Lots to Catch Up On...

Thursday in the Outer Banks was WAY worse than we could have imagined. In 28 years, I have never felt it SO hot and the heat index was well over 110. We went to the beach for about a half hour early in the am before it was just unbearable. Jake HATED the beach and Gage seemed apathetic about it the whole time. He seemed he wasn't feeling too well and was a bit cranky. We didn't even get back outside 'til around 6pm....when the heat index was still over 100. The air was so humid it slapped you in the face when you walked out the door. However, the boys didn't seem to mind and had some fun playing in the pool together.




On Friday, Jamie and I actually got a few minutes of alone beach time while the boys napped. It was a moment I thought wouldn't be in my future for quite a while. Unfortunately, later on that evening, Gage came down with a fever and seemed to be pulling at his ear quite a bit. This might be why he hadn't slept through the night for 3 nights...I thought it was the change of scenery. We still planned to go home that night, so we gave him so Tylenol and loaded up the car. This time Jamie and I hit the jackpot. It only took us 4.5 hours to get home and the boys slept the WHOLE way! It was awesome. Here are a few other pictures from our week at the beach.

Look at the belly on this kid!


Gage and Grandma

Whatchu lookin' at?

Gage as a shark


Fast forward to Friday after midnight when we made it home. This was the only night this week that Gage slept through the night, car and everything. Since then, I have had quite the cranky baby on my hands. Saturday morning Luke took him to the dr. and we expected to hear he had an ear infection and to get an antibiotic. However, the doc looked at his ears and said all was well and to bring him back if his fever continued after Sun. He had a fever on and off all weekend and has been acting just about close to awful! I feel bad for the little guy b/c I know that he doesn't feel good but it's my 1st week back at grad school and it's hard to deal w/ sleepless nights again.
So he is feverish, pulling on his ear, has a bad diaper rash and seems to have bad gas to go with it. He crapped on himself tonight and is just generally unhappy! I want my perfect baby back! I know it's not his fault and that he doesn't feel well, I just think it'll take quite a while to get him back on schedule after travel and being sick. Ah well, every baby is entitled to a bad spell, right?

Here is a final picture of Gage and his Daddy and here's hoping that my baby will feel better soon.


By the way, this post was supposed to be much better. As we vacationed at the beach, I kept thinking of good and funny things to write, but after it was all said and done, what I'm left with is pretty boring. Oh well......it's the pictures that people care about, right?

Some baby...

To quote Charlotte's Web and the guy in front of me at Target yesterday, "That is some baby!". What exactly does 'some baby' mean? I just smiled and kinda awkwardly laughed.
I guess I just didn't know what else to do....suggestions anyone?

Last night we left for the OBX to see Grandma and Grandiddy and get some beach time. We brought along Jamie and Jake...this is Jake's 1st time at the beach. Unfortunately last night's 5 hour car ride was quite the doozy and the boys were up 'til 1am. Today was a combo of catching up on sleep and whiney babies AND a heat index of 105. No beach for us today, just a little pool time...will post pictures when I'm back on the computer again. More beach tomorrow and maybe some shopping or a Cap'n Frank's hotdog!

Happy Father's Day!

Although Luke hardly reads this blog, I had to change the background in order to honor him for his 1st Father's Day. Today it's almost too hot to do anything outside, but yesterday we were able to get to the pool as a family and go out to eat before the Father's Day rush. Gage was a little grumpy yesterday morning but as soon as we got to the pool, he was in heaven. He loved playing in his new raft but most of all loved to play in the fountains. This time, he had no interest in just putting his hands in them....he wanted to sit on top of them and let the water splash up in his face. He also thought he was pretty darn cute in his sun shades.

Blog Award!!

Before I even post tonight, I am so stoked to have recieved a blog award from Jennifer at More than a MOMMY. I am fairly new to the blogging world and want to get more involved. This made me feel sooo special, thanks Jennifer! By the way, you need to visit her blog, she is hilarious! Anyway, she awarded me with the Beautiful Blog Award and I must pass it on to 7 people, so here goes.


My winners are for their variations of beauty:

Kerri at Party of Five
Casey at All Because Two People Fell in Love
Natalie at Pics and Kicks (this one will really pull at your heartstrings)
Bonnie at Our Crazy Life
Mandy at Twice Blessed
Brittany at Hairy Babies
Laura at Life...

Please check out their blogs. They are all entertaining to read and fun to look at!

No teeth.....

To comment on last Tuesday's post, my baby must not have been teething...there are no physical signs yet. BUT only 5 more days 'til I get to spend 10 weeks w/ my #1 man!

7 months!

This is my 1st letter to my little man and I wish I would've thought of it sooner. I think it will be neat in the future to look back month to month to see where our little guy is at. We have a baby book, but this goes into far more detail. Here goes it...

Dear Gage,

It has been 7 months since our lives changed forever for the better. I dreamt about you for so long and now cannot imagine our lives without you. You bring us more joy than you'll ever know. You are constantly changing and growing and it's such a fun time right now. For the next 10 weeks, it's just you and I, babe. We get to hang out every day and I get to watch you grow bigger, laugh louder and discover the world around you. This summer you'll get to go to the beach, the pool, the aquarium and the zoo. Mommy will hug and squeeze you until you are ready for fall and are excited to go to a new daycare.
Right now you are trying to crawl and have not yet gotten any teeth, although it seems they might show up sooner than later. You are eating 2 solid meals of food a day, although you still prefer fruit and are sometimes a picky eater. It won't be long before Mommy will try to introduce a sippy cup and next month, we hope you'll be eating Cheerios and puffs! YOu are such a busy body and are constantly checking out the world around you. Sometimes you can't even eat for looking around. You have recently become scared of your jack in the box and cry when it pops out. You like tummy time but get frustrated b/c you can't reach a toy a few feet in front of you. You know though, how to get it. You just whine a little, stick out your arms like you're flying and Mommy or Daddy are right there by your side. You are still the most well behaved baby in all the land and people tell us all the time how jealous they are that you are so sweet and mild mannered and that you sleep through the night EVERY night. You LOVE music and if you are ever in a bad mood, Mommy just has to sing one of your favorite songs and you're smiling in no time. Certain sounds make you crack up and you almost fit into your 9 month clothes! You are beginning to babble and like playing peekaboo. The list goes on and on and there is way to much to name.
We just know that you are by far the best thing that has ever happened to us and I love to stare at you and know that you belong to me. You make me so proud already and I just want to hug and kiss you constantly. I want to be with you all the time and go crazy when I'm not. We love you, stink, more than you'll ever know.

Happy 7 months!
Love, Momma

Gage w/ his Asian Auntie

Best picture EVER!

Yes, I know the tape is tacky and I should've found something clearer. I wanted a label, but hey, we made it happen and the picture if perfect. Gage is smiling and so is his Asian Auntie!

2028...

is the year my baby boy will graduate from high school. I guess I am being presumptuous by saying this, being that I have no idea what the future holds in store for us.

Some of you may wonder why on Earth I would even think about this, but Friday night as I sat at our high school's graduation and watched parents and family members beaming with pride, I couldn't help but wonder what I'll be feeling in 18 years. As a teacher now seeing these kids mature and blossom over just 4 short years, I can't imagine watching my own son grow up and become a young man. I tried to imagine into what group he would be categorized someday. A slacker. A nerd. An athlete. A skater. A jock. A player. A ladies' man. A class clown. A kid every teacher loves to hate. I've seen them all and they all play a very important role in high school life. I'm comfortable with his falling into any of these, as long as he's happy and healthy. I know I am getting way too far ahead of myself here and again am not even sure what tommorow brings, but every Momma is allowed to dream of her baby boy's future, right?

My Big Boy!

Now, I am not one for mushy things and often roll my eyes when I hear mothers talk about tearing up as they pack away their baby's newborn clothes and cry as their little babies are growing up, but I guess I'm now officially one of those Moms.
Because I primarily breastfeed my baby and he doesn't get any bottles outside of day care and the occasional one from Dad, I assumed that he would not acquire the skill of holding his bottle. I mean he only gets bottles like 30% of the time! Well I left day care this afternoon and he had already started on a bottle, so I finished it up when I got home and to my surprise, he grabbed onto the bottle with both hands, positioned it where he wanted it and sucked it down. OMG, I had no idea he was capable of this! I grabbed the camera and got it on video and it was then...that I felt myself tearing up...thinking my little boy is growing up. Now mind, you it was only for a second or two and I won't even post the video, b/c everyone's seen a baby hold a bottle....BUT nevertheless, I am so PROUD of my big boy! Have a good weekend

1st bad report card...

Today my 7 month old son got his 1st bad report card ever. ha. As you all know, our son is just about perfect and rarely fussy or cranky. However, in recent weeks we have had a few bad days here and there. Even on Mondays, when he seems to be his most tired and crankiest, the babysitter has always reported he was fine with her, playing as usual and in a good mood. Some days when he is in one of his moods, I often doubt her, but then think if he's only fussy for us, then it's probably a good thing.

Today, however, when I went to pick him up, the babysitter said "I don't know what his problem is, but he has been cranky all day." She said no matter what she did with him or where she put him, he would fuss. Finally...ha! She saw the fussy side of my baby! She said she thinks he's teething. She has 3 kids so I might believe she has more of a clue than I. I had not mentioned I thought the same thing and was wondering if she would mention it.....so maybe, MAYBE that means, we might have some teeth sometime soon! Not sure why I'm so excited about this considering I'm still breastfeeding....

Only 2 more weeks....

'til I get to be home with my little man 24/7 for 10 weeks! We don't have much planned for the summer other than a few trips to Grandma and Grandiddy's beach house and hopefully a day or two at the park or zoo. I'm sure we can come up with some way to fill our endless hours *sigh*:)

Well in a week our little man will be another month old...my how the time flies. He wore his very 1st 9 mo. outfit today and btw, if any parents are reading this since I constantly need a reminder of these things, Circo runs kinda small and the 9 mo. pair of shorts he had on today are probably more like 6 mo. I'll have to remember to mark them as so when I pack them away. Today we had a few friends over for a cookout and although Gage had the most appropriate shirt for a day with Daddy, I forgot to take any pictures of the 2 of them because he was so cranky. Here are a few though of him showing off his shirt and when all else failed, me singing "The Wheels on the Bus" to him b/c that's the only thing that would soothe his fussiness today.





So yesterday, as I have done many times before SWORE that Gage was teething. This time I think it's for real. He used to drool, but now you can actually see a puddle forming in his bottom lip before it runs down his face or his chin. He hasn't eaten well in the last few days. He is biting everything he can get his hands on and not in the same way as before but more in a way that he is trying to gnaw it apart. (see Exhibit A) Yesterday he bit his finger for so long that it was swollen when he took it out of his mouth. Finally, the most significant difference is his temperament. As I have said over fifty times, we REALLY do have the most laid back baby in the world and he is NEVER cranky. Yesterday I took him to the pool and he wasn't happy, he hardly napped, he hardly ate and this continued for most of the afternoon. He was asleep before 7pm and he got up about 2 hours early today. Although he napped better today and had a period of about 1.5 hours that he was enjoying company, all of the same things were true today as yesterday. Finally, singing to him was the only way to soothe him. Tonight he was asleep before 630pm....does teething make a baby tired too? (See Exhibit B.) Or maybe pain just makes you want to sleep? who knows? I just know that if he's not teething, then something else is going on, or our worst nightmare is coming true and we no longer have the most perfect baby in the world.

Also, in a moment of peace last night, Gage cuddled Mr. Foot as we read before bed.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B


Finally, my new favorite picture of the week!

and this is what Gage thinks of jarred meat....

Btw, for all of you who have cute signatures at the end of your blogs....any easy way to do this? I've been trying to figure it out w/ no luck. I haven't had too much time to play and must finish up my portfolio before I waste any more time, but I promise, I will figure it out this summer.

Exhausted...

Whew...I am worn.out. I think that the bigger Gage gets and the more he eats, the more tired I get! I really need to make sure I'm eating enough to sustain both of us. Not much is new with us over the last few days other than it seems Gage is on a hunger strike of solid foods. He rarely eats breakfast for the sitter and only eats half his dinner. Of course, that might be my fault when I try to make him eat green beans, that he has clearly hated from the get go. Green beans is the only thing he gagged on from the start, but now it seems he has an aversion to bananas as well. He has become quite the picky eater....but I don't want to only feed him what he likes. I mean he's got to eat some greens at some point and can't eat ONLY fruit forever. We also tried turkey last night (which the dr. pretty much promised he would hate). She was right. He gagged on that too, so Mommy decided today to mix green beans and turkey....ha, he got 2 bites down. At this point I guess I just need to make sure he eats something, rather than nothing. In a few short weeks I'll be at home all the time and will have a better grasp at what he will/won't eat in the am.

Yesterday we decided to go for a walk to get some exercise. We waited until 5pm so it wouldn't be so hot, but as soon as we got half way around the block, I realized even that late, it was still SO HOT. We came home and because it was so close to dinner time, decided we would take a swim on the back deck instead of going to the pool. Mommy thought quickly, grabbed the blowup bathtub, filled it up w/ water and Gage got his swim trunks on. He played in the sun in his bathtub and thought it to be wonderful! He didn't know the difference and was just enjoying the weather. I think this weekend I'm going to buy a small baby pool so I don't have to bring the bathtub out. Anyway, Gage enjoyed it so much last night that we gave him a bath outside tonight! Nothing like a naked baby on the deck! hah....noone noticed or cared, but Gage loved the water (as always) and the sun. We're going to try to get back to the real pool soon!