If a picture says a thousand words.....

I took these photos tonight of Harrison and I just *had* to post them. They captured his personalilty perfectly. This is really how he is pretty much of the time. And just looking at these photos -- you HAVE to smile. :) His smiles lights up his whole face, and even his eyes seem to twinkle.

He's so enamored with being able to roll over and prop himself up and watch what's going on around him. If you roll him to his back, he just fusses and flips right back over where he can see the action. It's sooooo cute!

The Sticker Chart

Madeleine finished her first sticker chart on Saturday night. She was so proud of herself, and I really think it's working well. She's started picking up toys without being asked and then coming and asking for a sticker. :) And, last week, she put up the dishclothes I was folding without me asking for her help. If the weather holds out we'll be taking a trip to the park tomorrow night. She's sooooo excited! I took some pics of her with the chart -- doesn't she look proud!

Let's Roll

Well, Harrison *finally* rolled over! He's been trying so hard for the past couple of weeks, but having a hard time getting that chubby little thigh over, and Friday nite he did it. I feel so proud. I have nothing to do with this little accomplishment, but I still feel proud. He's by the book -- rolling over at 4 months. And, he can really scoot around on his back. He's even managed to get across the room a couple of time. Lookout Madeleine! She's having to watch her stuff, because he grabs everything and puts it in his mouth. Which, is becoming a little drool machine. He drools all the time & A LOT. I guess he's not long from getting those first little teeth. I'm really not ready for him to get teeth. Madeleine cut all her teeth without any fuss, so it's not that. I'm just in love with his sweet toothless grin. He is just adorable!

I've posted some general pics of the kids I took this week. I tried to take some of him rolling, but they didn't really turn out. I guess you just have to see it LIVE.

4 Months Old

Sunday Harrison was 4 months old. How the time flies. In some ways it seems like he was just born, yet in others it seems like he's always been part of our little family. We went to the doctor yesterday for a check-up and shots. He is such a doll! He smiled and squealed for everyone. All the nurses talked to him and LOVED his dimples. He never meets a stranger & is already such a flirt. And, I have to say, he really loves his mommy. He looks for me in every room and follows my voice. He smiles every time I look his way. It never fails to make me smile -- even at 5:30am.

He weighs 17lbs, 5oz (Madeleine weighed 17lbs, 3oz at 9 months!) and was 25 1/4 in longs. This puts him in the 90th and 75th percentiles, respectively. So, he's definitely growing. Hopefully, he'll end up being tall. :) He hated getting his shots -- he turned bright red all over, even down to his chubby toes. The nurse giving the shots even commented on how red he turned. The whole experience wore him out & he pretty much slept the rest of the day.

Morning Thoughts

This morning the words of this song made me pause:

May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart
Bless your name, bless your name, Jesus
And the deeds of the day and the truth in my ways
Speak of you, speak of you, Jesus

For this is what I'm glad to do
It's time to live a life of love that pleases You
And I will give my all to you
Surrender everything I have and follow You
I'll follow you

Lord, be my vision, Lord, be my guide
Be my hope, be my light and the way
And I'll look not for riches, nor praises on earth
Only You'll be the first of my heart
I will follow, I will follow, I will follow You.

This went right along with my Bible Study for the day about making sure that in my "frazzled" life I do everything for God and keep my focus on Him. He is the creator of my day and the give of every good and perfect gift and may He be praised!

This is supposed to be good?

I gave Harrison his first taste of real food last night -- carrots. He wasn't too impressed, but actually swallowed most of it. He's used to eating thickened foods, since we have to thicken his formula, so he did a really good job. Today at lunch I gave him more & *had* to take some pictures! He was so cute!
I also took some pics of Madeleine wearing her Bible class activity. This is the only time she's actually put them on, so I grabbed my camera (most of the time she pretends they're a purse). If you can't tell, they are headphones made from a headband and mini foil tart pans. So clever. They say on the side "God Speaks" and "I listen." She was learning about Samuel and how he listened to God. She just loves her class & she has probably one of the best Bible school teachers ever. They always bring home the neatest things & Madeleine can tell us something about what she's learned, which I have to say is pretty good for a 2 1/2 year old. She knew that God had to call Samuel 3 times and he woke up and went back to sleep. Isn't she smart!

Church

Harrison LOVES Bible Class. These are some photos of him -- he's pretty enthralled with the horse, as you can see. Doesn't he look like such a big boy sitting in his chair? WAAAA. He's getting so big, so fast. He made it through the entire class yesterday, which pretty much wore him out!

I'm getting to this post earlier today than I'd planned. Both of my children are taking morning naps. This is sooooo rare. Almost never happens. Never. Madeleine has a cold & fell asleep about 10 am, probably from her medicine. Hopefully, she'll wake up feeling much better. So, I've found myself with an hour or so of time to myself in the morning. I've forgotten what that feels like and I've gotten lots done! :) Laundry, pick-up house, dishes, and the list goes on.....fun stuff, I know.

Who is Bigger?

Madeleine asked me tonight if she could hold Harrison. I put him in her lap and after about 5 seconds, she tells me he's too heavy. I had to take some comparison photos, he's really almost as big as she is -- he's 17 lbs and she's 28 lbs. I figure at this rate, he'll out weigh her by the end of the summer! It's probably good that he's big, since she's already bossing him around. He'll need the added size to stand up to her.

Madeleine has her first behavior chart that we started today. She's working on brushing her teeth without fussing & picking up her toys the first time we ask. Each time she completes the task, she gets a sticker. When the page is full of stickers (25) she gets a reward. I let her pick the reward. I suggested McDonalds or the bookstore. She thought for a minute & said "I want to go to the park, with Mommy, Daddy, Harrison, and Mimi." (sorry Mimi if you're reading this and I haven't told you this yet -- you're committed to a park date with us!) This was entirely her idea. She LOVES the park, but we usually go during the day, without Matt and Mimi. So she's really, really, excited about everyone coming. I am also very hopeful that the chart will help us work on a couple of basic goals we have. I'll keep posting on how it's going.

Little Helper

Madeleine is such a good little helper. Saturday night we were at her Mimi's house getting ready for Easter. Mimi was ironing the napkins for lunch the next day & Madeleine wanted to iron with her. She was singing "this is the way we iron the cloth..." and doing it just like she's seen me do. It was adorable. She's definitely watching everything we do!

I've also added some pics from the Easter Egg Hunt at church on Saturday. Harrison was so entertained watching everything. He's just pure joy. It takes so little to make him smile and laugh. And, Madeleine only wanted to find pink eggs, so that's what we found. It was cold outside, so she hunted fast then wanted to go inside. She was pretty excited to open the eggs & find the candy in them.

Easter

Madeleine and Harrison in their Easter duds -- don't they look adorable!


Mommy loves Madeleine.












This has been *such* a wonderful Easter! It's so much fun when you have kids & the day is all about them. Madeleine has been waiting for the Easter Bunny this year, anticipating all the candy he'll be bringing her. She went right to bed last night and popped up this morning, ready to see her basket. She followed the trail of eggs the bunny left from her bed to her basket & was so excited to see what he brought! She took everything out of her basket & lined it up -- like she was taking inventory. Ha! Of course, she had some chocolate (for breakfast). While Harrison didn't really understand what's going on, he sure looked cute in his Easter clothes.
After church we had an Easter feast! We had lunch with our Little Rock family -- the Stevens/Tappe families. With all the girls bringing something we had a spread! It was wonderful & I'm sure everyone ate too much. :) Then the kids went out to hunt eggs. Madeleine is now quite an expert on hunting eggs (we've been practicing at home) and we had to hold her back, so others could get some too. She ended up helping her friend Ella fill her basket, too. So sweet. It's so cool to see Madeleine and Ella hunting eggs, since her mommy & I hunted eggs together as little girls. There's something pretty special about seeing your kids becoming friends with the children of friends you've had your entire life.
So now we're home, tired from the day, but happy from all the memories we've made.

First Bible Class

This past Sunday was Harrison's first time in Bible Class. He looked so cute in his little sailor suit with knee socks & satin shoes! I'm not sure he was too impressed -- he watched for awhile, did a poop, then went to sleep. Oh well. Eventually, he'll love it.

I'm also posting some general pics of the kids. We've been so busy the past week or so -- Matt's been sick & we went on a mini-break to do some shopping. Madeleine got a haircut last week, kind of a bob. It looks so cute! She's really into giving people haircuts, especially her Daddy. She loves to dress him up & put beads and bows on him. And, of course, he lets her. She thinks it's so funny!