Picture Perfect.

A tad bit late...here's Tuesday's picture.

This was taken after church a couple weeks ago. The baby pictured was absolutely fabulous during the service. What can I say? He is my baby. Only kidding. I mean he is my baby and all, oh you know what I mean!

Two for Tuesday

We did it. We fed the little man his first solid foods. Yup, I said it. So go ahead and flame me now.

Wanna know what his first tastes, were? Avocados. In all honesty, he has actually been eating rice cereal for about 2 weeks now. I know, but listen he was ready...sometimes ya just know. If you don't believe me just take a closer look at that face. Of course, it looks like most of it landed everywhere except in his mouth. Hey, it's the experience that counts. Up next, oatmeal cereal.

Who's ready for some pigskin?

Today was the opening of the college football season (in case you weren't aware). I'm a guy's girl all the way. I love the fall and I love college football. Although, I'm not so much a lover of the NFL or other major league sports. I am strictly a lover of college sports.

I'm not really for sure where the love comes from, maybe it was the camaraderie my father and I found watching VA Tech throughout the years together. Or maybe it was because of the sheer fact that I chose to go to one of the only universities (sporting some 25,000 students in total) that doesn't boast a football team. I had to make up for it somehow, right? (As luck would have it 6 years after my graduation they are due a team of their own. Woo-hoo!) Which brings to mind that I will have 3 official college football teams to cheer, rave and rant about relentlessly next season. What more could a pigskin loving gal ask for?

Perhaps, a spunky football fascinated little man? And that's exactly what we got...here's a few pics of Garrett chanting 'GO HOKIES!' and then laying back on the couch imitating his Daddy. He did a great impersonation by the way.

Unfortunately, Bryan had to work during all the season opening action, but Garrett and I were ready to cheer our teams on even if they were inexperienced and off their game. We still love ya and promise never to be fair weather fans.

Tuesday's Gone with the Wind

This was actually taken about a month ago. I simply wanted to look back and see how much he is growing. I'm sad because all of a sudden it seems like it's going by way too fast. We weighed him today and he is almost 17 lbs! What's that about? I miss my little baby. Time sure is precious.

The Crunchy Lifestyle

I have always 'talked' about being green, but I never walked the walk so to speak. I did little things, but now that Garrett has come along I have really started taking the initiative to be better and greener. Therefore, I wanted to share one of our green habits.

My good friend Sarah mentioned on her blog that she finally purchased canvas bags for grocery shopping, so I thought I would share a picture of my own to demonstrate how big and sturdy they are and just how readily available they are becoming. I purchased mine before Garrett was born. I was sick of telling baggers to 'limit' all that plastic (between the double bagging and 2-3 items per bag...it was ridiculous, I was starting to think they were in co-hoots with bag makers.) I gave my spill, every single trip to the grocery store on the environmental devastation of plastic only to receive blank looks. After a few years of those stares, I finally found the bag you see to the right at Office Depot for $1.99. I bought 3- I wish I had bought even more they're so roomy and sturdy.

Like Sarah said, I feel good when I walk out of the store with them. It makes me proud to be Garrett's mother because I know I am doing a small part to make sure he has an environment to live in! To give you an idea of their size, Garrett was generous enough to use himself to show a comparison. I'm telling you, they are the brown paper bag of the future, except they can hold even more. If I haven't convinced you yet to make the change, isn't Garrett enough? Seriously though, habit is all the effort it takes to become more green in this department.

Plus just look how much stuff they hold. I had 2 big boxes of cereal, a huge tub of butter, yogurt, a container of pre-cut veggies, marshmallows, a bag of frozen spinach and frozen fruit bars in the bag from this particular excursion. I promise you aren't going to be able to get that much in one plastic or brown paper bag. When I really go shopping, you know those $150 - $200 trips, I usually end up only needing 4 bags for everything. (I have a canvas tote from my doctor that I also use to make sure I don't get any plastic from those pesky baggers!) Finally, if you haven't noticed, take a look at that ticker over on the right of my blog to see how many plastic bags are being used. I am almost certain that less than half of those are even recycled. And what's worse, plastic is useless UNLESS it is recycled and then it only has but so many lives. So come on whatcha' say, make that switch today and be an advocate for your little one and their future.

Visit Crunchy Chicken for the real deal on being green!

Would anyone like to see a once a week green day?

Tuesday's picture...just a few days late!

Somebody else seems irritated.

Perhaps his top ten includes "irritated at that Mommy character for constantly taking my picture" or "spending another 15 minutes in this awful contraption"?

Busy as a Bee

We don't really have a nickname for Garrett, but I have started calling him Baby Bee. I'm not really for sure why, but I guess that's the funny thing about nicknames. This post isn't about nicknames, although Garrett is called all kinds of things throughout the day and the subject might make for a good post....

Anyway, when I called him that tonight as I was getting him ready for bed it made me think of how busy I have been the last two weeks. It seems that Garrett has turned a corner in development and I have reluctantly increased my hours at work. In case, you were wondering or missing me at all this is the reason. I have also been trying to organize our cluttered house and get rid of a few things. I thought I might have a chance to work on my 'side projects' at some point, but I haven't figured out how to work those in yet. I think once the clutter is gone and I finish past projects (like organizing our endless supply of pictures, getting Garrett's scrap/baby book current or painting his step stool) I will get the chance. Looks like I have a touch of ADHD, starting so many things at once. I have always said I have too many hobbies.

It doesn't look like Garrett has that problem as he keeps trying and trying at everything. He is now holding everything like a pro, rolling over and inch worm crawling! (At least that's what he looks like when he does it.) He has a tooth cropping up and loves to laugh. Oh and he has started lifting up on his arms and raising his belly. It's the cutest thing in the world! What's not to love about this baby? He makes it all so very worth it when it's put into perspective. So that's what the pictures in the post are for, a reminder if you will of how the good Lord does answer our prayers.

Like I was saying, I am now working 30 hours a week as opposed to a mere 15. We were just getting by- mainly because I have a few bills that take up what I do make and because of a loan and car payment. I hate not being more capable. The straw that broke the camel's back was the news that we have to have flood & hurricane coverage effective immediately. It seems the powers that be in the insurance world decided that anything in our county east of the waterway is in a more liable area for disaster. Which isn't really a surprise considering we are less than 2 miles from the ocean. What did surprise us is the cost of the insurance, it's going to be an extra $3000 a year. Whoever said "When it rains it pours", knew exactly what they were talking about because we have had financial misfortune back to back since our tree fell down last August. I'm hoping this is the last of it. We are still paying off Bryan's appendectomy, along with our doctor and hospital bills. Hopefully, we can pay enough of those to get a nice tax deduction.

This all leaves little free time for me and I am trying to be a big girl about it and not be too disappointed. Garrett and I are working on a new schedule. That's taking up some precious time, too. We have to be up early now regardless of Daddy's. Bryan and I have been doing good, to me that's a testament of our love and lets me know we can make it through anything! God willing I will be able to start a business of my own that generates enough income to get us ahead, allows me to be home with Garrett and let's me use my God-given talents (because, I have tons of ideas). I also hope my eczema clears up for GOOD...those are my prayers. But, the most important job I want to have is the ability to spend as much time with Garrett as possible.

My 3 day hiatus

I can't really say much happened in the past 3 days, except some good ol' family fun. Overall, it was kinda a 'strange' weekend. But, nonetheless, OUR weekend.

I'm absolutely unsure what was accomplished Saturday, except that I was possibly recovering from either a strep infection or an ear infection, whatever it was I was given a prescription of Amoxicillin. This now ups my total pill popping every single day to a whooping 14 pills. Don't freak out, they aren't drugs...just herbal supplements and daily vitamins. It's still a heck of a lot of pills. I'm a pill popper. Yeah Yeah Yeah. (sung to the tune of "I'm a wheel watcher") I'll explain more on my supplements another day, I promise they aren't drugs. So stop worrying already.

Bryan had Sunday and Monday off, which made it our weekend of sorts. We attempted to watch a Grateful Dead Cover band, only to realize eating food was going to be impossible with a bunch of drinking and smoking hippies. We were hoping for more of a festival type atmosphere. It was also extremely crowded, more so than we anticipated and felt Garrett probably was better off not being in that type of crowd. Therefore, we headed off to Mellow Mushrooms instead and had some groovy pizza. We were able to be psychedelic after all. ; )

(Now, you guys really think I am either a druggie or crazy. I assure you that I am neither. I promise words can be deceiving, too.)

I found out I missed going out with one of my "single non-mommy" friends last Sunday to none other than a Reagae festival on a gorgeous and not very hot day, at the Inlet. Yeah, go figure...that's what I get for me and my homebodiness.

We have changed numerous poops in our cloth diapers and are still hanging in there. You guys probably thought we had given up since I hadn't mentioned them anymore. Rest assured, we haven't and I will give a thorough rundown very, very soon. I actually believe I am addicted to cloth diapers because I want to buy more...yet the funds, they are very low.

Which brings me to my biggest reason for not posting in the last few days. I was lost pondering how to start making money without having to get a 2nd job or a first real job for that matter. I have been meaning to blog about my ideas for sometime and Carol Beth's post the other day was kind enough to remind me.

I'm just not for sure where to begin, as I have plenty-o ideas, problem is many require skill or cash. Two things I'm not exactly brimming with. That's not completely true, I just hate to announce some awesome skill and then it be little to nothing. I am cooking something up and will be 'unveiling' it shortly, hopefully in a couple of weeks. So be sure to stay tuned for my future creations. This is going to happen, I am determined to be a WAHM!! (a.k.a. Work at Home Mom)
In the meantime, I have decided to share a touching photo on Tuesdays every week. We'll see how it goes, it might just be cheesy. Of course, I do LOVE cheese! Anyway, here's my first Tuesday photo! This was taking place as I was walking out the door yesterday morning (on my way to work). Isn't that just the sweetest thing in the world and look how interested my little man is, as his Daddy reads to him the book "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" by Dr. Suess.

We have cows and cloth diapers!

It's been miserably humid the last few days with thunderstorms in the afternoon that have simply made matters worse. So, in honor of all that humidity, I let Garrett break in his new diapers sans his onesie. The diaper Garrett is sporting in the picture is a cow print by Happy Heiny's. It's intended for his Gramma, who simply loves cows. Actually, LOVE is an understatement. When I browsed online in search of cloth diapers, it took me all but a minute to know I had to get these. For all I cared they could have been the old fashioned kind, with pins as fasteners. This was the one diaper I knew we were getting and for the record for all the wrong reasons, but then I did some homework on them and it turns out they are the 2nd most bought pocket diaper. So there, I wasn't completely insane for just going by looks at first.
Garrett seems to love his diapers thus far, too and I must say I am smitten as well. I need to acquaint myself with a few basics in laundering and storing the used diapers, but other than that-we are ready for the change. Bryan included. I think that's the most amazing part, is he is on board and not reluctantly. What more could a girl ask for?

I guess that's what is so fascinating about cloth diapers, they have really come a long, long way. The options and choices are really endless. I'm very disappointed we don't have more. We have 6 one size pockets and 2 diaper/cover things. More on those in another post. The diapers we purchased are simply adorable. Last night we tested the one in the picture. I'll try to explain the concept of a pocket diaper, its that in essence- a pocket. The outer layer is water resistant and the inner (that touches baby's skin) is a fleece material. Then there are inserts that go in between the two, hence the pocket. You can stuff these as full as you want, but two is probably all you really need and would want to do. To learn more on the different types of cloth diapers, go here. For a picture of the inside of a Happy Heiny pocket diaper, click here.

However, what I didn't know when I got my diapers was that I had to wash the inserts to make them more absorbent. At least 3 times it said. So I did that, but I didn't try them. It didn't seem completely necessary, but the paper does say wash and dry. Go figure. Considering I didn't dry the inserts as many times as I should have, I was surprised at the absorbency level of just one insert. We only stuffed the diaper with one of the inserts for the night and it lasted 8 hours before beginning to leak. That's pretty good, I can't imagine how long it would last with an extra insert.

Today, we tried two others (Baby Kangas and Haute), both one size also. Tonight, we are checking out the BumGenuis 3.0, (another one size) which is supposed to be all the rave! After that we have two more to try. I will be sure to post more on each of these later. I had originally intended for the post to be short and sweet. Ummm, yeah right.

For those of you unfamiliar with cloth diapering and wondering, a one size cloth diaper is a diaper that moves/grows in size with your child. Yep, that means Garrett stays in the same diapers until he's potty trained or about 35 lbs. Whichever comes first...not too shabby, if ya ask me.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow...

And in sticking with the title, here's some more 'cow' photos of Garrett from last week. Enjoy!

What a great baby.

Our 1st Fourth of July

I love being in South Carolina on the 4th of July. The festivities always begin a few days early and continue for a couple more. The best part of living here on the 4th, has to be the fireworks. Although you have to have a permit for the really exciting fireworks, you can find them up and down the beach for miles and miles. Simply grab a blanket and take a seat and sit back and enjoy. This is definitely the life. We left the house at 7:30 for dinner at a local pizza joint, called Capricco's and enjoyed a wonderful pie before heading for some firework action of our own. By 9:00, as the sun was finally setting far into the west, you could start to hear fireworks in every direction. Once we got on the road, you could see them too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I remember as a child driving through South Carolina on our way to our annual Florida vacation and stopping because we HAD to get fireworks. It was all my brother and I knew about the state of South Carolina. It was the place you bought really cool fireworks. We would bring them home and my stepfather would set them off on the 4th for us. They never lasted long enough. My brother always managed to keep his stink bombs for use weeks later. Those days really seem like ages ago. Who would of thunk it, I would be living with my own family in that 'fireworks' state!

Outside of Drunken Jack's- where we met family friends from Marion, Greg and Pat Berry. We forgot to get any pictures with them!! Shame on us!

Cooling off in the shade, after walking on the Marsh Walk at Murrells Inlet, we missed the Boat Parade, but Garrett still showed off that he was a boat fan!

Yes, that's Bryan and Garrett on the beach during fireworks. Don't ask, we only stayed for about 15 minutes and Garrett's ears were covered the ENTIRE time, except maybe in this picture...eeek.

This year was a great experience, not very eventful but it definitely was a learning process- that planning and participating in holidays is a major process with a child. We had fun being together as a family! All three of us were worn out by the end of the night and ready for some R & R. We even slept in this morning for the first time in a long time!!

One of Garrett's many faces as I tried to captured a 'birthday' smile!

Side notes:

• Garrett turned 3 months today!! YAH! Unfortunately, he has had a horrible teething day. More on that tomorrow.
• My brother is safely back in the U.S. from his Bolivia trip and I am excited to share some pictures as soon as he sends them my way!

Blessed by Friendship and Motherhood

I just wanted to share these two photos. These are of two of my oldest friends (other than my dear Anna). I have known Allison and Kim forever. Anyway, I absolutely LOVE these shots and I hope we continue this tradition for many years to come. I love you two ladies and am ecstatic that I get to enjoy and share motherhood with the two of you! :)

(Both of them were pregnant at the time, Kim was 5 months pregnant and Allison was 2 months pregnant and I was 2 months shy of being pregnant! I guess something was in the water, huh?)

(With our little boys, Kim & Nate(9 months), Me & Garrett(2 months), Allison & Eli(6 months))

Almost 3 months old

Say what? Is that actually possible? Our little man will be 3 months old in a week and a half! Here's some of what he has been accomplishing and a couple of things he is having issues with these days:

• He has found his hands- he waves them in front of him for hours on end. He has also learned to grab items in front of him, he tries to bring them to his mouth, but is still having issues actually getting them there.
  


• He has also been holding his head up for about 10-15 minutes during tummy time- he's definitely going longer each day, the first time he did it was a little over a month ago...here's some photos from then and now- look how he's pushing up with his feet! (The first two are the older ones) He is also rolling over and turning himself (he's been doing that for about a month as well, he's just getting much better at it!) I know everyone says this but I think he will crawl earlier than most babies.

• He is cooing, giggling (its a short squeal more or less) and making some conversations- mornings seem to be his favorite time of the day for activity. He continues his assortment of facial expressions, except now they seem more controlled.
  
  
• He loves to listen to music or singing, especially Daddy and Mommy. Today, he enjoyed Big Head Todd and the Monsters. And he is absolutely amazed by his mobile that Aunt J bought for him.
  
• He continues to watch television! (This appalls me)
  
• He is TEETHING already! He has had 2 small knots on his gums since birth and I think these may be teeth budding through- he has periods where he blows bubbles, runs a small fever and seems overly fussy. To top it off he will take the pacifier and CHEW on it, if I don't give him that, he chews on his tongue! I know it's teething too because this is THE ONLY TIME he'll take the paci, he refuses ant other time I try to give him one.
  
• He is trying to suck on his thumb again too, sometimes he misses and just uses his hand or arm though!
  
• We are still having an issue with him going to sleep on his own, the only time he does is when he is in the car and either this occurs because he can't fight the motion or he cries himself to sleep. Otherwise, I have to lay down with him and either coax him to sleep or nurse him to sleep-but even with this it's tricky because the boy sleeps with his eyes partially open!! I guess he's afraid he'll miss something! (FYI, Bryan did this when he was little, too)
  

Today, for all of 5 minutes I let him cry, hoping he might put himself to sleep. Finally,I caved in and picked him up and decided I would let him fall asleep nursing in my arms as I tried to type this blog. And of course, he fell asleep in about 2 minutes. Yet, I have to be careful because trying to move him and lay him down without waking him is nearly impossible! So I keep on typing one handed for awhile, its a pain staking process with tons of errors along the way, but I don't mind it if it means I have a HAPPY BABY! Plus, he is so sweet sleeping, how could I resist holding him?

ME TIME on Father's Day? Eeek...

Okay, I know that doesn't seem fair, but its only for this morning. And well frankly it doesn't happen quite as much as I would like anymore. I know, I know that's what I signed up for when we chose to have a baby, but sometimes its exhausting trying to make that little bit of time for yourself and in the process you wind up with no time. Don't even get me started on 'we' time, because that my friend has almost seized to exist.

Today, I'm going to try to make 4 things happen:

1. Have ME TIME.
2. Have family time.
3. Have 'WE' time.
4. And give Bryan all 3 as well. (This is part of my father's day gift to him)

So where does 'me' time fit in with a baby? Not much of anywhere, really...unless you get creative that is. And fore go some sleep perhaps. That's what I've done this morning. I went to bed late last night (2 am). It's habitual, when Bryan works until 11:30 and 12:30 at night, plus Garrett chooses not to sleep during the day and waits until 8-9pm before he conks out...so its late at night is my prime 'me' time. Now, don't get me wrong his sleeping pattern is heaven, quite frankly from what I hear- since he sleeps pretty soundly all night until about 4 to 6 am. He'll stir a bit here and there, but since he sleeps with us...I rarely 'truly' wake up until at least 4 .

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, me time- so in the mornings I have a small window that consists of either going back to sleep at 6-7ish until about 9 or 10 am OR I can get up and do my own thing- translation ME TIME!!! This morning abate the only 5 hours of sleep I chose the ME TIME. Now, what this means, is sending messages to friends, checking emails, scrap booking when I can get the time in, working my photo books, blogging, showering and even housework. That's a lot to cram into 2-3 hours, huh? Well, usually I limit it to just 2 things, I'm not that proficient at multitasking, not yet anyway.

This morning, if time permits, I am off to the grocery store to get items for my planned breakfast and dinner I'm making Bryan in honor of Father's Day. I wish I was giving him more, but since I only recently went back to work, the funds they are low.

When I take this morning opportunities, I usually check in on my guys to make sure everything is okay...sometimes Garrett stirs if I'm not around. (This morning, from the advice of my brother, I took my shirt and placed it beside Garrett on my pillow) Supposedly, the scent will help them sleep. Well, when I went in to check on my guys...this is what I found:




Garrett had scooted and wedged himself up against his daddy. Now isn't that the perfect Father's Day picture! Aren't they so sweet!?

With that said, I hear my guys stirring downstairs....so I think MY TIME is just about to end. No worries, its been a VERY good morning, both for memory making and to help me appreciate the little things in life; like listening to the bird's chirping and knowing that each day is a new beginning.

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I swear that blog on our trip home is around the corner.

I DE-CLARE!

Sheesh....what a day! I am having one of those days in which I just can't seem to get anything accomplished. I have one million things running through my head that I want to do and I can't catch up! Doggone it! (is that even a word?) I am determined to at least write while little man is down for the count.

I ended my last post thinking I would pick back up with our trip and well I do intend to talk about, but with the million things running through my head, I thought it would be rather cute to show the resemblance between Bryan and Garrett as opposed to the similarities between Garrett and I. While back home, we ran across Bryan's baby picture from the hospital when he was born and it's shocking how much they look alike!! We found all kinds of goodies at Bryan's parents' house (everything from old 'love' letters to his blankie as a baby!) The old love letters were tossed after a few memories were joggled and his blankie is off to being repaired so that it might be used by Garrett too. We found old photos, a baby book and tons of stuff from Bryan's Appalachian hiking days. We actually waited to go through everything once we got home, since we found everything tucked nicely away in an old trunk about an hour before we were leaving to return to home.

So anyway, before I go on about our trip let's get this comparison out of the way!! (See I have a million thoughts going on....) Here is Garrett's hospital picture compared to me (on the left) and Bryan (on the right):




I think the only thing similar to me is his ears and nose! Otherwise, I think he's the spitting image of his father! Oh and get this, while browsing through all those goodies we found in the trunk was Bryan's birth stats! I had wanted these from the day I found out I was pregnant! Garrett was only 2 ounces and 1/4 inch from being the exact same size as his daddy!

Looks as if the trip is going to have to wait after all. Garrett's awake. Oh, how I am at his beck and call.

All Smiles

Everybody loves a baby's smile. Especially their own. And that's what Bryan and I woke up to this morning. A smiling baby. I can't believe how much he has grown. The time with him is flying by and everyday I find myself in awe of this little person. He is the best thing to ever happen to me. I try to imagine what life will be like in the future. What type of person he will be and how we as a family will interact. It's all so surreal and then I try to step back and freeze time, because I hear these are very precious days, as 'chaotic and sleep deprived' as they are. I hold him a little longer and gaze into his eyes as much as possible, soaking up the little man he is. He is so amazing, so perfect...the best of both Bryan and me. A blessing I try to remember to be thankful for everyday.