Gage-isms

Gage has become a witty little dude lately... Just a few of the latest and greatest:

Dad: Gage, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Gage: Hmm, a missionary.

Dad: What do missionaries do?

Gage: You could tell he had his thinking cap on and then all of a sudden the light bulb came on: Eat Dinner!!

As soon as Gage found out that there was a baby in mommy's tummy, Gage has had a baby in his tummy. He even started praying for the baby in his tummy. Well, I think that he must have decided that having a puppy would be way cooler than having a baby because he now has a puppy in his tummy! (and yes, he prays for it too).

And yet another great one:

Gage, randomly out of nowhere: I have a mommy and a daddy.

Mom: You're right, you must be the luckiest boy in the whole world

Gage: No

Mom: You're not?

Gage: No. I'm not.

Mom: Well, then who is the luckiest boy in the whole world?

Gage: Carter.

Mom: Why is Carter the luckiest boy in the whole world?

Gage (with a little smirk): Because he has a Gagers!

Gotta Love Him!!

Happy Birthday Babe!

Last Monday was Jared's 30th Birthday! I ReAlLy wanted to do something BIG for the big 30 but Jared opted for small and quaint and it is his birthday after all. We had a little party with our little fam, Carter was in charge of the decorations and Gage and I cooked dinner and made Daddy's favorite German Chocolate Cake (I absolutely hate the stuff, so the ONLY time he gets it is on his b-day). It was simple but great to have Jared home for an evening. The boys were way more excited than anyone else, they were so giddy and running around the house all afternoon waiting for Daddy to come home. Jared had Tuesday off so I got a sitter for Gage and we enjoyed lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and did a little shopping at the mall... Jared's favorite pass time... it's not so bad when you're spending your birthday money.

It's hard to believe Jared is 30... that always seemed so old when I was young but now it seems very, very young. Come on, he doesn't even have a real job yet! :o) He is such a great man and I am blessed to have him in my life. He is the best dad I could dream of for our boys and he is oh so patient with me! Happy Birthday babe, I look forward to spending the next 30 by your side!!

River Trail??

Several weeks ago we decided to go for a family bike ride on a Saturday evening... one of our favorite passtimes. We had received a map for a trail we had not yet been on and decided to give it a try. It is called the "Hank Aaron River Trail." Well maybe we shouldn't have assumed anything (this is Milwaukee after all) BUT we assumed it would be a nice trail along the river - I imagined green and lush, just like several of the areas close to our home that are right along the river. While it was a great ride and a lot of fun... it wasn't quite what I expected. There was some cool architechture but it was mostly an industrial area. For a lot of it we were riding along the street. We took a wrong turn and ended up in a really scarry ghetto, I was feeling bad just for having my kids there with me. All in all I guess I guess a good portion of it ran a long the river, I was just expecting trees and foliage rather than power plants and hide tanning factories (which smelled nasty by the way). Once we got to the Lake it was beautiful. Jared and I couldn't help but laugh as it was no where near our expectations. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun and I'd even do it again (minus the wrong turn into the ghetto)!

I guess there is a river and there were some trees, but the barbed wire fence and the big trucks seem to distract from the "getting out to enjoy nature" aspect of it all.

There was a river!

It was beautiful on our way home, just as the sun was starting to set.

The trail once we got to Lake Michigan was great, we had the Lake on one side and the city landscape on the other, it was beautiful.

Lots and Lots of Corn Fields

A few weeks ago the boys and I took a road trip down to Bloomfield, Iowa to visit my roomie from Ricks, Amber (Olsen) Jenson and her family, she has two little boys close to Carter and Gage's ages and another baby BOY on the way... it had been about 4 years since I had seen her. The drive there was less than fabulous, you know what I mean if you have ever taken a 6 hour road trip by yourself with two little boys! There were however lots and lots of cornfields to enjoy along the way.

We had a lot of fun just hangin out, reminiscing the good ol' Ricks College days and just being moms. Amber is super mom and has an amazing garden. I think the highlight for my boys was picking the green beans from the garden. I think they ate one for every 3 beans that actually made it into the bowl - oops. Amber also has a HUGE yard (like 6 acres) and they had a blast playing outside, catching frogs and all sorts of other bugs, and running around to their hearts content! It was great, we had dutch oven cooking one night and cooked smores out in the backyard, went to a neighboring Amish village, took the boys to the library, and went swimming in the backyard. Thanks Ams for a great time... Hopefully we can show you a good time when you head up this way!

Carter, Adam, Gage, and Matthew

Gage with his new found friend "Cat"

Havin a ball!

A bean, a bean, momma check out my bean!

The gang hard at work!

The critter jar, with the catch of the day... a frog!

The rain stopped long enough for the boys to enjoy a nice frigid swim.

Kickin it on the swing, enjoying the outdoors.

Oh boy, oh BOY, what a day!!

Today was a busy one! It was Carter's first day of kindergarten, Jared had the day off so we took Gage to the zoo, so he could forget that Carter was gone, and then we had our ultrasound! Whew!

Carter was ecstatic that the first day of school was finally here (he's been waiting for this day ever since a bunch of his friends started kindergarten last year!) We live just a few blocks from the school so we all walked to school together this morning. As soon as we got to the playground where Carter was to meet his teacher he turned to me and said, "Bye mom, you can go now." Wow, he is ReaLLy going to miss me isn't he! I explained to him that his teacher wanted us to walk the kids in on the first day of school. He wasn't thrilled about the idea but went along. As soon as we walked through the front doors he turns to me and asks, "Mom, when are you leaving?" (I think he asked me this like 4 times, am I really that embarrasing??) I went on to tell him that his teacher wanted us to come into the classroom with the kids and listen to a story together. To make a long story short the book she read was The Kissing Hand. I had never heard it before but it is a story about a little raccoon who is aprehensive about going away to Kindergarten and leaving his mom (soo not Carter). The mom kisses the little raccoons palm and tells him that whenever he is feeling lonely or scared that her kiss would be on his hand and he could press it to his cheek and feel warm and fuzzy inside. In the end the little raccoon also kisses his mom's hand to comfort her when she is missing him. Really a cute story and I REALLY WAS doing okay until she read the story. She then invited the kids who had parents there to go and get/give a kiss on their palm and say good-bye... and then Carter brought me back to reality when he said he didn't need a kiss from me. I told him that I needed one from him so he gave Jared, Gage and I kisses and then consented to us giving him a kiss in his hand. Such a funny little boy! His teacher had little individual packs of kleenex for us to take on our way out the door and really I barely made it to the hall before the tears started coming. I didn't think I would have a hard time sending him to school but he is such a great companion, I am really going to miss having him at home! Plus, he is still so young and impressionable, it is scarry to think of him being gone for 7 hours everyday!

The Zoo was a great distraction! Gage had a blast having a day with just mom and dad. Today I think his favorites were the giraffes, feeding the goats, of course the monkeys, and riding the train which he had never done before. I don't think he thought to much of Carter being gone, which was exactly the point. (It was a good distraction for me too.) He did boast to Carter that, "we went to the zoo without you!"

We also had our ultrasound today... AND... I think I need to get a pet of the girl variety! Yes, come January I will be way outnumbered when baby boy #3 arrives!

Sucking his thumb?? Hopefully we can break him of that habit!

Just in case any of you were wondering if it was really another boy! (Why is it okay to share nudey pictures of an unborn baby spread eagle but you wouldn't think of it once he's born??)

10 Reasons we're excited to have another boy:

10. Carter amd Gage really wanted another brother... girls have cooties.

9. Can't wait for father's and son's outings.

8. It only takes 10 seconds to comb their hair.

7. Although 6 years old and a bit outdated we already have baby boy clothes.

6. Girl clothes cost twice as much and there are way more cute ones... we won't break our budget this way.

5. Less drama... so we like to tell ourselves.

4. We only need two more boys for a complete basketball team...

3. Jared doesn't have to purchase a shot-gun yet.

2. My dad won't have to make me that Barbie house he promised me 20 years ago.

1. We already know that we make dang cute boys!