Happy 2nd Birthday Gabriel!!!

What a wonderful day! Gabriel is now two years old, and we had the best birthday ever! He woke up cheerful and excited, and he went to bed cheerful and excited... in a big boy bed in his big boy room, might I add! We had some Stroller Strides friends over for a lunchtime party, and G just loved it. We ended up with 6 kiddoes (5 girls and a boy) coming over to play, eat dino-nuggets with fruit and a super-yummy chocolate cake, and decorate flowerpots and plant some seeds. Gabriel got some really great presents and looooooved having his friends over to play. His tool table was especially popular. I think there are a few little girls that will be getting little tools for their birthdays :).

Gabriel was such a little star. He woke up a little early, so he and Daddy had breakfast downstairs while Mama got a some extra rest. He was Mr. Happy, and it was so great to wake up to his little smiling face this morning. He got two early birthday calls this morning from his grandparents (which so delighted him), then he helped me finish making his birthday cake, and then he got to watch Peter Pan while he danced around in his Indian Moccasins and reorganized his presents -- what a fun morning for the little guy.

We didn't get around to opening all his presents at the party, so we decided to wait until Jake got home to finish up. Instead, he helped me clean up (he insisted on helping me clean before he took his nap!!!) and then we curled up on the couch for a cozy Mama and baby snooze. When we woke up, he almost immediately wanted to open presents, but I said that we needed to wait for Daddy. We started cooking dinner when Jake walked in the door. Gabriel yelled "Daddy is home! Let's open those presents!!!" With that, he zoomed from the kitchen to the living room, completely ignoring Jake and diving into the rest of the gifts. It was the funniest thing he's done all day!

As for other random info, G can count to 16 now, and he's starting to recognize his letters better (although he picked up a letter A from the floor today and said "A is for Gabriel." We'll work on that one!) He is a puzzle-working machine, and he still loves to read books. He is pretty good at identifying dinosaurs, and he knows the names of half of the Thomas Trains! I catch him singing all the time, and I'm always surprised by how many of the words and tunes he remembers correctly. And of course he's usually singing AND dancing. That is the cutest thing you'll ever see, especially when we are out in public and he just HAS to stop, dance, and sing! If he gets tired of singing, he'll just stop, shake his head and say "can't sing that song" and continue on his way. He is such a little person now, and we can have real conversations about things. It's just amazing to see his little brain working. Unfortunately, he's figured out that if he cocks his head to the side and says "pweeeeese," it's very hard for grown-ups to resist him!!!

As for Clara, she is still doing fine and we are still waiting for her to arrive. Two weeks left until the due date, and I still feel good. I'm a bit tired at times, but I'm still active and comfortable (mostly, as long as I am careful about how much I'm on my feet and how much jumping or side-stepping I'm doing). I still go to my exercise class 3 days a week, and I just feel so grateful to have those women in my life! Although we are so far from family, these ladies make us feel safe and at home here in Maryland. It's so nice to have Christian friends that are in the same phase of life and even live in the same town... it's a first for us!!! And I can't neglect to mention our awesome neighbors that love us like family. We may not be thrilled about renting a little back-to-back townhome sometimes, but I love our neighbors (as well as Jake's 4 minute commmute to work).

Happy Valentine's to you all, and we'll let you know when little Clara Grace decides to arrive! Whoopee!