VIDEO: Harvey's First Gatlinburg Trip 2009

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Today I bought Harvey a pair of sandals, and when I went to put them with his other shoes, I decided it was time for some of his "old" shoes to move on to storage. It kinda made me sad, made me think about teeny tiny little Harv, and some of my favorite things from when he was so very little.

Like these:

We bought these the day we found out we were having a boy. I remember before we found out, looking at boy shoes and girl shoes, wondering what we were going to have, dreaming of all the shoes I could buy. That's totally normal, right? I love shoes (really?!), and that was an important reason to find out the sex of our unborn child. So I could by shim (she/him) some shoes. And we did, first thing after the ultrasound. I kid you not.

I was a little unrealistic about how big the boy child's feet would be, and how long it would take him to grow into them. But before I knew it, he grew into these shoes, and then out. It all happened so fast. Here is another favorite from the shoe collection:


Oh, and we mustn't forget these precious little things. Not the trendiest things ever, but oh so very sweet. The first shoes he ever wore.


His sweet little hat from when he was born.


The outfit he came home from the hospital in.
This was actually the only thing we brought to the hospital that remotely fit him. I thought he was going to be this gianormous baby, so I brought outfits that were size 3 months. While he was pretty big, he was not 3 months big----especially after he went on his 3 day "Welcome to the World" fast. The incredible shrinking baby was still swimming in this on the way home. But I absolutely love it. So sweet and classic.

One of the 5 onsies that actually did fit for the first 2 weeks of life. He seriously had these and 2 sleepers, and that was it. I'm telling you, we had no newborn apparel because he was going to be a giant.

And who could forget, Harvey and all of his infant formalwear?

These are a few of my most treasured items from my sweet, precious baby boy. He's still a baby. And he will always be my baby. Even when he's all grown up and out on his own, I will always be able to go back to these sweet little items and remember when.

Those Sweet Baby Blues

Nope, not those baby blues (although, they are awfully sweet!).

I mean, these puppies:

And his hands. By the time I could photograph those, I decided we had enough of a mess on our hands (get it?!) and I should clean up instead of playing. I painted his hands and feet to finish a craft project I started awhile ago. Failure. I figured, I've painted tons of hands and feet in preschool for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas, Easter, Thank A Mailman Day (not really, but that is a real day. Feb 4), this should be easy! Getting the feet done was a piece of cake. Just do it while Slappy is eating a cereal bar! The hands were a tad bit trickier, but just shove the paint in their little balled up hands and gently pull their middle finger out to open it up. Botta bing, botta boom, just press that chubby little hand down firmly on paper and you're set. It's what I did afterwards that ruined it. Freehand painting is not my strong suite. Duly noted. Bummer. Nothing quite like making a huge mess for a project you'll never use! At least Harvey had an interesting experience, and he now knows his mother has lost her mind.

Green Beans, Bananas, and Cheerios

Who's glad that wasn't their lunch today?! That, my friends, is what the Harv ate today. It's pretty difficult to come up with some killer cuisine when the one you're serving only has 4 teeth. And none of those are in the back. Last night he had some pasta with butter and parmesan cheese on it, and some grapes mixed in for color. Personally, I would not want all that junk mixed together, but he loved loved it! So much so that he was shoveling it in as fast as he could, breathing hard (probably because his airway was partially blocked by un-chewed Pasta Primagrape), so I had to intervene. Twas not a pretty sight. He kept hitting me with is slappy paws, trying to move my hands that were blocking his chubby hands from shoveling in anything else until he swallowed. He's a determined guy, especially when he's eating.

We discovered something quite helpful last night. We got the video camera out last night for the first time in awhile. Now, although he has not been on video in awhile, this child knows what to do in front of the camera. It may have something to do with his over zealous mother who takes photos of him every single day, but who really knows. Anyway, John starts to video him at dinner. I give Harvey his sippy cup so John can capture him going all WWF on it---throwing it, slamming it down on his tray, banging it between his chair and the table. You get the picture. So what does he do? He picks it up and drinks from it! He almost NEVER drinks from his sippy cup. And when he is being calm with it, he is sucking on the bottom of it. Then, after dinner it's bath and bed. Not a favorite time of the day for Harv. So I'm playing with him out in the hall trying to get his clothes off. Normally, a tantrum ensues. He sees the camera, and is completely calm. Then, I realize he has a nasty diaper that I need to change on the changing table before bath. John walks away with the camera and I lay him down on the table. He immediately starts arching his back, digging in his heels, and screaming. John comes around the corner with the camera, Harvey sees him and relaxes and sucks his thumb while I finish up. What the heck? We've talked about keeping that thing in our back pocket at night while we're getting him ready for bed. Its a Festivus miracle I tell you!

I figure there hasn't been enough mortifying information on here lately, so bring on the bath photos!!

He was so excited to see me in the mirror. Just had to capture that moment.

And this is what a mere $61 can get you at a consignment sale here in Nashville:
So ready for the warm weather, and to see my little punkin' toddling around in these this summer.

Best Two Days of His Life

Over the last week, Harvey has experienced the best two days of his life. Yup, best two days out of nine whole months. Here's why.

First: His cousin Lorelai's first birthday. I know, this may seem strange that someone else's big day would be one of his top two, but you'll see why in a bit.
The theme: Tinkerbell. Obviously.

And here is Miss Tinkerbell herself.

I wanted to get a shot without her passy, and this is what I got:

Perhaps she needs it after all.

He desperately wanted her dress. I'm moderately concerned.

The big event. I thought she would dig right in, but she didn't seem to like it so much at first.

So dad "helped". I love that face!

And now she's loving it! And wanting you to join in.

And now to Harvey's best day ever #1.
Big boy got to sit and eat his own piece of cake---without frosting of course. Gotta save something for his first birthday. And, we wouldn't want to upstage the birthday girl. (And more frosting for mommy. There, I said it.)
He was super intense and focused the whole time. Just shoveling it in as fast as he could. He only stopped to look around when Lorelai was getting out of her chair. Probably afraid his cake time was over.

He also got to wear a Tinkerbell headband just like the birthday girl. He loved it. Or maybe just my mom and I loved it. Whatever. A good time was had by all.

And best day ever #2:

A day at the park. It was finally warm and sunny yesterday, so we decided to get out and get some fresh air. And take 400 photos. Literally. It's an illness, I know.

We found a swing set with some baby swings and decided to let Harvey try them out. He had never been in a real swing, so we weren't sure how he would like it.

First, the wind up:

And he's off! And loving it.

I love this photo! Such reckless abandon.

And the wind in that already naturally crazy hair. Too perfect.

Then the big boy wanted to take a spin.

Such a perfect day. While it was one of Harvey's best days ever, John and I will also cherish those memories as well. It's so fun and refreshing to watch your children experience things like this for the first time. We've all played on swings a million times and they're not that exciting to us. But to a newbie, that's some pretty exciting stuff, "flying" through the air, the wind in your wild spiky hair. I love it.

The Sweetest

Man, I have some of the sweetest photos to share with you..............tomorrow. But here's a sneak peek.
You can almost hear the squeals of delight now......

This is How Harvey Feels Right Now

He's so over it. He's sick for the first time---ear infection/virus. Life gets a little crazy when kiddos get sick, so we're still a little out of sorts. It's like we have a newborn in our house again, getting up several times a night and then starting our day extra early. He's starting to feel better, so we're getting more sleep. Hopefully I can get it together and edit the photos from this weekend to put on here. This photo is actually from Lorelai's birthday party, right when he was starting to get sick. He loves Tinkerbelle. And his mother who takes waaay to many photos of him.

I Know....

....that I am the luckiest.

I love you, my sweet Valentines!