So Thankful

As I have been preparing for Thanksgiving today, I remembered what was happening in our lives one year ago at this time. I was pregnant with Garrett and absolutely thrilled. Greg and I had prayed for a couple of years to be blessed with a baby, and we had just found out we were expecting a little boy. I have never been more excited about anything in my entire life and bought more BLUE in all its shades than I would care to admit.

One day after school, I was listening to the messages on my phone and had a message from my doctor. He said he needed to talk to me and asked me to call him back. I didn't think a whole lot of it and called back, but he was unavailable. I called my sister (who was also expecting a baby and had the same doctor) and mentioned to her that the doctor had called and asked her if he had ever called her. She was trying to act nonchalant about it, but I could tell she was concerned about the fact that the doctor himself had called to talk to me. Of course, I started getting worried and called back to talk to him, but he was still busy. I kept my phone with me the whole night, but the doctor never called. Greg and I were trying to be positive, but everything is scary for new parents-to-be! I kept reassuring myself that if something was seriously wrong he definitely would have called me back as soon as possible.

I didn't sleep much that night, and of course, I called the doctor first thing in the morning, and of course, he was busy! (You would think the man had nothing to do besides sit around and wait for my phone calls.) I explained to the receptionist that I had received a call from him and was really worried and asked if he could please call me as soon as possible. I remember getting up and walking out of a meeting at school when my phone rang and it was finally him! Doctors are pros at downplaying and being calm, so he just explained that they needed me to come back in for another ultrasound. I asked him if everything was okay and he answered by telling me they needed to get a better look at some things they saw from my previous ultrasound. He also mentioned it would be a good idea to have my husband come with me. My heart sank. I remember calling Greg and both of us trying hard to be tough, but we were scared.

The next few days were hard ones. I had just started to show a tiny bit and I could feel the baby moving inside me. I was so proud of this little guy and I couldn't stand the thought of something being wrong with him. At first, I prayed fervently that our baby would be totally healthy and not have any problems. But then I thought of all the families I knew whose lives had been blessed by special needs children and I realized that blessings come in all shapes and sizes. I changed my prayers and pleaded to just have a baby we could bring home and raise. We had wanted this baby so badly, and it seemed so awful to think of losing him now. We knew, however, that this was a possibility, so ultimately we prayed to choose to have the faith to accept whatever the Lord's plan was for our little family.

After a few agonizingly long days, we went back in to meet with the doctor. He explained to us that the ultrasound tech had noticed a cyst on his brain. (Talk about a good actress---I had no idea anything was wrong!) He explained that the cyst could have just developed from fluid from the spinal cord (or something like that) and could have gone away, or it could be an indicator of a much bigger problem. Often times, children with a Trisomy condition similar to Down's Syndrome have these cysts. If the cyst was still there, he would be sending us on to specialists for further testing. He took us in to do the ultrasound, and of course, Garrett didn't want to move in the right direction, so it took him several minutes to finally find the right spot. We were so relieved when he looked at the brain from several different angles and could find no evidence of a cyst anywhere.

It was just a few days before Thanksgiving, and I can honestly say I have never been more grateful for anything in my life. Thanksgiving had a special meaning for us last year and we were so full of gratitude. Now, one year later, I look at Garrett crawling around and I am so grateful to have this little redhead in our home. I'm not sure why the Lord blessed us with Garrett when he did, when so many others are suffering. I have been so touched and humbled as I have read other people's blogs and seen the tragedy and heartache so many are experiencing. I know trials are a part of life and our family will be blessed with our fair share, but regardless of what life brings, I am hoping we will choose to always be grateful for the good things in life.



When I saw these Thanksgiving jammies, I knew Garrett had to have them. They sum up his little life quite perfectly!

How You Know Your Baby Is Ready for a New Bed...

So I'm kind of embarassed to admit this, but Garrett is almost 9 months old and for many reasons has still been sleeping in our room in the little cradle he used as a newborn. Last Sunday I was telling my sister how we really need to get him a crib, but he's okay for now because I just wrap him up really tight in the "burrito wrap" and he doesn't move around that much while he sleeps (mostly because there's really nowhere to go.) Just a few nights after that, Garrett started making noises in the night and I was drifting in and out of sleep, but could tell he was awake and playing. He usually sleeps through the night, so I didn't get up to get him and figured he'd go back to sleep. I dozed back off, and a few minutes later Greg nudged me and told me to look at Garrett. He was sitting straight up and looking over the edge of his bed at us with a great big grin on his face. I about died! He was probably about 10 seconds from falling straight out on his head. Needless to say, he spent the rest of the night in bed with us and is currently sleeping in a "pack and play" I borrowed until we can find a crib we like at a good price.

Carrie Concert

Last night I attended the Carrie Underwood concert with my sister Emily, sisters-in-law Mallory and Chelsea, friends Karen, Karlie and Heidi, and cousins Kami, Jan, Marlee, and Marijka and it was so much fun!

We started the night off with a little dinner at Red Robin. (I would highly recommend the tortilla soup.) Our waiter was a cute kid and was kind of flirty with my friend Karlie. He brought a birthday dessert (even though it wasn't her birthday). We all enjoyed the free dessert and none of us complained!

Crazy Mal made them pose for a picture and then left a note for the waiter with Karlie's number on it. The best part was when he texted Karlie a few minutes later. We were all in the car screaming and acting like total morons while Karlie was freaking out. She texted him back and he was very disappointed to learn she didn't live in Salt Lake. He said, "And I was hoping to take you to dinner and a movie." It was very cute! (Karlie was so funny and deleted all the messages from her phone so her mom wouldn't read them.) I kept telling her I would drop her off at his place and just tell her parents I left her with the waiter in Salt Lake.

Next we headed to the concert and waited patiently...

TA-DA! There she is! I have been a Carrie Underwood fan from the first moment I saw her on American Idol and absolutely love her! She is beautiful and talented and an excellent perfomer. She was actually really funny and had a cute personality.

She talked about being from Shecotah, Oklahoma (Population: 3500) and sang her cute song, "I Ain't in Shecotah Anymore." Here's a little clip for your viewing pleasure!

And the highlight of the evening...Buying gas for $1.83 on the way home!

P.S. Greg and Garrett had a super time together while I was gone! Both daddy and baby were sleeping soundly when I got home.

Cute Pic

I love this sweet picture of Garrett and my mom.

Happy Birthday Jan!

Happy Birthday Jan! Today is Greg's mom birthday and because she is a faithful reader of our blog, we wanted to wish her a very happy special day and let her know how much we love her. You will notice all of these pictures have one thing in common....a great big, beautiful smile! Jan is such a sweet person and is always happy and serving others. (For example, I had to call her tonight and tell her she didn't need to plan her own birthday party! She asked me if I wanted her to bake a cake. Who bakes their own birthday cake??? What a sweetheart!) She is a wonderful mom and has taught her children to be great people. We love you, Jan!

Family Pics

We got our family pictures back today and I couldn't be more thrilled! My sister-in-law Sher's sister, Carrie, took them for us and I think they are fabulous. There are about a billion photos, so I just went through quickly and chose a few of my faves to share. We had originally planned to do them several weeks ago, but it hit right in the middle of Garrett's sickness, so we had to postpone. I'm so glad we finally got them done! I'll be honest--we had to keep giving Garrett pieces of a sugar cookie to keep him happy through the ordeal, but it all worked out in the end! Thanks to my good pal Karlie for making a fool of herself to make the little guy smile. Enjoy!

Thankful "Tag"

DISCLAIMER: So let's be honest...I've always thought the whole blog "tagging" thing is a bit silly, so don't make fun of me for doing this!

With Thanksgiving approaching, I've started a list on the side of my blog of things I'm thankful for. My goal is to add new things to that list every day, and I'm even going to TRY to get Greg to contribute. (I'm sure you'll enjoy reading about all of the dead animals he is most grateful for.) :)

Here goes...I "tag" everyone who reads this post to make his/her own "Thankful" list and try to add to it as much as you can until Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to reading your lists!

Go Ags!

Little G and I attended the Aggie football game today with Sparky and a miracle happened...they won! We are definitely good luck!

My dad had told me he was going to the game and I had been thinking off and on about going, but when it was time to go, Garrett was sleeping, my house was a mess, and I was still in my pajamas and hadn't showered yet. (TMI--I know!) I thought about everything I had to do and decided I would just stay home, let Garrett sleep, and clean my house, so I called my dad and told him I wasn't coming. A few minutes after that, I started thinking about my friend Karen whose father passsed away unexpectedly earlier this week. It occurred to me that life is about family, football games with my dad, and having fun, not about spotless houses and babies on a perfect sleeping schedule. So I threw Garrett in his carseat and my hair in a ponytail and off we went! My dad was thrilled when we showed up and thanked me several times for coming and bringing Garrett. He took Garrett "shopping" and bought him a darling hat. Thanks Pops!

While Garrett and I were off having fun, Greg and his dad were home working at the garage. (This seems to be the general trend of our life...Greg works, I play...sometimes I love being a woman!) :) Thanks to Willy for coming up to help and Greg for always working so hard!

Happy Halloween!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

As could be expected, Garrett's first Halloween was a smashing success! We started the festivities on Tuesday with the First Ever Phillips Halloween Party. (I think we should make this a yearly tradition!) Greg's Aunt Mainie makes the best White Chicken Chili EVER and I ate way too much...it was soooo good! Greg's cousins made these chocolate cupcakes that looked like brains and I can't even describe in words how YUMMY they were. We had a wonderful time just visiting, enjoying being together, and watching video clips on the Internet. (No trip to the Phillips casa would be complete without some YouTube viewing.) Of course, Garrett was the life of the party in his horse costume and hopefully a good time was had by all!

We attended the Annual Anderson Halloween Fiesta in Wellsville on Halloween night. Every year for as long as I can remember My Uncle Ric and Aunt Paula have served chili, cinnamon rolls, and homemade root beer on Halloween. It's been several years since I attended their party, so I was really looking forward to it and they did not disappoint. My Uncle Ric's dutch oven chili was SUPER and the cinnamon twists were awesome. (Again, I ate way too much. I'm noticing a trend here...) The kids loved making the "Witch's Potion" (homemade root beer) and we even got a little trick-or-treating in. My cousin's friend Leah was there with her little guy Porter and he was so cute. He was dressed up as an allosaurus...he informed me I could call him "Al" for short. He loved answering the door for trick or treaters and passing out the goods. He'd come back and say, "We only sold three that time." It was so funny! Brooklyn was a "very scary witch" (Greg told her she was a pretty princess...big mistake!) and Gracie made a darling Tinkerbell.

I used to love Halloween as a kid, but to be completely honest, I haven't had much interest in it the past several years. However, this Halloween was so fun and I have a newfound love for Halloween. There's just something about kids in costumes...