Watch Me Grow - Grace Edition

Wowzers! way behind in the monthly Grace updates. 

Enjoy this little photo update.....she's a peach!

Watch Me Grow - Grace Edition

Little Miss. Priss is growing like a weed......a very large weed (99% for height, weight and head circumference) and is all over the place. She is super speedy on all fours and continues to push the boundaries on what she can pull herself up on. Like Harrison, she doesn't mind being in the company of others but, unlike Harrison, she has started to search me out. Grace is quite persistent in her pursuit and will follow me around whimpering until I pick her up.
We have made vast improvements in the sleep department this month. With only 2 nights of crying, Grace is now sleeping through the night and I think it's been good for both of us :). We've also started to give her finger foods, which has helped fill up her belly for a long night of sleep.
I'm really enjoying this stage of her life and just want to soak it all in ❤

Watch Me Grow - Grace Edition

Considering Miss. Grace has been sick most this month, she has maintained her very sweet disposition. Fun new things this month include crawling with her tummy off the floor, climbing the stairs & cutting a new tooth. I wish I could say that she consistently slept through the night, but that would be false. In her defense, she does take a bottle at some point in the night and then sleeps until 8-8:30. Thankfully she is a good napper and my body had adjusted to her feeding schedule. She's a peach.....I'll keep her!

Watch Me Grow - Grace Edition

It took 7 months, but the inevitable happened......Harrison pushed Grace. I left them both, happily playing on floor, to get clothes out of the dryer when I heard baby girl screaming. I ran back in the room to find her face down in the carpet. Harrison quickly looked up at me and said "I push her down" then proceeded to go back to watching his show. My guess is she got a little grabby with the ipad and he wasn't having it. I had to have a chat with him about his sister being his best friend and that he needed to protect her.......he was disinterested. I then had a chat with sister and explained to her about payback :)

Watch Me Grow - Grace Edition

Poor Grace.....in the midst of all our changes, I dropped the ball on her 4 month photo {sad face}. I did manage to get it together for month 5 and I'm so glad I did. Sheesh.....I don't want to regret not taking the time to document her early years. Heaven knows I won't remember them, since my memory gets worse by the minute.

Little lady put on some serious chunk between months 5 & 6, which also helped her start sleeping through the night {Hallelujah!}. At her check up she was in the 100% for her length & head circumference and 90% for weight. She really has such a sweet disposition and is such a smiley girl. As you can see, Miss Grace started sitting up early this month and is so very close to crawling. As much as I love her being stationary, I look forward to her new ability to explore a bit. Her first tooth also popped up this month and there is a never ending supply of drool. She's a delight!    

Watch Me Grow - Grace Edition

Watch THEM Grow

Watch Me Grow

Owl stocking cap, fleece pajamas, crocs and 70 degree weather........

22 months you have been special ❤

Watch Me Grow - Grace Edition

Sweet sister is one month! 

Maybe it's just confidence in parenting, but Grace seems like a pretty chill baby. She's gotten into the rhythm of eating every 3-3 1/2 hrs, which makes it easy to know when she's hungry, stays awake for about an hour and then sleeps until her next feeding. Unlike her big brother, she doesn't care for the paci but loves to be swaddled. She's really fun to dress up, and thanks to her two female cousins, she has lots of pretty clothes to poop in/on. What can I say......she's a joy and makes our family complete. 

Watch Me Grow

Happy Easter

Our Easter started out a bit rocky, thanks to our church service being "family style". I've quickly learned that family style is just a fancy word for no childcare and lots of squirmy kiddos in the service. Despite my best efforts to come prepared {milk, snacks, ipad}, H was in a particularly spicy mood and wanted nothing to do with my distractions. We didn't catch much of the sermon, because of toddler wrangling, but the music was phenomenal and they also had several baptisms. We're thinking next year we might just watch the live feed from the comfort of our couch......I can't even imagine trying to contain 2 babies!

The weather did not disappoint and was absolutely perfect. Our sweet friends from church invited us over for brisket and the fixin's for lunch. The fellas broke out the corn hole while the ladies visited and talked about babies {there were 3 pregnant mamas and a mama with a 3 week old}. I made a batch of banana pudding {Here's the recipe I used}.......and considered it a success when it was deemed "delicious" by another southerner and a bunch of Texans. 

Later in the afternoon, we hopped over to Harrison's buddies house for dinner. The evening commenced with a smoked a ham, adult egg hunt, and more lawn games. It was a really nice day and we feel so lucky to have such great friends to celebrate such a special day. He has risen indeed!

Watch Me Grow

I ❤ this kid!

Watch Me Grow - Happy 1/2 Birthday

Yesterday we had a little cupcake celebration to mark Harrison hitting the 1 1/2 yr mark.
I wouldn't have considered myself a 1/2 year birthday celebrator, but the sentimental side of me wanted one more party......just the 3 of us. As we ate cupcakes and toasted our first born, I kept being reminded of the verse in James that says "Every good and perfect gift is from above". Harrison is a gift, a perfect gift, created out of love and given life by our heavenly father. He has entrusted us with this little life and for that I could not feel more blessed. Happy Half Birthday Harrison Dean!

Check out the video below....
for a {lengthy} video of H eating his cupcake, color commentary, and yours truly in all her pregnant glory. Enjoy!

Watch Me Grow

Watch Me Grow

Oh Harrison Dean......
This past month of your life has been so fun and equally challenging. You've always been such a great sleeper, but lately you've been waking up in the middle of the night inconsolable. We're standing firm on not letting you sleep in our bed, so instead you & I camp out on the couch. I pray this is only a phase, but in the meantime I'm soaking up all the snuggles and learning to sleep with you draped across my person. Speaking of snuggles.....you've become quite a fan of your ol' mom lately {It's about time}.

This month has also brought a very strong opinion for/against food. You shake your head and tell me "No!" if I try and feed you like a baby. You want to try everything on your own, but you aren't very brave in your food experimentation. Veggies are out. Meat is not your friend. You do love you some fruit.....and for that I'm thankful.

So here is a list of things you are really digging in your 16 month of being a really awesome dude.....

• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....you crack me up dancing to the hot dog song
• Baths....all day, everyday
• Jumping on our bed {supervised}
• Riding in those ridiculously large car carts at the grocery store
• Your paci {It's going to be tough getting rid of that crutch}
• The ipad and your kid headphones
• Pushing the buttons on the dishwasher {I'm not a fan of this}
• Your Mom!!!! {Big fan of this}

I love you H!

Watch Me Grow

Here's just a few fun things going on with the H man...

• At his doctor's appointment he weighed in at 25 lbs and was 2'-7"tall.....he also got 2 shots, but I would rather not relive that portion of the visit
• He is getting really good at using his sign language and has become a pro at more, food, milk and all done. 
• The kid has some sick dance moves and breaks it down to any and all music 
• Harrison has transitioned to 1 long nap that lasts 2.5-3 hrs {heavenly mom time}

Harrison is such an independent kid and full of spunk. He's growing up so fast and we are trying to enjoy every moment. Love that baby!

Watch Me Grow

Harrison, at 13 months, reminds me of those sour patch commercials.

One moment he is a naughty little dude pushing all my buttons and then, seconds later, he turns into a sweet love bug who needs mama sugar. 

This whole toddler experience, thus far, is wonderfully exhausting.

THE H LIST

Harrison.....

• moves a lot.....like all the time.....moving
• added climbing to his current list of skills 
• still takes two gloriously long naps a day
• says Hi, Bye, Ball, Doggie, Uh oh & Daddy {anybody see what word is missing from that list? Let me help you.....mama. rude.}
• does a squeal/breath hold when he gets excited.....especially when I ask if he wants a cookie
• will sit in his high chair & eat for a grand total of 5 min before he starts signing "all done"
• will eat for 8 hrs straight if I give him a bite of food and then allow him to take a lap around the coffee table
• popped out a top molar. The experience put him in a less than pleasant mood. So excited about doing that 7 more times.
• wakes up around 6:30, gulps down his bottle and then snuggles in the bed with Jody & I.....it's the best part of our day.
• says "Hi" {with a wave} to EVERYONE in the grocery store. It makes our trip to the store a bit longer, but it sure gets a lot of smiles.
• is clumsy on those feet. This afternoon he was speed walking, looking back at me, and ran right into the wall. I would say that this is a temporary issue, but he may come by it honestly. 

Watch Me Grow

The 12 months of Harrison Dean.....what a love bug

Watch Me Grow

Dear Bubba,
We moved into our first home, as a family of 3, this week and you have been very busy exploring your new surroundings. You've examined all the kitchen cabinets, climbed the stairs, bathed in the tub and tasted the grass.......all of which made you scream {for joy}. This months new trick is what we like to call "Look Ma, No Hands!" We've also been working on teaching you the sign for "Touchdown", which seems to have taken precedence over things like "more" or "milk". I love you little dude....that's all.
Mama

Watch Me Grow

Getting Harrison to sit on his quilt for this month's picture was a huge fail.
This is the best shot I could get and just had to settle for the quilt in the background.
The dude is learning to wave, which is what he was doing in this photo, and continues to be 150% stinker.
He's kinda fun.........think I'll keep'em.