The Harris Family

Don't fall over...I'm BACK!!!

2010-09-27T21:17:00.005-05:00

Here are some of my favorite recent photos.

Tonight before bath time, Dee was helping Hooper brush his teeth and Neyland just HAD to be a part of the action. As you can imagine, there was LOTS of laughter going on during this! Today was the most beautiful day, so the boys and I went to the park and played ALL afternoon. It was so much fun. At this park there is a little pond with ducks which the boys love! Especially Hooper, he tried and tried to catch them. At this pond there is a pier which Hooper LOVED! Here's some of my favorite pictures of the boys hanging their heads over looking for fish. Yes, I'm hanging over the side like a crazy Mommy just to get a good picture.

Neyland wanted to see so badly, but he was still strapped into the stroller. There was no way I was about to let him free on a pier!

This was taken a couple weeks back, but I just can't resist posting it. What a way to end a much needed, long over due post!

Pure Angelic!!!

We could not live without stinky brown bear or "Bob" the pacifier!

Faces

2010-05-10T12:11:00.006-05:00

My boys are just like me...their faces say's whatever they are thinking, good or bad. Here are some pictures I've came across with their faces telling it all.

One day Hooper got too quiet, so I went to check on him. He had managed to get the chocolate cake off the counter, without spilling it, down to the floor and was having himself a good ol' picnic! Is this the look of guilt or what?

He was so cute I couldn't get onto him...so he continued to enjoy himself.
He was so proud of his find!

But now as proud when I said "enough."

So he decided to eat his hammer instead. Doesn't look near as tasty to me.

Meanwhile Ol' Big Eyes has some sweet looks of his own to give you.

He absolutely melts me!

Couldn't you just eat him up?

Check his hair out...I gelled it, ha!

Faces...each one is perfect!

Neyland's 9 Month Pictures

2010-04-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

On March 24, Neyland turned 9 months old. I know I've said this before, but he is the sweetest, most precious little man! At nine months he has 4 teeth (2 tops and 2 bottoms), almost crawling, saying "dada" indescriminately and LOVES Hooper and William! At his 9 month well check up he is:

29 inches tall 73rd percentile

19.5 pounds 28th percentile

head circumference of 19.75..100th percentile

All that to say our little angel is PERFECT! Praise God!!!

Here are his pictures from his 9 month photo shoot with Mr. Bear whom he LOVES more than anything!!! Love this!

He claps now too!

I can ask him where his teddy bear is and he immediately starts looking for him.

The fight is on!

Big Boy!

Oh I'm so blessed!

Did I mention he loves to "talk!"

and on occasion he fusses...but only when something is wrong! I guess he's done here!

This has been the BEST 9 months of my life..to have Neyland, Hooper and Dee in my life. Yes, we are in survival mode around here, but it sure is FUN!

All About Neyland

2010-04-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

Rarely do I post a blog just about Neyland, but I thought his time was due. Here are some random pictures of the most beautiful baby in the world from 8-9 months that I just love. Just look at this makes my heart melt!!!!

We received some Costco coupons for wipes and Dee went a little wild. This man cannot turn down a good deal. I'm so proud of him! We should be good on wipes until Neyland is potty trained, ha!
Speaking of...here's the world's BEST dad! He always gives Hooper his bath and I give Neyland his. However for some reason on this night Dee ended up giving Neyland his bath and we discovered it was his first time ever bathing him. We could not believe it. He's just always so busy with Hooper I guess we just kind of overlooked it. Anyhow now he can say he's bathed Neyland!
Kind of a bad shot with Dee's arm in the way but I just love the look on Neyland's face.
My happy baby monkey!

Dee getting ready for night time prayers...and it look like Hooper is sneaking Neyland a drink. Hmmmm.

Oh what fun these three boys have together!

Cutest baseball player ever!

Since the weather has been getting warmer we are playing outside more and more. But since Neyland doesn't have much hair we must cover that beautiful head with a hat. And yes he still has on his pj's here. Some days it's just a pj day! Oh and notice he's clapping his hands. Just one of the many talents he possesses!

SWEET!

Please get me out of this Exersaucer...please!

Let's end with one last....Oh my~ What a look...notice the scratch between his eyes? I think it's time to trim those nails.

We are so blessed to have anyother sweet baby! God is so good!

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T11:45:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful day celebrating the rising of our Lord and Savior! Our church had a cross covered in chicken wire out front where everyone brought a flower to stick in and make a cross of flowers. It was beautiful! Here's our little family (minus Craig) that God has blessed us with. Notice Hooper is NOT in a picture taking mood, ha!

Hooper coloring Easter Eggs

2010-04-05T10:45:00.002-05:00

Saturday night we thought we would let Hooper try his hand at coloring Easter Eggs. It was FUN to say the least. He really didn't get the concept of one red egg, one blue egg etc. Everyone of his eggs was mixed in every color and somehow they all came out looking somewhat different. Oh well, him having fun is what it's all about, right? Sorry if we offend anyone with him in his undies, but the thought if him wearing clothes and doing this was too much! I feared what they would look like...Clorox here we come, ha!
Precious!

We had to beg and beg to get him to look at the camera to get this shot.

Hiding! His favorite thing to do when a camera comes out.

Hooper's Class Picture

2010-04-01T12:47:00.004-05:00

How cute is this? I mean, really who could not melt just looking at these angels! This is Hooper's 2 year old's class at our church where he attends Kids Day Out 2 days a week.

He's such a BIG BOY!

p.s.....Thanks Aunt Donna for the dapper sweater! He's so GQ in it!

Neyland's 8 month pictures....a month late

2010-03-30T12:34:00.009-05:00

Last week Neyland turned 9 months old but before I post those pictures I must go back and post his 8 month pictures to see the difference. I don't know where the time goes. Everyone said this first year of his life would be about "survial" and to expect nothing to get done other than that....and guess what? They were right! But regardless of if we are on top of things or not here in the Harris house we are having a BLAST and I am loving every minute of it!

Neyland is the SWEETEST baby in the World! He loves to sit and play by himself and really loves to watch his big brother and William! His favorite toy is his brown teddy bear which he gets his monthly "growth" pictures with. He MUST have it to sleep with and we even take it to church or anywhere else with us as his security item. I think it's so sweet to see him snuggle it and love it so much! Here are his monthly growth pictures taken (3/2/10) a week after he turned 8 months. And as usual, you had better want to see a lot of pictures if you're reading this, because when your kids are as cute as mine, you just can't pick one or two pictures to post!

Uh-oh, he fell over. Either that or he was "all done" taking pictures.

These were taken the day before he turned 8 months. How precious can one little boy be?

See how much he loves teddy!

He is so happy all the time!

Still loving those big eyes and long eye lashes!

Nana calls him "hoot owl" because of his big eyes and the way he HAS to look at everything around him.

Oh what good toes! Keeping socks on him is a daily battle!

If your toes were this cute, you'd nibble on them too!

Dee was playing peek-a-boo with his blanket and he loved it!

Brothers! I am so blessed to have two boys so close in age! At this point they love each other dearly...I pray they always will!

Hooper had to get in on the peek-a-boo fun.

I think he confused. It's a cracker not a cigar!

I heard him laughing in the living room and went in to see what was so funny. I found him rolling around in the floor with this blanket just having a glorious time all by himself.

We had a wonderful 8 months and can only look forward to more fun in the future! God is so good!

First full of day Spring 2010...SNOW!!!!!

2010-03-21T10:51:00.009-05:00

Well I just noticed that the last time I posted a blog was of our last snow...Feb 11. So I'm not on top of things...blog wise other than snow I guess. Yesterday was the first day of Spring and we were blessed with snow, again. This has been the snowiest year I can remember in a long time! Hooper sure has enjoyed it to say the least. Here are some pictures taken this morning.

I had to go out before breakfast to get a couple pictures, just in case it began to melt before I could let Hooper out to play, and well Hooper wasn't about to let me out alone(yes, in his PJ's)! Do not think it's anyone's birthday because of the sack, that's just what Hooper was carrying his toys around in this morning and HAD to bring it with him.Our backyard They predicted 1 inch...I think it was a little more than that, ha. The weather channel said we got 8 inches and I think we definitely got that much here.

Hooper calls these his "fireman" boots. Too cute! Nana and Papa bought him these when he was still in the hospital....just born!

Ok, now that breakfast is over it's time to PLAY!

My boys have the BEST Daddy inm the world!

This is a foot print in the snow. Dee said his feet sank about 9 inches everytime he took a step.

Oh I love this little guy!

The snow drifts on the top of the house were around 30 inches! This was a very WINDY snowing!

Our house once again covered in snow. We don't have one, but all of our neighbors Bradford Pear trees are in FULL bloom...covered in snow. So pretty!

The boys tried and tried but could not get a snow man built. Dee said the snow was too fine.

But they made lots of snow angels and still had lots of fun!

You may ask where Neyland is during all this fun....napping!

Happy Spring!

Snow Day :)

2010-02-11T14:26:00.005-06:00

This morning we woke up to a beautiful present from God...SNOW! And lots of it! These pictures were taken around 9-10:00 am and we had around 2-3 inches by this point. At the time I'm writing this it's 2:45 and we have 4-5 inches and it's STILL snowing..yippee! The boys are napping but as soon as Hooper wakes up we'll be back out in it I'm sure. We played about an hour this morning and it was still a fight to get him to come in. Yes, he's had a small cold this week already but Dee and I discussed it and we both decided it would be considered child abuse if we didn't let Hooper go and play. Here are some pictures from this mornings FUN!

Yes, he's totally decked out in TN even when it's cold. Here's the attire: 1st layer: socks & Tenn. flannel onesie pj's with feet 2nd layer: Tenn sweatshirt with thick flannel pants, 3rd layer lined wind pants, gloves, taboggin, another pair of socks (that's 3 layers on his feet now) his HUGE, thick coat and rain boots. We played over an hour and he never got cold other than this rosey cheeks. When we came in and stripped him nothing was cold, his hands were even warm and he still somehow managed to move around quiet well, ha!

I think his tricycle needed some digging out.
William joined in on the fun but only for a few minutes. He said it was too cold.

Here's a shot of our house. It was hard to get because the camera lens kept fogging up.

Hooper's FIRST snowman. He had a BLAST building it and took it quiet seriously!

2 out of 3 of my favorite boys!

My sweet husband worked from home today due to the weather, but took a few breaks to go and play.

Love this picture...and these boys!

Dee wanted a shot of the two of us to prove that I do exist, ha.

You may be asking "where is Neyland during all this?" Well he was napping. After he woke up Dee went in to take care of him and let me play more with Hooper. He's so great!

Hooper wanted to include them in as much as he could so he was talking to them through the screen.

If you look hard you can see Dee and Neyland through the screen.

After building the snowman in the front yard Hooper wanted to build another in the back. Unfortunately he wanted to beat this one like a pinata...so I let him burn as much energy as he wanted to off. The interesting thing here....the snowman's hat is a Tiger Woods hat and he had golf clubs for arms. Seems appropriate that he's getting beatin' doesn't it?

Neyland was hungry from all the fun...well watching it at least so he decided it was time to eat. Look at how sweet this little guy is?

Stay tuned for more after the boys nap. It's still snowing!

Neyland's 7 Months pictures

2010-01-26T20:30:00.008-06:00

Neyland is the SWEETEST baby ever. It's just so hard to believe that he is now 7 months old! He is now closer to 1 year than the day he was born, ugh! Where is his babyhood going? He now sits up all by himself (started this the week before Christmas) and last night he discovered he can roll ALL over the living room from one end to the other....going left or right! Oh no, he's partially mobile! Here are some pictures from today's photo shoot. I didn't take his "teddy bear" picture yet, but will try to get it tomorrow. Today is just the last pretty day we're going to have for a little while so I wanted to get some outside shots before it gets cold again. WARNING: Tons of pictures ahead! Enjoy!

Christmas morning 2009

2009-12-25T18:38:00.008-06:00

What a glorious morning we had today! Not only did we celebrate the birth of our Savior but we also celebrated Neyland's first Christmas...and it was WHITE! What a wonderful surprise. 2 days ago it was 71 degrees, then yesterday a Texas blizzard hit us hard and we were blessed with a beautiful white Christmas morning. I cannot remember the last time it's been white on Christmas, but we're thankful! Below are some pictures from this morning.

Here's the Christmas surprise the boys woke up to: Stockings filled with goodies...and lots of LOVE!

Our beautiful house covered with snow.

Neyland and Dad on Neyland's First Christmas

Looking out off our front porch. Isn't it beautiful!

Oh, the boys are up and ready to play with their new presents. Let the Jesus Birthday Party begin! Neyland got his first T-ball set.

And well Neyland got a Donald Duck too, but Hooper thought it was his.

Thankfully Neyland is good at sharing...for now.

Hooper got a Caterpillar front end loader with a hard hat, HUGE HIT!

Wow, Hooper's very own John Deere riding lawn mower and trailer. Oh and Pluto too! First thing Hooper said when he got on was "batteries please." Well so sad, it's pedal powered.

Pluto going for a ride. First of many I'm sure.

This year Hooper really got into opening presents. Neyland on the other hand was happy just playing with a block.

Christmas kiss

Notice the adorable matching pj's? Papa bought them for the boys. Thanks Papa, we love them!

Pure sweetness

Let's take a little break and look out the window at the Christmas snow.

He also got a firetruck. Pluto really enjoyed riding on it.

No pj outfit is complete without work boots.

Ok, grandparents do not freak out. We were only outside for 2-3 minutes...promise!

The boys just had to go out and see the snow.

I could not get him to pose for anything!

My Christmas blessings! Yes, Hooper was tasting the snow. Thankfully he didn't like it, ha!

Christmas angel!

All that excitement wore little man out so he needed a Christmas nap...with Donald.

That's it for Christmas morning. We are so blessed. Merry Christmas everyone and God bless!

Hooper the Tool Man Harris...and Neyland too

2009-12-18T15:00:00.000-06:00

Who would have ever guessed that Hooper would be dressed up playing tools? When you ask him what he's getting for Jesus Birthday he immediately says "tools." We sure hope he's not disappointed Christmas morning because there's not going to be any tools.....because he already has them ALL! I mean really, we're afraid he'll look at the new stuff then go straight up to the toy room and grab his tools instead. Oh well, as long as he's happy...right?

This is not play to him, he is very serious when it comes to tools.

He even has poor Neyland playing tools now!

At least he knows safety comes first. Always wear your glasses and hard hat!

He's "reading" Neyland his Bob the Builder book.

This is what I walked in and found. Both boys lying on the floor, Hooper reading Neyland his Troybilt Tractor magazine. ...another favorite. He calls it his "tiller magazine." I think his Nanny and Papa are spoiling this boy!

Another fun day at the Harris House!

Brownie making...

2009-12-18T14:46:00.001-06:00

No matter what I'm doing in the kitchen, Hooper HAS to be my helper. Here he is helping me make brownies. One must taste his own work, right?

Hooper ready for Church

2009-12-18T14:44:00.001-06:00

Lately Hooper has been wanting to accessorize before going to church. Although we are glad he cares that he looks good, we are really wanting him to grow out of this before...well elementary school. The tape measure in hand makes it look a bit more manly.
Trying to get this boy to pose for a picture anymore is anything but easy. But he's still just so cute!

First Veggies....Sweet Green Peas!

2009-12-07T14:42:00.002-06:00

Last week Neyland started his first real food...sweet green peas. If he could talk he'd say "yucky" like Hooper does now. By the expression on his face, he's not a fan but with a little cereal and milk added he tolerates it pretty well.

Blurry but sweet!

We've now moved on to green beans and he likes them a little better, praise God!

Brothers are so much FUN!!!

2009-12-07T14:38:00.007-06:00

Hooper REALLY likes to help with things now...especially when it comes to Neyland. He thinks he's too big for his high chair now so he sits in a booster seat at the table and pulls Neyland's high chair as close to him as possible. At prayer he has to hold his hand, during baths he has to have his own wash cloth to help wash Neyland and the list goes on and on. At supper the other night Neyland was "all done" with his bottle but Hooper didn't take that as an acceptable answer. He really thought Neyland should eat more so he took it upon himself to help feed him. Too bad Neyland didn't agree with Hooper!

After a massive diaper blow out, I had to put Neyland in his crib clothesless for a minute while I cleaned up the changing table etc. before I could re-dress him. Well Hooper thought this was a great time to play together with his brother in Neyland's crib. So he so graciously brought ALL of his stuffed animals and threw them over the side into the crib, then joined Neyland and all the animals for some fun! I'm not sure who loves who the most!

Look how Big Neyland is getting! I mean who couldn't love a chubby baby, right?

I have no idea what happened to Neyland's other sock. But aren't those the cutest little toes?

Neyland really wants to kiss or bite Hooper all the time!

Life is good at the Harris House!

Neyland's 5 Month Pictures

2009-12-07T12:21:00.012-06:00

Actually these are 5 taken on Dec 3, 2009 which makes Neyland 5 months and 1 week old. Thanksgiving fell on his "birthday week" and threw me off, oops! As you see Neyland is in a HUGE growth spurt right now. He is so sweet it's just unbelievable! He now rolls over from front to back all the time and is just about to roll from back to front any day now...I think. He is still toothless but I see something resembling tooth buds on his bottom gums so we're thinking any day we'll get one. He started cereal earlier around 4 1/2 months but it didn't agree with his tummy just yet, so we took him off until just last week. And last night he started sweet peas, yummy! He and Hooper still love each other unconditionally! He loves to lay around and watch Hooper and William. In fact if he gets fussy all I have to do is put him in sight of Hooper and he's fine. It's so fun to watch the two of them together! Here's some photos of his 5 month (and 1 week) photo shoot with Mr. Bear:

In case you're wondering...the scratch across his face happened the night before in his sleep. I snipped his fingernails before he went to bed and must have left one too sharp...oops!

Neyland's 4 Month Pictures

2009-10-26T15:25:00.006-05:00

My, my where time goes. Neyland turned 4 months old Saturday. Here are some pictures celebrating the BIG day. He's such a good baby! Happy all the time and has been sleeping 10-12 hours a night since he was 2 months old...PRAISE GOD! He LOVES his big brother and is just happy to sit in his swing and look around. He's so sweet! I just adore this little blessing! Check out those big eyes!
No, he's not rolling over yet. He's just getting in some "tummy time" here.

He LOVES to put his feet up in the air and try to put them in his mouth. Here he's playing with the teddy bear with his feet.

Oh what sweet lovin'

And look at those beautiful eye lashes.

Hooper's First School Picture

2009-10-26T15:19:00.003-05:00

Hooper goes to Kid Care (Mother's Day Out) at our church every Monday and Wednesday and just loves it! They took school pictures in September and they turned out so cute. I love them although it makes him look SO BIG! What happened to my baby? Hooper 2 years

Neyland's 2 month photo session

2009-09-01T15:58:00.004-05:00

Last Monday, Aug 24th, Neyland turned 2 months old. I can't believe he's already this old! Anyhow we had our photo session on Wed or Thurs (I forget) and well, let's just say I got a few pictures of Neyland alone then Hooper discovered what we were doing and had to join in. There are a ton of these pictures, so you'd have be a loyal follower to tolerate them, ha! Believe it or not there's a lot more than I'm posting, but these are the best!

Neyland with Mr. Bear

He's now smiling, cooing and starting to laugh out loud. It's precious!

Hooper insisted on holding him, much to Neyland's disapproval.

Love, love, love these boys!

Now I know why Hooper has such a fascination with Chap Stick. He's constantly kissing Neyland and his lips must be chapped.

Talk about a happy big brother

Don't worry I never leave them alone together.

Looks like they're having quiet a serious conversation.

The feeling is actually mutual between these two most of the time. Neyland lights up when Hooper's around. It's the sweetest thing!

Well, you made it through. Those are my two sweethearts! I have a feeling the future monthly photo sessions will probably end up the same as well. Oh well...once again, life is GOOD at the Harris house!

My WONDERFUL husband

2009-09-01T12:00:00.001-05:00

Sunday I went to church....alone. Something I haven't done in YEARS! Talk about weird. Before you get the wrong idea let me explain. Both boys were a little congested and we didn't want to expose their weakened immune systems to ALL those nursery germs so we decided to keep them both at home. Well I had to work the Women's Ministry Fall Bible Preview Table that morning so Dee volunteered to stay home. Well not only did he do a wonderful job taking care of our boys but when I walked in this was sitting on the table...HOT! What is it you may ask? Most husbands would do good to even think about fixing lunch while watching 2 little tots, and if they did it would be sandwiches, take-out or something weird...but NOT my husband. He made me Ritz crusted Mahi-Mahi with oven potatoes with bacon and cheese, and steamed broccoli. Talk about WONDERFUL! It was so pretty and tasted so GREAT too that I had to take a picture. Sorry ladies, you had your chance...he's now MINE ALL MINE! Thank God I woke up and saw the light and married this man! Wonderful husband, father and cook! I'm so blessed!

Brothers

2009-08-31T14:12:00.003-05:00

This weekend Hooper has been obsessed more than usual with Neyland. Anytime Neyland's awake he thinks he should be laying next to him, playing, kissing or whatever...just as long as he's laying next to him! We are so blessed he's not jealous! Thank you God! From the look on Neyland's face he's getting squished once again by big brother.
Love the arm over him!

I hope and pray Hooper always loves his brother this much!

Coolness in his pajamas

2009-08-31T14:09:00.003-05:00

There's not many words that can be said about this boy other than he's just...Hooper! Here are a couple cute shots from this morning. For some reason he insisted on wearing his goggles while working on his car. He truly knows it's important to be safe! I asked him to smile, so he pulled up the goggles and gave me a big "cheese."

Happy Monday!

TODAY!

2009-08-26T15:05:00.005-05:00

He's 2...a 2 year old boy. That about sums up this morning. Yes just this morning! Here's how it went:

First thing: After breakfast I knew Hoop would need to go "poop" soon, so I put him on the potty, even though he kept saying "no," and well nothing happened. So I thought while I was getting ready (in the bathroom) I'd just leave his diaper off in hopes that when he did need to go he would tell me. Well he did and then to the potty we went. Success! We were so happy that Dee and I were really congratulating him telling him what a great job he did, giving him high fives, etc. Well we had Neyland in his "rocker" chair in the bathroom with us and Hooper went over, in the middle of all the celebration, raised up Neyland's hand and gave him a High Five. Too funny! Then suddenly I hear an "uh oh tee-tee". Yep in all the excitedment Hooper had a tee-tee accident all over the rocker chair Neyland is sitting in and all around it. Hey at least he pooped in the potty, right?

Next adventure:

I'm feeding the baby and as always it got quiet up front. When I went to check things out I found him playing with a bottle of hand sanitizer. He's germ free is the good news, the bad news is so are two rooms of carpet in the house. So back to feeding the baby I go. Finish that task, onto the beginning of cleaning up the breakfast dishes when I have an overwhelming feeling I am to go check on him again..mind you this is about 2 minutes after I just cleaned up the hand sanitizer. This time he's found my yellow gel food coloring. He must have gotten into the closet with my cake decorations again. Thankfully I found him in time. The only things yellow were his hands and clothes. No house damage...this time. This is why he's shirtless in the photos below. I clean him up and move on. Time to "pump." Once again quiet. Can't do anything but pray when I'm "attached" to my friend the pump. I begin to notice how nice the house is smelling all of a sudden, hmmm. After finishing pumping I go investigate...this time he's found my LARGE bottle of clear decorating vanilla and has used it to "paint" the entire play area. It smells GREAT! Total mess, but hey at least it smells good in the house! Mental note "next time you need a quick air freshner and don't have time for a candle to kick in...break out the bottle of vanilla, ha!" *

That's how our morning was....all this BEFORE lunch! If you're ever bored and need a good laugh, come on over!

Here's some cute pictures from this morning. For some reason he didn't want to pose for the camera today. Instead he played "hide" with me.
My new favorite photo of him.

I'm trying to capture his very cool outfit. Notice shirtless as mentioned before due to the yellow food coloring, and mis-matched "Neyland" socks. Don't even get me started on the sock debate today, ha!

After nap we eventually lost the shorts and one sock. Now it's just diaper and one really cool, much to small sock.

Playing "hide from Mommy and the camera" again. Lots of giggles go along with this game. It's so much fun.

Hiding

Peek a boo!

I can't see him here apparently.

Pure cuteness!

Mischief and all, you gotta love this kid!

BIG ol' orange chair!

2009-08-22T17:00:00.000-05:00

My cousin Kristi (along with her husband John and kids Mayzie and Evan) gave Hooper this amazingly HUGE TN blow up chair for his birthday and of course he loves it! Just look at that face...the smile is as big as the chair is...and that's saying a lot! Thanks again Purviance clan for the massive chair! Just remember, paybacks are.......
(pictures taken July 20, 2009)

This week in pictures

2009-08-21T12:50:00.008-05:00

This has been a great week and I just had to share all we've done. Actually we haven't done that much but the boys have just been too cute and sweet. Lots of photo opportunities this week!

Neyland graduated from the sink to the bath tub and he really likes it. Anytime he's fussy you can give him a bath and he immediately relaxes. He must get his love for baths from me! He's really starting to smile more and more. Although this is not a true smile, it's a very peaceful happy face on him. Smiles are very hard to catch on camera at this point...but I'm not giving up.

The major undertaking of the week is our bathroom. We've been needing to remodel it for 4 years now and well...there's no time like the present. Here's my Hercules with his sledge hammer starting our remodel.

Hooper thinks this is the funnest thing in the world. Tools and demolition. Every little boys dream!This week he's really began saying the word "hammer" clearer and clearer. It's so cute. On that note, he's really become a chatter box this week in general. Night before last Dee dropped something and said "uh oh Spaghetti O's" and Hooper repeated it back verbatim. It was hilarious! The funniest thing he's saying right now though is "chicken fried." It's a popular country music song on the radio for those of you non-country fans, ha!One night when Dee came home Hooper decided to wear his daddy's shoes. Man oh man are those big shoes to fill! I hope and pray he'll be as wonderful of a husband and father as Dee is!

Before we go to bed everynight I go in and check on Hooper. Mainly to cover him up again as he just cannot keep covers on him. Anyhow this is how I found him. Using Mickey as his pillow. Too sweet!

Yesterday when he got up from his nap he came down the hall carrying his HUGE pillow. He put it in the living room floor and headed back down to his room. He returned again with his comforter. Before it was all over he had his pillow, comforter, Ike the dog, Mickey and his HUGE Teddy Bear all in the floor. He layed there playing on his pallet forever! It was one of those moments you want to capture in your mind and never loose! He and I layed there playing "pallet" for probably close to an hour and I LOVED every second! Neyland was asleep so I got some really sweet Hooper time. (before Hooper woke up I had really sweet Neyland time alone too) It was just one of those afternoons that Mommies cherrish! So much so that at 4:45 I finally looked up from playing with the boys and realized I had not even began to think about supper. Thankfully my wonderful husband came to the rescue and took us out to dinner.

Here's some photos from our pallet time:

One of Hooper's latest obsessions is pulling things (anything) up to stand on and observe what ever is going on. No matter if it's in the kitchen, the Pack'N'Play, objects on the bar, whatever..really anything he's NOT suppose to be into, he's finding ways to get them. To be honest, it's exhausting! I'm running out of hiding spaces for things, ha! By yesterday I was tired of telling him to get off the step stool and his chairs that go with his little round table so I put them in the garage thinking this would solve this problem. Well this problem solver wasn't even phased. He went up to the playroom and came back with his picnic table. Ha, jokes on me I guess! Here he's watching Neyland in his Pack' N'Play....again!

He moved the picnic table to the kitchen and found our keys. I noticed he grabbed them and ran to the play room. Scared he was going to "hide" them and they'd never be found again I followed him. Much to my surprise this is what I found. Him putting the keys IN the hole where the ignition switch should be. Mind you we've never showed him this and he ALWAYS sits in his car seat which is directly behind the drivers seat in the van, so I have no idea how he "knew" to do this. Smart kid!

Just look how perfectly he placed the keys. I just now noticed too that it's even the right key...the van key. Now how did he know that?

And finally, today I caught these precious pictures of Neyland taking a nap in his baby bed. This week I've been trying to get him use to sleeping in his room as opposed to sleeping in his crib that's in our room at night, or he usually sleeps in his Pack'N'Play or his swing during the day. Soon we're going to transition him in his room full time, so I thought I'd try to get him (and me) acclimated to it.

Is this a precious innocent face or what?

Life is GOOD at the Harris house!

Riding with his "tools"

2009-08-21T08:00:00.004-05:00

Little girls carry baby dolls and purses, Hooper...he carries his toolbox!

Even when we went out to eat, he had to carry it in the restaurant. Oh well it keeps him entertained and he's so cute carrying it around! Sweet dreams are a sure thing when sleeping with your tools!

(pictures taken July 19, 2009)

Naked climbing

2009-08-20T17:00:00.001-05:00

I know I probably post too many pictures of Hooper naked, and I know he'll thank me for them some day, ha...but for now he's just too cute not too. I promise the older he gets the less naked photos of him will appear!

I was giving Hooper a bath one day and had put Neyland in his bed. Well as soon as Hoop was out of the tub he had to immediately go check on him.

What some "sweet cheeks."

(picture taken July 2, 2009)

New Picnic table

2009-08-20T08:00:00.003-05:00

For Hooper's 2nd Birthday Nana and Papa gave him his very own picnic table and he loves it. As soon as daddy put it together he HAD to have his snack at it!
Seriously, does it get any cuter than this?
Another terrible picture of me, but I have to occasionally put one or two on the blog to prove that I do exist and so they boys will some how know what I looked like when they were little. Looking terrible or not, I LOVE snuggling with Hooper. He's in the best snuggle mood when he wakes up from his naps!
(pictures taken July 11, 2009)

Talk about a "mess!"

2009-08-19T17:00:00.003-05:00

As I've mentioned, when it's quiet in the Harris house, WATCH OUT! As I was feeding Neyland one day I noticed it was way too quiet up front. I knew they were probably into something but I had not idea what I was about to walk in and find....they emptied Dee's paper shredder...ALL over the floor! UGH!
For some reason he looks proud of himself here. This obviously was taken before punishment was given!

After time outs, they were made to clean up their mess, and what a mess it was. Needless to say I did most of the cleaning, but they weren't allowed to play until it was all cleaned up. Man this took forever! What on earth possesses kids to do such?

(pictures taken July 7, 2009)These pictures are really old (April 6, 2009) but I just had to add them. On another day they got into my 100 pc cookie cutter box and made another mess. This one much easier to clean up. When I told Hooper to clean up his mess he went and got his little broom and dust pan. How cute is that?

Luvin on Ike...again!

2009-08-19T17:00:00.001-05:00

There's nothing sweeter than a boy and his dog....even if it's a stuffed one! I know I've posted tons of pictures before of Hooper and Ike but I just can't resist posting even more...esp. when they're this cute. On any given day you never know what Hooper is going to come out of his room from nap dragging down the hall. On this particular day it was Ike...again.

Talk about sweet lovin'! Ike is so good to cuddle with!
Apparently Ike was thirsty. I'm so proud of Hooper for sharing his juice with him!

Pure sweetness!

Yes Ike is being drug down the hall between Hoop's legs. Poor dog!

(pictures taken July 7, 2009)

Cheesing it in the bathtub!

2009-08-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

A couple months ago Hooper went to Nana and Papa's for the weekend and came home knowing how to smile for the camera. If you know my mom, you're not surprised. She takes more pictures than I ever thought about taking. She's captured our lives on film and I'm so proud! Anyhow both she and I smile with our eyes closed and apparently this trait got passed down to Hooper too. Bless his heart! He was in a picture mood one day in the bathtub and I just couldn't resist grabbing as many as I could!
Even William joined in on the fun. He says "cheese" when he sees the camera and it's soo cute!

Yes, we even take baths with our tools.

If you look up the word "cute" you'll see this picture next to it, I promise, ha!

This is the best laundry I've ever seen! Agree?

After bath time these boys feel GOOD!

(pictures taken July 15, 2009)

Tool belts, lawn mowing and cars.

2009-08-18T17:00:00.000-05:00

Check out these BIG beautiful blue eyes! I LOVE them so much! The latest fashion accessory...a tool belt..full of tools!Daddy's mowing the yard (hence the upside down swimming pool in the back ground), and Hooper was going from window to window watching him. Also a favorite fashion piece, his "tool" shirt. He loves pointing to all the different tools on it. In fact the other day Dee was dressing him in it and Hooper would not let him put it on for wanting to look at it. So Dee finally gave up and after a while here came Hoop coming down the hall, shirt in hand ready for Dee to finally dress him. I'm not sure why there are not pants, but oh well, he LOVES the shirt.

William loves to wear the goggles and looks so cute in them.

Now Dee has moved to the side of the house mowing so Hooper had to move windows. It's much more comfortable to watch his daddy while sitting in his car. Love the smile! He definitely got it from his Nana and me!

Very interesting way to sit in his car, but hey what ever floats your boat, right?

(taken July 2009)

Frog FUN!

2009-08-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

Back in June a poor little toad frog didn't know what he was getting into when he decided to take a dip in our pool. Boy was he in for a rude awakening when Hooper and William discovered him! Actually it was quiet funny how it happened. After breakfast one morning I decided we would go outside to play before it got too hot. As I was preparing the boys (breakfast, hats, sunscreen etc) I looked outside and saw that the water in the pool was moving. Of course I feared the worst...snake or rat. Oh my! But I put on my big girl panties and marched outside to see what had invaded my babies swimming pool. Much to my relief (kind of) it was a toad frog. Mind you I still wouldn't touch it and thought the boys would enjoy it. THANKFULLY Nana and Papa were coming for a visit that day, so by the time the boys were ready to head outside, they were here to help me with my friendly visitor. Scared of frogs...not those two, so I knew God was once again looking out for me by sending them on this very day! Dirty diapers and puke, I can handle. Frogs..no thank you! The frog didn't bother Nana a bit!
Hooper really didn't want to touch it but really enjoyed letting Papa play with it and looking at it in HIS hands.

This poor, poor frog. I think he was rethinking his decision about taking a dip in this resort pool, ha!

Ok so the boys wouldn't touch it with their hands but a laddle and spatula was just what the doctor ordered. Soup ah la frog, anyone?

William would flip it around like it was a pancake. Oh this frog was definitely looking for a noose at this point!

"Mess...mess"

2009-08-17T17:00:00.001-05:00

When Hooper gets quiet, you had better go check on him. This was taken July 7 so I was still trying to get adjusted to having 2 (3 counting William) boys. When I went to check on him, this is what I found. He had opened the closet with all my cake decorating tools in it and had a blast. Unfortunately he had the most fun with the bowl of powdered sugar. But look how happy he is! And, no he didn't get in trouble for this, he was just too cute to punish. Oh that smile and those eyes get him out of more trouble, ha! I grabbed the vacuum cleaner and he kept saying "mess, mess." Hey at least he knows he made a mess. Now if he'll just clean up after himself, ha!
Have I ever mentioned that it is NEVER boring around here!

New fun...coloring

2009-08-17T10:00:00.002-05:00

These pictures were taken back in April but in trying to blog everything I can't leave them out. Nana and Papa found this table and chairs and thankfully decided Hooper needed it. It's been a HUGE hit at our house, especially when it comes to our new found fun...coloring. The bad news is majority of the coloring happens on the table and chairs, not the color sheets as you see here. Oh well one can't stop the creative process of art, right? Look how determined he is.

Even William loves a good coloring sheet.

I smell an artist in the making

Brotherly LOVE

2009-08-16T17:03:00.008-05:00

Have I mentioned how much Hooper LOVES, and I do mean LOVES his brother? Well God has answered many prayers about Hooper not being jealous of Neyland and falling in love with him instead and we are so thankful! We have to constantly watch him because he's always kissing, hugging, swinging etc him. It's so sweet!~After playing outside one morning Hooper and William were wet from the pool so I stripped them at the door to dry them off. Well before they made it to get diapers reapplied they had to run and check on Neyland. How precious is this?
Then they had to play in his rocking chair for a minute or two...naked.

Hooper always wants us to put Neyland on the floor so he can play with him. This boy needs some serious chap stick after all this kissing!

And yes, we ARE brainwashing this child with Tennessee already!

Hooper's teaching him about all the different tools.

He just doesn't understand why Neyland doesn't want to hold them.

Love, love, love this child!

Notice Dee's hand...we're always having to play referee. Hoop just wants to love Neyland a little too much some time.

I guess his hand needed worked on, ha!

My boys! I'm so blessed!

(pictures taken July 14&19, 2009)

Beach Ball + Sprinkler = FUN!

2009-08-16T16:26:00.004-05:00

Hooper's wonderful Uncle Chris and Laura gave him this sprinkler beach ball for his birthday (pictures to come, I promise) and he has had more fun with it this summer. Thanks again Chris and Laura. I try to keep hats on him to protect that beautiful head of his. He of course uses the hat to protect him from the spraying water. Smart boy!
What's a boy without a baseball bat?

William is mesmerized by it as well. He doesn't run from it as much as Hooper. He'll just stand there letting the water spray him as Hooper runs around it squealing, ha!

He has to mow the yard with his mower daily, and it looks like he's checking the shubbery to see if it needs a trim...or "watering" ha.

Check out Hoop's tongue trying to "catch" the sprinkles.

Hours of watering fun!

Boys, sprinkers and summer. What a great combination!

Swinging from the past to the future...

2009-08-16T16:12:00.004-05:00

Hooper LOVES Neyland's swing...and in trying not to make him jealous of the baby and his things we let him swing in it. He doesn't stay long, just enough to get some attention, ha.

After all Hooper did love it first....look at him in it just 2 short years ago....oh my heart aches at how fast he's growing up.

Snuggling Neyland

2009-08-16T16:00:00.000-05:00

Here's just a couple cute photos of Neyland...taken July 6, 2009. That makes him 2-3 wks old here. Is this precious or what? Just like his brother, he gives the BEST snuggles!

Bath time with Neyland

2009-08-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

Neyland LOVES his bath! If he's crying, no matter how hard, all I have to do is run a sink of warm water and he's all of a sudden so relaxed he's forgotten all his troubles!

The Harris SpaWith this boy, you MUST cover all "goods." He's a great shot!Oh how we love baths! Can't finish a blog post without a smile like this! He's been infactuated with the laundry basket lately. It makes a great place to play with his tools!

Playing catch-up...or at least trying :)

2009-08-04T11:13:00.006-05:00

Ok, so I'm farther behind on blogging than I've ever been, but I refuse to give in to defeat! So here is another attempt to play catch up. And please forgive me for these being out of order...all I know is they're taken some time between today and June 24 (Neyland's birthday).

Here's my #1 man and Neyland getting some good lovin'. Neyland is just like Hooper...he LOVES laying on his daddy's chest. Does this look comfy or what?
Laying on his UT pillow.

Let the brain washing begin, ha!

I have a picture of Hooper that I'm searching for that looks JUST LIKE Neyland here.

Sorry that most of his pictures are of him sleeping, but he does a lot of that.

More chest laying lovin' going on.

Precious!

Oh look, he's awake for a picture! And HAPPY!

But not for long, he's back asleep.

Who couldn't just love looking at this all day?

Terrible picture but it's one of the few I have of us so far.

Trying for some tummy time in the "Boppy" pillow but he fell asleep.

Look how cute he is when he "wads" up. He's so tiny!

We even sleep face up in the Boppy pillow...notice it's in the Pack'N'Play?

That's for safety...from Hooper, ha!

Notice Hooper's head in the lower left corner. He's LOVES looking at Neyland.

I do know this was early on (Neyland was around 2 wks old). The only time Hooper shows ANY jealousy is around Nana and Papa.

Hooper sharing some of his kisses with Papa too. At least he's not selfish with them, but Neyland does get more than anyone!

Hooper had on carpenter shorts so Papa filled each compartment with tools and Hoop LOVED it!

Each time he came down the hall he had more and more equipment. Too cute!

I'm not sure but I don't think the safest place for a chainsaw is in the shirt, ha!

That's it for now. I still have LOTS of fun pictures to share. Pray I eventually get to them all!

I don't want to miss sharing my boys life with family and friends!

Neyland's 1 month pictures

2009-07-27T14:36:00.005-05:00

Last Friday, July 24 Neyland turned 1 month old...already! He's such a good boy! Several of my friends and other blogs I read take monthly pictures with a given object/stuffed animal to show their childrens growth. So Neyland is going to have his monthly photos taken with Mr. Bear. Here is Mr. Handsome with his bear:

We're still working on sitting up, ha!

I love this one!

He's very advanced, he's already having conversations with the bear. I think they must be discussing life with Hooper, ha!

It's been a FULL, FUN month with my boys!

We are so blessed!

ps...thanks Aunt Donna and Uncle David for the adorable outfit he's sporting. He also wore it to his church debut yesterday!

Look how young we were....

2009-07-27T09:27:00.002-05:00

Ok, so it's not a post about the boys...I promise those are on their way soon. But a friend of mine put this on Facebook and I could not resist sharing. I'm not sure the year, but this was years and years ago at Six Flags. Look how young Dee and I were. Dee even is sporting a gotee which I think makes him look HOT, and he thinks it makes him look mean. No way..Dee mean, never! and check out my cool glasses...GOOD TIMES!

Hooper at Nana and Papa's

2009-07-04T09:06:00.021-05:00

Since Hooper is now 2 I thought I'd share some cute stories from the past few days with him. I promise new pictures of Hooper and Neyland will appear soon! But until then here are a couple cute Hooper stories before I forget....

Yesterday I was changing Neyland's diaper and he decided to "fountain" me, yet again. Hooper was watching and started yelling "bubbles, bubbles." (bubbles is his word for any type of water) Too cute!

Ok these may be a little too personal but they're cute and I don't want to forget them so I'm going to go ahead and share anyways.....Since I had a c-section I cannot lift anything heavy for a while, aka Hooper. Well in trying to get him to understand this I decided to show him my incision and bandages. He was amazed. The bad part is now no matter where we are he tries to pull my pants down to see my "ouch." On that note...he likes to help me feed Neyland. Well he's in the room while I'm nursing. Anyhow now when Neyland starts crying and I mention he's hungry, Hooper grabs my shirt and starts yelling "off, off" no matter where we are or who's around. How do you teach an almost 2 yr old modesty?

Hooper's fascinated with Neyland's umbilical cord/belly button, he points to it and calls it "poo poo."

Along with Hooper's fascination with tools he likes to "drill" Neyland's buttons on his pj's with his toy drill. He tried to hammer him once but thankfully I was right there and stopped it before any "pow pow" happened!

Fun stuff about my Big Boy:

Hooper's favorite toys are tools and he's having a tool themed birthday party. He also still loves Ike the stuffed dog and his vacuum cleaner. His favorite thing to watch is Imagination Movers and right now his favorite book is "Bob's Busy Saw" about Bob the Builder and his hand saw. He absolutely LOVES lawn mowers or any landscaping tool/equipment for that matter. If anyone is mowing their yard anywhere remotely close his eyes light up and he watches them out the window until their completely done.

He's still a great eater, praise God! He loves any fruit and if he's ever in a mood where we, for some reason can't get him to eat, we just take him out to eat fried shrimp and it fixes everything. A few more of his favorite foods are his cereal bars, green beans, smoothies, gravy on top of anything, his daddy's banana pancakes, ranch style beans (he gets this from me), corn on the cob, and he loves to lick the beaters after I make mashed potatoes or mixing up a chocolate cake...yummy!

At his 2 year well visit he is measuring:

35 inces tall= 68 percentile

weighs 27 lbs = 38 percentile

and my big headed kid's head circumference is 20 inches = 94 percentile (we knew he was brilliant, this just proves it!)

All that to say...he is perfect!

He is full of life and is a barrell of FUN 24/7! We are so blessed with him. Seeing the world through his eyes is absolutely the BEST thing in the world to me! I am so blessed!

Hooper went home with Nana and Papa for the first few days we were home from the hospital. Here are some pictures of his adventures with them. I promise new pictures of Neyland will be next!

Nana and Hooper riding the golf cart through the garden.

Helping Papa pick corn.

Nana and Papa are doing a massive renovation on their house and the oven door has been off. This drives Hooper nuts. He has to work on it constantly!Picking squash. Enjoying the fruit of his labor.

Love the face here. I just wish I knew what he was doing.

Papa tied a wagon to the back of the golf cart and it was a HUGE hit in Hooper world.

Papa got out his tools and cut some branchs from the tree and Hooper was thrilled to help!

Love, love, love this kid!

He has to make sure the birds are taken care of now doesn't he? They can't survive without a good bath to splash around in!

I wasn't there, but from the looks of it he had a blast!

Thanks again Mom and Dad for entertaining him for us while we recooped!

He's here!!!!

2009-06-24T18:49:00.010-05:00

Dee, Hooper and I are proud to announce the arrival of our newest blessing, Neyland Lain Harris. Neyland weighed in at an even 8 pounds and 20 inches long. He looks a little like Hooper at times, but mostly JUST like his Daddy! We are so excited! Here are some of his first photos:

You can't see it very well here but Hooper bent over and gave his brother a huge, wet sloppy kiss right on the lips. It was so sweet.

Papa holding his latest pride and joy! He's going to have to build a bigger deer stand now.

His little hat has a football on it...and believe it or not we didn't do it!

I am one proud and blessed Mommy! Life does not get any better than this!

Ma holding Neyland for the first time. Neyland's middle name, Lain is her grandfathers last name. I think she's kind of proud.

Hooper kissing Neyland again.

When we got moved from the Recovery room to our private room Hooper had fallen asleep in his stroller. So we put him in the bathroom where it was quiet and dark trying not to disturb him. It worked! He slept like a baby!

Neyland's first bath.

In the process of switching rooms, Hooper got hungry so Nana and Papa took him downstairs for some lunch. I don't know what we would do without them. They are staying at our house keeping Hooper while we're here. Thanks again Mom and Dad. We love you!

Daddy and his two youngest boys. If only Craig were here he could sing "My three sons" ha. Notice Hooper's shirt. It says "Neyland's Big Brother" on the front and his name is on the back. Too cute!

I love this picture. Look at him standing on his tip toes watching his baby brother.

I really like these pictures because I missed ALL of this.

Hooper kept telling Papa to sit down by him. And of course, Papa obeyed, ha!

That is one proud Nana if I've ever seen one! Unlike Hooper, Neyland has brown eyes and dark hair like Dee and her.

That's it for now. We are anxiously waiting for Mamaw, Papaw, Craig, Aunt Donna and Uncle David to get here next week to see the latest addition to the Harris family! We miss them so much and wish they could be here. We love you!!!

We want to thank everyone for all your prayers. We definitely felt them all around us and God answered each one of them beautifully! He is so GOOD!

Today's the BIG day!

2009-06-24T06:38:00.003-05:00

Please pray for us today as we go to the hospital to welcome our newest little blessing to our family! Neyland is scheduled to be here around 11:45 am. Also pray for Hooper as this is going to be a HUGE adjustment for him. He's going to be such a wonderful BIG brother!!

We'll post pictures and details as soon as we can!

Love you all!

Hiding with Spices

2009-06-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

These pictures are OLD...probably 6 weeks or more, but I just ran across them. Sorry. One of our visits to Nana and Papa's Hooper decided to play in the cabinets with the spices and pots and pans. They usually keep them tied up (notice the string) but they were cooking and had to untie them for a bit and well Hooper did not let that opportunity pass him up! Let the playing begin! Peek-a-boo!

Sandbox FUN with Daddy

2009-06-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

There's nothing funner in Hooper's world than playing outside with his Daddy. But I think I may have to ground Dee from the sandbox. They had been outside playing for a while and I went to check things out. This is what I found. Dee would ask him "what are those?" and Hooper would say "boobies." Ugh these two! My precious, precious little angel!
Dee is throwing a ball on the roof, letting it roll down and trying to get Hooper to catch it.

My two blessings!

I'm not sure why Hooper is on top of the lid of the sandbox, but for some reason this is where they decided to play catch. Hooper's actually very good! Must be his amazing coach, Dee!

He caught it! Yippee!

Another GREAT day playing with Daddy! Life is GOOD!

New Swimming Pool

2009-06-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

My grandmother, Ma, called me one day last week and asked if Hooper needed a pool. I said that we were thinking of getting him one and well she wanted to do it for him. She said all the other kids got money for their good grades and Hooper deserved it too. So she sent him a check and Dee and I immediately went out and got him a swimming pool. Thank you Ma, you're too sweet!

Well forget letting us fill the pool, Hooper HAD to do it all by himself. He filled it from the very first drop, to the very last and never missed a beat. So serious! No time to play when you have a job as serious as this to do.

The next day the boys had to break it in. Their toys of choice...two soup ladles. Go figure.

This was fun for HOURS! I love the look on William's face here, and ALL the water droplets.

Hooper got a little thirsty.

Is this cute of William or what?

Squeals were a dime a dozen!

Now on to the tricycle. I didn't know it was meant for two, but who knew?

William's turn to drive.

Uh, oh. I smell disaster. Some how Hooper conned William into pushing him.

Yep, disaster soon followed.

Thanks Ma for the hours and hours of FUN! This will be a HUGE hit all summer! We love you!

The Future Eric Clapton

2009-06-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

Dee bought a new Eric Clapton DVD the other day for him (and Hooper, ha). Well Hooper LOVES it and loves his guitar too. Here he is jamming out. Don't most rockers jam out in their Mickey Mouse PJ's?
And here he is with the new DVD. I'm not sure who loves it more, Dee or Hoop. I went to a Pampered Chef party last night and when I got home and asked Dee what they did he said "watched the Eric Clapton DVD all night." He said Hooper just sat there and stared at it. My boys! I guess Hooper is going to be musical like Craig and Papa! Praise God!

Why?

2009-06-15T15:00:00.000-05:00

Well now anytime Hooper goes outside to play he thinks he MUST take his pants off and go tee-tee on the bushes. But the problem is, he will NOT let me put them back on. So naked play it is! I think he lost a ball or some toy here and he's searching for it. Too cute! I know he's going to thank me some day for all these pictures posted for the world to see.

Daddy's desk

2009-06-15T08:00:00.001-05:00

Playing on Daddy's desk is usually a no-no, but he was so cute when I caught him, I just had to take a few pictures before making him get down.

Organization

2009-06-14T10:17:00.000-05:00

In a never ending attempt to organize our house, Dee is converting our coat closet to a closet full of shelves for me. He's such a good man! But really, we live in Texas, who needs a coat closet, right? And of course you know who had to be right there in the middle of it all helping. He had a blast with all the "tools." Dee can ask him to hand him a specific tool and he gets it right EVERY time!
Weird face, but still cute!

Helping make sure the lines are straight before hanging the shelves.

Dee is thrilled to have such a helper!

Helping Daddy wash the Van

2009-06-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

To say Hooper is a "Daddy's boy" is an understatement! No matter what it is, if Dee's doing it, Hooper MUST be a part of it. A couple weekends ago Dee was washing the vehicles and Hoop was his helper. I love these two!
As with any job, Hooper took this VERY seriously!

He kept saying "mess, mess" when his hands were bubbly!

And he wasn't fond of Dee helping him rinse off the bubbles. He wanted to do this all by himself!

He did such a good job!

To say he was wet was an understatement!

This was actually taken before the van washing. He had to try on Dee's glasses and headphones. Too cute!

Grub Club Outing

2009-06-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

Our Sunday School class is very large so to try and make it more intimate we have broken it down into several groups that meet up for dinner at least once a quarter. Last weekend we had a hotdog/hamburger cookout and had a blast. The kids played in the kiddie pool, the HUGE water slide and the hot tub that was normal temp. for them. Hooper squeeled for 3 hours straight at all the fun he was having! He was surrounded by older girls who made over him and he LOVED it!
When he first started swimming he just had a diaper on. Once it was very full of water Dee had to change him into a Swimmer (in front of all those girls..he was so embarassed!)

Such a good Daddy!

I kept missing Hooper slide down the water slide. My camera was not as quick as he was unfortunately. But he had NO fear and loved it!

The older girls loved to hang out in the hot tub and since it was a little deep for Hoop, he just hung out and chatted with them.

Family photo. Please excuse the HUGE pregnancy face on me! I love how Tony was able to get all three of us in this picture. He rocks!

Ever since Hooper was born we've said this was going to be his wife. She is beautiful and we couldn't be happier to have her parents, the Dodson's as in-laws! Her name is Kendall. Kendall Harris, I like the sound of it, ha!

We had such a great time! We are so blessed to have such a great church and great Sunday School class! God is so good!

Why didn't I think of this?

2009-06-12T09:50:00.002-05:00

Last night I was finishing up dinner and Dee took Hooper outside to play for a minute. He had been a stinker toot all day, due to cutting 2 yr. molars, and I was exhausted! When I went outside to check on them Dee had Hooper naked as a jaybird playing in his new swimming pool (pictures to come, I promise). Well after swimming Hooper decided naked mowing would be fun...and the glasses are a must! Dee's mad that I won't let him mow like this, ha!

And naked sliding followed. This was HILARIOUS! Dee and I couldn't stop laughing. Hooper couldn't figure out why he couldn't "slide" as easily as he does normally. But he never stopped. Up and down that slide he went scooting on bare bottom.

I'm so glad mechanics do not work like this, ha! Forget plumbers crack, let's just go nude!

And last but not least before the fun was over...naked tricycle riding.

We had to MAKE him come in for dinner and to say the least he was NOT happy about putting on his clothes again. I'm scared we have an exhibitionist on our hands, ha!

Easter 2009...continues

2009-06-05T10:41:00.003-05:00

Yes I know it's June and I'm still trying to catch up on Easter pictures. But the good news is....this is the final Easter 2009 post! Yippee!

My home church (Fellowship Baptist Church, Blossom) had an Easter Egg Hunt for the kiddos Saturday morning and Hooper instisted on going. He won the prize for the youngest boy hunting eggs. The pictures do not show his enthusiasm at all, but trust me he had a great time! We're just in this "I'm not smiling for the camera" phase right now, ha! Papa was Hoopers basket carrier for the day. A Papa's work is never done, ha! He loved the candy on the inside!

He's more of a quality and not quantity type of kid.

The real hit of the party was this little white fluffy dog. Hooper LOVED her!

Here he is receiving his prize egg.

My easter bunny himself modeling Hooper's winning egg.

Hooper found a ball and the egg hunting was over!

They even had a slide at their egg hunt. He loved this place.

Notice the chocolate mouth.

My two men, hand in hand. Life is GOOD!

Uncle Doug was loading up his ice chest full of ice to head to deer camp and Hooper HAD to help load it in his truck.

That's it. I'm finally done with Easter blogging.

Easter 2009 at Deer Camp - Part 2

2009-05-28T09:37:00.009-05:00

As I mentioned in my last blog, the kids had a huge egg hunt while at Deer Camp. Here's some pictures from the BIG HUNT.

Notice Hooper's basket...not girly at all. And no, we're NOT trying to brain wash him with football...just a little nudge here and there, ha!
He could care less about the eggs, just the candy inside them.

My sweet niece Kinslee looking sylish in her Easter pink!

Now Evan took this hunting game SERIOUSLY!

Hooper LOVES Papa's camo'd golf cart, so he and Daddy had to play on it.

My sweet angel and newest Rivercrest Rebel Cheerleader....Mayzie!

Kaytie Jane gave Evan a run for his money on the egg hunting too!

But Maggie was more into eating the candy like Hooper. Who cared about finding eggs, give these kids chocolate!

I love this picture of Amber. I don't remember what she was doing, but it's so pretty of her!

Beautiful bunny Nana!

A shot of Kaytie's findings.

As you can see, she was more than thrilled with her accomplishments.

What a sweetie!!!!

Mayzie found the prize egg and won $5! Man I should have looked harder for this thing!!!

What a good picture of John John. And imagine, him with a toothpick, ha!

Now the boys have conned Papa into getting onto the golf cart with them.

Kristi Jane, Mrs. P, Yogi, Auntie, whatever her name is, she is looking good!

Marla and Ryan got a new four wheeler and she's modeling on it for us. Not really, but it's a good photo of her none-the-less. Vanna White, watch out!

Ryan-O...what else can I say, ha!

Is this little girl beautiful or what? Little Miss Maggie!

Imagine...Nana with presents for the kids. Never would have guessed it, ha!

Kaytie Jane LOVED her new Princess make up kit. She's such a girly girl and I LOVE IT!!! I have to get my girl fixes from these beautiful girls! They're so much FUN!

Oh, Uncle Randy...I love your Barbie kite, ha!

Evan is so tickeled! They're having a silly string fight apparently. What an adorable smile!

We tried to get Hooper to ride the tire horse, but he couldn't be less interested. Oh well.

These two are on a mission....find a tree free spot to fly that kite! Such a good Pappaw!

Papa dressed as the Easter Bunny.

And sweet Danae....so precious!

Another great shot of Nana Bunny.

Once again ending with the love of my life.

This man doesn't need bunny ears to be cute!

Easter 2009 at Deer Camp - Part 1

2009-05-26T10:08:00.006-05:00

The Saturday of Easter weekend my entire family went to the Deer Camp to celebrate. All the kids had an egg hunt and of course received presents from all the grandparents, aunts/uncles and of course Ma. The biggest hit of the day for the little kids were the bubbles. Here are a TON of pictures of Uncle Randy, Nana, Kinslee and Hooper having a BLAST with bubbles. Love Nana with the bunny ears!

Hooper wanted to be able to make bubbles so badly!

But Nana just makes better bubbles than he can at this point.

And Uncle Randy really makes good bubbles.

Mother and Son bubble blowing contest...not really, but boy do they love these kids!

He just doesn't understand why you can't "catch" the bubbles.

Love the joy on his face here!

Now he wanted to do it by himself.

He's trying....

Another favorite shot of him.

My favorite man!

Oh how I love him!!!!

That's it for Part 1 at Deer Camp. Stay tuned for more.

Helping

2009-05-26T09:43:00.005-05:00

With only 4 weeks and 1 day until Neyland's arrival, I'm going to try and do some massive catch up blogging before he gets here, so bear with me. A lot of these future blogs may be out of date by a week or two but I'm going to do the best I can. I just know once little guy gets here blogging will be few and far between for a while.

First, let me tell you about yesterday (no photos). It being Memorial Day weekend we did a MASSIVE clean out in this house, yippee! Closets, cabinets, drawers etc. It was exhausting but wow does it look and feel better around here. Once again, getting ready for Neyland. Anyhow you know how it is, you get one thing fixed and another breaks? Well I decided to clean out under the kitchen sink and when I did I found a massive puddle of water under it. YUCK! Not so much the water, but the mess around it was terrible! Anyhow we discovered we had a leak and Dee had to fix it. So in the mean time we had to let all the wood, etc dry right? So nothing could go back until it was all dry, therefore all the cleaning supplies etc were all over the counter tops. During this drying time we ran some errands and went to eat. When we came home I being SO PREGNANT had to go immediately to potty while Dee unloaded the van. When I came back to the kitchen I found Hooper sitting in a HUGE puddle of Dial Antibacterial hand soap with the bottle turned up to his mouth. I grab the soap, read the back and of course it says to immediately call poison control if swallowed, UGH! Poison Control...again! As I'm checking Hooper his mouth is one big bubble and the more he tries to talk the more bubbles come out. Thankfully he must not have consumed too much of it b/c poison control said he would just throw it up or have diarrhea for a day or so if he did. So all in all, he's fine, praise God and all I had was a mess. Now the sink is fixed, cabinet cleaned out and Hooper is VERY clean, ha! Now on to the pictures:

Back in Mid-April when Mamaw and Papaw came for a visit Hooper helped Daddy and Papaw clean the garage and move the baby bed from his room to Neyland's nursery. Here Hoop is mopping. You can't see it but there's a red laser beam that shines on the floor to show me where to stop when I park. It drives Hooper nuts and he tries and tries to "mop mop" it with the mop or with a rag all the time. Poor guy, he wants everything to be so clean and this one he just can't fix. He was so serious with his tools helping with the baby bed.

Even William got in on the action.

Now thanks to Hooper and all his help the baby bed is nicely assembled and ready to go! Just waiting on Neyland!

Under the BIG TOP

2009-05-22T13:45:00.004-05:00

Before I get to the below pictures I just have to ask for some prayers for little man Hooper. We just got back from the doctor and he has Croup. Yes, I thought this was an "old" thing too, but it's still alive and kicking and apparently, VERY contagious! He's miserable, esp. when he sleeps. Thankfully it's not a "serious" illness, just makes him miserable! Please pray for him!!

Now onto the pictures. Last month (April) we took Hooper to his first circus. Barnum and Bailey's Circus in Allen, Tx to be exact. He LOVED it. Well the first half, then he got a little bored and ready to go. Here are some photos from the day of FUN!Nana and Papa were in that weekend so they got to join in on the fun...and help us corral Hooper, ha! He really loved the petting zoo outside.
I need a gate like this at home, ha!
Holding Nana and Daddy's hands.

Goats! Oh my!

Poor Dee. Hoop drug him all over.

I know there are several pictures of just them walking together, but they're both too CUTE!

Back to the goat. Hooper like to LOOK at the goats but NOT touch them!

Seriously watching the show!

I love the look on both of their faces here.

Not sure what's happening though!

The elephants were the final event and unfortunately by this time Hooper was DONE!

Here he is signing "all done." Poor baby!

All this excitement is just too much for one day!

Poor Ol' Shrubs

2009-05-21T11:39:00.003-05:00

Of the many things Papa has taught Hooper to do, I think this tops the cake. Last week he taught him how to go tee-tee on the shrubs so today while we were playing outside he insisted on doing it again and of course, William had to join in on the fun! Boys are so much FUN!!
Hey what ever works when potty training, right?

Outside looking in

2009-05-19T17:06:00.006-05:00

Hooper BEGS to go outside all the time, but as soon as he's out there he wants to either come in or look through the glass if I'm not out there. Now if I'm out there he'll stay for ever and be fine. He's got a little clinginess problem....just a little, ha! One day last week he was peeking in at me and I couldn't resist grabbing the camera. Look how adorable!

If he can't find me through the window in the door me moves a chair up to the window for a better look.

He's pointing to an airplane for me to look at. Another fascination of his.

Who couldn't love such a hunk in a hawaiian shirt? Magnum PI watch out!

Tools

2009-05-19T16:56:00.003-05:00

If you know Hooper, you know he LOVES tools. So much so that we are having a "tools" birthday party this year. This past weekend my parents were in babysitting us while Dee was in Tennessee for Craig's 21st Birthday (Happy Birthday Craig) and Nana and Papa got Hoop a new tool set. Look how cool he is in his safety glasses with his new drill.

He even bathed with the screws. And went tee tee with them too. Have you ever seen such a happy boy sitting on the potty? Yes, we have the little potty seat insert even the frog potties, but he prefers to sit on the "big" potty. Oh well what ever works, right?

Spring Pictures at the Dallas Arboretum 2009

2009-05-14T14:28:00.009-05:00

In Mid-April we had family photos taken at te Dallas Arboretum and had such a great time. Mind you it poured down the first half of the day we were there so please forgive the bad, frizzy hair.

Hooper checking out Neyland Love his look here...still not sure of what he's doing but it's hilarious nonetheless!
My favorite family shot
Another fav.

Believe it or not...there are some differences in these first few, ha!

He was DONE with pictures and was NOT smelling those stupid flowers for the camera, ha!

Personal Favorite!!!

"I'm outta here!"

If you know him he's saying "mess, mess." The kid cannot stand to have his hands dirty!

I LOVE THIS MAN!!!!

Is this a good daddy or what? I'm so blessed!

If you ever need a GREAT photographer I highly recommend Trina Mauk. She has Stinkin' Cute Photography, charges a flat fee of $65 for an hour, will meet you anywhere, takes as many pictures as she can (first time she took over 300 in one hour) then goes home, edits them, puts them on a disc and gives it to you do to with what ever you want. She's AMAZING!! She did Hoop's 1 year pictues and now these. Actually we had her booked for the entire day and all of our Sunday School class took advantage of her for the day and loved her!

Here's her info:

Trina Mauk

214-202-2998

stinkincutephoto@yahoo.com

http://freewebs.com/stinkincutephotography

Lover of lotion

2009-05-12T08:03:00.002-05:00

Two of Hooper's latest fascinations are lotion and chapstick. At least he's going to have soft skin and lips! Anyhow we go through this 10+ times a day of wanting me to give him more of each. Here's some photos of him begging for and rubbing in his lotion. When I give it to him he says "rub, rub, rub" it's so cute! Begging for more at Daddy's sink.
Oh he can see it...look at those eyes!

Then he has to rub the remainder on his clothes. I can't seem to break this habit yet. He gets this from his Daddy!

If you haven't received a Chapstick kiss yet, you're missing out! Next time you see him, ask and he'll gladly give you one!

Showers & Poo

2009-05-10T10:11:00.006-05:00

Thursday night I was about to take a shower and Hooper kept trying to open the door and get in...while the shower was heating up. I kept saying "no, no" but he was insistent. So Dee said "let him get in and see what it is" so we let him in to investigate and he loved it. He took a complete shower with me that night, one with Dee yesterday and this morning I was getting in and he started undressing himself saying "bubbles" as I turned on the shower. Mind you Dee was already gone to church so I was a little hesitant on this endeavor by myself but Hooper would not take no for an answer. As he was taking his pj's off I told him "no" but he looked up at me and said "PEEZ" (please) and signed it too. It was so cute I couldn't say no anymore. So off we both went to get our bubbles. These first few pictures are of his FIRST ever shower. The last few are of the Mother's Day present he gave me in the shower this morning. WARNING...NOT for the faint of stomach!
Not sure about the water coming from the shower head.
"Let's get our hands wet first and check this out."
"oh, shampoo bottles...fun"

** WARNING**

These next pictures are from this mornings shower.....

not as nice and innocent as the first few.

**********

Do you see the Mother's Day present he made me?

As I was rinsing my hair I notice a foul smell all of a sudden.....
and of course Dee is not here to help of all mornings!

He kept looking at it saying "mess, mess...mop, mop" as if I hadn't noticed, ha.

This was my fear since he didn't poo before getting in the shower. I sat him on the potty but he only tee-tee'd. I should have known better...he always poops in the morning after breakfast! Lesson learned! Not to worry, I immediately cleaned up the "mess" and the shower was sprayed down with bleach awaiting Dee's arrival from church to clean the rest of it. There are advantages of being pregnant,ha!

Ok, that's enough poo pictures for one day.

Happy Mother's Day, ha!

Playing with Mamaw

2009-05-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned, Mamaw and Papaw came for a visit and Hooper had the time of his life playing with them. Here are some pictures of him and Mamaw playing. As you see Hooper had her complete attention, just like he likes it! They played ball together for hours on end.

I'm not sure who had the most fun!

Then he conned her into playing outside in the sand box.

He's showing her an airplane here.

He even convinced her to go to the shed and look at Daddy's lawn mower. This is a favorite activity of his....daily!

It got a little chilly so we had to pull out the hoody.

He looks like a member of the "Lawn Mowing KKK", ha!

Poor Mamaw, she had her hands full of boys and sand!

OH that sun gets to him.

She finally threw her hands up at the situation, ha!

The boys will stand at the door for ever looking at the tools, esp. the lawn mower. What's amazing is that they know not to step into the shed, they just stand as close as they can and stare. William takes the play mop and give the floor a good cleaning each time.

They even conned her into watering the trees.

Good Ol' Mamaw! A Grandmother's work is HARD but rewarding!!!

Thankfully she said she didn't mind at all and the boys, especially Hooper, LOVED all the love and attention!!!!

Ice Cream Thief

2009-05-05T09:17:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago Mamaw and Papaw came for a visit from Tennessee (I'll post more pictures of their visit later..I promise). They cannot come to Tx without visiting Braum's..yummy! Well I got Dee an orange sherbert and Hooper stole it from him. But just look at how much he loved it! We have since learned, when we get ice cream, Hooper now gets his own cone.

Gloved up and ready to GO!

2009-05-04T11:22:00.003-05:00

No, he's not being extra careful about the swine flu concern he just loves cleaning supplies! One day I was washing dishes and Hooper insisted on wearing my rubber gloves. He was very picky on which ones went on which hand and where the finger placements were. The problem was his fingers just would not stay put where they were suppose to. I sure hope he still likes all this cleaning stuff when he gets big enough to actually help!

Two little froggies

2009-05-01T09:49:00.004-05:00

Some day I'll be able to black mail these two with all these photos.

But for now, they're just too cute! I think William is already trying to protect himself from the embarrassment, ha!
The good news, they want to sit on the potty. The bad news, no tee-tee this morning...yet. They get all excited because if they go tee-tee they get one M&M and if they go "pooh" they get 2, but they just can't seem to make themselves go on demand just yet and don't understand that they just can't get a treat w/o putting "something" IN the froggy potty.

Dreaming of Tools

2009-04-30T12:24:00.003-05:00

Just a quick picture or two. I just put Hooper down for his nap and he insisted on going to bed with his tools. He was so cute that I had to sneak back in and snap a photo of him sleeping with his tools.
I wonder what he's building in his dreams?
Oh how I love this boy!!!

We're still here!

2009-04-28T15:25:00.005-05:00

Ok so this isn't what you signed in to see, but at least it's an update..picture free :( Dee is installing a new hard drive and all my pictures are some where else and I can't download any new ones until everything is complete. Story of my life......computers love them/hate them! But I thought I'd at least update a little on Hooper and our life.

Hooper has been sleeping in his big boy bed since April 17 and on top of that he has NOT had "Bob" the pacifier since the 16th of April. We told him when he moved to his new bed that Bob did not get to come and he's never made an issue out of it. Thank you God!!! We're still having to lay down with him at night to get him to sleep but he's doing so good in it. Actually funny story...one night last week in the middle of the night I hear this "thud" on the monitor then a loud cry. I ran to his room and he's standing at the end of the bed, looking up at me and said "uh,oh!" He'd fallen out of bed...night #9. Thankfully this was a first and we've since modified the bed to try and insure it doesn't happen again. Right now it's a little white trash looking, but as soon as Dee has some free time (poor guy) he's going to make some "pretty rails" for it. Will this bed ever be finished? Hooper can get in and out of it all on his own but really hasn't taken advantage of that just yet. He's only gotten up by himself 3 times in the mornings and this weekend I went away on a Women's Retreat at church and Dee said he heard him in the middle of the night crying, but it wasn't on the monitor. So he went to check on him to find him in the middle of the hallway. Hmmm. Still not sure about that one! But all in all he's done GREAT!

What else is new with Mr. Hooper....hmmm He is FASCINATED with lawn mowers, tractors and tools. So much so that we're scrapping the idea of a Mickey Mouse Birthday and changing it to a "tool" theme. Where on earth am I going to find tool favors? I've even researched the internet and am coming up completely empty! Yesterday I was changing the sheets on his bed and found a plastic hammer in them and one day last week he would not lay down without his wrench in hand. What a boy!

He's talking more and more and really enjoys playing outside. Today I asked him for a kiss and he bent down and kissed my belly. Too precious! He thinks all animals say "moo" no matter what type it is, with the exception to kitties and they say "mowww." Silly boy! We went to eat at Chuy's this weekend and had a little wait so we took him to see the Llama's behind the restaurant (yes in Plano, ha) and he just saying "moo moo" to them over and over. It was so funny. But neither Dee or I knew the true sound a llama makes, so we didn't correct him. Who knows, maybe they do say "moo?"

We only have 8 more weeks until Neyland is here! Yippee!!!! I cannot believe it's so close! I am so ready to see and hold him!! It just does not seem real though! His room is almost complete...almost. Hooper is going to spend this next weekend at my parents house so Dee and I have a goal of being 100% complete with the nursery by the time Hooper returns on Sunday. Pray for us, ha!

That's it for the latest update. Hopefully pictures will be back up later in the week. I only have a couple 100 or so to update, ha!

Thanks for stopping in. God bless!

Onion anyone?

2009-04-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

While my parents were visiting last week Papa gave Hooper a green onion thinking he wouldn't like it. Well surprise to us all, he did. Not only did he like it, but he carried it around with him everywhere for a while. This goes against our "no walking with food" rule, but really how much mess can an onion make?

Hammering the onion helps!

I don't think eating and driving is against the law.

Love, love, love this face!

Hoop and Papa watching cartoons at his new table while eating the onion.

He knows how much Papa LOVES onions so he's sharing with him.

What a good boy!

You never know what he's going to like or not like.

Everyday is a new mystery and I love it!

Wine-O's

2009-04-14T10:02:00.004-05:00

I hope this is not a sign of things to come. Before Hooper we had a decorative wine rack in the dining room. Well when he began crawling we put up the wine for fear he would pull it out on him and make a mess. Well today I was cleaning out a closet and they found my stash! Talk about partners in crime! I think I'll loose my Baptist card if this gets out, ha!William likes it so much that he took it to the play house. This doesn't look like his FIRST time, ha!
I may get fired after this....ugh oh!