Cookies, Santa and Boots! Oh my!

Our Birmingham buddies at a Christmas cookie exchange.  It was impossible to get all the kids to look in one direction.  This was the best I got!

Harrison, Charlotte, Abby (who was NOT happy) Annika, Addie and Cole

GiGi is in town visiting and lets me wear her boots! Don't you know thigh high boots are all the rave! 

Had to include this photo of Dakota! She came downstairs from a nap and still had her blanket on!

Harrison's new Pottery Barn chair, which he loves

Umm and Dakota thinks this it's her new bed.

Can I have some more cookies, Mom?

Ho! Ho! Ho!

For Dakota's Friend Dizzle

See Daisy--you're not the only one who has to pose for the camera. 

Love,

Dakota

Check our our friend's blog over here to see their cute kiddos and adorable dog!

Baby Bellies!

As I did when I was pregnant with Harrison, I have been taking weekly belly pictures.  I thought I would throw a couple comparison pictures on here to share with my blogger friends.  I secretly (ok sometimes not so secretly) have my fingers crossed that our second little fellow is a little smaller than Harrison was.  I can only imagine how much this baby will weigh if I go to my due date!  I have been overanalyzing my Harrison belly with New Baby belly!  

Harrison Belly!

New Baby belly!

PS-all the maternity clothes I own are some form of sweatpant or t-shirt. Sorry for the lack of variety! 

Silent Night

Brian had several Christmas parties this past week, which we were lucky enough to attend.  Thankfully, we have found a couple of great babysitters in Birmingham.  It was nice to have a 'date night' and uninterrupted adult conversation!  

Momma's Little Helper

Harrison loves to "help" do just about anything.  He throws away his diapers in the garbage, tries to climb in his highchair for meals, and now he is doing laundry!  I figure the more I can teach him now before the baby comes, the better!  :)  Nevermind his AWFUL hair in these pictures.  He had a morning bath and then played outside with his hat on--the perfect recipe for hat head! 

Thank goodness for the CHILD LOCK button!

Sleepy Baby & TV Junkie

This is the second time Harrison has totally cashed out in the highchair.  I was mixing up his yogurt as he was gabbing away, then there was silence.  This is what I found.  

He has officially discovered the TV.  I believe he is watching the Today show.  

He has great taste in morning television. 

GiGi sent Harrison all the classic Christmas movies, so we watched Frosty tonight.  Well, let's be honest, we watched about 5 minutes.  But I took a picture anyway. 

Oh Christmas Tree

We ventured out to buy a real Christmas tree this year (well if you count going to Home Depot as venturing).  We've always wanted to have a real tree, both of us growing up having artificial trees.  It was kind of thrilling driving home with a tree on top of our car!  

Gretta the Jetta with tree!

Harrison "helping" decorate

Thankfully, the novelty of the tree has worn off and Harrison has lost interest in the shiny bulbs and lights.  However, the pretty wrapped presents under the tree tempt him.  I think on  Christmas morning he will be more impressed with shredding the paper than the gifts themselves.  

Gobble! Gobble!

We have had a great week, especially since Grandma and Grandpa Ludwig are visiting.  Harrison has enjoyed the extra snuggles and attention with his Iowa family.  We showed Grandma and Grandpa around town, complete with a trip to the Birmingham zoo.  We have also been out on the town shopping and dinner dates! 

Our little stud with his rocking hat

The new scrunch face

Complete scrunch face with eyes closed of course!

Harrison and his "lady friends" Charlotte and Addie on Thanksgiving! 

The girls live up the street (doing same sports fellowship) and their momma sure 

keeps me sane and laughing!! 

Disclaimer: No children were hurt during this photo!! So Dakota, our mouthy dog, has a bark collar.  Note-it does NOT work, yet we put it on the dog because she thinks it works.  The piece of the bark collar that could zap the dog if she barked is not even attached anymore.  Anyways, Harrison was playing with Dakota's toys today and came around the corner "wearing" the collar! Priceless.

For those who have been asking...

And finally the second little turkey-- roasting away at 24 weeks.

The belly is expanding at a very fast pace! 

14 Months

His best friend is truly his dog! Although I think if Dakota could talk, she would have something to say about this.

Dakota often stands as a "bridge" for Harrison.

He loves to put our shoes on the table-notice the dress shoes on the end table? Shoe fetish at an early age?--I hope not. 

Where's Harrison?

There he is! Peek-a-boo. Definition- an endless game we play everyday.

New Milestones-- walking everywhere, giving high fives, raising his hands in response to "SOO big", collecting acorns, sorting and stacking, throwing tantrums (Momma's least favorite), saying "up" "duck" "mom" "dad" and "ko" (meaning Dakota of course!) playing with his latch puzzle (thanks Mattson's)and reading lift-the-flap books.  He has 8 teeth total and his bottom molars are working their way through.  

He's a happy little monster most days and definitely keeps me on my toes. 

And he's off...

Happy Fall Ya'll

There are decorations galore that say "Happy Fall Ya'll" down here--so I thought it would only be fitting to entitle our post the same.  It's finally starting to turn a little cooler here in Birmingham, but not nearly as cool as it is in Wisconsin! We are enjoying being outside in the milder temperatures, especially when we can still wear shorts.  

Our little pumpkin

Peek!

Little Kanye

Harrison loves to wear my sunglasses--he always has his mouth wide-open in this goofy smile.  I think he looks like a little Kanye West wannabe.  My little rapper boy.  

Stepping Out! (in Seattle)

Look who decided to walk once we landed in Seattle! Stinker.

It's a...

Looks like Baby Luds part deux is also sporting boy parts! Our big anatomy ultrasound will be in 2 weeks, but my OB thought it would be nice for us to get a sneak peek at what we're having before I left for my trip to Seattle. Wish me luck--Harrison and I will be flying cross-country solo. Praying to little baby Jesus that the DVD player and the bag full of treats keeps him occupied!!

This picture was the best one I had--it shows the boy parts although the rest of it is a little fuzzy.

My Bama Buddies

These are some of Harrison's besties in Bham- Annika and Cole.  He squeals like a piglet when he seems them! 

I'm pretty sure Annika and Harrison weigh about the same, despite the 3 year age difference. 

Hide and Seek

Harrison hides things and momma seeks them.  Look what I found in the kitchen drawer-- my flip-flops, 1 of Harrison's shoes, the dog toy, and an empty water bottle.  

*Target Love*

Harrison loves Target just as much as his momma.  I especially love his expression in the last photo.  

Buds

Just a boy and his daddy.

These Days

These days, Harrison is quite hilarious.  He is turning into a little boy right before our eyes.  He isn't talking yet, but jibber jabbers all day.   

He loves to stack blocks and knock them over

He loves to put anything into any sort of container and then dump it out, of course. 

The kitchen drawers are some of his favorite hiding places.

Finally figured out how the popper toy works. 

Loves to push his walker toys up and down our street.  This kid is LAZY! He could walk on his own if he wanted to, but he turns into a limp noodle if you try and stand him up.

Look closely...the meltdown is starting

This picture is classic Harrison lately. If he is done with something, he puts his head down and cries.  Seriously, how do they learn this stuff? A tad dramatic.

Gap Photo Contest

So after checking out another momma's blog, I entered Harrison into a Gap baby photo contest!  I'm a *bit* biased, but I think he's the sweetest, cutest little guy.  So why not give it a shot, right? To vote for the little dude, please click the link below.  For our devoted fans, you can vote every 24 hours!  

Won't you please vote for my sweet face?