Where in the World is Gabe Lanoux?

I'll give you a hint...

Yup, you guessed it! Gabe is going to be spending the next few days at my parents house while I head off to Phoenix to celebrate Michelle's wedding! I totally have Momma guilt for leaving him but at the same time I'm so looking forward to spending time with Mitch and Renee. Renee and I fly out tomorrow morning- no husbands, no kids... oh the fun we will have!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Christmas Day

As I teased in my Christmas Eve post Christmas morning started with a bang as well. Santa and his reindeer must have hit a power pole as they were delivering gifts down the bayou because at 5:20 AM the power went off. Me, Mom, Dad and of course Gabe woke immediately. Gabe was sleeping in my parents room, and I could hear him from upstairs so I ran downstairs to check on him. He was so happy just rolling around making noises in the pack and play. I gave him his paci back and instructed him to go back to sleep which he eventually did. Thankfully the electricity came back on about 45 minutes later. Gabe woke up around 7:30 and again I ran down the stairs to grab my sweet little man. I took him upstairs to wake up David and Christopher and let them know it was time for presents.

Gabe wrapped in swaddling clothes... it was cold!

Gabe opened his presents from Santa like a pro!

Gabe smiling at Monie

Gabe loved his octopus! Oh and look at the cute bag Monie and Pappy had made for him. It says "Going Down the Bayou" love it!

After presents, breakfast and showers it was time to head back to BR. Well at least we thought it was time to head back to BR Gabe had other plans and decided to take an hour and a half nap. Eventually Gabe woke and we packed every last gift into the car and headed back home. We were only home for just a few minutes to change Gabe, grab a dessert and load the car with presents for David's family. David's sister Susan and her husband Ron hosted the Lanoux family. It was so great seeing David's family and eating yummy gumbo. Why is it that food always seems to come up in my blogs :) ? Anyway I digress- Gabe loved playing with his cousins and of course opening more presents!

Gabe with his Aunt Susan and cousin Austin. Austin was so sweet with Gabe!

Unwrapping a present from Maw Maw and Paw Paw


Still in the best mood at the end of a very long day!

David, Gabe and I are so lucky that we were able to spend the holidays with both sets of families. David and I could not have asked for a better first Christmas for our sweet little man! I asked David Christmas night what his favorite gift was this year. He smiled and said Gabe and I couldn't agree with him more! Oh and then David added he also loved his NY Yankee World Series Champs t-shirt from my parents... I could not agree to that one!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve started with a bang.... well a thud and then a cry to be more exact. I felt like it was something out of Twas the Night Before Christmas as I sprung from my bed to see what was the matter. I did not find a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer I did, however, find a very precocious 8 month old who had knocked down his mobile and was a bit upset about it. I'm really surprised he hadn't pulled it down sooner!

David and I decided to leave a bit earlier than planned to head down to my parents house because of the weather- rainy and very windy. Gabe showed off his "crawling" (he's not crawling yet but I think it'll be soon) and "self swaddling" skills while David and I quickly packed and got dressed.

We arrived at Monie and Pappy's around 10:30 and the celebration began!

Monie and Pappy's Christmas tree

I bought a Christmas bingo game a few weeks ago so while Gabe napped Mom, Daddy, David and I played. Let me tell you that dollar I paid for it was well worth it! We laughed so hard!

While we waited for Marty, Chantel, Olivia and Christopher to arrive we had fun playing with Gabe. I love his little Santa suit!

Well some of us played with Gabe...others of us napped.

*David is going to kill me for posting this picture!

Soon Uncle Marty, Honey and Olivia arrived and it was time for dinner and presents. It's our tradition that we wear our pajamas Christmas Eve. We also always eat streak, homemade bread and some type of potato- this year steak fries! Yummy!

Gabe opening his first present from Monie and Pappy. He seemed to enjoy the taste of the wrapping paper!

Uncle Marty, Honey and Olivia went way overboard and bought Gabe tons of cute toys! He absolutely loved the donkey that sang "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch!"

Gabe sitting with Honey after a long night of gift unwrapping.

Olivia stacked her gifts up, and Gabe did his absolute best to try and knock them all down!

Christmas Eve is so important to my family... it represents togetherness, generosity and of course good food! I have such wonderful memories of Christmas Eves as a child, and I know that when Gabe is an adult he will be able to say the same thing!

Much love to Monie, Pappy, Godfather, Uncle Marty, Honey and Olivia for making this the best Christmas Eve ever!

***Next up Christmas Day and another surprising start to the day!

"You Are the Angel Atop My Tree, You Are My Dream Come True"

Gabe just look at how cute you are!

I cannot believe you are 8 months already! Let me just say that Daddy and I just can't get enough of you these days. You are simply the most fun!

Here's what you've been up to...

• You are finally sitting up for extended periods of time! So funny how all of a sudden you decided..."Hey I can do this!"



• You love knocking over things that Daddy builds for you.



• You babble "MaMa" and "DaDa" and "Hey" all the time. Of course you have no idea what you're saying but we love hearing them!



• Rolling is still your favorite way to get around but I'm think you're going to start crawling soon.



• You love it when we dance with you and sing to you.



• As usual you are a great sleep! You sleep from 7:45 to between 6:30-7:30. You also usually take 3 naps during the day.



• You love playing in your crib and your blow up rubber duck.



• We finally found shoes that you keep on!



• You eat cereal twice a day (morning and evening), eat a fruit and a veggie in the afternoon and have formula throughout the day... you love food!



• Daddy is your absolute favorite person in the world! Anything he does and I mean anything makes you laugh.



• Daddy and I are so looking forward to your first Christmas! I can't wait to watch you unwrap your presents!
  

Daddy and I love you so very much! You truly are our dream come true!

Love you bunches and bunches, Mommy and Daddy

Gabe this morning. He does a great job of entertaining himself in the morning while David and I get ready for work.

Coming soon to a Christmas card near you!

My super talented friend Jean came to the house the day after Thanksgiving to take pictures of Gabe. I couldn't have been more pleased with the results! It was so hard deciding which ones made our Christmas card!

My goodness that kid is cute!

Santa Baby

A few weeks ago we saw that our church was offering a breakfast with Santa. We quickly ordered our tickets... Santa and food...I'm there! This morning we braved the rain and cold weather and headed over to St. George's cafeteria so Gabe could meet the big man. He seemed to really enjoy himself and didn't cry at all!

As I went to take a picture of Gabe and Santa with our camera Santa asked me to take a picture of he and Gabe with his camera. The entire time we were there Gabe is the only one that Santa took a picture of...I'm sure he wanted to show Mrs. Claus and the elves how cute Gabe is!

I can't tell you how much fun David and I have been having with Gabe. It's so wonderful to experience this time of year with him! I'm loving and savoring every minute!

Gabe waiting patiently as David and I ate our pancakes and sausage.

Nearly our turn! Loved that we only had to wait 2 or 3 minutes!

Gabe tried to shove the candy cane in his mouth about a second after I took this picture!




Gabe telling Santa what he'd like for Christmas

I couldn't get one of Gabe looking but this is a good one of Santa

Little man all excited from seeing Santa... time to head back into the cold

Can't wait for next year!

Snow? What snow?

I guess around Wednesday or so last week we started hearing that it might snow Friday night. I was pretty excited for Gabe to experience his first snowfall seeing as I was nearly a teenager (and his dad was one) before I ever saw snow.

I even toyed with the idea of trying to keep Gabe up or even waking him up so he could see the snow. Around 9:30 last Friday evening snow began to fall. We decided not to wake Gabe but instead bring him outside first thing in the morning. Well you can imagine our disappointment when the following morning the only snow that could be found was on our roof, but we took Gabe outside and showed him nonetheless!

Reine Family Christmas Party

It just wouldn't be Christmas without the Reine Family Christmas party! Who are the Reine's you might ask....David's mom, Helen Reine Lanoux's, family. The Reine siblings (Ms. Helen, Uncle Johnny, Uncle Joe, Aunt Sis, Aunt Hilda and Uncle Ronnie) and all of their kids and their kids and in some case their kids gather every year on the first Saturday in December to celebrate the season and eats lots of gumbo and yummy desserts! It is always such fun! This was my 8th Reine party, and I can't wait for number 9!

David and Gabe watching the SEC championship.

Matthew, David's brother Curt's son, and Gabe. Matthew was so happy when we found out that we were having a boy. He said it would have been too much pressure to carry on the Lanoux name all by himself.

Addison giving Gabe a kiss! Addison's grandpa, Robert, is David's first cousin and godfather.


So for the past 5 or 6 years we have played Left, Right, Center, a dice game, and let me tell you it is no joke! You need three dollars to play. Gabe is trying to get the money out of David's wallet so I can play.

Okay back to the game. Everyone starts off with three dollars. You roll the dice and do what the dice says... if you get an L then one dollar goes to the person to your left, R to the right and C to the center. Who ever has the last dollar wins. Sounds like a nice friendly game right??? You would not believe how loud and rowdy we get over the pot! Poor Matthew really wanted to win but Cousin Phillip ended up taking home the $54 pot! Maybe next year, Matty!

Merry Christmas to all of the wonderful members of the Reine family! We are looking forward to 2010 already!

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

Saturday morning David, Gabe and I headed out to Lowe's to pick out a Christmas tree. Gabe was quite excited!



Once we got our tree safely home it was time to decorate it. Christmas ornaments are a HUGE deal to me! My love for ornaments all started when I was a little girl; my brothers and I were given an ornament every year from our Uncle Kirk. I can probably tell you the story behind each and every ornament I have!

Gabe and I putting the first ornament on the tree.

Apparently Gabe was more interested in eating the ornaments than putting them on the tree.


Daddy and Gabe putting Mike the Tiger on the tree.

David lifting Gabe to see the top of the tree.

I love walking in the house and seeing (and smelling) our tree....it's one of the best parts of Christmas!

Gobble, Gobble Part 2

Gabe had a great first Thanksgiving! He started off his day with a little tickle fun with Mommy and Daddy!

Since the Lanoux gathering didn't start until 4 PM we were on our own for lunch. David and I enjoyed steaks while Gabe enjoyed green beans.

After lunch and a quick nap we all headed to David's sister, Sandra's house. Gabe got to play with and love on tons of aunts, uncles and cousins not to mention Maw Maw and Paw Paw!

We are thankful for so very many things this Thanksgiving... wonderful family, amazing friends, good health and abundant happiness but most of all we are oh so thankful for our little man!