The Garrison Family

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Tummy Time

Since birth, Ava has loved being on her tummy. We used to let her nap on her tummy when she was a newborn because she slept so much better (and longer) than when she was on her back. Don't worry, we always supervised her while she was sleeping on her tummy! Well, I guess it's a good thing that she loves her tummy because she has developed such great back and neck muscles from all the time she's spent on it. If we place her on her back to play on the floor or on her back to sleep in her crib, she'll roll over to her tummy to play or sleep. Then, she low-crawls military style to get where she wants to go (usually some place perpendicular to where she is at the moment). You can put her down on her back facing one direction and within seconds, she's rolled over onto her tummy facing the complete opposite direction. We don't know how she does it!

Oh, in addition to being on her tummy, Ava's learned how to make faces and expressions with her mouth. Her current favorites are:

1) sucking in her bottom lip
2) sucking in both of her lips
3) making a pucker with her lips
and
4) staring blankly at the camera with her 'Matt' (aka 'I'm too cool for this picture') face

She's such a goober!

Here are some pictures of Ava playing on her tummy just looking around to see what everyone else is doing (you can see her new favorite facial expressions in some of them)...

Monday, March 24, 2008

Ava's First Easter

Well, Ava's first Easter was filled with so many great surprises. The Easter Bunny came by our house and left Ava so many fun treats. Her Easter basket was filled with some new touch and feel books, Baby Einstein DVDs, a pink stuffed rabbit, a Fisher-Price Learning Toolbench, candy filled eggs, and some Japanese Kokeshi dolls and baby chopsticks that the Easter Bunny left for Ava in Matt's suitcase in Japan (he wanted Matt to bring them to Ava to give to her on Easter since he wasn't going to be able to get to America as quickly as Matt was). Kokeshi dolls are a Japanese handicraft made of wood and are hand painted. They come in every shape and size (as you can see!) and Ava already loves playing with them. Here are some pictures of Ava seeing her Easter basket for the first time...

In the afternoon, we went for a walk to the park and through the surrounding neighborhoods. The park was a mess (full of people who don't live in our community but who want to trash a really nice park in a nice community!), so we decided to just walk through some neighborhoods around ours. Towards the end of the walk, Matt took Ava out of her pram and carried her on his shoulders (which has become one of her favorite places to sit)...

Other than that, it was a pretty lazy day. Matt was suffering from major jet-lag (due to the 16 hour time difference from Japan), so we just played with Ava and hung around the house. Here are some pictures of my loves doing what they do best...

Matt and I had a great Easter. Although Easter was really early this year (the dates don't match up), it was still a special weekend for us as it was our 8th Easter together. Can you believe it? We met Easter weekend of 2001 (which was in mid-April) and have been able to spend all but one Easter together (he was deployed for Easter 2003). It's amazing how fast time has flown by--I would never have thought our lives would be this amazing 8 years ago.

Daddy's Home!

On Saturday, Ava had a very big day. Matt's parents left to go back to Texas early that morning and then late that afternoon her favorite person walked through the door to see her. Daddy was home! I was actually nursing Ava when Matt opened the door and as soon as he walked through the door and over to see us, Ava had the biggest smile on her face (and she was D-O-N-E eating for that feeding!). Ava was just beside herself in excitement to see her Daddy. She gets excited to see her Nan and Poppa, GG and Grandpa, and all her other family, but there is no comparison to the excitement she gets when she sees her Daddy for the first time after he's been gone for a while.

Of course, Matt was just as equally excited to see his little girl. Even though he was exhausted from his 2 days of travelling to get home, he couldn't wait to play with Ava. He couldn't believe how much she'd changed in just a week--especially with her ability to sit up better and her dexterity playing with her new toys. Here are some pictures of the two of them reuniting right after Matt grabbed her from my lap. Aren't they both so cute?

Oh, have I mentioned that he wouldn't stop holding or playing with her for a couple of hours? I've been replaced as the thing Matt looks forward to coming home to the most (but it's okay with me because I love watching my two loves together!).

We were both so happy to have Matt home. There's just a special bond between Ava and her Daddy and they both miss each other so much when they're apart. Luckily, Matt was only gone a week. I can't imagine what Ava would do if he were gone longer than a few weeks--she would surely be tired of me!

About Us...

Matt and I met on April 14, 2001 in Glendale, Arizona. I was in college at Pepperdine University and he was in F-16 pilot training at Luke AFB. We met through my brother, Matt (Goat), who was also going through pilot training at Luke. The two Matts met their freshman year at the Air Force Academy where they were assigned to the same squadron and lived next door to one another. Despite Matt being friends with my brother since 1995, we had never met one another before 2001. I fell in love with Matt at first sight and he fell in love with me shortly thereafter. We were married on October 4, 2003 in the Cadet Chapel at the U.S. Air Force Academy-it seemed only fitting. God has blessed us with almost 5 busy, exciting, and wonderful years of marriage. In that time, we have lived in 3 states, 2 countries, run in over 20 races (combined) in 6 different countries and 5 different states, traveled to almost 30 different countries, and have have been blessed with the most precious and beautiful little girls.

Ava Holt was born at 3:05 AM on November 1, 2007. At 2 weeks early, she weighed in at 7 pounds, 11.4 ounces and was 20 inches long. Ava Holt is a dramatic yet easy going little soul. She loves attention and is always happy. She is incredibly observant, freakishly strong, very independent, and a very fast learner. Her curiosity fuels her day, as she fills her hours getting into anything and everything under 5 feet in height. As much as she loves me, she loves her Daddy even more. She is the epitome of a 'Daddy's Girl' and the highlight of her day is when Matt gets home and she gets to perform, laugh, and squeal for him. Then, when her Daddy gets in her way, her favorite person in the world is her baby sister, Myla Grace. From the moment she met Myla Grace at the hospital on the day we came home from the hospital, she was smitten. There wasn't a jealous bone in her body, only pure love. We are beyond blessed to have the miracle of Ava Holt in our lives. Oh, and did I mention that 'You Are My Sunshine' is her FAVORITE song? The apple didn't fall far from the tree, as it's mine too.

Sweet Myla Grace was born at 5:04 PM on December 2, 2009. At 3 weeks early, she weighed in at 7 lbs, 0.4 ounces and was 19 inches long. Myla Grace is so disgustingly sweet. She is our cuddly little one who prefers to be carried and or held when at all possible. While sweet and cuddly, she also loves to destroy, dismantle, and disassemble most things within her reach...all while flashing the most precious of smiles. And through all of her sweetness, she has the uncanny ability to make you laugh all day long. Maybe it's the mullet she's had since birth, the gummy grin (which is starting to blossom with teeth), or her serious smirks, but whatever it is, we can't get enough. Although Myla Grace was a complete surprise, we can't imagine life without her. She is absolutely Ava's little buddy (whom Ava affectionately calls, 'the little one,' 'Mywa Grace,' and 'Mah-la.'), Amy's cuddle bug, Matt's giggling partner, and the most beautiful little blessing.

Harper Lee was born at 3:28 PM on May 31, 2013. Also arriving 3 weeks early, Harper weighed in at a hefty 6 lbs, 15 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. From the moment she entered this world, Harper has been the happiest, calmest, smiley-est {if that's even a word}, sweetest, and easiest baby we've ever had. She NEVER cries and is so incredibly easy going...to the point that I thought something was wrong with her. And unlike her big sisters, Harper has always been on the tiny side of small. After several rounds of tests when she was 6-months old to make sure she didn't have any development or growth problems, the Doctors came to the conclusion that she is just going to be "petite." So despite being in the 5th percentile for her age, our precious Harper girl is absolutely perfect as the tiny little package that she is. Oh, and did I mention that she is the BEST eater in our family? This sweet girl can mow through food like a 10yr old! I am a believer in miracles and Harper further confirms my faith. Her existence is a pure miracle (not to mention an ultimate surprise) and we thank God all the time for giving her to us. We thought our hearts were complete but we had no idea how big of holes we had until she joined our lives. Her laughter, giggles, rambling babbles, smiles, and 2-finger sucking are constant reminders that we are recipients of so much undeserved grace. At 21-months old, Harper's favorite things are cats (she calls them "nows"--her way of saying meow), dogs ("uf-ufs"), Ava ("aw-buh"), and balloons ("boons").