Days in the sun

Warning! This post will be long and dedicated to our trip to Florida in June, but first I want to rant a little about technology and how it has slowed me down. I have had every intention of posting again quickly, but my camera had other ideas. I'm not sure how this happened, but my camera has been taking pictures so that they would be brilliant if printed as a 13x19" picture. This makes the digital size huge and impossible to download or even view in some programs without being edited. So, I have been editing all 600 of the pictures on my camera in order to make them usable. Needless to say, this has taken quite a bit of time, especially with my little one plus two others running around my house. Most of the time technology does wonderful things to make our lives easier, but other times they make things much more complicated. Some days I just want to turn off the phone, the computer, and the tv and just enjoy my life. Some days I do just that.

Now, back to my original reason for this post. From June 13th through the 20th we went on vacation to Tarpon Springs, Florida. After being told in Atlanta that we didn't have tickets for our next flight to Tampa and much stressful arguing and then waiting, we were able to get on the plane at the last minute and we arrived in Tampa. Our friends, Val and Jason, who we spent the week with, picked us up at the airport and we went strait to Orlando. That night Mark and Jason wonderfully agreed to watch Gabriel while Val and I went to a dueling piano bar at Disney World named: . It was so much fun. After going I wish that Mark could have gone with me, because I think he would have really liked it. There are basically two two-man teams and they switch places with the other team every hour. They were amazing. People would take up requests written on napkins and they would just bust them out. If they don't know a song, they go back stage during their hour off and learn the song. Then they come out and perform it with amazing skill. It was a great time.

The next day the five of us went to a restaurant at Disney. And walked around through some of their stores (we didn't actually go into Disney World). We got a few cute pictures of us trying on hats and the cool Lego creations outside the Lego store.

(Mark wasn't very happy about the hat experiment)

(The boys thought this one was really cool- I mean the two big boys:))

We then went to a mall where they had a store called Adrenalina where you could pay to surf in their wave pool. We watched some of their employees and a cutie 11 or 12 year old boy surf for a little while. If you go here you can see a great picture of their store. I wish I could have talked Mark into doing it, but he declined. After a little shopping we headed back to Tarpon Springs, where Val and Jason live. They have two girls ages 9 and 2 and two boys ages 7 and 4 who are super cuties. They were generous enough to give us the boys bedroom for the week.

They have a pool in their backyard (or I should say it is their backyard) and we spent a good amount of time there. Gabriel LOVED the pool. He had a great time playing with the kids and getting tossed back and forth between the adults. He was also the only one of the three of us who did not get a sunburn. We were very careful about reapplying sunscreen for him. I guess we should have been more careful ourselves, because Mark and I were both really burned after one day in the pool. Thus the tee-shirt.

We also spent a good amount of time in the living room playing on their new Wii. Mark and Jason would spend hours every day playing games with the kids and then another couple hours after the kids went to bed of uninterrupted gaming. The night before we left Valarie and I went in the family room and watched Twilight and the guys came in toward the end and told us that they had finally beat the tank game on Wii Play. I'm not sure we showed the desired amount of excitement, but I think they showed enough for all of us. Gabriel also started walking in earnest while we were there and he got his first tooth. He was a champ about the tooth, only being grumpy for one day.

On Tuesday we all went to the beach in Tampa. Since we were on the gulf side the waves were not very big, but it was perfect for taking little kids to the beach. We all had a great time. I think Gabriel didn't like the ocean as much as the pool due to the salt irritating his eyes, but he did like the sand. We forgot our camera, so Val took some pictures for us. I thought these two were really cute.

That evening Valarie's wonderful sister, Tracy, came over and babysat so the four of us could go out. We decided to go to an indoor mini golf place. None of us were very good, but it was a lot of fun. It was a haunted/scary theme and there were black lights, so everything glowed (as you can see from the pictures). Then we went to Coldstone for ice cream afterwards. Yummy!

On Thursday we packed all of the kids in the car and went to the Tarpon Springs aquarium. A few years ago we went to the Newport Aquarium, in Cincinnati, Ohio, with Mark's family. That place is amazing. It takes a couple hours to walk through and the exhibits are really cool. The Tarpon Springs Aquarium was nowhere near as big, but we had some opportunities that I'm not sure we could have at the larger aquarium. They had a touch tank at the entrance where we were able to "pet" several small shark, some horse shoe crab, and a turtle.

In the middle of the building was a 120,000 gallon aquarium where we watched a diving show. This consisted of a diver going into the tank to feed it's occupants, including several large sharks.

On the other side of the building were two large oval shaped tanks. One had stingrays that you could pet and feed by hand. You can see in the pictures we let Gabriel pet them- he loved it! Both Mark and I fed them. It felt really weird. You put the food on the palm of your hand and they come along and suck it off your hand. There was a lot of splashing as they vied for the food, which made me jump even more, but overall it was cool.

In the other tank there were sharks that we fed. As you can see in the picture, there was a wire grate over these sharks, but it didn't look incredibly sturdy. We used the same food for the stingrays to feed the sharks. This time we put it on blue sticks then put it down in the water where the sharks would bite it off of the stick. Mark lost his stick to the sharks as he fed them the last bit of food. It was pretty funny. The guy working there said it happens all the time, which made Mark feel a little better. Gabriel thought all of this was fantastic. I don't know if you can see from the picture, but I held on to him very tightly as we did this.

On Thursday evening Valarie and Jason were wonderful and allowed Mark and me to venture back into Tarpon Springs on our own to have a seafood dinner together. We went to a local seafood restaurant called Rusty Bellies. Sounds tasty, doesn't it? Well, it was amazing. I don't remember what Mark ordered, but I got the crab legs and they were so good. We sat outside and looked out on the water that the restaurant sat right next to. It was beautiful and very romantic.

The next day was our last full day. We were planning on just hanging out in the pool most of the day, but we went outside and found the pool infested with bugs. When we looked them up online we discovered that they were water lice.

Yeah, I was pretty creeped out too. Sorry that this is the last picture of this post, but I just had to share the creepiness with everyone. Needless to say, we didn't swim that day. We just played Wii and lounged around. That evening Tracy came over and watched the kids again while the four of us went out. We went to a mall close by, had dinner, and saw the movie The Proposal (which I thought was pretty funny). The next day we flew back home exhausted from our week of vacationing. I always say you need a few days of recuperation after your vacation before going back to work. Still, we had a great time! I just wish we could do that sort of thing more often. Ah well, on we go.

Bad, Bad Mommy

I know, I've been very bad. We have had a crazy summer and I kept feeling like I should blog about everything we've been doing, but I didn't. The longer I went without blogging, the more I had to blog about and the more daunting the task became. So, I'm going to do a series of posts about the things we have been up to this summer. They may be a bit picture heavy, but I'll do my best. I have to say, it has been one of the best summers I have had in years. I have been at home full time with Gabriel since I graduated and it has been wonderful. My house is the cleanest it has been in years and I love seeing Gabriel grow and learn every day. He is such a smart and inquisitive little boy (he's definitely not a baby any more). I know, every parent thinks these things about their child. I am no different. I know my child is the smartest ever!

On the down side, Mark has been working a ton. He has been putting in 55-60 hours a week and there are a days when we barely get to see him. We are really grateful that he has his job and that he is able to provide for our family. We just wish we could see him more. I'm sure there are lots of married women out there who understand when I say I feel like a single mother sometimes. I'm just really glad that that's not really the case. Thankfully, he has been able to join us for a few of our adventures this summer.

The first two events that I am going to mention (even though they weren't first to occur) are the birthdays we celebrated in August. On the 8th of last month our son turned ONE! Over the past few months we noticed the way he was looking less and less like a baby and more and more like a toddler.

One day old

Five days old

Three months old

Six months old

Nine months old

1st Birth Day!

By his birthday we had to admit (mostly, I had to admit) that he is not a baby anymore. Can you believe it's been a year since we brought that beautiful newborn home? I can't. This has been the best year of my life because I have been able to share the experience of being a parent with Mark. I love being Gabriel's mommy. We didn't have a birthday party (more on this later) until the 29th, but we went to a wedding reception that evening, so Gabriel did have cake on his birthday.

It wasn't the strip-the-baby-down-and-let-him-go-at-it event that would come a few weeks later, but he still loved it.

On the 30th of August my wonderful husband turned the big 3-0! He frequently reminds me that I am only 9 months younger than he is, so I won't make a huge deal about how OLD he is. At his request, we decided to have a joint birthday party for the two birthday boys. Little did I know quite how much work it would be to put together such an event. The theme was rockets/space which was inspired by the quilt my mom was making Gabriel for his birthday. I made the invitations. Here are a few examples of what they looked like:

We invited some close friends and our immediate family members which made up a group of 82 people! We rented a shelter at a local park, decorated the tables, and provided a dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, pop, and other sides.

The biggest amount of work, however, went into the four cakes that I made. Two were just cakes in 9x13 pans, but the other two were masterpieces of love. Okay, really they were rocket ships, but I worked on those rocket ships all day. There was a large one for Mark and a smaller one for Gabriel. Thank goodness I had Mark there to keep me sane. We almost lost both cakes several times and I started hyper-ventilating, but he calmed down and helped me brainstorm until we came up with a solution. In the end I was very proud of my work.

The party as a whole was deemed a success. Everyone seemed to have fun and Gabriel had a grand time destroying/devouring his cake.

One of the best parts was that I didn't have to clean my house before or after the party (except for the cake bits all over my kitchen). I am slowly becoming resigned to the fact that my baby is no longer a baby. He has two teeth, says lots of words and phrases (his favorite being "get it!"), walks like a pro, and is starting to try to climb the stairs (baby gate will be installed shortly). We love him so much and we are so grateful for the year we have had and the many to come.

A big sigh of relief...

I'M DONE!!!! Woo-woo, yeah, that's right, uh-huh, uh-huh (chanted as I dance around). As of yesterday at 12:44pm I had officially completed all of the requirements for my masters degree in Social Work. So what am I going to do now? I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I'm going to Disney World. Okay, not really Disney World, but we're going to Florida for a week. We leave next Saturday, the day after graduation. We are all VERY excited! Mark needs a vacation as much, if not more, than I do.

Along those lines, I want to publicly thank my husband for the love and support that he has given me. A lot of people were supportive of me throughout completing this degree. My dad gave me hand-me-down text books and his notes from taking the comprehensive exam three years earlier. My mom constantly pushed me to keep going even though certain things were really hard to deal with. But I literally could not have done this without Mark. He was supportive the entire time. He did not complain when I had to work all evening on a paper. He strongly encouraged me not to procrastinate. He didn't bat an eye when we paid his sister extra for watching Gabriel on a day off so I could do school work (which thankfully only happened twice). He was wonderful. I love you, Mark. I feel like this is OUR success. Thank you.

Three beasts and a boy

We have three animals. One cat who knows he is a house cat, one cat who thinks he is a wild bobcat, and a slobbering beast, other wise know as our dog. Euan is our wild cat. He reminds me of the bobcat who tried to pee on Mark at the zoo(maybe I'll tell this story another time for my own entertainment), full of puff and attitude. He is not afraid of our beast of a dog, he refuses to be pet by a person's hands (only feet for this cat), and he tries to attack things through our windows (yes he has done this repeatedly). He also has a fetish for small children. We discovered this last year when our friends, Val and Jason, brought their one year old to visit. He followed her around and tried to get on her lap. This has continued with Gabriel. Our other cat, Midnight, has the good sense to run away when ever Gabriel comes near. Euan seeks Gabriel out. Here is one of the times he has decided he needed Gabriel's attention (I'll narrate for Gabriel):

"Do you realize where you are?"

"Let's sneak in there slowly.

Maybe he won't notice I'm touching him"

"Hey, maybe we could be pals"

"Okay dude, I think your invading my space now"

"Did you see that mom?"

This:
is our 100lb bloodhound. She terrorizes our normal cat and any animal that comes into our yard. She has even been known to make a few grown men nervous. However, we have recently discovered that she is easily terrorized by the very small resident of our home.

The other day Gabriel snuck up on Savannah and tried to touch her. It was crazy. That huge dog ran away from my little baby. I couldn't really catch it the other day, but the scene repeated itself today.

Here he is sneaking up on her:

She realizes what's going on and tries to run away

Mark made her lay there while Gabriel touched her.

She says "dad, don't make me do that again"

while the terrorizer is having an idea in the background.

I swear, he came up with this all on his own. It was like he was saying,

"ha,ha, I know how to make you hold still.

It is so fun to watch these stories unfold. I love that it seems I can see what he thinking and the ideas that come to him. It seems he is his fathers son: mischievous and full of adventure. I'm in for some serious trouble. And some serious fun.

A perfect day...

I know, I know. It has been forever since I last posted and now I've done two in one day. I had to take Gabriel to the pediatrician this morning and it ends up he has an ear infection, so I decided to stay home with him the rest of the day. He obviously feels so awful and I couldn't leave him. He's taking a nap and I'm taking advantage of this time by blogging. Things in the Gocha household have been good lately. Mark had to go on a business trip to New Orleans last week and we missed him a lot. Especially because I had a paper due on Friday and Gabriel was had this cold last week. But then he returned and we were happy again.

Last Saturday we went to a local tourist attraction called Old Man's Cave. It's in an area called the Hocking Hills and it's about an hour or so southeast of us. Our lawn really needed to be mowed and we had house work to do, but I'm glad we did this instead. We went with Barb and Brandon and their three kids and it was fantastic! I had decided I wanted to do this about a month ago, so I talked to Mark about it and then called Barb to set up a time. Barb and I have literally know each other my entire life and our families use to spend just about every Christmas together. We had been down to Old Man's Cave together before, but not as adults. It ended up being just about as perfect as possible. We had a nice picnic lunch, the weather was beautiful, and no one got hurt (hey, that's a big deal when you're married to Mark). The only bad part was that we BOTH forgot our cameras. Can you believe it? It's okay though. We had so much fun we made plans to go again in a month and a half.

Speaking of a month and a half... I'm graduating with my Masters degree on June 12th! I CAN NOT WAIT! It is going to be so wonderful to be at home with Gabriel every day. I have to admit I still cry sometimes when I have to drop him off in the morning. I just feel really blessed that I am going to have this opportunity.

Gabriel is of course still growing constantly. People constantly make comments about how obvious it is that he never misses a meal. I personally love his chunkiness. Along with his above average size is coming a high activity level. He crawls like a pro and he is cruising along the furniture. Last night he took a few steps from me to Mark without me holding on to him! Granted, he was very wobbly, but I have no doubt he'll be walking really soon. I just keep telling him it's too soon, but he definitely has a mind of his own. He is also trying to climb the stairs every chance he gets. I keep telling Mark we need to get a baby gate up, but I don't think he really got how serious I was until I told him I found Gabriel on the second step of the stairs the other day. I had barely turned around and there he was. We've taken a few pictures (though not of that time- I snatched him right up before he fell) of his recent escapades.

For the love of Dada

Gabriel LOVES his dada. He lights up the minute he sees Mark. Lately he has taken to laughing hystarically at anything Mark does or says (except, of course, when he is taking a bit too long to get Gabriel's food- hey the food is sacred). It is the most beautiful thing to see how excited he gets when Mark is around. It makes me cry on a regular basis. Mark also thinks that Gabriel is the most fantastic thing. He is like a kid when he plays with Gabe. He hides behind the island in the kitchen to play peek-a-bo0, he holds him in front of a mirror just to see his excited little face when he sees his reflection, he explains things endlessly to Gabriel, and he laughs hystarically right back when Gabriel laughs. They are best buds and I love to see it. I've been trying to transfer some video I took of the two of them the other day, but I can't seem to get it to work. Any thoughts? We have a digital camera, but it records on to a tape. In stead I'll just share some recent pictures of the two of them.

For Eternity

Last Thursday at 4pm we legally became Gabriel's parents! We went downtown to a restaurant with Mark's parents and Sarah's mom and had lunch before the court hearing. We then made our way over to the court house where we wound our way through the maze of metal detectors and hallways, until we found the tiny waiting room for the courtroom where our fate would be decided.

The judge was very nice. She made an effort to help us feel comfortable while still stressing the seriousness of the hearing. We were asked many questions about our ability to give Gabriel the things he needs. Both the judge and our attorney stressed over and over that this was final, that he would be our responsibility legally until he turns 18, and that no matter what happens he will be our child. Mark and I both knew that this would not change anything for us. Gabriel has been our child from the very start. When they asked if we felt that we had developed a bond with Gabriel and he with us, there was no doubt. We love him and he loves us. We are a family.

After all of the questions were asked and answered she declared that from this time forward Gabriel is legally our son! And Gabriel slept through the whole thing. I know, funny right? he woke up just in time for us to take pictures in his cute new outfit.

Then on Saturday we took Gabriel to the LDS Temple and we were sealed as a family for not just this life, but for eternity. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we believe that we can be sealed together forever. We believe that after this life here on earth we continue in our relationships together and we will love and support one another. This was the greatest experience we have ever had. Gabriel was chatty, as usual, but as soon as the sealer started speaking, he stared up at him as if he knew the importance of what was happening. In the sealing room there are mirrors on opposite walls representing eternity. Once the words were spoken the sealer had the three of us kneel at the alter and look into the mirror on the opposite wall. He then had all of our family members who were there stand behind us and he reminded us of all of those who love us and support us. It was beautiful. If you have any questions about our church click here or contact your local LDS missionaries.

The next day Mark got up in Sacrament meeting and gave Gabriel a name and a blessing. He was emotional from the start and he did an amazing job. It was a beautiful blessing full of love and guidance.

The whole time these events were occurring our minds and hearts were aware of a person who was not with us- Andrea, Gabriel's birth mother. We are so grateful to her for the selfless gift she has given all of us. We haven't heard from her for a while, but we think about her and Audrey, her 2 year old daughter. We hope that they are doing well. Andrea- we want you to know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you for making this indescribable blessing possible!

Some of you may be wondering why it took me so long to post this. On Saturday, after we had an open house that about 100 people attended, I started running a fever. On Monday I went to my doctor who took one look at me and said, "I'm not even going to swab you for a culture. You definitely need to be on antibiotics." We're pretty sure I have strep throat.