A Quick Update

I haven't had a whole lot of time these last few months. Between Garrison and I we've been to the ER 6 times in three months. We're both finally feeling better. Garrison is now up to 33 inches and 25 lbs, so he's gained back the weight he lost while he had RSV. He lost down to 20lbs so he's been slowly working it back up. He goes in for surgery on Monday on his ears. They will be removing scar tissue from the ear drums, and putting tubes in. They are hoping to restore his hearing completely. At his last test he was at 90% hearing loss, but they hope it is a temporary loss due to the pressure built up behind the ear drums and the amount of scar tissue he has built up from ruptured drums. They said Monday should be pretty routine and he'll be feeling back to normal and hopefully better than normal by that evening. Garrison started walking a few weeks ago, but then when his ears got bad he quit again. We are hoping he'll decide to walk again once his equalibrium and balance come back. I'm hoping to have time to post a little of what we've all been up to soon. Justen is getting pretty close to having the roof up on our new barn, Garrison has rearanged and "organized" all of my kitchen cupboards, and I've beem working with students on FFA proficiencies, state degrees, and science fair projects. It's a busy time for us. Justen and I call spring "FFA Season". We have all of our competitions coming up, and we are both training several teams. Our greenhouses are also in full swing and filling up for spring. Keep reminding me to get pictures up so I don't forget! So much exciting stuff, not to mention we start Lambing in two weeks. If I don't post for a while just know we are busy!

Garrison and his "sisters"

Well, there is no doubt that Garrison LOVES his dogs. He can't wait for them to run in the room in the morning. If he hears the clink of Tia's collar he tries to dive off the bed and crawl to her. Well, now he's started going to the window with them to bark. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, but it's pretty funny. Another thing we've found we love about having dogs and kids together is the built in maid service for cleaning up around Garrison's high chair. He's up to four teeth now, and growing fast. He's up past 24 lbs, 33 inches, and in 18 month clothes.

First Tooth!

Yesterday Garrison got his first tooth! He also has a mouthful that look ready to come. Sorry it's so short, I'll get more up soon. I've had a migraine since last thursday and nothing is helping. I have some great pictures from Indiana but I can't look at the computer screen long enough to get them up, so they are coming soon.

Crawling??

So he really isn't crawling, but he is scooting to get what he wants. He's been rolling all over the place for a while. Up until now if he wanted something, he would just roll until he got there or sit and happily play with something else. Today I was doing something on the computer and Justen put Garrison down across the room and next thing I knew he was at my feet to grab the toy sitting there. Justen was so excited that he was crawling, he just sat there amazed watching him crawl and didn't even tell me what was going on until Garrison was at my feet. I missed the whole thing. He did it another time or two, we went "fishing" for him with the yellow measure tape he wanted. Then when we tried to get it on video he really didn't want to show off anymore. So we got three scoots. It's better than nothing, he goes faster when he's not tired and the camera is off. Isn't that always the way? The min. you get the camera they quit doing what they were doing fine just a min. before.

What a Week!

Well, I'm glad the last week is over, but I'm not sure I'm ready for next week. It's been incredibly busy. Garrison has had croup AGAIN! I'm starting to think he doesn't get over it, it just hangs on endlessly. He actually was better, but then we had that big snow storm and guess what, Davis school district won't turn the heat on in their schools until a certain date regardless of temp. And, Layton high is being remodled and the front of the school is a gaping hole. So the day of the snowstorm the daycare was freezing and he got sick again. He went to the Dr. Tuesday night and got another steriod treatment, and then had to have a second one the next night. But he is doing better now. We got the sheep taken up to Tremonton to be breed- and all but one have been bred. So if they all took we should be lambing 8 ewes in one week, doesn't that sound fun! Snow college FFA feild day is over, thankfully. Garrison wanted to know who's brilliant idea having to get up at 3 am to leave! He was a trooper all day, but man he has been a grump since trying to catch up on sleep. We've had two days off to catch up on sleep, and then we leave for Nationals. So Tuesday morning we again have to get up at 3 am to get to the airport and leave for Indianappolis. But I thought I'd post some pictures of Garrison hanging out with his aunt Brittney while we load sheep to take up north.

PS I forgot to add that when he was at the Dr. this week he is up to 20 lbs. 4 oz. Which isn't a surprise because he has started waking up at 2 am for an extra bottle for the last two weeks, and eating like a horse. So as suspected, he's in the middle of another growth spurt.

Filling up for Pocket Change!

So we've been telling you all that we were going to convert our car to CNG for almost a year now. Well, we still haven't. The kit is sitting here and the tank arrived last week. But we filled up for under $3 yesterday. You guessed it, we bought a new car(well new to us it's an '02). We just couldn't wait anymore. We've been so busy we decided we just aren't going to get it done as soon as we need a new car. So, we went down to Uintah Alternative fuel vehicles and bought a chevy cavalier that had the CNG system factory installed. It's clean burning and our fuel dollar stays right here in Utah because the natural gas is mined right here. So we are no longer supporting foreign oil companies, YEAH FOR THAT!! Justen put 3/4 of a tank in for $2.58.That takes his daily commute cost from about $13 a day to less than $1 a day. We are pretty excited. There are definately some inconviences with it, we have no trunk, it's pretty gutless (but so is the saturn) and he'll have to fill a couple of times a week because the tank only holds 4 Gallons, but hey, how can you argue with that price. It was costing us over $70 a week to fill the van. So, if anyone is in the market for an old beat up minivan, let us know we have one we're parting with. We love our new car.

Sitting Up and Loving it!!

Garrison has started sitting up on his own. He's actually been doing it for a while, but now he pulls himself to a sit and doesn't fall over. He also loves his favorite new toy, his Nanny phone. He takes it everywhere and it can make him instantly stop crying when he hears it. We call it his nanny phone because he got it on his first big shopping trip with his Nanny at Kents. I went to grab some produce and then I kind of panicked when I couldn't find the two of them. But a few minutes later they came around the corner, Garrison had the biggest grin on his face. He was shaking his new rattle. He's loved it ever since. It's actually the only rattle he plays with. So look close at his hand, that's what he's clutching, his red Nanny Phone. On another note today, we had our vents cleaned. I was at parent teacher conferences so Justen was here. He said it was NASTY!! He said they pulled out a huge canister of dirt. The canister on their truck was the size of a 55 gallon drum. Then they put some stuff in the vent system to kill mold and mildew. Hopefully Garrison and my allergies will get a break now. So, now we have to get the carpets cleaned and mabey the two of us will be able to breath again. There was mold in the vents (luckily not the scary or dangerous kind) so I really believe that was the cause of my breathing issues. Lets hope.