July 4th, 2009

Friday we went to Wylie's Fireworks show, and Saturday Garrison and I went down to Como to spend time with my family. We had a cook-out and popped fireworks.

Garrison Adam turns 1!!

Sunday, June 28th, Garrison turned 1! I cannot believe how fast the last year has gone by or how blessed Adam and I are. We couldn't ask for a sweeter baby boy. Garrison is off all his bottles and drinks his milk in his sippy. Some days we have to do everything we can to get enough milk in him and other days he wants too much. He is a very healthy eater (except for when he goes to Grandma's and pop-pops :). He loves eggs, turkey, chicken, zucchini, yogurt, strawberries, and his favorite thing is probably bananas. He can take about 8 steps at a time. His bedtime is between 8-9pm, and he gets up around 7am. He can say mama, dada, pop-pop, bye-bye, dog and when he sees the cats he whispers something that sounds like "wassa." Also when he sees the cats, he starts patting his leg, like he is trying to lure them to him. When I ask him to give me a kiss or a hug, most of the time he does but Adam has to ask him for a head bump. Garrison doesn't kiss with his mouth, instead he bumps his forehead on you, or the cats, or his stuffed animals(see pic below). He loves to swim, and we have to keep our bedroom door closed a lot of the time, or else Garrison can see the pool in our backyard and will point to go out. He loves being outside, either in his stroller or his big boy car. I think we are on the right track with him...and can't wait to see what the next year brings.
My beautiful family!!


Me and my baby!



Camdyn and Garrison dancing to his birthday cake

Garrison wearing his Uncle Cody's boots from when he was a baby

Cody, Me, Adam, and Garrison enjoying the pool after the party

My family

Enjoying his new car

Aunt Amy pushing Garrison around

Garrison and Grandma





The cowboy balloons


Enjoying his cake

Maybe daddy wants a bite

Happy First Birthday!

Great friends

Cam and G working on the car





Where's my gift?

Katie and Garrison



Camdyn and Maddison



THis is Garrison's head bump :)

Garrison's horse cake my mom made



Barnyard balloons

Leslie's 28th Birthday

It doesn't seem possible that I am really turning 28 :) Not that 28 is old, but I am quickly approaching 30....sigh.... Anyway, we had a nice time out with friends. Garrison had his first sleepover at my parent's house and I don't think he even realized that we were gone. He is about to be 1, so I think it is time that he was allowed to stay away from me and I'm sure it bothered me way more than him. We went to dinner at Pappasito's with our friends, and then went out to Logan's in Addison. Sunday, my actual birthday, we picked Garrison up from my parents and then Adam took me shopping for my birthday. Later that night we met family and friends at Razzoos. YUM!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Almost walking....

Garrison is one week away from his First Birthday...I cannot believe it!! He takes a couple steps but then loses his confidence and sits down on his bottom. He is so fast with his crawling, that he is pretty content getting around without walking. Yesterday he was sitting on the kitchen floor and he stood up, without holding onto anything! He stood there for about 5 seconds and then sat back down. My family just happened to be there for Father's day so of course little man got lots of claps and praise. He was so proud of himself!

His favorite word seems to be "that." He points at everything and says that?..that?...that?...So we just name off all the different things. He is fascinated with lights and light switches. He can turn off the lights, but hasn't figured out how to turn it on. He says no, dog, mama, dada, and that. He comprehends alot more than he can speak at this age.

One of the cutest things he does is a head bump. We are not sure where he picked this up from, but instead of giving kisses he gives head bumps. So now instead of saying Can mama have a kiss?, we say Give mama a head bump and he leans forward and bumps his forehead to your face. He does the same thing to the cat. Luckily for Ross, Garrison has also figured out "be gentle" and instead of beating on the cat, he "gently" pats the cats back. I think maybe Ross is becoming less afraid of Garrison.

Garrison is such an easy baby, as I have stated from the beginning. He is starting to throw little temper tantrums, but hopefully with a bit of discipline on my part, that will stop soon (maybe I am dreaming). He can be wide awake, and I lay him in his crib at bedtime, and he will turn over onto his side and grab a stuffed animal and fall right to sleep. He also eats very well and we have cut back to only one bottle a day. All his other milk/formula he gets in his sippy. He eats every fruit and vegetable I give him. His favorites are strawberries, blackberrys, zuchini, and cauliflower. He also loves turkey meat. Please no moans and groans about him being so easy, and don't jinx me by saying baby #2 will be a terrible.... :)

Everyone is growing up!

In the past couple of months, Garrison has been a busy boy going to birthday party after birthday party!! Madison, Brooke, and Camdyn all turned 2 this year and I can still remember when they were born and how tiny they looked! Now they are all turning into beautiful little girls and Garrison is going to have such a hard time picking which one to date :) Oh the memories....


Camdyn's Two year pictures


Cammy and I when she was a couple weeks old....


Brooke's Two Year pictures


The first time I met our God-Daughter, Brooke


Maddie poo's Two Year pictures


Me and Maddy (this was the same day I was holding Cam LOL)

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears

There is a song, by Jeremy Camp, that I keep hearing on the radio. If you haven't heard this song, go out and buy it or find it online bc it is an amazing song. There is something so calming and peaceful about it and reminds us that in our darkest, saddest moments, one day we will see Jesus face to face.....


There Will Be A Day lyrics

I try to hold on to this world with everything I have
But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that tries to grab
The many trials that seem to never end, His word declares this truth,
that we will enter in this rest with wonders anew

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering

(Chorus)
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more
fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more,
we'll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we'll hold on to you always

I know the journey seems so long
You feel you’re walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you’ve walked out all alone

Troubled soul don’t lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that’s in store
Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering

(Chorus)

I can’t wait until that day where the very one I’ve lived for always will
wipe away the sorrow that I’ve faced
To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery
this is why this is why I sing

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more
fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more,
we'll see Jesus face to face

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more
fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more,
we'll see Jesus face to face

There will be a day, he will wipe away the tears,
He will wipe away the tears,
He will wipe away the tears,
There will be a day

Mother's day was Sunday and what a blessing to celebrate my first Mother's Day. This year has been unlike any other and I welcome every change that has taken place, being a mother is so rewarding. Sunday, my Aunt Sandi spent the day with us. There were no tears but alot of sadness. How do you celebrate Mother's day when your only son is in Heaven? I think you celebrate by remembering the words of this song...bc we know there will be a day when the burdens of this world are no more, we hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings that there will be a place with no more suffering....My Aunt Sandi is an amazing woman, and I pray for healing for her heart all the time. Her and my Uncle Larry have been through a hurt no parent should go through, and on Sunday, My First Mother's Day, I see their strength in a whole new light. I admire and hurt a whole different hurt for them, a hurt only a parent can experience. I didn't get to tell Bryan good-bye, I left to go on my honeymoon, naively telling Bryan the day before I left, that I would see him again and I expected him to be talking to me.....I guess I was in denial of how bad he was or wouldn't have left....but a revelation comes to me....I WILL see Bryan again and he will be talking to me and he will not hurt and my aunt and uncle will get to celebrate with BT, it will just be at a later date. When Jesus decides to call us home....So I think I have been hearing this song over and over and the words have truly spoken out to me for a reason...I don't use my blog to witness or preach, but this song is really amazing, calming, and may cause you to reflect on your own life...so I encourage you to do exactly that...buy the song and think....

He speaks!!

First off as a disclaimer: I won't take any happiness away from Adam, because I do consider Garrison's first word "dada." In fact on Sunday morning Garrison had crawled into our bedroom and Adam was still in bed and Garrison said clear as can be dada!, like he was trying to wake him up. It was play time! However, it is really neat when they finally say something other than mama and dada, bc some of the time when he is babbling these words, we aren't really sure if he is saying it or just talking. So last night, Garrison was playing on the floor and pulling apart the rubber mats that we have down on our tile. Yes, he is truly all boy! He was playing with one end that is long and skinny and I guess Ross, our cat, thought Garrison was trying to play a game with him. Ross was trying to grab it and Garrison did not want to play with the cat and so Garrison said NO! and turned his back to Ross, so that he did not have to share his fun toy. Adam praised Garrison and told him what big boy he was (although I am not sure if we just reinforced not sharing LOL) but we are so proud of our little man and how smart he is getting everyday! He is such a delight and we just want to smother him with our kisses! It is crazy to think just 10 months ago that he knew nothing and now he is like a little sponge!