Picking Her Own Clothes

Based on Danny Silk's book, "Loving Your Kids on Purpose", we try to let Gabriella make as many choices during the day as we can (we choose the choices for her to pick from).

This morning I held up her favorite green dress and asked her if she would like to wear this dress today. She responded with, "No! That!" pointing very excitedly at one of my shirts that was folded and sitting on the floor next to her.

So, we put it on and she has been running around the house very pleased with her outfit today!

It's a Boy!

We had a 16 week ultrasound done by one of my friends in town who runs Keepsake 3D Imaging. She does non medical gender checks at 16 weeks for ladies who don't want to wait til their dr's office does one, or for people who want to have a small party when the find out.

We invited a few of our family members and had a great time looking at a very obvious little boy. This shot is a profile of his face and side of his body, along with little knees pulled up and a view of boy parts between them.

 Such a cute smiley face!

 And another side profile shot, his left arm is up by his face and he was kicking his little legs around like crazy! Can't wait to meet our sweet little Reuben!

Ice Cream Party with "Bop-ie"

We were over having dinner at my parent's house and as soon as we finished eating my mom announced that she needed to have an ice cream cone. She and James headed into the house and came out with cones and vanilla ice cream. It was Gabriella's first time having an ice cream cone.

 James was loving his since Gramma had let him scoop the ice cream himself.

 Dad said the ice cream was especially delicious tonight!

 April was excited as well.....

 Gabriella didn't really like the cone, she kept bending over to spit it out and then finally resorted to sticking her finger into the cone and licking the oce cream off of it once it got too far down for her tongue to reach.

Head Bands!

This morning Gabriella and I made some head bands. She was my head measurement and my model. She had lots of fun trying them on and rubbing them in her hair. It took me about 2-4 minutes per head band.

This was my first time making them and it was really fun and easy! We made a couple practice ones and a couple for one of Gabriella's friends who's 1st birthday party is tomorrow. The last one in the picture is my favorite!!

Insurance Appreciation Day

Today was our insurance company's annual family BBQ and fun day in the park.

Gabriella wasn't too sure about the obstacle course bouncy house, until she saw the slide part. She loved it!!

She got her face painted by Annie the Clown. We picked something that was quick and easy to paint, but she sat really still the entire time and was super excited to see the picture of what her face looked like afterwards. She kept patting at it the rest of the day.

First time trying cotton candy. She didn't want to eat it at first, but then she decided to try it. It got stuck on her face and her tongue was working overtime trying to get it all into her mouth.

After playing with the bubble maker and a first time tree climbing with Daddy, it was time to head home. We had a great time playing in the park with our little Munchie!

Artsy Day

I was feeling a little artsy today so we got out the paints and went to town. It was my first real art project in over a year and Gabriella's first time painting.

She did a great job dipping her brush and then keeping it on the wooden heart.

 She only tried to eat it once but I caught it before the green paint hit her mouth!

She was very proud of her "picture" when she woke up from nap and it was all dry. We strung a ribbon through the top and hung it on the wall above her bed. She sat and admired it for awhile after I left the room.

My finished project. Its wooden hearts strung with ribbon on a metal coat hanger that I bent and curled by hand (ouch!). It is hanging above our front window in the living room. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. All in all we had a fun girly artsy day!

Allergy Testing

Given my food allergies, and the way that they run in Matt's family, we decided to get Gabriella allergy tested for food. After waiting over a month for our appointment, Gabriella and I headed to the allergy doctor.

In the waiting room, she didn't know what was coming...

So sad after they poked her with all the allergens

(this was about 5 minutes afterwards when she had calmed down quite a bit,

my shirt was soaked with little Munchie tears)

How her back looked afterwards

Hooray! It's over and everything (nuts, milk, wheat, fish, shellfish, strawberries, eggs, soy) were all negative!



Water Fun with James at Grandma's House

Gabriella and I spent the weekend at my parent's house while Matt was out camping with some buddies. James was "helping" water the flowers and made a giant puddle on the sidewalk.

The kids a ton of fun playing in the puddle with a medicine syringe.

4th of July Camping Trip

We just got home from a 4 day camping trip in Bandon with my parents and niece. The weather was perfect, clear skies and sunshine the entire time. It was quite a nice treat for the Oregon coast. This was our first time taking Gabriella camping this year. We camped last 4th of July with her when she was really little, so it was fun to come back a year later when she could understand and enjoy what we were doing.

Digging in the sand with Ariella. She wasn't too sure about the sand at first,

 but then she was digging like crazy!

After we had played in the water that chased us

Waiting for the parade to start

First time on the merry-go-round. She was rocking back and forth because she was excited so Matt had to put his arm up so she didn't bang her head on the metal bars.

Everyone perfectly balanced on the teetter-totters. Matt & Dad, Mom & Ariella.

All of us!

Holding her first sparkler by herself. We let her hold 3 of them and she only singed her hair a little.....

Here's a video of her holding one of the sparklers.

And the traditional end of camping trip feeding of the seagulls. Matt and Ariella are feeding them the leftover pancakes, buns, etc. This was seconds before they both came sprinting back to the car!