February Snapshots

Gabby can finally look like a girl! (Or at least a female cartoon character with horns.)

That is until she wakes up the next morning, when she looks more like Chris Farley...

She has taken a liking to making her own fish soup.

Just a little more milk should do it....

She had a lot of fun jumping around at an indoor inflatable playground this week.

She is also getting ready to be a big sister.

I set this box down after a Costco stop and she couldn't get enough of climbing up onto it. She was even more proud when she successfully climbed up with both of her babies on her own. Seriously - she sets up better photo ops than I can.

And of course, it is about time that I post a video of Gabby's Penguin Dance.

A couple of months ago, Gabby learned that penguins waddle, so whenever we ask her what a penguin does, or if she sees a photo of one, etc. she begins this little dance:

Baby Boyer Take 2

That's right! My body is currently working hard to produce another pair of Boyer cheeks! We have experienced so much joy with Gabby that we are very excited to soon welcome another baby into our home. My due date is July 28th, so I am a little over 3 months along. Let the countdown begin!

Boyertown and Beyond

Over the New Year, we took a trip to Philadelphia to visit Jason's family. The locals were so excited to have us all there that they named a town after us (see above). Okay, okay... Jason's brother and his family actually live about 30 minutes from Boyertown, where the Boyer ancestors settled in the 1800s. I have to admit it was a pretty cool town though.

The flight there was about as good as a flight with a 14-month-old can get. Although the flight was full, there happened to be an empty window spot next to us, so Gabby got a little space to move around and to lounge:

Gabby met her cousins for the first time. She LOVED them. And luckily they got a kick out of her, too. They made each other giggle constantly and Gabby was giving out kisses and hugs left and right. She also finally learned to do stairs, after taking many a fearless cliff dive off the entryway steps.

The family recently discovered more of the Boyer lineage, so we visited some very old churches and graveyards, where we located many Boyer headstones. It was so freezing, I was almost buried there myself.

Our oldest niece, Katelyn, was baptized while we were there. It was wonderful to be part of that special occasion.

Eventually, we made it home. And I do mean eventually. When we made it to the airport, we discovered that our flight was delayed 3 hours, then 4, then 5.... The plane had some mechanical problems and they could not use it at all, so they finally decided to wait for another plane to come from Amsterdam that we could use. Of course, it was already impossible to catch our connecting flight in Phoenix. The airline at least was willing to offer food vouchers and a hotel. However, when Jason made it though the long line to speak with them about our arrangements, he discovered that the earliest they would be able to get us out of Phoenix was two days later! Um, no. It was time to use the Gabby card. After they realized what we were dealing with, somehow they magically got us onto a direct flight to Seattle that night. Hallelujah!

But we still had to survive that 6 hour flight with Grumpy Gabbers. Remember the photo at the beginning of this post, where Gabby was chillin' in her seat on the airplane? Picture the complete opposite for our return trip. After 7 hours in the airport, and departing at what should have been her bed time, she was not a model child. I am going to leave out the details of that horrible flight, in hopes that I might eventually forget the torture. However, I do want to remember this: long international flights with a 1-year-old are now out of the question.

Devastating Earthquake in Haiti

Photo courtesy of www.metro.co.uk

I usually limit this blog to updates on our family, but the 7.0 earthquake that took place in Haiti yesterday evening has constantly been on my mind today. I was in Haiti two years ago with the non-profit organization that I worked with at the time (Catholic Medical Mission Board). I have lived in impoverished countries in Africa and never had I seen poverty the way it was in Haiti. (To read an article I wrote about my visit, click here and see pages 4-5.) The Haitian population was in need of help BEFORE the earthquake. Now their suffering is unimaginable.

I cannot even put my thoughts into words. They were not able to meet the medical needs of their people before the earthquake - now with their few hospitals collapsed, no supplies, and their few doctors among those killed or missing, how can they meet the needs of the tens of thousands who need care? Paved roads there were almost non-existent, dirt roads covered in giant pot-holes were the norm - with the additional rubble on the limited roads, how will emergency supplies get to the people? Especially when there is no gasoline. Food, water, shelter... the people have needs that will go unmet for a long time. And Port-au-Prince is known for its violence - how can people feel safe when they have to sleep in the streets?

The good news is that neighbors are helping neighbors locally and furthermore, there are people reaching out to provide relief from around the world. Those who may not have ever given a thought to Haiti in the past are giving selflessly. Trials like these do bring out the good in people. They also help us realize all of the many blessings in our lives that we take for granted.

Below is a slideshow of some of the photos I took while I was in Haiti visiting hospitals, clinics, orphanages and schools run by local church organizations supported by CMMB. (The link to the article above explains the stories behind many of the photos.) The hotel I stayed in (Hotel Montana) is apparently flattened and many UN officers who were staying there are still unaccounted for. My prayers go out to my friends and colleagues there and all of those suffering in Haiti right now. If you are able to send help, please do. These are the types of situations that my training is for, yet in my current position I feel like I can do nothing but donate and spread the word to encourage other people to help.

Christmas Activities

This Christmas was full of many firsts for Gabby. Below are some samples:

Gabby finally learns to keep a winter hat on (so much so that she likes to wear one around the house).

OrthoWashington's Christmas Party: Dinner in the Space Needle.

Gabby develops a fear of Santa at our church Christmas Party.

(What would Christmas be without a few tears shed over a strange looking man with a beard?)

Gabby becomes a pro at baking Christmas cookies (and stealing dough).

We enjoy an evening with friends walking around the Bellevue Botanical Garden's light display.

We rise early Christmas morning to celebrate Christmas at our apartment, with Mémé (Jen's mom).

Gabby decides that Christmas is a good thing (despite Santa).

Gabby learns to color at her new table.

Our happy family has a wonderful Christmas Day.

We are always thankful for the chance to celebrate Christ's birth each December. We are also grateful for the thoughtful cards and goodies that we received from friends and we wish you all joy and happiness for the year to come!

The Tranquilizing Effects of Peanut Butter

I wish that I had captured the beginning of this process on video. Gabby was happily eating her bread with peanut butter when her arm began to get extremely heavy as it raised itself to her mouth. She managed to get the bite half way in before her energy expired for the afternoon. Into a deep sleep she fell. As much as I tried to talk to her, she would just give a courtesy peek and then decide I was not worth waking up for (nor was the bite hanging out of her mouth).

Elvis Lives!

I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but around Gabby's first birthday, she spoke her first non-repetitive two-syllable word: Elvis. Now, anyone who knows Jason, knows that that moment competes with the actual birth of his firstborn child as his proudest moment as a father. The saddest part is that he wasn't the one who taught her, it was me. We have three magnets on our refrigerator - two of Gabby and one random Elvis magnet that Jason picked up in Graceland (yes, that is how big of a fan he is). Gabby loves to say the word "bébé"/"baby" so naturally she was drawn to her own photos. She kept pointing to hers and saying "bébé, bébé". Then she began including Elvis as a "bébé" so I had to correct her and tell her who that really was. I didn't think it out all the way. Below is the result: