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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