White Fluffy Stuff

For once it isn't freezing outside...in fact we had little to no snow before this snow fall we got yesterday. Harrison had blast playing in the fluffy stuff and we even got a little free labor out of it. These are the only memories of the precipitation we have, the snow has already melted today.

And lastly one of Whitney Dog after a roll in the fresh snow.

Santa Memories 2011

Meeting Santa in 2011 was very much like meeting Santa in 2010.

Flash back to 2010

Too bad his security blanket had to hide his "I Love Santa" onesie because I am totally seeing the love in this next one. I call named this one the runaway pose.

Someday we he will love Santa....

MAYBE.

Real Life Couldn't Get Any Realer.

TGIF---which means this awful week is almost complete (hopefully)!

Some days I just wish I was in the 80s commercial featuring Toys R Us, with kids running around joyfully without a care in the world. I love their slogan "I just want to be a Toys R Us Kid." That couldn't be any truer of this week. Sometimes it sucks to be a grown up.

The heading on this entry, couldn't ring anymore true, though I don't think "realer" is a word, but this won't be graded by any English teacher. I am also honest on my blog entries, I don't see a point of changing or making our lives and make it any different that it really is, folks...this is real life. Some days I prefer they weren't memories, but it's part of life.

On with the story (excuse me, real life).

Tuesday night Harrison was in a HORRIBLE mood. He had a crying, tantrum spell for SERIOUSLY an hour. He didn't want to play, he didn't want us to pick him up, he just preferred to hide in his hiding space (which is behind the garbage can) and throw things. I finally managed to scoop him up after several attempts made by Doug. After we cuddled for about 20 minutes he was fast asleep at 6 PM. Apparently he was very over tired.

Later Tuesday evening I started my car and was about to head out the door to do some Christmas shopping and I went to say bye to Doug and couldn't find him. A few minutes later I found him in the basement...and I immediately new why he was down there. Water was pouring out of the main drain pipe and into the basement. There was about 2 inches of water in the corner by the emergency drain spout which was thankfully open and helping significantly drain the water, preventing our whole basement from flooding. I ran upstairs to turn off the washer and the water stopped. Doug checked all the connections and tried to find out what was going on. We tried flushing the toilet, the water overflowed again...we knew we had a problem, a big problem. So at 8 PM we called the only emergency plumbing service which charged $137 per hour.

The plumber arrived about 40 minutes later and minutes into looking he knew what was causing the blockage, roots. Yes, you read correctly....ROOTS. The plumber went to work and we could hear as the machine hit roots cutting through them clearing the pipe...However, that was halted 60 FT in when he said it felt like his hit a brick wall. The plumber tried for several more minutes, hoping he didn't burn out his machine and came up to say, he couldn't fix it and would be back with a crew and camera in the morning. We are hoping this is a city issue right now!

So at this point...any time we run water or flush the toilet water runs into the basement at the flow of a filling up a typical bath-tub...so fast and with force. Thank goodness we have a concrete basement and only use it for storage totes.

The plumber came back in the morning and scopes the tube, which ends as if it's hitting a brick wall. NOT GOOD NEWS. The diagnosis? The pipe shifted under ground and is no longer connected to anything. This is where I say "shit" and many other choice words. The news gets worse...it's 6 to 10 ft away from the city's responsibility, which means this is all homeowners expense. Prepare yourself for this....cost, potentially $10,000 worst case scenario and $6,000 best case scenario.

SERIOUSLY????

SERIOUSLY????

Merry Christmas.

The good news? Homeowners insurance sounds like they pick up the cost leaving us to pay a $250 and they pay the rest. Sounds great, right? Yep, sure did, too bad insurance will only cover interior damage (which was none due to the concrete floor and walls) and not this repair. Another SERIOUSLY.

The good news? Yes, actual good news. The repair was made yesterday---a day earlier than expected. It's awesome to shower more than 3 minutes at a time and flush our  toilets again (the things we take for granted). The original plan was to dig up the yard, two slabs of cement and  possibly the street when this was all said and done. The sidewalk and street were spared, saving us some money. This didn't mean the fix was any easier. When Doug dropped off the check for $3,000 (half down) at the office while they were in the middle of the fixing the pipe. One of the plumbers at the office said, "This is one of the worst root and displacement we have ever seen." Makes your day hearing you topped the hardest to fix plumbers list.

The total cost of this? $5,000 out of pocket. $1,00 less than projected.

Last year it was a water heater, the year before that, Harrison was in the NICU, the year before that was a furnance repair. All in the month of December. We should have known this was coming.

Enjoy a few "memory" photos I had Doug snap.

 Oh, and I forgot to mention...they offered to bring us a porta-potty, we declined, but they brought one for themselves.

 And the DAMAGE.

All in all the yard looks OK as a end result. There is a heap of dirt which will need to be fixed in the spring and sodded. The lilac bushes are gone, which is probably my biggest disappointment.

Just as I said..."Real life doesn't get any realer."

Thursday I was home during the repair when I would have typically been at work. I wasn't at work because of the repair...I was was home with Harrison.

2 AM Thursday morning we woke up to Harrison vomiting (and need I remind you we can't use our water at this point). He puked on himself, bed, blankets rug...EVERYTHING. After we changed his jammies he puked again. After we cleaned up again, we returned to bed. Harrison woke up his normal self---ate some Cheerios and drink some juice. Being that he was himself I dropped him off at daycare to find the room half empty. The staffed asked how Harrison was feeling. I explained the night before, but we thought it was something he ate. The staff said they had 5 kids out with vomiting and diarrhea. I said I think Harrison is feeling fine and he went to play with some toys as I left. A half hour later I get a phone call that he didn't eat breakfast and had an icky diaper. I picked him up and he was in a good mood. I decided as a precaution we should go to Target and pick up some pedialyte. When we were in the check out line, Harrison lets out a little cough and then pukes all over himself the cart and the floor. I was next in line and I told the check out lady, "we need to go fast, he just puked." She asked, "where?" I said, "on himself," she said, "oh, I can smell it." THANK YOU LADY. I already am embarrassed and feel bad for him, I don't need anything else to make my day.  Thank goodness she went fast and there was no one else behind us in line. I just feel bad for whoever had to clean that cart.

Thank goodness that was the last puke of the day. Harrison spent the morning napping and Doug relieved me so I could go back to work to train for my new position. I am so glad I had a highlight/hair-cut appointment yesterday.

Last night was wrapped up with 3 hours of Christmas wrapping and I am working on finishing up sending out Christmas cards. I hope to finish today and I will post our card photos.

Enjoy one last photos of make shift bath night on the account of not being able to use the bath-tub. I felt a little redneck for a few days.







Ginger Bread House

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to make a ginger bread house. As creative as I can be...I went with the store bought model, being I have no ginger bread house making experience. Now that we have one house under our belt, the next house makings will be picked out individually.

Oh---and the directions said this was easy, we can't say we agree.

 We had to add lots more frosting!

 The snowman cookie never stood a chance...

 Daddy helped too!

 Harrison's idea of yard decor.

 Frosting straight from the tube.

 TA-DA...the finished masterpiece!

 Honestly don't know how this house was still standing at this point, the roof is slowly colasping.

 I think Harrison loves frosting as much as his mom does.

AND....I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST



Santa's WATCHING you!

So maybe it's the fact Santa and his 8 tiny reindeer are in arriving in just 13 days...but something has happened behavioral wise and I am not complaining...just, um SHOCKED!

For almost a year Harrison has been one of those children you don't want to sit buy while dining out (yes, that bad). In our attempts to take him shopping, went something like this...sit in the cart one minute, try to get out, let him out, he runs away---REPEAT. My shopping trips to Target were limited to half hour lunch breaks. Over the past 3 weeks I successfully took him grocery shopping, dining out 3 times (once alone with me) and a handful of trips to Target and a day trip to the mall. WHEW! I can't believe all of this! And really I don't shop this much (all the time), but I am really taking the advantage of being able to take him somewhere and not be a complete wreck at the end of an outing.

Overall at home behavior has improved too (and don't ask me why). He still has his moments with throwing things and biting, but that usually only occurs when he is over-tired and is rather predictable. Time outs continue to go well---ending each time out with a hug to mommy, daddy or if he was mean to Whitney Dog, he hugs her.

He has become very affectionate lately as well. We find him kissing his stuffed animals and instead of giving us one kiss, he gives multiple making a big smooching sound. It's an overload of cuteness, let me tell you.

On top of good behavior comes more talking. He uses the words stuck, all clean, oh no, owie all the time. He cooks us food from his kitchen and we have played the game Elefun more than I care to count. It's probably one of the best toddler games, but sometimes the Elephant has to hide to give us break!

Everyday Harrison is becoming more animated, we could just watch and listen to him for hours. This morning while getting ready to head down stairs Harrison looked up at me (as if he was asking) and said, "Da Da." I said, "Daddy is at work." A few moments later he looked up at me again (as if he was questioning) and said, "Santa." I guess someone is excited for the upcoming big day! We are pretty excited to instill our Christmas traditions in Harrison. We are looking forward to waking up Christmas morning in our own home with our family of 3. Two years ago we spent Christmas in the NICU---what a change and what a blessing this year. I think there is something with having children of your own that really gets you in the spirit for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas...This post is supposed to be filled with photos from the holiday train that visited Winona on Sunday. Even though it was freezing cold, we all bundled up to get out and see the train. Harrison had fun riding on our shoulders and listening to the band perform from the train. Santa was even there! But getting back to the lack of photos---it's not the fact the I didn't take any, it's the fact the memory card went missing. On Sunday I had my last Christmas session and swapped the memory cards out (so I used a good one for my paying client) and between that session and today---I don't know what I did with memory card with Harrison's photos on it. I am bummed. I am really bummed. OK...I am really, really bummed. I tore apart the studio in search and with Harrison's room adjacent to the studio, I thought I could have put it on his dresser and thinking like a 2 year old---that card could be anywhere if that is the case. Well, if I ever find the memory card (even if it's two years from now) I will post some photos, it was a really fun time.

We also visited the Lacrosse rotary lights last night. They were AWESOME as always. This is the first year we walked the lights---that made them all the more cool. I did snap a few photos on our way through that I will share once I am done editing client Christmas sessions. I am not sure there are any of Harrison in that bunch---he was feelings less that photogenic and with the temperature reading FREEZING COLD out there right next to the river, I kind of don't blame him! Santa was also at the Rotary Lights. Harrison is okay with Santa from a far, but would prefer to keep him at a distance. Rudolph was there with the ginger bread cookie---Harrison wasn't a fan of either of them.

So---this brings us to Santa photos 2011...

Are you looking for a photo?

Well....no matter how much you scroll this page, there isn't one.

Santa is coming to Walgreens this Saturday and we will see what we will get then...

I haven't got high hopes.

Be Creative

I am always about involving Harrison in art. And nothing makes a better picture/canvas on the wall than a finished toddler master piece.

Last weekend we were busy making a Christmas tree and reindeer...

There is nothing else I would rather do on a Sunday night.  I don't know what we ever did before we had him because he brings out the best in me.

 I wasn't even going to photograph this, but Doug came in with the camera and I am glad he did...I love this next one, pretty sweet.

 Turned out awesome...I helped with the star and trunk. This will certainly be hung up every year. Awesome keepsake.

Next we moved on the reindeer...

 This was Harrison's favorite part, he loved having feet painted and he asked to do it again and again---we are now out of brown paint.

 There isn't a finished reindeer project because it's not done yet--when it is, I will certainly post a photo of it!

After all the painting, bath time was called for...He looks so grown up here rinsing his own hair.

 What? More paint?

 Yep...more paint. This was a belated birthday gift from Harrison's friend Estee.

And yes, he is going to hate the fact I posted photos like this someday...but seriously, how cute is this?

 Hard to tell from this photo, but he painted his face too.

 And my favorite has to be this candid one...

This past weekend we also took our Christmas card photos...

Here are a couple of sneak peeks that made the card since I couldn't just choose one photo or one card so I ordered a collage of photos and two different cards. What can I say...I am an indecisive person.

I hate to admit I was happy it snow the night before for our session...I LOVE how these turned out.

I will post the couple we managed to get for the cards, once I get the cards out in the mail (if I can wait that long---I am also a impatient person).

I am hoping to get a few more of him in this adorable outfit before Christmas---seemed he didn't want to pose alone on the day of this session and perhaps some other holiday ones (maybe I am pushing that :), though I should have more time too.  I am taking the rest of the month off of photography to focus on him our family and the festivities of the holidays. 3 weeks of vacation will well deserved and then I am gearing up for Valentine mini sessions.

Harrison and I are excited to create daddy's Christmas present tomorrow. Night!

Two Year Check-Up

Do you know it's been 6 months since Harrison was last seen by his primary doctor?  Seriously can't believe it. Besides having his tubes check once and meeting with the immunologist---he has been healthy. Last year this time he had 6 ears infections and countless other bumps in the road. It got to the point, I didn't believe he would ever be healthy.


Healthy. What a fantastic word, worth repeating--- HEALTHY. Practically makes you want to get up and jump and scream and I would if Harrison wasn't napping right now :).

The appointment started off really rough to gently put it. Harrison was attached to me like an appendage---he wanted nothing to do with being there. Then I had a flash back to his immunology appointment 2 months prior which isn't something I want to remember (it was that bad). So back to the appointment today. We tried weighing Harrison standing up, sitting and lying down. Yep, none of the above work. Lastly we had to resort to me holding him on the scale and then weighing myself after and subtracting the difference.

Next we were shown to the room and once the door closed Harrison only had one mission and that was to get the heck outta there. Thank goodness so after Dr. Gerhard came in and Harrison was content eating his grapes (his favorite new food). He tried to escape a few more times while I was talking with the doctor.

Harrison passed all of his developmental skills including communication and fine motor skills. He also passed the screening for autism. All good news.

Growth is also good news. Today he measured just a smudge over 32 inches. I can't seem to find the post from his 18 month appointment, which I am sure I did, but taking a look from memory----he almost grew 2 inches during the last 6 months. He is approximately in the 3-10 percentile for height. He gained what I am vaguely remember about 3 lbs since the last appointment, today he weighed 26 lbs 10 oz. He is getting heavy! This weight gain bumped him up from the 10th percentile to the 25 percentile. No folks, he isn't a stranger to food. The lady at the table next to us at Fazolis said to me today, "Look at him eat, you aren't probably going to be able to afford to feed him in a few more years." You would have had to be there today, but it was a cuteness overload when every time the lady came around (he would actually look for her) handing out bread sticks Harrison signed (and said) "more" and as she continued on he signed (and said) "thank you." This was Harrison's and I's first eating out together (without daddy) experience and did so great, we didn't even use a high chair or a booster and he sat like a champ). The best part of all of this eating is that he loves so many healthy foods---grapes, apples, bananas, beans, carrots. Oh and he likes cookies too.

The rest of the appointment went pretty well (minus the flu shot). As Dr. Gerhard listened to his lungs and heart I distracted him by looking out the window and asking him if big trucks were coming or our famous distraction, "where is Whitney Dog?" I am not going to lie, he hated to have his ears looked at (which I don't blame him from his long history with them), but good to know the tubes are still in place and open---doing their job. I asked Dr. Gerhard about Harrison yellow tongue he gets regularly and from what he said and I read online, it's just drainage---which is the only thing Harrison really still struggles with. We did talk about his vomiting which comes and goes and really this can be typical with the drainage issues and with Harrison's growth and overall health, hopefully this will be something in time that will fade as well.

But really, how lucky are we to be where we are now? We are so blessed.
If you didn't already know our story, you would have never known this little boy was born premature.

Do you like the new heading to the blog? Simply stated and ever so true.

Cookies aren't just for Santa.

I bought this top for Harrison on black Friday (one of very few purchases I made, I may add). I figured he could wear it on Christmas or something...but when I was in the studio last night, working on putting together a backdrop, Harrison decided to put on his super cuteness that made me think that he may just pose for me for a couple. Amazingly enough, I was right!

Here are a couple of keepers...

I honestly think Kemps milk should pay for this one.

 A super sweet photo...currently set as my background :)

 And testing out the string of lights for Mommy, technically called bokeh. The goal is to look like winter wonderland. They make this sound so easy to do, I can testify it's not. I almost gave up getting it right until I got this one.