January: Alan played the role of the selfless friend in dashing over the Pacific in the Delta cattle-car to join his friends on a resort island off the coast of Thailand for Garrett Jones' wedding. He also played the role of selfish husband in leaving his wife at home with her THREE daughters. Do anything for a friend:)
February: Maggie and Alan left the world of fried chicken and stores filled with items Made in China for the land of, well, fried chicken and factories filled with items Made in China. Hong Kong, Nanjing and Guangzhou, 14 days of paperwork and day trips and a bundle of 2-year-old quiet in our presence. Hao Ge, soon to be named Garrett, misrepresented himself while in his motherland. We survived the culture shock and exhaustion as God intended, with mild and whispered sarcasm.
March: Adrenaline brought us home to the First Day of the Rest of Your Life. "Garrett, this is your new sister... this is your new sister... this is your new sister... this is your new Mama, this is your new Papa, this is your new Aunt, this is your new Gramma-Gramma, this is your new Papa Boo, this is your new Grandpa... (you get the picture)." Garrett slept a lot, we didn't know what we got ourselves into, and the month ebbed away without much thought. None of the horror stories moms dream up and gossip in the chat rooms occurred, much to God's praise. Emily quietly turned 7 with a quiet lunch with Alexa-bexa, the next-generation Cosgrove.
April: Did I mention adrenaline? Well, it petered out. It's been nice and all having Garrett visit, but when exactly is this kid going home? This begins the hardest 3-4 months in our marriage, our parenthood, and probably our adult lives. The only positive part is that we write this from this end of the chronology.
May: "Garrett, this is your Gramma Belle, and Uncle Jacob and Uncle Michael." And welcome to the beach, where you can play for days and, wait, get a 'tan' (really, it is more of a bronze). Hats off to the extended family in all directions for being incredibly loving and accepting and friendly to Garrett. Exceeded expectations. Louise, Summer & Autumn get their own table at Applebees.
June: Night Terrors, setting hour, day, week and month records being broken for quantity of times being sent to room and amount of time standing 'on the wall'. Alan recuses himself from discipline, asking Maggie to step in and take this role. He recognizes that Garrett sees him (the first male figure in his short life) as a Policeman, and not a Father. Garrett's first American birthday celebrated with extended-Bowling family.
July: the oh-so memorable "I don't feel like going to bed" standoff that ended with Garrett asleep on the wood foyer floor without pillow or blanket. WE ARE MARSHALL. Louise starts to learn to read.
August - September: Garrett' s tendency to obedience makes potty-training pretty easy. Mom and Dad start looking for reasons to be proud of Garrett and who he is rather than frustrated at who he isn't (yet). Life smooths over noticeably. Fourth Annual Trip to Ridgecrest Conference Center, thanks to our brother Rocko. Emily and Louise dig the cafeteria. Garrett hits on a cute seasonal worker while the parents are out for dinner one night. Made his daddy proud. Bored while sitting in Daddy's lap during a reptile show, Eliza hawks one in daddy's hands. Never a dull moment.
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