Kissing!

I've been so busy, but I had to post this :) Gabby's figured out"kissing" today - she's actually figured out quite a few things the last week or so, but this is the one that's spurred me to blog :) In the video, she doesn't quite do it, but right before we pulled out the camera, she was puckering up and leaning in for kisses!

Over the last little bit, she's also figured out how funny we think it is when she shakes her head "no" (i.e. "Are you stinky? NOOOOO", or "Is Daddy Funny? NOOOOOO"), she's figured out how to push obstacles around and walk with them, she's discovered the joy of knocking over towers that we take the time to build for her, she's learned exactly what the remote control is for (well, sort of - she turns the tv on and off by using the button ON the tv, but she changes the channels with the remote - today, we've had the privilege of seeing "Dr. Nancy", "The View", and "What Not to Wear") and she's figured out that crawling is so much faster than letting us help her walk.

:)

While I'm at it, I guess I should update what else we've been up to! Gabby's birthday was on the 21st, but we did her official bday part with the family on the 25th. Here's the cake I made for her with a Deceptively Delicious recipe - I hid pureed pumpkin in the chocolate cake mix, and added chocolate chips, and it was really yummy. AND the mommy in me was satisfied that there was at least some nutritional value goin on.

We served hamburgers and funstuff for dinner, but all Gabby wanted was vegetables. Ah, do me proud... :)

And of course, Halloween! Last year Gwamma bought Gabby a candy corn sleeper, and that was the extent of our celebrating (she was 10 days old) but this year, we went all out and I made her a costume. A Fairy Princess! (Paul wanted to know if that made him the fairy king??) I'm going to take a moment to gloat: I made this costume with NO pattern, and in the end, no sewing machine - by hand and by serger... it turned out alright :) Not sure what the problem with my machine was...

The Wednesday before Halloween, we went to our church's Trunk or Treat (Gabby is wearing a warm fleece sleeper under her costume) - she seemed really interested in seeing everybody else in their costumes, and she liked waving her wand around when she wasn't trying to chew on it :)

On Actual Halloween, we took Gabby to the mall for trick or treating.

She seemed pretty tired, and most of the stores weren't giving out candy after all, so we went to Gwamma & Gwampa's after to hand out candy with them, but realized within an hour of getting there that Gabby was burning up. So we took her home, and she had a temperature of 103 for the next 2 days. That was stressful. She's fine now.

Aside from that... I've been busy with activities like Enrichment (I'm on the committee), baby showers, feeding the missionaries, being with friends, and getting people ready for Christmas with Heritage Makers, filling in as primary pianist for the primary presentation... it's been (and continues to be) a crazy busy month, but it distracts us from our biggest thing - waiting to get results back from Paul's entrance exam for the CMA program.

I guess my last thing would be that I'm going to be a speaker at tonight's Spirit of Heritage tour, and I'm both really excited and really nervous about it. Wish me luck! :) Oh, and I'm also playing background piano music and singing in a duet as part of the program for the Christmas dinner party for our church on Saturday. Which I still have yet to finish preparing for (guess what I'm doin tomorrow after my visiting teaching?!) Somehow, I'm managing to just barely hold it all together - I guess stay tuned to hear about my head exploding/success :)

Our Baby is All Growed Up.

I can't believe she's 1 today!

A year ago, I was a brand new mom. like, BRAND new. Lots of crazy mixed feelings.

And now she's huge. :)

This morning she woke up, and it was like any other day cuz I was tired... but it's a special day, because she's ONE!Along with all of this growing-up, Gabby received her 2nd package ever. It went something like this:
Me: "Hello?"
Guy on phone: "Hi, is Gabby Spackman there please?"
Me: (confused) "Pardon???"
Guy: "Is Gabby Spackman there, please?"
Me: "Well, she is, but she's just turning 1 today and doesn't know how to use her words yet!"
-- the long and short of it was that it was the delivery guy, and it was a gorgeous Edible Arrangement of fruit from my parents/siblings to Gabby for her bday :) Fun! And around the vase part of it is a Princess Crown :) Today at Gabby's 12-month checkup, we discovered that she is 21lbs 2oz and a "hair" over 30" tall. 2 1/2 feet.

After her checkup (where she was determined to be healthy-healthy, 50th% for weight, 75th% for height) Gabby and I met up with Gwamma for a little shopping excursion :) Presents to be wrapped and opened at Gabby's Official Birthday Party with the family on Sunday :)

Then we came home, where Gabby had a much-needed nap, and Paul and I made chicken'n'vegetable lasagna for Gabby's (and our) enjoyment - this little girl is all about feeding herself, and all about REAL food now. Which means I get more satisfaction out of cooking more often :) Our kitchen has not been so consistently messy since we got married, and now it feels nonstop :)
There were presents from the other grandparents to open, dinner to be enjoyed, a bath to be had, and then bedtime - lots of cuddles for the birthday girl :)

After bed I made test #2 for a suitable birthday cake recipe - I've been really hyper-aware of what Gabby eats, and I'm not comfortable just letting her go to town on an honest-to-goodness sugary cake, when the kid has never actually had sugar before. Tastes, yes - Tons, no.

The first cake... I liked, but Paul didn't. As in, he spat it out. Into the garbage :) (thanks, dear) It was a lemon-almond torte dealie, very fancy-bakery... lots of work. steam a lemon. grind the almonds. find "fructose" at the grocery store. Make sure it doesn't burn :) Still not a winner!

Test #2 is from "Deceptively Delicious" - chocolate devil's foodcake with pumpkin puree hidden in it - so far so good :) Hopefully everybody else likes it, too :) If you haven't tried this cookbook, it is my favorite one EVER - all the yummies, and still getting in those fruits and veggies!

Anyway, enough babbling and onto the goods!

At 1 year of age, Gabriella Claire:
- has 5 teeth (the last one finally popped last week!)
- Won't let us brush her teeth; she has to do it if it happens at all! This is a typical mornin for us:- is still a Cruiser and a Fast Crawler, not yeta Walker
- likes to pick out and MATCH her own clothes (like, a white blouse and a blue sweater go together, that sort of thing)
- babbles a lot, says "mum mum mum" and "dadadadada" and "bababababa" and "nonononono".
- has a TON of curly, honey-colored hair that is long enough for pigtails- still has blue eyes, but they're not as vivid-blue as they were when she was born, they've gone a little more silvery-grey.
- loves to pull things out/down/up and throw them behind her until she finds something interesting.
- has several beaux!- knows how to point with her index finger
- also knows how to POINT to the button on the TV to turn it on and off - it's one of her favorite things to do
- has figured out where the piano is at Gwamma & Gwampa's house and likes to sneak up the stairs and go play on it :) AND if you're playing on it without her, she'll bug you until she ends up in your lap to play along, too!- will not be still for diaper changes unless you give her several things all in a row to look at.
- is a fantastic eater, eats almost everything you put on her tray - rice, veggies, meat, tofu, pasta, whatever. She eats best on "big people" utensils - no more little plastic spoons, she wants the big metal cutlery!
- makes the funniest face pursing her lips just under her nose - Paul can do it exactly, so she must get it from him :) - this isn't exactly it, but the best picture we've got of it so far! - loves bathtime, gets excited after dinner because she knows she's messy and it's time to get clean, and LOVES being without clothes and dancing in the air (naked) in front of the mirror :)
- still run-run-runs if you hold her up and away from you
- She loves being growled at and chased, and understands that shrieking at the top of her lungs is an integral part of the game.
- still loves books, still will just sit and read a book, turning the pages by herself, and she loves to be read to.
- adores cell phones and remote controls and calculators... anything with buttons/lights/noises!- is very possessive of her parents' affections - at Thanksgiving, when I was cuddling her 1-month old cousin, Gabby was playing on the floor with her other cousins, looked up and saw me with another baby, and had a complete melt-down.
- loves the word "poop". we're not sure why. but we'll say it to her, and she'll laugh and try to say it back to us. No other word gets quite the same response.
- is fascinated by straps. Straps to her high chair, straps to her carseat, they're all really interesting to her and will keep her entertained for 10+mins at a time.- does this really funny thing where she'll sit on the floor and kick her heels on the floor lots (our neighbors downstairs are just as entertained as we are, I'm sure) and turn full circles on her bum, propelled by the heel-kicking.
- is GREAT at lifting her arms up and giving FANTASTIC hugs.

Happy Birthday Gabriella! We love you so much!

5 years and no cats.

I've been totally negligent in keeping y'all updated on our mundane day-to-day! For those of you who were anxiously awaiting my next post... I'm sorry! But I'm posting now - better late than never, right?

First, we celebrated our 5year anniversary in true Paul & Julie style. I told Paul what I wanted and he snuck out and bought it for me :) I love my man :D I was really wanting the board game "Blokus" - one of my visiting teaching girls got it for Christmas, oh... 2 years ago? 3 years ago? Anyway, she was totally addicted and wanted to play it with us, which in turn... got me totally addicted. And I've been asking for it ever since. So after 2 (3?) years of begging (ahem, I mean "asking") for this game, Paul's finally gotten it, and we've even played it together a few times :) Paul doesn't like playing games if it's just the 2 of us, because he's too nice and lets me win, and then gets sad when HE doesn't win... so if anybody else is a Blokus addict and would like to play in 4s instead of our 2, let me know :) (other games available :D)

For Paul's gift, I made him a book :) Just a simple book full of pictures of us over the last 5 years, and listing my top reasons of why I love him, but it's his book and so if you want to see it, you'll have to ask him :)

Our wedding anniversary was on the 9th, but Paul had his BIG, HUGE-DEAL, EXPENSIVE exam on the 14th, so we celebrated after. It was his entrance exam to get into the CMA program, and he feels good about it, but we won't know for 5-6 weeks when he's supposed to get his results back. And I suck at waiting! Argh!

Anyway, so we celebrated on Friday the 16th instead (also kind of celebrating our 4year temple sealing date on the 15th!) (another aside: Paul's Grandpa Fred was the one to conduct our temple ceremony, which was hugely special. He died on Oct 15th of last year, so 3 years to the date after our sealing. Very memorable for us. And right before Gabby was born. So we think they were catching up.) I digress! Anyway! Paul's mom, aka "GWAMMA" came and babysat for us while Paul took me dancing :) There's this place by the UofC where they have $7/person dance lessons and dance party, so potentially 4-5 hours of dancing in a booze-free environment for cheap without feeling guilty about crashing the YSA :) We also stopped at DQ and grabbed blizzards on the way home, and found our babygirl fast asleep, thanks gwamma! First time we've had somebody come over to babysit at night, and it was a success! Wahoo!

More updates: It's snowed. Which means hot-water issues in our building that I get to deal with. Along with the noisy kids across the street (at 4am. SERIOUSLY??) and vandalism in the laundry rooms, and the fire alarm going off for no reason, and the senile old lady on the 2nd floor who truly belongs in a care facility... *sigh*

And our most recent news: the cats are gone. I know, I know... some of you are thinking "that's terrible! Just because they're not kittens anymore, you're just getting rid of them??" (yup. that's a response I actually got...) but it's not true. Ever since Gabby came along, our cat situation has steadily gotten worse and worse. We've put up with a lot from our cats. We've gone through 4 couches for our cats (behavioural peeing issues...) and trained him out of it, and taken care of them, loved them, spoiled them... and then one of them peed in Gabby's carseat. Too much! Last Straw!

Rather than taking them to the humane society (where, let's face it, they'd be euthanized. With the overabundance of cats in Calgary, nobody wants a full-grown pair of cats when they can have adorable new kittens!) we called the lady who helped us find them in the first place, and she took them back rather than see them go to the humane society. So that's where they went today. To be quite honest, I'm more sad because Paul is sad than because I'm actually missing the cats. Once Gabby came along, my focus completely changed. But Paul was still the one feeding them, changing their litter, cleaning up their messes, cuddling them, etc... huh. Service really does help you love people (cats) :) So yeah. In return, Loki & Leila love Paul, and actually sit and wait for him at the door when he's not home. See picture below :) But we've been fortunate to find a new home for them, and truthfully, I'm seriously re-thinking whether or not I consider myself a "Pet Person" for the future. Lots of work. Lots of mess. Lots of commitment.

Upcoming news: Gabby's birthday is on Wednesday - we have an almost-1year old! Stay tuned!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Wahoo! Turkey Day! :)

I've got a lot to be thankful for, and it's nice to have an entire day to remind me to be grateful.

First, I'm really grateful for my amazing husband. We talk together, laugh together, do lots together. He always helps out around our home, does his fair share of the housework (and probably more - he picks up where I leave off without complaint) is happy to take care of Gabby when I get busy, and most of all, he's unfailingly loyal and I know that he loves me AND his daughter. I'm very blessed.

I'm really grateful for our beautiful little girl. Probably a little too pretty - she's already got several little-boy admirers - when we were at Wendy's last week, the little 2year old boy at the next table wouldn't leave until his mommy brought him over to our table to meet Gabby and say hi. He was quite enamored. We're in big trouble! But all worries aside, Gabby is healthy, smart, and pretty easy to please, we've been very blessed.

I'm grateful for a comfortable home, and for security during difficult times. It's been a little tight for us, but I know that we have a lot more to be grateful for right now than many other people. All of our needs are met, we're still able to do fun things, we don't have to worry about where our next meal will be coming from, or how we will make our next rent check. And I get to stay home with my baby. We've been very blessed.

I'm grateful for the gospel in my life. I'm grateful to know that my Heavenly Father loves me. I'm grateful to know that my family is eternal, and that I will be with my loved ones forever through the blessings of the temple. I'm grateful for our ward family. I'm grateful for my various callings in our ward. I'm grateful for my opportunities to serve, and the abilities that Heavenly Father has given me in order to help others. I've been very blessed.

I'm grateful for good friends. I've got lots of wonderful friends to be grateful for, new friends and old friends, friends all over. Friends I interact with constantly, and the friends who surprise me with a call or an email. Women need friends, and I've been very blessed :)

I'm grateful that we are healthy. It's priceless. I know it can be devastating to have health issues, and to not be able to do anything about them. We've been very blessed.

I'm grateful for music. :) I love dancing to it, playing it, making it, listening to it, and sharing it. I love helping others with music. I'm grateful that that is one of my gifts :)

I'm grateful for good books :) I love that we live in a society where access to literature is not limited, where we have easy access to good reading! And along those same lines, I'm really grateful to live in a society where I feel safe, where I feel safe to raise children, to do the things I enjoy, to live the way that we feel is right, and where I don't need to live in fear of others. That is a huge thing, and we've been very blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody :)

5 years!

Yesterday was our 5 year wedding anniversary :) And I didn't post, cuz we were busy doing laundry :D

Because Paul has his CMA entrance exam this week, we're waiting until next weekend to celebrate - it'll also be our 4year Temple sealing anniversary, so that'll be nice to celebrate too :D

My friend Nat (I typed "gNat" first, but not sure if that is still okay or not :D ) tagged me, and it seemed like a fun thing to do as we're celebrating 5 years of wedded bliss...

What are your middle names? Lynn & Andrew
How long have you been together? 5 years married, and about 10 months of dating/engagement before that.
How long did you know each other before you started dating? eeek, I don't actually know. A semester, maybe?
Who asked who out? Paul asked me. In person, even - he first tried to ask me online, but I wasn't having any of that!
Whose siblings do you see the most? Paul, since none of mine live in Canada, and all of his live in the same city
Do you have any children together? Yup. We have a Gabby-mookin-bum :)
What about pets? yeah... anybody want 2 cats?
Did you go to the same school? We both went to Mt Royal College - but the sameness ends there!
Who is the most sensitive? I'm louder about it, but he's pretty sensitive sometimes too :)
Where do you eat out most as a couple? Yup - Paul's parents' house :D Good Company!
Where is the furthest you have ever traveled as a couple? Washington D.C.
Who has the worst temper? not sure - we're both pretty mellow. Probably me - I threw a glass once.
Who does the cooking? Mostly me, but Paul likes to remind me that he cooked our first homemade meal ever after the wedding - I think it was pasta.
Who is more social? Me, no question.
Who is the neat freak? we both like things clean and organized - he's more consistent about it, but I'm more thorough.
Who is the most stubborn? I think it's him. Apparently, he thinks it's me :D
Who hogs the bed? We both get half. Just, my half is in the middle. :D
Who wakes up earlier? Paul - I'm so not a morning person. Not before, not ever.
Where was your first date? To see the movie "Honey" (*embarassment*) with my roommate and her bf, who ditched us...
Who has the bigger family? I guess it's me, even though technically I'm an only child, and Paul has 3 siblings. But I've got lots of halves/steps, and so Paul has more in-laws than I do (poor guy)
Do you get flowers often? Not anymore - I've told Paul I'd way rather get a gift than flowers, cuz flowers have to be taken care of, and then they die, and then you have to clean up after them... Truthfully, I'd way rather go dancing :D
Who eats more? Paul thinks it might be me, and I think it's probably Paul... but it probably depends on whether or not I'm pregnant.
Who sings better? I take this one - I sing more and I've been trained, but Paul has a really nice voice, he just doesn't like to sing when people hear.
Who does the laundry? Paul, but hopefully that'll change as he gets work and we move to where we have laundry in our home instead of going to the in-laws (which we appreciate tons!!)
Who's is better with the computer? Paul. altho, I'm alright myself :)
Who drives when you are together? Paul, but that's cuz he's a terrible backseat driver.
Who picks where you go to dinner? Me, as long as they have a Bacon-Cheddar-Burger - as long as the place I pick has that, Paul is fine.
Who is the first one to admit when they are wrong? Paul - I'm never wrong. :p
Who wears the pants in the relationship? Paul thinks he does
Who eats more sweets? Paul likes candy more, but we both like cookie dough!
Who cries more? Paul. jk!! me. It's me. Altho, I haven't cried much since Gabby was born. Less hormonal.
What's your best day together? Eek, that one's hard - I barely remember yesterday... I like the days that we move... or that there is dancing... :)
Where did you honeymoon? We went to Banff for the long weekend.
Favorite date night? Dancing :) Or concerts :)
Favorite TV show to watch together? We watch Friends a LOT, but our current favorite is Britain's Got Talent
Couple I imagine us growing old like? Paul's Grandpa Fred and his wife Clara (I never knew Paul's biological grandma, she was gone before I was around) - they had their basement tricked out with mongo bookshelves full of church books (for Paul) and the other side was all crafty quilting stuff (for me!)

Thanks babe for tagging me, it was fun :)

I tag: Rhonda, Erica, and Monica.

Make me go Oooh...

These 2 little videos have been shown to me over the last 24 hrs... I loved them both so much I had to share!!

This one just made me miss living stateside...



And this one was just insanely cool :)

11 months and counting

Gabby turned 11 months today. She has one more month left until her 1st Birthday!

Today, she discovered the joy that is shrieking. She especially loved it when she realized that there is an Echo during bathtime :)

Also at 11 months:

• Gabby is cruising the furniture, slowly, but she's doing it.
• She'll walk with help
• She understands simple sentences such as "Stick out your tongue!" and "Where's mommy's nose?" and "Arms up!" and "Clap!" and she'll totally do them. You don't even have to show her to clap, she'll just do it if you say it :)
• Gabby is not wanting to get off of pureed food. She adores peas and "eggy bread" and Nutrios and MumMums, but anything else that's too big and chunky, she's not a fan.
• LOVES books. She'll sit and read books for a long time by herself, even big kid books, and she doesn't rip pages.
• However, she doesn't have any problems ripping apart Ensigns and flyers. :)
• Gabriella adores being chased and growled at - it makes her giggle and shriek the most :)
  
• She still only has 4 teeth, but we're really sure there's a 5th (bottom right) trying to make its debut.
• Gabby knows how to slide off of the couch backwards without falling.
  
• She loves taking things "Out" or "Down" - mostly she just loves undoing organized shelves and drawers :)
  
• She's super active and curious about everything - she always wants to know what's going on :)
  
• Which means she's still only taking one nap, BUT she goes to bed about 7/8, and sleeps until about 8/9 (still snacking at night. I'm okay with it, I read :))
• Gabby has big smiles when somebody she loves is around - when she hears Daddy growling, or hears Gwamma saying "Ga---bwi---ELLA Cast-a-Spella!" or hears Grandpa whistling, she gets a big grin on her face :)
  
• She's starting to hold her own with her cousins :) She and Caty get along great!

We're so glad Gabriella is a part of our family. She makes life fun.