Hair...Vacation...Atkins...Christmas?!?!

It has been far too long since my last post. So here goes...

I had a hair appointment scheduled the Monday before Garrett and I left to go out of town. Back story on this gal. I was recommended to her by a friend so I went to her once about 6 months ago and she did an AWESOME job on my hair, she was super nice, and really cheap. She charged me $65 for highlight (two colors) and a cut. Well a few months went by and I tried to call and make another appointment, left a message, no return call. I referred my best friend to her, same thing. My friend called her TWICE with no return call. My mom finally called a couple weeks back and the gal's 3 year old daughter answered. (to which my mom said she was thinking "GOTCHA!") Let me pause here and say I'm no expert but if my income depended on repeat and new customers I'm pretty sure I'd return a damn phone call every now and then. Se la vie!

So I went to my appointment Monday night and to keep things clear the first thing I said was, "You still charge $65 for highlight and cut right?" To which her response was, "So what are we doing today?" Oooookay... so I told her what I wanted and asked how much it was and she said $100. What? "How much for one color?" I asked. Her response? "$100." Pretty sure this lady was smoking dope. To shorten this story as much as possible she went back to mix the color before I even had time to respond. She came back and I told her I was so sorry but just could not afford that when I was expecting to pay $65. I even told her I wasn't looking for a handout but it just wasn't what I was expecting. Her response? "Have fun on your vacation!" That was it. So my embarassment for leaving quickly turned to anger and all the "should have saids" quickly came to mind. As a side note I KNOW $65 was cheap for color and cut but that isn't the point. The point is that it's what she charged me the first time. Good luck retaining clients lady!

I ended up going to a random Pro Cuts - that's right, I said it - in Wylie and the manager there did an awesome job on my hair. My mom saw her also and loved her's as well. Here is a pic of my new hair:

Garrett and I took a much needed trip to Arkansas for a little get-a-way. In our 7 years of marriage we have taken one weekend alone trip together about 2 years ago for our anniversary. So I was super excited about this trip. We rode along the infamous Pig Trail to get there and it was a gorgeous drive.

We stayed in a house in Eureka Springs with an awesome view.

We visited the Thorncrown Chapel which was a BEAUTIFUL chapel set out in the woods. So peceful and awesome!

Then we went to Hot Springs for some off roading Jeep fun. I loved it because everywhere we went there was a gorgeous view of mountains.

I was so excited to get home to my bubba (Garrison) and puppies though.

So Garrison has been cracking me up the last few days. I already posted his comment about my bad baseball playing abilities on FB so I won't go into that again. But I will tell you this one:

Last night we were playing around, wrestling and stuff on the couch. And he was messing with Garrett trying to push him off of me and I said, "Get him Garrison, get him!" and...bahahahahah, I'm laughing so hard to myself right now. He SLAPPED him across the face. (Kind of like how Jackson did to Weezer in Steel Magnolias.) You should have SEEN Garrett's face. He was totally shocked! Of course I busted out laughing and could not stop, tears flowing from eyes and all. We told him it's not nice to hit but were both laughing SO hard. Garrison said, "Mommy, I thought you said HIT Daddy!" haha. Good to know he listens at least!

I started Atkins Monday. Call me crazy but it's worked for me before and BY GEORGE it's working for me now. No cravings, not ever really hungry, and in 2 days I've lost 2 lbs. I know it's not the healthiest diet out there but it's the only one I've been able to strictly follow. My plan is to stay on this as long as I can - maybe a month - and then switch over to healthier eating. My workout routine starts back up tomorrow. Only thing I didn't take into consideration is Thanksgiving next week... nice. So I will eat a normal Thanksgiving lunch because I refuse to be one of those women who says, "Oh I'll just have this because I'm on a diet!" Nothing more annoying than those people. And not gonna' lie - kind of looking forward to some green bean casserole and chocolate pie for a day. :)

I CANNOT believe Christmas is right around the corner. Taking Garrison to see A Christmas Carol this weekend - can't wait! And we're going to see Scrooge at the Pocket Sandwich Theater and will probably hit up Santa's Village too. So excited for the Christmas season. Just not looking forward to shopping. Maybe I'll start listening to Christmas music to get into the Christmas (not HOLIDAY, come on people) spirit!

Sorry this was so long but it's what you get when I only post every month. :)

Love,

Jewels*

Happy Birthday Garrett!

Today is my husband Garrett's 27th Birthday. As I put on FB earlier, I can't believe we have celebrated 10 birthdays together. Time really does fly. It seems like yesterday I went to a good friend's house over Spring Break with some friends and there he was! He had just turned 16 and drove down to G-town from McKinney in his POS brown 1982 Datsun. (How I wish I had a picture to share with you.) We all went and played some game at the local elementary school and he and I flirted most of the night. He drove me and a friend home and then we talked almost all night on the phone. And the rest is history...

What do I love about Garrett? Because I know you're dying to know... he makes me laugh until I cry, he tells me the truth even when I don't want to hear it, he is a GREAT dad, he lets me be myself around him, he is one of the hardest workers I know, he sacrifices a lot for our family, he is a manly man, he fit in with my family from the first day (7 uncles and a dad can be intimidating), he has a sensitive side that not a lot of people get to see, most beautiful eyes ever, he is a man of his word, he is giving to others... I could go on and on. I will leave you with my fav pic of my hubby.

Garrison and I went to play basketball (okay, okay we just shot baskets because let's face it - a 4 year old...and me... aren't really "players") at the park by our house yesterday. If you're a parent do you ever have those moments with your kids where it's like time freezes? I know this sounds corny but I'm assuming if you're a parent you know what I'm talking about. He looked up at me at one point and it was like time froze and he had the biggest smile on his face with his flushed little cheeks and that look of pure innocence. It was a moment I will never forget. It is engraved in my memory forever. I love moments like that! Old picture but how can this not make you smile?

I hope y'all have a great night! We're off to dinner for Garrett's birthday but we don't know where yet because as Garrett says, "You know I hate to plan Juliana." UGH! As much as I love him he drives me insane sometimes. But hey, that's what makes life interesting, right?

Love,

Jewels*

Sorry for the wait...

I know all my fans out there have been eagerly anticipating my next blog (only kidding) but wait no longer, here I am... with nothing much to say. HA!

About 2 weeks ago I was in the Wal Mart parking lot (you're shocked I know) on my lunch break and this old man was just standing there with his empty cart and looking around. He appeared to be looking for someone to give it to so he wouldn't have to walk it over to the cart return cage. I felt so bad for him so I walked up to him and said, "Can I take that for you?" "Do you need it" he says. "No, I just thought I would help you out" was my reply. He touched my shoulder and as ashamed to admit it as I am I jumped back a little. "You're so sweet honey. I can get it myself though, thanks" was all he had to say. My point is, isn't it funny how in 2009 we are shocked by physical contact with a stranger? It was totally normal years ago for a stranger to perform a simple gesture like touching your shoulder when they talked to you. And here I am with this 80 year old man thinking, "Oh my gosh, is he going to drug and rape me? Did someone else pay him to stand here and trap a poor unsuspecting girl so they can rape and rob her?" Okay, so it wasn't that extreme, but it just made me sit back and think maybe I need not be SO paranoid all the time. A little human contact is what all of us need every now and then. As an aside, I love people. I mean, how cute are they - when they aren't driving 20 in a 40 when you're in a hurry that is.

So nothing new with us really. Still working, taking care of the kiddo, Garrett still in school. Garrison is growing up WAY too fast. Yesterday when he was getting ready for school he was slightly, okay REALLY, grumpy. As soon as I left his room he slammed the door. I went back to my bathroom to finish getting ready. I could hear him yelling across the house in what I can only describe as a testosterone induced voice of a 15 year old boy. I sat there with my mouth hanging open. Surely a 15 year old wandered into our house and that wasn't my sweet, precious 4 year old son. I went around the corner and realized it was in fact my sweet, precious son but now somehow an older and angrier looking 4 year old. I realized right then and there I have eveolved into a new stage of parenting when I leaned down and took his face in my hands and said, "Slamming doors in this house is completely unacceptable. Do you understand me?" And my precious boy was back, "Yes ma'am!" There! Now that problem was solved... until next time.

It's funny how you have to change your discipline tactics when they get to a new stage. If this incident would have happened before I might have calmly sat him down and said, "Garrison, I understand you're frustrated right now, but let's not slam doors okay?" Pretty sure that wouldn't have worked on him at this stage. Don't get me wrong though - he's still one of the sweetest and well behaved kids I know. Okay, so I'm a little partial.

I am loving the start of fall weather. My body, however, is not. Garrison was sick last weekend with an "adnoid virus". Basically he had lots of snot but no infection. Damn, I missed my calling as a doctor, I know. But now I have either that or something like it. I am finally giving in and going to the doctor this afternoon. I hate being sick, but would hate even more to be at the urgent care clinic this weekend with all the swine flu patients. And as Dolly Parton/Truvy would say, "There's a story there..."

Last weekend after Garrison having a high temp all day Saturday I decided to take him to the pediatric urgent care clinic on Sunday. They open at 11 and we were there at 11:02. The waiting room was already PACKED and half the kids had masks on their faces. Nice... But we stayed anyways. Garrison was feeling okay at that point- poster child for Motrin, that kid is. He was watching Cinderella (okay WE were watching Cinderella - I LOVE that movie) with all the other kids. He was dancing and playing and asking about the "mouses" (yes, being the grammar freak I am I said, "yeah the MICE"?). I'm sure all the other parents were trying to figure out what we were doing there as they sat their with their high fevered, eyes glazed over, coughing, hacking kids. We went on back to the room and he literally marched back saying, "Hup 2, 3, 4, Hup 2, 3, 4..." and I have to admit I was somewhat embarassed that he wasn't acting sick. HA!

I'm hoping I feel better tomorrow so I can get some cleaning done around the house... my house is DISGUSTING! One of my dogs sheds like crazy and it gets to the point where I just give up and get to it when I can - which is very rare. I'd like to know if you are a full time working mom how often you clean your house. PLEASE be honest... I need to show your comments to my husband so he has proof that I'm not the only one who lacks in this department. You know what would be even better? Tell me what, if anything, your hubby does around the house. Hell yeah I'm showing Garrett this list...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Love,
Jewels*

Poop!

Poop seems to be a popular conversation topic so I thought I would have that as my one word title for this post. Odd? Yes. But I can be odd as well so I think it fits.

I posted about Garrison telling me he had to poop mid sentence the other day on FB and since all of you who read this are on FB I won't go into that story again. But I think it's interesting just how obsessed he is with poop. I thought it was just a stage he might be going through. Why would I think this? Becuase he uses the word a lot. Garrison to our dog Sox: "You're a poo poo butt Sox! hahahahahahaha!" He cracks himself up all the time. He likes to just say it for no reason at all. I thought it was a 4 year old thing until I started getting tons of comments on FB about my poop post. Apparently everyone enjoys the topic of poop. So here are a few more:

Last night Garrison was sitting on the potty and after about 10 minutes I walked by and said, "Are you done yet?" His response: "No, mommy, I'm still squirting!" WHAT?!?! Where does he hear this stuff? His father I'm SURE!

We were at his daycare one morning this week. When you walk in you have to electronically clock your child in. (Great method by the way to ensure a random psycho doesn't come to pick your child up from school one day.) I was clocking him in and he stood there and announced in front of the entire room, "I'm gonna' FART mommy!" And of course he can't put the same emphasis on the word fart as he does the others. No, no - this word is of the utmost importance. So I tried as best I could to ignore his comment and we went into the hallway where all the classrooms were. I said, "Garrison, let's not say that." He said, "Why not mommy? Fart isn't a bad word!" How to explain to a 4 year old that we can laugh at home all day about farts but not talk about them at school is challenging, especially when the crowd who just heard his comment was filtering out into the hallway. So I did what any mature, responsible parent would do. I said, "Do you think you can beat me to your classroom?" When all else fails, change the subject!

Garrett worked until 1:30 AM last night and was exhausted when he got home. I was in a dead sleep when the dogs jumped off the bed and started barking like they were ready for a full on attack of the "night intruder". My heart was pounding until I realized where I was and that it was just Garrett. Those are some good watch dogs. Did I ever tell y'all about the time we lived in Connecticut and Sox almost ripped Garrett to shreds? I was in bed and Sox was laying at the foot of the bed. Garrett came home late from work and opened the door. Sox was growling, teeth baring, drooling, barking like I had NEVER heard him do before. I swear I thought he was going to leap off the bed and attack. I hear Garrett banging his hand against the wall in desperate search of the light switch to prove it was really him. The whole time he's shouting, "Boogie (what we call Sox), it's me! Boogie! It's Daddy!!!" in this high pitched what-the-hell I'm about to die voice. It was priceless!!! As soon as he flicked the light on Sox laid back down as if nothing happened while Garrett stood there sweating and panting. Haha! Good guard dog indeed! Now I ax ya' (ever seen My Cousin Vinny? Great movie!) - do these look like mean dogs to you? By the way, click on the links at the end to see two classic My Cousin Vinny clips.

Well, I'm hoping Garrett can get my car fixed tonight so we can still make it to Coleman this weekend to see his Granny. I'm sure you saw on FB it will be over $1300 to fix at the shop. Hopefully my handy hubby can get it done for way cheaper but the question is does he have the time? My car is screeching so loud this woman walking her dog yesterday turned and looked at me as if she feared for her life when I was driving down the road. So if y'all see a silver Xterra that sounds like it's dying a slow and painful death, don't be skerd. It's just me and my metal grinding on metal brakes begging for a little TLC. Sounds sweet when you put it that way right? Not so much.

MY COUSIN VINNY CLIPS:
My favorite scene:
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/opening-statement/11040467
Watch for language in this one:
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/pants/11040494

Jewels*

You are my sunshine!

Monday morning I got Garrison out of bed and he was all groggy and I was fully prepared for a whiney Monday morning. While that did come later he said the sweetest words to me a few minutes after climbing out of bed. "Mommy, you are my sunshine!" Sometimes I think (scratch that, I know) I have the sweetest little boy ever! He totally made my Monday!

Isn't it funny how sometimes words (as opposed to materialistic objects) can totally make one's day/week/month? Last week my husband came home from work and walked over to me and out of the blue said, "I just want you to know how much I appreciate you. You do so much around the house, you help me with school, you work full time, and you take care of Garrison. I just wanted you to know how grateful I am." After I sat there with my jaw on the floor for a few seconds I laughed at him. You heard me. I know you're sitting there thinking, "What a B!" But this was SO out of the ordinary for him to say that I was thinking he was going to ask for a $2,000 part for his Jeep or something. Haha! After I realized he was serious and really was being sincere I told him that his comment made my week. What can I say? I don't require much! Just a little appreciation every now and then and I'm a happy girl!

My baby boy is growing up WAY too fast. I know I've said this before but it just hits me at certain times how big he's getting to be. Or we'll share a moment that I know I will never forget. Last night was one of these times. Garrett was at school and I was tucking Garrison into bed. Sometimes I sing to him at night before I leave his room. I haven't done this in a while but last night he asked me to stay and "sing something Mommy". So I sang Amazing Grace. He laid there rubbing his hands threw his hair (which INSTANTLY took me back to when he was about 9 months old as this was the move he would always do when falling asleep) and his eyes were getting droopy. My eyes immediately filled as I realized how quickly he was growing up. I won't always be able to have moments like that with him. I am learning to really, truly treasure every single moment with him because time really does go by way too fast. He asked me to sing Twinkle, Twinkle with him and the the "HalleLUjia song" as he calls it. This is the fast version of Amazing Grace with the hallelujia part in it if y'all know what I'm talking about. My big boy sat there and sang the whole thing with me. Precious I tell ya'!

Yesterday after work I took Garrison to our neighborhood swimming pool. I saw a mom there with her kids and she made a beeline to me. Ugh! I really am a very sociable person but for some reason I have no desire to socialize with people at my swimming pool. Maybe it's because I already feel like a bloated hippo wading in the kiddie pool and don't want to be talking to anyone while I'm leaning over and my boobs are hanging in their toddlers' faces. Or maybe I just don't want to talk to anyone. Whatever the reason - I was alreay annoyed that this woman was headed my way. So she sits down and starts asking 20 questions. Why??? Just LEAVE ME ALONE is what I wanted to say. That sounds so mean but it really does get old. Anyways, I've seen this woman at the pool before and let's just say I completely disagree with her parenting style. I know you may be thinking why is this any of my business and it's probably not. But it does get frustrating when Garrison watches kids behaving in a certain way and then thinks he wants to give it a try. So the mom tells all 3 of her kids it's time to go. I swear they did not leave until 45 minutes after that comment. The kids were jumping back in the pool every time she turned around. Instead of going in the pool after them and spanking their ass and telling them to get in the car (that's harsh and I'm only kidding, kind of) she would use her "sweet mommy" coaxing voice to get them to come out. "Okay kids (remember the mommy voice here) it's time to get out. I'm going to count to 5...1...2...3...4...5... really guys, come on... let's go.... oh girls you're being silly... and now you're just showing off...." I sat here watching the scene unfold with my mouth hanging open. Tell the kids to get out of the pool and make them listen! What is SO hard about this concept? It just frustrates me because I can totally see this woman having MAJOR problems on her hands in about 10 years when these girls are teenagers and she has no control at all over them. Okay, I'm done with that rant.

I was having a great morning today. On time, Garrison was in a great mood, ready for the day. So we decided to give the dogs a treat before we left. I keep their treats in canisters on the counter. I opened the canister and it was FILLED with ants. Nice! We had a sugar ant problem a few months back but got rid of them successfully. Now these are some kind of carpenter ants. So I spent about 10 minutes cleaning up what I could and spraying our ant spray around the baseboard and counter in that area. Ugh! Now I get to go home and fight the ants again. I WILL WIN! Dah dah dah DAH dah dah dah dah DAH DAH!!! That was my success music!

Have a great day everyone!

Jewels*

Been a while...

Sorry I'm not posting too often anymore - or maybe y'all are cheering out there. HA!

What can I update all of you on?

Well, my amazing grandma turned 75 this past Sunday. The Sunday before we had a huge surprise birthday party for her at Gloria's at Firewheel in Garland. To give you an idea on the size of our family we had the entire upstairs to ourselves...and filled it up. She was so surprised and grateful that EVERYONE was there! It was incredible. Every time we have family get togethers I realize how truly blessed I am. I remember growing up and people telling me they had 2 cousins that lived many states away that they saw maybe every 5 years. What?!?! I thought everyone had a family like mine. Loud, fun, exciting, hilarious... did I mention loud? My grandma had 9 kids (God bless her, right?) and almost every child had at least 2 kids. I have truly lost count but have somewhere around 20 cousins on that side. It's amazing! Anyways, this experience reminded me how lucky I am to have such a great family and it makes me sad for those who did not get to experience that growing up. I keep trying to point out to Garrett (who loves our huge fam) that we don't want to be old with only a few kids and grandkids surrounding us do we? Do NOT misread that - I definitely could not handle 9 kids but maybe 3 instead of the 2 my husband wants? We'll see... Anyways, here are some pics from the "Gerber Reunion/Grandmama's 75th Bday Party"!

So today is my "Friday". We leave for the beach tomorrow morning. I am SO excited! I cannot wait to see my adorable nephews and I know Garrison is craving some cousin time as is Will (my oldest nephew). I just love seeing them together. I can only imagine what it will be like in 10 years with them wanting to go walk the beach (aka look at girls) to which I'm sure KiKi and I will say, "Sure, just let us get our shoes on and we'll join y'all!" HAHAHAHAHA! Here are a few pics of our beach vacation last year...

My husband makes me laugh so hard. I mean really makes me laugh. This morning I had my hair pulled back a little differently - nothing crazy - just top part pulled back and I'm wearing it wavy today. I leaned down to kiss him goodbye and he said, "Bye Sackagaweeah!" What?!?!? I had no idea what he was talking about. He then told me I looked like an Indian (I don't give a crap about being PC so I mean the feather in the head kind of Indian) with my hair that way. I had to just sit there and laugh at him. First of all I'm glad I am the kind of wife who didn't storm out all pissed off at him and that I can actually laugh when he makes fun of me. Second of all, I LOVE that he is honest with me. Can't say we have a lack of communication, right? (Well, except for the time we showed up at different restaurants for lunch - HA!)

I'm super proud of myself for working out every day as of last weekend. I have done my Jillian Michaels (Biggest Loser coach) dvd every day and gone to the gym twice so far. I feel SO much better when I work out. Only downfall? Increased appetite - damn, being a girl is hard. Oh well. I'm hoping to keep it up even on vacation but we'll see how that goes.

Speaking of Jillian, for all you Bachelor watchers out there, I'm learning that I am one of the only ones who is happy that Jillian picked Ed. He is so real and I love that! Everyone else seemed to want Kypton to win but he has a serious problem kissing. Every time he would kiss her I had to turn my head or risk vomitting in my mouth. GROSS!

Anyways, I'm outta' here. Y'all have a great weekend and I'll update soon!

Love,

Jewels*

Finally, 4th, Dogs, Parenting

Hey y'all!

I am going to apologize for my peppiness (real word?) ahead of time. I FINALLY dragged my ass out of bed to work out this morning. Yep - 4:30 came early but what is my other choice? Unless I want to take time away from Garrison at night I only have the option of going to the gym in the morning. After only 6 hours of sleep I have to say I still have so much energy after working out. Hopefully this is the start of getting back into my gym routine... we'll see! Oh and on the way to work this morning I saw an incredible lightning show. No rain - just awesome lightning streaks all across the sky - beautiful!

We had a great 4th weekend! I was just glad we didn't have to be anywhere at a certain time, different from past few weekends where we were constantly going. We went to Wylie fireworks show Thursday night with my friend Julia and her kiddos Mark and Shelby. Friday Garrett and I went to see The Hangover and while it is completely vulgar it is by far one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. We hung out with my parents that afternoon and evening. Dad grilled out steaks and we had game night. Garrett and I were the winning team - yay! On Saturday we went to McKinney to visit the in-laws and some family that was in town. We rode out there in Garrett's Jeep. WHY we thought that would be a good idea I have no clue. The 100 something degree heat definitely got to us. And then as if that wasn't dumb enough we proceeded to go to the car show in downtown. Oy vey... But we did hit the Allen outlet malls where my mother-in-law introduced me to my new favorite store - Burke's. It was incredible. Think slightly downscale TJ Maxx or Marshalls. They have name brands for SO cheap. I got 2 hats ($7 each) and some jewelry (like $3 each) and PJs for Garrison ($5 each). I was so excited. And Bass was having a huge sale so Garrett got some much needed shorts for $13 a piece. This is the great part. He was at Ralph Lauren at first and called me and said he wanted to get these $40... you heard me 40 DOLLAR shorts. What?! Was he crazy? Pretty sure I just bought my summer shorts at Wal Mart for $15. I know that sounds WT but really now... I told him to just hold on and we'd go look together. So we went into Bass and voila - shorts on sale! He was happy we shopped around. Hello - doesn't he know I know best when it comes to deal finding? :)

Last night Garrett and I watched that A&E show, I Survived. Ever seen it? It's great! Anyways, one of the stories on there had me crying like a baby. This woman was an avid runner. She had a 3 year old dog named Taz that she rescued from a shelter a few years before. For all you dog lovers this is NOT a sad story - nothing happens to the dog, trust me! Anyways, to shorten the story they went on a run in Utah and she slipped on some ice and fell 60 feet down a canyon and shattered her pelvis and had severe internal bleeding. Her dog ran around and around and finally made his way down to the bottom of the canyon. After a couple days of her dragging herself with her upper body alone she realized she was not going to make it out of there alive unless she got help. It was 20 below 0 at night time. Finally she turned to her dog and said she actually looked him in the eyes and told him to go get help. She said her dog looked at her like he totally understood what she was saying and then took off. A few hours later her dog came running back. She was at her lowest point by then and she was crying. She said her dog literally licked all the tears off her face as if to tell her it would be okay. She then heard the motor of a car and a man came to her and said, "That's some dog you have there!" HOW GREAT IS THAT? For those people out there who don't think dogs understand what you're saying or that they have no real connection with humans argue that! It made me realize how great dogs are and the true comfort and joy they can bring to our lives. Here are my dogs Sox and Tex with Garrison- love these babies!

Friends often ask me how Garrison turned out so good. We are very lucky to have a sweet, well behaved son. Since this is a blog where I am speaking to whoever wants to listen I wanted to give a few tips on why I think Garrison turned out so well. I think parenting is a very simple concept that takes patience and a go with the flow attitude. And now for my unsolicited advice (haha). Five words - consistency, discipline, laid back, patience, and most of all LOVE!

Garrett and I are super consistent - from routine to discipline to schedules and we co-parent together really well, thank God. We never contradict what the other one says in front of Garrison.

Discipline can and should be used at a very young age. We started timeouts when Garrison was 1. Trust me - when you tell them no and they look at you and laugh and then go do that same thing again while still looking at you, they know what "no" means.

Be laid back. Your child (from the time they're born) can feel the tension in your body when you hold them.

DO NOT LET THEM SLEEP IN BED WITH YOU! Please!!! That will affect your marriage (hello!) and will never allow your child to be independent. It's okay to let them cry sometimes - they don't always need to be held.

Some of that may sound harsh but trust me - it works. I have one of the sweetest, most affectionate, loving, trusting son I could ever ask for! I'm SO not bragging on my parenting skills or saying I'm perfect - just trying to help any new parents out there or those that may feel like they just need some extra advice.

Well, I'm hopping off my soap box now! Have a great day! Here are two pics of Garrison - when he was a baby and now. WOW - time goes by fast. For all you parents out there PLEASE enjoy every second you have with them!

Jewels*