One Year Checkup

Last Friday, Harrison had his one year checkup. His stats were:

 

Weight: 25 pounds, 10.5 ounces (90th percentile)

Length: 30.5 inches (75th percentile)

HC: 19 inches

 

He is still a big boy, but his growth has slowed (thank goodness--he's about to be in a 2T and wears size 6 extra wide shoes!). Dr. C. was not concerned at all since he's following his brother's growth path exactly. Hudson is really slim now! He's just a healthy one, and for that we are very thankful! He got 4 shots and took them pretty well. Hudson got the flu mist while we were there too and he took it like a champ too (even though he was begging for the shot instead--what???). It was a quick checkup as everything looked great!

 

The stomach bug has made its way to our house unfortunately. Hudson was acting real puny at soccer yesterday and didn't even want to go out on the field, which is not like him. Not that he ever gets close to the ball, but at least he normally runs a lot! After soccer, we had a team party at Billy's and we debated whether or not we should even go based on the way he acted, but Hudson said he was feeling better and seemed fine at Billy's. We had a great time actually! Well, it hit in the middle of the night and it hasn't stopped all day. Now I feel terrible about being around all our soccer friends because I've heard of at least one that woke up with it today. And, Carrie woke up with it today too and she was with us at soccer yesterday too. I'm sorry for everyone we may have infected! I really had no idea it was a bug! Anyway, Joel is not feeling spectacular tonight either, so it's making it's way through us. Maybe I can escape it??? Highly unlikely, but so far, so good.

 

One thing is for sure, this big guy does NOT have the stomach bug! He LOVED the lasagna at dinner tonight! It was everywhere!

 

And, here is our little man walking! He's taken off for sure now!



We got him his first pair of shoes on Saturday. He's not loving the shoes so far, but I'm sure he'll get used to them eventually.

Navy and Lime First Birthday Party!

I am the first to admit that birthday parties are not my thing. I completely stress out over every detail. Creativity is not one of my strong suits either! I started thinking about what we would do for Harrison's birthday party a few months ago. I really didn't want to do anything because he wouldn't even know it was for him, but my guilty conscience got the best of me and I knew we needed to have something for him to be fair since we had a big first birthday party for Hudson. I did decide to just do a family party this time instead of a friend thing too. Throw in football season, and then throw in an 11 am Auburn football game (party started at 10), we lost some of the family. Oh well! It was still fun and Harrison had all the people he loves in one place at one time to celebrate his big birthday!

 

Themed birthday parties are not really my thing either, but I am loving navy and lime right now, and I'm also loving the chevron print (it's a good thing I don't have a girl because I've seen some really cute chevron girl things!). I decided that I could run with that and surely I couldn't go wrong! I was happy with how it turned out.

 

The invitation...

 

 Some of his loot...

I love printing out their monthly chair pictures to see how he grew throughout the year. I did this for Hudson too! Everyone tried guessing when his biggest change took place so that was fun.

 We ended up doing brunch for food and it was all so yummy (at least I thought so!)!

 I decided to not do Publix this time for the cake and I sort of regretted my decision. The cake for all of us was fabulous, but I was very disappointed in the smash cake. For one, it was $10! Look how tiny it was! Publix has free smash cakes that are 3 times the size of this one. Oh well, it ended up not being a big deal at all because Harrison didn't do a whole lot of smashing!

Hudson and Big Mama...

 



The grandmothers...

 Brothers holding brothers...

Hudson had a hard time all day. He just didn't understand why it was not all about him! Bless his heart!

 I tried Harrison's hat on him and this was how that turned out...

 Side note--if anyone wants a really cute navy chevron and lime first birthday hat, let me know! It was worn for about 5 seconds!

After the hat disaster, we did take him out of the high chair so he could calm down (and so we could undress him for the cake), but you can see how effective that was. Little buddy didn't exactly love being the center of attention!

 He finally tried some...

 Then dug in some more...

 Then decided well maybe this is good...

 And pretty fun too...

 And then it all went downhill. He hated having the icing on his fingers! Totally not the reaction I was expecting out of him. I thought he would just dig in like Hudson did, but he didn't. He was very meticulous about each bite he took and when his hands got messy, he was done!

Aunt Carrie to the rescue!

 Only family picture of the morning...

Whose birthday was it?!?!?

 

 I tried to take a picture of the boys, but someone again was not having it. There was a lot of crying on his birthday! I guess the old saying was true, "It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to!"

 

3 year old cuteness!

 

 Harrison got tangled in the balloons (I know, probably a hazard), but he came walking out with all the balloons wrapped around him and it was hilarious! He thought he was too cute!

 LOVE this boy!!!

We had a great time celebrating this little guy. Thank you to all of our family for making this day special for him! And as it turned out, the game was awful anyway so none of us wished we had gone down there for the day! :)

Happy 1st Birthday Harrison!

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet Harrison!

How in the world are you already 1??? I'm amazed at how quickly this year has passed. It makes me sad on one hand that he's not my little baby anymore (well, let's face it, he's never ever been my "little" baby anyway!), but on the other hand, this is one of my most favorite stages. He's just so darn cute. I love to watch that little brain of his work--I think most days it is going 90 to nothing! I love seeing him take in the world and explore new things. It is truly amazing to me. And, I can't help but squeeze all of those rolls he has and make him belly laugh because it tickles! Oh and that little dimple on his cheek when he smiles that gummy smile...melts my heart! And yes, he is STILL toothless! Guess we'll be getting teeth all at once!

He is taking about 4-5 steps at a time right now. It's still not his main mode of getting around, but he is doing it more and more. He loves walking back and forth to Joel and me. He is so proud of himself when he gets to us! I think his first pair of shoes are on the agenda for this week. I wonder if they make shoes wide enough for him?!?! His feet are huge!!! He has also started doing a bit of climbing. We have a stool in the bathroom for Hudson and I found Harrison standing on top of it last week looking at himself in the mirror. So funny!

He has really started getting into books! He loves the touch and feel books and of course turning all the pages. He loves to take all his books off the shelf and look through them. He will smile and smile while you read to him. So, needless to say, book time before bed has definitely started.

He is still loving balls, and this month, he has discovered the ball pit and has so much fun with it! He loves it way more than Hudson ever did! He will crawl through the tunnels and get in with the balls and you can just tell that he has a blast. He also loves rolling balls bath and forth with us.

One of his birthday gifts from us was a bucket swing. We put it on the swingset this weekend and he is obsessed! He cries when you take him out of it. He loves being outside in general. That is most always the cure for fussy time.

He is still a great sleeper. Those first 6 months with him were not great in the sleep department, but he has definitely made up for it. He goes down at 6:45 or 7 and sleeps until 7:30 or so. We rarely hear a peep out of him. He's still doing one nap at school and if we are at home, he will take two, but it's gotten to not be so bad if he skips that morning nap. He will just take a little longer of an afternoon nap. He's still pretty exhausted when he comes hom from school everyday, but it has gotten better.

He has refused his night bottle the past 3 nights. We were down to one last bottle a day right before bed. He has been sick and not eating much at all the past few days, so I'm not sure if it is because of that, or if he is weaning himself off it. I gave him regular milk tonight instead and he was fine taking that--that is why I'm sort of thinking he's done with formula. Fine by me! I try not to wish away his life too much, but there is something to be said when you can put those bottles up! I hope we are almost there, if not already!

He's gotten to be a pretty picky eater--surprise, surprise. I have no idea where he might have gotten that from. :) It sure wasn't from his Dad who eats anything and everything! Both my boys have taken after me in the eating department unfortunately. They just don't want to try very much. Hudson has gotten a little better, so maybe in 2.5 years, Harrison will be eating veggies too! Maybe once he gets teeth, that will get better? Who knows!

 

We have his one year appointment at the doctor on Friday, and then his little family birthday party Saturday morning. I can't wait to see what he does with his smash cake! Oh and look who got to turn around in the car! Woo hoo! He is SO much happier. It was getting to the point where he would throw a fit when you tried to put him in the car. He was just flat out of room. I don't see how he would make it to age 2 like they now say you should. He was so uncomfortable and for his sanity and mine too, it was the right move to turn him around! I love seeing his cute face all the time!

Happy happy birthday sweet boy. We are so lucky to have you in our family and we can't wait to see what year 2 has in store for us! We love you!!!

More Soccer Pics

I don't know about this 3 year old soccer thing. It's quite frustrating to say the least! This competitive mama is having a hard time with it. I'm trying really hard to remind myself that he is only 3, but I found myself bribing him to kick the ball on Sunday. Really? Ice cream for kicking the ball once??? Well, even ice cream didn't work. He did a whole lot of running again, but didn't get anywhere near the ball. Half the time he was in outer space. It didn't help that our opponents were from south of the border (and I think had 5 year olds on their team!). Soccer is in their blood! Highlight of the day--watching one of our little 3 year olds pull down his pants and start to "relieve himself" on the field, the rest of them beginning to follow his lead until we all started running on the field to stop them. It.was.hilarious.

 

Anyway, they sure are cute...

 



Sunday was team picture day and it was mayhem at the fields. We stood around waiting for our team picture to be made for 15 minutes and never had any luck, so we just decided to take our team to our field and take a "free" team picture.

Then, Hudson decided he wanted to pose for an individual picture. I couldn't have paid for one better than this, so I'll take it (nap head and all)!

 Love these boys!

This is about how the game went...our 4 players on the ground while they went and scored.

 

We did end up scoring our first goal of the season. Yay Haines! We were all cheering so loudly and Haines was so proud of himself. It really was priceless. And just to document that I'm not the only crazy mom, Haines came running off the field to his parents and got a treat from them! Ha! The things we do to get our kids to behave.

This little (I mean BIG) kid walked halfway across the room tonight! We are about to have a walker on our hands!

He has even mastered going up AND going down the stairs outside. You have to watch him like a hawk (see the concrete at the end of the stairs--scary!).

 Does this picture below crack  you up or what??? Harrison's face is priceless!

 Can you tell we've entered into the dress up phase??? Every day, Hudson wants to wear one of his costumes!

Videos to come of Harrison walking AND he has a big birthday next week! Can't believe he's already turning 1!

Los Angeles and Las Vegas

This past week, I headed on a big adventure out to the west coast. I had a work conference in Vegas from Monday through Wednesday, so I decided since I had a paid plane ticket out that way, I would leave a day earlier and go through Los Angeles to see Carrie. Originally, Joel was supposed to come with me and it was going to be a little vacay for us, but he decided that it was too early to leave both kids for that long with the grandparents (and we only had one set that was going to be in town to help, so that would have been hard!). Anyway, I left last Saturday morning at 5 am for the airport. It was an early start, but I got to Los Angeles by 10:30 so I had most of the day to spend with them and most of the day Sunday too. We packed in a lot of activities in the two days I was there. It was so much fun!

First of all, I'm very celebrity obsessed, so I was giddy with excitement when I boarded my plane to LA and Niecy Nash was in first class. I just had to snap a picture (excuse the quality--I was afraid I would get in trouble for taking her picture so it was one of those snap and hide pictures!). Unfortunately, she was the only celeb I saw. Boo! It wasn't for lack of trying though!

 

When I arrived, we headed straight for Manhatten Beach. Carrie and Andres gave me the tour, even showing me where they lived when they were there and showed me where they met. It was a happening little beach town! We had lunch at this really cool outdoor restaurant. After lunch, I really wanted to do the touristy stuff like see the Hollywood sign, see Beverly Hills, etc., so they happily obliged and off we went!

We drove down Rodeo Drive (not that I could afford ANY of those places!), and then drove through one of the neighborhoods in Beverly Hills (nice!!!) and even made a little stop off at the Beverly Hills Hilton (the one that Whitney Houston died in). Then, we headed to Hollywood. You can barely see the Hollywood sign in the background of the picture below, but it was there!

This was the Chinese Theater where in front of it, all of the old movie stars put their handprints in the ground. Sadly, I did not know most of them.

They also showed me where Carrie lived early on when she moved out there, and it was interesting (as were all of the places she lived in!). Let's just say that property values don't go as far out there as they do here! :) At least she had a roof over her head.

Carrie and Andres now live in Newport Beach (where the Real Housewives of Orange County are!) and so after Hollywood, we made our way out there. It was much slower paced and spread out than the Hollywood and Manhatten Beach scene and I liked it much, much better. Their place is really nice. It felt like they lived in a resort! We were exhausted from the days activities so far, so we chilled out for a little while before heading out to dinner at this really neat upscale pizza place in Newport. We had such a fun time!

Sunday, we woke up and took Kobe to the dog beach in Huntington Beach for the first time. He LOVED it! First family pic of 3 on the beach!

You can't tell from either of these pics, but the beach was packed with people and dogs, and there were surfers in the ocean (it was freezing though!). It's just a totally different look on the beach as compared to what we're used to on the gulf coast. The sand was not nearly as nice. But, it's a beach and I enjoyed every second of it!

We took Kobe back home and then Carrie and Andres showed me where they want to live next in Corona del Mar and it was AWESOME. I would totally live there. I'm not sure how much work I could get done if I lived out there. It was beautiful--you are always right near the ocean. After that, they took me to Laguna Beach for lunch. Laguna was a neat little scene. It was very artsy. We ate on the rooftop of a hotel and the view was amazing and the food great too!

 

After lunch (it was after 2 at this point, it was time for them to take me back to the airport so I could make the quick hop over to Vegas. It was a quick trip with Carrie and Andres, but a great one. I'm so glad that I got to go and see where they are, where they've lived before, and just life out there! I can now see why they love it out there! I do wish they were closer, but maybe someday that will happen again. I'm already planning our next trip out there and hopefully it involves taking Hudson to Disneyland!

 

I had never been to Vegas before so I was kind of dreading going for the first time by myself. But, it ended up not being too bad. The conference was at the Monte Carlo, so it was in a pretty good location as far as the strip goes (even though it wasn't the nicest place). I made some friends at the conference and Tuesday night, we all went walking down the strip and went through some of the casinos, saw the fountains at the Billagio, and then had dinner at the Venetian. So, I saw Vegas. Can't say I need to go back, but if I have to, I'm taking Joel and we're going to some shows and eating at some really good places! :) It could be a really fun city (if you aren't by yourself!). I will say that one of the partners that was sitting at my table got propositioned at the elevator of our hotel one day. The girl came up to him and said, "You want to go get naked?" That part of Vegas (and all the handing out of cards with girls pictures on them) is something I don't think I will ever get used to seeing!

 



I finally got back in late Wednesday night. I was worried about how Joel would do for 5 days, but he did great! I know he had a lot of help, but I was still proud of how well things seemed to go. I missed the boys SO much. It was a long time to be gone. Luckily, they still remembered who I was the next morning! :) Harrison even took 4 steps on Thursday (I would have DIED if he started walking while I was gone), so I'm glad he waited for me (or else Joel is just not telling me he did it while I was gone).

I'm glad I don't have to travel much for work, but I did enjoy have no responsibilities for a good 5 days! I soaked up every night of not cooking, not cutting any meat, not having to do baths and read books, I got to watch whatever I wanted on tv, and I got to take my time getting ready in the morning. It was a nice break. But, it was also nice getting back to the chaos!