We may be MIA for awhile...

Well, here it is--Memorial Day weekend, and what THIS means for the Fox household is MOVING TIME!

You will not be hearing from us for the next week or so, until we get all moved out and settled in. I told Tim he can't take the computer until the last possible minute, but since he is connected through his work trio/blackberry device, he doesn't need the home computer at all!

My sister is here through Saturday morning, so I am taking advantage of her presence and getting some stuff done around the house today, and running a few errands as well. Then, we are "diving in" this weekend and packing up all the stuff I have been making Tim wait on until now; the kitchen, clothing, bathroom stuff, etc. So, frozen pizza and Subway will be our meals of choice for the next 6 days! YUM!

We close and move in on May 31st and June 1st. The whole first weekend and week of June will be unpacking and settling in, and then we should be able to get back online and post some pics of our new house! I am SO EXCITED! I keep having dreams of the new house, and its exactly the opposite of what it is...and I cry and wish we hadn't moved. But, I know that this is just my anxiety getting the best of me, and I will love the house and everything will be just fine!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone. SAFE-SAFE-SAFE travels to you all that are leaving your homes and we will hopefully talk to you all very soon!

My little boy sure loves his Daddy...

I spent the weekend volunteering at a grief camp for my 4th year. It is a camp for children who have experienced the death of a parent or a sibling, and this year we had several kids at camp who unfortunately have experienced both. It is an opportunity for the kids to come together with other kids who have experienced similiar losses and are going through the same feelings and family changes.

The camp strives to help the kids recognize that all of the feelings that come with their grief are normal, and in fact, good to have as compared to holding it all in. We do a lot of fun activities as well as the "hard stuff" and every year my life feels more complete as I watch the kids greet their parents on Sunday, and I know that I did just a little something to help a child (or maybe two...)

Upon my return home each year of doing camp, I tend to feel very emotionally and mentally drained. We see and hear a lot of pain but hold it all in to be strong for the kids. But all of the staff (most of the staff work positions at Children's Hospital so they deal with death day in and day out) have to go home after a long weekend and try and be "normal" for their own families. I was really missing Gage the whole weekend, and I guess I expected a warm welcome home from my little boy. Can you believe he actually cried and tried to get away from me?! I would put him down and he'd crawl over to Tim and yank on his legs until Tim picked him up. Then, when in his Daddy's arms, all was good and he would giggle and smile. This went on the whole night.

I KNOW he loves me more than anything, but I have to say, this is the first time in his 10 months that he hasn't reached for his mama, and it was a time when I really needed him to...
so it kind of broke my heart.

Today was a good day, and we spent some special time together at the park and playing in the grass. It started all over when Daddy came home tonight, and Gage wouldn't even let me give him his bath.

Now I know how my parents must have felt when I was thirteen and just a little too cool to be seen with them...

Milestones

Gage is really starting to pick up a lot of what we are trying to teach him lately. His newest things are "Giving 5's", when you stick your hand in front of him and tell him to "Give me 5", he slaps your hand a couple of times and then giggles. He is also playing pat-a-cake and doing "Soooo Big" on request. His latest, and favorite, is waving "Bye-Bye" (or maybe its "Hello"?)
I was in Target the other day and I heard a woman behind me laugh and say, "Well, hello there!". I turned around and she was responding to Gage, who was waving at her.

He really has turned out to be a little ham; he makes this throat-clearing noise when he wants your attention and he does that in public, usually at someone sitting at the table next to us in a restaurant, or while he's sitting in the cart at a store. He'll sit there and make throat clearing noises until someone that HE is looking at looks back at him, and then he'll smile and laugh and try to keep their attention.

Wonder where he gets his personality from??

Mother's Day Photos

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My First Mother's Day

I don't have any pictures to add to this post as of yet; my mom took some really nice pictures of us but they are on her camera and she is sick today. (Get better soon, Mom!)

I had a WONDERFUL Mother's Day weekend. On Saturday, my mom and I went to Cannon Falls to the Cannon River Winery for their "Girls Day Out" event and we browsed and did some shopping while drinking a glass of wine. We then headed to the mall to do a little more shopping and treated ourselves to a super yummy dinner at the Olive Garden. I love my little man, but eating a dinner in a nicer restaurant without dealing with the highchair, Cheerios, and food-throwing was a BLESSING!

On Sunday, I ran the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 5k at the Mall of America (it was a great run!) and then my mom and I met my friend Karen and her mom Gail to do the 5k walk. This is the 4th year we have done the walk together. We then met Tim and Gage out for lunch and then treated ourselves to Culvers! YUM!

Gage made me a beautiful garden stone with his name, the year, and his very own footprint...all with Daddy's help. It's so cute, and I can't wait to put it in the yard of our new house! (Daddy said that Gage tried 5 times to make the print of his hand but he kept wanting to make a fist and squeeze the cement, so Daddy got a good footprint on the 3rd try!). Tim then surprised me with a beautiful birthstone ring (Ruby-both my and Gage's birthstone) that I was not at all expecting. I received several cards and emails wishing me a "Happy First Mother's Day", and all brought tears to my eyes. I felt so appreciated, and yet I felt like the one who was so blessed. I have a wonderful mother and a beautiful, healthy little boy---life couldn't be better!

10 Months

A little late in getting Gage's 10 Month picture up...
but here it is.

What happened to my baby?? I took about 12 pictures just trying to get this shot, but he is so "on the go" that it has gotten very difficult! Mr. Dog now has to sit on the couch, and I have to hide the dry/erase board just to make sure they both get in the picture.

I remember laying my little bundle down on the dog, trying to get him sit upright without sliding over...and now I am just happy to get a photo of both of them in the same spot!

Zoo

From left to right: Stacy and Annika, Cassie and Riley, Stephanie and Isaiah, Anne and Edward, and Jill and Gage.

We spent Monday at the zoo, with our friends from the Northfield moms group. I met Stacy and Stephanie in a prenatal yoga class, and Anne and Cassie after we had our babes. There is a large group of us that get together several times a month for playdates as well as moms night out events. I really look forward to my Tuesday nights spent in Northfield and am going to miss this time dearly after we move to Wisconsin. But we definitely plan on keeping in touch and participating in as many daytime events as possible, such as this day at the zoo!

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