Peek-A-Boo!

Thanks Grandma Collins for the Halloween card! I loved it, mommy had to pry it from my hands before I stuck it in my mouth!

Dinning Room Curtains

For various reasons, including trying to run to the dryer half naked in the mornings, we really need something to cover the sliding glass door in the dinning room. I ultimately can't decide if I want some sort of blind system or just curtains. I hesitate on the curtains because, do people even do that? I can't remember last time I saw curtains over a sliding glass door. However I found this material that would be perfect, unfortunately it is in the form of a table cloth and a runner at World Market.

I would totally buy them and convert them into curtains and a valance but the cost of two tablecloths and a runner would be around $80. Which is not exactly thrifty in my book. I guess I will just have to wait for World Market to have a great sale!

The Best Costume EVER!

Text with Brian from today:

Me: I am the most horrible mother ever. We sent him to daycare without any sort of Halloween attire and the party was today :(

Brian: What do you mean, we sent him as the cutest baby ever :)

Riiight, obviously!
What would I do without my genius husband?

Crawling by Christmas

In light of Garrett's new little trick (see post below.) I am wondering if he will be crawling by Christmas. What do you think? Cast your vote on the right!

This Looks Bad

So I know this makes us look like the worst parents ever. I mean who leaves their wobbly kid sitting on the counter? But he is SITTING.BY.HIMSELF for the FIRST time! I thought that this was at least a couple of weeks down the road. Nope, he lasted a whole minute on the floor right after this. By the way I am standing right out of the picture and Brian has the camera, just in case you did think we were the worst parents ever!

All he needs is some chest hair coming out of that buttoned down velvet shirt, all creeper 70's style and he will be all grown up!

4 Months

Garrett,

This letter is coming a little late in the month. Today is October 20th and we actually took your 4 month picture only yesterday (mommy cheated and put the tenth on the sign anyway.) The last month has been a busy one.

On Monday October 19th you had your 4 month well baby visit. It was sort of a rough one for your dad and me. You laughed and cooed at the doctor and charmed everyone with your smiles. You are growing by leaps and bounds. You now weigh 14.01 lbs and are 34 1/2 inches long, this makes you in the 27th percentile for both height and weight which is rare for a baby to be in the same percentile for both categories. Dr. Harris said that you are a strong baby with good muscle tone and that you might be an earlier crawler. Unfortunately, we did learn that you have a heart murmur and a weak left eye muscle. It is hard to hear that your baby is not totally healthy but Dr. Harris said that we check these things at your six month visit and that there is a good chance that you will grow out of them. You got a second round of immunizations and they seemed to be harder on you this go around, you cried a lot in the doctor's office and then you were miserable in the afternoon at home.

You are so much more alert and active then you were at 3 months. You learned how to roll from your stomach to your back and are working on rolling the other way. You can sit up supported and can even sit alone for a couple of seconds before you start to wiggle and lose your balance. Speaking of wiggling, oh my goodness, do you ever squirm! You squirm when we hold you which can be hard when I am trying to make to a bottle and hold you. Your limbs are pretty much moving all the time whether you are sitting or laying on the floor. We tried to feed you baby cereal but you would have none of it. You pursed your lips together so hard that I couldn't even get the spoon in your mouth and then every time you licked your lips you would start gagging like the taste of the cereal was the WORST thing that you had ever experienced (and maybe so far it is!)

This last month your Grandma Pat, Uncle Kevin, and Cousins Brando, Cole and Grant came out to see you. You did a lot of hiking with them and loved every minute of being outside. Your cousins were good at entertaining you. You loved the attention and watching the big boys run around. You also met Naisha, one of mommy's best friends we took you shopping and hung out with you at the house while you decided to be miserable from the shots that you received on Monday.

I always say this but, I can't believe how much you are growing. A couple of nights ago I was looking at you while you slept in your crib in your fuzzy green dinasour pajama's and I realized that you are starting to look like such a little boy. Sometimes as I am getting you ready for a bath or dressing you for the day we just stare into each others eyes and smile. These are my favorite moments, the ones where it is only you and I in the world, no other distractions.

I will love you always,



Mommy

Wow!

What is it about this picture that is so striking? Is it the look in the babies eyes, or maybe that he seems to truly be participating in such a deep ritual?

It really makes me think about how Brian and I are approaching religion with Garrett. We have started to go to church regularly and have even joined a small group. Joining a church is something that we have talked about doing since we started dating but having Garrett and wanting him to be brought up in a church is what really kicked us into gear. However, I have always though of it as something that we are doing so that when he is "old enough" he will be able to participate and to gain and learn from the experience. Seeing this picture though makes me think, is that the wrong way to approach it? Is religion something that from the beginning we should teach him to participate in?

A bone to pick with Martha

I like Martha Stewart in the sense that I like her magazine and the home design and DIY projects that she is always doing. I mean don't we all wish that we could have a beautiful craft room and were able to decorate our house exactly how we wanted? Oh and garden, cook, decorate, craft, entertain and still have the time to send homemade Christmas cards to everyone that we ever knew?

Here is the thing about Martha though, she doesn't do it herself. She has a whole cooperation that manages her houses and gardens, tells her what crafts to do for shows and articles, designers who set up and organize her craft room, staff that decorates her house(s) for holidays and arrange her dinner parties, cooks that cook for her. Oh, not to mention unlimited funds to use to do all of this.

I cannot keep flowers/plants alive, barely ever get dinner on the table these days for us non-the-less guests, and definitely do not have the funds to decorate my house to the nine's for every holiday or even the funds to do fun crafty stuff.

What I am saying is Martha is great and all but she is a fake, NO one can be that good all by themself!

Randomness

I have a whole bunch of random thoughts rolling around in my head but I can not seem to make a whole post so here is a whole bunch of randomness:

1. I had the last five days off, it was heaven.
2. I really don't mind my job, I just mind not being home with Garrett.
3. Garrett figured out how to roll from his stomach to his back this weekend. He now wants nothing to do with tummy time.
4. Last year on October 3rd I found out I was pregnant! So much has changed in one year!
5. Speaking of things that have or haven't happened in a year, I am getting Miss. P for the first time since last September...please just kill me now, it hurts!
6. My mom is coming on Friday to watch Garrett because his daycare is closed, it will be fun to have her around for a couple of days.
7. Brian's mom, brother and sister-in-law and their boys are coming out next weekend, we can't wait to see them!
8. Garrett found out how to make noise and "talk" loud, he is now the loudest and most talkative person in our house.
9. I need some good mom friends, well actually we just need another couple to be friends with. Our good friends moved to Kalispell in August and we are really missing their company.
10. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will have some good news about stuff at work!