Good, Happy Weekend

Do you ever feel like the Christmas season is a bunch of "noise?" My husband perfectly described what the season has felt like lately. We get so wrapped up in the go-go-go, even when the go-go-go is good. It has been incredibly hard for me to focus on the reason why we celebrate Christmas when I feel my head and time with all of the insignificant things the bombard me.

This weekend was exactly what I needed to refocus my mind. A reminder of how good God is to me, especially with blessing me with my loving family and dear friends. A weekend full of those things was just what I needed. 

On Friday, I met my friends Alyssa and Catherine to ride the Pink Pig. We thought we were playing it safe by going on a weekday, but we still stood for over an hour in line. (I should have learned my lesson from this time.) I am grateful for my sweet friends who helped me with the boys, especially when I had to park my stroller.

Obsessed with these Christmas sweaters! Thank you Mimi!

 Catherine and Gracelyn

Alyssa and Watts 

When I had to ditch my stroller, I ditched my camera in my bag, so the rest of these are from my phone. Woody was OBSESSED with Priscilla the Pink Pig. (BTW- I wasn't supposed to take this picture, but I had already snapped it when they told me no personal photography. Sorry!!) He kept running back to her to give her a hug. When other children tried to visit with her, he would run in front of them to try to get in her lap. No the best manners, but still cute.

They would only allow two to a seat, so Woody rode behind me with a little girl. It was his first blind date. He loved the ride!

And so did Peepers!

On Saturday, we did yard work, refinanced our house, and went grocery shopping. Sounds super boring, but I am thankful for those things. Saturday night I met my friends for Libby's birthday. It was nice to get away for the evening and have some kid-free time. (Lucky me, I met my old teacher friends Wednesday night too.)

On Sunday, we went to church with these little candy grams.

I can't express how much I love knee socks.

Other fun stories

Woody loves to rearrange our pantry and snack cart. I saw that the bowl the keeps the clementines in it was empty and on the floor.

And then I found them here...

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Woody is obssessed with his ABCs. He says them all the time. I especially love when he says T (tay) and W (dub-lu.)

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Gaines and Woody fight all the time. Over e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. I feel like this is the way things are going to be for a while. However, every now and then I catch them being sweet to each other.

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I love Christmas with the boys. Woody loves to play with the tree, therefore Gaines loves to play with it too. The tree is in the den, which I try to keep the boys out of (or at least their toys.) However, we go in there several times a day to look at the tree. Woody was annoying me because he found this hot pink glitter ornament he kept trying to hang on my white and silver ornament tree. 

It hit me though, with today being the anniversary of the horrible Sandy Hook tragedy, I am so thankful for the little hands that hung that pink ornament. It is staying on the tree. And it may be my favorite one.

My precious guys!

And thank you, Nana, for our Santa shirts!

(In case you are wondering, I never buy my kids clothes.)

Oh, hello

Is this about Thanksgiving? Nope.

Gaines' 9 Month Update? Nope.

Savanna's wedding? Nope.

Although I need to blog about all of those, this is what you get for tonight.

Let's sum up today... canceled lunch date for dishwasher delivery, dishwasher delivered, but not installed, dishwasher currently residing in dining room, traffic jam going to PRESCHOOL (seriously, how does a preschool parking lot get so jacked up?!), no naps (Gaines), busted lip (Gaines...lots of blood), poop in the tub (Gaines) and spilling the tub of poop on the bathroom floor, thrown milk (Woody), thrown beans (Woody), current screaming baby because I refuse to nurse him every three hours during the night (Gaines), and a momma who finally got a shower after (too) many days without. Welcome to the Harvard house!

I know that I must be a gem to come home to. #Blessed Brooks hasn't flown the coop.

I use to completely judge those women that stayed at home and didn't have immaculate homes and delicious meals ready for their husbands. I get it now. The struggle is real.

I tried to get pictures of the boys in their Christmas pajamas. 

Which would you like for your 8x10?

Can we talk about that turtleneck?

Can we talk about those teeth? (9 of them)

I adore watching him play with his nativity. It is so sweet to see him act out the story of Jesus' birth.

Sike. I had just removed Mickey Mouse and Chase from Paw Patrol from their "house."

Nighty night. Gaines is still screaming.

Gaines' Baptism

Like I said previously, these pictures are all from Sister's blog. I am so lucky to have an on-the-ball sister to document all the important milestones for my kids' lives! She has even more pictures here.

I was raised Southern Baptist, so infant baptism was something I was new to (when we baptized Woody.) And in case you were interested in reading more about it, check it out here.

 (See my cute shoes? They belonged to Brooks' grandmother.)

 Dr. Pentz spoke about the importance of Gaines Alton's name. I have mentioned before, but Gaines was Brooks' grandfather's and uncle's name. Grandfather Gaines passed away when his plane went down on a mission for the US Air Force. It was very special since Gaines was baptized on the Sunday before Veteran's Day.

I would also like to take a quick second to talk about the other men where Gaines gets his name from too. I never met Uncle Gaines, but I love hearing stories about him. He reminds me of Brooks. He was funny and the life of a party. He also had a gift for flipping houses and wasn't afraid to try something new. I think we would have gotten along great! 

My Paw-Paw, Alton, meant so much to me. I grew up around the corner from his house. After my brother and sister left for college, I would go to his house after school. He called me Cotton Top, and sometimes I miss this nickname. Not only did he give me nickname, but all of his grandchildren...and his grandchildren's friends....and boyfriends/girlfriends! Sometimes they weren't the nicest nicknames, but it was special that he took such an interest in our lives. I wish that Brooks could have met him (mostly so I could get a nickname for him.)

And finally, my brother, William Alton. There are eleven years and one week between us, and I have always looked up to him. He is a natural-born leader (including being a principal.) When I was little, he would take me on "dates." I think it was probably so he had an excuse to see those cartoon movies or to show girls how "sweet" he was. One time he took me to see Dumb and Dumber when I was 8. It was awesome. 

I hope Gaines displays the characteristics of these men. Strong, dependable, outgoing, bold, brave, funny...I could go on and on!

 We held our breath, and Woody did pretty good. He climbed on the pulpit to give a sermon only once!

After, my sweet cousin, Becky, and her husband, Howard, hosted a brunch for our friends and family. Not only was it beautiful, but I got to chat with everyone without worrying about food or cleaning up! Extremely appreciative to them!

 Woody loved sticking his feet in the cornhole holes. He may be on to a new game!

 Gaines and my dad

 Gaines is so happy to be a child of God!

 My family (except for my sister's husband, Robbie)

I am so bummed I didn't get a picture with Brooks' family!

The grandkids

(Gaines-8 months, Marrell- 6, Maddox- 10, Hollon- 2 months, Jake- 5.5, Woody-2)

Woody is nothing but consistent when it comes to pictures.

Gaines- Eight Months

Gaines Facts

• Weight: He is a big guy! Still thinking a little above 20  lbs. He is longer than Woody was at this age too.
• Diaper Size: 3
• Clothing: 12 months
• Sleep: Pretty much the same as seven months. He is cutting some molars, so naps and bedtime are either a hit or a miss. He is pretty consistent on a morning and an early afternoon nap. He sleeps for at least an hour then. Some days, he needs a late afternoon catnap, but it is usually only around 30-45 minutes. He goes to bed around 7:00 ish. On good nights, he will sleep until after 1:00 am, but some nights he is up every three hours. I have tried letting him cry some, but he gets progressively louder, and if he wakes up Woody, the night is RUINED! Sometimes is is just easier to rock and calm him down for ten minutes than to listen to him scream.
• Eat: For breakfast he usually has some yogurt or fruit puree. Lunch he gets a vegetable and dinner is a meat and fruit or vegetable and some cereal. He still nurses around every three hours, but I don't think he is drinking as much as he use to. And if we are out, I can extend his nursing to every four hours (although it doesn't make him happy.) He loves to eats puffs, those baby rice cakes, and banana bites for snacks.
• Gaines is crawling all over the house. He can really move it!
• He loves to stand up. He still needs to hold onto things to stand, but once I saw him let go and stand on his own for about five seconds! He is trying to pull himself up on his own, so we had to lower his crib. This makes me soooo sad. It looks more toddler-ish and less newborn baby bed. 
• He was baptized! I will post pictures later, but they will all be stolen from Sister's blog.
• If he is being fussy, a bath is the cure. He loves the water. It is nice to put him in his bucket in the shower, because he can splash and make a mess (a little lemons to lemonade from  not having a proper bathtub.)
• I am starting to see some separation anxiety, or as my friend, Beth, Calls is "Stranger Danger." This past week, he completely freaked out over Woody's speech therapist, the MOPS nursery workers, and Santa Claus. Other than strangers getting within six feet of him, he is super happy!

Halloween 2014

Can we talk about the Halloween I imagined?

Perfection! Happy kids! Loving their costumes! Healthy!

Now can we talk about the Halloween that happened?

Any Questions?

Let's start with Cheap-o Momma who just figured that Woody would wear the costume that was in the hand-me down box from his cousin, Jake. Thank goodness I tried it on him and realized it was a 12 month size.

Thrilled.

I didn't want G to miss out on the fun, so I tried his on too. It obviously was the perfect fit...

After a failed trip to Party City, my sister saved the day and sent some larger costume options for Woody. What would I do without hand-me-downs? Emma had a shark costume that I thought would go perfectly go with G's lobster costume. Woody could wear it to school on Tuesday and again on Halloween. I volunteered to help at Woody's school party (as well as every school party, like the psycho mom I am), and Gaines was tagging along. I was running late (surprise), and didn't have it in me to fight to lobster costume, so he was a football.

And Woody was a happy shark...

For all of 10 minutes. First of all, he didn't understand why both his (obsessed, stalker) parents were at school. He wasn't thrilled when Dad left. It annoyed him that Mom's attention was distracted by a football. He was upset when he had endless options of stickers to decorate his bag with. He became angry when Mom left (with the football) to set up for Trick-or-Treat. And he completely lost his cool when Mom gave treats to other children. You can imagine what happened when someone suggested to him that he leave his beloved mother and visit other moms for treats.

However, the real tantrum began when we came back to the classroom and someone had the nerve to offer him a snack. What jerks. (For a reenactment, see tantrum gif above.) One of his teachers suggested that he might do better if I left. I hate to tell them that I signed up for every party.

Fun Mom Moment: If he wasn't already having an awesome day, after his nap, he had to get his flu shot. #momoftheyear

At least he liked some of his treats (that were forcefully put in his bag.)

Gaines did not...

Between the school party and Halloween, I got sick with a nasty chest cold. It was so bad, I had to cancel a playdate, and you know I love a playdate. I also gave that nasty chest cold to Peepers. I took him to the doctor on Friday morning. Our wonderful pediatrician reassured me that it was just a cold, and that his lungs and ears were clear.

So I took him Trick-or-Treating! This is the part that went well!

Seafood Platter!

These pictures are all from my iPhone. Why? Because Brooks was in charge of the camera, and all the pictures look like this...

On Saturday, Gaines began to act worse. His fever kept rising, and his cough sounded terrible. He would cough so hard that he couldn't catch his breath and he even threw up. When he woke up after his afternoon nap, his fever was at 103.7, so we lost our Children's ER virginity. Thankfully, they reassured us (for the second time) that it was indeed just a really bad cold. Oh, and everyone from the doctors to nurses to even the valet guy at Children's Hospital (Scottish Rite) were amazing and kind and exactly who you want taking care of your sick child. 

And not to make this about me (yeah right), but during this time I still had a terrible cough, and G's lack of appetite caused me to get backed-up and develop a mild case of mastitis. So yeah.

See you, Halloween 2014. You were scary.

Playdate with Jessica and Alli

Soooooo, long time no post. The end of October was not the best of times. Lots of stress, lots of sickness. But even better? Lots of Jesus. 

When I get stressed and try to handle situations myself, I have to remember that He is bigger than all my circumstances. I mean, He overcame death, so who am I to worry about anything?! He doesn't always keep me from hard times, but He does walk with me through them. And isn't that awesome?! 

**This concludes your sermon. Just kidding. Go to church to get your sermon.**

Something that did go well during the past two weeks is that Jessica came to visit Alli and me. We were so excited. We did our best to get a group shot of the children. Aren't these kiddos precious?

 Burke (Jessica's son), Gaines, Jackson and Blakely (Alli's children). and Woody

And Jessica is pregnant with #6! A girl!

 Clearly, everyone except Blakely was watching Disney Jr

Do you not die? I hope they get married. Seriously. Mostly so I can like Woody's in-laws. And because they would have a fun wedding. Their children would have ridiculous cheeks as Alli noted. Am I getting ahead of myself? 

There was good food and a jump house too, but I failed to document it. We were just so excited to have Jessica back. I hope her new friends aren't reading this, because we completely plan on kidnapping and bringing her back. 

Thanks for moving back visiting, Jessica!