Christmas is almost here!!

We spent our nice, long weekend decorating. Garrett and Brad put up the Christmas tree (check out the cute YouTube video of that!!), they decorated outside, and I did some of the inside stuff. Garrett and I also painted the downstairs hallway and part of the stairs, a pretty, earthy tan color that both Brad and I are loving. I am so sick of white walls!! Most of my Christmas shopping is done, just a few more things to do here and there. We haven't bought Garrett's presents yet, but we know what we want to get him. A mower and a tricycle. Just haven't made it out to get them yet! Here are a few pictures of our much needed long, quiet weekend:

Something Silly

Garrett sporting his Christmas shirt from last year. Boy has he grown!!! We took our Christmas pictures today, you all are going to have to wait until you receive your cards. I WILL SAY that I managed to get everyone sitting still long enough to get the three of them together!!

Cutie Pie

Garrett in a cute outfit his Grandma Sherry brought him.

New Additions and Updates

Sorry for the lack of updates lately--things have been incredibly insane. Brad's mom just left from a 5 day visit (during which time I was in HEAVEN!), Garrett is getting his molars in and is therefore sick, and both Discovery Toys and the lab work have been completely insane. Throw in Brad's Coast Guard Auxilliary Training, and I can count on one hand the number of quiet evenings we have had. ZERO!

It was SO GREAT having Brad's mom her, she was such a huge help with Garrett. It reaffirmed to me that I really owe it to myself to get some help even one day a week for a couple of hours so I can actually get some work done. I got more done in the few days Sherry was here than I have in the past month!

Oh, and in case you can't tell by the pictures, our household has grown by two. I totally splurged on Garrett and got him 2 turtles. They don't have names, they are just "the turtles". Garrett adores them, he has to say Hi and Bye to them whenever he wakes up, leaves, goes down for a nap, etc. He will lay on his tummy and just watch them in their little lagoon. They are super cute . . . He'll say "ooohhh" whenever he sees them, and when I say "Turtles" he will say T T T.

And just so no one yells at me for posting a picture of the turtles, but not Garrett, here is a picture from Pinecrest Gardens. We were going there frequently, until things got so very crazy around here. Garrett loves to walk along the pathways with me. I have added a couple of videos to YouTube as well.

Finally, a beach day!

Last weekend, we actually managed to carve out a day for both Brad and I to be home AT THE SAME time so that we could go to the beach. Pictures are from 11.11.07. Garrett had a great time . . . the child has no fear, and would go running into the waves, laughing the entire time. The water was freezing, but he didn't seem to mind in the least. We have been going to the pool a little lately--I think he will definately be swimming by the time he is 2!!

Logan!!!

Finally, I can post pics of the neighborhoods newest addition!

Xander's little brother was born on

Monday November 5th, 2007

8lbs 1 oz

19.75" long

2:49 pm

How CUTE is he!!! Jess got to come home today, I can't wait to get over there and make myself useful!! Apparently he looks just like Xander did at that age, so he is gonna be another adorable little man!!

I honostly have no idea . . .

where the little tiny baby I gave birth to has gone. I have instead a talkative, social toddler who has no fear and is willing to try anything. Today was a busy day--we had My Gym, then lunch with daddy, then we played at Pinecrest Gardens and another park until Brad got off work. He and Garrett played for a couple of hours while I went to work, then we all went home together. Garrett loved being so busy all day. He WALKED all over pinecrest Gardens, enjoyed every minute of it. We talked about what we saw (ishie, ishie, ishie!!--lots of fishies in the water). He is listening so well these days, investigating everything, but still willingly coming when I call. It's just so amazing to me. We played in the slash park for a while, then went to the playground. Where Garrett proceeded to scare the bejesus out of me by going down a big-boy slide all by himself. He always climbs on the equipment, with me right behind him. Today he promptly plopped down and went down the slide, as I was scurrying to get behind him so we could go down together. He, of course, was fine, and did it several more times while I watched from below . . . he is so independent and adventurous, yet cautious at the same time. He knows his limits--what is too high for him to get off of without help, etc--but isn't afraid to push the envelope. I know we are going to have lots of bumps and bruises in our future.

He gives high fives to people he meets now, and shakes hands. He says "Hi" to pretty much everyone and waves when they leave. He has a new word, "puppy," and yesterday informed me that the ribs we were sharing were his . . ."Mama, MINE!" His first time putting two very clear words together! It is just so amazing to me that a year ago, he was just a tiny little immobile baby who was just learning to sit up without help!! His outlook on life is amazing, everything is approached with a smile and a giggle. He hardly ever fusses when he falls, just gets up and keeps going.

I have pics from today, but it's late and I need to get to bed. Just had to share the busy day and how BIG my little boy is getting!

Trick-Or-Treat!

We had a pretty short, wet Halloween here. Yesterday Jess and Xander came over for a little while and we passed out candy. Then the skies opened up and it poured, courtesy of Tropical Storm Noel. It was a short night, but fun!