Favorite things

Two years ago we drove from VA to KS for Christmas. The trip included a couple of stops at Cracker Barrel. Since it was such a long trip we lingered in the store most times. But it paid off because we got this sweet platter on clearance. It is one of most favorite Christmas things. I just love the colors and the quirky little drawings.

Merry Christmas.

Aubrey and her best friend

Aubrey loves Elmo. She usually watches Sesame Street while I get dinner ready and she gets so excited when she hears that "la la la la" for Elmo's World. I'm so sad they stopped making it!

Sisters

I put Beth down in this chair almost every morning and Aubrey usually climbs right up beside her to check her out while I make a bottle. It is the sweetest.

Happy Halloween

From Beth

and Aubrey

What Aubrey Has Been Up To

Aubrey hasn't just been learning how to be a great big sister. 

She has been discovering all kinds of things. Like...

Playing with cardboard boxes.

 Wearing a vintage dress that belonged to Mommy.

 Playing Horsey with Grandma.

Putting on her own glasses.

Playing with friends.

Coloring.

 Playing with pipe cleaners - which is surprisingly engaging.

Sitting on Daddy's shoulders.

Cooking.

Helping with dishes.

Sister Videos

This is the first meeting of the sisters. 

I think it went pretty well! That was in the hospital. 

This is one of the first time I let Aubrey hold Beth.

I think the novelty wore off a little...

Aubrey actually really like Beth. She greets her every time one of them gets up and is working on helping her with her soother. She love to check out her hands and feet and is really good at being gentle with her. 

Introducing Bethany

Bethany Katherine Harrison was born at 8:20 PM on August 30th. She was 5lbs 12oz and 19 inches long.

Apparently she wasn't aware of the schedule! We had a c-section all set for Sept. 13, so we thought we had 2 weeks. But the morning of her birth my water broke. It was so little that I wasn't really sure. After all, this was my first time doing this part! So I called my doctor and they wanted me to go in to the hospital. More and more fluid was coming out so I was becoming pretty sure we were going to have a baby that day. I called John and couldn't get a hold of him. So I called someone to watch Aubrey. And I called my mom. I packed a bag for Aubs and for me. Oh, and I ate the fateful bowl of cereal. I was still waiting for John to call me back and getting kind of stressed. I didn't think it was a good idea for me to drive myself, so I really needed John. Finally I decided to go drop Aubrey off. I knew John would eat lunch soon, so I figured I would hear from him by the time I got back, but I did not leave him a message telling him where I was going. When I got back I saw that John had called but he didn't leave a message. I was silly and thought that he had just gone back to work. So I kept waiting to get a hold of him. Finally I decided I couldn't wait any longer to go to the hospital so I had my neighbor drive me after leaving a tearful message for John to please hurry to the hospital.

My lovely neighbor drove me and dropped me off. I walked up to Labor and Delivery and there was my John. He went straight to the hospital when I didn't answer. He figured I had already left. He had been waiting there for almost an hour. So, we learned a very valuable lesson: Always leave a message!

So there we were. They checked me and said that it was my water breaking. I wasn't having contractions or dilating. So we were getting ready for the c-section when they asked me when I last ate. I told them about the bowl of cereal and they said we had to wait 8 hours. My doctor had said 5 hours after eating so we were confused. After clearing that up (we did have to wait until it was 8 hours. Bummer.) it turned out my doctor had a plane to catch and was passing the surgery off to the on-duty doctor.

So we were supposed to have the delivery at 7. At about 6 I started asking them to get me ready. I was starting to have some pretty painful contractions and they wouldn't let me go to the bathroom, so I was anxious to get started. They were taking a long time and I was getting really uncomfortable. Finally they took me back for the anesthesia. I have to say that going back into an OR and getting that spinal took me back to a pretty bad place. I kept thinking about last time and how hard that delivery was. It seemed like everything was taking forever. Finally they got me all numb and John got to come in. I felt much better after that. Then we heard a sweet little baby cry. And she kept crying. And she sounded strong and healthy. After a minute or two John got to hold her and bring her right over to me. I kissed her and said hello. After a few minutes John carried her to the nursery and they closed me back up.

John met me in recovery and we stayed there until I could move my legs. Then we went to our room and they brought Bethany in. I started trying to nurse her right away. John left to get Aubrey from our friends. It was a long day and a long night, trying to help Bethany learn to nurse. But we all made it through pretty well.

Bethany was born at 36 weeks and 6 days, which is technically one day premature. So she is pretty small and she is definitely struggling with nursing. But she's getting better and stronger each time.

John brought Aubrey to meet her little sister on Saturday morning. She was very sweet with her. Then we got to come home that afternoon, a little sooner than we thought. So that was nice.

All ready to go home.

Safe at home. 

The Long Awaited House Post

So, we bought a house and moved into it.

This was right after we closed on the house. It's a little bland in the front, but we have some time to work on that. We recently discovered that the bushes in the front have purple flowers from time to time, which is lovely.

The house was a mess when we took possession. Luckily, we were already planning to paint, so we had a few weeks before we had to move all our things. Here are some before shots.

The living room starting to be prepped for painting. You'll see a very beige theme in the  next few pictures.

The Kitchen. The cabinets are in great shape. The stove and dishwasher came with and are old, but work  pretty well.

The dining area. Here you can see the beige vinyl. It has since been covered with laminate.

The Pantry. This was a big selling point for us, since TX apparently doesn't believe in basements. This room is definitely not ready for its after picture, but I will proudly post it when it is. I just wanted to show how great the storage is!

So as we were cleaning and painting we discovered that, in addition to a bunch of household items, the previous owners had left us some fleas in the carpet. The carpet was in pretty rough shape anyway, especially on the lower floor. We were going to clean it and save our pennies to replace it. But the fleas moved up our timetable, as did a contribution to the cause from my parents (thanks Mom and Dad!). Here are some close up shots of the carpet.

They don't really do justice to how yucky it was. But this definitely does justice to my flea-bitten legs.

Here are pictures from when the carpet got ripped out.

I'm sure it was a long day for them, but the floors look great. it made such a huge difference in the house. You can also see a little preview of the new wall color in these pictures. 

So we packed up all our stuff, with help from our new ward.

And these are the after pictures.

The room still needs some color. In our last house we had color on the walls, so all of our stuff is pretty neutral. All the blinds in the house were busted, so we took them down and put up leftover curtains to cover. But they are navy blue so they add to the greyness of the room. We have some plans for brighter curtains and warmer accessories, but its current state is a lot better than the beige theme that was going on before. And aren't the floors amazing?

I have a lot more projects in mind. And as time and money permit, we'll do them. And those pictures will follow. But for now we are really enjoying spreading out in this place and taking a lot of pride in putting work into it. 

Still Pregnant

Well, I'm 25 weeks and 2 days and I'm still pregnant. And no signs that the baby will come anytime soon. Yay!

I'm pretty sure I never got this big last time, so we are thrilled with all the weight gain. None of my shoes will fit on my feet and I am super tired. But that is small compared to last time! This baby is a kicker and she likes to keep me up at night. I guess she's getting me ready for those midnight feedings. 

Aubrey Updates

Aubrey had a great Easter. Grandma LaVaun bought her some peeps and she enjoyed them quite a bit. But I'm pretty sure they made her barf that night. Oh, well. Some things are worth it!

Yes, that's a patch on her eye. We're not training her for a life of piracy. She has exotropia in her right eye, which means that it turns out and doesn't focus very well with her left eye. She has been wearing a patch for several weeks on her left eye so the right eye has to work harder and get stronger. Sadly, the patching didn't fix it. But she will have surgery at the end of June to adjust the muscle in her right eye and, hopefully, that will be the end of it. She's still doing great with her glasses, even with a stronger prescription. She also wears the patch like a champ and only gets upset when I have to pull it off. But I think it hurts Mommy more than it hurts her!

Even though I've strayed from the Easter report, I still want to share these darling photos of Aubrey's Easter Dress. This was given to her by my dear friend Chelsea and I have been waiting and waiting for it to fit. It still didn't really fit, but she wore it anyway. 

Isn't that the most adorable girl you've ever seen in your life? 

The problems with her eyes seem to be affecting her walking. She cruises all around the furniture, but seems pretty scared to let go. But her eyes certainly don't affect her mischief-making skills. 

So that's Aubrey. We have lots more updates to come. The baby is growing and the pregnancy is going great. We have a new house that we have been working like crazy on. That will comprise many posts to come.

12 weeks

The baby is coming right along. I went to the doctor yesterday and everything is right on schedule. And it is almost time to get out the maternity clothes.

Aubrey's 1st Birthday

Aubrey turned one on March 5th. Since we don't have a lot of family close by we decided to just do a small celebration. We gave Aubrey her very own cake and I think she liked it. We filmed it so all of you can judge for yourselves. The video is about 7 minutes. I posted it in its entirety for those who might be interested. But if that is just too much Harrison Offspring Goodness, start at about 4 minutes. That's where it gets funny.

Already?

So I mentioned that I have some really good excuses for not posting. One is, of course, our move halfway across the country. The second was a big surprise we found out about right after we unpacked all of our stuff in our new one-bedroom apartment. We are having another baby.

That's right, I am pregnant. No shots, no drugs. I'm almost 11 weeks, so the baby will come in September (fingers crossed).

We were very shocked and overwhelmed when we found out. It definitely took a few days to process. We feel so blessed to have another baby. We can't wait to meet this new little addition to our family. We are just thanking God every day for this blessing and pleading for the baby (and mommy) to be healthy.

I had my first visit with the doctor and everything is going well so far. I talked them into doing an ultrasound and saw the heartbeat. The baby was measuring exactly the right size (and there's just one). Aubrey and Rachel were both already measuring small at the 12-week screening so this is very encouraging. The doctor is going to watch us very closely, which is great.

We're not quite sure where we're going to put the new baby, but stay tuned for updates on that. We have lots of plans to make and lots of settling into our new life to do before the baby comes.

* "Already?" is what my little brother said when we told him the news.

Hearts Knit Together

So, John got a job in San Antonio, TX. Which was awesome, because our alternate plan involved parents' basements and selling all of our stuff. It was a pretty rough year, so we were really looking forward to a fresh start. But it was really sad leaving all of our good friends. As the time came for us to leave Alexandria, I realized how many dear friends we had and how much they had helped us over our time in Alexandria and especially the last year.

It reminded me of a verse in the Book of Mormon. In Mosiah 18 Alma is teaching people in secret and they are getting ready to be baptized. In verse 21, he commands them to have "their hearts knit together in unity and in love towards one another." That is exactly how I have felt for the past year with our ward and with my girlfriends.

When I first moved to Alexandria I was in a book club with a bunch of really cool girls. Over the years people came and went, but we always supported each other. When Aubrey was still in the hospital, these amazing girls had a party for me, which was exactly the thing that I needed. I had so many visits and calls and favors from these friends. I often felt alone, but these friends would remind me how loved I am.

We had a good group of friends in our ward before the babies came. In our time of need they went above and beyond. We had more food than we knew what to do with. For the first couple of weeks after I came home from the hospital, I wasn't allowed to drive. I had a ride to the hospital every day I needed it. Our dear home teachers took our second crib back to Ikea...IKEA! No one likes going to Ikea. One dear friend made sure that we had a meaningful way to remember Baby Rachel, which meant everything to us. I could never list all of the kindnesses that came to us here. But I will never forget the love that I felt. I wondered many times if God had forgotten us. But after all of those people that opened their hearts to our family, I could never doubt that God was taking care of us.

We know that San Antonio is where we are meant to be right now. We really like our new ward and are starting to make some new friends. But we still miss all of our friends in Alexandria.

Aubrey Updates

In December, we found out that Aubrey needed glasses. It was a bit of an ordeal finding some frames that would work for her, but we did. I even decided to get pink, so people would stop thinking she's a boy. It's kind of working. 

 

Aubrey also got a high chair for Christmas and eats all her meals in it. She has started working on drinking from a cup.

She watched her first Super Bowl.

She had her first Valentine cookie.

She finally wore the sweet sweater Aunt Jamie made her.

She learned how to giggle.

And she learned how to crawl and climb.

Aubrey is keeping us busy and we are all looking forward to her 1st birthday!

Merry Christmas

I know this is really late, but I have a lot of good excuses. We had a great Christmas with Aubrey this year. We went to Calgary and stayed with my parents for a week. Here we are in front of their tree.

Aubs didn't really get the presents, but she really loves paper, so that worked out. 

I got a super cool Kindle for Christmas (Thanks, parents!) so please give me your book suggestions. I've actually been reading! John got a lot of cool camera stuff. Aubrey got a lot of good Uncle time. 

Which she really did like, though it's not really showing in the picture.