Thursday, April 25, 2013

Back to work

I have officially gone back to work.  The first week wasn't as difficult as I thought it would have been.  I think I was running on adrenaline and not really adjusting to the 5am wake ups.  Plus, I was coming back to a new position and lots of training.  So far the work part has been going good.  I've been doing almost everything on my own for the last couple days.  Asking a few questions as something new comes in.  I'm happy that I'm getting this so quickly since the person before me did not really grasp the position.

Scott dropped Gabriel off at his parents on the first day and from what I was told it was a tough morning from the Dad's point of view.  I think it was very easy for me since I was the one who got to pick him up.

[caption id="attachment_2977" align="aligncenter" width="225"]morning drop off morning drop off[/caption]

I do not have to deal with the separation on a daily basis.  I get to see him when he is happy and ready to go home.  We have had a few long drives home, where static noise and his pacifier just won't do and he is fighting sleeping in the car.  Hopefully, he gets better.  I can tell he is getting used to the car seat more and more as he is in it at least twice a day.  I can tell he is really having fun with Nana and Grandpa Ron.

[caption id="attachment_2978" align="aligncenter" width="225"]Doing some shopping with Nana Doing some shopping with Nana[/caption]

 

 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Gabriel goes Catholic

We had Gabe's Baptism this past weekend and it was great.  My mom and brother flew in for the event.  On the morning of the event we were up early and attended 11am mass before the ceremony at St. Gabriel's.  The last baptism I attended at St. Gabe's was my brothers in 1985. A few things had changed since then, but I was happy to have my son baptised where I went to school and have a strong connection.

We found out that Gabe was being baptised with 3 other boys (2 infants and a 5-year-old).  They had the parents and children sit in the front row of the pew and the godparents in the row behind.  With all the babies lined up it was a matter of time before the crying started.  We were proud of Gabriel to be the last baby to cry.  The priest took his time talking about what baptism means and the role of the godparents, or at least that's what I think he was talking about.  The babies were a challenge to talk over.  But Gabriel did great getting water dumped on him and then all the pictures.

[caption id="attachment_2980" align="aligncenter" width="300"]The GodParents The GodParents[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2981" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Manzotti Family Manzotti Family[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2982" align="aligncenter" width="200"]Allender Family Allender Family[/caption]

My brother, Andrew, is the GodFather, he basically said he was taking on this role as soon as he found out I was pregnant.  Scott's younger sister, Michelle, is Gabe's GodMother.  After the ceremony and a lot of pictures we headed over to Debbie's Station Pizzeria for some lunch and cake.  It was a great afternoon!

[caption id="attachment_2983" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Gabriel and his cake Gabriel and his cake[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2984" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Too much fun! Too much fun![/caption]

 

Friday, April 12, 2013

Two Months

Someone just keeps on getting bigger by the day.  We knew Gabe was going to be over 10lbs when we took him in for his 2 month check up, but we didn't realize he would be 13lbs!  He has been a very happy and healthy baby.  We didn't have too many questions for the doctor except for his random wake ups grunting and straining to go to the bathroom.  He wasn't constipated since he went to the bathroom during the day, he just couldn't work out the middle of the night issues.  So the doctor recommended we continue to rub his belly and try bicycle kicks with his legs to get things moving.  If all else fails we do baby Gas-X.  He got his second round of shots.  Like a champ, he didn't cry for the first one, the second one however, that brought on some screams.  Amazingly enough he only screamed for about a minute and we were able to calm him down fairly quickly.

His 2 month stats are:

13lbs - 65%

39 1/2 cm head - 59%

23 1/2 inches long - 70%

A very happy and healthy little boy!chair

grin

fingers

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Tornado

It's that time of year again.  It's time for the crazy April showers in the Midwest.  We had our first major rainfall of the Spring and it was a dosie.  Gabriel was being extremely fussy starting at 4:30PM and it was not normal for him to be acting like this.  We had done everything, diaper, food, swing, playing, rocking, static noise, dancing and shh-ing, swaying, and swaddling.  Nothing was really working to get him calm.  All during this the clouds were building.

Then right after Scott got home from a quick diaper run and swaddling Gabe, the storm started.  All of a sudden we heard the tornado sirens start and we quickly ran to the basement.  It's amazing what a baby will do, last time there was a storm like this we were watching out the window as a tornado was blocks away.  Once we got to the basement, Gabriel calmed down and eventually went to sleep.  I guess we have our own little barometer.

We did have a tornado touch down about 5 miles from our house.  Not as close as the last tornado, but still amazed as to what nature can do.  We had some down branches in our yard that Scott has picked up.  Should be an interesting spring.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Opening Day

Going to Opening Day for the Cardinals has been a bucket list item for me for some time.  I've seen on TV the awesome display of St. Louis Cardinal history and wanted to be a part of it.  My mom's friend, Sally, gets tickets and goes every year.  This year she bought tickets before her friends and then had 3 tickets to sell.  She asked my mom if Scott and I would like to buy them and we jumped at the chance.

opening day

Opening Day in St. Louis is an unofficial holiday.  People get off work or play hookie from school just to go and tailgate.  There is just so much going on in downtown on that day it's hard not to be excited (even if you aren't a baseball fan).  We decided to invite Scott's Dad to join us for the day, while Nana babysat Gabe.  I would have loved to have taken him, but he is still too small and we would not have been able to stay long.

We got to the stadium about 30 minutes before all the ceremonies started.  We quickly found our seats and Scott ran to get us some much-needed food.  Once he was back the Clydesdale Horse started their strut around the stadium.  That was one of the best moments of the day.

horse

All the players were introduced with a chauffeured ride around the stadium in the back of a pick up truck.  Hopefully, they will get another ride like that in October.  Once they were all dropped off there was an amazing tribute to the late Stan Musial.  The video and banner on the outfield wall was extremely touching.  All 4 of the Musial children were present and helped unveil the banner.

linup

opening day 2

I wish I could upload my video of the tribute to Stan, it brought a tear to my eye watching.  The game was great until the 9th inning.  We decided to leave after 8 innings.  By the time we got to the bus to take us to the car, the bullpen was blowing the game.  The day could not have been any better and I can't wait to take Gabe to an Opening Day soon.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Go! St. Louis 1/2 Marathon

Scott ran the GO! St. Louis 1/2 Marathon this past weekend.  We, Gabe and I, had planned on going down to support/cheer him on.  So the night before Scott carb loaded and we hung out at home and got to bed early. I had decided that should Gabe wake up that I would take care of him all night so Scott could be well rested.  That plan worked well until Gabe had his second night of tummy troubles.  He wasn't technically constipated, but he was trying really hard and was very uncomfortable.

I spent a couple of hours from 3-5am rubbing his belly and trying to comfort him to the best that I could and allow Scott to stay asleep.  This worked pretty good.  At 5, Scott woke up and was getting ready to go.  I decided that we would stay home and cheer in spirit.  It killed me to say that because I knew Scott needed a cheering crowd and I had been looking forward to watching the race with Gabe.  I love seeing the determination on the faces of all the runners from the start to end.  This is an event that we want Gabe to look forward to every year.  And not going to watch for the first time was rough.

But Scott texted me when he was about to start the race and we could cheer him on from home.  While Gabe slept I was able to watch the news and get updates of when the first runners were finishing.  I kept hoping I'd see Scott.  That didn't happen.  Around 9:30 I got a text saying he finished the race and ran at a crazy, 9 minute 33 second mile pace.

Gabe and I were very proud of him!  We knew he didn't train like he wanted to and to finish the race without injury.  We were very proud of his 2:12:51 finish time!  Just 2 minutes off of a PR.  We were home waiting to congratulate him!

race

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Gabriel Goofy Pics

For the last couple weeks Gabriel has been smiling up a storm.  So I thought I'd update with just a bunch of funny and cute pictures of him.

 

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[caption id="attachment_2934" align="aligncenter" width="300"]silly time silly time[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2935" align="aligncenter" width="225"]thug baby thug baby[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2936" align="aligncenter" width="225"]toys toys[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2937" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Easter Easter[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2938" align="aligncenter" width="225"]Opening Day Opening Day[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2939" align="aligncenter" width="225"]So happy So happy[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2940" align="aligncenter" width="225"]Play ball! Play ball![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2941" align="aligncenter" width="223"]bouncie seat bouncie seat[/caption]

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[caption id="attachment_2943" align="aligncenter" width="225"]1st trip to Joey B's 1st trip to Joey B's[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2944" align="aligncenter" width="300"]What an Italian boy What an Italian boy[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2945" align="aligncenter" width="225"]crib time crib time[/caption]

I hope you enjoy the news faces of Gabriel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, April 1, 2013

First Easter

We had a very easy Easter for Gabriel's first Easter.  The week before we took him to see the Easter Bunny.  I feel that as a parent, I can make my child do anything I want, at least while he is young enough to sleep through it all.  Gabe's first Easter Bunny experience was very easy, he didn't even know he was at the mall or sitting on the lap of a huge bunny.

[caption id="attachment_2917" align="aligncenter" width="225"]Gabe and the Easter Bunny Gabe and the Easter Bunny[/caption]

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I love the classic children clothing and my mom sent up some outfits that my brother wore.  For Easter Gabriel was sport his Zio Andrew's outfit and he looked great.  He wasn't too sure about posing with his Easter basket though.

[caption id="attachment_2919" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Zio Andrew's outfit Zio Andrew's outfit[/caption]

For Easter dinner we went to Scott's parents house.  Gabe was pretty good through dinner and got a little fussy towards the end.  Overall he had a great Easter being passed around between Grandpa Ron, Nana, and Aunt Michelle.  I don't think he minded one bit.

[caption id="attachment_2920" align="aligncenter" width="225"]Gabe's First Easter bib Gabe's First Easter bib[/caption]