Our Little Pumpkin

Sage dressed up as a Pumpkin for Halloween! We had the best time taking her to the church Fall Fest. She had fun watching everyone run around and listening to the music. Then she fell asleep and slept as we walked through the Trick-or-Trunk fundraiser her Grammy was in charge of. I can definitely say this has been the most fun I've ever had on Halloween. We're so very happy to celebrate Sage's first Halloween and we look forward to many more to come!

Happy Halloween!

Boo! Sage is playing today in her little ghost onsie. We will dress up in her costume and go to our church Fall Fest this evening. Sage wishes everyone a Happy Halloween!

Mummy Loves Me!

It's Halloween Week and we're getting started early! Sage is wearing a little onsie my best friend Sara gave her that says "Mummy Loves Me". She's playing with her little jack-o-lantern bear her MeeMaw sent her. I can already tell that holidays are going to be WAY more fun with Baby Sage to share them with!

Splish Splash

Sometimes we bathe Sage in the bathtub to lay her on her back and let her stretch out in the water. (So I can get in between all her little rolls clean!) She loves to stretch out and splash in the water. She really likes it when we scoop it up and pour it on her head and tummy. Bath time is always fun with Baby Sage!

Head's Up!

Sage has really gotten good at holding her head up while laying on her tummy. When she picks it up, Dustin and I cheer for her and she smiles so big! She keeps it up for several minutes at a time and loves to look around and check everything out. She's growing and changing so fast!

What's Up?

Dustin snapped this picture of Sage while I was at work Sunday night. I thought it was too funny and just had to post it!

Sage's Snuggly

Sage has a blue Snuggly her Daddy got for her before she was born. She loves to hold onto it and snuggle with while she's playing. It's silky on one side and soft and fuzzy on the other. It's so cute to watch her holding on to it!

Celebration Sunday

Today was a special Sunday at church. We launched the "Embrace our Heritage, Build our Future" campaign as our congregation moves towards growing our church, both spiritually and physically as we prepare to build a new multi-purpose ministry center. After a special service, we celebrated with lunch on the lawn. Sage had a blast spending time with her church family. Dustin and I enjoyed a hot lunch together and just looked up every once in a while to see who our baby was visiting with. It is so great to have such a loving congregation to share Sage's early life with!

Eight Weeks Old

My Baby Girl is 8 weeks old today. She's growing so fast and learning new things every day. She's begun sleeping for at least 5 hours at a time at night. Last night, she slept for 7 1/2 hours, from 8pm-3:30am. I will admit, I was wide awake staring at her most of the night and snatched her up for snuggles as soon as she stirred. I missed her! I actually slept better when she was up every 3 hours! She's just an amazing little miracle and Dustin and I both agree that we're having more fun with her than we ever dreamed imaginable.

Sunny Saturday

We just love our Saturdays! It's the only day both Dustin and I are home from work and we have a blast! We enjoyed the beautiful weather in the back yard.

Sage REALLY doesn't like sunshine in her face, so we introduced her to her baby sunglasses. They are still too big to fit around her head, but she does open her eyes and smile while looking through them.

Reflection

Sage LOVES to look at her reflection in mirrors. She stares at herself in the bathroom mirror when I'm warming up a wash cloth to wash her face. We have a fish mirror we hang from her play gym and she just talks to herself, sometimes for as long as twenty minutes! See her grabbing her octopus and talking to her fish mirror? It's so funny to sit and watch her play.

Lap Full of Love

My dad had a lap full of grandbabies this past week! Sage and Rylan love their Paw Paw!

It's all about the Pink!

I LOVE being a Mary Kay Mom. There are endless ways my Mary Kay business has benefited my life, one being the flexibility to spend more time with my baby girl. As a Star Consultant, I am awarded a choice of fun prizes each quarter for my success. Usually it's a nice accessory like a bag or piece of jewelry. This last quarter, one of the options was a little girl's princess set and I just had to have it for Baby Sage! Here she is "sitting" on her throne!

Seven Weeks Old

Sage turned seven weeks old on Sunday! She's getting so big and doing the neatest things! This week she began reaching and grabbing things and hold on to something when you hand it to her. She also upgraded from the newborn Soothie pacifiers to what we call "Big-Girl" pacifiers. Every moment of these last 7 weeks have been incredible! I'm so blessed to watch my baby girl grow.

Time for Bed

Now that Sage is feeling so much better, we are attempting to get into a bit of a routine for Sage's bedtime. We feed her, scrub her up in the bath and then comes the snuggles! She's so sleepy afterwards she drifts off to sleep, sometimes for as long as 5 hours! Bedtime is so much fun with Baby Sage!

Mr. Jimmy

Sage (before she was born) and I spent the summer working side by side with Mr. Jimmy, the college youth intern I worked with this summer. Jimmy's a music major at SFA and has a beautiful singing voice. He came down for a visit this past weekend and got to meet Sage in person for the first time. Sage just loved the attention and enjoyed making a new friend!

Meeting Cousin Rylan

Sage met her cousin Rylan this Saturday. Rylan and Elizabeth came to visit from West Virgina where my brother, Adam, is in school. Rylan is just shy of two months older than Sage. Elizabeth and I were expecting at the same time and it's so neat to see our little miracles side by side for the first time!

Dancing the Night Away!

Sage, Dustin and I made the trip to Nacogdoches on Friday night to celebrate a very special "surprise wedding." My Uncle David surprised my Aunt Jenny for their 25th Anniversary with a full-blown wedding and reception renewing their vows for another 25 years. Sage LOVED meeting everyone and watching the dancing. It was a great evening and we all had a blast.

Sage and the Beautiful Bride

Dancing with Daddy

Four Generations

Having a daughter is so very special for so many reasons. One is being able to pass down the tradition of love and understanding that is now part of four generations of mothers and daughters. I love my family so much and am so blessed to share my life with these amazing women.

Getting a Grip on New Things

Sage is changing every day! She's recently holds on to things when you hand them to her and has pulled several burp cloths of our shoulders. She likes to play with her fish! Below you can see her holding on to her pacifier in her sleep. If you notice though, now that she is 6 weeks old, she has switched to the "big girl" pacifiers. It took us a few days, but she did a great job making the change! It's just so much fun watching her do new things!

Sage's Favorite Place

Sage LOVES to spend time in her bassinet. She wakes up smiling and "talks" to her bears. She wiggles and coos and has a great time. This is really her favorite place to hang out in the mornings and I just love to quietly peak over the side and watch her play.

Happy Birthday GG!

I'm so glad Sage is feeling better. We're able to get out and about and have fun. Monday was GG's (Great-Grandma) birthday! She's 82 years young and so much fun! Sage and I took her to lunch to celebrate. Sage was snoozing, so we captured a picture during her little nap.

Sneaky Smiles

Sage smiles so big and laughs and coos, but every time I try to capture them with the camera, the little stinker stops. She loves to spend the day smiling and laughing at me trying to get a picture of it. We have too much fun!

Six Weeks Old

Sunday, Sage turned 6 weeks old! She's getting so big and is doing great! She's so much fun and is changing every day. I can not believe how quickly 6 weeks has passed. We're enjoying every moment we have with Baby Sage and just love her so much!

A Day at the Golden Pine

Last Saturday, we spent the day at the Golden Pine. We took a walk and then had dinner with Grammy and PawPaw! Sage had a great time and always loves to spend time with her grandparents.

You're Invited!

You're invited to be a part of the celebration! Sage will be baptized on November 9th. You are welcome to join us for Worship beginning at 10:50am at WUMC. We're going to celebrate after church with lunch at the Pickett House. Email me and let me know if you'll be able to join us so I can reserve pews at the church and seats for lunch. We are so excited to celebrate the blessing of life in Baby Sage!

See you there!

I love being a Mommy!

OK, I loved being a mommy even when there were tears, but since Sage's medicine has worked to almost eliminate her GERD symptoms, I have REALLY loved being a mommy! A happy baby is a happy home! Sage is SO much better and has relaxed and turned into this snuggly, giggly bundle of joy! She's giving hugs now and smiles all the time. It's so much fun spending time with her and I can't tell you how much I love each moment I have with my baby girl!

Taking a Walk

The October weather has been beautiful. This Saturday we loaded up the stroller and took Sage for a walk. Sage slept through most of the walk while we got a work out on the hills. She fussed a little bit, but Dustin remedied that with a little jog! The sun was bright, so we kept her covered most of the time, but we enjoyed being outside and together.

First Bottle

Since Sage is almost 6 weeks old, we introduced her to a bottle for the first time. As I gain back a much busier work and social schedule, Dustin needed the ability to feed her while I'm away. I've heard that lots of babies had trouble with bottles and get confused, but not Sage! She's always been no-nonsense when it comes to food. Honestly, I think she'd eat solids if we let her! Dustin did a great job feeding her and she ate 5 ounces in no time! She loves to eat and her Daddy is really enjoying being able to feed her.

Say Cheese!

I LOVE to take pictures of Baby Sage! I've been doing so with a simple digital camera we've had for about four years now. Our dogs have taken pictures with it in the past and it's been on several vacations and to many Mary Kay events. Time has taken a toll on it and I was taking 10 pictures to get a good on of Sage. Sage's PeePaw (who is an avid photographer) saw the need for a better way to capture her daily deeds and got us an amazing camera! (I think the thing is smarter than I am!) I'm still trying to figure out the basics, but look forward to using it to capture more and more precious moments of Baby Sage's little life!

One-month Check-Up

On Wednesday, October 8th, Baby Sage had her 1 month check-up with the pediatrician. MeeMaw (Dustin's Mom) came down to make the trip up to the doctor more fun!

We got a good growth report on the Sage! She's grown to 9 lbs, 14.5 oz which puts her in the 85th percentile for her age. She's also 22.75 inches long, in the 96th percentile. She's a growing girl!

While we were there, the doctor diagnosed Sage with Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). Untreated GERD can be dangerous, so we were lucky to catch it early. The most severe of infant reflux, GERD is when the top of the stomach doesn't close, so all the stomach acid easily moves into the esophagus, throat and mouth, especially as the stomach fills with milk. She was screaming in pain, especially after meals and spitting up a lot. Dustin and I thought it might be bad gas bubbles, but it was from the burning of the acid. Sage even had a rash on her little cheeks and shoulders because her spit-up burned them. As first time parents, we knew something wasn't right, but had no idea it was so bad. We thought the screaming and crying was just part of being a new baby. (And the stress and fatigue just came with parenting!) Luckily we have had great success with the two medications she was prescribed and Sage is SO much better! She takes her medicine like a pro! We're honestly not sure what to do with her now that she isn't screaming all the time. We are SO happy she feels so much better and isn't hurting anymore!