Merry Christmas Gutierrez Style!

We celebrated Christmas a week early with just the four of us before heading up to Manteca to be with the rest of the Gutierrez family. We had a wonderful evening together celebrating the birth of our Savior! We decided to keep things simple since the boys are so little and since we would be getting a true Christmas feast at Andrew's sisters place. We ordered a pizza, made a salad and had Christmas cookies and cider while we opened presents. Andrew read Weston the Christmas story from his children's Bible and the three of us received our special Christmas letter from daddy. We are so blessed to have eachother but most of all we are so blessed to have been saved by the reason for all of this- Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

Excited for cookies and presents!

Trying to get his own cookies...

Yum!

We got the boys matching raccoon beanies, I couldn't resist :)

Sweet Moments

Last week we attended the annual Seminary Christmas Chapel where all the wives and kids of the seminary students are invited. After the chapel there are cookies and crafts for the kids! This year Weston was old enough to make his own ornament with the help of daddy- and I captured this precious moment. Weston was very serious about getting it just right :) My favorite is the tongue sticking out in deep concentration.

Turkey Day, the Tummy Tub & Time with Family

Thanksgiving was memorable to say the least! First off my dear sister and her darling baby came to visit along with my folks- so wonderful! Not so wonderful was that we all got the stomach flu! It started with me- ouch after having a c-section, then my mom, then my dad and finally poor Andrew. His came on while driving and he had to pull over to...you know what! Yikes! Baby Gabe also got his first cold. But we all got better and enjoyed family time taking care of eachother and loving on the kids.

Below are pics of the Tummy Tub that my friend Lindsey gave me. It is a glorified bucket that makes bathing squirmy little things a bit easier and keeps them submerged so they stay warmer. Gabe did not enjoy his first bath! Baby Ryder did better.

Speaking of baby Gabe, he is one month old today! We love him so much and are enjoying his easy going personality. Adjusting to life with two has been crazy but fun! Definitely an adjustment but a good one...we are all learning to have more patience!

Sweet Ryder!

Big brother giving kisses

My sister and I holding our nephews

What a little bug

Making his pie choice for the evening

my mom making the gravy

The only one with an appetite thoroughly enjoying his Thanksgiving dinner! He especially liked stuffing!

We tired Ryder out!

Enjoying the season!

Once again we aren't putting up a tree :( since we leave most of
December every year, so here we are enjoying my friend Jen's pretty
tree! Look how big my baby is!

Chewy Gingersnaps

I pulled this recipe out of the depths of my favs and I am so glad I did! I forgot how much I like these cookies and how easy they are :)

Chewy Gingersnaps

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon and nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking soda

pinch salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

7 tablespoons butter softened

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 lrg egg

Combine dry ingredients except sugars. In a separate bowl beat together butter and sugars. Add maple, vanilla and egg and beat well. Stir in flour mixture. Roll dough in balls and bake 8-12 minutes at 350 depending on size. cookies will be brown and have a crackle appearance. Once they cool drizzle with a mixture of powdered sugar and milk. ( I like to use coffee creamer :) and sprinkle with raw sugar if you like. Yum!

brotherly love

When I purchased the boys these matching shirts ( big brother/ little brother) I had grand ideas of them posed sweetly for the camera, capturing the perfect first moments as brothers together... ha! First of all it took two and half weeks for Weston to be interested enough to be within 5 feet of Gabe and second of all, I didn't realize that a little photo shoot like this would be a danger to Gabe's life! Not a good idea to place a newborn in the lap of a 16 month old. Yes, I have lots to learn, I know :). So this is the poor result of a very stressful 15 minutes trying to get the two of them still and I gave up on the shirts showing. My fav pic is the last one where Weston is actually sticking his finger up poor Gabe's nose!

Pointing out where Gabe's nose is...

Up the nose! Gabe was a great sport

Catching up

It's been a crazy few weeks! Wanted to post these sweet pics of Weston playing in the yard a couple days after we came home from the hospital. It was such a nice afternoon and I thoroughly enjoyed being outside and watching my baby play. It had been so long since I had been able to be somewhat up and about so I loved being able to follow him around with my camera as he explored the garden stuff and discovered the tangerine tree. Love my bubs!

Sweet Gabriel Ray- Our gift from the Lord

Our tiny bundle is here safe and sound! Born 11/09/10 at 7:02 pm

5 lbs. 11 oz. 18 1/2 inches

Last week I went in for our routine testing to make sure that Gabe wasn't in any kind of stress. They decided to analyze the placenta since he hadn't been as active as usual during the test and determined that conditions in the uterus were declining. The specialist thought it would be best to have Gabe come out since he was currently doing well and didn't want to risk him taking a turn for the worse. My Dr. agreed and we were promptly sent to the hospital!

I was checked in the morning and was 0% dilated and 50% effaced...not enough to be induced so a c-section was scheduled for the evening. I was the 5th one of the day so we waited quite a while in triage- hoping I would progress quickly with the contractions I was having, but no luck there :) I was having them 5 minutes apart, but they never increased in strength, so the c-section was a must. 30 minutes before surgery Gabe's heart rate took a plunge which scared us all alot! The nurse went running and the Dr. was paged and a whole team of people rushed in within a couple minutes wheeling me to the operating room. So many things ran through my head, but I trusted that the Lord had brought us this far, that He would allow our baby to make it through the surgery.

His heart rate slowly went back up after I was laid flat with oxygen and the doctors worked double time to get him out literally in a few minutes! It was amazing! He came out screaming and pushing away from the doctor's hands- he said! His apgar score was 9 with no signs of distress at all! God has answered all of our prayers :) They are unsure why his heart rate dropped so low so fast, but the important thing is that he is just perfect! It was a wonderful difference to have our baby in our room with us and for our family to be able to hold and love on Gabriel.

The recovery for me was a little more rough this time, but that is to be expected and we have been cared for so well. Gabe is such an easy baby so far and we are still in awe that he is here with us. We came home last Friday and walked into a clean house that smelled like Thanksgiving dinner! Thank you to our family for taking such good care of Weston and making our first moments home so special. It is a wonderful relief to have Gabe here and that this long pregnancy is over. So much waiting, praying, resting and doctor visits as well as all the meals and help from family and friends have gone into his safe arrival. Words can not express our gratitude to all those who helped us these past 9 months. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Nanni Kerri

Papa Ray

Great great Aunt Sharon

Uncle Jon

Daddy and his second beautiful boy

Omie Susan and Grandpa Mike

The yummy bird for Gabe's homecoming

Auntie Marci and cousin Joy

Cousin Ava

Sweet big brother helping rock Gabe to sleep