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.