We've Got a Crawler

I still can't believe he's crawling. It's quite a month for our little guy from sitting to waving to crawling to his two bottom teeth. He started crawling on the 30th and by mid-day on the 31st, he was up to five "steps" thanks to Daddy's obstacle course of toys. Now, he cruises around the room rolling, crawling, and sitting up to get at what he needs. Thankfully, he sticks close to me so I don't need to be too worried about the stairs - yet!

Mama and Gaby Baby

When you have three cute subjects (four counting Nathan), I find there aren't many pictures of a hagard ol' mama. I asked our budding photographer, Maddie, to snap one of me and Mr. Blue Eyes. I think she's got talent!

On His Own

Gabriel can now sit on his own. He'll even push up from the floor to sitting. It's pretty cute though I do fear the dreaded clunk when he quickly falls backward. He is very proud of his ability!

Sibling Love

For the most part, the kids are really sweet together. When Gabriel is upset, Maddie and Theo try their best to help out by getting a pacifier, bringing him a toy, etc. Theo thinks that Gabriel likes to be patted though I have to stop the patting when I can actually hear it as he thumps on Gabriel's tummy! Theo will claim, "He likes it. He's laughing." Maddie is always leaving Gabriel little notes that say "I love you." For school, she had to choose five events to write about and one of hers was "My baby Gabriel."

I love the expression on both boys' faces!

Thoreauly Fun

Nathan and I are back to planning our once a month dates for each other. We trade months and the idea is to plan something the other person really wants to do. We've made this year very 2009 with the goal of planning inexpensive dates (not including babysitting!). Naturally, it's a competition so we'll see at the end of the year who came up with the best date for the least amount of money. We took advantage of MLK Day and opted for a day date, which I sometimes think is more of a treat! Off to Concord we drove for breakfast at a cute French bistro, La Provence. We'd stopped there once before for lunch with the kids. Unfortunately, it wasn't as yummy as we remembered. But, hey, a quiet breakfast just the two of us, they could have served us snow! Then we went to Walden Pond to test out our snowshoes.

Snowshoes had been our 2007 Christmas present, but due to my growing belly last winter we only tested them out in the backyard. Walden Pond was beautiful. There were very few people there. We tromped around the lake and even traversed it. Let me tell you, snowshoeing is a bit of a challenge for the leader. You have to essentially march to pack down a path. Luckily, I'm married to a great marcher.

The pond was so quiet and the trees just beautiful with snow still on the branches. Date total: $22.05

Not a Veggie Tale

Theo has been known to throw a complete fit over one dime-sized piece of vegetable on his plate. So, I was amazed when he happily started to eat his peas. He'd line them up on his fork and name them. Usually, there were five for our family but sometimes more with the grandparents included, and into his mouth they would go. He finished his entire bowl! Why the change? Healthy competition - Gabriel ate all his peas! Gabriel will start green beans tonight and you better believe I'll be making regular green beans too. Wish us luck! (And yes, Theo is dressing himself. He wanted the numbers on his shirt in the front.)

Sittin' Pretty

We love the Bumbo at our house. Though Gabriel is sitting up now, he's not very steady. He loves to be upright, so the Bumbo comes in handy especially when he can reach those oh so delicious toes (and hands). I pulled out my camera to get a picture and as soon as he heard the click, up popped his head with a full smile.

Happy New Year!

2009 dawned bright and chilly for the Sanders clan. We welcomed the new year with our traditional lucky black eyed peas. Everyone, excluding the little guy, heartily consumed. Hopefully providing the whole family with lots of luck! To start off our year, I decided to give a little description of each member of our family.



Nathan, aka Daddy, Papai, Honey, Mr. Sanders

Is, currently, weathering the financial storm. And by weathering, we mean holding on for dear life. He's still enjoying his job even in this changed climate. He's planned for some serious bike riding this year (multiple group rides/races and peaks to conquer) and is thrilled to have set up his rollers in the basement as he realized black ice and bicycles are a dangerous combination.

Erin, aka Mommy, Mamai, Honey, Mrs. Sanders

Is embracing all things mommy and generally, loving it. She does find that she spends most of her days, cleaning up, putting away, attending to, fixing this and that, and wondering where the time goes. Hobbies, ha. Although, she does plan to have a repertoire of Christmas carols to bang out on her new piano come next December. She wonders where the Arizona girl went, when, yesterday she said, "Sure, I walk the kids to school if it's above 20. The fresh air is good for them."

Maddie, aka Mado, Sweetheart, Tiger Lily, 5 3/4

Is loving kindergarten. She skips off to school each day with a smile on her face. She is extremely loving and gentle with her brothers, rushing to attend to them when they are sad. She loves art, games, dancing, pretend play and snow. We love finding her special creations on our nightstand with a specially written I love you note. She is very excited to start ice skating this weekend and not too excited about Spring soccer.

Theo, aka T, Sweetheart, little buddy, 2 1/2

Is our happy boy (actually we have two of those!). He loves to be silly and make us laugh. He's very easy going and fairly easy to distract if he gets upset. His favorite phrase is, "Then I'm going to scream" said when he does not get his way. It was cute at first... He loves trains, games, Elmo, his friends, school (a music and art class we take together), swimming, and he's getting much better in the cold. He loves to talk and we can hear him talking to himself throughout the house. He too is very sweet with his siblings, and will share his toys with Gabriel.

Gabriel, aka Gaby baby, little person, Sweet Pea, Abriel (what Theo calls him), 6 months

Another happy boy. Though he does have a bit of a temper, I can already see what 2 will be like! He is such a sweet baby, sleeping fairly well, a good eater (though not a good weight gainer), and rolling all over the place. His latest tricks are to sit up (supported with his arms) and push up on to all fours and rock. He talks a lot, laughs at funny faces and is very very ticklish.

Happy 2009!