How Did I Get Here?

2

On September 1st, Harrison turned 2.
2.
I still can't quite believe it.
2 years since his little spirit made our family complete.
And to think we thought it was complete before he came along.
Little did we know.

 

 

Right now he:

• Cuts the middle right out of words: Pumpkin is "puh-in", candy is "cah-ee"
• Calls Connor "bubba" - which is short for brother
• Likes to ask me "doo-ey?" (what are you doing) 43983498754 times a day
• Has beautiful blue eyes and curly blonde hair
• Tries to make the sign of the cross when we say prayers at night (Fadder - Shon - HOE-WEEEE!!! - Peer-it - AYYYYYYYY - MEN!)
• Loves his Hippo lovey and "bay-eeh cout" (baby scout) dog
• Thinks Connor is the be-all end-all of cool
• Knows just how to torture Connor and freak him out (I remember Tina knowing how to do this to me when we were little)
• Calls his new daycare "new fwen" (new friends)
• Will eat grapes, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple and apples till they're coming out of his ears
• Says "pweeeeeee" for please (and kind of sounds like Roger Rabbit when he does)
• Could watch Wall-E every. single. day. (and almost does)
• Dances a lot
• Is quite the daredevil... more so than Connor was, which scares me
• Has had stitches above his left eye TWICE now (in the same exact spot)
• Likes to have Jon take him to bed ("dah-ee take") but wants me to rock with him
• Thinks it's funny to call Jon "Jon"
• Still calls me "mama"
• Gives orders twice "sit, mama, sit"
• Loves his paw-paws and mah-mos (grandpas and grandmas)
• Calls his little cousin will "Bay-ee Wiw" (baby will)

Catch Up

"Life moves pretty fast... if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"

Wise words from Mr. Ferris Bueller.

Life does move pretty fast.
Especially when you have small children, a husband you enjoy spending time with and a full-time (fulfilling) job. Not to mention an active social (and social media) life.  I'm not here to make excuses for not updating my blog. It's my blog and I'll blog if I want to. Not because I feel obligated. 

I am here, however, to play a little catch up.
There are definitely things I don't want to forget.
So they're getting documented.

 July

A couple of my 10TV favorites left for bigger and better opportunities.
Miss Brittany Westbrook:
 

And Lindsey Seavert:
 

Two VERY fashionable ladies. I admire their style, sass and sweetness.

We went to the beach:

With great friends, the Kaczmarek family. They may live in NC, but they're Buckeyes through and through.

The boys loved the beach.
It was Harrison's first trip and he took to the water like a fish.... to water.

Harrison actually fell asleep at the lunch table three days in a row.
Poor peanut.

 

It was a trip we won't soon forget.

We came home and Connor started first grade.
He LOVES it.
And I think he has a crush on his teacher.

Last weekend, we made our annual fall trip to the pumpkin patch.
The weather was beautiful.

Harrison loved making his way through the hay maze and even stopped to look up when he spotted me & Jon.

Connor made sure he found the perfect pumpkin.

Harry found one he could handle.

Jon's still keeping the streets safe :)
I'm still loving my "hospital" job... and learning I have other skills than producing newscasts... which is pretty cool.

All is well here in Buckeye country.
We're gearing up for the holidays, strategically planning shopping trips and making sure we slow down and enjoy it.

Fall is my favorite time of year and I want to savor every moment I can. 

 

Brothers

A little side-by-side comparison of Connor & Harrison at approximately the same age :) 

 

Short and Sweet

It's true... I own a video camera and a flip cam... but right now I have two videos shot on my cell phone.
I actually keep my flip cam in my purse, ready for anything that might be fun to document. But let's face it, sometimes I have my phone IN HAND, and it's much easier to press record on what I'm holding, rather than rooting through my purse. 

So tonight I have two very short videos I shot, with my blackberry, in the past week. 

The first one is of Connor, the ham, singing along to Black Key's "Tighten Up": 

 

The second is of Harrison, ordering me to EAT!!
This is his new thing - he fancies himself the dictator of the table and orders everyone to eat at every. single. meal. 

so they're not the best quality, but I'm glad I caught them on camera :)

Summer Music #musicmonday

In honor of music monday on twitter, I have another music post.
If this is your first visit to my blog, I try to write every so often about what's taking up space and getting plenty of play on my ipod. I love music. I love to share it. The end :)

First up, my boyfriend: 

 

Oh Brandon Flowers. With or without The Killers.... you rock.
His new solo-single, Crossfire, is just beautiful. I may have put it on repeat for my ride to and from work a couple of times last week. 

Being Bad Feels Pretty Good - Does It Offend You, Yeah? - First off, I'd like to just say how cool it is that my boss had a feeling I'd like this song, so he told me about it... and he was right. I love it. electro-poppy with cowbell. You read that right. 

Cooler Than Me - Mike Posner - catchy and smooth pop tune about a guy who likes a girl who thinks she's cooler than him. Awww, poor dude.  

Dynamite - Taio Cruz - Summer song for sure. You know those songs... the ones that you can picture yourself playing in the car with the windows down, or on the beach or at the pool... this definitely fits the bill. 

Heavy in Your Arms - Florence + The Machine This would be the exact opposite of a summer song. Haunting and somber. It's from the soundtrack for Eclipse and I'm just drawn to Florence's voice. 

I Can Talk - Two Door Cinema Club a fast paced, euro-pop song that I clicked with the second I heard it. I think this would be a good one to add to the running playlist.

The Kids - B.o.B. - so the chorus is basically a reworked version of Vampire Weekend's "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance"  which is why I immediately liked it, but the song can stand on its own. This one is definitely on Connor's playlist right now. He LOVES it. And when they say "damn" in the song, he quickly says "word I'm not allowed to say", which really cracks me up.

Maybe - Ingrid Michaelson I started liking Ingrid when Shonda Rhimes decided just about all of her songs should be in Grey's Anatomy.. but I fell in love with her when we saw her open for Barenaked Ladies last month. She's a talented smart ass.. and that's a winning combination for me. 

My Love - Sia - another haunting one from the Eclipse soundtrack. For some reason, when I hear this song, I can imagine it being used for a heartbreaking contemporary routine on So You Think You Can Dance... stop judging me. 

Next Girl - The Black Keys - I ADORE this song. I may annoy my family just a tad by belting it out whenever the mood strikes me. The Black Keys may be my new favorite band... so bluesy and soulful, you'd swear they were from Louisiana... not Ohio. P.S. The whole album (Brothers) is good.  There is no official video for "Next Girl", so I'm posting the video for "Tighten Up" which is another one of my favorites - and the video cracks me up. 

OMG - Usher - annoyingly addictive. Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh... you get the idea. I can't get enough.

Tightrope - Janelle Monae - "whether you're high or low.. you got to tip on the tightrope" I'm not sure how to explain this.... it kind of has a motown feel with a futuristic spin. 

What Part of Forever - Cee Lo Green - I'm almost embarrassed to admit this is also from the Eclipse soundtrack. Not what I would expect from Cee Lo... but it works for him (and me)!

The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson - an oldie but a goodie. Mark my words. One day I will karaoke sing this :)     

Park Time

I took a half-day off work Friday, headed home and headed out with the boys.
We left the plans up to Connor... so we ended up at Red Robin for lunch and then headed to Prairie Oaks Metro Park for a little fun in the sun. We definitely have two climbers on our hands. There's no "playing it safe" with these two. 

 

Schoolin' The Wonder Pets

This morning we caught Harrison lining up his Wonder Pets on the chair: 

He then made sure they were all sitting up, started naming them (meen-meen, tuh, he can't - or won't - say Linny yet), and then started babbling to them. 

 

Then he put them all on their backs and told them "nigh-nigh".
If I were a faster woman, I would have been able to get some video of it - but alas, I'm molasses girl. 

oh yeah, Elmo got thrown into the mix, too.  
  

Yelling & Pointing

We packed up the boys and headed for the zoo last saturday... 

 
There was a lot of yelling & pointing from Harrison. 

 

That's what he does when he sees fish. 
So if there are a lot of fish - you get A LOT of yelling and pointing. 

 

  

Connor was great, we HAD to stop at the reptile house for him. Ew. 
But he also insisted on seeing the new polar bear exhibit, which was definitely on my "must see" list.

  

And when we were finished with the zoo part...
We hit up Jungle Jack's Landing for some funnel cake and rides. 

  

 All in all, it was a good (and hot) day :)

My Boys

Sometimes, there are no words to describe them. I catch a glimpse and they take my breath away. I say it a lot... but it's true. They're miracles. Plain and simple.

  

Future Buckeye

Connor went from "graduating" kindergarten one day... to playing in the Horseshoe the next.
Hold still... he's one busy kid. 

 

It was all part of a charity tournament for his flag football league. 
His team had the option of going and Jon (along with several other parents) was adamant the kids play.
So played they did.

 

It was pretty cool to watch.
And I always love being in Ohio Stadium :)
Could this be a taste of things to come? 

We had to take a break and head inside the shoe when a thunderstorm rolled through, but that was just a minor blip on our radar. 

 

And so ends Connor's third season of flag football.

 

We couldn't be more proud. 

I'm sure one day he'll look back and realize just how cool this day was :)