Kelly in NC

Well, we are back form our week at the beach. We had a wonderful time and I was not ready to come back. We stayed in a 7 bedroom house one house back form the ocean. The house was filled with most of the burns plus my sister’s family. I couldn’t have asked for better company! Everyone- including the 6 kids- got along very well. Even in a house that had a very small living room. It didn’t take long for us to get into a daily routine. Up at around 7 am. Eat breakfast, out to the beach until lunch. After lunch- nap time for the kids (and some adults!)- book time for me! After nap, dinner. Back to the beach after dinner, or out for ice cream or to the playground. Each day the kids were exhausted, but yet ready to do it all over agin the next morning. I seriously thinkt hat I could have stayed for another week before being ready to come back! Here’s all the photos. Watch out there are a lot!
Beach part 1
Beach Part 2
Beach Part 3

Gage,
Another month has passed and you are now 61 days old. Lucky you! You spent your 2 month birthday at the beach with a lot of your extended family and you were finally able to meet your cousin Adler, Uncle Joe and Aunt Amy. You didn’t seem to mind going on vacation and loved sleeping at the beach. I did try to give you your first swim in the pool, but you were not pleased with the cold water. YOu screamed your little head off and then of course took another nap!

Besides meeting your Aunt and Uncle from Florida, you were able to meet a number of your other family members and friends this month too. Aunt Renee, Aunt Kate, and Aunt Carri threw you a Baby Welcoming party where you were held, cuddled, and viewed by all of our most favorite North Carolina friends. The party was a hit, with you sleeping most of the time and everyone showering you will a ton of diapers! I think it will be months before we have to buy diapers and wipes again. Also a few weeks ago you were visited by Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Brun this month. They made a trip down from Ohio to see all their grandkids and great grandkids- but Grandma Brun was especially pleased to meet you. You are currently her youngest great grandkid… although with the way that side of the family multiplies I am sure that will not last for long!

Mimi also stopped in this month for a quick one night visit. She was amazed at how much you have grown in such a short amount of time. Since your birth you have almost doubled your weight, now 12 pounds 9 ounces (75%), and have grown to 23 inches long (55%). Your noggin is 39.5 cm. You quickly grew out of your 0-3 month clothes and are now wearing size 3-6 month. Your skinny legs now have chubby rolls and your thin belly is now round and full. You have even grown a double chin in the past 31 days! I am sure that all of this growing has something to do with how much you like to eat. You will eat 4 to 5 oz at a time and over the last two days have decided to try eating every 1-2 hours. Really? That often? I am hoping that this is just a stage and that you will go back to the 3 hour routine you have been on for the majority of this month.

Gage you have been a very predictable baby. You fuss when you are ready to eat and when your are tired. The rest of the time you are very content, looking at the world with your wide-open blue eyes. You open those eyes so big that your cousin Kellynn even asked “Why does Gage open his eyes so big all the time?” I say that it is because you are so excited to see the world around you- you can’t seem to open them big enough to take it all in!” You have now started to track things that cross your line of sight and Daddy swears that you try looking around the room when you hear my voice.

You have started to coo and continue to grunt as a from of communication and my favorite highlight from this month is that at 6 weeks you learned how to smile. You will now smile anytime you can catch someone’s eye and have even let out a few giggles although we cannot get you to laugh consistently. In motor development, you are now able to hold up your head and have just begun to put weight on your feet. You love to be swaddled and for the most part have given up the midnight feeding- allowing us a 6 hour stretch of sleep at night. The only physical issue that has surfaced has been your bowel’s decision to not produce a movement on a frequent basis. You have gone as long as 5 days without a BM, causing me to finally take you to Dr. Goss. She indicated that this was nothing to worry about- as long as you are not constipated, everything is ok. The problem is that after a couple days of no number 2, you start to get fussy and do not nap very well. Dr. Goss did give us a few options- 1 oz of prune juice a day, 1 tsp of dark Karo 1-2 times a day, or a tsp of miralax. So far we have tried the prune juice and the Miralax and you still are not going often enough to avoid feeling “backed up.” Hopefully, your little body will work out this problem in time.

Finally Gage, the only other major change that occurred this month was my return to work. At the end of July I started back, working only one day a week. I will admit that it was not too difficult leaving you, but that was mainly because I knew that you were in good hands. Your Nagy agreed to watch you for the 8 Wednesdays that I will work before going back to school full time. You love your Nagy and I do too! Without her, I am not sure that I would have been able to handle working again so soon.

So 61 days and counting. You’ll be a little boy before I know it.

I love you more and more each day!

Love,
Mommy

Wow- where did the time go? With having a new baby it isn’t as easy to find the time to write a post. Now I know why Facebook has become so popular. I will admit that I have been better about posting snippets of the past month there rather than taking the time to blog. Sorry to my fellow bloggers. I know you are all very sad… although I do not feel too guilty, seeing as how most of you facebook too! So here’s what we have been up to over the past few weeks!
On Saturday, July 18, Renee, Kate, and Carri hosted a baby welcoming for Gage. The three of them did a great job planning all the details- from my favorite cake to hand made cookies as favors- I was in awe over their thoughtfulness. I was also reminded how lucky my family is to have such a large group of support. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend and thank you especially to Kate, Carri, and Renee who planned the event.
On Saturdy, July 25,we were able to visit two of Tim’s cousins who were vacationing from Ohio. I always love when Angie and Tina come for a visit. Combine them with their other two sisters and you are sure to have a good time. They are all such fun to be around and wish that they lived closer. Also it became official that Gage learned how to smile on this date!
Sunday a week ago, Renee and I treated our husbands to the Kid Rock/ Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. The concert was a blast. I had no idea that Kid Rock could play so many instruments. I must admit that I had the most fun people watching…my favorite spy being the man in the red speedo, cowboys boots, and cow boy hat. Awesome!
Last Wednesday was my first day back at work. Mom B has agreed to watch Gage for me on the one day a week I work. I will return to my full time schedule in September. In the meantime, working only one day a week is awesome. I have no worries about Gage since he is in the best possible hands and it is nice to get some adult interaction. I also love my kids at school, so it it nice to stay caught up with them. I should also mention that Gage slept through the night for the very first time on that night!
On Thursday night, I took Renee to see Mama Mia! as a belated birthday gift. The show was awesome and as expected a teared up for the “Slipping through my fingers” song. Am I the only person who can’t even type the title of that song with out wanting to cry? I hate how quickly my boys are growing up and wish that I could just slow time down sometimes!
Early Friday morning my mom, her fiance Glenn, my Aunt Mary, and cousin Aliyah drove up from Florida and crashed at my house for one night. It was great seeing them and wish they would pass through more often!
Saturday, we went on a family trip to the White Water Center to cheer on Tim’s brother Marc who was running his first adventure race. Unfortunately the logistics of the race were changed due to weather issues and we did not discover the changes until we got there. We were unable to cheer Marc on, but we did have a nice outing to the park. Has anyone else who has visited there been concerned about the fact that there is NO guardrail around the water course? Every time I go I feel terrified that Grayson may accidently fall in.
SUnday, Tim and I took the boys to run a few errands. Tim took Grayson into Best Buy while I took Gage into Target. When I finally made it over to Best Buy and grabbed a cart, Tim was amazed at my intelligence in getting a cart. “Why didn’t I think of that?” he says. Apparently the entire time they were in the store, Grayson had spent most of it picking up items, removing tags from the shelves, and oh yeah- head-butting the que ropes. I guess on Sunday, Tim learned a valuable lesson. Three year olds always go in a cart1
On Monday, we spent the evening over at Carri and Dave’s house for dinner. Carri’s parents were in town and we couldn’t miss seeing them. They of course were dying to meet Gage. I love when they visit and wish that I could see them more. Carri’s parents are the kind of people you envy and pray that you will have the kind of happy, fun marriage that they share. I love spending time with them and only wish that they would go ahead and move here. **Hint, hint BJ and Will!