Spring Break!

Well our little week of vacationing has come to a close.  Ready for a little recap?

We left for Oregon on Tuesday ready for adventure.  Our first stop was rainy Portland.  Harrison and Adam hit the pavement while I got my hair done (vacation priorities, people!) and luckily, we packed our rain gear!

Hello, ladies!

Back in the car and what better time to snap a photo! Courtesy of Harrison...

Love these doughy little piggies!!!!! :) 

We made it to Eugene for the first night.  We realized this was little man's time very first hotel experience and we weren't quite sure what to expect, especially after a day full of driving...

No need to worry! We were all in good spirits that first evening!

The cart idea seemed brilliant at the time...get everything to our room, including the kid in record time? Yes, please!! But that idea soon backfired when we realized that afterwards, he wanted to ride EVERY luggage cart we passed for the entire week! So we usually let him crawl on it and then he was satisfied, but that could have been trouble!

Next stop, Ashland!

Now, Harrison couldn't go very long without making a few business calls out of a cooler...

"I won't be in the office this week, guys, but you can reach me on my cell..."

During our stay in Ashland, Adam worked while Harrison and I explored the town and hung out in the hotel room when it rained. 

Here's a few highlights!

We got our morning treats together.  Never too soon to start a habit, is what I always say!

Found streets named after us.

Watched a few cartoons here and there.

Took selfies.

 We really lucked out, and Harrison was a champ in the sleeping department while away from home.  I think there was just so much going on during the day, he didn't mind sleeping somewhere other than his comfy crib for a few nights.  And with breakfast brought to our room every morning, none of us could complain.

Friday afternoon, Adam was done with work early and after a quick nap by all three parties, we went to the science museum! We knew there would be a lot to see there and hoped Harrison would enjoy it!

He loved stacking the block, which was no surprise.  This kid is definitely a stacker.  He also has no fear of just going right up and playing with other kids! Thank you, daycare, I guess... until he decides he wants something another kid has.  That would explain the constant "bite tube" he wears more often than not....

Oh, the bubble room! 

I'm actually a pro in the bubble creating department. 

 And then Harrison got a little excited and went head over tea kettle chasing a bubble...

For the most part, the museum was a success, except for when Harrison laser focused on just one activity for about 20 minutes.  So much to do and he wants to spend all of his time on one thing...but we eventually made it to most of the activities and had a great time. 

 We walked around Ashland and Lithia Park.  Harrison fit right in with the locals, absolutely refusing to put on his shoes...so he just chilled barefoot.  And to think of it....looks like we all fit in with the locals, Adam in his finger shoes and me with my hair... :)

Our stay in Ashland was better than great, thanks to the Eadie's, our great friends, awesome hosts, and toddler entertainers for the week.  Watching the kiddos play was so much fun and it was such a great treat to see and visit with them, two fellow accountants and "semi hippies." :) Let's hope it's not two years before we pack up the 'burban and get together again!

Best buds!!! 

Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and head back home to Washington.  And this time, we were attempting it all in one shot! Lord help us....

I squeezed myself and my 7 month pregnant belly into the back seat of Large Marge and did my best to entertain a toddler for 5 hours with the same toys and books he had been playing with and reading for the past 5 days.  Talk about a challenge, people.  We listened to a toy that sang nursery rhymes for an hour, we played hide and seek for what seemed like an eternity, we tried to point out cows and horses as we passed them....

And of course, we took a few pictures :)

I think all three of us were SO happy to get home and relax for a bit...or so we thought.  Harrison apparently had to burn off a full day's worth of energy in about two hours, which consisted of him literally running laps in our living room and riding his little fire truck back and forth, back and forth.  But it worked!

A souvenir of our trip, Harrison's own kitchen! If anyone has any empty plastic containers or kitchen tools they don't use anymore, I know a future iron chef that would love to take them off of your hands!

Phew, and just like that, it's Sunday night and life goes back to our normal routine tomorrow.  I know Harrison will be glad to see his friends and give them high-fives. :) Although it was a vacation, it's always so great to get home.

xo

The Little Memories

This post is more for our own personal memory bank than anything else, so some of you may find this one a bit boring...  I have a feeling once this summer rolls around, life will move at such a fast pace that we may forget the adorable little moments we've been having this spring as a family of three.  Harrison has turned a corner the past few weeks to where he is just so much fun to be around. (He wasn't ever NOT fun to be around, but these day's his personality is really starting to shine through, which is so fun!) I think it probably has a little to do with teeth all in, getting a good amount of sleep and plenty of outdoor time.  Whatever it is, he's happy and laughing all most the time, and we are loving this phase of life. :)

Harrison rode his first pony last weekend.  He would only hold on with one hand, then eventually decided that he didn't need either hand and was ready to be done.  He didn't throw a fit or anything, but was just done. So we gave the pony a last pet on the mane and left, but not before the man running the show asked, "What's her name?" uhhh...... I responded with the obvious... "Harrison," thinking that if he didn't catch on to the dirty jeans, blue striped shirt and light up neon green shoes, he would DEFINITELY realize that Harrison is a boy's name, but I should never assume... "Wow, she must be two or two and a half!" At this point, I realized I might have to be a little less subtle and eventually said, "Actually, HE is only one and a half."  The man looked a little shocked and said, "Oh wow.......that's a big boy..... think he wants a job breaking in horses for us?" :)

Rain or Shine!

Our evenings have become pretty routine which is so great in my eyes.  There is very little stress and we both get time with Harrison one-on-one and then time together as a family.  When we get home, we try and take the dogs on a walk, with the help of the future dog whisperer....


Then we sometimes play with our neighbors.  Harrison absolutely adores Sarah, 5, and will run and chase after her all day long if we let him.  They play on the trampoline together, on the playhouse, and just general running around goofiness.  Harrison laughs the whole time!







After playing outside, we come in for dinner, anything from mac & cheese (a favorite of both mom and child), salad, quinoa, burgers... Harrison isn't too picky these days, of course, we've found that animal crackers are a definite front runner for favorite food.  Harrison lets us know with sign language and an "all done!" when he's had enough and the boys head upstairs for a shower.  Harrison loves playing in the water and getting some quality guys time.  We even bought him some shaving cream to play with and he totally gets it, putting it on both his face and tummy and Adam's face. Eventually, we get the same "all done" and we move on to a warm cup of milk and some Wheel of Fortune, with maybe some horse riding or basketball playing in the living room.

Can you just imagine what was going through his head when these pictures were taken???

Then it's reading time with Mom before bedtime.  Harrison's favorite books are One Gorilla, The Foot Book, Hop on Pop, Big Red Barn, Sheep in a Jeep, and Missing Mittens.  I think we read Missing Mittens 4 times last night! It amazes me how much he loves to read already and how he actually has favorites! In fact, he was throwing a little tantrum yesterday in the hallway and I let him go in his room to calm down...the next thing I know, he's crawled up on the rocking chair with Hop on Pop and has it open, talking gibberish to himself.  :)  After we read, it's lights out and we rock for a bit together, although I'm noticing he's having a pretty difficult time these days getting comfy...a little girl we will meet soon is taking up quite a bit of lap space.  Knock on wood, I've been able to lay Harrison down in his crib and he falls asleep without much protest until about 6:30 AM.

Harrison also has the most priceless facial expressions recently and he gets such a kick out of us making funny faces back at him.  In some pictures, I think he looks more like Adam, while lot's of people have commented he looks like me! I guess it's a nice blend of both. :)

We are planning to do a little traveling the next week or so and I'm sure I'll have some adventures to share!

And Two Months Later......

Wow, the past few months have flown by, even though it seems like this winter lasted forever.  Maybe it was the lack of snow, although we did finally get a few inches, but the majority of this winter just seemed cold and gray without much daylight to get anything done.  I am definitely a spring/summer girl, thank you very much!

Here's a quick recap of our last few months...

When the snow finally showed up, we took advantage of it and let Harrison experience his first sledding adventure.  Being the fearless kid he is, he loved almost every second of it....I say almost because we got a little too confident in our "catching the kid before his hits a pile of snow" abilities and unfortunately, Harrison also experienced his first face plant.  But the kid is resilient and after a few kisses from Mom, he was back in the saddle!

Yep! All by himself!!

This kid is just TOO CUTE sometimes..... :)

Preparing to take on the snow hill...such determination!

We've also discovered Harrison's love for the outdoors and exploring.  The ladies at daycare have commented on how he just likes to check out the playground and just kind of wander.  He loves exploring our yard (and the neighbors....) and getting his hands dirty.  He is 100% boy.

Irrigation looks OK this spring...good thing we have an expert to take a look at it for us.

Now the tricky part is telling him it's time to come inside.  It could be snowing, raining, windy...Harrison couldn't care less.  He LOVES to be outside.

You guessed it! Time to go in! I don't know what side he inherited this over the top dramatic tendencies, but he knows how to turn it off and on! Eyebrows furrowed in disgust at the thought of his parents, his OWN PARENTS forcing him to cut short his outside time when the sun is still high in the sky.  Mom has to pee? She can hold it.  We've been out walking around for over an hour? Not long enough....

He also is 100% in love with his Dad! He's Adam's little helper and could follow him around all day, which might prove to be helpful this summer!

Just two guys walking around the neighborhood.

And you guys might have forgotten our little bundles of fur...yep, they are still around. :) I think they are really enjoying a little bit warmer weather, too.  We've taken them for more walks in the past few weeks and Harrison has even walked Gracie, which is a delicate activity since she runs at about 300 miles per hour ALL.THE.TIME.  If anyone has an old dog that is great on a leash, we'd love to take it for a walk for you . :) Harrison definitely knows and says the word "puppy" and spots them from far away.

Also, Gracie (not unlike the rest of us) has put on a little winter weight, so the extra exercise is certainly not wasted on her. 

Speaking of new words and tricks, Harrison has added a few to his vocabulary recently, including "beep, beep," "nana," and "all done." I think he tries to say "outside" also... He can point to his nose, head, ears, and mouth.  The things kids learn is just so amazing and it's such a joy to watch him grow up.  Now, if we can only get the whole "no biting" thing down, we'd be all set!

Little Miss H is also growing right along, but seems to be quite pushy recently.  She may have the personality of her older brother, I think...  With only three months to go, it seems like we are on track to being ready for her arrival, but I'm sure it will catch us off guard, again.

Sorry for the huge delay in posts, but with the weather warming up, I'm hoping to get the camera out more often and maybe get a few family pictures in there, too.  Happy St. Patrick's Day and happy almost spring!!!!!

Round 2!

The wait is over!  We are having a girl! :) Might as well get the news out in the first few sentences, right??

We are hoping it's the angle of the ultrasound and not that our daughter has a Homer Simpson profile... :) She was very active during the ultrasound and the tech had a hard time getting some of the measurements.  Does this mean she's going to be a little firecracker?? :)  She is growing right along and everything looks great! We are so very happy. :)

This was Harrison's reaction...

I don't think he's quite sold on the idea yet, but we are working on it.  But for now, thank you for all of the well wishes and we are just so excited! :) Now for all the fun little details in preparing for a new baby! Nursery, newborn clothes, NAMES!! Woo-hoo!!!

New Year, New Cold

Well if the title is any indication, back to work/school for us was a little rough this week.  Luckily we are through the worst of it and feeling better, but MAN, come on, immune system, about time you kicked it up a notch, yes??

Besides that, we've been enjoying our 2014 so far.  And as promised, a family photo session...

"Karate chop to the neck, Mom!"

"I DID NOT agree to this, you guys!!!"  

And this was the photo taken the second after we pulled to bottle out of his mouth....Confused? Perplexed? And I'm not talking about Harrison.... HA! :)  I can say stuff like that because I write the blog!

And here's the winner!!! :)

Happy New Year! 

Here's some other random photos I've snapped this month.

Harrison has been thoroughly enjoying his new set up in the basement.  Lot's of room to play, his own little table (even though he still likes to sit at the big table with me), and plenty of toys!

Those Christmas PJs are still going strong!

Just learning to tell time.

This was my stroke of genius...putting wine corks into Powerade bottles...at least a good 30 minutes of entertainment, until I had to try and get them out of the bottles....

 Harrison has also been helping around the house quite a bit lately...

But don't think he's all sophisticated now....

...because he also talks to rocks like he's on the phone....and then licks them....an excellent imagination, young man!

We also enjoyed our first snow of the season!!  Harrison totally enjoyed walking around in it, until he fell down, but up until then, it was great! Hoping we can get another good snowfall to try out the new snowsuit and go sledding with the neighbors. 

And because we don't want our kids to look back on this blog years from now and say "Why did Harrison get all the pictures?!?" here is baby #2, growing right along at almost 18 weeks.  We'll find out boy/girl in the next few weeks, can you believe it! Seems like this time around is going so fast!  Which is guess is good because it's been another easy pregnancy (knock on wood) aside from catching every cold this side of the Cascades.

Looking forward to a laid back weekend full of friends, football, and FOOD! :)

Christmas Craziness

Whew!  I'm sitting here this evening after a VERY full two days and feeling exhausted (thanks, baby 2), but also soooo happy and grateful for our wonderful families that we got to share the holidays with this year.  Harrison definitely got spoiled and has new toys and activities to keep him entertained for at LEAST three days....just kidding :) He'll be set for a while, which is awesome!

Christmas Eve, Adam had to work, which was a bummer, but he came home around noon with lunch, yay!  We packed up the car and headed to our first holiday party at Dave and Tina's.  We decorated penguins, raced them, sang Christmas songs, and I ate a TON of cheese.  It was definitely chaos, but what do you expect?  It was great to see everyone and although Harrison took a while to warm up to all of the energy, but by the time we left, he was running and laughing with the rest of them.

It was then off to the Hill dinner.  More yummy food and a great time with family!  Good thing I have an excuse for elastic pants this time of year... :) After putting Harrison to bed, both Adam and I feel asleep on the couch at about 9 pm (although I blame this mostly on Adam watching the documentary "The Fab Five" about the 1993 Michigan basketball team....again, which I'm pretty sure I can unfortunately quote by now).

Harrison let us "sleep in" till about 7:30 the next morning, so Merry Christmas to us! Thanks, kiddo! A mid-morning get together with my Dad and Step-Mom was a nice way to ease into the day, and they brought Harrison a little gift to get him ready for the rodeo...

He wasn't quite ready to actually ride the bucking bronco yet, but he took that thing for walks all over the living room.  Still breaking him in, I assume.  I hear those wild one can take some time to tame.  

Down for a quick nap, and back up for Christmas Day with Adam's parents.  Harrison is still working on the unwrapping aspect of presents, but boy once they are open and he figures out what they are, watch out!

First cell phone...has been taking important business calls all afternoon.  "Buy! Sell! Buy!"

I see this being a GREAT bonding activity....if Adam actually shares.... ;)

And I think we found the best maraca player this side of the Rio Grande! 

Thanks again, everyone, for making this Christmas so memorable and fun.  And now for a few days of somewhat normalcy before more fun family time this weekend! Whew!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a good family photo of us, but I'll work on it.  Can't break the family photo tradition two years running!

Merry Christmas!

xo,
The Hills