something cute gage said today...

(see...second post today)
gage has started to watch thomas the train the last few mornings and each time it comes on he yells, "choo choos" well this morning it came on and he yelled "thomas!"(i didn't even know he knew his name yet) and then they showed james to which he yelled 'thomas' and i said, 'the red trains name is james' (my godson was in a thomas stage for about 6 years so i'm pretty fluent with all the trains) to which gage looked at me like he totally caught on and said, "OH! jammies!" LOL ahh, it cracked me up! Okay, hope that brought a little smile to your face as well!
tonight i am having a little scrapnight with a friend, maybe two. we usually meet once a month on a friday night but we wanted to do it again this month so we planned for tomorrow night, but my best friend has a doctors appt. tomorrow so i changed it to tonight so that i(and maybe her too if she's up to it) could still scrap and then tomorrow night go to her house to hang out with her family for dinner and a game night!
i know that you all pretty much know my friend, amanda(www.aproudmommyof4.blogspot.com), and i know she has asked for prayer, but i too would just like to ask for prayer for her and her family. she is doing really well with all of this, but i'm sure it's still hard, and god has been so awesome at filling her up with his peace! so please be lifting her up!
well, since gage is down for his nap, i should go get my stuff done and get showered and ready for tonight!

90 DAYS

wow i was just at 100 days and now we are already down to about 90 days until baby is here...only 3 months to go! scary and exciting all at the same time! somtimes it seems really soon and other moments it still seems like a long time until we get to meet her and see what she looks like! i love feeling her move inside my belly right now though!
i was telling my husband that i felt bad that at this point in gage's pregnancy i had wrote him a few letters and this baby i have only wrote the one when i first found out i was pregnant. then i reminded him that he too had wrote gage more and that i thought we should write baby girl another letter. he responded with, 'what do you mean? i've wrote her a few times...don't check the computer?" well, actually i hadn't thought of checking to see if he wrote a letter when i hadn't done it myself, i surely thought he forgot then! so yeah, my wonderful husband is doing better than me...but then he's not the one who was sick, tired, taking care of a toddler, doing all the house stuff, etc. (okay, truthfully, he does a lot, but i'm still more tired and worn out!) so this morning on the desk were his letters all printed out for me to put in babys scrapbook box! i love reading his letters-they are so sweet and cute...and a little funny! but something i treasure and something when the kids are older(which is not going to happen to my kids) they too will enjoy!
so this isn't much, but i need to get gage-maybe if i get my stuff ready for scrapbooking tonight and myself then i'll post again later. it seems to be my theme...post a few times in one day and then be gone for a few days and back for another day with a couple of posts! oh well. =)

measuring...my bag

my friend, amanda, did this tag on her site, which i don't know how to do yet so she will have to show me, but i thought i would still do the tag without the linking part. almost everyone i know is from her blog but just incase you are not, here is her blog so you can go check hers out...www.aproudmommyof4.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-bag
okay, so the rules are:
1) Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late. No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. I want to know what you carried today.

2) I want to know how much it cost:) And this is not to judge, because I’m honestly telling you I was ready to put down some cash; I just got lucky. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I’d love to hear it.

3) Link back to this post so people know why the heck you’re showing everyone your diaper bag/non-diaper bag. (but i don't know how to do this part)

okay, so here is my current diaper bag:

i just got it a few days ago at target. so far i really like it. my favorite color is purple so that got me right there! i am tired of carrying a purse and a full size diaper bag and when i found this i thought it could pass as a purse, but also big enough for a few diapers, wipes, milk, snack, and a toy...which is does! it was on clearance for $9.98, so i did a good job since i bought another bigger one for when the baby arrives and i need to fit more in it again. i saw it earlier when i was at target but wanted to show my husband a dresser when he came back so i told myself if it was still there when nathan came back and he said it was okay to get since i bought the other diaper bag two days before, then i'd get it. so, when nathan came back i showed it to him and asked if it was okay and he responded with, 'when have i ever said no to you?" so i took that as a yes and got it!

i didn't think about this when i was pregnant with my son until i was in the hospital to deliver him and then i did take a picture of me measuring my belly, but my camera was stolen so i don't have a picture and as much as i try i can not remember how big it was(i know you'd think i wouldn't want to remember a number that big!) i 'think' i was about 56-57 inches, but i'm not sure. i didn't think to do this earlier with this pregnancy, but thought of it today so i am going to start late and every so often measure how big my belly is to see how much baby and i have grown! so here are a few shots my husband took tonight.


i can't believe that i am 49 inches already! oh, well, they will be fun pages to scrapbook!
two posts in one day...wow...so, i don't know if i'll get one in tomorrow. i have to go to my groovy granny's house to help her get her favorites back. lol she cracks me up!
off to make my husbands lunch and then head to bed...night!

Not Me Monday

so, i thought i would give this a try. i was hoping to get a start on it earlier, but that just didn't happen! i'm not sure how you do all the linking stuff yet and most of it know it's from mckmama's blog anyway, but i will just 'link' her blog this way... www.mycharmingkids.net-if you haven't already-go visit it!
i have not enjoyed the comments on my blog that i have got from you guys because really i don't know you people so it's not a big deal if you comment, right? okay, so maybe i enjoyed them even if i don't really know all of you!
i did not totally enjoy my first massage this past week even though i was nervous to go and had no idea what to expect. it was not awkward getting on the bed b/c i climb up on tall beds with no step that i can barely get my leg up high enough to get over it all the time with a big 26 week pregnant belly to lay on my stomach!
speaking of that-i did not enjoy laying on my stomach since we all know you are not supposed to and i am normally a stomach sleeper, ahh, maybe i should get one of those pregnancy pillows that she had!
i have not loved feeling and watching baby girl move around this week and i did not think it was perfect of my husband while watching tv (b/c it's hard for him to even blink when the tv is on) to reply, "i'm always interested" when i told him that if he was interested to feel his daughter was moving around again. (i love how with both pregnancies he loves to feel the baby and wraps his arms around my belly every night!)
i did not find it funny at all this week while my son and i took a bath together and he stood up to pee then stopped to move closer to me and proceed with aim to pee on my arm! that is really gross and i would not laugh in front of him b/c i would not want him to think it's funny and that he should do such a thing again! (ok, how could you not laugh? even my husband laughed and then told me that i had officially been pissed on..yeah, thanks, babe!)
and speaking of pee-i totally did not pee my pants when my husband was playing the wii fit and totally sucked. b/c that's not funny that he couldn't ski very well on there when in real life he loves to snowboard and i certainly have control over my bladder even if this baby is laying right on it!
i did not have a crazy idea to eat at chuckEcheeses on a saturday so that i could have the pizza and so that gage could play since he loved it last week when we were there for his 2nd birthday and i would never think to invite my best friend and her family with us on such a crazy night. there were way too many kids, parents and birthday parties going on...the table next to us had a party of 25 kids alone! but the kids were all really good and still had fun so it was worth it, but next time a wednesday night!
i was not happy that my husband got his car fixed this weekend and that in the end fixing his car earned us $2.00! not many times you get a car fixed and come out ahead a few bucks! but the reason i was not happy about this is b/c i have not had my truck since my sons surgery in november and since he couldn't go places before that i have had not driven until today to go to moms group again in FOUR months!!! can you imagine not driving in that long and being stuck at home most of that time? not me! and during that time i was not grateful at all for the couple of times my sweet friend, amanda, picked us up so that we could get out and go to moms group!
and finally i did not just sit here and type of this not me monday post while letting my son eat mac-n-cheese in the living room so that he could watch superwhy and then when he was done continued with this post instead of cleaning him up before he starting playing and got him down for his already late nap today, b/c i know how important keeping him on his schedule is to him...and me!
so that is what i did not do this past week! this was kinda fun! maybe i'll try to do it again.

nursing cover

alright, well, there are two nursing covers that i like, and well my darling husband has tried to be helpful, but just isn't. so, i said i'd solve this huge problem by asking ppl to tell me their vote on my blog...all four of you! so please tell me which one you like better and just maybe it will help me decide! thanks!
the flower one...

and here is the dots one...

sinful.

my wonderful husband and i each just finished a bowl of vanilla ice cream with brownie chunks and chocolate syrup drizzled over the whole thing...while watching biggest loser! now if that doesn't make you feel guilty nothin' will!

less than 100 days!

wow! i just realized that we only have 99 days until baby girl's due date! and it could be less and well i guess it could be more too. lol that just makes me feel like it is coming up really fast! i know it's still 3 months away, but down to two digits just suddenly makes it feel soon! now i will really want nathan to jump into getting her room done...well, even started would be good! i know he's been busy making the toy boxes so i'm not complaining, just getting excited to start working on her room!
i guess that's all for now, we just got home from eatting out at Red Robin (yuuuum!) for my friend, Amanda's husband, Shaun's birthday! Thanks for inviting us! ;) so, i'm off to finish the dinner i was making so nathan has lunch for work tomorrow and then it's off to bed!
only 99 days...=)
ps-amanda, if you are reading this-did you stop at target?!? i almost called you, but thought i better not!

random stuff for this week...

it's monday...already! the weekends go by so fast. as you know friday we took gage to chuck-e-cheeses and saturday was his birthday, and then sunday we had a brunch thing at my mom's house before my brother went back to school. and now it's monday, but last night was actually relaxing for us on a sunday night. usually i try to get a million things done before nathan's work week starts again, but since there wasn't much to do, nathan and i actually sat down with a bowl of icecream (just what i need, but i didn't have heartburn last night!) and watched a movie together! then last we both got to feel baby kicking! i feel her from the inside all day everyday it seems like and i felt her kicking while in the hospital, but nathan has only lightly felt her move around once before. last night it was definately her and i think nathan knew it was for sure her this time too b/c his face lit up more! last time he was just kinda like, "i think i felt her". so, that was special! he loved feeling gage move which didn't start until 28 weeks so maybe this time he'll get to feel baby girl move around more since it's started a little earlier! i know i'd love that too!
today we sign the papers to refinance our home. it's 1.5% lower rate than what we currently have so that will be nice to save some money each month on our payment and a few thousand in the end! which all sounds good to me! my mom was nice enough to switch her lunch break so that she could come watch gage for us.
i think gage is teething again. he is chewing on everything including his bear, which i don't like when i go to pick it up and the entire corner i grab is soaked in slobber! and he's started wanting theething rings again. so, i think all that is left are the two hear molars to come in so maybe that's what it is. he started getting teeth on the late end and now he's almost got a full mouth already!
thursday gage goes in for his 2 year check up! i remember thinking it'd be a long time before he came in for a two year check up and now here it is in three days! i need to set up his two year pictures too. i've slacked on that, usually i do it a month or so before i need the picture taken. i guess i just forgot about it since i didn't set it up at his 18 month pics b/c i wasn't sure where he'd be at after surgery or for that matter when for sure surgery was going to be. then my husband got hurt at work and has a bruise on his face and i was going to do family pictures like i did at gage's one year. but now i am thinking that i will just wait and do the family pic in march when we do the pregnancy photos. so i should call and get him in i guess!
alright, well, mommyhood is calling...until next time!

back to decorating

well, i have still had the urge to get gage's room done and my living room. so that's what i did after we took gage out to chuck-e-cheese's for his birthday! which he loved! it was funny to see him running through the tubes and a few seconds later nathan following behind pointing that his knees were killing him! what a daddy wouldn't do for his baby! here are a few pictures of them...

here is gage trying to give kisses through the window...

and now today, everyone has left and gage is sleeping after his party! which brings me back to decorating...i have a few minutes to upload some pictures so here they are... (well the first one is gage's cake that his grandma ellen made for him)

here is the living room wording i put up-i took a few pictures so it'd be easier to see-it reads "Share Faith...Offer Prayer...Spread Love...Gather Hope"




i still have a little bit to do on it yet, but here is gage's wall so far...

alright, i guess that is all for now. i need to get some things put away from the party before gage's nap is over!

24 week OB appt and my baby's 2nd birthday!

on monday i had my 24 week 5 days OB appt. if you look at the sheet the doctor had, which obviously i did not do! anyway, the begining of my pregnancy i lost 13 lbs, which is totally fine with me except throwing up is not fun at all! my doctor told me before christmas that i needed to have a gain at my next appt. well, to everyone i have asked to pray about this, stop! i gained almost 10 pounds-off by only .6! my doctor seemed happy and said that it was good since i had some catching up to do, but in no way do i see 10 pounds in three weeks as a good thing. i was thinking more like slowly, but surely! but it's a sign that both baby and i are indeed growing! then he measured me and i know that from everyone asking me if i'm having twins or even triplets, that i am big, but i was a little shocked when i measured 6cm bigger than what i should! that night i checked in my sons pregnancy scrapbook and at this week, i measured 4cm big and then evened out after that, so, maybe that's just how i am and this baby won't really be that big. he scared me a little when he said he thought baby would be about 8-8.5 lbs, but if she got up to around 10 he'd take her early! 10?!?! how about anytime after 8.5?! i guess i was just expecting her to be around the same weight as gage, who was 6lbs 14oz. but i guess we will just see when she arrives!
today, i can't believe that my baby is TWO full years old!!! well, not actually for another 22 minutes! it just doesn't seem possible that two years has gone by already. he has endured so much already with his unique heart, but god has carried us all through and each time has performed many miracles in gage that even the doctors did not expect and he has not been in the 'normal of what to expect' once starting the day of his birth, which all totally blesses this mother's heart what god has done in his(and my) precious boy! so, i could totally go on and on about everything i absolutely love about gage and all the adorable things he does, but then this could get really long and since he's done with his snack i should get off of here and go play.
we are taking him to chuck-e-cheeses for the first time today! thought it would be something we could do on this cold cold day and something fun for gage since he hasn't been able to go and do a whole lot since september to keep him healthy before surgery. i'm looking forward to this first with him and enjoying him playing!
anyone who reads my blog is most likely from aproudmommyof4.blogspot, so you already know this, but please keep amanda and her family in your prayers as they go through what could be a tough time. i'm thankful that i know that our god will be with them every step of the way, he's never left us during our rough times with gage even if it's felt like he has, and i know that he will be with them every second of the way as well!
okay, off to play with my two year old...officially for two minutes now...ahh, two years ago on this day, i hadn't even got to see him yet, just the massive number of doctors surrounding him!
happy 2nd birthday, my little miracle, gage! i love you!

kitchen

well my wonderful husband got the touch up painting done last night while i scrapbooked! so, first thing this morning i got my vinyl up and thought i would share my kitchen with you. it's not totally finished with the circle paintings yet, but so far, i really like it!
here is the verse i did above my kitchen sink:

this is the area above the cabinets that are right after the verse above:

and this is the only full wall in the kitchen:

so, that's my kitchen so far!
as i said before i like seeing what others do in their house and scrapbooks so i think i will try to see how taking a picture of my scrapbooks turns out since i don't have a big enough scanner. again, please feel free to leave a comment with links you have for decorating or scrapping!
chantae

decorating...what i've done so far

well, i am not sure about gage's room yet, but thanks for all the comments and ideas! i love looking at what other people have done in their scrapbooks and now with having a cricut and some vinyl, i love seeing what others have done in their house with vinyl to decorate. i have not done much yet, just kind of starting. i have two more projects in mind and cut out, but not quite ready to put up. my husband, nathan is going to be doing some touch up painting in the kitchen tonight after gage goes to bed and i'm scrapbooking, so you can probably bet, that as soon as that paint is dry, i'll be getting that verse up in the kitchen! so, since i love seeing what others have done, i will go take some pictures and post them on here for you guys to see what i have done! (remember it's not much!) if any of you want to share what you have done or have already done posts on them, please leave me a comment with a link, i'd love to see what you've done!
here is my bedroom...i have only started in here...i have some matching hibiscus flowers to put up yet that match the flowers in our bedding, but here is the wording...


here is a sign i did as a wedding gift this past year...

and here is a plate i made for myself...

alright, i guess that is all i have for now...as soon as i get my kitchen verse up and the one in my living room, which will all be hopefully soon, i'll be sure to share them too! gage is now down for his nap so i better get my journals done for scrapbooking tonight or i won't get too many pages completed!
chantae

gage's room

okay, so maybe i'll get more into this blogging thing than i thought! lol anyway-
i mentioned yesterday that i like to decorate. right now i am trying to finish my sons room and work on baby girls room! too much at once, but i'd like to get gage's at least done before his party next saturday. everyone will see girlies room later. but secretly, i wish i'd wake up and my husband just had it all done as a big surprise. okay, that won't happen b/c he's making toy boxes right now too and i haven't picked out the paint colors yet, but it's a nice thought. anyway, i know there aren't many ppl out there who read this little blog of mine, but i thought i would ask your opinion since i'm not sure. i bought the green vinyl for the grass and vines online and the picture online made the green seem a little lighter, like normal green grass. so, i got it all cut out last night and put it up with wall gum to see where i wanted things placed and if i even liked the green. so it's up temporarily, but i feel it's too dark. it makes the small room feel smaller and dark. i liked the not bright, but cheerful colors the room is painted. what do you guys think...keep it or get a lighter green? i tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to this type of stuff if that helps your decision, but please be truthful on your thoughts! here is a picture of what i did...

and here is a pic of gage's room before to give you an idea of what the colors are...

and then here is one of his new bedroom set that i am doing the wall mural after...

alright, hopefully these help you with this very hard decision i am asking you to make!
chantae

dreams...dreams...go away!

i am so tired of having the same dream over and over again! i am ready for it to go away and never come back. the timing is weird as well. almost every night since gage's surgery i have dreamt about him going into surgery, but this time it's not planned. each night how we get to the hospital is different, but each time i see him for the first time, he looks the same, which is nothing like he's ever actually looked-his body is suddenly the size of a newborn, there is no meat on his bones, he's breathing really hard, and he's blue. each night the ending is the same, the doctor comes in and says he's sorry, but we got him there too late so there is nothing they can do for him. it's horrible because the dream feels so real until i wake up. i don't know why i am dreaming this now, i mean, i could see maybe before gage's surgery being scared, especially after you sign the papers telling you it's "okay" your child only has this percent chance of living and this % of this damage or that damage, but it's over a month later and he is doing amazingly well! so, i've never really shared this reoccuring dream, but for whatever reason, i shared it on here. maybe it will be out of my system now! it will be nice to sleep through the night and not have that dream. okay, sleep through the night might not happen as this pregnant body is having back issues and hip problems every night, but just not having that dream will be a much better night!
chantae

a little bit about me!

i don't know how much i will get into blogging as i've never really had a desire, but i had to start my own blog to be able to leave comments on my best friends blog since someone left her a mean comment she no longer accepts nonbloggers. so, that's why i now have a blog! my name is chantae. i am married to a wonderful, sweet, caring, christian man, nathan. as you can see, i am truly blessed to be married to this wonderful guy god chose for me! we got married aug. 5th 2005! it was a beautiful hot day! jan 16th 2007 we had our first child. a little boy, gage loran-bogan, born with a heart defect. we were aware of this but still very hard and heartbreaking to watch him go through open heart surgery at 7 days old. this past nov. he had his second open heart surgery and truthfully, i think this one was even harder to go through b/c we know and love gage so much and he now has so much personality, but god has carried us through both of the surgeries and each time we have come out of surgery with so much to praise god for! both surgeries have had better outcomes than the doctors expected and we know that it was god at work!
we are now expecting our second child, a little girl, in april! we are very excited to add another precious gift to our family.
i am blessed to be able to stay at home with gage! some days we get a little stir crazy since right before and after surgery gage can't go anywhere, so, we are looking forward to spring when we can get outside more and play in the fresh air!
i enjoy spending time with my family, in God's word, decorating, and i love to scrapbook! i just wish i had more time and was a faster scrapper!
well, i guess that's all on me for now as it's almost time for our playdate to be here and for us to have lunch!
chantae