My first Month

Last weekend, I got to take my first trip. We went up north for an open house. After the open house was done, we went to PaPa and Grandma's house (Steve's parents). That evening, we went to Uncle Chris and Aunt Sarah's to see all the animals that they have. We got to see chickens, lambs, and two peacocks. This was the longest that I have been away from home.Luckily I slept all the way up there and slept all the way home.

I have just started to smile on my own. Everyone once in a while, I look at Mommy and Daddy and give them a little smile. You should hear them. They make a big deal about it and try to get me to smile again. Sometimes I give them another one, but most of the time I just look at them.

Here is me and my big sister. We were both dressed in our white onesies so Mommy thought it would be a good picture opportunity. I had a little trouble looking a the camera, Maya tried to help me out, but it is just hard when you are my age. She has been really good. So far she hasn't hit me very hard. Only a few accidental taps. She is really neat. She gives me hugs and kisses.

I am spending more time awake. Some times I will be awake from one feeding the the next. It is hard for Mommy to get things done, so she likes to front pack me. That way she can get some work done around the house.

My eyes are a dark blue color. I am not sure if they will change or not. My hair is usually a little Spikey since it doesn't want to lay down much, especially just after I take bath.

Oops!

May I apologize for the mistake that I had made in the previous blog. The password to get the pictures is:

21295

Sorry for the inconvenience, but give me a break, I am only a week old.

Hello Everyone, I am finally here!

Hello everyone, my name is Evan. Maya is my big sister. She told me that I have to start posting on this website so everyone can see me and track how I am growing. Friday was my first doctors visit. I have gained enough weight to get back to my birth weight. Everything checked out to be OK with the doctor.

I really don't do much at this point but eat and sleep. I am not very fussy, except when I am hungry or have a burp in my tummy.

This is my big sister Maya. Everyone has been following her for the last couple of years so she doesn't need any introduction. I did hear Mommy and Daddy say that she seemed to have grown up in the last week. I don't really know what that means.

I bought her this slide when I was born. She goes down the slide really fast.

Aunt Sheri (family friend) was at the hospital the afternoon that I was born. She is a photographer and took lots of pictures. Here is the website so you can view them.

http://www.collages.net/eventlogin.htm

Username: evan

Password: 21295

Use my name as the "Username", (evan). Then use 21295 as the password and all the pictures will show up. I may take a little bit to load since there are a gozillion of them. You can watch the webshow or just look at the individual pictures by clicking on the menu to the left. I recommend the webshow with the music. It is much better.

Well, I have to go back to sleep, so I will talk to everyone later.

It's a Boy!!!!!!!!

Finally after 9 long months of waiting, I would like to introduce to all of you my little Brother, Evan Thomas Gable. He was born on June 2, 2008 and weighed 10 lbs 1 oz and was 21 inches long. He was a big boy. No wonder why Mommy couldn't hold me on her lap. She always sat me on top of her belly and I would sort of ride there when she was carrying me. He is doing very well. He cries a little bit, but it doesn't bother me.

This blog is going to start changing, if you haven't already noticed. It now needs to be a gender neutral site, since Evan will be posting on it also. He will get some pictures posted this weekend, when everything calms down and gets back to normal. Here are a few more that have been taken.

This is our first family picture with Evan. I stayed at Mrs. Cindy's house on Sunday night and Monday night. Daddy came to pick me up on Monday evening so I could see Mommy and Evan. It was such a big surprise. I crawled up in bed with Mommy and gave her and Evan a big hug.

Here is Evan in the cradle that Papa made. This cradle has gotten a lot of use. Uncle Chris used it for his girls and then Mommy and Daddy used it for me and now Evan gets to sleep in it for a while.

Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day and we got Mommy this nice purple flower. I got to help pick it out. After church Daddy and I stopped at the garden place and found the prettiest flowers there. Then we hurried home to get all set up before Mommy got back from dropping off Grandma (Gena's Mom). When she walked in front door, this is what she saw. Daddy and I were sitting on the kitchen floor waiting for her. The video below is what we rehearsed.... Mommy had us do it again so she could get it on video.

Daddy and I worked hard to get it just right, but when it came out, I mixed up Mommy and Happy.

Last night was also the first night that I got to sleep in my big girls bed. It was a little scary so Mommy and Daddy stayed in my room until I fell asleep. It is a big bed with a guard rail on the side so I don't fall out.

They are getting the crib ready for my baby brother, or sister. Which ever it is going to be.

Playing Outside

Since you never know what the weather is going to be in Michigan, you have to be prepared to play in the snow, the sun, or the rain. A few days ago, it rained. It didn't rain all day long, but off and on during the day. It was warm outside, so Mommy and I put on our rain coats, took off our shoes and socks and went outside and played in the rain.

There was a water puddle in our driveway that we ran thru and jumped in. I was wet all the way up to my little knees, that may be why I have sort of a stuffy nose this week.

When the sun is shinning, I put on my hat and play on my slide and swing. I am big enough now that I get to go down the slide on my own. The swing is still a little hard for me to get into. It keeps sliding back when I go to sit down, so Mommy or Daddy helps me get into it.

Here are a couple of new things that I have learned how to do. I can count to 10 all by myself. I can sing the ABC song, although I miss a few letter in the middle, and I can say my name, my full name. MAYA KATHERINE GABLE.

I am so excited about being a big sister. It is not far off now. Mommy said that we are in the window, and it could happen at any time. I like to give her tummy hugs and kisses and feel the baby move inside.

Spring

This year, we went to Grandpa and Grandma's (Steve's Parents) for Easter. The whole family was there so I got to see everyone. It was warm enough outside, so we had an Easter egg hunt. We had one last year also, but I wasn't walking yet so I really couldn't do very much. This year was much better. My Grandpa and Grandma live in the country and they have a huge yard, so my little legs had to take a lot of steps to find all my eggs.

This is the side yard on the north side of the house. Mommy and me traversed all the way out here to find Easter eggs. Jessica and Taylor hid them for us. Boy, did they do a good job.

Here I am at church in front of the fire place. Mommy dressed me in my Christmas outfit, because it will most likely be the last time that I will fit into it all and they didn't get a good picture of me at Christmas time. Of course, I had to pose for the camera.

This morning I went to the baby sitters because Mommy and Daddy both had to work. Now that the weather is getting warmer, baseball and softball has started. Today we were going to Gideon's baseball game so Daddy dressed me up in my baseball cap and sunglasses. Mrs. Cindy has also started coaching softball at Noah's school so I will get to go to those games also.

Cake

Mommy came back from the store today with a cake mix, so after we ate supper I got to help make the cake.

It was a Rainbow Chip Cake. The best part of making a cake is that I get to lick the beaters when we are done.

Chocate Milk

I have discovered the most delicious drink ever. It is a mixture of white milk and Hersheys Chocolate Syrup. It is called chocolate milk. Mommy got me hooked it a while ago, now that is all that I want to drink. I hardly ever have plain white milk any more. Only with my cereal. It is "Chocate Mik" from now on.

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. It has been really busy around here for the last several weeks. Mommy has been driving to Grand Rapids every weekend because my Grandma (Gena's Mom) has been in the hospital. She is doing much better now. Daddy and I would go with her every couple of weeks, but it is hard for a little girl like me with so much energy to be in a hospital. Although I did get to spend time with my Aunt Wellie, my Great Grandpa and Great Grandms (Steve's Grandparents), and even my PaPa and Grandma (Steve's parents) came down to spend a day with me.

Lets see, what have I been doing in the last month. About every week, it seemed that we were getting a snow storm so I would say "outside play snow" and we would bundle up and play outside until my fingers got cold. I would supervise Daddy while he was blowing the driveway off with the snowblower.

Mommy, Daddy and I sing alot. We sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and "Bye Bye Baby". I have been practicing my A,B,C's. I have also been practicing counting (see video below).

My vocabulary keeps growing. I have been learning all my family and friends names, and can say most of them. The multi syllable names I still have trouble with. The big new word for the last week is "O'Tay". I answer most questions with "O'tay".

In 9 more weeks I am going to become a big sister. It has gone by very fast. Mommy and Daddy are looking for another bed for me. Daddy keeps saying that he doesn't know how they will keep me in it. He thinks that I will get up and play with my toys when I am supposed to be taking a nap. He's right.

Pee-Pee/Poo-Poo

Yesterday everything made sense. I got an urge, I looked at Daddy and I said Pee-Pee, and he rush me to the bathroom, remove my diaper and set me on my little potty. It was the first time that I got to use it for its intended use. It was a surprise to him. He didn't think that anything had happened until I stood up.

Another accomplishment.

Luckily for you and me there are no pictures.

Here is another update:

I didn't want to leave Mommy out of the fun, so today I said it with her. Pee-Pee, and again, I was rushed into the bathroom and sat on my little potty and guess what. I went Pee-Pee again. Mommy was soooooo excited. Then I sat back down and then guess what happened. I went Poo-Poo.

Yet another accomplishment

Sorry, but again, no pictures.

Another snow fall

On Thursday night and Friday morning, we were supposed to have a huge snow storm. Well, like most of the winter storms that have come thru, we didn't get as much snow as we were supposed to.

We only got a couple of inches. Then the snow stopped and it warmed up a little bit. It warmed up enough to make the snow pack. So you know what that means--I got to make a SNOWMAN!!!!!

I begged Mommy to take me outside. So once again, I got bundled up in my snow boots, snow pants, coat, mittens, and hat and Mommy and I ventured outside to make this. A snowman. We were quite inventive with it. The buttons are cranberries, the necklace is beads from Christmas that I play with. The mouth is a stick that we found, and the eyes are oranges.

By the way, my vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. I can say a lot of words now. I can say, toe, apple, pop, Mommy, Daddy, home, more, baby, up, down, bye-bye, Hannah, No-No, Papa, and today was the first day that I was able to say my name, Maya. I am sure that there are more words I can say, I just can't think of them right now.

Ian Blake

Here is my first younger cousin. His name is Ian Blake Harrison and he was 9lb 6oz when he was born to my Uncle Will and Aunt Heather (Gena's brother-in-law and sister). His birthday is January 25, 2008.

I got to hold the Baby!

I can also tell that we are going to get into a lot of mischeif when we get older. Then we will look at our Mommy's and Daddy's with our little sad eyes and we won't get into trouble at all.

Winter Fun

Today, Mommy took me out to play in the snow. We had just enough snow to cover the grass and Mommy thought that it would be fun. She bundled me up in my boots, snow pants, winter coat, gloves, and hat. I could barely move. We went into the back yard and played.

It was a little cold, so the snow didn't pack very good. It only stuck to my mittens. But I still had fun picking it up and throwing it back on the ground.

This is my first attempt at making a snow angel. You lay on the ground and then wave your arms and legs in the snow, and when you get up. It looks like an angle. Mine didn't quite look like an angel, but it was close. It must have been because there wasn't much snow.

Christmas 2007

Now that some of the excitement of becoming a big sister has settled down and I have come to grips with the fact that I will have to share my toys and Mommy and Daddy, I can catch everyone up on what happened over Christmas. As you remember at the beginning of December, we bought our Christmas tree. We had to decorate it a couple of days later, once we had more time. The picture below is the finished product. I really liked having Mommy and Daddy turn the lights on at night. They light up most of the house on the inside.



Daddy was off from work the whole week in between Christmas and New Year's. We spent everyday that we were home playing and lounging around in our pajamas. Well, I guess that I was the only one in pajamas. Here Daddy is sitting on our end table with me, Christmas morning, in front of our big window watching it snow. Mommy thought it was a good picture so she snapped a couple.



This was my Christmas dress for this year. We stayed with the red theme from last year. I got to wear it a bunch this year with all the parties that we went to. All together Mommy, Daddy, and I went to four different Christmas parties. This outfit is very nice, because I can wear any of the pieces with other things. It is not just for Christmas.

Mommy and Daddy got this playset for Christmas. It has three square structures that are connected by round tubes that you can crawl thru. It is so much fun. I can crawl from one end the other. It is also fun to watch Mommy and Daddy try to fold it up and put it in the storage bag.

I also got alphabet refrigerator magnets. It has a little controller, that when you put the letter in it, it says the letter and the sound that it makes. It also has a button that plays the ABC song. I spend a lot of time laying in front of the refrigerator playing with the magnets.

One of the parties that we went to, was my first formal. Eric and Heather Noon have a dinner for all the kids. We all get dressed up in our Christmas outfits and eat dinner off their real plates and real silverware. All the parents serve us. We had little hot dogs wrapped in a biscuit. Smile face potatoes, and sparkling apple cider. Then after dinner, all the kids played and watched movies while the adults ate their supper. Here I am at the big party with my buddy Makenna Noon. She is the daughter of Eric and Heather. She is 6 months older than I am.

IT'S A ...................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have the most exciting news that I have been able to blog about. This trumped the Christmas pictures that I was going to post, those will have to come later. My life has been changing for the past 18 weeks and will continue to change for the next 22 weeks. Then the biggest change will happen. I will offically become a

BIG SISTER

Yes, I will have a little baby brother or sister.

Mommy and Daddy had their Ultrasound this morning. Everything went well and he or she is healthy. The lady said that he or she weighs 8 oz. That is really small. It has a lot of growing to do before I get to meet it.

When the nurse got to the "spot", she told Mommy and Daddy not to look if they did not want to find out what it is going to be, a boy or a girl. But, guess what..............I peeked. I know what it is!! I am the only one in my family that does know. I am not going to tell either. No matter how much they tickle me, I am not going to break. I am going to keep it a surprise.

So everybody mark May 29, 2008 on your calendar as the day that I offically get to meet this little baby.

Here is a picture that they gave us to take home. It is a good profile picture. You can see its little forehead, nose, upper lip and chin on the left. The light spot at the top is a hand, and the body is to the right.

Our Christmas Tree

Sunday evening, we made our second annual trip to the Christmas Tree store. It really isn't a store, it is an empty parking lot around the corner from my house where they sell Christmas Trees. They bring the trees down here from way up north. The tree in this picture, isn't the exact one they we purchased, but it is the same color and shape as the one we bought. Last year, we Mommy and Daddy decided to get a White Pine. It had soft needs that didn't hurt at all. This year, they were adventure some and poky one.

Mommy and Daddy said that when I get older and can walk around better, that we will make a tradition of going to a tree farm and cutting our own Christmas Tree. That will have to wait for a few years, because little legs get tired easily.

I liked playing in rows of trees. They were so tall, and they kept poking me when I got close to them. We picked our Christmas Tree and took it home. We put it up that night, but just ran out of time to decorate it. I think that we will do it tomorrow night.

Now about this date that I told you about. It is going to change history as we know it. Nothing will be the same. New concepts will be introduced. Some may be easy to accept and some may be hard to accept, but they will be introduced non the less. Things in the this blog may even change, but I haven't decided how yet. We will have to see how everything plays out.

Catching up on Fall

This is the tree outside our kitchen window. It is a big maple tree with a bazillion leaves on it. It was one of the last trees on our street to loose its leaves. These pictures were taken just before Thanksgiving.

This year, I had to help pick up the leaves. We picked up 11 bags full just like this one. First we had to rake them into a pile, and then put them in these bags to be picked up.

I found this stick in the pile, so I thought that I would play with it while Daddy picked up the leaves.

It was a little chilly out that day. Can you see my little nose? It is all red. We did take several breaks to go back inside and get warmed up. It wasn't that cold, as long as you stayed in the sun.

Papa and Grandma

OK, I am really late with this one, but everything was so close together that I thought I would just combine them. This is my Papa (Steve's Dad). He had a birthday earlier in November. Before Daddy called him on his birthday, we practiced saying " Hi" and "Papa". When he answered the phone, Daddy gave me a little coaching and I said "Hi, Papa". Papa and Grandma live way up north. It is two hours from my house, so I don't get to see them that often. Fortunately, I have seen them several times in the last few weeks. We met them in Howell, home of the Honey Sweet Melon, for supper a couple of days before his birthday.

Then Thanksgiving was a couple of weeks after that, and we traveled all the way to Middleton for the holiday. The day after Thanksgiving, Papa, Grandma, Aunt Wellie, Jessica, Makenna, and Taylor came down to Detroit to see a football game. They were only 15 minutes away, so they stopped in after the game for lunch, and I got to see them again. Then a few days after that, it was my Grandma's birthday. Unfortunately "Grandma" is sort of a hard word to get out of my little mouth, so I could only hug and kiss the phone when Daddy called her.

I can't wait until I am old enough to stay with them. Then I can go to the bakery with Papa and eat donuts and bake cookies with Grandma in her kitchen.

And wouldn't you know it. In a few more days, it is going to be there 40th wedding anniversary. That is why I waited until now to let you all know what was happening. My little fingers get tired doing all this typing so it would have been nearly impossible for me to split it up into that many entries.

Lets see, what else has been happening over the last month.

I am the master at Hide and Go Seek. I fit into the best hiding places. It doesn't matter if it is dark, with the lights off, or the lights are on. I stay really still and I don't say a word to give my position out. Mommy and Daddy look all over the house for me. Daddy says that they are going to be in trouble when they really need to find me.

I do have a couple more teeth. I think my total is up to 9 now.

I help around the house. I like to help load the cloths dryer, Mommy and Daddy put the wet cloths on the door and then I push them into the dryer. I help unload the clean dishes out of the dish washer. I only sample a few of the utensils to make sure that they are clean. I also help with picking up my toys and putting laundry away. This is all with help from Mommy and Daddy.

I have added a few more words to my vocabulary and a few more animal noises and gestures from "My Big Animals Book", and also a few more signs. I regularly sign "please" now, and I mess with Daddy all the time by calling him Mom.

Here is a date to keep in the back of your minds May 29, 2008.

Halloween Fun

I know that I am a little late with this, but I have been busy. It is hard playing all day. You just run out of time to do the little things. Like keep all my readers informed of what has been going on.

This handsome fella is my buddy Collin. He is about 9 months younger than I am. Uncle Ryan and Aunt Megan dressed him up as a pumpkin for Halloween. We went to visit him and ate supper there. We took lots of pictures and played with his toys while people came to their house for candy.


I got to be this pretty flower for Halloween. I am not sure what kind of flower that I am, but I sure am cute. I didn't exactly go trick-or-treating. I can't eat the candy, and Daddy said that they don't need it either. I did go to a few friends' houses where I got Teddy Grahams and Animal Crackers. That was perfect for a little flower like me.

It was a wonderful day. Since it was so warm, we went out in Collin's front yard and took some pictures. We did a lot of laughing and giggling. He can only sit up. He can't walk yet, so we just sat in the yard and played with the leaves that had fallen from his tree.

After we took all our pictures and ate supper, we went and met up with some other friends and walked around for a while. Boy was I exhausted when we were done. It didn't take long before I fell asleep in the car on the way home. What an exhausting evening.

This is the "My Big Animal Book" that I was telling you about. It is my favorite book. It is full of animals. We have to look at it at least once a day. It is very educational. I have learned what a Macaw sounds like. It says "Caw, Caw." Whenever Mommy asks me what the Macaw says, I answer her with "Caw, Caw."