Mommy's Little Rockstar

Gage sure does love a bath. In fact, maybe that's why he poops on himself so often....just so we'll give him another. He was constantly smiling this morning in the water. I just wish he could stay in the bath all day...because he is so happy. It was definitely a moment to savor and I know there will be so many more. I can't wait!

Oh and I took this picture yesterday because his outfit matched the blanket so nicely.



Have a safe and happy New Year!

Blizzard 2009, Uncle Brian, Xmas and lots of visitors

Alot has happened since the last time I updated. Gage and myself have seen the most snow we have ever seen in our lives. Not impressive for only 5 weeks of life, but in my 29 years, I have never seen so much and living in this area, might never again. Anyway, it wasn't too eventful since it left us homebound....at least the power didn't go out. Luke shoveled for about 6 hours which was definitley not the highlight, but Gage did get to go out for a little bit to show off his Snowbaby impression.



The beginning of the week of Christmas put Grandma Sandi on a plane and brought the arrival of Uncle Brian. It was great to see him since we don't get to spend too much time w/ him living on the other side of the country. Uncle B and Gage got along well.



Christmas was wonderful. It was so much fun to be home with all the family, including my brother for the 1st time in about 5 years. Gage behaved very well and got to meet tons of people who were all very excited to see him. He survived all the pokes, pinches and baby talk. Gage was soo good when we were opening presents and just hung out on his Boppy and stared at his most favorite thing ever, the Xmas tree. Gage got more presents than the rest of us of course and can't wait to play with them when he gets a little older. He even dressed up for church and was VERY good during the whole service, just staring wide eyed at all of the lights.


GAge traveled pretty well only having to stop once each way to be changed and eat. It is a little more difficult to travel with a baby and our lives and travels will never be the same. Gage was very good at Grandma's house also and slept through the night, although he had a little trouble getting to sleep some nights. That was about the gist of our Holiday travels, nothing to write home about.

Gage has become a little fussier these days, wanting to interact with us more and fighting off sleep. He has been smiling a little in his sleep lately, but showed off a few while he was awake in the last week. We aren't convinced yet that he is smiling in response to something he enjoys, but he is smiling and making eye contact and we are anxiously awaiting something more certain. We also took Gage to the dr. for a few follow ups last week and he is now 11.5 lbs! He is growing so much and we can't believe he is only 6 weeks old. Here is the most recent picture where we think he looks all grown up. I hope everyone had a wonderful Xmas and please be safe on New Year's Eve!

One month old already!

Holy Crap! This will be a quick post, but I can't believe Gage was one month old already on Monday. He got his 1st bath and of course got to see Santa. He is beginning to smile, although he doesn't know why or at what. I'm posting a few of my favorite pictures from the last week.

29th birthday and a visit to Santa!

Gage's mommy turned 29 on Friday and it was probably the most uneventful birthday ever! ha...I think it's finally real that our birthday's don't matter too much anymore and that Gage is now the center of our world. We took Gage to see Santa Friday morning, hoping to get there before Santa was too germy. And holy crap, look at the size of Santa, isn't he larger than life?? Grandma Sandi found him a very cute Christmas outfit that he was able to get his picture taken in.



I got some very nice presents from Luke and am looking forward to my post natal massage and shopping spree. I also had been asking for Rockband for about 3 years now and I think it's funny that Luke has decided that now that we have a child, it would be an appropriate time to buy it for me! However, I'm sure Gage will have a blast listening to his Mommy and Daddy rock out!

Oh we found him more snow suits but they were way expensive. We settled instead for a little coat/warmie that looks like a bear and a winter hat from Gymboree. They were having a great sale.

Gage's 1st snowfall, power outage and Xmas tree

Gage saw his 1st snowfall when he was 3 weeks old! Too bad he won't remember it, but we had to make sure to dress him and take him outside anyway so that we would have pictures to prove it. His snowsuit was ridiculous and could fit he and 3 others in it, so we put him in it, took pictures and are hoping to take it back afterwards;).









We also decorated our Xmas tree on Saturday and right in the middle, the power went out and we were in the pitch dark for 2 hours. Oh well, we all had a good excuse to take a nap. I don't have pictures of the tree yet or GAge in front of the tree, but they are yet to come. I still need to find him a Xmas outfit to wear when he visits Santa Claus on Friday. Leaving tomorrow for a couple of hours to go to a meeting for grad school...woo hoo!

Grandma Sandi visits!

Grandma Sandi is here and will be for the next 2.5 weeks. Should be nice to get out of the house a little w/o Gage, if I want. I do have some Christmas shopping to do. This week has been quite the challenge w/ Luke being back at work and Gage refusing to be swaddled and go to sleep before 1am. Last night, it was 445am, which was pretty sweet and of course makes me thankful I'm not working at this point. Also glad it's Friday, so Luke can help tonight w/ our insomniac child. I also have a new favorite picture that I took of Gage yesterday before we went on our walk. Isn't he the sweetest?



And you can't see it in the picture since he has a hat on, but he is losing his hair which makes me so very sad. I didn't want a bald baby and hopefully won't have one, since he does have some hair.... I do hope he doesn't lose it in some crazy pattern in the back.

Hopefully Gage will see his 1st snowfall tomorrow. He got a snowsuit tonight from Grandma Sandi but it will more than likely eat him since it looks like it could fit a 3 year old. Nonetheless he will be out in his 1st snowfall tomorrow and decorate his 1st Christmas tree! We can't wait!

Mama's Big Boy!

Yet again we went to the doctor for the 3rd time in 2.5 weeks. (This week we went all by ourselves.) Gage is of course, getting bigger and bigger and still growing like a weed. This week instead of 15oz. he only gained 10oz! He is now 9lbs, 3oz! What a big boy! He has also grown almost 3 inches, I'm not sure what is normal, I looked it up but could only find that babies grow about an in. a month, so I guess we will keep you posted on that. They also did a head circumference measurement, but reported nothing to me. I might call to find out the percentile, etc. I'm assuming, if they don't point it out, then no news is good news. So the dr. put Gage on Zantac due to his being uncomfortable after eating, it might take up to 2 weeks to work, so again, we will play the waiting game. We have been able to maintain his spitting up and vomiting a little bit just knowing how much to feed him per sitting. Meanwhile, I could feed starving babies everywhere w/ the amount of milk I am still producing.

Other than our getting up early to take a bath before the dr's, today has been quite boring. We wanted to go for a walk but it just wasn't quite warm enough. Hopefully there will be one more day this week that will be nice enough before it gets cold cold. We are looking forward to several visitors this week and for Grandma Sandy to come on Friday!

Back to Work

Tomorrow is the real deal- I will officially be the primary caregiver of Gage. Luke goes back to work tomorrow and I'm a little nervous. I'm sure we'll do fine, but I think we'll be pretty lonely, we're so used to having Daddy home w/ us. I'm sure that Luke will call to check in and time will probably go by fast, but it shall be interesting. Tuesday morning is our 1st doctor's appointment w/o Daddy and that should be a challenge too. I have to get him up and get him and myself ready to go and drive there w/o sitting in the back seat w/ him, which reminds me I have to put the mirror into my car so that I can see him while I'm driving. And another thing, I have to pack a diaper bag...Daddy is the only one that has one right now. Oh my, lots of things to do and real life w/ a baby and errands is about to start. After this week, I might be thankful for Luke's mom to be here for the next 2. That in and of itself will be interesting to blog about, but am I allowed to do that??

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We are truly blessed this year to have a new addition to our family and for my parents to spend Thanksgiving with us. Mom was great making sure we had a proper Thanksgiving dinner and doing all the cooking. I knew it wouldn't happen this year for just the 3 of us, so it was really nice not to have to go door to door to ask for turkey dinner donations. We are thankful for our new healthy baby boy and for our health as well. We are thankful for our families who will all be an integral part of Gage's life.

Here is Gage in his 1st Turkey Day outfit. It was soo cute and lasted about 3 hours before he peed on it. It's very sad that he goes through several different outfits a day these days and you have to take pictures immediately when you dress them if you don't want the outfit to be ruined. Luke and I also went through 2 outfits today as well.


Our 1st family holiday photo!


Daddy and his little turkey

2nd Dr's. Visit + Cowboy Outfit= Large Child

Ladies and Gentlemen- We have a fat kid! Gage went to the dr. today for the 2nd time. He was very uncomfortable after feedings and had recently begun to throw up and spit up more often. They thought he might have acid reflux and I didn't want to wait and see and risk something getting worse over the holiday. However, it turns out the problem is, Gage is eating too much and I am what is considered an 'over producer'. He is supposed to be getting about 3-4oz. per feeding, which is about 10 mins. per side. However, I am producing that in about 5 minutes and Gage is not regulating himself and doesn't know when his little belly is full. We are on a trial and error basis to find the right amt. of food for him to see if we can satisfy him, yet not over feed him. Of course, the whole reason they figured this might be the problem is because last week at the dr. he weighed in at 7lbs. 10oz., his orignal birth weight and today he was 8lbs. 9oz., a whole fricking lb. more than last week! In 7 days, he has gained 15oz! Crazy! So for now, we pump and we wait and we don't allow him to eat to his pleasure and we cross our fingers that we figure out something that works and satisfies all of us.

Since Gage is such a fatty and will be out of his newborn clothes soon, we have to in the next couple of days dress him in all of the clothes he has not worn that he will soon outgrow. Our friend Jessica bought him a cowboy outfit and it is quite amusing, although quite over the top as well. See what you think.

Where's the instruction manual?

Babies...don't they come with some sort of manual to tell you how much of something they should or should not be doing and how best to be a parent? Trust me, I have been reading all of my books and doing lots of Internet searching only to figure out that I think I have to figure it out for myself.

Today Gage has been eating much better(he slowed for the last 2 days), however now he is vomiting up everything he is eating. I was so proud he was a good eater again until he literally vomited up EVERYTHING he had eaten all day and it was this fabulous yellowish color. He got another bath to get the puke smell to go away and then did it all over again at the next feeding, although on a smaller scale since he didn't have much in his tummy. We are now on feeding 3 since the puke and so far so good.

Last night was Gage's 1st night in his cradle and at 1st he wasn't buying it. He had been sleeping in his comfy hammock on the pack and play and this was just too flat for his liking, although it is much better for him. We figured out that although we didn't think we needed to swaddle him (since his hammock does that nicely), that this was the only way he was going to sleep in the cradle. It was just much too big for him and he was flailing all about. I think babies look so pitiful as Glo-worms but that was his fate and he slept for almost 3 hours at at time. We'll see how tonight goes.

What a week!

Well as you can tell, I was half right and half wrong, I suppose about my Friday the 13th prediction. I updated this blog one hour and ten minutes before my water broke ON Friday the 13th! Although we didn't make it to the hospital until midnight, November 14th, I was right that something would happen on Friday the 13th. Oh well, probably better he not be born on Friday the 13th anyway due to superstition.

So my labor wasn't as long as they had suggested and as most 1st labors are. I won't go into detail but really start to finish it was only about 8 hours and Saturday morning after 2 hours of pushing, I delivered the most beautiful perfect baby boy at 905am. He was 7lbs, 10oz, exactly as the nurse predicted. I guessed 7.14 and Luke 7.8. Anyway, Gage Paxton was perfect in every way and is truly a blessing to Luke and I. We left the hospital Monday and overall it was a good experience. Not the one that some had preached about Prince William, but definitely not bad.

Monday, Gage had his 1st visitors...Grandma and Granddiddy Satterfield came to visit. They helped out alot and brought us food and did a little cleaning. Wednesday, the 18th we went to GAge's 1st dr's appt. and he was already back up to his birth weight! Amazing, the dr. said sometimes it takes 2 weeks. However, Gage was eating like a champ so I'm sure that had something to do with it. Either way we got a good report and will go back to the dr. the beginning of December.

LIfe has been crazy, overwhelming, tiring and wonderful as we have taken residence up in the living room where we each sleep on either side of Gage and watch him sleep in his Pack n' Play. Last night was a little better but of course we have not acclimated to getting so few hours of sleep and every noise makes us jump up to make sure he is ok. Today he has slept for hours so I am sure we are in for a fun night! Although, he has slept alot today and has acted normally otherwise, he has decided in the last 2 days that he only wants to eat for about 10 mins. at a time. He is not eating anymore frequently, just for less. Not sure if he is satisfied but he is not crying excessively or seeming to want more, so I guess we'll just play it by ear to see how things go.

I have posted a few pictures but Facebook and Snapfish are the way to go if you want to see more. Grandma and Granddiddy come to visit again for Thanksgiving and Gage has a 1st turkey day outfit that I will post a picture of when he wears it.

Until next week...

Friday the 13th...

Well Friday the 13th has officially come and gone and as I had wrongly predicted, there is no baby. Ah well, I slept better last night so maybe right now that should be my focus, since so many say I'll never sleep again....

I ran some errands today and Ace got a bath and a haircut (which he was not too thrilled about). This weekend won't bring anything interesting except the token Saturday filled with football. Took my computer in today, cross your fingers they're able to get some of the data off. Other than that, nothing to report. Check back in about a week if I'm boring you. At least I'll have another dr's appt. to report on.

Still Counting...and now not sleeping

Well, I was officially wrong. Went to the dr. this am and there is no change from last week ....which really means nothing at all, since some people go from zero to 10 in less than 24 hours and others take weeks. I just hope he decides to come within the next 13 days, but you can't rush these things so I will leave it up to him. (I know, I know, who am I trying to convince?) Anyway, the dr. I saw today is on call Friday so I told him I'd see him then, he said he hoped so... I did lose 2 lbs this week which is what happened to a friend of mine right before she went in to labor, so I will bet on that one.

The good news is, (or not so good) is that my computer crashed last week and all of my grad school work from the last few weeks is gone, but at this point I'm not doing it over. I have other, greater things in my life to worry about. Thank God I got my 20 page paper turned in before it died. I knew it was going to happen... a few weeks ago it was acting funny and Luke claimed he fixed it. I should've been backing up EVERYTHING, but that's not something I would think of doing with a less than a year old computer that shouldn't crash at any minute.

The other good news is that I am now not sleeping either. Everyone told me it was hard at the end but I had been doing fine up until about Sunday. Ah well, I'll live, not like I have to go to work anyway...speaking of work, if GPI doesn't get here soon, all of my sick leave will be sucked away!

Hopefully the next time you read this, there will be pictures of the little guy to post. Here's to Friday the 13th!

40 weeks and counting...

Week 40

If you checked in today, you would've seen that my baby widget said my baby was one day old. FALSE! ha...I was actually interested in what it would say past the due date. Earlier, it said it was go time, which obviously it was not. You would think they would make those a little more accurate, huh, since virtually noone has their baby exactly when they are supposed to! In any case, I go to my 40+ week appt. in the morning and my prediction is 3 cm, 80% effaced....I will also have to see who is on call Friday so I will know who will deliver my baby.;)

To be Continued...

Only 2 more days to go...(or so they say)

I said my good byes on Friday in hopes that I wouldn't be back for my promised half day tomorrow. But since my sub doesn't start until Thursday and I haven't had this baby yet, I'm guessing I'll be there tomorrow for the 2nd half of the day. After that, I will be patiently, or anxiously, awaiting the arrival of my baby! Today we'll have lunch and watch football with Jamie, Brad and Jacob in my last hurrah before our lives change forever. We also managed to sneak in one last movie last night before we can't go to one of those for a while either. We saw Paranormal Activity but it wasn't scary enough to make me go into labor. I don't know why I keep thinking at any second I'm going to burst. I am still convinced I will have this baby on Friday the 13th, so I have another week of getting things together around here and maybe I'll even start the slew of Thank You notes I need to write.

We got a few more gifts Friday, which was nice. A few people from work gave me some things and Summer sent me the cutest homemade moccasins! We still have a few things to take back so I might get to Target this week....or I'm sure we'll eventually need to go on a diaper/wipe, etc. run, so either way they'll get taken care of.

5th period party

My kids were so sweet today. My 5th period class threw me a little party complete with a cake and presents and everything. I knew they were planning something but I figured some sweet treats would be the extent. But I received a gift card, 2 outfits and some lotion and body spray. I will be sad to leave my class for a while, but I can't wait to meet baby G!

Belly Shots/Halloween 2009

Here are a few pictures of my HUGE belly at Week 38/39!

Jasper and Ace were so excited to dress up for Halloween! However, Ace rocked the vampire costume much better than Jasper.

And here is our super cute neighbor, Evie!

One week to go....

Week 39

Had my 39th week appointment today and not much has changed since last week. I was hopeful but people kept telling me this was probably the case. People also keep telling me how HUGE I am and ask me when I'm going to have this baby. I have to say, sometimes I forget I am even pregnant. I am really feeling great and have nothing to complain about and if he wants to stick around another 3 weeks then so be it. He will need the time and I have faith he will come when he is ready.

My last day at work is Friday which is pretty sweet, even if I am sitting around waiting for him to show up.

So I finally succumbed to the H1N1 vaccine. After weeks of research, Luke and I pray we made the right decision for me and Baby GPI. I guess time will tell. I do feel good knowing that he might be protected for the 1st 6 months of life because I am still carrying him. So the waiting game begins I guess. I have 6 more days until I am 40 weeks and then 20 days before induction if he doesn't get here before that.

It has finally come to this....

All of those thousands of things that everyone told me would happen during pregnancy never did. I have to say compared to horror stories I've heard, that I've had one of the easiest pregnancies ever and I have to be thankful for that. However, just in the last 24 hours, some of those things have finally surfaced. I FINALLY had to part with my rings today, they no longer fit...for some reason in the last day I have started to swell and retain water. Now, don't get me wrong, I can't complain when some can't wear their rings after only 4-5 months. I think I can live without mine for 10 days. I have gained 4lbs. since Wednesday in water weight as well and I am EXHAUSTED. Only a few more days to hold out. 23 at the most. ( I am being induced on the 24th if he's not here before then) However, I have complete faith that he will come in his own time and be here before he is forced. Only 5.5 more days of work, wish me well.

Happy Halloween!

I was hoping I might have a Halloween baby so that we could have a costume party every year for his birthday. But no luck! Oh well, maybe he wouldn't like having his birthday on a holiday anyway. So this year, we are being kind of lame, since there are no Halloween parties and I'm really starting to wind down. My parents are coming and we'll hand out candy tonight to all the cute neighborhood kids. They are calling for rain, it's beautiful right now, I hope for the kids' sake it will hold off. Baby GPI continues to do somersaults in my belly and I think sometimes he's looking for a way out. We shall see what transpires over the next week. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Only 2 more weeks to go!!

Week 38

I meant to begin updating this blog 2 weeks ago when I only had a month left. But who knows, at this point, I might still have a month left! Not much to report other than pictures of the nursery and Baby GPI's first concert- KISS. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of that, but he did get to go when he was just -4 weeks old. Currently I am 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced, which pretty much means nothing at this point. I am still guessing I have about 2.5 weeks left. The doctor says about 3. Check out the pictures, we LOVE the way the nursery turned out!