1 more week, max

Had a doc's appointment this morning and we scheduled an induction for next Wednesday, Jan 13 at 6am. I hope she decides to come on her own before then (but not before Friday due to Gage's urology appt) but I'm glad to have a latest possible date in mind now.

Still no baby- quit asking

Just kidding. It hasn't been that bad. I just don't want 1000 phone calls in the next 2 or week or whatever asking if she's here yet. When she is, you'll know. My 40 week appointment is tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll have a "latest possible" date by then (induction date).

Yesterday I got a message from someone I know through the therapy waiting room. Her hubby is a photographer and she asked me if I would be interested in a maternity session, free of charge, so her hubby could build his portfolio. She sent me a link to a pose he wanted to try, which included a bare pregnant belly....I said no way. She asked if I would be willing if we covered my belly and I said sure. So Gage and I went this morning and had the photo session. It was actually pretty fun and I can't wait to see the pics. We have to go back when Evie is a week or 2 old, and then he wants to take her pic once a month for a year, again, for free. We will just pay for any pics we buy. Gage got in on some of the pics today. Those were his first pro pics ever...I'm such a bad mom!! While there, I got to see some of this guy's work, and he's really good. I have added him to my blog roll if you want to take a peek at some of his work(Reflections by the Hill). I would highly recommend him to anyone in the area!

Our Christmas was good. Everyone came to us, which was fabulous! I should have planned for Gage to be a Christmas-time baby! Oh wait, it doesn't work that way, does it?

Anyway, we had a great time with everyone and Gage is just trying to come down off the grandparent-induced high he's been on. He was back at therapy today and did great. I was a little afraid that after being off for 2 weeks that he's be a pill, but he was excited to see "Seesa" and "Derk" again. Reesha said he was Mr. Social today and had to greet everybody before they could get down to business. I need to get Gage some supper, so I'll just post one pic from Christmas morning, when he got his train.

Urology and other stuff

Tuesday we made the trip to Children's for the most dreaded tests Gage has to deal with- the urology workup. Basically we have 3 things to do- VCUG, urodynamics, and a kidney ultrasound. This is all to check on how Gage's urinary system is working- the pressures in his bladder, the volume it will hold, and most importantly, how it all is affecting his kidneys. These tests usually involve lots of screaming on Gage's part, and lots of shushing and attempts at soothing for me and Tony. We start out in urodynamics where he has to lay on a table and have liquid pumped into his bladder until it starts leaking out. They measure the pressure and volume. It probably takes 15 minutes start to finish. The ladies that work the urodynamics clinic are amazing, but it's still usually quite a chore to keep Gage calm for the test. He fussed a little, but we were surprised at how he played and talked for the whole test! Ok, so that was a fluke, right? The VCUG is the really bad one. So we head to radiology. They do the kidney ultrasound first, which we do more often than the others. It's quick and easy. Then the VCUG. I wasn't allowed in for the actual test due to Miss Evie, but got to stay in with him until they started the test. He has to lay on a table and they pump a contrast dye into his bladder. They x-ray intermittently to see how full it is and what it's doing, and check to see if any of the dye is going the wrong way up into his kidneys. Every other time they've done this test, they've strapped him to the table, which was absolutely awful. This time, they didn't! He played and talked to his Daddy for the whole test. At the end of the test, they want him to pee the stuff out and see if he empties his bladder. For some reason THIS is when he decided to cry! He never will go while laying down, but ends up going everywhere when they remove the catheter and let him sit up. They tried and tried to get him to go. They finally listened to Tony and let him sit up, and sit on the potty that was about 6 feet away. He went EVERYWHERE. I'm sure they had to scrub the whole room down after we left.

So the good news is that there was NO reflux into Gage's kidneys. That's all we know right now. He's scheduled to see the urologist Jan 8 (the day after my due date!!) so we'll know more then. The kidney thing is the biggest deal, though, so we were very happy to hear that part.

Nothing really happening on the pregnancy front. I'm going to my doc weekly and there's no progress yet, although she is head down. Today I am officially more pregnant than I ever have been before- 38 weeks. I was induced with Gage at 37 weeks 6 days and he got here at 11:22pm. I'm feeling okay- reflux is about to kill me, but otherwise I feel good.

We had Christmas with the Finchers last Friday. I will have to post pics later. Gage and his cousin Silas had a blast together! My mom and John are coming tomorrow, and Dad and Alice will be here for New Years Day if Evie doesn't mess up their plans.

More pics

Our gracious host and hostess:

LOVING to swing!

Grumpy and Gage are big buds:

Nate playing Gage's recorder


The necessary Gage on Uncle Dusty's shoulder pic:
Playing with Addie:


Zoo Lights
MawMaw and Gage having a discussion
Nate, Sam, Dusty, Rachel, Tony, Jess, and Gage
Wasn't so sure about the Husky...
Riding with PawPaw

Procrastination update

I've been using a lack of pics as an excuse not to update lately. Guess I'll quit that and get to writing!

So LOTS of traveling has happened since my last post. We have been to Tony's parents' house 3 times in 3 weeks, and to the Memphis area for Thanksgiving. Tony left after work on Friday night and Gage and I shopped with Sarah and Parker Saturday, then joined him and planned to return home Monday. Sometime Sunday night I got up out of bed for the 3rd or 4th bathroom trip and I somehow hurt myself. I'm still not sure exactly what I did, but it hurt so bad I could barely move. That delayed my coming home by a day, and I did a lot of laying around for a few days. Tony came home Friday night and worked all weekend. Gage and I picked him up from work Monday and then we went BACK down until Wednesday for him to hunt again.

Dan McJunkins, our friends John and Matthew's grandpa, and a very well-respected man from Saratoga passed away Sunday night and the funeral was Wednesday, so we stayed and went to that. On the way out the door Wednesday morning, to go to the funeral, Pops took Gage outside to speak to Katie and a skunk came running around the house and jumped on Katie, who was tied up in the back yard!!! It was crazy! We have since found out that the skunk was indeed rabid and Katie was about 8 months overdue for her shot (even though she technically got a 3-year shot, there's no such thing in Arkansas). All of that has lead to a 6 month quarantine for her :( even though the law changes Jan 1, the state health department insists that the shot is licensed for 1 year and she was exposed BEFORE the law change, so we're stuck.

Anyway, we came back home Wednesday afternoon without Katie, repacked, and Gage and I left for Memphis Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Gage woke up feeling bad, so we were late leaving and were a little late to Steve and Kathy's for dinner.

I LOVE Ford Thanksgivings. I really do. Nathan came with us again this year. He claims to really like the Fords, but there are suspicions that he comes to observe for some social experiment or something :). We always have such a good time just visiting and of course, eating. Gage loved all of the attention from the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. My sweet family gave me a surprise shower for Evie. Oh WOW at the clothes!!! She is going to be the best-dressed baby EVER! Here are just a few pics. Aunt Rachel is the photographer and she hasn't had an internet connection at home, so I'll post more when I get her pics.


Gage walking to Aunt Judy with a hat over his face.

Dusty, Rachel, Nate, Gage and I went back to Mom's Thursday evening to find that Tony had just arrived after work. Friday we lounged for a while, then Rachel and I met Alice and Janie to sop for a while. Then we headed back to get ready for Zoo Lights at the Memphis Zoo. That was so cool!! Gage saw Santa there, but Rachel and Pawpaw have those pics.

The front Gage. The white spots are "snow" being blown from roofs on either side. It was really neat.
Not really loving the merry-go-round for some reason...


Saturday, we headed to Aberdeen for the Armstrong Thanksgiving. It was so good to see everyone and visit and eat. No pics from there, either.

Sunday we were all feeling pretty crummy so we packed up and came on home early. Since then, we've all continued to cough and feel bad off and on. I hope we're on the mend, though.

I think that's about it for now!! Long enough for you?

Today was a busy day. We went to therapy this morning and Gage did really well. Last week, he was not allowed to sit and play with Derek, at the front desk, and type on his computer because he acted SO bad for his therapist. Today was a totally different story. He was good for the whole session and was sitting in Derek's lap when I came to pick him up. His PT said he was good the whole time and even had something to show me. She put him against the wall, and he walked to Derek, taking 15 steps by himself in between!! That's a new record for him! I am so encouraged by his progress!!

We came home for a nap, then had to go for a well-child visit at his pediatrician's office...What I wouldn't have given for a bubble to sit in! It's nice and clean and all, but just knowing the germs flying around that place made my nose itch and my throat tickle. He weighed in at 32lbs 12oz (90th %ile) fully dressed) and 34" long (25th %ile), which I think was off because he was screaming for that part and she did it really quick. We got to see a NP student and then the NP (who I love!). They agreed that he was doing really well. Then he got 2 shots- Hib and the regular flu shot. We were checking out and I asked about H1N1. I had been told that they probably wouldn't get it, which the girl at the desk said, but that if they did, it would go to high-risk kids first, which Gage is. I told her that, and she went to check on something. A shipment had JUST come in, so we went back to the room to get that, too. Now I'm the only unvacinnated member of my family.

I came home to a box on the front porch. It turned out to be flowers from my awesome hubby! They're currently in a vase, drinking some water and trying to spruce back up, per the directions, so maybe I'll take a pic tomorrow. I needed that, though.

And here is Gage's new sleeping style. EVERY night, no matter what I do.

Actually, he usually just gets under his pillows, which you can see that I moved to the end of the bed to try to keep him from getting under them. No problem, he just got under the covers instead. Last night I set them up against the headboard after he was asleep. Sometime in the night he pulled one down and this morning he was sideways in the bed and the pillow covered him so all you could see is legs poking out the bottom.

I took some pics of him in the leaves the other day. I need to play with them some...and I'm not the best at picture editing, but here's one.

Halloween

We had a great time trick-or-treating! Gage did great, but was so confused. He couldn't figure out why we kept going up to the front door of all of these houses and then having to turn around and leave. He wanted to go in! We went with some good friends, but I don't have permission to post their kids' pics to my oh-so-public blog, so....sorry! We had a flying monkey, Optimus Prime, and Snow White with us, though.

Halloween Sneak Peak

Just can't keep up

We've been a busy family. The visit with Dusty, Rachel and Nate was a lot of fun but too short. Dad and Alice came last week and we enjoyed them too, but again, too short. They helped me get Evie's room all put together and I love it! We didn't stick to "the plan" but wow, I'm happy with how it turned out. I will upload 1 of the pics to blogger for you people who are reading from a place that blocks Photobucket, but it's just too easy to copy and paste the code, and takes too long to upload it all, so if you want to see the rest, you'll have to check from another computer or something ;).










And here is her already-full closet!! VERY little of this is brand new stuff. The grandparents have bought a few things, but most of it is hand-me-downs or consignment finds!





And the dresser drawers are full, too!!
Anyway, while Dad and Alice were here, they kept Gage while I went to my OB to have the 1 hour glucose tolerance test, which I failed. I had to go back Tuesday to do the 3 hour (got stuck FOUR times!!) and I passed it, so that's good. I'll be watching my sugar intake a little more closely, I guess. I'm on 2 week appointments now, so I'll go back again next week. The drive to Little Rock for such short appointments gets old, but I love my doctor and my hospital, so I don't mind.

Friday and Saturday was the yearly ladies trip. We stayed at a lodge in Branson (that I found :) ) and shopped and ate and laughed. It was a great trip. I let Tony take the camera with him to his parents (he didn't even use it!) so I have no pics to post.

Wednesday, Gage and I went to UCA again to the PT lab. He didn't make any big milestones while we were there, but he did well and the students seemed to enjoy him. He was good most of the time, except when his PT wanted him to do something that looked like work...stinker. He's still doing well. We didn't take the walker in to church last night, and just held his hand to walk. He would rather have his walker, but it's gotten too easy. We'll probably keep using it for longer walks, but he's gotten good enough at the hand holding thing to ditch it most of the time. He just decided while at his Nana and Pops' house that he knew how to stand up in the middle of the floor by himself! His PT tries to get him to do it in therapy with her help and, in her words, "you would think I was twisting his leg off at the hip". Well, he can do it. He just chooses not to. I have yet to see him get all the way up himself, but Tony claims he did it several times last weekend.


Finally, I took some 2 year pics of Gage with the tiger last week. I didn't think to keep taking one a year after his 1st birthday, DUH!

I don't have anything very specific to blog about- I just haven't updated in a while. I wanted to leave that ACH voting thing up for a while (you can still vote! ACH is currently in 1st!).

Tony got to go to the Cowboy's game Monday night and had a good time. He said their seats were really high up, but they could see everything thanks to the 60 yard long big screen. I was glad he got to go and got to be there for the 1st Cowboys win in the new stadium.

My mom came over while he was gone and we moved the queen sized bed into Gage's room. He looks so tiny in that big thing! He's done well in it, though. He did meet me in the living room at 1:30am the other night, but I've put pool noodles under his sheets, so maybe that will discourage him from getting out of bed anymore.

Dusty, Rachel, and Nate are headed this way today. Dusty is going to meet some folks in the Natural Resources office in Conway, and Rachel is going to visit UCA's OT department. We would LOVE it if they could move over here, but we're not holding our breath yet. Nate's just coming along for the ride.

Gage is doing great in PT. He is taking up to 7 steps in a row now! He's been singing a lot lately- usually Signing Time songs, and occasionally his version of the ABCs, which goes about A-F now. He still thinks counting to 10 is fun...guess we ought to introduce him to 11-20 soon.

He has started doing one thing that I do not like. He is definitely a mama's boy. He is fine being with people he knows well by himself, but if he is with someone new or someone he doesn't know well, he is okay for a while and then realizes that I'm not there and starts crying. I thought we had dodged this phase, but apparently not. He did this in Bible class Wednesday night- which is really weird, because he loves Bible class. I think it's just because his regular teacher wasn't there and that I handed him over to her before we were actually in the classroom.

Since blogs without pictures are boring, here are a few recent ones.

Vote For ACH!!

Go to this link: http://xbox.childrensmiraclenetwork.org
Register (for free)
Go to Arkansas, and vote for Arkansas Children's Hospital in the Game Room Giveaway from the Children's Miracle Network!

This is from the info page on ACH:

Arkansas Children’s Hospital is the only pediatric hospital in Arkansas and one of the largest in the United States. The non-profit health care facility boasts an internationally renowned reputation for medical breakthroughs and intensive treatments, unique surgical procedures and forward thinking medical research—all dedicated to fulfilling their mission of enhancing, sustaining and restoring children’s health and development.

This is the hospital where Gage was taken when he was only a few hours old, and where he has now spent a total of 5 weeks and had 6 surgeries. They are FABULOUS. They serve many teens as well, and a hospital gets boring after a while. They could really use this game room!!! Vote up to 10 times a day!

A Wicked Fun Weekend

Thursday morning, Gage and I got in the car and headed East to Nashville, TN. I dropped him off with his great Uncle Mitch and Uncle Steve, and the Ford girls + some headed to eat and then to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. We got there just in time. It was AWESOME!!! I am a big Wizard of Oz fan and didn't know very much about Wicked, but it's about the witches of Oz- their back story. I will never watch The Wizard of Oz the same way again.

Gage and I spent the night with the Mitchells and then headed down to Pulaski, to Dad and Alice's house. He had a birthday present when we got there- a purple and gray wagon (GO BEARS!) that will soon be rigged to be pulled by Dad and Alice's new family member, Chance, a husky. For the weekend it was pulled by one of us or the lawn mower :).

Dusty, Rachel, and Tater got there Saturday and we all went shopping in Decatur/Huntsville, although not together. The girls and Gage were on a mission to decorate Evie's room. We were wildly successful. The guys...well, they did guy stuff- guns and Gander Mountain...stuff like that. We met up to eat ribs at Dreamland.

Here's my haul from Saturday:

The stock photo of the bedding set. I got the 4 piece set- comforter, sheet, bed skirt, and bumper. I have found it listed for $130 all over the internet. I bought it for $25!!!

The butterflies- there are 2 big ones and 10 small ones:
The flowers. 5 big flowers, 1 hanger, 2 ceramic tiles.

All of the Ford family, minus Richard, Kathy, Tony, and Parker came over Monday for food, games, and just enjoying being together. As always, it was fun, but too short. We played a game called Corn Hole- so fun, but not as easy as it looks. I understand Reid is making these boards to sell if anyone wants a set.
Some pics from Monday. Thanks to Erin for posting some of these on FB so I could save them! I didn't take nearly enough!

Gage and Grumpy:

Aunt Cherry and Uncle Gary

Cousin Whitney and Paul- to be married next May

Cousin Erin and Steve 3- to be married Sept 2010

Cousin Reid and Erin

Whitney and Reid playing Corn Hole

My form

MMmmm Cup cakes!

Chance "protecting" Gage

Gage, Paul, and Boudain

Me, Gage, and Lola

Dusty getting ready for potato cannon carnage- I think the styrofoam airplane was shot down

Alice and Chance

Gage and Cousin Brock reading a book

He WALKS!

Gage took 3 steps by himself today in PT!!! I am so proud! I did miss it, though, and he wouldn't do it again. Reesha was walking with him in the hallway- he was holding the wall and walking. I was looking through the door and he saw me. He started waving and yelling "hi" so I decided to get back so he would work. Then I hear Reesha yell "AHH! MOM WASN'T EVEN LOOKING!!!" and I ran to see what was up. Apparently he let go of the wall and she thought he would just stand for a second, then he took 3 steps toward her!

Happy Birthday Gage!!!

Two years ago today, Tony and I were blessed with the best gift we've ever gotten! Gage is 2 today and has surpassed my expectations in so many ways. I love being his mom. He makes me proud to call him my son. He's easy going and happy and outgoing and lovable just a joy to be around.

In his 2 years, he has seen more doctors than most people see in a lifetime, and had 6 surgeries that he has come through with flying colors. In fact, he had to go see a doctor this morning...on his BIRTHDAY! It was a good report, though, and the doc and nurses sang Happy Birthday to him and gave him presents, so it wasn't so bad.

These are from this morning at ACH.

Checking out all the pretty things in the lobby of ACH:


Playing in the waiting room in Radiology:

It's a GIRL!!!

r

We found out yesterday that we will be welcoming Evelyn (Evie) Ruth in January! We are very excited! Everything on the ultrasound looked good and she is measuring right on track! We tried to get Gage to say Evie, but he wouldn't say anything but Baby. I think he's going to be a good big brother.

On Gage- he just got a new set of braces. His old ones were 3 sizes too small and not doing much for him anymore. These are taller and give him more support. We skipped a whole shoe size and only have 2 brown pair of shoes that fit now, so he needs some new tennis shoes. The goal is to get him walking without the walker ASAP. He's still doing great with therapy and is using his walker well now. We swiveled the front wheels this week and he is able to keep the walker pretty much going where he wants it to instead of walking in circles like he did before. He has turned his walker over 3 times in the last 3 days- once backwards on the road in front of our house. He was headed up hill and leaned back too far. He ended up with road rash and a goose egg on the back of his head.After that I raised the back of it a notch to try to keep him from doing that.

Last night after church, he was walking in the grass outside. The first fall happened when he tried to get back on the sidewalk and his front wheels caught and he went over forward. Then he was walking in the thick grass and just pushed too hard and went over forward again. Thankfully, he was fine both times and he got right back up to try again after a little cuddling. I'm really so happy with how he has been progressing since surgery.


Edited to add pics of the new braces:

Compared to the old ones that were shorter, and 3 sizes too small!!