It's a BOY!

 Surprise!

John Parker Harrison

August 19th, 2020

12:46 a.m.

8 lb 6 oz

21" 

Birth story and oodles of pictures to come! We are all doing great and even though we were predicting boy, the moment we find out our baby was a boy was a top five moment of life. I am so glad we waited to be surprised!

Thanks for all the love and prayers we have received. Praise God for our new, healthy baby!

Home Stretch

My due date is tomorrow so we are on the home stretch waiting for our surprise baby! We had a false alarm on Friday and I had a pretty uncomfortable weekend but I'm feeling better this week and just waiting patiently for baby to decide it's his/her birthday. 

Both kids learned to ride their bikes this summer. He doesn't love riding as much as she does but he does and normally does barefoot :)

I just can't believe how much he has grown. He is my child that needs somebody with him at all times and is always looking for something to do. The Harrison family says that was "exactly" how Marcus was. Life is full circle!

Last week Poppa and Deenie took them to Lake Malone for a day of fishing and swimming too. They love going to the lake!

If there is a list of must-do's when you're pregnant, buying new houseshoes is on the list. I wear houseshoes all the time and usually until they're falling apart or Owen gets a hold of them. I love my new ones!

After being home for my whole pregnancy except doctor's appointments, visiting family and a few face-to-face work obligations, we finally started getting out a little bit in these last few months. I have received some great reactions from people who haven't seen me since March ha! We went to Hobby Lobby one evening looking for mirrors for the nursery.

And while we were in Owensboro we stopped to visit our friends and meet their newest addition, Ford! He's an angel baby and Mac had grown so much, Bess was in Alabama with the grandparents. We had a great visit and I'm sure we will again soon when we add a new member to the clan.

Mac couldn't look anymore like his daddy. What a sweetheart he is!

37 weeks. I didn't take my weekly pictures this time around and opted for just random ones when I thought of it. I don't want to forget these days <3

We had only been to the lake once all summer so we made it happen another time last Friday and joined our friends Steve and Kathrine. It was just what I needed to get me to the home stretch! The babies had a ball tubing and swimming.

This boy is up for fun 24/7

And so is this girl, they both did everything they were big enough to!

Daddy and sis tubing!

Kathrine, Thomas, Georgia and Jack tubing 

He tubed like a champ but needed some mama loves afterward for a little bit ;)

38 weeks. I've never been so hot in my life. I'm as cold natured as they come. For once in our marriage we haven't gone back and forth over the thermostat, I've gladly let him keep it on 67 at night!

I measured 44" at 38 weeks, I think that's pretty close to my size with Jack; I can't remember with G.

Just a random night of Jack, age 5, doing his bedtime routine and wearing his "brother" bracelet he requested to match my "mama" bracelet in a size too small pajamas (his preference). One of us lays down with him every night until he goes to sleep. I know one day this won't be the case so we will do it until he sends us to our own room ha! 

38 weeks in the dress that I have loved this pregnancy. It is considered "bump friendly" from a boutique called JessaKae. 

Can you tell how excited he is?!? They were both pretty devastated that the false alarm last week didn't result in a baby. Georgia's exact words: "Great, she's not going to have the baby until December" and Jack's words: "He's still digging his way out of there". Boys.

She's getting me ready for the big day by pampering me! I love her heart of service.

Maybe the next time I post we will have some very exciting news to share! 

Maternity Pictures

A couple of Fridays ago, my friend Kayla met us in a tobacco field to take maternity pictures for us. I have never had true maternity pictures. My friend Julia came to our house and took a few pictures of me and Georgia's nursery before she was born but that's it. I knew with this being our last baby I didn't want to pass up the opportunity.

I was 36 weeks the day we took pictures so I was pretty far along and large for maternity pictures but I love that they are real and show my big curve :)

This is my favorite family picture session to date. Mostly because it includes our whole family <3

Kayla did such a wonderful job. They are better than I ever imagined.

It was very humid this night so you can see us getting stickier and our hair falling as the evening went on :) But that's life!

The proud siblings really enjoyed this session. Jack even said he had fun taking them! I never thought I would hear him say that.

One of my favorites but who am I kidding? There's no way to pick just one.

Kayla knows how to make you feel your best, even nine months pregnant. 

I love this one of us. I'm framing a few for our gender neutral nursery.

This one makes me smile every time. What a beautiful gift God has given us in this last baby and in each other.

I had a lot of questions and comments about the tobacco field. Tobacco fields are getting harder to come by these days (which is a good thing) but she found this beautiful one just a county over. I never realized tobacco would be such a pretty backdrop.

Hamming it up in the tobacco rows

She was telling her brother to go away and let her take her own pictures without his hand in them. Hilarious!

I see a mini teenager when I look at this one :(

Her little, simple linen dress I found at Target.com turned out to be a pretty perfect choice for the occasion. We can doll up when we want to but we can embrace simple, natural beauty too!

Jack's face in this one is priceless

Really love this one. So much love and excitement.

I've started calling them "the big kids". I can't believe they are 7 and 5. I love the four extra hands of help I will have this time around!

Marcus despises pictures and usually doesn't like how they turn out anyway. He actually was game for this shoot and really likes these pictures. He's coming around, it's just taking some time ;) 

Marcus looks like Paul Harrison in this picture

Daddy's girl through and through!

And a mommy's boy. Can't wait to see how the personality of the third compares to the first two!

My best girl. I don't know what I would do without her. She helps me and teaches me things everyday.

Love his little smile in this one

We were losing daylight but she was able to capture a few more on a quilt before we called it quits

So different from each other and uniquely their own person. 

This is really them!

A few field pictures to wrap up the evening!

A big thanks to Kayla Kiper for making my maternity picture dreams come true. They far exceeded my expectations. It's been such an unusual pregnancy and being able to have this memories captured is so uplifting to me. I'm so proud of this family and life we have built together.