Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving 2015 is in the books and it's time to document it. We had a great low key holiday at home with family. It's nice to not have to travel far with the babes and for family to come to us.

Thanksgiving day we had a feast at my Mom's for lunch. She turned 51 on Monday so we combined the two occasions. We like birthdays close to holidays in my family. I'm usually thrown in with Easter and now Jack potentially will be too, Georgia is a Halloween Eve baby so she definitely does. I guess that's why I love holidays so much :)

 

After meal #1 we headed back home for meal #2. This was our second year hosting Harrison Thanksgiving. Everyone chipped in and brought food but we did the meat and some sides. I made the candied yams I made last year that Granddad loves so much.

 

My flock wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Their faces look like they are saying "YUM"! :)

 

This picture cracks me up because this is the face Georgia makes almost every time I take a picture of her and Jack. She is a smitten kitten with her brother bear!

 

Jesus couldn't care less about when we decorate for the holidays but this is the reason Christmas comes after Thanksgiving for us. We love hosting Thanksgiving and "letting the turkey gobble" :)

Black Friday has become our day to decorate the house for Christmas. We bought a new tree this year and went with an unlit one. No more prelit trees with lights blown out covered up with string lights!

We decorated sister's nursery tree too. She was very proud of it, even though Mommy did 98% of it. She found other things to occupy her time like trying on every single dressup ensemble she owns.

 

We did some holiday baking over the break and she LOVED the apron and "shepherd's hat" I bought her a few Christmases ago that fits this year!

 

Sunday my in-laws asked us to come to the hanging of the greens service at their church. Georgia was asked to ring the bell and even helped hang the wreaths and place the poinsettias. We're excited for the season of advent to begin!

 

She took her job of ringing the bell very seriously. I love this picture.

 

It's a Christmas miracle but I already have my Christmas cards and should have them mailed by the end of the week. I don't know if I have ever had them by the first week of December but I like having it checked off my list. We have a busy week with a holiday party, dentist appointment and a home tour this weekend that we are trying our best to get ready for.

 

And I want to give an update on Owen. He is not doing well but he is holding on. After two days of not eating or drinking he finally drank some water for me tonight. We were so happy!!! He still hasn't ate and doesn't walk except when he tries to get up to pee. We are just taking it day by day and hoping and praying he can pull through. He is a part of our family and I cannot imagine not having him with us.

Turkey Days

It is Thanksgiving week and this is easily one of my favorite weeks of the year. I am home all week due to a double case of ear infections for the babes on the front end of the week which is no good but I'm thankful for these days at home to cuddle the sickly and prepare for the holidays ahead. I just really can't believe it's time to celebrate Jack's first holiday season. His first year is quickly passing by!

  

We are a meat eating family and I seem to always think I have ground beef only to realize once I start cooking supper that I am fresh out. When our brother-in-law asked us about going in with him to buy 1/4th a bull, we said yes. The bull was grass fed and the meat is delicious. I think this will be something we will do every season.

 

Is it just me or is the dining room the last time that everyone decorates? It is for us because it is the least utilized room. But the holidays and home tour have us focusing our attention on getting all of our projects finished. My grandparents came over this week and reupholstered my chairs for me. They can seriously do anything and will do anything you ask them to.

 

Here is the before. I didn't hate the plaid but we bought the table and chairs used and the other family's cat had left several crawl fringes in the fabric.

 

And here is the after. It looks like a professional job, they did amazing! The fabric is actually an ikea duvet cover I had laid on my guest bed. I decided it was better suited on my chairs and I am so pleased with how they turned out. We are ready to host Thanksgiving now!

 

A day in jammies and chocolate chip cookies was just what we needed. Georgia had an ear infection at the end of last week and Jack had his first one (and first sickness) on Monday. We are all doing better now!

 

It has also been a rough week for this boy. He had to have his boy surgery last week and from that we discovered he has blastomycosis. He has been very sick and to say we have been worried about him is an understatement. A few days ago we really didn't know what the future held but today he has improved leaps and bounds! He is eating can food, walking from room to room and even ran a little in the yard with Marcus! Our hearts were so happy to see him show a hint of his normal self. Please pray for him if you think of it.

 

Georgia has started gluing projects at preschool and loves it so we made some indian headdreses today. She helped me get started but ultimately I was the one stuck finishing them while she moved on to bigger and better things :) I think they turned out super cute though.

 

My wild indian babies

 

Jack's first Thanksgiving. He was most interested in ruffling his feathers :)

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Parade watching, cooking, football, sales ad scanning and of course eating will be the highlights of tomorrow. My heart is so thankful!

November Notes

One year ago this week we moved into our house and started a new life between walls that gave us room to grow our family. I was already four months pregnant with Jack and we couldn't wait for this year to be able to experience the holidays as a family of four.

One year later and our dreams are reality. Thanksgiving is Marcus's favorite holiday so I think it is special that was the week that we moved, just in time to host our first Thanksgiving. Literally Marcus was building our entertainment center Thanksgiving Eve so we could watch the parade.

God is good and provides and blesses us beyond what we deserve.

While my sister was in Turkey I was at home entertaining these two turkeys. It was 5pm when I took this picture and we were already in our jammies. Roast and veggies were in the crockpot and Charlie Brown Thanksgiving was on the tube. It was my favorite kind of Friday night.


Saturday Georgia went to a shoebox filling party for Operation Christmas Child with her Gammy and Jack and I went out to run errands. He is soooo heavy in his infant seat so I carried him around in some stores and I failed as a mommy to put a hat on him. I did cover his head with the blanket but that wasn't enough. We were at the ped's office Monday for Jack's first sickness. He has a left ear infection. My poor babies and their ears. I hope this isn't indicative of the future for him. He's already feeling better and I'm thankful that was all it was. We will wear hats at all time (both kids) until May!!


We dress up every night, often times in several different styles. This is her ballerina outfit she says, she has watched the Rockettes at preschool and is into dancing right now. We will probably let her try dance in the spring, no doubt she is interested.

I have slacked on my picture taking lately. We've all had a little bit of the crud and I've taken a little break from my phone, social media, etc. I need every ounce of energy I have to wrangle the babes :)

Weak Week

This week has been a doozy. I am thankful weeks like this are few and far between. We've had international conflicts, a sick baby, vet stays and just the general craziness that goes along with keeping a house up and running while trying to raise a three year old and a seven month old. It's all about surviving this week!

The attacks on Paris have been heartbreaking to watch. We are not a family that watches the news but have found ourselves glued to it this week. I fear for the safety of our world. I pray that our leaders do everything in their power to defeat the enemy and restore peace to our nations.

 

In happier news, the Harrison family had pictures made last Sunday. Georgia had stayed home from church on Sunday because she wasn't feeling great and we had to wake up Jack to take the pictures so I'm proud we had some sweet ones in the bunch!

She really turned it on when the pictures were all about her :) She is looking all of three (or older) lately. My heart can barely stand it.

Jack boy LOVES to eat. His favorites are the orange vegetables, bananas and bites of anything you will give him from the table. He tries to grab what everybody else is eating too. He is our "hungry Jack"!

It has taken two babies to learn this trick but I've started feeding them naked. It saves our clothes, we're one step closer to bath time and they thoroughly love it. Poor baby boy in the floral print high chair. He doesn't seem to mind it though.

Poor Owen has had a rough week. We took him to the doctor last week when he wasn't eating and all he would do is lay around. We learned his anal glands and prostate were enlarged and we scheduled for him to be neutered on Tuesday. Tuesday came and the neuter went fine but he was diagnosed with an antifungal disease and had to stay two nights to be treated for that. We have missed him SO much. I wanted to go visit him yesterday but knew that would probably just make him sad that I couldn't take him home but we get to pick him up today! I hope he is back to his normal happy and hyper self!

Wednesday afternoon sweet girl woke up from her nap crying and complaining of her throat hurting and pulling at her ear. The doctor's office was full but our sweet NP "Aunt Ash" got us in! Right ear infection was the diagnosis, she got a rocephin shot (she can't do oral medications) and we were on our way. I pray we will all get back to a healthy status very soon!

Aunt Ash and GGH. Ash couldn't be the one to give her the shot, but she did give her the sticker and sucker :) She took it like a champ though and is feeling much better!


In the middle of all of this we are trying to put the finishing touches on our house (one year later and still work to be done!) for the Christmas home tour we are doing in a few weeks. We are also hosting Thanksgiving again this year so we have been preparing for that as well. I have done a lot of online Christmas shopping so we come home to packages on the porch everyday that need to be wrapped. It's the busiest time but a time I want to savor and enjoy. I am hoping that will be our reward for putting hard work in now.

Jack is seven months old!

Month seven was a fun one as they all have been. The highlights were introducing more foods, better sleeping (yahoo!) and of course your first Halloween. Thirty days goes by so quickly when you and your sister keep us on our toes constantly :)

I decided this month to change things up a little bit with my monthly posts in hopes of being a little more punctual. This seems to be an easier and quicker method for me so I'm giving it a try!

 

Weight/height: 17 pounds (30th percentile) and 28 inches (90th percentile) at your six month checkup. You are SO long, your feet are hanging out of your car seat and you grow out of your footed sleepers overnight. You are in a hurry to catch your sister in both categories.

 

Hair: It is long, blonde and straight with just a little bit of a wave to it. It lays so pretty handsomely and you are already rocking some 'bama bangs.

 

Eyes: still blue but getting darker. I feel like they will be brown by your first birthday.

 

Clothes: You almost skipped the 6 month clothing and went straight to 9 month. During the day when you are home or with one of your grandma's you are in onesie outfits. You wear longalls and shortalls/bubbles with knee socks now that it is turning cold when we go out. My favorite brands for you are Bailey Boys, TBBC and smocked auctions.

 

Diapers: size 3

 

Sleeping: If we can feed you cereal before bed you will sleep through the night! Bedtime for you and Georgia is 8:30-9 and you sleep until 7. You take 2-3 naps through the day that vary in length. Your sleeping very much revolves around how fully your tummy is :) I can respect that.

 

Likes: Food-carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, pears, apples, mango, whole grain cereal, ice cream ;). You like to play with your sister and it doesn't matter what it is as long as she acknowledges you. You LOVE your puppy dog wubbanub. You like your car seat and riding places. You love bath time with sister in the big tub!

 

Dislikes: You fight sleep sometimes. You don't care for green beans or peas. You cannot stand for us to leave you alone in a room. It hurts your feelings so bad!

 

Eating: You still consume a mixture of breastmilk (probably 75% of your milk) and formula and you eat baby food 2-3 times per day. You eat baby food really well and love meal times. We will keep introducing new foods and gradually introduce food from the table. I am in no hurry since you are eating baby food so well.

 

Milestones: Sleeping through the night again, your first Halloween, saying "da-da" all. day. long :) and getting on all fours. No crawling yet but it won't be long.

 

Baby items we can't live without: WUBBANUB. That dog will be your best friend for life. Sleep sacks, baby food dispenser spoon and your treehouse toy.

 

Happy 7th month to our perfect son! We love you to the moon and back.  

A Dressed Up Weekend

How is it already Monday again? Fall is quickly flying by and I can feel the proximity of Christmas. We received the toy catalogs in the mail, the Hallmark channel is 24/7 Christmas love stories and I'm trying to knock out as much of my Christmas shopping early as I can. I just feel like I can enjoy the season more if I can take care of the gifts before all the Christmas activities begin.

Jack spends Wednesdays with Mamaw Carolyn and since we still have warm weather he gets to go on wagon rides in her little neighborhood. I think she loves it just as much as he does.

"Kids I am so glad you are at mine and Anna's dance party. Now just a minute I will come out and sing Let It Go". Exits gracefully and reappears.

This was the picture and caption I received from preschool. This child! She loves to entertain and sing. This made me smile so big :)

It is easier to snap a picture of her in costume these days because dress up is her #1 thing. I have introduced her to Peter Pan (my favorite Disney movie) and she loves Tinkerbell.

We looked forward to Friday night and taking Georgia Grace to her first theater movie all week. We took her to see The Peanuts Movie. I don't know which of these two was more excited. She loved the experience, she is still too busy to sit through a whole movie so she got a little antsy about the hour mark but she was drawn back in at the end. The ending was so sweet, we loved the whole movie. My husband is a HUGE Charlie Brown fan.

Saturday afternoon we met up with my brother who was in town for WKU homecoming. He squeezed us in between the homecoming game and his fraternity reunion. It was good to see him as always, he brought both kid's gifts. He knows the way to their hearts.

My two cute boys sharing a coat. <3

Those lashes, lips, sweaty wavy curls. He is going to break a lot of hearts someday.

Sunday we went to church and then to our cousin/friend Audrey's birthday party. It was a frozen theme so GGH dressed the part as Anna. She loves any excuse to put on a costume!

Three sweet friends! Audrey and Eliza are both a year older than Georgia but they play together so well. Georgia is wearing the homemade Anna dress and cape that Grandmomma made her for Halloween last year. I love it so much!

The end to a fun weekend always concludes with bathtime. Jack has joined big sis in the tub now that he can sit up on his own. They both think it's the best thing ever.

Birthday Week + Halloween

The last week of October is always always going to be the busiest week of the year for us. It is a jam packed week so I going to try to remember it through pictures.

Friday morning we greeted our birthday girl with some balloons and streamers to start her birthday off right!

We all woke up early and had a homemade breakfast. Pancakes was the request from the birthday girl. She also opened one gift from Mommy and Daddy- Peppa Pig light up shoes. She has been talking about light up shoes so we did it. I do have to say they are cute :)

Georgia ate breakfast from this birthday plate my sister gave us to celebrate our baby's birthdays a few years ago. I love it and it was an extra special touch.

Friday was also Halloween party day at AKK and we celebrated Halloween at my office as well. I debated on taking off to spend the day with her but I knew she would never forgive me if I didn't let her attend the class party.

We dressed my coworker Shirley up as Cruella...

And we were her Dalmatian pups! Shirley's ensemble was a big hit. She made a great Cruella!

Meanwhile sister girl celebrated her birthday and Halloween at her preschool party. Georgia decided her pig head was itchy so that's why she is wearing just a pair of ears.

My three year old. This birthday was hard on Marcus and I, three just seems like a big number for our baby. We are thankful she is smart, growing and developing normally and just the sweetest girl in the world. She is our pride and joy. So blessed to be her momma.

Just because this week wasn't busy enough we squeezed in some family pictures too :) There was a lot of this going on, sweet affection that turns into head locks and sometimes tears but they sure do think each other hung the moon.

Happy Halloween from my cheerleader and football! When your big sister wants to be a cheerleader, little brother gets to be her accessory :)

Some people thought his stoic expression meant he wasn't crazy about his costume but I think he just had his game face on. If he grows up to be a SEC college football player and goes pro, his first Halloween as a football will be great material for his "The Story Of" :)

He was comfy in his pigskin sack. He was actually WAVING in this picture, his newest trick.

Since she turned three on Friday, she was ready to graduate from the church nursery to the Sunday School preschool class at church. She loved learning about Jesus and being with her big friends. I've been praying for her teachers Mrs. Jan and Mrs. Melissa that God will use them in extraordinary ways. Another proud and memorable moment for us. 

Her sweet class. It's a man's world with this group ha!

They sent us this picture during our Sunday School class because they knew we were anxious about how she was doing. Of course she did great and was a very attentive student. I hope she always wants to learn and grow in The Lord.

She also celebrated at Mamaw's with a cupcake, love her expression in this! 

Just a little sneak peek at our family photos. This is what love looks like. Kisses, babies, laughter, contentness. My heart captured in a photo. Thank you Jules <3

We are already well into November and we are making Thanksgiving plans and preparing for the Christmas home tour. Tis the season!