Christmas 2011

To say that we have had one of the best Christmas times ever would be a complete understatement. I just can't put into words how sweet this time has been. Of course Garrett had no clue as to what was going on but we were so excited to share this special time with him. We are completely amazed at all of the blessings God has given us this year. It's funny that at this time last year we had no idea that we were about to receive a phone call that would change our lives forever.

We have had so much fun spending time with family and with our sweet boy. As he walked into the living room on Sunday morning, he spotted a basketball goal that we got for him.....his response...."ooooohhhhhh" too cute! He has been in love with the Christmas tree and the lights and I think he was a little worried when we took them down today. I think our parents and siblings had just as much fun as we have for Garrett's first Christmas. We truly feel blessed to have this sweet gift! Pictures are coming soon :)

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 :)

Merry Christmas!

First things first, I lost 1 pound last night! That brings my total to 22 pounds lost. Tommy lost 6.2 pounds (that was over 2 weeks)!! I am so proud of him and his total is 15.4. Hopefully we can make it through this weekend! We also actually have a chance of snow on Sunday! It never snows at the beach so it would be pretty cool to see it this weekend.

From our family to yours I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and that you are able to take in and be thankful for all that we do have. My prayer for all of us that are waiting (no matter what we're waiting for), is that we would feel God's presence in an awesome way this upcoming year.

"When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." Galatians 4:4

The bad luck bug has bitten

Instead of an early visit from Santa, we got a visit from the bad luck bug :) Tommy went duck hunting this morning (4 am) and on the way back to his friend's house our truck (4runner but it's a truck to us) started making noises and the check engine light came on. They dropped the boat off at his friend's and he called Toyota so we could drop it off. We're still waiting on the final word but a trip there is never cheap. Either a coil has gone bad or it's from bad gas. I don't know which would be better at this point. I guess it could be worse :)

Besides the fun this morning, we've had a great day. He's off today, tomorrow and Monday. I have really enjoyed my time off. Everything is clean, the laundry's finished and now I can just relax. I even baked sugar cookies, crescent layer bars, and chocolate oatmeal cookie drops for our friends and neighbors.

We still don't know what are plans are going to be for Christmas Eve. We've always gone to Tommy's Grandma's so it's weird to not have her here. His mom really hasn't wanted to talk about it so we've just left it alone. If she doesn't do anything, then I think we're going to make homemade lasagna and go to our church's Christmas Eve service. We've been enjoying our time together and wonder if this will be our last Christmas without a child.

Tonight's the big weigh in night so hopefully the scales will be kind :)

Here's some pictures from our trip to Mike's farm last weekend.

Enjoying some hot chocolate and hot apple cider

On the hayride