Sneak Peek

Although I divulged what Gage was going to be for Halloween this year and showed a picture of the costume back in August, of course it doesn't compare to him in the outfit!  I can wait no longer, although I'm a night early.  Today we went to a shopping center up the street for the Halloween Hoopla and the Kid's Costume Contest.  We were in the top ten and got tons of compliments. Gage was such a good sport, although he never looked very happy....yet he never complained.  What an awesome kid!

You can tell I'm way more excited than he is!



This gives the full effect of all the arms.

 More to come...

As promised....

a picture of the long awaited teeth.  Sorry for the closeness but they're so teeny tiny!

The last birthday of the month..

Today marks the last October birthday this month, heck, tomorrow marks the last day of October and Halloween of course! In any case, Kylie Marie is 2 years old today, so please go check out her Momma's blog, Kylie Marie and wish her the best! Kylie's mom always has the cutest pictures of Kylie and she writes in a very conversational manner that's a little bit hilarious at the same time. I can only imagine the 2nd birthday party post won't pale in comparison. Only 15 days away from Gage's party! Oh wow!

Growing like a weed....

Well, not exactly....I just couldn't think of a better title, but Gage is not actually 'physically' growing (still under 20lbs), but his skills sure are growing.  It's crazy the new things that he learns every day.

Just 2 weeks before his 1st birthday, Gage has learned to clap and whenever someone says 'Yay!' he claps.  For some reason, he claps after every feeding, which is pretty funny.  Maybe he's giving me props for still nursing, who knows? 

Gage now officially has 3 words.  Some of you my be doubtful, but I consider them words if they are spontaneous and aren't prompted.  We have been saying 'kitty' his whole life and someone said to me the other day that there was no way he'd learn a 2 syllable word and I should stick with 'cat'.  For the last few months, whenever we say kitty he looks for them, so we knew he understood.  However, after months and months, our little guy points to the cat and says 'ki-tee'.all. the. time. Of course he says Da-da too, but he's been saying that for months w/o really knowing what he was saying.  But now he  points to him and says Da-da, so I'll count that one too.  Finally, his newest word is 'bah-bah', for bubble.  He points when he says it right where we keep the bubbles.  No ma-ma yet, but I'm satisfied w/ what we have.  I can't wait to hear what he learns next.

Gage also is beginning to let go of the table, high chair, stairs or whatever he is standing next to.  This hasn't ended up too well for him yet. He fell and hit his head the other day, but luckily it hasn't deterred him and I think before his birthday he'll be letting go and at least standing for a few seconds.  AND he is walking behind his walker now and thinks he's pretty cool when he does so....I'm sure there will be much  more learning every day and his one year bday post will be unprecented in its length, but for now, I'll be done. 

Planning on taking Gage to the Halloween Hoopla at the shopping center up the street tomorrow to show off his digs.  Pictures to come.  Happy Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday- Where has the time gone?

OBX August 2010

Dinosaur Cake Attempt #1...

I'm pretty excited about the 1st attempt at the dinosaur cake.  It turned out well for my 1st try for sure. The sides of the cake were hard to ice and looked kinda crappy in the end, but everything else looked good.  See what you think!

Now of course I would be remiss if I didn't show the screwups too.  It appears to  look good but there were a few things I would do differently...hence the trial run.  I took pictures of the mistakes so I can hopefully fix them next time.  Alas, now Blogger won't let me download any more pictures, so I'll have to save them for another time....oh well.  Take my word for it..

Tomorrow we are driving down 81 to look at the beautiful leaves...enjoy the beautiful Sunday weather.

Another baby!!

The following was supposed to be posted Friday, but I'm an idiot and only put it in the draft folder:

NO, not for me!! Today our good friends, Sherri and Howard and their 3.5 year old daughter, Evie are welcoming a new baby!! We are so excited for them and dying to find out if it's a boy or a girl! Keep them in your thoughts! Hopefully, we will get to visit in the next few weeks!

HE is here and the family is doing well.  We are all so happy for new baby Everette Ray Arp!

Another Birthday!

bWe are just 3 weeks away from my litte guy being one....but until then, we have some others we need to wish a Happy Birthday to.  Today is Jacob's 2nd birthday over at "The Kubeczka Family".  I have been reading Jamie's blog for a while now and it's always filled with the cutest pictures and just the day to day happenings of a mom of 2.  I love her blog designs but haven't been willing to part with my ever changing one yet.  Perhaps one day I'll call on her to make my blog look beautiful too!  Until then, head on over to her site, wish Jacob a Happy Birthday, and check out the pics from the party!

Odds and Ends...

I really want my blog to look nice and I envy those people who can make theirs look great, raise kids, have a job, clean their house, and all of the rest that comes with motherhood.  I'm just having a hard time.  I just am not as motivated as I was this summer.  In addition, I only get to spend 3-4 waking hours w/ Gage every day and after he goes to bed, I just want to veg for a few minutes before I start preparing for the next day.  I have my few favorite blogs that I still read, but I just don't have nearly the time that I did this summer.  Maybe when it gets cold and snowy and I have some days off, I'll be more into it.  For now, I'm a little disappointed, b/c again, I want my blog to look nice, but I also want to be motivated to write down memories for Gage to read later on.  I have already forgotten SO much.  I'm glad that I have this to look back on.

We're on a countdown now 'til Gage's bday.  I mentioned earlier the super cute party invitations that I ordered.  Here they are!  I ordered them from VistaPrint.  I had found VistaPrint a few years ago when I ordered a friend's shower invitations and I thought they ended up so cute!  They are also VERY reasonably priced.  The shower invitations came w/ matching envelopes which was pretty cool, too.  Unfortunately these didn't, but I still think they are nice.  I have been reading how a child's 1st birthday party should be a small event as not to stress the kid out.  We only invited a handful of people and Gage's grandparents, so I'm hoping for the best.  We are 25 days out....btw, I'm making my practice dinosaur cake Friday night to decorate at my cake class Sat. am.  I'll post pictures if it's not too embarassing.

Last weekend, we tried to enjoy one of the last nice weekends of Fall and went to an outside outlet mall. This weekend we're going to try to drive down Skyline Drive.  It's crazy to think that it's already peak leaf season and that in a few weeks it will be turning colder.  Who knows what's in store for this Winter?  Ok, I had so much to say, and now I have nothing....always happens....

Wordless Wednesday- Gage and his Asian Auntie

Gage (11 months) and Jen

I tried, I really tried....

rI'm just so tired and don't have it in me to write a worthy post.  Oh well, tomorrow's another day. 

A Birthday post...

When I first began to blog, my friend Bonnie told me about her sister in law's fabulous blog about her cute twins. I started reading and got hooked. I knew that I wanted to blog and I wanted to document everything that was going on AND it was a fun way to share pictures with everyone. Not that my blog even compares to the likes of Mandy's, it is still something I enjoy doing and Mandy's is something I have enjoyed reading. I think I have been reading about her babies since they were just a few months old. So here is a HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Tyler and Caroline! They are a year old today and I know Mandy is thinking the same thing as me, where did the time go? Head on over to Twice Blessed to check out the festivities!

One more month....

....til the man of my life turns a year old!  Unbelievable!

Dear Gage,

When I sat down to write this letter I feel like I had just written your 10 month one.  However, after reading it, I realize SO much has truly happened in the last month.  Where to begin? 

The 2 biggest things I can think of are that you are an expert pulling up to your feet on anything you can get your hands on.  You can cruise alongside the coffee table although you haven't gotten brave enough to really
walk behind your walker or move from one piece of furniture to another.  You do hold on w/ just one hand now, though.  Number 2, you have a tooth!  Alas, it is finally here and you have NOT been happy.  A second one is coming and probably will break the skin tomorrow, who knows how many will pop up in the next 4 weeks! 

You are still teeny tiny and although you weighed 19lbs 4oz at a dr's appt 2 weeks ago, I think you are closer to 20lbs now.  You can still wear your 9 month clothes and all the 12 month clothes that Daddy and I bought you, haven't even been washed yet:(  But you sure will be a cutey pie when you get to sport all your new threads!  You are disliking diaper changes again lately and you've been crankier than usual (but we're thinking that's from your teeth).   You're on schedule now and know that you get up before 6am every day to eat.  This am you were up at 445am....grrrr!  You still don't like to nap at daycare and speaking of daycare, not sure you've made it there a full week in the last month.  You have been SO sick.  Since your ear infection at 10 months, you have had a double one and thrush, a disgusting stomach virus that got us all sick...then teeth..

Grandma and Grandiddy came a few weeks back and we took you to your 1st Pumpkin Patch.  You got to ride your 1st train and pick out your 1st pumpkin!  You have recently started using the sign 'more', although you use it more for eat, then to signify more.  BUT you know what it means which is pretty cool.  You are starting to point, but waving bye bye and getting more words are still in your future. Speaking of the future, we've gotta get you a pair of shoes of some sort.  Currently, your feet are too fat to fit into any we have found and you'll be walking soon AND it will be winter, so you'll need something on your feet.

I can't believe that in one month I'll start to wean you from breastfeeding (and your Nuk).  I sure hope you like whole milk!  You LOVE your morning and nighttime feeding still but I think could easily lose your 2 daytime feedings.  I wish you'd learn to use your sippy cup soon, I'm thinking we're going to have to buy a few more 'til you find one you like and one that won't leak milk all over the place.  I'm slightly worried about your Nuk just for daycare purposes.  My plan was to get rid of it by Xmas, you hardly ever use it at home now, but I think you need it at daycare to soothe yourself since so much else is going on.

You've been a little pickier about what you eat lately and we haven't had much progress on getitng you to eat more 'adult foods' yet.  You don't like your graham cookies as much as you used to but still love cheese.  You are getting in the habit of swatting or throwing your food on the floor though if you don't want it.

You are FINALLY crawling on your hands and knees but mostly only to get to something to pull up on.  If you have a long distance to go, you still prefer your belly/army crawl.  You still love your books (I hope that doesn't change) and your favorite toys are your tunnel (still), your piano (still), and your top and phone that Auntie bought you.

The more interactive you get, the more I amazed every day.  You are growing into a being who is starting to explore and understand more and more every day.  It's so awesome to watch!  I am just overwhelmed when I think about all we've been through and how much more there is to come.  We have planned you a dinosaur birthday party and I hope your cake turns out perfectly!  I'm sure you won't care if it doesn't!  We love you soo much Gage Paxton, more than you'll ever know.  Happy 11 months!  Holy crap! What can I possibly write that will be good enough next month??

Love, Momma

Just for laughs..

A picture post...

Just a few pictures from the last month...

'Hangin' w/ Daddy'

 

Swingin' w/ Daddy





Ridin' on my dinosaur!  ROAR!

Standing up like a big boy

Gage's 1st trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Fall Family Shot 2010

Pumpkins are cool!

Ridin' the cow train

Pumpkin Patch Picks

Mommy and Me....Go Skins!



10 monhts and toothless...but not for long.

October..

I'm baaaack....Wow!  After taking a month's hiatus from posting, it's been very intimidating coming back.  I lost 2 followers...I knew it would happen, but oh well.  Plus I'm just not used to etching out time in my day anymore to write.  Part of me enjoys reading other blogs, but could careless about mine anymore.  It's funny b/c at the end of the summer I was very gung ho and really wanted to improve on my blog and perhaps start advertisting etc.  Then reality hit again and the last month at work has been a whirlwind.  I do want to make sure I still update once a week though so that I will have something to look back on, it's crazy to think I've already forgotten most of what has happened in the last year. 

So much has gone on in the last month at work, home, w/ Gage, etc. that I can't possibly write about everything and therefore, I will be disappointed b/c I know I will leave out some important points.  Let me see if I can sum up September w/o being too boring and lenghty but highlighting the main points.   September started with taking Gage to a new day care.  I'm not even sure I mentioned the one we chose before I stopped posting.  If you know me, you know I hate all daycares and this one isn't much different.  Gage hasn't made it one full week of daycare yet, since he's been sick since September 11.  This is because there are people who have decided that sending their kid to daycare sick is better than missing a day of work.  Let me tell you how much I am unhappy with those parents.  I get it, though.  Trust me,  I have thought to myself more than a dozen times since school started that I was going to lose my job since I was missing so much.  I love my job and a day off with a sick kid isn't my type of holiday.  Regardless of this, out of respect for every one else you CANNOT send your sick kid to daycare.  I'm not talking snotty nose sick, I'm talking fever and stomach flu sick.  It's just not worth it.  I'm sure people think their jobs are far more important and they are annoyed when their kids get sick; however, it's b/c someone did EXACTLY what you are doing that your kid ended up that way anyway!  So here we are, 2 ear infections and antibiotics later and a case of thrush.  Ok, done w/ the rant.  Sorry, didn't intend for that to happen.  I suppose I should've written an entire post entitled 'I hate daycare'.  On a happier note, I do think Gage enjoys going and being w/ the other kids and b/c most are older than him, he is learning new things and hitting his milestones quicker.

Milestones...the fun part of this post!  Since I wrote his 10 month letter, almost a month ago now...Gage has started crawling on his hands and knees, pulled up to his feet, learned how to get down, cruised a teeny tiny bit down the side of the coffee table AND gotten his 1st tooth!  Holy smokes, I thought it would never come!  But poor thing, he was NOT happy.  We know when something is going on w/ our child b/c he's never NOT happy, so we had a feeling it was really teeth this time.  So the tooth has broken through the skin, but hasn't really grown enough to even see it.  I'll post pictures when it does.  Now, we think we might be on the 2nd tooth- or maybe another ear infection:(.

In other news, Gage will be a year old 5 weeks from tomorrow.  I am still breastfeeding, yay for me!  My goal is in sight and I'm pretty sure we can make it all the way to a year!  Gage will be having a dinosaur birthday party, I need to get on ordering the invitations.  I also will post where I'm getting these invitations in another post, b/c I think they are pretty awesome for the price.  I am currently taking a Wilton Cake Decorating class at Michael's to learn to make better cakes and Gage will be having a dinosaur cake as well.  Hopefully, it will look something like this when it's all done.

I have to say I'm pretty intimidated though.  I have been to 2 classes, the 1st one we just decorated cookies, but today we were supposed to bring a cake to decorate and mine did not turn out very good.  I made the icing too thin and therefore it all went downhill from there.  I have a feeling I'm in over my head and that I'll have to make 94 dino cakes in the next 5 weeks to practice.  I guess we will see.  I know there is so much I have left off, but so it goes.  A picture post to come.

A new background....

is all you get tonight.  I'm hoping tomorrow there will be more to come...

Goodnight.

A belated birthday shout out...

I thought I did pretty well to keep up w/ all the September birthdays although I wasn't posting at the time, but that's what I get for thinking I'm good at something.  Usually I prepost at the beginning of each month, but October snuck up on me.  So I would like to take a minute to wish Alana at More than a MOMMY a Happy 4th Birthday yesterday!  I have been reading Jennifer's blog for as long as I have had one and she has given me some great advice and always entertains me.  Sorry, Jennifer I'm a day behind, but I hope Alana had a very Happy Birthday!