Christmas traditions

So far James and I have gotten a real Christmas tree to decorate together. This is our 3rd Christmas as a married couple and I think it will be the best yet. Each year, we add a special ornament to our tree. This year, it is one that my mom got where we make Grant's handprint on clay and then bake it. It is right in the middle of the tree and I love it. It will be such a great thing to recall memories of him as a baby on his first Christmas.

We decorated the tree together and Grant was most interested in the lights. It smells and looks fantastic. I thought that he would be obsessed with the tree and try to yank stuff off and pull it down like he does with everything else. But actually, he has pretty much left it alone. It doesn't make sense, but I'll just count it as a blessing and not question it!

Another thing that has become a new favorite tradition is making graham cracker houses with our friends. We did it last year with the Vance's and Wilkinson's, when we all lived in the same apartment complex together. This year the Vance's hosted us and some other friends at their house and we did it again. It was fun with the babies there and our houses took on a college theme this year. We had so much fun and I hope to keep this as a tradition for years to come!

Anthony and Phil working on their houses...and all our houses in the early stages.

Lynette and Benson managed the house building :)

The Garretts proud of their creation

Finishing up our house...loved the pillars!

Here is most of the houses...a few left early so we couldn't get pics. Thanks for having us over!

Grant the tornado

Just when I thought he couldn't get into any more trouble, this night happened on December 5th:

He pulled out a million baby wipes from the container for the second time when I wasn't looking. Then he pulled all the laundry off the couch. He kept rotating from trying to steal my phone, the remote, chew/bite on various cords and wires, chew on my iPod, etc. No matter what I did, I couldn't get them out of reach! The evening rounded out with the biggest, nastiest, poop explosion I have ever seen! I have to record this so I can look back on it one day and remember and laugh. I am already laughing about it.

First Santa visit

Well, here is Grant's first visit to Santa! He normally loves people, even strangers. It must have been the outfit that provoked this reaction! Eh, you win some, you lose some. I think he looks adorable crying...is that bad?!This was at our Church Christmas party. We had a great time and got to enjoy yummy ham, potatoes, rolls, and of course...cookies! I made homemade Au Gratin potatoes for the first time. They were supposed to be a copy of Ruth Chris Au Gratin potatoes, and they turned out awesome. I also made sugar cookies with homemade icing, another first. They turned out pretty good as well. It was a busy evening of cooking but in the end it felt great to accomplish something new and have a GREAT time with friends! A great way to kick of the Christmas season.

Thanksgiving

Well this is one of the best Thanksgivings ever. I really did feel thankful, mostly for my family. I am so thankful to have my husband and wonderful son, Grant. They make me feel appreciated and important. They help me understand the meaning of joy and love. And this year, it felt even more special to celebrate together with other members of our family, both on my side and James' side. And MOST importantly, the AGGIES BTHO TU!!!! ;)

Just kidding...MOST importantly, I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that helps me know the purpose of life and how to be truly happy.

We spent the night in Kingsville Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and hung out and Grant got to play with his cousins, which he loved! Thanksgiving day was really fun with LOTS of yummy food.

Aunt Jill read stories to all the cousins

Grant showed off how much he loves mouths (he will stare and get his eyes realllly close to your mouth to peer inside, it's hilarious!).

After dinner on Thursday, Grant and I headed up to San Antonio to see my family. James had to study and work on his project so he stayed in CC. It was awesome to get to see my parents, Karyn, Pat, and Melanie. Friday we decorated my parents tree and Grant loved looking at the lights.

He was a little bit cranky that evening but we didn't think much of it. The next day, though, Grant woke up at 5am throwing up. I got scared and I thought he had gotten a bug. My mom and I took turns holding him and trying to comfort him all morning. He would scream bloody murder if we ever put him down and his fever seemed to be getting worse. Finally, we took him to a nearby clinic and found out that he had a really bad ear infection. Poor baby. I felt bad because I had no clue that's what it was. By the next day, after starting antibiotics, he felt MUCH better. It's amazing what a difference it made!

Although I was sad that he felt bad, it felt so good to be able to comfort my baby and know that being held and cuddled by me helped him feel better. It was the best feeling in the world to be there for him. And THANKS to my mommy who knew exactly what to do and who helped so much! Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

November Highlights

November was a wonderful month! It started off with baby Grant getting his first tooth! We noticed that he had been whiney and waking up a lot in the night, and was inconsolable. I felt his gums and I felt a bump on the bottom gums and I knew what was happening. Now I know why people say teething is tough...even with remedies and medicine, it's still so uncomfortable for the baby and hard for them to sleep. Which makes for a tired mommy and daddy.

We did our interview for the Whataburger's Biggest Fan award. We went to 'Whataburger on the Bay' and took lots of pictures outside. It was fun, but a lot of work to hold the poses and smiles for so long. I had to stand awkwardly on a skinny stool since James is so tall. Grant didn't want to smile or look at the camera. It must have been funny for people watching us outside the building. We were trying to hold Grant in between us and have him look at the camera. Several people were dancing behind the photographer and shaking Grant's toys in an effort to catch his attention and make him look happy. That made ME laugh which made it easier to smile, at least.

Whataburger's #2 Fan

It all started working together at Whataburger in College Station, TX

Now we have a little Whatababy

Still making me laugh!

My boys!

I love this little guy!

Grant wearing the photographer's hat

Grant turned 10 months old in November. I seriously can't believe it. He is growing up sooo fast. He cruises along furniture and crawls REALLY fast now! He started making clicking noises and he loves to do them loudly and will click back and forth with you. He also likes to blow spit bubbles and thinks spitting out his baby food is really funny. Now I know what those people on TV and on the commercials feel like who are sitting there with both baby and mom/dad covered in baby food! haha. We have started feeding him some finger foods. He mostly likes to play with them in his hand instead of actually eat them. He thinks it's fascinating to mush things in his hand and stare at it. Here he is examining rice at La Playa.

Another thing that Grant loves is playing with laundry and throwing things on the floor--even better if he can do both at the same time. He gets so excited to pick up every piece of laundry and throw it on the floor. When I come back from doing something real quick, everything is on the floor! LOL. I can't even get frustrated because of the incredibly cute grins and giggles he has during this little adventure. One of his favorite 'toys' is a leftover strip of fabric from when I made a blanket. He takes it out, waves it around, chews on it, and drags it around with him. What a great toy for about 10 cents!

Playing with fabric

Playing with laundry

When we are out or he is in a high chair, he will throw everything on the floor and except you to pick it up. He'll do it over and over again and doesn't get tired of that game!

And in general he likes to simply get into EVERYTHING! He has started the era of baby exploration. He tries to open cabinets (they are childproofed now), plays with doors, is obsessed with the remote, computer, and cell phones, and he stuck his hand in the toilet for the first time.

It is a big adjustment when babies start getting into everything. Sometimes it is frustrating, but it is also funny. It seems like just when you are getting used to one phase, another one starts and you basically start all over with your parenting skills. Things are constantly changing.

We are very happy, though, and can't imagine our life without him. It was fun to be married with just the two of us for a while, but our life is so much more full of joy now. We literally can just sit there and watch him and feel happy to do that all night. This is a really fun stage of babyhood and parenthood. The beginning was REALLY hard for me, but I am thoroughly enjoying this stage. Grant is so happy and playful, and just loves us. His innocence and sweetness is such an example to us and helps us to remember what is really important.

Freedom

I don't usually put political posts on the blog, but this is important to me. I am proud to be an American and to live in a land of freedom where we can live and worship how we please. But with freedom comes responsibility. It is up to us to make sure that our representatives are truly representing us and the best interests of our country. If we don't speak out for what is right then we are letting other people decide for us.

Over the past few years of living here in Corpus Christi, I have written our representatives multiple times on various issues. Each time, I got responses back that indicated that the representative didn't care what I thought but he was going to do/vote what HE thought was best. I started writing (as it got closer to election time) that if he did not listen to what the PEOPLE wanted, that he would be voted out and pleaded with him to listen.

I voted on election day this year and I carefully considered who I would vote for. Of course I voted for the other candidate in our representative's election. I never thought it would mean much since he has been so highly favored in this district and been a rep for 20+ years. James and I watched the election results and much to our surprise we saw that the candidate we voted for was winning! Surely, we thought, in the end he will still lose. He was in the underdog party for this area. The next day we saw that he won and the incumbent LOST by 800 votes! It was extremely close.

On that day, I knew my vote mattered. I knew my voice mattered. I knew that our government worked as it should on that day because the people spoke and made a difference. Now, I only hope that this new representative WILL work to make a difference by continuing to listen to the people. I am proud to be an American. I am so incredibly grateful for what we have here. It is truly special and I hope that I can teach that to my children.

October firsts

October was another great month full of many 'firsts.' Touching moments with friends and family will make October stand out in our memories.

We celebrated Andy & Susan's (my brother/sister in laws) first baby by attending a baby shower in Houston in the beginning of the month. I have never been to a more teary-eyed, sentimental baby shower! There were many thoughtful and special gifts that touched all of our hearts. We are so excited for baby Eli to come.Here are the blankets that I made for him. It was my first attempt at doing something like this, so thank goodness this sweet little baby won't care about all the mistakes I made!

Halfway through the month our department moved into a different building across campus and I now have my very own office for the first time. I really enjoy it!

I also bought my first pair of non-maternity jeans since giving birth. I had some skirts and capris, but not jeans. I kept thinking that I was going to fit into my old ones...but that's not happening anytime soon and I'm slowly accepting that. Life is just too busy right now to worry about it and I ♥ food too much! It is embarrassing to admit this, but I am posting it for all the world to see in case there are any women out there who need to feel better about themselves. Go ahead and use me for that! But I do feel better wearing normal jeans.

I went on my first work trip to a conference in Denver, CO...and this also meant it was the first time to be away from baby Grant for more than a day. It was a great trip. I got to see a lot of cool things and learn a lot of great stuff for my job that I have already started implementing. It feels good to make goals and accomplish them. But I missed my Grant and James dearly. I loved the moments when we talked on the phone and I got to hear Grants sweet voice in the background, just jabbering away.

I took myself sightseeing on the first day that I was there. It was kind of weird and a little scary walking around a big city all my myself, but it was also really neat. I visited the state capitol, the 16th street mall. It is a really cool series of shops along many city blocks...kind of like an outdoor mall. There is a free bus that takes you back and forth between the shops. I saw a guy playing bagpipes, lol.

One of the best parts was seeing so much beautiful scenery!

Later it started snowing on the mountaintops. I didn't even bring a real jacket!

We headed out to Estes Park to visit the Stanley Hotel (the inspiration for The Shining), which was really neat! The mountains were beautiful and so was the old hotel.

Our friends also brought home their first adopted son. He is a beautiful baby and shortly after they came home, we threw a baby shower for them. It was a wonderful time and everyone loved getting to celebrate his homecoming and showering him with love!

Welcome!!!

Everyone admired this sweet little boy.

Look at those dimples!!!

They did a vintage sports theme for their nursery, so I attempted to make a fun cake for the shower. It was the first time I ever attempted anything like this, so I was pretty pleased with how everything turned out. They sure make it look a lot easier on TV! haha.

And to finish out the month, Grant had his FIRST HALLOWEEN! We couldn't decide on a costume, so we went to Babies R Us and held up different ones to Grant to see what he would like. 3 times in a row, he went for the soft brown bear costume. So that's what he was! He couldn't have looked more adorable!

He didn't mind the costume but he still wasn't quite sure what to think about everything. I think seeing a lot of OTHER people in costumes seemed more scary to him than having to wear one himself. He liked to feel the soft fur on his costume.

Our little bear!!!

He had enough at this point. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted! Can't wait till next year!