Merry Christmas!

This holiday season has flown by! Every year I try and stay organized, to get as much done ahead of time as possible so I can relax and enjoy the season. However, once again I find myself scrambling to finish the baking, wrap the presents, get everyone dressed and ready for the family parties..and somehow keep my sanity!

I love Christmas...but I'm glad that it only comes once a year.

We kicked off the Christmas festivities at my parents house. Growing up Christmas was a big deal. My mom would start shopping months in advanced. My parents didn't buy my sisters and I many toys or extra things during the year. Everything was saved for that one special morning. This year Lucas is finally old enough to be excited for Christmas. It was so much fun watching him and the boys tear through their gifts.

Christmas Eve is such a special time. This year we spent our Christmas Eve with my husband's family. It was such a fun party! Lucas enjoyed playing with his cousins, and Alara charmed everyone with an overdose of cuteness.

Christmas morning we stayed home. After two days of partying, it felt amazing to stay home and lounge around in our jammies eating brunch until noon. One thing I wish people had warned me about the holidays with kids is that everyone wants to see the kids...which means the days are long, the tantrums are hard and nights are short.

I am in love with this picture! Next years Christmas card??? 

We ended the Christmas festivities at my Grandma's house. The party was fun and it was great to see my cousins and their families. However, because this was the last party of the week, the kiddos were tired and cranky. Fun times. At least I did get one semi-decent family picture. 

Carlsbad Getaway Trip

Several months ago my husband purchased tickets to go see the new Star Wars movie. Being the Star Wars fan that he is my husband didn't want to see the movie in just any theater. He got tickets for the Cinepolis in Carlsbad...so naturally we made a weekend of it. This was our first trip as a family of four. I am thankful that Dadi and Dada traveled with us - having an extra set of hands made a huge difference. It was an amazing weekend, and we are all looking forward to the next family vacation.  

crafting christmas tradition

The holiday season is a time to build lifelong memories with family and friends. One of my favorite traditions that my mom and I do together with the kiddos is make Christmas ornaments. Although I love handmade ornaments - I'm also picky about what goes on my tree. I don't like anything with macaroni, large globs of glue, popsicle sticks or weird spongy craft stickers. There is a special place of those types of ornaments but not on our main Christmas tree.

Don't tell Lucas, but I think my favorite snowflake ornament is the one with Alara's footprint.

This will be the our third year of making ornaments. I love seeing the kids creativity. And they love making craft messes. It's a win-win situation.

Thankfully, Christmas crafting day only comes around once a year. Any more than that and I think I'd go crazy trying to keep four little boys from making too big of a mess in Grandma's kitchen.

Ahem. Sorry Mom. 

6 months old

Alara at Six Months

• Alara is a busy girl! She is doing the army crawl/scoot. 
• When she wants to be picked up she will do the "beached wale." The "beached wale" is when she is on her stomach and repeatedly lifts her arms and legs up and down really fast. Its adorable. Usually the "beached wale" is accompanied with coos, growls and other noises.    
• Still not sleeping through the night. On a good night, Alara will wake up twice..but on a bad night she will wake up three to four times. 
• On December 12th, we had Alara dedicated in our church. It was a beautiful ceremony. Afterwards we had a lunch reception at Dadi and Dada's house. 
• Alara tried rice cereal for the first time and didn't have a bowl movement for about four days. She has also tried pumpkin, potatoes and apple sauce. 
• She will taking her first vacation in couple of days and I'm curious to see how well she does. 

thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving - the Harrison 2015

five months

Five Months 

• She has opinions about everything! When Lucas was five months old, he had adorable coos. Alara doesn't coo. She roars like a lioness! 
• Unfortunately, she is still not sleeping through the night. Some nights Alara will wake up once, and other nights she will wake up about three to four times. My sleep has been inconsistent. I'm looking forward to the day where I can have a good nights rest.  
• She is trying so hard to crawl. Its adorable. Its only a matter of time before she is able to coordinate her arms and legs to get into crawling position. Honestly, I'm ok if crawling waits just a little longer. Once she starts there will be no stopping her! I'm not ready to have a mobile baby yet. 
• She is full of curiosity. She loves looking at people's faces and exploring new things. 
• She had her first haircut. 
• She survived her first winder cold. 
• And finally, Alara weights 13 lbs and 9 oz, and she is about 24 inches tall. 

Dig! by Andrea Zimmerman

I'm not exactly sure how this book found its way to my home, but I'm glad that it did. This sturdy board-book tells the story of Mr. Rally and his faithful dog Lightening as they work together on construction projects around their community. I like this book for several reasons 1) Mr. Rally and Lightening have a strong positive work ethic 2) It's also a counting book and 3) The story is catchy and short.

DIY Costumes

With Halloween just around the corner it's time to show off a few things that I have been working on.

Star Wars is extremely popular around here. I used the left over fabric from the adult Jedi costume to make Lucas his own tunic and robe. Now Jedi Master Johnny and Padawan Lucas are ready to defend the galaxy and...ahem...pass out an insane amount of candy to our neighbors on Halloween night.

Pumpkin Patch

This year our family joined my parents for an afternoon at the pumpkin patch. With the most recent heat wave to pummel Southern California it was nice to finally have a cooler weekend to enjoy pumpkins, panning for gold and corn mazes. It wasn't to crowed at the patch and we had plenty of time to do and see everything. Although I've been to several pumpkin  patches over the course of three years this one was unique in that it was an actual functioning farm nestled in Temecula's wine country. This place is definitely a family must for the foreseeable future!    

four months

Four Months:

• Alara is such a busy girl! She is wiggling and squirming all around her play mat. If I set her down on her back within seconds she's rolled over and moving about.  
• She is taking interest in toys. Her two favorite toys are Sophie the giraffe and this other giraffe that she received as a baby shower gift.   
• She is sleeping through the night..with a few exceptions here and there. 
• She is starting to outgrow her smaller 3 month clothing. 
• She loves to be held forward facing. The world is an interesting place! 
• Her giggles are adorable! 
• Her feet are ticklish!   
• She does not enjoy long car trip. Anything over twenty minutes and she will cry. On family trips I usually will sit in the back seat with her..sometimes that helps and sometimes it doesn't. Lucas has started to cover his ears when she cries. 
• She smiles at most people...family, friends and some strangers...usually grandmas.... 
• Her relationship with Daddy has improved greatly! 

when it's too hot outside - stay inside and have a photo-shoot...

Alara - 16 weeks 

Lucas - 3 years old 

TGIF

When your three year old announces at breakfast that he "broke his day" you know it is going to be a rough one. Upon hearing his announcement I brewed an extra large and strong cup of tea. I knew I was going to need it...

This week has been challenging. I haven't been at 100%. Some mornings I woke up and was able to get things done. I felt great, energetic, ready to conquer the day! Other days...not so much. Some mornings all I want to do was sit on the couch, turn on Netflixs, cover my head and go back to sleep.

Or as my overly dramatic son would say "Mamma, I need a new day!"  

I hear ya!

Some days I've got it together, and others..not so much.

My toddler is the same way. Some mornings he wakes up, fresh and ready for his day. He's got his lightsaber and jedi robes all ready to fight off Darth Vader. And other days..well...he wakes up and announces that he "broke his day."

We - including my toddler - all have our good days and our bad days.  I need to keep in mind that grace and forgiveness that I want on my bad days is the same that I need to give my husband and kids when they are having a bad day.

...and if all else fails..its an early bedtime for everyone! 

labor day project

Happy Labor Day. 

Below I've posted a before and after picture of my latest messy (yet satisfying) project. 

 I'm not sure what Lucas is more excited about..that I'm finished working and now we can play or that he found the ladder to his firetruck. 

Alara is 3 months old

 

Alara at three month 

• Alara's two biggest accomplishments this month are lifting her head during tummy time and cooing! 
• She strongly dislikes long car trips. Alara considers anything over twenty minutes to be a long trip. After about twenty minutes in the car she starts fussing, then screaming. I've learned to plan my errands carefully around nap time or just stay home and shop from Amazon. 
• She is a natural-born snuggler! 
• She is such a Harrison! Her farts keep big brother entertained for hours. 
• Speaking of big brother..Alara watches Lucas like a hawk. She follows him with her eyes and will often rotate her head to get a better view. 
• I've heard her laugh twice and it is a wonderful sound! 
• She prefers to suck on her middle and ring finger than use a paci. 
• She tries so hard to roll over! 
• She loves bath time. 
• Alara has blessed me with several full nights of sleep! I'm crossing my fingers that her sleeping through the night becomes a more permanent thing. If not..I'll take what I can get.