Gabi's Baptism

Sunday, December 27, 2009 marked a very precious day in our young baby girl's life: Gabriella's Baptism. Aaron and I took this day very seriously and have been preparing for it since the day she was born. She already "belonged" to the St. Andrew's family before Sunday but to receive this blessing and honor was beyond words. She did amazingly well and didn't shed a single tear! And man, can our girl work a dress! She looked like an angel! My hope is that one day Gabriella can pass her beautiful gown on to her little one.

As you can see we had family come from all over to shower Gabi with love and blessings. Thank you all SO much!

G

Grandma and Grandpa Martinez on little to no sleep....THANK YOU!

Lastly, Gabi had her 6 month check up today. I'm going back to work because I'm a wuss and can't handle watching my baby getting poked! She weighs 18 pounds, 2 ounces and towers over 75% of other babies her age at 27 inches (that's ALL Aaron)! No more shots until June...MOmmy :0)'s.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew!!!!!!!!!! Well, our lives have been a whirlwind of craziness since our last posting but we are very blessed this Christmas! Last week marked the final days of school for me before Christmas break. I gave my kids a special assignment on Monday: give to those less fortunate than themselves. So, we traveled to Hatch to pack food and minister to the poor. It was amazing! I was so proud of my 2nd graders!!!! Thursday and Friday were rough because it was my first time doing report cards with Gabi (NO sleep)! I am SO grateful for Aaron and my mom because I could not have gotten through the insanity without either of them.

Saturday and Sunday brought cleaning and preparation for incoming Cali family (it's insane how much laundry accumulates with one small infant)! The crazies showed up late Sunday night and since then we've been chillin', drinkin' beer, playing games, and watching the cousins play! Gabi even got the star role as baby Jesus in our church's Christmas pageant! And, OF COURSE Daddy and I HAD to let her wake up in our bed on Christmas morning. My heart feels so good to see Gabi, her aunts, uncles, and cousins spending quality time together. Our little Gabriella will be blessed and baptized tomorrow. Then we celebrate Round 2: Christmas with our family in Lubbock....can't wait!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We finally had a few days off to spend with our little one. As you can see it was quite eventful. On Thanksgiving Day we hung around, ate TOO much food, drank beer, and watched a lot of football. Gabi is rolling all over the place now. We have yet to catch her rolling on video, but we'll keep trying:) She's a riot!

On Saturday, we went up to the mountains to cut down our first family Christmas tree. As you can see, we had the baby bundled up tight. All-in-all we had a great time. Gabi even got a chance to feed some baby goats! She is getting so big.

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, and we can't wait to see everyone for Christmas and Gabriella's Baptism.

Gabi's first bite of baby turkey:

Ear Piercing

With Gabriella's baptism quickly approaching, we decided to get her ears pierced. Since I have had the joy of taking her to get her last two sets of shots, I figured it was about time for Rachel to get in on the fun:)


Rachel and Cora took Gabi to the mall on Tuesday to get the whole thing over with. Gabi was a champ and didn't cry for too long. She was still angry on the car ride home as you can see from the last picture, but she's over it now. Of course, one of the earings fell out Tuesday night, but luckily there have been no more mishaps:)

Happy Halloween!

Here is a pic of our most beautiful flower! She was not crazy about the head gear but we managed to snag a few pics before she let us really have it. I wonder where she gets that temper (hee.hee.)

We have been trying to get Gabi rolling on video but she sneaks up on us all the time. This smile is a classic, though! We hope to have her rolling on video SOON!

What a Week.........

Well it has been a very long and trying week for the Benefiels. Gabi turned 4 months old on Saturday, and we got to spend the weekend in Lubbock with Grandma and Grandpa Martinez and Jonna and Chris. Gabi got to go to her first Texas Tech football game:) Of course, the Red Raiders lost horribly to Texas A&M, but we had a great time anyway.

Gabi started on rice cereal this week (she gets more on her bib and face than in her mouth), and moves onto fruits and veggies over the next two weeks. We have decided to wean her off the middle-of-the-night feedings and get her on a more rigid eat/play/sleep schedule. We have been rocking her to sleep every night and responding to her every time she wakes, but our new schedule will not permit that. We now put her in her crib for naps and nighttime sleep without responding to her every wimper. For the first few days, this meant listening to a lot of crying, both Gabi's and Rachel's!

As difficult as this has been, last night she slept from 8pm until 4:30am....SUCCESS IS SWEET:) With Gabi on a schedule, we have more quality time to spend with her and each other, and we do not sleep in 2 hour increments. I think that Rachel and I have aged about 1 year in the past 4 months! But you know....it is totally worth the sacrifice to have a healthy baby who is learning more each day:)