March 22

I don't think I'll ever forget that March 22 was our original due date.  Today is Laura's birthday, so for a while we thought they might share the same birthday!  It's also my friend J's birthday.  I'm not really sure what her real name is - everyone just calls her J.  She works at McAlisters.  Yes, that's sad that I know today is her birthday...we go there frequently.  When I was pregnant and told her I was due March 22, she told me that was her birthday.  She loves Garrison and calls him her "fat man."  If it weren't raining cats and dogs I would eat lunch at McAlisters today just to tell her happy birthday!! I wish we were better friends.  That I knew her real name.  That Garrison and her son were friends.

Here are some of my favorite pictures/video from the last week or so.

He has been fighting going to sleep.  It's been awful.  But isn't he so sweet once he is asleep???

We have been playing outside a lot.  It's been so pretty and nice.  And it wears him out!  A couple of days ago Will said he fell and got the worst scratch he's had.  I must agree!

 

 Will has said several times over the last couple of weeks that he thinks God has something in store for Garrison musically.  He loves to watch Will play guitar and to help him play.  Sunday morning we pulled up at church and he started waving his hand up and down like he was strumming a guitar.  He knew where we were and what we were there to do!  Will said he doesn't know many other two year olds who are able to keep a steady beat while they strum.  Here's Garrison's and Will's debut - "She'll be comin' round the mountain"

hair cut

Today was a big day.  Almost as big as Garrison turning two!  He got his first hair cut!  I've been dreading it.  I loved his long hair and curls.  But it needed to be shaped up.  Our parents all say it needed to be out of his eyes.  But I just didn't want to cut it.  I loved it!  (How many times can I say that)?  Anyway, we got it cut.

And he did great!  Ms. Lindsey let him hold a comb and comb his hair.  He also wanted to comb daddy's hair (um.....since he has so much!).  After she was finished, she let him pick a sucker.  He picked green!

This was before...

During...

And after....

 

We had about 45 minutes before school, so we took him to Chik Fil A as a treat for doing so well!  I think breakfast was just as much a treat for Will and me as it was Garrison.  Sorry, Mrs. Robin, if he was jacked up from the sugar in the lemonade we gave him!

Birthday Boy

I cannot believe Garrison is two.  People always say your children grow up fast, but boy have these last two years flown by!  I just saw someone coming out of the post office who asked me how Garrison is - when I told her he just turned two, she said, "And you'll blink and he'll be graduating from high school!"  I'm not quite ready for that yet!

We had a Dr. Seuss themed birthday party.  He loves Dr. Seuss books and the tv show (Actually, Will loves it as much or more than Garrison does - they watch it almost every morning). 

His cake was a hat like the cat wears....complete with Fish coming out of it!

 

I printed a picture from every month he's been alive and hung them on a banner.  It's amazing to see how much he's changed!

 He has been a little obsessed about my dad wearing hats lately.  He always wants to wear my dad's hat.  So my parents bought him a Cat in the Hat book that came with a hat.  And then my mom made my dad one!  G loved it!

 

My mom made him Cat in the Hat pants, and I had a #2 shirt made for him!  So sweet.

In this picture, he's saying "two" - I love how he purses his lips while he's saying two.  

 I hate this picture of me, but I love it at the same time.  A lot of times I feel like Will is the "fun" one - he gets on the floor and plays with G while I do the more practical things.  I want Garrison to one day know that I did play with him too!

 

The terrible twos... So I think he hit the terrible twos the night before his birthday.  It was like a switch flipped.  And boy has it been a struggle!  He's strong willed (which comes honestly), but it seems like he's just constantly testing our limits.  Parenting can be hard.  Disciplining can be hard.  I know why it's easier to not discipline and just let a kid get away with anything.  But ultimately I want to raise Garrison to please God, not me or Will. 

Happy birthday sweet boy.  You are amazing and a blessing.  We love you with everything in us and with a love only God can give us.  I hope to celebrate many, many more birthdays with you!

New Orleans Half Marathon

This past weekend we went to New Orleans with Meredith, Josh, Anders, Judy, Larry, Adam and Tracey.  And Uncle Russell and Aunt Gean even met us one night!  We planned last fall to run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon.  I haven't been running a lot lately, and I really struggled to get long runs in.  The most I've run since January was 8 miles, and I walked half of it.  But I was determined to still run it!

Here are some of the pictures Will took!  We had a great time, and I can't wait to figure out where we are going to run next year!