Eric and I were relaxing downstairs at 9:30 tonight when we heard a little voice yell "daddy!!"... then a pause and a "mommy! mommy! mommy!" Eric and I ran upstairs to see what on earth was wrong. (Gabe went to bed hours ago and never calls to us or leaves his bedroom this late) Gabe was sitting up in bed amidst piles and piles of books (obviously not a lot of sleeping had been happening). He was
very concerned about a noise he was hearing outside. It was the neighbor kids throwing those little firecrackers - the ones that pop when they hit the ground. When I explained it to him, he said over and over how he did NOT like them. We could literally feel the controlled fear
emanating from him. Gabe has always been our little sensitive guy... definitely not a thrill seeker of even the toddler variety. (You know, like being thrown in the air super high!) :) Anyway, so we told him how the firecrackers are fun and not scary at all. We watched out the window for a bit and then tucked him back in bed saying that they would be over soon. About 10 minutes later, the neighbor kids starting throwing them again so I went upstairs to listen through his door out of curiosity to see how Gabe was dealing with it. Inside I could hear him saying: "They don't hurt ya! Firecrackers don't hurt. They don't hurt ya." Then a little later: "It'll stop in a minute. They'll stop in a minute." He continued in this way reassuring himself in the sweetest, most positive tone of voice. It made me get a lump in my throat at
how brave and wonderful he is. It is so hard to see your children be afraid of anything... and it melts my heart to see how courageous Gabe is in fighting his fears. There are so many times when he does this - for example once when he saw a commercial for The
Incredibles... now that show is obviously way too much for my little guy who upon seeing the "intense" commercial cautiously came off the couch during it to stand with a very worried look on his face! But we talked about how the hero was a good guy and really nice and from then on, if Gabe saw a commercial or picture of The
Incredibles, I could hear him telling himself: "He's not bad, he's good! He's not scary." I love my brave little boy so much...
This morning we found a nest with 4 tiny, spotted eggs in it... tucked deep within my hanging pot!! I asked Eric to fetch it down from where it has been hanging on the front porch. I needed to water it (poor thing was wilting from my neglect) and I had been wanting to move it to the back where we could enjoy it more. So anyway, he gets it down and, lo and behold, we have a sweet little surprise waiting! Now I don't want to move it to the backyard in case the mama bird won't come back so I guess I'm stuck with leaving it in the front until our 4 little babies leave the nest! Gabe and I had a great time peering in on the eggs this morning after the watering and keeping tabs on the mama's whereabouts all morning. I was a little concerned because in addition to moving her home, I accidentally doused the nest while watering and it turns out to be as water-tight as a dish!! I was dismayed to see the eggs half covered in cold water that refused to drain but I knew if I did anything to get the water out, she would for sure not come back. Eric reminded me that rain has got to get in there sometimes and I'm sure we had unwittingly been drowning the poor things prior to our discovery every time we watered anyway...so his manly logic reassured me that I hadn't done anything lethal. :) Later I was relieved to see the mama bird back on the nest. I'm still wondering what happened to that standing water though...
Nyah is 3 months old already- I can hardly believe it! It's going way too fast. She is getting so big! Every day she gets more and more beautiful and her personality is just blossoming - so sweet and happy. Eric and I are totally in love, even Gabe thinks she is pretty neat! :)
Doesn't she look like an angel in her dress? It's raw silk with a band of lace across the bodice that is embroidered with tiny pearls... it's so beautiful. My grandma bought it for her. She looked so precious for her special day. Thanks Grandma for giving her such a beautiful dress... I'm sure it will become a family treasure!
Cheryl and Caitlynn came for the baby blessing. It felt so good to have family with us during such a special time. We missed everyone else that couldn't come. Unfortunately I was running around like a maniac all morning and didn't get a picture of them with our little angel! I'll post other pictures of the weekend later though!
