pictures with see-tah

 

today we took the babies to sit on *see-tah's* lap. brian prepped me before we went in to not freak out if the line was long. he did not prep me for the "you're not going to make the cut before santa's lunch break" scenario. fortunately after L had her bottle, B took G to play in the soft play area. another providential break...*KayJo* happened by & offered to get G some Chik-Fil-A (thank you, thank you, thank you!!!) so that also killed some more time & staved off a potential meltdown.

we did indeed make the cut b/f santa took a few minutes to himself...the photographer only allowed one shot & you were out of there! so...the above is what we got. they both just look stunned, quite frankly. B didn't even have time to get both of G's shoes on as he was coming back. hahahahahaha!

*see-tah = santa
*KayJo = Kelly Jo
*Lucy's outfit courtesy of B. Kidd! :-)

just one picture

 

that was all i wanted just one shot. of me. with my babies. with their reindeer antlers on.

do you know how difficult it is to hold approx 46 pounds of wriggly babies? garrett decided not to look @ the camera, whipped his head around & his antlers caught my hair in the process. the above photo is the best we could do. and these, THESE, are the days of our lives.

it was fun listening to garrett talk about the reindeer. we walked up & he yelled so loudly, "hi, reindeer!" he really wanted to touch them & when we said no, we couldn't, he asked if he could hug them. :-) no, sweetie, we can't do that either. we had lunch @ wendy's after & he told all the people around us that he just "see reindeer!"

hope that you & yours are enjoying the magic of this christmas!

freestylin'

 

raining cats & dogs.
brian suggested b/f he left this AM that i push furniture to the side of the rooms & let G go all over the house on the little 4-wheeler he got for his birthday. mind you, i have to walk behind G & actually turn the handlebars. our little guy knows how to push the red button to make it go, but mastering turning handlebars? why that is for another day.

so we have a wreck of a downstairs but this monkey's had the time of his life this AM. i mean, look @ the smiles on his face!!! for some reason he loves inspecting the 4-wheeler - will just lay down on the floor & look it over. but the best part yet? the way he will freestyle on this thing - so far he rides a) the correct way, b) side saddle, c) standing w/ feet on feet rests, d) knees on the seat, e) feet on seat basically standing (RIGHT!) and f) the best one of all...laying his belly on the seat while grabbing the handlebars & holding his feet up in the air (so he becomes parallel to the ground) while pressing the 'GO' button!!! we couldn't help it - B & i were both just laughing so hard watching him do it today!

my baby loves

 

ah. i just LOVE them.

one of G's favorite things to do is pull the cushion out of the glider in his room. he proceeds to pile books in there & climb up to read. OR more likely, he jumps hard on the springs of the seat & rocks (yes @ the same time) the chair.

this AM he pulled the cushion out & climbed in w/ books while i was changing the bean's diaper. when i lifted her up he said, "mere, baby!" w/ his arms stretched out towards her. so i plopped her down so she could sit w/ him. he started reading christmas books to her.

i quickly grabbed my crappy little camera & fired off a few shots. the bottom left shot is blurry, but i can see the pride in our little man's face (i was praising him for reading to her).

we have a 12 days of christmas book that goes through the nativity scene. each time he'd turn the page, he'd make up a # & then say the name of the animal/people (ie, five doves). shocking @ times to see how much they absorb from what we read/say/do to/with them.

i'm thankful for my little loves. regardless of where this day is headed, i'm grateful that i had those two minutes with them this morning.

stats

 

lucy & garrett had their respective 4-month & 2-year well visits today. fortunately, my trooper of a hubby joined me. & of course, garrett was easily managed & well-behaved this go around...times b/f when i've had them both in there, i have literally left the ped's office sweating!!! (why do they make you wait in that little room for soooo very long & then not put any childproofing on their cabinet doors/drawers? THEN they also put a sign on the rubber gloves that says don't let your kids play w/ them. ha! hello, if you actually came in here w/in 5 minutes of sticking us in that tiny hot house maybe i wouldn't have to resort to making a chicken out of a rubber glove or letting my child wash his hands 5 times - b/c he finds handwashing to be quite entertaining - & splashing water on your computer! i'm just saying...)

anyway! both the loves checked out very well. garrett got one shot & cried for 10 minutes; lucy got two shots & cried for 37 seconds. of course, G's turned into more whining & carrying on. & it was good that lucy did so well b/c the last time she got shots, she was still screaming bloody murder by the time i checked out.

they both did seem to be not themselves this afternoon, though. unrelated to the shots, i think, G graced me w/ his first public vomiting in target this afternoon, nice. not sure what brought it on & he was immediately ok. but i had to find a poor man to come clean up the floor. then i had to grab some wipes from three aisles down to get us all cleaned up. agh...the joys! :-)

stats...
the monkey - 30 pounds, 13 ounces (81%); 36.25" (90%)
the bean - 15 pounds, 4 ounces (74%); 25.75" (88%)

in thinking about their visit today, i am once again struck by how blessed we are. we have two very healthy kids. we have access to health care & vaccines for them. we have clean drinking water. we have more food than we sometimes know what to do with. i choose from a variety of foods when i consider what to feed G each day. we are rich beyond most of the world just in those facts alone. thank you, God, for all of these blessings!!!

G2

the little monkey man in our life turned 2 today. garrett is 2. brian remarked tonight that it seemed like he just got older today. is that possible? that in one day your baby looks, acts, talks like a big kid?

we celebrated today & we have more celebrating to come this weekend! but today...garrett & elmo invited their friends to come & spend a few hours playing, eating pizza & cupcakes & challenging moms & caregivers to keep them all in check. :-) despite a few minor meltdowns (those were from the moms!) ;-), it went very well & garrett had so much fun & was so excited that he probably only slept 30 minutes this afternoon! ha! so much for wearing him out, eh?

but in looking back @ this last year & garrett's life as a whole...for me, when i look back @ becoming a parent, i clearly associate the person who made that true for me - my G-man. having garrett so close to christmas, i remember being so completely overwhelmed that holiday - & the overwhelming sense came from the true meaning of christmas; the gift of our Savior. to know that the Father willingly gave up His Son...that a mother held her baby in poverty knowing that He was meant for more than a simple life. i could not imagine either. i remember crying one night as i was nursing garrett...i was so overcome w/ God's love for me; it was almost like the Spirit was breaking something in my heart. b/c as garrett's mom i knew in that moment, i would willingly die for him. i would give my life to ensure his. it was humbling to know that my Father loves me even more than that. it was humbling to know that as a daughter of Christ i am loved, accepted & treasured beyond anything i will ever feel on earth. that my love for garrett, as compared to God's love for me, PALES in comparison. i cannot even begin to imagine the depth of His grace & mercy towards me.

when we had garrett, w/ tears in her eyes, brian's mom said (& maybe i've blogged this b/f), "now you know how much i love you." & she's right. but now i also know a little more about how much God loves me. & it's awe-inspiring. i do not deserve it. nothing i can do merits it. but i am thankful for it & i am thankful that garrett's birth & his life are what God used to reveal those truths in my heart.

& oh how i am grateful for that little boy & the year we've had w/ him. he's amazed us both @ the way he's grown & developed - into a big brother & a big boy. this past month, we've just seen his use of words turn into sentences...the games he plays (chase! chase! daddy, chase!)...the way he mimics us & strangers (t'giving dinner a guy was asleep in a chair...the man gets up for a moment...garrett gets in the chair & lays back & closes his eyes while smiling/laughing & does his snoring noise - just like the man had been doing a few minutes earlier!)...

the things he remembers - stories, family, friends, toys, words - the way he can associate things now. we are grateful that he's easily morphed into lucy's big bro. while there have been a few meltdowns related to her arrival, he has for the most part graciously accepted her as part of our pack & willingly helps w/ her, talks to her, laughs @ her (he says "lips" whenver she spits up or slobbers & will go & take the edge of her bib & wipe her mouth off). he thinks it's funny when i let lucy kiss him on the cheek & he giggles & says "wet!" and wipes it off.

it's so fun to walk around the block w/ him - who knew going .25 miles could actually take up to 30 minutes. he runs into many of our neighbor's yards & picks up their leaves or grabs their newspaper & hurls it onto their garage door or drops it @ their front door. sometimes he even rings their bell & runs - ha! brian had to stay around the other day to see if anyone came to the door so that he could apologize...fortunately for him, no one did. he has friends that he enjoys - many of them were her celebrating w/ us today - he talks about them when we're not together & says things they have done together or if he's been in *trouble* w/ them (for pushing or hitting) he remembers the discipline (it's standing in the corner in case you were wondering).

we LOVE that he's really into all the christmas decorations this year. his version "mih miss wights"...as we drive around he announces every house, then "more mih miss wights!"...then "mommy/daddy, more mih miss wights back here!" the other night we stayed up *late* (for our kids) & drove around & looked @ light...just for the joy of hearing that little boy yell from the back seat! it's sooooo fun!

so if you've read this far, you win a prize...alot of this is more for my own purposes...my scrapbooking is YEARS behind, so this helps me keep a good *diary* so to speak of what's going on in our lives.

happy birthday, garrett! we love you & are grateful that God put YOU in this family. we love you so much & wish you the happiest of years to come - who wouldn't LOVE to be 2? :-)

about a week old...our sweet pea!

@ one week...we were entirely smitten!

exactly one year ago today...he seems so small!

singing happy birthday to G today...he blew out both candles all by himself! where did he learn to do that?

lucy & garrett after their naps this afternoon. lucy had to wear some elmo today to support her big bro too!

elmo

 

i told a friend recently, "i am just so in love with my kids right now!!!" i mean, i can hardly stand it; all that i feel for them. if you had told me 3 years ago this is the place i'd be, i literally would've laughed in your face & just shaken my head - i wanted ZERO in my life to change. i had another friend say to me once, "beth, in 25 years, do you see you & brian around the christmas tree with your kids?" and i said, "yes, of course." her wise answer, "well then you have to actually have some!"

& i wanted to, i did. i just couldn't imagine giving up my life as it was. fortunately, God knew how to get the best of me...by simply *surprising* us with garrett! (& yes, i know, i know...how can it REALLY be a surprise?) & while i sometimes miss life the way it was (& it's pretty much all selfish stuff), i can't imagine that STILL being my life now. i look @ brian & our kids & am just so grateful & humbled for the ways God has used becoming a mother to change me. oh, don't get me wrong...i have so much left to work... but becoming a parent alongside brian & being given the privilege to raise garrett & lucy has just marked my heart in a way that - i believe - nothing else ever could.

so tomorrow, the little suprise that gave me great pause & trepidation, that turned my world on its head...well, tomorrow that little surprise turns 2. i'll blog even more about him tomorrow, and i really only wanted to blog this AM to talk about something he said today. so here's how it went while getting him out of his seat after breakfast:

me: garrett, say thank you for the food.
garrett: thanks, elmo!
me: no, garrett, tell mommy thank you for the food.
garrett: thank you food, elmo! (hahahahaha)

right, my two year old made a joke & laughed in my face. :-)

roll tide?

 

this weekend, uncle chip, aunt sharon & kyle were all in town for the SEC Championship game. yes, much to brian's chagrin, kyle DID teach garrett how to say "roll tide!" no doubt for years we will certainly be undoing all the damage that has definitively done. ;-)

i probably can't put into words how much i adore my aunt & uncle...their lives have been lived in service to Christ. they have a marriage that humbles me. they have two of the most incredible kids - kyle & katie - who in reality aren't kids in anymore; they're both in college. it was great to be with them, even though this visit was a short one - i would never trade the time we have together. to all 3 of you, thanks for making us a part of your weekend!

the pics above...aunt sharon & i were talking & lucy just calmly fell right to sleep!...kyle pulled some elmo video up on his blackberry for garrett to watch (i love that G's hand is resting on kyle's arm)...garrett & lucy getting some love! :-)

so sleepy

 

garrett's second birthday is just around the corner. i think for all mom's their kid's birthdays are filled with alot of emotion. it SUCH a joy to watch your child grow & develop into an independent toddler, but @ the same time, you *miss* the *babyness* of who they once were. & while i might have a new baby in the house already, it doesn't lessen the way i feel about my baby boy getting so bigger.

his language is EXPLODING (sometimes w/ words mommy & daddy aren't so happy he repeats, we're such terrible examples sometimes!). tonight when we left the park he told brian, "tank 'chu, daddy, park" (translated "thank you daddy for taking us to the park"). you can see how his mind puts cause & effect together now. all of those amazing things - you can nearly SEE their brains developing. it's one of the most incredible parts of parenting, i think.

but the moment i captured above is STILL one of my faves. he looks so *little* when he's sleeping. still my baby. still with his lovey crunched up close to his face. G has always been a great sleeper & while doesn't always nap from the 9-10AM timeframe anymore (he has *rest* time in his crib during what used to be his AM nap), this particular morning he was pooped & would NOT wake back up. he gets to have books in his bed for rest time & that AM he only wanted this fisher price catalog that had come in the mail the day before. elmo was on the cover & he carefully inspects every page, pointing out characters he knows - mainly mi mish (trans "mickey mouse"), pooh, minny (trans "handy manny") & tools, & of course...elmo!!!

i really would keep him this way for much, much longer...& i know...it DOES get better - but right now, i think my heart will burst b/c i just can't believe how much we love him. i love him! i love him! i love him!

lucy's 4 months old

 

every day we keep saying "she's getting so big!" or "look how chubby her cheeks are 'like this'!" 4 months ago this little baby girl came into our world & we are so grateful. her precious smile just lights up a room. earlier last week she started laughing. we've found multiple tickle spots (she holds her breath & swing her legs or pulls them up when you get her just right). when the monkey's in the room, it's all about big bro! she MUST see what he's doing...in the car when they're riding together, when we go to take her out she's generally peering over @ G.

lucy also found her voice this month & if she's awake & not being fed, she's talking - her voice is so sweet & she has quite the range of sound & explatives. she "sits" & holds toys now. moving them around, batting @ them. when she's "sitting" - either on our bed or in her car seat - she tries to pull forward & truly sit up. :-) she loves to play on her floor mat & this other toy that makes noise when she kicks it. incredible how fast it seems my little baby bean has grown. @ 14 weeks she started sleeping from 7PM-7AM!!!! woot woot!!! plus, both G & L go down @ the same time for their afternoon nap - rock my world.

garrett remains mostly ambivalent towards her. he sometimes wants to hold her, but still only for about 3 seconds b/f he tosses her back. friday night we rode to look @ "miss muss wights" (translated christmas lights) & i think he wanted her to sit beside him & see them b/c he kept saying "'mere baby" (translated, "come here, baby"). sometimes he tells her 'no' or 'hush' when she's crying. but he's a proud helper when it comes to putting dirty diapers away or throwing lucy's dirty clothes in the basket.

so happy 4 month birthday, lucy bean! we love you!!!

lucy's first thanksgiving

uhm, are you kidding me? CU.TEEEE.PIE

happy thanksgiving to our friends & family!

this little white party stayed home this t'giving...we were invited to spend the day with some dear friends who are really more like family. they were gracious to include us in their celebration & we really appreciated it! there were 9 adults & 8 kids, so it was a full house & so much fun.

we hope that whatever you did today, you were surrounded by family or friends that you love & are grateful for. blessings to all as we enter this holiday season!!!

our little monkey's DEFINITELY getting into making the *cheese* face. :-) but check out my H.O.T hubby...that's right, girls - he's AAAALLLLL mine!

a whole decade

 

brian, the flowers - of course - are courtesy of you (THANK YOU!!!)...they're in celebration of today...our special ten year anniversary. wooh hooh, suckers...we did it! :-)

so, here's to you, my love...the guy who gets me like no one else. who makes me laugh. who laughs @ me when i laugh @ my own jokes. who patiently endures crying spells & emotional breakdowns of all kinds. the man who has amusingly endured two pregnancies w/ me & catered to my every wish & desire. here's to the guy i love making road trips with. because we have hours & hours to talk (& sometimes argue) about the many things we (apparently) find important. you're STILL the guy i love spending friday nights with. even if our friday nights are a little modified these days. here's to the man who will always hold me to a higher standard. who will always point me to our God. here's to the incredible guy who will always show me more grace & mercy than i tend to show him, myself or others. i feel like my love & my life pales in comparison to the love & life you give & share with me. you are a great man, brian white, & i am the luckiest girl in the world to get to have YOU all to myself.

it really is fun to think how far we've come in the more than 15 years that we've been a couple. but especially exciting to think about our wedding day & how much fun we had. how you had to pay for a groomsman's tuxedo (groomsman to remain anonymous in this post), how our getaway car wouldn't start that AM & when i didn't freak out my mom asked me if i had taken something to keep me calm!, then how your mom DID offer for you to take something even though you were also calm!

how our *wedding singer* kept winking @ me over your shoulder while he was singing to me (if you were there, you know who he is & would find this hysterical!), that grandmom kept yelling "get hold to something!" as we were driving away perched on the top of the rumble seat, that we called my parents that night to take us to the airport b/c we had failed to make plans beyond getting ourselves TO the hotel on our wedding night, or that the next morning mom maw asked me "does your...?" - you KNOW what she asked me!!!

i love you!!! happy tenth anniversary...yours.

redheads?

 

everyone keeps remarking about the amount of red in garrett's hair...lucy too. do you see it?

hahahahaha! ok...so a hairdresser gave me this headband w/ red bangs - it's weird, i know; i never wore it. anyway - thought the kids would get a kick out of playing w/ it. garrett KNOWS that we laugh so hard @ him when he wears it. and now we can't stop laughing in this shot of lucy though...she looks like strawberry shortcake...her chubby little head just sitting on her shoulders - her neck's disappeared!

texas forever

 

leave me comments so i know you're watching. :-) KJ passed along the message, jennifer. this one's for you!

the monkey & baby bean in their warm PJs earlier this week. lucy STILL hates this tummy time, but G's *helping* make it more interesting!

halloween

 

tonight our neighborhood hosted a gathering (that's where we are above)...the kids all wore their halloween costumes - which was nice. b/c they certainly didn't much use out of them last night due to the rain. we made it to 3 houses & had to call it quits.

as you can see, garrett was his favorite character...ELMO (or 'Melmo' as he said in the beginning). lucy was our little sweet pea! last night i took next to no pics b/c we were ToT'ing w/ a few families & it was mass chaos, plus the rain, plus B had to stay w/ L in the stroller while i chased G. apparently we had not explained ToT'ing very well to G...b/c he RAN INTO everyone's house! i chased him all the way back into one neighbor's kitchen. he didn't get the whole "ding dong, i'm elmo, drop the candy!" thing. :-)

we've really enjoyed our w/e, though. brian's on paternity leave last thurs - this wed, so it's been great to just sort of celebrate every day & be together as a family. all holidays have certainly taken on new meaning w/ little ones. it's so. much. fun.

lucy's 3 months old!

 

our little bean is getting so big...such a happy girl! if she's awake, she's either smiling or cooing @ us. in fact, when she eats now, it seems she would prefer to smile or talk to us instead. it's PRECIOUS! this past week she really *found* garrett & follows him with her eyes all over - especially when we're all in our bed in the AMs after they're both up. if G is laughing with B, or wrestling on the bed, lucy's straining her neck to see them - to know what's going on.

we think she's around 13.5 pounds...and seems to be growing well into the 3-6 month sized clothing. she had her first shots this past month & screamed like a 6-month old (according to the nurse), taking forever (it seemed) to settle down. dare i say she has a flair for the dramatic? ;-) she seems to sleep lighter than G did; while she has also *found* her fingers, she doesn't always keep them in well making for some interesting sleep patterns w/in her naps. but we're rockin' & rollin' on nighttime sleep - a fact for which we are all very, very grateful!

in the past month lucy went on 3 trips...TN, NC & SC...of course, she was the star of the show everywhere she went. for the most part, a good traveler, but that first trip back to GA from TN was several stops of getting her fed, diapered, calmed down, etc. but we were so happy to take her to her families & show her off! we celebrated with both families in ways that made us feel very loved & encouraged in our growing family, specifically in lucy's birth.

this past month, i did my first solo stint with lucy & garrett...& i have to say, it went pretty well (even taking the kiddies out to dinner one evening), but i was super happy when brian came back! i am so grateful to have an incredible partner in parenthood...& while this transition to a *party of 4* has stretched us, it's reminded us (most days) that we do indeed make a great team.

we love you, lucy belle...we're so grateful for the beautiful life you bring into our home!

seriously

 

nothing to say, really, besides 'cutest baby ever'!

oh a pony ride

 

the majority of this weekend, brian & i spent @ our church's marriage conference. was great to have that time for ourselves, to focus on our marriage. we walked away realizing that even after almost ten years of marriage, we're still misunderstanding each other @ times & that leads to much of our conflict. it's so helpful to listen to a speaker & then walk away & use that info as conversation starters in a non-threatening way. i so appreciate that i'm married to a man who is so open to *talking* about our relationship & making our marriage better...if we're going to do this forever, we want it to be the best it can be...it's worth fighting hard for.

today we spent kind of recovering from our week. we didn't even leave the house until 4PM! a local elementary school hosted a fall fest. it was free for all of us, so we were in. @ this point, it was more just to let G see all the *sights* & run around on the soccer field (wear that little man out!).

garrett took his first pony ride...he was so cute. not the least bit intimidated by those ponies! brian told him to hold onto the saddle as he put him up there & G didn't let go. lucy & i walked around with G as he rode - he just kept watching his pony & looking @ the others. he was dancing all over the field, running around, straight up to a cop @ one point - talking to him & pointing to the sky, going on inflatables, getting his hair *color* sprayed...love watching his energy & enthusiasm in these types of environments. lucy bean looked around from her perch in the bjorn. she was asleep when we arrived but stayed awake much of the time we were there. i'm grateful she was happy there...making our family time that much more enjoyable! now if we could just get her to take a nap... :-)

 

We are going to be friends

We are going to be friends...

"Tonight I'll dream while I'm in bed
when silly thoughts go through my head
about the bugs and alphabet
and when I wake tommorow I'll bet
that you and I will walk together again
cause I can tell that we're going to be friends."

If you had siblings growing up, I think it's impossible not to hope things for your own children as siblings. For me, it's that Garrett & Lucy (& any subsequent brothers & sisters they'll have) will be friends...that they will love, encourage & challenge each other. That they will enjoy & tolerate :-) one another in ways that only siblings do.

(The verse above is from a song entitled "We are going to be friends" - if you have young kids, check it out; makes a momma's heart melt!)

Everybody's getting ready for bed...our little diaper dandy's!

two months

 

it's already been two months? our baby sweetness is getting soooo big, it seems. we think she's around 11 pounds (according to our very scientific weighing method of stepping on the scale w/ her & then w/o her!), she's already pushing her feet out of 0-3 months PJs, & is smiling more & more every day...even making some *cooing* sounds when you're talking to her! she's giving us great sleep @ night...feeding @ 10 & then sleeping from 10:30-7 & we're moving to feeding every 3.5 hours during the day, extending her awake time; she's still challenging us on naps but as long as we're getting that nighttime sleep, we're golden!

tonight's *monthly* photo shoot didn't go so well, as you can see. no wonder in the early days i shot garrett in his PJs...i almost always shot him in the AM (when he was happiest!) & waited until just b/f bed to get these of lucy. she was just spent by the end...note, the *shoot* lasted less than 3 minutes! ;-)

will soon post some cute shots of she & G together, as well as from our trip to TN! happy fall, everyone!

long weekend

 

last thursday night we headed to TN...miss lucy's first road trip! the usual 4.5 hours turned into 7 to get there & 7.5 to get back home. long, looong ride. being just 8 weeks into life as a family of 4, perhaps we pushed ourselves a tad. :-)

but everyone was happy to meet our lucy bean & see how much garrett has changed since our last trip there in march. i'll post more pictures later, but the shot above is our big baby giving our little baby some love...& brian's sister, julie, is just eating them both up! being an aunt is such a stellar job!

isn't she lovely

 

this was my first attempt at capturing lucy's smile. she's giving them to us pretty regularly now. there's nothing sweeter than picking her up from a nap & having her grin up at you! & for whatever reason, it's brian who does the best job at getting our baby girl to show her gums! :-)

such a mimic

 

G mimics almost anything we do. he has a little monkey that he now carries around up on his shoulder & he pats his back (like i do w/ lucy). he put the same monkey & his lovey in an empty diaper box & pushed it around upstairs the other day (like when brian puts G in a box & pushes him around). he holds brian's blackberry, can turn the wheel, pretends like he makes a call (sometimes he does!) & then sticks it in his little shorts pocket. it's so sweet...& he is now very into hats & if brian's wearing a hat, it has to come off & go on G's head. nevermind that he has his own hats...daddy's hats are apparently WAAAAY cooler. today, he's supporting our alma mater...go buffaloes!