The Big 5!

I know I'm late on posting this. I've thought about doing it, but was not as motivated, due to being tired, sore, etc...

5 years and 3 days ago, God blessed us with a second child. When we found out we were expecting we were hoping for a boy, but knew we'd be happy no matter what. I prayed that I wouldn't have the all day nausea, but the Lord had other plans. In May my parents came out for the preacher's conference. As many of you reading this know, my dad passed away the day after he turned 59. I had a blood test at the hospital and mom came with me to keep Elyssia busy. Dad had volunteered to keep her, but we told him that he should relax and maybe go fishing. Scott and I had purchased a B.C. fishing license for his birthday and he headed out to see the lake. It was God's plan that we didn't leave Elyssia. Dad had a major heart attack on the way home and if he'd been with Elyssia it would have been very scary for her. I had started to get better as far as the nausea was concerned, but this sent me back into throwing up. I tried to stay strong for mom and in order to not hurt the baby. I'd heard that crying too much could cause a miscarriage. This was really not easy, but the Lord was with us and I could definitely feel him helping me through. With the death of my dad, Scott and I decided that if the Lord blessed us with a boy we would name him after dad. On November 7th, 2006, Garrison Stuart Prisk Holloway was born. He was 21 days early, but perfectly healthy in every way. We've had a lot of fun with this little man, mischievous side and all. He very much resembles dad, although I can also see some of Scott in him. His memory is incredible and we praise the Lord that he understood at a very young age that he was a sinner in need of the Lord. He accepted Christ into his heart a couple months before his 4th birthday and, although he can be a very rambunctious, short attention span kind of boy, he has also shown a tenderness that only the Lord can bring. He enjoys getting up early to read the Bible with Scott. He prays for his little brother and sister to get saved and tries to convince Caleb to pray. Reminds me of Nathan and I when we were little. He has become Scott's right hand man and really enjoys showing me how hard he can work. Yes, there are days where we hear a lot of whining and "I can't", but overall he's become a very big helper. He's quick to let us know if one of the younger 2 is getting into something and is really looking forward to holding his new sibling.

This year I tried to make the birthdays a bit more special, due to bringing another little one into the home. We wanted each of the kids to know how special they are to us and did our best to make the day all about them. Garrison chose a Bugs Bunny cake that caught his eye in the cake decorating book. It was a bit more of a challenge, but his excitement was payment enough for all the extra work. Here are some pictures from his special day. Sorry it took so long to post them.

He was actually quite unselfish when it came to choosing his meals. He let Caleb choose breakfast. It was butterscotch buns:). I thought it would be fun to do mini pizzas for lunch and it turned out really well. I put the ingredients in the bread machine before we went to vote and we let everyone put on their own toppings when we got home. He let Elyssia choose dinner and she chose Top Ramen. We thought it was kind of a strange choice, but three of them ate it while the rest of us ate leftovers. In the afternoon Scott took Garrison to run errands. While there they checked the mail and a box was waiting for Garrison. Uncle Kirk sent it and the timing was perfect. I didn't take pictures, but there were G.I. Joe figures, A rare Lego figure, A shirt, down vest and a book. All of which Garrison was very excited about.

It was a long night before the birthday, due to 5 hours of contractions, but I prayed that they would stop. I thought about how sad it would be for Garrison to wake up and find that his parents were gone and not there to celebrate his special day. So, the rest of the week we've waited, kind of expecting that I'd go into full labor, but so far the contractions have been irregular. God knows best though and his timing is perfect. Overall it's been a pretty good week. The weather warmed up enough to melt quite a bit of the snow. Elyssia came down with the sniffles on Monday night and it sounds like 1 or 2 of the others have it now. Scott has been busy preparing for all the Remembrance Day stuff. Tomorrow he's giving a speech at the elementary school and Friday is the big day! Hope I don't interrupt it:).

That about catches things up. I probably won't post too much in the days ahead. We're focusing on Elyssia's schoolwork and trying to give Garrison a bit as well. Things seem to be coming together for him and he's doing quite well on writing letters now. It's neat the way his tongue peeks out as he concentrates so hard. So thankful for each of the blessings God has sent our way, even when they get into trouble.