Roman

Roman Henry Ross

April 28th, 2014

3:15 pm

7 lb 10.5 oz 20 inches

He is perfect in every way! I can't really tell who he looks like just yet but he is so handsome! He is going to be a really good baby I can already tell.

"Aunt Kait" and Georgia Grace loving on the newest addition to our crew. She was smitten with him. She started calling him "Ro-Ro" yesterday afternoon so that's his nickname for right now :) Also read: extreme baby fever. I almost cried sitting there holding him. It took me back to our newborn days and as tiring as they were I would do it all over again tomorrow.

The three boys. Roman has great role models in these two men.

What a sweet perfect gift from God! I know there are big things in store for this baby boy. Welcome to the world Roman Ross!

Sweet Moments

How do the weeks go by so slow and the weekends so fast? We had another beautiful weekend in April, I hope this Spring is an indication of what kind of Summer we are going to have.

Saturday we attended the wedding of our family friend Justin. I helped his parents host their wedding shower last month and the sweet Young family mean so much to me. Their wedding was at Olde Stone and it was absolutely gorgeous. The wedding was outside and they couldn't have picked a better day for it.

I stole this picture from a Facebook friend-congratulations Justin & Randa! She was a beautiful bride and his sweet vows started the waterworks for me. I ALWAYS cry at weddings :)

The reception interrupted naptime so we improvised. She was just playing and talking to the people at the table and all of a sudden fell over asleep! Gammy's lap is one of her favorites for napping.

She was all dolled up for the wedding but had started to unravel when I got a picture of her ha! She is loving the barefeet life all of a sudden. She was such a good girl at the wedding and reception, I was so proud of her. She makes it easy to go places and attend events.

Saturday and Sunday morning I was treated to breakfast in bed! I love how my husband loves me. Owen was interested in what was on Mommy's tray. He eventually hopped up to check it out a little closer. I'm thankful for easy weekends we can spend doing the little things.

Which included this moment. She usually naps in her crib but I decided to just hold her Sunday afternoon while she napped. Those finger dimples, sweaty curls and Sunday naps on Mommy are my favorite things. Her head on my chest and fingers on my heart-there is nothing better. Babies don't keep.

Today is a big day as Roman Henry Ross will make his grand debut!! I can't wait to get to the hospital today, please say a prayer for a safe delivery and healthy baby! Happy early birthday sweet boy!

Friday Finale

We've had a good week around here. It felt like a short week so that's always nice. Our little princess has decided her new bedtime is 10:30 so I am a little low on sleep but high on my Georgia Grace! I know I will relish that extra hour with her someday so I'm trying not to complain about it.

Yesterday on my day at home I taught nutrition to the AKK Preschool class. Georgia Grace will be in this class in the fall and as sad as I am to think she's old enough to be in preschool I'm excited about all the things she will be learning and friendships she will form.

I taught MyPlate to the group and it was so much fun! We went over each food group and they colored the portion of MyPlate once we had discussed it. And then they got to try guacamole and it was a crowd favorite! I plan on doing this for them once a month. I am so passionate about nutrition and the younger it is valued the better.

Here's my little MyPlate munchkins! They were proud of themselves and I received a report that they were able to identify every food's food group on their lunch plate except one! I was a proud teacher.

After our MyPlate lesson Georgia Grace and I went to town to run some errands. I had to snap a picture of her #OOTD :) And because I get this question so much---her bows are the 5" grosgrain ribbon with an alligator clip. I just so happened to find them at a flea market for $3 each so I bought one in every color! A solid investment in my opinion. It doesn't get any more southern than big bows!

And just a little hint of what has been taking up my free time lately...

I will share more when I can but it's a super exciting time at the Harrison Homeplace! Stay tuned :)

Cheers to the weekend! See y'all Monday!

iPhone Dump

It's time for a good old-fashioned photo dump. My pet peeve is having over 300 photos on my iPhone and I have well exceeded that lately so it's time to purge them on to the blog.

Just a little extra Easter cheer! She's going to have to step up her egg hunting game if she wants to fill that basket.

We visited Meme over the weekend and really enjoyed getting to see her. She sent me home with a beautiful bowl that I can't wait to display. Love this sweet picture!

Just looking scrumptious in the front yard. I love those little hand dimples so much.

I have had an intern with me at work for the past three months and she finished up a few weeks ago. She was a HUGE help and I dearly miss having her around. I am the only dietitian in my hospital so I appreciated her camaraderie. Good luck Mayo!

Ok y'all I can't even handle this. Can not. Get out of that car immediately baby girl and do something babyish!

She did get out but didn't do something that was for babies. She helped Pa plant hanging flowers for their house. I think she is going to have a strong work ethic.

And maybe be an entrepreneur. She decided to plant her own things :)

Weee! Morgan and Georgia Grace swinging. Morgan was so sweet to give GGH her dollhouse that she doesn't play with anymore. Love that sweet girl!

Just a few notes from this week:

-She started saying school bus and Mickey Mouse

-She calls herself baby when we show her a picture of her. The next Jennifer Grey??

-She hates being home. Really she does. Two times she has started crying when we pull in the driveway. She wants to "go go" all the time! Sigh.

-She eats much better if she can eat food off of our plate. Something about the fact that it's ours makes it more appealing. We're going with it!

-A few nights this week we have put her to bed and she wakes back up and talks to herself for about an hour. She just jabbers away and is completely content with some alone time in her crib with her pillow and stuffed animals. I think she is going to value her solo time like her Mommy.

YDOY

A couple of weeks ago I learned that I had been selected as the 2014 Kentucky Young Dietitian of the Year! Since this is our virtual family scrapbook I wanted to include the press release that was posted today. I am so grateful and humbled by this award. I am honored to represent my state and hospital.

The Kentucky Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has named Kaitlin Harrison, RD, LD as the 2014 Kentucky Young Dietitian of the Year. Kaitlin serves as the clinical dietitian and Director of Nutrition Services at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center in Leitchfield.

Kaitlin became actively involved in nutrition promotion when her co-sponsored grant proposal was approved for a childhood obesity intervention program in Grayson County. Kaitlin teams with the physical therapy department at TLRMC to provide the “Fit 4 Fun” Program which is a Passport-funded program for children above the 95th percentile BMI-for-age that provides routine nutrition education and exercise training. She has been involved in conducting research through the “Fit 4 Fun” program that investigates the correlation between elevated BMI in children and their parent’s biometric measurements.

“I am completely humbled to receive this award from the Academy. My motivation to continue to provide nutrition education to my patients and to the community has accelerated following this recognition. I’m so thankful for the nomination and being chosen to represent our state as the Young Dietitian of the Year.”

During her 2 ½ year career at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center, Kaitlin has implemented a room service dining program for the inpatient population. She also created a standardized Coumadin policy that provides nutrition education on a low vitamin K diet for all patients taking the medication. Kaitlin also co-sponsors a “Biggest Loser” program to the employees at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center where she provides individual nutrition education for participants. She also provides weekly newsletters and monthly nutrition lectures to the participants in conjunction with the TLRMC Physical Therapy department.

“Kaitlin exemplifies the type of talented, young managers that we are fortunate to have as part of our leadership team at TLRMC,” states Wayne Meriwether, MHA, CEO at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center. “As someone who works closely with our patients and community educating them on their personal nutrition needs, Kaitlin is well deserving of being named Young Dietician of the Year.”  

Kaitlin is active on the wellness team committee, the Population Health Partnership Committee, the 21st century grant program at H.W. Wilkey Elementary School and is the leader of the cafeteria satisfaction committee at TLRMC. Her specific involvement with the Population Health Partnership Committee includes efforts to aggressively push legislation to ban smoking in all public facilities and incorporate the MyPlate campaign in local businesses. She regularly provides nutrition education at community wide health fairs and promotes the dietetics career at school functions in the Grayson and Butler County School Systems.

Kaitlin is currently precepting for her first dietetic intern through Western Kentucky University. Precepting falls somewhere between teaching and mentoring. Preceptors model new skills, observe and help with these skills and evaluate how well the intern is accomplishing these skills.

Kaitlin received a B.S in Nutrition and Dietetics with High Distinction from Western Kentucky University in 2009 and completed her Dietetic Internship through Utah State University to become a Registered Dietitian. She is currently working towards her Masters in Business Administration. Kaitlin resides in Morgantown, Kentucky with her husband, Marcus, and 1 ½ year old daughter, Georgia Grace. Kaitlin and her family were recently featured on a billboard advertisement for the TLRMC OB-GYN Department.

Kaitlin Harrison, RD, LD is congratulated by Wayne Meriwether, MHA, Chief Executive Officer at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center upon being named the 2014 Kentucky Young Dietitian of the Year by the Kentucky Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Kaitlin serves as the clinical dietitian and Director of Nutrition Services at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center in Leitchfield.

Easter 2014

I wasn't crazy about Easter being so late this year but if it means we get warm weather I am all for it! It was perfect. We spent lots of time outside and slowed down a bit. It was much needed and felt like a reward for surviving our cruel winter.

We kicked off Easter weekend by getting to pet a real bunny! Our neighbors just so happened to have new bunnies and were outside with them. They were precious!! Georgia Grace got a big kick out of them. There was a lot of squealing and petting going on.

Saturday was our Easter egg hunt at church. She found 8 and was very proud of herself. She was the last one in the field. She was very thorough with her hunting :)

The Easter Bunny came and left GGH a basket of goodies beside her crib. She spotted it first thing and opened it up immediately. We kept it small and simple. She loved it just the same!

Easter 2014

These two complete me.

Easter 2013-I love to compare year to year.

My southern belle in her Easter frock. This is one of my favorite days to be a girl mom. Bonnets and smocking and T-straped leather shoes are the key to my mommy heart. 

We went to Mamaw Carolyn's for an Easter lunch and a mini egg hunt just for our Georgia Grace. She loved climbing the steps and I had to snap a picture of her bunny bloomers.

I'm not even sure what she was doing in this picture but that expression is priceless! She is such a live wire.

Easter (& turkey hunting) are hard on my man

What a difference a year makes! Days like today make me wish I could freeze time.

Hope you and yours had a great Easter weekend!

Today is Friday But Sunday is Coming!

Happy Good Friday!

I was reading a post on Instagram from a mom who said her child could not understand how the Friday before Easter could be called "Good Friday". I can absolutely see the confusion in the name for a day that represents the crucifixion and death of our Savior. The "good" part of Friday is what happened in exchange for all the bad Jesus endured. He was resurrected and claimed victory over death. His sinless life sacrificed on the cross allows us to be saved by His grace. Sunday came and the whole world rejoiced!

I'm excited for the weekend to celebrate the resurrection. Here's a little recap of what our week has looked like.

I mentioned last month about one of my best friend's engagement and this week Georgia Grace and me were both asked to be in the wedding! We couldn't be more excited about it! It's going to be a November beach wedding so it looks like two beach trips this year. No complaints here :) The notes she had made to ask us were so sweet we decided to get creative and send her a video of our response. GGH decided mooing like a cow (and the #1 sign) was the way to say yes ha! We are all about the animals right now.

Yesterday was the AKK Preschool Easter Egg hunt and of course this girl could not miss the event. I tried to get a few pictures before we left the house but she was so excited they were mostly blurs.

She even got to experience coloring eggs for the first time. That was a lot of fun! I think under her fingernails are still purple.

She found one egg and was pretty content with that. I think others chipped in a few by the looks of her basket :) She was more interested in playing outside than hunting eggs.

Oh sweet dimple! She explored the yard in a coon-skinned hat the rest of the time. March to the beat of your own drum baby girl.

Happy early Easter, I'll be back on Monday with a recap!

On Easter For Us This Year

I am a big believer in celebrating life's special occasions. Growing up there was always a big deal made over birthdays, holidays and any break from the normal mundane.

I plan to continue that in my home but I must confess I haven't gave Easter the attention I normally do this year. I have an "Easter/4th of July" bin in the attic that has not been brought down and here we are 5 days to E-day. Georgia Grace's Easter basket is also in the attic so I will try to at least pull that down before her egg hunts on Thursday and Saturday.

The truth is life is pretty crazy right now. It's a good crazy. A kind of crazy where each day brings news about something exciting for our future and each night after supper and baths and our bedtime routine my mind goes into complete planning mode.

A hint of guilt came over me this week when I saw cute Easter decor on Pinterest boards and nifty crafts and baked goods on other blogs. I want that to be Georgia Grace and me in the kitchen making flouring messes and finding our place in the #pinterestfail world ha!

I've come to realize though that Georgia Grace is one and those things don't matter to her yet. She would much rather watch "The Monster at the End of the Book" 52 times on the iPad, take an extra long bath and run through the house naked than take time away from her decorating or baking. There is a time for that when it will be appreciated but we are not there yet and I am thankful because that means we are still in the baby days.

We will take her to church next Sunday for Easter and she will be exposed to the story of Christ's resurrection from the grave. She will go to the church egg hunt and hear the organizer's say a prayer before the event and thank Jesus for being the is and was and yet to come. We will read her the Easter story from her Jesus storybook bible and although we probably won't get past the first page before she's distracted she will at least see the effort we are making to make Jesus the main thing. 

Easter 2013

So this year I am content with my Easter towel draped on my oven rack and brown eggs in a white dish on the dining room table to represent my Easter decor. We will celebrate the holiday just the same and I know in 10 years I won't be able to remember what my house looked like on this day but I will remember the events and memories we made. 

We are doing a lot of living this year and life is good. 

Birthdays and Bonnets

We had a pretty great weekend over here full of fun and exciting things. The weather was perfect, our schedules were manageably full and we saw first hand just how smart our sweet Georgia Grace is.

She was ready for a bottle Sunday afternoon and I said "Let's go get a blanket and then we can have it." I told her to pick out her favorite and as she is leading me to her nursery she picks one out from her armoire display just like I told her to. Sunday morning while we were getting ready for church I said, "We need to brush your hair. Where do we do that?" and she walked right into the bathroom. The fact that she has learned the meaning of words and can identify those objects makes me a proud mommy!

However, there was one moment this weekend I was not proud of. Friday started off exciting as Georgia Grace created a masterpiece on Grandmomma's hallway. This is her first (and hopefully last) crayon-on-the-wall incident. I cannot believe my child sometimes! She had never been told to not draw with crayons on the wall so they just sat her down and told her that we do not do that. It wouldn't be fair to punish her for something she didn't know was not acceptable. I hope that does the trick and we do not have a repeat offender!

They were able to get it out with baking soda and a scrubber thank goodness. Those walls are not strangers to crayon marks, I think her Daddy may have made a mark or two...

Saturday we went to a birthday party for our AKK twin friends Kypton and Erica. They had a Super Heroes/Frozen birthday party. It was a big party with mostly 3-5 year olds and Georgia Grace thought she was as big as the rest of them.

The sweet birthday boy and girl! Before Kypton left AKK on Friday he said, "Be sure to bring baby Georgia to my party". Does it get any sweeter than that?!? I'm so glad she gets to grow up with these two sweet kiddos.

They did an Easter Egg hunt at the party and my dear friend and hair conoisseur Cindy snapped this picture of us. Georgia Grace found a tootsie roll during the hunt and stuck the whole thing in her mouth! Some of it came out later (on her pretty clean outfit) but you could tell she enjoyed it while it lasted. She gave it her signature #1 sign :) Such a fun party for everyone! Spring birthdays are the best!

After the party we were playing out in our front yard when Ma and Pa drove by and invited us to go with them to Garcia's. We never pass on a trip for Mexican! GGH tore the chorizo dip up as evidenced by her mouth and top :) I think it's her new favorite food. She loves salty and spicy things. Another trait like her Daddy.

Sunday it was just Georgia Grace and me while Daddy was hunting so we got up early and got dressed for church in time to take a few pictures in our Easter bonnet. I wanted to get a few more wears out of it so we jumped the gun and pulled it out a Sunday early.

Be still my heart. I know I am biased but she defines perfect in my book. And I'm hearing more and more comments all the time that she is looking more like her Daddy. I think he's pretty perfect too :)

We were so honored that she was chosen as a Beaufort Bonnet baby! They used a couple of the pictures I took Sunday for an Instagram advertisement celebrating the Masters weekend. I put her in the green smocked golf dress Gammy and Gran Stan bought her before she was even born. It was the perfect Sunday to wear it!

My cousin Kimberlea snapped this of her at church Sunday and I absolutely love it. Candid snapshots of my girl are my favorite. She was the biggest ham ever during the service.

Happy Monday friends!

Week Recap

Just dropping in to do a quick recap of our week. This week has been a perfect example of God's faithfulness for His children that love Him. The world is full of critics but the other 99.9% are so much louder than the insignificant ones. I'm thankful to be surrounded by friends, family and colleagues that build me up. I saw Jesus tangibly this week as He protected and guided us. And He has rewarded us in big ways! More on that at a later time :)

 

Thursdays with Mommy this week included a quick trip to Bowling Green. Our cupboards were bare so a trip to Aldi was necessary. She had just woke up from her nap and was still in a sleepy daze but too excited to keep sleeping. She LOVES the grocery store.

But she roused in time to pick out a bouquet of flowers for her Grandmomma's birthday. I let her pick out which one she liked best and she chose beautiful white, yellow and pink daisies with pink wrapping. Good choice sister! When I held up a few for her to choose from she pointed at the one she wanted and said, "Dis momma". Heart. Melted.

Thursdays with Mommy included Aunt Paigey this week. If we make a trip south we always meet Aunt Paigey for lunch. We all look so happy! Georgia Grace has a strong selfie game.

She wanted to "go-go" with her. I told her she was going back to work and we were going home to see Dada. That did the trick ha!

Thursday afternoon we went to our cousin Brennan's tennis match. Little Miss Priss decided it was time to model and struck her best pose. We are 17 months going on 17. I can't get over how big she is looking as of late. Don't worry, she's still in footed jams at bedtime. I'm holding onto baby as long as I can.

I couldn't miss an opportunity to capture my two favorite people with the beautiful blooms behind them. They are absolutely gorgeous right now [and so are the blooms :)]. I think it's a shame they do not stay bloomed any longer than they do. Just like at every community event we attend he had students come up to him to say hi and give him a hug. It was a beautiful example for his compassion and calling to teach!

The tennis champ! His team is 8-1 on the season. He won his match yesterday 8-0 as an 8th grader playing on the high school team! We are so proud of him and can't wait to see what the future holds for his tennis career.

I hope you were able to see Jesus as much this week as we have. He works for the good of the people that love Him. I'm so glad I'm one of those people!