Remember, Remember, to Blog in November...

Once again I've let a month go by without a post. Ugh. What's gonna happen when I have two little munchkins to take care of?! And I have a ton of good pictures to show off! Of course, I have to start off with pictures of our little dragon-baby. He had a great Halloween! We had a day-before-Halloween-party with our Stroller Strides friends, and he loved his costume and playing with the other costumed kiddoes. We then had a spider cake at class on Friday morning, followed by a day out and about with our friends Becca & Jonny (from London, moving to Melbourne, Australia), and some fun trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. He did so great! We only went to a handful of houses, but by the end he knew the drill: ring doorbell, say trick-or-treat and Happy Halloween, get candy, say thank you! He did not want the night to end! And he loves his dragon costume. He would occasionally want to take off the dragon-face-hood to give it a hug and a kiss! And his roar-roar is the cutest ever!

We don't have a lot going on. We are house-hunting (although we have now decided to wait a bit longer), preparing for the new baby girl due in March, and enjoying the cool weather up here. The leaves changed colors beautifully up here, so we made sure to go hiking while Becca & Jonny were here. That is something that most of Texas really misses out on. Gabriel loved the leaves, and we even had a few leaf fights with all the kids at class! It was awesome! We are still searching for a church home, so we go somewhere different every week. Nothing has fit right (not even near), so we may start trying churches closer into the DC area. Other than that, we are just keeping our heads above water.


As for Gabriel news, he had a biggie today! Now that the weather is cold, we have Stroller Strides indoors at the mall. Santa arrived a couple weeks ago, so after each class we go look at the model trains and wave at Santa. At first, G wouldn't even wave. Then he'd give a little wave while clutching to Mama. Lately he's been giving humongous waves with a big, excited smile and blowing kisses. Today he wanted to go see him! He gave Santa a hi-five, took a little candy cane, and even talked to him! I asked G what he wanted Santa to bring him, and he said "trains." Okay, we had practiced that once or twice ;). Then Santa asked if he wanted just regular trains, or Thomas trains. Gabriel's eyes lit up, he looked at me, then he looked at Santa and said "Thomas trains, please!" I am so proud of him! Maybe in a week or two he'll even sit on his lap for a picture. We'll see...

What else? He loves to move the barstools away from the counter and push a dining room chair over so that he can stand on it and be with the grown-ups or reach for things we've hidden from him. We had a long visit with Jonny & Becca (almost 2 weeks), and now Gabriel has picked up a few things: he often says "cheerio" or "cheerios" when someone leaves, he says "tract-ah" instead of "tractor" about half the time, and he still thinks Jonny & Becca are somewhere upstairs. Actually, he knows they're in Australia now, but he believes that is somewhere upstairs. He is super excited about Christmas already, although I don't know that he knows what it is. He loves reindeer, Santa, snowmen, Christmas trees and lights, and all the music and decorations to go with it. He loves Nativity scenes and Baby Jesus, but his favorite parts are the animals and the angels. I have to sing Jingle Bells and Up on the Housetop every day, and we read "The Night Before Christmas" about twice a day! And if he's fussy, we just pop in some Christmas CD's and he will start dancing and trying to snap his fingers. He is definitely my son!

We don't have much new baby news, other than that she is a tough little girl. Gabriel moved constantly in the womb, but it was mostly gentle. This girl likes to kick and poke with all her might! It actually hurts quite often, and once she starts to push out a foot or an elbow, she just won't release. Ouch! But everything else is great. She's right on target for size, as am I. And despite my complaints, I love to feel her wiggle. I think it just makes her feel more real to us. Gabriel likes to put his little hands on my belly to feel her move, and he still loves to give her hugs and kisses. And no, we don't have a name yet, but we are desperately trying to figure it out. It's so hard! She'll be stuck with whatever name we choose forever, and we want to give her a name that is special, meaningful, and something she'll love. We'll let everyone know what we decide, and we promise not to make you wait so long this time around.

Well, tomorrow is a long day of house-hunting, and it's supposed to snow tonight, so I'd better sleep while G is sleeping.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope to post again before Christmas comes and goes!!!

Here are a few random pictures in no particular order. I might come back and comment on them later, but it's late and I am sleeeeeepy!