Another First...

Tee Ball! Yesterday Terrell had the day off so after Garrison woke up from his nap, Terrell put together his little tee ball stand and the boys went outside to play. Garrison was SO excited to finally get to play with this new "toy" he discovered in his closet and I think daddy was pretty excited himself. The first time father and son head out to the backyard to play baseball together... oh yeah, daddy was way excited. Terrell actually had to remove an entire piece of the tee because Garrison still isn't quite tall enough for it, but after that they were ready to play.

Daddy showing Garrison how to hold a bat

Getting ready to swing

Doing it all by himself!

He loved hitting the ball off the tee and was so funny because he kept hitting left-handed. Terrell tried to correct him a couple of times but he always went back to hitting left-handed. He still throws right-handed (which is the most important thing, according to Terrell) and he is only 2, so we just let him hit whichever way he wanted to. Is it possible he could be the exact opposite of daddy? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

After hitting the ball lots of times he decided he wanted daddy to hit the ball and he would run after it and bring it back. Then he decided to pitch to daddy. This occupied him for the longest time and he had so much fun throwing to daddy and chasing after the ball once daddy hit it. We decided he may want to be a pitcher. =)

Terrell had to get creative to hit some of Garrison's pitches...

Both boys had the best time and were worn out and pouring sweat once they came in. Thankfully it was really overcast outside so it wasn't too hot, but it was still muggy and humid. Garrison's feet were so flithy when he took off his flip flops that I walked him straight to the bathroom to wash them off before he left little dirty footprints all over the house.

Here's a picture of my hot and sweaty baseball players after a fun game of tee ball.

It makes me excited to think about 2 little boys and 1 big boy playing together in the backyard in a couple of years. And I've been so hormonal lately I could probably cry (happy tears) if I thought about it for too long. Gracious. Maybe by then we'll have a bigger backyard! Now that thought makes me smile!

First Day of School

Today was Garrison's first day of school for the brand new year. In some ways it seems like we've had a nice long summer and it's definitely time for him to start school again, but in other ways I'm left wondering where the summer went! We had open house on Friday and met his new teachers and got to see his room, and since then we've been trying to talk to him about going back to school and to help him understand he won't be in Ms. Brandi and Ms. Heather's class this year (that seemed to be the only thing he was confused about). He is going back to the same preschool this year, First Baptist, and will on the same schedule as last year (every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00-1:00) but he's in the "Older 2's" class this time around. They actually have a curriculum and units they'll be working on every week and a little class schedule. It's a little more formal than his "learning through play" experience with school last year.

Here he is on the first day of school last year...

And here he is on the first day this year... he's really changed and grown a lot

He insisted on taking his little football in the car with him to school... hence the reason it made it in the pictures

View from the back

All ready for school!

Things worked out perfect today because Terrell had the day off and he was able to help with our morning routine and go with me to walk him in and pick him up. Garrison was such a big boy and went right into his room. Somehow we were the first ones there in his little classroom so that made him a little apprehensive, but once he discovered some toys and books he was good to go. Things got a little chaotic once all the other parents and kids arrived but the little man was so wrapped up in trucks and cars that he didn't really pay any attention to the commotion around him. At one point he even said, "mama, daddy go leave." Wow. If that doesn't say, I'm a big boy and don't need you hanging around, I don't know what does. But don't worry, I didn't let it hurt my feelings...probably mostly because 2 moms standing nearby overheard him and were very impressed. And you should know that I did hang around for a little while longer. Not getting rid of me that easy buddy.

I think I counted 11 kids in his class but I'm not positive. Just like last year the class is dominated by boys... 8 boys and 3 girls to be exact. I hope the teachers are ready!

The only thing that made me a little nervous and uneasy about leaving him this morning was the fact that one little girl had a really big meltdown/borderline panic attack when her grandmother left her. That upset at least one other little boy who started crying and so I kept wondering if Garrison was going to possibly get upset too. Apparently it was concerning me a lot more than him because he kept playing and going about his business like normal. I think he noticed the screaming and crying but he just didn't care or let it stop him from playing. Terrell kept telling me he was fine and we needed to go, so we gave bye hugs and kisses before I had to stand outside the window and watch him for just a few more minutes... plus I wanted to make sure the little girl calmed down and that 10 other 2 year olds in the room didn't decide to burst into tears. Finally Terrell convinced me he was fine and it was safe for us to leave. =)

When we picked him up he greeted us with a big smile and immediately started walking towards us. I was thrilled he was happy to see us. His teachers told us he had a good day and ate all of his lunch, etc. but he refused to go to the potty. He didn't have an accident all day he just wouldn't go to the potty at school. I tried to get him to go before we left so I could show him it was okay and so he could get acquainted with the new potty, but he immediately said no and that he didn't have to go. I think I'm going to try to make him go Thursday morning at school before I leave. Hopefully he'll cooperate and go and we won't have any issues with refusing to use the potty and possibly having accidents. I'd have to say that the first day went great overall and we're looking forward to an awesome school year.

Big Brother Day

Terrell and I planned a "big brother day" for Garrison yesterday and it turned out to be pretty special for all of us. We were torn about doing it on a Sunday but quickly realized when we checked our calendar that every single Saturday and Sunday from now until September is taken. Soo, because it was really important to us to have a fun-filled day as a family of 3 one last time before becoming a family of 4, we decided to go ahead on our only available day.


I had told Terrell way back when (probably right after finding out I was pregnant) that I wanted to plan a special outing for Garrison before having the baby. I mean, this would be our only chance to do something like this (at least without having to get a baby-sitter for Austin) and I wanted it to be a priority. We discussed going somewhere overnight like Chattanooga... but that wasn't really in the budget. Then we discussed somewhere like Stone Mountain, but decided that it might be better to save that outing til he's older and will enjoy more than just the train ride. After putting our heads together and trying to come up with a fun day full of things the little man would love, we decided to stay around our neck of the woods but to combine some of his favorite things into mini-surprises throughout the day.

Ready for our day (I can really tell in my face that I'm pregnant in this pic... oh no. )

For Garrison's first surprise of the day we took him to one of our recreation parks that has a pond and ducks you can feed and a playground. He's been there before a few times and he really likes it, especially feeding the ducks. That is the biggest deal to him. He loves throwing the ducks bread and watching them eat. I think it could occupy him for hours. We had the bread with us and Garrison got to carry it and he was SO excited on our little walk to the pond from the car. Watching his excitement made me really happy, and also lean over to Terrell and say, "Can you believe this is going to be our last outing, just the 3 of us?" My sweet husband responded by saying, "Okay Meggie, don't start getting emotional." There went my sentimental moment. Haha!

Feeding the ducks with daddy

He loved watching them as close as possible... but this made us a little nervous so we stayed really close.

Having fun throwing out bread

After running out of the bread we carried with us to the pond, we went over to the playground to let him play for a while. He slid down the slides about 3 times and then just decided to walk around and climb and go up and down the steps.

After having some play time we started talking to him about leaving and going home to get ready for his next surprise, but the little man thought we should go see the ducks one last time and feed them again too. So Terrell grabbed more bread from the car and then we all went back over to the pond. This time we went to a different spot at the edge of the pond. As soon as the ducks saw us approaching, they swam right over and walked right out of the pond and straight to us. It sort of caught me off guard at first because I didn't know if that was normal or not. Apparently they are very used to people and felt completely comfortable being right beside us and waiting to be fed. Garrison loved this. He thought it was the coolest thing ever to be that close to them and throw them bread and watch them eat. He even fed one directly from his hand... but that made mama too nervous so I asked him not to do that again.

When we first got to the edge of the pond only about 3 or 4 ducks were close enough to see us approaching and got out of the water. After we were there a few minutes I guess the others heard us because at one point we counted 9 ducks waiting at our feet for bread. It was a really neat experience for Garrison so I'm glad he suggested that we go back one more time. =) When we ran out of bread he yelled, "Bye bye ducks, see later ducks!".

When we got home from the park we revealed our next surprise... swimming! Since I'm not really comfortable taking him swimming by myself at this point in the pregnancy and summer is nearing an end, we thought it would be really fun to take him swimming one more time. And we knew it would be a treat to get to go with daddy.

The little man had a lot of fun and couldn't get enough of time with daddy in the pool. He swam with daddy, threw balls to daddy, jumped in to daddy... and only occasionally asked for mama.

I love this action shot of my guys

We were able to swim for about an hour before it started raining on us. It started off as a sprinkle so we kept swimming at first, but once it got a little harder we decided to head home for lunch.

After lunch was naptime... for everyone. =) Then after the little man woke up came the next surprise for the day... ice cream for snack at Scoops! Scoops is a really cool ice cream, candy, coffee place on the square in Covington that is super yummy with a neat atmosphere. After we told him we could tell he was really excited about ice cream but also sort of torn about not having Fruit Jammers (his automatic snack of choice these days), so I threw a pack in my purse and we were off to Scoops. Garrison loved his ice cream and ate every bite, plus got to pick out 3 Fruit Jammers to have since he wasn't going to let us forget about those.

After we all finished our ice cream, we revealed our last surprise of the day... a trip to Wal-Mart for him to pick out a present to give Austin once he comes home. This was a really big deal to the little man and he seemed to take it seriously. He kept saying things like "I want Ausin have ___" I want to find Ausin present. Go to Wal-Mart find Ausin present?" So cute. Austin will also be getting Garrison a present but it will have to wait until Garrison isn't in the buggy to see it.

We took him straight to the section/aisle of little baby toys and Garrison liked lots of things for baby Austin.

We finally had to make him choose 2 things for Austin to have~ and here are his choices. He was quite proud of them. In the coming weeks I'm going to let him help me put them in a bag for Austin.

We all had the best day together and I'm so thankful it worked out for us to do a big brother day. We asked him after we got home if he had a fun day and enjoyed all of his surprises, and he confirmed by smiling and saying, "ah huh, Garrsin have fun". His excitement and smiles throughout the day made it extra special and fun for mama and daddy too.

34 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 34 weeks... let the countdown begin!

Size of Baby: 17-18 and 1/2 inches long and weighs between 4 and 5.8 pounds... about the size of honeydew =)

Total Weight Gained/Lost: My doctor's appointment was last week, but so far I'm only up to 23 lbs, just one pound more than my previous appointment! I definitely feel big and heavy but I was really pleased to find out I'd only gained 23.

Maternity Clothes: Ohh yes

Gender: Little brother for Garrison!

Movement: He is still moving a lot and I can tell he's stronger. I'm also feeling more pressure with him than I did with Garrison. It just seems like he's lower and may want to come early, but who knows.

Food Cravings: I'm still loving ice cream but my appetite is also changing a little. For some reason I'm not enjoying the normal stuff I cook during the week. It's almost like I'd rather have junk food than anything good. I have no idea what that's about.

What I Miss: At this point, it's not that I truly miss anything because I know I'm nearing the end and will get to meet my little man soon, it's just more about reaching that stage of being tired and uncomfortable.

Sleep: So far I'm still sleeping pretty good considering I'm this big and this far along. I always wake up throughout the night to change positions or from a crazy dream but then I usually go right back to sleep.

Symptons: I think I've been having some Braxton Hicks lately. I can't be sure because I never felt a thing with Garrison, but this time around I'm having "pains" every now and then that only last a few seconds and sometimes I feel like he's pushing on me and just ready to come out. I've also been having some really sharp pains on my inner right thigh. They are very sharp and come out of no where, but thankfully they only last 1 or 2 seconds. I keep getting this feeling that he'll come early because of all these symptons, but I'm trying to remember that his big brother was perfectly content to stay where he was and Austin could be the same way.

Best Moment This Week: Having a long, sweet conversation with Garrison about Austin. He had a lot of questions and seemed so curious. He asked about what Austin would eat and where he would sleep and said he wanted to hold him and hug and kiss him. It was precious.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Austin's baby shower and hopefully getting some more things done to prepare for his arrival!

2 and 1/2 Years Old!

Garrison Cade, you are 2 and 1/2 years old today! You are growing and changing every single day and daddy and I are so proud of you and so thankful God blessed us with you! This age is busy, fun, and challenging and everyday brings a new adventure for us. We're loving watching you grow!

Here's a picture of you at 2 and 1/2 and you look like such a little boy to me. Where did my toddler go?? It's amazing how much can change in a year!

Here you are at 1 and 1/2 (18 months)

And here you are at 6 months

Looking at these pictures really makes me wonder how big and different you'll look this time next year when you're 3 and 1/2! Enough about next year though. For now I'm just going to enjoy you at this age... and write about everything that's going on in your life at this point in time.

First of all, you're about to be a big brother! We're approximately 6 weeks away from meeting baby Austin. You seemed to have already formed a bond with Austin because you love to talk about him, ask questions about him, kiss my belly, feel my belly, and even sometimes talk to him yourself! I'm really excited about you having a little brother to grow up with and play with and I pray that ya'll are best friends.

You also have lots of new hobbies and interests that you absolutely love. Since going to Disney World in June, you've become really into the Mickey Mouse tv show and you can actually now sit and watch an entire episode. You love singing the "Hot Dog" song at the end and calling for Toodles. You request to watch Mickey Mouse every morning so I typically let you watch while I'm getting dressed and ready for the day or taking care of some emails. You also ask to watch after your nap in the afternoons. Sometimes we'll get busy with something else and you'll forget or sometimes I let you watch an episode while I start on supper. 2 episodes per day is the limit for now!

Your other favorite things to do at home are to play with play doh or play with ice (I put the ice in a big bowl or tub and you use spoons to scoop it up and move it around to different plastic containers and bowls). You also love playing with daddy after supper. Right now you and daddy usually throw the balls (about 8 to 10 small, soft balls and balls we've collected from high school football games) together in your room or shoot the basketball in your goal. Playing with daddy is one of your most favorite things to do. You also like putting together your alphabet floor puzzle, drawing on your magna doodle, and matching your Mickey Mouse cards.

You continue to impress us with how smart you are and how fast you catch on to things! Your memory amazes us. You never forget a thing! Crazy little things we don't even realize you're paying attention to. You even remember what I wore to the Braves game back on Memorial Day! You know the abc song, almost all the words to the Pledge of Allegiance (daddy somehow started that), how to count to 13 (after that everything turns to "emteen, lemteen, femteen"), shapes like circles, triangles, and hearts, and you recognize and know about 22 of the 26 letters! You are now recognizing letters everywhere~ in books, on street signs, on t-shirts, on store signs, etc. The teacher in me is so excited about that. =)

Your current favorite foods are: Apple Jacks, Fruit Loops, raisins, grapes, applesauce, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, soft tacos (from Taco Bell), spaghetti, cheese, creamed corn, green beans, (and I can't forget Fruit Jammers for snack). We have to wait on you to finish eating at almost every single meal!

Your daily routine hasn't changed much in the past year. You usually sleep til about 7:45 on most mornings and you still take about a 2 hour nap every afternoon. We always start bath time between 7:00 and 7:15 so that you're hopefully in bed falling asleep about 8:00 or 8:15. The naptime/bedtime routine is still the same too... read a few books, sing a few songs, then say a prayer. You now request that we stay in your room "just one minute" after all that before we tell you goodnight and leave.

Most of the time you are very polite and say please and thank you, but we are working on yes mam, no mam, yes sir, no sir. We're also working on getting you to be respectful and polite when we say prayers before meals. You're at the stage now where you don't want to take the time to say the blessing because you're too ready to eat! A few other challenges lately have been brushing your teeth, washing your hair, and you wanting to hit out of excitement or anger. Thankfully these aren't major issues and overall you are just a happy, busy little boy!

We love you so much and know that you and Austin are God's greatest blessings to us! We love watching you grow and learn and change and we're especially thrilled about seeing you as a big brother! We love you Garrison Cade!

Summer Days

This summer has been part adventure, part kinda boring for me and the little man... we've had a little bit of both these past two months. In honor of our summer wrapping up and Garrison starting preschool again exactly a week from today, this is our "summer in review".


At the beginning of the summer I worked hard to come up with things for us to do to get us out of the house. I knew we would both go crazy if we stayed cooped up and I knew I would run low on patience and energy if we didn't get out and do things. Thankfully I only had to plan for a few special outings each week and they only had to help fill up our mornings (because after lunch is naptime!). We always go to the grocery store on Mondays, so no planning needed there, and there's usually one other day during the week that we have to take care of errands... Target, Wal-Mart, Post Office, dry cleaners, CVS, etc. So typically I was left with about 3 mornings to fill and for the most part it wasn't too hard to come up with something. Taking our family vacation right in the middle of summer was really nice and so was enjoying the long 4th of July weekend. Those really helped give me and Garrison a break from the same old stuff.


At the start of the summer we tried out the playground at Chick-Fil-A, storytime at the library, and a trip to the pool as our "outings". Pretty much all of those worked out well and became regular things we did. Storytime at the library was a little bit of a struggle because it lasted an hour, it was occasionally over his head, and he stayed glued to my lap. Soo, after a couple of storytimes, we decided we'd just make trips to the library to check out books and sit at the tables and read.

One of Garrison's favorite outings was a trip to Jump Zone in McDonough. We met my sister there, along with her "kids" from FBC and Garrison had a ball. It took him a while to get used to everything but once he went down the slide with AnAn and Kaitlin a few times we couldn't keep him off of them. Kaitlin was so sweet to go down the slides with him over and over and over. I think he wore her out!

AnAn, Garrison, and Kaitlin

Sliding down! (You have to click on the pic to see their faces)

A few more pics from our summer:

Playing at Chick-Fil-A the day I remembered my camera

Really concentrating on his book at the library

A must to check-out

Garrison also came to know and love play doh over the summer. I kept putting off buying him some with the intention of making it myself. Once I realized that probably wasn't going to happen I went ahead and picked some up from the dollar store. He fell in love right away and I think we played with it every single day for 2 weeks straight.

Enjoying a break from swimming while eating his snack

Another snack break...

Going to the pool this summer was both fun and exhausting. On one hand, I am extremely thankful we have a pool to go to and that Garrison and I could get outside some but still be cool and enjoy swimming together. On the other hand, swimming with an active, fearless 2 year old who doesn't know how to swim yet was sometimes stressful and exhausting. My only time to relax was when he was out of the pool eating his snack. I had to pretty much carry him around in the water because even with swimmies on, if he wasn't paddling or kicking it was hard to keep his mouth above the water. I also got to catch him 20 plus times jumping in... his favorite thing to do. Our trips to the pool were about an hour and a half to two hours at the most before we would head home to change and get ready for lunch.

We also had some days this summer when we were in the house a good bit and just kinda bored. It seemed like we ran out of stuff to do at home. I think we both got sort of tired of his toys because we would pull out something to play with but 5 minutes later we were both over it. We put together puzzles, played with play doh, read books, watched Mickey Mouse, played on his "Leap Top", and did everything else we could think of. One of those "boring" days I decided to take him out for ice cream after he woke up from his nap. That was a treat for both of us. =)

While this summer has had ups and downs, busy days and boring days, and easy days and hard days (at least for me with the pregnancy), I've enjoyed all the extra time with my little man. Garrison will be an only child for just a short while longer before we welcome his little brother to the family, and I'm trying to keep in mind on the days that seem really long that next summer will be totally different for us. It will definitely be more challenging to pull off "outings" for the 3 of us! While I know I'll miss Garrison and may even be a little emotional about him starting school again, I am looking forward to school starting back. It's only 2 days a week for half a day, and it will give me a chance to rest (just a few more times!) and also be productive and get things done before Austin arrives. I'm praying the transistion to school goes as well this year as it did last year.

I'm so thankful that even though I've been getting bigger and bigger and more and more uncomfortable and hot, that I've been able to take care of Garrison and go places with him and do things with him without worrying about being sick or in pain or even on bedrest. The Lord definitely blessed us with a great summer!

Our Weekend

This weekend was a special but different weekend for us. A little while back we planned for Garrison to spend the night with Terrell's parents this Saturday night. They were ready for him to spend the night and it gave us a chance for one last date night and some alone time before we become a family of 4. Even though Garrison spent the night with my parents' back in June, I was still a little nervous about him spending the night away from home again. I'm blaming part of it on my personality and part of it on pregnancy hormones.


Anyway, we met Terrell's parents in Jackson (the mid-way point) and put Garrison's suitcase and bookbag in their car, then gave hugs and kisses and told Terrell's parents a few last minute things we thought of before telling the little man bye for the rest of the weekend. Of course we had talked to him about spending the night with Nana and Pops and explained that mama and daddy were going on a date... so he knew what was going on and seemed fine with it. He did have some questions leading up to Saturday about where Terrell and I were going and if we would pick him up and Nana and Pops', etc. Thankfully he didn't cry or seem sad when we told him bye. I probably couldn't have followed through if he did. I'm always telling Terrell he's the softie because he typically gives in too easily or feels sorry for Garrison really easy, but Saturday I was definitely the softie. I was even emotional when we got in the car to head back to Covington. I am definitely blaming that on hormones! I can't really explain where the tears came from. I think I was just nervous about him being away from home and worried we forgot to tell Terrell's parents something and worried that he would be homesick. Good grief. When will I get past all of that? It's crazy I know. My mom recently told me that once I have 3 kids running around I'll probably be fine with them spending the night off whenever. Haha! I'm sure she's right.


Thankfully I was fine by the time we got back to Covington and Terrell and I set about enjoying our weekend to ourselves. First we rented a couple of movies for Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, then did some things around the house (including making progress on the nursery!), then went out to lunch, then I took an afternoon nap! That night we went to Olive Garden for dinner and came home and watched a great movie. At first we had plans to go to the movies, but when we didn't see anything "playing" we really wanted to watch we just decided to rent a movie. It is SO rare that we get to watch movies these days (at home or the theater) that we were just thankful we could lay on the couch and watch a movie totally uninterrupted.

(We talked to Terrell's parents a few times throughout the day and Garrison did great at Nana and Pops house. Yay! It gives me way more peace of mind knowing he's enjoying himself and going about his normal routine without any trouble.)

Before our date at Olive Garden

Sunday morning we decided to stay in and sleep late. We knew it could be our last chance to sleep late for months and months so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Terrell went and picked up breakfast for us and we ate around 10:00. It felt good to be lazy. =) After breakfast we watched the other movie we rented and really enjoyed it too. Then we got back to work on some things from our to-do list. It was nice to be productive but to also be able to take our time and relax.


Finally around 5:15 we were ready to head back to Jackson to pick up the little man and have supper with Nana and Pops. We met at Taco Bell and ate together and heard all about Garrison's weekend and time with Nana and Pops. He did really good with bedtime, naptimes, going to the potty, eating, and even going to Sunday School! I was so happy to hear that everything went so well and that he had such a good time. Thanks to Nana and Pops for taking such good care of our baby and allowing us to have one last date before Austin arrives!

The little man was a little wound up when we got home but he finally settled down and went to bed. Here's the 3 of us sitting on his bed... Terrell is telling Garrison to say something (maybe "Go Dawgs", I can't remember) and he has the biggest smile I've ever seen him give. I love it.

*A side note just so I'll remember... He woke up about 10:40 crying really bad and rolling all over the bed and occasionally kicking his legs. It's happened before (the worst ever being in Florida when we were on vacation) and last night made the 4th time we think. Based on his "symptons": crying loudly and sometimes hysterically, moving all over the bed, not acknowledging us (almost like he's still asleep), calling for me but not acknowledging when I answer him, it taking him at least 15 minutes to calm down and snap out of it... we're thinking he's having "night terrors". We looked it up last night when his crying spell lasted a super long time. The only confusing thing is that it's typically caused by sleep deprivation. Garrison gets plenty of sleep, so that doesn't add up, but we are wondering if it had something to do with him spending the night away from home the night before because he had a similar "night terror" the night he was back at home after staying with my parents. It broke my heart last night and really scared me. For a minute there I thought Terrell was going to have to take over on his own because I wasn't handling it well. Thank goodness Terrell is always calm when it comes to Garrison.


From this point forward we're going to try to document everything... how long it last, if he can remember it in the morning, if his routine was really different that day, if he missed his nap, etc. We're also going to try to wait it out instead of "intervening". It's going to be really hard but that's what's recommended. I'm praying he doesn't have anymore, but if he does, hopefully we'll be more prepared. After he calmed down last night he was completely normal and acted fine. He drank a lot milk, went to the potty, and then I had to sing him a couple of songs. After all that he pretty much went right to sleep and slept all night.