Outer Banks 2010

Wow...where do I even begin?  This will probably be my last post for a month.  We were soo looking forward to this vacation, the weather was going to be beautiful and we needed a break.  Needless to say, we had a wonderful time, the weather was gorgeous, but vacations are not the same w/ a baby.  ha...However, Luke and I did get to enjoy a few nights/afternoons out alone thanks to Gage hanging with Grandma so we can't complain.  It was nice to end the summer with quality family time.

Also a few weeks back, Gage was supposed to have 9 month portraits taken, but he had the sniffles. Mind you, this is the 2nd time Gage has been sick when we were supposed to have pictures.  Last time we quickly rescheduled. This time, however, we were leaving for the beach, then had a few full weekends, etc., so we improvised and did our own 9 month photo shoot at the beach.  We have "10 month" pictures the middle of September.  Below are highlights of our beach trip and photo shoot!

Except there are no pictures. Between last night and tonight I spent over 2 hours adding pictures to this post and either my computer is a POS or this new picture editor of Blogger is not all it's cracked up to be. So many people say how easy it is, well, it's not for me. I have had trouble every time I attempt to add more than one picture and it takes way longer than it should. Now, all of the pictures that took me hours to download are gone. They got corrupted somehow and I kept getting random letters added all over the place and when I would erase them they would keep coming back and screwing w/ the HTML. Also, not once have I ever been able to click on a picture and move it like you're supposed to be able to do AND never once after the initial picture is posted can I get back the sizing/caption bar. It's good that I'm taking a September break, because I would probably quitting blogging altogether right now b/c I'm so frustrated. I don't have time to spend hours on something that won't post. So....guess I might not even have pictures this month....I had over 20 to share...

One last August birthday!

Finally on the last day of August, Babygirl over at Life with the Ardies is celebrating her very 1st birthday!  Please head over and wish her a fine day!  Heather always has a variety of posts that are definitley worth following! Wow, September tomorrow, already??  Where has the time gone?  The kids head back to school in a week.

If you would like birthday wishes sent your way, just let me know when the special day is and I'll set up a link to your festivities!

Lots to catch up on...

I only have 3 more days before I will officially take my September break and I have so much to update on. Long ago, I promised I would post about swim lessons so I'll start there.

Gage took swim lessons for 4 weeks this summer. We were going to start earlier but when he was 6 months old we went to observe a class and I knew he was a little too young. However, I definitely wanted to get him in the water this summer and I'm glad I did. He had a blast. We went to the beach this past week and he wasn't scared of the water, I think this is in part due to going to swim lessons and being in the pool a few times a week. He isn't scared of water getting in his eyes or in his face. He still cries when he's dunked but I am planning to keep up w/ taking him to the pool this winter so that he will stay used to it. Luke got a few pictures the last class. He didn't feel well but was, as usual, a good sport. Overall, happy w/ the results. We will probably do swim lessons again, maybe next Winter.

Mommy giving Gage a pep talk.

Gage thought he was pretty cute in his life jacket. They only introduced these to the kids the last class just so they and we would know how to put them on properly.

Playing "Twinkle, Twinkle" to get the babies to float on their backs.

Gage constantly had his fingers in his mouth during every swim lesson. We finally figured out it is a nervous mannerism. He does it when he his uneasy about other things as well.

Fingers in the mouth again.

Gage loved it that Daddy came to every swim class.

Also, as promised, I would post a video of Gage 'dancing'. He has had this silly stuffed donkey since before he was born. A nice lady at my work bought it for him and it sings "Sugar Pie". It has always caught his attention, but lately, he has decided that he needs to get in on the donkey's dancing and this is his interpretation. I took a video w/ my cell phone and haven't been able to figure out how to download it to my computer (it's a Blackberry if anyone knows).  So I'll post this video instead.  It's not as good as the one on my phone and he starts to wave bye bye in the middle but you'll get the point anyway.

Finally, I promised I would post Gage's 9 month stats. Gage is a petite little thing weighing in at 18.5 lbs. He's in the 18th percentile for weight. He is 27.5 inches which is the 25th percentile for height. The doctor said he looked perfect and that by the next visit he should be bottle free and be able to cruise and that we should start to feed him more table food. He definitely got a taste of some new foods while we were at the beach. He is getting pretty damn accurate at feeding himself now, but sometimes still can't grasp slippy food, like watermelon or other fruits. That was about the gist of it. Beach vacation pictures to come....

Wordless Wednesday- 2 birthdays

Happy 6th Birthday to Big Cousin Ianna!

Happy 32nd Birthday to one of my very best friends, Malisa!

Right now...

I am more than likely sitting on the beach relaxin' in the beautiful weather, or chasing after Gage and trying to keep him from eating sand is more like it.  In any case, I'm pre posting this thinking that I might not have much desire to blog on vacation when I could be enjoying the nice weather, going fishing, reading a book, laying in a hammock, etc.  If I feel the need or if something blog worthy happens, I'll be in touch.

On Wednesday, there's a birthday post. 

See you guys Saturday.  Enjoy your week!

Busy Busy...

Tomorrow we are leaving on our much needed and anticipated one week's vacation in the Outer Banks with my parents. Luke and I will be able to go out to eat for our anniversary and maybe even catch a movie one night while my parents look after Gage.  Needless to say there's lots to do around here before we leave.  I do have 9 month stats from the dr. to update you on, and will try to do so later.  Today will also probably be our last pool day this summer and play date with Sawyer.  It is a beautiful day so we're going to take advantage. 
Also, yesterday's picture was taken 6 months ago when Gage was still a wee thing.  He started to lay like this when we would change his diaper, usually with both hands behind his head and it was too cute.  He even did it in the bath for a while and it looked as if he was saying 'Bathe me, Momma'.  It was one of our favorites and for Wordless Wednesday I like to go back through my old pics and dig out some forgotten photos.  Hope you enjoyed!

Wordless Wednesday- Relaxin'

Happy Anniversary!

To me!

Today I have been married to my wonderful husband, Luke, for 3 years!  It was a beautiful mid August day and we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather.  Although we got married in a church, it was a destination wedding of sorts at the beach I grew up at.  (The Outer Banks.)  In August, during hurricane season you never really want to plan for much outside so the reception was inside as well.  However, in between the two we did get some beautiful beach pictures.  Most of my pictures are framed or in our professional album so I don't have many of my favorites digital, but I was able to dig up a few.  Enjoy!

Although a little 'alternative' at the time, I still love my dress!

One of my favorite things about our wedding was the cake...it was even featured in the photographer's portfolio!

As far as our plans for a day, it's a Tuesday, c'mon.!  hah....actually we'll be in the Outer Banks next week and will enjoy a nice dinner and movie out while my parents watch Gage!

No new post...

That's right, I got nothing for you right now.  I have some things I want to post about before I leave for vacation but tonight I am tired.  Gage has had the sniffles, he gave them to us, then decided for the last 2 nights not to sleep through the night.  I had a dr.'s appt. early this am and had to drop Gage off at a friend's beforehand.  I. am. tired.  Posts on swim lessons and Gage's dancing to come...

NINE months..

Dear Gage,

Nine months ago, on November 14th at this time you were only a few hours old and we were watching a fball game with Daddy.  Wow....how the time flies.  (I think this is said in every letter to you, but it is true- babies grow up SO fast.)  The summer is winding down and we have one last beach vacation before Mommy has to go back to work and you have to start at daycare.  We think we have found a good one for you and hope that our choice is the one that suits you best.  It is SO hard to leave you this time though.  Last time we started daycare we only had to do without each other's company for 4 months...this time it's much longer.

You have been mobile now for a little more than a month and are still one arm army crawling.  It seems to get you where you want to go so you figure, why change it?  You are now starting to get up on your knees though, but just for a few seconds at a time. You haven't quite figured out how to get yourself up to a sitting position but you are experimenting in different ways and will figure it out soon.  You have recently taken up dancing to anything that resembles music and love any toy with buttons and music.  You like playing in your tunnel and your new favorite toys are your 'words' book and your telephone.

You get finger foods at every meal now and just in the last few days have figured out how to feed yourself about 80% of the time.  You L.O.V.E graham crackers and kick and squeal when you so much as see the box.  (We're getting a video of this soon b/c it's hysterical.)  You love yogurt and are starting to experiment with some new foods.  A few weeks ago you were eating SO much solid food that you weren't too excited about nursing anymore, but we have been rationing you and practicing more finger foods and it seems you are back to your old ways.  You still have no teeth but neither did I 'til I was 10 months.  I'm sure the doctor won't be worried yet.
 
You are beginning to learn to wave and usually wave your whole arm up and down when we say hi or bye.  You did wave bye bye to yourself the other day, although it might have been a fluke.  You reached for the cat the other day and said plain as day 'ccaat', but we call them kitty, so we know that was just by accident, although a pretty amazing one.  Your new obsession is outlets and cords, or anything else you aren't supposed to have. 

You LOATHE diaper changes now and won't lay on your back long enough for us to change you.  You whimper and cry and lately it's been a big mess.  (This is one of the 1st ongoing frustrations I have had with you.)  We have completed swim lessons and you love being in the water.  You weren't too thrilled about the 'scooping' part but you were a good sport.  We still hang out w/ Sawyer and his Mommy every week.

We aren't quite sure what you weigh right now, we'll have more to report after we see the dr. on Wednesday but you are wearing clothes made for exactly your size.  You do wear big boy PJ's now and have gotten a big boy car seat in time for the long trek to the beach next week.  Daddy and I bought you tons of new clothes last weekend but we are certain your legs will never be long enough to wear 12 month pants.  You are like your Daddy w/ your short legs.  After much deliberation we have decided you will probably be a lobster for Halloween.  You are going to be SOO cute.

As we head out of the summer and into the Fall, I try to be thankful for all of the time this summer that I have gotten to spend with you.  We have had so much fun and you are at such a fun age.  I will be sad to leave you at daycare but I know that it will be good for you to hang out with other kids your age.  You will be just about in the middle age range of your class and won't have to switch rooms until March of next year.  Every day when I kiss and snuggle with you, I try to drink it up and not take anything for granted.  We love you soo  much and are so lucky to have been blessed with such a special sweet boy.  (Will I still be saying this 13 years from now?)  ha...we will see.  I am sure that so much will happen in the next month with routine changes, etc.  For now, I will enjoy the last 2 weeks I have with you and cherish every moment.  We love you, Stink. 

Happy 9 months!
Love, Momma

Gage in his new La-z-Boy.

2 Birthdays today!

Today 2 of my blogging friends are celebrating special days in their household.  Go on over to More than a Mommy and wish one year old Ava a very Happy Birthday.  Jennifer's blog is hilarious and there seems to never be a dull moment in her household.

Also, Katelynn over at "The Kubeczka Family" is celebrating her 3rd birthday!  Jamie always has cute pictures to share and writes in a very conversational manner.

So, what are you waiting for?  Go say Happy Birthday and get a good read while you're at it.

Holy crap, Gage is also 9 months today!  Letter to follow...

9 months ago...

By the time I get done writing this post, it has been exactly 9 months to the second almost that I was sitting here in this very spot, doing EXACTLY what I'm doing now...blogging and watching football when my water broke.  Not only was it on the 13th of November, but FRIDAY the 13th as well.  In just 12 short hours, my  baby Gage Paxton will have been out of my belly for longer than he was in it.  It is so bittersweet.  He is getting SO big SO fast (he is even wearing BIG boy PJ's tonight) but I have been loving every second of being with him this summer.  I can't believe it is almost over and that he will be going to daycare very soon.  Until then, we have one more week at home and one week at the beach (glorious vacation). 

Two birthday posts tomorrow and a letter to my 9 month old son...

Birthday!

Hey ya'll!  This will hopefully be my 1st in a trillion birthday posts that I'm going to attempt to keep up with.  I am trying to wish all of my bloggers (and mostly their kids) Happy Birthday on their big day and post a link to their blog so you, too can share best wishes to them and check out their super cool blogs.

Today is little Layton's 3rd birthday over at Treasuring the Little Things.  Go over and wish him a happy birthday and check out their blog.  His Mom (Brittany) always has the cutest pictures of her two sweet little boys!

Ace: the stupid child

This is Ace.

Ace is stupid. Himalayans are supposed to be smart, but he is not. Not survival smart anyway, like a cat should be.

Exhibit A: Cats are quick. Cats move out of the way of large objects (such as couches) or can 'feel' danger. When we moved in, my husband and his friend were moving our couch from the bottom floor to our main level. This was a few weeks after we actually moved so the cats weren't locked up. Why would they need to be? It was only one piece being moved. Luke and Jeff actually lowered the couch on top of Ace. Ace is a cat, Ace should've moved. Our other cat, Jasper (and most cats) would NEVER have come close to getting a couch lowered on them. Ace let out a pitiful cry and if it hadn't been for the mesh layer under the couch he probably would've been Chinese food. I was terrified he was going to be unrecognizable, but they lifted the couch and out he ran. Yes, a couch was put on top of our cat and he didn't move.

Ace is stupid.

Exhibit B: We have a 'loft' so to speak from our 2nd floor to the ground level. We hadn't been in this house a week before Ace fell off. Not gracefully like a cat should, but flat on his back from 12 feet or so. About 2 weeks later, we woke up one morning to find a very disgruntled cat. We couldn't figure out why he was so angry- until we went downstairs. The 'chandelier' light fixture over our 'loft' was bent, blood was on the floor, one of Ace's toenails and one of his teeth were found. Yes, our cat has one less 'canine' feline tooth. We could only guess that he had fallen again, or worse, tried to jump to the kitchen over the stairwell.

 Ace is stupid.

Exhibit C: Because of Gage's mobility, we recently put up a baby gate at the top of our stairs to our basement. The cats' litter box is in the basement but the gate is only closed when Gage is up and about. If it is closed, we are right here to open it if the cats need to go down. Jasper just meows, we open it, he does his business and comes back. Ace usually just sits in front of it and I figure that means he needs to go down as well. Today I suppose he was tired of waiting and didn't bother to speak up meow. This is what I found (3 times today). The picture is unclear because it was taken with my cell phone the 3rd time Ace got stuck.

I wouldn't even help him this time because I had to get a picture and he was stupid enough to do it again...and again. You can't see the hole in which he is trying to get through but for this post's sake I measured it. It is 4.5" by 5". I am not sure how he even got is head and most of his body through.

Ace is stupid.

This is my Jasper cat. He is smart!

*In Ace's defense, he can do tricks, such as 'sit', 'shake', 'down', and 'roll over'.  However, he is no Jinxy cat.

Wordless Wednesday- Gage loves graham crackers

Think he could be a Nabisco spokesbaby?

Not Wordless...

I had to make two posts today since one of them was to be wordless...this one has a few.

I want to wish a Happy 31st birthday to Sarah, Sawyer's Mommy, today!  I don't have any pictures of her yet for my blog but I'm sure one is coming in the near future and since she's mentioned enough I have to give her a shout out!  Have a great day!

Random Summer Photos..

As promised, here are a few pictures I've taken in the last few weeks just for fun.

I was told after 6 months or so, babies aren't so cuddly anymore.  Well, mine is, he still falls asleep on me occasionally.  Because I thought this might be one of the last times, I made Luke take a picture.

Hey, that baby looks like me!

Gage's 1st trip to the park

Big Boy slide

This is my buddy, Sawyer!

Playin' in my super cool tent.  (Thanks,"Uncle" Jeff)

Cosco Scenera?

Does anyone own a Cosco Scenera convertible carseat?  I know, I know, most of you own Britax's, but I just haven't been impressed to spend that much money and plus this is for our 2nd car only.  One that Gage has ridden in about 20 times total in 9 months.  The Scenera is actually top rated on Consumer Reports so for it's $40, can't be too bad; however, I'm reading that the biggest complaints are it's uncomfortable and hard to install.  The uncomfortable thing isn't a big deal since again, he will  only be riding in it on an occasional basis, but just wondering if anyone can speak from personal experience. Thanks!

A lobster, a vampire, or a tiger?

What should Gage be for Halloween this year??  Yes, I know it is only August; however, August seems to be when you can get the best deals on Halloween costumes, so we are already looking.  Last week, we found the cutest lobster costume and we both knew that's what we wanted Gage to be.  However, the price tag wasn't exactly appealing.  BUT since it is his 1st Halloween we were willing to splurge a little.

Then when I went to Carter's the other day and saw how cute their costumes were and after finding out that with various discounts and coupons, I could get one for around $12, I reconsidered the splurging and thought the tiger would be just as cute, especially since the costumes are so well made and would definitely be warm.

Finally, today we were in Babies R Us and Luke fell in love with a baby vampire outfit.  I can't find the exact image, but you get the drift.  Ace, our cat, has a vampire Halloween costume from last year so Luke thinks it would go just perfectly.  I just didn't think it was very cute, the costume in this picture is much cuter.  Also, of course, coming from Babies R Us, it wasn't the cheapest either.

So anyone have a vote?  Which do you think is the cutest?  Have you already picked out your kids' Halloween costumes?

What is worthy of a post?

Doesn't look like I've written anything of substance this week, huh?  I'm sure some things have happened, in fact, that's why I haven't had the time to write....clearly, I have been doing other things!

While doing these other things, I keep thinking...I need to blog about this, or blog about that....and well  at the end of the day, I'm too damn tired most of the time.  I'll start with telling you what I've been up to and maybe I'll get inspired...

Every Thursday, Gage and I get together with Sawyer and his mom Sarah. This past week it was too hot to swim so we decided instead to hit up our local Carter's store (which I didn't know existed until this week) to buy some fall 'school' clothes.  I usually love Carter's clothes and get them from either Target or Kohl's.  I didn't know I had my very own Carter's store w/in a half hour of me.  Anyway, if you are a Carter's fan, you might want to look up where your local store is...their prices are lower than any of their other retailers (understandably so).  AND if you bought $40 worth of stuff, everything was 25% off.  I love me a good sale!  So needless to say, I bought Gage a few new outfits, mostly PJ's and Halloween gear and saved about $30 or so. (Their Halloween costumes are also on sale for a super low price right now, too.)  Luke was so impressed with my savings that he said we could go back tomorrow and buy some more stuff  to celebrate the tax free weekend in VA!  wahoo!  I can't believe I am buying 12M clothing, my little guy is not so little anymore:( and they don't have cute little one  pieces anymore, I actually have to buy little BOY clothes.

Yesterday, Gage hung out w/ Daddy while I worked for a day.  Being a special education teacher, there is always TONS to do at the beginning of the year and something else always pops up, so anything you can get done over the summer is worth taking the time to do.  I was somewhat productive b/c I was happy to know that Gage was home with Daddy.  However, being back at work reminded me of our looming decision to pick a day care and the fact that this time whereever we pick, we must commit to for 10 months.  We think we have settled on one, but of course it's like the 2nd most expensive place in the area....how fun!  Luckily, both Luke and I are making a little more than last year, so we should be able to swing it.

Finally, today, was one big disappointment!  I had blogged a week or so ago about our upcoming 1st birthday party for Gage's BFF Jake.  He turned one last week but his party was today at 3pm, or so I thought....
Originally, Jake's party had been scheduled for a different day and for one reason or another his parents changed it.  When they changed the date, they also changed the time; however, noone told me:(  I still had the original time written down and rearranged Gage's entire day based upon it.  We got there 2.5 hours late and everything was done.  The presents, the cake, the singing of Happy Birthday....we missed it all.  We got no pictures and Jake took a nap shortly after we got there....yeehaw!  Some birthday.  I guess in the end it didn't matter since my camera batteries were dead anyway, but it would've been nice to not have to get Gage up from a nap to go to a non existent birthday party.  Crazy to think that in exactly 14 weeks it will be the eve of Gage's 1st birthday, not to mention that in one week he will have been outside of my belly longer than in my belly.....my how time flies.  Since this post was random and boring, I'll post some new pictures soon.  Everyone loves new pictures!

Yesterday's picture...

was from exactly 4 months ago on Easter Sunday.  I loved this picture when it was taken and I still love it.  I had it in my banner for a while, but since I change them so often, it's lost in cyber space now.  Thought I'd repost it permanently.

Wordless Wednesday- Gage loves his Daddy

New Reason to Breastfeed...

as if you needed one.  Anyway, the New York Times had a pretty cool article on a new finding in the research on breastfeeding, so keep it up ladies!  I'm worried my time is coming to an end....here's to 9 months and counting...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/science/03milk.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Another awesome giveaway!

Again, I entered another awesome giveaway, or awesome for us anyway.  I know, I know I am getting a little crazy with these things. Anyway, over at Thanks, Mail Carrier, Xenia is now giving away a Flip MinoHD Camcorder ( I want one of these sooo bad, since we don't have a video camera at all!)  This time, Cafe Press is the company giving it away so you get to design a really cool face plate for your camera!   With so many giveaways, I can't decide which one I want the most (not that I get that choice, ha!)  Wish me luck!

Product (Company Review)- Sassy

Something I thought I should share...

A few weeks back when I was at my Mom's house, Gage took a liking to a teething toy that she had bought him.  (He doesn't seem to like many teething toys since he has no teeth.) This was a teether by Sassy.  Many of you might know the brand, although their products don't seem to be too plentiful in our area.  In any case, we left the teether at Grandma's for when he goes to visit there and I set out to find one when we got home since he seemed to have a sudden urge to chew on everything even if it was HARD plastic.  I found the exact toy at Target and brought it home, only to find out that unfortunately it was affixed to its packaging so well that the teether actually burst when I tried to get it off the cardboard.  I had already thrown out the receipt and Target takes nothing back w/o one, so I thought I would email the company just for the hell of it.  Mind you, I have never had good customer service experience anywhere and most of the time I only get angrier when I try to interact with such people, so I sent an email never expecting to hear a reply....and promptly forgot about the situation.

I didn't get an email back...but just three days later I received in the mail a SASE and a letter from Sassy stating that I could return the defective product for an immediate exchange!  Holy crap, I didn't get an email saying they were sorry, I actually got amazing customer service and they were going to REPLACE my defective item.  Many of you may be thinking, yeah, that's what they should do....however, again, that's not usually my experience with such requests/problems.  Anyway, I was very excited that they were so prompt and were willing to exchange the product; however, in my haste I threw the teether away because I was so annoyed.  Again, I emailed the company to tell them what fine customer service they had but that I had unforunately thrown away the item.  Again, didn't think twice about it....other than the thought crossed my mind to blog about it b/c I thought it was a useful piece of information.

Fast forward to today, roughly a week or so later, I received another package from Sassy- this time with a replacement teether!  What??  Really?  How nice!  (I can't find a picture of the teether, but you can head on over to their  site and check out their products.)  I didn't even send the defective one back and got another one and a nice letter saying that customer service is really important to them.  I knew then that I just had to blog about this company. 

I have a few other products from them and I know I have seen their teethers and high chair toys in lots of my friends houses, but I didn't know about some of the other really cool products they made until I sat down tonight to browse through their website. They have some really neat stuff that I'd love to get my hands on!  I encourage you to check them out as well. Sassy is a Michigan based company that has everything from bath toys, to teethers to bowls and utensils. Each of their products is designed with your baby's milestones and development in mind.  I have only gotten a quick peek at what they offer but am excited to really examine their website and find retailers in my area.  Perhaps you guys can head on over and find something that might fit the needs of the baby in your life as well.  At least you know you are in good hands if you need customer service!

Now maybe I'll just have to talk them into letting me do a product review and giveaway!