My boys

I am the luckiest girl in the world. Look at these sweet boys of mine! I am so lucky to have them in my life, they make every day so wonderful and I love them so much!


Last week, I woke up feeling sick one morning. I tried to tough it out but ended up calling Derek for help. He missed his classes and came home to take Gage to his mom's house for the afternoon so Gage wouldn't be around me too much. Derek's little sister took the top picture of them taking a nap together that day, and the cat decided she wanted to be the top of the pyramid! And we took the bottom picture of Gage today. It was so cute, he was petting the kitty with his left hand (ok, really pulling on her hair)!

Gage had fun watching himself on the computer camera! He kept smiling big at himself so I would push the button to take the picture then it would start counting to 3... like I can get him to smile ON DEMAND for 3 seconds! Haha but he still was being so cute with it!

Well, this little guy turned 7 months last week, it is just crazy how time is flying! On his "7 month birthday" Tori, his physical therapist came over. Not the best therapy session to be honest... it was scheduled at 10, she was running a little late so she got there at about 10:15 which was fine, except for the fact that Gage was ready for his nap by 10:45! So... not long after that I just held him so he could sleep and she just explained what else we need to work on. Better luck next time, right?! Tori was really excited about the progress he has made since his surgery. She hasn't seen him sit on his own until then, so she was super excited about that. And we got a good laugh at his stubornness towards rolling over. It has to TOTALLY be on his terms... like... when he is laying on the couch, then decides to roll over... then he isn't on the couch anymore! Yes... terrible mom. But I'm happy to say that he did forgive me. :) So he finally decided to roll for her and she got excited and said "he's going to do it!" so he turned around really fast to see what she was excited about it! So she didn't get to see it. BUT I must admit, Derek and I are actually really happy that he doesn't roll all the time cuz that would just scare us at night. He still gets oxygen at night and I wouldn't be able to sleep because I would be afraid that the cord would be wrapped around his neck! K... I just read what I have typed so far and I am sorry that it is ALL OVER THE PLACE! One story to another! That's what I get for not posting for a while.

Then the next day, Kathy, Gage's nurse, came over. Really, I just always call her the nurse but she deals with nutrition, oral development, etc. And Laurie, I thought she was going to start Speech Therapy but aparently she has been doing it all along... With our EI program they won't actually send a ST until 18 months. She just works on tons of oral exercises for us to do, and works with feeding and those things. So sorry I am not much help on that one! But if you don't have someone doing that... I have really enjoyed her help, so it might be something you want to look into.

Now pause the music down at the very bottom of the blog so that you can hear this movie!! That is the best part!

So I've got another movie for you! Derek and I LOVE watching this. Gage does this new thing where he "Talks to the hand". I was getting Gage's bath water going, then I came back in to undress him and heard him doing it so I had to take advantage of the opportunity and get it recorded! I was quite surprised that he didn't get all camera shy! Then I just kept recording cuz he was being so cute!

Also, I just wanted to answer this question cuz I have been asked a couple times! Derek and I are both graduating in Accounting this semester... super exciting!! And Derek is also doing the masters program right now... I figured a bachelors degree is good enough for me! We only need one CPA in the family, right?! :)
AND GUESS WHAT!! Derek was looking on SUU's website and it said who will be the guest speaker at our commencement ceremony. Guess who it is going to be!! President Thomas S. Monson. I kid you not! I know this might sound dumb, but when he told me that I realized how happy I am that I decided to just tough it up and finish this semester instead of waiting one more. I think that will be one of the most fun memories for us as a family, and to have Gage there cheering us on, wow, I just got tears in my eyes thinking about that. I feel so lucky.

I love this!

Ok... Watch the movie and decide which one of them Gage likes best! I kept telling Derek that Gage does this but he wouldn't ever do it when he watched. Today, I put him in there and was ready with the camera. I just love it, it is always the yellow one and he just smiles soooo big, I don't know what it is!

Nothing too exciting has been going on around our house. Derek and I started school last Monday, so I have just been playing with Gage, going to classes, and trying to sneak in cleaning the house and doing homework during naps! I already can't wait for the semester to end... pathetic, I know.

Tori, Gage's physical therapist, comes over tomorrow. It has been 2 months since she has been over because of Gage's surgery and everything. I'm excited to get back into it again! And then we are starting speech therapy on Thursday... exciting!

Catch-up! Here we go...

Well, I guess it is time for me to play catch-up since I haven't posted for weeks! Not that I haven't wanted to... the holidays just sure have been busy! It has been awesome to spend so much time with family, but it makes for little down-time! Gage had lots of fun firsts these past few weeks, so Good Job Gage! We're proud of you! (I'll tell about them as I go...) So here are some fun Christmas pictures! I have so many but I tried to limit myself!

Christmas Eve, we went to Holly and Brent's house for our annual family party. Gage zonked out right when we got there, but once we decided to lay him down to eat, he decided he wanted to be a part of the party, too! Once he warmed up to everyone, he started showing off like he likes to. His first big accomplishment was his "first word"! Gage says MaMa! He started doing it just a couple days before Christmas. Derek says it doesn't count because he is just talking and doesn't know what MaMa means... but I am totally claiming the first word! :) He knows everyone thinks it is so cute, so he kept doing it for everyone at the party!

After the party, we all got to open our PJ's and then headed to bed!

Kody and Cherri got this cute puppy for Christmas, isn't he a doll!! His name is Teddy. I told Derek that as much as I would love to have a puppy, after seeing all the work he was, I think I'm okay without one!

Gage and Papa Jo. Gage got the fun rattle in his stocking! He loves it cuz it is really noisy!

Gage and Gramma Jill on Christmas morning

I think Gage really enjoyed just handing out with Grandpa and watching all of us open presents all morning! He seemed pretty content!

Oh, cool toy! Gage couldn't quite figure out the whole... open presents and there is a toy inside concept! But he sure got spoiled and had a great morning!

After spending the morning with my family, we headed back up to spend the afternoon with Derek's family. We opened presents and then went to Aunt Lora's house to visit a while. We were getting kind of nervous because the weather was getting bad and we were driving back to my parents house that night, but we decided to still stay and have dinner at Derek's mom's house. We thought about just staying the night and then driving back the next day, but since we left Gage's oxygen at my parents, that ended up not being an option since he has to have it every night! So we braved the storm and drove 40-55 mph all the way down! It was super scary, so I just sat in the back seat so I didn't have to pay attention to it and Derek could concentrate on driving! Gage and I sat in the back seat playing and... second fun accomplishment... Gage learned how to give hi-5! It is sooo cute, he kinda gives you this look and then lifts his hand up (or both, depending on the mood he's in!) and puts them on the palm of your hand and gets so proud! I just love it! And it was great entertainment to keep my mind off of the scary weather we were driving in!

The rest of the weekend we spent just hanging out and playing games and things. It was a ton of fun. Sunday we headed home so Derek could get back to work.

Tuesday morning, Gage had his 6 month appointment. He weighed 15 pounds 7 ounces, which I thought was great since he had gained 10 ounces in less than 2 weeks! But the doctor said he has dropped to a lot lower percentile then he usually is in so we need to try to keep his weight gain up. He is getting long though! He is 26 1/4 inches! The doctor was really impressed with him and all that he is doing. Every time we go for a well check, the doctor plays with him and then says, "yeah, his tone isn't low at all". So that is exciting! I have been wondering about the fact that he still doesn't want to roll from his back to his tummy but the doctor said that at this age, even for a typically developing child, it isn't a concern that he isn't rolling. So I was happy to hear that. Gage had to have blood drawn so they could check his thyroids. With Down syndrome, they tend to have a higher chance of problems there, so we have to check at 6 months, 1 year, and then every year after that. I was really excited cuz he only got pricked 2 times instead of the usual 5 or so!! He hated it though, I felt so bad! But the happy news is that the doctor called me and told me everything came back perfect, so I was thrilled to hear that!

On Wednesday, Derek decided we would go to Matt and Shari's for New Years. We had so much fun playing games and hanging out and talking with them! The have an adorable little boy named Justin. He is 2 months older than Gage and he is just so much fun! Every time I see him I can't believe how fast he is growing up!

I'll have to try to get pictures of Gage's last accomplishment because it is hilarious to watch! Gage will tripod sit by himself, but if I sit him up without his hands down, he rests his back against me a little for support. The other day, I wanted to see what he would do if I wasn't there to rest on, so I leaned back whenever he leaned back and he just kept using his tummy muscles and holding himself up trying to slowly lower himself until he leaned up against me. It might be hard to imagine, but it is so funny! It looks like he is doing Pilates when he does it! So hopefully he will learn to just use those tummy muscles to sit up instead of using them to try to find me to lean against!

Well... holy cow. I will be done and try not to play catch-up again! We hope your Christmas was wonderful and that you have a Happy New Year!!

Bring it on, 2009!!!