9 Months Old!

I can hardly believe how the time has flown by. Garrett turned nine months old on the 15th. We just had his 9 month check up. He is in great health (thankfully) and he is getting so big. Check out his stats.

Head Circumference: 18 in - 60.8 percentile
Weight: 19.67 lbs - 32.00 percentile
Length: 30.25 - 94.87 percentile

Who would have guessed Jordan & I would have a tall thin kid?

A few more updates on my little man.
He is crawling around the house like crazy and has learned how to climb up stairs....which was a shock!
He is also pulling himself up on anything & everything. He has been trying to scootch himself around the furniture but is a little nervous about it.

It amazes me everyday to see the progress he makes. I find myself saying every day "how did you get so big?" or "when did you learn to do that?"
It really makes me appreciate the little time that he is a baby, before you know it he will be heading off to school.

Tagged by Krista

Here's how this tag works: Go to the "My Pictures" folder on your computer. Upload the 4th picture from the 4th folder. Post the picture. Tag 4 others

This pic is of my friend Mike from work (yes those are little post its on his ears...apparently he was bored during a class he was teaching.)
I was sent this pic by Jessica from work - she took the picture as she was at the same class in Austin with Mike at the time. Fun Times :)

I tag: Natalie, Jessica, Mom & Becah. NO CHEATING!

Picture Time

I took Garrett and had a few pics taken of him. They turned out so very cute. He was so unhappy during all the pics we took of him in his Halloween costume but as we kept taking pics he started to ham it up. These are a few of my absolute favorites.

Tag

Got tagged by Andrea.

7 things I want to do before I die:
*Travel just about anywhere with Jordan
*Have another baby...maybe 2
*Finish College
*Lose some poundage
*Eat at a 5 star restaurant
*Be more learned about the Gospel
*Serve a mission

7 things I do now:
*Work - Novell
*Mommy to a cute lil 7 month old
*Laundry - it never stops
*YW Laurels Advisor
*Sometimes I sleep
*Read any good book I can
*Hang out with my Best Friend Jordan :)

7 things I can not do:
*Play a musical instrument
*Ski
*Eat Pickles (disgusting)
*wear average length jeans
*see without contacts or glasses
*make bread from scratch
*keep on top of my housework

7 things that attract me to my husband:
*Patient
*Good daddy
*Makes me laugh
*He can deal with me
*Strong in the Gospel
*He is a good provider
*He is so good looking :)

7 things I say most often:
*Go night night Garrett
*I love you
*Thanks
*Slow your butt down
*Give me Kisses
*Hello
*Oh my He**

7 People I admire
*Prophet
*Apostles
*Jordan
*My parents
*Jordan's Parents
*Ben
*Robbie

7 Favorite foods:
*Cheeseburger & Fries
*Crab/Shrimp
*Steak
*Ice Cream
*Bread
*Cheese
*Strawberries

7 People I tag:
*Becca
*Mom
*Aimee
*Natalie
*Jessica
*Andrea B
*Melinda

No I am not pregnant

A few of you may have gotten notice of a new post that I was pregnant and It's a Boy! Sorry for any confusion...I am not pregnant. We just moved our old blog posts over to our new blog so that we didn't lose them.
Again sorry for any confusion.

We Love You Uncle Ben

Last night we took a picture to send to Ben on his mission. I thought it ended up being a really cute picture and decided to post it.
Ben is serving in Tokyo Japan and only has a little under 3 months left. He has been a great missionary and we can't wait for him to come.

Johnny Jumper and Monday Night Football

Tonight Garrett was happy to be home with mom and dad. He spent some time exercising in his Johnny jumper, which he now really likes to play with. He is really good and before too long he will build up his leg muscles enough to stand up on his own.





After the jumper, Garrett spent some time with dad watching the Monday night football game. Garrett just loves to watch football with his dad.



A bit later, it was time to settle down a bit and spend some time cuddling with his mommy. Garrett loves his mommy soooo much, can't you tell?

6 Month Stats

Garrett had his 6 month checkup today! Here are his stats.
Head Circumference - 17.5 in which puts him in the 66th percentile.
Weight - 17 lbs which puts him in the 37th percentile &
Length - 27.5 in which puts him in the 81st percentile

So to sum up we have a tall skinny boy who has a big head :)
The Dr also said that he is above average on all of his developmental/motor skills.
The only bummer of today was that he did have to have 4 shots on top of having a small cold. Needless to say he is not the happiest little boy tonight.

Cabin Treasure Hunt

Garrett went to the cabin for the first time to participate in Great Grandma's annual treasure hunt. With the help of some of his cousins, Garrett was able to help solve all of the clues and find the treasure.

The little guy also received his first kiss.



Garrett had a fun time and is looking forward to next year's treasure hunt when he will be able to walk around and enjoy some of the spoils.

Roly - Poly Garrett

Garrett is a rolling machine. He has been rolling from tummy to back for about a month now but he is finally mastering the back to tummy roll. There is no guarantee that when you leave a room he will be in the same place you put him in when you left. He loves his new movement but is getting frustrated that he still is unable to get forward/backward motion yet.
Garrett is also getting very close to being able to sit unsupported. He is one strong little boy :)
He has also developed a love/hate relationship with his car seat, more like hate/hate relationship. He doesn't like getting strapped in and will start crying and trying to get out the second you put him in it. I kind of think it is funny, he gets all worked up and there is nothing he can do about it.

Anyway I will have some pics to put up soon

Trip to the Beach

Today, Garrett took a trip to the beach. He looked really cool in his hat and his swimming suit. He was very interested in all of the people there, and he was intrigued by the waves.



However, when his daddy helped him put his feet in the water, his little attitude changed a bit, and he was pretty nervous about the cold water.



Heather was able to relax on the sand and read a book, and Jordan went out into the water and got tossed around by the waves a bit. Unfortunately we did not have boogie boards with us this time, so it was not quite as fun in the water. A bit later, Heather was able to go down to the water and dip her feet in a bit. Overall it was a pretty good day, and everyone had a lot of fun.

Grandma Spencer

My Grandma passed away on Tuesday evening. I have had many deaths in my family through out the years but none who I have been so close with.
I miss her a whole bunch and wish that I would have taken the opportunities to spend more time with her. I hate hindsight - it always comes to bite me in the butt later on.
In a weird twist the positive thing out of this is that she has passed. She was very sick and had been in the hospital for months. Her quality of life was down to nothing.
Another positive thing is that my mom will finally be able to take care of herself. For 3 years she has been taking care of extremely sick family members all of which who are better or who have now passed.
Anyway I loved my Grandma very much and will miss her, but I still have my old Grandpa around and I hopefully won't make the same mistake of not making time to spend with him.

Happy Birthday

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to 3 wonderful gals.
July 4th-My Grandma Spencer (sorry I am a little late on this one)
July 25th- My Mom
July 27th - My Sister Aimee

Happy Birthday to you all, I hope you have a tremendously wonderful time on your day!

Cute Babies!

I just love these cute little pics, the 1st is of Garrett and the 2nd is of Garrett & his cousin Riley. I know, I know they are two of the cutest babies ever!

What a Weekend!

Last Weekend was probably one of the worst weekends I have had in a long long time. First we got news about my cute little nephew that I wrote about in my previous blog. We went up to see him and my & bro & sis-in-law on Sunday and on the way home our car overheated and we ended up having to call Jordan's Mom & Dad to save us. They were able to tow us home and generously lent us a car to use until we got ours fixed.
On Monday night I got a phone call from my mother letting me know that my Grandma was very sick and could possibly not make it through the night so I had better come and say my goodbyes just in case.
Needless to say it was a very stressful few days but things are starting to get better.
My lil nephew got some good news at his appt that hopefully will mean that he will get to be around a little bit longer than originally thought. :)
We were able to go and buy a beautiful new car that I LOVE LOVE LOVE and Jordan was able to fix our other car for only $25 (what a handy man)
Last but not least my Grandma is on the mend and will hopefully be out of the hospital soon.
I am very grateful and happy that our family is so blessed!
Thanks for all of those that gave me their shoulder to cry on when I was at my wits end and to my wonderful hubby who has such a level head and who keeps me calm in frantic situations.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Yesterday my sweet little nephew was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. This is very upsetting as he has a small chance of living past the age of 2. He is 7 months old right now. For those of you who do not know what this disease is you can find more information about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_muscular_atrophy
This is the only child of my older brother Marc and his wife Becah. They tried for 3 years to have a baby and will be taken from them to soon.
My heart and prayers go out to them. I love them so much and am so sorry that this is something that they are going to have to go through.
I do believe that Riley is a choice spirit that was sent down here just to receive a body. He will be able to return to our Heavenly Father and be perfect.
My bro & sis in law made the wonderful decision to be sealed and one day will get to see their sweet little man again.

Love you Marc, Becah & Riley

4 years and Counting!

I can hardly believe it, next week will mark 4 years that Jordan and I have been married. It has honestly been the best 4 years of my life. I was so lucky in finding a wonderful man that loves me as much as I love him. I thought that I would quickly share a few of the reasons that I love him as much as I do.

1. Makes me laugh - Jordan is incredibly punny and can get me laughing so hard

2. Super Duper Tall - he is 6'7 and I fit quite nicely under his chin when I am barefoot. Plus as I am 6' I get the added bonus of wearing high heels and still being shorter than him.

3. Calm - Jordan is one of the most calm people that I have ever met, he keeps me grounded when I lose my temper or am freaking out over something. I am happy to say that in 4 years of marriage we have never yelled at each other and I attribute that to his calm reasonable head that he has on his shoulders.

4. Jordan is incredibly hot and sexy - I find myself being more and more attracted to him as the days go by.

5. Great Provider - Jordan works so hard for me and Garrett. We are so lucky to have someone like him.

6. Good Daddy - I love that he can sit and play and cuddle with lil Garrett. He is so gentle and loving - Plus he is willing to take him when I need to get away and just have some me time.

7. Ultra Intelligent - almost annoyingly intelligent. He can do anything that he wants to even if he has no idea how to do it. I can guarantee I could ask him to do an obscure task and by the end of the day he would have a plan of how he was going to tackle the project and the outcome would be near perfect if not completely perfect.

8. Completely himself. - I know this is an odd one but I love that I never have to wonder if he is being fake. He is always completely himself around me. He doesn't mind saying or doing anything around me. Plus he doesn't mind telling me if I am a dork or being annoying. I love the complete honesty.

9. Same retirement plans - Okay this is even more odd than the last BUT i think it is important. I am glad that he doesn't want to just sit back and relax when we are retired someday. I am glad that he wants to travel and be with grandkids, take me on a mission and have a winter home in San Diego! It makes me happy that all though we are practically complete opposites we still have the same goals at the end of the day.

10. I absoulutely love love love that he loves the Gospel and is so willing to participate in all facets of it. He is serving in the YM organization and I love to see him interact with the boys. I know that it is the same way he will interact with Garrett and I couldn't ask for any better. I love that he takes me to the temple and makes sure that I get to church even on weeks that I just want to stay in bed. I love that he is knowledgeable about the Gospel and that he can teach me about things that I don't know and that he can pretty much answer all of my questions.

All in all I don't think there is anything that I don't like about Jordan (even his never ending playing of video games)
I have been so lucky in my life and I feel like he and our son are the greatest blessings in my life.

I love you honey - I have loved our last 4 years and am so looking forward to spending all the rest with you. :)

Returning to work

The hardest thing I will ever have to do is go back to work. Unfortunately my generous 12 weeks of Maternity leave is up this Friday May 30th and I have to go back to work on Monday June 2nd. I feel terrible. Every time Garrett smiles at me I can't help think about how I won't get to spend as much time with him anymore and that I am sure to miss out on plenty of his firsts. I do feel torn though, I have always liked working and I love my job but I just love this little guy so much it is hard to be apart from him. I will have to say that I am happy that I will not have spit up on me for at least a few hours a day now that I will be back at work but I think that is the only thing that I will not miss. It just really stinks that just at the time he is getting his little personality I have to leave him. Fortunately I have 3 wonderful people who will be taking care of him and I couldn't be luckier to have them taking care of Garrett.
All being said I really am fortunate that I got a full 12 weeks to spend with him and that I still have my job and that Garrett will be taken care of very well when I return to work. I really am very blessed for all of the time I have had to spend with my sweet little man.

Garrett's Blessing Day

Garrett was blessed on Sunday May 4th. It was such a wonderful day with a lot of family. I was so happy that so much of our family was able to attend. Garrett was so good (as usual) during the blessing. He looked so cute in his little suit that we got him for the occasion. I still can't believe that he has gotten so big, 2 months old already!

Graduation Day

Hooray for Graduation Day! My wonderful husband Jordan graduated last week from UVU/UVSC (whatever you want to call it). I can't begin to say how proud I am of him for graduating so quickly while supporting our family and working full time. He is one of the most intelligent people I know. I love him and am so excited for the extra time we will have with one another now that he is done with school (well done for the time being). Congratulations sweetheart you are the best :)

Post Pregnancy Frump

I have a great dislike for frump and I am sure I am not the only post pregnancy woman who feels like she at all times looks frumpy. Regardless of how nice my husband tells me I look I still am terribly aware of how frumpy I actually look. The obvious blame for this is the fact that it has only been 4 weeks since I gave birth to an 8 lb baby and I have not been given the go ahead to start exercising and so those last 7 lbs of pregnancy weight get to hang on my stomach and thighs for a little while longer.
I don't want to give the impression that after such a marvelous thing that just happened to my husband and me that the only thing I am worried about is my weight, in fact nothing could be farther from the truth.
I have never been one for checking the scale or worrying about what I wanted to eat or how many calories it contained. In this way I have always been thankful for my nearly 6 ft frame that lets me hide more weight than most BUT I have never in my life felt frumpy for this long.
Life happens, frump happens I know that but a constant 4 weeks of frump has made me realise that I do miss my flat stomach and the ability to fit into a pair of jeans that I own. It has also made me realise the limit of where I feel comfortable in my own skin. No longer can my tall frame hide the extra pudge, nor has it made it any easier for me to find clothes that fit.

All of that being said I am so happy to be a mom and I love my little boy to pieces, one glance at his peaceful beautiful face just melts my heart and I know that I wouldn't go back and change it. Being a mom despite the added and unexpected feelings of frumpiness has been one of the best experiences in my life and I know that it will keep getting better with time.

Garrett Jordan Cook is here

Early Saturday morning March 15th (4:30) to be exact, I started to go into labor. I waited for a while since contractions were about 10 minutes apart, then, they stopped. 20 minutes later, they started up again, this time, only 5 minutes apart. I waited a little bit, and then woke my husband Jordan up. Since my recent contractions had usually stopped by about 8:00 each morning, Jordan suggested we wait, but that didn’t last too long.

We got to the hospital and could only make it to the elevator before my water broke. We checked in and got a room. For some reason there was a miscommunication about when the water broke, because at one point, the nurse almost sent us home, but luckily, my doctor happened to be in the hospital, and he finished breaking the water - we were there for good.

Although the contractions were steady and very painful, I was progressing somewhat slowly, so after my epidural, the doctor put me on some patosin to speed things up a bit. Finally I was complete, and ready to start delivering the baby.

After about an hour and fifteen minutes of pushing, Garrett Jordan Cook was welcomed to the world. He weighed in at eight pounds, 1 ounce and was 20-1/2 inches long. There were no complications. Jordan and I are both very excited to have him here.

It has since been a month since this wonderful event happened and Garrett is doing great. There was a minor set back when the Dr. told us that his tongue was tied and would need to be clipped but that took all of 2 minutes to take care of and was more painful on me than it was for Garrett.

He has grown a little over an inch and has gained 2 lbs already. I can't believe how fast he is growing and developing.

Jordan and I are also growing and developing in our new parent role. It seems odd to all of a sudden have a little person to take care of but at the same time it seems like he has always been with us. He has definitely increased our hearts and we love him more than I ever thought was possible.