November is almost over...

I will close my 30 days of Thanks one day early...however, I will still tell you the last 3 things that I am thankful for. 

In this month, I have realized that I in fact have tons of things to be thankful for and that I have tried very hard not to repeat any.  However, when I sit down to type, I just keep thinking the same thing, I am sooo thankful for my perfect baby boy and my wonderful husband.  I've used these before, I know, but I suppose it never hurts to say it again, right?  And being thankful for the 2 men in my life is definitely worth repeating.  So there, today I am thankful for my beautiful, perfect, loving little boy and my wonderful, talented and caring husband. 

I am also thankful that tomorrow is payday so that I can start my Xmas shopping and thankful for a pay day at all.

Lastly, for the month of November, I am thankful that we are refinancing our house at the end of next month and will be saving a little more extra money every month!  Yay for dropping interest rates!  See you all in December!

Behind again- 4 more....

Ok, so it's clear that I didn't keep up this year at all and that I'll be more realistic next time I want to start a meme on my blog.  At least noone attempted to follow along though and didn't show me up at my own game.  In any case, with November winding down, I have 4 more reasons to be thankful.

a)  I am thankful for a few days off to spend time with not only my immediate family, but also with extended family and old friends,

b) from that I am thankful for keeping in touch with friends I have known for 15-25 years.  It is always great to see them, even if just for a few mintues and incredible that we're still as close as we are.

c)  I am thankful for Grandma who spent time with Gage while Luke and I enjoyed an afternoon out, a morning to sleep in and meals that we could eat when they were actually hot!

d)  Finally, I am thankful for traveling safely to and from my parents' house, for not running into too much traffic and for everyone else's safe travels this Holiday weekend.

A Thanksgiving post and pictures to come.

Three more...

I think I counted  right....here are 3 more reasons why we're thankful this November.

a) our wonderful parents who instilled good moral values in us and taught us to work for what we wanted and to stand up for what we believe in,

b)  4.5 days off to celebreate Thanksgiving with my little sweetie pie,

c)  I am thankful to Luke who gets up at 445am every morning so that he can be home at 5pm to spend some time with Gage before he goes to sleep, what a wonderful Daddy!

I realized that I repeated being thankful for breastfeeding for a whole year, so I guess I gotta come up w/ one more- I am thankful to our pediatricians that have gotten us through the 1st year of parenthood and answered all my 1000's of questions-- it's hard finding a good doctor!

A post on his year check up to come.

Thanks-FULL post

Yes I know I know, I'm the one who decided I wanted to write something I was thankful for every day of November and here I am not being able to keep up.  Perhaps next year I won't be so ambitious and decide that a week of Thanks would be sufficient.  I was trying to be cognizant of all the good I have around me and all of the things I need to be thankful for.  So here's another 6 days piled into one....again.

Although I feel I am stretched so thin and have so much to do that I can't even sit down to blog, I guess I should be thankful for:  a) a house to clean since foreclosures seem to be rampant again and b) toys to pick up off the floor, since I have had the time to play with Gage.

I've pulled some long days at work lately and it's nice to know that Gage has somewhere we feel that he is safe and is having fun.  We are thankful to his caregivers at his daycare.

I know I haven't gotten to 6, but I gotta get in bed for tonight.

Finally, tonight I am thankful to my Medela Pump N Style that got me through 10 months of pumping at work and allowed me to give my Gage a wonderful gift, although I wanted to take a hammer to the pump itself.  Today was my first day at work w/o my pump and it felt good! 

Happy Birthday Camden!!!

Kerri is one of the first bloggy friends that I met last year shortly after Gage was born...again on my hunt to find other Mommies in my same situation.  We exchanged a few emails and realized we had quite a bit in common.  Exactly a week younger than Gage, we have kept in touch ever since and I have LOVED seeing Camden grow up this last year (and raid Gage's closet occasionally;)) and have enjoyed emailing Kerri at various times about problems/issues that arose.  I want to wish her little man, Camden a very Happy Birthday. I can't wait to see pics of the Mickey Mouse party!  Did I also mention that Camden is probably one of the cutest kids EVER??  Click here to check our Kerri's awesome blog and to wish Camden the big 0-1!

The Party...

As all of you know who follow me, I took a cake decorating class last month so I could make Gage a nice cake for his birthday- the kind my Mom used to make me. You probably saw my practice cake last month, and I'm proud to say his birthday cake for the real day came out just as nice. I was pretty proud of myself.

We are happy to report that Gage's party was a success. Don't ask me why we invited so many people- lots of people didn't show, or we would've had a housefull. But it was awesome that so many people came out to celebrate with him, some people I hadn't seen in quite a while. Gage of course got TONS of presents and he is one loved little boy! Unfortunately, 1st bday parties are a whirlwind like anything else and I feel like I missed tons of it. Thankfully my Mom got alot on tape that I missed seeing myself. There was just so much to do and so many people to entertain. At some point, I will try to go in and edit/clip some of the videos to post, but that will be pretty time consuming so for now, here is Gage's birthday weekend-in pictures.







To start Gage's birthday weekend, the Grandparents flew in and Great Aunt and Uncle Julie and Jan came to visit.





Gage enjoyed spending time with his Grandma and Grandpa Itnyre.  He hadn't seen them since April!



Presents just from Mommy, Daddy and the Grandparents

Presents from EVERYONE!

Holy Smokes, I'm one!

My bib is big!

This is what I'm in for??

YUM YUM!

Some of the guests!

More of the guests!

Grandpa bought me a laptop



My BFF Sawyer!

Do I have something on my butt?

Wouldn't I make a fabulous gift?  Yes, the bag was THAT big.

The aftermath

Me and Grandma and Grandpa Itnyre...until next time!

Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us!  We can't wait to see you next year!



One Year Old....

Dear Gage

I suppose I'm the worst mother on the blogging circuit that I'm writing you your birthday letter almost a week late.  I didn't even get a Happy Birthday post up for you last Sunday, we were too busy partying!  ha....That's fine, I'll forgive myself if you forgive me.  I just can't sit in front of the computer and blog when I could be playing with you- or cleaning up my house from the party's aftermath.

You are truly amazing these days.  You are learning things so quickly and I love to watch your new found independence and imagination.  You are starting to show your little opinion and are just starting to show frustration as well.  Last month I wrote that the time b/w 10-11 months flew by so quickly that I missed it, however, after reading your 11 month letter, it seems like years ago.  There's so much to update on, I'll just make a list this time, or we'll be here 'til next month.

*still only 2 teeth

*finally into your 12 mo. clothes, although they're still a little big (right around 20lbs. is my guess)

*not sleeping well at night (sometimes you're up 4x a night)

*napping better at daycare

*refusing afternoon nap at home

*say these words on a regular basis:  kitty, uh oh, Daddy

*has said:  bubble, ouch, cookie

*imitates kitty meowing

*crawling SUPER fast on hands and knees

*loves to cruise and has let go briefly to stand on your own

Gage, it is so so neat to just sit back and watch you every day.  You are able to play on your own well and love to flip through books.  However, daycare says you play well w/ other children as well.  You still love to dance and do so every time you hear music. 

We haven't turned your carseat around yet.  I'm not entirely sure you meet the weight limit anyway, but I'm going to keep you turned around, at least for another few months.  It's just so much safer.

You have also become quite the picky eater these days.   Just a few months ago you would eat anything in sight, now some days you'll like something and some days you won't.  You'll just toss if off the side of your high chair-too bad we don't have a dog.  You still LOVE cheese but your tummy doesn't always show the same sentiments.  You are eating more and more 'big boy' food these days and only eat baby food for breakfast and when you refuse school lunch.  We haven't tried eggs yet, but they are next on the list.  I can't imagine though any allergies, we've given you so much with egg in it by now.  You have added an afternoon snack to your regime and we're thinking about a morning one as well.  You are now down to 2 breastfeedings a day- one in the am and one in the pm.  You drink your whole milk ok but REFUSE to drink it if it's cold...we're working on that one.  You also haven't gotten the complete hang of the sippy cup yet and although you drink water out of for meal times, you refuse to drink any kind of milk from it.  I have a feeling we might just have to drop the bottle cold turkey, if you're thirsty, you'll drink. My goal is to be bottle free by Xmas, we'll see what the doc has to say about that next week.

I'm sure the age of one will bring its challenges- eating and sleeping- is what the books say.  Sounds about right, for now.  But I also can't imagine the joys and special moments it will bring as well.  I just can't wait for you to begin walking, for your first ride to look at Christmas lights, for the 1st summer that you'll be able to run in circles on the beach.  There is just so much to look forward to and we could not be any happier. As we always say, we know are blessed beyond belief and are so lucky to have you in our lives.  I can't believe it's been a year baby boy.  Momma and Daddy love you so so much!

Love,

Momma

Happy First Birthday to Bryce!

Life...is one of the 1st blogs I began reading when I first began blogging.  My goal was to find others with babies about Gage's age so I could bounce ideas off of people and see what other babies his age were doing, etc.  Bryce is just 5 days younger than Gage and it has been great fun to read about him over the last year.  Today, Bryce is celebrating his big day and I'm sure his Mommy will have lots of fun pictures to post.  Bryce has always been a little ahead of the game and has always been a little quicker to hit milestones than Gage, but I'll try not to hold that against him;)  Happy  Birthday Bryce, hope you have a great day!

Wordless Wednesday- Gage is ONE!

This is what a one year old looks like!

So behind...

Geesh....not only am I behind in my 30 days of Thanks, but I also haven't written Gage's year letter.  That's what having a one year old does to you!  I promise I will update soon on all accounts, but this weekend was spent with family and then the last 2 days have quickly disappeared it seems.  Gage isn't sleeping again, so that makes for a tired Mommy as well.

Quickly, I am so thankful for Luke's parents being able to fly in from Austin to spend the weekend with us.  It really meant a lot for them to make it here for Gage's 1st birthday!  We also got to spend time with an aunt and uncle of Luke's on Fri. evening.  I am also thankful to all of the people who showed up to celebrate Gage's birthday with us on Sunday.  Gage is a blessed little boy!  We have confirmed that my brother will be joining us for Christmas again this year, which of course we are thankful for as well!  Ok, two more...I can finally celebrate and be thankful that I was able to nurse Gage for an entire year and that although my pump and I had some off days, we persevered!  Finally, of course and it may be repeated from earlier in the month, but we are sooo soo thankful  to God for our wonderful little man who we can't believe is already a year old!  More to come....

30 Days of Thanks: Veterans' Day

Today I am thankful to all of those who serve and have served in the United States military so that we may have the liberties we have today.  Thank you!

Also, tomorrow begins the birthday weekend with family coming in. Probably won't have time to post, but will definitely have lots to be thankful on Monday!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 9 and 10

Today I am thankful for Veteran's Day and the beginning of the holidays for the public school system!

I am also thankful that there is some sanity left amongst the parents of Northern Virginia teenagers.  I had a very reassuring conversation with a parent yesterday who clearly has his head on straight.  This is probably another post altogether, but lately, I have found so many teenagers AND their parents having such a sense of entitlement.  They are so and so, so they should get such and such.  They live in NoVA and their Daddy's do such and such and 'my kid would NEVER do that', must be the school's fault, etc.  This parent was so supportive of not only us, but of working for what you want and not taking the easy way out.  It was refreshing, to say the least.

Wordless Wednesday: More Halloween Pics

Gage had several wardrobe changes on Halloween, this was outfit #2, I believe.

Since Gage has had a bib for every holiday since he was 2 weeks old, how could I resist?



These pics will have to double for my Wordless Wednesday post since Blogger is being tempermental with my picture adding.

How big is Gage?

I know, I know, every kid Gage's age learns this and it's so super cute to their parents.  But just think, if he learned this in 15 mins. and still remembers it 3 days later, what else is he learning from us?  Here's my reminder to be more conscious.  And here's your reminder that my kid is stinkin' cute!

And yes Grandma, this one was for you!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 7 and 8

I know, I know, I am horrible b/c I didn't post yesterday.  So today, I will tell you 2 things that I am thankful for.  One, Gage slept through the night last night, in spite of the fact that we forgot to turn on the heat, it was 26 degrees when we woke up this am and he had thin PJ's on.....66 degrees in his room....opps.

Secondly, I am thankful to my bloggy friend (who will remain unnamed* b/c I don't want to give away my secret) who created my super cool new header!  Isn't it rad??

Also, hope to get the rest of the Halloween pics posted soon....time is running out and it's almost time for 1st bday pictures!

*Not sure if she wants me to advertise her so we can give her fair props or if she wishes to remain nameless...I'll let her decide!

Day 6

Tonight I am thankful for Daylight Saving Time, although I'm sure Gage won't get the memo.  At least he slept 'til 8am today.......however, when you're up 4x in one night, you tend to sleep a little later.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 5

I sat down to post the last of my Halloween pictures and now I remember why I didn't do it sooner.  My lovely Blogger will not let me download more than one picture w/o exiting the entire program and going back in to edit the post.  I can't tell you how many problems I've had with Blogger, it's close to ridiculous.  Anyway, perhaps one day I can post the rest of the Halloween pictures. 

Right now as we get closer and closer to Gage's first birthday and I think to myself, 'where has the time gone?', I am thankful for having the best possible career to have to be a mother.  I am thankful for all of the snow days I got to spend w/ him last year and the entire summer that I got to be a SAHM and watch him learn and grow.  I am thankful for my schedule and that I get to pick him up every day before 3pm.  Not only am I thankful for being a teacher, but also for having a job at all, it's not always easy these days.  Also, having a job that I adore and it makes it that much easier to leave my baby every day.  I have always said I love my job and after 8 years, it's still true.  AND I get to miss as little w/ Gage as possible.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 4

Yes, I realize Halloween is over and that I need to change my header.  However, I am a slacker and haven't sent pictures to the person who is designing my next one!  Another week has passed and it hasn't been done, what can I say?  It is also 10pm on a work night and I'm sitting here blogging acting like I have nothing to do w/ myself.

Today I am thankful for all of the wonderful friends I have, both old and new.  This post was supposed to  coincide with my birthday wishes to Jennifer yesterday, but well, you know (see above, slacker).  Anyway, I am really fortunate to have some great friends in my life, several I have known for over half my life, while others I have met w/in the last few years.  I could go on and on about them and the things they do for me and the memories we share, but that's for another post. 

30 Days of Thanks: Day 3

I will post a more serious post for tomorrow, but today I am thankful that my child has just now (@11 months) gotten teeth and figured out how to use them.  He now thinks that when he's done nursing, he should bite down as hard as he can to make sure that I haven't fallen asleep and have gotten the memo that he's ready to move on!

More Halloween pictures to come...

Happy Birthday Asian Auntie!

I really hope this title and my always referring to my friend Jennifer as Gage's Asian Auntie doesn't offend anyone.  Jen and I have been friends since college and we both agreed long ago she would always be my child's Asian Aunt (she wasn't kidding, was she?) just as she was my Asian bridesmaid.  In any case, we hope she has a wonderful day today.  Sorry, I'm late on the card, Jen. When I see you next, I promise I'll have a card AND a gift for you.  Have a great day!

Day 2: Sleepless in Bristow...

It's been 10 days now...since Gage has slept through the night.  I guess this is what I get for bragging about what a good sleeper he's been all these months.  I swear, I feel  like I'm a new mom again, dragging my tail to work after interrupted sleep.  We're not quite sure what's going on, but since last Sunday Gage has been up SCREAMING once a night. He skipped last Thurs. and decided to sleep through the night and this week we have won the jackpot and he has been up twice the last 2 nights.  The 1st few times it happened we were very concerned b/c he never screams....or really even cries.  But after inspection, nothing really seemed to be wrong and he went right back to sleep.  Then...the cycle continued.  Every night he gets up, stands up at the end of his crib and screams bloody murder.  We go in, we pick him up and w/in 30 seconds he's back asleep....we put him down and that's that.  Very odd.  Although he's been up the last 2 nights twice, it's much of the same and as soon as we go in there he is back to sleep w/in minutes.  We did decide last night he needed a little Ferberizing and we let him cry for a whole 5 mins. (I know, daring, right?)  He screamed the whole time.  However, the 2nd time we let him be for 7 mins!  ha....he actually took a few breaks, maybe to catch his breath, or maybe to listen to make sure we were coming, either way, it didn't seem as desperate.  Tonight is another night and we'll keep our fingers crossed this phase is over. 

Although we are having this slight inconvenience at our house this week, today I am very thankful for a happy and healthy child.  Unfortunately, there are so many families that aren't so lucky.  We will attempt not to take this for granted and will count our blessings and thank God for Gage to be growing and developing adequately and getting healthy reports at every check up.  Of course we're also thankful for Gage to be a happy and easy baby 98% of the time.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 1

As it is November 1st and the month of Thanksgiving and my sweet baby boy, Gage's birthday, I have decided to try to put things in perspective and give Thanks for all the wonderful people and things in my life.  Every day of November, I will attempt to post post something that I am thankful for.  I know there is so much, yet it's hard sometimes to be thankful at the end of a busy day and in the midst of the hustle and bustle of being a working Mom and wife .  Even if I don't have time to post anything else for the day (which I'm sure I won't), I really will try to post at least what I am thankful for. 

I invite you to join in and at the end of each post you write this month, list a little something you're thankful for.  Now, if I was really savvy, I'd have some cute little button you could steal so you could let every know that you were giving 30 Days of Thanks....oh well.

November always makes me think of the holidays, how could you not?  As a school teacher, it's the beginning of the days off for us and Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  After that, it's my birthday (I know, not a holiday in some parts of the world) and then Christmas and New Year's.  Growing up, my entire family lived w/ 15-20 miles of each other and were always able to gather for any holiday, big or small.  I grew up close to all of my extended family and have tons of memories b/c of it.  The traditions were the same every year and we got the best of both worlds, being able to gather with family every year, yet still being at our house for our holiday every year as well.  Living 3 hours from where I grew up and having a child now, I realize that this is something that not every child gets and that many times I probably took it for granted.  Today I am thankful for the experiences of having a close knit family who always got to spend the holidays together and made many memories and traditions in the process.