Cousin Tyler!

A couple of weekends ago, we had a visit from Uncle Clay, Aunt Carey, and Cousin Tyler. It was so good to see them! Tyler is getting so big, and we hadn't seen him since Easter! He is just over 8 months old and cute as can be! Such a happy baby! Always smiling and laughing! It was also good to see Carey. She's pregnant with #2 and had not been feeling well for a long time. We were so glad that had started feeling better and was able to come for a visit!

Too many babies!

Clay: This is insane! I can't believe we're about to have another one!

Tyler: This is so great! I can't wait till Mommy has another one!

All the Harris cousins (and yes, Granny Pammy, we'll get you a copy of this picture!)

A Visit from Abby

My friend Angie and her baby Abby came over for a visit a couple of weeks ago. It's always a treat for me to have an adult to talk to, and of course the kids were interested in Abby. It was a challenge to keep them from treating her like they treat each other. That is, we had to protect her from being conked on the head with sippy cups, crawled over, or wrestled with.

So, you see Abby, you hit this thing on top, and the bottom spins around and all the bees jump up and down and make a great noise!

Sprinkler Park!

Earlier this month, the kids got to enjoy (sort of) their first trip to a sprinkler park. Of course, I did not attempt this excursion alone! Michelle and her kids went with us and Kim met us there. I absolutely could not have done it without their help! Actually the trip was their idea in the first place!


Jonathan was really the only one who truly enjoyed himself. He had a blast walking through all the sprinklers and getting totally drenched. Thomas probably would have liked it more if he had been walking better at the time. As it was, he crawled mostly and that wasn't very comfortable on his knees or the tops of his feet. Occasionally he would find a nice puddle to splash in where he wasn't being constantly sprayed and would have some fun. Zachary and Reagan each got wet once and then didn't want to have anything else to do with it. I was surprised that Reagan didn't enjoy it more, but Zachary was no surprise at all. It took him awhile to learn to like the pool where water is not constantly squirting at you, so I didn't expect him to be too excited about sprinklers everywhere!

Checking it out from a safe distance

David had a great time!

Abby had a great time!

Jonathan had a great time!

Thomas had fun some of the time!

Zachary preferred to stay with Kim

Reagan is not so sure...

...on second thought, I'll just stay with Mommy!

Hey, Reagan, what are they doing out there? It doesn't look fun to me at all!

I don't know, Zachary! Don't they understand it's all wet and it keeps splashing you in the face! Let's stay over here where it's dry!

Playtime!

Just a few pictures to show you what fun we have when we aren't fighting over toys or screaming or crying or throwing things or hitting or kicking or biting!

Can't you go any faster, Zachary!

The Wagon of Good and Evil

The kids have a little wagon. It was mine when I was little, a gift from my grandmother on my first Christmas. It's metal and yellow. Maybe some of you had one like it. The kids love the wagon...









...but sometimes the wagon doesn't love them back.





I'm not sure how well you can see it, but there is a bruise across the bridge of Thomas' nose. During an attempt to climb into the wagon, he pushed down on the front of it, causing it to flip the back end up, through the air, and crashing into Thomas' face, leaving him with a lovely bruise, but no permanent damage that I can tell.


Poor guy. These things always seem to happen to Thomas. Actually, the very next day, Zachary ran into him, pushing him down, where his face landed right on top of Jim's coffee cup, causing him to cut his lip a little. There was blood.


It's always Thomas.

Daddy's Hat

The kids have recently taken a liking to wearing Jim's UT hat. They are true fans, not turning aside from their beloved Vols even if they've not been doing too well on the football field. They are so cute in the hat, I thought I would share some pictures. Zachary is particularly fond of it. There were a couple of days when if he was awake, he was wearing the hat!

Jonathan wears the hat!

Reagan wears the hat!

Zachary wears the hat!

I think it's someone else's turn now!

I never get to wear the hat!

Happy Birthday Great-Granny Kat!

Happy Birthday Great-Granny Kat!

I love you!

I love you!

I love you!

I love you!

We all love you!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday KayKay!

Happy Birthday KayKay!

I love you!

We love you!

I love you!

We all love you! Happy Birthday!

Haircuts

I was talking to my mom today and she offered to cut the kids' hair when she comes to visit in a couple of weeks, saying they were bound to need it, especially Thomas. And I said that would be great because it was a nightmare when I had cut the boys' hair before. She was surprised to hear that I HAD cut the boys' hair, and I thought, "Didn't you see the pictures on the blog?" But then it hit me. I never posted about cutting the boys' hair! So even though it was about a month and a half ago, here it is...

Jim and I had already tried to cut hair once before, an event which ended when one of the boys grabbed ahold of the scissors and slid his finger across the blade, slicing it wide open. Bizarrely, I can't remember if it was Zachary or Thomas. I think it was Zachary, although it seems like we cut Thomas' hair second, so it should have been him. I'm sure Jim remembers since he was the one holding the scissors.

Weeks later, when I couldn't stand the mullet Thomas was sporting any longer, I decided to try again. This time I left the kids in their high chairs after lunch and gave each boy as good a trim as I could give while they were constantly squirming trying to grab the scissors, the comb, or just see what it was I was doing. Easily one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do. Of course, it doesn't help that I know nothing about cutting hair! No wonder my dad was four years old before he got his first haircut! I don't blame his parents a bit!

Needless to say, the idea of having someone else give it a shot is very appealing. After Mom tries, I may have to drag my friend Amanda all the way across town to do it!

Anyway, here are the results...

Jonathan-Before

After

Zachary-Before

After

Thomas-Before

It's not the best picture, but I rarely take pictures of the back of the kids' heads, so it's the best I've got. Notice how his hair is curled over the top of the bib and then imagine it 2 or 3 weeks longer.

After-Significantly shorter, though obviously not straight! It's really bad right behind his ears because he kept urning his head from side to side trying to see what I was doing, and I was afraid I was going to clip off the tip of his ear!

Eight Foods

Okay, this is not specifically about the kids, but I thought it was interesting, so I thought I'd share. I read an article recently that listed the eight foods you should eat every day because of all the good things they do for your body, like building bones, fighting cancer, improving brain health, etc. Here they are: carrots, blueberries, yogurt, black beans, tomatoes, walnuts, oats, and spinach. I did a search for "8 foods to eat" and was able to find the list online. It tells you why each food is good for you, what other foods are acceptable substitutes for these eight, and how you can fit each one into your daily meals. Just thought I'd share!

Happy Anniversaries!

Happy wishes to two special couples from Jim and me and all the babies!

Happy Third Anniversary to Michele and Matthew!

Here they are on their wedding day, Sept.4, 2004!

Happy Tenth Anniversary to Michelle and Judah!

Ten years seems unbelievable, until I remember that I've been married for seven! Here are Michelle and Judah and the whole wedding party on their wedding day way back on Sept.6, 1997!

And just in case you're curious, that's me next to the maid-of-honor! And Jim next to the groom! This was the first time we ever met each other! Awww! And since I already mentioned them, Michele and Matthew were also in the wedding. Michele is the second bridesmaid from the left and Matthew is the second groomsmen from the right.

Happy Anniversary!

Infant Roseola Part 2

Luckily, this doesn't mean that child #2 has popped up with the rash or a fever. It just means that I gave Zachary a bath this afternoon and WOW! The lighting must really be better in the bathroom because I could see his rash really well, and he's COVERED! Pink splotchy spots and bumps all over his chest, arms, legs, back, neck, everywhere! They look like they should hurt of itch but they don't seem to be bothering him. I took a couple of pictures. They're a little fuzzy because I had to turn the flash off in order for the spots to show up and the other babies kept crawling on me or trying the grab the camera, but I think you may be able to see some of the rash.

Okay, I know it's not a good picture, but you should be able to see the spots coming up from under his arm and at the base of his neck, and along his side.

In this next picture, you can see the splotchiness along the side of his face. Poor little thing! He looks terrible, but he should no longer be contagious. I just hope the other kids continue to be okay!