Weekend Highlights

Check out Harrison and Baby Luds' new ride...

*Brother Wanted*

Cruising.

Thrilled with the ball up his shirt

Bama Buddies' Bday!

Harrison's little girlfriends (and our only friends here!) turned one last week.  Their birthday party was the perfect opportunity to snag another group photo of our Alabama buddies--the attempt failed miserably, but the picture is still pretty cute. 

The gang!

The birthday girls!

 

36 weeks

I had my 35-36 week OB appointment on Monday and our little stinker is still breech.  So we have officially scheduled a C-section for March 11th at 8 am.  While it is still possible for him to turn to a head down position, the chances get slimmer as the days go by.  So barring anything crazy happening (like going into labor on my own!) this baby will be born in 20 days! 

Overall, I continue to feel well.  Limited swelling in my hands and ankles (although my wedding rings haven't fit in quite some time) and my blood pressure and blood counts have been stable.  I continue to gain weight, probably more than my share! I am loving McDonald french fries, root beer floats and orange slushies from Sonic, garden veggie cream cheese with crackers and fountain Cokes!  All of these things are definitely NOT helping in the weight gain area.  Oh well...the baby likes them!  

Babes in the Zoo

The Birmingham Zoo offers a class called Babes in the Zoo that introduces young toddlers to different animals.  Yesterday was "fast animal" day.  Harrison saw a falcon, a ferret, an alligator, a lizard and a guinea pig.  He loves to point and look at the animals.  Here are a couple of photos from yesterday.  (PS nevermind the tired momma in the picture--this whole pregnancy thing is starting to catch up with me)

Axel the Lizard

Twister the Ferret

17 months

It's hard to believe that Harrison is 17 months old already.  He has changed into a little boy before our very eyes.  

What he is up to these days:

-stacking 5-6 blocks and then putting them precisely back into the bag

-stacking and sorting anything (see picture below)

-playing MegaBlocks... he can stack about 8-10 without help

-reading books is a constant activity.  We read nearly 20 books a day (sometimes over and over and over again) Faves include Brown Bear, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Goodnight Moon

-he says "up" "brrr" and "yes" And yes, that's it (for now anyways!)

-loves his Mr. Potato Head

-loves to play outside and push his car around the yard

- puts together 8 shape puzzles (triangle, circle, square, rectangle, oval, trapezoid, octagon and pentagon) 

-can point to his belly button, eyes, hair, ears, feet, hands, nose, tongue and mouth

-identifies horse, dog, cat, bird, pig, duck, mouse

-favorite toons (even though I swore I would not have a TV watching child) Wonder Pets, Max & Ruby and Olivia and HAS to sit in his PBK chair

-loves storytime at the library and dancing to "Beanbag Rock"

-favorite foods- turkey dogs with ketchup, peanut butter sandwiches, peas, clementines, blueberries, Plum Organic's fruit mish-mash (which I highly recommend!)

-helping momma do anything-unloading dishwasher, making juice, vacuuming, scrubbing floors, folding laundry

Mountains of Books

Making alphabet soup

Our little juice maker

Still sick, so nevermind his hair and nose

Likes to wear his hat like Daddy

Waiting for Baby

At 35+ weeks now, we are getting everything ready for the new little man's arrival (who does finally have a name!).  It feels so different this time around. And since we will be moving in July, it seems silly to hang special frames and decorate a nursery to the max.  I feel a little guilty that we haven't made a special "home" for him like we did for Harrison.  Brian and I say that "one day" we will not be moving every year and our boys will have a room totally decked out.

But for now, he has a crib with very cute bedding (biased opinion, for sure).  My mom came down for a few days to bring us our new crib (that I got for a steal!) as I want to keep Harrison behind bars for as long as he will let me! I have some other cutesy little things for his room, but I haven't quite got them up yet (see post below about our lovely illness filled week) 

 

For now, here is a peek at where he will lay his head

I pretty much pink puffy heart L-o-V-e this bedding

Daddy's purchase for Baby

Coming home outfit

Carseats installed-- big brother 'helped'

 

MIA

We've been MIA for a week due to the lovely presence of illness in our house.  Harrison started with a snotty nose and fever on Monday, which landed us at the pediatrician.  We came home with the diagnosis of an ear infection and a prescription for good 'ol Amoxicillin.  I also believe we had the unwelcome visitor of Rotavirus that greeted Harrison for the first time (so much for that vaccine, I guess.) I finally ended up with the nagging cold, so we were out of commission.   

Saving graces for the week of hibernation: a water bottle, 24 hours of Nick Jr. cartoons

and naptime

Two-Timer

Harrison loves his little lady friends, Charlotte and Adelaide.  The girls will turn one next week.  And even though there is a definite size difference between them, Harrison and the girls play together really well.  Here are a couple pictures of the three of them from Superbowl Sunday.  It was a big, fat FAIL on trying to get them all to look at one time.  

Addie, Harrison and Charlotte

Harrison "loving" on one of his ladies

Flying

This picture captures the true boy that Harrison is becoming.  Running after a ball on a chilly winter day and having the time of his life! It looks as if he is taking off like an airplane. 

"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying."  

~Friedrich Nietzsche~

Puppies and Potties

My parent's dog, Lola, has been living with us since December as they purchased a new home in Indy and are settling in.  Poor Lola has been subjected to Harrison's pulling, tugging and general playfulness, but she has been a trooper.  The other day I found him stacking cups on her head, while she just laid there.  I think she was actually falling asleep despite his "lovin" as we call it!

Poor Lola

Leaning in for some puppy smooches

Maybe she's just playing "dead"

So call us naive, but Brian and I bought Harrison a potty.  While we are not completely ignorant, we thought it would be a good idea to start exposing him to the potty and if he potty trains early, we will consider ourselves lucky.  He doesn't show ANY of the readiness cues, but knowing that little boys take longer to train than girls, I thought we would take our chances on introducing it a little early.  Sometimes the smell of his dirty diapers makes me gag, so if I can shorten the time he poops his pants, I will try it!

Harrison--meet potty! (He has his diaper on. No way I would let him chill 

de-panted on my rug!)

And this is what he thought of his new froggy friend

Sweet Baby

I must admit that when we first moved to Alabama, I dreaded not working and thought that I would be bored staying at home with a baby.  It definitely took a little getting used to, but since we've been here (now 6 months) I feel so lucky to have spent so much time with Harrison.  He makes me laugh everyday.  And lately, he is learning something new every minute.  He definitely keeps me on my toes!

I often find myself wondering how I am going to manage two little boys.  And I worry that I won't be able to spend as much one on one time with Harrison.  It makes me sad knowing in just a few weeks, he won't be "the baby" anymore.  Will he feel left out?  Will he be mad at his momma?  The worries are endless, but I try to think of it in a different way... I am giving Harrison a best friend; a brother.  And that is something he will have for a lifetime.  And no matter what, he will always be my baby boy.  So I'm done being sappy and hormonal-- here a couple great pics of my sweet baby

Practicing a few yoga moves-I believe this is 

the downward dog

Nevermind the drool, he is cutting his incisors

One of my new faves

Blocks!

Harrison loves his MegaBlocks he got for Christmas. Every night, he dumps out the entire bag of blocks (conveniently right before bedtime).  He has become a pro at stacking, but still has the occasional moment when one block won't fit perfectly on top of the other.  In that case, watch out, a major meltdown is imminent.  

Down they go

Not too much new on the baby front.  The little guy is still breech (as of my appointment yesterday).  I go back in 2 weeks, where they will do an ultrasound to see if he is still hanging out feet first.  If he is, they will do a C-section at 39 weeks.  If he has turned, then my OB said he would be willing to do a scheduled induction at that 39 week mark.  With Brian's unpredictable schedule and having no family (and few friends) around, I would rather plan this little occasion as much as possible!  As much fun as being pregnant is (ugh!) I secretly hope to go into labor at say...oh 37 weeks (which is just a mere 4 weeks from now!)  Hey, a girl can dream, can't she!?

Baby bump watch (almost 33 weeks)

Ahh... Sunshine!

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here! It was nearly 70 degrees today, so the little man and I headed out for a walk and a trip to the park.  Playing outside in January has been awesome.  Harrison looooves the park, including climbing on every. single. piece. of. equipment and going down the tallest slides 50 times.  These things are all fine and dandy when you're not 32 weeks pregnant and can barely bend down to tie your shoes.  After several trips down the slide, momma was spent.  Harrison, however, was not ready to go in the slightest (see picture below).  

I will show this to his girlfriends one day!

Milk!

Harrison loves to put and pull things from the fridge. Tonight when I asked if he was ready for his milk and he went to the fridge, I grabbed my camera, knowing this would be cute!  So even though the kid doesn't speak a word that isn't jibberish, he does understand a ton! Check out his "sign" for please--more like [clap clap] Lady get me my milk!

A Lazy Weekend

Brian is on-call this weekend and the weather is sort of dreary, so we have been hanging out inside, being lazy.  Harrison loves to wrestle and play blocks with his Daddy.  He is into everything and throwing some pretty dramatic fits (that often leave Brian and I cracking up!). This morning while I was sweeping the kitchen, Harrison kept coming in to hand me fuzz and dirt.  When I stepped around the corner, I realized he had found one my dirt piles (yet to be swept up) and was "helping" clean.  Disgusting.  Needless to say, we've been having a lazy, laid back weekend, complete with dirt and drama.  

On the bounce and spin pony-that he still hasn't quite figured out

The aftermath of "Hurricane Harrison"

And a shot of his newfound love of 

strawberries 

 

Kids Gym

On Friday, we took Harrison to a little kiddie gym here.  Brian, shockingly, had the day off!  Harrison had a blast crawling through tunnels, jumping into ball pits and running around with the other kiddos.  Even after a morning full of excitement, the kid still only took an hour nap. Bummer!

A Momma's Boy

 I take my weekly belly photos in the same spot every Thursday (thank you camera self-timer!) and Harrison is always curious as to what I'm doing.  So this week, I had him pose with me.

Momma and her stud.

Fun in the (Winter) Sun

The weather is starting to warm up a bit so Harrison and I took full advantage and headed down to the park yesterday.  

He was the only kiddo there, sadly.

But that didn't stop him from having a blast!

"I got it Daddy"

Why does he insist oncarrying ALL 3 balls at one time? 

Roll Tide!

Brian had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel out to Pasadena and attend the BCS National Championship game.  The lucky duck scored tickets in the 17th row on the 50 yard line.  He did a great job as my little paparazzi and spotted Courtney Cox and hubby David Arquette, Angie Harmon and Sara Evans.  He had a blast and took a ton of pics, but none of the celebs!  Here are a couple!