James' first pool trip!

We spent Father's Day weekend with Jim's parents in Tampa, and James got to go to the pool for the first time. Here are a few shots from our little outing... Enjoy!

He was so adorable! The "surfer shirt" is from a friend in Nicaragua. Nana and I picked out the cute bathing suit to match. :)

When he finally got in the water, he wasn't so sure about it at first...

but then he got used to the water temperature and decided that he liked it.

He was so cute, kicking his little legs like a frog. :)

Nana was so proud of her little man... and Pa G was too!


Daddy helped him dry off...

Then he told Daddy all about it! :)

Oops I missed the 3 month post!

I'm posting some pictures from James' 3rd month to catch everyone up since I've been a slacker.

I spent my first Mother's Day in Tallahassee with my mom! And I managed to get a photo of James and his Grandmom in his "Grandmom" onsie. (see explanation below)


James with his Uncle Tim at graduation! He's wearing his "I love my Uncle Tim" onsie. I made onsies for everyone in our immediate families, and I'm trying to get pictures with everyone. :)


With Aunt Sara in "her" onsie. Of course Noelle had to be in the shot too... that's what you get when your sister's a vet. :)




Sorry, Nana. I know I caught you in your nightgown, but when I looked up and saw Pa G. sitting down by James like this and talking to him, I just had to have this picture! :)



Tia Tania (a friend and fellow Spanish teacher from when I taught at Grayson) comes over every Monday to hang out with us!

4 1/2 months and couting...

Well, I'm even later with my post this time. James is 4 1/2 months! Oh my! Time flies so fast when you've got a little one that changes so much everyday! He got his four month shots on Tuesday and did fine. He's growing like a weed! He was 74% percentil in weight and 87% in length! Of course head was only in the 20% percentile, but it doesn't seem to affect his little mind. He's sharp and keeps learning new things everyday. I love watching him change and devevlop. What a blessing motherhood is!!

Below, I'm posting a random assortment of pictures from the last month (newest to oldest) to catch everyone up. I'll post captions below most of them to explain.

In other news, Jim found out a few weeks ago that we're getting transferred to Spartanburg, SC. Yep, you read right. We just put our house on the market (less than a year after we bought it), and we're praying for God to send us some buyers quickly and that we can get a decent price so that we'll at least have something for a down payment in Spartanburg should we decide to buy there. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated! While we're sad to leave our friends here and to be moving even farther from our families, we both have a peace that God is in this transfer, and we are excited to see what plans he has for us in this new chapter.

Thank you for your prayers! More to come...

Love to all,

Jim, Ally and James

Yesterday, James decided to "help" mommy fold his diapers. He loves to grab and chew on everything now, and it was so cute I had to snap a couple of shots. (Yes, I know the Bumbo chair is pink. We're borrowing it from a friend.)

Daddy was feeding James before he left on his business trip, and mommy used the opportunity to practice with her new lens!

Jim's cousins and his grandmother (Olliemama) came to visit James last week. He had a great time playing with them. :)

Last time that Pa G. and Nana came to visit, James decided to help Nana with his bottle (for the first time!!).

Bigdad bought James a shirt in Nicaragua, and he wore it proudly! :)

We finally got a pictures of James with Aunti Em in his "I love my Aunti Em" onsie just before he outgrew it.

Two months already!

James is two months old already! I can't believe it! I know you have all been asking me for more pictures of James, and I've been a slacker. But there's only so much free time in a house with a colicky baby. :) I think we're finally on the upswing though (hope I'm not jinxing us). James slept 8+ hours for the first time Monday night and repeated it again last night! And we reached another sleep milestone in the last several days... he's sleeping in his room! Yay!!

In other news, yesterday was shot day, and neither mommy nor James had much fun with that! Bless his heart... he was so good through the whole check-up, and then they gave him the three shots and he just cried and cried. It broke my heart. :( But when we were done, he got some snuggle time with mommy and went fast asleep. I'm so glad that he's feeling better today, and I'm glad that we don't need to do that again for two more months.

Jim and I are also doing well although work is a little slow for Jim. We would really appreciate your prayers that new jobs would come in so that they won't have to cut back on his hours. With all the medical bills we have right now, it would be a God-sized task to make ends meet with a cut in pay. But we trust Him for His provision.

Well... I'm gonna cut this a little short since I've still got to finish washing clothes and packing for our trip to Tallahassee for Mother's Day this weekend. My first Mother's Day! And I get to spend it with my mom! It's going to be really special!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Love,

James' mommy

"I love sleeping in Mommy's arms"

"Oh..."

"Sometimes I'm a whiny boy."

"I have Carharts just like Daddy!"

"I'm gonna be just like Daddy when I grow up!"

"Can I help, Daddy?"

James is one month

Several people have emailed me recently asking for new pictures of James. I haven't gotten any up in a while because we've been dealing with some tummy issues with James. We're not sure if it's collick, reflux or something else right now, but needless to say, I've been running on almost no sleep (literally) and having to hold James all day (and most of the night) bouncing him, patting his back or rubbing his tummy to keep him from crying in pain. I am definitely learning about one of the hardest parts of motherhood- seeing your child in pain and not being able to do anything to stop it. I'd really appreciate your prayers for perseverance as we deal with this new challenge of parenthood,and please pray for healing for his little tummy too so that I can get back to just spending time getting to know his little personality. Thanks to all. And without further a-do here are his latest photos. The first ywo are of the Easter outfit that I bought him (which is definitely more a Canopy Roads or CrossPointe style Easter out fit than traditional like First Baptist, but I think he's really cute in it!). The others are just me being camera happy- nothing new there.

Love to all,

Jim, Ally & James

P.s. You can also check out some of the "Pro" poses on my website under the "baby" section of my online portfolio. His pictures are numbers 16 through 21. Here's the link: http://www.thejourneybyally.com/My-Portfolio/Babies/10001033_KD7cN.

(I think that this one looks so much like me in some of my baby pictures.)

Intoducing James Matthew Garrison!!!

Wow! I guess I forgot to post pictures on the blog when James was born. I was too busy with Facebook, email and oh yeah... taking care of a new baby!

Well, James will be 4 weeks old on Friday. I can't believe it's already been that long! Even with sleepless nights time is flying! Speaking of nights, James has done much better the last several nights. We've even gotten 3 hours of continuous sleep a few times... go James! haha! Who would have thought years ago that I'd think 3 hours in a row was a lot of sleep, but I guess things change when you have kids.

James is growing and growing... and getting to be a "gordito" with a second chin. :) He changes every day. Just in the last two days or so he has started actually focusing on you when you talk to him instead of just looking in your general direction. I can't wait to see him smile at me!

We had our first outing today to shop for his Easter outfit (don't know if his mommy will get a new one this year or not??) and things went well. I even fed him while we were out... talk about an ordeal! I guess that will get to be second nature in time. It's so different trying to feed a squirming baby while peaking at him under a nursing cover. It definitely adds a new level of difficultly, but I'm up for the challenge.

Well... I guess there's not much more to add right now. Oh, except that we started our adventure in cloth diapering yesterday, and so far so good. Of course I can say that when I haven't had to wash them yet... haha... wish us luck!

Below are several pictures birth up to now that I thought you would all enjoy seeing. I've taken a few "artistic" ones too to use for my portfolio, so I'll add those in another post.

Hope you are all enjoying this fabulous weather and that God will reveal himself in new and exciting ways to you this week as he is to me through motherhood.

Love to all,

Jim, Ally and James

38 weeks and counting...

Well... it's probably no big surprise that once again it's been forever since I posted photos of my hugely pregnant self. I'm not a big fan of the photos we have right now, so I'm only posting one below. I will be 38 weeks along tomorrow, and Jim and I are both very ready for Baby G. to make his/her appearance (and to be able to stop saying him/her)!

The pregnancy is still going very well with no complications whatsoever. My feet and hands are only slightly swollen, and my blood pressure has been normal at every appointment. I am definitely getting uncomfortable with baby running out of room, and now I know first hand what it feels like to be "done!" haha!

We have finally finished the nursery (except for the changing table that Daddy-to-be is still refinishing), and we are just waiting for baby to arrive so it can be occupied!

Thank you so much for all your prayers! Please continue to send them up on our behalf until baby gets here, which will hopefully be SOONER rather than later! We'll be sure to catch everyone up again as soon as baby arrives!

Love to all,

Jim and Ally