Wounded Soldier Weekend

My wounded soldier is still as happy as could be

Loving the tent

I'm not sure who had more fun

Harrison definitely turned into a full-fledged boy this weekend. Well, I guess, technically, he was one before, but he didn't really have the experiences that really turn him into a boy...does that even make sense? Probably not.

This weekend I got a phone call from one of my friends who asked me if Harrison had started walking yet. I explained that he wasn't, but I really wasn't ready for him to start falling down, running into things, etc yet, so I was kind of glad that he still remains on all fours. Well, I spoke to soon. Apparently, you don't need to be bi-ped to injure yourself. Within 30 minutes of that conversation, Harrison had a bruise on the top of his head from where he crawled straight into my bed (while trying to go under it). He hit it pretty hard, but didn't cry at all. He just put his hand on his head and let out a huge sigh (which was cute, but surprising). I took Harrison outside to Adam just to see if he thought he was okay. And he was, so we just hung out with Adam while he did some work. Harrison was crawling around on the concrete, when his hand missed where it was going (I don't really know what he was trying to do), and all of the sudden, he was on his face. Well, this did make him cry. And bruise. And bleed. I wanted to cry. One minute later, he was fine...well, still bleeding, but he wanted his revenge on the concrete. 15 minutes later, Adam was upstairs changing his diaper, when Harrison decided to do a nose-dive off of his chair, into the corner of his table. I think he cried, but over the course of an hour, he had injured himself three times and for the most part, handled it like a champ.

The next day, Adam decided he wanted to set-up his tent in the house so he and Harrison could play in it. He saw this at our friend's house and thought it was the best idea. I didn't, but whatever. So, Harrison and Adam pitched the tent and hung out and did "boy" stuff. Whatever that may be, Adam was glad to have this "man" experience with him.

Pictures From Our Time With the Martins

Andrea & Jamie with Harrison before his party
the boys in the back seat of my car just before the white-out conditions

Lunch with the boys during the ski break

Hopefully in a couple of years, Harrison will be able to ski

so he can do more than just have lunch with dad. I was trying to get Harrison to look at the camera.

More importantly, look at the awesome scenery.

Breckenridge was beautiful.

Thankfully Andrea took pictures of our fun week with them since I failed to do it.

Here are some of the pictures from our time together.

Harrison Plays With His Friends

Harrison loves his friends (aka stuffed animals). Whenever he sees them, he has these crazy conversations that no one can understand. Half the hilarity of it for me is that he tries to carry the bear around when it is much bigger than him. I do love these little conversations he has. It makes me so excited for all of the "make-believe" games he will play as he grows older. Seeing this childlike fun makes me wish I was a kid again. Well, minus the diapers (but that wouldn't be so bad sometimes too).

The Martins Come To Visit

Jamie & Andrea with Harrison
Doesn't it look like Harrison is trying to tell a story?

Some of Adam's best friends, Jamie and Andrea Martin, came to visit this week. They were here for Harrison's birthday party and were such a big help. Their accents gave away quickly that they were friends from SC. We also got to go to Breckenridge (pictures to follow soon) and had a blast in the blizzard that we were hit with (starting with the scariest ride through the mountains in white-out conditions). Actually, instead of just leaving the car ride as a little side note, it was a pretty big deal. I was driving with Andrea in the passenger's side and all three boys were in the back. We were literally going 15 miles an hour on an interstate because we couldn't see in front of us. My knuckles were white from grabbing the steering wheel so tight and I was on the verge of going to the bathroom on myself because I was so nervous (I know mom...TMI, but it is true). Really, we were all a little nervous. Except Harrison. He was happy as he could be. Isn't that great? We were all thinking how nice it would be to live in that state of oblivion. Okay, so my story doesn't do it justice. But it was rather frightening.

Anyway, Jamie & Andrea are expecting a little one of their own in August and they are going to be fantastic parents. Jamie, like Adam, already has that cheesy "dad" humor. They just left and we are going to miss them SO much. This ends our three straight weeks of guests. We loved every minute of it (I know they didn't because almost all of them were plagued with the stomach bug that we had). Now, off to clean for our Open House tomorrow! Everyone can say a little prayer that the Lord would bring a buyer to our house soon.

Harrison's Birthday Party

Harrison got his first Bible. He immediately put it over his head
Sweet Harrison taking it all in.

My friend Anne and the youngest guest at the party, Kenley, her two week old daughter.

Harrison giving Adam a cake-laden smooch

Our little fam

Harrison not loving 'Happy Birthday' again

Harrison's birthday cake for the guests.

Favors that we gave our guests. We also gave them a CD mix.

My handmade decorations

We had a blast at Harrison's birthday party yesterday. We had a lot of friends there and Harrison now has more toys than he knows what to do with. Literally, he doesn't know what to do with them. He decided to play with balloons and a cooler instead of his toys.

Harrison, again, did not love it when all 30 people sang "Happy Birthday" to him. I guess I can see why it is overwhelming, but for some reason, I subjected him to it again yesterday.

Harrison's 12 Month Check-Up

I forgot to include Harrison's stats in the last posting. Harrison went to the doctor on his birthday and he finally has somewhat normal stats.

Weight: 22lbs...45th percentile

Length: 31 1/6"...95th percentile

So pretty much, he is long and lean. This helps to explain why he is growing out of everything in length, but not in width.

Harrison's 1st Birthday

He was really excited about these balloons.

I think they may have been the biggest hit of the day.
Clearly he wasn't pumped about his hat.
Eventually, he warmed up to it.

I bet I can guess what color I am going to see in his diaper tomorrow...

Loving It...

Poppy & Nana

Uncle Billy & Uncle Matt

This was shortly after Harrison tried to give me some cake

Mommy & Daddy Sandwich

Harrison loved this toy from Billy & Amanda.

He immediately started pushing it around the house.

Poppy & Nana gave Harrison this awesome little cart.

Hopefully it will teach him to walk before too long.

As I write this blog, it has been exactly one year since he made his grand debut into this world. It was at 9:02 pm (after two hours of pushing), that he decided to arrive. I really cannot believe that it has been one year. This year has been so fun and Harrison has been such a blessing to our lives. I always tell people that you can't express the kind of love that you will have for your kids until you have them.

We had a fun day celebrating his birthday today with Adam's family. Adam's parents (Nana & Poppy), Matt, and Billy are here for a week of skiing and celebrating...obviously, we are super sad that Aunt Amanda can't be here with us. Thankfully, there will be many more birthdays to celebrate (that he will actually remember.

Nana baked Harrison his own pound cake for our fun celebration tonight. Harrison wasn't in the best mood since he had his 12 month vaccinations today, but as soon as he got a taste of the cake and presents, everything changed. Here are some of the pictures from tonight. I apologize for the amount, but they were just too cute. Plus, it is his First Birthday.

Sanitas Valley Trail

Boy Work

Harrison is always interested in any sort of work that Adam is doing. Well, Adam was at work and while I hung out with Allison, Harrison helped Garrett move the bindings on his snowboard. Harrison seems like such a learner, and is a very good observer.

Working His Magic

How You Doin?

The double-handed wave is a favorite of his right now

Hey Mom...Whatcha Doin?

All last night and today, Adam has been really sick. I lost my wallet yesterday (realized it this morning). So today could have been a horrible day. However, Harrison was probably in the best mood that he has ever been in. He was so joyful and sweet to be around. He even sat in the DMV with me for an hour and a half and was an angel. I was just so thankful that the Lord has given me such a sweet boy with a love of life, especially today.

Harrison's Throne

Harrison's Perch
I think I succeeding in scaring him as I came around the corner with the camera.

We had to be out of our house for a couple of hours today, so we went to play at Chick-fil-A. Actually, Adam had some stuff that he could only get taken care of on Sunday, so we thought we would go join him. Today was Harrison's first time playing in the play land/area/whatever it is called. I had to get him to the top, but once he was there, he loved being up there. He spent the first fifteen minutes just looking over the store. It really cracked me up as it seemed that it was "Harrison's Perch" or "Harrison's Throne" up there.

Daddy Kisses

Harrison loves to give his daddy kisses. Adam loves them too!

Harrison & His Hands

Tonight while we were eating, Harrison, as usual, was cracking us up. It is so funny to watch him eat at this age since he uses his whole hand to put a little piece of cheese in his mouth. Pretty much anything he does with his hands is hilarious.

Leaving Again...

These cheeks are unbelievable!

Still not sure what to do with his hands (like Ricky Bobby in his first interview)

He is tired of the camera in his face. I can't imagine why!

He likes to practice standing up by getting in this push-up position at odd times.
*Note the return of Eddie the Elephant. He rediscovered the love he had for him. I'm sure the monkey is thrilled to be out of the grip of Harrison's hand (& mouth) for a while.

These eyes...

Well, it is time again for me to leave for work, so I thought I should post before I go. Thankfully, it is only for a couple of days this time. With an unusually warm day in Denver (it was 70 degrees today), we played a lot outside. When the sun started to go down, we returned back inside. Harrison then spent most of the day looking out the window from our couch.