My sweet sister Amy had her baby! I can just tell he is a sweetie and I can't wait to meet him!
Will Marion Hughes
March 23, 2011
7lbs 6oz and 20" long
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
look who's 2 months
Goodness gracious I can't believe how fast time flies! I could have sworn I just had a baby like, yesterday but unfortunately little gabby is already 2 months old! 
Little G is as happy as can be and so are we, so we have some stats to report!! Here she is after getting her shots, band aids and all!
Weight: 11.6 pounds = 25%
Height: 25 1/2 inches (wowzers she grew a whole 5 inches!!!) = 97%
Head: 39 cm =25%
Gabby Loves to...
*Take her nightly bath....except when she has to get out and shivers from head to toe due to the cold air
*Befriend the hairdryer after her nice warm bath, which warms her up from head to toe
*Hold her head up all by herself. In fact this little girl was holding her head up all by herself at 3 weeks. I hope this doesn’t mean she is going to be a strong headed child....
*Sleep with her hands above her head
*Sleep through the night. Yes that's right 10:30ish-6:00 on weekdays and till about 7:30 on weekends. Hopefully she will sleep in a little longer once school gets out for mama. I hate waking her up at 6:00 to eat but I sure do enjoy the playtime before I go to school.
*Smile, Smile, Smile!!!! She's a straight face kinda gal until you put her on her back and then she is all smiles and we just can't get enough, even when she has an extreme occasional blowout....
Yes, that is poop all the way down in her feet???? Don't ask how it got all the way down there?
*Coo, ahhhhgooo, bawwwwizzzz, & snort (yes she is our little piggie) and we are shocked at how much her little vocab continues to expand each day!
*Watch mom make a fool out of herself while trying to get her to smile and laugh!
*Make big wide eye looks like “what the heck are you doing mum??”
haha I can't get enough of these faces!
*Face out so she can see everything. Just like her mama. Doesn’t want to miss out on anything.
*Fall asleep with the blanket against her cheek. It’s a must.
*Be held on the left side, sitting on your arm, so she can look to her left. Occasionally the right but the view from her left is the best apparently
Nicknames:
Little G
Roo Roo
Gabbaroo
Baby Girl
Gabalicious
Gabba laba ding dong
$ G Money $
Shnookums
Gablam
Baby G
GiGi
G
Detests:
*“The kissing machine” Scottie just can’t resist and he gives her these loud fast kisses, 20 per second to be exact, that send her into a mad fuss!
*Being held on her back, unless she is about to fall asleep.
Other loveable tidbits:
*She snorts like a piggie if she gets too worked up.
*Pretty sure that I could stare at her luscious little lips all day long! They are so perfectly heart shaped!
I remember when I went in for her ultrasound and the tech snapped a shot of her lips. Sure enough she came out and wowie! I’m gonna have to fight off the boys when this little one gets older.
*Love her little dimples that show up when she smiles.
*Has the funniest little sneezes in the world! She winds up and sneezes like an adult who just inhaled a pound of pepper. One day I will get it on video. It sends us into hysterics every time.
It's funny to think that she has been with us for 2 months already. I feel like its been years. How did we ever get by without this little girlie? I'm not quite sure?
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Everybody Loves Christie (By Scott Lamb)
This post is by Scott not Christie. Yes….I know it may be strange for a man to be posting on the family blog but I decided I would do it anyways. Let me explain the motivation for my willingness to post even if it means risking a piece of my manhood. I view the blog as a way for our children to get to know Christie and me before we become old, wrinkly, and incoherent. After reading through the posts of Christie sharing with the world all my good qualities (and I thank her for her crafty editing), I thought it would be a tragedy for me to not share how I and the world feel about Christie. To sum it up in a sentence I would say without a doubt that….Everybody Loves Christie.
Let me start off with some antidotal evidence I have witnessed firsthand. In January our new addition Gabby J arrived. We were fortunate enough to have Gabby’s newborn pictures taken a week after she was born. As any proud parents would do, we plastered our little girl’s face all over the internet via Facebook. As I got ten maybe fifteen comments on Facebook I was feeling good that I thought I had many friends congratulating us on our new addition. As I shared some of the comments left on my Facebook page my wife was eager to share the comments left on her page. As I opened up her profile I was astonished to see over 50 people had commented and that wasn’t including all the likes and pokes. I thought to myself…..”Is this a regular occurrence or are the comments so high just because we had a baby”. It seems, and I may be exaggerating a little, that Christie can post any mundane experience like “it’s snowing, I ate an apple, I found a quarter” and at a minimum she will have 5 comments and 5 likes. I told her I wanted to start posting on her account so I too could enjoy the instant gratification of receiving multiple Facebook posts instantaneously…..later she changed her password.
This post is not just based on Facebook. Have you ever tried to go to Wal-Mart with Christie in Saratoga Springs? It is like a pizza walking into fat camp. People cannot get enough of her. We are stopped in every isle; pictures are taken with past first graders, and let’s not forget about the strangers who stop her to ask “Who does your hair?” In fact, it’s gotten so out of hand we have to make packs in the car before we ever step into Wal-Mart that she is only allowed to talk to anyone she knows for 1 minute or less. So far she has failed miserably keeping the pack.
Not only is Christie great with people….but did you know she is the animal whisperer as well? We have a cat named Lemon. If you are friends with us you probably have heard the story of our poor unfortunate cat. In fact, I think Christie did a blog about the poor animal. Every night, just before we go to bed, Lemon the cat jumps on the bed for her nightly rub down. She slowly nestles in between me and my wife with her face pointing towards Christie and her butt pointing straight towards me. I have tried petting, cat food, turning her around by force but despite my best efforts the cat always returns to the same position (well maybe a little further from me but facing the same way) giving me the shaft. It’s an insult since I am the one who cleans her litter box (is it true that pregnant and/or nursing women can’t change the litter box or is Christie taking advantage of the situation?) feeds her, and lets her out. However, Lemon’s infatuation with Christie has its advantages. I do not wake up throughout the night by Lemon’s belly dragging back and forth across my head; I do not wake up with Lemon licking my hands; and I certainly do not wake up with Lemon lying on my chest. I keep telling Christie it is a small price to pay for your popularity with the cat.
So why is every living creature enamored with my wife? It’s probably because has a heart of gold…..let me explain. Christie is the type of person who says she is sorry after beating you in scrabble. She is the type of person that will chase you down in Wal-Mart to say hello and ask you how you are doing. She is the type of person who cries during animal planet. She is the type of person who leaves you notes on the door wishing you good luck. She is the type of person who makes anyone she meets feel like they are the most important person in the world at that moment. I know she has won me over….I am just tired of sharing her with everyone else. So watch out Ray Ramono……….because I believe you have been replaced. In my eyes…..Everybody Loves Christie.
Let me start off with some antidotal evidence I have witnessed firsthand. In January our new addition Gabby J arrived. We were fortunate enough to have Gabby’s newborn pictures taken a week after she was born. As any proud parents would do, we plastered our little girl’s face all over the internet via Facebook. As I got ten maybe fifteen comments on Facebook I was feeling good that I thought I had many friends congratulating us on our new addition. As I shared some of the comments left on my Facebook page my wife was eager to share the comments left on her page. As I opened up her profile I was astonished to see over 50 people had commented and that wasn’t including all the likes and pokes. I thought to myself…..”Is this a regular occurrence or are the comments so high just because we had a baby”. It seems, and I may be exaggerating a little, that Christie can post any mundane experience like “it’s snowing, I ate an apple, I found a quarter” and at a minimum she will have 5 comments and 5 likes. I told her I wanted to start posting on her account so I too could enjoy the instant gratification of receiving multiple Facebook posts instantaneously…..later she changed her password.
This post is not just based on Facebook. Have you ever tried to go to Wal-Mart with Christie in Saratoga Springs? It is like a pizza walking into fat camp. People cannot get enough of her. We are stopped in every isle; pictures are taken with past first graders, and let’s not forget about the strangers who stop her to ask “Who does your hair?” In fact, it’s gotten so out of hand we have to make packs in the car before we ever step into Wal-Mart that she is only allowed to talk to anyone she knows for 1 minute or less. So far she has failed miserably keeping the pack.
Not only is Christie great with people….but did you know she is the animal whisperer as well? We have a cat named Lemon. If you are friends with us you probably have heard the story of our poor unfortunate cat. In fact, I think Christie did a blog about the poor animal. Every night, just before we go to bed, Lemon the cat jumps on the bed for her nightly rub down. She slowly nestles in between me and my wife with her face pointing towards Christie and her butt pointing straight towards me. I have tried petting, cat food, turning her around by force but despite my best efforts the cat always returns to the same position (well maybe a little further from me but facing the same way) giving me the shaft. It’s an insult since I am the one who cleans her litter box (is it true that pregnant and/or nursing women can’t change the litter box or is Christie taking advantage of the situation?) feeds her, and lets her out. However, Lemon’s infatuation with Christie has its advantages. I do not wake up throughout the night by Lemon’s belly dragging back and forth across my head; I do not wake up with Lemon licking my hands; and I certainly do not wake up with Lemon lying on my chest. I keep telling Christie it is a small price to pay for your popularity with the cat.
So why is every living creature enamored with my wife? It’s probably because has a heart of gold…..let me explain. Christie is the type of person who says she is sorry after beating you in scrabble. She is the type of person that will chase you down in Wal-Mart to say hello and ask you how you are doing. She is the type of person who cries during animal planet. She is the type of person who leaves you notes on the door wishing you good luck. She is the type of person who makes anyone she meets feel like they are the most important person in the world at that moment. I know she has won me over….I am just tired of sharing her with everyone else. So watch out Ray Ramono……….because I believe you have been replaced. In my eyes…..Everybody Loves Christie.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
just... gabby
When little Gabsters was in the belly, a lot of people would ask me what we were going to name her. I seriously don't think we could have picked a better name. It just seems so right and it fits her personality, and of course....we just love it. Obviously we named her Gabby and she has PLENTY of nicknames that go along with it. But I always found it funny whenever I would tell people "we are going to name her Gabby, just Gabby", they would then say as if they didn't hear the "just" part and respond with a "Oh so her full name is going to be Gabriella or Gabriell right?" No people. Just Gabby. After a while I got smart and when people would ask me what we were going to name her I would say "Just Gabby, not Gabriella or Gabriell....just Gabby" and then I would still get the response of "Why not just name her Gabriella?". Apparently they just didn't get the picture. It's not like I don't like those names. Believe me I think they are cute. But for some reason I didn't think that it rattled off the tongue so well when paired with Lamb. Too many lala's I guess....
Anyway, when we were getting close to the big day, Scottie and I would talk about it all the time and if we really wanted to name her Gabby. I knew, about 99.9 % sure that that was the name that I wanted but I wasn't oposed to the idea of taking the list of names we brainstormed to the hospital, just in case she came and the name just didn't fit her.
Well that all changed when the first thing I said when I got to hold her for the first time was "Hello Gabby Girl!" it just seemed right and that was that.
Now flash back to when we came up with the name. It was our anniversary, September 21st to be exact, and Scottie and I were meeting up with my parents to go to dinner and a play. While we were at the restaurant and just waiting for my parents to show up, I decided to make use of the time so while we were sitting in the car I found a random piece of paper and started asking Scottie what names he liked. I jotted them down even if I wasn't a fan and then I put the names that I liked down as well. That way we could look at it and think about it and refer to it several times. That's when I said I liked the name Gabby. Of course Scottie thought about it and didn't hate it and actually thought that it was okay so I wrote it down and then I fell in love with it. We tossed around the idea over dinner and then it became my number one favorite.
So Gabby it was.
Weeks went by and then before we knew it we were both naming off nicknames to the babe in the belly and it felt good to have a name that we both agreed on. Let's face it. I really thought we would be that couple that couldn't come up with a name and were fighting in the hospital trying to decide what to put on the birth certificate besides "baby lamb" let's be honest.... that joke gets old and yes I've heard it a million times.
Well the day after we had Gabby, Scott got an email from his sister in law Michaela. Michaela was married to Scott's brother Justin for three months and then he passed away suddenly due to a blood clot in a work related accident. She was later sealed to him a year later on September 21st. When Scottie and are were planning to get married we had no idea that that was the day they were sealed. And strange enough it was the same temple. In her email she wrote...
Congrats Scott!! I am so excited for you and Christie! She is adorable. I just thought I would tell you something that you probably didn't know about the name Gabby. When Justin and I were together he got his cat and named her Gabby....
(If I could add a sound effect as if there was an abrupt interruption to a movie, this is where it would be. Funny I know, your probabbly wondering where I am going with this...hang in there I'm getting to the point.)
.... he really liked the name and he had always said that when we had a baby girl of our own he wanted to name her Gabby. So in some weird way, that name means so much to me and I find it sooo special that you two chose that name for a sweet baby that probably left his arms yesterday! I am so happy for you two. Congrats.
Michaela
I seriously cried after hearing what she had said and I knew that there really was a reason that both Scottie and I agreed on the name after we couldn't agree on anything. So all in all, I am so grateful that my little girl is named.....just Gabby.
Anyway, when we were getting close to the big day, Scottie and I would talk about it all the time and if we really wanted to name her Gabby. I knew, about 99.9 % sure that that was the name that I wanted but I wasn't oposed to the idea of taking the list of names we brainstormed to the hospital, just in case she came and the name just didn't fit her.
Well that all changed when the first thing I said when I got to hold her for the first time was "Hello Gabby Girl!" it just seemed right and that was that.
Now flash back to when we came up with the name. It was our anniversary, September 21st to be exact, and Scottie and I were meeting up with my parents to go to dinner and a play. While we were at the restaurant and just waiting for my parents to show up, I decided to make use of the time so while we were sitting in the car I found a random piece of paper and started asking Scottie what names he liked. I jotted them down even if I wasn't a fan and then I put the names that I liked down as well. That way we could look at it and think about it and refer to it several times. That's when I said I liked the name Gabby. Of course Scottie thought about it and didn't hate it and actually thought that it was okay so I wrote it down and then I fell in love with it. We tossed around the idea over dinner and then it became my number one favorite.
So Gabby it was.
Weeks went by and then before we knew it we were both naming off nicknames to the babe in the belly and it felt good to have a name that we both agreed on. Let's face it. I really thought we would be that couple that couldn't come up with a name and were fighting in the hospital trying to decide what to put on the birth certificate besides "baby lamb" let's be honest.... that joke gets old and yes I've heard it a million times.
Well the day after we had Gabby, Scott got an email from his sister in law Michaela. Michaela was married to Scott's brother Justin for three months and then he passed away suddenly due to a blood clot in a work related accident. She was later sealed to him a year later on September 21st. When Scottie and are were planning to get married we had no idea that that was the day they were sealed. And strange enough it was the same temple. In her email she wrote...
Congrats Scott!! I am so excited for you and Christie! She is adorable. I just thought I would tell you something that you probably didn't know about the name Gabby. When Justin and I were together he got his cat and named her Gabby....
(If I could add a sound effect as if there was an abrupt interruption to a movie, this is where it would be. Funny I know, your probabbly wondering where I am going with this...hang in there I'm getting to the point.)
.... he really liked the name and he had always said that when we had a baby girl of our own he wanted to name her Gabby. So in some weird way, that name means so much to me and I find it sooo special that you two chose that name for a sweet baby that probably left his arms yesterday! I am so happy for you two. Congrats.
Michaela
I seriously cried after hearing what she had said and I knew that there really was a reason that both Scottie and I agreed on the name after we couldn't agree on anything. So all in all, I am so grateful that my little girl is named.....just Gabby.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
94 days
I can't believe the babymoon is over. I swear I just had a baby? Where did the time go?? I can't tell you how much I dreaded going back and leaving my baby girl. I guess I was completely in love with snuggling and holding and kissing that little girl of mine every waking moment of the day. Just ask Scottie. Anytime the topic of me going back to school came up I immediately felt a huge knot in my stomach and got teary eyed at the thought. I was completely in denial even up to the weekend before I had to go back. I just knew there had to be some way I could stay home with Gabby. But unfortunately Monday rolled around and I found myself packing her up and yes bawling my eyes out getting ready, don't know why I even bothered putting on mascara, then bawled some more as I put her in her car seat, then I put her in the car, bawled my eyes out some more, dropped her off at my cute sister in laws, bawled again, and then drove my lonely self to school....all while you guessed it, bawling my eyes out. The second I got to school I was totally disoriented!! The second I saw this I was once again in tears.
It had then hit me. I was really back. But I could not for the life of me remember my routine or daily schedule, and entering into my classroom that was occupied by my wonderful sub for two months for some strange reason just didn't feel like my classroom anymore. As I hurried to get things ready for the day, I finally pulled myself together and walked out to the back to pick up my kiddos. Thank goodness they were so excited to see me because I sure did not want to be there. But their warm hugs, smiles, cards, chocolates, and teddy bears (for me and the babe) brightened me up and as the day went on I eventually started getting back into my routine. By the time lunch rolled around I headed to my classroom to pump (yes I felt like I was a cow on a dairy farm ...something about pumping just doesn't feel right. Maybe it was the fact that I was afraid some peeping Tom was lurking outside my window trying to peak through the blinds I made sure were shut completely or maybe it was the fact that I was in this huge classroom worried the whole time that the door didn't lock and my kids would come barging in because they forgot their coat only to find their exposed teacher.....not a sight I'm sure anyone would like to see. I so much would have rather been in the comforts of my own room snuggling my little babe. Thank goodness for my darling sister in law, Sini, who is a fabulous mother of three adorable boys, who then sent me a cute picture of my baby girl.
(can you tell she just loves these jammies? I think I have a million pictures of her in them haha)
Oh how it made me so excited to get home to see her. And don't you worry. The second that school bell rang and I could go home, I raced out the door and sped out of the parking lot just as fast as my maternity leave came and went! I sure was hoping that every cop in the area was turning a head as I zoomed by them and pulled into my sister in laws driveway. I didn't even get a chance to knock, when she opened the door to greet me with my baby girl in her arms! Oh how lovely it was to finally hold her! I can't believe how much I missed her! Finally the knot in my stomach and the feeling that I was forgetting something or I had lost something all day, was gone! One thing I am extremely grateful for is my loving family. While I am at school I know my little girl will be snuggled by the best parents in the world: My mama, my sister in law, and my mother in law. I couldn't ask for better babysitters. They of course love her just as much as I do so I know that she will be taken care of and that they will snuggle her and kiss her and talk to her while I am gone. I sure love my baby G and I do love my first graders. In fact my friend Natalie told me one thing that helped her when she went back to school after having her baby was knowing that one day her little boy would be going to school and that she would want a teacher that cared for him as much as she does. So in return, one day Gabby will be in first grade and I will one day be one of those parents who wants the best for her. So I will try to be the best teacher I cab while I am at school and the best mother when I am at home. But lets hope it goes by fast because I really can't wait for summer break! 94 days right? I can do it! I can do it!
