Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas from The Garlands!

We have been truly blessed this year with Elliott's great job at Raising Cane's, with a wonderful home, clothes, and food, with our health, and with 2 beautiful sweet kids, and so much more. We could not have had such a good year without the help of our kind Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for this time of year to remember and celebrate his birth. What a wonderful example he is for us, to be perfect and not sin. I know that our Savior suffered for our sins and died so that we might live with him and Heavenly Father again. I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! With much Love!

Pictures

I have left the kitchen a couple times and came back and Cole was feeding Izzie. Like here, she has a donut in her mouth.

After a year, I have finally finished our bathroom. To see the before picture you will have to go back a year in our blog. But Elliott fixed the leak and put sheet rock up and taped and bedded it. Then I had to take off the popcorn ceiling, tape and bed some more, sand, tape and bed, sand again, float the ceiling, then Natasha and I painted the whole bathroom white. Elliott replaced the faucet and the toilet lid and it looks wonderful! You should see it. I'm so proud of myself for learning and doing so much!

November 3rd: If you cant tell Cole needed stitches. He lost his balance and smacked his head on our fireplace. I didn't think it was that bad when he first did it. Then I looked at it and it was deep and bleeding. Luckily it wasn't on his face, so we just put liquid bandage on it. Now it looks fine.

Halloween

I have been extremely busy or extremely lazy on doing anything on the computer lately. So here is Halloween. Poor Elliott had to work right as we went out trick or treating, so he didn't get to come. We helped out our new, wonderful friends Miriam and Andrew move into their house all day so we just trick or treated around their neighborhood. Cole had a great time. He went into a few people's houses since this was he first time really trick or treating. He got a good stash, but didn't get to eat much since we has really sick.

And my camera is totally broken so I have to take pictures on my new phone or on our video camera. So one of these days I will add them too.

We had Thanksgiving this year at the Cline's and the food was the best food I have had with Elliott's family. It was sad not being with my family for this first time, so I hope they had a good Thanksgiving.

Out of Town

Last week I was able to drive up to Oklahoma and watch my nephews. The drive up was great, Cole and Isabel slept 3 hours. Cole was just getting over the flu or swine flu not sure which one, so he still had a cough and was taking medicine which is not fun trying to trick him to drink it. Xander and Cole, who are 9 months apart could not get along for even 5 minute without hitting, biting or yelling. That was the worst part of it. I was just thankful Izzie and Blayne were so good. Zach cooked for us the whole time and it was absolutely wonderful. (Thanks Zach!) All in all, I loved being with my family.
We got back Thursday night and Friday night Elliott and I went to an awesome Halloween party. He dressed up as a hockey player, and I didn't dress up.
Saturday morning we left for the farm to go camping. We went to an auto show, launched a toy rocket (which was my favorite part), ate delicious brisket and chicken that my wonderful brother-in-law smoked (Thanks Brian!), rode dirt bikes, and ate smores. The kids did awesome. I had tons of blankets so they wouldn't freeze, and they were probably hot and Cole slept all night. It was a great weekend, the weather was perfect and it was great spending time with the in-laws.


On a journal note: I was changing Izzie on the changing table yesterday, I turned around to put the diaper in the trash and she rolled off and landed on her back. It is 4 feet off the ground. She cried for about 10 mins and I cried for over an hour. I was so worried and so mad at myself. I felt horrible. Luckily my friend called me soon after and I told her what happened and she said I could take her to her husband who is a chiropractor and he checked her out and said she was ok. That gave me such a piece of mind. I guess Heavenly Father had whispered to her that I needed help. I'm so glad that my prayers are answered!

Hair

Cole's hair was just getting to long, I had to cut it. Now he looks like a little boy.

The weather has cooled down a bit, so now we take bike rides. Izzie is having a hard time sitting up, but she will get used to it. Going on a bike ride is Cole's incentive for going potty and staying dry all day. He has been doing a great job. Funny story though: Last night he did his nightly routine of brushing his teeth, going potty, saying prayers, reading books and going to bed. A few minutes later he comes out and says, "Potty". I said no you just went. He came out again and said, "Potty". I told him if he wanted to go he could do it himself. We didn't hear a peep from him again. Awhile later Elliott went to the bathroom and found Cole's diaper and P.J. bottoms on the floor and a certain something in the toilet. Elliott went to look at Cole and he had his blanket on him, and nothing underneath. It was so funny. I couldn't believe he went by himself.

Izzie has moved to the high chair now since she has been trying to escape the bouncy chair. We are starting her on cereal this week. She has also graduated from her bath tub. We are going to use the blow up duck bath tub this week since she kicks so much in her other tub. I will post a video later.

Where is Cole? Need I say more?!

I'm working 8 hours a week for my dad at the shop, so that has been a nice break from the kids. Natasha has been watching them and thank goodness hasn't gone insane yet. Thanks Tash!

Lastly, seems like a ton of my friends and family are having babies.

So congratulations to you all!

Happy Birthday, Cole!

I can't believe Cole is already 2. Time has really flown by. He is talking so much lately. I have taken away his pacifier for good, he still asks for it and probably wakes up at night because of it. He wakes up at least once a night right now calling for "Mama". We will start working on potty training pretty soon. Every now and then he says, "Potty" and we run real fast and he poops on the toilet.

July

Another journal page for the Garland family:

July started off with a downer of me turning 30. The nice part was that I got to spend it with my family. All my family was here except Whitney. We had breakfast with our ward and Cole was in bike parade.

My grandmother sent me the letter "C" in a painting to go on the kids wall and it was all in popcorn and Cole and Xander had so much fun with it.

Later in the evening Cole was so dirty that I threw him out in his diaper with the hose and Xander joined in and they filled their diapers up with water. We made a bet to see whose diaper would fall off first. Of course Cole won.

Sunday the 5th Isabel was blessed so some of Elliott's family was there, my grandparents and uncle, and Elliott's co-worker and wife came also. She looked so cute in the dress.

Then my parents took us all to Branson. My parents left Friday afternoon and we left at 5am on Saturday, hoping the kids would still be asleep and since it was cooler. Didn't work, they stayed awake for awhile.

• Saturday evening we saw a kind of chuck wagon show. It rained everyday we were there.



• Sunday we went to church and tried to play games, but it was difficult with 5 kids under 3.



• Monday we went to Silver Dollar City. The first day was frustrating because Izzie wouldn't eat or sleep so she cried a lot of the time. If she wasn't eating the other 2 babies were, so we didn't get to do a whole lot. I did get to ride this ride called The Swing and it was so much fun.



• Tuesday since it was raining in the morning the boys couldn't go golfing till the afternoon. Us girls got to have a massage which was very relaxing.



• Wednesday my family went to see church history sites, but my family and Lindsey went back to Silver Dollar City. It was so much better this time because I found a nursing room that was so nice and cool and Izzie actually ate and slept. We got to see a great stomp like show, Cole got to ride his first ride, and I rode another fun roller coaster.



• Thursday we went to the lake and swam and rode the jet ski. We all got burnt and I was sore from tubing.



• Friday we drove home.

One of the days we were in Branson we went down town and went shopping. I got some fudge and saltwater taffy and we went to the 5 and 10 store and it was so neat to see all the junk there, we spent $60. We stopped by the Bass Pro Shop and the boys got to watch the fish. Elliott spent a lot of time there that week because he tried to go fishing like 5 times and never caught anything. He was so frustrated.

Sunday Lindsey left back for Utah, after a long hard decision she took Cole with her on the plane. I was so nervous and cried when he got on the plane.

We left on Monday and drove to Utah. Isabel did really good and so did Giovanny. We got to Provo on Tuesday afternoon and hung out at Brycen's. We ate out at my new favorite restaurant. Zupa's. It has such great salad and sandwiches, just wish they had one in Texas. While we were there Whitney did my hair we went shopping and we stayed with Zach's wife's family and absolutely loved it. The bed was so comfy and had the best breakfast with them. I didn't want to leave. Thursday night was Whitney and Rob's reception. It was nice, got to see a few old family friends. Cole loved to play on the playground in front of Lindsey's apartment, it was right on the foothill of the mountain.

The drive home was actually pretty good. I was really surprised Cole did good. In his sleep he was dancing though, it was so funny.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the wonderful trips! I didn't want to come home.

Our Saturday

So this Saturday we had a ward picnic and Cole had to play sports and in the water. He for sure is going to be a baseball player or basketball player.

Then we took the boat out with Elliott's parents and I just love little babies in bathing suits. Izzie looks so cute!

Cole rode with Elliott on the tube and he loved it.

Back in March I planted my garden and Bluebonnets in my yard. The Bluebonnets finally grew. They are my favorite flowers. I'm so excited. Even if it is only a few.

Last but not least, we weren't sure how we were going to take Izzie out since we didn't have a babysitter, we tried Cole's old life jacket on and it worked perfect. She loved floating in the bathtub, it was so funny. It you look closely she kicks herself off the wall.

I'm A Big Kid Now

I bought a training toilet a couple weeks ago and Cole has been trying it out. He wakes up and say, "Potty". So I take him and he sits for a little bit and nothing. But when he poops he tells me he has to "potty" but we never make it on time. I also bought him some Elmo underwear since he loves Elmo and he wore them for a little bit.

We are on week 2 of Cole sleeping in a toddler bed. The first night was a long one. Every night since then has gotten better. He has done some funny things while sleeping in his new bed. His second night he got up and for some reason opened up the door to the closet in the hall and was just crying. When I came down to get him, I couldn't see anything because the door was blocking my way. Another time he was taking a nap, started crying opened his door and then went to lay down and went right back to sleep.

We got all the grand kids together when Zach was down and this was the best picture I had.

Last weekend we went down to the farm and we had a great time. Elliott's co-worker Andrew and his wife came with us. They shot guns, went fishing, shot the potato launcher, and swam in the pond. The boys had a blast.

Cole was the last person on the bike before Zach wrecked it. (For story details check his blog) Cole already misses that bike.

I just love this picture of Isabel. She is a tough baby. Not sure what is wrong with her. I thought it was acid reflux, then I thought it was gas, so now I'm not so sure. She has been smiling for a couple weeks now.



After a sleepless night and playing all day in the sun, at the farm, Cole finally crashed while watching Elliott play a game. My laughing made the camera shake.

Elliott's Weekend

This weekend was all about Elliott since it was his birthday. Friday his friend/co-worker and his wife decorated his cubicle. They did an awesome job.

Monday we went to the Scarborough Fair. Cole and Elliott rode an elephant and loved it. Cole got to feed some goats and rabbits.

Izzie did a pretty good job in the heat. She got so hot she had to show of her stomach.

Also, Natasha had Giovanny on Elliott's birthday. We are glad he is here. He seems so tiny next to Izzie.