Gage's 4th Birthday

On February 27th, Gage turned 4 years old. It's hard to believe it has been that long since he came into our lives. If you know Gage at all, you know that he is COWBOY TO THE CORE! That being said, it should come as no surprise that we celebrated his birthday at his Junior Rodeo. During the Winter, we had them a couple weekends a month and one of them happened to fall on his birthday.

We celebrated the special occasion with Sam's Club cupcakes...YUMMO!!! If you haven't had them, they're a MUST!!

Gage blew out his candle and opened some gifts just in time to ride his sheep!

I'm sure some of you are thinking this is CRAZY! I grew up in the Rodeo scene. It has always been a part of my life. I have always hoped that one of my children would love it, but honestly, I never dreamed sheep riding would be in my future. But...this life is known to throw a curveball or two.  I want you all to know that I don't love it that much. It makes me a nervous wreck EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. But, Gage loves it, so I guess I'll just keep pretending I do. He's bound to grow out this crazy sport, right?

Gage's best buds ride sheep as well. These three are as thick as thieves during rodeo season. They're each others biggest fans!

When they are finished with their ride, they always compare "sheep fur". They compare the amount of wool they pull from the sheep during their ride. I'm not sure why they decided to do this, but...they do! I think this was Gage's favorite birthday "gift". He got a ton of wool stuck in his new spur that day!

Happy Birthday, Gager Man!! We love you more than you'll ever know!!

Emerson is ONE!!

Since I took such a long break from blogging, I want to take a few days to play "catch up". From the beginning, my reason for blogging was to have somewhat of a scrapbook of our lives. When life gets crazy, it is easy to forget things. Important things.

I want to start with Emerson's First Birthday. Instead of the typical over-the-top cake, we decided on cupcakes. I wanted something different this time around. I was thrilled with the way the cake turned out and I have Heather McCray York to thank for that! Heather, if you're ready this...we LOVED it!!

Both of my kids LOVE sweets, so watching them tear into their cakes was fun for everyone! Emerson enjoyed hers, but certainly not as much as her brother. She's such a typical little girl ;)

My kids are so BLESSED with family that adores them. As the only babies on my Dad's side and 2 of 3 on my Mom's, they are spoiled rotten! 

The party was TONS of fun and we can't thank everyone enough for sharing the day with us!

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet girl! We love you to the moon and back!!

 

I'm back...for good, this time!

Oh my, has it been a while since I've written!? I have been so CRAZY with Chasing Emmy, that I've abandoned my blog. Honestly, I can't believe I haven't been here in over a year. I have missed so much in other bloggers lives, and if anyone even reads this, they've missed a lot in mine. In the past 16 months, life has changed a little. My kids are growing like weeds, I've opened a new business, and I'm crazier than ever! So, as a little "welcome back", I'll try to catch you up on SOME of what life has been about since I was here last.

In my last post, Emerson was a little over 2 months old. She is now 18 MONTHS and boy, have things changed. She is all over the place. She's bossy. She talks NON-STOP. She ADORES her brother. And, she is a major DIVA. My dreams of playing dress-up have definitely come true! Although she is a Momma's girl, she has stolen her Daddy's heart and made him even more a softy than he already was! I think we will keep her ;)

As for Gage, he is now 4 1/2. He is HILARIOUS and has the best sense of humor. He still loves anything cowboy, but his new obsession is Baseball! He played on his first team this Summer, but he seems to like the game a little more, in our backyard. I think the "game" was too much for him, honestly. He hasn't figured out the whole "share the ball" theory just yet. You know, when you're at home playing with Daddy, you don't have to share much :-/  He is a Daddy's boy to the core, and I just pretend I'm ok with it ;)

Now, onto the Boutique...in June of 2012, I opened a small Children's Boutique in a section of a local store. I sell Boutique clothing and accessories for little girls of all ages! I love the business, but the store wasn't enough. I have recently launched my website and I'm thrilled with how things are going so far! If you stopped by, please do! www.chasingemmy.com

2 Months...

I realized a few minutes ago that I never posted about Emerson's 2 month birthday. I didn't mean to skip it, it just kind of happened. So, here it is. Better late than never, I guess!

Emerson is seriously, the sweetest baby ever! She loves to be held and she loves to be sang to. She is a Momma's girl through and through. When Gage was a baby, he loved his Momma, but nothing like her! Several times in the past week, I have been holding her and someone else wanted a turn. I gave her to them and instantly she would start crying. The second I take her back, it's over! As flattering as it is, it makes things hard sometimes. I'm just so thankful to have her and so thankful she loves me!

She is a great sleeper! She usually goes to bed around 8:30 or 9 and sleeps until about 2. She wakes up for a bottle and goes back to sleep until morning time! I'm so thankful for that as well! It is so hard to be sleep deprived and still function during the day. I think we are just about past all that and I couldn't be happier!

Typically she eats 5 ounces about every 3 hours. She is still on Gentlease and other than terrible constipation, it seems to be great for her! She hardly ever spits up and so far, she hasn't shown any signs of the dreaded...ACID REFLUX! Gage had that terribly and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. What a NIGHTMARE! I'm going to go ahead and knock on some wood now. Hopefully she won't get it!

We have had some pretty bad skin problems to deal with over the past month. Emerson is allergic to colognes. Therefore, every time someone holds her with cologne on or their laundry detergent is strong, her face breaks out really bad. Hopefully we can get it cleared up soon. I feel so sorry for her!

Other than crying when she's hungry, sleepy or wet, Emerson never cries! She is the best baby and always so happy! She loves her big Brother and smiles constantly when he's around! She's such a doll and I'm so happy to be her Mommy!

Happy 2 Months, Sissy! We love you!

A horse, of course...

As a kid, growing up, my family always had horses-lots of them. I spent most of my childhood following my Dad's every footstep at Rodeos on the weekends. I loved it. It is a part of my life that I think about often. I have lots of memories of the horses and ponies that we had and they were all so special to me. I got my first pony when I was about Gage's age. My Grandpa got my cousin and I our ponies for Christmas one year. Spot and Grandpa (our ponies), were a pretty pig part of our days. We loved for our parents to lead us around so that we could ride them. As we got older, we got rid of the ponies and started riding the big horses. That's when our fun began! Those poor horses didn't have a chance. After hours of us riding the hair off them, our parents would eventually make us get off and let them rest. Those were the days! 

I have always wanted my children to be raised around horses. I want them to enjoy them the same as I did. So, on Saturday morning, I got a surprise call from my Dad. He had something very special waiting for Gage. Something I was beyond thrilled for him to have, and I knew Gage would be as well. Just as my Grandpa did for me, my Dad did the same for my kids...Gage got his first pony! I would like to introduce someone that will now become a huge part of our lives...Sunshine!

A good horse is hard to find, but when you do, there's nothing better. There are days when you're animals are your best friends. Days when it seems like the best person to talk to isn't a person, it's your animal! I'm so happy that Gage now has his very own best friend - besides his Momma, of course ;) 

Gage and Sunshine have lots of fun times ahead of them. Lots of talks and lots of disagreements, I'm sure! Hopefully my Little Man wins the majority of the time and he and his horse have as much fun as I did with mine. 

This is Sunshine showing Gage who's the boss. He was bound and determined that his duty was done for the day. Probably one of the cutest things I have ever seen!

Stay tuned for more of Gage and his new buddy! I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of him!

One Month...

As hard as it is for me to believe, Emerson was ONE MONTH OLD yesterday! It seems like yesterday I was getting ready for her arrival! She is such a sweet baby! She loves to be cuddled and the closer you hold her, the more she likes it! She melts my heart over and over again!

Just like her brother, Emerson has terrible stomach issues. For the first couple weeks, we thought she had colic. She cried every night and there was nothing we could do to help her. When she was about 3 weeks old, the screaming got much better and we have all been able to sleep a little more. Although the sleeping has gotten better, it still isn't great. She just isn't a great sleeper. It takes her forever to fall asleep and she's very noisy. If she's awake, we know it. Hopefully this all gets better and we can get some much needed rest soon!

Emerson has been such a blessing in our lives! We can't imagine life without her!

BIG BOY!

Last Tuesday was a big day at our house! It was a day we had been preparing ourselves for. Gage started "Big Boy School"! Since he was only a few months old, he has gone to the same sitter. We love Mrs. Bridget, and for the most part, we never had a problem leaving Gage there. There were the typical, "I don't want you to leave me" moments, but they didn't happen very often.

I wasn't too sure how Gage would react to a new school, new people, new teachers, etc. I was a little worried to be honest. He is a friendly, and most of the time an easy kid, but he's had lots of changes take place lately. For weeks, we have prepared him for what was about to happen. We told him who all would be there (he knows several kids there already). We told him who his teacher would be. We did everything in our power to make the change ok.

On Tuesday morning we woke up, got our showers and got ready to leave. He knew this was the big day and surprisingly, he acted excited about it! We finally got all of us out of the house and headed to School. He asked several questions on the way there, I think maybe trying to grasp what was going on. When we pulled up at school, I looked in the mirror and the look in his eyes broke my heart. I could tell he was scared to death. I reassured all would be ok and we headed inside.

There were several kids there when we walked in, but only one that he actually knew. Thank goodness Avery was there! He pouted a bit, told us goodbye and we left. I held my composure in front of him, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear or two when I got back in the car. It was really such a bitter-sweet moment for me. It meant my little man was growing up ;(

I worried about him all day. I knew in the back of my mind he would love it, but I still worried. It broke my heart that I had dropped him off somewhere that he was scared of. What if he didn't make new friends? What if someone was mean to him? He didn't have Mrs. Bridget there to protect him!

When I picked him up that afternoon, he was sitting in the floor watching a movie with all the kids. He was right in the middle of them like he had known them his whole life! When he saw me, he ran to me and gave me the biggest hug he had ever given me. He had a huge smile on his face and I knew he loved it! I have never been so relieved in my life! He loved his new school, he made new friends and he referred to his teacher as "Aunt Tammy"! I think he liked her too ;)