how i love my baby

even if he isn't a baby anymore.

We finally got his current stats.

weight 24 lbs (50-something %)
height 33 inches (99%)

he's taller than some of the two years olds i know, but he's a skinny, yet stalky boy! :)

please tilt your head to the right.

friends, the best kind.

I have a lot of really, really good friends.

Some of my best friends I have met through blogging. Who knew, right?

I have met Evonne (Gage's shirt in the previous post is from Evonne! I loves you forever!) and Aubrey in real life. I absolutely love them. They are two of the best friends a gal could have. They have both changed my life for the better. I am so grateful for friends.

I must meet Kenna, and soon. I can not get enough of her. Plus, Gage needs to meet her handsome son. They must be friends. (along with Vin, of course)

My adoption friends are awesome. Arianne, Ashley, Jill, Ron and Jessica, Julie, Stephanee (who is hoping to adopt!), Cali, Brenley, Kim and Karsten (who are hoping to adopt!) and so, so many more.

I really could go on and on. Aren't blogging friends the best?

Heather is one of those blogging friends.

Heather and I have been blogging friend for three, maybe almost four years. I think we met through Sarah (who is getting married in October! So excited for her!) who found me because I posted a Friends video from youtube, I think. I don't know, we'd have to have Sarah fill us in there. :) At least that is where I received her first comment.

Now here is where I wish I could post the picture of us meeting for the first time, but sadly... that hasn't happened. Yet.

Heather lives 14,457 miles away (says Google Maps, anyways. :))

Even though she lives half of a world away, she always has a way of making her friends feel special and loved. She is one of the most giving and loving people I have ever met.

When Gage was born, she sent him a package.

It had a Koala, two cute, cute shirts (I think they have the best clothes in Australia!), and three books.
(I have pictures of Gage in his cute shirts somewhere, but for the moment, I can't seem to locate them. I just recently deleted all the photos off my computer)



(the other one is the orange and grey stripped shirt with the robo-pup at 10:42 on his one year old video! Ha ha)

For Christmas, Heather sent Gage this Crocodile (you need to see it in action) and a Koala book.



For Gage's First Birthday, Heather send the cutest outfit ever, an Emu and an Edward the Emu book. :)




Thank you so much Heather. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for being you. Your packages mean the world to us and Gage loves them. We are grateful to know you!

one year old.

I can't believe my baby is one year old.

(Gage's cute shirt is courtesy of the Sell Family. Seriously love them! I have the best friends ever.)

Our theme this year? 

Pirates

Why? Cause it's the cool thing to do.

The real reason? I fell in love with Bakerella's Pirate Cake Pops. Enter pirate party.

We had Gage's birthday party at the swimming pool. We had found out a few weeks earlier that he loved swimming. Perfect. We rented the pool and had a great time.


Gage loved his new floaty thing. He loved playing with the pirate ducks. (Every pool party needs a rubber duck!)

But not the splashing. :)

We invited our immediate family and we were happy to have so many people there.
(we didn't take many photos at the pool because it was too humid in there and the lens kept fogging up)

We had lots of food. (pirates eat sandwiches)

Cake pops. Yum.

And LOTS of presents. Seriously. How can such a small kid have so many toys. He needs a bigger bedroom. And soon.


We ran out of time (we were having too much fun swimming) so we moved the party on over to my Grandma's house. So thankful for her. (Thank you Grandma!!) She saved the day.

He was not what you would call, interested, in opening the presents.








Soon enough it was time for the cake. I made pudding for the icing, just to hopefully prevent the kid from getting too sick. He seemed to like it. I was a little bummed that it turned more and more yellow.



I think he enjoyed the cake. :)





Thank you for helping us celebrate one year of Gage. Best year ever.


Here is the video of Gage eating his cake. I realize that it's probably not that exciting for you, but just in case you are interested. :)

I love open adoption.

(posts about all of Gage's birthday festivities and part 4, coming soon. Hopefully sooner than later)

We had one of the best visits ever with Korin over the weekend. More about that later, but for now, I want to share a photo with you.

So very thankful.
(painting by Dustyn)

happy birthday little man.

Dear Gage,

You are loved by so many.

You brighten our lives and make each moment that much better.

Thank you keeping us laughing.

Thank you for loving us.

Happy Birthday Bug!

We love you Always.

Mom and Dad

part 4

is coming soon.

The birthday preparations took much longer than expected. I can't wait to share!

I am very excited that we get to see Korin tomorrow!

I love open adoption.... just in case you hadn't noticed. ;)

one year.

I can't believe my baby is approaching one year old.

His little (or big) personality is coming out more everyday.

He is a fiesty boy full of energy.

He never stops.

He is quite funny and makes us laugh all day.

He knows just what he wants and isn't afraid and letting you know how he feels about not getting it.

He is loud and full of squeals (and I mean high pitched squeals that make you cringe). We get a lot of looks at Walmart wondering who the parents are that are letting their child scream like that in public. :) We have considered weaning the binkie now, but when I think about the squeals at church, I am not sure how I feel about that. He does so good just sitting on my lap and playing at the moment. I am afraid to ruin that. ha ha.

He loves to lick EVERYTHING!

He crawls everywhere and is into everything.

He loves to sing and to dance.

He loves books.

He loves his blanket.

He is a momma's boy.

He laughs at himself all the time.

He is the most handsome boy I know, of course I am biased, but wouldn't you be?

We love him more than we thought possible.

We love Korin. We love that she is a part of our family.



We love adoption.



I hope to bring more of our story to you this week. (of course that all depends on Mr. G)