shout out to my aunts!

Auntie J and Nonnie, thanks for getting Dane his Carson Palmer jersey - Kevin is thrilled!

Thought I would post some pics of him in it for the Cincy clan -

"Who dey, who dey, who dey think gonna beat them Bengals!?!?!"

Heart Update

Dane has a clean bill of health! Last week he had a routine ultrasound to check the function of his heart, and everything looks great. It is always such a relief to hear those words. We do not have to go back to the Cardiologist for six months... Such a blessing!

As you can see from the pics, Dane finally figured out how to open the little plastic bins of sprinkles! He loves playing in this one cabinet that contains my baking supplies such as cookie, cutters, cupcake liners and sprinkles. Up until this picture, Dane just had fun shaking the little canisters, but then he figured out how to get the good stuff out! What fun for him, what a mess for me!

Dane's First Turkey Day

I just cannot seem to catch up on this blog! I often think of great things to post and then when I actually have minute to post, I am rushing and cannot remember all the details I had wanted to mention...

Regardless, we did have a great Thanksgiving. It did snow and it was beautiful. Being up north is always so peaceful and relaxing. Dane loved Turkey, as I knew he would, so far there is nothing he will not eat! He is a good little eater!

Dane is getting really good at recognizing what words are/mean, If you ask, "where is the ___?" fill in the blank with: picture, tree, plant, light, ruff-ruff (Gatsby), Da-da - he will point to the correct object or person. He still does not know ma-ma or mommy! What is up with that!?!? Oh well. He also responds to "give me a huggie," "give me a kissy," "look," and "wave bye-bye (or hello)." It is so cute to see him do all these things.

Well that is about all the time I have for now!

More later!

st. louis pics

Here are a couple of pics from our recent trip to St. Louis!

There are six Gaunce Great-Grandchildren; from left: Savannah, Berkley, Genevieve, Dane, Grayson, and Simone.

The other pic is of my sister, Libby, and Dane. This pic cracks me up! Dane still has pizza coming out of his mouth...his expression says, "enough already." This was his first taste of pizza (he loved it, of course).

Wednesday we leave to go Up North for Thanksgiving weekend! I am so excited to be at the little cottage in the woods for a few days...it is so cozy and nice to get away. Without fail, the past two years it has snowed! I love snow and am hoping for it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

late halloween

We're back!

Dane and I took a trip to St. Louis for a week to visit my sister and aunt, uncle, cousins and their kids. It was refreshing to get away and see family and have a change of scenery! We had so much fun hanging out with everyone and it was interesting to see Dane get to interact with the kids. He loves grabbing on to children and babies, especially their hair and always wants to give a big kiss! I find that so funny because he does not kiss adults all that much (except for me - of course).

The flight there was great, I requested an extra seat for Dane and we got three! It went really well and we were there in no time. The way home was another story (I knew I could not get so lucky a second time). First the flight was full, then it was delayed, then cancelled! No joke, just plain cancelled (ha, ha, no pun intended). So we had to stay another night. Which would be no big deal if I had been flying alone, but going through security is a pain with a baby, let alone the actual flight. Anyway, we ended up getting home fine and on both flights I got compliments on what a good baby Dane was. That is always good to hear!

I do have a great pic of Dane and all the Gaunce great-grandkids, but I haven't uploaded it yet! So I will just have to put up the late Halloween ones!

before & after

It is about time I post the before and after pics of the dining room. Although we have been working on all of the rooms of the house, this is the one that is most complete. Our bedroom still needs to have some pictures hung, so it is not picture ready. Dane's room is picture ready, I just have to get around to it - it seems that when I have free time and think of it, he is sleeping in there!

Now, if only I could have some before and after pics of myself...but first I need a makeover...anyone wanna sign me up?

BTW - notice the chandelier upgrade & the floors

hey there lil' pumpkin

We finally found a good day to go to the pumpkin patch. I like to go during the week cause weekends are MAD and also when the weather is sunny. We got some good pics, and tried to get more of Dane near the goats but the brown one behind him (you can see his body to the left) kept trying to eat Dane's hood...it was pretty funny!

dane & gatsby

Gatsby is learning to play with Dane, slowly but surely. Here is a tidbit that I was able to capture...notice at the end Dane whining - he is constantly crawling after Gats in the hopes that he will pay attention to him - and is upset when he doesn't or stops!

quick update

Since I last posted, Dane has had his nine month check-up (almost a month late, he is 10 months old tomorrow). He is doing great! Healthy, 29 inches long and 19 pounds. Getting into EVERYTHING.

Kevin's soccer season is OVER so I now have him home a lot earlier, which is awesome!

That is about all that is new in our lives, enjoy the pics!

First Haircut!

Dane has some big-boy hair!

He was so cute, sitting in that big salon chair...he kept looking at himself in the mirror (which he loves to do) and smiling. The stylist was very good with him and kept him occupied by giving him combs to play with/chew on. She even put gel in his hair, which was hilarious... I have to say, I am very pleased with the cut - not too drastic, but just enough!

new toofers

Dane cut his top front teeth! Of course they are just showing right now, but I already think they are TOO CUTE! He is looking older in the face to me lately...growing up to be a little boy. He is really beginning to get his balance standing up and is getting more and more brave about climbing up on furniture - as you can see from the pics. You may also notice how badly he needs a haircut! I just am scared that it will not be cut to my standards or liking. Well, I need to bite the bullet soon, he is looking a little WT.

By the way, he is not going to be a skeleton for Halloween, these are just his jammies...you will have to wait and be surprised!

croup

My poor little man has croup! Yesterday Kevin and I noticed Dane coughing a bit...it was a loose cough and he had no other symptoms, so we were just waiting it out. Last night he woke up at about midnight and his little cry was very hoarse and his cough sounded very barky. So we stuck him in bed with us to keep an eye on him. At 4am I woke to hear him breathing VERY heavily. When we looked at his chest and saw him constricting, it was all I needed to see to go to the hospital. Before Dane's heart surgery, he constricted like that and I know babies should not work that hard to get oxygen.

Luckily we caught it early and Dane did not need breathing treatments or an oxygen tent, just some medicine and we were on our way home! A blessing considering some of our other hospital visits. He still sounds like a heavy smoker, but he is doing just fine.

Other updates:

Dane still is crying for long spells when I leave him

He is learning to "share," he shares his Cheerios with me and he gives me this little bear he has to give it kisses

He is pulling himself up on all the furniture. I have some pics, but I will have to post them later!

9 month portraits

These are not edited by the photographer...meaning I did my best with them, but am no pro. Plus, I do not have a good program to edit pictures. I wanted to post them anyway.

Dane's facial expressions are too priceless!

tears for mommy

Dane is going through a terrible bout of separation anxiety. It is breaking my heart and so stressful. Today at my MOPS meeting he screamed and cried on and off for two hours. I wanted to go get him, but I also want him to get used to being left... Unlike at the YMCA, these ladies were willing to wait it out with him. At the Y I get paged 10 minutes into my workout. It is hard on both of us. I hate to see him upset! As soon as I see him he reaches for me and CLINGS on for dear life.

Poor baby.

little laughs

Go Green...Go White!

MSU is actually winning some football games, that is always nice. I took some pics of Dane in his jersey to celebrate.

Saturday we had a "work day" here at the house. We invited all of Kevin's family over to paint, put in a fence, and also put a fire escape window in the basement. Everyone worked really hard and Kevin and I really appreciate it. I am still exhausted. It looks so much better, but we still have a lot to do to make this place look GOOD. In fact, I have to go clean, so TOOTLES!

dream dinners, what a dream!

Moms and working moms and even those of you who work until the dinner hour, you MUST do "Dream Dinners!" It was so fun! I made 12 dinner meals in an hour and a half! They all come with thawing and cooking instructions...and listen to some of my delicious meals:

madras chicken curry

oven baked almond chicken

coconut shrimp

garlic and balsamic marinated sirloin roast

parmesan crusted tilapia with tomato-garlic aioli

cheese lovers manicotti

herb and garlic pork chops with mashed potatoes

stuffed flounder with white wine sauce

DELICIOUS!

http://www.dreamdinners.com/

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