4 reasons we did not send out Christmas cards this year...

**Disclaimer: Allie-Parker started out in a gorgeous winter white bubble, which she threw up all over within 5 minutes of trying to take pictures**

December update part 1

Do you ever get so far behind on something you just don't know where to start? It's kind of like that feeling you get when someone called you on Monday and left you a message and it is now Saturday and you know you should call but it just seems ridiculous. Ok, maybe thats just me...

This post most likely will be all over the place with a bunch of pictures... so, as Garrison would say, "here goes".

We have been seeing a lot of this...

and this...

Tears and silliness.

It seems like Garrison and Allie-Parker have switched personalities. We are hoping that all of Allie-Parkers crying is from teething, or it might just be because she is a little spoiled by her Momma.

Garrison has turned into quite the ham. He is always saying something funny, making a funny face, or putting something on his head and calling it a hat. He is currently into telling people if they are a lady, man, boy, or girl. This is very entertaining when we are out running errands,and Gar is proudly announcing to people as the walk by if they are a lady or man. People just kind of look at him confused while I am telling him how smart he is.

Allie-Parker has been quite fussy lately and started waking up in the middle of the night, so not like her. But other than that she has been a perfect Christmas angel and has been a wonderful shopping buddy.

She can stand on her own now. To say she is busy would be an understatement. She is so much fun to just sit back and watch.

She loves her big brother...

and is constantly right behind him. Allie-Parker no longer lets Garrison take a swing at her, she fights back and will pull his hair or pull on his shirt until he falls down. But they do love each other...

Sorry but I do not have any pictures of me and Ryan to put in this post- gah I know you are so disappointed. Since you asked, we have been doing great :)

What blog?!?!?

Yes I am still blogging... but I am now the mother to a two year old

I have so much to catch you 4 faithful readers up on!!!

Like my new job! I am working from home and everything is super crazy/busy at the moment but hopefully it will all become routine soon.

I have a ton of pics to upload and a lot of posts to finish- including Garrisons super hero birthday party, his 2nd birthday letter (here is the one from last year), and lots more. So don't give up on me yet!

In the meantime I will leave you with this little picture tease...

Come back later for more pics of Garrison and George the super heros and Gars super sister Allie-Parker.

It's Fall- kind of

Don't you just love fall in Mobile? The humid 90 degree days just make me want to drink hot

apple cider ;)

Well, even though it doesn't feel like it, the month of October is here and we have done some decorating to the house...

I usually go a lot more crazy but we are still trying to sell this beauty of a home and I am trying to keep things from getting too junky. Here are some pumpkins I made today- one is Garrison and the other is Allie-Parker, of course.

We have also been to our fair share of Thursday night football games... with a helper!

October is also Garrisons birthday month. He will be TWO on the 30th. Can you believe it?!?!

I can not.

I always get so reminiscent (is this a word) when all the Halloween specials start coming on TV, and I'm not a huge fan of Halloween.

With Garrisons pregnancy I had terrible insomnia, esp during the last month (along with a slew of other fun things) and would stay up all night watching Nick at Night praying I would feel anything that I could consider a contraction. My favorite Halloween show was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I couldn't watch this show when I was little, and now I understand why, but as an adult- it is pretty funny. My least favorite was Family Matters, their special has a puppet like character of Steve and it really freaked me out. See, I did watch them EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!!! Who knew I would cry two years later when they started coming on again?!?!?

Also, this month we decided that Allie-Parker's cheeks were meant to be kissed all the time :)

6 Months and counting...

All of these pictures are of Allie-P either at the Dr. are on the way! I can't believe she is already 6 months!

But before you even ask, no we are not ready for another one! We are perfectly in love with being a family of four :)

Two week weight check

One month well baby

Three month well baby

Six month well baby

I am still here!

Hello- I am still alive and well!

My house/children are just out of control leaving me not so much time to sit down and think of a clever little blog post. And to be quite honest- not much fun has been going on. Garrison is going through a "I like to hit and bite the ones I love" phase and Allie-Parker is going through an extrelemy clingy phase. Here new past time is to scream as loud as humanly possible when I leave the room, nice. Just keeping it real- just in case the three people who read think that life at our home is calm and full of craft projects etc. etc.

But I digress...

Are you going to the Kidz Klozet sale?

Um if not you really should! I am hoping to find a new booster seat for barracuda , a double jogging stroller, a Bam Bam halloween costume and a slew of clothes for both the bambinos. I volunteered this year and hung up the 2t Bam Bam costume, so I know its there! So, don't take it or I will send my mother after you (she is going to have to sew him one if I don't get that one!).

But that is all for now. Hope to be back later with some pics of my great finds from the consignment sale!!!

First day of "school"

This year Garrison is going to "school" aka Mom's Day out once a week.  These pictures are a little late- he started back in August.

I was nervous about how he would do- not so much nervous about him crying because I left him (he never looks back when I leave- kinda sad!) but nervous about him doing school like things and not pitching a big one over it! 

But his teachers promise me that he sits at the table and eats lunch like the rest of the youngsters and always says "yes maam" and "thank you". So that makes me very proud!

I was also nervous that he wouldn't nap while he was there. When I went on the tour of the school they took me to the nap room. It is a large room with about 10 cribs in it. And I thought "There is no way he will sleep in here with other kids". But he DOES!!!!  Mrs. Melody says she just puts him down with blankie and George and he goes to sleep! Every time I pick him up he is the only one still snoozing and the rest of the kids are running around playing! I guess he is used to the noise because he usually falls asleep to Allie-Parker fussing!

All in all it has been a great experience! 

Our stroller buddies

We had a few extra friends on our walk this evening.  

The whole time Garrison was saying "Come on farmer", "Come on animals".

He keeps me laughing!

He eats

Garrison is eating again!!!

We tried everything short of bribing him.

He LLLLOOOOVVVEEESSSS attention (esp when Allie-Parker is at the table with us) so we started making a big deal about his "Happy Plates". When he finishes his food he now says "Garrison happy plate" and we are all forced to cheer and/or take pictures of him.

I think I will pass, thanks though

So this is the face Allie-Parker has been giving me all this week while I am trying to shove cereal and apples into her mouth! She is not very fond of it at all- but she is now at two containers of soy formula a week, and I can think of a million things that I could spend that 50 bucks on!

She did do a lot better today (I didn't end up with apples all over me...) so hopefully she will take to real food soon!

"Why isn't my picture on that table?"

We are having family pictures made this Saturday at our house- hopefully I will have that darned dust ruffle straight by then!

Pray that we get some good ones. We tried to get some done of Garrison and Allie-Parker together when she was around two weeks- it was a disaster! I ended up with spit up and tinkle all over me and Garrison ended up with about ten spankings- Ryan was conveniently out of town ;)

Melinda Mercer is doing them for us. She comes highly recommended and I have spoken to her several times over the phone, mainly just to warn her of the craziness which is Garrison- but, a mom herself, she is definitely up for the challenge! And to make things even easier for us she is willing to come to our home! How great is that?!?!?!

Mrs. Melinda are you ready for us?!?!?!

Update

Mornin' stalkers! Sorry so long with no posts- again the lazyness....

Ryan went back to school today so it is high time I start being productive- so I am choosing to update my blog instead of cleaning the bathrooms...

On another note- our house is for sale- officially. We have shown it once but haven't heard anything back. We think the buyers might of gotten lost in our neighbors knee high grass. But if you are interested in it- please know that there grass is usually cut- well not really- but my husband will give you a good deal on cutting your grass if you buy it!

Well I will update you with pictures of what has been going on lately. So here we go...

The most precious child you will ever meet- at her 4 mo check up (more like 4 1/2 mo) she weighed 16 pounds 5 oz., sadly I think she has her mother's metabolism

Swipper planning his next move

"Success, the peacock is mine"

Allie-Parker wondering where her toy went :(

MAJOR volume/ bed head

I pretty much just summed up my life for the past two weeks in 5 pictures. But seriously, we had a great summer and hate to see it come to an end- we are already missing "Da-da" like crazy!

What a difference a year makes!

This is the day we found out that we had another baby on the way! It is still crazy to think that Allie-Parker was in my tummy then and I had NO idea!

Garrison the first time he stood up in his crib!

I was looking at these pictures yesterday of Garrison last July- he was so tiny! On July 4th he stood up in his crib for the first time. I will never forget how excited he was when I walked in to get him from a nap and he was standing up looking at me!

Also last July we found out that Allie-Parker was on the way! She def has done some growing since then ;)

To update or not to update...

Sorry it has been so long, but to be honest I have found myself to be very lazy these past few weeks.

Nothing really exciting has been going on! We live on a pretty predictable schedule from day to day. We have been enjoying some time at the park walking and swinging and loving that Ryan is home most days by noon! School is about to start back up, and football season already has so we are taking advantage of every minute he is home!

What's new with Allie-Parker

A

Hanging out at Gigi's pool

Sleeping good :)

Allie-Parker reading her book ;)

It seems like Allie-Parker is changing every day and just like with Garrison it hurts my heart. I love it when they are tiny, squishy little ones- but I guess they have to grow up.

The only way to describe Allie-Parker is darling. She is just a darling and that is all there is to it! She is a good eater, puts herself to sleep easily (for the most part) and is really just fun to be around.

She has started rolling from her back to her stomach, but it isn't easy for her yet. She has also has started having great control of her neck and with that she has begun to actually enjoy tummy time. Within the past few days she has become very smiley and has started laughing out loud! It is precious!

We haven't been pushing or trying to force a schedule with her like we did with Garrison- but she follows a predictable 3 hour routine. It is so much more enjoyable letting her eat when she wants to eat (within reason) and sleep when she is sleepy, rather than being a slave to a schedule.

I finally feel like I am recovered from the worst c-section ever (out of the two that I have experienced). My incision still has a very small opening, but seems to be healing itself nicely. With out a doubt it was all worth it. We are all so in love with little mam. I could not imagine our family without her.

The life of a 20 month old

Garrison is now 20 months old. I can't believe it really and I don't really like to think about it. Along with this toddler status has come many unwelcome behaviors. The main ones are bitting and hitting. But the thing is - he really only bites me and his Aunt Celeste. Why is that?!?!?! He gets so mad at the simplest things and takes it out on my shoulder every time.

Garrison also has a new nickname "swiper". Get it Swiper, just like swiper the fox from Dora, gosh is this what my life has come to?!?! Anyway, Garrison can grab anything before you know it- especially drinks with straws, he loves a straw. His favorite past time is to walk up to the kitchen table flail his arms around and see what treasures he can knock down and play with.

On with the positive- he is super cute and I find it very hard not to hug him all day long! I really would love for him to be a Momma's boy- but I really don't think he is interested.

He can say about 50 words now and can pretty much repeat anything- he sometimes calls me "eminey" meaning Emily, when he copies Ryan. Garrison is also quite the entertainer and LOOOOVVVEEESSS to be the center of attention. Some of his favorite tricks include- walking backwards, standing on one foot, putting on his Daddy's clothes, saying "HEY" as loud as he possbily can to Allie-Parker, and opening doors that have child proof locks on them.

He really is such a joy, it is so much fun to be his Mom and see him grow up into a boy, even though it hurts my heart a little bit.

Telling Allie-Parker good morning

The sweetest thing I have ever seen

Swiper in action, dressed in Ryan's shirt

This is the "Why, I would never try to run out the front door" face

Sweet Minute

Can you believe this picture?!?! Garrison watched an entire Praise Baby DVD (don't hate they are only about 20 min) and while he watched tv Allie-Parker was a precious angel and stared at her caterpillar toy. It was the most glorious few minutes of my life, well that is prob a bit of an exaggeration- but I did get to clip some coupons without them all ending up in the toy box.

More Summer Fun

Screaming children were no where in sight

Two weekends ago me and Ryan finally were able to celebrate our 3 year anniversary. We spent the weekend at the beach on Fort Morgan Road. We were both in need of a break from all the bottles, spit up, bitting, little people sticking their hands in your food and thinking its ok because they say "peas" and sleepless nights (neither baby is sleeping consistently through the night now).

We had huge plans to sleep late every morning, not buy anything for the babies at the outlets (I always go a little nuts at Carters), and go to fancy dinners. We did none of those things- I was up by 5:30 every morning, I spent WAAAAYYYY too much on clothes for the babies, and we ate frozen pizza both nights for dinner. The trip was AWESOME!!!

Three years, three houses, and two babies later we are still going strong!