Baby shower...

This past Saturday my family threw Colin and me a baby shower!  It was so much fun!  I got to see [almost] all the girls in my family, and we had such a great time!!  I also finally got to meet the newest addition!  Ava!  She is three months old now! 

The cake was really cute... it was a baby crawling under a blanket.

My cousin, Lindsay, got this sweet piggy bank!  I love it!  She even already had some money in it! =)

The shower was held at my parents house.  The duck in the back is a tub, and they filled it with blue punch and little yellow bath duckies!  Suzi was VERY interested in the duck - especially after she heard it quack!  (when you squeeze his beak he quacks!  haha)

Here is all of my lovely hostesses, and my mom of course!

(my aunts Ann and Mary, sister-in-law Kailey, cousin Lindsay, Me, cousin Christine, and my mom).

For the past few weeks, Lindsay has been talking about a "surprise gift" that she had planned.  She kept saying how all of them (everyone that hosted the party) bought different things for it, and she hoped it turned out good, etc.  It was driving me crazy to know what it was!  Well... here it is!

A diaper cake!  And I think it had everything possible on it!  Clothes, bibs, socks, medicines, brush, pacifiers, TONS of stuff!!  I was amazed!  Not to mention all the diapers rolled up in there!  It was very impressive! 

I was so excited to see some of my friends that I hadn't seen in a LONG time!  Here is me and Cayce - we met around the same time that Garet and I met... we all worked at a restaurant together.

I didn't get too many pictures of me opening gifts, but I did get a few... Kailey got some of the cutest onesies!  She gave Colin a firefigher one (my dad is a retired fireman), and two Marine ones!  ADORABLE!  This one says, "My Uncle is A MARINE" - can't wait to see Eric with Colin wearing this!!

Garet's mom also sent a couple gifts... this is a blanket that she made!  Isn't it beautiful?!  Everyone had to get a close up look at it to see how she did it!  I just love it!

I hate that I didn't get a picture of everyone!  Maybe someone else has some on their camera!  I did manage to grab my friend Andrea before she left!  I've known Andrea since 9th grade, and like everyone else, it's been way too long since I'd seen her!

I had so much fun!  And I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!  Colin is going to be one loved little boy!

Charlotte...

We got to Charlotte about midnight on Friday, and Saturday morning we celebrated a birthday!!

I think my favorite gift that Garet got was from my parents... it was a "diaper kit"

Included was: diapers, gloves, glasses, a mask, and a clothes pin that says "Nose Clip".  hahaha!  Perfect!  We'll see if he really gets this done up to change Colin's diapers!

A few weeks ago I was talking to my dad and he told me he bought a few new toys...  a sailboat and a dune buggy!!!  I, of course, had to go for a ride in the dune buggy! 

It was so much fun!  Not bumpy at all (thank goodness!  I don't know if I could have handled that!)  And it feels like you're going SO fast!  I think cause you can feel the wind all around you.  Plus it's cute =)

Garet went to play golf with a few of his friends that still live in the area... he [conveniently] made the tee off time for 2:03.... the baby shower started at 2:00. 

I'll have to do a seperate post on the shower - which was wonderful!!

The big 3-0...

No, not me =)
This guy

My awesome husband turns 30 today!!  We are in Charlotte celebrating! ...Well, I am having a baby shower, and Garet is going golfing with some of his college friends that still live in this area.  We will have a big birthday breakfast this morning, and then we'll go out to dinner tomorrow night.

Garet I love you soo much!  I know I tease you about being old, but I do it out of love!  I can't imagine my life without you!  Hope you have a wonderful birthday!!

(I'm not really sure why I write to him on the blog - I don't think he reads it =)  I'll just have to go tell him in person!)

A record...

As of today, Garet and I have lived in Huntsville for 4 years!  That is definitely a record for us =)

You can go to this post to see all of our moves.  It is crazy to think about how we got here, and then the fact that we've been here for so long!  (well "so long" to us!)  We really love it here!  We've made great friends, found an awesome church, got great jobs, we love the area... there is a lot of hiking around here, and there is a lake not too far away.  Let's see how we've changed...

2007

2008

2009

2010

So, we really haven't changed too much =)

(Here is a look at last year's recap)

Sympathy pains...

I have read that sometimes when a woman is pregnant, their husband gets sympathy symptoms.  Well... so far Garet has been the one to get sick during this pregnancy.  Back in March he got a horrible stomach bug!  He pretty much locked himself in the guest bedroom for 2 days (so he didn't spread it to me).  And then the next month or so, he got a horrible cold and was all stuffed up.  Lucky for me, I didn't catch either of these!

If you can't read the sign it says, "Sympathy sickness is wearing me out! =)"

Well we've both managed to stay well for the most part for a few months... and then came July.  First I should say that as a child Garet was extremely allergic to bee stings.  He was desensitized, but hasn't really been stung since.  So at the beginning of the month he called to let me know (I was at work) that he had been stung by a bee or something while he was mowing the grass.  He ended up being fine.

And then last Wednesday he called (again I was at work) to let me know he'd been stung like 3 or 4 times, while mowing.  He was fine, but when I got home he was saying how his leg felt "hot and tight".  (He was stung once or twice on the shin and twice on the ankle.)  By Thursday morning, his ankle was so swollen!

On top of that, he has pulled a muscle in his neck.  So he had been icing/heating his neck while laying on the couch.  When his foot was so swollen, he had his neck all propped up, and his foot up with ice.  So sad.  He went to the doctor and they loaded him up with some medicines... so hopefully he'll be back to normal soon!

(By the way, the bees in our backyard were found, and gotten rid of).

Memory Board...

I decided that in Colin's room I wanted to put a memory board.  Somewhere I can stick pictures easily... I'm not sure where to hang it yet, but I knew I wanted one.

So I set out to make one... it was actually pretty simple.  I already had an old corkboard that I used.  I just needed quilt batting, fabric, ribbon, hot glue gun, and buttons.  I chose light blue fabric and white ribbon that matches the bedding.  The buttons were actually a last minute decision.  I found some green ones that matches the bedding/walls.

Here it is! 

Our first [surprise] baby shower...

That's right!  Garet and I had our first baby shower! --This actually took place almost about 3 weeks ago, I was waiting on pictures before I did a post about it, but I haven't gotten them yet... so I went ahead and posted =)

First off, Garet is a District Executive with the Boy Scouts - he LOVES working with the people and the kids!  He depends greatly on his volunteers to pull off camps, events, etc.  And lucky for him, he has some great people volunteering!

So, every Thursday night Garet has a meeting with them.  A few Thursday's ago I was invited.  They told Garet it was a "family thing" so I need to come with him.  He had no idea they were planning anything!  When we showed up, I saw the cutest baby cake and diaper cake on the table!  It was so sweet!!  They had planned this whole shower/dinner for us!  We Colin got a lot of great things!  It was so touching that they went to all that for us!  It just shows how much Garet means to them! 

I took this picture from one of the ladies on facebook - this was the cake!  Amazing, right?  Hopefully I can find another picture of it sooner or later.  The onesie on top was a boy scout uniform!  And I don't know if you can tell, but on the front it says "COLIN" and the whole thing was edible!

(if you click on it, it will get bigger)

It was so nice that everyone went to all that for us!  We got lots of great items: Clothes, diapers, frames, toys, books, blankets, so many nice things!  They also had everyone write down some advice and they put the notecards all together for us.  It was hilarious reading some of them!  Some were serious (most said something about "patience"), but some were just funny.  One of my favorites was to Garet... it said for him to always remember to say "Yes Dear".  So far, he's done a good job.  haha

Diapers...

Garet and I (well me probably more so than him!) have decided  to use cloth diapers for Colin.  I have been researching this for a long time now, and am actually excited about this adventure!  (ask me how I feel about it a few months in... you might get a different answer!)  After talking to a few people that I know that use cloth diapers and then buying a few different brands to get a handle on how exactly they work, I was sold.  We decided to go with the Flip System stay-dry diapers. 

They come in really cute colors... and they are a one size diaper (it has snaps so it can fit 7 - 35 lbs).  So they should last him.  We will still use the disposable occasionally (like I know our church won't do cloth), so all the disposables we have already got will be used! 

Anyway - we will see how this goes!  =)

Just playin'...

Garet has been gone all week... to the beach.  I know, poor Garet.  I got to stay here and work.  Someone has to make the money around here =)  HA!  I have stayed pretty busy, so yesterday when I realized I had nothing to do when I got off work, I was SO excited!  (Well, except So You Think You Can Dance was coming on, and that is my all time favorite show.  So I had a date for that at 7)

So... what did I do?  Played outside with Suzi!  She was feeling a little neglected since I had been on the go so much lately.  So, we went out and I furminated her.  If you don't know what a furminator is, and you have a dog (or cat) get one.  seriously.  It is amazing.  I should have taken a picture of the amount of hair that came off of her!

Then I got out her ball.  She LOVES having a ball outside... and so far, this one has held up.  Although we don't let her have it all the time.  If we leave it outside where she can see it, she will cry at the backdoor until we let her out.  (Once she's out she will sit by the backdoor to be let back in.  Crazy pup.)

(Can you see the drool hanging from her mouth???  haha)

Anyway, since I am big and pregnant, I am not as comfortable walking her by myself anymore... after all she is pretty strong... not to mention it has been around 99 degrees which is too hot for me and her (because of her asthma) to walk.  So... I figured we'd burn off some of her energy outside with her beloved purple ball.

Boy did that work!  She was sleeping the rest of the night!  And to make things more exciting... Garet will be home tomorrow =)  Can't wait!

I know I am a little biased, but she is darn cute!

29 weeks...

Wow, only 11 more weeks to go!  (give or take a week or two, of course)  And boy is Colin having fun in there!  I love seeing him bouncing around!  The feeling is indescribable and every time I feel him kick, I just have to thank God for this little miracle!  I figured it was about time to post another belly shot... the last time I posted I was 24 weeks and man I've grown!  I thought I would spare you the bare belly shot!  And just a quick disclaimer... this is a - just got out of the shower/no make-up on/worked all day/just want to put my feet up and sit on the couch shot.  =)

July 4th...

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!  We sure did!  Garet put on his biggest event of the year! 

Every year there is a festival called Spirit of America in Decatur... this year Garet arranged it to be about scouting (since they are celebrating their 100 year anniversary).  It turned out great!  I was out there for about as long as my poor feet could take it =)  They had a flag raising ceremony at the beginning... here are some of the scouts and volunteers watching.

I got closer so I could take some pictures... it's about to go up...

It was a beautiful day!  It was hot, but in the shade there was a breeze and it felt great!  The scouts had events set up all over the place!  There was a bottle rocket section where the kids to set off bottle rockets!  I had never seen this before, and it was quite entertaining!  (They put a 2 litter bottle filled with water on a pipe, then use compressed air, and then pull a string and the bottle FLIES in the air).  You just had to be careful walking by because the bottles sometimes got out of control!!

There was also a station where the kids could make little boats then race them in water (by blowing them)... Garet and I both made a boat, and then I recruited one of the scouts to race mine against Garet.

I think Garet's ended up winning - but it was close.  Can you guess which one is Garet's? 

I think my favorite station was the one that had food =)  This guy was amazing!  He was cooking everything in dutch ovens!  He had: chili, apple pie, chocolate cake with cherries, something that I don't know what it was but it was DELICIOUS! and rolls!  I was amazed!  (those are the rolls he is taking out in the picture).

I was so impressed with all they had!  There were peddle cars, soap box derby cars, a branding station, tons of other stuff... and they even set up this rope for the kids to walk across.  (sorry I know there is a "scout" name for it... but I don't know it). 

It was a lot of fun, and so great to see all the volunteers helping out!  It was a huge success!  I ended up leaving before the awards ceremony (I was so tired!)  but Garet got Homer Hickam to give a speech and accept an award.  (He is the author of Rocket Boys - later made into the movie October Sky).

Garet didn't stay for the fireworks there, but when he got home we sat out front and watched the fireworks around the neighborhood.  They were actually pretty good! 

Lunch...

When I was in kindergarten I met Marsha.  She asked me to tie her shoes (she didn't know how yet).  We have been best friends ever since.  Almost 23 years!  We have shared everything!  Last May she got married, and then moved to Texas (alone) to do an intern... she had just finished her Veterinary degree and wanted more experience.  This week was her last week in Texas (after a year!) her husband Skip flew down to help her pack.  Yesterday they made a pit stop here to meet us for lunch!

It was sooo nice to see her again!  I am so excited for them to get back to North Carolina to start their business!  - They are starting their own large animal veterinary clinic!  (Skip is a Vet too). -  I can't wait to go visit them there!!  It was a fast visit, but so great!

A year ago...

A year ago today we got a call from the doctor telling us that we were (finally!) pregnant... just over a week later that same doctor confirmed that we were going to miscarry.  What a roller coaster.  It was after that when Garet and I opened up to our most of our friends and family that we were dealing with infertility, before that only a handful of people knew. 

It is truly amazing to look back and see God working in Garet and my life.  We leaned SO heavily on Him to get us through that tough time in our life.  It is still hard to think about.  Garet and I also leaned so much on each other.  We really grew so much stronger through such a hard struggle.  It is hard to even admit, but God really used infertility to bring us closer to each other, and especially closer to Him.  I don't think I have ever prayed so hard in my life!  And I am so thankful for that.

It is such a blessing now, that even as I type this, there is a little miracle kicking away in me right now!  I am overwhelmed by this wonderful gift that God has given us.  I debated about whether to even post this, but I did, really, because I don't ever want to forget.  I don't want to forget the path we were put on and I don't want to forget how close it brought me to Him.  I don't even want to forget the pain of the wait, and the pain of a loss... it helped me open up to people about infertility and because of that I have met some truly amazing women.  It also helped me realize how so very blessed we are and not to take it for granted!   

One of my favorites:
Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."