Just Another Day in the Life of Harry

Harry had a great lunch date with Kiera today even though he slept the whole time! Kiera's mom, Rachel G, is so fun to hang out with.

Harry played with Mimi for an hour while Mom went to a meeting at school. He had so much fun staring at her and looking for the Christmas lights! Mom took the Christmas lights down and ever since he has been looking for them! Harry LOVES his play mat already! I think he is already getting annoyed with his mom because, if he gets fussy he immediately gets happy once he is on his play mat. He can lay there for minutes on end! He ended up taking a cat nap on his play mat! Harry's mom is learning that she needs to let him lay on his own instead of constantly holding him while she stares! Harry is weaning her off!!

Tuesday with Harry

Favorite Spot!
Peek A Boo
Harry says forget the bows when you can wear a hat!

I love my hat from Papa!
I also love my hat from Grandma!
Bounce Baby Bounce

Harrison is 5 weeks and 3 days! He stayed an hour and a half with his Mimi today. This was the longest time he and I have been apart. It was all I could do to not give her detailed instructions and call every 10 minutes. I refuse to be "that" mom. She raised 3 fine children on her own, who am I to tell the professional exactly what to do with a baby! They had so fun, they ate together, played, talked, sang, cuddled, checked out the place and Harry took a cat nap! Harry slept all the way home, he had so much fun at Mimi's house!

Harry has really been focusing on different things besides lights lately! He stares at Chad the most, he will follow him across the room with his eyes! He also loves the reflector on his swing.

He is more alert but, still falls asleep during some of his feedings.

Night time is getting a little better but, not like we hope. We are really enforcing the Baby Whisper theory with the cluster and dream feeds. He doesn't cry when he is awake, he grunts and moans. He makes sure we know he is there! The worst time is 3:30am and on, we usually give in and let him sleep with us or Chad takes him to the couch. I have heard of parents putting a little rice cereal in a bottle with breast milk, I just don't know how safe that is. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

My favorite thing he does is BOUNCE! He will lay on the floor and move his legs like he is bouncing! We took a video of it today but, of course I am not good at that high tech stuff!

Harry and Brooklyn Finally Hang Out

She's Cool
Oh NO!


Just Chillin'

James + Harry= BFF

Lean on Me


Too Cool for the paparazzis

Harry says" James is Goliath on Vacation"

Harry loves Aunt Lauren!

Kickin' IT

Harry Update

Harrison Dean has been such a good boy. He is so content almost all the time, of course he has a few fussy moments but, they do not last long. I took him to the doctor yesterday because he has a small yeast infection and he was so happy go lucky with all the nurses and the doctor. He weighed 10.4lbs and in the 75th percentile in weight and height. We love our pediatrician, she is actually a nurse practitioner, I ended up going to her because she is a lactation consultant and I needed some MAJOR consulting! After she complemented Harrison and treated me like a friend I had to switch from my original pediatrician. She picks him up and constantly talks about how cuddly he is, she speaks my love language!!!

Today I was forced to take him to Wal-Mart and the entire time he was wide awake. I put his car seat in the cart and he did not make a peep the entire hour I was there. He acted like the Wal-Mart ceiling was the most interesting piece of art he had ever seen. I guess living in this town you have to love going to Wal-Mart!

He loves his swing and does well in his bouncer while I attempt to take quick showers.

He has been going to sleep so much easier than before but, I would like to drop a few of his nightly feedings. I have tried the pacifier but, always give in to just giving him a 5 minute feeding. We feel blessed he is still going right back to sleep after each night feeding. I am working on cluster feedings with him, but this whole sleep thing is not as easy as the book says.

He has been a great trooper in going on girly lunches with me. He has slept through almost everyone!! That is a great benefit to staying at home.

I know I keep say this but, God really could not have given us a more perfect baby. I am so in love with him!

Harry turns 1 month old

Harry is already one month old! Exactly 1 short month ago Chad and I received the most perfect gift we had ever been given, Harrison Dean. We knew we would love the little baby inside of my belly but, we were not ready for the overwhelming amount of love this child blessed us with. It seems that we are constantly looking at him and saying "Wow he is growing so much" or "Wow he is the most beautiful thing in the world" or "Wow I didn't know I could love something so much"! Harrison has made a perfect addition to this Warehouse and we could not be more in aah of God's blessing. I remember my first cry over how much love God had bestowed on us. My sister in law, Amy gave Harrison a book titled I Love You So by Marianne Richmond, I was reading it to Harrison and found my tears drenching his onesie that is now to small for him. I ended up reading it to him a half a dozen times, crying harder after each word. I have to put a few of the lines from the book in this one month blog because, even though I don't cry over the words they are so true. The book is made up of similes and metaphors comparing a mother's and father's love to their son.

"I love you as GIGANTIC as a great lion's roar,
and as DEEP as the ocean,
I love you MUCH more.

"That is a lot," you say,
"but HOW did it start?
Where did love come from
to be in your heart?"
this part is so true!
You put it there, really
when you and I met.
And i knew for certain
WITHOUT you I'd fret

From MY HEAD to my TOEs
I was feeling inside
a devotion for you
SO DEEP and SO WIDE
And now it's ENORMOUS
and wonderfully real
and hard to describe
HOW MUCH I feel!!


I think this part really got to me because just days before I had experienced that feeling so REAL! We have had the most wonderful month of our lives with our son who is perfect and we love so....

Oh Baby It's Cold Outside

I know the blue doesn't match but, he doesn't fit in many of his clothes.

Glamma and Grandbo/Grandaddy(name undetermined) VISIT HARRY

My mom and dad have not been able to see Harrison since the day he came home because they have been taking care of my Grandmother who has been in the hospital! They were determined to come up today (Harry's 4 week birthday) even though the weather is awful! It is such a breath of fresh air to have my parents come over to encourage and love on all of us! They brought Harry his first "tuxedo" and quickly dressed him up. As soon as Harry got in Grandbo's arms he was out and decided to sleep most of the time. Glamma taught Harry lots of her dance moves and he seemed to really enjoy their party! They live an hour and 45 minutes from us, so a day trip is not hard to do. If I had it my way they would be much closer. Harry loved their visit and was very sad when the left!

Welcome to the world BROOKLYN KAY

This is Harrison's new cousin! It is his only cousin on Chad's side of the family. She came into the world on 1-10-07 weighing 9lbs 6oz (about the same as Harrison right now) length 22 inches!
She is like a little porcelain doll....a chunky one!
Harrison was really mad he was not allowed to hold her at the hospital so, he starting throwing a fit!
Harry and Sandy are thrilled to finally have their 2 grandchildren together!

He SMILES

We now know who can make Harry smile! Tonight Chad took Harrison after our friends, Brandie and Johnathen Reynolds, brought over this dynamic meal. I quickly go to the computer, for the first time today, and Chad yells "QUICK GET OVER HERE" and there he is smiling constantly at Chad who is singing "You're beautiful, you're beautiful it's true". Harry kept grinning so I ran and grabbed the camera put in the memory card...that took me YEARS to find, and was able to only get one good picture! We hope this is a sign he is a happy baby....I can't wait for many more firsts!

Thoughts from a new mother!

I want to post about Harry's personality at 3 weeks, I know it will shine through as he gets older but, for now we can only appreciate how he is 100% baby! I have always loved babies, I honestly adore other peoples babies and have made many friends through my love for their children, now that I have my own, my appreciation for babies has grown enormously! People make so many comments to Chad and I such as "Is it awful at night?", "I bet you are just exhausted.", "It is hard isn't it", and the most annoying one is "wasn't as dreamy as you thought it would be huh?"! We discussed last night how those comments don't really make sense to us. Our life goal was to be parents and we never thought that it would not be hard. We knew what we were getting into and I can say now(this could easily change tomorrow) that it is NOT near as hard or exhausting as so many coworkers and aquaintances put it out to be. He sleeps from 8:30-6am waking only 2 or 3 times only to eat and yes he is fussy...a lot and yes, sometimes I am worried sick he is not eating enough, but overall we are still in Harry Land(dream land)! I am still calling all of my friends who are moms asking questions, don't worry, I rotate the calls....can't overwhelm just one or two of my supermom friends! I also know I am not doing everything perfect, and I have 0 guilt about it! My biggest concern is that when I go back to work I will miss his first word, first step, first time to hold a bottle ect... Please pray that I appreciate all the time I have with him and not the time I will be away. I have a great job where I only work 185 days a year and my bosses are super flexible and supportive to mothers. Chad also has a job where his company gives him 4 weeks vacation and they are very supportive to him being a dad. I know God has a plan for us and we pray we make good decisions to honor that plan. We absolutely love being parents, naps and good home cook meals are more appreciated than before but, we have achieved 1 of our life long goals that we have both had our entire lives and for that blessing we can not be more thankful.
So on a brighter note:
Harry's quirks at 3 weeks!

I hope that Harry's future college roomate knows how to swaddle because, he goes to sleep and sleeps much longer when he is swaddled really tight!

We need to make sure he turns over when he sleeps because, if he sleeps as much as he does now when he is older he will have bed sores!

Hopefully when he is older he will be able to go to another room and burp on his own because, his burps are really loud and he does not care who is around.

He does have a major gas problem and to be honest, I am very doubtful that will change considering who his dad is!

He will be a Jimmy Hendrix on the guitar because, he melts when Chad plays it to him. (this is post of its own)

Don't worry he will have a great fashion sense, as long as he lets me pick out his clothes!

He will be world traveler, Harry loves riding in the car.

His favorite food will be lollipops (like Sam) because he loves to suck on pacifers!

His favorite season will be Christmas because, he loves to look at the lights!

I am sure all of these will change, well most all of them but, I thought this post could just be for fun!

Harry goes to church!

Harry went to church for the very first time this morning! He slept only through class and was alive and alert through service. I don't really blame him for sleeping in class....not to exciting! He had many fans coming to take a look at the new member of our church. Chad had no problem doing all the holding while our church family took a quick peek at the prodigy child!
The Bible he is holding is from his Aunt Hannah. She went to Greece for the summer and bought him this bible from Jerusalem. It is made out of olive wood. We think it is very special to have Harry's first bible from the Holy Lands.
I have to admit the pictures were taken after church, Chad would not let me take the camera into church...afraid I would cause a disturbance with the camera!

JOCK

No more accidents on Harry's mom and dad!

Cousins visit and Harry's first day trip

Harry went to the doctor on Wednesday and weighs 8lbs and 11 ounces. He has been doing wonderful. He will be 3 weeks tomorrow and we are so shocked at how fast it has gone.
Harry's cousins Caroline who is 6 weeks older than him and Olivia who is 14 months older than him came over and stayed the night last night. Our house was chaotic but, it did not seem to bother Harry. Olivia is a lot like Angelica from Rugrats, she tries to be gentle but gets out of control and can be kind of rough. She is in to everything, for all of those moms of 1 year olds, my heart goes out to you....boy are they a handful! Caroline is a very easy baby, she was content every place she was put and did very well putting up with Olivia not being so kind to her.

Today Harry and I went to the Baby's Room, a cute baby store where their baby clothes were on sale. He slept the whole time! Our next big stop was his first of many trips to Target!! Target is a good 25 minutes from our house so, it is big deal to get to go. I have to admit I have been having Target with drawls! He was a perfect angel at Target too! I wasn't going to push my luck so we met Chad at his parent's house and stayed there for a few hours. We are finally back home just for our good friends to bring us a yummy meal and settle down for our 3rd weekend together.

Dezi's visit

Dezi, Ria and Emily came to visit Harry today. Dezi has been waiting a very long time for Hawweeey to come out of Amanda's tummy. Dezi quotes:
"Can he walk a little bit?"
"Please put him in that!" (referring to his swing)
"Please wake him up!"
"Harry WAKE UP" (mulitiple times)
"What are you feeding him, Amanda?"
"Are you poopy?"
"I am not touching him"
PLEASE put him in that!"