Now I Now....

Yep, those are the new words to the ABC song according to Chayse. She is singing lots of little songs with all of her new words and this one, the good ole ABC's is one of my favorites! It goes a little something like this...

A-B-C-D-Now I now my A-B-C.

She cracks me up. I am trying to get it on video but that is wishful thinking at times! She never does anything when we ask her to! If I can catch it, I will post it!

Finally, we get to play in the snow!

The snow came and it is still here and we are loving it!! Just loving it!!! FINALLY! We finally got above freezing here today and it was in the low 40's with the sun shining!! It was awesome weather outside and a perfect day for a snow play date! We had our fantastic baby sitter Allison and her boyfriend Ryan over today and then we played with some of our neighbors that live down the street! Being that we don't get snow too often here, and usually not enough to play in (we get ice most of the time) we were not really to play in it as far as a sled goes... so we used a garbage can lid and it worked wonders! Chayse had a blast and a half playing and loved that she could be outside for more than 10 mins! It was so much fun watching her actually enjoy the snow! She would come down on the lid and as soon as she was done, you would hear her say "again again" over and over. She is in the midst of a vocabulary EXPLOSION and it has been amazing watching her vocalize everything she is wanting. It is so amazing watching this little girl grow up right before our eyes! We are so blessed!! It was warm enough that I felt comfortable taking Garris out in the snow for a bit today. He had no clue that anything was any different than it is any other day but he has now seen snow!! I took his bouncy seat out and let him hang in it while we continued to play.

We were able to make a VERY small snowman as this snow was not packing well. It was fun to play in but it was not good snow for snow balls or snowmen. We tried though! Chayse's favorite part about the snow? Well, that is easy... she wanted to eat it! YUM!

Let it snow, let is snow, let it snow!!!

SNOW! What a treat to wake up to!!! We got so much snow last night, right around 4 inches and it has been so fun watching Chayse explore this white stuff!!! She was so amazed with it when she woke up to it that she pulled the curtains down from the front door! The snow has brought the cold with it, and by cold, I mean bone chilling cold!! The wind has been ripping and it is cold to the core!!! I think that the wind chill has been around 10 or so the last two days!! BURR!!! We have taken Chayse out just for 10-15 mins. at a time as it is too cold to stay out in. She could care less about the cold, she just wants to be outside! Amazing how much fun she can have with her nose running and her cheeks so red!!! And as for Mr. Garris, while I know that this was his first snow fall, I don't think that he even knows that a single flake fell, let alone four inches! It was way to cold for that little boy to be outside!

Big things from Jan...

Garris is pushing up!
Chayse is peeing in the potty!!!

2010

Thinking back over the last 10 years, life has changed so much for me. I was in college and living the college life to the fullest when the year 2000 rang in. I remember the party that I was at for New Years, when the clock struck midnight, they turned off the power to scare everyone. If you remember, there was "rumors" that technology wouldn't be able to deal with the changing of the century numbers. Funny huh.

Over the last 10 years, my life seen so much. I have had some of the most emotional highs and have also been at my very lowest. The events were big for me... I had two breast tumors removed that were not cancerous, only to have my mother diagnosed with breast cancer 3 months later... I graduated college and then went on to grad school... I started my career in a 9-1-1 center... I got engaged and eventually married... My father was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer and passed away 11 months after his diagnosis... I had miscarriage... my first born child, Hope, was diagnosed with fatal health issues and passed away an hour after her birth... I fell into a deep depression that looking back on, I am surprised I survived as well as I did... I had another miscarriage... I got pregnant and gave birth to my second born, Chayse, which was one of the scariest and most joyous journeys I have ever been on... I quit my job to stay home with my baby girl... I got pregnant again and gave birth to our son, Garris... I reconnected with some of my friends from high school and rebuilt friendships from childhood... I lost many family members to cancer... I help to restart the ladies auxiliary at our fire house... I taught Sunday School at church... I stumbled in my faith... I have loved and I have lost.

Simply put, this was a very emotional decade for me and for my family as a whole. I failed miserably at some things but am proud to have overcome others. I will always have some things that I wonder what if about and I think that this decade will be one that I try to face head on and always stay positive... not live worried about the what if's. I miss my Daddy terribly and I wonder every day about Hope but no matter what I do, I cannot bring them back and I cannot change the fact that they are gone. I reflect on them with love and appreciate all that I learned from them. Everything that I have been through has been a lesson... some that I did not want to learn and other lessons that lead me in my footsteps everyday. The coming decade should be so much fun as this journey of parenthood continues. I look forward to every day with my greatest treasures in life... my husband, my children, my family, and my friends. God bless you all!

Happy New Year!

Stats on a growing little boy!

We went for Garris's 4 month check up and he is doing great! He is still a little on the colicky side but Dr. P says that usually goes away between 4-6 months so hopefully we are on the last few weeks of the screaming episodes!

At birth: 8 lbs, 21 inches
At 2 months: 10 lbs 13 oz (25%), 22.5 inches (30%)
At 4 months: 14 lbs 11 oz (45%), 24.5 inches (30%)

From our family to yours...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!