This time last year...

Being that Gage will turn 1 in less than a week...I have been in major "reflection mode" lately! For example...this very day in 2008 mom and I were sitting in a hotel room in Philadelphia for a VERY LONG four days waiting for Tuesday (Monday was Labor Day) when we could call the hospital to tell them we went against their medical advice and came on anyway...we were in hiding! The reason they gave us medical advice NOT to come to Philly was due to the fact that I had been bleeding for 4 days and my doctor in Macon could not explain it or figure it out...it could have been a lot of different things-however-we knew we could not stay for Gage's sake, we had to get on that plane!

For the next four days...

We ate a lot of Denny's and a lot at the "Diner" that was right next door. 

We read a lot, cried a lot, prayed a lot, and we...WAITED! 

I blinked...and my baby grew up

As a new mom you often hear the phrases  "time flies" or "soak up every second" or "they are only babies once"... you smile, and you take it in one ear and out the other...until...it becomes real to you!

Reality is starting to set in!

Gage is getting bigger...minute by minute...hour by hour...day by day...

He was born in Philadelphia 5 weeks early

emergency csection- we could have both died

he had surgery 5 days later

he was in the NICU for close to 6 weeks

we were in Philly at the hotel and/or Ronald McDonald House close to 7

he recovered well...no major set backs

he came home on a feeding tube and 3 different medications

he removed his feeding tube within days of arriving in Milledgeville

he ate, he grew, he thrived

he no longer needed ANY medication

I was able to be home with him for close to 3 months 

  some days were better than others

I went back to work in Jan- 

  thanks to my mom, Chris' dad, and Megan it was an easy transition

Gage began to smile a lot

he reached and played

he cooed

he fell in love with Elmo

he went to the lung doctor who said everything looked great

he got to go to church

he sat up

school was out and I got to be home with him again

we visited family&friends

he went back to the lung doctor who couldn't get over how big he was

we went to the beach

he starting crawling

we laughed

we swam

we played

he pulls up on everything

he LOVES his walker and sprints around the house in it

he wants to walk so badly

he loves his puppy

he drinks from a sippy cup

he eats table food

he has hit every mile stone right on "target" in his way and in his time

he starts day care in 2 weeks and I am more worried about ME than I am HIM...we went by the other day to talk with the teacher...and in seconds he was playing with the other kids on the floor...all over the place

this is how it is supposed to be- and I am oh so grateful for EVERY SINGLE MINUTE- but nobody can prepare you for what it feels like to watch them grow up, gain independence, and not need you for everything

I am so proud of Gage. I love him more than words can express. Chris and I would do anything in the world for that little boy. I never imagined that having a baby could bring a husband and wife closer too- but it does- in too many ways to count.

Lord I pray that Gage will be that little boy who befriends the one nobody wants to play with. I pray that he will come to you at a young age and live his life- the life you miraculously allowed him to have- for you and you alone! I pray that he is like his Heavenly daddy, but I also earnestly pray that he is like his earthly daddy- merciful, unselfish, careful, a lover of learning, a lover of your word, and a lover of music, a respecter of those around him, a caretaker of his family, a servant, and so much more. Lord help Chris and I to live for you in our home...help Gage not to only see you limited to a church building, but help us show You to him everywhere we go in everything we do like our parents did for us! Lord tonight I find myself unable to think about much else that our little one sleeping so peacefully in his crib...we are so very blessed beyond belief!