No More Money

Hunter swallowed his first coin and hopefully his last on Saturday, May 23rd. He found a nickel on my bathroom counter and he wanted to put it in his piggy bank (Thomas the Train, of course). I had just gotten out of the shower and started blow drying my hair when he walked out...a few minutes later he came running into the bathroom with tears down his cheeks. "Mommy, no more money!". And he had this weird look on his face - I knew he had swallowed it. No matter how many times you say, "Do not put it in your mouth.", they do it anyway! I'm sure it wasn't a pleasant feeling, but he was more upset about not having any money! Of course, I got my What To Expect - The Toddler Years book out and surprise, surprise what did I find in the index under swallowing??? Small coin... so I turned to the page and it said that he should digest the coin within a few days and to be on the lookout for it. No thanks, I'm not going to look thru his poop to find a nickle - NO THANKS! So...hopefully he learned the lesson - do not put money in your mouth. You can ask him, "What do you NOT do with money?" and he'll respond, "Don't eat it.". Ahhhh....the toddler years!

Memorial Day Weekend

Aaron headed out this morning for his camping/fishing trip with the guys at Lake Ouachita. They are camping on an island. I know he is going to have a really good time! Tonight the boys and I are driving to Clinton (about an hour and a half drive) to go to Andrea's (my niece) high school graduation. WOW - I can't believe she is old enough to be graduating! Didn't I just graduate yesterday?? Oh wait...it's been 13 years since my high school days came to an end!!! I am excited to see Andrea and I'm very proud of her, but I'm really dreading the drive because we will be getting home late tonight and I'm already tired as it is! Natosha and Grayson are coming up tomorrow morning to spend the day and evening with us (Jeff is on the camping/fishing trip). I need to take Hunter to get his hair cut again (he actually told me that he needs a hair cut and he's going to sit in the Taxi Car at Pigtails & Crewcuts). Anyone that is having a hard time getting their kids hair cut, I HIGHLY recommend this place! Even if they don't mind haircuts, it's a fun place for the kiddos! I'm not sure when Aaron is coming back home (probably Sunday afternoon). I guess we'll do the normal BBQ on Monday. ??? Hope everyone has a HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY weekend!!!

Mommy...It's a Bee!

Last night I was reading a book "Fireman Bear" to Hunter and all of a sudden he jumped up and said, "Mommy, a bee!". He was tugging at his ear and I knew that it wasn't a bee, but a mosquito! It was buzzing in his ear and he thought it was a bee - how cute!

And the American Idol is...

KRIS ALLEN!!!!!



I have been rooting for Kris for a LONG time on American Idol! Kris is a very humble, likable guy! And easy on the eyes!

Kris Allen is a singer/songwriter from Conway, Arkansas. His passion for music began when he taught himself to play the guitar at age 13, and he has since learned the piano, viola and ukulele. His talents and soulful voice have given him the opportunity to perform at numerous music venues as well as the chance to share his gifts and faith with many of the under privileged and oppressed people of the world. His travels to Spain, Morocco, Thailand, Burma, Mozambique and South Africa have influenced his music and inspired him to share it with others. Kris debuted his first full-length CD, "Brand New Shoes", in September 2007. The album spotlights his musical capabilities in songwriting, guitar, piano and vocals. Kris is known for his laidback and unassuming personality, and his music itself is full of depth, energy and soul.

Kris Allen Fast Facts:
*Has been playing guitar, writing music and singing since he was 13.
*Is a worship leader with New Life Church in North Little Rock, AR, and with Chi Alpha Campus Ministries at the University of Central Arkansas.
*Has taken part in missionary trips to Spain, Morocco, Thailand, Mozambique and South Africa.

Go KRIS!
You are the 2009 American Idol Winner - MY AMERICAN IDOL!
Kick Awesome! I've been ALLENIZED!



Kris Allen sings for his fans as part of a day long celebration in Little Rock, Arkansas May 9th "Kris Allen Day"

My Little Mozart

Harrison loves his little piano. You put it at the foot of the crib and they kick their feet on it to play the music and this little bird pops out every now and then and says "Hello Baby" and "Peek A Boo". I had gotten it for Hunter, but I bought it a little too late for Hunter, he didn't care for it. Of course, it's not in his crib, he plays with it on the floor.

"Mommy, got cricket, got fishy"

He's finally old enough to understand the concept of FISHING! Aaron is SOOO excited. Aaron had gotten him a Shrek fishing pole last summer when they went on sale and we had it stashed away until the time came! He's been pretending that he's been fishing (with my breastpump hose of all things) so we got his pole out and Aaron put a sinker on it for weight. Hunter has been casting it and reelin' it non-stop since Sunday!!! He's gotten real good at it. He'll say, "got cricket got fishy"! Of course Aaron was ready to take him out, but I am unable to go since Harrison is too small, so I told him he could go as long as Aaron didn't put a hook on the line. I WANT TO BE THERE WHEN HE CATCHES HIS FIRST FISH! Besides Hunter won't know any different if he has a hook or not. All he cares about is throwing out his line and reelin'! Awww...my little fisherman! Call us crazy, but we will mount his first fish!

Mr. Joe Cool

Afternoon of Fishing

Aaron and I took off work early today to go fishing. We were gonna go camping at the Little Red in Heber Springs, but we cancelled that since there's an 80% chance of rain tomorrow. I didn't want to be in a tent with 2 kiddos in the pouring down rain! We went to Lake Maumelle and it was a nice sunny day. The water wasn't choppy too bad. I caught lots of brim and a few bass. It was fun. People ask me if I like to fish and I say, "No, I like to CATCH". Poor Aaron never gets to fish when I'm with him because I keep him busy baiting my hook and taking the fish off! But he says that's fine, he enjoys watching me catch the fish. What a great hubby!! We had a nice time out on the water together. I got sunburned too, but thankfully it doesn't hurt (yet!).

Sleepless in Little Rock

It's 4:30am and I sit here drinking a cold Dr. Pepper, hoping to get tired again. I know, you're thinking "it has caffeine in it"...I'm strange, drinking a little DP in the middle of the night or early morning puts me back to sleep. I guess it's my security blanket. :)
I woke up first because Harrison was moving around, not enough room on a queen size bed (yet again you are thinking why isn't Harrison in his baby crib?). I must be a vampire since I can read minds (for those of you that haven't read Twilight, you wouldn't understand). Wow, I'm just ramblin' on now, back to the point...
Earlier at 1am, the NOAA weather radio went off - severe thunderstorm heading our way - more rain!?!? When will this madness stop? I was able to fall back asleep though until Harrison woke me up. I got up and decided to let the dogs in the laundry room (they sleep in the garage at night) - so when it does start to storm, Molly doesn't try to claw her way back inside. They are both terrified of storms. The other night Molly clawed the door trim off the door leading inside the house from the garage. I was NOT happy!!! While I was in the laundry room, I thought I'd dry the load of clothes I washed earlier and put another load in the washer. No wonder why it takes women so long to get in bed or sit down and relax - everytime we go to do something, we see that something else needs to be done!!!
I started reading Twilight again, but after reading only a few pages I decided to blog and check my Facebook.
It's raining yet again in Little Rock. We are so sick of the rain! I couldn't imagine living in Seattle! Well...I'm starting to get tired...a little DP did the trick...although it's almost 5 oclock...should just go ahead and take a shower and get ready for work...

Hunter "JAMES"

As I'm sure you all know, Hunter is a BIG Thomas & Friends fan. He has so many of the trains aka "choo-choo's", it's ridiculous! Well, the other night we were laying in bed and I'm trying to teach him to say his name "Hunter Reid" and also baby's name "Harrison Gordon". As soon as he heard that Harrison's middle name was Gordon, he said, I'm James. Gordon is one of the train engines and so is James. The real kicker is if I hadn't loved Reid so much, I would have used James for his middle name because that's Aaron's middle name. But I liked Reid TOO much (I liked it so much, that I almost used it as his call name). But for Hunter to pick James is just funny to me. I wondered when I picked Gordon as Harrison's middle name if Hunter would ever think of Thomas and all his Really Useful engine friends! Of course, Harrison was given the middle name Gordon because that was my brother's name, but I'm sure he will think he had a part in naming his baby brother. Silly boy!


James is a medium-sized engine. His six driving wheels are not as big as Gordon's and not as small as Thomas'. He has a fine scarlet coat and brass dome and likes to think of himself as a Really Splendid Engine. This can occasionally lead to high-falutin' ideas about the sort of work suitable for such a noble creature : invariably they land James into trouble. Fun Fact: James is a mixed traffic engine, which means he can pull both passenger coaches as well as freight cars.


Gordon is the senior member of the engine family, the fastest and most powerful of Sir Topham Hatt's string - and he knows it. He's goodhearted, though, and always willing to forgive, and use his superior strength to help smaller engines out of trouble.
Fun Fact: When the Queen visited the Island, it was Gordon that Sir Topham Hatt turned to, to take the Queen around Sodor.

Harrison's 4 Month Checkup

Harrison had his 4 month checkup and shots today.

Current stats:
16lbs 13oz (my guess was 17lbs, I was close!) - 90th percentile
25 1/4 inches long - 75th percentile
Head 16 3/4in - 50th percentile
Size 3 Diaper
Clothes: Mostly 6 months, although he can still wear a few of the bigger size 3 months.

Hunter went with us and the funniest thing happened...after the nurse (Cheryl, an old friend) weighed him and handed Harrison back to me, the receptionist girl asked Hunter if he was the big brother and he held up his hand and showed her three fingers (indicating he's 3 years old) and she said "give me a high five" and so he did, but then he got bashful and ran to me and he gave me a hug, well, try to picture a 3 foot tall kid hugging you at the waist, when he did this he pulled my pants down (I'm laughing out loud as I sit here and type this!). Thank God it was in the back off the clinic and not out in front for all to see!! I'm still wearing a few maternity pants so they are basically falling off of me anyway! I really need to pack them up and wear something with a button and zipper! It was SOOOOO funny! Go ahead...read my blog again! Laugh until you cry!

Anyway...back to Harrison... the doctor said he looked great and healthy! He asked "How many chins does this boy have!?!?" because he's a chunky monkey! I'm going to feed him some cereal tonight, hopefully he'll like it.

I can't believe four months has already passed by since my Harrison was born. He is a very happy baby and is easy to please - he goes with the flow! His face lights up and smiles really big when we talk to him and he especially enjoys watching Hunter be a goof ball!

Gotta get off...Harrison is calling me!

Lil' Buds - Harrison and Grayson

We saw the Hart's again this weekend - it had been TOO long! Grayson is getting SO big and Harrison needs to catch up with him! Haha! We got some really cute pics of them laying in the floor, Natosha and I can't wait until they get a bit older and able to really play with each other!

P.S. Hunter calls Natosha "TaTa" and Grayson "Gray-Gray".

Mother's Day

What can I say? I absolutely LOVE being a mommy! We went to church, however I missed the service because I had nursery duty. I did get the roses for being the "youngest" mom (roses go to the mom with the youngest baby). The last two years I was robbed because of visitors! But not this year! Before we ate lunch Aaron gave me a nice Mother's Day card - and the two words I keyed in on were "rest and relaxation"! After lunch, we all took a nap...it's so nice to lay in bed with both boys next to me! I wanted to go to the cemetery to put out new flowers on my mom and brother's grave, but it was such an icky day with all the rain, so I decided to do it one day after work this week (although, it may still be raining!). After our nap, we went to Nannie Fran's house to give her her Mother's Day gift (digital photo frame), we visited for a few hours and we left around 8pm. The boys had a bath before we called it a night. It was a nice relaxing day...now I'm ready for my car to be cleaned inside and out (the only I thing I asked for Mother's Day!).

Parents Night Out

When the announcement was made at church several weeks ago, we were both excited! Yay, a night out by ourselves - we could have a romantic dinner at a seafood restaurant (remember, Hunter can't be around seafood, he breaks out in a rash, so we must avoid those places), or we could go see a movie (I was shooting for XMen Wolverine), or we could just sit at home, relax without the demands of a 3 year old and a 4 month old baby. We dropped the boys off at 6pm. What did we do? We ate at Jason's Deli, went to Petco to get a fish net (finally be able to clean out our tank and add new stuff), went to Walmart to pick up diapers and other necessary items. All things and places we could have done with the boys...we didn't take advantage of the parents night out! And as we were walking around Walmart we found ourselves in the toy aisle discussing what toys Hunter would like!! So...I'm wondering...will this ever change? Will we always find ourselves talking about our boys when we get those seldom nights alone? We didn't know how to react without them... Not that I'm complaining....we love our boys! Oh and of course when we got home...we were like, "man we wasted a night!"...we could have gone to a Traveler baseball game. But we didn't know they were in town. Oh well....always next time! All in all, still a good night with my hubby! We did have some good laughs!!!

Harrison's Playing with Toys!!!

It's really cute watching him grab for toys now...but of course the first place he wants them is his MOUTH!

My Three Boys

I love seeing Aaron play with the boys - melts my heart!
He's a really good daddy! And the boys LOVE their daddy!

Awww...kisses for Harrison!

Harrison's Bath Time!

Harrison LOVES taking a bath! He will kick his legs and splash the water!

Daddy's Fisherman

LOVE this outfit - another one of Hunter's outfits.
I know Aaron CANNOT wait to take both the boys out fishing! He would love to have lil' pro fishermen!!!



Check out the LONG eyelashes! Gets them from his daddy!

Harrison's First Taste of Baby Food

So I thought he's old enough to try baby food. I decided to go with pears, he wasn't quite sure about it though. He took a few bites and then he was done...better luck next time. Maybe I'll try baby cereal in a few days.

Give me back my breastmilk!!!

Hunter - The Fruit Loop!

Hunter has started the "seafood" gimmick! He was eating fruit loops the other night and just had to show me his chewed up cereal and then he wanted me to take a picture of it...so I did. Gotta admit...they are cute! Boys will be boys!

Update on our trip to Hector

The boys did great in the car - we made it to Hector in an hour and a half! No potty breaks - although as we got closer to Joy's house, Hunter said "mommy, I gotta go pee-pee". Thankfully we were only a few minutes from her house. It was a very eventful night - it stormed SO bad! Around 8/9pm, the tornado sirens started going off, I was like WHAT!?!? They don't have a TV that gets local channels, so I couldn't turn to Ed Buckner for any weather updates! I frantically logged onto their computer, but couldn't find anything that put my mind at ease - however I was able to pinpoint the location/county of Hector!!! Aaron and Fran were both updating me what the weather folks were saying via cell phone. Poor Joy must've thought I was crazy when I was shutting all her bedroom doors and sitting in the hallway! Thankfully, no tornadoes were produced and it was just a really bad thunderstorm with lots of lightning and thunder. They had a small boat for sale in the front yard and the neck of the trailer was knocked off the bucket it was sitting on and a tree was down in the road by their driveway. It rained all day Saturday, so we were stuck indoors, but Hunter and Abigail really enjoyed playing with each other until the very end when Hunter started to get cranky because of no nap. Joy is so good with the kids - she even let them bake a cake - Hunter had a BLAST! We left Hector at 4pm and not even 5 minutes down the road, Hunter was out! Both the boys slept the entire way home, I only pulled off twice (once in Atkins to get a Snickers blast at Sonic!) and then in Mayflower because Harrison woke up and wanted his paci. Although it rained the entire way, we were home by 5:30 - I was exhausted! Aaron cooked me a yummy supper (pork tenderloin, sweet tater, squash and mac/cheese). My husband knows when I need a good supper!

Mix it good!


Hunter's First Cake Beater! Yummy!

Trip to Hector - Mommy and the Boys

We are going to Hector, AR (close to Atkins/Russellville) tonight to see Joy, James, Caleb and Abigail tonight. I am SO excited about seeing my dear friend Joy and her family, I'm ready to just relax and visit. Joy and I have some of the best conversations - we don't get to see each other as much as I'd like, but we have busy lives and I'm going to try and make it a point to see her and her kids more often! Joy and I have been friends since the beginning of my life! I used to kid around and say "yea, I've known Joy ever since I popped out of my momma's belly", which it really is true!!! Joy and I have an unique friendship, we could go months without talking to one another, but as soon as we did, it was like a day never went by. Of course I try not to let too much time pass (although I know Joy would forget to call me every now and then, she's not a phone person!) - but I know I am always on her mind and in her prayers. I love my JOJO! I'm hoping the bad weather holds off until I get off the road!

Harrison is ROLLING OVER!

I can't believe the little monkey man is rolling over! We will lay him down on his belly and he'll kick his legs off to the side and roll over to his back! It won't be much longer until he sits up on his own!!!

Hunter had a Sick Day

So I picked Hunter up from Ms. Ruthie's on Wednesday and poor kid was so puny looking. He was complaining about his stomach hurting and all he could say was "I sick". She said he had thrown up before nap time and when he woke up, he was real sluggish, but he wasn't running a fever. But around 7pm, he started running a fever, it got really high 103 - we called the on call doctor and the on call nurse called back and said to just keep an eye on him. With all the swine flu going around, I was paranoid! We gave him a cool bath and Tylenyol and finally his fever broke early Thursday morning. We both stayed home so that we could keep both of the boys separated. I really, really do not want Harrison to get sick!!! Hunter didn't wake up until 11:30am! So he got much needed rest. He was fine when he woke up, but still just a tad bit sluggish, but he actually had an appetite, in spite of being sick. He is feeling much better today!