Mall Rats

Since it is still too cold to walk outdoors, Kelly and I headed to the mall with our girls today to get some exercise and get out of the houes for awhile. As a reward for being good in their strollers, Grace and Gabby got to ride on the moving school bus. Gabby wasn't so sure about it, but Grace seemed to think it was super!

"Um, Busdriver, you ARE going the marked speed limit right?" --Gabby

"Hey, you aren't eating candy in the back of the bus, are you? NO candy, I said! Well, unless you are going to give me some, too." --Grace

"If I could only figure out how to turn the windshield wipers on!"

Scoopin' Oatmeal

Gabby and I were stuck at home yesterday with all of the snow and ice we had in Indy. We got a little creative with finding things to do, so we dumped out some oatmeal into two bowls and had fun "scooping" it from one bowl to the next. Gabby even got brave enough to dump it directly from one bowl to the next. Some "bugs" (raisins) made a visit and hopped into the bowls, making us find them in the oatmeal to pull them out. It was good fun and occupied her for at least 30 minutes. We will have to pull out some rice next time!

Special Sauce, Lettuce, Cheese, Pickles, Onions, on a Sesame Seed Bun

Gabby doesn't really care for meat...except in hamburger or sloppy joe form.

Chatty Cathy...or Gabby

Talking, talking, talking...

If you are wondering about the scarves, I gave Gabby some of my old neckscarves to play with. We twirl them around the room and play peek-a-boo with them. Tonight they made a great outfit.

Leaning Tower of Gabby-za

"Can I knock it down now, Mama?"

"Okay, I'm going to knock it down now...ready?"

"There is goes!"

"Whew! More please."

Yo...Baby

Gabrielle is getting pretty good at feeding herself. She is fairly competant at using both a fork and spoon. Recently she started feeding herself yogurt and applesauce with a spoon. It is usually messy, but not too bad. The other day I was busy cleaning dishes while Gabby ate lunch and when I turned around, this is the yogurty mess I found. She was too darn cute with that strawberry yogurt all over her face!

Happy Valentine's Day!

*If you are wondering where Gabby got her adorable Valentine's Day outfit, her Great-Grandma Lee bought it for her at Gymboree last season. SO CUTE! She has already received many compliments on it.

Ahh! No-No.

"I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw that my bath toys were a toaster and a radio."

Just a funny quote from Joan Rivers in lieu of this post. Gabrielle LOVES taking baths and pouring water in and out of bowls and cups. Her newest favorite thing to do (in and out of the bath), we would like to thank her paternal grandmothers for. Kenton's mom, Deb, thought it would be cute if Gabby learned to scream a lot...and she does. Thanks for that, Deb. Second, Suzie (Kenton's stepmom) thought it was good to tell Gabby "no screaming" whenever she would scream. So Gabrielle put the two together and now goes around the house screaming and then saying "no-no." You can see a glimpse of this if you watch the video below carefully (sorry it is a little lengthy).

"Cheese!"

"Mom, seriously. Enough with the photos!" (Gabby's eye roll reminds me a little too much of her cousin Emma.)

"Nigh-Night kisses!"

The only chair Gabby can climb up onto on her own is the rocking chair in her room. Here she is "reading" to her Curious George monkey.

Snack Trap Hat

While Kenton and I were eating dinner last night, Gabby was finishing up some of her left over snack in her "snack trap" cup. We weren't really paying close attention to her for a minute and then we looked over and saw the following. Without any prodding, our creative daughter had placed her snack trap cup upside down on her head as a hat and then sat there looking so proud that she could balance it perfectly. I don't know where she gets this stuff! And yes, her pigtails were falling out in this photo.

Bowls and Spoons--Old School Entertainment

Gabby and Charlie had a ton of fun playing with my metal bowls and wooden spoons today. I thought I would pull out all the stops for this afternoon! Nothing like going "old school."

He's Working 9 to 5

Many of you know that Kenton recently started his graduate degree at Ball State. Most of our weekends are consumed with projects and reading responses. Gabby and I have had even more time together than before, so I decided to capture a few of those special moments.

Big "Blue Eyes"

What her hair looks like after a bath! The curls are so cute!

Mom! Please put your Christmas tree box away so it isn't in the background of my pictures!

Elmo, you really need to watch your sodium intake!

I Wuv Dad!


Nose tickles!

Owie, Daddy! You smooshed my fingers!

Do Your Tricks, Monkey

Gabby has so many funny little things she will do for you on command. Yesterday she started doing an "O" face, as you can see on the video below. She has always done the "evil eye," which we taught her since her cousin Emma used to do that when she was little. Now it's a tradition so every Smith baby will have to know how to give someone the "evil eye." It was a fluke that Gabby learned to give someone her "cute" face where she will put one or both hands on her cheeks and look at your really sweetly. This will be helpful for future photographs! Here is a video of all three tricks. Avoid the inappropriate video commentary by Mommy (you will only find it inappropriate if you know the movie Office Space well).



Video #2: Gabby as a little mama. She loves to mother her baby!

Scaredy Cat? Not My Girl!

Most kids don't like to be scared. If they get frightened, they start crying, want mommy, etc. My daughter, on the other hand, loves it! She loves it when I hide from her, jump out, and scare the crap out of her. She will jump, smile, and then laugh hysterically. We usually play one long game of "Find Mommy" every day. Our kitchen island makes for some great places to jump out and scare her. Here is a video of Gabby's love for jumping out and saying, "Boo!" (See the annoying dog? Yeah, he's something else.)

Call Me?

Last night I had the pleasure of singing once again with Nexus at The Fox Pub and Grill. It was a fun night even though Kenton had to DJ and couldn't be there. My friends Kristy, Joel, Kelly, Keith, Jessica, and Dave came to support me, which was really awesome. Gabby stayed at home with Papaw and Susu, who were nice enough to watch her on short notice! Jessica was very sweet to take some video of the group on her camera and post it on her blog. I stole the video so my family could see a little bit of our performance. Here we are performing "Call Me" by Blondie.