Wordless Wednesday

Week In Review- August 16th-22nd

August 16th-22nd

Trip to Target- he loves to ride in the cart & people watch.








We had our first taste of "real" food! Here's the "before" pic- he actually didn't get that messy, so I didn't even post the "after". This one was too cute not to post, though. =)



Totally unsure what this is...



But I like it! =) He did pretty well with it.








Mommy & Baby in Minnesota Gopher Gear! My brother Will was home for a few days, so we took him out to "Wing It Wednesday" at a local restaurant/bar. They have a deal on a huge plate of wings & pitcher of beer. Harrison & I refrained from the beer. =)







Hanging around the house.... Captain Adorable!







Friday night we took Harrison to the Douglas County Fair. Here he's looking @ Horses w/Grandpa. We took him through all the animal barns. He didn't seem all that interested, however he is only 7 months. But it was good to get out! We ran into a lot of people we knew so it's always fun to show him off!



Totally pooped from the fair... it's not that far from our house, so we just walked. It didn't take him long to fall asleep though! =)








Saturday Harrison & I went to my college roommate's wedding! She was my freshman roommate in the dorms, and we lived together the next two years. She's the first of my friends to get married (besides myself, of course) so it was a fun wedding. CLEARLY I'm the half-ton pregnant one on the right. I was bummed to be pregnant, because it would have been fun to really let loose for the night with the college roomies, but what do you do? Isn't she a beautiful bride? These are only a portion of the girls I lived with- Junior year we lived in a house with 10 girls!



The Happy Couple!



Harrison getting kisses from Auntie Tori! I am the only one of my friends with a kid, so he was a hit, to say the least.



- Harold & I decided on a name for Baby Boy #2... Reuben. (actually, he wants to spell it Ruben, but we'll see who wins that debate... hehe) It's funny because on our very first date we got into some heavy topics, including babies & baby names. Harrison was his top pic, and Reuben was mine. We never even really talked about girl names. What do you know? A few years later we'd have two little boys named Harrison & Reuben! Life is funny.

Saturday Week in Review

August 9th-15th



Harrison started using a "bath seat". He was still lying down on a mat before. He got his first taste of water being dumped over his head! =) A lady I used to nanny for just started dumping water from the very begininning, and they got used to it and never complained, so that's the route I'm taking. He was (obviously) shocked but smiled afterwords.




What a cheeseball!





Good Morning HP! Nice bedhead. =) (he got his first real diaper rash last week, so we're still using the desitin... THANK GOD for desitin!)


What Mom??






Getting ready for the beach!!



Lake Latoka, Alexandria, MN
August 14th, 2009



He never tried to put the rocks in his mouth- I was so surprised! He loved the water, splashing, and most of all watching other kids! We (my mom & I) had so much fun!








Some swing fun! Waiting for Grandpa to finish grilling some burgers










THAT face!


Pretty smile








Today is our 1 year anniversary! I'm (of course) bummed that Harold is 234234 miles away, but next year when I'm NOT PREGNANT (cross your fingers) we will really celebrate. =) Happy Anniversary my love!





-On Wednesday night we went to my cousin Katie's baby shower. (forgot my camera) We had a lot of fun, and of course, Harrison was a hit. Baby showers are always fun! There really wasn't anyone who had little kids, so I got made fun of because I knew so much about the "new fangled" baby gear. =)

-Harrison has (finally) started rolling over like crazy. Still no scooting or much moving around on the tummy. It will still be awhile before he crawls. =)

-Harrison took his weekly Wal-Mart trip with Grandpa today- they are such buds!

Wordless Wednesday

G-Diapers

Harrison started wearing G-diapers with the cloth inserts a few days ago!! What a cute little muffin top =)

So far so good! (This is my first attempt at cloth diapering) He hasn't pooped in them yet though =) I only have 3 inserts for now, so we've been just hand washing them and hang drying. They are just too cute aren't they?



Anyone have any good tips for washing? I'm living with my parents while my husband is deployed so I probably won't get too into it until I get home. I'm thinking I won't cloth diaper the new baby right away, since newborn poop is repulsing and I don't want to invest in all the diapers and inserts for size small when medium starts at 13 pounds anyway. I love these little diapers so far!!!

Wordless Wednesday- Harrison & Friend Tavian

Wordless Wednesday- Momma's Boy

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday- Harrison & Grandpa

My Monkey

And the green grass grew all around, all around. And the green grass grew all around....

freecycle

Ever had anything you would rather just give away then deal with selling? Check out http://www.freecycle.org/

It’s a great website that allows you to give away items, get items, even request certain items. When I found out I was pregnant with Harrison I was single and a live-in nanny. I knew in order to get everything I wanted for my kid I was going to have to settle for used items. Little did I know how wonderful and easy it is to do that! Kids things, like swings, highchairs, etc. don’t always get used all that much. Families are done having kids, but their stuff isn’t done being used! It still has a lot of life left. Think of how many parents go to Toys R Us, spend $150 on a swing, and their kid hates it and it gets used 5-10 times? Their loss can be your gain!

My husband and I got our changing table from freecycle.org. It is AMAZING! It had a few blemishes on the bottom shelf, but for free, I’m not complaining!
There’s lots of other stuff besides baby things- give it a try!

Free KFC

So you have T-15 hours to claim your free KFC from Oprah! Till 10 PM tomorrow you can download a coupon for a free KFC meal, good until May 19th. Even the Weight Watchers points can't keep me away from FREE KFC! =)

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090430-tows-kfc-coupon-download



Since 11 AM my four-month-old has slept for about 2 hours total. If it was 2 hours in a row... eh, I could deal with that. It's this half hour crap that's going to drive me crazy. Not to mention the few nap attempts of my own that where very rudely interrupted. He's lucky he's the damn cutest baby in all of the universe. I truly have no right to complain, my parents get up with him most mornings when at 5:30 the final attempt for more sleep by putting the paci back in fails. When I get home, my world is going to change in a big way! Harrison's will too- being fawned over by 3 people all day long must be pretty nice. Now it's time to make dinner- I'm in charge, as my mom is working. I'm pretty hungry. But I'm not going to cry about it, unlike some people I know...

71 New-Mom Truths

1.You will hear all sorts of delivery and nursing nightmare stories once you start sharing your own.

2. You will want to burn your maternity clothes -- even if you plan on having more kids.

3. You will lose tiny socks in the wash.

4. You will be able to shower, wash and dry your hair, and get dressed in less than ten minutes.

5. You will want to apologize to friends and family who had kids before you for never really getting why they had less time for you.

6. You will fantasize about what you would swap for a good eight hours of sleep.

7. You will be so proud of every ounce your baby gains.

8. You will wonder whether it's possible to get all the crud out of your baby's skin folds.

9. You will laugh at your OB when she asks what you plan on using for birth control at your six-week postpartum checkup.

10. You won't stop worrying that you'll make your tot bleed when you clip his fingernails.

11. You will wish you had the time and brain cells to read just one of the novels you blew through when pregnancy heartburn kept you up all night.

12. You will want to throw the baby monitor out the window.

13. You won't have the desire or the time to iron the crib skirt after you first wash it. And the wrinkles will drive you crazy. But not crazy enough to dismantle the crib and iron it.

14. You will wonder how other new moms manage to be so skinny, put-together, or energetic.

15. You will think you seem pretty together compared with other new moms you see.

16. You will dread encountering baby-crazed preschoolers with runny noses and coughs.

17. You will never again touch an infant that isn't yours on the hands or face.

18. You will forget all about your difficult day with your baby when you finally see her sleeping peacefully at night.

19. You will have some mornings when you bounce out of bed to get the baby... and others when you need a truck to pull you from under the covers.

20. You will thank God for caffeine.

21. You will get used to how your husband comes home from work, checks on the baby, and "accidentally" wakes him up.

22. You will pretend you don't smell your child's dirty diaper as you hand her to Dad.

23. You will overbundle your tyke for winter outings.

24. You will call out to your hubby as he's taking the baby for a walk, "You have your cell on you, right?"

25. You will get sick of hearing yourself say, "I didn't get to it yet."

26. You will feel naked when you walk outside alone.

27. You will wonder if you could possibly love another child as much as you love this one.

28. You will put your sweet pea in the ugliest outfit he's got, take an obligatory photo, and send it to the distant relative who purchased the fashion disaster.

29. You will rejoice when the baby's bald spot finally fills in. Now if only there were something to do about her mullet.

30.You will call your new-mom friend to say that your baby has a runny nose and has sneezed twice, and that if she wants to reschedule your play date, you'll understand.

31. You will come up with a soothing mantra -- for yourself -- for when you take your child's rectal temperature.

32. You will get peed, puked, or pooped on when you have nothing handy to change into.

33. You will pack everything your baby could possibly need for a weekend and forget your own eyeglasses or toothbrush.

34. You will need to leave the house and have your husband stay home if and when you let the baby cry it out for the first time.

35. You will detest traffic -- it means you're either late getting back home to your child or stuck in the car even longer with a fusspot.

36. You will slide a picture of your bambino on top of the wedding photo in your wallet.

37. You will get takeout for dinner (again) just so you can take your baby to the park and hear her coo and giggle on the swings.

38. You will crack up when you see your kid get down to music for the first time.

39. You will chat intimately with complete strangers on the grocery checkout line just because they are pregnant or have a small child.

40. You will e-mail friends and family pictures of the baby, always noting that if they want to stop receiving the updates you'll totally understand.

41. You will confess to your hubby whenever you do something not-so-smart with the baby, to ensure he doesn't make the same mistake.

42. You will find yourself saying "I only have one child so far," as if you're apologizing for not having a brood hidden underneath your petticoat.

43. You will eagerly devour your first really spicy post-pregnancy, post-nursing meal.

44. You will catch your husband or partner being moved to tears by the baby.

45. You will feel so lucky to have a child when you catch up with a friend who's been struggling to get pregnant.

46. You will hear about criminals on the news and wonder what their moms are doing.

47. You will wake up feeling sick one morning but will muster the strength to get through the day with your baby because you have to.

48. You will take waaaay longer to go on your first postbaby getaway than you'd imagined.

49. You will be excited when your tot grows out of one size and into the next.

50. You will be sad to put away what he's grown out of.

51. You will actually be in the mood for sex one night, only to find that your husband's passed out cold in bed.

52. You will not be in the mood for sex as he runs his foot along your unshaven legs and touches your greasy hair.

53. You will be grateful for K-Y Jelly.

54. You will consider your husband's work commute his alone time, and be jealous of it.

55. You will be taken by surprise by your first postpartum period.

56. You will struggle to stay close to some of your childless friends.

57. You will wonder how your stay-at-home-mom friends do it.

58. You will wonder how your working-mom friends do it.

59. You will make peace with your stretch marks because they give you character.

60. You will accept that your husband will never be as paranoid about the baby as you are, and will decide that's a good thing.

61. You will eventually find a playgroup whose kids are on the same schedule as yours.

62. You will hear yourself tell brand-new moms that the first 12 weeks really do fly by, even though it pissed you off when people told you that.

63. You will live for your girls' nights out, once you get a couple under your belt and see that everything at home went just fine without you.

64. You will find Cheerios in odd places.

65. You won't care that she's getting food in her hair when she does "So Big" in her high chair.

66. You will cherish the freedom to empty the dishwasher while your baby holds his morning bottle himself.

67. You will miss the smell of Dreft once you get the green light to wash infant clothes with yours.

68. You will try not to take it personally when your sweetie's first word is "Da-Da." It must be easier to pronounce. [Editor's note: It is!]

69. You will write more-heartfelt thank-you notes to anyone who gives a toy without lights, batteries, and noise.

70. You will be relieved when your child turns 1. You didn't break him.

71. You will marvel at the volumes of unconditional love you have for your most wonderful achievement -- your baby.

Last Night

We leave Thursday for our big trip to KS & MN! It's 1 AM and I can't sleep... I'm a little sad because this is the last night we have here at home together. Harold is going to Tennessee tomorrow to surprise a friend and go to his change of command ceremony. Then Thursday it's road trip time! We bought a tablet DVD player (the screen lifts up to put the dvd in) so we can rig it so Harrison can see it in his rear facing car seat. He really dislikes the car- we went out to dinner tonight and he cried the whole way there and home. Hopefully a little "Baby Einstein" will do the trick.

The whole thing is so bittersweet- I'm overjoyed to be getting back to family and friends in MN, but sad about being away from HP for so long. I'm sure it will go by fast, I'll be busy. But the first few weeks will be hard!

Harrison is almost three months old- he coo's A LOT (although really tough to get on camera) and smiles constantly. (well, if he's not hungry or tired that is) Still "going to the gym" as Harold says to kick and squirm like a maniac. He is not a cuddler- he refuses to lay on your chest. While it's a little sad, probably a good thing for the long run. He's not a "hold me" baby. I feel so blessed to have everything in my life the way it is right now. My husband and baby are perfect =)

Can't wait to see a lot of you soon!!

He made it!

The little guy is here- Harrison Gage Price was born on January 3rd, 2009 @ 10:31 A.M. Everything with the birth went well- my water broke at 11 A.M. on the 2nd while out for a walk (not the best thing that's ever happened to me) They had to induce me and I was in labor for about 15 hours and pushing for 1.5- everything went well except for the epidural running out approximately 3 pushes in. But thank goodness for the lovely brain that blocks out the pain, because looking back the whole experience was really good, fun almost. Harold was an amazing coach and the nurse we had during delivery was great too. We were in the hospital for 48 hours and took him home exactly a year to the day that Harold and I met (January 5th). What a year! =) Things since then have been amazing- he's grown and changed so much, as newborns do! He's already got quite the feisty personality. We had Harold's mom, his friend Ken & family, and my parents here to stay (not at the same time, haha). All visits went well and everyone was in love with little hp, especially Ken's son Kaden, who talked about "Baby Hawison" all day long. Harold left for Ft. Lewis last Tuesday for 4 weeks. Harrison has changed a lot even in the short time he's been gone- he started smiling a lot more and is more alert and content just laying on the floor and kicking. He's started to look at toys and objects. I'm already dying for Harold to get home and see all the changes. He did get to watch Harrison roll over- it was pretty exciting because we were all just staring at him.

We found out about 2 weeks ago that Harold is deploying to Afghanistan in April. =( Not the best news I've ever recieved, but as far as deployments go it works out pretty well. It's good for his career, and for money. I get to move back to Minnesota (during the summer!). We also talked about how if you had to miss 6 months of Harrison's life, these months are pretty good. He'll be almost 11 months when he gets back, so just starting to walk and talk. And I'm very thankful he didn't miss the birth!

7 Months, 1 Week, 4 Days

Back again- I guess I got lazy for awhile, but I thought I would pick this up again. Mostly because I don't really know what to do with myself here in MN. HP is in Tacoma, Washington doing some rather important testing and I'm here at 10th and Cedar pretty much doing nothing but relaxing. So far so good. =) I've been working a little bit, which has been great. The feeling of actually contributing to society does a body good. It's still a little bizarre to me that Harold has to support me right now. I've spent the last few years not being able to lose even a week's pay, and here I am making little to no money for months. So far so good on the married life =) I miss him though- He says it looks like he might be here as early as the 1st which is NEXT WEEKEND! It's like I've gotten so used to being here and being apart from him, I can't believe that we're actually going to be reunited soon. And I get to go home and NEST! Yay!

Sunday is my baby shower here- I'm rather excited. Jan is going all out, it's touching. She is really good at that stuff tho- She can throw a mean party. I know the girls are working hard as well.

Went to the DR. last week- things are great! We've been so blessed with this close to perfect pregnancy. No nausea, good blood pressure, no gestational diabetes, his heart rate has been perfect, he's moving like crazy, I've been measuring perfectly... Praise the Lord! I can't believe how soon he will be here- I know it won't be real until we bring him home. And luckily, we have plenty of places to put him! =) (Harold things we have too much "stuff"... bouncer, exersaucer, pack&play, glider, swing... ok maybe we do, but this is my first baby!)

12 Weeks 1 Day

I have decided I want a girl. I saw a "Deluxe Walk-in Kitchen" and wanted to play house IMMEDIATELY! I also would love to see Harold with a little girl. I don't think it would be hard for her to get him wrapped around her little finger. Only 8 more weeks until we can find out! Harold went to a wedding this weekend, and will be in Georgia all week. I miss him! I'm getting excited to move in.

Sara Wagner came to visit this weekend and we had so much fun. It's always good to see a friendly face! She also has been through this whole pregnancy thing 4 times!

I've gained weight, and at this point just feel fat and not pregnant.

10 Weeks 6 Days

Looking for jobs again. I dislike looking for jobs, especially when I love the one I have so much. However, I am moving in September. To Harker Heights, Texas. Never heard of it? Weird, probably because it's not near Austin. But it's all good, because I'm living with Harold and thats the best case scenario. It just didn't financially work out for Harold to sell his house and move closer to Austin, so this is really our only option. There is a backyard. I like that. Even though Texas grass sucks. Either way I'm getting excited and this makes everything so real. I'M HAVING A BABY!!! Craziness.

10 Weeks 1 Day

Hello All! Even in these last few weeks of my first trimester, I still find myself as tired as ever. It seems like every time I wake up from a quality nap I have at least 3 missed calls from all of you who care and are simply curious about how I'm doing. So, hopefully this helps and saves me from the guilt I am constantly feeling that I have a "million" people to call back.

I am officially 10 weeks yesterday. I went to my first appointment all alone, which was scary but so incredible. I felt a lot of mixed emotions, because on one hand it is so incredible and amazing, but on the other hand it's scary and sad that I'm so unprepared for everything. It feels like I've been waiting for this moment forever, but when I actually got it I wanted to take it back because it wasn't my "perfect" dream scenario. No married, no money, so far from family and friends... However, all in all, I came out of the appointment incredibly excited and in love with the baby. My due date is January 3rd, so it looks like no snowy Minnesota Christmas for Joanna. Harold has promised to stay home with me for Christmas so at least I won't be alone =). The doctor said the baby was perfect size, and I got a picture and everything! (Still need to scan it) It really doesn't do the baby justice though. I got a pretty good look! Arms, legs, head, and heartbeat! The baby kept moving and the doctor said "We've got a little show-off!"

I had a little nausea off and on this weekend, which I really haven't had up until this point. No vomiting, however, so I'm happy. But other than that I'm feeling good! I love you all!