August Wait List Numbers

The referral news was nonexistant this past month so we were pleasantly surprised to see any movement at all. No, it wasn't as fabulous as last month but it was movement nonetheless! And each month, regardless of the movement brings us closer to the day when we will get that call, see that face and have our sought after prayers answered.

August Wait List Numbers:
boys: 55 (down 3)
girls: 75 (down 4)
siblings: 27 (no movement)

As we approach the one year waiting mark, please pray that God continues to hold us steadfast while we wait for this little one(s) that are already so close to our hearts.

Waiting...

One last round of pictures from Stacy Anderson Photography. 

We did something like this with Gabe and his cousins over Christmas but I loved the look of the cardboard sign that a few of our friends have done.  And I think we'll be using this sign a bit more often as we continue to wait. 

Sweet little one,
       Where ever you are, who ever is holding you now, feeding you and loving you.... we are so grateful for the care they are giving you. We love you, miss you and are waiting expectantly for you.

He's Cute

And I love him. A lot.

Family Photo's

When we took Gabe to get his photo's taken for his third birthday we had a couple of family photo's taken as well.  This is only our 2nd time getting family photo's done and I absolutely love how they came out!  I really did try to narrow them down to just my favorites! 

I love my little family so much but my heart just longs for when there's a fouth (and maybe fifth) person in our pictures. 

Photographs by Stacy Anderson Photography.  If you live in the Houston/Galveston area be sure to check her out!

A Gabe update!

Since our darling boy is now 3, I wanted to do an update on all things Gabe!  Along with all the fun Gabriel facts there are also a lot of pictures from his 3rd year photo shoot. 

At 3 years old Gabriel is approximately 42 inches tall and weighs 41.5 lbs.  He wears size 4T clothes and size 7 shoe. 

 Gabriel loves life.  He always has a smile on his face and has just the best disposition.  He's at the stage where his personality is hilarious.  Whether he's telling me to be careful as I wash the floor or yelling "c'mon guys" to the football players playing on television, he is always good for a laugh. 

 I know most parents think their children are smart but Gabe, well I worked with children for a long time and Gabriel is a gem.  By 3 he just couldn't sing his ABC's but he recognizes the letters.  He knows his numbers, colors and shapes too.  Gabe is a little bit of a shape connoisseur as he knows the regular shapes (circle, square, triangle) but he also knows the hard ones like crescent, octagon and hexagon.  Smart boy! 

Gabe is an insanely hard worker.  I'm continually amazed at how hard he'll work during therapy and how hard he works at home on his 'homework.'  Gabe has therapy four days a week and despite the hard work he does there, he loves to go!  His ladies (therapists) are so great and he loves them a ton.  Well, his speech therapist (Miss Hannah) just left so he's not quite warmed up to Miss Kacy yet, but Miss Leslie and Miss Mindy have won him over.  Especially Miss Leslie.  He asks for her over the weekends and always wants to watch the video's of him walking with her.

Walking?  Yes, you read that correctly.  Gabe's therapies are pretty intensive and in physical therapy he is learning to walk!  He's practicing with a gait trainer at therapy and once we find one we really like, we'll order him one for home.  You can't even understand the surge of pride I have every time he starts walking.  Nothing is impossible for this little man.  Absolutely nothing. 



For play time Gabriel loves all things Thomas the Tank Engine, basketball, puzzles and reading books.  His current favorite book is Green Eggs and Ham, his Children's Bible and his new Babar books. We read his Bible at breakfast and lunch everyday.   He loves to play on the iPAD and I love all of the free educational apps.  It's also a great tool to get him to use his left hand!  Gabe also loves building blocks, bouncing on the bed and balloons.  

Gabe's love of books has given him a huge vocabulary!  He surprises us every day with new words and sweet little sayings.  His sweet little voice saying "I love you"melts my heart every single time he says it.  As well as when he asks to pray before meals and bedtimes.  Oh he has such a sweet heart. 



His sweet voice gets even sweeter when he's singing.  I love hearing his rendition of ABC's in the morning over the monitor or when he sings along with his Veggie Tales Cd's but nothing melts my heart faster than when he sings praise music.  Hearing Gabe singing out loud "we need to be courageous" or "take this world and give me Jesus" is amazing.  Matt and I think we may have a little music pastor on our hands.

Medically Gabe is doing fantastic.  He continues to make strides in therapy; great and small.   At his last neurologist visit besides telling Gabe he'll see him walking next time, Dr. Zeller also said Gabe didn't need to come back for 12 months!  That's a whole year!  At his well child check besides the schizencephaly diagnosis and the resulting issues, Gabriel is doing great.  Another proud parent moment when the doctor tells you that your little boy is very smart!   On the horizon is another eye surgery for Gabriel, but besides some muscle issues his vision is actually great - near perfect with his glasses on!

A few times over the past weeks I've looked at Gabriel around the corner, across the room or while he's sleeping and couldn't help but wonder just when he grew up so much.  What happened to the little baby we brought home from the hospital or the bigger baby who loved to cuddle?  There are glimpses of our baby still in there; the way his body conforms to mine when I pick him up and he cuddles in for a hug or how he cuddles with his doggy as he falls asleep.  This growing big and getting older, it's a good thing - a blessing... but it's happening much faster than anticipated. 

Truly Gabriel is just a joy, a miracle.  There are times we catch ourselves wondering how this perfect little boy belongs to us?  I just can't get over God's goodness when I think about Gabe. 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." - James 1:17

Photographs by Stacy Anderson Photography

an Oh Boy and a Whoa

Gabe's birthday was a blast.  I was a little sad the night before because the two families we invited over to celebrate Gabe's birthday were out of town.  So just like last year, we were celebrating with just the three of us.  And.  It.  Was.  Perfect!

Matt was just coming in from a run and I was reading in bed when Gabe woke up.  The first thing I heard over the monitor was "Oh boy, balloons" and then a whole lot of bouncing on the bed. 

After the balloons came present time!  I was so excited because I just knew Gabe was giong to love it.

Seeing his train table.. and this is where the whoa came in.  After first pointing out that he had another balloon (the balloons were a big deal for him) attached to the table, Matt pointed out what it was attached too.  Once Gabe really saw the train table he let out a big whoa....

and then proceeded to thoroughly check out the train table by crawling under it!

Once Gabe made it to the other side he saw his other presents.  Gabe pulled Toby off the top of his present from Grandma and Grandpa Schmitz and began to play. 

After a little prodding to open the rest of his presents, Gabe was thrilled to see Henry from Grandma!

After presents we continued our day of celebrating Gabriel and visited the splash pad and swimming pool.  Gabe has started taking his basketball everywhere with him and the splash pad is no different!

After playing at the pool we went home for pizza and cake.  I tried my hand at making a homemade cake and frosting... and it was delish; if I do say so m

Gabe was super excited about the candles this year and even helped himself to a few bites of cake.  Just the fact that our no-sweet-eater took a few bites must have meant that the cake was tasty. 

 

The rest of the afternoon and subsequent afternoons was spent playing at his new train table.  I think Mommy and Daddy and Nonny and Papo nailed the birthday present on the nose with this one!  And not only is it fun, it is a good tool for therapy!  Win-win!

**very disappointed that my camera lens was blurry for most of the pictures