Catching Up

The last three posts, I've been playing a little catch up. This post is (hopefully) the mother of all catch-up posts and will bring this blog up to date 100%. Then, starting this Sunday, my goal is to post weekly so that I'm not posting pictures of a 1-month old Gage when he's actually 3 months old.

These pictures should give the reader a glimpse of what we've been up to the past couple of months. In a nutshell, we are the proud parents of a perfect, healthy, happy, smiley, sweet little 11-week old boy. Gage is the sunshine of our lives and we ooh and aah over him constantly. I am so blessed to have such a beautiful little family. And Heavenly Father, of course, is to thank for that.

One of my favorite shots of my favorite little face.

When Gage was a few weeks old, our friend and neighbor, Cegan Hansen, came up to take a few pictures of him. Below are a few (well, several) of my favorites:

Isn't he the sweetest?

Good morning, Gage!

Valentine's Day with my two valentines. This was a sweet evening. Gage was an angel and snoozed most of the evening, so Parker and I were free to make pizza together, play a few rounds of Yahtzee, share a few dances, and laugh and chat a lot. I am in love with that guy . . . even more in love with him now than I was when he proposed to me exactly two years prior to this day. I'm so grateful we get to spend a whole eternity together.

The V-Day dinner spread: a heart-shaped pizza and sparkling cider.

Oh, and a heart-shaped giant cookie.

Julia came into town to visit and help out for a few days (Feb. 9-13). It was so fun having her here. We ate lots of yummy food and watched Cranford and Call the Midwife to pass the time. She brought a beautiful quilt that she made for Gage, and she snapped this priceless picture of him enjoying it. If you're the cutest boy in all the land, raise your hand!

Man Time: snuggling and watching Footy Tube.

I made Parker a lunch that had a little more character than usual. 

Great Grandma Gage sent this beautiful quilt to her little namesake. He's clearly content with it. We're so blessed to have such talented people in our family.

These two boys love each other. I love watching Parker and Gage interact. Parker is such a natural, wonderful father. He is gentle and sensitive and loving and fun. I have a feeling that he and Gage will be best buds forever.

When Gage was 1 month old, I decided to try my hand at a little photo shoot. Overall, I was happy with the results. It helps when your subject is so darn cute. I love his little yawns.

Another picture of him at one month old. Parker gets the photo credit for this one. It has become one of my very favorites. 

 Spring has finally shown its face around here, and we are so glad. There were a couple of sneak previews of Spring weather in early March, so we ventured to the park a couple of times. 

This was at Brinkop Park with the Hansens. Parker accepted 5-year old Heath's invitation to race down a very muddy hill, and they both came out a little worse for the wear. It was pretty comical.

Our visit to Brinkop Park was Gage's first real experience with being outdoors (except for the occasional trip to the doctor's office). I was a little nervous about it (paranoid first-time mother here), but it was a successful outing. I kept any dogs that came near him at bay, as well as any curious strange little children, and he slept the entire time.

These pictures are from another outing a few days later, this time to Wehner Park just down the street. It has a nice fitness trail with lots of beautiful trees alongside, so we went for a little walk.

Parker gets all the fun it seems. We were walking along as innocently as can be, and a bird flying overhead decided that Parker's neck would make a perfect landing pad. Parker disagreed. So funny.

My handsome husband who is a good sport, even when birds decide to poop on him.

 I had been eagerly awaiting a visit from Mom and Emily for awhile, and the day finally came! Gage and I picked them up from the Amtrak station in Kirkwood Tuesday afternoon. It was so fun to see them, but it was especially fun to watch Emily see Gage for the first time. Up to that point, I think it was hard for her to really fathom that I had a child, but it became a reality pretty quickly. She and Gage got along well. 

Since it was St. Patrick's Day, I checked out Darby O'Gill and the Little People from the library and bought a box of Lucky Charms to enjoy while we watched it. It was my attempt at being festive. We had a good time. That could become a tradition for our family.

Other fun times had while Mom and Emily were here: going to Hobby Lobby to find decor that could "Spring-ify" my apartment; doing a Denise Austin dance workout one morning; buying a blessing outfit for Gage; watching both seasons of Cranford; and chatting and laughing, as a mother and her daughters tend to do when they get together.

These two love each other.

This was such a sweet moment. Em was chatting with Gage, and he was chatting and smiling right back. 

Hunter was so good with Gage, and it was fun to watch them interact. Since Hunter's the youngest in our family, I had never seen him hold a baby before (he was the baby we were all standing in line to hold almost ten years ago!), and it was really endearing. He couldn't get over how tiny everything was about Gage--especially his little toenails. So funny. 

Gage has a very loving grandpa who I'm sure is already dreaming of the day when he can take Gage for a ride on the tractor and enlist his help in feeding the calves and gathering the eggs. I hope these two become the best of friends.

Tanner was a little hesitant to hold the baby, but isn't he a natural? Not only is he Tan Tan the Ladies' Man; he is also Tan Tan the babies' Man!

Possibly one of the funniest moments of my family's visit: Dad taking on the human hamster wheel. He started off in fine form (see picture above), but after fifteen seconds or so, he ended the experience in not-so-fine form (see video below):

It's pretty clear who was the center of attention over Spring Break while our families were in town. This little guy was the star of the show. Oh, how we love him.

Gage Parker Pratt, two months old, how do you like the world so far? Sweet baby Gage, two months old, what a lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky boy you are.

Making an obligatory trip to Ted Drewes, despite the chill in the air. It was worth it. 

A group picture of all the family that came into town for Gage's blessing. We are so grateful for the sacrifices they made to be here on that special day for our little family. We love these people very much. (From left to right: Tanner, Hunter, Emily, Sterling (Dad Knapp), Jennifer (Mom Knapp), Kaitlin, Gage, Parker, Emron (Dad Pratt), Julia (Mom Pratt), baby Raleigh, Jeannette, Sienna, Matt, and Evianne. The Monson kids in the front, from left to right: Malynne, Baylor, and Daimon).

These boys are my whole world. I love love love love love them.

My sweet parents and their first grandchild.

The Knapp clan. Emily didn't like holding Gage at all. Nope. Not one bit. (In other words, she snagged him every chance she got. She is such a doting, loving auntie).

Oh, be still my heart. One of my favorite things in the world is how these two boys love each other. Sometimes Gage just stares at Parker for the longest time; he is mesmerized by him. I look at this picture and wonder if life could get any sweeter.

March 24 was a big day for this kiddo. He got his little head higher than he ever has before during tummy time, and all of a sudden, he rolled right over! I think it scared him a little bit and was probably just a fluke thing, because it hasn't happened since. But it was an exciting moment nonetheless. And both Parker and I were there to witness it, so that was neat.

It looks like one of us is having more fun in this picture than the other one, but I promise, he really does love his mama.

So Parker had a revelation the other day: Gage is his aunt Elizabeth's twin! Just to make sure, Parker asked Christian to text him a shot of Lizzy's baby picture that hangs in the Pratts' family room. The similarities are pretty wild. 

I could snuggle this boy all. day. long.

The many faces of Gagey Boy.

My Aunt Megan sent Gage the most beautiful crocheted quilt this last week. We are blessed to have so many talented, generous people in our family.

One of my favorite pictures of the year I think: Gage providing much-needed moral support to his daddy during a particularly intense study session. My boys are the cutest.

On the Saturday morning of general conference (my favorite two weekends of the year!), I made blueberry muffins for breakfast, per our conference tradition. The recipe made way more than the two of us could eat, so we decided to run down to the Hansens and share the wealth. It was a little chilly outside, so we wrapped Gage up in this cute blanket Mom and Emily made for him. It was so cozy in there, he immediately fell asleep.

Two thirds of our family snoozed through some of conference . . .

Sweet little guy.

Spring green + thunderstorm gray. God is the Master Artist.