Lots of LOVE

This weekend was packed with lots of love. We went to a gorgeous wedding on Saturday night (yay for Louise and Drew!) and yesterday was Bryan and my 2 year wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful day celebrating...we even went on a date!

We started out our anniversary celebration at the same place we had our very first date (Starbucks!). Here's a pic of the 2 of us there...

Last year we had a brand new baby to celebrate our special day. This year was a little different, but equally as wonderful :)

A little birthday cake...

I think one of the funniest things about a 1st birthday is watching the birthday kiddo eat the cake. What a mess! And it's just too cute watching their faces as they enjoy the goodness that is cake.

Here are a few (and by a few I mean quite a few) from Garrison's birthday cake eating experience...

Here's a before shot of the cake. Isn't it CUTE?! My sister-in-law, Missy, got it and I just loved it.

Okay, so there's about 20 people watching him...so that may explain the scared look on his face:

And he's goin' in!!

He was trying to share the mess with his cousin in this pic, but Perry wasn't having it! I wonder why?!

Of course he had to take a break and suck his thumb and savor the taste...

And then we went straight to the kitchen sink for a good scrubbing!

And here is the aftermath...

Mission accomplished! This kid is a natural!

More birthday pics in another post...I didn't want to totally bore you with them ALL :)

Birthday morning pics

Well, just as I suspected, I did take about a hundred pictures IN ONE DAY. Yikes! I downloaded the pictures from Sat through Mon and there were 127. If the number of pictures taken of my child = the amount of love I have for him, then I guess that means I love him A LOT! So needless to say, I haven't had a chance (hello, I'm a working mama!) to sift through and post them.

BUT, I thought I'd give ya a sneak peak. Here are some from Garrison's birthday morning...

He was looking at Bryan in this one...Lord only knows what Dada was doing!

He was saying "Dada" in the one...

Then he and I went to the store to get him a special Birthday balloon. He was so excited! He didn't let that thing go all morning.

Here's Garrison and his balloon having some breakfast...

And of course one with his thumb in his mouth...

More to come!

So many changes

With Garrison turning a year old, so many changes go along with this milestone. Wait, have you heard my son has turned one? Oh yeah, you probably have :)

Anyways, here's what's new in Garrison's world:

• no more bottles (YAY for mommy and daddy!!!)
• drinking whole milk out of a sippy cup
• facing forwards in his car seat (I'm pretty sure he thinks it's awesome)
• he's taking baths in the big bathtub with nothing supporting him
• he started waving
• and pointing (really cute except when he's mad at you and you get the pointer finger waving at you...okay, that's pretty cute too)
• and he knows how to say "quack, quack" except it's more like "guack, guack"

He has also started wearing shoes more regularly now. His Gran got him some really cool shoes that are great for new walkers. And they're stylish too! You'll see when I post pics from this weekend. Hope you're having a good Monday!

The BIG birthday

Well yesterday was Garrison's first birthday and it was awesome. I think he totally knew that it was his special day too. I just had so much fun celebrating my boy and making it special for him. I'm pretty sure I had more fun yesterday than on any other birthday. And it wasn't even mine! Who knew?! This parenting stuff has opened my eyes to a joy I never dreamed of.

Speaking of that, yesterday I was filled with so much gratitude and humility that God would choose us to be Garrison's parents. What an incredible, beautiful gift. This past year has truly been the very best year of our lives, starting out with the happiest day being his birth. Thinking back to that day just makes me smile. It's weird to think that I loved him so much then and now I love him SO much MORE. I guess my heart has just grown!

So I took literally about a hundred picture yesterday and will post them this week. Of course I won't post them ALL. That would be one LONG post!

Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet boy!!

And here are some pics from Garrison's very first birthday...

1st Haircut!!

Well the time finally came for Garrison's first hair cut. Lord knows his baby mullet was asking for it!! So we headed over to Kid's Kuts and here's what happened:

He looks so excited, doesn't he? Okay, not really...

"Well hello little froggy"

All done and lookin' sharp!

And this is what happens when the boys are home alone

So I called Bryan on my way home this evening from hanging out with the girls and he said he had taken some picture that he thought I might like. I'll just let you take a look...I think they speak for themselves.

Aren't those awesome?! They sure gave me a big laugh!! I think it's so funny how he strategically is holding his blankie over his "man parts." He's so modest :)

The snuggler

Not our boy! He can barely sit still for 2 seconds! When he does "snuggle" with us (and I use that term very loosely), we call them micro snuggles. He actually starts to freak out a little if we are trying to hug him for too long. I think he may have a little case of claustrophobia!

Seriously, the last time I got a good snuggle with him was when he was REALLY sick. I guess when he's not feeling well, it's not all that bad!

9 Months Pictures

Back in February, Garrison and I met up with Jane at the Japanese Garden for some 9 month pics. They are just too cute not to share! If you want to look at other pictures she has taken of G you can look here and here and also here. Oh here too!

Seriously, does it get any cuter than this?!

Big boy standing up!Bryan and I just love his expression in this one!

And of course, this is one of my all-time favorites!

Holy cow milk!

In just a few short days, Garrison will be drinking cow milk! No more bottles?? What ever will we do?! I can tell you one thing, we'll have A LOT more counter space. Those bottle drying racks have become a part of our kitchen decor and I will not be sad to see them go!

And although I'm ready for this next phase, it has been so nice to be able to breastfeed Garrison throughout most of his 1st year. (I recently stopped because the milk ran out!) I know not everyone has a positive experience with BFing, but I really loved it. Of course, in the beginning, there were definitely some rough moments, and the pumping was not what I would call fun either. And then there's trying to coordinate my schedule so that I could pump or BF every 3 hours. That is a challenge!!

It's a labor of love, but something that I am so glad that I did. The bonding I felt when feeding him was just wonderful. It was his little happy place where he felt safe and comforted and of course loved. And to know that I was providing him with the nurishment for what he needed was really amazing too.

I do have a funny BF story for ya though. So when Garrison was about 2 months I took him out to eat with some of my girlfriends. I was really hoping that he would sleep the whole time, but I knew that if he woke up he was going to be HUNGRY. Well about halfway through the meal, he wakes up and he's READY to eat and definitely letting me know it too. Lots of crying. In the MIDDLE of the restaurant. AWESOME. So I get out my hooter-hider and convince myself that I can feed this baby. IN PUBLIC. I get all situated, he's latched on, and we're doing good. Of course I'm sweating, nervous, and flustered, but that's besides the point.

Then, this guy at the table next to me, who I think may be the manager of the restaurant, tries to get my attention. "Ma'am, excuse me, ma'am?" And I'm thinking, OMG, he totally knows what I'm doing and he thinks it's inappropiate and he's going to ask me to stop. Jerk!
So I say "Yes?" And the guy asks me "Does it calms the baby when I put him under the blank?" And I'm thinking...is he trying to give me a hard time? Why can't he just leave me alone? So I tell him "Umm...I'm feeding him." Then the poor guy gets SOOO embarrassed turns away and apologizes. I told him it was fine and both tables had a really good laugh about it. So now my friends and I call my hooter-hider the "Magic Blanket." Works like a charm!

Busy weekend!

This has been a busy weekend! One of my best friends from college came in town to visit and we had so much fun. She got to meet Garrison for the first time, which I was so excited about. Of course she absolutely loved him! And he was a big fan of hers too :)

He came out to eat with us today and was so good...just sat in his highchair and shared some of my food. Another friend of ours brought her baby (that is 2 weeks older than Garrison) and that was extremely helpful because he was all the entertainment Garrison needed!

Unfortunately I didn't take any picture with my own camera (LOTS on her's!) so I have nothing to show for all the fun. I do have a random picture from when G was 2 weeks old. He looks NOTHING like this anymore!
And I guess I should mention that we are now 6 days away from the big birthday. 6 days people!! We contemplated getting him a haircut today since he's totally sporting a baby mullet, but decided to wait until he's actually one. Did you know that you're not supposed to cut a baby's hair until they're one? I think it's an old wives tale, but we're goin' with it.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I know I did. Wonderful friends are such a gift.

Object Permanence

I'm sure that in the grand scheme of things, learning object permanence is a good thing...but right now I think it SUCKS. Now when I leave the room, ANY ROOM, Garrison cries. I mean, I guess I should be flattered because he doesn't do it for anyone else, but really it makes me feel bad! Especially when I'm leaving him at daycare. Before this week, there was no crying when I dropped him off. He would just start playing and totally forget about me. I'd give him a kiss on the head and walk out the door, no big deal. Well, not the case this week!!

Now he watches my every move when I drop him off. As soon as I even glance towards the door, he throws his head back and cries. Then I'll go over to him and pick him up, get him settled again, and try to make my move again while he's distracted. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Mostly NOT. TOTALLY SUCKY. So then I leave feeling bad and sad for him...and for me. And the thing is that I'm sure 1 minute later he's totally fine but of course I don't get to see that.

So yeah. That's why I majorly dislike this whole object permanence learning phase.

On a brighter note...TGIF!!!!!!!

Wild hair

I not gonna lie, my kid's got some sweet hair. It just naturally wants to go into a punk rocker kind of look. Not sure if that's telling of the future, but for now, it's really cute!! When he was a little younger, his hair would NOT sit flat. I would get it wet and comb it in the morning and it would just pop right back up. So for many months, he went to school with CRAZY hair. More recently, it's gotten long enough that when I do his hair, it will actually lay somewhat flat.

I wanted to share a few pics of my son's awesome bedhead hair before I attempt to tame it...

Side view close up!

A natural mohawk...what more could you ask for?

Here's another morning of wild hair pics. I mean, you'd think I'd be too busy to take pictures in the morning with getting both him and I out to door for school and work...but NOPE. Mama never misses a chance to take some pics of G!
Close up!

Side view! Did I mention he likes to knaw on the side of his crib?? Yes, yes he does.

Good morning sweet boy! FLASH!!