baby BOY Harris!!!!

The "spiny" thing you see is, well, the baby's spine. Go figure.
This is a shot of the baby's face. The dark black circle is one of his eyes.

Here he is lying on his back. On the right is his head, left is his belly. And below is his penis...the "V" shape around that is his two femurs.

It's official! We're having a boy! We just can't believe it. Even though we both wanted a boy we were both convinced we were going to have daughter #2. We are all so excited, especially Amelia! (I only hope that excitement continues!)

Here are some images from the ultrasound. Baby Boy Harris was all too excited to show us that he was a BOY! If you click on the image you can view them larger and you'll read what it is that you are seeing.

Amelia's 1st haircut...yes, she's 2 and just got it cut!

We finally did it. The long awaited haircut. I loved her beautiful curls but just as soon as she would put on a hat or play for 10 minutes the curls were gone and she started to resemble Gallagher (the comedian)...not really a pretty sight. I'll miss the adorable ponytails but this pixie-bob, as I'm calling it, is just so darn perfect on her! She looks like she just stepped out of the 1920s.

Tyler and I took her to Cookie Cutters in Arlington. The place was fantastic and super kid friendly. Amelia played on the slide and picked out her chair of choice — the fire truck — and then simply refused to wear a smock. She practically threw herself out of the fire truck she was sitting in 4 feet in the air. We attempted for nearly ten minutes and just gave up. The sight of the scissors just wasn't happening for Amelia...even though I had prepped her for what was going to happen. I had to take the scissors and cut my own hair...then I cut Amelia's — she thought that was funny but that didn't last long. We thought for sure we were going to have to leave. Our EXTREMELY patient hair stylist, Jennifer, tried everything...and then remembered the box of suckers. That worked brilliantly!

Amelia was so enthralled with choosing her sucker that she didn't even realize Jennifer started to cut her hair. Before she even realized what was happening she was done! And she looked 5 years older.

Amelia made their wall of fame and received a certificate and a balloon for being such a great customer! Man, these people thought of it all! We even took home a little baggy of hair.

After the big event we took Amelia to lunch to celebrate. She just thought it was the greatest thing ever! Hopefully this well set the scene for the next haircut!

Girl's Night + Lucas

Gilda, Kim and Darcy came over on Thursday night for girls night. After dinner we sat around in the living room and talked...what else do girls do so well!? Lucas was the best behaved baby I've ever seen. He is always so content. Just so you can have a better idea of just how big Lucas is...he is 4 1/2 months old and my niece, Ellie, in the previous photos is 10 months old...there is just no comparison in size! That boy is SOLID!

Grandpa's Birthday

My dad came down to celebrate his birthday here with all of us. Dacia and the fam came up too. Talk about a houseful! Amelia and Ian had a blast playing together and Ellie was just an all-around good girl! Grandpa was in his glory to spend time with his kids and grandkids!

Bubbles

Amelia still loves bath time more than any other. Adding the fun of bubbles (Friday nights are Bubble Night) just makes the process that much more enjoyable.

17 weeks

I started to feel the baby doing somersaults around 15 weeks and later that week I felt small kicks. Now I notice them all the time! Sometimes they are so strong I can feel them on the outside with my hand. I am now in my 18th week and we find out the baby's sex on Tuesday! I can't wait! I'm sorta hoping boy, but so long as the baby is healthy we'll be happy.

The photo is horrible, I know. It was late and I had to beg Tyler to take the photo. I hope I don't always look this terrible.

O Christmas Tree

The next two days after Thanksgiving we spent time putting up our tree. Amelia helped separate the tree branches (that's what the red "lobster" gloves were for...so she didn't get all itchy and scratch up her skin) and hang ornaments. She was very good about not handling the delicate ones...well, until she tripped and fell and her knee landed right on top of a bulb — shattering into tons of tiny pieces. She was so upset — not at the sight of her cut or because it hurt but because she broke an ornament.

Thanksgiving

Turkey day was spent with family and friends...nothing unusual there. We hung out at the Tesner's house for a few hours and enjoyed lots of wonderful food. Amelia enjoyed being the center of attention. She insisted on being tossed in the air by everyone that was there. She just kept asking for more. We were all quite shocked she didn't lose her lunch.

Center of Attention

We decided we needed to get out of the house and enjoy some learning time with Amelia...we went to COSI...along with 32,000 other families.....it was crowded, but fun nonetheless.

We got there right at lunch time and knew we had to eat...and quickly...so that we had as much time in the center as possible. Well, we made it through lunch...Amelia ate some rice with vegetables and drank some milk. When we were all done eating and trying to clean up Amelia hopped out of her chair, took her milk (which was in a small carton like you get at elementary school) and proceeded to walk away. Tyler got nervous that she was walking right into the path of where other people were eating and came at her from one side, I came at her from behind and we both tried to redirect her...apparently all we succeeded in doing was scaring the crap out of her. She raised her hand up which was holding her milk as Tyler tried to lead her around the other people...and Amelia squeezed her milk carton — showering her from head to toe with milk....she was soaked!!! She screamed (I think because it was so cold) and just ran....I caught her and held her until she stopped crying.

We took her into the family restroom and cleaned her off as best we could (I washed her hair in the sink!) and tried making light of the situation...she was still VERY mad at us!

Thankfully the place was filled with nothing but families so noone really thought much of our situation even though we were definitely the center of attention for a good 5 minutes.

With all said and done, we still had a great visit at COSI. Amelia had a blast in the Sesame Street exhibit where you can learn all about the human body....and mash buttons and see flashing lights.

Baby Harris 2.0 & Amelia update

We had our 13 week check-up last week and all looks good thus far. We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time...it's such a beautiful thing. I remember when I was in the hospital hours prior to delivering Amelia they had the fetal heart monitor hooked up continuously and I asked them to leave it turned up so that I could hear it...it was the most refreshing and relaxing thing for a mother-to-be's ears. I wish I could have a monitor at home to listen to the heart beat and fall asleep. Maybe I need to get one of those womb-simulators for myself. Ok, I won't go that far.

Next appointment is on December 16 when we find out if we're having a boy or girl. None of us really have a preference but Tyler insists he's doomed to be surrounded by women his entire life so this one might as well be a girl. My dad insists it's going to be a boy. Amelia changes her mind daily. And I truly can't tell this time around. Not that it'd matter, I was wrong last time.

Amelia has started to get excited about being a big sister. She's been asking to wear her "I'm gonna be a big sister" shirt for the past week!

Amelia has been taking care of me like she's the mom ... it's the sweetest thing. She's always asking me if my belly hurts. If I say no she asks if my back hurts. (She must hear Tyler asking me these types of things) Last night I was really tired after we gave her a bath and Tyler told her he was going to read books to her tonight...she proceeded to tell me, "it's okay mommy, lay down" and jumped off our bed, grabbed Tyler's hand and they walked into her bedroom. She is SO smart for a 2 year old — she's just amazing to us. If I sit on the floor she gets me a pillow to put behind my back — talk about conscientious!

Daddy time

Quality time with dad.....

Girls night

My girlfriend and roommate from OU had a bonfire at her house...it was a great night...although I'm sure those who were there without kids probably realized pretty quickly that there were more kids than adults! My OU girls in this photo: Me & Jenny in back, Meredith & Stacey sitting.

Halloween 2008 - Punk Rocker style!

Amelia made a fantastic punk rocker for Halloween. She said she didn't enjoy trick or treating but she sure enjoyed the candy!!! Surprisingly she was very patient and helpful in getting all dressed up that day.

Some old photos I should've posted...

Here are some photos from September and October. They're too cute not to post!

DON'T sing to me!!

Call me a bad mom, call me what you will, but this was funny!

I'm gonna be a BIG SISTER

We are growing our family by one...on Amelia's birthday we had our first ultrasound and all looked well...our newest addition is set to arrive may 13, 2009.

Amelia says, "Ughhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!" She also says she wants a brother...we'll find out around Christmas time if she gets her wish.