John at a year & a half

John turned a year and a half back in July, but since we don’t count months around here anymore “a  year and a half” will be the title of this post.  That should work until I get to start saying “he’s almost two.” Ah!

So little blog world, how the hell are ya? We have been officially homeless since July 29^th, but thankfully my parents and Bud’s parents’ generosity knows no bounds and we’ve been well taken care of since then. We’ve been mostly at the Garros, but I left a crib at my parents’ house so that John can nap there when I need my mom to watch him. It’s worked out great…we are so lucky to have both sets of parents in town.

So, how’s my little Johnny doing?  Let’s do my typical little list:

Sleeping:

Great.  I was worried that he’d have trouble sleeping in a new room after we left our house, but he didn’t miss a beat. I think it’s because we kept everything else exactly the same.  It’s been the same routine since about 8 weeks old…between 7 and 7:30 Bud gives him a bath, then one of us (we alternate nights) gives him a bottle while singing to him, and then into the bed.  Unlike before, he goes into the crib wide awake which is a good thing because he eventually puts himself to sleep. I used to put him down when he was sound asleep which means I was screwed if he woke up when I was tip-toeing out of the room. This works much better. It’s also cut down bedtime from 1 hour to about 10-15 minutes. Muuuuch better.

Most days he’ll nap from about 1:00 to 3:30. There are days when he won’t sleep, but he’ll stay in his crib happily singing to himself for an hour or so. At least it’s a little break.

He'll be sleeping in footy-pjs until he goes to college. I love them so much.

#can'tstopwon'tstop

Eating:

Ha…yea, definitely no issues there. He eats things that even Bud and I won’t eat (green beans, ew!). He eats 3 meals and two snacks a day (at 10:00 am and after nap). We try hard to keep his meals and snacks balanced, but the kid also gets cookies, Nilas, and teddy grahams occasionally. What’s life without cookies?

His standard go-to meals are grilled cheese, mac n cheese, grilled chicken, cheese quesadilla (he even likes guacamole), and a “baby bento box” which is lunch meat, cheese, fruit, crackers.  After typing all of that out, I’m a little concerned about how many cheese-centered meals he has. Whoops. He loves fruit, especially watermelon.

He’s a bit of a breakfast diva and will ONLY eat French Toast Sticks with blueberries or strawberries. My sweet father-in-law made him pancakes one morning and he spit it out! Diva! At least it’s just a frozen thing that I have to put in a toaster and he’s not insisting on fresh baked bread every morning.

We’ve been told by our pediatrician that he needs to be done with the bottles by now, but he only gets two per day (before nap and before bed). It’s not like he’s carrying them around all day or going to bed with them. We know they have to go, but the kid has had a lot of transition lately and I don’t want to take them away yet.  Plus, he only started bottles regularly in March when he stopped nursing so they are fairly new to him, right?  Oh whatever…I’m probably doing irreversible damage that he’ll need years of therapy for. Sorry, John!

Size:

John is still a big boy, but definitely slowing down and thankfully lengthening out. He’s about 85^th percentile for weight and 50-65^th percentile for height. No more George Castanza percentages!

He mostly wears 18 month clothes and size 4 diapers, but can fit into a 24 month sometimes and wears a Size 5 diaper to sleep in.

Talking:

John isn't much of a talker. We are confident that he understands us almost all the time, but he doesn't say many words compared to other kids his age. It's nothing to worry about and I'm sure he'll catch up.  I know it's frustrating for him though. He clearly has plenty to say, but just can't do it yet.

I can say complicated things to him and he'll show me he understands. For example, he'll be doing something and I'll say "If you go find a book, I'll let you sit on my lap" and he'll go flying into the other room, grab a book and plop down into my lap.  Another example, I'll say "Do you want a cookie? Go sit on the carpet and I'll bring it to you," and he'll run to the carpet and sit. Or I'll say "Do you want to do puzzles?" and he will run to the gate at the bottom of the stairs (the puzzles are upstairs).

His current words are:

Mama

Dada

Off (pronounced "oFFFFFF")

Up ("up, up, up, up")

Outside (pronounced "Outssss")

Grampa (pronounced "bAAAAAmba")

Nana...he says "Nana" very clearly every time he sees Bud's mom who is called "Mimi" which makes absolutely no sense. Stop trying to make "Nana" happen, John. You're the youngest cousin...you don't get to pick.

He used to say apple and dog, but I haven't heard either in a while. 

Hair:

John's hair continues to be his best feature (besides the wrist-rolls). Every single time I'm out of the house someone will say something about his hair to me. It really is amazing. He's had 2 haircuts and is getting close to a third. His hair is so thick, dark, and has this adorable wave and sweet little curls in the back. His bedhead could win competitions. 

Leaving Quincy Bay:

Although things are better now, moving was pretty damn rough on us. John was just a nervous, clingy, asshole for a few weeks. He was so scared about me leaving at any minute that he wouldn’t let me put him down. Forget “he won’t let me out of his sight.” This kid wouldn’t let me not be physically touching him at all times. It was really tough. He LOVES his grandparents so that wasn’t an issue, but he was just anxious, poor thing.  

I miss Quincy Bay too, John.

On top of that, we learned that John is prematurely acting like a two year old and tantrumming like a crazy man. Our pediatrician phrased it like “He’s just getting ready to be two. Don’t worry about the tantrums and try your hardest to ignore them.” Sigh. That’s tough to do when he’s slamming his head into the floor. Thankfully (seriously, THANK GOD) the tantrums have subsided for now. I don’t want them to come back…ever!

Health Scare:

Last month John gave us a little health scare, but is totally ok. He spiked a high fever out of nowhere on Saturday, August 16^th right around dinner time. He had several febrile seizures in a two hour time frame that really scared the crap out of me and Bud. Thankfully, Motrin brought the fever down and our pediatrician thought it was better for us to keep him home rather than take him to an ER. The next day was really bad, but he didn’t have any more seizures because we were able to keep the fever controlled. However, by Monday when he was still running a high fever, I wanted to bring him in. Our doctor told me to bring him to an ER for blood work because they can’t do that in their office. In hindsight, I should have just brought him to a Walk-in clinic. Bud had to work so my mom came with me to bring him to Beaches Hospital. The nurses and doctor were great, but it was horrible. John made sounds that I never want to hear again…these guttural, growly noises and screams…so many screams. They had to put a line in his arm to take blood and also did a catheter. Effing miserable, I tell ya. All his blood work and urinalysis came back clear, but the ER doctor prescribed an antibiotic because his ear was “a little pink.” All that for an ear infection?!?!?! I guess so.

The dosage of amoxicillin he was given was pretty high so he broke out into a nasty rash all over his body for a couple days. Sigh. I’m exhausted just thinking of that week. It was horrible.

So glad the hospital had Wifi so youtube was there to help.

We were all a little rough that week.

Likes and Dislikes:

Likes being outside ALL OF THE TIME. He doesn’t seem to mind sweating and turning bright red because it’s 95 out. This is not my favorite thing about him.

Lots of water up the nose, but he didn't seem to care because he was "outsssss"

Likes brushing his teeth. It’s so funny/weird. I think he would brush his teeth 15 times a day if it were up to him.

Likes being chased and playing hide and seek. Not the best hider in the world, but that’s ok. He makes up for it by squealing loudly when I can’t find him.

An example of his hiding spots. 

Can't see me behind this watering can, right?

Dislikes diaper changes. It’s so annoying. I’ve resorting to giving him teddy grahams on the changing table just so he’ll stay still for 30 seconds. Or, I’ll just give him his toothbrush…that also does the trick.

Likes Bud’s car.  No, scratch that. LOVES Bud’s car. It’s insane. He loves that car more than he’ll ever love me or Bud.

Likes Frozen. The Disney indoctrination starts early.

Dislikes when he can’t get puzzle pieces in correctly. I keep trying to explain to him that 1 year olds aren't supposed to be able to do puzzles, but he keeps trying and then gets MAD when the pieces don’t fit like he wants them to.

Likes coloring. This is a new thing we’ve been doing and he LOVES it. I’ve got my first masterpieces to frame for the new house.

Dislikes me being on the phone. There have been some serious tears shed over me taking a 2 second phone call.

Likes climbing in and out of chairs. He started this a few weeks ago and it’s the new best thing in the world. Honestly, I just love that he can now get off of chairs, couches, and beds by himself because it gives me a little relief that he won’t hurt himself if I close my eyes to sneeze.

Favorite picture lately:

Be still my heart.

Building Begins on Breezeway

This is really happening. Like whoa. 

MIA

I hate that I don't post updates anymore, but just know this...the only thought going through my head 90% of the time is "Wow. Everyone says two-year-olds are horrible and three-year-olds are worse. But what is in store when your 1-year-old is a total nightmare?" 

God help me. Just get me to 2017. I'll miss you all until then, but swear my 35th birthday party will be epic. See you then. 

Overdue moving details

So yea, we are moving!  I’m very excited and also a little nauseous about the whole thing.  As I mentioned in my last post, it happened a lot faster than expected.  We honestly just started talking about this in January and BOOM…here we are.  So how and why did we get here?

I love my house and where we live, but always knew that we'd need to move before another baby comes along.  It's a little cozy for the 5 of us, but more importantly it just doesn't work with a mobile, busy, never-slowing down toddler.  Other than his bedroom, there is no "playroom" or area of the house where I can safely contain John while I get anything done.  That means that the little brat angel gets my undivided attention almost all day long. That clearly won't be an option with another babe in the picture. Sorry, John.

Side note...no, I'm not pregnant or even thinking about getting pregnant, but I'm a bit of an over-planner. If you know my mom, you understand.

So, we knew that we'd need a new house eventually, but I had it in my head that I didn't want to live in PV or Nocatee. Nothing against either, but I just never pictured myself there. Then again, I didn't really picture myself anywhere else in town expect right here on Hodges.  There are some beautiful neighborhoods near us and I'd love to live there.  One hitch to that plan...can't afford the houses and even if I could, we can't afford Jax private schools and would not be happy with the middle and high school in this area.

And that's that...when you factor in what we can comfortably afford, Nocatee was a no-brainer for our family.  Is it my dream neighborhood? No, but I think it's going to be an amazing place to raise a family.  As much as it pains me (and it. is. painful.) to admit, I have to be an adult (sniff, sniff) and make decisions for John and hypothetical Baby #2, not just me and Bud.  Bud and I want John to have a childhood similar to ours...surrounded by kids his age, playing in the street until dinnertime, going to terrific schools, etc.

There are things I don't like about Nocatee, but I think they are things I'll get over. I wish there were more restaurants and a Target, but I'm sure they will come soon enough.  I hate that they mow down every tree in the neighborhoods (there isn't a single tree on our lot), but there are miles of nature trails right there in Nocatee. I hate running into people at Publix and I foresee a lot of that.  OK, that sounds weird...I don't hate seeing people I'm friends with, but I hate seeing some random girl from middle school that I'll make awkward eye-contact with because neither of us know if we should say hi or not. Hate that.

All that said, I don't want this to sound like I'm shitting all over Nocatee...it really is going to be great for me too.  We have a lot of friends out there and we are building an amazing house that I'm SO excited about.  I've always wanted to build a house and this will probably be my only chance (we plan to stay in this house a looooooooooooooong time).

We chose Greenleaf Village for many reasons...it has several parks, a dog park, is walking distance to the school, and we'll live very close to US-1 so Bud can get to and from work quickly. After we chose the builder we liked best, there were only 2 lots left that didn't have a neighbor right behind you (a MUST in our new pad). Plus, prices are also rising constantly (our model has gone up $10K since we signed our contract in March!). Those 2 factors kinda held our feet to the fire so we decided to go for it.  I mean, why wait and lose the neighborhood we want, you know? If you click the link above and go to Site Plan, we are lot 409 on Breezeway Court on the far left side of the map.

Our new house will be 2 stories - the first floor is a dining room, kitchen, family room, powder room, and Master suite. The second floor has an huge loft that will be a playroom (aka place to corral all the kid shit for the next 20 years), 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.  We will have a design appointment soon to pick everything out...cabinets, countertops, floors, even grout color...everything.  Here's a link to the floorplan if you're into that thing.

I hate that I'm going to be further away from a lot of people I love and things to do, but I swear it isn't as far away from the rest of the world as you might think it is.  It takes me about 15 minutes to get to Town Center and about 25 minutes to get to Jax Beach.

Now, we just have to sell this house...you know, minor detail.

Let's catch up

Hellllllooooooo, poor little blog. How I have neglected you. There have been about a million times when I wanted to sit down and update this thing, but life is really getting in the way lately.  So let’s get caught up in one criminally insufficient post.  It’s the best I can do. Take it or leave it.

CHICAGO TRIP

In early February Grier and I surprised Allyson will a trip to Chicago.  Her friends were throwing her a post-wedding bachelorette party (that’s a thing, right?) and there was no way I was missing it.  Going to Chicago in February is not something I’d do for many people, but I guess that just shows how much I love that sister of mine.  The trip was fantastic – full of girl talk, spa relaxing, a really good food.  Heavenly.  The best part, by far, was the surprise though.

Allyson’s friend, Jen, picked us up at the airport and we hung out at her house until Allyson got off work.  Allyson thought she was just staying in with Paul that night and ordering in.  Grier walked up first and Allyson freaked when she saw her. Everyone laughed and hugged and started walking in the house (you know, to get out of the frozen-ness). I was at the back of the pack so she didn’t see me until last. It’s hard to even describe how amazing her reaction was. Safe to say, she was not expecting to see me…

 

Of course, I was a little anxious to leave John for the first time, but it really was just what I needed. Bud and John had a great boys weekend.  I was mostly nervous because John was still nursing twice per day at that point, but he took the bottles just fine.  He slept great the first night and gave Bud a bit of a hard time the second night.  I could tell he was happy to see me on Sunday which of course made me feel good.  The week I got home was ROUGH.  It was like he was punishing me for leaving. He was BRUTAL for about a week making me wish I never came home. Thankfully things chilled out eventually.  I'm leaving him again on Memorial Day weekend so now I know to expect a devil-baby for the first week of June.  Lovely.

 

Surprised.

JOHN’S BIG WEEK

So a couple weeks ago John decided to knock-out a whole slew of milestones in one week.  It started on Saturday, March 1^st.  We were at the Cabana Club having dinner with Bud’s parents and John choked on a piece of Cantaloupe. …like legitimately choked.  We had to do the baby-Heimlich on him.  It was scary.  He just kept reaching for Bud with a terrified look in his eyes.  It lasted about one minute, but it was enough to scare the shit out of us.  After walking him around for a couple minutes to calm him down he was totally fine.

On Sunday, March 2^nd, John took his first steps.  Oh, it was just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.  John, Bud and I were playing in John’s room and he just stood up, started laughing, and took about 4 steps towards me.  It was adorable.  Since then he’s taken a few steps here and there, but is still mostly crawling to get around.  He’s so fast crawling and so slow walking so I don’t blame him for sticking to crawling. 

On Wednesday, March 5^th, John got sick for the first time.  He was so sad and pathetic.  He had a stuffy nose on Tuesday so I was worried that he was getting the bug that Bud had, but the kid had been so healthy for his 13.5 months that I was hoping the streak would last.  He woke up at about 11 pm (very unlike him) and was BURNING UP.  I’m not the kind of gal who can feel someone’s head and tell you if they have a temperature or not, but a coworker had told me that I’ll “definitely know” the first time John has one.  I was totally skeptical until I picked him up out of his crib and he felt like he’d been laying in the oven.  My poor baby.  Thursday was a long, rough day.  Although we were this close (picture me holding my fingers really close together) from him being weaned from nursing I let him nurse as much as he wanted that day (it was a lot).  The nurse at the pediatrician said that was a “nice thing to do.” Isn’t that a funny way of saying that?  “A nice thing to do.”  So fancy.  His fever only lasted about 24 hours, but he coughed and weezed for another 10 days. Ew. I mean, poor guy.

WEANING

Nope.  We still aren’t done with breastfeeding around here.  I never thought it’d go on this long, but I’m trying not to worry about it too much.  He’s down to only once per day (about 5-10 minutes), right before his nap.  I’ll drop it soon, but I’m terrified that once I quit nursing him before his nap, he’ll quit nursing all together. And no, I’m not kidding.  He might not ever nap again.  Waaaaaaaaa, waaaaaaaaa, waaaaaaaaaaaa.  I will be so sad.

OH YEA, WE’RE MOVING

Just a small detail that’s been neglected on the blog.  We are moving to Ponte Vedra.  It happened so much faster than expected and has consumed so much of my time lately.  I will do a whole post about it soon because there is a lot to explain, but yea…it’s happening.

Look at these dreamboats.

PS...I had a bunch of cute pictures to include in this post, but every time I tried to add them they came out sideways and I didn't want to break anyone's neck.  Who knows what's wrong with the pics I chose. 

12 Month Stats

John had his 12 month check-up on Monday so I have some updated stats.

Weight: 24 lbs, 2oz (85^th percentile...so tiny)
Height: 29.75” (50^th percentile….yay!  Out of the 25^th percentile for the first time)

BMI: “Lower than it was.  He used to be off the charts,” according to the doctor.

Hair: Gorgeous, flowing mane.  It’s getting dangerously close to SEC frat-boy hair which is not a look that Bud or I like, but we just aren't ready to cut it yet.  

See how skinny he is now. 

The appointment went well.  We are doing most things right and there are a few things we need to work on.  Bud and I really like John's pediatrician.  She's so sweet and supportive.  John had to get three vaccinations (one in his thigh and one in each arm).  Before the nurse started to told us to brace ourselves because these three shots will burn.  She was right.  Poor John trembled and screamed when she injected him and buried his head into my shoulder.  Thankfully, he cheered up pretty quickly.  The rest of the day he was a little off and took a really long nap, but doesn't seem to have any side effects.

The biggest news around here is my desire and John’s resistance to wean from breastfeeding.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’m over it.  My goal was 1 year and I’m so proud that I got there, but now I’m ready to be done.  We were only nursing 3 times a day (first thing in the morning, before nap and before bed) so I didn’t think it’d be too hard to stop.  I read a million articles and knew that a gradual transition would be best.  I dropped the morning session first because John was the least attached to that one.  He takes a bottle in his room (half breastmilk/half whole milk) when he wakes up.  There were a few mornings that he resisted, but it only took a few days and he’s been totally ok with it for a few weeks.  He honestly doesn’t seem to even remember that he used to nurse in the morning.

Because that went so well I (wrongly) assumed that the rest would be just as easy.  Oh what a fool I am.  When I attempted to drop another one all hell broke loose in Jacksonville.  I’m trying really hard not to exaggerate here, but John turned into a murderous, terrorizing, sad, sad, sad psycho baby.  It was heartbreaking.  Bud and I were pulling our hair out and contemplating leaving the little a-hole at his grandparents’ house with a note saying “I’m sorry…we can’t do it anymore.  He’s all yours until he’s 4.  We’d like him back in 2017.”

Well, Uma is too attached to John so we had to scrap that plan and come up with Plan B and that’s where we are now.  John is still taking a bottle in the morning, but nurses before his nap and before bed.  We’ll cross that bridge soon, but just decided to slow it down.  We now know that it’s not going to be easy, but that he will get it eventually. I honestly don’t know which one (nap or bedtime) I’m going to take away first.  It’s tempting to do bedtime because at least I’ll have Bud with me.

He won't be nursing when he's in elementary school, right?

Anyway…it’s not all weaning bullshit around here.  John is up to plenty of other things lately.  He’s not walking yet, but pulls up and stands all day long. He looooooves standing and will walk along the coffee table or bookcase all day long.  Several times a day I’ll catch him standing by himself, but as soon as he notices he plops down.  Thankfully, he’s much less clumsy lately.  I’m sure the constant bruises will return as soon as he starts walking.  He’s also an expert pointer.  He does it all day long, usually accompanied with a noise that sounds like “Ahn” or “uh ahn.” I think he’s still too young for pointing to be considered rude, right?

It makes me so happy to see John developing verbally.  The only word he says consistently and with purpose is “dog.”  He lights up and says “dog” every time he sees U&J and has even pointed out dogs in books.  He also says Mama and Dada, but he uses them pretty interchangeably and I don’t think he’s really connected that they are associated with me or Bud.  He tries his hardest to communicate what he wants, but unfortunately for him I still have no clue what pointing towards the table (or piano, or thermostat, etc) and saying "uhhhhh, uhhhh, uhhhh" means.  It's a non-stop guessing game.  

He loves laughing and being tickled.  His knees and feet are as ticklish as mine and will squeal and squirm when I grab them.  He still loves pulling all the books off his bookcase, but also likes to be read to now.  He prefers books with less words...I never understood the point of those baby books that I have one word per page (baby, crib, pajamas, lamp), but now I totally get it.  He could read that damn Bedtime book a million times.  He also likes books with liftable flaps....open, close, open, close, open, close.  Exciting shit, letmetellya.

I love watching him figure things out.  He has a toy that you have to put a little frog down a chute and then push a button to get it back.  He watched me do it a couple times and now does it on his own…again and again and again.  It’s a little thing, but makes me proud of my smart boy.  There are about 20 other little things like that, but I don’t want to totally bore all of you.

This is the toy I'm talking about.  

He got it for Christmas, but I didn't bust it out until his birthday.

John has recently become a daddy’s boy and has fought back when I’ve tried to take him off Bud’s hands for one reason or another.  It’s pretty cute.  He gets over it quickly, but definitely prefers Bud lately.  I think he thinks I’m just boring because he’s with me all day.

He’s a challenging baby, but still manages to make me smile.  Wish me luck with this weaning business.  I need it!

Year 1: By the Numbers

17 lbs gained

11 shots

1 freckle: on his inner thigh

355 baths

4 nights that someone other than me or Bud put John to bed

1 injury with blood

5 times I pulled over because John was crying in the car: always a bad idea...just keep driving

8 teeth

365 days nursing

2 counties visited: duuuuuuuuuuuval and st johns (we’ll see more of the world in 2014)

165 times being called a girl by a stranger

3 kisses from the lady at Publix: For real, she kisses him and I don’t know what to do about it

1 massive freakout by me: It wasn't pretty

11,180,772 times I’ve said “Oh my god, he’s so cute.”

11,180,773 times I’ve said “Why are you being such an asshole?”

26 times I've regretted his name: more on that later

Dr. Jekyll

Mr. Hyde

Happy Birthday, little love

Wonderful You - James J. Metcalfe

My darling, you are wonderful and perfect as can be,
And every day I thank the world that you belong to me.
Your loving smile inspires me to reach a nobler height,
And in so many other ways you are my guiding light.
You are my morning sunshine and the peaceful sky of blue
And you are all the silver stars that make my dreams come true.
I speak your name as softly as my lips would say a prayer,
Though I could not begin to tell how much I really care.
I love you, darling, more than life could ever mean to me
Because you are my hope and happy memory.

John's 1st Christmas

Ho, ho, ho!  Before my boy’s first Christmas is completely neglected (like his first Thanksgiving…whoops!), I thought I should write a little something here.

John was incredibly lucky to spend his first Christmas with almost his entire family…mom, dad, his sisters, all 4 grandparents, all 7 aunts & uncles (including Petey), and 4 of his cousins (including Jake).  We missed you, Shiva!  Nannie isn't able to come to mom's house anymore, but Bud, John, and I went to see her the day after Christmas.

Christmas Eve morning we woke up and headed to the Garros to hangout with that side of the family for a while.  Mimi and grandpa’s house is full of fun toys and cousins so John had a blast.  We left at lunchtime and the poor kid was asleep before we were out of the neighborhood.  We got home and attempted to get him to sleep in his bed, but that wasn’t happening.  

Around 3:00 we gave up and headed to my parents house for presents and dinner.  John got some practical things (clothes, thermometer, stroller attachment) and a bunch of really fun toys (A car! A firetruck ball pit! A piano!).   Despite not having a nap, John was pretty sweet and spent most of the time hanging out in Bud’s lap.  As usual, dinner was fabulous.  Lasagna + wine + garlic bread = happy Katie.  John started to be an ass towards the end of dinner so we had to scoot out pretty quickly before things turned ugly.  Needless to say, John was exhausted when we got home and feel sound asleep pretty quickly.

This wasn't a new toy, but kept John entertained while we opened gifts,

When he wasn't playing with that toy, he was sitting in Bud's lap idolizing Paul.

This is an awkward pose...I swear we like each other.

John's first pair of sunglasses.  Babiators.

Christmas morning John woke up at 8:00 and I nursed him as quickly as possible so we could get to Bud’s parents’ house.  All the kids over there were patiently waiting for us to get there so they could see what Santa brought them.  I’m 99% sure I would NOT have been able to wait so I was impressed when we got there that there were still wrapped presents. 

John was a little over-whelmed with the craziness once we started unwrapping, but he was perfectly happy to sit in Mimi’s lap and watch everyone.  I don’t think she minded either.  Like the night before, John was completely spoiled.  He got a water table, a cell phone, a tv remote, a ball thingy, a little baby couch, books, a magic cube, and a ton of other stuff I’m forgetting.  After presents we had the traditional Garro Christmas Day BBQ (burgers, macaroni salad, and chips) and then we left.  Again, John fell asleep in the car immediately.  We took a very, very long way home so that he could sleep knowing that it’d be his only nap of the day.

Just hold me, Mimi.

Post gift-opening haze

Asleep within 3 minutes of getting in his carseat.

(No, he didn't have that Mt. Dew...it's just a toy in the car)

We were home with the girls for about an hour or so and then headed back to PVB to my parent’s house for dinner family time.  Another amazing meal…beef tenderloin, potatoes, and salad.  Just like the night before, John started to turn into a gremlin half way through dinner so we left before Allyson and Paul decided to get sterilized.

We are so, so lucky to have both sides of the family here in Jacksonville.  It would be very hard to miss one side or another on Christmas.  We were, however, a bit exhausted.  Eight trips to and from PVB in 48 hours is a little much, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

7

I've made some mistakes in my 31 years. Some of these mistakes were doozies and some were just silly. But the biggest decision I ever made - who to marry, who to share my life with - is one choice that I couldn't have done any better.

This week Bud and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. Looking back, I still can't believe that we got engaged at 23 and married just a year later. If John comes to me in 22 years saying he's found "the one," I'll turn him around and tell him to come back in a decade. 

But we knew. At the beginning and end of every day, we knew. We knew we were special. Every-single-day I feel special because he loves me and every-single-day I try to be the person that this amazing man will be proud to call his wife.  I don’t say we’re special because I feel like we have something others don’t.  I say we’re special because we truly feel that way and I can only wish that everyone I love feels the same way about her own partner. 

We knew that adding a baby to our family would change our relationship.  I think anyone who says it doesn’t is a big fat liar, but the God’s honest TRUTH is that it has made us stronger.  It’s made me love him in a whole new way.  I’ve always felt like I “needed” him, but before John it was like when I “need” a coffee in the morning.  Now, I need him like a fish needs water.  He’s not only a lifeline for survival, he’s home. He’s in the trenches with me every day and he makes it fun. 

I don’t know what I did to deserve him, but will spend the next 60 years making sure that we always feel this way about each other.