Our Angel Gabriel

I wanted to write a post about our little man yesterday but I was too swamped to even touch the computer. (Except for the "dinosaur" cake picture I needed.) So even though I'm a day late, I wanted to write a post about our sweet little angel Gabriel.

Gabriel has definitely been a blessing in our lives. Not just for Joshua and myself, but for our families and those who associate with him. Joshua and I had a bit of a rough time during the beginning of our marriage, but Gabriel was someone we both needed, loved and cared for and he really held us together. He is our rock. I was 4 months pregnant with Gabriel when we got married. A few weeks before we went to get my ultrasound, I was absolutely POSITIVE he was a girl. I wanted to name him J'La, J for Joshua and La for Lala. When we found out he was a boy, I was absolutely furious and Joshua was absolutely ecstatic. He couldn't be more happier. When Gabriel was born, something changed in Joshua. He was so protective, he wouldn't let me out of the house for a month. He was so loving and caring towards Gabriel. We have a million pictures of Gabriel in his first year because Joshua could not stop clicking at his camera. He was just so happy to have his BOY! I had a rough time after Gabriel was born. I had postpartum and a lot of his first year I don't remember much, other than crying, facebooking and telling myself I needed to get up. But as the years have gone by, I still can't believe that the Lord blessed me with such a sweet angel of a son.

I know for a fact he was put into our lives for a reason. We needed him. We still need him and we probably always will need him in our lives. He was so cute when he was born, I couldn't stand it. He was so pretty!! People constantly thought he was a girl when he was clearly dressed as a boy. He was your typical baby/toddler throughout the years, but he was special in his own way. He walked at 10 months, then decided to run a few days later. He ate EVERYTHING. Until Joshua started giving him "healthy" stuff, now he's really picky. But he can EAT. He had the absolute best pout. His big bottom lip, huge eyes and cute dimples made him (still make him) irresistible and no one (except mom) could say no. Now he's just too smart for me. I'm not sure if he learned it from his dad, or if it's in his genes (from dad) but he can weasel his way out of anything. If you don't say something right or specific he can get himself out of anything. Regardless, I am just so grateful he is in our lives. And I'm even more grateful to know that even after this life, he will continue to be a part of our "lives".

So a few things about this amazing little man:

• BLUE is his favorite color. If it's blue, he loves it.

• He remembers EVERYTHING. Don't tell him anything unless you absolutely mean it, it's absolute truth or you can prove it.

• He is Captain America. I am not sure where this came from but that is his favorite superhero.

• He loves PANCAKES. Out of everything I could make, he will say pancakes. If he sees the box/bag of pancake mix he will ask for it every meal. He wanted to go to "the pancake house" for his birthday (iHop). 

• His best friends consists of his cousins and a few friends from Indonesia, Mongolia, Mexico and American Fork.

• If he asks you a question and you don't know the answer, he will come up with the answer and it will be truth from that time forth.

• He thinks he is a model. He will pose for you if you have a camera or he will tell you where and how he thinks he should stand so you can take a picture of him.

• He has a creative mind. He is really into (and really good) at playing with Lego's. He can draw pretty well for his age and he makes sure to explain it to detail just in case you don't know what it is. He makes up his own ideas of how things work and how things could work.

• He and Joshua could be brothers. And since he doesn't have any (yet), they are practically brothers. Their relationship is one that I love and KNOW began before this life and will forever continue beyond.

the day he was born

Gabriel is very sweet and sensitive. He is protective of his sisters and knows he is the BIG brother. He has a heart of gold. He is always concerned about each of us. When I was checked into the hospital to have Na'a, he laid by my side and was so worried because "mommy was hurting". When Gissi was born, he didn't exactly know what to do with her but if someone came to close he made sure to let them know she was HIS sister. If I am crying (I'm a crybaby, I can't help it pregnant or not) he is so concerned and always lets me know "mommy, I love you ." He has been such a blessing to us and to others around us. I have come to terms with the possibility of Gabriel being our only boy. If that's the case, I'm so glad it's him! Since I found out I was going to have him, I have loved him more than I thought I could love another person. He has taught me love, patience, kindness, faith and charity. The past 5 years have flown by and I am so excited for the years to come! Happy birthday my sweet angel boy!!

With his daddy's abuelita

With grandma (mom's mom)

We like to take selfies.

Our little man now.

No, I don't know what he's doing, I just said do a silly face.

 

 

 

Life is amazing!

Our lives have been pretty busy these past couple of months. I'm not sure what happened but I don't have the time to blog as much as I thought! With the holidays around the corner things are sure to be busy regardless of what we're doing. But I am excited for these next couple of months because of the additions to our family! (No I'm not going to give birth yet. LOL)

My sweet cousin Lucy and her husband are having their first baby next month! They have been married a little longer than my husband and I and we are so excited for them to start growing their little family!!! Now Eni, Sio and I will have to slow down to let everyone catch up. LOL. I'm just kidding (actually Sio and Trixie I'm not kidding about YOU TWO). Anyways, I love love LOVE new baby's and can't wait to see this ones smiling face around Christmas time!! YAY!!

In addition to a new nephew, I have been waiting for 5 years for another sister. Joshua only has brothers and so it's usually me and them with either my mother-in-law or step-mother-in-law. My only other female interaction is with my daughters or when their cousins come over. But NOW, my awesomely talented brother-in-law is finally getting married!!! WOOHOOOOOO!!! Also by the end of this year I'll have a new sister-in-law!!!! YESSSSSSSSS!!! Plus she has my half birthday, it was TOTALLY meant to be. (I'm just kidding Thorny, she's amazing).

But sadly, tomorrow my little brother Ofa aka Fatso, will be heading out to the Mexico MTC for some Spanish before heading out to Indiana. I mean obviously I'm super stoked, super proud and super excited for his adventures as a missionary, but at the same time, I will miss his annoying laugh, dumb jokes and overall goofy-ness that I hope the mission will help tone down. (A LOT PLEASE).

Then in January, I'll be loosing another brother and gaining another Elder to write to when TJ aka Baby/Small Dawg, will be entering the MTC here in Provo. At least he'll be coming here so I can annoy him for a few days. He'll be heading to the homeland in Tonga and finally learn Tongan you palangi boy. So thanks to these two brothers of mine I'll have to learn Spanish and catch up on my Tongan cuz I KNOW YA'LL GONNA BE SAYIN SOMETHIN ABOUT ME. I know you two too well!

Then the end of January I'll gain another brother-in-law when my sweet cousin Mino (Jingy) gets married to Junior (who makes amazing truffles by the way. by himself. and they are awesome. and I will probably refer to you as the truffle boyfriend for the rest of my life.) WOOHOOOOO!!!

With all of these events going on we'll have to fit in birthdays, holidays, our callings, ROC, school, work and taking care of our sweet little babies while a new one grows within my bellayyyy. Man I am so excited!! And we haven't even gotten to my favorite holiday!! (Thanksgiving. We have to have 3 feasts that day, at least, and I can tell you that I am so excited I might just have to fast until then.)

Last but not least, I cannot help but feel gratitude. Not because it's Thanksgiving, not because I feel immensely blessed (because I do), but because life is just so wonderful that all I'm missing is the musical numbers in my life drama. Of course we have our trials, we still struggle, we are still carrying on day by day, but it's the wonderful experiences in life like a new baby, wedding, missions, celebrations, ect that make you realize how wonderful life really is. Life is really amazing. At least mine is. Not because I have a "perfect" life (ha! if you walk past my house, pray the door is close because my kids get an earful everyday) but because I take each "perfect" moment and embed them into my heart and remember them on days when I feel like sending my kids to Tonga.

I hope you take this time of the year to remember all that we have been blessed with and all that we take for granted. I hate socks and never care for them until I'm freezing in my slippers outside realizing how a small sometimes ugly piece of cloth actually makes a difference in my life. I'm not sure how my blogging schedule will be, I am so upset with myself that I forgot NaNoWriMo this month, so hopefully I will be able to make up for it by blogging regularly.

Enjoy the day, seize the day and remember to whom your day is dedicated to. Whether it be God, your family, you, your clients, your students, ect, never let a day go wasted! Life is AMAZING!!!

And then there were 6...

...in the Garcia family!!! We just found out on Friday that we are EXPECTING!! Baby #4 will make his/her debut in spring of 2014 :) We are SOOOOOOOOOOO excited! Our kids are ecstatic and we just can't wait for baby to come.

We have been asking Gabriel, "Do you want a brother or a puppy?" (I know they aren't comparable but I just thought it'd be funny to see what he'd say) He has answered puppy every single time. Friday night he finally got his puppy! Abuelita Olga got him a little black and white sweet little chihuahua mix. Then right before bed, I took a test, and it came out positive! So apparently he gets BOTH!! Lol. Well we just wanted to share our news and if you see me eating A LOT, lets just say it's the baby ;) Wish us luck, cuz we are surely going to need it. (School, work, kids, new baby, it's a lot but it'll be fun!)

Xoxox,

Josh and Lala