Gabe turned 2 last month and lil Gavin will be 9 months tomorrow. How can time be going by so quickly? Was I just not crying my eyeballs out to get out of maternity clothes (for the first time in 2 years) and now I'm lugging around two 20lbs+ kids up and down the stairs at home. Oh my! Gabe is such a sweet boy, I must admit. He is very tender hearted towards his brother - puts his smoothie (pacifier) in his mouth for him, gets him baby toys, and is even willing to try and pick up the car seat - with Gavin in it! - but says 'heavy, heavy'. At most his terrible twos have amounted to screaming like he is being abducted when we are in public, but thankfully that doesn't last too long. No body slamming on the floor (yet?). He is just precious. I can say that, he is my son. Then our lil tubby Gavin (said with only love) is doing really good. He has the backward moon crawl down pat, has the BEST belly laugh I've ever heard and is mesmerized by his big brother. I know you are not supposed to compare you kids as a parent, but there are almost no similar 'milestones achieved' by both of these brothers. What it took Gabe a year + to do, Gavin is steamrolling past them at about 4 months earlier. Like he already sprouted his first 2 teeth, is rolling/crawling around everyone and can sometimes share his brothers 18+ month clothes. Our little tubby will see many days in the Sears Husky dept. I love you Gavin...just don't read this when you are older :o) If you want to know how my parents are doing up in WA...well, let's just say I was wondering today if there is any chance I can ask them for a brother or sister now. Someone to help take the load off of me for awhile. What do they call this stage - the sandwich generation? Taking care of my own children and my parents (to a certain extent) is a bit overwhelming. But you know me...I will do it with a smile and a glass of wine in the other hand. If you read this and love me, just say a little prayer for me - I would appreciate it. Ken told me today we might be heading down to Cali in May for Grandpa Hernandezs' birthday. This could actually be very cool - Gabe and Gavin's great grandparents (all 4 of them) are in Cali and we can take once in a lifetime pics with them. Oh yea..and see all of you guys in CA!

Well, Gabe officially is a toddler now! He turned one on 1/19/08 and had a great little party with his buds to celebrate. Pics coming soon. He was blessed with lots of great gifts that he will get lots of play time with! So we get to put away all those baby clothes, baby toys, baby car seats, baby food, baby...oh wait, the next baby is due in only 4 months! How did that happen ;o) Instead of putting away these things they are just being cleaned up and getting ready for round two! Thankfully we have pretty much all that we need for baby boy on the way (I don't like using the term baby #2 - makes him sound not as important as baby #1). I'm looking forward to getting more use out of the clothes and toys that Gabe quickly outgrew - yeah for another boy! I'm sure we would have been just as excited for a little girl, but maybe next time....WHAT??? Breath...next time may or may not happen for several years down the road (God willing). So if I had to describe my second pregnancy I would say, "I have a fat neck". That's a bummer, but I have to remind myself that a fat neck means I'm feeding the baby well; which I think this one will be an 8 pounder. I day dream about the day I can get into my non pregnant clothes again. Which by the way, getting pregnant twice in 24 months is a great way to conserve the wear and tear on your clothes. Most all of my clothes have been boxed up since mid 2006! When I get to wear them again it will be like I have a whole new wardrobe...and YES I will wear them again...I am going to lose this fat neck (amongst other body parts that need to be 'lost' after the baby is born)!!! While my first pregnancy I was so excited to look cute in my prego clothes, now not so much. I'm trying to not look like a slouch, but comfort overrides cuteness right now. It's ok, i had my moment of cute pregnant glory the first time around. Well, I do have a (little) life outside of being a mom that I would like to share...but as usual my mom duties are calling - or should I say crying from a crib? Hope all is well! I think of you guys often...I really do...and would love to hear from you!

Finally a quick moment to let you know whats up with us. Gabe is 4 months & 3 weeks and is doing fantastic! He had his first airplane ride down to California to meet lots of family and friends! He meet his Grandpa Hernandez and even got to meet his Great Grandparents Hernandez too. And he got to meet Minnie or better yet, Minnie's licks got to meet Gabe :o) Thanks to everyone who made it out to Gabes welcome parties - it was fantastic to see you! A special thanks for the hosts of the parties - Sharelle and Dan for the great time & food we had at your place in Newport. I was so overjoyed to see everyone - I know you were there to see the baby...but I'm going to think you wanted to see us too :o) And thank you to Tommy & Tracy for accommodating sooo many family and friends at your house. It was great for Ken to see his family and especially those cousins that came out of the wood works to come celebrate Gabes arrival!! Even Grammy made a special trip out to see Gabe from Arizona - thank you! Abuelos Porras were excited to spend time with Gabe - so much so that they are making a trip up in July to see him again...and to probably take Minnie back with them. Which Minnie might like to go back, since her attention getting has been split in half while being up here....oh and I have her on a diet since she is a pound and a half overweight. Grandpa and his 'trick or treats'. Today Gabe had his first taste of cereal - Ken & I had our first taste of what MESS is really going to look like - YIKES! Gabe went to his first wedding last night and did great. He's now also sitting in his activity saucer, grabbing for his toys, and making lots of noise! His smiles are heart melting and his giggles are the sweetest sound I've ever heard. His cries in the middle of the night - well those are a different story. He was sleeping through the night last month (HEAVEN!) and then he decided he didn't want to do that anymore so now we are back to trying to get a good nights sleep. Ken and I are doing well. We were lucky enough to get out for a dinner date last week which was super nice for us - not so super for Mike and Ellen who had to deal with a crying baby for about an hour...sorry guys. But that was probably the best meal we've had in MONTHS! It was a bit surreal to be spending time just the two of us - it helped us put in to perspective where we've been as a couple and now where we're headed as a family. We'll be celebrating our 5 year anniversary this July - WOW! Check out the new pics of the little squirt - he's a cutie!

We thought this day would never come...9 hours of solid, continous sleep for the K.E.G family. Thank you Gabe! Randomly one night he slept from 8pm until 5am and ever since then it's pretty much been his new constant sleep pattern. And what do I do while he is sleeping...think it's a good idea to catch up on t.v., my card making, and updating this site...what I really should be doing is catching up on all of my missed zzzzz's from the last several months! Which is what I think I'm going to go do right now...as soon as I catch you up on what's been happening. Ken still loves his job. He has had to work graveyard shifts for the month of April, which hasn't been too fun for me...but thankfully he is going back to the day shift in May. I've been at work for several weeks now. It's great to get out of clothes that have spit up on them and talk to grown ups. The absolute best part is coming home to a smiling baby boy :o) and yes, it's nice to come home to you too Ken (hee, hee). Gabe is talking up a storm and his smiles...oh, his smiles just melt our hearts. He is making lots of noises, especially when he is trying to get our attention. He's a bit of a ham ~ must have gotten that from his dad ~ and keeps us entertained hours on end. Ken is doing an amazing job taking care of Gabe while I'm at work. Lots of great daddy and son time! We are heading to California at the end of May ~ wish us luck on the whole airplane deal. Shouldn't be too bad going down there, but on the way back we are bringing Minnie back with us to Washington, so we will have a yappy dog, a 4 month old and 2 weary eyed parents trying to manage the chaos onboard a plane. Good times. I'm off to catch up on 3 months of sleep...

Another 4 weeks has quickly passed of semi-sleepless nights (longest sleep record is 4.5 hours), lots of feedings and diaper changes and the constant thought of, "when are his parents going to pick him up". Yup, 8 weeks into parenthood and Ken and I are still feeling like - are we ready to be his parents??? Baby Gabe, little man Gabe, muy macho Gabe, pumpkin, sunshine - we sure do have lots of names for him :o) is doing just fine. He is up to 10+lbs, he grew an inch and a half (and in our 'short' little world that's ALOT!) and just had his first series of shots...5 at one time. He is a very cute little person - stubborness and all. He likes to be fed NOW and even has a prentend cry - no tears and just one or two WAH, WAH'S and then he is like, 'oh you didn't buy that cry, ok, I'll stop' - when you take the bottle out of his mouth to burp him. Sneaky little guy...but nonetheless super precious (especially when he is sleeping). I've definitely have found out that this 'motherhood' deal is harder than I thought. Maybe hard isn't the right word...maybe demanding (i.e. 24/7) is a better word, or even Why did I think it was going to be easier? I guess being an only child hasn't really helped - being that it had always been about ME - now Gabe is setting me straight...it's all about him now. I have managed to get a little pampered with a haircut and a brow waxing on my own to try and help me feel a little bit back to my cute self, since my clothes and fashion accessories have taken a back seat to spit up :o) With all this said, Gabe is truly a welcome addition in our lives. Ken and I didn't know we were ready to take the next step in our marriage to become parents, but God had it all planned out for us. He has entrusted us and blessed us with our baby boy and our lives are so much richer with love because of Gabriel. Ken is loving his new department closer to home. He is doing a fantastic job and I am really proud of him for taking on two new jobs almost at the same time - daddy and policeman with a new department (lots of new policies, geography, etc. to learn). I'll be going back to work part time in April - I'm a little sad, nervous and excited all rolled up into one!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ~ I have to admit we love to send out Christmas cards and do our fair share of holiday shopping, but this year we had to take a pass. So our holiday cheers come to you via the 'free' internet. With the baby on the way in 25 days - oh, new due date...January 20th, me out of work as of 12/11 (and unemployment hasn't kicked in yet), and trying to transition Ken to his new job, lets just say Top Ramen, rice and beans are on the menu for quite awhile :o) Thank you to many of you for sending us your Christmas cards and gifts - we truly appreciate you remembering us during this holiday season. We'll get back on the ball next year ~ I promise! Ken and I had a very relaxed Christmas; we're trying to make the most out of the last quiet minutes before baby Gabe makes his entrance into our lives. Ken made a fabulous turkey dinner for us all on his own! Definitely one of the perks of being 9 months pregnant is all this wonderful attention I get from him :o) Just so you don't think we were completely alone over the holidays, we were with our church family on Christmas Eve, spent time with my parents' friends who treated us to a wonderful Christmas morning brunch, and met up with friends for Christmas dessert. Hope you had an enjoyable holiday with your family and friends as well. With all the commotion that happened here 2 weeks ago, I'm glad to say it's been pretty quiet these last couple of weeks. I'm definitely in my nesting phase - rearranged items in the kitchen cabinets, moved furniture around, cleaned out the garage, finished painting and decorating the nursery, washed baby clothes, installed the car seat, and the hospital bags are packed (all with Ken's help of course). I think we are as ready as we'll ever be to meet our son soon.

New pics added to the baby photo album. I'm warning you...it's a big baby belly!

Not fun at all. After a crazy windstorm on Thursday, Dec 14th with winds up to 60mph, one million+ households lost power (and to this day there are still thousands without power). We lost power at about 1AM on Friday and it didn't come back on until 8AM Monday morning. Thankfully we have friends that came to our rescue. Judy picked me up on Friday morning to go to the grocery store - which was being run on generators) to pick up necessities since the fridge was not an option. Thank you Judy...our snack food was delicious! Then Friday night thru Monday morning we were blessed with the hospitality at the Schroeter Inn - good food & drinks, warmth and some very good sleep for me. Thank you, thank you Ellen & Mike! It was crazy to drive around town with fallen trees, down power lines everywhere, no working stop lights, having to drive 20 minutes to find gas stations - just crazy. We were blessed to be safe and have caring friends during this time :o) On a side note - I did have quite a scare during the height of the storm as I was driving back home from running errands. A transformer blew up right above me and cracked the tree right next to it, which then proceeded to land on my car. Yup...the top of the tree came crashing down and me, baby Gabe and Rosey Cheecks (name of my Volvo) were enclosed in pine branches...smelled really good, but I was a little hysterical as I called 911. We are fine - definitely shaken up that night but thankful that God protects his children. (don't tell my parents...I don't want them to freak out and make us move back to California). Baby Gabe is growing, growing and running out of room inside my belly. Everyone up here thinks I'm going to deliver before January 17th - we'll see. At this point we're ready to meet the little guy :o)