I'm back....again!

This post is for Helen. :) I am sooooo bad about posting, which is more than obvious. I don't know why it is so hard for me to keep up with blogging...but it IS hard for me. Never-the-less, I'm giving it a shot again. Maybe I need to actually tell people about the blog instead of just Helen and my MIL. That's a start...

Here's the latest:

Gage is 14 months old and is a complete mess! He is so much fun and full of life. Daniel and I love watching the new things he learns and amazes us with his goofy personality. Just yesterday, he was following 2 step directions. I asked him to 1. "Go get your blanket and 2. bring it to me". He did it perfectly. We tried this several times with lots of different objects, and he did great each time. He has also shown us that he can find his shoes and try to put them on his feet. He can't quite get them on...so it's nice to know he still needs Mom to do some things! His new word of the day is "car". All we heard on the way home tonight was "car, car, car, car". It was adorable!!

Along with all the great things he is learning, Daniel and I are learning lots of things as parents, too. We learned this week, that Gage will copy anything we do. ANYTHING. We have gotten to where we will point at Gage to get his attention. Whether it is to say "No sir, we do not ______" or simply to point at him. Welllll.....Gage now points his little pointer finger at US when being scolded. Trying telling a cute baby NO when he is pointing at you and making you laugh. It's pretty hard to keep a straight face! I guess we are going to have to be a little more careful from now on.

Daniel and I have started going to the gym. We go on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and some Saturdays. We are beginning our third week of going and we have both seen results. I love going with him and feeling like we are taking care of ourselves while still getting to spend time together. Gage seems to LOVE the childcare. There is one girl, named Jessica, that says he is her FAVORITE. She always carries him around and his little face lights up when he sees her.

I am getting ready for a craft fair this weekend. I will be selling the clipboards I've been working on. I just heard about the fair yesterday, so I spent all day scrambling around trying to get as many made as possible. I was able to get 15 ready to sell. WOOHOO! But now...my hands are super sore and starting to get numb. I better cal it a night. I will try to post again soon!!

I have a store!!!

Well, it's true! I created an Etsy store today. I started making altered custom clipboards last week and had so much fun doing it! i showed a few friends, and within a week, I had already sold 8!! WOW! So, I decided I would go ahead and make an Etsy store and see if there was interest outside of friends and family. I'm really hoping that this will take off. I enjoy making them and the extra money can't hurt! :)

Feel free to check out my store at:

http://PaisleysandPolkadots.etsy.com

I only have 2 listings so far b/c it takes a few, uninterrupted minutes to load everything. That's a project to do during nap time tomorrow. It's 12:34 in the morning and I am off to bed!!! (Here's just two of the ones I have already sold)

A Great Friday

Today was a great day! Let me start by saying that last night before going to bed, I contemplated setting my alarm since Gage and I had somewhere to be at 10:00. I thought "nah, he's always up WAY before 10:00!!" So, I went to bed and woke up feeling very refreshed. When I rolled over to check the clock, I about fell out of bed. It was 9:47!!!!! I couldn't believe it, so I checked another clock. Sure enough, it was in fact 9:47! I checked the monitor, to find Gage sleeping peacefully and soundly in his crib. Then I panicked...remembering we had somewhere to be at 10:00. Anyway, the rest of the details aren't necessary, I was just so thrilled that Gage slept that late!!!

We went to the Just Between Friends Consignment sale this morning with another friend of mine. I got a few great things for Gage. We got 4 wooden puzzles, 1 five foot floor puzzle of dinosaurs, 17 books, 2 pairs of shoes, 2 footed jammies, and a little sweater set for the winter. All for only $46!!! I felt pretty good about my finds for the morning!

This evening, we went to dinner with some of our old friends, Hal and Christine. Daniel used to work with Hal years ago when he worked at MCI. Anyway, they have a 2 week old baby boy, Jackson. He is such a sweetie. It was so nice to hang out with them and catch up. They live fairly close to us in Rowlett, but we never hang out!! We've decided to work on that though!! We all got to enjoy a yummy dinner at Red Robin, and had a little entertainment from Gage.

What could be more fun than spending the day outside with my girlfriend, Livi???

Here's is one of the latest pics of my little man. We went to Firewheel Mall and he loved climbing in and out of the train. Isn't that just the most amazing smile you've ever seen???

Peek A BOO!!

Everyday I am so amazed at how smart Gage is. Just today he started playing "peek a boo" and positioning his hands across his eyes. We've played this game many, many times over the past year, but his hands never quite made it directly over his eyes. Sometimes it was over his ears, his forehead, or his nose. But today...he has successfully learned that his hands go over his eyes! He makes life so much fun!

Gage also started fake laughing a couple days ago. Listening to Gage and Daniel take turns making each other laugh this morning showed me again, how great God is. There isn't a sound in this world that is more beautiful than my son's little laugh!!

Some other cute things he is doing lately...instead of saying dog, which he can do, he has started growling when he wants to say dog. I'm not sure why he has chosen growling over talking, but it's super cute, nonetheless. He also discovered the tupperware cabinet this week. I was fixing dinner and he just had to see what I was doing. He opened up the cabinet, and within minutes, all my neatly organized tupperware bowls were strewn across the kitchen floor. I became suspicious when he became real quiet. I looked around, only to find him in the completely empty cabinet, with the door shut. What a goof!!

What will it be tomorrow???

I'm BACK!

So I guess I need to begin with an apology. I had high hopes of actually blogging...but it did not turn out well for me. I'm back though, that's a start, right? Maybe I need to tell people that I am actually writing a blog, maybe the accountability will help me to write more often. I'll work on that.

Recent Pics of Gage

Going Green is FUN and EASY!

I have been on a "green" craze the last few months. I have now made the switch to no longer using any plastic bags. I started out slowly and only bought re-usable bags from Wal-Mart. Once I realized how much easier it is, I got my bags from Target, Babies R Us, and some other stores. Not only does it make bagging up groceries less of a core, but it is eco-friendly as well! Doesn't get much better than that!

In addition to weeding out plastic bags, I finished off all our old household cleaners and replaced them with all natural cleaners. Surprisingly...they cleaned much better than the old stuff I was using. It also puts my mind at ease knowing that they are safe to use aroung Gage.

Daniel jokingly bought me a graphic tee with trees in the background and "hugger" faintly written across. It's actually one of my favorite tees!

There are other things we are doing to stay green as well...but that's all I have time for right now!

Wow....I've already posted twice!! :)

We'll give this a try...

I have been hestitant about starting a blog because I hate starting things and not finishing them. I've been worried that I won't post as often as I *think* I should. So...I am going to give it a try. I am going to make an honest effort to post at least once a week. (I'm setting low expectations in hopes of exceeding them!) I am hoping this will help our family and friends feel more connected and aware of what's going on in our crazy, fun, busy life!

Post one...DONE!