Wordless Wednesday -Gage 18wks

HMmmmMMMmm things to ponder (what do 4month olds think about?)

Whistle why you drOoL wooo wooo woo weeee.....

Show -N- Tell

First is a Picture of my bestest bud's beautiful babes (say that five times fast, Ha). You can see her at melandkids.blogspot.com .
Ok so here we go,....LADIES AND GENTLEMEN can I have your attention please...In the upper left hand corner we have a future football star with a larger than life "I am right, you are wrong, and I will sit on you until you agree" personality, the ever so mighty Jaw Crushing, Jack-Hammer James.....*applause*....and to his right is his tiny but ever so worthy opponent, disguises her mayhem as a sweet innocent little princess is the Feisty MIGHTY Maddie......*RoaR*....and in the middle, figuratively and literally, is the quiet but oh so calculating, the newly man-scaped, Not So MessY, Jesse.....*whoot whoot whoot* Who do you have your money on? Mine is on their MOM!!!!

Below is a darling picture of my niece, Emma. Wow look at that hair little lady. Oh yeah and my brother is pictured also. You look darling also, Todd. *grin*

How sweet is she (below), I am not sure who ate whose face first but Emma dear, it looks like your mom (Kim) is winning and that you are practicing your facial expression for the all so annoying family reunion where your old decrepit aunt grabs your sweet little cheeks....oh shoot that would be me wouldn't it, I am the aunt? I meant your amazing, beautiful, loving aunt pinches those plump little cheeks. Keep up the practice, I hope I will be seeing/pinching you soon.

And for desert.....we have my favorite photo of Emma (below), already using those puppy dog eyes and protruding lower lip as assault weapon in her plan......"to take over the world"
Public Service Announcement: For all those non-cartoon watchers "to take over the world" is a quote used everyday in the script of the spectacular Pinky and the Brain cartoon.

All pictures above are scanned copies of photos so please excuse the quality but enjoy the content.

Gage's Letter - 4 Months Young

(pictured to the left is 3 months and the right is 4)

Gage,"four months young", *sigh* what a mixture of feelings that come by saying that. I on one hand am so proud of all that you accomplish and the little, ok BIG man you are turning into everyday. I am excited for the future and all that entails. I find myself saying what all parents say, yanno the “I can’t wait untils” and the “hopefully he will be doing soons”.

On the other hand I say four months and I am sad. Sad that my baby is growing so fast, you are not little anymore (and do not really think you ever were *grin*),sad that time just won’t stand still for a millisecond and let me enjoy every bit of it, sad that I have to work and miss so many amazing things. So I write this post emotionally sitting on both sides of the teeter tauter, one seat contains rigid rusty nails and the other a cloud like cotton.

Ok where was I? Oh yeah, Four months old, well you are a bit older than that now because I have been pondering this letter for a week or so, but the pics are spot on.

Gage you have grown so much in the last month some examples are:

· Bouncing – you went from being rigid while standing to realizing those knobby things in the middle of your (ham hawks) I mean um legs, do move and when they do you have your own built in bouncer. When I put you on your feet you instantly start kicking, so cute, and cheap for batteries are not needed.

· Thumb anyone? - You have found your thumb, the right way this time. Before you used to get it in there with your fingers, toys, my shoulder, etc….but now you figured out how to separate it and suck on it by itself (which is so much more productive and less slimy I might add). Even though you do the cutest thing and hold your ear and suck your thumb at the same time, I have to tell you son, I am not a fan of the thumb sucking Gage *shaking finger*, for when it is time to throw the paci away I can’t just toss out your thumb with it, you see son, there are laws against that. That is one of the reasons I encourage the paci, we can throw it overboard at our own discretion and it will not inhibit straight descending of your baby teeth. So if you will my little HULK, you have made me prouder than a petunia by showing your new sucking talent so can we

now put it away before it becomes a HABIT?

· Bubbles – not the store bought kind, or dish soap, and before your mind goes there (I know your daddy) NOT the kind you make in the tub during bath time either, I am talking about spit bubbles and the cute sounds that accompany them. You roll your tongue and blow, this act produces the most darling toot noises and delicious baby bubbles, a talented kid are you.

· Screech – my boy, your new talented screech is ever impressive. You use your entire body to produce your screeches and giggle with delight if you come close to a glass shattering pitch. The faces you make are amusing to watch, some make you look downright angry, so screech on little one. You can see (below) the amount of expression,effort, and movement it takes to create such noise....

(You look mad in this pic but to the contrary, you were having a Divine time with your ear shattering volume expelling from your slimy gob)

· Rolling – we discussed this in a previous post but I will touch on it here also. You have mastered the talent of back to belly rolling however you are not a fan of stomach play and have yet to figure out how to get back. This is your current game: lay on your back and play for a millisecond, lift your tree trunks um legs, arch your back and waaaa laaaa you are now stomach side down, smash your face in the ground while trying to get your back legs moving, and then fuss until your obedient caretaker flips you back over, rinse, lather, and repeat.

Your personality is large little man and so are your thrill seeking ways. You smile so big when your Dad flies you around above his head like an airplane and you mom watches in nervous delight. Not until you puke or drool in his mouth is it as fun for me as it is for you and your daddy. Let’s not forget the fun shoulder rides that make me shudder at the thought of gravity being used against you, that is never on your mind though, I can tell.


Oh and for the love you music, when daddy plays his guitar you go nuts in your bouncer, arms waving, mouth is a O shape wide open, and legs kicking. You dig his music and I think he loves the expressive fan you have become.

Those are the highlights of month 3-4, now to the low light, errrr um teething….. Gage my precious, darling, peanut butter, snuggle muffin, hulk sized child I AM SORRY YOUR TEETH MUST RIP THROUGH YOUR SORE LITTLE GUMS IN MASOCHISTIC WAY. I do promise my dear that if need be we will buy stock in baby orajel, Tylenol, and bricks until all the buggers break through.

Until next month, I Love you to pieces, Son.

Throw the kid a bone already!

Because I can guarantee he would chew on it if you did!!!!

Gage has asked who came up with the idea that teeth should rip painfully through the gums at a age when a babe just does not understand? He has been teething for a few weeks now and I can see two bottom teeth under his poor little red gums. Daimen keeps telling the poor baby "Gage your fingers are going to be deformed if you keep chomping on them like that". I agree with my first born.
Gage does not discriminate, he is a equal opportunistic, meaning he will chew on ANYTHING. One of his favorites is showing his constantly covered in drool mouth on the plastic of his walker as shown in items or um Pics C and D below.
DRoOL, I had no idea such a little slimy mouth hole could produce so much of the stuff. His shirt is screaming about the constant rain fall that has covered the top front half of its property by the end of the day. Dry clothes are a rarity at my home.

But in all seriousness, poor baby, I wish I could take your pain away, I really do. In the meantime maybe I can find one of these(below) for you to chew on. Love you son.

Show -N- Tell******Easter Celebration

Better late than never, right??? Enjoy, I know I did!

There was lots of Easter Egg Hunting......Daimen above left, (blurry because he was moving so
fast), then to the right is my sweet niece Audrey and all her cuteness (is that a word?))

(Above left is Kollen (most likely calling out Daimen's name), to the upper right is my energetic nephew Nolan ( I barely caught this photo because he was in a dead egg run towards me, nice shot eh?)

Above left is my soon to be marriaged sister-inlaw, Sarah, holding Gage (we know him right?), then to the upper right is my early, but showing, pregnant with her 2nd son, sister-inlaw, Laurie, who is helping her sweet Pippy Longstocking imitating daughter, Audrey, dye eggs and not her shirt (they shirt did get dyed in the end)).

And last but not least, Above is my always camera toting, smarty-pant, smelly poot producing, but super lovable and wise Pappy, video taping the Great Easter Egg Hunt on standby and not record.....All together now whaaaawhaaaaaaaaaa woooooooooaaaaaa. Sorry Pappy at least we have pics.

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Gage 17wk pics

I have to say (because all that know me know I can not keep ALL the way quiet) that I can not believe my youngest spawn is 18wks today. Um can someone slow down/break the proverbial clock?

Stellan

Baby Stellan is in a risky surgery right now , click here if you did not read my post about stellan http://www.4menandalady.com/2009/03/sick.html

Please throw yourself at Jesus's feet and pray for this little boy and his family. His mom is such a inspiration and this little boy is a fantastic example of the Great Physician, our Lord. You can read Stellan's story at Mckmama's blog http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Let Um Roll

No I am not talking about a game of dice at the local casino of your choice, and no I was not quoting what the cave men squealed after inventing the stone wheel.

Gage rolled over for the first time (well first time on purpose) yesterday. He said Pfft and tossed the regular way (yanno belly to back being the first rolling) out in the garbage he did it HIS way, back to belly. The very neat part is I was trying to get a picture of him rolling to his side (more on that tomorrow) so I had the camera out waiting to catch the leg lift, weight shift, right side roll but to my surprise and his he continued his side roll all the way around to the belly. I have proof see……

Starting Position 1:

Caught mid roll
Success...................
haha he was like WOE, what just happend?

What in the world happens to our brains when we become doting parents? I feel like my brain somehow aged tremendously or became visually comparable to Swiss cheese. I mean the things you can spend hours on is amazing, I can spend 2 comfortable hours sitting with Gage in front of the mirror making silly mashed up faces, drooling, chuckling, and screeching with excitement the entire 120 minutes, and that is just me you should see what Gage does. Why is it I now find great entertainment and pride when my 4 month old figures out how to bend his knees and bounce, screech real loud (I am going to regret that one I bet), use his hands to grab things, and did I say screech real loud. It use to take intellectual conversation or shows to hold my attention, now it just takes juicy baby coos and drool. Geriatric Swiss Cheese = your brain as a mother.

Show -N- Tell

I scanned in the boy's school pictures, I wanted to share. They are getting so big, *sniff, sniff*.

Disclaimer: these are scanned pictures of pictures so the quality is not as good as digital. They might be pixelated but still cute as ever.

A peak into the future, look back soon for:

• Adventures in baby showers
• Gage's 4th month pic and letter
• Weekend ramblings
• and perhaps more show N tell

The Great Wolf Lodge

As I mentioned in my Easter post, we spent the weekend on vacation at The Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine TX (about 2hrs from home). This place is a wonderland for kids and a blessing for parents. Besides the enormous constantly 84 degree indoor water park attached to the hotel there is a arcade, activities, candy shop, Starbucks, huge gift shop, spa, kids spa, 3 restaurants, electronic toy room called GR8 space for teens and the best keep the kids busy and let the parents rest for HOURS virtual reality wizard scavenger hunt/game. The game requires a wizard wand and a team name (if you have a team) and it is spread out on all 8 floors of the hotel. Each floor has it’s own name and is decorated accordingly so the kids can use their magi-guide to find the stuff in the game. We were on the 4th floor again, in the Enchanted woods. The halls of the lodge are littered with talking pictures on the wall, treasure chests, crystals, and little rooms that are activated with the games magi wand. My understanding is that it takes 8 run the child ragged hours to finish the game and then, that’s right there is more, they continue playing to try to gain gold and points. Well if you have two very responsible gamers like we do, you just give them the cell phone, tell them to bite the snot out of anyone who tries to touch them, be respectful, and send them on their way. They will return when they are hungry or thirsty and then be on their way again. How do you spell relax, MAGIQUEST (name of the game), that is how I spell it. I will give you the rundown of the weekend.

We arrived and checked in on Saturday at 12:30, check in time is 4pm but we were lucky our room was ready. When you walk in the lobby there is a Gigantic fire place and the place is decorated like a lodge, all wood walls, doors, treehouse etc. Here are the kids in front of the fireplace. One side of the lobby is all glass and you can look down and into the water park. You can see this in the picture below. This picture was taken from the lobby. You can only see the kiddie area but you get the idea.
We hauled all our stuff to the room, a Wolf Den room this time. During our last visit in spring of 2008 we just had a basic room with one queen bed and pull out sofa. This time we upgraded and the room was nice and roomy with a pull out sofa, table, queen bed, microwave, refrigerator and the kids favorite a wolf den. The den was a separate little bedroom decorated like a wolf’s den with bunk beds and their own flat screen tv. Here is a picture of the room we were in from their website. The kids wolf den is the little cubby on the right with the door and a window.

After putting stuff away I took the older boys to the magiquest store to buy their wand and play while we were waiting on Erin and Terrance (sister and brother-inlaw) to arrive. They live very close to the lodge so we wanted to spend the day with them. E&T got there around 3pm and we headed to the water park. I wrote about some of the experiences that day in a earlier post on Easter Sunday so check that out. At 9pm we went back to the room and the boys continued their Magiquest. At 10pm we called them to the room for bed as we were all tired. Daimen had been yelling so much he got laryngitis and could not talk without straining (of course he did not let that stop him and continued to strain his voice).

The next morning was Easter Sunday and it was cute watching all the parents come in all wet and cold from the storm that was pounding down with bags of Easter goodies to prepare for the children before they woke up. I was ahead of the game and brought our Easter stuff with us. The eldest kids got up, opened their Easter stuff and had nutritious chocolate donuts and candy for breakfast. There is nothing like kiddie crack to start the day. Then at 8am the lodge had a Easter egg hunt IN the water park in which the boys enjoyed immensely.

The baby decided that fun = sleep(smart kido) so Jer stayed with him in the room and I took the boys to the water park. It was not very busy so we rode all the slides and wrestled in the lazy river and wave pool. Then we grabbed the baby and Jer and enjoyed another couple hours at the park. Gage’s favorite ride was the wave pool, he sat on my stomach while I draped my backside across a tube and Jer drove us over the waves. Every time we went over a wave Gage would giggle, it seemed to be hilarious to him. Looks like a water bed may be in his future adult plans.

We ended the water festivities around 1pm and went to the Camp Critter bar and grill conveniently located on the same floor as our room for lunch.
Future photo blackmail of our silly eldest boys during lunch.

A railing was used instead of a wall on one side of the restaurant which gave a great view of the lobby as pictured below.
The boys wanted to continue their Magiquest after lunch and Jer, myself, and the baby wanted to start a napquest so it all worked out well. The boys played all afternoon and late into the evening, 11pm to be exact. They were more than thrilled that their team the “Wolf Bros” were

listed on the score boards with the 2ND highest points totals and the 1ST for the most gold collected.

They felt accomplished and wanted proof of their achievements so look for the “Wolf Bros” on the pictured score boards.


They even got a picture with the Magi-wizard and a badge to wear proudly.
Monday we had to pack it all up and load the car but not before getting some great pictures of our 3 wonderful children with the Great Wolf Lodge resident bears. First in short fat one in front of the candy shop (my favorite)
And then that tall pesky plastic fella in front of the Arcade.

Packed, loaded, and ready to go we sped off to the airport to sadly put Kollen back on a plane headed for Ohio. We will miss you son, but will see you soon, June 23rd to be exact.

Look at the beautiful yet very tired family picture.

We look and gosh I feel like we, NEED A VACATION!