Snow and Stories

I never thought I would be a once-a-week blogger, but here I am. And, what's worse, I don't have many recent photos of Harvey to post on here. What's the world coming to?! Don't worry, I did find some from the first snow back in December that I'm just now getting around to posting.



Pretty excited little guy. He hadn't really been out in the snow before, so this was a pretty big deal.





He looks so small in this photo. I love it.







He was running everywhere screaming "It nowed! It nowed!!". And, apparently snow makes everything one even, flat plane. Curbs, hills and ditches no longer existed to him. Needless to say, I was working over time trying to keep up with him and keep him alive. And take zillion photos without hurting my other baby, my camera.








Sometimes you just need a little help getting back home.




On an unrelated note, Harvey is obsessed with animals. Especially the ones that run away from him. The more frantic they are to get away, the better. He thinks its a big game, and I know cats and dogs will always be faster than a (clumsy) toddler, so I just let it go. So the other day he was "playing" with Mary Helen and Sam's cat. The cat jumped off the bed and started running, and Harvey was hot on her trail. As he was running he was saying "Meeeooow---sharry (sorry)! Tat! Meoooow sharry!" Love him!


And, I'm fairly certain he ate a bookmark the other day. He's a paper eater, I left him alone for about 5 minutes with a bookmark, and when I came back---gone. Paper in his teeth.

Maybe that's why he pooped in the bathtub tonight...........

A List

Yup, I'm guilty. I have been a serious blog neglector. I'm quite certain I have a good excuse. Just need to come up with it.............


Here's a list of some funny stories I woulda, coulda, shoulda posted over the last week and a half.


*You know you're a parent when: you find a whisk (among other things) stuffed in between your couch cushions. Harvey LOVES to hide random items behind the couch cushions. Like a squirrel. I'm sure that will come in handy one day. Maybe.


*When Havey gets in trouble he likes to change the subject by gasping and pointing while exclaiming "Us dat?!!" (what's that). Typically he's pointing to the wall or the ceiling. So hard to keep a straight face and stay mad at him. Smart guy.


*He's also learning how to stall at bed time. "Mo' book. Mo' book!". He will sit and read for 30 minutes some nights. I would much rather hear him beg for "Mo book" then "Shoooooow!".


*He loves a good haircut. We took him to get his haircut last month and we kept joking that he totally could have just driven himself over there and done it all by himself. When they called his name he walked on back to the chair, she put him up there and he sat still while she cut his hair. No big deal. No wiggling, no crying, simply enjoying a good haircut. And when she took the cape off we saw he had his hands folded in his lap the whole time. Such a good boy.


*He now uses a pillow at night. One night it just dawned on John and I that perhaps he would like a pillow to sleep with, like the rest of the human race. He used to flip flop all over his bed, and now he sleeps with his head on the pillow. Like a big boy.


*He thinks your a rockstar if you can sing along with anything on TV. The Wiggles, Elmo, Choo Choo Soul. I desperately want to be a rockstar even if it is just for a toddler. He will clap and cheer after anything.I like that kid. Makes me feel like I have some real talent.

I just came across this photo of him playing in the snow for the first time this year. I have so many photos to edit and get on here. This one makes me laugh. He looks like a little toy soldier marching through the snow. Love him.

20 Months

Yup, sounds crazy to me too. Harvey turned 20 months old yesterday. We're on the downward slope toward his second birthday. I guess he's not going to listen to me----I keep forbidding him to grow up, but he just keeps going.


He is becoming more and more cuddly the older he gets. That's a little different for a crazy toddler boy. Recently I have had to tell him more than once a day to get up and go play----stop sitting on mommy's lap (although secretly on the inside I'm doing a little dance because I love thats he's a bit of a mama's boy). Last night he sat on the couch between John and I and watched TV. Not little kid shows, sitcoms. He just wants to be around us and be a part of things. And to cuddle. And not just cuddle with John and I. This boy is a lovie lover. Any kind of lovie, blankie, stuffed animal, anything with a tag on it--he loves it.

In honor of Harvey being a big twenty month old, I wanted to pay tribute to two of Harvey's dearest friends----Dog Dog and his football blanket.


Dog Dog has been around since his first birthday. My mom took him to Build A Bear before his birthday party and let him "pick out" whatever he wanted. It was love at first sight.





Then after his obsession with tags began, he got a Taggie Football blanket. And the three of them have been inseparable ever since.











Occasionally he will throw in another stuffed animal, another blanket or two into the mix (every time we leave the house Harvey has Dog Dog and his football, and 2-3 other items stuffed in his arms. When we try to make him walk to the car he stands in the doorway crying because he can't see over all of his "friends" in his arms). But no matter what toys come and go, these two are his forever (until he discovers girls) friends.



Even when Dog Dog says something shocking and crazy, we still love him so.




When Harvey fell down yesterday (right before these photos), I went and scooped him up and the first thing he asked for was "Dawg Dawg". So sweet.








Thank you Dog Dog for being such a good friend. I knew when I saw your flat little body in Build A Bear you were special. A dog living among bears. Truly remarkable. And Taggie---thanks for having so many tags. You've saved us from having to carry multiple blankets around to get the same effect. You guys are awesome.

Christmas Part Two

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then prepare yourself for a gazillion words in this post. Here are some photos from Christmas Eve. Maybe next year John and I will actually make the cut and be able to be in a few of these. Just maybe.


Oh, but first here are a few photos from a few days before Christmas when Harvey was "helping" me make some Christmas cookies.





I gave him a small pile of chocolate chips to eat so I could finish up without all of his "help". What a big helper!




He pulled this out of the drawer. Not sure what he thought he was going to do with it exactly. (Don't worry, he was totally being supervised. And those butter knives are totally smooth. Disaster averted).




Ok, now back to Christmas Eve.


Yup, that's my boy. Two things he loves in life: a good chair/bench/tray/shelf in Wal Mart/box to sit on, and a fun hat---or two. He's got all the bases covered here.



And he pulls his whole look together with a blank, far away stare. It's a nice touch really.




Cookies anyone?




Yes please.



When Harv wasn't chilling in his rocker waiting for Santa, he was busy practicing going up, and down, and up, and down the stairs into the family room. Home boy loves a good set of stairs.









I suppose his tongue is what helps him keep his balance. That's why it's out in almost everyone of these photos.




Beep! Beep! Beep! Backin' it up folks!!






Note:we have now added a hat to the stair climbing. This is quickly becoming the best night of his whole life.


And back into the rocker.



And let's now add another hat. I'm telling you, this kid is a real party animal!



Then we ended the night with a litte "Frosty the Snowman" with the cousins. Doesn't get much better than that.





Up next.....Christmas Part III...........or, It's Actually Finally Christmas. You decide.


Zat you, Sainta Claus?????

I'm Baaaaack!

With a bagillion stories and photos to share (yup, I can count that high). Since I'm so very far behind and I have tons of photos to edit AND lots of real life to live outside of the interwebs, I'm not really going to edit my photos to put on here. I think it's just best to get it done. So without further ado, here's a bunch of stuff. Excellent description. Someone should pay me to write concise descriptions-----with lots of typos so I can stop hitting the darn backspace button.


Let's start with our first round of Christmas. Since we traveled for Christmas, Santa so kindly came to visit Harvey a whole week early. So very accommodating! So Saturday the 18th we woke to this:


This is the sweet little face of a guy that has no idea what's going on---he's just happy to be awake! And he's oh so happy to see his mother------or the camera. It's hard to say.



This is what was waiting for him from Santa:

Stop the world! Something that's actually appropriate to climb on in the house!



And then there were some other "lame" gifts (his big boy bedding for instance). He'll be pretty excited about that someday. If we ever let him out of his crib.




And he finally understands why momerazzi was following him all over the house. He's finally seeing his precious.




And this is pretty much how the rest of the day went:







Heh heh heh. Bet you guys are pret-ty jealous of me right now, huh mom and dad? Heh, maybe next yeawr. Maybe.



We had a relaxing day at home followed by a fun holiday dinner. Then we went out to a local toy store and then to look at some lights and chat with Santa. I guess it was to say thanks for everything he already brought. Thank goodness he's still too young to understand what really happened. Why did Santa keep asking me what I wanted? Why couldn't Santa remember he was just at my house today?! Oh the questions we would have had to answer if he was any older.


There is a subdivision here that goes crazy with Christmas lights. Tons of people come out to check them out, coming in limos and buses, and then you can get out and walk around if you want. And naturally Harvey needed a much closer look.


This is just one house. It was Harvey's dream come true.


Love this photo. The holidays are so magical with a child.


The plan was to go somewhere else to see Santa, but fortunately he was all set up at the end of the culdesac. Tricky Santa!

This was the best shot I could get without my flash. Still, sweet little memories. And a new Christmas tradition is born.

I meant for this to be one huge catch up post, but it looks like it's just Christmas Post Part 1. Oooh, catchy title.

A Party for Everyone

Alright, I'm back and ready to roll. I've been working on editing and getting photos sent off all this week. Then last night I watched a sweet little 4 week old baby girl for some friends of ours. Now originally when I signed up for this gig, John and I had nothing planned, and we would wrangle the two children together. Nice little trial run if you will. (Oh, and I will). Shortly after I said "we" could do it, John got an email about a work Christmas party. For the same night. Nice.

So instead of putting on a nice little dress and going out for some adult conversation, I got to stay home and facilitate "dentle" (gentle) time with the big Harv and baby Ava. And man oh man, he was a jealous little thing. We're with Sam and MH 4 days a week, but there's something different about a new baby being in HIS home. She cried and he walked over and said "Oh, hi!", like he didn't see her there. Then he "dently" offered her his sippy cup. Very sweet.

However, when she continued to cry for the next hour, he did anything and everything to get my attention. Saying all kinds of words, dancing, playing his banjo, dressing up as Elmo. He did anything he could to a) make the baby stop crying so b) mommy look at me! He sure was hoping this kid wasn't permanent.

And naturally, she stopped crying as soon as I put him to bed. Nice. But really, I probably did have more fun at home with the two of them. Nothing better than snuggling with a newborn.

Since you have to have an official Christmas get together/party for every group you're associated with (doesn't it seem like that's the case this year?!), I decided to follow suite and have a little something for Mary Helen and Harvey. Today we decorated cookies while listening to Christmas music and then we had a fun pizza lunch with cookies. There was supposed to be some fun Christmas crafting in between all of that, but the mess after the cookies----good heavens. After I spent almost an hour cleaning (and doing some laundry) I decided craftiness could wait. Until next week.

Here are a few photos from today. Naturally, I forgot to bring my camera today, but Jenny allowed me to use theirs. Thanks Jenny! :)

So here is what we started with. Pretty darn fancy.




Eagerly awaiting party time. I can just feel the excitement radiating from this photo.
















Mary Helen was SUPER into this.



And she was super into sprinkles as well.





The boy needs.a.haircut. Stat.





Up to this point neither of them knew they were working with food. Finally Harvey deicded he's taken a bite of every other art project we've ever done (crayons--check! markers--check! gluey paper--check! finger paint (tastes pretty soapy)--check!), so why not try taking a big bite outta this here craft. And it was magic. Now I'm going to have to work twice as hard to convince him not to eat art projects. "But mom, I did it dat one time and it was so nommy. Gots to see if dis is nommy too."




The finished products. What was left of them anyway.





And no party is complete without a temper tantrum. Nice.