Oh dear...overdue for an update!

Much too much has happened in our family since my last post, so here is an abridged version of our last few months :)

October

As we neared the arrival of our second son, pregnancy became rather uncomfortable for me, but we tried to squeeze in some special times in our final days as a family of three. We dressed David up as a monkey for Halloween this year and took him trick-or-treating to a few of the neighbors' houses. He also helped us pass out candy- it's pretty crazy how fast we can go through it here! I bought 2 or 3 large costco bags of candy and I think we lasted about 30-45 minutes at the rate of 2 pieces/child. He loved being a monkey and getting candy- we only actually let him eat one candy item, but for the next few weeks he would find his trick-or-treat bag and say "Candy? Candy? Alllll gonnnnnnnne" very sadly.

He called my ever-growing belly "brother ball" and I believe we were all looking forward to his arrival albeit with a little trepidation about how much sleep we'd be getting in the near future.

November

Ah November...another busy month! We knew #2 could be showing up at any time and were expecting him in the first 1/2 of the month since David was 3 weeks early, turns out we were wrong! As the month kept progressing with no baby, I tried to schedule something each week that I wouldn't be able to do for awhile after he arrived- I was able to get my hair cut (I know, exciting...), squeeze in one last Sherwood Sister night with Erin and a few other things I can no longer remember. On the 19th, David and I went in to Ross's work and had lunch with him and the guys.

The next morning I started having painful contractions, so we stuck around home for awhile to see if they would last. They did indeed keep coming, so we called in ~3:30 and were told to head to the hospital. I finished packing our bags, we woke up David and headed for Newberg. We ended up stuck in the triage room waiting for Nan to come in or my contractions to lessen- they actually gave me drugs to try to help with that, turned out the lights and had me eat a turkey sandwich and try to "rest". Not very easy when you're in labor...anyway. Around 6:30 or 7, Ross took David to Erin's house and put him down for the night. Shortly after he returned there was a shift change and very shortly after that we were rushed to a "real" room, called parents to let them know the baby was coming and Garrett arrived at 11pm!

Nan was actually at home babysitting her grandchildren and her husband said she could not leave until she got them all to bed. The on call Dr. came in to say hi once, I opted for an epidural per Nan's suggestion in the hopes that it would slow my labor down enough for her to make it in to deliver. Thankfully it worked, everything else went pretty smoothly and our very healthy little man entered the world at 8 lbs, 5 oz and 20" long. He was pretty quick to cry which was very reassuring to us after the last experience.

First family picture

My parents made it in a few hours after Garrett arrived, hopefully our next baby will cooperate so my mom will be able to make it prior to their arrival!

My parents were kind enough to stick around to help us make it home from the hospital and through the first night. David did great staying with Erin and then my parents and Daniel- I was actually worried he'd be disappointed to be stuck with us after everyone left, but he did fine. For Thanksgiving, we decided to try something different and had a catered meal from Whole Foods- it was fun and delicious!

David has been a great big brother from the beginning, but he was just a little jealous of all the cuddles and decided he needed to revisit the Baby Bjorn.

Super-cute blanket from our neighbors complete with Garrett's name on it.

(They also gave one to David for his birthday)

David especially liked the box it came in. He tried getting all the way inside of it, and then gave up and used the lid as a slide.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving Grandma and Grandpa Rogers came back down to help us with a few things including setting up our Christmas tree and celebrating David's birthday. I made some cupcakes and we had a little "Cars" themed party with Erin and Derek as well. David of course loved his cupcake and was especially excited about his new Elmo puppet. I can't believe he's already 2, it went by much too fast!

December

We took advantage of Ross's time off and had a wonderful time. Garrett even gave us a few good nights of sleep! We were able to squeeze in a trip to the Portland Children's Museum and finished decorating for Christmas. This year was the first year that our family had completed Christmas stockings to hang, wahoo!

David is still as sweet-natured as ever, but he also felt the need to remind us on occasion that he is 2. He started saying a lot of longer sentences, kicking it off with "I don't wanna!"

He also started playing a lot more "pretend" things, the first and foremost being to pick invisible apples from somewhere above his head and either eat them or share them with anyone or anything nearby.

David ready for a walk outside during my 1st week home alone with both kiddos!

David's first playdough experience

David's first trip to see Santa Claus downtown

Garrett fresh from his first bath at home

David looking ready to punch someone after his first big-boy haircut.

David feeding Garrett an invisible apple

Attempting Christmas picture...

David "riding" rocks while shopping with mom, Grandma Gleason and Garrett, complete with "Giddyup Giddyup!"

David clutching all of his new Elmo treasures

Garrett helping dad open presents

David throwing snowballs outside at Grandma and Grandpa Gleason's house

David playing Frosty Snowman for us before presents time

Ferry ride to Poulsbo for one last Gleason gathering at Zac & Holly's house

We made the full rounds at Christmas, being away from home for so long was pretty crazy, but the kids did amazingly well with the car rides and we are getting closer to being all settled in back at home. Will try to be better about keeping this updated again!