New Germs = Sick

Well Garrison is finally on the back end of his very first cold. Three days into daycare and ta-da! Cold symptoms. Poor thing is still pretty stopped up and it's been over a week! I kept in touch with his pediaticians office but finally decided to take him last Thursday since he had been out of daycare a week. She said he was fine to go back so that was good. Bryan and I just were afraid to bring him back when he was still running a low grade fever...didn't want to get the other babies sick! He and I had been taking turns staying home, which although a little stressful, was kinda nice since I'd rather be with Garrison anyways!

Last Sunday the little man and I went to Hermann Park to meet up with Jane to take his 3 month pictures. Although he was sick, I think the pics turned out awesome! Here are a couple...

Happy 3 Months My Sweet Boy

Dear Garrison,
Today you are 3 months old and man, do I love you! It seems like everyday I love you more and more. You are such an awesome little guy and I'm so happy that I get to be your mom.
So I can't believe you are already 14 lbs...almost double your birth weight in 3 months! You are quite the eater, which is great because your dad and I love to eat too!
We have really loved hanging out with you and getting to know your funny personality. You are so much like your dad!!! And so many people think you look just like him too. And you guys have so much fun together. He's so silly and you just eat it up, laughing and smiling. I know you guys are going to have a great relationship...well, when he's not embarrassing you in front of your friends :)
You and I share lots of special moments together too. I love holding you and looking at you while you eat. I love singing songs with you and seeing your big smiles and hearing your coos. I love watching you play on your jungle mat...you sure love that thing! I love giving you kisses and cuddles. I could go on and on...
Today I am grateful for you and how you have changed your dad's and my life. We always wanted you, even before we met, and it's just so amazing that you are finally here. We love you so so much!
Love,
Mama

Is it the weekend yet?

I am exhausted. I seriously don't know how people do this...working full time and being a mom. AND I'm not even a single mom. I really don't know how they survive. Anyways, I'm just venting. This is all just very tiring. Go Go Go from 6 AM (or 4:30 like this morning) and don't stop until 10:30 at night. I need a nap. Like a 10 hour nap.

Fun in the Jungle

So my son's favorite toy is definetly his Jungle play mat. He seriously does not stop movin' when he's on it! Take a look...

I love Daddy Edition

So I've captured some really cute Daddy & Garrison time and thought I'd share....

Good Morning Daddy - I'm comin' to get you!

Garrison looks a little scared in this one...he was smiling, but it's so hard to capture because the flash scares him!
And then - he started crying...
I really like this one. Super sweet...
Just chillin'... Seriously, can you see how much Bryan LOVES being a Dad??And in case you're wondering why Garrison is just wearing a diaper in most pictures we have of him. He's little heat missile and just gives off heat like crazy. SO he's much more comfortable naked. He actually ended up getting a bad heat rash all over his body, so now we don't take him outside at all and keep him in as little clothes/blankets as possible. Too bad he has to get dressed for daycare every day!

Next phase...here we come!

I cannot believe I started work yesterday!!! Where has the time gone? Seriously. But this is just the way life goes. It continues to change and evolve and I guess I'm on the ride. Here are some pictures from Garrison's 1st day of daycare.

Mama and her baby! I dressed him in his "See Ya Later Alligator" onesie because I thought it was appropriate. And because I'm a dork like that...

Daddy and his little man...

Sleepy boy riding in his brand spankin' new car seat in Daddy's car... When we handed him off to Ms. Darla he fell right asleep, making the leaving process a little easier...
Here he is after a hard day's play at daycare...

So the first day was not so bad because it was only a 1/2 day and I wasn't actually back at work. I still cried though. Atleast I made out the doors of the daycare before I fell apart. So then Bryan took me to breakfast because he knew how upset I was. What a great husband :) Seriously, I am so lucky to have him.

At breakfast we were talking and decided we really didn't like the daycare. I mean, it's fine, but it just doesn't have that warm kind of feel to it. Just kind of cold and impersonal. And, of all places, I want to feel totally comfortable and welcome there, and we just weren't feeling it. Great timing right??

So I had been wanting to check out another daycare that my friend Lisa had suggested but had been putting it off because they had a waiting list and I really thought we were going to be good with the Y. So we decided I should go take a look and possibly get on the list.

WELL, I freaking LOVED it. Seriously it was awesome. Family owned and run...it's a husband and wife and their 2 grown daughters. I immediately felt comfortable and just loved the atmosphere, not to mention the Director/Owner/Wife, Trudy. She said they were thinking about opening another baby room and she would keep in touch to let me know when a spot opened up. So I left feeling very excited and just hoping we could get Garrison in sooner rather than later.

Well, wouldn't you know that she called that evening!!! They decided to go ahead and open up the other room and our sweet boy could start next Monday. HALLELUIA!!! God is so good and He really takes care of us.

So we were planning on having Garrison finish out the week at the Y, but last night...more like early this morning...Bryan and I were both awake and he was like "I really have a bad feeling about bringing him back there." So we went with our gut and he's not going back. We got a little creative with childcare for the rest of the week and it all worked out...thanks to my mom and our friend Krisztina!

I'm looking forward to everything getting a little more settled next week. I don't think I could handle another emotional week like this!

I sure am glad I didn't wash my hair

Yesterday I really should have washed my hair, but after a day of taking care of a sick baby, all I could manage to do was wash the bod. And don't worry, Garrison is feeling much better. He had another clogged tear duct so his eye was all grossy and goopy and he slept about 1/2 the day. I was afraid it had something to do with all his congestion and was maybe even the dreaded pink eye. But, alas it was not. And when I got him out of his crib this morning, no more crusty eye! Yay!

So back to the hair...after feeding him this morning I burped him and then we were sweetly cuddling on the couch UNTIL a HUGE volume of spitup landed on my hair. Gross. And the thing is, he spits up on me all the time, but never that amount ALL matted up in the hair. SO if want to hang out today, I can't. I'll be washing my hair :)

You should also know that today is THE last week day that Garrison will be not be in daycare. I'm taking him in on Monday for a few hours so I can get a lot of the crying over with before I actually start work on Tuesday. MAN OH MAN. Next week is going to be a rough one. BUT, the good news is that today I was having some quiet time thinking about everything and realized that I need to be GRATEFUL for the 12 weeks that I have been able to spend with my sweet boy. I made the decision this afternoon that I will be grateful rather than sad. And today that perspective is working for me. Tomorrow may be a different story...

Pictures!

Here are lots of random pictures over the past month or so....enjoy!

Garrison: I'm innocent!
He just loves his jungle mat...

And he definetly loves his play time with daddy...

Carli came over on an especially cranky day...

Garrison also loves his swing...and so does mama! What a wonderful invention :)

Garrison joined me at the last Fleetie Sweetie get together. The Fleetie Sweeties is our affectionate name of my group of girlfriends that grew up swimming together on Fleet Swim Club. Here are some pics.

Jamie and Carrie...

I think this was before Garrison spit up on Jamie's nice dry clean only shirt...

Kenna's dog, Brewsky, checking out the little guy...

Kathleen and a very sleepy boy...

Earlier that day Garrison and I met Whitney for lunch...

I just love his expressions...

Here are some pics from our busy 4th of July weekend. Lots of people wanted to meet and visit with Garrison!

Hanging out with Gigi by the pool...

Garrison met his Great Grandparents. I think they love him...

Cute Layla, Garrison's 2nd cousin...

Sherwood Kay and the little guy...

Garrison just loves his cousin, Perry...

Perry apparently wants to be just like Garrison...

Great Aunt Yvonne and Garrison...

Gran playin' with our sweet boy...Garrison loves to snuggle with his Aunt Christy...

All the babies just love cousin Shelby...

Well, that's it for today! I know my comments were pretty boring...hopefully I'll feel more creative for the next post.

Blessings

So we went to church yesterday for the first time with Garrison and it went pretty well. He was great for the first 45 minutes or so and then he decided he was over it. Not too bad though for a 2 month old! Despite being a little distracted, I was able to catch most of the message during the sermon. Our pastor was talking about how we should be more focused on asking God to use us to bless others rather than ask to be blessed ourselves. I really like that.

My prayer today is "God, use me to be a blessing to others."