Fried Food Fest

We finally made it all together tonight for a fried food fest at my parent's house!

Dad & Jonny fired up the deep fryer and we waited for the temperature of the oil to get high enough!

We had an assortment of veggies (Zucchini, yams, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, and pickles). We made tempura batters (regular & gluten-free) and mom made a separate batter for the onion rings. After we had gotten several rounds of veggies done up, we started in on corn dogs (regular and gluten-free)! 

Here we all are! We had a great time and just ate stuff outside as soon as it came out of the fryer!

Gabriella enjoying a gluten-free corn dog (we cut them in thirds so they cooked better).

Gabriella and Auntie Jilly eating onions together. You will notice that Jill's is deep fried and Gabriella's is raw and unbattered. She ate two whole onion rings that were completely raw!

Dad and the girls were chilly so they were hovering around the heater most of the time.

Phil was pretty good at multi-tasking. Here he is eating a deep fried twinkie while tending to the oil.

Jonny already looks like he put on 50 pounds! He had a bite of food in his cheek when I took the picture!

Matt and Gabriella. She was enjoying her piece of fried twinkie. Everyone said they were good (we couldn't eat them). Mom said they tasted like Krispie Kreme donuts.

Mom with her funnel cake batter. She was a fry master, busting out her old A&W skills!

The funnel cake didn't really hold shape, so we called them Funnel Snakes instead of cakes.

Here is a picture of Sandy's Funnel Snakes!

Mom & Ariella.

Mom has a fried twinkie, Ariella has a fried snickers bar.

Jonnny & April sharing a Funnel Snake!

Me & Jill after we were done eating.

Jonny eating one of the last Funnel Snakes.

The fry fest was a total success! Everything turned out really good and we had tons of fun laughing and hanging out around the fryer. Can't wait til next year!

Trick or Treating Downtown

The Grants Pass Shopping Center does a during the day Halloween festival each year. We decided to take Gabriella to it this year since it was at day and less likely to be cold and scary.

The first piece of candy she got was a sucker. Daddy let her try to eat it before she took the wrapper off, Mommy pulled the gooey paper out of her mouth.

Waiting in line to play a couple games at Alberstons. It was right at nap time so she was a little tired. She perked up after her free cookie :)

James was a cute little dinosaur but refused to smile for the camera. It was super hot outside so he soon shed his felt outfit and ran around in just his pants as the strong man!

We made it around to all the stores and then took one last picture of her in her "Red Woof-Woof" costume (she picked it out at the baby store) with mommy.

Literally one minute after we got into the car!

After trick-or-treating we took a nap and then headed over for our annual Soup & Donut party with Matt's family. Matt assumed his tradition role, jungle gym for the kids, and they all had a blast. I missed getting a picture of him with all 4 of the older ones hanging off him!

Everyone loves Uncle Matt!

James's 4th Birthday Party

We celebrated James's 4th birthday on Friday night with our family and April's parents.

We had to take the traditional "pile of gifts" picture before he could start opening them.

(check out the picture of the cake in the background!)

 Mom and dad both had fun playing with the green tissue paper Gabriella kept bringing them.

James got a bunch of Imaginext toys.

 As you will see in the video, we all had fun playing with them!

James was eating the eyeballs out of the octopus head from his cake. April's mom made an amazing tiered cake with a giant octopus on top squeezing Batman and Bumblebee.

Merry (early) Christmas, Matt!

I scored an awesome deal on a Kinect off craigslist and couldn't wait 2 more months to give it to Matt so he got it tonight!

He was pretty excited for it (especially after hearing how good a deal I got) and Gabriella was excited for more games to play with!

It looks pretty fun (I can't play while prego) but Matt was loving it and Gabriella was having lots of fun trying to copy what he was doing and kept laughing at him.

Sitting on Big Bear and watching daddy play Kinect.

Just a Normal Day

Today was a pretty productive day. I had to wake up Gabriella at 9:45 (score for me!) and then we headed out grocery shopping/errand running after breakfast. Every time I tell her we are getting ready to go she asks, "Doctor, mommy?" We got a lot for prenatal check-ups.

After running errands we come home and change into comfy clothes. Recently she has been hiking her pants up as high as she can and then patting her tummy. Its quite hilarious!

We got some baskets and organized Baby X's dresser. He is well stocked on hats and socks!

After lunch we sorted through Gabriella's big girl clothes. She grabbed the pair of polka-dot shorts ("Oh! Yeyow!") and insisted on wearing them OVER her sweatpants. After we wrestled them on her, she had to pose to send a picture to daddy and grammie.

Dinner ended and we painted her nails. She picked out green and then held them up to show me.

About an hour after dinner she discovered that she still had some rice and spilled milk on her tray (I hadn't gotten to dishes yet). She proceeded to crawl up and slurp every last bit off it.

With her tummy and chest covered in the rice and milk she had just slurped up, we headed for an early bath. We have lots of fun playing in the bathtub. It is one of her favorite things to do.

Just a little video of her playing in the bathtub! I love my silly little girl! We have lots of busy days, chasing each other around the house, and helping each other do chores. But she makes everything lots more fun (even the things that take twice as long because she is "helping" me)!

At the Doctor with Mommy

Gabriella is very entertaining to hang out with in the exam room while we are waiting at the doctor's office. She loves the giant mirrors and all the drawers to open. She also entertains all the receptionists and other patients in the waiting room. Having a little ham like her is good for me since I am trying to get over being easily embarrassed. Lets just say, I get lots of practice!

Making faces at herself in the mirror

This is pretty much what she does the entire time we are waiting for the doctor to come in.....

Corn Maze Fun!

We took Gabriella to the corn maze today. We went to the one in Medford at White's Country Farm. They have a 5 acre corn maze (without scary decorations!) and lots of other fun things to do. Once we got inside  the maze we let her lead the way.

 A video of her trying to find Daddy when he was hiding from her. 

Sticking her finger up Daddy's nose when we tried to take a picture!

 Holding the rock she picked up and carried most of the time! 

 Corn faces!!

Her first pony ride on "Nay Nay" (what she calls horses)

A video of her riding the pony. 

Saying bye-bye to the pony after we got done riding. 

Feeding the goats. They licked her hand and were tickling her. She kept laughing and laughing while she was feeding them!

My Silly Girlie!

Gabriella has started trying to dress herself whenever she finds clothes in the house. She pulls clothes out of her drawers, out of the laundry baskets, and from the folded clothes piles. This was too funny not to record!

Baby Kiwi

We found a Cabbage Patch Doll at a yard sale and Gabriella just had to have it. Matt kept asking her what her baby's name was and she finally responded with "Baby Kiwi".

After she had a bath (with Clorox wipes!) we diapered and dressed her.

Gabriella gave her lots of hugs and kisses and then we were on our way to the car for church.

Gabriella shared her water and snacks with Baby Kiwi the whole way there.

After church she snuggled Baby Kiwi to sleep at naptime at Grammie and Grampa's house.

Decorating For Fall

We bought some window clings at a yard sale this weekend and had lots of fun putting them up on our big window in the living room. Most of them I placed out of reach of Gabriella, but she had fun putting a few up where she can reach them to rearrange them whenever she wants.

Pumpkin Painting

We were at the Grower's Market on Saturday and Gabriella really wanted a pumpkin so we let her pick one out at the booth that was selling them for $1 each.

Tonight we got out the paint to decorate it.

She waited very patiently while I shook the paints and poured them on her plate.

She's pretty good at getting the paint from the plate to what she is painting. She also likes to mix the colors on the plate before putting them on too.

Holding her pumpkin up after it had dried. You'll notice that she also painted the stem. She was very proud of her work and enjoyed holding her "heavy" pumpkin.

First Time Having Hot Chocolate

Today is the first cold, rainy day we've had this fall so Gabriella and I decided to have some hot chocolate. I got a video of her trying it for the first time.

I think she finished it in less than a minute! So cute!!

Sweet Dreams

Gabriella has a new way that she likes to fall asleep at night, with her hand resting on or patting baby Reuben in my stomach.

A couple nights ago she was patting him while he rolled around. He stopped moving and she started crying and saying, "Babe Dubay!" over and over again and patting my stomach until he started moving again. She loves feeling him move! Whenever she is talking to him or giving my belly kisses, he always starts moving around. It is already obvious that they are going to be best buddies!

Josie (our Chihuahua) has also found a new way to sleep. We discovered her in Gabriella's bed a couple weeks ago and shoo-ed her out, but she just ran right back in there after we went to bed. Now every night when Gabriella is asleep, Josie runs in and snuggles right up with her. This picture is from last night at 3 am when I went in to check on her. So sweet!