Happy Birthday Gage!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, wonderful, ornery little boy, Gage!! Okay so this post is a week late, but due to a horrific abscess in my tooth, we celebrated his birthday a little late. His birthday was actually last Monday, the 11th. He turned 2!! The above picture was taken on his birthday. Because I wasn't feeling well we postponed his birthday party, but I still wanted to do something special on his birthday. So, at 8pm (bedtime) I took Gage and Reese to Casey's and Gage got to pick out a chocolate bar. He loves chocolate!!! We went home and he ate the entire candy bar before he went to bed (well I might have had a couple of bites myself:). He woke up the next morning and before he even got out of bed, he asked for more 'choc-yut'.

On Saturday evening we finally had a real birthday party for him with our families. But as you can tell by the pictures, I was not as creative with his cake as I was with Reese's. Poor boy, his birthday came after the twins instead of before. He still thought it was great and loved his 'choc-yut' cupcake!!

Here is the birthday boy looking really guilty after dipping his fingers into the frosting and licking them. I just laughed!
After every present he opened, Tim would tell him to say thank-you to whoever gave it to him. Well, he went a step further and had to go and give them a hug . . . so one by one he went around the room and gave everyone a hug as he opened his presents. It was so cute!!
Gage has lots of fun playing with his brother Reese and is always ready to tell the twins "it's okay, baby", when they are crying. His smile can brighten up my day and I love to hear him talk. He speaks in full sentences and has an adorable way of saying everything. He can also be very naughty and ornery. He is very independent right now, wanting to do everything for himself. My favorite thing he does right now is he will randomly come up to me and give me a hug and say "I love you, Mommy." That melts my heart every time!
Happy 2nd Birthday, my adorable little Gage!!! I love you so much and our family would not be complete without you!

Fun Outside

I love spring and summer!!! My boys love it too, they love to be outside! Yesterday we had a day out in Iowa City for an appointment. Then we had to get the vans tire fixed, so I dropped everyone (my mom, Martha and the kids) off at Village Inn and I took the van to a shop and then walked back to Village Inn, which was only about 5-10 minutes. I enjoyed being outside for a little walk but of course on the way back to get the van, the boys wanted to go with me and it was raining. Reese thought it was grand fun and ran giggled the whole way there because he was getting wet.:) Gage on the other hand, wanted me to carry him and said that he was cold and wanted his jacket. When we got there though, he entertained the guys that fixed our van by telling them all about the rain and how cold it was and that he got all wet. They thought he was very cute and funny! What can I say, he is!!

We have a sandbox outside with a playhouse above it and Reese and Gage and their cousins next door love to play in it. Well, this morning the little boys were up in it too. Kyle (cousin) is the same age as Gage and he is not scared to come down the slide but Gage is still kind of chicken to come down so I had to climb up the slide and get him. I put him on my lap and down we went. Now, picture the slide fairly long for a little kid but at the bottom the slide isn't very high off the ground which is perfect for a child's legs but not exactly perfect for an adult like me. So we hit the bottom and my legs hit the ground and catapulted us onto the ground. Luckily I didn't land on Gage. He looked at me like he was going to cry and I started laughing so hard and then he did too and we laid on the ground just laughing. It was grand fun but not something I will probably try again soon. :)

Sickness and Sweetness

Gage has had a rough week, he has been sick since Friday. He was either vomiting, had diarrhea or both, he was miserable. He was a very grumpy little boy. This picture was taken on Monday. He was eating toast and drinking 7-UP and did not want his picture taken. Normally I don't let them eat toast on the couch but, I make exceptions for sick little boys. It was quite comical watching him drink the 7-UP, he is not used to pop. He is finally feeling better and getting back to the normal, rambunctious little boy I know and love. On a happy note, the twins are 2 months old already!! Time flies, even when you are exhausted and not getting a whole lot of sleep. They are both growing like weeds and are generally very good babies. Everett sleeps around 6 hours a night usually and Hadyn sleeps around 4 -5 hours. What can I say, she likes to eat, just like her mommy. :) Here they are hanging out with Daddy. Hadyn still goes quite cross-eyed when she is trying very hard to focus on something. :) As for my husband, he is the best husband in the world and I don't know what I would do without him! He is a wonderful Dad and loves his kids more than anything in the world! I am not biased or anything. :) But, seriously, I thank God everyday for giving me a wonderful, Godly husband.

Baby Dedication

A few weeks ago we had the privilege of dedicating our precious twins to the Lord. They are truly a gift from God and we give them back to Him and pray that they will grow up to love Him with all of their hearts! We did it on Easter Sunday and my family came to our church to join us in dedicating them--it was a special day! My sister gave them each an adorable little outfit to wear for the special occasion. Here are a couple of pictures from that day. Hadyn looks very uncomfortable in the first picture but Everett is smiling away. Aren't his dimples adorable!!
This picture is during the actual baby dedication. Wow, would you look at that great posture!!:) Apparently Elmer said something funny when this picture was taken.

Tunnel Vision

I've been having to remind myself lately that we are in a tunnel and we will come out of it sooner or later and to just enjoy being in it. Having four kids age four and under presents new challenges every day. Yesterday Gage woke up in the morning and promptly proceeded to vomit and continued to do so throughout the day. Today he was better but still not himself. He kept telling me to put the baby on the floor or in the swing so I could hold him. He was so sad and I felt so bad that I couldn't just sit and hold him the whole day.

I feel like sometimes I read other moms blogs and think they have it all together and their families are perfect and wonderful. Well, just in case you were wondering--WE ARE NOT PERFECT AND I DO NOT HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER!! I love my kids and my husband more than anything else in the world, but there are days when I would kill to have an hour alone with no interruptions. Okay, so to be honest I could handle an entire day alone but an hour sounds a little more attainable. Baby steps. God is trying to teach me things in the midst of all this (you would think He would give me a break during this chaotic part of my life:), such as leaning on Him and especially about not complaining. When I start letting myself complain and whine about things not going the way I want them to or other not-so-fun circumstances (sickness...) that come along, I know it only makes things worse for myself and those around me like my family. So I am trying to be more positive and have a good attitude about everything that comes at me. After all my "job" is to be teaching and training my children to be lovers of God and to do all things without grumblings and complaining. So to all of you out there, I hope you have a complaining-free day and hope that if you ever hear me whining about something you will call me on it. Have a blessed day!!