I have no forgotten....

I have not forgotten about this blog, though it may seem like it. I will post this weekend along with some pictures. The camera that all the pictures are on is at my parents. I will have a lot of catching up to do! Thanks for being patient. :)

It's been too long

It has been quite a while since I have last written. I'm so sorry. I have let time get away from me. My last post was on what changes I saw coming our way in the near future, and some of them have happened! Gage is now sitting up completely on his own and enjoys it!! We went through a time when he could sit up but hated to do so. When we would put him in the position, he would just sit there and cry at us. So it has been a relief that he now enjoys sitting up and can play with lots more toys now. We aren't crawling yet, but I feel like we aren't far away from it. He can get himself in the crawling position and will rock himself back and forth. We have also made a lot of changes with his eating. He now only nurses 3 times a day and eats 3 meals a day of baby food. He expresses to me with no problems what foods he does like and doesn't like. He's not partial to peas or garden vegetables, which both have a somewhat bitter taste (yes, I've tried them). He of course loves any fruit. He didn't like when I made my own mashed bananas though. A video of that is up above. It's quite funny.  He also enjoys his snack puffs. He has fed himself those one time and has come so close many other times. I have also posted some pictures below. I will post back in a couple of weeks after his dr's appointment. Unless, of course, something fabulous happens that I feel like I need to post before then. :)

Taking a big boy bath

Playing with his favorite toy

Preview of big changes

Enjoying bath time in the sink :)

Chowing down on some squash...his bib says Tater Tot for those who were wondering

Had a fun play date with Aiden Wade

Playing with his new toy from Lolli and Pop

Styling a 6 month outfit

Takes after mommy, and loves to read

Gage has been growing and learning so much! He still hasn't hit any big milestones, but he has shown us that he will be very soon. He is beginning to rock,and almost picked his knee up the other day. So crawling is just around the corner. As excited as I am for that to happen, I know it will be a never ending chase for me from then until he's like 5! Haha! If I'm lucky :) He also has been sitting up a little bit more. He has the capability of sitting up on his own, but is just very lazy and refuses to. Anytime we put him in the sitting position, he throws his back forward to make his body move to a reclining/laying down position. It's humorous at times, and frustrating at times. He could play with his toys so much easier if he would just sit up. He is also now eating baby food. He likes most of what he's tried so far. He wasn't too keen on the carrots though. His favorite veggie so far has been peas, and his favorite fruit has been apples. One of the biggest things that I am so excited about is his growth. We are now in 6-9 month clothes and he is almost 8 months. Now, some of you who don't know his whole story, don't know why this is such a great thing. But he started out in preemies, and lived in newborns for months, and then moved to 3-6 months. I am very excited that some 6 month clothes are fitting him somewhat snug. I can't wait to see how fast he starts growing...he has alot of catching up to do!! Just wanted to update everyone and post a few new pictures. They are all from my phone, so I'm sorry if some turn out a little grainy.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Gage had a wonderful first Christmas! We had a month of celebrations. We began by going to Forsyth, Ga the first weekend of December and Gage was able to meet Mama Hux. We celebrated with my dad's siblings and their children. We then had his dedication the second weekend of December. The third weekend, we went to Columbus, Ga. We celebrated with my mom's siblings and their children. We were also able to visit with Ashley Bobo and I was able to go out and have some girl time with her. Gage met Hendrix, his second cousin who is 2 years old. Hendrix loved Gage and we look forward to playing with him again! The week of Christmas my mom came and stayed at our house to help me get everything cleaned and cooked. That Wednesday night we went to Yonkers, Ga and saw a house covered in thousands of lights with the Wicker family. Gage also got a few pictures with Santa there. On Thursday, dad, Bert, Sarah, Temperance, Josh, and Brittany all came in to stay with us until Saturday. Grandmama and Granddaddy Carswell also came in on Thursday to visit for a few hours. Although Bert was sick all day Friday, we had a great time with our family visiting and spending time with them. Temperance was so fun and loved playing with everyone. Gage did pretty good but was a little off his sleeping schedule. Friday evening after the Christmas Eve service, the McCalvin family came in and we all had a family dinner together. Saturday morning after breakfast together, my family left and we spent the day with the McCalvins. We enjoyed eating a nice big lunch together and hanging out. Gage had a great time being with his grandparents, uncles, and aunts. And of course his cousin, Temperance. He got several new toys that he has enjoyed playing and some that he will be able to grow into for the next few months. He also got a highchair that he has enjoyed using while eating his cereal. We have had  a wonderful Christmas and are so blessed to have such a loving family. My prayer is that Gage will grow up knowing that Christmas is about celebrating Jesus' birth with family, and not about receiving gifts.

At Yonkers, Ga

Visiting with Mama Hux

Gage with Santa

Sitting with Aunt Brittany watching Josh feed Temperance

Thanksgiving and Dedication

I realize I have not posted in a while. I have been trying to locate my camera so I could upload some cute pictures from our thanksgiving week, but my camera is still hiding from me. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went down to Port St. Lucie, Florida and spent a few days with Aaron's family. We were able to take a 5 generation picture and Gage was able to meet his grandparents on that side plus his Aunt Tammi and cousins Dominique and Charles. We also made a trip to the beach to take some family pictures. We all, with the exception of Gage, stuffed our faces with food and enjoyed spending time with family. Gage did wonderful on the 6 hour drive there and back. He is such a good car rider! We have been getting ready for Christmas now that Thanksgiving is over. (I will do another post on Christmas and post pictures from all of our family get togethers.) This past weekend we went to Albany for Gage's dedication. We had him dedicated at the Refuge by Bobby Brooks. After church, we all went back to my parent's house for lunch. We had a wonderful time seeing family and friends and getting to celebrate that special day in Gage's life with all of them. We are so blessed and so thankful for each and every one of them. I don't have pictures on the computer from Gage's dedication, but I'll put them up in the next couple of days. Enjoy the family pictures from Thanksgiving!

Five generations. From left to right: Barbara, Granddad, Aaron, Emily, Billy, Lori. And then Grandma holding Gage in the center.

Family picture on the beach

The whole McCalvin clan!

True Love

I feel like I just need to blog about my love for Gage today. I have been overwhelmed the past couple of days by my love for Gage. It amazes me how my heart continues to grow in love for this child every day. I feel like my heart may explode any minute with how full my heart is for him. It was a year ago from Monday, the 22nd, that we found out I was pregnant. It amazes me how my love for him began that day. It amazed me even more of how much I loved him already when I first saw him and held him in the NICU. How can you love someone so much that you just met?? My love for him has only grown, and I know it will continue to grow every day. It brings tears to my eyes knowing the honor that I have to be Gage's mother. The fact that God gave me a child to love and raise as one of His own blows my mind. It has also brought God's love for us to a whole new level. I know that I would do ANYTHING for Gage and his safety and his happiness. I can only imagine how much greater that truth is for us as God's children. I also can now partially understand the sacrifice of God giving his ONLY son to die in place for all the world. I will never fully understand God's love, grace, and mercy. But I cannot imagine Gage being born and knowing that the purpose of his birth was to die in place of someone else. What love that is!!! I'm sitting here trying to figure out the words to express how great my love is for my son....there are no words that will do it justice.

Snuggled close to my heart, where he will always be

Pumpkin Patch

We were finally able to visit a great pumpkin patch to take pictures of Gage...and of course, it was FREEZING outside. So I didn't get all the pictures I originally wanted, but I did manage to get a few good ones. We were in Albany for the day on Saturday to go to a friend's wedding that night. We made a trip to Mark's Melon Patch that afternoon. Gage did amazing considering it was nap time AND he had a poopie diaper. My parents and Aaron's mom and brother, Travis,  were able to spend the afternoon with us, so we took a some pictures with them as well. I'm going to put several pictures on this blog, but to view all the pictures from the pumpkin patch, you can go onto my facebook page where I have created an album with the rest of the pictures there. Enjoy!!

Family picture

Gage with Lollie

Gage with Uncle Travis

Gage with Papa J and Grandma