The Gabriels

The Gabriels

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

So much has happened......

I cannot believe it has been so long since I've updated this blog.  Life has been so crazy at the Gabriel house that I just haven't had the time to update. 

Where to start.....

Max is 7 years old now.  He loves to play basketball, baseball and golf.  He is such a friendly and outgoing child and has lots of friends at school.  He is also in the Dual-Immersion Spanish speaking program at his school and he loves it!  It is so much fun to have him come home speaking Spanish with his cute little accent he's mimicking from his teacher.  He is also the best big brother to  his siblings.  They all just love him so much!

Chloe and Clay are 2 1/2 years old.  Miss Chloe has become a very sassy little girl.  She's very bossy with her twin brother, but is also very nurturing to him.  He's been very sick recently and she is always there to make sure he gets a hug and asking if he's okay.  Chloe is a very smart little girl.  She speaks A LOT, and very clearly.  She loves the movie, The Little Mermaid and the color pink.  She also loves to sing and her favorite song at the moment is, Do you want to build a snowman, from the movie Frozen. 

Clay is one tough little boy.  He is the child that is in to EVERYTHING!  He climbs on everything and if there is anything childproof, I guarantee that boy can find a way around it.  He LOVES trains!  Thomas and Friends are his favorite right now.  His favorite move is the Polar Express.  Clay is a very mild mannered and sweet little boy.  The doctors and nurses at Primary Children's Hospital all commented on how sweet and calm he was.  I guess they don't get a lot of really young children who remain calm when the enter the room.  Poor little Clay has recently suffered from complications of Pneumonia.  He has fluid build up in the side cavity of his left lung and it wasn't functioning.  His right lung was doing all the work.  The doctors inserted a chest tube to drain the fluid from the lung which he had for 6 days.  While in the hospital, his fevers were continuously spiking and his blood work was showing that he still had an infection that was not responding to antibiotics.  Turns out he has Lung Necrosis, which are small holes in his left lung caused by bacteria that had entered the lung.  He is home now but is receiving daily antibiotics through a PICC line and will be receiving these as well as other testing for at least 6 weeks.  The recovery process is going to be a long one, but he is already improving.  Please keep him in your prayers.

McKay is our little miracle baby!  I know, so are the twins.  I consider each and every one of my children a miracle.  After trying for nearly 3 years, we were able to become pregnant via In-vitro fertilization with our twins.  The doctors had told us that our chances of ever conceiving again were less than 5%.  Which is why we were so shocked when 6 weeks after the twins' 1st birthday, we found out we were expecting!!!  McKay is the most mild mannered baby we've had.  He is perfectly happy sitting and watching his siblings play.  He is so easy going and happy all the time.  He has four teeth now, and three of them have come in the past couple of weeks.  He learned to crawl last week while Clay was in the hospital.  Just when I though life couldn't get more challenging, I know now that I was completely wrong!  I have no idea how I'm going to get anything done around the house for at least the next 2 years!  But he is so much fun and now he is grabbing at his siblings toys, pulling hair, and trying to climb on them.  I love that now he can pick on them, especially Chloe! 

Josh and I are doing well.  We're keeping busy and loving life!  Our house is loud and crazy but I absolutely love how full our home is.  Watching our children play with one another is priceless. 

I know I always say this but I am really going to try to update this blog more often.  Pictures to come soon when I have a little more time. 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Summer Fun!

I am absolutely determined to not be one of those moms who stays at home all the time because it is too difficult to take all the kids out.  Of course with the twins, we are more limited to what we can do, but we had a great summer. 

Max played t-ball which he loves and has so much fun making new friends that go to his school from his team.  We made the trip to Logan once or twice a week to meet Josh's family at the Logan Aquatic Center.  Max has become such a fish and loves to swim!  He even went off the diving board this summer!  He absolutely loved swimming lessons and was sad when it was over.  I think I may have to schedule him for two sessions next summer.  The twins enjoyed getting out and going to the pool as well.


Catcher was his favorite position

 Swimming with Nana
and aunt Ashley
We visited the splash pad park in Riverdale quite a bit this summer too. That is where we had our fun family reunion as well as Max's 6th birthday party.










Lost his first two teeth this summer
  



With the new way to post pictures, I might just have to update this blog more often.  It was so much more simple and quick.

Disneyland!

I am here at work and have some time so I am going to try and update this blog as much as possible.  We started the summer off by taking all 3 kids as well as our 5 year old niece to Disneyland!  It was a lot of work taking two 10 month olds, but I think having two 5 year olds constantly bickering was more difficult for us. 




















We really had a great time and because Disney is so accomodating for families with babies, Josh and I were able to enjoy everything as well. 

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Expecting a Miracle!

I know I am a horrible blogger, but it is really difficult to find the time to post everything online.  Max is in Kindergarten and he loves his teacher!  He has made a lot of friends and can't wait to invite them over for playdates.  Right now he is involved in flag football and loves to play.  He is so smart and is learning to read.  His teacher has commented on what a nice boy he is and how he easily makes friends.  This really makes me happy to see him love school and have lots of friends!  He is also the best big brother to Clay and Chloe.  He just adores the twins and they love playing with their big brother.

Chloe is such a funny little girl.  She loves to tease!  She will hold something out for you to grab, and then pulls it back and laughs when you can't get it.  She also loves to carry her baby around and cuddles it, and gives it lots of kisses.  I was warned that little girls are very dramatic and oh my word is that true.  If she wants something or Clay takes something from her, she will pout her little lips and cry to me or Josh until she gets her way.  Oh my, does she have her daddy wrapped around her little finger.  I just love her great big bear hugs she gives us!  I love having a girl!

Clay is such a sweet little guy.  He loves his mommy and always wants to be on my lap.  He is the crazy kid who is in to EVERYTHING!  Chloe just follows him around, but Clay is the one who is the trouble maker.  We are currently trying to teach the twins the word NO, but it has become a challenge with Clay.  Everytime we point our finger at him and say NO NO, he smiles and points to his nose.  He has lost his chubbiness and is starting to look more like a little boy.  He loves balls, and loves to kick and throw them with us.  Josh is very excited about this.  I love my sweet little baby boy. 

A couple of months ago, Josh and I got the biggest surprise of our lives up to this point.  We found out we were expecting!  How could this be?  The University of Utah doctors had given us a 1% chance of ever conceiving again, yet here we are.  Even though doctors tell you that something is not possible, that doesn't mean that our Heavenly Father doesn't have some other plan for us.  I know that He loves us, and that this baby is meant to come to our family.  I am so full of love and joy, and I'm also a little scared as well to have another with the twins only being 14 months old.  But I know that everything will work out.  The heartbeat is strong and everything is looking great!  We are expecting our little miracle to arrive in April.  I cannot fully express everything I am feeling right now.  I am still in shock!  Sometimes I feel guilty for ever feeling sorry for myself while struggling with infertility and here I am, about to be a mother to 4 children.   

I have so many pictures to post soon and really will try to update my blog more. 

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Christmas 2011

We've made it a family tradition to take a trip to the Heber Valley Railroad to ride the Polar Express. Max has LOVED trains since I can remember! It doesn't matter what type of train, he likes them all. I love this because my Grandpa Eyre was a train conductor for the railroad. There is one picture in particular of my grandpa in his full uniform that I really wish I had a copy of to show to Max.



This year we went just the three of us. My parents watched the babies for us so Max could have mom and dad all to himself for the night. It felt really good to be able to shower him with attention, and smothering him with hugs and kisses which he loves! Ever since the twins were born, i've had a difficult time adjusting to the fact that I can't always give all my attention to just him. My world revolved around Max before the twins, so this was a much needed trip for us.




We drank hot chocolate, ate yummy cookies, and sang Christmas carols. Max was in heaven because he was on a train and headed to see Santa. I love this tradition of ours and can't wait until Clay and Chloe can share in the joy of trains and Santa. There's nothing better than seeing your child's face light up with excitement.




The highlight of course, was seeing SANTA! When asked what he wanted for Christmas, he of course asked for a toy Polar Express train that he can play with all year long. See, we have a Polar Express train to go around a tree, but it gets put away after Christmas for the year. Somehow, Santa came through! I have no idea how he did it, but WOW I was impressed ;)



Showing off his new t-ball bat that goes with his new t-ball stand.


Playing with their Christmas presents from uncle K.C.


Max got spoiled by grandma and grandpa.




They just love time with dad!




Our family Christmas card went a little something like this:


Silent Night?


Yeah Right!





















Hello Again!



















I am a horrible blogger, but the reason is because I just struggle with adding posts. My pictures are so far apart, I can't get a new background saved for some reason, etc...... I know these aren't very good excuses, but when you don't have a lot of time as it is, it's easy to forget.


A friend in my ward took these pictures of the babies. They were almost 3 months old at the time. I love how they turned out!