to put mitts on her hands (which we quickly changed to socks) to prevent her from scratching her face. Of course the moment we wrapped her in a blanket she had the mitts off again. The nickname quickly stuck and has been very appropriate since day one. A few new moms advised me to invest in a Miracle Blanket. They told me it is a "miracle" how helpful the blanket is in calming an upset baby. Luckily I was given a Miracle Blanket as a baby shower gift. As soon as we got home from the hospital we began using the blanket. The Miracle Blanket basically ties each arm down with a piece of fabric, then place the baby's legs in a pocket, and finally wrap the blanket tightly around the baby. After demonstrating how the blanket works Michael informed me that Miracle...

Anyone who has met my little delicate angel, knows there is one thing that is not too delicate about her and that would be her bodily functions. This little 8 pound baby flatulates as loud as a grown man, and I am not exaggerating. When she was one week old, my friend Chelsea was visiting and holding her and she vibrated poor Chelsea's hand! Chelsea told us that no one will ever believe that such a tiny baby could rumble a house that loudly! She is not exaggerating either. The funny thing is that people get a disgusted look and check their clothes after one of her explosions making sure nothing leaked out of the diaper and onto them, when in reality her diaper is probably just as clean as it was before. However this is not always the case... For instance, last week Michael was changing her diaper midway through one of her morning feedings to help me out by waking her up. I gave Michael a piddle pad (as my sister-in-law calls it) and told him to place it under her before laying...

One of my kids at work yet again asked me why I ate Gabby... "It's not nice to eat people. Your supposed to eat food! The baby can't hear bad words in the tummy."

So my sister-in-law, Sharon, recently got married and 4 of her 8 bridesmaids were pregnant. We are all within a month of each other. Mike has an inside joke with his sister regarding "four" so we took a picture holding up the number 4 on our fingers. Three of the 4 bridesmaids have found out the sex of their babies and 3 of the 4 are having boys....Sharon has changed her choice that I am having a girl, to now I am having a boy, because all of her other bridesmaids are. So of course she expects me to follow the trend (although I have never been a trend follower). I guess we will just have to wait and see if 4 is the number of the year!

The door to my room At work we are ALL girls so of course they decided to do something sweet for me to celebrate the baby. Once I told my bosses I was going to start telling parents that I had a bun in the oven they decorated the office and surprised me one day when I was traveling to a charter school I work at. This is what the office looks like, I think the decorations are adorable....not to mention a great ice breaker to telling at least 30 parents that I am pregnant which is ackward (especially dads and grandfathers for some reason). I have been lucky all of the parents at some point have mentioned it to me...so the cat is out of the bag. (We are having technical difficulties, I will post the pictures when our computer decides to cooperate)

Officially yesterday I was called out for being pregnant. A mom of one of my client's caught be completely off guard. I was sitting with another child waiting on their parent to return and this mom said, "So is there a kid in there?" and pointed to my stomach. I of course turned all shades of red I am sure and told her yes. Her little five year old son heard this whole conversation and before we went back into my room his mother informed him there was a baby in my tummy. Once in my room my little friend asked yet again, "Is there a baby in your tummy?" "Yes." (I am starting to chuckle because he is VERY interested in this idea and this is the 3rd time he has asked since he heard me tell his mother about 2 minutes earlier) "Mi (miss, he's in speech therapy) Amber, why did you eat a baby?" he asked concerned "You're not supposed to eat babies!" I am laughing so hard I cannot respond so he continues..."Why is t...

So our vacation to Miami was great. We ate our way through the town, walked every where, and spent plenty of time in the ocean. The last day we were there it rained all day, thanks to lovely Claudette! So Mike and I decided to go to a magic show as our finale to the trip. We ordered tickets in advance where we would be seated in one of the first 4 rows. About an hour before the show it stopped raining so Mike and I decided to walk at least part of the way. About a block and a half from the hotel we were staying at Michael told me to walk carefully and tell him if I didn't feel comfortable walking on the wet sidewalk. Well, about 30 seconds after he said this (and walking around high water to avoid slipping) I slipped when the sidewalk turned from concrete to asphalt . I fell butt first and then apparently hit my head, but didn't know it. Since I was in a driveway Michael helped me to my feet so I could walk to a bench out of harms way. As luck would have it I passed out as s...