Santa Visit

Last year, we visited Santa at LaPetite Boutique in Kinston. He is a GREAT Santa-very realistic, velvet suit, genuine beard, and as sweet as pie! We made sure we got there again this year. We spent $45 for 1- 8x10, 4- 5x7's and 8 wallets, but it sure beat standing in those lines at the mall and visiting the questionable "Santa" there! Plus, I love that we have his picture with the same Santa both years! Anyway, the picture wasn't amazing by any means. They take three or four and then use THEIR judgement in picking one. Since I know he was smiling in one, and looking at Santa in the other, this would NOT have been my choice, but oh well... At least he isnt crying... (though I remember a HYSTERICAL picture of my niece, Chae with Santa from several years ago, screaming bloody murder-that could have won a contest!)

Harvest Fest/ Halloween 2008

We had a great Halloween this year, starting with Harvest Fest at Greenville Christian on Thursday night which was followed by trick or treating on Friday night with Gage's cousins (fellow super-heros), and chili and cider at Shane and Theresa's afterwards! We had such a great time, and the weather was perfect!


Raggedy Ann and Superman ready for Harvest Fest!


Loving the "jumpers!"


Cousins ALWAYS more into eachother than the camera!


Spiderman and Superman...

Gage enjoyed throwing the candy out of his bucket, and Cade thought he was HYSTERICAL! (Xander was following behind, collecting the candy into his bucket:) I am VERY disappointed I did not get a good picture of all of the cousins together! Xander was batman, Cade and Hayes were both spiderman, and Gage was Superman! They were ADORABLE!

First Hair Cut--Mommy in mourning...

This was very hard for me for some reason! There was something about those precious curls I just LOVED... However, he was starting to be mistaken for a girl, and his daddy wasn't okay with that. This new "do" has also made him look SO much older, and I am NOT ready to lose my baby to a toddler...

Before

After

Isn't she precious?!?!

Palin Convention

Last Tuesday, my brother in law, Shane scraped together enough tickets (which was extremely difficult), so that he, Theresa (my sister in law), Michelle (Gracie's mom), and I could go downtown to the Minges Colosseum at ECU to hear Sarah Palin speak at a rally. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing and hearing her, and we were encouraged of course by her many supporters!

Go McCain! Please vote...and PRAY!

The cutest little politician yet!

Ears and...TALKING!

Keys!




First of all, yesterday was a milestone for us. Gage said his first word (first one understood by me at least)! "KEYS!" And he said it about a thousand times. I think most first words are probably "Mamma," "Dadda," or in Gracie's case "BALL!" But not my little man, he has been obsessed with keys since he first learned to hold things, so it is fitting that this was his first word. (As a sidenote, he is ALSO obsessed with his Mommy, so I am hoping that word is soon to follow...)



Secondly, he pulled through his procedure this morning perfectly! After about an hour of discussing the procedure, signing papers, and waiting, Gage willingly went to the nurse; I waited for about five minutes before they called me to the consultation room, where I waited another five minutes for the doctor to arrive; he explained that the procedure went well, I heard Gage whimpering behind the double doors, and seeing the look on my face, the doctor told me to go ahead in to see him. I went to see my little man who was seemingly not too impressed with the nurse who was trying to "wake him up." He was tired:) After a cup of milk, some apple sauce, and a few bites of banana bread, he was awake, and they were content to let him go home. Thank the Lord for such a quick and safe procedure this morning!

Not so "well" check-up...

Gage finally had his one year well check up (now that he is fifteen months), and it turned out he wasn't "well." The doctor saw fluid on both ears, so he refused to give him his immunizations (the second unsuccessful well visit and refusal to administer shots), but instead handed over yet another prescription for an ear infection, and he also referred us to an ENT in Greenville, because of Gage's recurring ear infections (he has had more than six in the past year).

The appointment with the ear specialist was this morning (a grueling two hour wait to see the doctor for a thirty second peak in his ears), where they determined that Gage needs to have tubes (sort of what we were anticipating). His surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning at 7:30am. I know it is a simple procedure-he will have local anesthesia, and will be out of my arms for only 5-10 minutes (doctor's promise), but please pray for my little guy! I hate to see him in ANY discomfort of any kind...and simply not being able to have his MILK until after his procedure is over will be pain enough!

Hopefully this will end the ear infections once and for all!!

And by the way, his stats are as follows:

Height 32 inches (95th percentile)
Weight 27 lbs 8 oz (90th percentile)
Can you believe he was born EIGHT weeks early?!?!

He is a healthy, happy, thriving little man who has stolen his mommy's heart! We are hoping he starts talking soon. He hasn't said any actual words yet, and the doctors have said that the recurring ear infections could have something to do with that... I'm not too worried--I have a feeling that once he starts, he won't stop...

Before... (9/2007)



...and after! (9/2008)

Click here

to see Gage's online gallery of his recent photo shoot. I know I am partial, but wouldn't he be a great model for Ralph Lauren?!?!

The things that are funny to a one year old...

Collard Fest 2008

A couple of weeks ago, we had Collard Festival here again in our small town of Ayden. We anticipated the effect that the hurricanes would have on the event, so we walked Gracie and Gage downtown on Thursday (opening night). The storms were predicted to arrive Friday evening, and they did, so it was a good thing we went Thursday. They had a great time, enjoying the live music and riding a few rides (I rode a few with Gracie; Gage could ride only the carousel). Grace even got to enjoy a few bites of cotton candy!


Can you believe that squirrel? Poor baby must have been lost.



I LOVE our sit-n-stand double stroller! And isn't he handsome?!?!




She loved the dinasour ride!

"PLEASE, can I ride too?!"

Idaho

Well, it is certainly easier traveling WITH my husband. Gage slept through two of the three flights to Idaho (he was awake for the LONG three hr flight), and he didn't sleep for even a moment on any of the three flights home, but he did sleep through both layovers in his stroller. However, considering he IS only one, he did great! The very last flight was rough, but that WAS his tenth flight in the past three weeks, and it was only an hour of fussiness (and "some" screaming)... All in all, I can't complain.

Our visit was SO fun! Aaron and Selena just finished building a beautiful house! They were GREAT hosts, and took us to see all the "sites" in the area, and there were A LOT of beautiful ones! Claire is absolutely gorgeous, and it was certainly a pleasure to meet her (Gage especially thought so)! He learned to "love on" her quite easily and frequently.

Shoshone Falls-the "Niagra"
of the West-awesome!

Can you find Josh and Gage?

Evan, Rese, and me

Rese was glued to me, and Evan was glued to Josh, and we loved every second of that! Josh and I respect so much the way these children are being reared. They are SO well behaved, and that says a lot for their parents! Kudos, Aaron and Selena!

A surprisingly successful pic of the kids.

Gage was mesmerized by every "site." One evening we went to the races, but Gage made it all of five minutes, and the noise started to scare him, so Selena and I got our money back and went home to watch a movie (though we both fell asleep before the movie was playing five minutes, as a result of the exhaustion of motherhood:)--it WAS only 9pm!

I didn't take a TON of pictures, like I normally would--mostly because my camera's battery was low the whole time, and I forgot the charger, but it probably worked out better. I got a few shots of most everything we did, and spent more time "enjoying" the moments, rather than "capturing" them.

We spent one afternoon, swimming in a pool that was fed by natural hot springs. That was a lot of fun!

The girls and their babies... Aaron's sister in law, Jess joined us with her baby girl, Kara, who is just a week younger than Claire (that will surely make for a very convenient play mate).

Gage LOVES swimming!

The last evening we were there, we packed up all the kiddos and loaded all their "stuff" in the back of Aaron's truck, complete with a grill, food, blankets, chairs-the whole works, and drove to a remote lake in the middle of a dessert to enjoy the simple beauty of this part of the world. The boys fished, and we had a great time! Idaho is the opposite of North Carolina in most ways, and although Josh and I are both self-proclaimed "city folk," we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the other side of the country and the beauty out there!

Gage and Daddy enjoying the view...

love at first sight!

Gage loves any excuse to be DIRTY!

The most beautiful "site"(Claire)!

Michigan!

Gage and I had an "eventful" trip to Michigan. In short, I decided to stand by for earlier flights, and between that decision, weather delays, and ATLANTA, I ended up stuck in Atlanta's airport for eight hours with a one year old.

Our visit, however, was wonderful! We spent the weekend with Gage's cousins--Stephen, Chae, Preston, and the newest addition, Ava (who is absolutely GORGEOUS)! Trisha, Kim, and I took all five kids to the Saginaw Children's Zoo on Friday, visited with grandparents that evening, including Gage's Great Grandma Kelsey, who will be 92 in November.

Our attempt at a picture of all the kiddos

Precious Ava FINALLY in my arms!

Gage LOVED the carousel at the zoo!

Saturday morning, my brother David and Chae took Gage and me to see the property they recently bought at Higgins Lake. We walked through the model of their house they plan to build, walked around their property (which is complete with sand dunes! Gage was a fan of THAT!), spent a little time at the beach, and had a nice lunch together at a local diner before we headed back.

Beautiful, CLEAR lake!

Getting messy with Chae...

Gage's aunts threw Gage a birthday party in Kim's backyard on Saturday evening, which was a lot of fun. Once again, Gage slept for the first hour of his party, and then he enjoyed lots of fun with the kiddos outside. The party was complete with lots of yummy food, pool fun, cake, presents, and a campfire with s'mores! We enjoyed church on Sunday with everyone and another visit with Great Grandma on Sunday evening.

Choking hazard?!

Preston loving on Gage-yes, they matched:)


Sweet Great Grandma Kelsey...seriously Gage and Preston?

Monday was filled with more airport/plane frustration. Our first flight was delayed, which caused us to miss our connecting flight home, so Gage and I ended up in a hotel in Atlanta with very little luggage, three diapers, and one cup of milk. Nothing was in walking distance of the hotel, so we managed with that. I wore him out the best I could with makeshift toys (a phone book, pizza box, and stroller:), and we both were asleep by 8pm. Gage was up from 4-6am, but we made it back to the airport by 8am, fought our way through security, had a peaceful flight home (thank God the aircraft was only half full), and made it back home by about noon.

Pizza at the hotel (no other options)... and the socks were to keep his feet clean! I hate hotels.

I would love to say it will be a LONG time before we attempt flying again, but we are heading out again Thursday to visit our friends, Aaron and Selena Walker in Idaho and meet their newest addition, Claire! We are VERY excited about this trip! We haven't seen them since we went to Disney with them over a year ago (I was pregnant). Josh is going with us this time though, so I am confident, it will be smoother traveling with an extra set of hands! Please pray for us!!

Happy third birthday, Laura Grace!

This weekend we celebrated Gracie's third birthday. Her parents planned a luau in her honor at their beach house. We had such a great time!

Gage slept for the first hour or so of the party (as he did his own), but he was able to jump right in and enjoy the fun when he woke up...

Gage bought her roller skates, and they were a big hit!

Welcome Baby Ava! (almost a month late...)

My newest precious niece, Ava JoAnn Kelsey was born July 8, weighing 8 lbs, 10 oz; 19 1/2 inches long. She is perfect in every way, and I cannot WAIT to get her in my arms! Each one of my nieces and nephews claims a special place in my heart, and I am so grateful for each of them! Gage and I are headed up to Michigan to meet her for the first time tomorrow! We just can't wait!! As a side note, pray for me as I endure a lengthy flight with a one year old!

Welcome to the world, Sweet Girl!!

Fourth of July (a little late)

Last year, we spent Fourth of July in the hospital. Gage was two days old, and I was still recovering from the c-section. The year before that, we kept Laura Grace, so Jim and Michelle could go see the fireworks (at the time, Grace was extrememly frightened of loud noises), so this year, we were determined to see some fireworks! We went down to Washington (which is about 30 minutes away) and watched them at the waterfront.

Gage's new wagon certainly came in handy-he LOVES it much better than a stroller.

We had a good time with Shane, Tree, and the boys, and Josh's parents. Gage and Hayes were even perfect through the whole thing-neither one seemed the least bit bothered by the noise.