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!