Go ahead, make my day.

Okay, so it's been a little while since I posted. But the most amazing thing happened to me yesterday and I have to share. I haven't been feeling great lately and have been doing a lot of lying around (Harrison is starting to expect a daily Baby Einstein). My sweet sister knew I've been having it a little rough and she drove up from Birmingham and surprised me yesterday. It was so sweet of you, Shell. She brought Leah and Jake with her and Harrison had a ball. Not only did she just hang out with me, but she made dinner before she left. It was no ordinary dinner. It was only the most delicious chicken and dumplings EVER. To top it all off, she cleaned up Harrison's play room when I wasn't paying attention, so when I went in there after she'd left it was just one more fabulous thing.

I just wanted to say thanks publicly, because I'm not usually the recipient of such flagrant service and I didn't know how else to show my gratitude. You made my day. If you want to make it again today, then email me your dumplings recipe.

No Haircut

I've got to say, I was surprised by the passionate views held on Harrison's hair. Obviously there are those out there who are a lot more sentimental than me. Even though I technically won the agreement with Dan (I had more than 25% of the vote), I decided against cutting right now just because I didn't want to gain any enemies.

Harrison went to work with Daddy this afternoon, giving me a chance to get caught up on some things. Those two crack me up. They really like to hang out together and seem to relish their boy time. I heard talk about stopping at McDonald's for a McFlurry while they were out doing their manly-man work. I guess I'd relish boy time too if I got paid off with Oreo McFlurries.

They're also really into building together. Whenever Harrison goes down for a nap and Dan is around, Daddy makes sure to have a cool castle built from his blocks because, as Dan explains, "He really likes to wake up to a good castle." It's hard to find such paternal intuition. Harrison is getting better and better at the building thing. His lastest thing is to find other toys to stack along with the blocks. Such creativity.

A couple of firsts

Hmmmm. Yesterday started on a pretty bad note for poor Harrison. I'd had trouble sleeping the night before and had resorted to turning on the humidifier in our room in the middle of the night. Usually when I do that, Dan turns it off as he leaves for work. There is a reason for that. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to hear Harrison if he yelled. And yelled. And yelled.

I'm sure you see where this is going. The humidifier didn't get turned off. Mommy slept and slept. I feel so guilty. I woke up a few minutes after eight. I'm not sure how long the little guy had been up, but he clung to his little stuffed froggy all morning after. Froggy usually just sits in Harrison's crib and doesn't really get much attention, but Harrison dragged him around for a couple hours after the incident. Weird. I took a picture of them after Harrison finished his breakfast. He usually wants down immediately after eating, but yesterday he just pointed at a book and settled down with froggy to read in the high chair. It'd be cute if it wasn't so sad.

The other (and much more positive) big first we had yesterday was Harrison's first real (meaning paid) babysitter! Dan and I had a little date night and went to the temple. Harrison stayed with his very good friend Mallory. I guess he stayed up WAY past his bedtime flirting and cuddling with her. He carried a big blanket over to the couch for them to snuggle in, and they played peekaboo and found each other's noses and eyelashes for hours. He even fell asleep on her for a little bit, which he NEVER does with Mom and Dad. I've got to say, I was a little jealous.

Get out the vote....

Okay, this is probably a product of our church meetings moving to the afternoon; we have way too much downtime on Sunday mornings. Anyway, I was trying to convince Dan that we should use his hair clippers to trim Harrison's hair. He didn't agree at all. We usually don't completely disagree like this and Dannyboy came up with a solution. He said if I put a poll on the blog and at least 25% of the readership agrees with me, then we can give him a hair cut. I'm thinking this will be a shoo in. He's got all kinds of crazy little wisps and a puffy little thing going on in the back. I think his hair might look a little thicker if we cut it.

We'll let this run for a week and reconvene next Sunday morning to take action based on the results. Happy voting!

To cut, or not to cut...

Do you think Jen should be able to cut H-man's hair?
	Yes, she's the mom....why are you even questioning her, Dan?
	No, it is physically impossible for Harrison to become any more good looking.
	Bic it.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Zoolander

The heart breaker

Our favorite time...

Harrison and his bff Hunter felt like having their pictures taken yesterday, so Brit and I complied. I gave myself some very concrete limits before we left so that it didn't end up like last time we went (I still have stacks of pictures that will never be used). It was a success. I chose this particular pose of Harrison because it actually looks like he has an upper lip. The boy is built just like his daddy, and they are both good candidates for collagen.

Besides that, we're just trying to survive all these teeth coming in. They move so slow! I'm going to break down and buy a book to give me tips in dealing with all these tantrums, just in case it turns out that Harrison isn't always a complete perfect angel and I run out of medical maladies on which to blame his surly disposition.

That stuff happens to other people, not US!

***Cautionary note*** the following description is about a certain bowel movement of Harrison's. I will not be offended if you choose to skip this one.

So Dan and I were sitting around last night eating dinner. H-man had already finished and was wandering around playing like the good boy he is. As we're talking, we both hear Harrison poo-ing. This is unusual and we both laugh at it. It sounded a little more liquid-y than normal. I truly am sorry, I know that's gross. Anyway, the sound brought to my mind a road trip I'd gone on with Shell a few years back. I related the story to Dan, including the conclusion which entailed us power washing her van mats at a car wash.

So there Dan and I sat, laughing at the stinky nasty mess Shell had to clean up. It was that kind of arrogant, can you imagine what she must have been feeding her children for THAT to happen? kind of laugh. The laughter hadn't even died from my lips when Dan said, pointing, "What's on Harrison's pants?" That's where the hilarity ended. The ensuing mess involved us cleaning baseboards and floor boards in the dining room, kitchen, living room, and front hall. I honestly don't even understand the physics of what happened. I'm just glad we weren't upstairs on the carpet.

Holiday fun (make sure to put your curser over it to get the captions)

A new kind of Christmas

A rather intense looking Scrabble game.

















Leah, Luke, Josh and Harrison know fine craftsmanship when they see it. Seriously, how many kids get fabulous custom-made furniture by their grandpa and great-grandpa? So precious.


The holidays really took on a whole different feel now that Harrison is conscious of what is going on around him. It was absolutely wonderful to have so much family come and stay; I was positively spoiled. Let me see if I can hit some of the highlights of the last couple weeks...

• I prepared a somewhat simple, but satisfying Christmas dinner almost by myself. Doris had to help me out with the turkey (umm, and she did the gravy completely without me....come to think of it, how much did I REALLY do?). Anyway, it was all really low stress and I was able to enjoy everything without freaking out (which is always a possibility with me, bless Dan's heart).


• Lauren won the scrabble tournament.


• Sudoko was attempted by every adult that was here. My side of the family TOTALLY needs to be brushing up. Come on, guys.


• I watched my "sweet" baby boy bully his darling cousin Jake any chance he could. It was horrifying. Dan and I are already checking out some very promising military schools.


• The new year was rung in with Dan snoring next to me while I sudokued (can I verb that?)


• The Michigan bowl game did not come close to meeting expectations. The only thing that saved bowl day for me was the huge air mattress we still had blown up in front of the tv. I was shelling my peanuts in the lusciousness of a feather bed and a giant pillow. It took the edge off the pain.


• I was able to pass on the legacy of completely awesome college (and first four years of marriage) cookware to Katy. I'm not sure she was able to fathom its coolness yet.


• Dan made me a gorgeous headboard. I can't believe the craftsman he's turning out to be. He's already whipped up a frame for the painting Dad did for us for above our mantle. It's extra special since Dad did it just for me and now there's a piece of Dan up there with it every time I look at it.


• Watching Harrison play with all his Christmas gifts is just too fun. I don't think there was one thing that he doesn't seem to love playing with. He just adores giving hugs to the giggly little gingerbread man that Uncle Elg sent, and he is all about the car and train and bus he got. He's a sucker for anything with wheels. Just today we were reading a book Lauren gave him and it has taught him to stick his tongue out. Love ya, Lauren!


• I started an herb garden on my counter! My parents got me a little kit and I just got it going today. I'm soooo excited. Honestly, it's kind of weird how excited I am for them to grow. Watch out, I'm gonna have chives any ol' time I want to.


• Dan and I have been watching the first season of Battlestar Galactica courtesy of Kyle. I never would have guessed it, but I might have the makings of a Trekkie.


• I'm saving the coolest for last---Harrison does real kisses now! His buddy Hunter gave him his first pets for Christmas (two little fishies) and he promptly started making a puckered up fish face every time he saw them. The fish face has morphed in the last couple of days into sweet little kisses when I ask for them. He still hasn't put it together that he's supposed to be touching me with his lips, but he'll walk toward me kissing, which might be even cuter.

Anyway, thank you to all of you who were able to share the holidays with us. It was fantastic. And we missed everybody else. Truly. I would have smoked y'all at Sudoku--I was on a crazy winning streak.