A New Buddy!

Is there anything any sweeter than a little boy and a puppy?!

Meet Bim - Sassy & Pop's new 'baby' German Shepherd...he has the best puppy breath ever!

By the way, he's only 6 weeks old....you think he's going to be very big??!!

Learning about Christmas

This Christmas season has been so much fun!! Garrison has been really into talking about all the Christmas decorations and such.

Of course, he helped decorate the tree and has his favorite ornaments that he shows everyone who comes to our house. As I wrapped presents one night, he would sit and wait on me to wrap, then would take the gift to the tree and slowly slide it under - then run back to wait for the next one!

He likes to look at and talk about the Elf Santa sent to watch him - he & Nathan named him Toby... he hasn't really visited many different spots in our house this year. He's just been watching from the mantle...

If you ask him what Santa is going to bring, his reponse is 'tractor, green, I can ride'... I hope he's as excited on Christmas morning as I am expecting!

Even though he wants Santa to bring him a tractor, he really isn't a Santa fan!! We had 3 attempts for a Santa picture this year. First two were total screaming fits - by the third try, I just decided I needed my picture made with Santa too!! It went much smoother, even though you can see the tears welling in his precious little eyes...bless him...he just wasn't too sure about that guy in the red suit with that crazy hat!

Attempt #1:
(ball and sucker - still NOT happy!)

I don't have picture number two yet, but it is likely more dramatic than attempt #1!

And our 3rd visit with Santa - see the tears welling in his eyes??

We've talked a lot about Baby Jesus and that it's his birthday. He likes to point out Baby Jesus in a nativity scene. This makes me happy!

We had fun making chocolate chip cookies one night too - Garrison enjoyed them very much...we'll be making some to leave for Santa tomorrow too!

22 MONTHS

Really...in TWO short months, my little man will be TWO!!

Unbelieveable.

He is SO much fun these days!!! He has gone from saying lots of words to phrases & sentences in the past few weeks. That sure does make life easier at our house! I love that he can now communicate exactly what it is that he wants...usually... ha! Example, if he wants to play in his room and the light is off, he says 'dark in here, light on'.

We have all been a little sickly at our house the past week or so, but seem to be on the mend. I took him to the doc and he weighs about 28 pounds. I would have thought he'd hit the 30 lb. mark, but not yet.

He's still a pretty good eater most of the time - if he isn't too busy with his trucks, tractors, or 'watchin' mouse' to eat! He's gonna be a chicken nugget lover like his daddy, for sure.

We had one MAJOR milestone this week. My little one is now in a toddler bed. Nathan and I started discussing this while he was sick/getting better - one night he would NOT sleep so I thought I'd let him cry a little and see if he'd settle down and put himself back to sleep (used to he would do this!) Well - he had gotten in the far corner of his bed, where I couldn't see him on the monitor - then it was silence...then screaming! So, I jump up and run in his room - he's straddling the rail of his crib. Yep. He was stuck - couldn't figure out how to go either way. So, what else could we do? I wasn't sleeping good and anytime he woke up, we'd come running in there to keep him from climbing over again. While I was at tacky bunko Tuesday night, Nathan converted his crib to a toddler bed. We got more sleep that night (and again last night) than we'd gotten in over a week. ha! Still not sleeping perfectly, but I can handle once a night - just not 3-4-5 times a night! Not sure why that makes a difference, but we'll take it. Just hope it stays that way!

He has learned so much lately too - he'll count with you, but if he does it on his own, he prefers to say '2-5-8-10'! I won't claim that my 22 year old genius child can count...but...I will say that he lines up his toys on the side of the tub during bath time, and will say 'algator, 2 frogs, 3 ducks' or whatever he puts up there.

He has learned lots of colors - blue, green, red, orange, pink, 'yedda', brown, purple, black, etc. Pretty much anything he sees, he tells you the color of it to. Fun stuff!

Loves a 'sucka' (sucker)- especially the ones at the counter when leaving the Mexican restaurant...usually wants orange, even though he doesn't really love the taste. He also loves to eat a lemon! So fun to watch! He makes the funniest faces ever but goes back for more everytime (I love this because I too love a lemon!).

When riding in the car, he loves pointing out everything we ride past - the luvel cow, the flags, the moon, Pop's work (Ivey's), big red truck, etc. Very observant little guy - must get that from his Daddy...

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MOMENTS I HOPE I NEVER FORGET:

*when going to bed at night, after we get finished saying his prayers, he'll say 'AMEN - again, Mama' (yes, I realize this is a scheme to stay awake longer, but it's so sweet!!).

*tonight when I was getting him to sleep, he got the hiccups - he thought it was the funniest thing ever! I love that deep chuckle laugh he has.
*when you pick him up for a big hug, he pats our backs (the same way we pat his back)
*I love the way he gives his Daddy a big goodnight kiss while I'm fixing his cup of milk at bedtime. When he walks away, Nathan tells him he loves him, and Garrison has started responding with 'yuv you Daddy'. Melt My Heart.
*the sweet moment when he's falling asleep, but still plays with my hair and gets slower, and slower, until he goes totally limp.

Christmas SnapShots

So, these aren't perfect - but they sure are fun! I have never been too great with photo shoots, but I love his expressions in these...

Throwing the leaves up in the air and laughing hysterically...

Christmas Fun with Baylie

We had Christmas for Garrison & Baylie Saturday night - it was fun as expected....however, it took some convincing to get Garrison to open his present - he was having too much fun with Baylie's toys...Baylie, however, will be a pro this Christmas - she tore right into her presents!!

Baylie knows she loves a good book!

And Garrison has a new obsession with 'elitopters' so he was thrilled...once we convinced him to check out what was in the bag!!

Everybody had fun playing with his helicopter...
(excuse the wet tea stain going down the front of his sweater!)

Sweet babies!

Thanks Shea, Doc, & Baylie for the helicopter & puzzle - and thanks to lee-lee and 'Keg' for the movies and book!! So much fun!

Canton Lights

We had a fun time with Sassy & Pop going to Canton to see the lights...definitely a trip we won't forget! ;)

Thanks to Sassy for riding the cars with Garrison - he loved it! After he got off the first time, he'd say 'ride again'! So.....they rode again, of course!

(Nathan was trying to play with the manual lens...didn't work so well, but turned out a neat picture!)

Passed down...

from Aunt Tee, to me, then to Garrison...

We've had several more generational outfits that I missed him wearing- he grows too fast!

After church...

(I dread the day Garrison is too old for these sweet church outfits... I know it's coming soon - Nathan has started giving me 'the look' on Sunday mornings when I dress him in john johns. I love how it makes him still seem like my baby boy when most days he seems so big!!)

Saturday Night Fun

Can't believe how big all these babies have gotten...so cute in their Christmas pjs!!

SaraBeth, Jack, Braxton, Barrett, Mallory, Greyson, & Garrison

And the girls - we couldn't convince Hope to stand in front so we could get a pic of Brayden James too! :)

And there were the yummy cupcakes!!

And this is for you Hope - Barrett had fun squishing his cupcake into the floor!!

Thanks for a great time, Lauren - we had fun!

Egg Bowl 2010

A bulldog and a rebel -

remain friends regardless of the outcome!

oooh....TREE!!

We had SO MUCH FUN this morning decorating our Christmas tree!!

Garrison put a whole new meaning behind 'putting the balls on the tree'!
I laughed SO hard when I told him we'd put the balls on soon - and he came running with his ball!!

He checked out the lights good too once we got them on...

He put the bulldog ornament on and said 'Go Dawgs'!

We did hang the Christmas Balls (rather than the baseball!) on the tree too!

And the 'Ho-Ho' -

We finally changed out of our PJs around lunch time, and were excited to put on a Christmas tshirt!!

Then he just sat and looked at the tree - holding his balloon string of course...

**And yes, I am one of 'those moms' that said my child would never wear character themed clothing.......well, pjs don't count, right?!?!? - I guess we learn to never say what we won't do!!**