10 Months Young!

Last Friday, April 20th, Gabriel Lee was

10 MONTHS YOUNG! :)

Here's what my favorite little boy has been up to: 

• Crawling, Crawling, Crawling! 
• He's also started to pull up on things... 
• That little boy sure does like to stand up! 
• He loves playing in his room... as long as someone is in there. 
• But, as soon as you try to leave the room and put the gate up in the door... the tears start! 
• He's a bit spoiled...but that's ok! :) 
• Gabe L.O.V.E.S. his stand up toys... 
• He loves the dancing bear on his sit-to-stand toy! 
• It fascinates him...and is the cutest thing ever! 
• He enjoys crawling under everything...toys, tables, anything he can get under! 
• Loves Rylee Grey! And loves giving her belly rubs! 
• Eating more cereal everyday! 
• Enjoys his fruits and veggies! 
• He also enjoys Yogurt! YUM! 
• Feeding himself his baby puffs is also one of his favorite things!
• We finally have our FIRST tooth! 
• It's really sharp too... 
• So you gotta watch when he bites your fingers! 
• Still absolutely LOVES bathtime! 
• My little man is definitely going to be a swimmer! 
• Loves his Mommy & Daddy! 
• Enjoys PaPa Ray's Yodeling and singing! 
• Cutest thing ever when those two are together! :) 
• Loves going on cart rides with MaMa & PaPa! 
• Gabe also loves his little red wagon rides with PaPa!
• Has a scream that is the loudest thing ever when he gets excited! 
• Loves playing with his cousin Emeri! 
• He can give High Five's! :) 
• Has started "talking" more...
• We've mastered the "AAAAA" and "BA-BA-BA-BA" sounds! 
• A few more sounds that I can quite spell out! haha. 
• Trying to learn to say Momma and Dada! :) (The two most important names) 
• Has curly hair... 
• It's especially cute right after bathtime! 
• Loves his rubber ducky in the bath too! 
• Still likes to try to eat his little toes! 
• Sleeping all through the night still! 
• And most importantly... the main man in Mommy & Daddy's life! 

Love you Gabriel Lee! 

Forgiveness

Do I think that certain people in my life deserve my forgiveness? NO, I don't. 


Do I think that what people said about thinking they can raise my child better than I, yet don't have any kids is wrong? Yes, I do. 


Do I think that what people said about me being adopted and not belonging in the U.S. is wrong? Yes, very much so. 


Do I think that people talking badly about my marriage is terrible? Most certainly. 


Do I think that it is wrong for anyone to call me a bad mother? Without a doubt. 


Do I think that it's wrong that someone can say something to my face and then turn around and say the complete opposite to someone? Yes. 


Do I find it annoying that some people in this world are "Pleasers" and can't tell anyone the honest truth about anything? Yes, very much so. 


However, even though I find all of these things wrong... I'm vowing, tonight, to let it all go and to try to find forgiveness for all of the people I feel have wronged me and treated me badly. I've been told many times that I need to just forgive and forget, and if you've read any of my previous posts, you know that forgetting is always the hardest part. But, I've read a lot about forgiving lately and have realized that it's only wasting my time by being angry about all of these things. So, starting tonight, I'm going to quit being angry about it and just let it go. The Bible says: 

"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord."

 Romans 12:19

So, even though I feel wronged and I don't feel like "revenge" has been taken on anyone, I'm trusting in God and leaving it in his hands. I know that in His time things will be handled.

Yes, tonight I'm letting it all go and trusting that God will repay. Instead of being angry at people, I'm going to celebrate that I have a beautiful, healthy baby boy that loves his Momma more than anything. I'm going to love the fact that I get to wake up to his smiling face everyday knowing that I am the BEST mother to him and the Best wife to Jesse... despite what anyone might say. I'm going to be comfortable in who I am as a person, a wife, and a mother and I'm never going to let anyone take that away from me! :) 

iPhone

Hello Friends!! 


Well, as you all may know, yesterday was my 24th Birthday! I had a really great day. At midnight on my birthday, Jesse told me that my present was an Iphone!! I was sooooooo excited! I had told him that I would take 1 of 3 things for my bday: 

1. Iphone
2. New Coach Bag
3. LeVian Chocolate Diamond

OK, so maybe the diamond was a long shot... seeing that it was about $1000 more than the other two things...but hey, there's no hurt in asking, right!? He actually said that he went to the jewelry store to check them out! :) I said... Christmas would be a great time for that gift! haha. Poor guy also looked everywhere he could think of for a new coach bag. He said that the places he went to sold knock-offs and he wasn't sure if I'd be ok with that or not. haha. (Just so we're clear... I have several knock-off coach purses that look real. You'd never know the difference!) 

Anyway, the Iphone it is! I'm sooooo excited! I've been wanting one for quite some time now... but could never actually bring myself to spend the money on one! 

So, on my birthday, Jesse took me out for a day of fun and relaxing. We started the day off by first going to my old workplace and getting my Iphone. Then, we headed to Walkers Bluff Winery and ate at their restaurant, Legends. We enjoyed a nice dinner, dessert, and Sangria. It was delicious. We also ended up running into a friend of mine and her mother outside on the deck, so we sat with them for several hours and talked and drank the rest of our Sangria. We were going to top the day off with some Frozen Yogurt, however, we were both still stuffed from lunch, so we opted to head home instead! 

OH & did I mention that my favorite little boy also woke up at 1:00 in the morning to tell his Mommy Happy Birthday!? haha. He's so cute. Love that little man! 


Now, here's some pictures from our day...courtesy on my iPhone! :) 

24 years old.... oh my!

In exactly 1 hour and 10 minutes, on April 15th, I will be 24 years old! Shoot, am I really that old already? It seems like just yesterday I was so excited about turning 21! A lot can certainly change in just one year. I was thinking about that today... so here's what I've been up to during my 23rd year of being on this earth. 

• April 2011: Pregnant and very, very sick
• May 2011: Still pregnant and sick... bedrest
• June 2011: Pregnant, bed rest, 2 week hospital stay, and the arrival of Gabriel Lee. 
• July 2011: Gabe still in the hospital.
• August 2011: We finally come home with our little man! 
• September 2011- present: Enjoying being a mother to my beautiful baby boy and a wife to my fabulous husband! 

This year, by far, has been one of the most exciting and blessed years of my life. I was blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby boy... and now, I couldn't imagine life without him! This past year has been filled with so many memories and lessons that I will never forget. :) 

Vacation Hint #2

Remember a while back when I mentioned that Jesse and I are planning an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G vacation for the two of us next year. I told you all I'd leave you hints as to where we are planning on going! If all goes well and if life ever decides to quit throwing turmoil our way... we will hopefully be going during spring break next year! And just a little side hint: We're not going to Paris. I know that would be the first thought for someone... seeing taht I do have a slight obsession with the Eiffel Tower. However, we decided that there are other places we'd like to visit first! So, here's two more pictures to keep you guessing! :) The pictures are amazing... we're super excited!

Is there life out there?

Have you ever seen the movie "Julie & Julia"? Well, I'm having one of those "Julie" moments. Remember in the movie when she posts on her blog about wondering who really reads it? That's me tonight. 


Sometimes I feel like tons of people read my blog... and other days I feel like I'm writing for myself. Though this blog is for my family so that it can be our "Diary" of our family life and memories... I still like to believe that other people find it enjoyable too! So, today, I'm wondering... is there life out there? Who is really reading this? Am I just writing for myself or do I have some faithful readers out there? 


So, today, I have a request... if you're reading this, please comment and let me know. :) It would mean a lot to me. I would also like to know... what do my readers like? Should I post more recipes that my family loves? I do like to cook and try new recipes... actually, we're trying a new Rachael Ray recipe this weekend. Or do you want some DIY & organizing tips? I'm a sucker for do-it-yourself projects... and for organizing. Yes, it's true! Ever since I can remember... one of my favorite things is to ORGANIZE things. I know, kind of strange, right? 


Anyway, comment below! =) I'd love to know who my readers are! 


Love, 


Ami

Mom, I'm going to make you even busier...

Yep, you guessed it... Gabe is trying to pull himself up now and walk! WHOA, WHAT!? 


He just finally grasped the concept of crawling... I was really looking forward to enjoying that phase. But it looks like my little man is just ready to grow up some more! :( I love it and hate it all at the same time. I look forward to the days when he is more independent, however, I'm going to miss these days when he's Mommy's little buddy and always wants me to hold him. Can we just freeze this moment of time so I can enjoy him being my little boy for a while longer? :(


The other night I was laying on the couch while he was crawling around in the living room...and he crawled over to me... grabbed onto the couch, pulled himself up, and took a few steps while holding on! Can you believe it!? 


I'm so happy for him... and I've always thought that he would walk before crawling... because he just loves standing up all the time. Looks like this mommy is going to get even busier watching her little man all the time. That's ok with me... I'm up for the challenge. 


Anyway, tonight Gabe is having a sleepover with Mama & Papa, and I'm catching up on some house cleaning, laundry, and decorating. I've been working on Gabe's room and I must say, it's looking better! 


Well, I'm off to work some more friends! Hope you all have a good one! :) 

Gabe's 1st Easter!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday! Gabriel sure enjoyed his first Easter. He got tons of stuff for Easter. We started the day off by going to church, then we had lunch with my family, did the annual "Bowlin" Easter egg Hunt, and then finally we came home and Gabe got to see what the Easter Bunny brought him. My little man only took one nap today for about an hour... so he was very tired by bedtime. However, he did enjoy playing with all of his new things. One of his favorite things to do? Chasing and playing with his plastic eggs! haha. 


Well, we also celebrated my cousin, Mishona and I's birthday. Mishona's birthday is TODAY and mine is next Sunday. In case you're wondering... yes, I plan on celebrating alllll week! hahaha. 


Anyway, here's some pictures from our day today! 

Lazy Saturday

Hello Friends! 


Well, today has been a pretty lazy day in the Schiff household. Jesse had to work last night... so he slept for part of the day. When he got up, I made some Fajitas, we watched the rest of a movie that we had started last night, and then my parents, brother, and sister in law, Kara, came over! :) 


My dad hung up some new curtains and valances that my mom made to match Gabe's room. They look awesome! :) They really make his room come together!  


Today, I played with my little man, cleaned, and did laundry (which is still going). I was quite behind in the laundry department... so today and tonight we are playing catch up! 


Right now, my little man is in bed... talking himself to sleep! Haha. He's so stinkin' cute! Last night, I walked into his room to check on him before I went to bed and he was snuggled up with his new elephant from Gma Kim and Papaw Gary! It was toooo cute! 


Anyway, tomorrow we have a BIG day! It's EASTER SUNDAY!!! And... it's Gabe's first Easter. He's going to have his first Easter egg hunt with his cousin Emeri! We're super excited! We're also going to go to church and then enjoy a nice family dinner with my side of the family! We're really looking forward to it! 


Oh & Gabe can't wait to find out what the Easter Bunny brings him! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter! 

Our Day in Pictures

Hello Friends! 

Here some pics from our day today! :) 

Enjoy! 

Gabe & MaMa! 

Laughing Boy! 

Cousins! :) 

Dancing Together! So Sweet! 

Gabe sleeping with his new elephant from Gma Kim & Papaw Gary! :)

So precious... I walked into his room and he was all snuggled up with his elephant... 

LOVE this! <3

Have a Good one Friends! 

Watch Out World, Here I Come!

Here's some pictures of my big boy crawling and playing today! :)

Taking a rest!

Me & My favorite little man! 

He REALLLYYYY Loves Rylee! 

Got her toy.... now to throw it! ;)

And He's Off!!

Yes, that's right. My little boy has officially started crawling. Yesterday, he took his first "steps" on his own... making his way from the living room all the way to the kitchen. Daddy and I couldn't believe it! I was starting to think that he was going to skip crawling and go straight to walking...since he loves standing up all the time. However, he proved me wrong... and now we have a little mover in our home!

So yes, we've advanced from scooting to crawling. It's crazy. He's still getting the hang of it... but he's getting better every single time. Now, it's time for us to baby-proof our home even more. I'm so excited for my little man! I know that from now on this Momma is going to have to have her eyes on him at all times. He's already finding things in our floor that no one would ever find but him. Seriously, how do children do this? It's like they have this amazing ability to find the smallest, unseen thing in the carpet and where does it go... straight to the mouth of course. Luckily, I've been in the same room and watching Gabe closely. So tonight, I'm vaccumming my floors at least 3 times...just to be on the safe side! :) I'll post pictures of our little man crawling tomorrow!

Well, we're half-way into our week off for Spring Break. It's been very relaxing so far... and I've managed to fit some good workouts in as well. Yesterday, Gabe and I got to have lunch and spend some time with my mother-in-law, Kim. We had a wonderful time! I've been so blessed to have such a great mother-in-law that I can talk to and hang out with. Gabe's lucky too...and a bit spoiled! :) He also got some Easter goodies from his Gma Kim and Papaw Gary. He's been playing with his new monkey and elephant ever since! Right now, he's cuddled up with them in his bed... as well as with his new blanket!

Well friends, that's about all for tonight. I'm off to clean the house and then to bed! Have a good one! :)

Our Favorite Photographer

So today I want to give some credit to a very special friend and photographer... Amber Joiner from You-nique Capture Photography! 

I met Amber when I started my job at Verizon in August 2010. Not only was she a wonderful co-worker, but she became a wonderful friend. Amber has been capturing our family memories since Jesse and I got married in January 2011. 

I have a huge amount of respect for photographers. Not only are they all very talented...but they also have the wonderful opportunity to capture memories that will last a lifetime. I can't remember a time that I didn't have a camera in hand when hanging out with my friends. I believe that pictures are irreplaceable... they capture all of those special moments in life. It's like life freezes for that moment of time and you will forever have that memory. 

As I said before, Amber has been capturing our memories since our wedding. And now, she's been photographing Gabe since he first came home from the hospital. I'm in love with all of his pictures. It's so amazing to put all of the pictures side-by-side and to see how much he has changed in just a few months! As you can imagine, these pictures are all over my house. With each new session, I find that I'm wanting to order hundreds of dollars of pictures... That's how good they are! :) 

So, here's a cheers to Amber from You-nique Capture Photography. Not only is she a fabulous photographer, but she is a wonderful friend as well. She's our favorite photographer... Gabe just loves her and loves getting his picture taken! :) If you're from the Southern Illinois area... or even Branson, MO area... I encourage you to look up Amber and to let her capture your family memories as well. Remember; pictures are irreplaceable... they capture a moment of life that you will never forget. Every time I look at Gabe's pictures I'm reminded of some kind of memory... like, his first session when he was still so small and how we tried so hard to get him to do one pose that we never captured. Or how he was smiling so big for Daddy during a session... Or how he peed when we took his diaper off. These are the memories that I will remember each time I look at his pictures. Memories that are so special! :) 

You can visit Amber's Photography page at

www.younique-capture-photography.com! 

She is also on Facebook...

so you can look her up there and see some of the beautiful pictures that she has taken! :) On her site you will find a list of prices, packages, etc...GOOOOOO look and book your session today. I guarantee you won't be disappointed! :) 

Here's a picture of a display we have in our home with all of the pictures that Amber has taken for us! 

Spring Break... Heck Yes!!

IT'S SPRING BREAK... well, at least for me it is! I'm off work all this week... so what does that mean? 

Well, this means that this Momma is going to do a whole lot of nothing... and a whole lot of something. haha. My plans consist of resting, catching up on some much-needed deep cleaning on our house, some re-organizing, exercising, tanning... and of course, my favorite... playing and spending time with my favorite little boy! I'm super excited and looking forward to some time off! I'm also going to go through the 2 closets here at our house and the other 2 at my parents' house and to some "spring cleaning" on my closets! 

Speaking of cleaning out my closets... I'd like to share a little story with you all! The other night I was complaining to Jesse that I have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to wear! As always, he laughed. Why? I'm not sure... but every single time I say this he just laughs and says, "OK." Maybe it is because I have many closets full of clothes that I don't wear. I know, I know... ridiculous, right? Well, let me explain this to you a bit... Most of my clothes are from before I was pregnant and had Gabe... so most of them don't fit me like they used to. But I keep telling Jesse... well, when I lose more weight, I'll probably wear them again! His reply? Well, he says "Ami, when you lose more weight, you're not going to want to wear your old clothes! Just sell or donate them and buy all new clothes when you're ready!" So, how could I turn this idea down? He actually told me to buy new clothes!! Whoa!! hahaha. So, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I also always say that I don't have a purse to carry...when there is a tub full sitting in my closet. His response to this? Get rid of a few if you want to buy a new one! hahah. But I can't help but think.... "One day, I just might carry this one again!" :) 

Speaking of buying purses, I'm on strict orders to not buy a new Coach bag while in Florida! haha. We shall see how this goes! I've been wanting a new purse... and a Coach bag would be perfect! But, perhaps I'll settle for one that's a bit cheaper!

Anyway, back to Spring Break talk. This week also means getting down to some serious work out time. Since I'll have all the time in the world this week... it's time to get serious in the gym. My goal? Run/Walk at least 2 miles or more each day. Eat lots and lots of veggies and fruits. I've been doing pretty good at the fruit/veggie thing. It's hard cutting out all those fabulous foods that I love...but I'm trying to keep the mindset of "Hard work pays off...this is what I want." So, keep your fingers crosses. It's getting down to crunch time before the beach....and I'm bound and determined to get into that bikini! :) 

Have a wonderful week friends! :) 

Beautiful Sunday!

Hello Friends!!

It's such a beautiful day today! What is with this weather? It's March and it's sunny and warm and gorgeous! I can't believe it... but I'll take this over a cold, rainy day anytime! :)

So today, we're going to hang out with Jesse's brother, sister-in-law, and the kids. Hopefully we can get outside and enjoy this weather! I've been itching to let Gabe go out and enjoy a day outside playing! 

Speaking of my favorite little man... we're teething again. Yes, it seems like this process is never-ending. We've been in the teething stages for quite some time...but those little teeth just never seem to want to pop through. This Momma is definitely hoping that they decide to make an appearance soon. Gabe's been restless for the past several days and has gotten up more than once at night because his mouth was hurting him so bad. Teething Tablets, Orajel, and Tylenol just don't seem to be doing the trick. Hopefully those little teeth come through soon. It's bound to get better, right? 


Oh & I'm pretty sure that our little guy was starting to crawl today. He looked like he took a few small steps but it happened so fast and he was flattened out again on the floor in no time. But Jesse and I both saw it... so hopefully we'll upgrade from scooting to crawling in the next week or so. 


Anyway, that's all she wrote for now! Have a wonderful Sunday friends!