It (is) the best of times, It (is) the worst of times!

I am normally not a huge fan of Charles Dickens, but he sums up my little guy and my life so well right now. And just like Dickens, this is wordy, so read it if you want, but I had to document my little boy!

I just love my little Harrison. Somebody recently asked me which stage has been the hardest so far and without thought I answered "Right Now!" It is true, but I am also getting the best from Harrison as well.
He was such an easy baby. Always happy, a good sleeper and a good eater. He walked early and never had any trouble with any stage of development. By lately, he has started to develop that personality. He is now mostly happy still (with the occasional temper tantrum and telling me "nope"), he is struggling with his sleeping, and he is starting to fight me about eating too. All the basics that I thought we had down pat! His sleeping changed when we got rid of the pacifier and he started climbing out of his crib. Now he takes longer to fall asleep at night and he is up almost an hour earlier everyday. At least I can still get him to take a nap (although those have gotten shorter too!). Then the eating. You ask me foods that my child doesn't like, I can only name 1-tomatoes. But whether or not he decides to eat is another story. Junk food, I can always count on him polishing off, but vegetables, fruit, meat or grains-it just depends on the mood. The only thing I can count on him finishing all the time (and he would live on it if we let him) is milk. He loves his "milky"! The temper tantrums drive me crazy too! They are always over something so small and cause such a spectacle. Plus, when I ask him to do something, he usually will calmly tell me "nope" or "no please" and keep doing what he wants. It makes me nuts, but how can you get mad at such a polite little boy! I guess that is the terrible twos! All those basics (*and the recent refusal to potty train) that used to be so easy and have turned so hard made me think, without a doubt, that we are in the hardest phase yet.

But, now for the best of times. My little Harrison is more fun right now, then ever before. He makes me laugh out loud several times a day and always keeps me on my toes. He is able to communicate better now and I understand what he needs and wants like never before. He is constantly repeating what we say or naming everything he sees. There is never a quiet moment at house house anymore. I love to hear him talk and guess what he is trying to say. I love the way his face lights up when we understand him and it is so special to me. Some of my favorites right now are "Oh my gosh". He runs around saying this ALL the time, about everything. It cracks me up every time. "See you later", also love it. Then repeatedly saying "hi Mommy" until I say "hi Harrison" back. Every time he wants my attention he says "Mommy, hold you" and wants me to pick him up. Then whenever it is dark or he wants to start running around, he yells "Monster coming!" and expects us to run and hide. There are so many more too!
He also loves to dance, sing (do actions to songs) and "play guitar". He loves pulling out the guitar hero guitars and "playing" by singing notes. It is so funny. I love his dancing, which is usually swaying back and forth. Then he loves to have you sing to him, songs that he knows actions to. Some favorites are Itsy, Bitsy Spider, I'm a little Tea Pot, Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes, Popcorn Popping, Once there was a Snowman and 3 Little Monkeys. We have a great time singing and dancing around. Harrison also is an artist. He loves to color and loves turning any meal into a painting on the table.
Love this face! His cheesy smile.
He is also very imaginative. He can play with his cars, trains and Legos for hours. It amazes me sometimes because I can get things done or read while he plays. I love listening to him act out what the cars and trains say to each other. If they hit, they get a time out (I guess it is sinking in a little!). When they play nice they get hugs and they love to race.
Harrison also loves to be active. We get outside whenever we can and he loves to be outside. Cold or hot, the weather does not see to bug him, as long has he can play outside. He loves the backyard, the playground or just walking on the sidewalk and picking things of trees and bushes. He loves to be pushed in the stroller too and we are working on getting him more confident on his little trike.
I just can't get enough of my little two year old. I really love him and everything he does. I do wish he would sleep better and eat better, but I can't complain about the boy he is is becoming. His personality shows more and more each day and I feel so blessed to be his mom. He makes me so proud and I look forward to the next stage (but hopefully not too soon!) and whatever the future brings for this little adventurer! I hope I always look back on this time as a great time in our lives, because how could you not have fun and enjoy every minute with this little guy!!
Notice it is chocolate he is eating. Not anything healthy!

New Year, New Things

So, I think we might start a new family activity. Harrison has been really moody and disobedient since coming home from our long trip. I finally decided to cut out TV and his shows for most of the week. I noticed a change (for the better) the very first day. It is a little hard to figure out what to do with him while I workout and shower, but we make it work. So, on Friday, we thought it would be fun to watch a movie as a family, since Harrison did such a good job all week. I made pizza for dinner and we ate on the floor while watching Monsters vs. Aliens. It was a lot of fun and Harrison ate all his dinner! I think we might have to start doing this more often on Friday nights. It was a lot of fun!
Glued to the TV...
My younger sister, Dillan, just finished another semester at BYU-Idaho and after no luck finding a job at home, decided to try her luck in Texas! She found a job within 3 days of being here, so now we have a new addition in our home. It is nice to have some family close by! We love having her here and even Harrison is getting used to the idea of someone else in our house! He loves to play "Monsters" with her!

And just because it is fun(and new so it goes with the post!) I found Harrison taking his nap like this today...Just in case at a moment's notice, we might need to go, his bag is ready!

Home again!

We headed home on January 5th...2 days shy of being gone a whole month! It was crazy, and exhausting...
but luckily we had pretty easy traveling.

We are all so happy to be home and waiting for Harrison at home was the rest of his Christmas present from Santa.

He loves his new train table!
We feel so blessed for all the time that we were able to be gone and all the family we were able to see. It was an amazing month full of weddings, holidays, traveling, sightseeing, games, food, movies, shopping, eating, parties, birthdays, baby blessings, visiting with friends and family and so much more. And although we miss our family and friends, we are happy to be home and in our own house again.
Last night we got out Toy Story 3, popped some pop corn and enjoyed a family movie night! Harrison loves popcorn and Toy Story.
I love that his little legs are crossed.
What a great movie. I look forward to many more fun family movie nights! We miss all our family and friends. Thanks for everything while we were visiting each of you! We love you all and hope you come visit us soon!

Sugar Bowl (Ohio vs. Arkansas)

We left Chicago late Sunday night (Jan. 2nd) and drove all night to get to New Orleans. I wasn't so sure about the driving all night thing, but we made it work and Harrison slept for 11 hours of it, so we might have to travel that way more often! We got to New Orleans around lunch time and checked into our hotel. We then headed downtown for some of the pregame festivities.
We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and then there was a free concert right outside. It was fun, but cold! Jeff wouldn't really smile for any pictures, but we tried anyway.
Then we headed over to Bourban St. It was a lot of fun. Jeff and I decided that we are much better off out there from 8-10 at night (when we were there) then the midnight crowd. It was crazy, but we had a great time. People were everywhere, even up on balconies throwing beads into the crowds.
We did spend some time in a piano bar. Amazing entertainment. We couldn't stay long though. After about 20 minutes we got bounced out because we weren't drinking. Oh-well, we had a good time still and loved the music!
Then on Tuesday we got going early. Our hotel was on a Navel base and so we went out to see the ships in the morning. Harrison loved it! The ships were huge, even I was amazed!

My little sister was there with us. Such a trooper, she came along to watch Harrison so we could go to the game and enjoy some of the sights, kid free!
"Big ship...heavy!"
Then we headed back downtown and walked through a park while Jeff waited in line for the famous New Orleans Beignets.



We are hooked on Beignets after this trip. Hopefully we can get back and try more!
Harrison would have been happy just having these for lunch!
Listening to them play the steamboat after we got some Jambalya for lunch!
Walking along the pier.
Then we dropped off Harrison and my sister and headed back for the game. It was awesome! I have been to quite a few football games in my life, but the superdome was amazing and the atmosphere of a bowl game was awesome.
My sister and her husband came too. So a quick background. My sister Destiny met her husband in Hawaii. He is originally from Arkansas and a huge Razorback fan. I met Jeff in Utah and he is from Ohio. He is a huge Buckeye fan. My sister and I didn't really have any links to college football so we followed our husbands. They love to banter about their teams, but being from different conferences (Ohio is Big Ten and Arkansas is SEC) they never had a chance to see there teams compete. While when this game came up we decided that we all had to go. After some ticket drama, we finally got seats and the plan was made.
Merry Christmas to us!
Destiny and Tom
Our view from the 50 yard line. We were high, but had a great view of the field.
Pregame.

The first half of the game was awesome. We were up 31 to 13 and had seen some great action. We were looking forward to coasting to an easy victory. So we enjoyed the half time show.

The famous dotting of the I.

Then the second half got interesting. All of the sudden we had a game on our hands. Destiny and Tom had been pretty quiet, but as Arkansas kept scoring, the crowds got louder. With about 5 minutes left at 31 to 26, I was horse, felt like I was going to throw up and was shaky!
Coach Tressell looked a little concerned too...(in the sweater vest and gray pants)
And after an amazing last 2 minutes of a blocked punt and an interception, Ohio State won! Thanks goodness, I don't think we would have lived it down.

People kept asking us how we knew each other. I guess most people don't come to a game with fans from the other team. But that is family for you.
I think we all had a great time and it was the great ending to a long vacation! Go Bucks!

New Years and the rest of Chicago

The rest of our trip to Chicago was pretty low key. We hung out with my family watching movies, playing games and eating.
On New Years Eve, we drove into the city to go visit Northwestern. The plan was to walk around downtown with Jeff's brother and family, visit the campus, the Magnificent Mile and walk Navy Pier and have lunch. Well, it rained to whole day. Instead, Harrison did this...
while Jeff walked around with his brother. I waited in the car.
We did go to lunch and then we headed back.
I was hoping for a family picture with the skyline, but I guess it will just have to wait. Who knows...maybe we will be living here soon!

Happy Birthday to Me! and Family Pictures

My family is usually all in the same place once a year. That day usually ends up being my birthday. This year was no exception. So, like in years past, my birthday doubles as family picture day. This year, we got brave and decided to do them outside. I think they turned out really well. It is hard to get that many people looking at the camera at the same time! This was the photographers favorite...
Here are some other good ones from the day...


After that we decided to take a sister's picture. I have 6 sisters. That makes 7 girls, including me. We had/have a lot of drama growing up!
Then I have 2 brothers...
We celebrated with cake and ice cream and presents in the afternoon.

I got the "D" bag. A joke in my family that gets passed around all year, because we all start with D.
Jeff made dinner.
And then we got to do what I wanted! We got a babysitter for all the little kids and my parents, siblings and significant others. Along with some of my aunts, uncles and cousins all went and played Whirlyball. What is Whirlyball? It is an amazing combination of lacrosse, bumper cars and basketball. It is so much fun!! We traded off teams and played for 2 hours. The fastest 2 hours of the day. It was awesome! Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us all! I had such a great time and we couldn't stop laughing. The next day almost all of us had bruises!


It was an awesome birthday. I love that at 27 years old, I have never spent a birthday away from all my family. One of the blessings of a birthday right by Christmas!