It's been too long

I can't believe my last post was in July!  It's been way too long and my hope is that I will have some time to sit down and write some entries this year.  What an eventful year 2013 turned out to be!  I'll give a recap here and then I'll feel like I can move on :)

We really had a great summer.  We didn't do anything major, just hung out around here.  It's a great plus when you live at the beach.  Garrett still went to school two days a week but we enjoyed our time together.  Garrett and I spent our last "free" weekend with a trip to Charleston with my mom and sister. We had a great time.  We saw the sights, shopped, ate good food, and even rode on a trolley-which he didn't like at the time but now wants to ride again!  Ahh, the life of a two year old :)  We hosted a huge 40th birthday party for my brother in law complete with an inflatable waterslide which all of the kids (and adults) loved.  It was a great summer!

Tommy has had some hiccups if you will with his heart health.  He was out of normal rhythm too many times over the first part of the year which led to 3 cardioversions.  We were basically visiting the hospital every other month.  His doctor here suggested that we go back to Duke to meet with a doctor about the possibility of having another ablation surgery; this is the same surgery he had in 2009.  We met with him in August and he felt like Tommy was a candidate for a repeat ablation.  He said sometimes those areas heal back and start causing the irregular rhythms again and then it could be coming from the condition of his heart.  His schedule was pretty booked so the first slot he had open would be sometime in late September/early October.  They finally scheduled him for October.  He had an appointment with his local doctor on September 17th, he was and had been out of rhythm this whole time, and his doctor suggested going ahead and doing another cardioversion so it wouldn't be so with him being out of rhythm.  Wouldn't you know it, later that afternoon Tommy called me and said Duke called, there's an opening this Friday for the ablation.  We quickly got things together, made sure my parents could keep Garrett for us and made our way to Duke on September 18th.  They ran a bunch of tests on Thursday and then he had the ablation surgery on Friday, September 20th.  The surgery lasted 10 hours but the doctor felt confident that they had gotten most of the areas.  He was afraid Tommy may go back into an irregular rhythm overnight because of the irritation in his heart but he didn't.  He stayed in a normal rhythm for about 2 weeks and then went out again.  He had another cardioversion in October and so far, everything  has been good since then.  Hopefully it was from all of the inflammation on his heart that caused that one.  We've been back for check-ups and they are pleased with everything.  We feel he is with a great team of doctors and feel confident in their decisions.  He's being seen by a heart failure/transplant doctor and an adult congenital doctor at Duke.  They did run a test on him in November and his numbers are pretty low; these are the numbers they look at when considering heart transplant.  But like the doctor there said, we don't know how long his numbers  have looked like that because he's never had this test.  We're just praying everything levels out because we don't want to face a transplant anytime soon (hearts only last about 10 years).

Garrett continues to be the light of our lives and keeps us busy and tired :)  He doesn't forget a thing and I love having conversations with him.  It's so funny the things he comes up with.  We took a trip to the mountains in October and he got to experience his first train ride.  We went with family and it was a great time.  We also stopped by the apple orchard on the way home and he loved that as well.

The holidays were also fun for us this year.  We hosted everyone for Thanksgiving and Garrett loved entertaining everyone.  He loved Christmas this year and he's starting to understand everything behind it.  It's such a neat experience to view it from a child's perspective.  He's totally amped up now for his birthday.  We've been hearing about the "birthday party" for weeks now.

We still haven't pursued anything else on the adoption front.  While we would love for Garrett to have a sibling, we want Tommy's health to be ok first.  Plus, I don't want to add any extra pressure on him about it---that's the last thing he needs right now.  I have moments where I really want to have another child but we truly are enjoying our time with Garrett.  I've talked to some of the parents whose kids I've taught over the years that are only children and they've given me some great advice on how to help him be a well rounded child.

We are excited to see how God is going to use us this year!

What we've been up to :)

Ok, so I know the last post I wrote I talked about how slack I had been with the blog. I know it's really been bad :) I'm going to try to write more and write comments :) I've been reading though and keeping up with all of you!

It seems like for a good part of February and well into March, our house battled the "sick bug." Poor Garrett had everything from a lovely stomach bug to tonsillitis. Of course this also all seemed to reach it's peak when I was on winter break--so much for fun time with mommy! He just wanted to be held and cuddled, which is fine by me since I don't get many of those days now.

He is getting into everything and his little personality is coming out more and more! It's so cute to watch him copy some of the things we do now. He has a lot to say but most of the time we have no idea what he is trying to tell us--it must be important though because often times it is accompanied with hands in the air :) We think he is the sweetest little boy ever!

He now has a little swing set in the backyard as well as a water table. That boy loves the water. Somehow I think we are going to be in trouble this summer when it comes to beach time. He loves to dip his face under in the bathtub and he's already learned how to blow bubbles in there. We've signed him up for swim classes starting in May so I can't wait to see what he'll do.

Happy Easter!

Can't believe it

It's so hard to believe that my baby boy is going to be 1 in two days. I have no idea where the year has gone. He is such a blessing to us and I can't imagine my life without him. One of my favorite things, besides him saying mama, is he will now give kisses on "command." And I mean those big, opened mouth sloppy ones! I am loving every second of it!

We're having his party on Saturday. I'm trying to get everything together for it this week. I am hoping the weather is nice because we have so many coming.....the downside of having the whole family living close :) But we wouldn't have it any other way. They've been through everything with us so it's only right to have a big celebration with everyone. Tommy and I took off of work on Thursday so we can spend the day with him and do something fun with just the 3 of us.

11 months!

I know I have been completely slack at updating this blog but between home and work, things have been crazy! Thankfully Friday was my last day at work until January! Yippee! I'm so enjoying this time I'm getting to spend with my sweet boy. Monday, he turned 11 months old. I know I ask this almost every month, but can someone tell me where time has gone? I can't believe that in less than one month we will be celebrating his first birthday. Seems like yesterday that we received the call that we had been chosen.

His new favorite word is "uh-oh" and I have to say it's really cute. He had a really bad cold at Thanksgiving that lasted well over a week. The pediatrician said he was too young to have anything for "just a cold" and to keep doing the things we had been to get it to go away. Well that turned into an ear infection and then they gave him some antibiotics. It seemed to be cleared up and then this past weekend he started sounding stuffy again. Now we have a runny nose and he's been pulling on his ears. He's teething too so I'm hoping that's why he's pulling on his ears but we are going to make another trek to the doctor in the morning. Poor baby, I hate it when he's sick!

About 2 weeks ago he started walking, really walking. He's all over the place now. My mom bought him some New Balance tennis shoes this past weekend and he had a little trouble in them at first (his others were flat) but now he's gotten the hang of those too. He's also dancing. It is hilarious! Any time he hears music he starts dancing. He's quite the entertainer.

We went and saw Santa and he did great with him too. As it became our turn, a guy from the newspaper asked if he could take his picture. I think it's supposed to run tomorrow. I thought that was pretty neat. He was just checking Santa out, trying to figure him out! We've had 3 Christmas parties and he's had a blast at all of them. He doesn't really care about opening presents but loves the bows!

Who is this?

I'm so glad we don't have ball ornaments :)

Cheezin' (better late than never) :)

Busy, busy-10 months

We stay so busy around here! Whew! I think things are finally beginning to slow down. Garrett turns 10 months old tomorrow?!?! Seriously, where has this year gone? If only time would have gone this fast during the wait, ha ha :) He continues to be such a blessing to us and we are so thankful that we have the privilege of raising him.

This week my heart melted just a bit more as he began to say the most precious word ever...."mama" :) He's been saying "dada" for a few months now and my Grandmother would tell me that he would say mama during the day but I wasn't a believer until I heard it for myself. He's also mimicking sounds that we make and it's really cute. He loves to laugh and he LOVES to eat! The doctor gave us the go ahead to start giving him meat at the end of last month and he loves it. He hasn't turned away anything yet (even turnips) and I hope that continues. We've got him on a breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedule now so that when we drop the formula in a couple of months, he'll be ready to go.

Speaking of going....he's trying to walk. He will cruise all around holding on to furniture, our legs, Bailey (dog), and anything else he can grab. Then he started letting go and would take a few steps then fall. This week he made it across the living room (laughing all the way)---I think we're in trouble :) The poor Christmas tree won't know what it's in for :)

We are also still waiting on his social security number. I have to remind myself that I really do love NC. They told us it would take "up to" 4 weeks. It's almost been 2 months. Ugh. I've called and the hold up seems to be that Raleigh has to "verify" that the actual birth certificate is legit. (again this would be why our state taxes are so much) Once this is over with I plan on writing a letter to our representatives, senators, and governor about this part of the paperwork process. I understand being thorough but really.....

Here are some pictures of my sweet boy!

I love this serious look on his face!

First Halloween!

I can't believe tomorrow is already Halloween! I know this week is going to be completely crazy so I'm going to post this one early :) I am in the thick of things with the headmaster search committee at my school. This is our last week of finalist visits so hopefully life will return to normal soon :)

Garrett is doing great and is learning so many new things. I'm amazed that he can now feed himself cheerios and other little things like that. Where has my baby gone? We've had a slammed pack couple of weekends so I'm ready for some uneventful ones :)

Here are some pictures with him in his costume and from his first Halloween party and pumpkin carving event (I learned at our friends house that Tommy had never carved a pumpkin!)....

One of the girls that works with me hosted this party for the kids; all of us work together; as you can tell it wasn't long before the meltdowns occurred!

Garrett had no idea what was going on around him; I know he's going to get us back for this one day!
At the family reunion--he loved this little bounce house
Helping Daddy carve the pumpkin
The cutest lobster....EVER :)

8 months

Well I figured I better post this before my sweet boy turns 9 months tomorrow??!! Where, oh where has the time gone? I can't believe in 3 months we'll be having his first birthday party. Amazing!

He is growing so much. We go to the doctor's on Thursday for his 9 month check-up and I can't wait to see how much he really has grown. He is moving all over the place and is pretty fast at it too! He's pulling up on the furniture, our legs etc and will let go. He gets pretty proud of himself and will now also clap :) He's learned how to patty cake and all he says is "da da da da da"! I'm trying to work a mama in there but so far I haven't heard him (my Grandma says he has said it during the day). His new "trick" is sticking his face in the tub (we don't put him in the baby tub anymore) and trying to drink the water. It's pretty funny. His smile is contagious and I will never get tired of hearing him laugh! We are so blessed!

Mission accomplished

To add to an even more exciting week, we've all been sick around here! I thought I was feeling better from last week and then I came down with an awful sore throat on Sunday. I ended up going to the doctor on Monday and things are much better now! Poor Garrett's had a head cold but he's on the mend too, thank goodness!

We drove to Raleigh on Monday and got the birth certificate! It only took about 10 minutes, go figure! I don't know why they don't do that in the first place and then mail them. But anyways, we have it now! For my NC friends that go this route, they do charge a $15 fee to have it expedited, a $15 adoption fee, and $24 for the birth certificate ($15 for extra certified copies). We did go to babies r us while we were there and we met Tommy's brother for lunch so it was nice.

When we got back into town, we decided to go by the social security office to apply for Garrett's social security number. I tried doing this back in the summer but they told me I needed the birth certificate in order to apply for one. As I hand the application to the guy, along with the birth certificate, he says--we don't have to have the birth certificate--we can't use that as proof. I asked if he was kidding?! So good thing I had brought along the immunization record and the adoption decree (the same things I had before). He processed everything and said we should get it within a month, maybe even sooner.

So hopefully we're finished for now :) I never knew what an adventure this part would be!

Our great state

Time sure does seem to be flying by these days and I know I've not been the greatest at commenting or writing posts for that matter! Tommy and I were talking last night about how the weekends really seem to fly by now! He said it's because we're busy in a different way now. But I wouldn't change it for anything.

It seems like so many things have happened since the last update so here's my attempt to remember them all plus give you all the insight on trying to obtain a birth certificate from the great state of NC.

All about Garrett :) He now has 5 teeth! They seem like they are popping up everywhere (3 on the bottom and 2 on the top). He's really been a champ through this whole teething process. He is crawling everywhere and getting into everything he can touch :) He's also pulling himself up on things and just this past week he started letting go. He can stand for a few seconds and then falls, which he thinks is funny. Two weeks ago he received his first black eye courtesy of the entertainment center. He hit it just right and had a little bruise on his cheek which then turned into a black eye. Last week we got called out of church because he had fallen and they wanted us to see the little scratch on his arm (I'm really thankful they do this and let us know what is going on in there). Come to find out, he was "chasing" a little girl in the room and he slipped on his jeans that are too long :) Tommy told him once we got in the car that girls will you get you into trouble every time, ha ha!

He loves to talk. He is always making noises and babbling. He says dada all of the time now and we've heard a couple of mama's from him lately. That will melt your heart every time you hear it.

On the birth certificate front--We finally received our letter from social services saying that the adoption had been indexed and we could now apply for his birth certificate. Now I must say that our state is definitely lacking in this department. If you talk to 6 different people, you'll get 6 different answers. I fortunately talked with a lady who seemed to know what was going on during the summer and she told me that once we got the letter, to call back and make an appointment. You see supposedly our state is on a "critical backlog" (their words not mine) of creating certificates (birth, death, marriage etc). If you fill out the application and mail it in, it could take up to a year to get it back (are you serious)!! You can pay to expedite it but that will still take a few months. However, you can drive to Raleigh, and pick one up same day. It makes absolutely no sense to me but that's how things go here. It has taken us 3 months to get the letter saying we can now apply for the birth certificate since we received the adoption decree. As soon as I saw the letter on Tuesday, I started calling. One lady told me I couldn't get it yet (ugh) then she connected me with the "adoption department" and I left a message. I then called back because I knew she didn't know what she was talking about. I talked to another lady who said she would connect me with the lady in charge of adoptions. I left her a message and she called me back within 10 minutes. She took down the information (at this point it was 5:00) and told me the office was closed now but she would have someone call me back the next day to schedule an appointment. They told us if you drive up to pick it up on the same day you should call and make an appointment. I ended up having to call them back on Thursday and the lady said, I'm pretty booked the next few weeks but I have Monday or Tuesday. No problem, we'll take Monday! So tomorrow we had to the state capital to pick up that treasured piece of paper. The humorous part in all of this, the cost. Here's the breakdown- $15 (expedite fee); $15 (adoption fee--really?); and $24 (birth certificate); extra copies $15....... Gotta love NC :)

So hopefully things will go as planned tomorrow and we can come home and then apply for a social security number. Whew!

My sweet boy

Can you believe 2 posts in a row? :) I wanted to share some recent pictures of my sweet boy! Also wanted to let you all know I'm going to do a post this week about making baby food, what I've used and what I did. Trust me when I say it's super easy and really doesn't take much time at all! Not to mention, it's super cheap!

Playing at the beach house
Feeling Daddy's catch
Loves the beach and the sand
What? I'm not supposed to eat the sand??
The purple starfish I found after Hurricane Irene

Still here

I'm still here but life is crazy busy these days especially with trying to get back into the school routine! I must say my classes are awesome this year so it's helped with going back to work. We've had a great long weekend this weekend though and I'm sad to see it come to an end!

I know I've said this a million times over again but we really do have the sweetest boy ever! And I know we're biased but everyone tells us the same thing. He hardly ever cries; even when he wakes up, he just plays and makes noises in his crib. He is a BIG flirt too :) it's pretty funny watching him interact with the "ladies"! He is all over the place now with his crawling. Of course he wants to go everywhere we don't want him to be (for example, Bailey's dog bowls) but it's really funny watching him explore everything.

He's eating all sorts of foods now and I'm so glad that I took the time to make his food. He's used to it and he seems to love any kind of fruit and vegetables. We thought his top teeth were trying to break through and sure enough, the one on the right side broke through the gum yesterday. We've started brushing his teeth and he loves that too :)

We are so, so thankful that God has given us this opportunity to be his parents! He was well worth the wait! Pictures are coming soon!

Crawling!

I can't believe it but on Friday Garrett started crawling! How did he grow up this fast? It's hard to believe that he is already 7 months old. He looks so cute though crawling around and exploring all of this new territory. He is definitely active and I'm not sure if we're ready for that :) At first he would only go a few steps and then would stop and sit up but last night he came from the living room into the kitchen to see what I was doing. He's also trying really hard to pull himself up; I think he really wants to get on those feet!

I also have now caught up with everyone's blogs; last week my blog list wasn't updating so I thought everyone was being quiet :) It looks like it's working again now!

Party and photos!

The party went great this past weekend! We had about 55 family and friends join us to celebrate the finalization on Garrett's adoption. I'm so glad that we had so many to come and support us and love on him! I'll have to write more in an update later on but wanted to share some pictures. I know it's been a while :) Oh, and we almost have a crawler! I can't believe it! I think we are going to be in trouble :)

A boy and his dog :) I'm so glad they get along so well! I don't think Bailey knows what she's in for!

How can you not just love this face! Our little chief!

At the party with his Aunt D

The cake looked like his invitation

Family picture at the party

The tree we had everyone sign and stamp their thumbprint
Oops, a little late on this one :)

What? I'm not supposed to be messing with the camera bag

Mountain trip and a sick baby

We went for one last trip this past weekend before I have to go back to school this Thursday. We went up and stayed in my Aunt and Uncle's cabin in the mountains. We had a great time and Garrett seemed to enjoy himself. We were hoping to find cooler weather but the heat seemed to follow us there!

There was also another reason for this trip; we had the opportunity to meet with Garrett's birthmom on Friday. I'm not sure how I thought things would go but it didn't necessarily go the way I thought it would. Not that it was bad, it was just different. We didn't feel threatened or anything like that because I know that's what a lot of people usually think. I can't go into a lot of details here because you just never know who is reading this stuff and I want to respect their privacy. I'm glad we did it because I had a lot of questions/worry in my mind about her and I'm glad I was able to see her and get some of those things cleared up. I would really be surprised if we got another chance at doing this again. We did get some pictures of her with Garrett and I'm glad we'll have those to share with him later.

And speaking of my sweet boy. He's so sick. I can't stand to see him this way. I had some sort of little head cold/sinus stuff last week and I think he's caught it. I had to take him to the doctor this morning and besides the congestion, poor thing has a hard time breathing, he had a fever, sore throat, and an inner ear infection. They put him on antibiotics and said they usually start feeling better in a couple of days. I hope so because work will be here before I know it!

6 months

I know I have been completely slack at updating the blog but to be honest I have been enjoying some lazy summer days with my sweet boy! I have to go back to work in 2 weeks; I can't believe that summer has gone by so fast. I told Tommy that I couldn't believe it has gone by so fast and I feel like I really haven't done anything. He told me I've been busy, I just haven't realized it :) It's a different kind of busy but I love every minute of it!

I can't believe that we have a 6 month old! In just a few short months, we'll be planning a birthday party! We have decided to have an adoption finalization party for him though :) We debated about whether or not to do it but then thought it would just be a fun way to celebrate and have everyone join us at the beach house for a fun dinner. I'm really looking forward to it.

Garrett went to the doctor today and it went well. He's doing great and didn't weigh as much as I thought he would. I thought he was going to be over 20 lbs :) So here are some 6 month stats :)
Height: 27.3 inches
Weight: 19 lbs 14 oz
He's been sitting up on his own since mid June and that's the same time he cut his two bottom teeth. The doctor doesn't think it's going to be too much longer before the top ones try to come through. He continues to make all sorts of noises and his newest "noise" is a blowing sound; it's pretty funny.

We continue to be in awe of everything he is doing and learning and we feel so blessed to be able to come along for the ride!

Pictures!

Here are some pictures from our stay at the beach house!

Playing in his raft at the dock

Having fun with Mama
Playing in the tidal pools at the ocean

His chapped cheeks (I gave him something cold to suck on, oops)

Ready for the beach!

Loves the sand too!

Sweet Mya! She's 4 days older-a friend of our's is fostering to adopt her (Garrett loved her sunglasses)

Sweet sleeping babies!

Feeling refreshed!

This is a new view :)

I can't believe how big he's getting! I just want him to stay little forever!

We have a sitter and some teeth!

I really can't believe how fast time is flying by! It's hard to believe we have a 5 month old. When we were at the beach, he started sitting up and actually staying there for some time. He's doing it all the time now and he looks like such a big boy! Then on Friday, the first tooth finally broke through his gum. The second one is now coming through. He's done really well with those too. I told Tommy last night we are going to be in so much trouble when he starts moving! I'm so glad I'm able to spend the summers with him; I'm already dreading going back to work.

Next week we head to Florida to visit our friends and the twins they adopted. I can't wait to get them all together. I have lots of pictures to share from the beach house! Garrett loved the water. I'm still making his baby food and so far he has loved everything. For those of you that are interested, here are the sites that I have been using: this one and this one. It's really, really easy and you know everything that's going in it!

Better late than never :)

Can't believe my sweet boy is already 4 months old (ok he's over 4 months old now) :) Time has gone by way too quickly! We are looking forward to our week at the beach house!

Memorial Day 2011-4 month update

Ok so I know I am a bit behind! That's what happens when the school year comes to a close. Plus I have to move classrooms so it's been a busy week! Tuesday is my last workday and I am so looking forward to spending the whole summer with my little Doodlebug!

Last Friday, Garrett had his 4 month check-up, complete with round 2 of shots. He did a lot better this time with the shots. He did run a little fever afterwards but other than that everything went well. The doctor was really impressed with how well he is doing and she gave us the go ahead to start introducing solids. He loves them! This boy loves to eat! I'm making his baby food so that has been fun and interesting all at the same time. He now weighs 18.4 pounds!!!! I can't believe how big he's gotten. He's also 25.8 inches long. He's also starting to teethe. I hope that first one pops out soon; he's had a couple of cranky days :)

On Saturday we did some shopping and he really loves to look all around. On Sunday we decided to go to church with my mom so everyone there could meet him. After church, my sister and her husband took us out on the boat. Garrett loved it! He's going to be a natural "water boy" which is great, especially since we spend so much time at the beach. The only part he didn't care for was wearing the life jacket. On a side note, it amazed me with how many people were out there with babies, with no life jackets on while they were in the boat. That's complete craziness!

Here are some pictures of our weekend!

What are you guys doing to me!?!

Let me see if I can figure out how to drive this thing!
Loves the water!
Aunt Dana trying to give him seaweed
Enjoying his new raft--look how clear the water is! That's a rarity around here!
Nap time!
Having fun with Daddy
Here we go again :)