Home at Last....and maybe w/ Strep!

Austin was a good time with lots of family that we haven't/won't see in quite a while. Although it was a little hectic traveling 2 full days and only being there 2 days, Gage enjoyed meeting his cousins, aunts, uncles and great grandma. It was definitely a trip that should've been taken.
We cooked out at Grandma and Grandpa's Sunday and went for a walk and to a old historical TX town for dinner on Monday. We took lots of pictures with everyone and wish we could've stayed longer.

We stayed with Luke's brother b/c Great Grandma Lenz and Aunt Shirley and Uncle Mike were in town staying with Luke's parents. We didn't want to get a hotel since it seemed we were already paying quite a bit to go visit for such a short amount of time. Uncle Mark's was our alternative and the family was quite helpful, all pitching in to make sure we and Gage had somewhere to sleep. Gage only got 1 night of good sleep while there AND to make things worse Madison and Mark were both diagnosed with strep while we were there! Attempting to be proactive and still wanting to enjoy a nice weekend at the beach, I already called the pediatrician to see what signs we could look for in a little guy for strep. She said it was highly unlikely that he would get it and that we were at greater risk....good for Gage, bad for Mommy and Daddy. Pictures will be downloaded and posted tomorrow. Time for bed....5am will come early and Gage has only slept an hour tonight since he's still thrown off from traveling. Again, a meltdown here is far better than one on the plane.

Austin safe and sound....

So yesterday was an all day travel event....some things I learned along the way...
1). Although Southwest is nice to fly w/ for a variety of reasons they don't communicate well with each other resulting in my kid having a spot on the plane but without me so I had to go all the way back to check-in to be allowed on the plane
2). Southwest is really cool when u have a baby and gave us a row to ourselves on both planes
3). Gage is the best baby in the world and SO laid back....never fussed once on the plane although he had tons of little baby friends that weren't so cordial
4). A complete blowout sucks when traveling but would suck worse on the plane than in the airport
5). Glad there are still nice people in the world who offer to help when ur kid has pooped everywhere and is getting a sponge bath in the Tampa airport or when the Austin airport doesn't have adequate changing areas and your kids feet are in the sink
6). The Austin airport is awesome when traveling w/ a kid....our bags beat us to the claim
7). Gage is the best baby in the world and was great traveling; although a midnight meltdoWn was planned.
Because he only got 8 hours of sleep last night, Gage needs some sleep, more to come on spending time w/ the family.
Thanks for being perfect, little guy!

ISO baby swim trunks....

Gage was signed up for his 1st swim class yesterday that starts 3 days after he turns 6 months old! However, I dug out all his swim trunks that he's accumulated and b/c everyone told me that your kids is always bigger than he is old, we only have 9 month-12 month swim trunks. As of right now, these don't fit him at all. We tried on the cute lobster ones I bought him last summer that are supposedly 6-12 mos. and they are down past his feet....so much for our short legged child. He looks like he has redneck pajama pants on. The whale ones Grandma Sandy sent us are too big as well. I'll have to make a trip to Kohl's or Old Navy sometime in the next few weeks...Target doesn't seem to sell any that are small enough. Most of what I have seen are 9 mos. and up. I think I want to get him in the pool at least once before the class to get him acclimated. Here's to another week...only 9 more and 60 some odd days. At least Gage only has to go to daycare 4 days this week and 3 the next! More to come on the preparation for TX....

Boo on Grad School

I only got to see my sweet baby for an hour and a half tonight before he fell asleep b/c of silly ole grad school. At least, I only have one month left before I graduate! Yippee! Gage ate well tonight and he seems to like the squash the best from what we've tried, or maybe he is just getting to be a better eater...only time will tell. T minus 7 days 'til Austin and alot to prepare for, wish us luck! P.S. Gage is starting to belly laugh and it's the greatest sound ever!

Happy Birthday Grandpa It!

5 months old!

Five months old is pretty close to 6 months old, which is a whole half a year! OMG! I cannot believe my little guy is growing up! Meanwhile, work is crazy and I have no time to breathe. It's really been hard for me to get to work later since I have to drop Gage off at daycare and leave earlier (b/c I don't want to leave him there) AND get everything I need to done. Hopefully, as all things do, this too will pass, but right now, it's nuts!

This weekend, unfortunately, I have grad school too (only 6 more classes total) so I won't get to spend my Sat. w/ him. Luckily he will have Daddy time and I think it's supposed to be pretty nice outside so hopefully they can get outside. We have had zero time for walks this week b/c I've gotten home so late. This week has been busy busy, but not much to comment on. Gage likes carrots better than green beans and has eaten alright at night. He is now taking one 6oz. bottle a day b/c he is a little piggy! Grandma Penny sent him some new clothes today for his trip to TX! Thanks Grandma!
Gage has started waking up again some during the night and can't keep his hands out of his mouth, even while eating! Is he teething?? And I read he could do this for months before we see any?? So how do we know?? Is 'chewing cud' a sign of teething, b/c we know for sure he is if that's the case.....I gotta get it on video, it's hysterical!

Here are a few of our recent pics.




PS. Look how much hair he's growing?!?!

Things are about to get crazy....

After having a wonderful Easter weekend, we had a pretty quick work week. I had off on Monday and Luke, today, so Gage only had to go to daycare 3 days this week (gotta love that!). It would probably be more beneficial to him to be able to have the same schedule every day, but I admit, I am stingy and would rather he be home w/ us. Anyway, my day off w/ Gage consisted of not much more than a trip to Target. Gage was extra cranky this week due to having to be drug out of bed before 6am every am and barely would eat dinner every night b/c of it but by the end of the week we had adjusted. It was a HOT week, breaking records of over 90 degrees so we didn't get to get outside unfortunately!
Gage took his 1st bath in his big boy inflatable ducky bathtub. He was getting too long for his infant tub but wasn't quite ready for the big tub so we had to compromise. I figured he is still learning to sit up so we could practice in this and if he slipped, he would bump his head on a raft and just bounce off. We sat him in the duck before the bath and he seemed to think it was pretty cool, yet once in the water, he wasn't so sure anymore....anyway, he got clean and that was what mattered most.
Gage did have another 1st this week...he ate green beans AND HATED every min. of it. The look on his face last night when he tasted them for the 1st time was quite amusing. We only gave him a taste last night so we tried to get him to finish the rest of the container tonight. Luke managed to sneak it in after succcessful bites of cereal. Each time, though, Gage wasn't fooled and made the same disgusted face...he spit them out once or twice and even gagged....I think he eventually got down 1-2 spoonfuls. Oh well...it was a good 1st effort and he has to endure them yet another night tomorrow. He is becoming quite the good eater though and I'm sure will find a veggie he prefers. NOt sure if these pictures capture the faces, but you can see he's not happy.


Notice how much hair he grew over the last week!

Bedtime is getting better and 2 nights this week he didn't even cry when we put him down he was so exhausted (althought tonight was not one of those nights!)

Things are about to get out of control. Gage will be just 5 months next week and we have always known him to be such a good sport and well behaved about everything, so we are quickly about to find out how adaptable he really is. After I have grad school next weekend, we have 2 trips planned for the next 2 weekends, then Mother's Day and graduation and we are at the middle of May. Gage will be taking his 1st plane trip in 2 weeks...and then 3 days later we go for another trip...oh my, wish us luck.
Finally, we cherish every moment we have w/ him and I am sad when I don't get home early and can only spend 3 hours w/ him at night. We are so blessed to have him and are thankful in every moment. They say kids change your life forever, but until you have one, you have no idea.

Happy Easter!

Well the adventures in Chesapeake ended w/ breakfast at Summer's house and a nap in Grandma's arms. Then we had a LONG ride home w/ lots of traffic on 95. We made it though and Daddy was sooo happy to see us. We were excited to show him how much hair Gage had grown in only 4 days and what a good eater he had become! Daddy rushed out to buy us real veggies to try this week. We'll keep you posted on that situation!

Gage looked very handsome in his Easter outfit and we got tons of sweet pictures from today. We didn't do much other than go to church (where Gage was of course the best baby ever) but it was nice to spend some family time together. We did take a walk while Daddy mowed the lawn but it was pretty hot so we didn't go too far. Both Grandma Sandy and Grandma Penny made Gage Easter baskets (see pictures) and the Easter Bunny left Gage the froggy basket and the bopping penguin.



This is Gage with a bunny Grandma Penny bought him and a chick Grandma Sandy sent him. As you can see, he is fond of both.



This is the basket and penguin mentioned above.




Here is the sweetest picture that I snagged today of Gage and his Daddy hanging out. Gage thinks he is the greatest!


Finally, all the Easter fun wore Gage out- this was him at the end of the day still trying to play but barely hanging on.



Here's a picture I took w/ my phone while on our walk, so it's probably pretty blurry...but still cute.

Gage and Summer

April Fool's Day

Look who completely forgot about April Fool's Day. It's not like me to forget a holiday of any kind! Oh well, I guess noone got fooled. I could've told Paul tonight at dinner we were expecting again, that might have been funny....considering he's been the brunt of our April Fools' jokes for the last 16 years....eh. Until next year...

More adventures in Chesapeake....

After a long day yesterday and having trouble falling asleep, once he did, Gage slept fairly well for being in a new place/room. This am he only napped for an hour while I ran out to Target to get his Easter gift. Then we went to visit his Auntie and of course I didn't put his "My Auntie is the Best" shirt on him this am for fear he might poop on it. So sure enough, as soon as we got dressed to go to Auntie's he puked all over it. Oh well....she loved it and she loved him and it was nice he got to visit w/ her. I think she loved to hold him, kiss him and rock him to sleep.(A sleep I add that only lasted a short half hour). We then went for a walk and had dinner w/ Paul. Gage did a little better w/ his cereal tonight but was still almost too tired to eat. He cried between bites because he was so hungry but still wanted to eat it all the same. He almost finished a whole Tbsp. and I think by week's end he might. Then we will move on to the good stuff---veggies!


Hopefully tomorrow we will meet Bonnie and Summer and maybe Grandma's coworkers. Whew...traveling is exhausting!