Christmas Day

Christmas Day came and went too quickly this year! Santa came and did his thing. Hayden must have been a very good boy this year, because Santa brought him everything he asked for and then some. He got Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the Wii, Sonic Colors for the Wii, a telescope, an ant farm, some science kits, the board game "Sorry", Mario PJs, and lots of other little things. Santa didn't forget Garrett either (thankfully, because I think big brother would have been very upset if his baby brother was left out!) And we even got SNOW on Christmas! What a sweet blessing!

We spent the evening at my parent's house for Christmas dinner. Hayden got 2 more Wii games from Momma T and Pawpaw (Donkey Kong Country Returns and PokePark) - that is 4 games total, but who's counting?!

Happy Birthday Jesus - You were the greatest gift of all. Thank you for continually pouring your undeserving blessings upon our family!

We had a great day, a GREAT YEAR! Bring on 2011... could it possibly be any better?

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Even though we have been cooped up at home with a new baby, we are trying to enjoy and make the most of the Christmas season! We have been very blessed this year. Hayden is so excited for Santa to visit tonight.

Our Tree:

The Mantel:

Hayden's own tree in his room, decorated all by himself:

Hayden has been in charge of updating the Christmas countdown every day:

Felix the elf was back in full force this year:

Hayden's Christmas program at school:

Participating and going through the motions...

... aaaaand losing interest:

Hayden and Megan (apparently they are engaged):

Gingerbread House party at Hayden's school:

And Christmas came a little early this year, at least for a few "time sensitive gifts"

Curtis had to give me my gift early, since it had to be activated upon purchase!

LOVE IT!!!!!!:

and Hayden's gift from us would not survive in a box for very long:

"Turdy" the red footed tortoise

Time to catch up!

It's hard to believe that little Garrett is 5 weeks old today. We are relishing in his baby-ness, because we know it will all be over too soon!! Hayden just loves him... he told me a couple of weeks ago "Mom, I could just stare at the baby all day long." How sweet is that? Garrett loves staring at big brother too... he is always rubbernecking trying to find him when Hayden starts talking.

I have realized what a full time job feeding the baby can be. He is exclusively breastfed, and I feel like I am on the couch all. the. time. When he was about 1.5 weeks old, I decided to start watching "Desperate Housewives" when I was feeding. I started with episode 1, season 1 and as of last night, I was completely caught up to the current season (season 7.) Each season has over 20 episodes, lasting 45 minutes each. So, that is approximately 102 hours spent feeding on the couch over a period of 3. 5 weeks. INSANE!!

Now I am going to try to catch up with pictures!!

These are a few from the first week home:

These are some taken by Curtis! We did a little photo shoot at home when he was 1 week old:

Some more random ones from the past couple of weeks:

We had a photo shoot with the legendary Stephanie Fisher at 2 weeks of age... here are the "sneak peeks" we have gotten so far! AMAZING!:

Hayden on the left, Garrett on the right :)

I am horribly outnumbered in this house!

Can't forget about this guy! The best big bro around:

Happy Birthday Garrett!

We are a family of four!!

Garrett joined our family a little over 2 weeks ago. He was born 2 weeks early on November 19th. I want to write out his birth story before I forget some of the details. May be boring for you!

On Friday, November 19th, I woke up at 12:45 am having contractions. Curtis was still awake next to me watching TV. I had only been asleep for about an hour. When I first awoke, my contractions were coming very fast, about 2 minutes apart. I kept laying there hoping they would stop, but they did not. I finally got up and called the doctor and started packing up. After about an hour, they had slowed down to about 6-7 mins, but were still regular. I kept laying back down in hopes that they would stop, but we finally decided it was time to go to the hospital. I had just finished packing the hospital bag that day. We loaded Hayden in the car and my stepdad met us in front of the hospital to take Hayden back to their house. We arrived at the hospital sometime around 3:15 am.

After spending about 2 hours in triage, it was determined that I was indeed in labor (thankfully, because I was in entirely too much pain to be sent home!) I was 2 cm when I arrived, and the nurse said 4 cm when I was admitted. (Later, the doctor came to break my water, and he said I was only about 2 cm, so somebody was wrong! But it was too late!) I was admitted around 5:30 am, and I got my epidural around 8. The epi only numbed one half of my body, so I was in agony for quite some time. They finally came to give me a boost and that was much better. My legs were like tree trunks, I couldn't even move them.

The nurse checked me at 11:55 and I was 8 cm. The next 10 minutes was INTENSE. I told the nurse that I was feeling a ton of pressure, so she checked me again (12:05 PM) and I was 10 cm. By 12:15 I was pushing, and Garrett was born at 12:32!

He weighed in at 7 lbs 5 oz and was 19.5 inches long! And perfectly healthy! We were overjoyed!!

When Hayden came in to meet his baby brother for the first time, it was the sweetest moment of my life! He was so ecstatic. He jumped up into the bed with me and just gazed at Garrett. He kept saying "It's Garrett... he's so cute... I love him." He wanted to hold him right away. It was truly an amazing moment!

Our Family of four - so blessed!!

Life as we know it!

Hayden has had his heart set on a new game for his Wii for several weeks, called "Kirby Epic Yarn." It being a $50 game, we decided to make Hayden earn all of the money to buy the game himself. He earned money by doing little tasks around the house, and got rewarded for exceptionally good behavior. He even made a few ($15!!) from his Aunt Cookie for painting a picture for her. We kept track of his progress with a chart, and when he reached $50, he got his game! He reached the big $5-0 on Friday, and got his game. He (we!) have been having lots of fun with the new game.

I am 36 weeks along with Garrett now (seriously?!) and guess what? The contract on our house fell through! The house we built in Springville is ready, but I have yet to go out and see it because our contract on that one expires at the end of this month, and the way things are going, it looks like we wont be getting that house. We are disappointed, but have been focusing on this scripture: Proverbs 19:21 - "Many are the plans in the heart of man, but it is the Lord's purpose that will prevail." Can't argue with that! We are keeping our faith in God and his plans for us, and we will be patient in HIM! In the mean time, we have rearranged a few things in our house and are making room for Garrett. We are just really not stressing about the fact that things did not go as we had hoped and planned. Everything will work out the way it is meant to happen!

I am SO big and uncomfortable. Definitely to that point in the pregnancy. I feel like I'm disabled. I huff and puff going up stairs, my feet, legs and back are constantly hurting, and it is getting close to impossible to find clothes to fit this shape. I am also getting a little weary of hearing "Oh you are about to pop!" When I reply "No, actually I have __ weeks left." (this has been happening for the past 2-3 weeks) people's eyes pop out of their skulls. Yes - I'm huge. I get it! (Sorry to complain so much there!)

Halloween

This was the first year that Hayden actually wanted to dress up, and he is also passed the age where I can choose his costume for him. He originally wanted to be "Pikachu" from Pokemon, but he spotted this little number at Wal-Mart and changed his mind. I will say though, we definitely got our money's worth out it, as he has worn it for most of the month.

Halloween was on a Sunday this year, and we went to Crystal's house on Saturday night to have dinner and carve pumpkins. Hayden spotted the leaf covered backyard, and immediately asked for a leaf pile to play in. He has been so into the "leaves" and the "leaves changing colors" this season. He asked me a couple of weeks ago "Why are the leaves not falling into piles for me to jump into?" We don't have enough leaves at our house to make a pile, but Crystal did!

Sunday night we went to a carnival here by our house, then came home and went Trick or Treating. Hayden had a blast Trick or Treating, but he was also so enthusiastic about giving candy out to "guests" that rang the doorbell. In full costume, of course!

Old Baker Farm

One of our favorite Fall activities is the annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. In years past, we have always visited "The Great Pumpkin Patch" in Hayden, but last year, after our family trip, a friend and I took the kids to "Old Baker Farm" in Harpersville, and I immediately decided that would be the 'patch' of choice from now on! It has such an authentic feel compared to the inflatable bounce houses and store bought pumpkins at The Great Pumpkin Patch. Old Baker Farm has a corn maze, mule driven hay rides through the woods and they ACTUALLY grow pumpkins in their patch. You get to pick them right off of the vine! This year we went with our neighbor's The Meacham's, and we also brought Alli and Nikki along with us. We started the day with breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and then we headed to the Farm. Unfortunately we lost Bobby, Cathy and Hannah early on, but we enjoyed the day doing all they had to offer at the farm. We had a really great day!