8 Months Old

Shelby is really growing and changing everyday. She is picking up things and studying them for long periods of time. The TV and DVD player are constant attractions for her and the word no is quickly becoming common in our conversations with her. As we shake our heads at her, she smiles and does the same. Little Shelby is in 9 month clothes, although most of the outfits are still a bit big. She is pulling up on the furniture and us with total ease. Those little feet always seem to be working. Today she let go of me and just stood there for a few seconds before she plopped right down on her behind. Shelby seems to be teething again and this time is a bit worse than before. She is really fussy and has a runny nose to go along with the top front teeth breaking through. Shelby also goes after Gabe with a vengeance now. She tries to keep up with him, but can't really even come close. They roll around on the floor together and laugh, but Shelby usually ends up crying. I guess that is the life of the younger sibling. Shelby really loves the pool and I think we will have a little swimmer on our hands next year with the floaties.

Family Photo Shoot

We had our annual shoot taken a few weeks ago and I am so please with the results. Here are some of my favorites.

Okay, I Know I Keep Switching

Well, I love the Shutterfly site, but I do not like the fact that I have to use U Tube for the video and how I cannot put the pictures in the actual journal part. So, I am going to continue using this blog for our stories and just update the Shutterfly site with all our pictures. That way if anyone wants to order old or new photos, they are there.

New Blog

Here is the link to our new blog: http://theculbertsonfamily.site.shutterfly.com/. It includes all the photos we take, videos and family stories. I am still working on it, but it's mostly done. check it out.

Birthday Party

This weekend we went to a birthday party for a little girl in our play group. There was a face painter there and at first Gabe was a little intimidated. But once he saw that there was a Spiderman face, he was all for it.

And Shelby and I actually posed for a photo, TOGETHER. I am sorry to say we don't get many opportunities like that.

No More Naps

We have been fighting Gabe to go to bed at night for probably a good 4 or 5 months. He would nap and then not go to bed until ten. We would put him in the bed at 8:30 every night, but he got up several times every night. I was not ready to give up my "alone time" during the day so we kept this routine up. Finally, this week I gave in. And you know what? It really hasn't been that bad. Gabe still has his quiet time every afternoon while Shelby sleeps and I am still able to get some things done. But the most beautiful part is that my little boy now goes down by 8 WITHOUT a fight. We are actually having peaceful evenings again and it's so nice. Here is a picture I took from a recent nap. Now we are going to work on getting rid of the pacis.

Sea World...Take 2

Gabe and I went by ourselves to the park this past Tuesday and had a much better time than before. We saw the all the animal exhibits and went from one end of the park to the other. Although it was really hot, it was a lot of fun. We even got to feed the dolphins.

Home

We are home from Janet's funeral services. They were very lovely and she looked beautiful. She was buried in Fulton, MS next to her father. Her mother lives there along with some of her siblings. I want to thank all of you for the cards and prayers you have sent our way over the past week. This has just been a huge shock to us all and I hope the Culbertson and Ragsdale families can begin the healing process now. I know it will never be the same without Janet here with us.

It's A Boy

My close girlfriend Arianna, who is livnig back in Miami now, gave birth to another boy on May 28th. Marcelo Blanco was born at 2:38 pm weighing 8 lbs and 21 inches long. Arianna gave birth in her bathtub-how cool is that?? Baby and Mom are both doing great. CONGRATULATIONS to the Blanco Famly.

New PJ's

I love babies in pj's. We found some great sales at Old Navy over the weekend and each child got some new "pajomos" as Gabe likes to call them.

Gabriel

I know I have been giving a lot of attention to Shelby in these posts, so I thought I would give an update on the changes in Gabe's life. He has been saying full sentences lately and really picking up on things Jeremy and I talk about. He weighs 38 pounds and is quite tall. Thankfully, he is able to fit into all his shorts from last summer and his swim trunks. He still sleeps with his pacis, but that's quite alright with me. If sleeping with pacis means I get him to take a nap, I'll deal with it. He does take naps most days, but he does skip every once in a while. The naps are shorter but I am happy he still goes down.
Gabe is very creative and loves to imitate animals, play with paint and still his favorite, Play-Doh. Jeremy bought him several animal figurines from Wal-Mart and Gabe carries them everywhere and even sleeps with them. He really likes books and has been hanging out in his room more listening to books on CD. He is also learning his numbers and loves to sing nursery rhymes.
I am hoping to teach Gabe the basics of swimming while my mom visits for the next few weeks. He seems much more excited about getting in the water this summer and trying some new things. He already blows bubbles in the tub which he flat out refused to do last summer. I think if I am consistent with him, we will have a little fish on our hands before long.
Gabe loves Shelby, but picks on her all the time. He is either sitting on her, rolling her over or yelling because she is messing with his things. But he is sweet with her and gives her lots of love.
I am so pleased with the person Gabriel is becoming. He has such a warm heart heart and friendly demeanor. Of course, he can be wild and make me want to pull my hair out some days but that's to be expected. He is a great kid.

Sea World

Okay, I think I was a little naive to believe that we could spend a lot of time at this park, just the 3 of us. The kids didn't misbehave or anything, but it was 102 degrees and that park is massive. I had no idea where anything was so we wandered around. I wasn't able to get nearly as many pictures as I wanted to, but below are a few. Gabe loved looking at the shark and fish exhibits. He wasn't really impressed with the Sea Lion show. Next time I will have a game plan ahead of time so I know where i am going and what we will be doing. We are thinking of getting Jeremy a season pass as well so he can go with Gabe. But we had a good time and both kids took long naps this afternoon. And I will be going to bed early tonight. Tomorrow we are going to hit the pool here and then go to the Riverwalk in the evening. Sunday Gabe and Jeremy are off to the zoo again and then we are going to spend Memorial Day just hanging out together.

Teeth

Shelby has been cutting her first 2 teeth for about a week now. I am surprised she has behaved so well. The other day she seemed to fuss constantly, but it wasn't really that bad. I think she looks adorable.

Head Shaker

Shelby has started doing this in the past few days and it's soooo cute.

Presidian

This is Jeremy's company. Just wanted to add it so you all could see what he does.
http://www.presidian.com/. You may have to copy and paste the link.

The Weekend

Jeremy kept the kids today while I got to run errands and have some alone time. He told me tonight, "Sarah, you have to be tired at the end of a normal day cuz I am exhausted." I laughed and said that I usually am beat. But he and Gabe spent lots of time outside with some water guns and Shelby got to enjoy a ride in the sling. I love that Jeremy will wear that thing.
Today was really nice for me. I was able to explore some more of this big city and I feel a bit more comfortable now on the major interstates. The view from one bridge was beautiful, I could see over the treetops and straight downtown. And this evening Gabe and I went around trying to fins some bugs to put in his bug catcher. We didn't find any bugs but we did bring back some golf balls for Jeremy. It's funny how far off some golfers are from the actual hole.

Here is the view from our back porch. Pretty peaceful, huh? :)

Thumb Sucker

Shelby has sucked her thumb she was six weeks old. We soon learned she likes to hold things in her hand while sucking that teeny thumb. She especially loves Bebe's chain for her glasses. She wraps it around her finger and lays her head down on Bebe's chest. It's so sweet. So since Bebe is not close by :( Shelby finds some interesting substitutes. The other night she grabbed one of Gabe's plastic forks and began to suck away. It really calms her down and is precious to watch. She also likes to grab some of my hair in her hand along with a stuffed animal.

Gabe's Possessions

Since Shelby has begun to crawl, Gabe is having major major issues with his things being touched. Even if he is not playing with something, if Shelby is touching it he loses his little mind. Today she was going after his sandals and instead of Gabe picking them up and putting them on the stairs like I suggested, he thought they would be more protected on his feet. I couldn't help but get this photo opp. He had just woken up from his nap, that's why the diaper is still on. He wanted me to put on my shoes so Shelby couldn't touch them too.

The San Antonio Zoo

We visited the zoo last weekend and then this past Thursday. It is a really nice place and a great way to entertain Gabe. He and Jeremy ran around looking at all the animals and just having fun. Shelby was really good even though she skipped her morning nap. we got a good hour and a half in before the kids got cranky and then it was time to go. On Thursday i took the kids and we went through part of the zoo. Gabe listened really well and everyone behaved beautifully. These pictures are from when all of us went.


Gabe could not stop talking about the rhinos after we left, so I added the picture for him.

Just An Update

This week has been stressful to say the least. We do not have our internet service yet so I am "stealing" someone else's wireless service when I can. Our apartment has very old appliances and we have had several problems including the dish washer literally smoking. When we left Diamondhead, we left behind Keith's ladder and Cherie and Joel's lawnmower and gas can. We found out soon after we left that the items were gone, STOLEN. I am so mad about that. I cannot believe someone went over there right after we left and just took what they wanted.

Gabe has been acting out (that's putting it mildly) but seems to have some good moments too. Shelby is cutting her first tooth and crawling (slowly) all over the place. We went to the zoo today, which was fun but a bit difficult with 2 kids. San Antonio is pretty cool so far and we went to our first play date this past Friday which was a lot of fun. We met some nice moms and kids and hope to become more active.

There are only seven boxes left to unpack and then it will be done. I hope to get the kids to the pool this week, it's been in the 90's here.