What a set of lungs!

As Kevin was changing Gage into his pj's tonight, Gage got tickled and started laughing and making all sorts of noises. Well, he accidentally got a scream out (a happy one!), and he thought that was just really funny, and continued to scream and then laugh hysterically for a few minutes! Here's a clip...

Hot Shot!

A Whole new World!
Since Gage was teeny tiny, he has disliked laying down. For naps, tummy time, etc. doesn't matter. He wants nothing to do with it. He even brings his chin to his chest in his carseat trying to sit upright! So, today I sat him up and let go and the little booger sat there! He even wobbled to the side a little and was able to right himself! He's living up to his "Baby Hercules" nickname!

"Look Ma, no hands!!"
1 week shy of 5 months!

We're going to Disneyworld!

Disney has a promotion this year that lets you come for free on your birthday. So thanks to Uncle Bert for working at Universal and getting free tickets and Auntie Kate for finding a person to trade Universal tics for Disney tics, we had enough tickets to go as long as we went on somebodys birthday! So this last Saturday, Bryce turned the big "0-5" and we celebrated all day and into the night!
Happy Birthday B-boy!
Gage where he was happiest...we used the stroller for storage!!
Shelby and Bryce on Tom Sawyer's IslandUs
It's a Small World caught his attention!
Us with our "surrogate"

What happened to summer ?!?

Nope...didn't fall off the edge of the earth, traveled a good portion of it, but didn't fall off! So much going on this summer, I think Reunion is where I started losing track of it all!
Labor Day weekend is the Holcomb Family Annual Reunion, this year my Great Uncle Ordy hosted it in Clay, West Virginia. After a hectic and frustrating start to the weekend (including Kevin's work not having paychecks ready) we managed to get all of us Erhardts and Littles packed and to the airport on time and in good moods, even if our pockets were empty! Reunion was nonstop from the moment we arrived, it was so wonderful catching up with everybody and felt like picking up where we left off from last reunion! My cousin Rogan arrived the night before Reunion, he is a Marine and just finished a tour in Iraq. A group met him at the Airport, he had no idea Reunion was this same weekend so was taken by complete surprise! We are all so proud of him and it was wonderful to be able see him and acknowledge his hard work and the sacrifices he's made to serve our country! Thanks Rogan, we love you!
My mom's cousin Gary and his son Tim also joined us, we always enjoy time with them! All the cousins big and small were happy to be together again (or for the fisrt time!) and we are looking forward to next year already!
Below are a few pictures, there are WAYYYY too many to post, but you can find the rest by clicking here.

Riding the monorail at the Airport! (almost as exciting as the plane ride!!!)

Welcome home, Rogan!!!

ALOT of Holcombs!

The Garry Holcomb Legacy

Cousins!

Marine Science Center

Kate and I took the kids to the Marine Science Center at Ponce Inlet last week. It was a neat little place, they rehabilitate turtles and sea birds there. We arrived just in time to meet "Otis", a little screech owl that had been taken from his nest as a baby and raised as a pet. Because of that, he never learned how to screech! The kids all had their picture taken with him, and were able to ask lots of questions to his handlers. The Sea Bird Sanctuary was very cool. They had several bald eagles, falcons, pelicans, and owls. The facility is not big, but perfect for a couple of hours of educational fun! Afterwards, we stopped at the park and played, then went home and grilled dinner and swam. It was Gage's first time in the pool, I think he liked it!

not where I put him

Well, it is beginning! No more put the baby down and come back and he is still where I put him! This evening, a little while after Kevin and I put Gage in his crib, Kevin went in to check on him and this is what we saw:

You can see the sleep positioner below him...that's where he started!
Guess it is time to start babyproofing!

Just too cute

Gage's first time playing in his activity center!

Big Boy

New thing this week...he no longer wants to lay down, he wants to be sitting up so he can see everything. So, no more baths in his little sling, he gets to be in the "big boy" bathtub now! This is going wayyyyy to fast!

2 Month Update

Wow! Can't believe Gage is over 2 months already! He was 11 pounds 14 ounces, 23 inches long last Tuesday at his doctor visit. He is healthy and happy, he only cried for a minute after his shots (yes Mommy and Daddy cried longer than he did!). We have had a busy summer, lots of trips and visits from family. I'm enjoying staying home with him immensely, never imagined it would be this much fun! Gage is really starting to explore his surroundings, and is starting to play with his toys. So H
funny to hear him laugh and "talk" to them.

Take me out to the ballgame

Last night Gage went to his very first baseball game! Indigo Lakes Golf was a sponsor and we went with Fred and Debby and friends to see the Daytona Cubbies play the Clearwater Thrashers. Gage had a great time looking at everything and visiting with Debby. We left during the 7th inning as it was past baby boy's bedtime and as you can see below, he was worn out! The cubs didn't win, but we had a great time!
Thanks Debby for the great pics!!

Happy Boy

It's amazing how much Gage has changed in just under 7 weeks! Grandma Karen came by last weekend with a present (as usual!) for Gage; they are rattles to hang on his carrier. So, as any excited new parents would, we excitedly shook them in front of him. And received a blank stare back! This week I was able to catch him "talking" to them...not sure what the conversation was about, but apparently it was funny!

Our week so far...

Whew, busy week! We started out Sunday, Jim and Karen and the kids came over to bring Rachel to my house for the week and to drop Garry off so Kate could pick him up. So, Kate and the kids were here too... We need a bigger house! The kids had fun playing with Gage's toys, Gage slept through the commotion and noise as usual! He sleeps when it's noisy and if it is too quiet he wakes up!
Monday, Mick and Mel (Holcomb cousins) and the boys were in town from Tennessee, the boys rode motorcycles and the girls and kids went to the beach. The kids had a great time except Aidan who was not in the mood for more sun, and Kate and Mel worked on their tans and their biceps and learned where NOT to park on the beach unless you feel like pushing an SUV out of the sand!
Tuesday, Rachel, Gage and I lounged around the house watching movies, well I did, Rachel watched the back of her eyelids, guess we wore her out!
Wednesday we went and played with makeup and let the cosmetic girls at Macy's ooh and ahh over little man. He ate it up of course! Later we went to Kate's house and ate dinner with her and the kids and watched a movie.
So here we are at Thursday, gotta do laundry and pack for our weekend at Gramma's! So glad we had Rachel here with us this week, I'm not sure if she will be so eager to say yes next time I ask!
We've had a fun week and I plan to do nothing but sleep next week!
Gage talking to his new toy from Grandma Karen!

Picture for Papa

Looks like he got his Papa's ears!!!

Settling In

Where to start? We are slowly geting settled in to our new place. Kevin took last week off of work so we could have a little time to get moved and (of course) spend a little time with his pride and joy :). We went down to my Mom's on Monday afternoon, Gage did great on the drive down (about 2 1/2 hours!) he only fussed for a minute, was happy again when Daddy found his binky for him. We had planned on loading up the furniture Tuesday and leaving for home early Wednesday morning, but we were so relaxed and enjoying Grandma and Papa and Oma so much that we didn't end up coming home until Thursday Eve! Gage got to meet Oma, Grammy and Aunts, Uncles and cousins while we were there, he was his usual social self as he was passed from person to person! We had a nice relaxing weekend, Grandma and Grandpa Haller and Uncle Tim and Aunt Jen and Justin came to visit Sunday for a while, the rest of the time was spent playing, eating and as much sleep as we could fit in!
"The Boys" napping First bath in my bath tub! Wasn't upset at all, mostly seemed curious about why Mom wanted me in here! Proud Papa (so that's where that voice is coming from!)

Eight Days Old!!!

Wow,
I can't believe that it has been eight days since my little boy was born. What a wonderful gift God has given Sara and I. Thanks again to everybody for all the help and prayers. We are slowly but surely getting settled into our new place which we all love very much. Can't wait to see everybody and show off Gage a little more!

Kevin

Busy Weekend!

And we thought the beginning of the week was hectic! We brought our little man Gage home from the hospital on Friday, he is doing very well and is a very sociable little guy. We had to take him back to the hospital on Saturday morning to check his billirubin level as he was a little jaundiced Thursday and Friday. We are so thankful to report that his levels were within range and the doctors orders were to keep him fed and happy and smothered in kisses!
This week the Daytona area has seen the worst flooding in years, we had 24" between Monday and Thursday! Kevin's Dad's house is high and dry (Praise God!), alot of the houses in his neighborhood had several inches seeping in. What better weather to move in, right? Right! We are moved in to our apartment, thanks to our wonderful family pitching in! Kate, Bert and the gang and Bobby, Crystal and Little B all showed and got us moved in Saturday afternoon. The kids got to hold their new little cousin and Gage did so well, slept in the living room amid all the commotion! The rain held off long enough to get everything moved, started up again that evening!
We are getting settled in, planning to go to Ft Pierce next week for a couple of days and get the rest of our furniture (and some spoiling by the grandparents for Gage!), Kevin is taking the week off so we can enjoy being a family of three and hopefully get some rest!

The Best Day Of Our Lives!

Today at 3:10am Sara and I welcomed our first child into this world of ours. His name is Gage Christian and he weighed in at 7lbs 3oz and is 20.5" long. I can't explain the love and joy that fills our hearts. Everything went really well during delivery and a big thanks to Katie (thanks Sis) for being with Sara and I during the night.:) Now we must keep moving forward as we are moving into our new place this Friday, ya we know save everything for the same week ha ha we wouldn't want things to be to easy would we? Thanks to everybody who came by today we love you!

Kevin

Thanks Baby

Wow,
In my amazement today, I found out we the (Erhardts) finally have a blog like the rest of our family. My wife even went with my name that I thought of and yes of course it has to do with golf. So to let all of you know I will be taking Sara to the hospital at 6:00 pm Monday in preparation for giving birth to our little baby boy Gage on Tuesday! Im so excited I can hardly wait! This weekend we are just getting things in order for our new little bundle of joy and Oh ya, we are also moving next Friday (what timing ) we have but all will be good! I expect to see everyone on Tuesday some time. Can't wait !!!

Kevin

Ok, got a name, now what?

I have been asked (pestered) to start a blog for a number of months now, but due to a complete blank on what to call it and laziness to figure all this stuff out, am just getting around to it.
So thanks to hubby's (pestering) ingenuity, he suggested with much enthusiasm "How 'bout from tee to green?", to which I responded with a blank stare (as I usually do to golf terms), so he went on to explain that "from tee to green" is a golf term meaning "from start to finish" (I think).

So, here we are now with a name and an explanation, now on to the news.

As of this past Monday, we are waiting rather impatiently for our little son Gage to arrive, if he holds out until Sunday, doctors will induce labor and he should make his debut hopefully on Monday. I am feeling pretty good still, very ready to meet this little guy. So...if you don't hear from me for a week or two, we are busy getting acquainted and settling in to our new adventure as a family of three + little dog.
Or...I can't figure out how to log back in here.