A few years back, when I was living in Kentucky and working at the preschool, I wrote a blog post about how much those preschoolers loved to see the garbage man. http://jennamissboyd.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html
Then, this sweet video showed up in my Facebook news feed a few times last week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZcyXkp9Qsw
After working at the preschool, there was a part of me that hoped that my future child would get excited about seeing the garbage man. So, a few weeks ago, Elisha and I were in the backyard on a Tuesday afternoon and I heard the garbage truck in our neighborhood. I took him to sit on the front porch steps and we waited to see the truck. Once he was to our trash can, he used the arm to lift it into the truck and a light bulb came out, shattering on the street in front of our driveway. He felt the need to explain that this happens sometimes and told me someone from the city would come to clean it up. Then, he lifted the trash can again and one of the wheels fell off the side of it. He gave me a number that I could call for someone to fix that, too. In conclusion, it ended up being a slightly awkward encounter with the garbage man and Elisha seemed pretty indifferent about seeing the truck anyway. There goes my dream of Elisha becoming BFFs with the garbage man.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Bernice (and one of many reasons that Andrew Garrett is the greatest).
My computer battery died a few weeks ago, so we bought another battery off of Amazon and the computer continued to work for about 5 minutes at a time. When that happened, I realized it had to do with the computer itself and we were going to have to break down and buy a new one. Since I had a boatload of paperwork to do and zero working computers, Andrew researched some on Amazon and found one that could be shipped to us the next day. He decided that the smart thing would be having it shipped to his school. We wouldn't be getting home until around 9pm the next night (Wednesday) and it would have been terrible if someone had stolen that particular box off of our porch (for the record, no one has ever stolen anything off of our front porch, but we weren't going to risk it with a $300 laptop). Well, as we discussed this, it started snowing a little outside. Neither of us thought anything of the snow and I went on my way to work feeling relieved that I would have a computer the next day. I got to my first kid's house and it continued to snow and snow. I ended up going home at 4pm, instead of at 5:30pm because my second session was canceled due to the snow. I thought, "This is great! I'll be home at 4:30 and have the house to myself for a couple of hours while Andrew and Elisha are at the gym." Wrong! It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes to drive home because the traffic was so bad.
Well, you can probably figure out where this is going... school ended up getting canceled the next day because the snow was way worse than anyone had anticipated. Andrew called Amazon to see if they could have the laptop delivered to our house, but it was too late. They said that we could call once we received the delivery confirmation, but there wasn't anything they could do in the meantime. Andrew saw the delivery confirmation at 7am the next morning and called immediately to see if they could deliver it to a UPS store. He also called one of his friends who works for UPS to see if he had any suggestions on how to track it down. He was finally able to get in touch with someone and they said that he could pick it up from the warehouse in Virginia Beach. He went to the warehouse and they told him that they didn't know where it was, so he would have to wait until they delivered it to the school.
We had another big snowstorm that was coming in that night, which meant that it probably wouldn't be delivered until Monday (5 days later). I had a lot of things that were due the next week, so I tried not to have a nervous breakdown about having to do a ton of paperwork in the span of 2 days. A few hours later, Andrew's friend from UPS called and said that he had been able to track down the computer! They met up and Andrew was able to bring her home to me that night.
I named her Bernice because every great laptop needs an old lady name. I also just looked up the meaning of Bernice and it's, "she who brings victory." I feel like that's appropriate after everything we had to do to get her home.
Well, you can probably figure out where this is going... school ended up getting canceled the next day because the snow was way worse than anyone had anticipated. Andrew called Amazon to see if they could have the laptop delivered to our house, but it was too late. They said that we could call once we received the delivery confirmation, but there wasn't anything they could do in the meantime. Andrew saw the delivery confirmation at 7am the next morning and called immediately to see if they could deliver it to a UPS store. He also called one of his friends who works for UPS to see if he had any suggestions on how to track it down. He was finally able to get in touch with someone and they said that he could pick it up from the warehouse in Virginia Beach. He went to the warehouse and they told him that they didn't know where it was, so he would have to wait until they delivered it to the school.
We had another big snowstorm that was coming in that night, which meant that it probably wouldn't be delivered until Monday (5 days later). I had a lot of things that were due the next week, so I tried not to have a nervous breakdown about having to do a ton of paperwork in the span of 2 days. A few hours later, Andrew's friend from UPS called and said that he had been able to track down the computer! They met up and Andrew was able to bring her home to me that night.
I named her Bernice because every great laptop needs an old lady name. I also just looked up the meaning of Bernice and it's, "she who brings victory." I feel like that's appropriate after everything we had to do to get her home.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Cute Elisha Story
Since Elisha is talking more now, he's also surprising us with some of the things that he knows. When I put him to sleep at night, I pray for him first. Then I say, "I love you," and give him a hug and a kiss. This was our conversation after I put him in his crib last week:
Elisha: I keeess you.
Me: You want to kiss me?
Elisha: Yea.
Then he walked over to where I was standing next to his crib and planted an open-mouthed kiss on my cheek.
I think I'll keep him. :)
Elisha: I keeess you.
Me: You want to kiss me?
Elisha: Yea.
Then he walked over to where I was standing next to his crib and planted an open-mouthed kiss on my cheek.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
2014
It's time for another reflection on the previous year. I'm kind of proud of myself because I just looked at the years that I've written these for and I've only missed 2012 since 2008. There are probably ones from earlier years on myspace, too, but I haven't looked there in forever. Onward to the list!
January: We went out to dinner with friends on New Year's Eve, then came home to watch a HIMYM marathon before midnight. When we got home, I couldn't find my purse in Andrew's car. I had left it under a coat in his car while we were out because he had everything that we needed. We soon realized that it was nowhere to be found and that someone had stolen it, which meant canceling checks and credit cards. Plus, we were completely paranoid that night because someone had the keys to our house and my car. We were able to replace most of the stuff in it, but it was a huge hassle. Elisha took his first steps on his 9 monthiversary on January 26th. I continued going to physical therapy because my back wasn't completely better after having herniated discs that were pinching the nerve. We also had a lot of snow and ice!
February: We continued with the snow and ice. Andrew, Elisha, and I got sick with the stomach flu during the same week, so that was gross. Tom, Andrew's dad, had a stroke at the beginning of the month and ended up in the hospital. We were able to say goodbye to him on February 17th and tell him that we loved him. It was incredibly difficult to get out the words, knowing that this was going to be the last time I saw him on this earth. He passed away on Tuesday, February 18th, and a Celebration Service was held that Saturday. It truly was a celebration of his life with people telling stories about the funny things that he did and family members (Andrew included) singing songs that he had requested for the service.
March: I was discharged from physical therapy because my back was finally all better. I also went back to the gym and started some interval workouts on the treadmill. We finally had some sunshine again, so Elisha and I spent some time outside and I enjoyed the fact that I wasn't in pain anymore.
April: I don't really know what happened in April, so I'm guessing that it was more working and spending time outside.
May: I studied not hard enough and took the BCaBA at the end of the month.
June: Andrew went to John Brown University in Arkansas for a training for his school. He's technically a college professor now because some of his students are taking history for college credit through that school. Elisha and I met him in California because we were going to visit my family and meet Margot. My main goal for that trip was to snuggle a ton with Margot, so I think that goal was accomplished.
July: We went to visit our friends Bess, Russell, and their daughter/our future daughter-in-law, Mary Carol, in Atlanta. We were having "Supper Club" with them when they lived in Virginia and we would basically do a potluck at their house once per month. We ate, played games, and ate some more while we were visiting them.
August: I spent a lot of time studying for the BCBA exam and I worked. That was pretty much the gist of August.
September: Elisha and I took a road trip to Bemus Point, NY, for Paul and Jordan's wedding. We shared a hotel room with Kim and Jenny, so it was fun to have a slumber party with that crew and catch up on life. Elisha contributed the words, "Oh, I seeee," "key," and "hi" to our conversations many, many, many times. It was also FREAKIN' COLD in upstate New York, which weather.com had lied about, so I bought a sweater dress and leggings from the local consignment shop. I found out at the end of the month that I had failed the BCBA exam. :(
October: We went to Jessie Overton's wedding and Andrew sang for it. I made a Halloween costume for Elisha (this was the first and probably only time that will happen). I dressed our E.G.G. up as an egg for "Trunk or Treat" at my mother-in-law's church, then we went to dinner at the Broken Egg. He crashed on the way home from dinner, so I took advantage of the opportunity to snuggle with him when we got home. I also ate most of his Halloween candy while he was asleep on me.
November: I turned *gasp* 35. I studied (A LOT) for the BCBA exam and took it on 11/25. We were going to stay home on Thanksgiving because I was recovering from all of that studying, but ended up going to the Overton's house (a family from Andrew's school) for dinner and the Wall's house (Andrew's best friend's) for pie.
December: We all got sick at various times during the beginning of the month. On one of those days, I ended up with the stomach flu and puked 9 times in 8 hours. I don't think I've ever been that sick in my life. The day after that, when I was able to move around a tiny bit more, we went to a little Winter Wonderland in Downtown Portsmouth called Coleman's Nursery. Elisha was fine with sitting on Santa's lap and basically just wanted to pull on his beard. He also liked watching the trains and the toys in the Christmas exhibits. While we were there, they told us that there was chocolate dipping in the gift shop, so we went downstairs and got to make chocolate things for free! THEN, they told us that there was a place with pretend snow at the end of the street and that it was going to be starting in a few minutes. We went down there and Elisha did some dancing as the fake snow came down. My point is- we ended up having this magical winter night on accident.
We also went to California for Christmas and had a blast hanging out with my family. And the best Christmas present of all was finding out on Christmas night that I PASSED THE BCBA EXAM!!! I don't think I've ever been more relieved about something in my life. About 15 minutes after finding out I passed, there were Christmas carolers at my parents' door. I don't know why they were there at 9:30pm, but they added to the magic of finally being done with that test for good.
That's all for 2014. It started out pretty bad and ended up fantastic. I'm looking forward to what the New Year will bring!
January: We went out to dinner with friends on New Year's Eve, then came home to watch a HIMYM marathon before midnight. When we got home, I couldn't find my purse in Andrew's car. I had left it under a coat in his car while we were out because he had everything that we needed. We soon realized that it was nowhere to be found and that someone had stolen it, which meant canceling checks and credit cards. Plus, we were completely paranoid that night because someone had the keys to our house and my car. We were able to replace most of the stuff in it, but it was a huge hassle. Elisha took his first steps on his 9 monthiversary on January 26th. I continued going to physical therapy because my back wasn't completely better after having herniated discs that were pinching the nerve. We also had a lot of snow and ice!
February: We continued with the snow and ice. Andrew, Elisha, and I got sick with the stomach flu during the same week, so that was gross. Tom, Andrew's dad, had a stroke at the beginning of the month and ended up in the hospital. We were able to say goodbye to him on February 17th and tell him that we loved him. It was incredibly difficult to get out the words, knowing that this was going to be the last time I saw him on this earth. He passed away on Tuesday, February 18th, and a Celebration Service was held that Saturday. It truly was a celebration of his life with people telling stories about the funny things that he did and family members (Andrew included) singing songs that he had requested for the service.
March: I was discharged from physical therapy because my back was finally all better. I also went back to the gym and started some interval workouts on the treadmill. We finally had some sunshine again, so Elisha and I spent some time outside and I enjoyed the fact that I wasn't in pain anymore.
April: I don't really know what happened in April, so I'm guessing that it was more working and spending time outside.
May: I studied not hard enough and took the BCaBA at the end of the month.
June: Andrew went to John Brown University in Arkansas for a training for his school. He's technically a college professor now because some of his students are taking history for college credit through that school. Elisha and I met him in California because we were going to visit my family and meet Margot. My main goal for that trip was to snuggle a ton with Margot, so I think that goal was accomplished.
July: We went to visit our friends Bess, Russell, and their daughter/our future daughter-in-law, Mary Carol, in Atlanta. We were having "Supper Club" with them when they lived in Virginia and we would basically do a potluck at their house once per month. We ate, played games, and ate some more while we were visiting them.
August: I spent a lot of time studying for the BCBA exam and I worked. That was pretty much the gist of August.
September: Elisha and I took a road trip to Bemus Point, NY, for Paul and Jordan's wedding. We shared a hotel room with Kim and Jenny, so it was fun to have a slumber party with that crew and catch up on life. Elisha contributed the words, "Oh, I seeee," "key," and "hi" to our conversations many, many, many times. It was also FREAKIN' COLD in upstate New York, which weather.com had lied about, so I bought a sweater dress and leggings from the local consignment shop. I found out at the end of the month that I had failed the BCBA exam. :(
October: We went to Jessie Overton's wedding and Andrew sang for it. I made a Halloween costume for Elisha (this was the first and probably only time that will happen). I dressed our E.G.G. up as an egg for "Trunk or Treat" at my mother-in-law's church, then we went to dinner at the Broken Egg. He crashed on the way home from dinner, so I took advantage of the opportunity to snuggle with him when we got home. I also ate most of his Halloween candy while he was asleep on me.
November: I turned *gasp* 35. I studied (A LOT) for the BCBA exam and took it on 11/25. We were going to stay home on Thanksgiving because I was recovering from all of that studying, but ended up going to the Overton's house (a family from Andrew's school) for dinner and the Wall's house (Andrew's best friend's) for pie.
December: We all got sick at various times during the beginning of the month. On one of those days, I ended up with the stomach flu and puked 9 times in 8 hours. I don't think I've ever been that sick in my life. The day after that, when I was able to move around a tiny bit more, we went to a little Winter Wonderland in Downtown Portsmouth called Coleman's Nursery. Elisha was fine with sitting on Santa's lap and basically just wanted to pull on his beard. He also liked watching the trains and the toys in the Christmas exhibits. While we were there, they told us that there was chocolate dipping in the gift shop, so we went downstairs and got to make chocolate things for free! THEN, they told us that there was a place with pretend snow at the end of the street and that it was going to be starting in a few minutes. We went down there and Elisha did some dancing as the fake snow came down. My point is- we ended up having this magical winter night on accident.
We also went to California for Christmas and had a blast hanging out with my family. And the best Christmas present of all was finding out on Christmas night that I PASSED THE BCBA EXAM!!! I don't think I've ever been more relieved about something in my life. About 15 minutes after finding out I passed, there were Christmas carolers at my parents' door. I don't know why they were there at 9:30pm, but they added to the magic of finally being done with that test for good.
That's all for 2014. It started out pretty bad and ended up fantastic. I'm looking forward to what the New Year will bring!
Friday, June 20, 2014
My Most Embarrassing Moment(s)
I was thinking about my most embarrassing moments the other day and decided to blog about them. There were 4 that I could think of off the top of my head. Two of them were truly mortifying and the other two just made for good stories.
We'll start with the mortifying:
1) I borrowed a friend's car to take Jeff, Emily, and Eiley to the airport when they were moving back to CA. On my way back from the airport, one of the tires blew out and I TOTALED HER CAR. I just kept shouting, "NONONONONONONONO!" as it was happening and continued to shout it once I was stopped on the other side of the freeway and facing oncoming traffic. There were some wonderful people who saw what had happened and came over to check on me... all I could say was, "It's not my car!!!" It all ended up working out because she got the same amount of money back that she had paid for the car, but still... no one wants to total someone else's car.
2) While volunteering in Kentucky, we had many volunteers who came to live in our house. The majority of them were nice, or at least tolerable. There was one, though, who also volunteered at the preschool with Miss Kim and me. I had zero patience for her. One day, we all went to get into the van after a long day of working with preschoolers. I got into the driver's seat and closed my door. I heard a howl from the back where this other volunteer was climbing in and immediately opened my door. It turns out that she had grabbed onto the driver's side when she was getting into the van, instead of the part in the back of the van where the door slides. I had slammed the door on her hand! It ended up that there was a big cut in the middle of it and she spent the rest of her time complaining about how she couldn't do anything because it hurt so badly.
The funny ones:
3) When I was going into the 7th grade, we had a new potential youth pastor at our church. Most of my immediate and extended family went to the same church, so my Grandma invited the prospective youth pastor over for my dad's birthday lunch. I was enjoying the wonderful roast lunch that she had prepared until a piece of it got stuck in my throat. I had some trouble swallowing it and ended up puking all over my plate. My poor dad- he's okay with most things except loose teeth and vomit. What a way to make a first impression on the youth pastor!
4) While working at Blockbuster Video back in the day, I was recovering from a cold of some sort. I had that lingering cough that is sometimes impossible to stop without water. As I was helping a customer at checkout, I started coughing as I told him when the movie was due. It wouldn't stop and I started to reach for my water. Then it stopped as soon as I went for the water and I thought I could just wait until I finished with the checkout. I started to cough again and the guy said, "It's okay. Just drink the water." I started to drink it, but I ended up coughing again and spraying water all over the guy, just as if he were seeing Shamu at Sea World. He was a great sport and told me, "That's the funniest thing that's happened to me all day!"
We'll start with the mortifying:
1) I borrowed a friend's car to take Jeff, Emily, and Eiley to the airport when they were moving back to CA. On my way back from the airport, one of the tires blew out and I TOTALED HER CAR. I just kept shouting, "NONONONONONONONO!" as it was happening and continued to shout it once I was stopped on the other side of the freeway and facing oncoming traffic. There were some wonderful people who saw what had happened and came over to check on me... all I could say was, "It's not my car!!!" It all ended up working out because she got the same amount of money back that she had paid for the car, but still... no one wants to total someone else's car.
2) While volunteering in Kentucky, we had many volunteers who came to live in our house. The majority of them were nice, or at least tolerable. There was one, though, who also volunteered at the preschool with Miss Kim and me. I had zero patience for her. One day, we all went to get into the van after a long day of working with preschoolers. I got into the driver's seat and closed my door. I heard a howl from the back where this other volunteer was climbing in and immediately opened my door. It turns out that she had grabbed onto the driver's side when she was getting into the van, instead of the part in the back of the van where the door slides. I had slammed the door on her hand! It ended up that there was a big cut in the middle of it and she spent the rest of her time complaining about how she couldn't do anything because it hurt so badly.
The funny ones:
3) When I was going into the 7th grade, we had a new potential youth pastor at our church. Most of my immediate and extended family went to the same church, so my Grandma invited the prospective youth pastor over for my dad's birthday lunch. I was enjoying the wonderful roast lunch that she had prepared until a piece of it got stuck in my throat. I had some trouble swallowing it and ended up puking all over my plate. My poor dad- he's okay with most things except loose teeth and vomit. What a way to make a first impression on the youth pastor!
4) While working at Blockbuster Video back in the day, I was recovering from a cold of some sort. I had that lingering cough that is sometimes impossible to stop without water. As I was helping a customer at checkout, I started coughing as I told him when the movie was due. It wouldn't stop and I started to reach for my water. Then it stopped as soon as I went for the water and I thought I could just wait until I finished with the checkout. I started to cough again and the guy said, "It's okay. Just drink the water." I started to drink it, but I ended up coughing again and spraying water all over the guy, just as if he were seeing Shamu at Sea World. He was a great sport and told me, "That's the funniest thing that's happened to me all day!"
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Happy 9 Monthiversary, Elisha
Dear Elisha,
You are 9 months old today, which means that you have been out in the world for the same amount of time that you were in my belly. How crazy to think that the time I spent waiting for you is now the same as the time that I've actually known you! I must say that the time spent with you has gone by WAY faster than the waiting for you did. People say that babies grow up so fast and it really is true. Here are some of the things that I love about YOU:
- You're such a happy little guy. You pretty much only cry anymore when you're tired or hungry. Or when you fall down and hit your head.
- You love to sleep. Thank goodness, because I'm a big fan of it myself. I greatly appreciate that your wake-up time is around 7am.
- You know how to entertain yourself. There are times when we will put you in your crib with your toys because we need to get things done around the house. We'll hear you babbling away in there and know that you're perfectly content.
- I'm pretty sure that you're going to be an extravert. I don't think that you'll be one in the loud-mouthed, life of the party type of way, but I think that you get your energy from other people. I've seen you light up when you get to see your little friends at the babysitter's and get all excited when we're at a basketball game. I've also seen you being quiet when we're out in public, but then we get you home and you babble twice as much as usual.
- I love giving you new foods to eat. You always look disgusted when you take the first bite, but then you end up eating the rest of what I give to you. Except green beans with rice. You hated that stuff and I gave up halfway through since you haven't been picky about anything else.
- I love the way that you look at your daddy and me. There are times that you'll just be staring at one of us and grinning. I know this is what babies do, but it's really special since you're our baby.
- Speaking of your daddy, I love watching him with you. He's SO proud of you and it makes my heart swell when I see the two of you playing on the floor or just hanging out on the bed.
- One thing that I could do without: your hatred of snuggling. I've gotten to snuggle with you 5 times in the past month. Four of those times were on the same day because you were very sick and only wanted to be held. One of my main reasons for having a baby was the unlimited amount of snuggling available. You went ahead and ruined that plan for me.
- I do appreciate your squirminess, though. You weren't a very active fetus, so I thought that meant you'd be pretty mellow outside of the womb. Your personality is pretty laidback, but you sure did trick me with the amount that you like to move around. You were getting out of your little swaddling bag at 2 weeks old, rolling onto your stomach at 3 months... now you're cruising and taking 1 step at a time before falling down. You're always on the go and this has been very surprising to me.
In conclusion, I have loved getting to know you during the past 9 months and I can't wait to learn more about you as you grow up!
You are 9 months old today, which means that you have been out in the world for the same amount of time that you were in my belly. How crazy to think that the time I spent waiting for you is now the same as the time that I've actually known you! I must say that the time spent with you has gone by WAY faster than the waiting for you did. People say that babies grow up so fast and it really is true. Here are some of the things that I love about YOU:
- You're such a happy little guy. You pretty much only cry anymore when you're tired or hungry. Or when you fall down and hit your head.
- You love to sleep. Thank goodness, because I'm a big fan of it myself. I greatly appreciate that your wake-up time is around 7am.
- You know how to entertain yourself. There are times when we will put you in your crib with your toys because we need to get things done around the house. We'll hear you babbling away in there and know that you're perfectly content.
- I'm pretty sure that you're going to be an extravert. I don't think that you'll be one in the loud-mouthed, life of the party type of way, but I think that you get your energy from other people. I've seen you light up when you get to see your little friends at the babysitter's and get all excited when we're at a basketball game. I've also seen you being quiet when we're out in public, but then we get you home and you babble twice as much as usual.
- I love giving you new foods to eat. You always look disgusted when you take the first bite, but then you end up eating the rest of what I give to you. Except green beans with rice. You hated that stuff and I gave up halfway through since you haven't been picky about anything else.
- I love the way that you look at your daddy and me. There are times that you'll just be staring at one of us and grinning. I know this is what babies do, but it's really special since you're our baby.
- Speaking of your daddy, I love watching him with you. He's SO proud of you and it makes my heart swell when I see the two of you playing on the floor or just hanging out on the bed.
- One thing that I could do without: your hatred of snuggling. I've gotten to snuggle with you 5 times in the past month. Four of those times were on the same day because you were very sick and only wanted to be held. One of my main reasons for having a baby was the unlimited amount of snuggling available. You went ahead and ruined that plan for me.
- I do appreciate your squirminess, though. You weren't a very active fetus, so I thought that meant you'd be pretty mellow outside of the womb. Your personality is pretty laidback, but you sure did trick me with the amount that you like to move around. You were getting out of your little swaddling bag at 2 weeks old, rolling onto your stomach at 3 months... now you're cruising and taking 1 step at a time before falling down. You're always on the go and this has been very surprising to me.
In conclusion, I have loved getting to know you during the past 9 months and I can't wait to learn more about you as you grow up!
Sunday, December 29, 2013
2013
It's the end of the year and time for me to attempt to remember the things that happened to me throughout 2013. It was a big year, but also quite a blur!
January: Got into a car accident while driving the Honda Civic Hybrid that we had bought 5 months earlier. The man who ran into me was driving a Chevy Silverado and turned left into my car as I was going through a green light. It worked out in my favor, though, because the Civic was totaled and worth $3000 more than what we had paid for it. Since we had only made 5 payments on it, we basically just kept the same loan and used the extra money as a down payment for a Prius (my dream car!) At 6 months pregnant, I somehow escaped that crash with just a teeny-tiny bruise on my elbow and no pain the next day. They ran tests on me at the hospital and Elisha was also perfectly fine. Andrew and I also went to a lovely Bed & Breakfast in Staunton, VA, as a babymoon. It was beautiful up there and a fun memory to make before the baby was born.
February: I think we went to some ODU games and I worked a lot. We went to the Broken Egg (our favorite restaurant) for a really nice dinner on Valentine's Day.
March: Spring began and the weather became ultra-beautiful. Andrew and I got to take some lovely hikes during my 8th month of pregnancy because of that gorgeous weather. I was a single woman for 2 weeks because Andrew was a chaperone for the senior trip to Europe. It was nice to have the house to myself for about 2 days, but then I missed him and time seemed to stand still for the next 12 days.
April: I gave birth to Elisha Gideon Garrett on April 26th. He had to go to the NICU the next day because they were afraid that there was something wrong with his small intestine. He ended up being healthy, but he had to stay in the NICU for 5 days because they put him on antibiotics for a possible infection.
May: Mama, Emmy, and Eiley came to live with us and help out with Elisha when he was first born. It was so nice to have them in town and get to see them loving spending time with my little boy.
June: I got to spend most of this month with Elisha and established somewhat of a routine with him. I went back to work at the end of the month.
July: Went on my first road trip with Elisha and discovered that he's quite a good traveler. We reunited with my friends in Kentucky and it was so great to be able to introduce him to all of his surrogate aunts and uncles at once.
August: My dad came to visit because he couldn't handle the fact that he would have to wait another 3 months to meet Elisha. I loved that he took the time to visit and that he got quality time with his only grandson.
September: Andrew went on a 3 day retreat with everyone at Stonebridge, so I experienced being a single mom for the first time. Mad props to the single moms out there because it's hard to do the parenting thing without extra help.
October: I was in a ton of pain because of a bulging disc in my back that was pinching a nerve in my right leg. It was absolutely miserable and I spent most of the month in bed and/or crying. Thankfully, Andrew has a wonderful parent at his school who has a chain of physical therapy facilities here and he was able to take care of me. Physical therapy helped me a ton in getting to be able to walk, sit, and stand again without being in misery.
November: Spent my birthday evening watching the Stonebridge Girls' Volleyball team win their quarterfinal match and then everyone went out for Mexican food after it was over. We went to California for Thanksmas and, of course, had a blast with family. It was so fun to introduce Elisha to everyone and to see how excited they all were to meet him. I was also very proud of him on all of our flights. He didn't sleep much, but he was a happy camper!
December: Went to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens and saw lots of pretty lights. Spent time with Andrew's side of the family as they came into town. Had Elisha dedicated at Andrew's old church.
January: Got into a car accident while driving the Honda Civic Hybrid that we had bought 5 months earlier. The man who ran into me was driving a Chevy Silverado and turned left into my car as I was going through a green light. It worked out in my favor, though, because the Civic was totaled and worth $3000 more than what we had paid for it. Since we had only made 5 payments on it, we basically just kept the same loan and used the extra money as a down payment for a Prius (my dream car!) At 6 months pregnant, I somehow escaped that crash with just a teeny-tiny bruise on my elbow and no pain the next day. They ran tests on me at the hospital and Elisha was also perfectly fine. Andrew and I also went to a lovely Bed & Breakfast in Staunton, VA, as a babymoon. It was beautiful up there and a fun memory to make before the baby was born.
February: I think we went to some ODU games and I worked a lot. We went to the Broken Egg (our favorite restaurant) for a really nice dinner on Valentine's Day.
March: Spring began and the weather became ultra-beautiful. Andrew and I got to take some lovely hikes during my 8th month of pregnancy because of that gorgeous weather. I was a single woman for 2 weeks because Andrew was a chaperone for the senior trip to Europe. It was nice to have the house to myself for about 2 days, but then I missed him and time seemed to stand still for the next 12 days.
April: I gave birth to Elisha Gideon Garrett on April 26th. He had to go to the NICU the next day because they were afraid that there was something wrong with his small intestine. He ended up being healthy, but he had to stay in the NICU for 5 days because they put him on antibiotics for a possible infection.
May: Mama, Emmy, and Eiley came to live with us and help out with Elisha when he was first born. It was so nice to have them in town and get to see them loving spending time with my little boy.
June: I got to spend most of this month with Elisha and established somewhat of a routine with him. I went back to work at the end of the month.
July: Went on my first road trip with Elisha and discovered that he's quite a good traveler. We reunited with my friends in Kentucky and it was so great to be able to introduce him to all of his surrogate aunts and uncles at once.
August: My dad came to visit because he couldn't handle the fact that he would have to wait another 3 months to meet Elisha. I loved that he took the time to visit and that he got quality time with his only grandson.
September: Andrew went on a 3 day retreat with everyone at Stonebridge, so I experienced being a single mom for the first time. Mad props to the single moms out there because it's hard to do the parenting thing without extra help.
October: I was in a ton of pain because of a bulging disc in my back that was pinching a nerve in my right leg. It was absolutely miserable and I spent most of the month in bed and/or crying. Thankfully, Andrew has a wonderful parent at his school who has a chain of physical therapy facilities here and he was able to take care of me. Physical therapy helped me a ton in getting to be able to walk, sit, and stand again without being in misery.
November: Spent my birthday evening watching the Stonebridge Girls' Volleyball team win their quarterfinal match and then everyone went out for Mexican food after it was over. We went to California for Thanksmas and, of course, had a blast with family. It was so fun to introduce Elisha to everyone and to see how excited they all were to meet him. I was also very proud of him on all of our flights. He didn't sleep much, but he was a happy camper!
December: Went to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens and saw lots of pretty lights. Spent time with Andrew's side of the family as they came into town. Had Elisha dedicated at Andrew's old church.
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