Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

4 Weeks and 19 months

4 WEEKS:

That is about how long we have before we meet Baby 2. In the last couple of weeks, it has really hit me that we are going to soon have another baby in this house. With the great excitement, also comes great anxiety. There is still so much to do to prepare. Just over Thanksgiving, we finally decided on a name. Brody Garrison will make our family of 3 grow to that of 4. Over the weekend we brought home a crib, now we have to put it up, buy a mattress, I need to finish the bumper pads for the bassinet, clean, freeze dinners...... the list could go on and on. I know when the day comes, Brody will come when he is ready and he won't judge me for how many items are still left on my To-Do list.

19 MONTHS:

My little man has turned 19 months. I can't believe how big he is getting. He is talking so well and has even said a few phrases... "Music on please", "Hey, Daddy".... It is still just as amazing as ever to witness this little person learn and discover new things. Aidan is in school two days a week and is doing very well. Well, except that he hasn't taken a nap at school for the last 3 days. I love my little tuff guy more and more every day. I can't wait to see how all of our hearts grow to make room for Baby Brody.

Halloween

Halloween has never been my favorite time of year. I have good childhood memories of trick or treating up and down our street and going to the Fall Festival at church. But, I have never been sure about the whole dressing up thing. I always had a hard time deciding what to dress up as and didn't want to dress up if it wasn't going to be funny or well put together. Brandon is good at coming up with costume ideas and he made the past few Halloweens a lot of fun. Well this year celebrating with Aidan changed everything. I had a lot of fun visiting the pumpkin patch, having halloween play dates, coming up with costume ideas and making his outfit... We dressed him up for Gymboree class, and again for Trunk or Treat at church, for Preschool, and one last time for Halloween night. We didn't go trick or treating, but Aidan had fun wearing his costume over to Gran and Papa's. I'm already thinking of costume ideas for Aidan and the baby for next year. I hope Aidan grows up enjoying dressing up on Halloween!

My Little Fisherman

(Taking after his Uncle B and Uncle Shawn)

The Pumpkin Patch

Today we took Aidan to his first Pumpkin Patch. Who knew that this was such a big business. It was so much more than just pumpkins. There were cows, and goats, and train rides, oh my! Aidan had a big day.

When we first got there we checked out all the animals.

Aidan picked out a pumpkin just his size. (He really thought these were balls and later tried to throw them.)

Aidan and Brandon walked through the corn.

Even though you may not see it on his face here, Aidan laughed and enjoyed the train ride.

So many pumpkins.

It's been a long day.

Fall is here in Nashville

Here are a few highlights of our fun weekend. Video created by Aidan's proud Daddy.

Liam'sTurning 1!

Last Thursday, Brian met us in Nashville and flew with Aidan and I to Austin. Mom and Dad met us there and we all spent 4 days with Bethany, Ken, and Liam. Liam turns 1 yr old tomorrow, but we celebrated his birthday on Saturday. It was so cute and Liam seemed to enjoy everything (except for the cake). It was a great visit. Each visit makes me wish more and more that we all lived closer together. It may be the last time I get to travel until after baby #2.

Best Buds

Summer Fun

This summer has been a blast. So many good memories have already been formed. To start off the summer, at the beginning of May, Brandon and I discovered that our small family of 3 will soon become a family of 4! We are very excited. We are currently 14 weeks along which puts my due date on January 9. I have been feeling pretty well. A little tired and nauseous, but little time to think about it. Brandon has been great about letting me sleep in and taking care of Aidan in the mornings. Aidan loves his daddy time. Aidan and the baby will be 20 months apart. We may have a few crazy years, but my prayer is that they will be the best of friends.

In June, Bethany and Liam flew to Nashville and we were able to spend a week with them. It was so much fun watching the boys together this trip. We headed first to my cousin David's wedding. He married Sara in Starkville and the wedding was beautiful. Then we headed to Nanny and Paw Paw's house for a few days. We went to the splash pad and swimming at GG's. Then we loaded up and headed to Gatlinburg. A few hikes, lots of eating, the rainforest zoo, driving Cade's Cove were some of the events that entertained our free time.

Following summer baseball and weights, Brandon has had two weeks off. During this time he went with the youth to church camp at Fall Creek Falls. Aidan and I visited for a few days. Aidan loved exploring the trails and swimming in the pool and he thought he was big stuff around all those big kids. Then we went to Cincinnati for 3 days. We had never been to Cincinnati before so we thought, since it was in driving distance, we would head that way. We walked around Newport Levee, went to the aquarium, visited the animals at the zoo, and listened to some music at Fountain Square.