He Looks Beautiful!

This week at a grand opening in Colorado, a marketing consultant took some pictures of Harrison. Here is one that she sent me. She is about to launch her new website. I will include a link to it when it actually gets up and running.

We're Back!

Harrison trying on Uncle Billy's sunglasses
Harrison loves his Aunt Amanda...
if he could just get Aunt Amanda and Uncle Billy to make him a cousin

Well, it has been too crazy since we returned on Monday. I think that I have personally spent a total of five hours awake at home since our trip. You know I have been busy when I haven't found time to post to the blog. I still don't have time now, but I thought I would share some pictures of Harrison from his time with our extended families. Adam's mom sent me these pictures while I was away because I was missing Harrison so terribly.

A Short Hiatus

Out blog will be on a short hiatus while Harrison's parents go on vacation. Trust me, we will be back and I am sure that Harrison's grandparents will take numerous pictures of him while we are gone. So, to the "Meet Harrison Brantley" faithful, fear not, we will return soon.

On another note, Harrison will be 7 months old tomorrow. I cannot believe it. 7 months ago today, Adam and I checked into the hospital to be induced (well, I was induced, not Adam). I remember the car ride to the hospital was so bizarre. We talked about the next time we got in the car, we would have a son with us. It was kind of a funny/exciting/scary feeling. Adam's mom was at our house and I remember telling her that we would be back with her grandson. Now, I cannot imagine our life without little Harrison. We are going to be without him for nine days and I am going to miss him SO much. I have no doubt that he will be spoiled rotten when we pick him up, but that's what grandparents are for.

Adam was in charge of picking out his outfit for the plane today and this is what he picked out. Adam thinks it is so cool. You know we bought this Indiana Jones shirt because people ask us all of the time if we named him Harrison because we love Indiana Jones. Adam does love Indiana Jones, but that had absolutely nothing to do with what we named him. I think it should be a general rule of thumb to not name your kids after people in Hollywood that you like. So, those are my thoughts. We'll be back.

Seriously, Could He Be Cuter?

All three of us went to dinner tonight to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Here are some pictures of Harrison that I took at dinner. My full intention was to take pictures of our friends, but this handsome little boy stole camera’s eye.

Classy Paci Part 2

So, after I took the pacifier out of Harrison’s mouth for the photo op in the previous post, I tossed it in his pack and play. Today, I set him in the pack and play (or baby corral as Ty Howell calls it) and just as I turned away, he spit his “real” pacifier out and put this one in his mouth. I was laughing and I think he thought it was hilarious too. One of my friends pointed out that I need to make sure that I get rid of the “bubba teeth” paci, because that may just be the one he grows attached to. Good thought…

One Classy Paci

Can you guess who gave my son this hideous pacifier? You guessed it...my mother. I know that is not a shocker for many of our close friends & family. Anyway, I was trying out different pacifiers for Harrison the other day, when I came across this one my mom gave me at one of my showers. I gave it to Harrison and even though I think that he is the cutest baby in the world, this paci made him not-so-cute. Enjoy~ and thanks mom, for this classy paci.

Sometimes You Get A Little More Than You Bargained For

Adam and I were having fun taking pictures of Harrison today, probably because he is so darn cute, when we got a little more than we bargained for with him. We were just trying to get a good picture of him in his sweet little outfit. Well, Adam was dancing around with him on the couch, and all of the sudden, out came dinner. The funny thing is, I captured it on camera. The more I look at the picture, the more disgusting it is. However, I couldn't help myself from putting it on here. It was so hilarious at the time. Harrison almost completely missed himself and got it all over Adam. I guess that will teach Adam not to jiggle Harrison around just after he has eaten. I apologize to those of you who see it that have a weak stomach. But there are tons of other cute pictures!!

Football Time

Last night during the Clemson game, we got a little irritated and decided to turn our attention to something much more pleasant...Harrison. Adam let Harrison play with his football and he absolutely loved it. Here are some pics we took of our cute little boy.

Harrison Plays with Jonathan

This weekend in Charlotte, we got to celebrate my cousin's 1st birthday. Jonathan lives in Lexington, SC and I have only seen him a couple of times. This was Harrison's first time meeting his 2nd cousin. They are only 6 months apart in age. Right now, 6 months seems like such a big difference, but before too long 6 months won't mean anything. Seeing them play together made me really want to be around family. I really feel like growing up around family would be so fun for Harrison. In our large family (the Shealy side), there are actually 4 boys that are all less than a year apart. Harrison is the youngest of these four boys, but still this year that separates the oldest (Ethan) from the youngest (Harrison) will mean almost nothing in a couple of years. Even if we have to live far from them forever, I am thankful that Harrison does have family that he can come back to SC and play with. Anyway, it was really fun to see these two cousins play together.

Thank You United Airlines!

This weekend, Harrison took his 4th round trip on an airplane in his 6 and 1/2 months of life. He is pretty well-traveled for his age. This time, however, was the first time that I flew with him without Adam. That extra pair of hands is really helpful since he flies in our laps. On the way to Charlotte, Harrison was okay, despite being awake 95% of the time on the 3 hour flight. On the way home, we (Dad and Linda dropped me off) tried to get him real tired before getting on the plane. Just as we took off, Harrison went to sleep. I was elated. I was actually hoping to catch a quick nap myself. Well, we were at the very back of the plane and as soon as we got to cruising altitude the parade of passengers started by our seat and to the lavatory. People were saying things like, "he's so cute, so sweet; he looks like he won't wake up until we get to Denver." Boy, were they wrong. It was like he knew that he was getting attention, so he woke up to greet everyone. Each time someone walked by, he reached out to grab their clothes. This included a flight attendant's behind that was the subject of his grabbing, twice! He turned into a handful. He wanted to peak down the aisle and smile at everyone. All the while, he was REALLY tired. But he wouldn't fall asleep...he just couldn't let himself. I carried him to the back and tried to rock him to sleep, but he still wouldn't have it. Seeing how exhausted I was, the flight attendants offered their assistance. They held him and played with him in the back for about 30 minutes, while I rested my arms in my seat. I was so thankful for them. When I came back to get him, they had pinned some wings on his shirt. He looked SO cute. But still, so tired. The flight attendants loved him and were so kind. One of them actually said that she wants to come to his wedding one day and tell about the day on the plane when he was such a goober and a ham. Anyway, by the time we landed, I was so thankful that he didn't have any crying outbursts on the plane. Needless to say, we were so exhausted by the time we got to see Adam. I think that we will be flying much less often. Thanks again sweet flight attendants!!

Harrison Meets Uncle Tree

The long awaited meeting finally occurred this past Friday night in Charlotte. Tree even volunteered to sleep in the same room with Harrison on Saturday night (really, he didn't want to give up his bed). Anyway, here is a picture of Tree and Harrison hanging out on the couch. You can see that Tree Martschink Scowl that I have been talking about.

Motherhood Turns You To Mush

When I say "mush," I mean emotionally, not physically...though, it may do that too. Today I was reading to Harrison just before his nap. I was reading the book, Love You Forever. These days, reading to Harrison is a challenge because he wants to put the book in his mouth and he can't understand why I keep on turning the pages. Today when I was reading, I got a little choked up, and one thing led to another and I was weeping (the book really is sweet). Harrison looked up at me, stopped trying to shove the book in his mouth, and just rested his head on my shoulder, while letting me finish reading the book without trying to interfere. I couldn't stop crying either. I think I was just overcome by motherhood and this book just reiterated how much I love my son. Anyway, I know this is super-cheesy, but I just loved the moment that I had with Harrison today. This is one of the moments that I will bottle up in my heart for many more years.