Fire Station, Women v. Men, Girlfriends

My friend Bridget and I are taking our boys to the fire station tomorrow to see the fire trucks and all the other stuff little boys love! My uncle Tony has been a firefighter for over 20 years so he will be showing them around. They are so excited which makes me excited! Every day on the way home when we pass the fire station Garrison gets all excited and tells me that we're going to go and he's going to wear his helmet and his fireman boots - you can be expecting pictures to come soon on that!

Let me tell all you unmarried or newly married girls something. Guys and girls are made differently, period. No ifs ands or buts about it. You better love everything about your man when you marry him because you will not be able to change him. I am SUCH a planner. I am realizing that I might be too much of a planner these days but that is beside the point. Garrett HATES to plan anything. I am realizing after 6 years of marriage and 10 years of being together I will never change that. There are just some things I have to accept. I love to talk and Garrett likes to keep things short and sweet. I like a little romance and Garrett says, "wanna have sex?" If we get in a fight I like to talk things out and make sure we completely clear the air. Garrett likes to pretend like we never fought at all. I don't really have a point to this except to say that you better make sure you love or can at least accept the person you are going to marry. One more note on marriage - my parents have told me from day 1 that communication is the key to making a marriage work and I have to say they were so right! But another key I'd like to add is humor. Garrett and I laugh all the time. We can be in the middle of a huge fight and he can make me laugh. I love that about him and about us!

I am one of those who is pretty content with being at home. Garrett and I love to be together and do everything together but I have to say girl time is much needed sometimes. It can be hard to come by with lives and priorities ever changing. Do you have those friends that you can go months without even talking to and then pick right back up where you left off when you see each other again? I love those kinds of friends. I have about 3 or 4 really close friends that I have had since 5th or 6th grade. None of them have kids, only one of them is married, and we all lead different lives. But I know that if anything were to happen to me or if I ever needed anything all I would have to do is pick up the phone and there they would be. I hope y'all are as lucky as I am to have friends like that!

Isn't it strange how with networking sites like facebook we can connect with people from high school? It's so odd that I have been to school with some of these people since elementary school but never hung out with them before and now all of a sudden we find tons of commonality (is that a word? if not I just made it one) through talking on facebook. I love that! Long gone are the days of stereotypes and cliques and gossip and we can all reconnect in a whole new phase of our lives. That's so cool to me...

Update on the 18 day period... it's finally over!!! Thank God!!! I will leave you with a couple pictures of Garrison and Tanner (his friend who is going to the fire station with us) from the summer. Garrison is wearing hisi fireman boots in the picture. Future heartbreakers right here! :)

Pink Eye, Soldiers, Caleb

I know my titles are random but I'll at least go in order:

My nephew Will has pink eye so Garrison and I said some extra prayers for him in the car this morning on the way to daycare. Garrison said, "Will has pink eye?" I told him yes he did. He said, "Why?" - I'm seriously getting tired of the why questions. They were cute for the first couple days. Being the patient mom I try to be I said, "Remember when you had pink eye and then mama got it?" He said, "I don't have pink eyes mommy. I have blue eyes!" He says this in a way like I'm completely stupid and I should know this. There comes a point when you have to stop explaining and just change the subject. I then said, "Let's sing a song!" And it worked... I always thought I had all the answers but this why thing is just killing me.

I was listening to the radio this morning and a soldier stationed in Iraq had sent an email to the station requesting that they play a song for his wife of 4 years who was at home with their three kids. Being a wife of a former Navy guy I can tell you my heart goes out to that family. Thank God I never had to be away from my husband for more than a couple months and thank God we didn't have any kids at the time. But if it was hard for me in our situation I can't imagine what some of these families are going through. The husband said it best in his email when he said his wife had to be a full time mom and dad to those kids. I'm not here to argue politics - just to simply say that these men and women shouldn't be forgotten - soldiers and their families. Please remember them this year every time you dread Christmas shopping, cooking for all the family, waiting in long lines, or when you stress about your budget being tight for presents. This is a cool site I came across - it's called Soldiers' Angels and the website is http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=adopt-a-soldier Many soldiers have families that are constantly communicating with them, but there are some out there who don't have anyone. I just ask that you remember them!

My cousin just had a baby boy, Caleb Robert Gerber and I will leave you with a picture of them. He is PRECIOUS! Jesse is stationed in Spokane, Washington in the Air Force and I am so proud of him and the man he has become.

Potty, Big Boy Bed Disaster, Girl Time...

So Wednesday night I get off work and am heading home on 190 (George Bush). Since I am random I am going to insert a comment here. My friend who is not from Texas asked me why it is that all of our highways here have two names... no they don't I sad in quick defense... but oh how they do. Go ahead - tell me one highway in Dallas that does not have two names... mind boggling I know. Anyways, so I'm heading home on 190 and I hear this leprechaun like voice quietly say "Whheeeeeee" (like a possessed kid or something). You have to understand that I can't hear very good (seriously, I have otosclerosis and we'll save that topic for another day). My radio wasn't on and I thought was that something from outside??? But here I am going 70 on the highway and I knew that wasn't possible. I'm straining to hear and I hear the same psycho voice go, "Yeeeahhhhh!"... WHAT?! So, I'm looking all around the car (still driving on the highway) and I seriously contemplated pulling off the road and screaming DANGER DANGER! Not really, but how funny would that be?! Then I heard it... the song I recognize from Garrison's potty training days... I'm so big, look at me, I can use my own potty... I could go on but I won't for your sake. It was Garrison's talking, singing training potty that I still had in the back of my car. I was going to give to my sister in Houston and forgot and surprise, surprise it's still in my car. I felt like an IDIOT! Oh well... gave me a good laugh. Can you imagine me pulling over and calling the cops? The officer would come out and look for the culprit in the back of my car - "I found the problem maam - you have... a talking potty!" Oy vey...

So, Garrison is now sleeping in his big boy bed and I just happened to be in his room putting his laundry up and he was almost on the edge of the bed but I didn't want to be paranoid so I thought... I'll just scoot him over a little before I leave the room. I turned around to fold something and I heard this BOOM - he's on the floor! I'm laughing out loud right now remembering it which sounds so mean but you had to be there. So he kind of woke himself up, as I'm sure you would if you fell out of bed, and started crying. Then Garrett comes back there and was like... what was that noise??? haha! Poor baby! Funny thing was he went right back to sleep - just like his daddy!

My friend's birthday is coming up so we're going to dinner and a movie tonight. That should be fun but the movie isn't until about 10:00 and seeing as how my bedtime is 10:00 these days we'll have to see how that works out for me. Busy weekend - vet tomorrow for the dog (duh Juliana, who else would it be for?), shopping with mom, nap time (woo hoo!), church Sunday and birthday party Sunday afternoon. The birthday party by the way is for an old man who is a family friend. I asked my mom what I should get him... I'm thinking ball tightening cream. Any recommendations?

I realized last night as I was reading Garrison a book that I was actually reading to him and watching tv at the same time. I finally caught on that I had the book memorized. He has TONS of books but I could seriously sit here and recite you almost all of them word for word... not sure if that is good or bad.

I will leave you with a crazy haired Garrison sleeping. This is from a while back!

GYM and my new acronym

Get Yerass Moving - my new acronym for GYM! Please don't correct me on how to spell "your ass"... I'm trying to be creative here. I swear it's like I have a hot skinny chick sitting on my left shoulder and a fat ugly chick on my right. The hot skinny chick is telling me I need to get back to the gym, get my ass out of bed in the mornings and stop eating that damn candy leftover from Halloween. The ugly fat chick on the right is telling me it's okay to have cookies for breakfast, you've only had 5 pieces of candy, and the gym is evil!!! The fat ugly chick has been winning lately. My plan was to go to the gym tonight after I put Garrison to bed. THEN I got an email from my mom inviting me to Gloria's for dinner - they have live music on Tuesday nights. Hmmmm... gym and leftovers or margaritas, Mexican, and live music??? Tough call! Mom, if you read this you better not retract the invite so you feel less guilty. (I know her all too well.) My point is, I will be blogging tomorrow, if ever so short and angrily, about the fact that my ass was out bed at 4:40 and at the gym by 5:00.

You know the mom in me is going to tell you what my cute kid said this morning. We were driving to school and he said, "There's no blue, pink, yellow up there", talking about the sky. I told him no it was not because it had been raining (good enough answer for a 3 year old). He asked where the rain was (notice I'm not using quotes anymore because I can't remember how to be gramatically correct with them) and I told him it was all gone. He then told me that we should go to the store and buy some. How nice would that be?! Need some happiness? Go to the store. Need some money? Go to the store. Need a college degree? Go to the store. Oh, the innocence of a 3 year old... sigh...

If you're a guy - WARNING WARNING WARNING - skip this paragraph!!!! - Don't say I didn't warn you. So, I was on the pill for about 10 years and it just wasn't working for me. I then got on Mirena (an IUD that is supposed to last for 5 years). Why not?! Not like we have $700 extra a month to send another kiddo to daycare right now. (sense the bitterness?) I've had my first "cycle" (to be politically correct) since having it put in and let me just tell you girls... I went from having 4 day "cycles" to maybe needing a blood transfusion soon (going on the 13th day now)! It is RIDICULOUS!!! But I called the doc and they said this was completely normal. Riiiiiight..... I'd love to see my male doctor (who I do love by the way) have a "cycle" for 13 days and then tell me it's normal, damnit! So just a forewarning to all you out there. Seriously, I'm sure it will be great in a few months but it's not fun right now because - to put it kid friendly - us girls have needs too! Yowsers!

P.S. Still haven't found a home for Marley (the dog). I'm working on it. I will leave you with a picture of my boys from a while back - how cute are they?!

People are reading this???

Happy Veterans' Day! I am humbled and honored to remember all those who have served for our country today!

I'm still new to this so I thought somehow I would be notified when people commented on my blog (maybe the blogger fairy would pop up on my screen and say "1 new comment") but I guess not. Anyways, thanks for reading! I hope I haven't made you leave my blog feeling less intelligent than when you started reading - HA!

Let me start with a funny story! Sunday we took my aunt to Gloria's at Firewheel for her birthday lunch. My dad has started a tradition and he took Garrison next door to Popcorn Papas afterward to get some candy. They picked out an orange sucker and my dad told him he could have it after his nap. We drove to my parents' that night to have dinner and I gave Garrison his sucker in the car. With the time change it was already pitch black outside by 6:00 so he was licking his sucker all the way there. We got to their house and he kept licking his sucker outside. About 30 minutes after he started on this sucker we went inside and I looked down at his sucker and GASPED out loud. There was a grasshopper INSIDE this sucker. As if that wasn't bad enough he'd been licking on the top of the grasshopper's head for a while. We all passed it around and inspected it and decided it was definitely real. Ugh!!! My mom called the store the next day and we found out they do in fact sell these - as well as scorpion and worm suckers! How cute (sense the sarcasm)! My mom said they would have to wear their reading glasses next time they went in their so they knew what they were buying. Oh well - at least Garrison can say he's tried grasshoppers next time someone asks him. :)

My baby boy is now sleeping in a "big boy bed". We converted his crib (way overdue) into a daybed. He LOVES it! He wakes up every morning and jumps out of bed and onto the floor like a superhero! And he has informed Garrett the past two mornings that he slept in a big boy bed - as if Garrett didn't know. Too cute!

To those of you out there who haven't experienced mommyhood yet I can't wait until you do. I love the way Garrison looks at me with unconditional love and pure innocence in his eyes. No matter what I do he will love me and that is the most amazing feeling. I think it's kind of ironic the way God makes families - it gives me a small glimpse of how much God must really love us. I still cannot understand how He loves Garrison more than I do but nevertheless He does! Becoming a mom will without a doubt change the way you look at life and view the world. I now have a mommy view of everything. And with all the amazing experiences that come with being a mom also comes this new sense of paranoia. I had to have a talk with Garrison about... how can I put this... that nobody is allowed to touch him except Mommy and Daddy! This was such a surreal talk to have with a 3 year old but SO important! I told Garrett I want to keep Garrison in a bubble forever - can you order those somewhere?! Seriously though for all you moms out there - I talked to Garrison's doctor and he said this is a conversation that should be started early and it should not be a one time conversation. It should be ongoing - not to scare your kids - but to keep them informed and SAFE! Okay, I'm getting off my soapbox now and I will leave you with something amazing I heard on the radio this morning.

I listen to Kidd Kraddick in the morning every morning on my way to work. They do a Kidd's Kids trip every year where they take terminally or chronically ill kids and their families to Disney to get away from everything - all the stresses and stuff - here at home. They were interviewing the mom of one of the kids (a 6 year old girl with multiple, multiple health problems) this morning. She said the doctors told her their daughter's quality of life would not be good and she would not live very long (basically trying to convince her it wasn't worth having her when she was pregnant) but they saw this child as a blessing from God and went through with having her. They have had many many problems along the way but they are still a family. Her husband had a good job and the company he was working for could not deal with the time he had to take off for their sick daughter so he was let go. He had to start his own landscaping company and now they have to pay for private health insurance (which is basically all their income since the girl is so sick). They bring in under $30K per year and have another daughter as well. The mom can't work because she has to be with her sick child. The point is, this woman had the most positive outlook on life, probably because she realizes how precious it is. She said she wakes up every morning and realizes that each new day with their daughter is a blessing from God and she couldn't be more grateful for that. I just wanted to share that with y'all because it helps me put my "problems" in perspective.

I am leaving y'all with a picture of a dog named Marley (10 month old female Akita) who needs a home. Her owner is dying of cancer and wants to find a good home for her - she will pay for the dog to be spayed. She lives in the Frisco/Colony area (Dallas). Let me know if you know of anyone that might be interested.

Shots, Cowboys, Sick, Job, Nat, Workout...

I know the title is confusing but HELLO - that's why this is called "Random Thoughts"! :)

I'll at least go in order for you - Garrison had his 2 year well check up... a year late... yesterday. I know - I feel like an awful mom. But I have to say it has been SO nice not having to take him to the doctor in the last year. His first two years of life we were regulars and by regulars I mean at least once a week. He was always so sick and what a blessing for us both to not have to go through that anymore. I picked him up at daycare yesterday and told him we were going to the doctor. I assured him he wasn't sick so it would be a "fun visit"... right! I didn't realize he would be getting shots. Long story short - everything looks great, he's growing good, great social and verbal progress... and then came in the nurses - DUM, DUM, DUM!!!!!!! They tag teamed and let me just tell you he got one shot in each leg and these nurses had needles in, out, bandaids on, and pants up in under 5 seconds - AMAZING! I was telling them they should be in a record book. Garrison didn't seem to impressed - just angry! But I got ice cream after and oh how quickly forgot about his "traumatic experience". :)

We were having a great day and then Garrett came home from work sick as a dog! I felt so bad for him because I think he has what I had a couple weeks ago. Kept me out of work for 4 days and put me in the ER for meningitis scare - yikes! At least we won't have to go through all that with him. And while I really do feel AWFUL for him I'm hoping I won't have to make dinner all week - how selfish is that?!

I got a massage last night and it was INCREDIBLE but I am feeling the aftermath today. This guy had his elbows jammed into my back and at the time I was so excited he was getting all my knots out but today not so ecstatic about that. Oh well - much needed!

This morning we put Garrison's Dallas Cowboys t-shirt on (still holding out hope for our boys) and I told him they weren't doing so hot but that we were still rooting for them. I wish I never would have started that conversation... he follows that comment up with "Why mommy"? (Oh yes, we have officially entered the Why stage.) I told him I didn't think we were doing well because Romo wasn't playing - he then asks... you guessed it... "Why"? So I told him because Romo hurt his pinky... well he thought I said tootsie (foot)... finally he understood that he hurt his pinky. And so he asks how he hurt his pinky. This went on and on and on and was way too long of a conversation for me at 6:30 in the morning. I'm pretty sure I won't be talking about the Cowboys again with him for a while.

I love my job! My office is great (yes, I actually have my own office - yeah!), the people are great, I laugh out loud at least once a day about something or someone at work, researching claims is super interesting, I'm learning so much, and I'm finally somewhere that I feel like I can stay forever. Super exciting!

I gained a whopping 60 lbs with Garrison - crazy I know. After I had him I kept eating like I was eating for two - not good. I lost about 30 lbs pretty much right after having him - dont' be proud of me - it was water weight. I wish I had a picture to post of me in the hospital with him - haha, I looked like I would have POPPED if you poked me! In the last few months I've lost almost 20 lbs so that is good but I REALLY need to start working out again. And I actually have motivation - my best friend is getting married in 7 months and I have to get myself into a beautiful bridesmaid dress (it really is pretty which I'm so excited about. Have you SEEN some of these bridesmaid dresses lately - ugh!) I used to drag my ass out of bed at 4:40 every morning to go to the gym and I can't seem to do it anymore. I'm eating better but the working out part is killing me! I promise to go tonight or tomorrow morning. Once I get back in a routine it will become habit... I'm hoping. Wish me luck!

I'm leaving you with a picture of me and my best friend, Nat - the one getting married in June! By the way, this was at my bday party - how is it that she still looks beautiful after a few drinks and I look like that??? Ugh!

Happy Election Day!

I really don't plan on blogging every day but lately I've felt the need to share some random things. First of all, Happy Election Day! Garrett bought a gun yesterday for us to have in the house for protection. He was dead set on getting one before election day and he managed to do that. There is no telling what the stipulations will be on buying a handgun after this election - or if we could even buy one for that matter. He showed it to me last night and taught me how to cock it (who came up with this term by the way) and everything. We are planning to go shoot it this weekend for practice. Watch out! Juliana is ARMED! :)

This morning I was driving into work and I heard a political ad on the radio. My mouth was literally hanging open after I heard it. Let me preface this story by saying I am in no way shape or form a prejudice person. But I think that is why the ad shocked me! It starts out with this RAP music... seriously... and this black guy gets on and asks all voters to vote straight ticket Democrat. That is all fine and good I guess but then he ends it - I'm NOT kidding... are you ready?... with "So get out 'der and VOTE ... Aiiiiite?" and then it trails off with the rap music. Are you KIDDING me? This insults my intelligence so surely it insults the people who are actually voting democrat. That would be like a Republican running an ad that starts with a country song about someone losing their dog and truck and then asking them vote straight ticket republican and ending it with, "Y'all get out there and vote now, ya' hear?" It seems like a complete stereotype to me. Oh well... enough of that!

So last night I had some grocery shopping to do. I recently discussed this with my friend, Bridget. When I go grocery shopping after work I feel like I am on that old game show, Supermarket Sweep. You know where they start the clock and the contestants run through the aisles grabbing things, never stopping? Go here to see a clip and refresh your memory: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSwmFurzkpQ I did a week's worth of grocery shopping in 15 minutes. Amazing! I fear that I am starting to develop some of my mom's habbits though. Instead of writing out my grocery list I typed it out yesterday afternoon and if that wasn't bad enough I put it in order. For instance, I started with bottled water and face wash as they are on the left side of the store and then I had chicken breasts and all frozen foods which were the next aisle over, etc. At first I was embarassed and then just plain proud that I could get all that accomplished in such a short period of time. I do have a confession to make though - I stole bottled water! I didn't mean to. I usually leave the bottled water in my buggy (thanks for teaching me the word buggy by the way Mom) because they can just type in a code for it at the cash register. I completely forgot it was in there until after I paid. But instead of going and standing back in line I just walked out of the store - isn't that awful? If my sister were with me, she would have made me go back and stand in line - no matter how long it was! haha - gotta' love her! Speaking of my sister, here is a picture of her and Will playing the piano - so cute!

Still learning...

I just realized you can title your posts - how exciting! It really doesn't take much to excite me these days.

Well, we had a super busy weekend! Friday night, I took Spiderman aka Garrison trick or treating with Garrett and my parents aka The Tacky Tourists. Garrison was so excited this year which made it so much fun for me. He ran into his room and saw his costume hanging on the door and said, "I get my dress on now?" He then thought for a minute and said, "Noooo! Boys don't wear dresses!" I love that when he catches himself and continues his conversation as if I'm not there. And yes, you heard me right - my parents dressed up! Last year they were pirates and this year... tacky tourists. They never tell us what they will be beforehand. Instead I await the ringing of the doorbell and the big unveiling. Although this year it wasn't as exciting because they popped in all full of excitement only to find that Garrison wasn't there yet. My mother in law had taken him out for an early dinner. My dad went from vivacious tacky tourist to mopey "do I have to wear this" regular guy. Oh, the things he does for my mom!

We left for Houston on Saturday and had a great time with the family. My grandmama forgot her clothes for church Sunday so we spent about an hour or more Saturday night trying to find something for her to wear. She finally settled on a pair of my mom's jeans that were about 4 inches too long. "No problem" she says! We'll just used duct tape. This reminds me of the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the dad thinks Windex is the cure for everything. So, my mom duct tapes up her pants (picture included for your viewing pleasure) and we spent the evening watching a fashion show of her trying on my sister's shirts. Who needs TV when you have the Gerber family!?

Ben was baptized Sunday morning along with Baby James and another baby whose name escapes me at the moment. The baptism was great and all babies were actually silent throughout - a miracle in itself. Big Congrats to Nicholas and the praise band who are doing an awesome job! As a side note, I have to say I felt the power of the Holy Spirit move through me more in this school cafeteria (long story) than I have at any "church" in a long time. It goes to show that where "two or more are gathered in His name, there will He be also". At this very moment in that cafeteria sits tables full of 12 year olds chowing down on their french fries and leftover candy from Halloween where I just sat 24 hours ago watching the miracle of baptism take place. That gives me hope for the future as far as the state of our church is concerned and what we are going through here. You really can be anywhere as a church family worshipping and praising God. Amazing...

On a heavier note, Garrett's dad is still in and out of the hospital. It has been a long process and prayers are much appreciated for Gary, Donna, Garrett and the rest of the family at this time.

Well, back to work I go. I had to take a little break because the copy machine and I just had a fight - I lost and the copy machine guy (who I'm sure loves being called "the copy machine guy") is on his way! Maybe to make up for his boring title and probably more boring job I will stand at the door and greet him with enthusiasm and a cheer... three cheers for the copy machine guy - Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray!!!... then again maybe not!

Don't forget to vote... but only if you're voting for McCain!!! :)