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!

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!

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!

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!

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!