4 Months...

I can't believe another month has flown by! This month has definitely been an exciting one! Gage has started laughing at everything! It is the funniest thing I have ever seen. The other night Mom and I took him to Target and I was playing with him while we waited on her in the dressing room. I had him laughing so hard he couldn't catch his breath and everyone around was laughing just as hard. Isn't it funny how a baby brings such joy to everyone in the room? These people had no idea who he was!

I think I finally have his formula situation figured out. Remember when we went to the doctor for reflux and they wanted to put him on Nutramigen? Well, at first, I refused. They were telling me he had a milk allergy and I didn't think that was the problem. After a few days of the throwing up not getting any better, Michael talked me into trying the new formula. I HATED IT! It smelled to high heaven, it stained everything it touched, and every time I fed Gage he cried. It didn't take me long to realize it wasn't worth all that. We tried soy formula and it didn't help either. Thank Goodness...it stunk just as bad! So, I did what I wanted to do the entire time, and put him back on his Gentlease. He is taking cereal in every bottle now...he loves it! We have been giving him a couple ounces of pear juice every day...he loves it too! The spitting up is a lot better, but not gone completely. I'm pretty sure a little spitting is to be expected with a 4 month old. We go to the doctor next week for Gage's 4 month shots, so hopefully we will get a good report on everything. I'm thinking they will probably want to start him on some solids when we go. Part of me is really excited about another milestone, but part of me is so sad! My little angel is growing up right before my eyes :(

I'll do my best to report back soon with his stats for this month! Just a fair warning...he's a BIG boy!

One last thing...a picture of my little man!

Busy Weekend...

I must say, this weekend has been pretty crazy! Rance's Benefit was Saturday, so I spent the few days leading up to it trying to get shirts delivered, pick up donations, etc. I can't believe how much work was put into the whole thing...completely worth it though! Speaking of Rance, he has finally been moved to Baptist Rehab where he will hopefully be spending the next couple of months getting back in the swing of things. He is doing SO much better and I'm SO proud of him! Hang in there buddy...you'll be home before you know it!!!

This is a picture of Gage and I before we left for the benefit Saturday...isn't his little shirt cute?

My sweet little family!! Good grief it was HOT!!

This is my cousin Kyle (on the horse), and our friend "Big Ern". As kids, we were all involved in rodeoing, but as we grew older, some of us strayed away from the rodeo scene. Kyle, Rance, and I never ride horses, and it is pretty comical to see us on them. Rance has quite a sense of humor, so Kyle and Big Ern decided they would "try" their hand at Team Roping this weekend because they knew Rance would get a kick out of it. IT WAS HYSTERICAL! What about those outfits?

Some of us girls with Rance's mom!

And the boys with Rance's dad!

What a stud!

Mom and I took Gage to Target and Old Navy lastnight and we found these little sunglasses for babies. Aren't they cute?

And what about the little cap? He looks like his Daddy for sure now!

See ya later Alligators!

3 Month Pictures

When Gage was 3 weeks old, we took him to have his pictures made. We never saw a price list until the pictures were done, and when we finally got one, we just about fell out! THEY WERE OUTRAGEOUS!!! My original plan was to have a family picture blown up to put over our bed. Well, a 24x36 picture was going to cost $2500. Yep, you read it right...$2500! No thank you!! Not that I didn't want a picture of my little angel, but at the time, we just simply could not afford it. I'm not sure we will ever be able to afford that, to tell you the truth. I think it may have possibly been some form of highway robbery ;)

So, I ran across a blog one day. I checked out her pictures. And I decided...this is my girl! Her name is Lindsey with LindseyFaith Photography and she is AWESOME! She met us at the Old Mill in Little Rock one evening and took pictures for a couple of hours it seems. Gage cried almost the entire time until right at the very end of our session, and he fell asleep. He was being so contrary that day and she still got some awesome shots! I can't wait to meet with her again for another photo shoot!

Here are some of my favorites she took that day! Tell me what you think!





Just in case you are wondering...I got my picture for over the bed! Doesn't it look good?! The picture quality of the bedroom is terrible, but you get the point!

Happy Father's Day

This was Michael's first Father's Day, and I think it was a good one! We had a pretty busy day. We went to eat lunch with my Dad this morning, spent most of the afternoon with him, and went to see Michael's dad for dinner! It was a busy, but quite relaxing day. It is so much easier when there are only 2 places to go for a holiday rather than 4! The day is so much more enjoyable that way!
~Gage and Papaw (my Dad)

~Gage and Big Daddy (Michael's Dad)

Daddy and Gage went for Gage's first real swim tonight at Big Daddy's house. He has always loved his baths so much, but we were afraid the swimming pool would be too much...we were wrong! He LOVED the pool! Hopefully he continues to love it, because I'm sure we will be spending lots of time there in the summertime!




Michael sat him on my feet and he rode on my feet like a pony. He thought that was the funniest thing! Gosh...I could just eat him up!!!


Happy Father's Day Michael! Gage and I are so happy to be able to spend our lives with you! You are so good to us, and we appreciate all the love you show us! You're the best Daddy ever!!! We hope you're first Father's Day was a great one, and we are looking forward to many more! We love you!!!!!

Baby Liza

I'm sure you remember meeting the baby donkey,Fairboy, last year! Well, guess what? Fairboy has a new friend, and her name is Liza. I remember thinking Fairboy was so tiny...maybe not! Liza is ITTY-BITTY!

I never thought I would hold a mule in my arms...but it was so neat! Isn't she a doll? She is so scared of people right now...it won't take long until my Aunt has her acting like a dog! She has a special way of making all her animals act that way. Maybe it's the hundreds of hours she spends outside taking care of them?

We took Gage to see her today. I'm not sure he knew what was going on, but it will be neat to show him one day!

We're Back!!!

I didn't intend to be gone from blogging for such a long time, but to tell you the truth, I simply haven't had the time. Everyday I come home and think to myself, "I have to blog tonight", but I never do. I'm going to do better though...promise! I have lots of catching up to do, so sorry, lots of pictures!!

We haven't been up to much exciting these days, just the normal everyday life. Gage is growing like a weed, and getting more personality every single day. He has been smiling a lot for about a month or so, and now he has started to smile at me every time he sees me! It melts my heart each and every time!

We've been doing a lot of this all weekend...
RELAXING! It has been so nice!

Yesterday we had a wedding to go to and we decided we would take Gage. He is always so good, so we knew it wouldn't be a big deal. Little did I know, the wedding was outside and it was 90 degrees outside. Gage did so well, despite the heat! He never made a peep during the entire wedding!!! YAY GAGE!!! Here we are!

When we got home, Gage and Daddy sat on the couch and watched TV while I got some things done around the house. It was so nice to have such a relaxing, but productive day!

Gage and I cuddled some too!

See you soon!

Acid Reflux...seriously?

So, for about the past 3 weeks, Gage has been spitting up like you would not believe. I wouldn't think too much of it, except for the fact that, he has never spit up before. He has been SUPER cranky before bedtime and after each bottle. I finally broke down Monday and took him to the doctor. I hate taking him for things like this because it seems so silly. I am one of those that doesn't go to the doctor unless I am dying, so have had to make some changes since I have become a Mommy. Dr. Stanford put him on Prevacid to reduce the acid in his tummy, and told me to put 2 tsp. per ounce of formula in every bottle. I didn't figure it was going to work well with Gage's little tummy, but I did it anyway. He started that on Monday evening and the Prevacid on Tuesday morning.

All that being said, he was cranky again last night before bedtime. He went to sleep. Woke up at 6 to eat. I put him back in bed. And instantly heard him throwing up. I didn't freak out, just cleaned him up and got us both back in bed. I really figured maybe I had just shaken him up when I laid him down. I gave him his medicine this morning and took him to Kristi's. I left, and by the time I got to work, she called and said he had thrown his entire bottle up again. Strange thing is, he doesn't act like he is sick. He's just as chipper as always, he just can't keep his milk down. I told her I thought he may be constipated and just doesn't have any more room in his belly, so she gave him a glycerin suppository and within minutes, you got it...a major blowout. Thank goodness I have such a sweet babysitter or I would have been in trouble!

Needless to say, I took him back to see Dr. Stanford again today. We did x-rays (which BTW scared me to death) and a few other tests. He told me he thought he was allergic to his milk, and to change his formula to Nutramigen and take him off cereal.

Now, here's the rest of the story...I think he's wrong. Gage has been on the same formula for 3 months now, and has had no problems with throwing up. However, he has been on Prevacid and cereal for 2 days and can't keep ANYTHING down. So, what did I do? I didn't change his formula...yet! As a matter of fact, I didn't change anything. But guess what...the first bottle he took after his blowout...success! He had me scared half to death, but he's all better! He was simply constipated! Isn't it funny how a Mother's intuition is right on track?

Sorry for all the blabbing about Gage's stomach problems, but I just needed to know if I was alone in this world. Doctor's know what they are talking about for the most part, but this time, I think not!

What would a post be without a picture of my little man? These are some pictures his babysitter took of him yesterday! MMMMM...I could just eat him up!



One more thing, if any of you have been reading Rance's blog, he really needs your prayers! He has been out of ICU for about a week now, and has been doing well until last night. His Mom and his nurse had been up with him to do a treatment on his lungs. They both turned around to get things going, and a minute or so later they turned back around and he wasn't breathing and was non responsive. His skin had already turned white and Vicki (his mom) said that she knew he was dead. They brought in all the tools the use to resuscitate someone, and after a couple minutes of working with him, they finally got him to respond. Other than the actual accident, this has been the most tragic experience for him. He is back in ICU now, and back on the ventilator. Please pray for his strength and healing!

Summertime...

I've procrastinated with my blogging a bit, but better late than never, I suppose! Last weekend Michael took me shopping for my 25th birthday. Since I had Gage, I have been needing some new clothes, but almost refused to buy them. It's a little heartbreaking to buy a size of clothes you never thought you would be able to wear. Hopefully I can lose a little weight soon, but until then I HAD to have some new ones. We went to Old Navy to check things out, and while we were there we found this...

Gage's First Swimsuit!!! Quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen!

We stayed at Granddaddy's (Michael's Dad) the entire day swimming and eating Crab Legs! The water was pretty cold still, so Gage wasn't too sure what to think about it. It wasn't quite the same temperature as his bath water...hopefully it will be soon! He kicked his feet around in the water for about 20 minutes or so and by then he had enough! Pretty soon we won't be able to pry him out of the pool ;)

He looks just like his Daddy, huh? Gosh...they are too sweet!


Michael, Thank You so much for being so good to Gage and I! You made my 25th birthday the best one yet!