Gabriel Hansen Smith

Our sweet baby boy joined our family on February 15, 2012-- just two short months ago!  It's time I recorded this sweet and sacred time in our lives.  

Gabriel was almost a Valentine's Day baby; very apropos considering we feel he is a perfect love note from heaven!  I want to record his story for our family history.  I had been in early labor for a couple of weeks.  I was having really regular contractions and had been dilated to a 3 for 2 weeks.  Needless to say, I was physically and emotionally tired and so ready for him to come!  On the morning of the 14th Hansen gave me the best Valentine's Day gift by staying home from work.  It was such a nice break to have him run after a very energetic Eloise, while I got to rest.  Hansen took us out for lunch and a little shopping so I could do some walking (in hopes to speed up my labor), and also let me take a very long and much-needed nap. It ended up being such a lovely day with our girl, and a special memory since that would be the last day of our family of 3!  That evening I became concerned because I couldn't feel the baby moving much.  I did the kick count test and didn't feel him 10 times in an hour so I called my doctor.  She wanted me to come in right away.  Once we got to the hospital all concerns were relieved (turns out he was a very large baby and was just running out of room to move!).  The doctor decided to keep me and we gave my labor a little encouragement with pitocin.  Thank goodness for that!  I only labored 8 hours with Gabriel, a marked improvement from the 19 it took with Eloise.  The best part was once it was time to push it only took 4 minutes!  Every woman who has birthed a child knows what a blessing that is!  All of my predictions about his size were true-- he was BIG.  He weighed in at 9 lbs 7.7 ounces, and 22 inches long!  He was born at 8:26 am.

As long as I can remember, I hoped to give a child a version of my namesake.  I'm so happy that Hansen's family tradition is to name the first son after the mother's maiden name, with the middle name being after the father.  It was a happy moment to honor my Gabrielsen line, and also give him Hansen's name, which honors his mother's maiden name.  This little boy has a strong heritage on both sides of his family and we were excited to give a nod to family in his name.  I'm pretty sure that my Grandma and Grandpa Gabrielsen would love this little boy and be happy that there is another "Gabe" around.  

In the short time he has been here he has blessed our family so much.  He is such a sweet and calming influence to our home.  My mom always called me her "Joy Baby" because I slept and ate well, I didn't fuss too much, and had an overall calm and pleasant disposition.  I can certainly call Gabriel a "Joy Baby." The above describes him perfectly.  Hansen and I feel so blessed to have him in our home.  

Big Boy!

7 minutes old

A beautiful morning in Beverly Hills.  View from our room.

Already in love with this little guy.

Snuggling with Mama

Eloise meets Gabriel

Our happy family

Grandparents meet their first Grandson

The Smith Men

At first he wasn't sure about the first bath...

but he soon became very relaxed.  This little one loves bath time!

All clean and back in mommy's arms.  

 Proud Parents!

All ready to go home!

Back at home, Eloise was curious to know what we had brought home. 

This is happiness.