Ahhhh December!

Tis the month of birthday celebrations and festivities for the holidays. We ended last month with the BIG BIRTHDAY for BILL. He turned 40 this year and we had to celebrate. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house with almost 20 family members, it was great fun, lots of work but in the end a great time with family. We celebrated Bill and Garrett's birthday with the family after dinner with presents and a football birthday cake. We went out the Saturday after Bill's birthday for a little adult fun. The guys from the neighborhood took Bill out that afternoon and the ladies ended up meeting up with them for dinner. We were supposed to host everyone, but last minute changes led to dinner at a local Family Style Italian restaurant, where we were allowed to be just as loud as a 40th celebration requires! What a great time with friends. We decided this year to play Garrett's birthday low key and just had his buddies from the neighborhood over on his actual birthday (Wednesday). Most of the Dad's work nights and so Bill was the lonely man at the kid party. It was so perfect though, pizza and some cake and lots of fun for the kids to play together. I believe this was the least stress event I have ever had and Garrett had a BLAST! We felt truly blessed to have great friends and family to celebrate with.

This week we also did something very special. We helped to welcome the Angel of Hope to Central Florida. On December 6th the work of several local parents and health care professionals came together. The Angel of Hope is a statue that is based upon the book The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans. In the book a woman mourns the loss of her daughter at the base of an angel statue. When the book arrived on the best sellers list year's ago, many parents sought out the statue to pay tribute to the fallen angels in their lives. The original statue is said to have been destroyed, but the author commissioned an artist to recreate the angel. Now there are statues across the United States and we were excited to help welcome the Angel of Hope Statue to Central Florida. If you live here she is located in Sunshine Park in Altamonte Springs across from Lake Orienta Elementary. Please take a moment and go by, it is a beautiful sight to see. Anyways, each year there will be a candle light vigil on December 6th at 7 pm, this year was the first. There were many teary eyes at the ceremony and when Jamie's name was called all of ours were included in the crowd. My Mom and Dad joined Bill, Garrett and I as we remembered our blessed angel. Please spread the word, go by and remember the other children in your lives that have joined God this holiday season.

I know that this holiday season we are so thankful for God, our family, friends and our many blessing. We cannot wait to just enjoy our time together. We wish you all the very best as the Holidays and New Year approach. May we each count our blessings and enjoy life together.

The Dad Life...Love it!

October was too fun to stop and Blog...

Wow have we been busy! October and the Start of November have been so busy, sorry I just haven't had the time to sit down. October was started off right with my birthday and fun trip for Bill and I to Universal Studios and Blue Man Group.

We took some family time and went to do the corn mazes that are just a few minutes down the road. Garrett had so much fun and really wanted to take the trip on the hay ride but we didn't realize they were separate tickets and decided to save that one for next year, since the line was about 100 people deep.

The Real Mater!

We had lots of fun preparing (aka baking and decorating) for a fun Halloween Bash at our house. The kids loved Bill's Witch's Brew with worms and eyeballs. Garrett had more fun watching it than participating, but Bill and I are still giggling over the kids and how they all just ate it up, literally!

My sweet treats for Halloween

Tariq and Khalid as Mummies

Bill about to eat some WORMS!

Garrett's costume for Halloween was a bust. The original was really cute, a Lightning McQueen Jumpsuit, but it was just too hot. The second/last ditch effort was a bust! He didn't want an part of dressing up, just the trick or treating.

The funniest moment of the night... Penny my niece was dressed as Cinderella and she and Garrett were sitting down next to each other post trick or treating.  Penny had fluffed her dress and told Garrett not to sit on it, however when Garrett sat he, did in fact sit on part of her dress. She turned to him and yelled "Don't sit on my dress" to which Garrett responded like a typical male, "I'm trying not to!!!" We all died laughing at the true relationship of a woman and a man.

Garrett before Trick or Treating, supposed to be a Rock Star (Minus: Tatoos, spiked hair and guitar)

Our Steelers Pumpkin

Well that was our October, Quick and Dirty version anyways. If you would like more details please feel free to call and catch up!

My Son the Nudist

For a while now we have been in the "naked phase". Garrett enjoys as do most boys running around the house in his undies or nothing on the bottom, sometimes a shirt is not even required. This all started during potty training but has continued for the last few months.  The child cannot take off his own pants to go to the bathroom, but can take off his shirt to run around the house in the buff. This phase has forced us to make rules in our house such as...

1. You must wear underwear at the dinner table.
2. You must put on shorts and a shirt to go outside (back yard or front yard).

Anyways, now that it is out and you believe that I am a crazy parent or better yet that you will one day show up at my door with a naked child running around in the background. I have a story to tell.

A few nights ago, I put Garrett to bed. Now the only time that he wears a diaper is during his naps and at night. Bill checked on him before he went to bed but I stayed up a little later than he did, so I went in to kiss him goodnight. First I went to turn off his lullabies and before kissing him I noticed something at the side of his bed. I leaned down to figure it out, it was a diaper. Did I have to change his diaper before going to bed, I couldn't remember...So I slowly pealed back the covers. To my surprise, Garrett had taken his diaper off and was SLEEPING IN THE BUFF. I thought this was a phase that I would face later in life, like his teenage years. Did time lapse when I wasn't looking? This was my two year old right? Oh my, I rolled him over and put his diaper back on him, but I just got a great laugh out of the experience of finding my son naked in bed! Well at the least I have surpassed this first in my life and later I will not be surprised when it happens again.

Emotions Run High

The end of September and the beginning of October have been fun, yet also through staying busy with fun fall activities our emotions peek through at times. What am I talking about? Well, September 29th was supposed to be my due date with our son Jamie. I was very emotional to the buildup of the day and tried not to cry on that day, knowing that he would not have come on that day for he would have probably been a week or so late, as was Garrett. When we found out that he was due on the 29th all I could think about was if he was a week late he would arrive around my birthday. How special would it be that Garrett was born the day after Bill's birthday and Jamie would arrive just shy or right around mine. I do believe that was probably more emotional around my birthday than the actual due date. My birthday fell on Friday, October 8th and Bill and the day were fabulous. He had an amazing day for the two of us planned. We went to Universal and rode the roller coasters and saw the Blue Man Group and just had a day for the two of us. However, that Sunday at church was Baby Dedications. I cried when they originally announced the date knowing that we would have loved to introduce him to everyone at that time, but had completely forgotten about it until that morning at church. As the two couples stood at the front of the church, I could only pray that God and Jamie could hear my prayers and wipe my tears. The only thing that got Bill and I both through that moment was knowing that we don't have to raise him to know God, for he already rests in his arms.


We have a small box that sits on my dresser, filled with little things, the blanket we rapped him in, the hat he wore in the hospital, the cards and letters we received, those that we wrote to him after he passed and a few pictures. Some days if I really sit down to think about it, I wish that we had so much more than a box. What I would give to be up to my eyeballs, in diapers and baby laundry!

I pray each day and know that he lives with his keeper and that one day I will meet him again and my heart will be whole again. Until that time I miss him greatly.

Let's go Steelers, Let's Go!

First I must say, that my husband is a Steelers fan since birth and my son too. I have recently joined the Steeler nation when Bill and I married. Each football season we try to find new apparel for the little man in his size and this last fall, I got my first jersey, #43 Troy Polamalu. This weekend we traveled to Tampa Bay for the Steelers v. Bucs game. We had a blast and the Steelers had an amazing game, well a blow out, we won!!!! Here are a few photos from our adventure.

Family Photos...Finally!!!!

For our wedding anniversary, my fabulous husband gave me something that I long for at least once a year if not more...MORE PICTURES!!!! We had our pictures taken together back in March, but did not receive the copies until Mother's day and then the CD that we received had a virus. YUCK Right? So finally we got around to asking for a new CD and Yeah here they are for your viewing pleasure. Garrett has already changed so much from these pictures, including another 2 inches that he has grown. So he is already looking much more like a little boy than his baby face in these pictures. But we hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

 

I just love this family!!!!!

Congratulations Bailey!!!

We are so excited to congratulate Bailey on her win as Miss McCurtain County! Bailey has been doing pageants for a while now, I remember when we were pregnant with Garrett going down to see her compete in this pageant and telling her that soon her time would come. What a beautiful person inside and out and we are so proud of you Bailey!!!!!! We love you and miss you terribly. Congratulations Bailey Bear!

Love,
Daddy, Dayna and Garrett

One Year Ago!

So I was Blog stalking today. A friend of mine from college Lindsay Hege posted about looking back one year. She inspired me to look back at what was happening in our lives. Approximately one year ago I was blogging about.....POOP! Well not all about Poop, but more so Garrett's vocabulary and linking words...Enter blog title Bye Bye Poop! Wow have we come a long way in his vocabulary and the things he does and says. But boy does that boy get funnier everyday! Here' looking back one year to...POOP!

Bye, Bye Poop! August 19, 2009
Ok, so as I promise this is not about potty training rather some new developments in Garrett's vocabulary and speech! I was reading up on the development of a child at 20 months, the information that I read said that a child Garrett's age typically has about 10-20 words that they understand, can speak and use in the correct context. So the other day I decided to write down all the things he has been saying lately. Bill and I have been counting, he has over 30 words that he uses. We have noticed that his vocabulary has taken off since we have been at home together. I am not sure if it is timing or the difference in the teacher, but I am excited.

One of Garrett's favorite new words is "bye-bye" he says it to everyone, as we go down the isles at the grocery store he tell products and people bye-bye. He even told the lady at the check out counter bye-bye before we put the first item up on the check out. I have since informed him that he has to say hello before he can say goodbye to everyone. We are still working on this. One of Garrett's favorite shows is Jack's Big Music Show on Noggin (if you are a parent, check it out, so cute and includes some parent humor too). Anyways, at the end of the show they sing a good bye song. I have been trying to get Garrett to say bye-bye Jack at the end of the show each day. Coincidentally, he did get a chance to tell a real Jack bye-bye the other day and has started to link the item and person with his bye-bye's.

Enter story title here: We went outside to play on our new swing set this morning and were out having a great time, when I realized that Ruby (our dog) had left us a present right under one of the swings. I quickly stopped Garrett and asked him to come with me to get something to pick up the poop. We came back out to clean up the poop and as I was cleaning, Garrett says, Bye-bye Poop! Bye-bye! I just about died laughing. I told him later that we needed to include this as we went poo poo on the potty. No joke the next time we went to the bathroom, he sat down and said, bye-bye poop! While no business took place, I just had to laugh. That boy is too smart!

Road trip to North Carolina and Back!

Garrett and I decided it was time to take a road trip. Since the summer was about to come to a close and two of my best friends from college were about to go back to work (they are both teachers) and one of them had just had a baby, we thought it would be best to visit while everyone still have time to spend together. It was such a nice trip. Garrett and I got on the road on Monday and stopped in Georgia to see my Aunt Mary and Uncle Pete in their new place at Lake Oconee just outside of Atlanta. Such a beautiful little lake town, you must visit one day. We arrived just after 3 pm in the afternoon and didn't get on the road the next morning until 10 am so we were able to spend some time together. It was so nice to see them and sit and talk and they loved have Garrett too. The next morning we got up and had breakfast and jumped in the car again. We were able to arrive at Towa's house around 5 pm on Tuesday and the party started from there. It was so nice to finally get to meet Bennett and spend some time with Towa and Scott. The week was filled with fun filled kid adventures like going to the park to play, enjoying City Park in Burlington $0.50 to ride the rides and the Children's Museum in Greensboro. We also got to spend some time with Jill and Vycki made the trip down from DC for the weekend too. All and all we had a great time and were able to catch up with old friends. The road trip was great and Garrett was awesome in the car. I have a huge thank you to my friend Jennifer for lending me her portable DVD player to thank for the ease of driving 4 days at 6-7 hours a piece. Garrett averaged two movies and a nap and we were at our destination, yeah for technology!

Towa and I were talking about old times and realized that we have been friends for over 10 years now, crazy how time flies. We realized we graduated over 6 years ago now and have seen each other at least once a year since, thank you to Weddings and babies. We know we only have one of us left for a wedding (hint hint Adam get moving on that question for Vycki) and then we will really have to start coordinating family trips to beach to keep our record going. I would say that we have a great start to keeping the fun times alive. It was so nice to see the girls and we only wish that Rory and Dagny were there to join us.

Here are a few pictures from the trip. I realized when we got home there are none of me and Towa or Garrett and Bennett. Just a bunch of our outings and Garrett playing, but they are cute at that.

Little Green House...

We have been busy...well Bill has anyways. A few weeks ago Bill started the big project of getting the exterior of the house painted. Our house had never been painted since it was built 10 years ago. We originally picked a tan with a dark gray accent, however since picking that color our surrounding neighbors recently painted their houses tan. So now we stand out! We have the little Green House on the block and we love it!!!!!

Before



After


We have also been busy with a few other projects including some that are still in progress.

Our Guest Bedroom Before


Our Guest Bedroom After


Our Backyard Before


Our Backyard (Still in progress)