Christmas in Warren ... and a healthy check up

The morning after Christmas we packed up and headed to Warren. Having no set plans for the entire weekend we just sorta went with the flow and it worked out wonderfully. Amelia LOVES Buni and Beeps' house. She makes herself right at home — probably because Buni gives up her room for Amelia.

We all went over to Tusa Jennie and Uncle Pete's house on Saturday afternoon. For some reason Amelia kept calling them Uncle Jennie and Pete. Later, Beeps made us a fire downstairs to keep us all warm and cozy ... this took me back to my childhood! I remember having a fire in the basement almost every Sunday in the winter when I was growing up. The house was always filled with aunts, uncles and cousins. I long for those days sometimes...and I know I'm blessed to have those memories. It meant a lot that my daughter was able to experience the same feeling I had as a child.

While enjoying the glowing fire Amelia also made sure everyone got a check-up from Dr. Harris. The crack wasn't planned, it was just a funny addition to the photos.


Saturday evening was spent with the Hilemans and Isslers. Jessica and Justin are Amelia's Godparents so it was extra special that we got to spend time with them. Amelia absolutely LOVES them too. I only wish we could see them more often. I hate that we live so far apart. (They live in Virginia for those that don't know them). The Hileman's house was filled with cousins galore. It took Amelia a little while to warm up to so many people but she soon made herself at home.



Sunday morning we went to church and then over to Aunt Tami's for lunch. This is a house that all children dream about running around and seeing how much trouble they can get into! Thankfully Amelia was on her good behavior that day. I wish I had photos of all the beautiful Christmas trees in Aunt Tami's house...they were just amazing!

Christmas morning

This might have been the quietest Christmas morning ever. We woke up around 7 and headed downstairs. Some of the presents that Santa left had to be put together ahead of time so we put them together and spread them throughout. Santa left Amelia all kinds of useful necessities for her babydolls. She now has a crib (a miniature pack-n-play), a swing (which also becomes a carrier and a highchair), a diaper bag and stroller. She's really into playing mommy ... we're hoping this is helping in transitioning her into Big Sister, too. Santa also brought her a train table and wooden train set. She loves them all.
In the photo above Amelia had set up Eeyore next to the crib and gave him a book to read to the "baby" who was trying to sleep...she actually said all of this to me...so freakin' cute!


Granny and Nanny came over later that morning and continued to spoil her rotten! Granny got her this super cool doctor kit that Amelia just can't get enough of. We all then headed to a "Christmas Story" style lunch ... at a Chinese restaurant. It was perfectly wonderful. Especially the part about not having to cook or clean up!
After lunch we attempted a family photo by the tree. Why is it that these never work out for me!? This was the best we got.
Don't forget ... if you click on the photos you can view them larger.

To Grandpa's house we go...

After leaving Hali's on Saturday night Amelia and I headed to the west side of Cleveland to have dinner with Stephanie Parker, a friend from high school...also due in May! (There's about 10 people I personally know that are due between March and the end of May...it's kinda crazy!) Grandpa and Grandma were out at a friend's holiday party so it was just Amelia and I. We got in pretty late (late in toddler time...it was 9pm.) Amelia had fallen asleep in the car which worked out rather well for me. I unloaded all of our stuff and set up her bed and then brought her inside. Of course that's when she woke up. She wanted nothing to do with sleeping at this point! Just my luck. I tried and tried and she wasn't going to let me out of her sight so I laid down with her on the air mattress I brought with us. And as my luck would have it the air mattress had a slow leak in it.

Amelia and I ended up sleeping in a twin bed together for 2 nights. If you would've told me this was how it was going to work out I might have dreaded it, but in all honesty, sleeping next to your daughter you can learn a lot about her. I found out that she talks and giggles in her sleep and she is a super cuddler. She rolled over a couple times throughout the night and put her arm around me ... it was so comforting and sweet.



Making breakfast with my dad is a tradition. He'd always let us sit on the counter and stir the eggs before scrambling them. (A real treat at 4 years old!) Now it's Amelia's turn. Today we had our favorite cinnamon rolls and Amelia helped Grandpa prepare them.





That afternoon down in the Valley we lucked into the most beautiful setting where Santa Claus was visiting. I was really bummed that Tyler wasn't with us since this was Amelia's first Santa visit. It turned out that Amelia wasn't so sure she wanted to see Santa anyways ... not upclose and without mom, at least. But it was worth all the photos and videos that I got.

A visit with Aunt Hali

Amelia and I decided we needed to see Aunt Hali and Uncle Mark. So on the 19th we headed up. Amelia was so comfortable with them and their home that it made the visit absolutely perfect. Usually Amelia doesn't sleep too well in unfamiliar places ... Aunt Hali's house was like her second home ... it was strange yet welcome! We had so much fun catching up and comparing pregnancy notes.


At this time Hali was 23 weeks and I was 19 weeks.

Aunt Hali took Amelia on her first train ride, too! We rode the RTA through town and Amelia thought it was the coolest thing. It's always so much fun to experience something again AND for the first time, with your child. The wonderment on Amelia's face was priceless.

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.