Harrison's new shades :)

Hi all! Happy late Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great holiday! We sure did! Of course we were rushing around everywhere so that everyone could see Harrison, but it was really nice to hang out with our families and spend as much time with them on that day as we could. Harrison just got some glasses as you can see in his pictures. He used to cross his eyes a lot we noticed, so we took him to the eye doctor and they said that he is extremely far sided and that's why he's been crossing because he can't see very far away. So, they are taking the most extreme measure and have these huge lenses on him, which makes his eyes look huge, but still cute at the same time :)

He's been doing okay having them on though. He takes them off every so often but the doctor said that every time he takes them off to immediately put them right back on him. What sucks though is that he's bending his frame everytime he takes them off, so we are constantly trying to adjust them, but I'm going to have to take him back to the dr and have them try to fix them. That's pretty bad for only having them a week, but what do you expect? He's only 16 months!

He's doing great all around though, he's walking up to 6 steps, and the other day he walked to me and turned, mid walk! I think now that he has his glasses and can see, that he will be walking in no time at all. I think now he's going to have the confidence. He's such a great little man though and he just amazes me everyday. I think he's going to be very musical. He's always clapping his hands, and tonight at my cousin's Xmas program he was even trying to snap his fingers. Also, his favorite thing to do is "play" the piano.

He's still just saying "Momma, Dada, and Dog". We went for a run on the canal on Saturday and there were a few dogs together that were swimming and a lady stopped Kenney and told him that Harrison's been waving at them for a few minutes. Kenney just said "Not suprising, he LOVES dogs". I guess he gets that from him momma!

Well, I have got to get some sleep, so I hope everyone is doing well and I hope you enjoy the pictures!

HOWLoween and Halloween!

This past weekend was great! Harrison had such a blast all weekend, and we just took it all in :) On Saturday, I had to work at our HOWL-o-ween party and Harrison came too! He was carried into a room full of Great Danes, Labs, and weimaraners and he wasn't fazed at all. He just kept saying "Dog? Dog?", it was adorable and of course he was a big hit at the party.

Then on Saturday night, we met up with my mother in law and went trick or treating in our neighborhood! We only hit 3 houses because come on, Harrison isn't going to eat any candy! So we got enough for us :)

After that we went to our friend Chuck's house and had some chili and hung out with my brothers and some friends. It was a GREAT halloween! I love how laid back Harrison is, nothing ever fazes him. The masks, weird noises, and different people and he was just so chill!

Everything else is going really good! Harrison is doing good :) He is so close to walking! He is practicing falling down now, I think. He stands up, lets go of whatever he's holding on to, then falls over and cracks up. He only does this on the couch, thank God. He says "Dog, Dad, Mom, Earl and milk". He is also getting pretty independent on things and I can tell when he gets really frustrated. We are working on some things, like hitting toys when he get's upset and are still working on not feeding the dogs. It just seems that everytime I say "Don't do this", or "No", he just keeps doing it over and over until I distract him with something else. It's tough, but it seems that we are both learning as we go along.

I hope everyone is well.

Pumpkin patch part 2, and beautiful pictures :)

Hi guys! Well, we went to the pumpkin patch again last weekend with Kenney's side of the family, and we did all the normal stuff :) He of course loved the frozen apple cider, and the hay, and this time he actually went down the slide! Also, and this was major, he stood up by himself for the first time! He always pulls himself up on everything, but this time, my mother in law was holding his hands and walking, and he let go of her and just gave this look like "Look what I just did!!". It was so cute and we were all so excited for him. We have been concerned for a little while that he hasn't walked yet, but we've talked to different doctors, and read books and he's just a slow walker :) He was 3 weeks early, so they said that that's something to do with it, but that it doesn't mean anything about his learning in the future. Thank God. I was a little worried about that. But, we also read that most Olympic athletes walked late, so who knows, maybe he'll win a gold medal someday? :)

I got a little ahead of myself, actually the day before, I had some events at work that I was gone the whole day, and Kenney took Harrison out to the woods and got some great pictures of him. Here are just a few. We are going to blow them up and put them around the house. I just love them, it totally captures his personality :)

Well, that's all that's really going on with us! I hope everyone is well!

Pumpkin Patch time!

Well, it's that time of year again! I love fall. I love the smell of it, the colors, apple cider, just everything! Plus, I LOVE getting bundled up again. I love summer, don't get me wrong, but by the end of August, I'm ready to get all snuggy in a fleece, or big oversized sweatshirt. Okay, enough about how much I love fall. Anyway, we went there with my brother Jason, his wife Mandy, their new son, Alexander, and my mom and dad. We had a blast! We of course ate a lot of apple stuff, and it was good, I just wish there weren't so many bees flying around, that made it kind of tough. But after we were done eating, and getting pictures by the pumpkins, we went to the hay for the kids to play. Harrison kept trying to crawl to get over there, so he was so curious about it :) He had a blast! He was scurring through that hay like a bullet! Then he'd pick it up in both of his hands and throw it down, or just play with it. It was so cute, and we got some cute pictures of him. Then, after everyone was done playing we went to the patch and picked out our pumpkins. I got a big one for us, and a small one for Harrison, and they are green! We were looking around for a pumpkin and saw these green ones, and was like "Are we allowed to take these?", but we did anyway. I love them, it's definitely different, and well, that's what we are, so, it fits.

Everything else is going great! Harrison is doing good, he's really learning to test his limits with me, and we are working on that. I tell him "no", and he looks at me, shakes his head no, and does it again. It drives me nuts. It's nothing major that he's doing, just playing in the water bowls (eww), and he likes to feed the dogs when he eats. He takes his food in both of his hands and drops them. I have a few dogs that are have some food aggression tendencies and I'm afraid that they are going to fight over his food one of these days. So, we're working on it, but it does get frustrating sometimes.

Also, I've started to watch my nephew Alexander for a few hours a day and its definitely a challenge to watch a newborn and Harrison at the same time, but thankfully it's just a few hours and it's while Kenney is here, so that helps big time. It seems right when Alexander get's here Harrison wants nothing but me. Plus, I forgot what it's like to have a newborn. Whew! It's such a guessing game on what's wrong! He's such a sweet kid though and has the cutest face when he cries, so it makes me smile :)

Harrison isn't walking yet, but he's soooo close! He's almost got it! He climbs on everything, he's standing all the time, it's adorable! The climbing thing, whew that kid is fast! Plus, I wish he did have that helmet still, it would definitely come in handy now! He's taken a few spills, but gets right back up and tries again. Determined little stinker :)

Here are some pictures from our pumpkin patch trip, and other cute pictures of my little man :) Hope all is well. Peace and love.

Trip to Gettysburg :)

Hi all! Well, we just got back yesterday from a 4 day trip to Gettysburg. It was so much fun! We left on Friday morning, around 7:30 because Kenney was wanting to leave at like midnight and after stressing to get not only myself AND Harrison ready, I told him, "hey, it's my vacation too, let's just relax and leave when we get up". Boy am I glad that we did, it was so much more relaxing then having to rush around and get stuff ready to go. We got there around 7:00 pm, it's usually a 9 hour trip, but having a toddler kind of streched that out a little. :) Harrison is a GREAT traveler though. He just plays in the back and chills, I have to say, he's pretty awesome! So, the trip was great, although I was really afraid of the chance that I might see a ghost, especially since Harrison was laying around the 1st night in his pack and play and laughing at nothing. I was a little freaked out. But, the rest of the trip I was okay..........until it was dark out :) But, I didn't see any ghosts thank God. We had a great time though, we visted the battlefield, saw a lot of monuments and did a lot of tours. I'm not really a history buff whatsoever, but I have to admit, some of it was interesting. On Sunday we went for a run on the battlefields which was a little weird, but it was fun to be running on a peice of earth that had seen so much. Then we went around the town of Gettysburg and saw the different shops, and ate at the Farnsworth House, which was really cool, and it has over 100 bullet holes in the side of the building from the war. Crazy huh? All in all it was a really good trip :)

Harrison is doing great, still not walking, but I'm not trying to rush it, I figure he'll get there when he gets there. Anyway, he's having a great time crawling around as fast as he can, and chasing after the dogs too :) That's his absolute favorite thing to do! Now that he can say the word "dog", that's all you here from him! Even in Gettysburg everything was "dog"! :) It was hilarious! He's standing up all the time still, and he's climbing on everything! It's amazing how fast he's growing up, and I just love that he's into so much stuff! Like, he loves going from one end of the bathtub to the other, it's so funny. Everything he does is just so funny, he's such a hambone!

Today I got to watch my nephew Alexander, who's only 6 weeks old. Harrison wasn't too happy about it, right when I put Alex down Harrison crawled over, and grabbed his pacy and put it in his own mouth :) Harrison hasn't used a pacy since he was 7 months old, but I guess he just wanted to feel like a baby. It was cute. But, soon Harrison got used to him and wasn't so jealous. Plus, thankfully my dad came over and helped me out. Here are some pictures of them.

Well, that's it for now! Hope everyone is doing well!

A lot of firsts!

Well, it's August 31 and it's a day I will always remember! Harrison had his first haircut today, he was so great for it too! I had the sippy cup and goldfish crackers ready just in case he got upset, but he was awesome! He didn't cry or fuss at all! I am so blessed that I have such a laid back kid. Here are some pictures of his big day. No more mullet, now he's clean cut and looks so cute!

He also said 2 words today! He always says Momma, but today he said Dog and Duck! He's been saying "og" for a little while, but today, he got the D on it. Then when he was taking a bath, he had his rubber ducky and I said "Duck", and he just looked at me and said "Duck!". I couldn't believe it! I had him say it like a million times after that. After his bath, he started calling everything duck. It was hilarious. He's just amazes me everyday.

He's not walking yet, but boy is he trying. He IS climbing though! He can get on our couch in no time, he just gets on the ottoman, then up he goes! Crazy! He is trying to walk though, he walks when I hold on to his fingers, goes a few steps then sits down. Must be tough :)

He's also learned how to cross his eyes. He does it all the time, and I mean ALL THE TIME. It drives me crazy. I don't want his eyes to stay like that! But he just thinks it's hilarious! He just looks at you, crosses his eyes, and laughs. It's not bad when we are at home, but when we are out somewhere, people just look at him, like "poor kid".

We are excited that we get to do so much more things with him now. I run with him almost everyday and he loves it, we went riding our bikes on the Monon and he loves his bike trailer. In a few weeks we are going to Chicago to check out some museums and the Aquarium. I'm excited because I LOVE Chicago, and it's Kenney and my's 3rd wedding anniversary, and 6 year anniversary since we met. I'll be sure to post some pictures when we get back.

Other than that, everything is going great! I'm running all the time, and losing more weight. I feel a lot better about everything. I told myself that I'm not going to worry so much about stuff I can't control and it seems to be working. I'm not as stressed and I can just focus on my family and that's an awesome feeling. I never thought I'd be such a family type of girl, but I'm more than happy sitting at home with Harrison and Kenney then going out and doing anything like I used to. I hope that all is well with everyone. Have a happy holiday!

It's been awhile :)

Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile, there has been a lot going on in the Smith family! First and foremost, my nephew was born on August 7th, and he's just about as sweet as can be :) His name is Alexander Jakson Diaz, and even though Harrison wasn't able to see him because he had a temperature (his first one ever!), it was special that he was there to celebrate. Congrats Jason and Mandy!

We are doing great, as usual! Harrison is being a little wild man, and is definitely starting to test his limits with his Mom and Dad. He's such a good boy though, but man, once you say the word "No", he think's it's hilarious and tries again. It's really tough, but if I say "No" really loud, he gets the point and starts crying, and it takes everything in me not to pick him up and tell him it's okay. I hate disciplining him, but I know it has to happen so he can learn right from wrong.

He's has been having a great time recently with both sets of grandparents :) I'm so lucky to have so many family members that want to watch him all the time. Last Saturday, I had my first "Mommy Day" in a long time. I dropped him off with his grandma Carol, and did exactly what I wanted to do....watch a movie, and have Subway. Before Harrison was born, i was quite the movie buff, there still is nothing better to me, than curling up on the couch, under covers, watching movies. I can't wait for him to be big enough to want to curl up with me and do that, but right now, he just wants to go go go!

We've been running about 3-4 times a week now for a few months, and I think he really enjoys it! He puts his little hands on the tray, and sits up really straight, like he wants to feel the wind in his hair :0) When Mommy stops for water, Harrison gets some, and now when we are at home, I see him "stretching" like I do before we run. It's so cute! We go running on the trails, and my stroller is definitely starting to show it's wear, but I'm hoping that one will go on sale soon, so we can wear that one out too :) I never thought in a million years that I would like running as much as I do, and I don't even bring my iPod with me. It's a nice release and seems to be helping with my stress. Look at me, I can officially call myself "athletic"....wow, there's a first!

Well, here is some of things that the wild man is doing now:

• Pulling up on EVERYTHING
• Pushes and pulls all the big things in our "playroom", his horsey, a chair, the ottoman.
• Cruising still, but soon enough he'll be really on the move
• Will walk when I hold on to his hands
• Stands for a minute without holding on to anything
• Kenney told me today that he climbed up on the ottoman to the couch, I didn't witness it, but whoa, that scares me!
• His 2 bottom teeth have really pushed up, and I think he's working on his top.
• Offers things now, like Cheerios, and toys, I LOVE it!
• When he hugs me, he says "mmmmm"
• Has made it up 4 stairs at his grammy and popi's house
• Still LOVES any dog he sees, and I think I hear him say "Og"...but I'm not sure.
• My dad says that he says something for phone too, so he's definitely starting to vocalize more.
• Likes to crawl over everything and everyone :)
• Hooked on Very Vanilla Soymilk, and Soy Chicken Patties....is he not his daddy's son or what?

Here's some recent pics of Harrison...being silly, eating a Club Cracker for the first time, etc. Hope all is well with everyone and I will post again soon, hopefully with pics of Alexander!