Feliz Aniversário, Ethan!!!

10 months!

Baby Luke is 10 months old! It seems like if I blink he changes and becomes less and less of a baby. He is a happy, content little guy. He smiles, laughs, and MOVES! Avery his is 2nd mommy, and they truly adore each other. The boys love to play with him and I am sure they will be just like the three amigos in a few years.

Luke is now a master crawler, has a perfect "super twist" when he is getting his diaper changed, eats table food, says "mama", can growl like a dinosaur, and usually sleeps through the night. He was actually 10 months old at his 9 months appointment and weighed 20.8 pounds (56%) and was 30 inches long (91%). I am choosing to ignore the fact that he will be a year old in two short months.

Gabe 3 years

Melt.My.Heart. Part II

Cloth Diapers

A few months ago we visited Corbin's grandfather who lives a little over an hour away, and one would think that after 4 babies I would know how to pack a diaper bag for such a trip. Here's the deal, sometimes I have an "oops, I forgot" approach to life, and guess what - I forgot the diaper bag. Corbin has been working with me for the past 10 years to become a better planner...I obviously have a way to go. Well, of course Luke messied (I mean REALLY messied) his diaper and we had to get creative. Take an old towel, a roll of scotch tape, and ta-da! you got a good old-fashioned cloth diaper. Luke didn't mind a bit, the big kids thought it was hilarious, and perhaps my resourcefulness made up for my lack of planning.

I have a huge amount of respect for women who choose cloth diapers...but I sure am thankful for the disposable kind!

Chef Gabe

One thing we have noticed being parents to 4 children is that you have to carve out special moments for each child. On this particular day Corbin noticed that Gabe needed a little extra love so he made him chef hat, tied a white t-shirt on him, and had him make a "pizza pie" for lunch. Gabe adored the extra attention...and I was reminded that Corbin is such a great daddy!

Oh gee, Gabriel turned three!!!

It is official...we can no longer refer to Gabriel at "Gabey our baby". He is a big boy! He rides a big boy bike, wears big boy undies, and three years old! He is my most lovey child right now which I soak up every chance I get. He likes to snuggle and give me kisses and say, "I lub you so much mommy". He absolutely adores Avery and I am afraid he is going to be a bit lost without her next fall when she goes to school.

We celebrated Gabe's birthday with style! Frist we made him a special pancake breakfast, then he open our present - Lincoln Logs!

Next we headed to a hotel in town and spent the night with a bunch of our family! It was so much fun for the cousins to all play and swim together, and in a child's mind nothing is more awesome than sleeping at a hotel.

The very best present, though, was that my brother and his family were back in town from Brazil and were able to celebrate with us! We can't wait until they are back for another visit in July.

Crazy group of cousins! We were the loud group in the hotel that night!

The icing on the birthday weekend was getting to spend the day with my sister in law and nephews before they headed back to Brazil. The kids had a blast playing together in the snow and riding sleds and snowboards down the slide. It is so great how people you love can move far away, but you can pick right back up where you left off when they come for a visit. We are blessed!