Pictures that make me smile

These are a couple of pictures from the festivities that make me smile (or laugh). There were many more similar moments, but I just couldn't capture all of them with the camera!

Christmas 2009

First ride in the new mini

First time sitting on the new tractor

Harrison helping Amanda unwrap her gift...he was especially good at unwrapping

Harrison playing with his new eco-car

Harrison is inspecting the monkey I brought him from NY

Harrison and Papa opening gifts together. Harrison was insistent on sitting with him. When he sat on my lap, he opened a raincoat. I'm sure he thought, "forget, mom...I don't open fun gifts with her."

The t-ball gift was a good idea...until we decided to set it up inside. Check out my face...

Part of Harrison's tool set included headphones...apparently they were necessary for Christmas breakfast.

The night before...I think he was hoping his shirt would bring him good luck.

Harrison and daddy sitting on the stairs before going to see what Santa brought

We had a wonderful Christmas. We got to see a lot of both of our families (except for Uncle Tree), and Harrison thoroughly enjoyed Jesus' birthday. We weren't sure if Harrison was going to fully grasp the openings presents aspect of Christmas, but he certainly did. After an hour or so, we started to see a glazed over look in his eyes. He was so adorable. I am already excited about doing it again next year. And I received a new camera, so as you can imagine, the pictures are going to be bountiful and beautiful (maybe not the latter, but I'll try).

Naked Cowboy

Adam took this picture. I may have trickled my pants laughing so hard.

Wild Man

Yesterday around 5:00 pm, Harrison flipped a switch and has turned into a wild man. I thought that maybe it was just last night, but more than 24 hours later, he is still crazy.

Natural Born Performer

All of the "angels" are on the right, and he is on the front left.
Harrison spots us and then just smiles at us instead of doing anything else.

I think we have a ways to go before Harrison will be starring on Broadway. Adam would say that is a good thing. Harrison had his Christmas program at school on Thursday, and, well, he didn't cry or run away. In fact, he didn't do anything. All of the kids in his class were supposed to wear white tops since they were angels. He did wear a white top, but we put a fleece on him since it was cold outside. Surely, I thought, the teachers would take it off. When he proceeded down the aisle with the other "angels," he still remained in his colorful fleece. Later I learned that he refused to take it off. His job was to jingle the bell that was around his neck or make the motions that everyone else is attempting to do. Instead, he just stares at Adam and me. Click on the YouTube link for a nugget of his big performance. I would say he has a little of stage fright. http://www.youtube.com/user/MMBrantley

21 Months and Counting

Thursday night at Brookgreen Gardens

I think H's face was frozen. It was super-chilly, but the lights were beautiful.

I can't believe that my sweet little boy is three months shy of two. Harrison has stolen my heart. Motherhood is giving me a better picture of the Lord's love for me. I love Harrison in a way that I thought was impossible. To think that our Lord loves us more than that makes me pretty excited, though I can't understand it.

We have learned a lot over the past 21 months. Here are a couple of things that I can remember:

1. Parenting is a little of trial and error...the great part is that Harrison doesn't have any other parents so he has no idea!


2. "Comparison is the thief of joy" I heard this in college and while it applies to every area of life, it definitely applies to your little child. Kids do things in their own time; it is not worth it to compare your bundle of joy to another


3. High Maintenance and Particular are different...I've already noticed that my son is quite particular. He doesn't have a prayer since both Adam and I are both on the particular side of the bus. I've claimed forever that I am not high maintenance, I just know what I want. So does Harrison...
   
4. You never get used to messy diapers...I still gag. In fact, this morning, Adam described his morning diaper change with Harrison as a "sloppy joe present" and I kind of threw up in my mouth.
   
5. Boys are boys from the beginning...Harrison has a lot of girl friends and they do so many different things already (namely, wear lots of pink, but that is a different story). Harrison wants to be outside all the time...no matter the weather. There are a lot of other aspects about being a boy, but I'll just let you imagine...
   
6. Separation Anxiety...it happens to all kids at all different times. If you put a monkey in his/her crib at 4 months so they don't suffer from separation anxiety in the crib, at 21 months, he/she will suffer separation anxiety from a monkey...and it has a really stinky tail!
   
7. Hugs, Kisses and "Mama" never get old.


8. Never say, at any point, "when I'm a mom (or parent), I'll never do that. Or, I can't believe they let their kids do that." It is a sure-fire way to have a kid that will make you do it. You may have strong opinions about it, but you never know until you've walked a mile in their shoes.

The Great Anticipation

So cute...out Christmas shopping with Grandma Puff
New Boots & Raincoat

Thrilled to take pictures in new garb

Okay folks, so I have to admit, I'm a bit of a surprise-hater. If I know there is a surprise on the horizon, I can hardly stand to wait. All I can do is think about it until I figure out what it is. I can't say that I hate surprises, but I don't exactly like to be stuck in the middle between knowing that a surpise is coming and the actual event. In the past, this has caused me great stress around Christmastime when people (namely, my husband) give me hints about gifts, but don't actually tell me what is going to happen. Nine times out of ten, I can figure out what my gift is, what the surprise date may be, etc (or I strong-arm the other person into telling me). Anyway, so this year, I'm on the other end of it. I'm on the giving end for Harrison. Well, it turns out, the great anticipation of giving the gifts to Harrison is killing me. If I had my way, we would've unwrapped all of his gifts already. The crazy part is that I know what is in them. The other day, while at Grandma Puff's house, I noticed two presents wrapped up for Harrison. I asked my mom what is in them (which, surprisingly, people won't tell me what they are getting Harrison usually). Well, she didn't tell me, but she did let us open them, without much convincing. I was elated and so was Harrison. He got a matching raincoat, rain boots, and watch from Grandma Puff. And he loves them. He wanted to sleep in his boots and then he wore them to school the next day (thankfully, there was at least a slim chance of rain). But it reminded me of how fun it was to open gifts when I was a child. And then the first day back from Christmas break at school, trying to wear/display as many gifts as possible...glorious. The way everyone (especially me)likes to shower him with gifts, I know that we are going to have to work on the real meaning of Christmas with our little man. I've already thought about telling him that the feeling he is going to get (or that I have/had) of anticipation for Christmas morning is what the world was feeling when they were anticipating the birth of our Savior...only infinitely more. And now, we don't have to deal with those anxious feelings, because we know our Savior...Hallelujah.

Breckenridge

Eating Lunch with Adam on the mountain
Notice the hands in pockets

Clearly I wasn't there for snowboarding

My crazy little boy. He actually started to say "loco" by the end of the weekend.

Last week, I was working in Colorado, so we seized the opportunity to head up to Breckenridge for the weekend. I couldn't go snowboarding, but Harrison and I had a blast running around town all day. I taught Harrison to put his hands in his pockets when he got cold (even though he had two pairs of gloves, he refused to wear them), and it was sooo doggone cute. He never wanted to take his hands out. He loved being out there in the mountains. He sort of acted like a crazy man. I'm thinking the altitude must have made him a little loony!

Keeping it in the Family

Do you think Harrison is ready for a future in Chick-fil-A?

Recent Happenings

Uncle Billy on the riding lawnmower with little man

Every one's Favorite: a Harrison Sandwich

This was my favorite of our family shots, only there is a random house in the background.

My cute boys

Since I have been working so much, I feel like I have been a bad "class mom." I thought for Thanksgiving that I'd make all the kiddos in his class a Thanksgiving treat. I made these and then tied a Free Chick-fil-A Kid's Meal to the handle. I was proud of my first attempt of something "mommy-like."

Harrison still loving his bookbag for school. He looks like he is ready for kindergarden.

Harrison thinks it is hilarious to wear my shoes around.

Since Thanksgiving, our life has been a little crazy. Actually, since last November, our life has been a little crazy. But who's counting? The house that I mentioned that we were going to move into in December actually fell through. We found out the day after Thanksgiving... coincidentally, we found out hours after Adam and I got up early to get a new washer & dryer & TV for our new home in the Black Friday hoopla. It was a first time experience for us, Black Friday that is, and we will never forget it. Anyway, so we return to the great house hunt. While in Charleston for Thanksgiving, Uncle Billy tried to snap some pictures of our little family of three. He only took like 200 pictures. Either Harrison wouldn't look at the camera, or I looked like a side-show act at the circus trying to get H to smile.

Brookgreen Gardens

This baboon was a big hit for Harrison. He kept on asking for more. Thankfully, this baboon's twin was just a few short feet away (that is the object of his pointing in this picture).

Harrison loved the pig. He was tickling it and laughing at it over and over again. The little sign to the left of Harrison says "Eat More Beef." We got a kick out of that.

H was trying to say "cheese" and check out the squirrels behind me at the same time.

Naturally, H wanted to get in all of the water fountains/ponds.

There aren't a ton of things to do with little kiddos in the Pawleys/Murrells Inlet area when it is chilly outside. Obviously, when it is warm, we all head to the beach. It occurred to me the other day that I had never been to Brookgreen Gardens. So, Harrison and I headed out to see what it was all about. It really was unbelievably beautiful. The statues, the gardens, and the zoo are just amazing in their own ways. Harrison loved it because he could just go wide open. The area is kid friendly, but I have my doubts about the other visitors. I'm sure they were thinking they would have a peaceful walk through the gardens, but boy were they wrong. Harrison showed up and ran everywhere, talked (or yelled and laughed) to all of the statues and animals, and wanted to touch everything (which is a big no-no). Before we left, we bought an annual membership so we could go whenever we want (and add an extra element of fun to all of the visitors with our presence).

Fistfuls of Sand

Harrison shoving sand in his mouth
Harrison putting more sand in his mouth

I'm just putting this picture on here because I think it is so beautiful.

This afternoon, Harrison, the pups, and I were out on the beach. Since we moved here, Harrison has seen it necessary and hilarious to shove sand in his mouth. I'm not sure that he is eating it as I don't see it (go in or come out, for that matter). I remember the first time he started eating sand, I desperately wished there was a "non-toxic" label like on the crayons. Soon I realized that the sand wasn't going to hurt him. In fact, I think my father told me, "oh, it's good for him." Sure it is. Tonight, as he was grabbing the sand and squeezing it in his fists, then letting it drip out, it made me think of how fast time is going. I feel like the past 20 months (Harrison is 20 months today), has just slipped through my fingers. I've tried to grab on to as much as I can, but it really is unreal how fast it all goes. Everyone tells you to soak up the moments, and I think we do as much as we can, but I just had no idea time would escape me the way it has with Harrison. So, I sort of feel like the past 20 months have been like fistfuls of sand, I have so many memories that I will find in places that I didn't know that I have. I'm sorry the pictures aren't clearer; I took them with my phone.

Tough Guy

You know when you are watching football games, the announcers will break to a side shot of the football player's class picture? These always crack me up, because there is this tough-guy sitting there posing like a goofball. When I took this picture of Harrison this weekend (we were watching the Clemson game), I had this mental image of this picture flashed up on the screen during a Raycom Sports announcement. My subsequent thought was, "when Harrison plays football one day, this picture is going to come back to haunt him." He doesn't look tough at all. He looks like a little kid you want to cuddle. Let's be real: he is wearing a turtle-neck with a football jersey... seems like a bit of an oxymoron. Anyway, I feel like part of my duty as a mom, is to collect photographs like this, just in case.

Why He Wanted a Boy

Harrison's Favorite Part: the Headlamp

When we found out we were pregnant with Harrison, Adam knew that he wanted to have a boy. I knew that he would have been happy with a boy or girl, but I knew at the bottom of his heart, he wanted a little boy. I really did too. Now that Harrison is getting older and playing with him has become more fun for everyone involved, I can see why Adam wanted a boy. He wanted an "outdoor buddy" that he could teach stuff too. Every week, something comes out of Adam's mouth like, "When Harrison starts to swim well, I am going to teach him how to kayak," or my least favorite, "When Harrison and I go camping, I think I am going to by a pistol." I don't like the last statement for numerous reasons. But that is a whole new topic. Anyway, Adam and Harrison have been setting up the tent recently. Last weekend, I took a couple of pictures, and it is hard to tell who is having more fun. I know that Adam loves having an "excuse" for setting up a tent. We are talking about our first camping adventure right now, and if we are going to take Harrison and the dogs, there is no way our two man tent is going to cut it. Harrison and Marley like to sleep horizontal when everyone else is sleeping vertical!