My Little Cheeser

So as soon as Gerret sees the camera he is all smiles.

 He's a cheeser! 

Gosh aren't chubby naked babies just the cutest!?

Better Late Than Never

So with moving right after Christmas,

 I completely spaced posting pictures from 

Gerret's first Christmas. 

I LOVE Christmas. 

Gerret didn't have his front teeth yet so I LOVE this gummy picture!

Gerret opening his Christmas Jammies

Gerret modeling his cute Christmas jammies. All of the cousins were matching. 

Here's Gerret and Zac. These two are HILARIOUS when they are getting pictures taken together. 

I just had to post a few! 

Gerret with Grandpa Lonnie and Grandma Melanie. Isn't he so cute!?

Gerret is yawning in this picture. He was tired and ready to go home. I think I was pretending to be happy because I look a little TOO happy. I was so tired too!

Christmas morning at our house. Gerret knows EXACTLY what to do when the camera is on him. 

SMILE! 

What a little ham!!!

Christmas was a lot of fun! Even though I only have pictures of the Patten side we love the Rowley side too! Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Marv gave Gerret some ADORABLE jammies, a cute hoodie and some awesome onsies. Three baby clothing items that I am completely obsessed with. Casey and I got a new bed set from my parents and I LOVE IT! 

We love our families and we are so blessed to be so close. 

We just wish that my sisters were closer with their families and it would be great! 

HINT HINT sisters :) 

This One Time...

So when Gerret was about 3 months old we moved him to his own bedroom.

So instead of just laying in bed and nursing him I would actually get up and sit in his rocker with him.

So this one time...while I was nursing him in the middle of the night and all of a sudden the rocking chair dumped me out of it!

I was half asleep so it was a huge surprise! So there I am holding my kid, who is still eating by the way, my knees on the ground and one hand holding me up. I wish I could have seen it from an onlookers point of view. 

Gerret stayed asleep and finished eating while I laughed for about a half hour and couldn't go back to bed because it was just so funny. 

I love my rocking chair, but really...it spit me out...who does that?!

I was thinking about this story this morning and I decided to share, maybe it's one of those 'You had to be there' stories, but this way, I won't forget it. 

Isn't this funny!?

Gerret Says Hi

My Little Love

For some reason, the Lord saw Casey and I fit to be Gerret's parents.

For those of you that have met Gerret, you will probably agree when I say he has such a tender and sweet personality. 

When the older ladies at church see him, they just melt to pieces. One lady said, 'He just has a wonderful spirit.' He really does.

Sometimes I catch myself just watching him play and learn each day. I am so lucky to be able to be at home with him most of the time. Gerret LOVES to smile and laugh. He amazes me time and again with his loving and tender spirit. He gives everyone loves and he makes you feel like you are worth the world. He just loves to love. It is amazing.

Even though Gerret is just young, I see a great spirit in him. He is a light in my life. I had pretty bad postpartum depression up until he was about 7 months old, but he would ALWAYS make me happy. Even though I struggled, his spirit would lift me up and help me to laugh and smile. 

About two and a half years ago, I had a miscarriage. It was so sad to me and I had such a hard time dealing with it. I finally came to understand that my little one just wasn't quite ready to leave heaven yet. For reasons unknown to me, I had to wait just a little bit longer for my little son to come to me. I still am not quite sure why but I am so glad he's finally here. 

He is my angel baby. His beautiful blue eyes and curly red hair melt me. His chubby little legs just make me laugh every time I see them. His smile is so big and his 6 little teeth are just SO cute. Just last week he starting saying 'Hi' and waving at the same time. Trust me, it is so dang cute! 

I am such a lucky girl to have such a wonderful son and amazing husband. Casey works so hard and sometimes doesn't get home until late at night. This leaves a LOT of time for me to spend with my little guy. I'm not going to say I love every minute. There are times when I just want to take a LONG nap or get in the shower, but life will never go back to how it was before Gerret. That's okay though. I like my life now. I think some days that it can't get any better, and than it does. So I love ALMOST every minute.

I love that I can't be selfish any more. Being a mom has forced me to be a more selfless person. I even cook dinner for Casey now. Only took me 3 years to jump on the domestic woman bandwagon. 

I like life and I'm learning to really like me too. In fact, I have gotten over the fact that I am no longer a teenager and that I have had a baby. My stomach is covered in light pink stretch marks and my skin sags more as I lose more weight. Speaking of which, I've lost 14 pounds. I've got a LOT more to go but hey I'm doing it! 

Tonight I didn't want to put Gerret in his crib after he fell asleep. When I rock him in the rocking chair is the only time my arms don't get tired from holding him. He is a very BIG 9 month old. He is bigger than most 1 year olds according to his doctor. He's so tall and he weighs 25 lbs and he wears a size 5 shoe already. Thankfully he is slowing down in the growth department. 

I will miss this time with Gerret. Yes I will have more children, but I will never have this time again with Gerret. He is growing up so fast. I look forward to seeing the kind of man he turns into but for now, I just want him to stay my little baby. 

Gerret-

I love you son, you bring joy to my soul and light into my life. 

Love You Babe-

Mommy

Gerret Updates

-Gerret will be 9 months on Friday

-He has 5 teeth with more coming in

-Gerret is 25 1/2 lbs, he was 27 but he's lost some from army crawling

- Gerret is 30 1/2 inches tall

-Gerret is off the charts for both height and weight....

-Gerret army crawls and pulls himself up on things

-Gerret waves and tries winking

-Gerret says 'da da' and 'ba ba'

Gerret is such a sweet boy. He is very loving and LOVES to give kisses. Especially to other baby girls. It is so cute. He adores Casey! He loves his grandparents and all of his uncles and aunts. He is quite the charmer and flirts with all the ladies at church. When we go to the store he gets so much attention because he smiles at everyone! Gerret HATES getting his diaper changed and he is a very picky eater. When Gerret wakes up in the morning he pulls down the bumper and looks between the bars and calls for 'da da.'  When ever I try to get him to say 'ma ma' he laughs and yells DA DA. It is so funny. 

Gosh I love my kid.

Bedtime Reading

 Gerret loves books. We read all throughout the day.

My favorite part is when we sit and read before bed.

Casey was home this night instead of being out on appointments so he read to Gerret.

Gerret LOVED it!