A plethora of recent G pictures

One of the many reasons I love Ed...

I worked until 11 pm last night. I had to be at work by 10 am this morning. Garrett ate at midnight, then he woke up again at about 5 am (totally normal for him). I fed him and we went back to sleep, snuggling. At about 6 am Ed woke up (he's a day shift guy remember?) and he quietly took Garrett and went upstairs with him. He then came down at about 9 am and woke me up so that I could be at work by 10 am. I got to sleep by myself (I love my little G-Man but I don't sleep as well when he's in the bed with me) and I got to sleep in!!! It was lovely!

I love my Ed. He's such a good husband. And a good daddy!!!

A fluke I'm sure - but cool just the same!

Garrett had his binky and it popped out, a regular occurrence 'round these parts. He grabbed it with his hand and held it up so he could look at it, studying it for a minute (this kid is a thinker). He then promptly plopped the binky right back into his mouth. Oh there have been so many times that I've wished he could do that - and he did it. Like the title says, probably a fluke, but I still thought it was cool enough to share! :)

Garrett is running a fever from his vaccinations yesterday. Ed took the afternoon off to stay home with him so he didn't have to go out of the house. I love that Ed loves taking care of his boy!

16 lbs 9 oz & 27 inches long at 4 months!

Garrett weighs in at 16 pounds 9 ounces and he is 27 inches tall! Can I just tell you how much I love that I have a big and healthy boy?!? He's not a chunk by any means (even though he is sporting a double chin), but he is a solid little guy!

The doctor went to look in his ears with one of those things that they pop the cone thing off of (with the light) and he moved Garrett around so fast that he startled him and Garrett started to cry. The doctor scared him. I found this odd because normally he really likes his doctor.

Anyway, then came the shots...G has already had one set of shots. I didn't know he was getting more today. Had I known he was due for more shots I would have scheduled the appointment for one of my days off. Crap. Anyway, the nurses shot him and he SCREAMED bloody murder. My poor bug!!! It took a lot longer to calm him this time - he wouldn't slow down his crying long enough for me to latch him onto his booby. But eventually I calmed him down, he ate a little bit, and he fell asleep hard. This time the shots almost made me cry for some reason. Maybe it's because he's getting older and "know" more of what is going on? He gets another set of them at his 6 month appointment. I think I will schedule it so that Ed has to take him that time. I have done my fair share. Although Ed doesn't have the cure-all booby like I do...

He's above average in height, weight, head circum., etc...and the doctor was impressed with his motor skills. He gave us the okay to start cereal if we want to...too bad we already did that last week. He said to start him on solids at 6 months, if he doesn't show an interest in them (i.e. watching us eat and mimicking) earlier than that anyway. So that's where we stand!

Full circle

A year ago (10/20/07) our lives changed in the best possible way. We found out we were pregnant. I pee'd on the stick, and the test line came screaming thru faster than the control line did. I was shocked, since I was certain that it would be negative yet again. After so many months of trying, and only seeing that + one other time, I didn't think it would ever happen again. All Ed could do was grin and hug me. Some of you might remember that that is the same day that I shot my first deer. Ed took the rack off of that deer and he mounted it on a plaque. It now hangs above Garrett's crib in camo-themed nursery. I look at that mount everytime I walk into the nursery and I still get that tingling feeling I got that day. I prayed for weeks straight that this little bean would stick and grow into our baby. And boy did that bean stick!


After the initial ten or so weeks of worrying that I would miscarry again, I started to relax and enjoy the fact that I was pregnant and that I was going to be a mom. It went by so fast. We told everyone at Christmas (I was about 12 weeks along), found out we were having a boy at the end of January (at 17 weeks along), found out that he was healthy and mostly likely OI free by April (28 weeks along), and had Garrett at the end of June (at 39 weeks along). I still remember the first time I felt him move, the first time I watched my belly move with him, and the first time that Ed felt him. That was incredible to experience.


I spent 40 weeks promising God that I would be a better person, that I would raise an exceptional, caring, respectful, and productive human being, if only He would gift us with this baby. He did, and now here we are. Garrett is a healthy little boy who loves his doggies and his mommy and daddy. He is growing like a fool, and finding new things to experience in his world every day. He found his feet last week, he laughs and giggles, and his newfound passion is blowing spit bubbles. He finds himself hilarious. Him and his dad are always together unless Ed is at work. Garrett loves his booby, he's a good sleeper, a joyful soul, and an answer to our prayers.

I get to see a whole new side of Ed that I never thought I'd witness. I knew he was a good dad, but watching him be a Dad to our son is a gift in itself. Now Ed will tell me stories about things that James and Stacy did as babies, relating them to Garrett. He discusses all his milestones and all the plans he has for Garrett. I have watched Ed become calmer and I see him slow down to enjoy things a lot more. I get to watch him be proud of his little boy and all his teeny little accomplishments. I'm positive that Ed will enjoy Garrett as he grows up just as much as he enjoys him now.

And as for me. I have come to realize that Garrett is my greatest accomplishment ever. I could cure cancer tomorrow and that would come second to this little person that I got to help create and have the privilege of taking care of. Even when he's crying or has just poop sprayed me (don't ask, you don't want the visual) I still look at him in awe and wonder why God chose me to be his mom. When his eyes open and he realizes it's me he's looking at and he smiles, my day can't get any better, and when he puts his little hand in mine, the touch is electric and magical.

My purpose in life is clear. I am meant to be Ed's wife. And I am meant to be Garrett's mom. And we are meant to be a wacky little family. I take a lot of comfort in knowing why I am here.

What a gift we've been given.

A Prayer for our son

A Prayer For My Son

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee -- and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goals will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, give him, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength.

Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain."

~~General Douglas McArthur~~

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!!!

We figured out that unless we want to move a very heavy freezer full of food, we'd better start eating some of said food. Therefore, we decided that the first to go would be the turkey from last year that we never got around to cooking. What day should we make it Ed asks me? I don't care - let's just make it. We forgot to pull it out of the freezer so when we finally remembered on Sunday we were obviously obligated to make it Monday. Little did we know, until later that day, that it was Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Look at us being all multi-cultural and stuff. Hahaha! Garrett sat in his bebe pod and helped/watched me make stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. He sat and watched us for about an hour - just chattering with us and playing with his toy.

Here we are stopping what we were doing so that daddy could take our picture!
Then out came the turkey, which Garrett found VERY interesting. He got a little taste, but he didn't actually get to consume any of it. Yet. This boy has no choice - he's going to be a born and bred meat eater!

Garrett after having a little taste of mashed potatoes. Think he liked them?

Back to his pod toy instead. Apparently he prefers plastic over my taters. I will have to remember that.

Imitating his daddy, who ate way too much turkey and stuffing, etc...Ed was in the same position on the couch.

And of course we got to sit and watch the NLCS game and some Monday Night football. It was nice to have a day to do something different but stay at home just the same!

Don't worry Mom - we will still be ready for turkey in November!!!

The giggle that makes my world go round...

Garrett has found his voice. And it's a beautiful and happy little sound!!! He loves to chatter about nothing in particular, but he mostly does it for his dad. He is a lot like Ed - he wakes up early and he wakes up happy and that's when his chattering starts. I love that he chatters softly to me until I wake up too, and as soon as I open my eyes I'm greeted by the biggest "Hi Mom!" smile that a girl could ask for. It never fails to make me laugh and when I laugh he laughs and smiles some more.

When I'm at work Ed and Garrett like to call me so that I can listen to all his happy little noises. He now squeals with delight at the red frog on his swing and the toys that surround him on his Jumperoo. I guess maybe it's an acquired "taste", but it would break my heart to go even one day without hearing him now. I'm sure at some point I will wish him quiet - but for now I'm just enjoying it!!!

Scoutin'! We start 'em early round these parts!

Ed and I have been working opposites shifts with opposing days off since I started back to work at the end of August. During the month of October we have three weekends off together - the first of which was this last weekend. We packed up the baby and the dogs on Monday and did something we haven't been able to do for awhile - we went out into the wild wild woods! The last time we did something like that I was about 28 weeks pregnant, and it was a little uncomfortable. Being out in the woods is something that Ed LOVES to do and I have come to love it as well. Now we have Garrett to enjoy it with us! We started out the day with G falling asleep on the drive to where we were headed. Once we got off of the paved road I pulled him out of his carseat and smelled something rank. He had his second official poop blow out for me to find. Lucky me! Poor baby got ticked off something fierce though when I went to change him in the 55 degree air. It was a chilly but sunny day! We suited him up in his fleece camo outfit (coat and pants) from Black Sheep and he was ready to go for the rest of the day!

Garrett and his Daddy, just chillaxin' in the woods. Don't worry - that's not a scowl that a "You woke me up from my nap and I want some booby before you get a picture" face.

Garrett was riding in his new mei tai, it's a handy baby carrier so that I can strap him right to me. This has to be one of my favorite pictures of him - even if it includes Ed's butt (also one of my favorite things) in the background.

Can you see me? I'm camo'd!!! For most of the drive Garrett just sat and watched out the window. He loved it when we would open the moon roof cover so he could watch the trees that way. He would have his booby, sleep (the rocking motion of the bumpy ride did him in), wake up, chatter, watch some more, have his booby and sleep some more. I don't think he got fussy even one time! We are so thankful that we have such a sweet and calm boy! When we got home we changed him into his PJ's and he fell asleep HARD. He slept for almost 8 hours straight that night. It was awesome for me!!! Fresh air does a growing little boy good!!!

Random pictures

Peek-a-boo - I see you! Garrett loves to lay on the couch and curl up with a blanket. He now pulls it up over his eyes and then pulls it down again. He only plays with Daddy though - so I just get to sit and watch them!

Siren is fascinated with Garrett, but she often gets told no when it comes to the baby. I put him on the floor and let the dogs approach him. Siren is so hesitant because she knows not to "touch" the baby unless Ed or I tell her it's okay. Right after I took this picture Garrett spit up a little bit and Siren cleaned it up before I could even open my mouth to tell her to back off. Now she thinks he is that much cooler.

Garrett and Daddy watching some football. I think someone must have tackled someone else - hence the look on Garrett's face.

Garrett taking a nap on Mommy after some good ol' booby time. This boy loves his booby!

Garrett has a new trick. As soon as his diaper comes off now - his hands go straight to his weiner. And he doesn't like to let it go. So diaper changes have become slight wrestling matches to keep his hands off long enough that we can at least get him wiped before he starts fooling around. Something tells me that Ed taught him this trick. Boys.

Garrett's new/next car seat arrived in the mail the other day. It's the Britax Marathon - basically one of the highest rated car seats in the safety department. And of course you'll notice that it's camo. Ed decidedly stated, "My boy needs that!" It's a good thing we were shopping for a Britax anyway!

Supply issues & other things

It took me almost 3 weeks to kick the sickness that I picked up from somewhere (the one G got over in like 4 days). The medicine I was taking TRYING to get well enough just to work took a real toll on my milk supply. I usually pump about 18 ounces in a single session (I know, I'm a freak) and I was lucky to get 3-6 ounces (6 ounces is one feeding for G) while sick. My freezer stash is now pretty much gone. After being put on antibiotics my supply has increased a little bit, but nowhere near what I am used to. I started taking blessed thistle and fenugreek, and eating oatmeal, all of which have helped. Today I started taking Motherlove More Milk Plus, which contains several lactation inducing herbs. I sure hope it helps. For me oatmeal is the greatest booster, but it's hard to eat some before work since I have to be at work at 7 am and I am not a morning person and can't seem to get up early enough. So hopefully once I switch to night shift I will be eating more oatmeal. So say a little prayer that I can get my supply back in line - I am REALLY not ready to give up breastfeeding my little boy! G's been nursing like a mad man the last few days, about every hour and a half to two hours, for about 15-20 minutes at a time. I think he's going through another growth spurt. He has a doctors appointment at the end of this month for a checkup. I guess we'll see how his weight gain is going.

Here's a random thought I forgot to mention before. Did you know that baby clothes sizing goes from 6/9 months straight to 12 months? They don't "make" 9/12 month clothes. Carters does have 9 months and 12 months though - so if he doesn't in fact go from 6/9 months to 12 months (which is what other mommies are telling me he will do) I can find some Carter's 9 month stuff. I just found the jump in sizes (and the fact that it was common knowledge to everyone but me) rather odd. Thankfully we have been gifted and given a large amount of gently used clothes for 6/9 months and 12 and 18 months, so G's wardrobe is set until this time next fall! He's such a fashion plate and he doesn't even know it!!!

I also forgot to mention that G now gets super excited at the prospect of booby time. I no sooner sit down with him and his boppy and he will get a big smile on his face and reach for it (because he likes to knead it for me while he's eating). I LOVE that he does that!!!

We survived!!!

Ed had to go to Meridian for training this week. I worked my days off since Ed was home on those days, and then I took off during the week so that G didn't have to be at the sitters for 10 hours a day. He did spend 8 hours at the sitters on Tuesday, which is the 2nd time he's gotten to do that. It's much harder on me than it is on him - he's got a sweetheart taking care of him!!! After 4 days alone with the monkey I am confident in telling you that I am SO glad to have Ed! I would have no idea how a single mother would do it. I was exhausted. But Ed came home last night - and both G and I were SO excited to see him!!! I miss him when he's gone - and G misses him even more! Daddy is a lot funnier than Mommy! They spent 20 minutes straight talking to each other! Now it's Friday and I'm at work while they are home playing.

It only took 3 months, but I woke up yesterday morning to find a poopy diaper strewn up the stairs, mostly consumed. I suspect that the pinhead (Kevlar) talked the giant (Siren) into getting it out of the trash and then both of them snacked on it while G and I slept downstairs. Don't worry - I told Ed about it before they could give him their special kisses. Dogs are so gross sometimes.

Ed and I switch shifts starting next week - so he'll be on day shift (0600-1600) and I'll be on night shift (1300-2300). For most of the month of October we'll have the same days off (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) so we're excited to get to spend some time as a family!!! Since Kevlar and Siren have been so patient with the whole new baby thing, we're going to take them out this weekend and let them do their favorite thing - run around in the woods. It'll be good for us to get G out there too - if he's anything like his Daddy he won't want to come back to civilization.

While Ed was gone Garrett and I got to do some fun stuff. One day we met a woman from the ttc/pregnancy/mommy board that I frequent. She lives in Virginia but her husband was born and raised in Pocatello. They were here visiting his family so her and I had lunch. They have an 8 month old named Adam. Only the internet would make something like that possible huh? Later that same day G and I had a "play date" at the park with Ellen and Brigham. Brig is 5 months old and such a cute little fart (just like his mommy). Garrett thought it was hilarious to steal Brig's binky, but other than that they didn't interact a whole lot. Ellen and I will have to keep having play dates - they're good for the boys and even better for the mommies!!!

School starts for me soon. I truly don't know how I'm going to juggle it all - but I'm sure with Ed's help we'll make it through!