There's a New Sheriff in Town



(Love those cheeks!)



No doubt about it.....this little guy has taken over our lives and our hearts.  I CANNOT believe it has already  been more than a month since his arrival, and yet it feels like he has always been a part of our family.  We seriously can't get enough of this kid.....He is a GREAT kid!  Here's the low-down:

-Still as big as ever.  At his checkup at 3 weeks he weighed 11.4 lbs, and that was two weeks ago.  He's got to be well over 12 now and I can feel it in my back, believe you me.

-He is healthy, healthy, healthy and a fantastic eater. 

-Hooray, hooray, hooray for me.....I am the envy of many a new mommy.  Garrett has already started sleeping through the night and has slept for 7-8 hours the past four nights in a row!  Let's hope it's a lasting trend, right?

-Garrett (lovingly nicknamed Little Bear) really is such a happy baby and rarely ever complains about anything.  I don't think he's ever cried longer than 5-10 minutes ever, and that was only when he was hungry and I couldn't get to him right away.



-Logan is a fabulous helper and LOVES his baby brother!  It is so cute, and such a relief.  I was so worried about how Logan was going to adjust, and he still has his moments when he's jealous of the attention, but he is very attentive with Garrett.  Whenever Garrett starts to cry, Logan starts to get sad and says, "Garrett's crying, help him!  We have to help him!"  On several occasions I have heard Garrett crying and come into the room where he is to find Logan laying beside him, holding his hand, and singing to him.  It's so sweet.  I didn't know how much Logan loved his brother, though, until we were showing him some old videos of himself when he was a baby, but they look so much alike that he thought it was Garrett.  In the video, something scared Logan and he had started crying.  When Logan watched it, he immediately burst into tears, and started shouting, "My brother!  My brother!" over and over.  We had to turn off the video because he was SO upset and it took me several minutes to calm him down.  I could not convince him that the baby in the video was him, and not Garrett.  It was sad, but also so touching to me how upset he got that he thought his brother was crying.

-On the Logan front, he is healthy and happy, adorable, hilarious, defiant, stubborn, and extremely independent....just what you'd expect from a 3-year-old.  We got so caught up with waiting for the baby and then having him, then I neglected to post pictures from Logan's birthday, which occured 2 days before Garrett arrived.  It was a fun day and we were SO glad that my mom, sister, brother and sis-in-law and nephew were here to celebrate with us.

As for me....I am doing great.  Other than never seeming to be able to keep my house clean for more than 20 minutes, I have mostly kept my wits about me.  Adjusting to two kids has been difficult, but also wonderful.  I can't get enough of my Little Bear.  It's amazing how a mother's heart seems to be so full of love for one child, that it doesn't seem possible that she could feel the same way about another, but it just grows that much more fully.  Anyway, I could spend all day talking about how crazy I am about my boys, but I'll shut up and give you what you really want.....pictures.  Brace yourselves, there's a lot of 'em, and in no particular order....so enjoy!



Logan's Birthday (October 16th)



Thomas movie from Uncle Micah and Aunt Heidi.  Score!

 

Logan making his angry face



Snuggling with mommy

Logan watching TV with my boppy



Logan singing to Garrett





Logan can play for hours with his trains



Having a good brother-to-brother talk



Logan loves bubble baths

 

Garrett meeting his Grandpa.  So CUTE!

 

Loves burying his face when he sleeps





Little Bear

 

Big brother kisses....so sweet....and chocolate-donuty

 







First visit to the pediatrician, 5 days old.  Compare to Logan's 3-day-old picture on the side bar.  Crazy, huh?

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First bath!





Ben's Birthday (October 12th)



He's Here!!!!

Finally, our awesome little man has arrived!  Nine days past his due date and totally worth the wait. Garrett Scott Floyd was born at 6:59 this morning after a fast and furious labor, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs. 8 oz and measuring 21 in. long!  Oh yea...he's a BIG boy!  I am doing great and so excited to finally be holding my sweet Gar the Bear.  More details to come.  For now, enjoy a few pictures.

And the Award for Best Husband Goes to.....

This guy has seriously been amazing this week...above and beyond.  He honestly deserves an award.  I can't even tell you!  Actually, I can......so I will. 

Monday: Ben had the day off from work and decided to spend the day helping me really deep clean the house in preparation for the baby.  Before lunchtime it became evident that Logan was sick with the stomach flu.  Ben continued to clean the house, washed dishes, scrubbed bathroom, cleaned up vomit (more than once) when Logan didn't quite make it to the toilet or a bowl, held Logan while he cried while throwing up, because I couldn't handle it (I held him afterward) and cleaned Logan up again when he had diarrhea in his underwear.

Tuesday: Ben worked a full day and came home not feeling very well.  In spite of that, he helped me plan Family Home Evening since we didn't have it Monday night because Logan was sick.  We had a lesson then took Logan mini-golfing at Fat Cats and had a blast.  Then he helped put Logan to bed.  A little before midnight I heard him head to bathroom where he spent the rest of the night with the flu. 

Wednesday: I found him asleep on the couch in the morning, pale and sweaty.  Obviously he didn't go to work.  He spent the majority of the day sleeping and recovering (I don't think he ate a single thing all day) while Logan and I played outside and ran errands.  In the evening, he still got up to help me put Logan to bed and then we watched a movie together while he was in and out of sleep.  That's when I knew that it was coming for me.  It hit a little after midnight and didn't end until 8 am.

Thursday: Logan woke up at 8, just as my long night of being sick was finally through.  I woke Ben up(who took another day off work to take care of me) and asked him to go get Logan and I finally went to bed.  I woke up just a couple hours later and took up my position on the couch where I pretty much remained the rest of the day, now my turn to sleep and recover.  Ben spent the morning with Logan at the park and took him to McDonalds for lunch.  When they came home he cleaned up the house, heated a rice pack for my back, got me applesauce, water, orange juice, ramen noodles....whatever I wanted, wrestled with Logan, went to the store to buy a blueberry muffin mix (because they sounded good), came home and made them, fed Logan dinner, put him to bed by himself, and put up with me watching about 6 hours straight of Gilmore Girls, even though it drives him crazy.  Then later we watched Harry Potter together and he rubbed my aching back, then we went to bed. 

Friday: Now that the flu has made it's way completely through our household and we are all doing much better, Ben is back at work, out mowing in the rain and cold.  What a trooper.

On top of all that, my due date is tomorrow and I know that he is ready and willing to do whatever he has to do to support me whenever I go into labor, even if it means staying up all night, rubbing my back until his arms want to fall off, and reassuring me a hundred-million times that I am doing great and that I can do it.  Then spend sleepless nights and busy days helping me take care of our sweet boys.  He really is such a wonderful husband and dad and I am incredibly grateful for him and all that he does. 

Thank you, sweetheart.  I love you.

If I'm Being Honest...

We found out in our birthing class a while back that the amount of hormones present in a pregnant woman is roughly the equivalent of 100 birth control pills a day. With such a crazy amount of hormones operating in women with many different personalities, there is a large variety of pregnant women. Unfortunately, I am of the grumpy variety. I am, in general, just plain ornery when I'm pregnant. My poor husband and son! What a crazy person I have turned into. Seriously, it's not good. Why couldn't I have been one of the weepy pregnant girls who cries for no good reason, or during a sappy commercial, or some cheesy movie? That wouldn't be so bad. People may smile and chuckle a little to themselves to see a woman going to pieces about a Walgreens commercial. OH, but not me. I have to be the woman who yells at people in parking lots when they cut her off (sadly true...when I was pregnant with Logan) and goes to see a sappy movie that would normally make me want to go home and smooch my husband, but instead I sit and think, "This is so stupid! And so unrealistic." I nearly snapped a girl's head off at the grocery store today. Not that it's a justification, but today was a REALLY long, exhausting day. The last two days we have thought I might be going into labor because I have had a lot of contractions that get stronger and stronger, then suddenly...disappear. On top of that, Logan got the stomach flu today and threw up a grand total of 7 or 8 times. So I was standing in the grocery store, breathing through a contraction and trying to decide which would be easier to get Logan to take....the pedialyte freezer pops, or the juice, when this girl, who seriously looks like she's 14 with her baby who looked like he wasn't even a year old, comes up and says, "I will tell you, pedialyte tastes gross and kids hate it." I probably could have withered her with one look, but forced myself to smile. Even though I was really thinking, "Do you seriously think that I am buying pedialyte for my unborn child?" I tried very hard to politely say, "Yea, actually I know. My 3-year-old is sick at home and he has a hard time drinking it." To which she says, "Oh my gosh! My little boy just had the flu and the doctor said it is going around right now. Did he get it from drinking formula, because that's how I think my little boy got it?" Me: "Uh....no. He's three." Girl: "Oh, right. He probably doesn't drink formula anymore. Well, good luck." Wow. I think I showed very great restraint. But seriously, I have been thinking about this a lot. I'd like to think that normally I am a very optimistic, positive, glass-is-half-full kind of person. I remember that about two weeks after Logan was born, it hit me....I feel so happy and normal! I like people again! I don't want to bite people's heads off everytime Wal-Mart is overly crowded! It was such a beautiful day. Oh boy, I can't wait for that again. Anyway, well, that was a very long introduction to what this post is really about. I don't like being grumpy and complaining. And looking back at my blog posts, my journal entries, and facebook statuses, I have done a lot of it! So what do I do when I realize I have been complaining a lot? I make a list of things I am grateful for. Perhaps it's just to assuage my own conscience, but I decided to post my list on here. I need my family and friends to know that the real me, the happy me, is still under here somewhere. I promise to limit my list as I realize that this will be a rather long post, but hey....for those of you who know me best know, it wouldn't be true to me if it weren't long and detailed, right? :) If you decide you don't want to read the list (totally fine if you don't), just know that you are included and I am grateful for you.

Here goes:
I am grateful for:

*My family. First and foremost, my sweetheart who is so patient and caring and works so incredibly hard for us, and my baby boy, who isn't even a baby anymore, but makes my heart overflow everyday, and for my baby baby boy who I am dying to finally hold in my arms and shower with kisses and love.

*My extended family, including my amazing parents who do SO much for me, my siblings who are my best friends, and the most wonderful in-laws that any girl could hope for, all whom I love as much as my own family.

*The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing in my life would be possible or have any meaning without it.

*The most amazing friends. Since Ben and I have been finished with school for quite some time now, we have often wondered why it has seemed to be Heavenly Father's will that we remain in Rexburg as long as we have. I now believe it was because of these friends. I think He knew that I would need you at this point in my life, and oh boy, have I needed you. You know who you are and I love you.

*Creativity. I am very grateful that my mom passed her craftiness on to me. I LOVE sewing and crafts. It is SO much fun creating beautiful things and brings me great peace. Laugh if you will, but it's not just a quilt or a picture frame; it is food for my soul.

*Logan's hugs, kisses, and all the hilarious things he says and does that keep me smiling and laughing, even on these grumpy pregnant days.

*Kindness, patience, and forgiveness. Heaven knows, I sometimes require a lot of it.

Okay, the list could go on and on, but those are the basics. Plus, my husband has passed out on the couch waiting for me to finish and come to bed. So, thanks for letting me share. Hopefully very soon I will be back to normal.

Morning Checklist

3:00 am--------check



Logan wet the bed (at 2:00)...a lot, and needed to be changed (including his shirt)---------check



Acid reflux and heartburn no matter which side I lay on--------check



Hips, back, and ligaments all aching--------------check



Fan broke in our room, so no white noise to help me fall back asleep--------check



Sitting on the computer posting random things on blog and talking to single friends on Facebook that haven't gone to bed yet-------------check



Ready to have this baby----------------CHECK!

(Okay, yes, I am whining........just a little bit)

It's About Time....

Goodbye old:



Hello New:



Okay, so that's not an actual picture of OUR van, but I was too lazy to charge the camera batteries to go take a picture of it, and that's what it looks like anyway.

August already?

(Such a cutie if I do say so myself)

Farewell you hot, wonderful, summery July. Hello even hotter, end-of-summer August, and hello single digits!...That's right. 9 weeks to go and counting. We are thinking this guy's name is going to be Garrett, what do you think? Logan and Ben pretty much already call him that, except for when Logan is feeling silly and then he calls him "baby brother Skarloey" (who is a train from Thomas the Tank Engine, FYI).

I passed my silly glucose test, which I failed the first time and had to endure the three hour long miserable test the second time... which requires several hours of fasting and an awful sugar drink that sits on your empty belly and makes you sick, and then had my fingers pricked four times. But I passed. Thank heaven, because....have you seen me eat sugar? Hello.

We went to Boise for a week to spend time with my family, who all gathered at my sister's house and had a WONDERFUL time! We played hard, and my swollen feet could prove it (seriously....elephant feet, baby). Ben couldn't come up until the weekend, so he missed a lot of the fun, poor guy. I was beat by the time we came home, but at least I came home with my new best friend. Yes, I fell in love with a plush, micro-velour body pillow at Costco and it came home with me and loyally holds my aching pregnant belly and legs all night long. Of course, Ben is still snuggling me from the other side...that is a must.

For all the loyal fans and voters, I must sadly report that the band was not chosen in the Battle of the Bands to play at Warped Tour. I can tell you that it smarts a little for Ben. But really the whole thing is rather lame and silly, because apparently the votes didn't seem to matter at all. Despite the fact that they were in 3rd place when the contest ended, neither they, nor the first, or second place bands were selected amongst the winners. In fact, a few of the bands that were selected had 200 or less votes. One band had even less than 100, in comparison with Ben's band's 1700 votes. So you can guess that they were all rather miffed that all our promoting and voting was rather in vain, but what could we do? I am still very proud of him and believe he is extraordinarily talented. And Logan sure thinks his daddy is pretty cool.

Speaking of Logan, I nearly lived a mother's worst nightmare last week. After an extremely hot, but fun visit to the zoo with the whole family in Boise, we were eating lunch at the park when suddenly Logan disappeared. One minute he was chasing some geese and the next, he was gone, absolutely nowhere in sight. My family fanned out, searching the playground, the tennis courts, the nearby duck pond and stream, the parking lot, everywhere...and no Logan. Minutes were passing by, seeming like forever, and I quickly went from scared to panicked to hysterical. Strangers came to help look for him and I found myself describing to people what he was wearing and what he looked like, shaking uncontrollably, sobbing, and hyperventilating. Of course you try not to, but you just can't help thinking about the worst and I kept picturing myself describing him to a policeman, instead of strangers. And of course, wondering in absolute horror if I'd ever see him again. I wish I could have held it together a little better because I practically became useless in the search for him, just frantically grabbing my mom, sobbing and asking over and over again, "Where is he?" as if she could magically tell me and make it go away. I couldn't tell you exactly how long he was gone. It felt like forever, though it was probably only several minutes. But finally someone called out that he was found, alone in the bathroom, pants and underwear around his ankles and proud of himself for having found and gone to the bathroom all on his own. I collapsed on the grimy floor, holding him as tight as I could, sobbing from adrenaline and relief, while he planted kisses all over my face and said over and over with a big smile, "Be happy, mommy." Then my mom came and told me I needed to calm down before I sent myself into early labor. We drove home back to my sister's house where Logan and I snuggled up and fell asleep. I can honestly tell you I have never been so scared in my life. I actually blogged about it that night, but after rereading the post, decided to delete it because it was still too fresh and, to be honest, I was beginning to feel a little stupid for being so dramatic, but I'd like to think I'm not the only mother who would be in complete hysterics at the thought of losing her child, right?

Well, I'm sure I could find more to tell you, but it's now nearly 9:00 on a Friday night and my cute husband is sitting on the couch reading a book. I think I will go see if I can make him put it down and hang out with me.