For John

Both boys are napping, and instead of doing laundry, cleaning house, or any other necessary chore, I am sitting down to blog. Only for you, John, ONLY for you ;)
Well....the boys are great! V is at a fun age where he seems to learn something new everyday. And L is finally getting to try table foods, so that has been a (messy) blast too!
V is off of his paci, and it was such a non-issue, that I still (2 weeks later) can't believe it wasn't any harder than it was. The only time I miss it is when he is throwing a TEXAS size tantrum and I can't cork him with it :) Other than being mad for the first 3-4 minutes, he's really done great without it. It is a wubbanub, and one of the awesome things about that is, he still gets to carry around the little giraffe for the familiar comfort his paci use to give him. Whoever invented the WUBBANUB was a genius! LOVE IT!
Okay, so we are off the paci, and also off the tv. As in, there has been no tv in this house for over a month now. No cable, not even a single channel. Honestly, I missed it for about the first week, and only at night when I wanted to watch one of my shows. But after that, I'm 30 thousand times more productive and I do like that. Side note: we still use the tv for dvds for the kids often! I'm not against tv AT ALL. But it was one small thing we could cut back on, and I kinda liked the challenge of it. So that's kinda cool. And one more note: this is sooooooooooooo NOT permanent. amen?!
What else is going on with these Harris'?....We did get back some stinkin precious Christmas pics of the boys! A sweet friend took them for us, while she was in town. I love them! I will try to upload some but right now, its been working on uploading 2 pics for 15 mins, so I'm not going to lie, it probably WON'T happen.
And...I've been keeping pretty busy with sewing projects. that's been awesome. Made a couple outfits, some bags, a dress, some Christmas hand towels and a blanket. Learned that I'm horrible at putting zippers in bulky material. BUMMER! But made some money none the less :) I am just loving all this sewing, however I'm so NOT good at the business side of things. Like I should totally be taking nice pics and uploading and redoing my website and adding my new stuff, but all I want to do is just sew. I need someone else to do the business side of it, and then I can just sit behind my machine! I'll get around to doing it myself eventually!
John is busy boy, with stories to tell all. Gag. Blood. Guts. Nastiness. He comes home with blood on him all the time, and the more there is, the better the story he has. PUKE! I'm just thankful he's enjoying it.
L is doing great! Crawling around everywhere, eating anything, and only giving me a hard time about drinking from a sippy cup. And that, I can handle! (not fix, just 'handle')
Vscares L on a daily basis. Usually by his scream/laugh, but sometimes from a simple-but-effective blow to the head. blocks, balls, dinosaurs, V isn't picky. And now that I have said that, I must follow it with the improvements V is making in his behavior! Really, he's doing great! I can take them both in a store without strapping them in, and I know V will (75% of the time) stay close and obey me. KNOCK_ON_WOOD!
Okay, nap time is over, I will upload/update more when I can! Love to my loyal readers :)

13

It has been 13 days since I have had a working washing machine!
OHMYLANDS, 13 days!
And what if I hadn't kept up with the laundry completely before.....that means I have 13+ days of clothes from 4 persons.
We are waiting on parts that have been ordered. Now, everyone say "hooray" for ten year warranty on the EXACT parts that are needed. "HOORAY, HOORAY" Finally, a warranty that actually warrants something I need :)
I wouldn't suggest real snuggly hugs to any of my Harris' boys....or even me :) Although we do TRY to shower regularly, we are officially OUT of clean clothes.
I love you, dear LG washer, but my love is wanning as I wait out for some new parts for you...Please return with a fury.
Smell ya later-

Fall

And somehow it is already nearing the end of October! Crazy how that happens...
We had a pretty good weekend! The Doc was on call Friday and today, but that still left us some of Saturday with him, which is always a good thing :)
We went to Wildwood Park and just walked around. It was beautiful and perfect. The weather was nice and the big kid had a blast being out in nature.
We also got to go over to Sydney's for dinner, and we all had a good time...and REALLY delicious burgers!

The big kid is still, most certainly, in every aspect, a RAT. I think that's the best word to describe him right now. He is into everything, super dramatic, and always testing his boundaries. PHEW, just thinking about the child makes me tired ;)

And the little guy is wonderful. Really starting to get around with his fully-funtional army crawl. He is less than 2 weeks away from being 1! Holy moly, has my life changed in the past year! But he's doing great right now, and I'm praying we stay out of the hospital through the winter months! Can I get an amen?!?!

Oh, me? You want me to talk about myself? Well, I really don't like to...but just for you, I will. I'm doing good. I'm still rejoicing over the end of summer. I have big lofty goals for myself- like getting on top of the laundry, cleaning the house up, organizing closets and such that keep me busy in thought...but not in deed.... However, I stay physically busy pulling things out of little guy's mouth, taking away toys that have become weapons to the big kid, responding to 50 thousand "UH OHH'S" a day, and attempting to feed one of the 3 males in the house every hour of every day...
Little guy's therapies keep us on a schedule, and I am so thankful for that. Otherwise, we'd probably never get dressed. It amazing how much more productive you are when someone is at your house every day of the week :) (honest sidenote: what I consider dressed is probably not exactly what the therapists would agree with but if the babie have on pants, and I have on a bra, I'm sticking by that that's DRESSED to me :)

Okay, my pictures from my phone aren't uploading...ridiculousness! Here's the lame ones I actually have on the computer...

ignore the bulging thigh.....

 melts my heart!!!

looking at pictures reminds me...I should start doing the big kid's hair...haha yikes :)

And now, I'm off to be mad my myself for finishing my book today b/c now I don't have a book to read in bed! NUDGE NUDGE...Yep, I hear that God. I take it back, I'm happy I finished that book, so I quit wasting time in my fictional world. Also, I hear you have a really great book out too... I'll read that tonight..

Pumpkin Patch

I think this series of pictures is the cutest thing!
When this guy is 16, and wanting to ask her out on a date... (Syd, when I say 16, I really mean 32...promise ;)
I'm going to have to remind him how long he's been chasing after her...

We sure had some fun at the pumpkin patch and I actually took pictures, but uploading the rest is taking forever. So I'll just leave you with those for now!

Hey Friends

Hello world wide web :) I finally bit the bullet and have taken down all my previous posts. Bummer, I know, you all loved spending your day reading my lame and old posts...but just so you know, they are now gone. I haven't updated in a while. I have been on the fence about what I can share and what I shouldn't share, I didn't want to go private, because I secretly like it when strangers happen upon my blog... Anyways, solution, is final (hopefully). Previous posts with names and important personal info are gone. And now, I can get back to blogging anytime I want about any info I want, just using nicknames or 'assigned names'. Perfection! Thanks P.S. Yes, I do realize this is the 3rd of 4th time I've tried to do this.... buuuutttt I'm thinking its going to stick this time :)

The Harris Family

Happy Fall!! This family is crazy busy, and also not so busy, but most importantly, we are doing great!
I STINK at being consistent in updating .....sorry friends.
Moving on.....
Let's start with the head honcho- The big man, is doing good. Staying busy, like usual. He is working up at the Children's hospital right now, and loves it. He is also doing......wait....nothing. Yep, he's busy enough as is, no time for anything else. So. that makes for an easy update!
Me? I'm doing good! SO ridiculously happy that the fall schedule is here, with bible studies, community group, new tv shows, and less heat, how could I not be good?!?!
However, it has been a LONG week here at the house. I had a stomach bug friday night, V got it sunday night, and J kinda dodged it, but suffered minor symptoms tuesday night. BOO for the stomach bug. That was NO FUN. And thank the Lord, L made it through the week without ever getting it! YAY!! But, needless to say, I am looking forward to the weekend (even though J works Sat 7am til Sunday at 7am).
I have been semi busy with some sewing projects, which is totally fun. I put off housework anytime I can, in order to sew :)
V is his normal sweet and sour self. We are learning boundaries, but he's learning to be a good sport about it (I think). He has been enjoying L a bit more lately. And he has LOVED the nice weather this week. He is outside as much as possible. Although he's a bit stong willed, he's oh-so-sweet when he wants to be. He still loves being held, doesn't know a stranger, and gives kisses by the dozen.
L is all sugar! Busy with therapy 6x a week, but doing great. We are oh, soooo close to sitting up, and I can't wait til he can go in a shopping cart without his whole carrier! He is doing a fabulous army crawl, loves to get his hands on his brother's hair, or my phone!  He had very minor surgery on his tear ducts about 3-4 weeks ago, and recovered well from it. Not sure exactly how successful it was, b/c there may be some scaring that has occured in the past few weeks. But regardless, he is doing great...and he's precious too.
So a lame update, but it had to be done, so that I can try (once again) to stay ontop of the blog!!

Mercy Project

Hey friends! Happy Labor Day!
I know I've been horrible about blogging lately. Life has been full! But today I wanted to post some info about a group called the Mercy Project (http://mercyproject.net) that is working to end child slavery and trafficking in Ghana near lake Volta.
There is a large amount of poverty in Ghana and often, the mothers make decisions to sell their children to people who promise food, shelter and an education. But these children are not given all that, and instead they work 14 hour days, 7 days a week on the lake. They are lucky to be given one meal a day, and a dirty floor to sleep on.
Unimaginable, isn't it?! I can't even begin to imagine my boys living under those conditions.
But the Mercy Project is freeing their first group of children this month! They are not only working to free these children, but also to stop the cycle, by helping the villagers to learn sustainable, and efficient fishing methods. Working to fix the root of the problem, the Mercy Project is going to make a difference in Ghana.
I know we are all busy, but if you can, take 10 minutes and watch this documentary.



And then you can follow them on facebook http://www.facebook.com/mercyproject
and on twitter http://twitter.com/mercyproject
I, for one, can't wait to hear about the first group of children that are freed :) and I'm pretty sure you will too!


And I promise a life update on the Harris family soon!

My Home

Has become a battlefield. There is a war that is raging.
Mommy
Vs
THIS CHILD


that NO longer resembles the sweet precious child that I birthed 25 months ago

Terrible twos, you ask? Well, yes, I hope that's all it is.
It is a constant battle of wills, all day, every day.
First, most important, I obviously love this guy to death. I love that I get to spend my everyday with him. I only hope to remember REALISTICALLY what my days are like at this time of my life.
The weight of parenting bears down on me so much lately. I want to raise my kids into Godly men that are full of love, courage, strength, leadership, dedication, mercy, kindness, giving hearts, with a clear calling (not on their own, but God's call for their life), with humility, and tenderness, men that are 'not of this world', but clearly 'set apart', men who feel responsibility to take care of women, children, and the less fortunate, with integrity, and wisdom.... and I could continue on this list for hours.
Anybody else see how terribly overwhelming that feels?!?!?!
I know V is only 2, but his little heart is ripe and forming thoughts and character already. I just don't want to mess up.
But, I will, and I do, near daily :)
And I find myself relying on prayer more than anything right now....
Anyways so here are a few recent battles:
1) the sharpie marker
J uses one at work everyday, so they are all over our house. We have now had 3 run in's with the sharpie. The first one was not pretty.



On our couch, but I got over. He got a spanking, and time out, the end.
The second go around was when our sweet sitter was with the boys. I'm sure she was traumatized. She called me so apologetic and sweet about it. The damage was minimal.
And the hopefully-final play, was just last week.



















I mean, he did some serious work. All while I was unloading the dishwasher.
Okay, moving on to
2)standing or walking ON L
3) stealing toys from L
Every time I turn my head
4)refusing to eat. Period. He probably averages 1 meal a day lately
5)pouring food out. Yep, on the ground, on the couch, carpet, etc.
6) Hitting, screaming, back arching, want to make me pull my hair out FITS
And I'm working my rear off to stay consistent, not give up, and continue to proceed with our predetermined consequences (all of which are no small things)
I think 80% of his day is spent up against the wall with little red thighs :(




But hey,
THIS TOO BETTER PASS!!!

Love to all,
This jolly mom :)
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The Future

Does anyone else get super excited and totally afraid of changes you just KNOW God is about to do? I am so there....
I am so sick of this world and all that it 'entices' (I'm not sure that's the word I'm looking for, but you get what I mean, right?!?!) It actually makes me sick to my stomach sometimes. The drama, the lies, the pull, the pretty things and cute clothes, the big houses, the excess, the sin, the money...
 I tell you what..... (when I'm not caught up in it myself :/ ) it breaks my heart, and makes me want to head for the hills. 
BUT, I can't leave this place, and that's not what God has called me to do. So I'm here, in Little Rock, trying to do the best I can at glorifying Him.
Forever grateful that I even get to try....

Just a few new pictures

We love us some free food.....








We had a blow out on the way home from J's 10 year reunion.....


It was sooooo hot and gross in the car off in the +100 degree heat...





But no complaints here :) sooo glad I've got myself a man to take care of such things!!!!


Swimming!


He's huge now!!! 9 months and the sweetest thing!





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Intern year......completed!

---annoyed blogger isn't putting the right spacing in my post....so it's all one long paragraph.... One year down! 5 more to go come on, let's be positive people! One down! Let's see, it has been a crazy insane year! It's gone by quick and slow, just depends on what season it was. We bought our first house, had our second son, and survived life. Job, accomplished :) I think I've finally adjusted to all the change. I have 'our days' down and am way less whiny about J working all the time :) I can pretty much do anything that needs to be done with the boys. Which is just by necessity when J works weeks of 100+ hours. Except swimming. And I'm not willing to attempt. L is doing great! Annndddd mom (me) is doing great with him too... I'm "over" the down syndrome- he's just my baby. And a super sweet one at that! V is a mess. Cracks me up, and pushes me to my limits daily, but I'm having a blast getting to raise him! Health wise, L is doing great! He's a big boy, and will eat just about anything! I'm kinda hating summer. There is no start or end to my weeks, just a never ending succession of days. It's hot, duh. Sunscreen is the worse thing ever. J has officially started 'primary call'-which stinks.... Seriously, every broken bone (plus a few other issues) that come in the ER while he is on call goes to him. I don't think it will be often that he's home, while on call- But that's just the way it is. This week was his first 'semi-decent' work week in i-can't-remember-how-long, and he randomly mentioned 4 DIFFERENT "hobbies" he wanted to start back up...woodworking, golfing, working out, and (I'm not even going to try to explain this) beer church. I kept my cool, and simply said no... Sweet hubby of mine, you have all the entertainment you need here at home.... Or you can find one that accommodates children... V's birthday party is this weekend and I've done a great job at not being prepared. The birthday party stuff stresses me out. With pinterest and all the party planning resources, I feel like children's parties are getting out of hand! I absolutely love them, but they are NOT for me...probably why God gave me boys... Anyways so I'm determined to be laid back about this. Pancakes and PJ's. No big nothing, just chill little get together with some pancakes. <-----repeat a="" abundantly="" actively="" am="" and="" at="" bed="" blessed="" by="" church="" clean="" cleaning="" could="" days="" during="" else="" extra="" for="" god="" have="" he="" him.="" himself="" house="" how="" href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" husband="" i="" in="" is="" it="" john="" last="" lately.="" lord="" luck="" m="" mansion....anyways="" mansion="" me="" more="" necessary="" next="" no="" nothing="" okay="" our="" participates="" report.="" reveals="" s="" seems="" self="" sleep.....="" small="" so="" stood="" struck="" sunday="" target="_blank" that="" the="" then="" thing....especially="" time="" to="" two="" unless="" use="" was="" when="" who="" wish="" worship="" worshipping="">

Painting

I had some help painting the playhouse today......

Okay, it was a naked afternoon (for V only!!)....so the pics of him are all super cropped- sorry!!!















That's all I got...yes, I have succumbed to really lame posts.... Happy 4th!


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I've lost that bloggin' feelin'

Yeah, my writing skills are sub par these days, but I'm trying to at least give life updates....at least until some sizzle comes back to my keyboard.
In the mean time....
V had his first movie date this morning with B!


They lasted .5 seconds until they were dancing/talking/playing.


And then they occupied themselves for almost an hour before we were making a quick escape.


At some point during the hour, Sydney and I just looked at each other and laughed, while the monkeys moved all around the 3 ft radius they had to play.


Kinda insane, lots of work, but totally fun!



Other news: my house is a wreck! We finally got chairs for the backyard and are able to spend more time out in the back (yay for being outside in 90+ degree weather...not)



Not much else to report....counting down til J is done with this nasty rotation, so I can have a life outside of kids.... Watch out Little Rock, I'm about I be released....
Also, feeling abundantly blessed these days- with what I have and with what I don't have. My cup runneth over.... :)
I'll be back soon....and maybe with a better post :/

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How are we mid way through June?!

Holy cow, I don't know how June has snuck up on me!
I don't know why I feel so busy when my day to day stuff is nothing busy! I do have an ever-growing 'to-do' list, however!
Everyone under this household is currently well (knock on wood...) J has had a good week and was home by 6:45 on Tuesday!!!! We only have 2.3 weeks left of his trauma rotation! Can't wait!!
V is nothing but a mess:) slowly starting to "talk"...if I listen very closely I can hear -hello, bye bye, thank you, and stop. (it's about time, dear almost-2-year old)
L is eating solids finally, and he loves them!! He's great at eating the little dissolvable puffs.
Our therapy schedule changed for the summer and we have Fridays off! Woo hoo!!
V is still preferring a 'no diaper sleeptime' and does not let a single nap or bedtime go by without de-diapering himself if duct tape is absent from his waist...
I'm contemplating over committing myself to multiple events in the fall and I realllly want to. Hmmm
I really want to revamp the food system in my house. I told Sydney this afternoon while I handed V his French fries....so you could say I'm making strides...
I think it will be a very slow process but I'm hoping one day I'll look back and see big changes.
And just a few pics...


The boys!


One of those days where I turned around to a naked child hugging me...



Anddd I'll leave you with this guy :)
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Nothingness

No great post...just thought it was time for one...sooo
I'm 27 now folks, I had a great birthday spent with my boys and Sydney and her little one! And J got home at 8, so I even saw him too! Now I have a fridge full of red velvet cake and beautiful flowers in my kitchen! Yay!!
The money maker is out of town...all. Week. Long.
Gagggggg
So it's just me and the babies...we have bIG plans for the week, but I will tell you about them when if I survive through them...
Until then, I will leave you with this pic.





We are having issues keeping our diapers on so after days of changing sheets and cleaning up messes, he IS, in fact, covered in cute teal duct tape :)
And can I just say that it's the first night in 3 nights in a row that his diaper was still on when I got in bed tonight...victory in duct tape! I'm resting easy tonight! :)
Goodnight!!!

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Good Golly

I mean for REAL, GOOD GOLLY these past 4 days have been horrible horrible horrible...with a very small amount of good things mixed in....
Update on the old/young little life of mine. My life is speeding by, I kinda feel like I have to sprint just to keep up with it!
V is growing, L is growing, I am trying not to grow, and I'm not entirely sure what is even going on in J's life :) That man is a rare vision in this house!
Now for storytime:
Friday was L's 6 month check up. He hadn't been acting like himself for the day and a half before and had had a low grade temp. At his appt his dr said it was probably just something viral and it would run its course. He got his 6 month immunizations, 3 shots and the rotavirus 'cocktail'.
That dang ole 'cocktail'
seriously
stupid cocktail
I'll just say, he attempted to swallow it but it went down the wrong pipe. Is there anyone to blame for this?
YES
 No, I mean of course not, it wasn't anyone's fault and it certainly wasn't the nurse's :)
She was just in a hurry, doing her 'job' and not being thorough...
I should have stopped her, as soon as she started giving it to him,
since he was lying down flat.  
Recall: my baby cannot drink liquids of any sort sitting up, let alone lying flat on his back! And I should have stopped her, as soon as it became apparent he was choking. I should have stopped her, but I was afraid. I assumed she knew what she was doing, and was too embarrassed to call her out.... 
I WONT DO THAT AGAIN
I will be the super annoying, over 'google'ly educated, make-you-double-check-every-little-thing-you-do/administer/give my child.
Well, enough ranting.
So nurse lady continued pouring poison down my babys throat... Until it was gone and I swiftly picked him up, patting him on the back to try and help ease his choking.
The. End.
Yeah right, I wouldn't waste your time with a pointless story that ended there. Okay soooo
We came home, I put the babies down for their nap and 2 hours later when L wakes up he is working pretty hard to breathe.
J is out of town OF COURSE, at a retreat an hour and a half away. So I call up at the drs office and ask if we could swing by quickly b/c the immunization he was given has him 'honking' with each breath.
L's airways are smaller than average so at this point, I was only upset that he was uncomfortable. I wasn't overly concerned, I just assumed his body was working up the cocktail so he could try to swallow it correctly this time.
The dr's office quickly called me back and told me to to take him straight to the ER.
So, I gather bottles, pacis, diapers, snacks, sippys, toys, blankets, wipes, and the never ending list of 'necessities' to occupy L and V for an unknown amount of time, load up the car and head up to children's ER.
While driving, I called J and gave him the 'you HAVE to get in the car and come home NOW' speech.
He obliged me :)
He also called his pediatric cronies and actually spoke with the ER doc to let them know who we were, what the problem was and that we were coming...okay, so it was a nice small perk of him being a doctor. I'll take it!
We arrive in our usual mess (recall our trip the library?!) and I cringed to let V down to entertain himself with all the toys covered in germs of the other sick kids. We signed in, waited a few minutes, and then was called back for preliminary screening.
I just knew this was going to be one of those pointless, yet expensive, trips to the ER where they send you home an hour later with saline drops (or something equally useless in fighting a sickness with babies)
But while the intake nurse was taking his weight, and L was continually working with each breath, she called on her walky-talky, hands free, device of sorts that she needed a room immediately for an infant in respiratory distress.
OKAY, now I started to worry 
The nurse picks up V and I pick up L and we were very quickly moved into a room in the ER.
SIDENOTE: Next trip to the ER, I am dropping V off at the zoo on the way. No, seriously, no more 'family trips' to the ER. 4 hours of entertaining him in a germ infested, serious room, was TERRIBLE! He is so so so so so active, and containing that child is near impossible.
Anyways..... After a series of breathing treatments, and suctioning, J arrived.
Don't know what I would do without him, even if I only get to see him for emergencies ;)
They took some xrays of L's lungs, and he got another set of breathing treatments before they decided to keep us overnight.
Let me just say that the xray machine for his lungs is the saddest little contraption ever. It looks like the clear tubes at the bank that you send stuff in to and from the bank teller. Only imagine a baby squished inside one with his arms over his head, wailing. It's so pathetic looking...
Around 9:30 J took V home to sleep and I stayed with L as we got situated in a room. The xrays came back showing pneumonia and the doctors had decided he had the croup also.
So it was a very long weekend of switching off with V while the other parent stayed with L. L stayed at the hospital until Sunday. When he got home, V started running a temperature and (surprise surprise) now has the croup.
Monday came and it was miserable. Both babies crying in pain, wanting to be held, coughing up lungs, needing medicine, bottles, food, hugs, holy moly I was NOT ENOUGH. Around 10 am I started calling J, begging J to come home...
This time, I wasn't as lucky as last.
That was a big fat NO.
He did eventually ask to leave early at...oh wait... 7:30pm... oh heavenly day-Monday was absolute torture!!!!!!!
Tuesday was a tad bit better for the boys but Tuesday night was a nightmare. I got a whooping total of 3 hours of sleep- not kidding. And I was literally just pacing back n forth between the boys' rooms. J eventually got up with me and it was just insanity at the house.
Wednesday, although I was exhausted, was a better day! V was acting more like himself and L's only lingering issues is just coughing. I'll take it!
Now for some pics...
Happy boy before he was drowned...




V watching the jungle book in the ER




John holding L after a breathing treatment...don't ask about his ridiculous outfit....




Sick baby :(








Other things...saturday is our 5 year anniversary! Crazy!
I have had such a fun month with my new business! I'm finally getting to add some more products and can't wait to do that officially!
I'm looking forward to the weekend (even though J is working once again....)
Love to all my peeps--