Project Baby: 50 Weeks Old

• We started out this week with three-day field trip up to Northern Bavaria. We stayed in a youth hostel that is in an old fortress that was recently renovated. It was really nice! We had a great time in town just walking around, even though our castle was on a hill and I had to walk up hill with a LARGE 23+ pound baby on my back. It was good exercise, though! Harrison did really well on the bus and on the trip. He really was only angry or frustrated a very short portion and even slept for a while when I nursed him on the bus, which I was very grateful for! I feel like Heavenly Father is really blessing him to do so well in the car and on the busses.
• Harrison took his first steps at our relatives’ house on Saturday evening! He was just standing in their kitchen holding a toy, looked up and saw me, and took three steps to me! Now we can tell him that he took his first steps in Germany!
• On Sunday morning, we walked into my family’s kitchen for breakfast and I said, “Harrison say ‘Hi!’” I say this all of the time when we are around people, but he usually doesn’t say or do anything. Well, with all of these people looking at him, immediately after I said that, he waved and said, “Hi!” I was shocked! It was so adorable! He totally knows what we are saying to him, but doesn’t always want to do what we are saying.

Project Baby: 49 Weeks & A European Adventure

Thoughts this week:

• Harrison had his first airplane ride this week… to Germany! It turned out better than I thought it would, but was pretty stressful for the first few hours, especially since I had hardly gotten any sleep the night before because Harrison was awake a lot in the night because of teething and gassiness.
• After we arrived in Germany, Harrison started not wanting baby food any more. He started turning his head away from baby food when we tried to feed it to him. Silly boy! He has consequently done a lot of snacking with all the new foods here. The downside is that we don’t always have baby-friendly food readily available! Also, it’s easier to make sure he is eating enough when I gave him baby food because it is a measurable amount. Oh, well! This boy definitely has a mind of his own!
• In spite of being away from home, Harrrison has surprised me with how good he has been. The worst part of this week was him SCREAMING the entire way from the Munich airport into Eggenfelden where he promptly fell asleep about five minutes before we arrived in town. Poor guy! By that point, he was just so over-exhausted. We had tried giving him a sucker or little baby cookies, but NOTHING was going to make this guy happy. I think we calculated he screamed for 78 miles (kilometers?). I don’t know. I was so sleep-deprived, I can’t remember which it was!
• We looked up the regulations and decided to turn Harrison’s car seat forward-facing this week. He is definitely happier forward-facing! I am trying to train him to like being in the car, or else to tolerate it better than he has. Since birth, he has HATED being in the car and just cried when we are in the car. I’m having Erin Rose give Harrison a little smartie candy when we get in the car as part of what I call my “Pavlov’s dog” training. I think it’s actually working! He’s sleeping in the car now and crying way less. YAY!
• Harrison has found a broom at both Beate and Maria’s places. He LOVES them and could just sit there playing with the broom for a good 20 minutes, which is long in baby land! I guess I’ll have to get him his own little broom when we get home that he can play with and I won’t have to worry about him getting dirty!
• Speaking of dirty… I’ve really just have had to let go on this trip and let Harrison get dirty and eat with dirty hands (unless I can help it by cleaning with wipes!) after crawling all over the ground. When we are out, it’s hard to keep him happy sitting on my lap if there isn’t a high chair for him. And, if there is a high chair, they usually don’t have buckles to keep him in so he stands up. I will say that is something exhausting about having a baby with in Europe: It’s hard to always be watching, watching, watching what Harrison is doing when I’m not holding him and he doesn’t want to be held all of the time, which makes sense. He is, after all, a baby!

Burghausen Fortress and Our Day Out

We had a CRAZY busy day today that included the following:

• Buying my first pair of Birkenstock sandals
• A delicious bakery experience with the tastiest sandwich and
• Met up with friends at the longest castle in Europe complete with a walk to the end of the fortress and around a beautiful lake
• Purchased handmade pottery purchased from the maker himself
• We even got gas in Austria to add yet another country to our list.
• Ended the night with a delicious BBQ with friends. It's been a full day on our European adventure!

Project Baby: 48 Weeks Old, Teething Woes, & an 11-Month Birthday

Well, I'm writing this post a day early because we leave to Germany TOMORROW! Crazy! Harrison is also 11 months old today. Hopefully I don't forget to post pictures... actually, hopefully I don't forget to take pictures when Harrison wakes up from his nap. I'm foregoing packing right now to write on my blog. I know that some may say that is a frivolous decision, but, honestly, I will not remember the frantic packing before my trip (well, at least I won't be able to differentiate the frantic packing before this trip from the other frantic packings before trips!). I will, however, regret if I don't take the time to post some of my thoughts and, of course, pictures from this week of Harrison's life. I know that some people may think it's ridiculous that I have documented my child's life weekly over the past 11 months. I will say that having this blog from the first year of his life will be priceless to both he and I in the future! I have already loved looking back and remembering the milestones in his life and all of the changes that have occurred that I have already forgotten about!


I am so grateful for this little sweet boy in my life, in spite of the fact that this past week (truly, this past MONTH) has been marked by many sleepless nights on Harrison's part. He has been slowly but surely getting in his top 4 teeth and I'm telling you, these are buggers and have been hurting him so badly! I feel so bad for him and also exhausted from trying to end a school year, coordinate an international exchange, be a wife/home maker, work full-time, AND be hardly getting sleep on top of it. I am a rock star, if I do say so myself. No, I'm not perfect, but I have done all of this and I am proud of what I have accomplished in spite of the problems that have arisen along the way! I really think that all moms are rock stars! What a comfort they are to their babies with their positive, do-whatever-it-takes attitudes to help their families be happy and comfortable. I know that I could not have done it without my Heavenly Father through lots of prayer. Some nights I have prayed and prayed and prayed and not gotten the immediate Harrison-fell-asleep-right-after-my-prayer answer I wanted. I have been overwhelmed, fatigued, and frustrated. Sometimes I have felt like God wasn't there to answer my prayer or was simply choosing not to help me and my son. I know that isn't the case, but in my exhausted state of mind, that is how I have felt. I'm sure I am not the only one who has been there! Sleep deprivation wears on you. I know that God heard my prayer and provided me with the strength to do what I needed to do in spite of the situation. He didn't take away my burden or help my baby get to sleep, but he helped me through. As I prayed, the thought came to me that maybe God wasn't helping Harrison get to sleep right away for a reason. That maybe I needed to learn something through all of this. I'm not sure if I am more or less faithful now. My sleep-fogged brain is still taking over most of my rational thoughts. I do know that I have a little more clarity now to say thank you to God for helping me endure what I didn't think I could endure for one more minute. And, although it sounds crazy, thanks be to God for helping me not be angry at my son (even though sometimes I really wanted to be!) for being awake. I'm grateful for the perspective that He has given me and the reminder that He has given me of the precious little sweet son that I have the opportunity of raising. I am so blessed to be his mother!

Thoughts this week:

• Harrison has been squinting his eyes sometimes when he laughs or smiles. It's really cute!
• Harrison has started to "jump" in his bed when he wakes up. Man, this guy is hand full! He definitely keeps us on our toes. They other day when I realized he was bouncing on his crib mattress was funny. I was laying in bed a little longer just willing myself to wake up for the day to go get him when I heard this bump noise coming from his room. I flipped on the video monitor and, sure enough, he was bouncing in his bed!
• I've been working with Harrison for the past few weeks or so trying to get him to say a few animal sounds. So far, we've got "roo roo" for a dog and "ss-ss" and sticking out his tongue for a snake. He loves mimicking sounds, words and word intonations! Last night, he was turning on and off the light in the bathroom and I was working with him to teach him "on" and "off." He kept copying my intonation and vowels until finally he said "offff" emphasis on the "f" sound! Success! It was so cute!
• Harrison will say a few other things like "buh ba" for bye bye. This morning, he said "Hi da" when I said it to tell his dad that. It was so cute! I really think we're going to have an early talker on our hands! He already loves saying funny words in his made-up baby language. I love when he talks. His voice is so precious to me.
• Harrison knows SO MANY commands. It's amazing to me what he understands. When I want to switch him to the other side when nursing, I simply say "switch" or "let's do your switchies" and he will come off to go to the other side. He also knows what "bye bye" means. Last night, I said let's go bye bye and picked him up. He was kicking his legs and was so excited. I forgot something in the kitchen and he started crying when I started walking into the kitchen to get it. When we started walking towards the door again, he got so happy again!
• Speaking of... this boy LOVES being outside and getting dirty!
• Harrison LOVES to crawl in and out of any little space. Last night, he figured out how to get our vent cover out in our room. He then tried to crawl into the heating duct! Silly boy!
• Harrison also LOVES cars, motorcyles, and trucks and laughs at their sounds! It is hilarious to watch him when he hears a vehicle and turns immediately around to see where it is and crawl towards it!
• This guy is an animal lover! A week or so ago, he was so sad when his grandma left. We were waving to her near our neighbors yard when their cat walked up. I set Harrison down on the grass and he was SO happy to just watch it and try to pet it. He does that with dogs all the time and smiles so big when he sees them! I definitely see a dog in our family's future, especially since Evan and I both love having dogs too!
• In preparation for our trip, Harrison had his first dose of Benadryl yesterday as per doctor's suggestion for the flight. I'm not so sure we'll use it, but we at least know it worked somewhat to help him fall asleep faster. Pray for us for our flight tomorrow!
• I finished the school year on Wednesday and feel already like a burden has been lifted! It is SO NICE to not have to worry about running back and forth from home to nurse Harrison and to worry about who is going to watch Harrison. I'm still debating about what I'm going to do next school year. I have FOR SURE decided I will not be working full-time, if at all. I'm just not sure what is right for Harrison, Evan, and I for next year. Evan is working as an LPN now near our town. I could quit teaching, even though we'd be strapped for money. He HOPEFULLY will start an RN program in January which will take 1.5 years. We'll see what I end up doing next year. Either way, this is the LAST YEAR that I will work full-time for many years to come. YAY for being home with my baby more!
• Last thing... as we approach Harrison's forthcoming first birthday, I am going to enjoy this last month of "baby-hood" as much as I can! I really am enjoying every stage thus far, and especially love how active and interactive this sweet boy of mine is! So blessed to be his mother and that he chose me. :)

 LOVES to play with the watering can... and why not? It has a handle, one of Harrison's favorite characteristics in a toy.

His cousin, Maria, was over doing homework and got Harrison to smile for a picture.

First time ever wearing shoes and is not so sure about them!

Not so sure about these, mom!

He is only smiling because there is a flash!

After our trip to the library/store... I had to get this picture of his crossed legs. Love how he crosses his ankles like that! It is so adorable.

What?! It isn't normal to crouch down on the stair of a step stool to eat snacks? 

You mean everyone doesn't do this to eat their meals?

I may or may not have got Harrison his very own California roll last night when I got sushi for myself. Harrison and mom date night! What can I say? The kids LOVES sushi. Note that he only made it through 3-4 pieces before wanting down and to get in his bath. But, he enjoyed the pieces he did it and mama enjoyed hers too! Poor daddy had to eat our leftovers when he got home from work!

After his bath last night, Harrison was climbing all around naked in my luggage. It was so funny! He has been SO obsessed with my luggage, especially the wheels. He wants to spin the wheels at all costs. If he can't do that, he wants to crawl into the luggage and play hide and seek. Funny boy! Love that little naked bum!

HA HA HA HA HA! Check out those thighs?! He is one thick kid!

Of course... why WOULDN'T he crawl into the oven drawer? Love that post-hummus messy face! Just took these pictures today a few hours ago after our chiropractor/Target run. He sure was tired and ornery on the way back from our trip, but as soon as he got inside the house and started climbing into and on things, he didn't want to go down for a nap!

Love those adorable arms!

Look at those post-bath curls!

Loves driving my car

I snuck away for a quick afternoon wedding of my good friend, Natalie Guillen

Evan walked to school with Harrison to come visit me a few days before school ended

Emma came to hang out this week and we took back her library books.

Putting together the photo wall... notice Harrison in the background digging his hand in the plant?

Just can't get enough of this suitcase

11 Month Birthday... I could hardly get any good pictures because he was moving around so much! These will have to suffice!

You can see the teething hand... don't judge my hot outfit!

Riding dad's dirt bike

Packing woes...

Last breakfast before Germany... you can see how exhausted he was! He didn't really go to sleep until 4am because of teething! Not the ideal way to start a long journey!

On the underground train with daddy in the background

FINALLY asleep on the airplane... first flight = success! (eventually)