Thru the Lens of Harrison's Camera

Aunt Alicia bought Harrison his own digital camera for his birthday last year (A vtech Kidizoom). Today I finally got around to uploading them.

He has a bit of trouble holding still so some of them get blurry and the flash on it is overly bright and washes out the photo, so I have to check it from time to time, to make sure he hasn't accidentally turned the flash back on.

So I picked some of most fun & best focused ones to share with you . . . enjoy!

Mac N Cheese

Build-a-bear dressed like Woody

Sleeping Andrew

Buzz toy

The camera also has goofy things you can add to the picture (before or after you take it). 

Harrison thinks this pig nose looks like a bink!

Andrew with crazy glasses

Postage stamp baby

Looking thru the window

Our fireplace

Mommy in the van

Andrew sleeping in his carseat

Mommy driving

Dr Seuss floor puzzle

Mommy & Andrew at Nana's

Picture of the TV with the Laurie Berkner Band playing

Snack time - juice & grapes

Andrew close-up

Daddy

Andrew Mustache (or "stash" as Harrison calls it)

Toy lizard on Harrison's bed

Andrew & Harrison chillin' in my bed

Lego fort

Harrison's foot

Cute Baby Andrew

Adam & Alicia hanging out at Andrew's birthday party

Aunt Alice at Andrew's party

Andrew opening his presents

Family photos thru the kaleidoscope feature

Shirtless Andrew

10 Months Old Already!

Today Andrew turned 10 months old. I can't believe it! I swear he just turned 9 months! He is moving around more & more. He is sitting on his own, crawling and pulling himself up on the furniture.

He is such a happy, content baby. Even though he can now crawl he will sit for hours just playing with the toys all around him.

It is hard to believe how my baby is growing up. He will be a year old before I know it!

Wii Dance Party

Harrison loves Wii Dance Party. We do the dancing with the Wii remote and he dances along side us. He has fun picking out what song we are going to dance to next.

Although, sometimes he doesn't do much dancing, but instead watches us dance or the TV. Here they are dancing to A Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

 In this video he gets into it a little bit more. We get a good workout on some of the songs he chooses. I love that in this video he says "I'm too hot" even though Ryan is the one doing most the work, Harrison is just watching!

We enjoy watching each other dance as much as we enjoy dancing!

Andrew Learned to Clap

Our little Andrew seems to be growing up so fast these past few weeks. He is crawling and getting around more and more.

Saturday he started clapping on his own. Now if you say "Andrew clap" he will clap for you. He loves your reaction when you yell "Yay!" and he will do it again, always with a big grin on his face. In this video he is actually clapping along to the music of Wii Dance Party that Daddy & Harrison are playing.

It may seem like something so small, but we find it adorable. It brings a smile to our face and makes our hearts swell. We are truly blessed with two wonderful boys!

Harrison First Talk at Church

Harrison gave his first talk yesterday at church!

It was during Sunday School when all the kids are together for a short lesson and singing time. After an opening song & prayer, one child reads a scripture that goes along with that week's lesson and another child gives a short talk on the topic.

It was Harrison's turn and we were so excited for him. He got right up to the podium and repeated what Mommy told him to, nice and clear for all the other kids to hear.

At the beginning of the year he moved out of nursery into Primary with the older kids. Instead of playtime it has lessons and singing. Harrison had a hard time learning to stay in his seat (especially since Mommy works with the primary kids and he wants to be with her), but he is doing much better.

We were so proud of him yesterday: he gave his talk, stayed in his seat during the lesson (Mommy taught the lesson this week) and sang during singing time. It is so exciting to see him learn and grow!

Fun with Friends

A few weeks ago we went to Chuck E Cheese's with some friends. We thought it would be fun, but weren't thinking how crowded it would be, forgetting that it was President's day and kids were off of school. We got there before the big rush and left as the line to get in was stretching out the door.

I was so busy watching Harrison and pushing around Andrew that I didn't get a chance to take many pictures, but here are a few. The three boys: Reece, Harrison, and Heber, all piled into the roller coaster simulator and had a great time.

Notice Andrew in the stroller in these 2 pictures . . . by this point he had enough of the stroller!

Andrew decided to he wanted out of the stroller and joined Harrison on the Barney ride!

We jumped into the photo booth for some pics. Harrison loves it! When Grandma & Grandpa took him to Chuck E Cheese's he came home with DOZENS of pictures! This trip, however, was much more busy so we only got a handful.

Harrison and his buddy, Reece. The photo booth is a bit tricky with 3-year-olds. When they sit down their head is too low, when they stand it is too high. We had to hold the boys just right to get their heads in the picture.

Mommy and her boys! Not the most flattering of pictures, but that's what happens when you are wrangling 2 boys and trying to get all 3 of us in the picture!

I love Andrew's expression in this one. He is just taking in all the excitement around him!

We joined these same friends at McDonald's today for a play date. Harrison got to play with the kids and Mommy got to visit with their mommies!

A lazy Sunday afternoon

I love a lazy Sunday afternoon just spent together as a family. We ate leftovers for lunch, all took naps, played with games, puzzles, and Play-doh, ate pancakes for dinner and watched a movie. Nice, relaxing, and fun time spent together.

Andrew in his cute outfit he wore to church.

Just when I think he can't get any cuter . . . the hat makes his bright eyes and chubby cheeks stand out even more!

His expressions are priceless!

Hangin' with Daddy

Harrison is getting so good at puzzles. He can do them all by himself!

Admiring his work.

Life doesn't get any better than this!

A smile & a laugh

In the last week Andrew has started crawling just a little bit, learned to push himself into a sitting position from crawling, and pull himself up on the furniture. He loves to play with Harrison on the floor and is growing up so fast.

He loves Harrison & Harrison loves him. Every morning Harrison goes into his room when he hears him wake up and climbs into his crib to see him.

He is such a happy baby and his smile & laugh brighten my day!

Valentine's Party

This year for Valentine's Day I thought I would do a little party with some of Harrison's friends. There are several kids his age at church and most of their moms are Stay-at-Home moms too. We often meet them at McDonald's or other places for play dates. I decided we would do our party Monday before Valentine's Day and invites those friends over for some crafts, activities, games, food & fun. 10 little boys and girls were able to come. Here are some of the fun things we enjoyed . . . although I was too busy during the party to remember to take any pictures.

Our lunch: PB&J sandwiches with strawberry jelly cut into heart shapes, pretzels (because they are hearts as well), strawberry Kool-Aide, and cupcakes.

We played Valentine Bingo. The kids are all around 3 years old, though some are a little younger, and don't know all their numbers, so I designed these bingo sheets with cartoon characters from favorite TV shows and movies they would know. We used conversation hearts as bingo markers.

Our Valentine craft: foam puppy & kitty kits I found at JoAnn's. The pieces had peel & stick on the back so the kids just assembled them.

We colored Valentine's pictures and activity pages.

These were Harrison's Valentines, but unfortunately I did not get them done in time for the party. He had Spiderman ones we bought at the store that he gave his friends with lollipops. We made a few of these later to give some family since I had taken the time to take the picture and they were just too darn cute!

Andrew's first Valentine. One of Harrison's friends fell in love with these tiny rubber ducks and so her mom came up with these cute valentines. The blue M&Ms as bubbles and the ducks were in a little bag with a tag the read "Valentine, you make me just Ducky!"

I gave the boys new outfits for Valentine's Day. These are as much Valentine's day as t-shirts get for boys. I gave them their outfits a day early so they could wear them at the party. Harrison loved his guitar shirt!

Andrew had a little guitar on the front of his onesie and a big one on the butt of his pants.

My little Valentines . . . they have stolen my heart!

Sleeping standing up

Yesterday after church I took my usual Sunday nap up on our bed. Andrew was also napping while Daddy & Harrison played and watched cartoons in the living room.

When Harrison got tired he walked over to the couch and laid his head down . . . and fell asleep! He was out! Ryan tried to wake him and he didn't budge, so he picked him up and laid him on the couch. A half hour later he carried him up to me and we snuggled. I couldn't wake him either!

We were thinking that he was outgrowing his afternoon nap because we were having trouble getting him to go to bed at night. We used to just read him a book, say his prayers, and he would go to sleep.

Lately he keeps climbing out of bed - over & over. He doesn't end up going to sleep until 10! So we cut out the nap thinking he would be more tired for bed. I think he still needs the nap, we just need to get more serious about the bedtime.

How cute is this?! What do you think?
. . . I think this boy still needs his nap!

Today we had a Valentine's party at our house for Harrison and some of his friends. Afterward the boys & I ate lunch at McDonald's. I loaded the boys back in the car and a few blocks down the road he was out! After we got home I let him watch a movie on my bed and take a nap. In the words of Harrison, "Mommy, I'm tired, I sleep!"