Book signing

Saturday was such an exciting day with Graham's book signing at Border's book store. It meant so much to us, seeing all of the family, friends and neighbors that made the drive to Borders to come and support Graham. Our family kind of took over the store and visited with all those that came by. Graham was seated at a table near the front of the store and was busy signing all of his books. A handful of shoppers in the store picked up his book too! Hopefully they'll recommend the book to friends also. Graham sold all but 5 books (and there were a lot there)! The store asked him to sign those remaining 5 so that they can sell autographed copies. It was so neat to see Graham in what I'm sure is the first of many book signings throughout his career as a published author!

Grandad and Kaki were able to make it down for the book signing too! Afterwards we celebrated Kaki's birthday with a delicious dinner at a local italian restaurant called Rosa Mia. It was fabulous! Kaki and I enjoyed their homemade Sangria which was such a treat (Nolan got to enjoy that at the next feeding too ;) And their tomato basil soup and portabello mushroom ravioli were amazing! Then we came home for cake and presents--so fun!

But my sleep deprivation got the best of me and I was in bed by 8 that night! Things haven't gotten any better in the area of sleeping with Nolan. He wakes up everynight at least 2 times, usually around 1am and 4am. And the nighttime leaks with the cloth diapers are still a huge issue. I've been trying everything to try and fix this issue and think there must be something wrong with the diapers I have because they should last more than two hours! In fact my friend that cloth diapers with these same kind has a 10 month old who sleeps 12 hours and has never had one leak--ever! I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong and it is keeping me up at night--literally! The other big problem that we are having is that Nicholas is joining in the lack of sleep issues as he is now waking up around 5:30 am almost everyday! He wakes up and runs and turns on his light, slams his door and turns on the hall light and waits for us to come get him. He'll slam his door every so often so that we know that he is awake. I'm usually nursing Nolan at the time or have just gotten back into bed from nursing him. So basically, mornings pretty much stink around our house. Baxter added in the fun this morning by puking at 6 am! Don't you just wish you could come stay at the Garrison house! And to top it all off, Nolan now has the cold that Graham and Nicholas are still trying to get rid of. There is nothing more heartbreaking than listening to my tiny 2 month old coughing like a seal!

But after all that complaining, I do want to say that I know these issues are so minor and will pass soon. I am so thankful that these are my biggest problems right now and that with all these sleepless nights and babies with colds, I am so blessed to be able to be home with the boys and not have to go to a job all day. I am so thankful that I can stay home and focus on being their mom and trying to get them healthy again. I sure do love these boys of mine ;)

Nolan is 2 months and Papa is 91 years!

Well it seems that I can only find the time to update the blog about once every 2 weeks. There's just no time when you have an infant! Last week was certainly a fun week for us! On Monday, February 8th, Papa turned 91!! We made a week long celebration out of it. On Monday we all met at Olive Garden (his fav) for dinner. On a side note, Nicholas was an angel at dinner and amazed us with his coloring skills. He sat there the whole time and concentrated on coloring. Not only that but he was coloring inside the lines and has been continuing this all week. On Wednesday night, Aunt Carol and Uncle Cliff arrived. They came over on Thursday and visited and then Thursday night I met the family with both boys (Graham had a work dinner) at the club. Once again we had a wonderful visit with everyone. On Friday, Kristin and Ryan flew in, just before all of the snow arrived! Kristin stayed with us Friday night and we had fun in the snow that evening. The next morning, Nick and Graham went out again to throw snowballs and play around while Kristin, Nolan, and myself enjoyed the warm house. That night was party night at Mom and Dad's house. It was a wonderful party with a lot of Papa's friends. Aunt Sue, Uncle Dick, Matt and Grandma even made the drive up for it. It was so nice to honor Papa and his amazing 91 years with a chance for everyone to be together. Mom and Carol did a wonderful job on the party too!

Sunday was Valentine's Day! After church and Sunday School, we dropped the boys off with all the family and Graham and I snuck out for a movie--Holly and Matt joined us! It was so nice to get out amongst adults with no kids for a couple of hours. We stopped off at Barnes & Noble and found Graham's book for sale too!

Monday was an adventure in shopping as I joined the girls at Perimeter mall with both boys in tow so that I could get the last of the things that I need for Kristin's wedding in 2 weeks. It sure is a challenge and quite exhausting spending the day at the mall with both of the boys. Thankfully I had my entourage to help me keep it all together.

Unfortunately, this week both Nicholas and Graham have come down with a bad cold. Graham seems to be doing better each day which is good because he has his Book Signing tomorrow. I'm praying that time is protected and he's able to make it.

Yesterday, Nolan had his 2 month check up. I can't believe it's been 2 months already. He's doing well although he is still a little guy. Weighing in at 11 pounds 1 ounce, he's in the 38th percentile. He's 22 inches (16th percentile) and his head is 15 inches (12th percentile!). He's still not showing much progress in the sleeping through the night area. I asked Dr. Bergman if he's too small or young to be going all night without eating and he said no, that it would just take some convincing from me and some crying from him to get there. I tried last night and he cried for 45 minutes and I caved and went in and fed him (twice--at 2 and 5). Both times he had gotten out of the swaddle and needed diaper changes. I'm struggling to know when to feed him and when to let him cry. It was just so much easier when Nicholas just did it on his own.

Our last two weeks...

The past 2 weeks have been pretty quiet, thank goodness, so I haven't had too much to report. We finally recovered from our horrible stomach virus and things slowly got back to normal (and the laundry finally got under control). Nicholas got back to school (finally!) and has really enjoyed being back with his friends and teachers. He's been a little chatterbox recently and on Wednesday when I picked him up from school he talked more than ever about what he did at school that day. He told me all about going to Chapel and talking with the Pastor about God in heaven and hearing that "God loves me". Then he burst out in song with "Jesus loves me" (along with hand motions of course). It melted my heart.
Last Saturday we visited Grandad and Kaki at their house. It was so wonderful for all of us to get to spend time together. We're so happy that they are back home and Butch is on the road to recovery. Each day he seems to be taking steps towards getting better and regaining more strength and hopefully some weight too! We're so proud and amazed of how strong he's been through all of this. Witnessing God's healing power has been truly miraculous!
This week was a busy one for me while Nick was at school. On Monday, I had a dentist appointment and lots of errands to run. Nolan was an angel for me as usual and I was very thankful that I didn't have to spend my time in the dentist chair with a screaming baby in my arms (like I did when Nicholas was a baby). On Wednesday, Nolan and I made it out to Mom's Fellowship Group at church. This was so nice to finally get back there as it's been many weeks that I missed!
On Thursday, the boys and I hosted our neighborhood playgroup at our house. This was so much fun to have so many friends over! It's been a few months since we've all done a playgroup so it was great to see everyone, and there was even one new mom and her two children, Phoebe and Jack (and we're so excited that Phoebe will be starting in Nick's preschool class soon!).
This weekend was pretty full of activity. Friday night we met up with a few of our families from our Sunday School at Fuddruckers for some food and fellowship. I also invited my childhood friend, Kristin, and her family to join us. We had lots of fun and Nicholas loved getting to play with one of his favorite friends, Charlie, in the game room. Later that night, Graham and I watched a super scary movie (Paranormal Activity) that of course now has me a little freaked out being up all night in a dark nursery by myself. Hopefully soon I'll stop looking over my shoulder checking for ghosts!
On Saturday, Nick, Nolan and myself met up with Mom and Ashley at the mall--one of Nick's favorite things to do. Then Saturday night, I got a girls night out with Nadine and all of her bridesmaids. We had so much fun at Maggiano's for dinner. Unfortunately, Graham was not having as much fun at home with the boys. Nolan spent the entire time crying and would not sleep. Nolan seems to only sleep while swaddled and this is something that Graham has not mastered. Hopefully the next time they have a boy's night, Nolan will be cooperative!
And lastly, tonight we went to our neighbor's house for a superbowl party. Brooke, James and their little boy Brandon were so nice to have us. As usual, Nicholas had a wonderful time. He didn't watch any football but was very excited about the new toys to play with, the aquarium, and their puppy dog.
Nolan is 7 weeks old now. He's growing well and is doing really well with the routine. The nights still aren't wonderful though. He had two nights this week where he only woke up one time at 3 am and I got very excited about that. But the last two nights he was back to waking up 2 times (every 3 hours usually). I'm hoping that he'll get back to once a night tonight and hopefully soon be sleeping all the way through the night. But I have to say, I'm not so sure that it'll be as easy or as early as it was with Nicholas (at 2 months). Also, I don't think that Nolan will be sucking his thumb. He hasn't been trying to find his thumb at all and is addicted to his pacifier!