january 8, 2013

yes, that was several weeks ago. but it's an important date in our family. it's the date that Gage David was born into this world. our newest nephew. he came early that morning with a scheduled c-section. we tried to get to the hospital in time, but it just wasn't in the cards for us. about ten minutes away from the hospital, we got the call that we'd all been waiting for. he was here! but because he was a c-section baby, he was having a few breathing problems and had to be taken to the NICU.

no worries. the NICU is awesome at the hospital where my sister was. he'd just be there for a couple of hours and then he'd back to rachel and justin and all would be well.

except that couple of hours turned into almost eleven days. when they got the phone call that gage was being full-on admitted to NICU, my stomach tied up in knots and i couldn't ease my mind. my mom and i were instantly sending texts for prayer. i don't know why i was so scared for them, but i was. terrified even. they had prayed and waited for this sweet baby for so long that not having him RIGHT THERE RIGHT NOW was difficult. and he's not even my baby... i can't imagine what rachel and justin were going through. they were troopers though. handled it all with such grace...

and then, on january 11, Gage was allowed to leave the hospital and come home to be with his family. and then Cayden got the flu. so we had to stay away. and then i got sick. and had to stay away. and then finally, this past weekend, i couldn't stand it any longer. i held that sweet baby boy. it may have been 3.5 weeks after he was born, but it was completely worth the wait. and then my heart melted in a million little pieces and i gave jeremy "the look" and now i want ALL THE BABIES again. but sweet Gage can be the baby for now. isn't he a cutie? (also? Sawyer is now the largest one and a half year old i've ever seen. even though he really is still a nugget.)

a trip to the zood

and no, that's not a typo. well, i mean, technically it's a typo, but when that's what Cayden calls the zoo, i have to let it slide. because it's too cute to type correctly. so, the zood. we went there yesterday. first trip of the new year and we went with our little friends from church and school. even though the day was pretty cold to start out, we had an excellent time. lots of itty bitties running around and getting out and seeing ALL THE ANIMALS. (always "more animals!") i'm so thankful to have friendships with these families and look forward to spending more days letting our kiddos run wild and, in return, having them build lasting friendships themselves.

and then this happened!

we actually had snow! in alabama! true, it only lasted a few hours and it was mostly melted by the time work ended... but it was beautiful. and the flakes were HUGE and HEAVY and i could feel them hitting my head. my only request – should it decide to snow again this season – is for it to happen while we're at home with the boys. i can only imagine the joy they would show playing in the white stuff!

the flu.

oh, sweet cayden. mama and daddy are so sorry you're sick. we did everything we could have to prevent this from happening. well, anything short of keeping you in a bubble. flu mist? you had it. and what else could we really do to prevent you from getting sick? you'd had a stuffy head for a few days, but when you woke with a fever yesterday morning, we were too afraid to risk you NOT going to the doctor. several of your classmates at school have had the flu and we just wanted to make sure that you were all good.

off to the doctor we went. you had a throat and nasal swab done. & i'm so sorry. they must have been terrible as you screamed like i've never heard you scream. mama's so sorry that she had to hold you so that your nurse could get her job done. but it's a good thing we had them done. strep? negative. flu? positive.

ugh.

we had a couple of prescriptions filled for you. i know you don't like taking them, but we're so grateful that you're being a big boy and taking them anyway. they must be helping, because although you still had a fever this morning, you seemed to feel much, much better. and for that? we're thankful. you were psyched that you were getting to stay with nana all day. so much so that you pretty much hurried me out of her house this morning with a, "bye, mommy. BYE!"

we're glad you're feeling better. & i promise that daddy will stop treating you like you have the plague soon. hopefully.

someone has a new word

and oh my goodness, when saywer tells us, "no!" it makes me laugh every time. i'm sure it's going to get old soon, but for now, i love hearing him say no. also, please to disregard his crazy after-bath hair and the food he's still chewing on. he's a mess, this one.

wordless wednesday: playing in the leaves

shooting rockets

Christmas Eve, after all the morning festivities, we stepped outside to shoot a rocket. we'd purchased the rocket for my father-in-law last Christmas and missed the initial shoot-off at Thanksgiving. so it was fun to be there for the second shooting and for the boys to get to play with it. true, Sawyer couldn't have cared less, but Cayden was very into it. he even got to push the button once (maybe twice?). and yes, i'm wearing short sleeves. it was in the 70s that day. yeah, in december. but other than the confusing weather, it was good fun!

and then sometimes? you run across a couple of shots of your baby that make your heart melt. sheesh, kid. stop being so cute, ok?

our Christmas Eve

we spend Christmas Eve with Jeremy's family. just a few snapshots from our morning fun. we had a wonderful breakfast. (can you tell that we're breakfast people? i mean, i could eat breakfast food for every meal... but that's another post for another day. ending tangent now...) then we opened gifts and we were all spoiled. so much fun for our little guys and us!

i've also realized how much fun Christmas lights add to photographs. all of our photos for the rest of the year are going to be so boring, what with their boring non-bokeh backgrounds. sigh. such problems i have. ha!

our Christmas morning

we wondered how discovering Santa would go this year. Cayden's up at the crack of dawn. he usually runs into our room, announces that he needs to go potty, goes to the potty and then runs back to his room. Santa left the tree lights on so all the gifts could be seen and we thought that Cayden would for sure get distracted by the tree and gifts either on his way to our room, or on his way back to his. little man is a creature of habit though; not one glance at the tree either way. Jeremy and i kind of shrugged it off and went back to sleep for a little bit longer.

Cayden did eventually wake up and run out to the tree. he seemed a little cautious of what was going on. he was thrilled that Santa had eaten his cookies and drank some milk. Santa didn't eat all of his cookies though and that bothered Cayden just a bit. after a quick reassurance that Santa has a lot of cookies to eat in one night, Cayden seemed all good with it.

the boys got mostly everything that they had asked for. well, Sawyer didn't actually ask for anything, so Santa guessed what he needed most. From Santa, Cayden received a bicycle (that he's currently afraid of), a skateboard (which i'm currently afraid of) and helmet. From mama & daddy he got a shirt, slippers, another dinosaur train track and Madagascar 3. From Sawyer, he got some Avengers characters to play with.

Sawyer got a beanbag (he can finally quit stealing big brothers!), a guitar and a tricycle (it might be big brother's old one that got a new paint job) from Santa. From mama & daddy, he got a shirt, slippers, a Buzz Lightyear toy and How To Train A Dragon. Big brother gave him a fun alligator pull toy that everyone loves playing with.

both boys were spoiled with lots of fun goodies in their stockings. little flashlights and toys for the bath seemed to be the big hit. Madagascar 3 was put on while i cooked french toast and bacon for our boys. and for a new tradition to us, we headed to a local chinese restaurant and chowed down on some really good food for lunch. we rounded out the day at my parents house for a feast of breakfast for dinner. (and of course i have no photos of that fun. boo.)

how was your Christmas? any new traditions started?