Long Island and cereal

We had an awesome Memorial weekend in Long Island! The weather was fabulous and Gabe and the dogs did amazing. Bella actually let people pet her and they swam in the sound and ran on the beach. Gabe had his first ferry ride. Note I dressed him in his ferry onesie for this momentous occasion. He basically slept through the whole thing...and some lady asked Wes if it was his baby. Awkward! We took walks, played games, ate delicious food and relaxed. The huge score of the weekend was the jumparoo my mom found at a garage sale. They usually go for around $80 new and my mom got it for $15! Gabe loves it, he can stand, jump and dance to the music it plays. It's a wonderful new place to stick him.

This Tuesday was Gabe's first meal of cereal. It went okay, he didn't spit it all out, but i think more ended up on his face that in his mouth! After about 10 or 15 mins he;s had enough and wants his bottle. I think i've gotten about 1 oz down per feeding. He's seems a little fussy with it thought, i think I'm going to try the oatmeal and see if that agrees better. Anyways he still chugs his bottle like a champ and takes 6-7 oz per feeding. Here are some cute pics of Gabe with food all over his face. We miss you and love you Michaels. We'll take Gabe to play in the sand with you over mid-tour :) Look at how tall your son is already! He's half the size of my Grandma!

Terrorist dogs

Beware my killer dogs! I dressed up Gabe in Daddy's fav shirt, recognize it Michael? We need you to come home and do goofy stuff with Gabers! We love you!

Baby Moses!

Yesterday Gabe had his 4 month check up. He did great! He was laughing and cooing at the dr. the whole time. It will come as no surprise to most of you that Gabe is above the 97th percentile in everything- height, weight and head circumference. He's 28.5 inches long and 18 lbs 10 oz! That's big, but he's acutally lean for his length. The dr. said we should start him on cereal, then veggies and then fruit. So next week after we get the high chair from grams in long island were gonna try some rice cereal.
On a side note, Michael sent me this veil head covering thingy that the men wear in Iraq. So i decided it would be fun to put on Gabers and take pics. I think he looks like Moses! I'm not sure if i put i on right, but we were was having a good time! I know every mom says this but I think Gabe looks cuter everyday! Look at those beautiful blues! He's blowing bubbles, passing toys from hand to hand, kicking at things, splashing in the tub, and starting to do push-ups during tummy time.

Hello, this is mike writing this one. I just wanted to share some of my pictures with ya'll from my last few months...you may have already seen some, if so...bite me. hah. anyways, all is going well. everything is pretty quiet out here in IOWA. At least that's where it seems we are. we're just to the west of Abu Ghraib and east of Fallujah, along the Euphrates River...to give you an idea of where we are. Pics from top to bottom: SFC Vaden and I at Sadam's parade field, my MRAP and crew in front of crossed swords, me joking around with a 57mm mortar tube i found, PULLUPS...i made the bar and everyone loves it/uses it muchisimo, me, ssg becker and lt mohammed in front of the euphrates river on a patrol, all the 1LTs before our first patrol during the RIP (relief in place) into this AO, breakfast with the iraqi army dudes... eggs and tomatoes mixture with hobus (flat bread) and chai, fallafals! i bought fallafals for my platoon on a patrol while we were interviewing for microgrants...we're gonna give the fallafal shop owner a microgrant to get a fridge and kitchen stuff, my platoon, me with primary school kids at a school in zaidon.

First Mother's Day & Gabe's first hike

So this was my first Mother's Day as an actual mom! It's a pretty cool feeling, Gabe is truly a wonderful gift. He's such a good baby, we brought him to the early church service and he slept through the whole thing. What a team player. Later today we went on a hike to this creek about 10 mins from home. It's great because the dogs can run free, swim, chase ducks (not coyotes!) and have a grand old time. Gabe is so big now, he fits in the baby bjorn facing outward with it folded down! I remember when Michael carried him around in it facing the other way and his head and feet barely peeked out the top and bottom. This kid already loves the outdoors- he's wide-eyes and cooing and squealing the whole time! We can't wait to take a hike with daddy :) Here's a few pics of Gabe & I with the flowers my brothes sent and the tulips michael sent me! Also a few pics from the hike and some beautiful blossoming trees. Enjoy!

Uncle time!

Gabers has met all his uncles in the past month! He met Uncle Brian and the future aunt Christina during our new mex visit which was a blast. Then Uncle Wes (aka Uncle Bomb) came along for the long drive back to NY. Finally the first weekend home Uncle Greg & Uncle Matthew came to visit! I think it was the first baby all 4 uncles had really held for any length of time. It's pretty fun to watch all thier different reactions, and Gabe's response to them. Gabe & i are settled in nicely back in NY. It is soo nice to be home! The days fly by which is what i need, cuz we sure miss Michael a ton. Hopefully 3 months till we see him for R & R, we can't wait!