January 30

As I recall this date eight years ago...it's hard to tell which was bigger...my belly or my excitement! I was busy making preparations and pretty much beside myself with anticipation of the little girl who would soon join our life and family. Little did I know on that 30th day of January exactly how soon she'd join us. Her "Poppy" kept saying she was coming the end of January, but with a due date of February 11th I was convinced that she was going to be a "Valentine's baby"! Oh how different the plan for us was!

I had gone to work that day...made dinner...went to an evening checkup with the dr. (who said that I would most likely go past my due date and that my little princess would be approximately 7-8 pounds. I stopped by my parents for a short time, went home, had a bowl of ice cream (my favorite food at the time and ever since) and snuggled into bed for as much sleep as you can get when you're that far along in pregnancy and oh so huge!

While up for a routine trip to down the hall to the bathroom about 2:30am (you know what I mean about routine middle of the night bathroom trips if you've ever been pregnant) and it soon became clear that Emily's grand appearance was not scheduled for February!

Being that I was still had some time before my due date, I hadn't yet packed my bag for the hospital. So I called Ben who was working overnights and then began to scramble to get ready to go.

Once at the hospital, the Lil Miss decided that she was in no rush to make her appearance. After the longest day of my life, Emily Claire was born at 11:29pm on January 31st. She was incredibly beautiful and oh so tiny...a mere 5lbs 4oz. And that was the beginning of the amazing journey we've been on since.

As we prepare to celebrate her 8th birthday tomorrow I can hardly believe how fast time has gone. She has brought more joy into my life than I could ever have imagined. I am so proud to have her and to be her momma.

Busy....Busy...Busy

So much has happened since I last posted here. We've been so busy having fun and living life I just haven't written. (That and facebook has been taking me away a bit, too.)

We had an amazing holiday season with lots of family fun. Christmas was wonderful as usual (with Aunt Barb here from Orlando again this year) and New Year's was real nice...especially with a visit from Steph & Marty.

On a sad note, shortly after the new year began we had to let our old furry friend, Gromit go. He was showing his age and then some and had developed some medical issues. Though it was one of the most difficult and painful decisions we've had to make, we said our goodbyes and let him go. He will be forever in our hearts and part of the family.

Emily's 8th birthday is fast approaching and she will be playing hostess to some friends for her first ever sleepover. There's an exciting birthday surprise in the works that I'm sure will warrant a photo opportunity...possibly a video clip. Stay tuned...

Hope you all survived the holidays and getting back into the swing of things this new year.

Blessings!
Gabrielle

12-1

I've seen on other blogs where people "tag" each other to go to a certain photo folder in your computer and then post a certain photo (for example the 1st folder, 1st photo). I decided since I have SO MANY photos in my computer that I haven't seen in a while, I would try it for fun...being that it's December 1st I went to My Pictures and to the 12th folder 1st picture and here's what I found...


Christmas Eve 2005...Beautiful!

Through These Eyes

This is my "mentor moment" that I wrote for a recent MOPS meeting.

As I came through the living room doorway, I heard, “Hi, mom! What’d ya think?” Standing there was my 7-year old wearing my glasses.


“Nice!” I said…glad that she doesn’t need corrective eyewear but secretly thinking how cute she looks with them.

Later, as I thought about the afternoon’s events, it hit me. What if by placing those glasses on her face, she had really seen things from my point of view? Would she have had my sometimes negative, critical and pessimistic outlook?

Then, it REALLY hit me. What if things were turned around and instead I viewed life through her eyes…the eyes of a child? How different things might be if seen from her big, innocent, hazel eyes that radiate life and see the wonder and beauty of the world around her.

Glasses, contacts or 20/20 vision…blue, green, or brown eyes…no matter what the physical factors of our sight, we can make the choice daily of how we view life, our circumstances and the situations we face.

I desire to take the time to notice the beauty and recognize my blessings.

Autumn

Yesterday we took our annual autumn leaf viewing trip...such beautiful colors out there. It was so nice to just go without an actual plan or schedule...just see where we ended up and when. We went out some back roads, stopped at "the beaver pond", took a "hike" at an old-growth forest, had some awesome food at a country store/restaurant and pulled off for some photo ops at a couple more scenic spots on the way home.

Here's one of my favorite pics from the day...

Hope you are enjoying autumn as much as we are!

Eleven

Today, the love of my life and I celebrated 11 wonderful years of marriage. As I write this, I am listening to "our song"...Only You by Louis Armstrong and recalling that beautiful autumn day in 1997 when we said "I do."...

This evening I was treated to a delicious candlelight meal cooked by "prince charming" and served by the cutest little waitress ever...what a special treat! (The waitress also makes a good photographer...with a little editing by yours truly!)

Although it's difficult to top last year's celebration in Puerto Rico...this year's anniversary was quite special and will be memorable for quite some time!

THANKS, Ben! (And Emily!)

It's Been A Long Time...

I just realized how long it has been since I posted. We have had a very busy, but fun and productive month of September. I will try to post some fun pics and info soon.