Hamming It Up

In a couple of hours, we are going to head to Colorado for a little family vacation (and some work for me). As we were packing last night, Harrison's excitement bubbled over to song and dance. He hasn't played with this microphone in probably 8 months. Last night, he performed an encore (and praise the Lord the batteries had died). He sang the same word, at the top of his lungs, for about an hour straight. I think the anticipation for this trip just built to a crazy point last night. He couldn't be more excited about getting on a plane. The funny thing is that he has no idea this is his 13th round trip on a plane. But this is the first time that he has really understood what he is doing, which makes it more fun for all of us. Harrison has asked us numerous times if his monkey could fly the plane, and then later tells us that he is going to hold on to monkey so he doesn't fall out of the plane.
PS...I love the picture of his little bum. I know he is going to be getting to an age soon where it won't be kosher for me to put pictures like this. But I love everything about it. I love that he thinks this is a comfortable resting position and I love how dirty his feet are. Mostly, I love that he is wearing an unnecessary accessory (hat), but doesn't really like to wear pants. Such a little boy and I love it!

Decorating Pressure

Pretty much, since we have moved in to the house, I have been a little overwhelmed by the amount of decorating that needs to take place (maybe more overwhelmed by the money it takes to do it). But one area of the house that I had written off is the upstairs. There are two bedrooms, a full bathroom, and a loft-type room. I thought, Harrison is the only one going up here, I don't need to worry about it. But now that we know the second bedroom will belong to boy #2, I feel like I need to get busy working on the boys' domain (formerly known as "upstairs"). I mean, if you could see the wallpaper in the bathroom up there, you might croak. I know what you are thinking (well, at least my mom is thinking it), "the new baby won't care. It doesn't matter." And you are exactly right. But I care. I want to get it completed. I like to complete tasks. Well, not all tasks. But in this instance, I do. I made a promise to myself that I would not begin to arrange the nursery until I figured out what in the world I am going to do with H's room. Before we moved in, I had this vision of an "Extreme Home Makeover" moment when Harrison opened the door to his room the first time. Well, that didn't happen. Other than moving to a big boy bed and buying new bedding, this room remains largely untouched. The paint is still the same. There isn't anything on the walls. It is sad. He doesn't care. But again, I do. So I came across this bed yesterday on a website and I absolutely love it for Harrison. We already have two twin beds, but they are without a headboard. I promised myself I would be creative with his head board, but I just couldn't find inspiration...until I saw this. I will admit, I first checked to see if I could even buy it and I couldn't find it. So, I thought, "I can make this." All I need is PVC piping and some rope. I told Adam (with a huge hope that his engineering degree would save the day) and he said, "I have no idea how you are going to make it. How would you get the rope to adhere to the PVC pipe. And why would you use PVC pipe?" I thought PVC pipe and duct tape solved all problems but apparently not. And I was hoping he was going to answer the questions that he asked me. Not so much. So, if anyone out there has any idea on how to construct this headboard, please let me know. And I would've put a picture on here, but I couldn't figure it out.

I WAS RIGHT!

Like there was ever a question anyway...I was right. We are having a boy. Adam should have known better than to disagree with me. Either way, Harrison is going to have a little brother. I am so excited. I always envisioned myself as a mom of boys, and since this will be the last little addition to our family, I think it will stay that way. I love the first picture since he has his hand right up next to his face. As soon as we turned the ultrasound machine on, it looked like he was waving at us (which could be due to the sweet tea I consumed prior to the ultrasound), and Harrison waved back. It was so cute. Having Harrison in the room with us was so special. I thought he knew exactly what was going on until we were done. He jumped up in the chair, pulled up his shirt, and said, "My turn." I nearly peed my pants. The other picture is a neat picture because of the detail you can see, but a little bit scary because he looks like an alien from the movie, Independence Day.

There is what in my belly?

As we approach the day that we get to find out what is growing inside my belly, Harrison continues to have his own thoughts about what is in my belly, and well, what is in his. He tends to think that he has a baby growing in his belly too. To date, the funniest things that have come out of this kid's mouth are related to the upcoming member of our family. The other day, my belly looked bigger than usual. I pointed it out to Harrison and his response was, "Whoa...baby in mama's belly!" Here is our conversation on the way to school this morning:
M: Tomorrow, we get to find out what is in mommy's belly. What do you think is in there?
H: George!
M: George...I don't think so. There definitely isn't a monkey growing in my belly.
H: Maybe so...
M: Ugh...maybe not. I was thinking more along the lines of a brother or sister.
H: Brother (which is what I have been thinking, and I was shocked to hear H say this as he has been rooting for a girl all along)
M: A brother! That's great. That is what I think too.
H: My baby girl.
M: You have know idea what you are talking about, do you.
H: Maybe so...
Either way, the jury is still out on what we are having. We changed our appointment from Monday to tomorrow...I'm the worst. I hate surprises. And clearly I can't even wait until 20 weeks like the rest of the world. We have a house-divided on what we are having. Adam is 100% sure that it is a girl. I am 100% sure we are having a boy. And well, Harrison is 50/50, though he has been rooting for Team Pink. I guess we will just have to see tomorrow...though I have a hunch, the baby isn't going to cooperate.

Monkey See....

Monkey see, monkey do is an appropriate way to label this current phase of Harrison's life. He wants to say and do anything and everything that we are doing or that older kids are doing. It is hilarious and scary all at the same time. I'm sure there will be some interesting H quotes that will surface on to this blog.
On another note, I just received Year 2 of my "Meet Harrison Brantley" book series. In case you are curious, the series is the contents of this blog, but in book form. Adam got the great idea last year on Mother's Day, to print the whole first year of Harrison's life, which I captured on the blog in book form. And it was such a great idea. For those of you who know me well and follow the blog, you know the probability of me creating a cute baby-book was slim, but also know that I don't spare any details on the blog. So wala....I have an amazing baby book. He created it from blurb.com and it is super easy in case y'all want to do it. Year 2's book is 100 pages shorter than Year 1's, which makes me a little concerned about Baby 2. Something else that concerns me, now that I have had the chance to peruse my book, is the number of grammar/spelling mistakes that I made. Seriously, like I would put here when I meant to put hear. Really? I know much better than that. Apparently, my fingers type what they want. So, mom (or anyone else for that matter)....I'm giving you free reign to correct me. I need it. I am a terrible proofreader and apparently my fingers spell on their own, when my brain knows the correct form/spelling. Plus, I can't have Harrison reading back over these books and seeing that his mom isn't the lyrical gangsta that she professes to be.

Birthday Party Fun

Harrison has been eagerly anticipating the arrival of today's birthday party that we attended. Not because he was ready to celebrate three little girls' third birthday, but because he knew there was going to be a pony there for him to arrive. He absolutely loves horses. Everyday, he asks about horses (we pass two as we leave our house) and always wants to go to Brookgreen to pet them. So being able to ride one was heaven on earth for this little man. To put icing on the cake, Harrison got a dump truck painted on his face and a bag of popcorn. It was pretty much the best possible combination for this guy.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great time celebrating the 4th of July. We love celebrating our freedom with our friends which usually involves good eating and maybe a litte tan (all of which I am very fond of). This year, we were celebrating the 3rd anniversary of something (just like we do every 4th of July), but Adam says it isn't blog-appropriate, so you'll just have to use your imaginations. We also love celebrating our Independence and we are so thankful for Aunt Tiffany (and all the other service men and women) who serve our country so well.
The DeMooneys came up to celebrate with us and we had a fantastic time. Sweet Tatum DeMooney was the apple of Harrison's eye while she was here, and while he has improved his sharing ability (he has gone from a down-right protest to a little less reluctant), there is still some work to do.
And Harrison, when you read this in five years: I am sorry for the way that I dressed you. Your dad really didn't want me to, but I insisted since it was a gift and it was a free patriotic outfit. You did like it. Well, you liked the boat on the front. Next year, you can wear what you want. Dad says you were in a pansy outfit, but you rocked it like a stud.