Thanksgiving 2010

This has been a super-fun thanksgiving celebration for our little family. I've been reminded over and over again how thankful I am for my AMAZING husband, sweet boy, and this bundle of craziness growing in my belly. I'm also super-thankful for maternity pants while eating a thanksgiving meal. We kicked off the celebration last Tuesday at Harrison's school with a parade of pilgrims and Indians (or turkeys in my son's case) and a thanksgiving feast for the kiddos afterwards. Harrison loved the hat they made him wear....loved it so much that it has made a trip to Wal-Mart, Piggly Wiggly, the trash dump, and Chick-fil-A for the past couple of days. Pretty much, 75% of the time that H has been awake, this turkey has been on his head. I'm currently plotting its demise right now.
Adam and I also hosted our first Thanksgiving at our house, which was a lot of fun (tiring) and much-less stressful than I anticipated. I made Adam promise me to take the whole time off of work and help us decorate for Christmas, and set-up the baby's nursery starting the day after thanksgiving...and so we did. Well, mainly Adam did it. I'm a little to big to even string lights on a tree. My husband is truly a saint, and even when I think that I would throw in the towel in dealing with me, he just continues to serve me with a smile. I have no idea how he does it, but I'm sure glad he does. Sadly, I neglected to take pictures on Thanksgiving or of us trimming the tree.

Festival of Lights

Puff and Karl took all three of us on a date last weekend to the Festival of Lights on James Island. This is the first time that I have been probably since my sophomore year in college. And it was 100 times better than I remember. Don't get me wrong...it was fabulous when we loaded as many people as we could get into one car, but I don't ever remember stopping to get out at Santa's village. There was so much to do there. We road on a train, I ate a funnel cake (which I am sure God created especially for me), and roasted smores. It really was so much fun (and cheap) and I can't wait to do it again. Harrison loved it and I'm thinking that if we can get to Charleston again, we may do it again.

Avoiding Middle-Child/Second-Child Syndrome

When you have your first child, everything is new and exciting. And the same goes with your pregnancy. Although every pregnancy is different, your second time around, it kind of loses it luster. Maybe that isn't the case for everyone and it is a bad generalization, but that has been my experience. With Harrison, I had the nursery painted and set-up, ready to go three months ahead of his arrival. Now, I haven't even thought about it...except that Fisher gets what Harrison had as that makes the most sense. I also did an elective 29 week ultrasound with 3D/4D images so I could see sweet Harrison's face again. Now, I'm rounding the corner to 33 weeks and I've passed the time where you can really see them (as they get too big soon). Don't get me wrong, I really want to see this little fella in my belly, but I just can't justify spending the money on it or a new nursery, new clothes, and as my previous post suggested, the time for a blog. I have to constantly remind myself that this is the last time we are going to do this. About 15 times a day, I remark to Adam, "Oh my gosh, did you see my belly? He must be doing flips...come feel it." And lo and behold, Adam can almost never feel it. The other night I had to say to him, "This is the last time I'm going to be pregnant. You have to come feel this. We won't get to do this again." And this is a new experience for me since I hardly ever felt Harrison move while Baby Fisher seems to be brushing up on his acrobatics about every 30 minutes.
So, it's easy to see how kids get a middle-child syndrome (or 2nd child syndrome, in our case) complex. I'm starting to give Fisher the short end of the stick and he hasn't made his debut into the world yet. I'm sure there are a lot of naysayers out there who think that it doesn't exist. Maybe you know of an isolated case, but for the most part, it does exist. Ask some middle children. I'm not one. I was the baby...the preferred in the pecking order. It almost seemed like I was an only child at times as my sister and brother were 5 and 7 years older than me. So, I'm not complaining as a middle child; I'm just making observations.

New Blog Name Suggestions

Okay, so I'm at that point in my pregnancy when I feel overwhelmed/exhausted all of the time. I think the holidays are making it a little bit more intense, but I'm okay with that. I love Christmas more than words can explain. When everyone else grumbles about Christmas decorations and music after Halloween, I just get really happy.
So, one thing that is on my to do list before the New Year, is to come up with a new blog name. After all, we won't really just be meeting Harrison Brantley. I've actually toyed with the idea of discontinuing the blog about my kids as it does take a little bit of time to do. However, after Year 1 of H's life, Adam had my blog turned into a book and it is literally the best baby book ever. We also have Year 2 done. And I love them. I love looking back at them. So, my desire to quit is squashed by the idea of documenting my kids' lives. I hope I can do it as long for Fisher as I have done for Harrison, but I just don't know. Anyway, so I'm seeking some creative input to document my boys lives. The only thing that comes to mind is The Brantley Boys...but that is just not cranking my tractor, if you will.

Traditions

I love traditions. I respect them and the value they hold to people. In the craziness of the holiday season, I feel like traditions are something I want to grasp hold of tightly. When you get married, it is interesting to see how traditions from both the husband and wife's family make it into the new marriage. Some have to fall by the side. And when you have kids, it is a peculiar feeling to me that we feel the need to start new traditions or even highlight ones that you grew up with. On a later post, I'll mention more about Christmas. I do know that in the Thanksgiving/Christmas season, I want Harrison to always be a part of "giving back" to someone or something. When our kids are older, I'm thinking that we are going to volunteer at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving Day. I've always heard of families doing that, and I've thought it is so cool. Anyway, I decided that each year, Harrison and I are going to do an Operation Christmas Child box for another child his same age/gender. I thought it would be fun for him to get to pick out toys for someone that isn't as fortunate as we are. And secretly, I thought it would also be a good idea for him to see someone else getting toys other than him. So, we went to Wal-Mart to fill up our box. On the way there I explained what we were doing, "Harrison, we are going to buy some toys for a little boy doesn't have as much as you do." And then I asked him what he wanted to get and he mentioned mostly dump trucks. When we arrived at Wal-Mart, we had to return something first and the ladies at Customer Service asked Harrison what he was shopping for at Wal-Mart. He immediately replied, "toys." Right or wrong, I was embarrassed because I didn't want them to think I was just spoiling my child with toys. So, I inserted, "we are getting toys for a boy that is less fortunate, right Harrison?" And he said, "Uh-huh...toys for baby Fisher." What? How did he interpret a boy that doesn't have as much as he does as Baby Fisher? I explained to the ladies who Fisher is and that we were NOT buying him gifts. They got a good laugh out of it...as did I. However, I'm a little concerned about Harrison's current perceptions of Fisher.
While actually shopping for the toys, Harrison did not really like the idea of giving the toys away. Even though he is such a sweetheart, it was a great picture for me of our own selfish hearts. The idea of giving up something for yourself is great, but when it actually comes down to doing it, the act is much harder. Now that we have done it and turned it in, Harrison is really glad he did it...I think. So, there you have it...one of our new traditions.

A Few More Pictures From Our Trip...

Here are a few more pictures from Bluffton. We went to visit another jewel of the lowcountry, Spring Island, where Harrison got to visit with horses, touch a snake (not my favorite part), and play in another tree house. These little resorts in the Bluffton area have done it right with their tree houses. When we arrived at the stables, the lady who was managing it said we were welcome to look around, but not to run around too much and make lots of loud noises (as to not startle the horses). Well, that is next to impossible with Harrison...as you can see, he was all over the place.

Palmetto Bluff

H and Adam on a trolley parked in the town square area

Harrison standing on ruins from the original house...and saying "cheese" as loudly as he can

Again, a little too much enthusiasm saying "cheese" in such a quiet environment

Bubba & Boo on the Palmetto Bluff tree house that Harrison wants his dad to build in our backyard

The zip line outside of the tree house

While on our trip to Bluffton, we made a special outing to Palmetto Bluff. Let me tell you, if you haven't been there yet, pick a weekend to stay there (save some money) and go on a trip there with your honey. I'm currently trying to get my husband to take me there. This place is beautiful and super-peaceful (until Harrison arrived). I don't know if they have filmed movies here, but they should. This place really is incredible. While it was loads of fun for H, I might would leave the kiddos at home for the Palmetto Bluff vacation. Hopefully in the near future, I can report on the status of their Spa.

Happy Halloween

This year we made a trip to Bluffton to hang with Bubba and Boo (Billy and Amanda) for the weekend. Thankfully it was Halloween and we got to meet some of their great friends while trick-or-treating in a sweet neighborhood. And when I say sweet...these folks give out toys and full size candy bars...my kind of Halloween. Harrison was a rather shy Bob the Builder around all of the other kids, but he was still cute.