naked booty

This pictures was too cute to not post.  This afternoon, Garrison was playing in his little pool outside, and Bo jumped in with him!

giraffe and boogers

We had a crazy morning trying to get ready for school.  We've been doing great - we get up, get G dressed and fed, and most mornings have had time to go by Beans and Cream BEFORE taking Garrison to school (because, you know, Garrison needs his morning coffee).  This morning I was making his lunch and he was running around in his diaper.  Will came into the kitchen to get him to put his clothes on and said, "Renee, he has poop all over him!"  It was so bad, we had to give him a bath!  So we felt a little rushed getting out the door, and when we got to school we realized we had forgotten his giraffe for nap time!  So we drove home to get it and take it back to him.  I didn't want him to see me, so I just put my phone up to the window in his room, and he was just playing and smiling at Mrs. Robin!

This is Garrison's new favorite thing to do....PICK HIS BOOGERS!!  Actually he just keeps his finger up his nose.  He does it to get our attention.  He can be in his car seat, and we will hear him grunt, turn around, and his finger is in his nose.  I mean, look at the little stinker.  He's smiling!!  Tim said he's digging for gold!

Today is my dad's birthday and Garrison's 18 month old birthday.  I can't believe a year and a half has gone by so quickly.  It seems like just yesterday that Dr. Otey looked at me straight in the eyes and said, "Are you ready to have this baby?" and I said, "Today???"  Garrison has definitely changed our lives, and we've loved all of those changes, as difficult as they may be.  We love that little booger more and more every day.

report card and thank you note

Scanning in Garrison's report card after school makes posting on the blog really easy!  Today when we picked up G from school, his teacher said, "He had a GREAT day!!! He went to sleep all by himself on his mat.  And when he woke up, he was content and just stayed on his mat!" 

We have been trying hard to not rock him to sleep and just let him go to sleep on his own.  We will sit in his room while he's in his crib.  Every few minutes he will pop his head up and look at us, making sure we are still in the room.  We say he pops his head up like a turtle.

Mrs. Robin also said he played with the trucks outside on the playground.  Sweet boy.

On the first day of school we gave her a gift certificate for Beans and Cream.  She wrote us a thank you note.  I want to teach Garrison how important it is to be grateful and to thank people for gifts.  This is something I'm not very good at and really admire in other people.  I want him to appreciate things, not just expect people to give him stuff.

school art

Thursday when I picked Garrison up from school, his teacher gave me his "art" for the day.  Jesus had friends.

And here is his report for the day!  His friend Ethan was not at school Friday because he was sick.  Mrs. Robin said she could tell Garrison missed Ethan, especially on the playground - he cried on the playground!  She just kept telling me he had an "off" day.  It makes me never want to take him back and homeschool him until college!  ha!  What a disaster that would be!

school reports

I may regret this post...not because I don't want to remember Garrison's school reports.  But because I have a feeling the grandparents are going to want me to scan and post his report every day!  Here are his first three days.

Day 1:

It makes my heart hurt to think about him crying off and on his first day.  Sweet boy.  It makes me not want to send him back!  Although I know it's best for ALL of us.  And now I think he's getting used to it.

 

Day 2: 

His behavior on his second day was "good" instead of "great" because he didn't take a nap.  Really????  That's what constitutes good behavior?  It was his second day!!

 

Day 3:

When we picked up Garrison, Mrs. Robin told us he had a great day!  She said he interacted with the other kids more than he had the first two days, and he loved playing outside.  This makes me feel a little better about leaving him!

The only complaint I have is she doesn't tell us what he eats for snack.  Since he ate everything at snack time and only "most" of his lunch, I'd like to know what the snack was (or maybe I don't want to know if they are giving him cookies!).

 

I think my mom saved all of mine and Tim's report cards.  Hopefully G will NOT take after Uncle Tim and ever have to change a grade on his report card!  One year Tim got a F on a six weeks progress report.  He said he took a bunch of pens with him to school that day to be able to find the perfect color ink so he could CHANGE his grade from an F to a B!!!  But the funniest part of the story is that my parents never realized it!!!  And he never told them until after he graduated from college.

corn on the cob

Last night we tried to get Garrison to eat broccoli and carrots.  He spit out both!  I had grilled chicken, and he was eating the chicken.  But he saw us eating corn on the cob and started whining.  So I let him hold it, and he LOVED it!

 

And yes, he had corn in his poop this morning.

spaghetti

I'm not sure what we were thinking ordering Garrison spaghetti.  It was everywhere.  Our poor waiter!

j is for jump

I love how his little feet never even leave the ground!

pooping in the tub

Oh my word, this has been the craziest day ever. 

We have always been able to run errands with Garrison.  We've just taken him wherever we've gone, and he's always been great.  But he's getting to the age that he doesn't want to just sit in the buggy.  Today we went to Lowe's to look at track lighting.  Garrison wanted OUT of the buggy.  So I put him in the back end (I've never let him ride back there!).  He didn't want to just be out of the  basket part, he wanted out of the buggy all together.  So we let him out.  He walked around for a minute until he realized he could push the buggy...on his hands and knees.  We tried to pick him up.  He screamed.  I mean, he pitched a fit.  So we let him crawl around.  He was NASTY.  And then he headed straight for someone else's buggy to push!  We grabbed him up and quickly left the store.  On the way out, Will said, "We are THOSE parents who let their kid crawl on the floor of Lowe's.  How disgusting."

This afternoon Will went to work on the studio, so I was home with G.  And he whined all afternoon.  I thought I was going to lose it.  I wondered if 5:30 was too early to put him to bed.  Actually, several times today Will asked if we should enroll him in a 5 day a week day care! 

One positive thing was I cooked supper, and Garrison actually ate it!  He LOVED it!  He ate it up.  He liked it so much that I decided to send him some to school tomorrow.

So I'm letting Garrison play in the bathtub, and he keeps standing up and tooting.  And then he would laugh at himself.  I thought, "He's just being a boy!"

Then he laid down and pooped.  In the bath water.

I quickly grabbed him out of the water, and as I turned to get a towel, he peed on the floor.  And started playing in it on the tile.

All this time I heard something going on in the kitchen.  I should have known Tozer was up to something because Bo kept coming into the bathroom.  I walked through the bathroom to Garrison's room and realized the dang dogs had eaten our supper that I'd just cooked!!!   And that was what I'd planned for Garrison to have in his lunch box!

But what can I do but laugh?  I love that little booger.  I love Will.  I even love those dogs.  And even in the frustrating times, I'm thankful we are with him as much as we are....although I am looking forward to him going to school tomorrow!

first day of school

Today was Garrison's first day at school - well, a little Mother's Morning Out program at a local church. 

He did so good when we dropped him off!  He whined a little bit, but he didn't have an all out melt down like I expected.  (Thursday may be a different story)!  We walked out of the room and peeked through the window, and he was playing a xylophone and had a little smile! 

Of course I had to take pictures before we left!

 

Will and I both went to pick up G from school!  I was so excited to go get him I was giddy!  We walked in his room, and he immediately crawled to us!  I could tell he had been crying.  His teacher said, "He was good until nap time."  She said he did NOT want to take a nap!  I don't blame him - he's 17 months, we still rock him to sleep, and he's never had to sleep on a mat ON THE FLOOR!!!  No wonder he didn't take a nap.

He didn't eat a snack.  They eat snacks at 9:45.  Booger slept until 8 this morning (we had to wake him up to get him ready for school), so he wasn't ready for a snack an hour and a half after breakfast.  He ate SOME of his lunch (it couldn't have been much because not much was gone). 

I think it was a long day for everyone.  We got his teacher a gift card to Beans and Cream.  She's going to need some caffeine for Thursday!

One crazy weekend

We had a crazy weekend.  CRAZY.

We forgot our clothes in Columbus.

We forgot our computer charger.

The bride and groom wanted 95% of their pictures taken outside.  In the Mississippi Delta.  In the heat.  Will sweated through a t-shirt and dress shirt.  Changed, then sweated through his suit - jacket and all.  I was just a hot mess...my hair was so sweaty it was stuck to my head.

We've driven about 9 hours in three days.  Well, I've only driven an hour of that....I don't like to drive!

Garrison has spent the night at my parents the last 7 of 9 days.

Needless to say, I'm glad to be home in Columbus as a family.  I love my boys.

This pretty much sums up how we all feel.  Don't you just love his squishy cheeks?

big cousin Hayden

In typical fashion, nothing went as planned for our weekend.  Our plan was to drive to Oxford yesterday so my parents could keep Garrison during our wedding today (which is in Greenwood).  And then drive back to Oxford after the wedding.  Between Tupelo and Oxford, Will quickly covered his mouth and gasped, and I just knew he had forgotten his camera.  He said, "No, my camera is back there."  So I asked what he forgot....it was our hanging clothes for the wedding!!!   I told Will we needed a checklist.  My dad said, "you need a checklist"  Will's dad said, "You need a checklist."  Add making a checklist to my to do list this week!

So we met my parents in Pontotoc for them to get G, and we came back to Columbus.  I think it was harder to leave him yesterday than it was to leave him for two days at the beginning of the week.  I just was not prepared for it mentally.  When they drove away, I said, "They are driving away with my baby!!!!"  I don't know why it was so hard to leave him!

Will and I took advantage of our time and worked on the studio until midnight!  We painted these columns and cross beam red.

Garrison had a great time with my nephew Hayden.  Mom said they played and played.  Hayden will always say, "Hey Garrison.  It's your big cousin Hayden!"

Hayden fed him....

Played with him....

Gave him his milk....

And even rocked him to sleep!

garrison and his giraffe

My parents have a tall wooden giraffe that Garrison LOVES.  I'm not sure what attracted him to the giraffe, but he looks for it every time we go to their house.  Sometimes my mom will hide it, and he will look all over for it!  He will grunt and point to it, and Mom swears he's saying "giraffe."  It doesn't sound anything like giraffe to me.  It sounds like everything else he says - "da."

This past week my parents gave him a stuffed giraffe.  It's the first thing he will walk around with!  He will hug on it.  It's really cute!  Yesterday I took Garrison walking, and I thought the giraffe could keep him company.  He threw it out once, so I had to strap it in.  Garrison will always fall asleep in the jogging stroller, and yesterday when I looked down at him, he was still holding on to the giraffe.

And just a side note, it's HARD to run pushing a 26 pound toddler and his giraffe in this heat!

job. rent.

Will and I have always joked with the dogs (like they really understand us) that they need to get a job because rent is due at the end of the month.  We tell them they need to do something that earns enough money to at least pay for their food.  Last night in the tub I was trying to teach Garrison the same principle.

He's home!!!

This video says it all!!!  I think Garrison is as excited to see his daddy as his daddy was to see him!

we miss booger

Garrison has been at my parents since Sunday....and WE MISS HIM!!!  When I talk to mom, I can hear his little sweet voice over the phone, even if he is whining!  We haven't tried to facetime, though, because I'm afraid he'd have a melt down, especially if he saw Will!  Dad emailed me a picture yesterday.  He was helping Mom cut coupons!

 

I love this little boy!

my second 5k

I've never considered myself a runner.  I didn't run in high school.  I think I ran once in college and had shin splints so bad I had to go to the training room for treatment in the whirlpool.  I ran a little in seminary.  There was a little pond close to the apartment I lived in, and I would run around that while going through notes for a test in my head.  I remember being able to think clearly while outside - it was a nice change from studying in my room, or Starbucks, or the library.

When we lived in Little Rock, there was a park right across the street from our house.  I wish I had taken advantage of that park more!  It was the perfect place to go for a run. 

And I'm using the term "run" is used VERY loosely.

Before we started infertility treatments, I decided I wanted to run a half marathon.  Crazy, right?  But then we started intense treatments, and I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize getting pregnant.  So I quit.  I think I ran 7 miles one day and then didn't run again for 3 years.

So obviously there is a trend here of running.  Not running.  Running.  Not running.

I'm in the running phase again.  And I love it.  It's so blazing hot right now that I'm having to run around 6:30 in the evenings.  Will is such a great dad - he will let me go run and do the bedtime routine with Garrison.  I'm so thankful for him....and I don't tell him that enough.  So right now I'm training for a half marathon.  Actually it's a little longer - it's 14.2 miles (instead of 13.1).  It's September 4 in Tupelo.  At 5 AM!!!!  I hope Will is awake by the time I get to the finish line!  5 AM is EARLY for us.  Extremely early.  I know it's going to be a challenge to finish the race, but I'm actually more worried about it being so early in the morning than I am about running it!  I know my adrenaline will be pumping, though!

This past Friday night my friend Mary Meghan and I ran in a 5K in Tupelo.  I was proud of my time - 30:38!!  It was HOT and they only had water at one point during the race - at the 2.4 mile mark.  And it was hilly - the race started by going uphill!  Talk about discouraging!  But I chuckled a little as I passed Will and Josh when we started - they were sitting in the grass!