Cereal Socks

Cereal Socks...it's the next big thing!

So yesterday as I was nursing Isaac, Garrett comes over and steals Isaac’s socks right off his feet. I asked for him to return them but … big shock…he did not. I looked for those little socks, the blue ones that look like tennis shoes, later on in the day but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I gave up and figured they’d come up eventually. Today as I was taking care of Isaac and busy-ing about the house I wasn’t paying particularly close attention to Garrett. I could see him but I didn’t notice what he had at first. He’d asked for small bowl with some dry cereal earlier and now he was filling the missing baby socks with it. I guess you can snack on the go and if your feet get cold just slip it right on. Honestly that sounds like something that would be useful to him. I’m not kidding. Also in a state of emergency I’ve used socks for burp cloths, wash cloths, mittens, and…ya know maybe Garrett got his resourcefulness from me.

ps- that's his "Smile!" face, not sure why it looks like a disabled wink. He's just special that way.

A name, a name, what's in a name?

I realize as we get closer and closer to the due date of our second little guy I am asked more and more if we have a name for him yet. And the answer is... we're hoping he'll tell us when he gets here. Which we're hoping is any day now. When I saw our OB two weeks ago she was worried that I might be delivering another "large baby" so she had me do an ultrasound. As of two weeks ago the baby was weighing about 7.5 lbs...estimating a weight gain of about a half pound per week...making him just about the same size as Garrett was by the time he's born (assuming this baby cooks as long as Garrett did). While we're praying that this baby comes a lot sooner rather than later I am honestly not worried about "how big this baby is". My first birth was to a 10lb 8oz child without any medication...I got this! Unless he's 12 lbs or bigger, I'm not worried. I never thought I could look back at that experience and feel "empowered" as most women say. I looked at myself as merely more of a "survivor". But as the time draws closer for us to help Heavenly Father bring new life into the world I am feeling more confident that I can not only "endure" or "survive" the experience but that "I got this" without worry. Yes, it'll hurt but everyone says second labors are shorter and besides, I had the trail blazed by a bulldozer.

As of Friday I am 80% thinned, 3 centimeters dilated and the baby is in -2 position. Any day now we'll let you know what he wants to be named. We have a few names in mind but we want to see him first. I know it may sound silly but a name is something I haven't taken lightly. I don't want to name my kid something that just "sounds cool" or something trending on twitter. I want a name with meaning and substance or at the very least a role model.

"Garrett" means "Strength". Garrett is also the middle name of one of the strongest people I know; my brother. My younger brother came to this world with a strong spirit and I can only imagine the things he would do if his physical body did not limit him. Dean Garrett is an incredible teacher, the most determined and hardest worker and the wisest soul I know. He is the best role model I could ever imagine for my son. My Garrett is outright silly, so stinkin' stubborn, loves music and has a lot to teach me...just like my Dean Garrett. I hope that Garrett will have even half the passion for life that Dean has. Dean has cerebral palsy and will be 26 this month, despite the many professional opinions who said he wouldn't live this long. Someone who rises against all odds and does so with a smile.-Yes, that's the role model I wanted for my son. Even if that name means nothing to others I hope it means something to him.

We have a few names in mind for our next child and just like Heleman we have been prayerful in our selections. We can't wait to see him and snuggle him and have him whisper what he'll be known as.

...too bad Gwyneth didn't listen for the whisper...poor little "Apple" girl.

Earlier Post complete!-Aquarium-ness

So in earlier posts I referred to our time with my sister and our adventures and mentioned that we went to the Moody Gardens Aquarium. I finally had Brad look at the videos and help me get them posted! I know I had more to say about these videos but now I can't remember what it was. So here ya go, the videos I promised without any comments from the peanut gallery.

Aquarium Fun

Cheap Bird Fun

So, we wanted to do something special for Garrett and bring him to the aquarium. We wanted to show him all of the wonderful exotic creatures from all over the world, culture him a little bit, things like that. Well, that'll teach us for spending so much money on the aquarium, he had more fun in the parking lot with the seagulls (the rats with wings...). He'd have gone on for an hour if we would have let him, and if we had enough crap to throw at the dumb birds. - Brad

Brad's Joy

Anyone who knows Brad, knows he loves to catch, kill and/or eat animals of every kind. He is particularily grateful that our current location allows for many opportunities to do all three. As a combined Birthday-Father's day gift Brad got an out of state fishing license and all the stuff that goes with it. He's been fishing a few times and CRABBING as well. This video is of the first time he caught a crab big enough to bring home and eat. He did all the research to make sure we knew what we could eat and how we could eat it. And he loved every minute of it.

Texas

Brad and Dani's Excellent Adventures continue in Texas. Good ol Tehas. Where every person honestly believes that Obama is out to get them, racism abounds and Dixie Chicks are band. Texas...where every doughnut shop is owned by a Cambodian, Mexican food and dollar stores are more abundant than Starbucks and McDonald's than anywhere else in the nation and I've never seen so many Dairy Queens in all my life...combined. And Texas...where the Beloved East Coast Manna of Rita's has decided to franchise and the Little Couple from TLC decides to watch 4th of July fireworks.
No, I'm not joking about anything I just said. I've never met so many racists or heard so many racist remarks. Sad, huh? And Texans really do think Obama has a conspiracy to destroy them. The funny part is that after every remark I hear about Obama it's followed by some comment about Texas leaving the United States to become their own country. How they could and would do it because Texas does not need the US, but the US needs Texas. I can't help but laugh at this Texas pride and paranoia. Oh! And yes, Rita's Water Ice ( pronounced Wuder Ice), the legendary east coast treat has franchised to parts of Texas! We came across one in Galveston! While in Galveston we also saw TLC's The Little Couple on the beach! ( They are really tan! I wonder if they fake'n'bake?) We spent the Fourth of July on Galveston's West Beach and Garrett really enjoyed it. I'll post some pictures now to compensate for the lack of videos. I've been trying to post those for 2 days now but for some reason blogger says it can't.