Friday, December 30, 2011

Indian Giver???

Have you ever bought a present for someone, but then contemplated keeping it for yourself?  I have, and I did this Christmas.  Check this out...


This is Boca, a Yorkie/Chihuahua mix that we gave to Matt's mother for Christmas.  She had dropped a couple hints that she was ready for another furry love in her life so we set out this Christmas to find the perfect dog for Nonni.  Look at that face, can you tell why she was "the one" :)


I am totally in love with this little girl.  Is it too late for me to take her back and keep her for my own??


Oh yes, Matt's heart was melting.  He would love to have a little dog to sleep on his head like his childhood dog (Snowball) did. 


Harrison thought she was just his size!


Believe it or not, that is a look of pure excitement right there!


This picture does not do the best job of conveying their excitement for Boca.  But trust me, there were lots of smiles and giggles. 

But this is where she belongs.  Snuggled in Nonni's lap. 

Thursday, December 29, 2011

We're famous!

Two weeks ago I posted here about Wave 3 sharing our story.  Here is a link to the segment they broad casted (Sorry I am not high tech enough to inbed the videos.  Not sure how to do that with the video being on their website.)

http://www.wave3.com/category/195955/video-landing-page?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6571648#.TvM7aKXLUdE.facebook

And after Wave 3 contacted us, we shared our story with Fox 41 as well.  Here is that interview too :)

http://www.wdrb.com/story/16363791/toddler-chokes-on-christmas-ornament

Enjoy....and keep your babies away from ornaments!!

A Merry Little Christmas



Wow.  What an incredible Christmas.  We were so fortunate to be able to celebrate such special time of the year with our close family.  My little family was more than spoiled this Christmas, and I could not be more grateful.  Here is a quick run down of our Christmas weekend.....

Saturday:
We spent Christmas Eve with my family at my Mimi's house.  We arrived at her home around noon and spent the afternoon and early evening playing games, eating, and exchanging presents.


After saying our goodbyes, we made our way to my parents house to "do Christmas" with them.  When we walked in their living room this is what we saw.....


Can you see the gifts over flowing from the tree?  Can we say spoiled?!?!


Yup, this little dude got his first set of drums and rocked out to Jingle Bells (or as Harrison called is Jinkle Bells) all night long.  I think Pop sang Jinkle Bells 20 times before we made Harrison pick a new song.  He was in heaven!


Harper and her Lovie :)


Harper enjoying her new play center and pulling up for the very first time (and it has also been the last time I have seen her do this).


Harrison got a helmet that he loves!  He does everything with it on!  Everything...


My little family worn out after opening all of those gifts at Lovie and Pop's house.

Sunday:

We got up early and headed to Matt's parent's for Christmas with his family.  Once again we were totally spoiled and enjoyed every minute of family time!!


Nonni and Gimpaw with all SIX of their grandbabies.  From left to right: Kamaren, Harrison, Kyleigh, Harper, Kean, Kaden.


All of us "kids" with our kids :)


Mommy and Daddy with their little lady :)


Sweet Cousins

We truly had a merry little Christmas.  We are so thankful for each and every one of our family members.  We love you!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Harper 6 Months

Harper turned 6 months old about three weeks ago, but better late than never! 





I swear this little girl gets happier with each passing day.  She is the easiest baby ever.  She has the most pleasant and laid back personality and I am so thankful for the joy she brings to her family.  She begins each day with a huge smile and throughout the day I often tell her that she is smiling so big it must hurt.  She has been sitting up since she turned 5 months old, but she can now sit as long as her happy little heart desires.  She loves to sit and play with toys, or watch and laugh as her brother "shoots hoops".  She is rocking on her hands and knees and I can tell how much she is dying to crawl.  She turns, rolls, and even scoots backwards, but for the first time yesterday she "army crawled" twice forward!  It wasn't long, but hey, she's trying.  And boy, this momma isn't sure she is ready for TWO mobile babies!  She is a great eater and is not picky at all.  Honestly, she is a little too eager for each spoonful of cereal/fruits/veggies.  People who have seen her eat describe feedings as shark attacks :)  (She gets that from me, just FYI)  She is still nursing, but each feeding is a struggle as she is becoming more and more easily distracted.  She is a little all over the map when it comes to her sleeping.  Some nights she is a champ and sleeps 10-12 hours.  Other nights, I am up every 2-3 hours.  She used to be the world's best sleeper, but I am not claiming that title any longer.  I was chalking her night time wakings up to teething, but this has been going on for a month and still no pearly whites. Baby girl is a thumb sucker and it is one of the most precious sights ever!  She is about as bald as it gets, but what little hair she does have is medium brown.  Her eyes are dark, but they are not brown.  They are a very interesting dark blue/grey/green.  I can never tell what her eye color is because it seems to change on a daily basis.  She may be lucky and her eyes will be more like accessories to whatever ensemble she may be sporting.  Speaking of ensembles, she is wearing nine months but will soon be graduating to twelve month clothes.  She is even wearing size 3 diapers to fit over those awesome thunder thighs.  No baby has ever rocked thunder thighs like this little girl.  If I do say so myself, she makes chunky look good! :)


Sweetest profile EVER!!!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

One Year Ago Today....

One year ago today, I had the worst day of my life.  Not the kind of bad day Shania Twain sings about, or the kind that once you get home a glass of wine can fix.  This was seriously the worst day of my life.  My baby choked.  And for about an hour, I was not sure if he was going to be ok.  I still feel sick to my stomach thinking about it, and because of that sick feeling (and not being able to see the computer screen through tear filled eyes) it has taken a whole year to write about it.


Taken the morning of December 14th

On December 14th, 2010 Harrison and I were in the living room after Daddy left for work.  I was paying some bills while my little man played on the floor with his toys.  My cell phone rang and it was Harrison's pediatricians office confirming his 15 month appointment for the following day.  I told them we would be there and hung up.  That is when I heard my son gag.  He was breathing, but he kept gagging.  I never saw anything in his mouth so I called my mom.  Trying to keep me calm, my mom told me if he was breathing to calm down and call his Dr. and that he would be fine.  He had just had some blue berries so maybe one was stuck in his throat.  The doctor's office said they would get us right in so I went to his room to put his coat on.  That is when he started vomiting blood.  I freaked.  I was crying uncontrollably trying to talk to a woman who answered my 911 call.  I am so thankful she could understand me, because I am pretty sure I was screaming/sobbing the whole time.  He was choking and I didn't know on what.  Talk about being punched in the gut.  How could I be his mother, the one that was in the same room as him and not see what he had in his mouth?!?  Quicker than I ever could have imagined, the ambulance came screaming down my cul de sac.  Three men ran out, quickly observed the situation and we were off to Kosair's Children's Hospital. 

I realized once I was in the ambulance that Matt had no idea what was happening so my poor husband received a frantic/sobbing phone call from me with sirens in the back ground.  He made out the part that we were on our way to Kosair's and left immediately to meet us there.  The trip from my house to the hospital should have taken a solid 30 minutes but I know for a fact we made it in half that amount of time.  The whole ride, Harrison continued to breathe, but he was still vomiting blood.  His sweet footed pajamas, my sweatshirt and pregnant belly were covered in blood.  We looked like we belonged in a scene of a horror movie.  I saw the fear in Matt's eyes when he saw me, and I will never forget that look.  

Harrison needed to be xrayed, not only to find out what it was he was choking on, but also to find its location so that the doctor could remove it.  A nurse asked me if there was any chance I was pregnant because if I was I could not stay in there with my baby as he was being xrayed.  I couldn't lie.  I knew I had to take care of the little one in my belly, but I wanted desperately to stay with Harrison.  As I kissed Harrison before I left the room, he was crying holding his hands out wanting to hold my hair.  He had always loved my hair and twirled it before falling asleep.  The one bit of comfort he wanted as he was being restrained on a table I could not even give him because I had to leave.  I was crying so hard I could barely breathe and I knew if I didn't stop I would faint.  I do not remember the nurse's name, but a wonderful nurse came and held me as Matt stayed with Harrison.  I will never forget the comfort she gave me at that moment.  She was my angel. 

The xray confirmed that Harrison had the metal top and hook of an ornament lodged in his throat.  Because it was not too far down, he did not require invasive surgery and within an hour of getting to the ER my little boy was asleep, breathing easily after having part of an ornament removed from his throat.  They transferred us to the Kosair's downtown and we spent the night so that doctors could monitor him for any infections.



Because Kosair's is a teaching hospital residents and interns were in and out of our room all night eager to meet the little boy who swallowed an ornament.  At one point I had gone to the nurses station to request juice for Harrison and as I approached the desk I heard four or five nurses talking about "The little boy who swallowed the ornament".  By the end of our stay Harrison was famous.  No one could believe his story and that we were leaving the hospital the next day with a healthy happy 15 month old.



For weeks I had trouble sleeping.  Every time I closed my eyes I could see the events of that day being played over and over again in my head.  I have never been so thankful for something in my whole life.  I still pray every day thanking God for my babies and their health.  But for several weeks I really struggled with guilt.  I just could not forgive myself for letting that happen.  I know that accidents happen, but this could have been prevented.  I could have been more prudent in child proofing my decorations.  I felt guilt for not knowing or seeing what it was that he had choked on.  I was so mad at myself for letting that happen to him.  It took a lot of prayer and time to finally move past that day.


On a much lighter note, this morning I received a call from Wave 3.  They are doing a news segment on child proofing your home for the holidays.  The reporter heard about our story from our ER doctor and contacted us to share our story.  As I spoke with the reporter on the phone, she wanted to know all of the details so I shared the whole story with her.  She then asked when this happened.  I paused as I choked back some tears...."One year ago today".  I had goosebumps.  I could tell she was a bit amazed at the timing as well.  Even though it is hard reliving that day, I am excited to share our story so that maybe another child can be spared a trip to the emergency room.  I will be sure to post our interview as soon as it airs.  Wave 3 is hoping to air it sometime Monday.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Harrison

I decided to stop doing monthly posts on my sweet boy once he turned two.  But now I feel like he is up to so much that I must update you all.....



  • He sometimes speaks in third person.  When he wants something that someone has, or wants to do something that someone is doing he says "Harrison want ______ too".  It is adorable.
  • Harrison knows all of his letters.  I know.  He's a genius :)  I promise you that I did not push this on him.  He honestly LOVES letters.  Which leads me to my next point.....
  • I now refuse to take him to the mall.  It took us 30 minutes to walk past 5 stores because Harrison had to spell every letter on every store sign.  At the first store it was cute.  By the 5th store I was tired, and impatient.  Sure I was proud, but I seriously wanted my Chic Fil A.
  • Harrison no longer says "a gone gone" for water or "dutches" for trucks or "Weewee" for Lovie.  He is now pronouncing almost all of his words correctly :(
  • He does still mispronounce Hiccups.  He says Hip ups and it is awesome.
  • He now picks his nose and says "See Boogies".  Yup, working hard to break that one.
  • He loves his baby sister to pieces.  Literally.  I think he tries to squeeze her to pieces sometimes he hugs her so hard.
  • He sleeps with about 10 stuffed animals.
  • He has the bluest eyes you have ever seen (other than my dad's).
  • He is obsessed with Mary Poppins right now.  He calls it Poppins and when he is not watching the movie he pretends to play Poppins with his stuffed animals.
  • The first memory he talks about is a basketball game we attended a couple weeks ago.  The child had so much fun. Every morning he wakes up and asks if we will go to the b ball game and see Walker.
  • Walker is his best friend.  Sometimes they act a little more like brothers, and I love how excited he gets talking about Walker.
  • He still twirls my hair when he is tired.
  • He is scared to poop on the potty, but pees on the potty all the time.
  • He loves to be read to and even "reads" to himself.
  • He loves watching B Ball on TV with his Daddy.
  • He wants drums for Christmas, but was too scared of Santa to sit on his lap and ask for it.
  • He can count to 14. 

  • Yup.  He's still totally awesome!

Friday, December 9, 2011

6 Month Comparison

Can you believe it, already time for a SIX month comparison!  I know I am their momma so I tend to not see what some of you see, but I think they are starting to look less and less alike.  Maybe part of that is their personalities, but I am always a little shocked when someone says they look just alike.  They definitely have the same sweet button noses and they both enjoy(ed) using their tongue as a gauge of their excitement.  I am curious though, what do you think?


Thursday, December 8, 2011

Pillow DIY Tutorial

My mother in law gave me this great piece that I put in my "entry way" (I put that in "" because the house doesn't really have an entry way.  It is really a part of the living room, but I was trying to define a space as an entry way.  Hey a girl has got to work with what she has :).  It was an oak piece that I thought might be fun to spruce up, so I painted it a fun shade of burnt orange and added some blue knobs from Hobby Lobby (I am still mad I did not take a before picture). 


But once I had this pop of color in my living room, I noticed my throw pillows were looking a bit drab.  Of course the pillows I was drawn to were around $75 a piece and I needed four.  Ouch.  Being on a fairly tight budget, buying new pillows was out of the question.  But look for yourself, these pillows needed a pick me up. 
 

I decided to try a thrifty/crafty approach to new throw pillows. I was in World Market and found some cloth napkins that I really liked.  And that's when the thought hit me....get some stitch witchery, an iron, and eight cloth napkins and I will have new pillows while spending less than $30.


 




Before and After:


Here is the finished product.  I was thrilled :)


I'm Back!

So if you were wondering where I had gone, first let me say thanks for missing me :)  Our computer went to PC heaven and so I was without my handy blogging companion but I am back in business now!  Once again, I am left with soooo much to catch up on.  But for now, more random thoughts from me......

  • I am loving Once Upon A Time!
  • Pinterest has me attempting WAY too many projects right now.
  • I am seriously wanting a white Christmas this year.
  • Speaking of Christmas, my home has been decorated since Dec 1 and I am loving every second of it.
  • We have no ornaments with hooks this year (because we spent two days at Kosairs lasts December when Harrison swallowed the top of an ornament with the hook).
  • Harper has no hair....I mean no hair.  She is as bald as her Pop.
  • Matt and I have enjoyed two really fun date nights in less than one week.  Very Much Needed
  • Matt and I decided that Kevin from Home Alone looks like an older version of Harrison
  • I am teaching my kiddos at church (2-4 years old) to sing Go Tell It On The Mountain.  :)
  • We met our family health care deductible so we are living it up at the Dr.'s office now!
  • My family said goodbye to our dog of 12 years on Monday.  Losing a pet is awful.  In our family, pets are truly part of the family.  Being able to love is a blessing, but it hurts so much when that loved one is gone....No matter if they had skin or fur.
  • For once I was on the ball with my Christmas cards.  Well, I was a bit excited since my kids are so stinkin cute!
  • Courtney moves back home from Alaska this weekend.  That three years went by fast!
  • Our schedule is CRAZY for the rest of the month, but I love it.  Christmas Christmas Christmas!!
  • God has been so faithful in providing for my little family through Matt's new business.  Being a small business owner is scary, but has taught me so much about trusting in the Lord's faithfulness and I am reminded daily to thank Him.
  • I am pretty in love with my husband.
  • Harper is happiest baby ever.  I can not even tell you how much my heart swells when I look at her precious smile (which is pretty much all the time).
  • Harrison is learning so much so quickly.  It is making me realize preschool is not that far off and it makes me sad.  This kid amazes me everyday with his vocabulary, imagination, and politeness.  Mommas been working hard :)
  • Matt has been baking like crazy because he is in the Christmas spirit, but it is not helping this momma lose her baby weight.  I've been working hard.....getting close!!
  •  Want to see what melts my heart?  Check this out: