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Goodness gracious sakes alive…Gabriel is turning FIVE!

Humble Handmaid· Motherhood

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2014 8 Dec

December 2014, 5 years old

Goodness gracious sakes alive! Gabriel is already FIVE!

Time flies. Five years ago today, I had my first child, a 6lb, 5oz wrinkly, red, skinny baby boy who stopped crying as soon as he was laid on his mother’s chest.

We love him so much. He can write his name. He likes pizza, oatmeal, broccoli, cookie cake, juice, cars, planes, pirates and anything that shoots stuff. He asks me to rub his back and sing to him every night before bed. One of his top love languages is definitely touch. Along with words of affirmation. He is incredibly thoughtful. He will hear me tell his sisters that they need a spoon, and he will go and grab one for me before I even know it. He says sweet things like, ‘Mom, you are sweet like a grandma” and “Mom, your hair looks like Elsa today!” (I pin my long hair up a lot). He can be discouragingly unremorseful and then amazingly eager to please the very next moment. He shares a room with his little sister, Faith, and they go to bed and wake up giggling and talking in funny voices and singing bits of songs from church or Frozen.

Oh goodness did I take a lot of pictures. This one was taken in the tiny living room of our second apartment in Houston (the one with the stinky fridge).

Me and my fancy new baby wrap. I thought I was pretty cool stuff in that thing. And as for the baby-in-a-stocking picture…just please laugh with me. This was our ill-conceived attempt to take our own Christmas pictures. No, we didn’t send these to anyone. No, no babies were harmed during this photo shoot. I’m deliberately not posting the picture Michael and his parents took of Gabriel hanging out of our crawfish pot with a Santa hat on. Or the ones of Gabriel asleep holding a Christmas ornament-sized replica of a bottle of Jack Daniels. 

Can you tell I was completely exhausted and about to burst into tears because nursing hurt so badly? I know, I know…poor technique and all of that. I am a little more of a pro after three babies now, but that first one had a doozy of a learning curve. 

As they say in Cajun country, cher baby! 

We had someone hand down to us all of these adorable, hipster baby clothes, like this little cap. I seriously pray that God would continue to send us kind benefactors for our kids’ wardrobes.  *Ahem, ahem* 🙂 

We had this sweet girl  named Jaycee Mills do baby portraits for us. She volunteered to do them for free since we were desperately broke new parents and she liked us. 🙂 God bless her!

One of my all-time favorite pictures of my kids…Gabriel holding Gianna in May 2013. He was three. 

Gabriel and Faith. Not sure where that old-fashioned baby outfit she has on came from…

Christmas 2012, 3 years old

My soccer star…sort of. He was one of those kids who kind of stood on the field and scowled and half-heartedly ran a few feet behind the pack…I think we started him too young.
And for your reading pleasure…some posts from the archives that you might find amusing. My first months of being a mom AND a blogger. Apparently, I liked the idea of “Part 1 and 2” posts…go figure. Hope you enjoy these! Nothing groundbreaking, but five-years-ago me is kind of sweet and cute at points. I think you’ll like her.:) 
Introducing Gabriel Adam Franco
What’s in a Name? God’s Fingerprints, Of Course
I Should Be Taking a Nap…
Confessions of a New Mom…Part 1
Explosions
I Should be Taking a Nap…Part 2
He’s a Keeper and Other News
What a baby needs
Explosions…Part 2

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Hi there!

I'm Erin, a Catholic wife, speaker, writer, and mother of six. Since I started my blog way back in 2009, my life has been a roller coaster of babies, plot twists and a plane crash or two. I've been chronicling things here as I've been learning to love and suffer and laugh and trust in the goodness of God in the ordinary and the extraordinary--with a little espresso and a lot of Divine Mercy. Read More…

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