8 Months Old

On Jan. 6th, Gabriella turned 8 months old. Unbelievable!! She is such darling little girl! There were a few new developments that she had done, and here is the list:

- Clapping hands
- Pulling up to a stand and getting down
- Bathing in the regular tub without using Infant Bathtub.

Last time, we put the muscial table on the floor without four poles to attach the musical table because Gabriella was not able to pull up. Well.. now Gabriella is able to pull up and get down, so we attached the four poles to the muscial table. Gabriella did do well and enjoyed pulling up to play with the music and getting down to crawl. She does that repeatedly. It was fun to watch her doing that.

On Jan 5th, Daddy, Gabriella, and I went to see my Ob Gyn Doctor (Dr. Foltz) for my thyroid check-up. We were thrilled to see her because we hadn't seen her since last June. However, the reason I wanted Dr. Foltz to check my thyroid was because I was sick with terrible cough in Illinois and went to the Prompt Care. The doctor felt my thyroid and said it was full. She recommended me to go to my doctor in Seattle for check up to make sure it was normal. So, my doctor checked my thyroid and noticed nothing wrong with it. The nurse drew my blood for a test, and it was all normal. Nothing was wrong with my thyroid. That was good to hear that. By the way, Dr. Foltz was so excited to see Gabriella and couldn't believe how much she had grown since last June.

Wii Addiction

On Friday, Jan. 2nd: Dad got his new Wii as Christmas gift from all the families. At first, Dad was unsure about the Wii because he had no clue what was it. We explained to him about it. It would be fun for him to have Wii set up at his home so he can play with adults, grandchildren, and whoever come to visit. After set up Wii, Dad and Kevin played bowling and golfing almost every day. They became addicted to it. While they played, I was in guest room to pack the rest of it before we left back to Seattle the next day. Gabriella was with Grandma Anna playing. While I took a break from packing, I went downstairs to join with men to play Wii. Gabriella joined us, too, with Grandma Anna. It was funny to see how men were serious on playing golf and competed with each other about who scored the best!

NOTES: Finally, this is the end post of our story what we had done over our holidays in November and December with friends and families. Whew... Now, the next posts will be what we need to catch up about our time in here Seattle that we got back home from Illinois. Please be patient with us when we have time to do our next posts.

Busy Day

On Jan 1st, it was a very busy day for us since we visited some family and friends for the last time before we left back to Seattle the next two days. In the morning, we again stopped by Morge's for breakfast and said goodbyes to CA Morge family. They had to leave back to California. It was wonderful seeing them.

Afterwards, we went back to my parents' to relax for awhile before visiting my friend. Kevin was playing Wii with Dad (Walter), and Grandma Anna was playing with Gabriella. I joined them and had fun watching Gabriella playing Peek-a-Boo with her burp cloth hiding her face.

Here is the video of Gabriella playing Peek-a-Boo:

In the afternoon of New Year's Day, Daddy, Gabriella, and I went to visit our friends, Stephanie and Walter Lipe and their 7-month-old daughter, Skye. Gabriella and Skye had fun playing with each other with all the toys. They became best buddies. We all enjoyed watching how Gabriella and Skye interacted. It was wonderful seeing them again for the last time before we left back home in Seattle the next two days. We are looking forward to seeing them again someday as girls get older.

No Plans For The Day

The day after Mike's 40th Birthday party, we stopped by Morge's to chill out. Morge parents got Wii for a Christmas gift from all children and grandchildren, so we all played bowling and golfing. It was fun. After spending time with the Morges, we left back to my parents to relax. I looked through some of our clothes, toys, and other things to pack in two suitcases (four suitcases to pack before left back to Seattle on Saturday, Jan 3). While I worked on packing, Daddy was with Gabby playing with Tomasz and doing do their things around. How cute to see Tomasz with Gabriella (shown in pictures below)!

X-Mas and Surprise Birthday

On Saturday morning, December 27th, Daddy, Gabriella, and I went to Morge Parents' to be with the rest of the Morge family for a late Christmas together to open our gifts. It was because we were waiting for the CA Morge Family to be in town on Christmas Day night to be with us to open the Christmas gifts. Also, there were other Morge Family who live out of town that coming in town for the weekend. We all had a great time and enjoyed opening all the wonderful gifts.

Afterwards, we relaxed and enjoyed our day with Morge family until at night for Mike's surprise 40th Birthday party at the Peoria Civic Center to watch the hockey game. Before that happened, Mia (Mike's wife) was trying to figure out how to keep Mike from finding out and to surprise him. Several of us were helping Mia to work it out. Pretending, we told them that we had to leave to home at my parents', but really...we went straight to the Peoria Civic Center. Several of other family did that same thing. Dan was planning to take Mike out to the bar and tried to find the bar where they couldn't find and planned to stop by the Civic Center to ask someone. Mia, her kids, and other family members were planning to go East Peoria to see the Christmas Light show. Somehow, Mike said that he wanted to join them. Mia was like ohh shoot and was stuck. There was no way that Mia could make him go with brothers to somewhere. She had no choice but to have Mike join them. While they drove on the way to East Peoria to see the Christmas Light, but before getting there, they went to Peoria downtown to stop by at Civic Center. Mike was like huh...where are we going? Mike had no clue what was going on. Other Morges and we were waiting in the clubroom at the Civic Center to surprise Mike. Before entered the clubroom, Mike was kind of getting clue what was going on. Once he entered and laughed after we surprised him. We all had a blast to be with Mike for his 40th Birthday party.

After the birthday party, we went to our seats to watch the hockey game: Riverman vs. San Antonio. We all enjoyed watching the hockey game, especially since it was Gabriella's first time to watch hockey. She loved it! When there was music and everybody clapped, Gabriella watched and learned from people that clapped. In a while, Gabriella started to clap, too. It was so cute to see her! The billboard above the hockey rink labeled the name of people for their birthday, anniversary, etc. Mike was one of them. It was awesome to see it. In addition, the billboard pictured a several couples that need to kiss each other. Kevin and I were one of them so we kissed. It was funny. However, thanks to Mia for inviting us to Mike's 40th Birthday. We had a blast!!

Visiting "California Morges"

After the Christmas Day, the "Dan Morge Family" from California came to Peoria to visit for a week. Daddy, Gabriella, and I went to Morge Parents' to visit them. We enjoyed to see our Niece Emily and Nephew Daniel who had grown bigger than the last time we saw them at Gabriella's Baptism. In addition, they announced that they are going to have third baby, due in July. CONGRATULATIONS to them!!