My normal.

I am absolutely in love with my little guy. And my big guy for that matter. I like my job and my coworkers. Love my friends and my family. We have everything we need and plenty enough of what we want. I'm genuinely happy every day. Therefore, I may tend to sugar coat things inadvertently. Or maybe I just leave out the less than perfect parts of our story. Well today, I'll share some of the less than desirable things.

I was talking to one of my best friends on my way home from work, and chuckled a little thinking about her baby boy on the way. I was asking her some questions about weaning off the bottle, baby proofing, etc. Her little cutie never put the first thing off the floor in her mouth, never developed a desire to pull on electronic cords and transitioned from the bottle without any fuss. That sounded like Greek to me.

Let's just say that's not the story around here. Hardin can spot a dangerous situation from a mile away and gravitates towards it like he's being pulled from the inside. He LOVES electrical cords. Not just a little bit either. He wants to pull every single one of them until they are out of the wall, or the cable box, or whatever else they may be powering. He also loves to wrap them around his neck. Because of this, we have learned to spot them before him and keep him away. If he gets to one before you and you pull him away, he does not go without a serious fight, and about 5 more attempts to get back at it. At least. That's just our normal.

And don't even get me started on the things I have pulled out of his mouth. Really, I shouldn't, so as to prevent someone calling the authorities on us. He picks up every single crumb, and piece of trash, and bug, and toilet screw cover, and door stop cover, and piece of dirt, etc., and puts them directly in his mouth. He has gone straight for bird poop on the front porch, cigarette butts on the playground, dog food, cat food, cat hair, and earrings to name a few. Thankfully we have stopped him before getting those. He also recently found a pain killer that I had lost the week after my delivery. A YEAR AGO. That's one solid year of me cleaning and Elise cleaning, and neither of us could ever find it. I turned my head for 5 seconds and that little bugger of mine found it and had it in his mouth. I just about died. Fortunately I got it out super quick, assessed that no damage was done, and went on with my day. What can I say though? We've just changed our ways a little, and that's our normal.

Our most recent battle has been the bottle. H went through a stage a month or so ago when he could have cared less about the bottle. Would hardly finish half of one. I should have just transitioned then when I had the chance. We've been down to three for a while now, and recently started giving him a sippy cup around lunch. That went fine.

A friend emailed me Monday to see how we were approaching the weaning. That got me thinking about the morning and evening bottles, and my pediatrician's suggestion to have him off by 12 months. 15 months at the latest. That night I tried a sippy cup for his evening bottle. To say that he pitched a fit would be an understatement. He sat right behind the glider where we feed him (his hiding spot), and screamed his little head off until Jason poured the milk in a bottle and I fed him.

I tried again this morning. Massive failure. Turns out my easy little baby is more strong willed than I thought possible. For lack of a better description, I'll use Jason's. He put on a total s**t show. In his hiding spot of course. He'd crawl out, look at me, bury his head in the carpet crying, and then go back to his spot and scream. Needless to say he got a bottle. Next up? A less drastic approach.

Our plan of attack is going to be to give him whole milk out of a cup in the morning and at lunch. He loves to drink out of real cups, so as long as he's getting enough from that we will just cut out anything else during the day. I may keep the evening bottle for just a little while longer (read: at least until his Mimi leaves from her visit so she doesn't have to experience the fall out). Any of you mamas that have other suggestions, bring them on please!

That brings me back to our normal. I have a feeling it's the same normal many mamas all over the world know. So what if you have to Swiffer every night to keep crud out of your kid's mouth, or keep all electronics out of reach for a few years? And who really cares if it takes more than a day to wean off the bottle? That's our normal, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

I also told my sweet friend the same thing about her little boy on the way. Hers may be just as compliant as the first, but if he's not, she won't care in the slightest. It will be her new normal and I have a feeling she'll love it just as much as I do.

Look who's walkling!

Hardin took his first real steps today! He's been taking one or two then falling for a while, but today he actually started to do it on purpose. It's worth noting that Jason started this, not me. Of course I'm excited for Hardin and his new skills, but man, what happened to my baby?

It sure is hard to take pictures because he wants to go back and forth between Jason and me as fast as he can. We're not talking a wobbly baby walk, we're talking a smidgen slower than a baby run. I don't think he realizes he's not very good at this yet. Sweet boy.

This week was weirdly busy for the second week of October, but no complaints here. That kind of busy is good. I did get slightly behind on my house work though and as I've feared since mom started watching H, she picked up my slack. Of course I LOVE her for it, especially the clean sheets and towels! But I really do try to let the fear of my sweet mama cleaning my house keep me on top of my game around here. Jason too.

Today J and I worked all around this house. I took H to the park while he mowed and did the edging. If not, Hardin just stares out the windows watching him and gets very frustrated that he can't go outside and play. Then he hung out in his swing while I cleaned out the garage and napped while J cleaned the gutters.

We ended the day at a cook out at my closer Corrie's house. H loved playing with her two sweet dogs and showing off his new walking skills! We are terrible guests right now though. First ones there, eat, out. Gotta protect that bedtime.

This picture just cracks me up. Like he's about to attack if daddy would just let him go!

And this one makes me happy. Very very happy.

Fun day, even if I can't prove it.

Jason is forever nagging me about taking too many pictures.  I'm forever telling Jason if you don't have a picture, it didn't happen.  I proved myself wrong Sunday. 

We all slept late after mom's big party.  J got up with the baby around 8:45 and put him down for his nap before he left to play golf.  My lazy bones stayed in bed until after noon.  AFTER NOON.  You heard that right.  I haven't done that in well over a year, probably close to two.  It was awesome.

The weather was perfectly overcast for pictures.  I got H dressed in a fall outfit and we headed to the pumpkin patch again.  It appears I'm going to get a customer rewards card because we will be headed back again.  Hardin wouldn't even think about smiling unless I was holding him.  I think he's just holding out for a pumpkin picking trip with daddy.  We picked up a couple more $.75 small ones because I felt obligated to buy something.

Next we went to deliver a few baby gifts.  First stop was Jon and Steph's house to meet 5 week old baby Luke.  Hardin was more interested the baby than I thought he would be.  He wanted to touch him, which was fine, but he also wanted to pull his hair.  So not fine.  We'll continue to try and break that habit around here.  He didn't mind at all when I held him but he dang near lost it when Luke got a bottle and he didn't.  I think we are going to go with the out-of-sight-out-of-mind theory for taking the bottle away.  Hardin's buddy Leighton was napping most of the time, but the two of them looked pitiful once she got up.  She wanted to go outside.  He wanted to do what she was doing. 

Next stop on our baby train was to visit the Holders and 11 day old baby Blakely.  After the hair pulling incident, I thought it best to keep those two apart.  Besides, Hardin was way to busy watching their 4 and 2 year old boys to pay any attention to the baby.

I know what your are thinking...  all of those newborns must have me thinking of our next one.  Nope.  Not at all.  While I definitely want another baby one day, I'm loving the simple life with one right now.  I think about how crazy life will be one day with sports, and school, and camps, and activities; and it makes me as anxious as it does excited.  Jason and I are pretty laid back people, and for now we are totally enjoying this one relatively easy baby thing.  

Sweet G is 60!

Mom's sister Mickie, brother Gary, Maw Maw, mom, and brother Danny.  The whole gang!

We have had a very busy few days around here!

It started with my 30th on Wednesday.  I had an absolutely wonderful day and am honestly excited about entering my thirties.  I got lots of flowers at work from my sweet boys and my awesome office girls.  My girls at work took me to a super snazzy restaurant for lunch, and the boys took me to Ruby Tuesday at 5:30 for dinner.  It was my choice, and I chose not to drive far and I like the salad bar.  What can I say?  Welcome to 30. 

Friday night some of my favorite girl friends and neighbors came over for a little gals dinner party.  Jason joined us for dinner and then headed to bed.  The rest of us sat around and chatted way too late.  It was so much fun, but I was a terrible hostess and snuck away to bed before everyone was gone.  Again, welcome to 30 I guess.

Saturday was the BIG event of the week.  My mom's 60th birthday is today, and we had a surprise birthday party for her at my sister's house last night.  All three of her siblings and their families were there, as well as some of her favorite cousins, and she was TOTALLY surprised.  

The only thing I was anxious about was getting this Skype thing right with my brother so he could "be there."  I had never done this before, and although he assured me an idiot could do it, I just knew I would mess it up.  Well, I got the computer and camera all set up in the kitchen, signed up for an account, and sent a message to Scott to add him as a Skype friend.   I had sent him a text earlier that we'd be ready around 7, and literally (and I mean it, no exaggeration), the second we were all saying Amen after the blessing the computer started making the craziest noises.  I quickly ran to shut it up and there was B!  Right there, while the whole family was together looking.  We never in a million years could have even planned it that well.

The kitchen got too noisy so I carried B over to the entryway and he sat on top of the piano and spoke to everyone.  He gave us a video tour of his insanely gorgeous view, and now more than ever Jason and I are in vacation planning mode.  Mom had so much fun showing him Hardin and how much he's grown.  And now that I know how easy it is, we will be doing this Skype thing much more often. 

One of mom's brothers plays in a band and host karaoke on the weekends.  He brought his equipment knowing my mother is the karaoke queen of the world.  She sang.  And sang.  And sang.  And had a ball!  The Morrison's are a bunch of goof balls, I'll give them that.  I absolutely love that they are all that silly, and have so much fun without the first drink.  They just like being with each other.

Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet mother.  The most loving person I have ever known in my entire life.  She's amazing, and we are all so lucky to have her!

PS... she looks GREAT for 60 if you ask me!  

The photo's are identified by relation to Hardin (and any future children if God has that in his plan for us!). There are quite a few missing, but this is a good start.   

Your dad's brother Johnny married Jackie, this is Sandy, her sister, and her husband Keith

Johnny's wife Jackie, and Sandy's niece Reagan

Sandy's son Jonathan (an Eagle Scout and Marine), and his wife Lindsey

Your maw maw, her brother's daughter Connie (Gigi's cousin), Connie's daughter Bonnie, and her son Daniel

Baby Regan, Jonathan and Lindsey's first, at 3 months.

Your aunt Mickie, mom's sister.

Not sure how good of an idea it was to use all 60 candles!

Mom and Rick, Cynthia's husband.

Mickie, Bailey (my cousin Dustin's daughter), mom, her brother Gary, her brother Danny's daughter Katie, her cousin Connie's daughter Cynthia, and Lara

Sweet Maw Maw and my cousin Dustin, mom's brother Danny's son (one month younger than me).

Danny's kids Dustin, Katie, Casey and my sister Lara.

Katie's boyfriend Alex, Katie, mom's sister Mickie's daughter Lindsey, Bailey and Dustin.

Mmmm... my words are yummy.

First off, I am not done with the story boards. What can I say? They are fun.

Second, Hardin did in fact wear jeans before his first birthday. I didn't love it, but until the boy spends more time on his feet than knees they are much more convenient. We had another cookout for my firm this weekend, but this time with all the employees so it was huge. I knew he'd be all over the place and he drags those little knees so bad he's ruining his cuter clothes. So there you have it.

And I am not one to rush a mile stone. Quite the opposite actually. I feel like babies have the rest of their lives to do grownup stuff, but only a few short sweet years to be babies. That said, when that boy does get on his feet, I have a closet full of clothes I can't wait to get on him!

Oops, I guess that reminds me of a third thing. I just ordered three smocked longalls off ebay. Don't tell Jason. Now I'm REALLY not allowed to buy anything else for this fall!

Punkin Pickin

Last night we went out for a ton of folks birthdays, including my impending 30th. It was so much fun!  I love that even though we don't see our friends nearly as often, it feels like we never missed a beat when we are together.  We were planning on staying in a hotel and going to the game today, but Gigi has a kidney infection and I wanted her to have some time to rest.

I also hated to tell Jason, but leaving my baby boy to watch football wasn't at the top of my birthday wish list.  I may have the most under-used season ticket in UGA history, I've yet to use it once.  Jason cannot wait until Hardin is old enough to go to the games with him.  I still wanted J to go, so H and I dropped him off right before the noon kickoff...  then the real fun started!

First up was a lunch date at Chick-Fil-A.  This was the first time I took him to the indoor play area and he loved it, as long as he had one hand on me.  Therefore I loved it too.

Next up was naps for both.  After naps, we went to Faith Fest at the church.  It is a huge event they have every fall, with bands, crafts, food, and lots of stuff for kids. 

The only thing we skipped was the "All God's Creatures" tent.  They mean it when they say all.  It's a good thing J wasn't with us, because he would have ran screaming at the sight of the gigantic snake wrapped around people's necks. 

We walked around, watched all the commotion, and resisted spending money except for our $.75 pumpkin and an Italian Ice that H gobbled up.  Hardin picked out his very own baby pumpkin.  We waited on getting a big one.  Daddy loves that job and I didn't want to rob him of picking his first one out with our boy. 

Hardin danced to the live music.  And danced.  And danced.  He's sure got some rhythm in those bones! 

Oh, and he also tried a sample slice of fried pickle dipped in ranch and LOVED it.  In case there was any question of his maternity, that proved it right then and there.

See ya later... 

Be forewarned.  At the very first sign of an overcast day, we will be heading back to the pumpkin patch in a fall outfit for more pictures.

Babies don't keep :(

I was scanning the shelf of a cute little antique store today when I saw that poem framed.  It didn't have any place in our home, but the sweet words brought a tear to my eye and took me right back to those nights rocking my sweet boy.  He still gets rocked for two songs every night, The ABCs and You are my Sunshine, but that only takes about 2 minutes.  Nothing like our old rocking sessions, but I'm happy we've moved on to big boy hugs and kisses and a quick bedtime routine. 

Speaking of growing too fast, I failed to post any H facts on his 11 month post.  Here are a few things about our boy at this age...  the best one yet! 

He can give high five, clap when you sing or say YAY, wave his hand hi and bye and point.

He can say dada (his first real word), mama, Gigi, cracker, no (no, no, no complete with a finger wiggle), hi, yay, bye and night night (sounds like nigh nigh).  Mom also swears he can say Mickie (her sister), down, and there... but we have yet to hear those. 

He is fast as lightening with his crawl, and loves for you to chase him.  He will stop and turn around to make sure you are following him, and then take off again. 

He is still sleeping great, and taking two naps a day. 

He loves gold fish crackers, chicken of all kinds, fruit, yogurt and pasta.

He knows exactly what button makes every noise/song.  He will go straight to his favorites and look at you to make sure you are dancing too. 

He has no interest at all in the television, but will bust a gut to get to the computer if you have it in your lap.   It's enough to drive you crazy keep you off the computer when you should be playing with the baby. 

He's a goof.  A grouchy goof sometimes in front of strangers, but a lovie goof around the house. 

I'm sure there are a zillion other things, but that's all I got tonight.  I also don't have any pictures because I left my camera at the trips house last night after our dinner date.