The Harris Family ~ Oregon Chapter

Alayna's New Costume

2010-05-31T18:44:00.001-07:00

Tammy, Chris and the girls came down to Portland this weekend and brought a few gifts for Cade's and Alayna's birthdays. One of Alayna's gifts was this fabulous bee costume that she immediately put on and has been running all over the yard "buzzing".

At The Ballpark

2010-05-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

Cade loves baseball! He's already shown us that he doesn't care that he's only 2 years old! He wants to play ball!
Of course, we did get some video of Gavin, too!

Alayna in Sprinkler & Gavin Gets A Hit

2010-05-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

Gavin's T-ball Game

2010-05-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a t-ball game. Sunny and high 60s.....of course most of the kids were more interested in playing on the playground than actually playing the game. Gavin is doing great with his batting. He actually got one hit yesterday without using the tee.....of course, I was distracted at that moment and missed it on camera, but I did get a few clips of him hitting and running.

Gymstars Day at Imagination Station

2010-05-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

Alayna's preschool, Gymstars, had a special event today at Imagination Station. Below are some videos of the tumbling demonstration. We also brought a picnic lunch and played at the playground afterwards. The weather was perfect for this fun event!

Trip to Michigan

2010-01-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy couple of months. Not only are there all the added events with Christmas (shopping, family gatherings) but working in retail makes it all the crazier! Then, to top it off, we planned a vacation to Michigan to visit family. We flew out two days after Christmas, which meant last minute packing as we wrapped up Christmas with Chad's family in Puyallup. I am very excited to now have a Kodak EasyShare camera so that I can share videos as well as pictures now! Here's my first video from our trip. I hope to post more once I figure out what I'm doing!

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T20:50:00.000-07:00

This year we once again spent Halloween with Melissa, Maddy and Karis Zollner. Cade fell asleep on the car trip over, so he is noticably absent from our beginning pictures. This is the group before we headed out to trick-or-treat.

Heading out in the wagon!

Here's our sleeping lion cub!

Home again, checkin' out the stash!

Cade did wake up enough to hit the last 5 or 6 houses. Here he is enjoying a sucker!

We finally got a pic at the end of the night with the whole crew!

Gavin Looses His 1st Tooth

2009-10-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

He's been wiggling it for days!

Cade's First Haircut

2009-10-09T15:05:00.001-07:00

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been getting a lot of "she's so cute" comments and I realized that Cade's hair *is* looking a bit straggly, so I decided to trim his bangs and then I just kept snipping in hopes of cleaning it up without losing those beautiful curls in the back. I've never claimed to be a good stylist, but I think this turned out pretty good. The wonderful thing about curly hair is that it is very forgiving! Cade was a good guinea pig too. He winced a little when the sissors touched his skin, but other than that he sat very still and actually made it possible to get it done.

Gavin's Favorite Sport

2009-10-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

Golf has become Gavin's favorite sport. Chad and I sit back and laugh because this shows us (once again!) that Gavin is his own unique person. Chad always expected Gavin to love baseball and football like he did. I started seeing Gavin pulling away from the sports-thing and thought maybe he'll love music and the arts, like me! Then someone handed him a golf club and now that's all he talks about! He went to a golf day camp this past summer and *loved* it! Here he is at the driving range practicing his swing!

Alayna starts Preschool

2009-09-12T22:55:00.001-07:00

I never thought I'd put Alayna in preschool at age 3, but over the last few months we started considering it. She is such a busy girl and its so hard to keep up with her. We thought that a few hours twice a week would be fun for her to have her "special school" and with Gavin at school it would give me some special time alone with Cade.

Camping with the Harris's.....the other ones!

2009-08-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

So, here's a funny little story. I used to be Krista Kieft and Adrienne used to be Adrienne Jenkins. Then we both married guys with the last name "Harris"....now we're both Harris's.....weird huh? It gets even more ironic. Adrienne and her husband Seth have three children. Ethan is about a year younger than Gavin. Emi is a couple of months younger than Alayna and Evan is a few months younger than Cade. Everyone has a buddy! So, what could be more fun than a camping trip? We drove out to the Columbia Gorge (a nice halfway spot as Adrienne and family travel from Walla Walla) and found a park with a beautiful view of the river. It was gorgeous! It was also incredibly hot the weekend we happened to go (100 degrees.....yikes!). Here's a few pics to document out weekend. Gavin wearing my glasses.....what a goofball!

Alayna and Emi picking blackberries.....those two were TOO FUNNY!

Keeping Cade out of the dirt was pretty much impossible....this is what he looked like most of the time!

Birthdays!

2009-08-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

Yay! I found my USB cord so that I can upload pictures from my camera to the blog again. Of course, it took me finally giving up after looking for over a month and going to Best Buy to get another one. And as it always happens, once you buy a new one, inevitably you'll find the old one.....which is exactly what happened. Thankfully, I haven't opened the new one yet so I'll have to make a trip back to Best Buy to return it now. Its definitely been a busy couple of months. Summer is birthday season for us.....everyone but Chad gets to celebrate theirs during the summer months. Cade went first in May, then Alayna in June, then Gavin in mid-July and I get my special day at the end of July. Funny how the order goes from youngest to oldest....that wasn't planned by the way. Gavin wanted to spend his birthday with friends from school and he really wanted to go bowling. Here he is with Maddox (left) and Logan (right).

This was such a nice picture of Mom and Cade that we took before she left and I wanted to share it with the birthday pics as well.

Cade *loves* his ball pit that Grandma bought him for his birthday!

And he had a great time making a huge mess with his cake!

Alayna on her first "big girl" bike!

Gavin is very proud of his new bike!

One Yr Checkup at 14 Months

2009-07-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm a little bit behind the checkup schedule, but better late than never, I say! It was a very positive, rather uneventful appointment. Cade weighed in at 21 lb, 3.5 oz. We chatted a bit with Dr. Hartman. She deemed him a happy and healthy little boy; he got a little poke for his 2nd DTaP (which he made a face during, but didn't really get all that upset about) and we stopped by the pot of stickers for rewards before heading out the door. The only thing that gave me pause was as I was heading out with the sheet in-hand that they give you with the weight, height and random information about development and such. Under the hand-written weight it read "12%". I actually squinted and read it again, thinking the number might change. What? My Cade who has been at least in the 50th percentile at every appt. is now only in the 12th? I almost ran out of the room to question Dr. Hartman about it (is this normal? is he ok?) and then I stopped myself, smiled, and realized I have an amazing pediatrician! She saw those numbers. If she had been concerned with them she would have brought them up. She did ask how he was eating and I openly talked about how he is still primarily breastfed, but we experiment with table foods and she said it all sounded good....she brought up no concerns. I am so thankful that I have a pediatrician who is supportive of my parenting decisions, even if I am in the minority of the mainstream. She didn't even bat an eyelash as I checked "decline" on about 8 different vaccines. She's always been very supportive of my decision to nurse my children past the AAP's standard of one year. I know so many moms who battle these issues with their provider and it is so relaxing to know I don't have to prepare to fight at each appointment.

Funny part is we're headed back on Friday for Alayna's 3 yr. appt. When I tried to get two consecutive appts, I was told I'd have to wait until August and since I was already a bit late with Cade, I just decided to make two trips in one week.

Introducing a New Blog!

2009-06-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

I have decided to write yet another blog titled Christ Centered Mama that will have more of a focus on mothering and childbirth. This is something I've wanted to do for awhile, yet knowing it is a LOT of work, I've put it off until I had it very clearly in my head what exactly I wanted it to be like. I've felt for awhile that I'd like to encourage women who are in the childbearing stage of life to have the best birth experience that they can possibly have and a great start to being a mother. Also, I've been very passionate about helping women who are trying to VBAC....most have to overcome many obstacles and I especially love encouraging those women and helping them with any advice I can offer. So, I have moved some links around on my blog list and all of my "earthy birthy links" have been moved over to that blog. Also, I've added my mom's blog called "Kieft Kapers" and am going to focus this blog as a "family" blog full of pictures of the kids and the events of our lives.

Climbing Boy

2009-06-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

Cade has decided he is going to turn into his sister and climb into and onto EVERYTHING! Chairs are just the beginning. I can not keep him off the kitchen table and yesterday he actually tried to climb into the sink (he hasn't been successful yet, luckily!).

Field Day at Arthur Academy

2009-06-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

Gavin had field day at school yesterday and I guess it was quite the carnival experience complete with face painting and colored hairspray for goofy hair. I was pretty surprised when I picked him up and saw the kids parading out in all their painted glory!

We Survived Our First Teeball Season!

2009-06-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Gavin first teeball team

Gavin and Logan
Who's the bigger goofball?

Gavin in the outfield

Busy Weekend

2009-05-31T22:44:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting as much as I used to. Facebook has hijacked my attention over the last couple of months and I've been spending more time over there. However, for those of you who haven't gotten in on the FB craze, I thought I'd at least update over here. We had a wonderful weekend in Puyallup celebrating the May and June birthdays. There were five to celebrate, including Cade and Alayna. We had a beautiful warm day for the party, which was at Tammy's house (Chad's sister). I forgot to take my camera, so unfortunately I don't have any great pics to post, but my MIL took some great ones, so if you are on FB, you can view some of the pics of us from my profile page.

So, details: Alayna got fun art supplies and lots of Dora the Explorer gear including a bathing suit, dinnerware set, a Dora doll and "Backpack" (the character, not an actual backpack). Cade got some cute clothes and toys, his favorite being a set of keys that has all kinds of buttons to push on the keyless entry part. He held it the entire way home. Alayna played with Backpack the entire way home.....I practically had to pry her little hands off to get ready for bed! ;o)

It was a great weekend, although I've completely lost my voice due to the sickness that has gone through our family, forcing me to lose precious sleep. Hopefully I'll rebound soon and takes lots of new pics to post!

Crashed Out

2009-05-11T10:26:00.001-07:00

Some days when Alayna is cranky and I know she just needs a nap, I'll just throw the kids in the car and go for a little drive. Here's a pic of what I saw upon arriving home after one such excursion!

I Can Make Messes Too!

2009-04-24T22:39:00.001-07:00

Just like his big sister.....Mama's so proud!

Stickers!

2009-04-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

Yup, the title says it all....Stickers! That is exactly what Alayna exclaimed when I found her in the bathroom! Look at how proud she is!

Cool Kids!

2009-04-24T22:33:00.001-07:00

Its fun to wear Daddy's glasses!

Spring is Here!

2009-04-24T22:29:00.001-07:00

So glad to be able to get out of the house on these nice warm days!

Diaper Love

2009-02-06T14:32:00.001-08:00

Cade got some new diapers for Christmas and I decided to have a Diaper Fashion Show! Above we have the Fuzzi Bunz Under the Sea print.

Next is the Fuzzi Bunz Trains print.

Finally, Thirsties in "Melon" ~ Kind of hard to actually see the diaper in this pic, but is that a happy baby or what?

January Pics

2009-02-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some random pics from the last couple of weeks. This was soon after we arrived home from Michigan....can you say "Jet Lag?"
He's moving......and he's into everything!

Big Brother, Little Brother

Alayna loves the cat, but I'm not sure how she feels about Alayna.

Vacationing in Michigan

2009-02-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

Well, it took me *way* too long to post these pictures, but better late than never. These were snapped during our vacation to Michigan in early January.
Cade & Aunt Karen

Dad, Kelly, Dan & Karen all sporting their new hats that Chad and I got them for Christmas! (Actually, Karen's hat was a present from Dan....I guess I should clarify!)

Playing Cards...gotta teach 'em young!

Let's see, Is this a good hand?

Karen and Dan took the kids to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Getting a pictures without a silly face proved impossible!

For some reason, the ducks decided to stick around this winter!

My kiddos crack me up!

New Year's Day in Michigan

2009-01-06T20:34:00.001-08:00

The kids and I are spending two weeks in Michigan over New Years! It has been a fun time spending time with Grammy & Grandpa, Aunt Karen, Uncle Dan, Aunt Kelly as well as seeing extended relatives. Every day has been packed with activities and I know this wonderful time will be over with before I know it. I will definitely enjoy every minute that I am able to be here.

The Snow Just Keeps Coming!

2008-12-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, its STILL snowing! This most recent picture was just taken (about 3 hours after I took the previous pics) and shows the massive amount of snow that is piling up! Gavin started asking if it would snow so much that it would cover the house! I laughed and said, "I don't think so, honey".....now I'm starting to wonder. No, according to the news, it looks like we're right on the edge of the snow....it will probably stop accumulating soon as this storm blows through.

Portland Blizzard

2008-12-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

We have snow! And lots of it too! I took these pics this morning....this shows the "drifts" that have been created as the snow has been blown up against the fence. There is another drift on our back porch that is probably about waist deep!

Why did I snap a pic of our recycling bin? Just to show how much snow has actually fallen....it looks like about 4 or 5 inches to me.

This is NOT what I meant when I said I wanted a winter garden!

Preparing for Christmas

2008-12-22T09:47:00.000-08:00

Alayna checking the lights in the star....just to make sure they all work, of course!

Gavin and Alayna were a BIG help getting the lights onto the tree!

Gavin singing for his school Christmas concert. It was a very neat concert. The theme was "Around the World at Christmas Time". Gavin's class sang "What You Gonna Call Your Pretty Little Baby?" (African American Spiritual) and "O Tannenbaum!" (Germany). Select other songs included "Here We Come A Wassailing" (England), "Para Pedir Posada" (Guatemala...Yes, the 4th graders sang in Spanish) and "Gong xi fa cai" (China...And yes, the 3rd graders actually sang in Chinese!!!) The whole thing was highly impressive!

This is the church where the concert was held...just beautiful!

I wanted to get a picture of Gavin's music teacher because he looks completely different from what I would have expected. You know, the sterotypical male elementary teacher in his 40s and wears a sweater vest....this guy looks like he should be in a rock band or something. (Sorry if I've offended any teachers out there.) I took several pictures, but this was the only one that was somewhat not blurry. Oh, and this picture is actually taken of the 5th graders who learned to play these instruments....I can't remember what they are called, but think of a bell choir, but with these sticks that you hit on your hand and the different colors produce different sounds. It was highly cool!

~Happy Thanksgiving~

2008-12-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

It has been way too long since I've posted pictures, but hopefully this little smiling face makes up for it! Cade is now six months old. He just started rolling over and scooting around on his tummy. He very much wants to crawl and one of these days (soon) he'll figure out how!

We spent Thanksgiving in Puyallup with Chad's family. Everyone was in charge of a portion of the meal.....we provided the turkey & stuffing! It was a great day spending time with everyone!

Chad and his brother, Dan, relaxing at the table after the big meal!

Kate (Dan's girlfriend), Ashtin (our niece; Tammy's oldest) & Cade posing for a pic.

Mama & Alayna taking a picture of ourselves....Alayna loves looking at herself in the viewfinder!

One More Election Post

2008-11-05T16:06:00.001-08:00

Ok, I promise, after this I won't post anything more about the election. I happened upon this blog and I agreed so completely with it and thought of emailing it to lots of people, but then decided to post it here so that everyone who has interest can read it.

A Christian's Response to the 2008 Presidential Election

Thoughts After An Election

2008-11-05T05:56:00.000-08:00

It was an exciting time watching the results pour in on TV last night. It was also conflicting for me, as I really do like both candidates personally. I've felt for some time that our two choices were both excellent candidates, qualified in different ways. I've defended both Obama and McCain to different people (devil's advocate?) over the last several months and last night it hit me that the road was ending for one of them. As the night wore on, it became more and more obvious that McCain would come up with the short end of the stick. When the official announcement was made, it was bittersweet for me. I was excited about an historic election. My grandchildren will probably ask me some day what it was like to elect the first black President of the United States the same way I wonder what it was like to listen to Martin Luther King's Dream Speech. But, I admit that when McCain took that stage to give his concession speech, a tear fell as I watched the dream end for this man of honor.

As someone who is now completely addicted to Facebook, I also kept tabs on my friends "status reports", an area where all of my friends can write a blurb about themselves and I view the whole thing on one page. It was interesting to view the polarizing thoughts. Some cheered and leapt for joy; others were disgusted and declared that our country as we know it is over! I know for the next several days and weeks there will probably be hostile feelings. My hope, though, is that in time we can all come together as a nation, the UNITED States of America! No, things won't be perfect and we can and should all stay just as involved and invested in what our government is doing as we are right now. But hopefully we can all move forward, now, together.

Halloween Fun

2008-11-01T08:08:00.001-07:00

Princess Alayna & Batman

After school, Gavin changed into his costume within about 5 minutes of arriving home. He then went next door and waited for the neighbors to get home from school (they usually get home about 20-30 minutes after Gavin). Then they quickly changed and everyone played outside until trick or treating time!

I'm so glad she's finally willing to wear the crown! She usually doesn't keep anything in her hair. This was her 2-yr-birthday crown, actually, but its the first time she's willing to wear it!

We went to Melissa, Jason, Maddy & Karis's house for some fun and trick-or-treating!

Here I am with my princess and my pea!

Froggy Karis, Batman Gavin, Tigger Maddy & Princess Alayna all inspecting their treasures (aka candy)!

I'm awake, I'm awake! Are we ready to go? What? I MISSED IT?! Its all over?

Ok, well back to sleep then!

Recent Pics

2008-10-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

In the morning, before we took Gavin to school. Alayna was all dressed and ready to go to her gym class at the community center. Brother & Sister.... I love this picture of them together!

Of course, this is how the boys play! Gavin's already training Cade to wrestle.

Cade loves lying on blankets....especially the super-soft microplush ones!

Single Mom for a Week

2008-10-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

Chad was in Kansas City for a week long training for his new job at Yellow. He left early Sunday morning and is coming home tonight (Friday night). As I type, its 10:30 p.m..... his flight should be coming in at any time and I expect him home within about an hour or so. It was definitely a LONG week, especially with all of the Doctor appts (all three had appts this week). Oh, that reminds me. Cade had his 4 month check up and is already 17 lb, 8 oz!!! He is in roughly the 85% for both height and weight. Of course, he's still in the 10% for head size....that's my kid for you! All three of them had 10% heads....go figure!

Well, it will be nice to finally have Chad home! I am looking forward to a well-earned break this weekend!
Alayna loves to grab Mommy's cell phone and "talk" to people. She informed me that she was talking to Daddy this particular time.
Gavin can be such a weirdo sometimes! Here he is, in a laundry basket, on the chair, watching TV.

My Cute Boy!

2008-10-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

Cade was having an exceptionally cute moment laying on his blanket and cooing, so I grabbed some pics!

Ghost with the Most!

2008-10-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

Chad found two cute halloween onesies for Cade the other day while shopping. Here he is sporting the "Casper" look!

Oh, Alayna!

2008-10-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

So.....if you ever wonder why I'm no longer keeping full rolls of toilet paper on the holder......now you know!

Alayna's First Hair Cut

2008-09-27T21:06:00.001-07:00

We went to Melissa's house today to play with Maddy and also so that Chad could help Jason (Melissa's husband) install some windows. With the focus on Alayna's eczema issues, I realized I hadn't combed Alayna's hair in several days. A dreadlock was forming! I commented that I really needed to get Alayna's hair cut. Melissa, who was wildly successful cutting Maddy's hair, agreed to give it a try. So, a big "thank you" to Melissa.....it looks awesome!

Alayna's having a tough time

2008-09-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

We've had a whirlwind of a time the last couple of days. Alayna has been battling excema for well over a year now, but it really has gotten horribly bad over the last month.....of course, now that we don't have health insurance (we are covered again with Chad's new company starting Oct. 1st, soon). So, two nights ago it got so bad that Alayna had scratched her knees until they bled.....and I'm not talking about a small scratch with a little blood. I took Gavin to church and when I returned home Chad met me at the door frantically wondering where the first aid kit was. Of course, I knew exactly where it was and we had to clean it, but vaseline on it and bandage it with gause and medical tape (our biggest bandaid wasn't big enough). Poor thing was miserable! Chad said we HAVE to take her somewhere....this just can't wait any longer. So, next day I took her to our naturopathic doctor....I absolutely LOVE Dr. Jen at the Natural Childbirth & Family Clinic! So, we think its allergy-related. We're going to get allergy/food intolerance testing done in a couple of weeks (its a different dr. who does the testing and that was the soonest we could get an appt.) In the meantime, we're doing hydrocortezone cream and lots of vitamins and probiotics to get her immune system under control again. We talked lots and lots during the appt. and I mentioned my garden and we talked about all of the foods we've been eating lots of. She mentioned that the most common allergens for this time of year and from what her skin looks like are corn, tomatoes and dairy. Well, the only thing we've been eating in massive quantities are tomatoes!!!!! Dairy, sure, but we've always eaten lots of dairy. We won't know for sure until the testing, but I'm thinking that's probably the culprit! I'm avoiding all of those foods for awhile, though, until we know for sure!
My little monkey doodle in his Monkey Doodle diaper!

Cade ~4 Months~

2008-09-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

Wow! Time flies! I can't believe that Cade is already 4 months old. Here's a pic I took this morning.

The Puyallup Fair

2008-09-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

We went to Puyallup this weekend to spend time with Chad's family, attend our niece, Tate's, 10th birthday party and while we were there, we decided to go to the Puyallup Fair. Now, the fair is a big deal. Chad has fond memories of going to the fair each year when he was a kid. There are vendors who sell things, big barns of farm animals and tons of rides. Chad has been saying for years that we need to go to the fair and this is the first year we've gone. Above, Gavin got to try on a fire fighter jacket at the fire truck display. As for rides, Gavin was very specific on the rides he would and would not go on. The giant slide was his number 1 pick! In fact, he liked it so much he rode it twice....the first time with Daddy and the second time with me. He also decided he would ride the Ferris Wheel, which Chad went with him on. However, any ride that went round in a circle was a no go.....even the chinsy little kid rides he refused to ride.
We thought that it would be cute to get Gavin and Alayna on one of the little kid rides and they both were excited about this little motorcycle ride (basically a small carousel with little colored motorcycles), but as soon as we put Alayna on it, she freaked out! Gavin wouldn't ride by himself and the ride was for kids only, so I have no cute picture of the kids on the motorcycle ride and Alayna spent the rest of our time there in her stroller.

Megan (Chad's youngest sister) went with us and this was the ride she was most looking forward to. As you can see, you sit inside the bear and you go around in a circle and you can spin the bear (can you see the wheel that Chad is leaning on?) Despite its cuteness, this ride actually made Chad feel sick.....too much spinning!

A Perfect Post about Birth

2008-09-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

I've been reading lots of blogs recently. Many have been about birth, which you all know I'm passionate about. I just came across a post that I read, then sat and thought about, then read again, let it sink in and (yes!) read it again. Its kind of an old post, but the truth of it is relevent no matter when it was written. Some of you don't care a hill of beans about this topic, and for you I don't recommend this posting, but if you are interested or even intrigued about this topic that I have become so passionate about, take a look here!

Gavin's First Day of School

2008-09-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

Gavin's first day of school was this past Thursday, Sept. 4th. He was so excited to wear his new school clothes and take his new Scooby Doo lunch box to school with him. The day passed quickly for me as I had a Le Leche League lunch at a local park to attend. By the time we got home, it was almost time to go pick Gavin up. Alayna didn't even have time for a nap! Gavin seemed very excited when I picked him up. He said that he had a good day and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Once we got home, I made an after-school snack and the phone rang. It was the school manager (basically, the principal). She asked me the strangest question. "I have a question about Gavin," she said. "Is he supposed to be in kindergarten or 1st grade?" Startled, I blurted out, "Kindergarten....that IS where he spent the day today, right?" "Uh, no, actually he was in the 1st grade class today." "WHAT????" You can imagine my horror! Apparently, Gavin's name was somehow on both the kindergarten and 1st grade class lists so no one noticed that he was in the wrong class. It wasn't until the afternoon when they did some placement testing and were greatly concerned that Gavin did not seem ready for 1st grade! "He'll be just fine in Kindergarten," the school manager continued. Well, DUH!!!! I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but the lack of communication and organization at this school is starting to worry me a bit. The school manager is new to our school this year and I'm trying to keep an attitude of grace knowing that its gotta get better, but with each mistake, its getting harder to do. Oh, and after I got off the phone with the school manager, I asked Gavin about what happened and he immediately started crying! He confessed that he had walked to the wrong room and wasn't sure what to do. Of course, I made sure he knew that none of it was his fault and that we'd get it all straightened out the next day so he could be in the right class.

Tomorrow is Monday and Gavin's first full week of school. I'm hoping that things start to go smoother and hopefully the communication improves. I think I'm going to see what I can do to volunteer and get more involved with the school. I know that's an excellent way to "stay in the loop". It will be hard to do certain things with Alayna and Cade, but maybe there are "paperworky" kinds of things that I could do at home.....we'll see I guess!

The Cat House

2008-09-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have thought I was joking when I said our house is the neighborhood cat hangout. Here's proof! Alayna, Cade & I came home from dropping Gavin off at school the other day and this is what we saw in our backyard! It was like a little cat family! There was actually a 5th cat, a calico, but I couldn't fit all 5 in the picture together.

Labor Day Project

2008-09-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

We decided to take advantage of a day with no rain to paint our house today. We put new siding on our house last summer and it really needed to be painted by this year. We planned to do it sometime this summer and before we knew it, summer was over! It really turned out to be a fun project.....labor intensive, yes, but fun. Gavin loved helping and the kids from next door came over to help as well.

Everyone working hard!

Cade, our foreman, did his job well as supervisor!

Of course, 20 minutes into the project, it became "boring" for the kids and Chad did most of the work finishing the job!

The finished product! We still have some trimwork to do, but the main painting job is finished....yay! So, what did I do during all of this? I painted a little during Alayna's nap, but between managing Alayna (who was inside playing, snacking and watching Scooby Doo) and nursing Cade, I didn't spend as much time helping as I would have liked to.

The Countdown Begins!

2008-08-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

14 Days until School Starts! Gavin is very excited. He has been practicing writing his name and his numbers every day (well, for the last two days at least). We did the official "school supply shopping" the other day and you can see how proud he is. We were told that he needs to bring his pencils to school sharpened, so I got a little electric pencil sharpener and Gavin had a great time opening the packages and sharpening the pencils and putting them in the zipper bag. It turned out to be a great afternoon project for him. The only thing we haven't gotten yet is a new backpack. He does have one, but we bought it a couple of years ago (a "Cars" backpack when he started preschool) and I asked him if he wanted to use that one for kindergarten or get a new one....he said he wanted a new one. We didn't find one that Gavin liked when we were getting the school supplies, so we're going to keep looking. However, Gavin did find a Scooby Doo lunch box that we got for him. Its about twice as big as the Cars one he used for preschool...which is good because I could barely fit a sandwich, juice box and one other item in the old lunch box and I will be putting more things in for him this year since he'll be in school a full day.

I started thinking about the "Kindergarten Let Down" that people talk about. You know, how we get so excited for our kids getting ready for school. We vicariously live through them as they shop for school clothes, supplies, backpacks, lunch boxes, etc. Then we send them off and...... go home. I remember the weird feeling I had after dropping him off at preschool the first time. I'm sure this will be similar. However, as it happens, Melissa has planned a Le Leche League picnic at Blue Lake Park that day, so I'll actually have something to look forward to myself.

Future Mary Kay Consultant

2008-08-19T21:15:00.001-07:00

For a few peaceful minutes, I actually enjoyed cleaning up in the kitchen while Gavin and Alayna watched a movie (Cade was asleep). Then I started thinking, "wait a minute....its a little TOO quiet." I rounded the corner to see Alayna covered in a brownish-red.....something. It only took a minute to figure out what it was! I'm bummed that the picture is so dark. I guess I was so overwhelmed by the mess and although I remembered to actually take a picture, I wasn't so concerned about lighting.

Recent Pics

2008-08-09T21:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of pictures for the last couple of weeks. These are the most recent pics I have at the moment. I will be sure to take more soon!

Thanks, Mom, for the super cute (yes, she made it!) nightgown for Alayna!

Traveling Alone with Three Kids

2008-07-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

Sounds like an oxymoron right? How can you be alone when you're with your kids? Ask any Mom and she'll smile and nod in agreement. Being a stay-at-home mom can be one of the loneliest jobs out there! So, why was I making the trip to Chad's family's home without Chad? Short Answer: He was already there. Long Answer: Chad went to Seattle last Monday for work. He needed to stay the whole week and since there was no way I'd live through a whole week as a single parent, we decided to go up on Wednesday (after Gavin and Alayna's dentist appointments) and stay until Friday. So, here are the highlights of our trip to Puyallup: Went through the drive through at Burger King before getting on the road. Didn't want Alayna to spill her root beer (yes, she drinks pop...I'm so ashamed to admit it!), so I pulled over and gave her several sips and then kept the drink in my drink holder. While on the road, she kept asking for more and I (stupidly) handed it back to her. Few minutes later, I glanced back and she had the lid off and was so close to dumping it all over herself; my heart stopped. Took the next exit, found her sippy cup, dumped out the water that was in it and poured the root beer into the sippy. Got back on the road. Short time later, "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom". Oh Gavin! Alright. Take the next exit. Everyone out of the car. And Cade was asleep too! Now he's awake, crying, wanting to be nursed. Since I hate using the restroom at gas stations without buying anything, I let the kids each pick a treat for the rest of the trip. Alayna chooses gummy worms. That's pretty safe, I think. Wrong! Within minutes, I hear her saying "icky" and I look back and she's got wet gummy worms stuck to her hands. How in the world!?! Next thing I know there are gummy remnants on the seat, in her hair, stuck to her shoe. Oh Alayna! Our normally 2.5 hour trip took 3.5 hours! By the time we arrived, I was about to kill someone!

Sounds like fun, huh? Doesn't beat the trip back! Both Cade and Alayna were not excited about another several-hour-trip-home and decided to protest by crying as loud as possible. We were about half way home when traffic came to a halt! Great.....just when I thought there was nothing worse than driving with two screaming kids in the car. Luckily, the traffic jam didn't last long and both Cade and Alayna cried themselves to sleep....ahh, a few quiet minutes!

So, I found a TV show that I now love! I've heard about it, but I had never watched it. Ever hear of Jon & Kate Plus 8? Its so cool! Kate is this hip, urban Mom with spikey blond hair and a sassy attitude. Jon is this laid back Korean guy and compliments Kate very well. They have 8 (yes 8!) kids. Twin girls and sextuplets (3 boys and 3 girls)! If I ever feel like I have it tough, watching this show makes me feel much better! Plus, one of their twins (Madelyn) reminds me a lot of Gavin. Its interesting for me to watch how Kate deals with her. In the couple of episodes I watched, the twins are 7 and the sextuplets are 3. I was telling Chad about the show and said "That's like 2 Gavin's and 6 Alayna's"!!! Seriously, I don't know how they do it!

Toddler Curiosity

2008-07-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

My sister, Kelly, is completely into photography and this photo reminds me of one she'd take. This is just the fence in our backyard...one of the boards fell out and Alayna wanted to check it out....click.....perfect photo!

Happy Birthday Gavin!

2008-07-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Gavin had his birthday at Chuck E Cheese's Pizza this year. It was his first "friend" party and he felt so grown up to be able to have three of his friends from preschool attend. Of course, Mom and Dad had some "friends" as well and with their kids, we had quite the group!

Gavin and Isaiah

Let's Play Dress Up

2008-07-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

It looks like a mini skirt, but its actually Cade's newborn-size overalls.

I'm amazed that she actually got them on!

The Terrific Twos!

2008-07-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

I love this picture because it so precisely represents what my day was like today. I could say more, but I won't....this pic speaks volumes!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

Alayna in her red, white and blue

Melissa invited us over for a backyard BBQ with a few other friends. Here, Melissa's friend Megan plays with the kids (Odessa, to the far left, is Megan's daughter) on the trampoline.

Karen, this pics for you!

~Garden Blog Updated~

2008-06-30T23:32:00.000-07:00

We're finally getting summer out here in the Pacific Northwest. That's right, while all of you in the rest of the country were sweltering with record high temps in June, we were bundling up with sweaters and long pants. But, the weather has finally turned in our favor and my garden is finally taking off! I just posted lots of pictures, so if that interests you, check it out! (You can click over from my "links" list over to the right.)

Storytime with Daddy

2008-06-29T21:37:00.001-07:00

The kids just love time with their Dad! I couldn't believe that all three sat still enough for a story, so I had to document it with a picture.

One Month Down....And I'm Still Standing!

2008-06-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

Its been a crazy month adjusting to life with three kids! Its actually been harder than I thought it would be. I think in my mind Cade was going to be as easy a baby as Alayna was. I forgot that sometimes babies cry for absolutely no reason at all for hours on end. You would have thought I would have remembered that from dealing with Gavin as a baby, but somehow I thought he was going to be super easy. I've mastered nursing in public as I've found myself on several occasions with a screaming Cade as I walked through the aisles and felt self-conscious as everyone stared. I'm sure they were probably thinking "oh poor mom" thoughts, but I still felt like they were secretly judging me. I'd quickly find the closest place to sit; sometimes the deli area or the benches in front of the checkout. I'd nurse Cade discreetly, which with Alayna I would have been a little self-conscious about, but this time around I just don't even think about it. I'm just so relieved for him to not be crying anymore. I've also noticed that no one else seems to care either. I haven't gotten a single weird glance or stare or anything for that matter. I'm sure most people don't even realize what I'm doing (or care for that matter). Not sure if its because we live in a more progressive area of the country or if people are finally "getting it" that babies need to eat, even if its not the most convenient time or place.

Its not all just screaming and crying though (thankfully!). There are definitely the precious, priceless moments. My "banana baby" picture, for example. It was supposed to be a nice warm day, but was chilly and overcast instead. I wanted to put a little jacket on Cade but couldn't find anything clean. Digging through a box, I found this little yellow sweater hand-knit by a lady we used to go to church with. I put it on him and thought, "he looks like a little banana!"

My Three Kids

2008-06-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

Its been neat to observe the kids as they interact with their new brother.

There are lots of silly moments!

Cade wearing a special outfit from Grammy!

Cade's Birth...in a nutshell

2008-05-30T00:05:00.000-07:00

I started writing Cade's birth story in a Word document and my intention was to copy & paste it into the blog once I finished. However, I have become obsessed with putting every little detail into the story.....I want to make sure I account for every memory while it is still so fresh in my mind. So, I thought I'd write a shortened version here and for those of you who would like to know every detail, I'll be happy to email you the long version later.

Its hard to say when, exactly, my labor started. With Gavin and Alayna, it was so clear-cut with my water breaking and contractions starting right away. This time, my water didn't break. On Monday, May 19th, I started having contractions. They were light and pretty irregular. By that evening they were getting more regular, but still extremely mild. I thought I'd probably wake up in the middle of the night in "real" labor, however, the next morning I woke up and realized I had just gotten a wonderful night sleep (which was good and disappointing at the same time). Chad had been trying to figure out if he should go to Seattle (which had been the plan before I started having contractions) to train a new sales rep and because everything seemed to be moving so slowly, he decided to go just for the day. However, after he left, my contractions started picking up.....they became consistent at 4 to 5 minutes apart. I called Chad and he was less than an hour away. I told him I didn't think he should go to Seattle. I knew I was in early labor and he needed to come home.

Melissa came over around 10:00 and we went for two walks to get things moving a little more quickly. By 2:30 p.m., I felt like I wanted to go to the hospital. I had NOT been looking forward to the ride there and I just didn't want to progress any further until I was at the place where Cade would be born. Something interesting happened on the way to the hosital. My labor music was playing in the car and I was holding my pillow and bracing through the contractions. When we were about half-way to the hospital, I buried my face in my pillow and pictured Jesus' face. I prayed for strength and peace. My next contraction started and the weirdest thing happened. I felt the contraction....I felt the tightening and pressure, but I didn't feel any pain. I had read "Hypnobirthing" when I was pregnant with Alayna and I know the Bradley method also talks about pain-free childbirth, but I had never experienced anything like it. I stayed in my little hypnotic state all the way to the hospital.

I had been planning to use the waterbirth room for my labor, but when I got up to Labor & Delivery, I learned that it was in use. I was so relaxed and focused on my labor that I honestly didn't care at that moment. I knew the regular rooms had jacuzzi's so at least I'd be able to get into the water. They sent me to Triage to wait to be checked by my midwife. It seemed like forever that I stayed in Triage. I soon learned that the reason everything was taking so long was that they were totally booked up...there were NO labor rooms available! Someone joked about changing my name to Mary since there was no room at the inn. I was given the choice as to either delivering right there in triage (think of the little rooms you go into if you have to go to the E.R....that was about the size of the triage rooms) or delivering in the OR. Now, this VBAC mama was NOT going to deliver my baby in the OR!!! I was checked and to everyone's surprise (mine included!) I was dilated to 8!!! It was an awesome moment and we all got a little teary-eyed remembering how it took so long for me to dilate when I labored with Alayna. As my labor moved into transition, I got more and more uncomfortable. Thankfully, a L&D room opened up and I was able to move. I was SO thankful to be able to get into the tub. It was not nearly as big as the waterbirth tub, but at least it was warm water and it felt really, really good. While I was in the tub, I got to the place where I was done. I hated this. I couldn't remember why I wanted to do this without drugs. Frankly, I just didn't want to have a baby anymore. I recognized this as transition and knew I was almost there, but at the same time I was so tired and wanting this to be over. I also recognized that, like it or not, I was in this situation and the only way to get out of it would be to push this baby out! So, I got out of the tub and walked over to the bed. Now, I did not get into the bed, I just stood beside it.

Now, this is the part of the story that might be too weird and "hippie birthing" for some of you. One thing I did NOT want to do is have this baby in bed lying on my back. I've read way too much to know this is the worst, most painful position to be in. My midwives are well aware of this and were very open to birthing any way I wanted to. In preparation, we decided we'd decide on exactly what position I'd birth in "in the moment." My entire labor I didn't want to be in bed. I remember hating lying down when I was laboring with Alayna and even getting into bed just to be checked was almost excruciating. Standing felt so much better. So, we decided that I'd have this baby standing up. I didn't know exactly how this was going to work and I also wondered if my legs would give out while I was pushing. Well, that didn't happen, but pushing was the most intense thing I've ever experienced. Way more intense than pushing with Alayna. It felt like I was pushing forever, but I now realize that I pushed for a much shorter time than before. Then, all of a sudden, my midwife insisted that I get up onto the bed. This was quite awkward as Cade's head was crowning, but I could tell by the tone of her voice that I'd better do it quickly. With every bit of strength I had left, I leapt onto the bed and before I knew it, Cade was out.

I kept asking what was happening and at first he wasn't crying. Everyone kept saying he'll be ok, but I was pretty scared there for a moment. Then, we all breathed a sigh of relief as he let out a huge cry. In fact, he kept crying and I realized he was going to be just fine. I later found out that his shoulder had gotten stuck and they needed me to quickly change position to free him.

This should be the end of the story, but unfortunately its not. Once things calmed down, the midwife who delivered Cade (Linda Glenn, for those of you who know her) gave me some bad news. Apparently, my blood pressure had spiked during my labor so they ran some blood tests after I delivered and found that I had developed pre-eclampsia, an illness that they test for regularly during pregnancy. It is usually found during pregnancy and I've never even been borderline at risk for it. Linda was incredibly surprised that I got it, especially since this was my third child and I've never had it before with either of my pregnancies. So, this meant I had to go on a medicine that was going to make me feel drugged and out-of-it for the next 24 hours. It also meant that I would have to stay 24 more hours after that to be monitored. P.E. can potentially be very serious leading to seizures and kidney failure. Thankfully, the medicine worked and I was discharged on Friday morning.

Overall, I sum up the experience as a beautiful serene natural labor that I will remember and cherish always, a pretty traumatic delivery and a crummy initial postpartum. Ten days have passed now and Cade and I are both doing great! I am learning new things about him every day and I love watching his little personality develop right before my eyes. Gavin loves him and Alayna can't keep her hands off of him...she's like a little mother as she cares for him, gives him kisses and constantly wants to touch him. I finally feel like our family is complete.

So how's that for the short version?

First Pictures

2008-05-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Proud Grandpa

I'm awake now!

Where did all these people come from?

Ok, this is seriously not comfortable. Where's my mom?

There she is!

~Welcome Cade Thomas~

2008-05-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Cade Thomas Harris joined our family on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 8:24 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz. and after a few discrepencies on length, we believe his official length is 20 1/4 inches. He had a little bit of a rough start, getting his little shoulder caught on his way out, but he quickly recovered and has been healthy and perfect.....an excellent nurser! I've got lots to share, but we're at the hospital still and he loves being held by mama, which makes typing on the laptop hard, but soon enough I'll share more information.

Sunday Activities

2008-05-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

Dad, Mom and the kids before church this morning

My cousin, Adrienne, and I this afternoon belly-to-belly at IKEA. She and her husband, Seth, came to Portland from Walla Walla (about a 4 hour drive) to pick up some cabinets for their new kitchen remodel. As you can see Adrienne is also pregnant (6 months), but barely looks it compared to my hugeness.....and no, I'm NOT having twins!

Still Waiting...

2008-05-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Dad arrived in Portland today. Its the first beautiful day we've had in quite awhile, so it was the perfect day to fly in. Gavin and Alayna just love having Grandpa here to play with. He'll be here for the next ten days. Still waiting for Cade to make his grand entrance. I am now 40 weeks....this is the longest I've ever been pregnant!

Patiently Waiting....

2008-05-11T03:57:00.000-07:00

39 Weeks, 3 days. Well, I think we're as ready as we'll ever be. Mom arrived this past Tuesday, I had a lovely blessingway on Wednesday evening hosted by my wonderful friend Melissa. Thursday, May 8th was going to be my big day. However, the day came and went and I kept expecting something to happen, but no contractions, no labor signs, nothing. Well, maybe I shouldn't say "nothing". I've had this runny nose for about a week now and haven't really thought much of it, but the last few days its gotten a bit worse and I'm afraid its turning into a full-blown cold. I keep wondering if my body is holding off labor in order to fight this nastiness.

I took Mom out to dinner for Mother's Day last night (yes, a day early....you never know, I may have a Mother's Day baby.....wouldn't that be a present?) and stopped by Lloyd Center Mall afterward. We were in Sears at the register and a cute young girl was ringing up our purchase. She looked at me a few times and then said, "is your baby due soon?" "Any day," I replied. "Wow," she said, "I don't mean to be offensive, but I've just never seen a belly so big!" I laughed! "Don't worry, I'm not offended."

Where did that lid go?

2008-05-03T07:32:00.000-07:00

Peanut Butter is yummy! I love it when Mom is distracted making Gavin's sandwich for lunch!

Time for a Snooze?

2008-05-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

Of course, after fighting and fighting and FIGHTING her nap for HOURS, I finally give up and say "fine, don't nap". So of course, I then try to actually keep her up until a decent bedtime hour. Without fail, she always chooses right after dinner to decide its time to go to bed. Why the middle of kitchen is the perfect place, I'll never know . (BTW, I love that she puts the little kitchen towel down on the floor as a pillow!)

I'm a Big Girl Now

2008-04-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

Despite my efforts to actually avoid potty training until after the baby comes, Alayna decided she has other ideas and wants to be able to use the potty now. So, at our last trip to WalMart, Alayna picked out some "big girl undies" and, of course, she chose Disney Princesses. She is currently wearing the Cinderella panties and is very proud!

36 Weeks and Counting!

2008-04-19T11:52:00.001-07:00

I've received some requests for a photo of my pregnant self, so here you go! Chad and I keep commenting on how quickly the time has flown for this pregnancy. Its hard to believe that in less than a month, our little guy will be here! I guess being insanely busy with two kids already makes the time pass quickly!

Gavin is Accepted to Arthur Academy!

2008-04-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Many of you know we've been waiting for months to find out if Gavin will be attending Arthur Academy Charter School next year for Kindergarten. Well, I finally got the call the other day and Gavin has been accepted....yay!!!!

We know several families whose kids either currently attend Arthur Academy or have in the past and we've heard nothing but rave reviews. However, due to space restrictions, they hold a lottery each year and only accept 25 kindergarteners and I have no idea how many children applied. Although we've been praying and hoping that Gavin would be accepted, I was also very guarded in my excitement, knowing that there was always the chance he wouldn't be chosen. Our public schools are actually quite good (I've heard great comments by many local families) so I knew that we were in a win-win situation. However, I still crossed my fingers for Arthur, knowing that they have an excellent reading program and that it would really give Gavin a head start in that area. I also just looked up Arthur Academy on GreatSchools.net (a site that gives all kinds of great information about schools) and found outstanding parent reviews!

Gavin is already getting excited. He has asked me to drive past his school twice already. He is still not quite understanding that he has to wait until September to begin going there...when I took him to preschool yesterday he asked me if that was going to be his last day at that school. Its funny because he shows real mixed emotions. At first, he was very sad when I talked about the new school. I soon realized that he knew that meant he'd have to leave his friends from preschool. Of course, I then explained to him that all of his preschool friends were going to other schools as well and that we'd just have to keep in touch with his closest buddies. That seemed to cheer him up and he is very excited about the new school now.

Spring has Sprung!

2008-03-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

It may only be March, but the daffodils and some of my other bulbs have decided that its spring! I'm trying not to get my hopes up and I keep expecting the cold temps to return, but so far so good. Today we had another 60-degree day!

Two Kids in a Bucket

2008-03-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

A Trip to Washington Park with Aunt Kelly

2008-03-05T19:28:00.001-08:00

Woman VBACs at Hospital Banning VBACs

2008-03-01T19:56:00.001-08:00

So, this woman (I think she's in Arkansas?) walks into a hospital in labor. This particular hospital has banned VBACs (vaginal births after cesareans) and this woman just says "no, you can't cut me open...I'm going to have this baby the way God intended." (my paraphrase) Awesome! I just LOVE it when women defend their rights to birth the way they want to. Shame on every hospital that bans VBACs!!!

Oh, and my "favorite" part of the article was the very last sentence where the hospital stands by their VBAC ban and adds that they will only allow a VBAC in an emergency situation......um, I thought c-sections were for emergencies. My how times have changed!

Check out this article: http://www.kfsm.com/Global/story.asp?S=7930912

A Beautiful Day in February

2008-02-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

What a day! Clear sky, high of 60 degrees and sunny. I'm so glad we are having great weather while my sister, Kelly, is visiting from Michigan. Last time she was here it rained the entire week, so this has just been wonderful!

~Alayna Helping Mommy with the Dishes~

2008-02-22T21:09:00.000-08:00

Alayna and Gavin this week

2008-02-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

Grammy Miriam sent this boa to Alayna for Valentine's Day and she loves wrapping it around herself and dancing around with it.

Yay for dry days! Even though its been chilly, Gavin and Alayna won't pass up an opportunity when the sun is out to play in the yard.
******
Alayna asked for a pudding cup after she finished her lunch and I just had to take a picture when she decided it would be much more fun to eat it with her fingers (notice she still has the spoon in the other hand).

New Links

2008-02-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

I made a few changes to the links section of the blog. First, our church has just launched a new website so if you click on "Our Church Home" you will be able to see the new and improved site. One part I'm particularly excited about are the audio files (found under the "Home" tab) where our recent sermons are available. Also, due to popular demand, I added the link for the Presidential Candidate Selector by SelectSmart. I've already emailed this link to several people and still others are requesting the link, so here you go! Coming soon, more pics of the kids....stay tuned!

Alayna's New Chair

2008-02-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

The other night my feet were hurting, so I got out my foot spa that I haven't used in the longest time. Alayna thinks its the perfect little place to sit and has fun climbing in and out of it.

A Couple More Pics

2008-01-19T21:11:00.000-08:00

As I was looking back through my camera, I found these pics and just had to share them. They are a couple of months old (probably taken end of Sept. or beginning of Oct) but definitely show off Alayna's personality.

I'm Back!

2008-01-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

I know, I know.....four months with no posts is completely unacceptable. In recent weeks we've suffered a broken computer and a lost camera, making posting pretty difficult. Well, hopefully I can start to make up for it by bringing you up to date. Since my last posting, we've found out we will be adding a member to our little family. Baby Boy Harris will be born sometime in May, probably sometime between the 7th and 15th (this is my "mom's intuition" about the date). My mom and dad came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us this year. It was so great to have them here. My sister, Kelly, is planning a visit for the end of February and I'm very much looking forward to that. So, without further delay, here are some pics of the kids over the last couple of months.

Instant Yard

2007-09-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

The sod has been laid and I finally have my beautiful yard!!! (Now I just have to clean up the porch....hehehe) I can't wait to expand my garden next year, as we now have a much larger area designated for that purpose. As Chad and I admired it last night after the crew left, we realized that we have a really big yard! It was so underutilized and it is wonderful to have a big open space for Gavin and Alayna to play. Its so tempting to want to run all over it immediately, but we know we need to wait for the roots to take hold to the ground underneath. In the meantime, though, it sure is pretty to look at.

Nothing but Dirt!

2007-09-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that we are doing some major remodeling of our home this summer. Yes, we have been remodeling for the last 3 years, but this summer we are really focusing on finishing all of our projects. This last weekend Chad's brothers, Brian and Logan came down to help Chad tile the kitchen floor and put two new windows in our kitchen. The kitchen is just about done! All that we have left are a few cosmetic changes we want to make. They also mudded the wall that extends from our dining area into our living room. Soon, we will be ready to paint our living room....exciting! Also, as you can see by the pictures, we are having our entire yard re-done. For anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing our weed-patch of a yard, you may agree with me that I actually think the plain dirt is an improvement! :o) Tomorrow the landscapers come back and will put the sod in, mend part of our fence that is down, smooth out all those piles of bark and move some of our plants/trees to make it all look nice. Chad and I will then take a trip to a plant store and top it off with a few shrubs here and there to make it all look really pretty! Stay tuned for the "after" pictures of the yard.....

Swimming Lessons

2007-09-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks of August turned out to be pretty busy for us. Gavin attended swimming lessons for a 1/2 hour class every day and absolutely loved it! I was very proud of him as he learned to put his face underwater and is very comfortable jumping in from the side of the pool. He is now a Goldfish Graduate. We celebrated with an ice cream treat! We have decided to continue the lessons in the fall, although he won't be going every day. He'll attend a 5-week "Pre-Penguin" class on Tuesdays and Thursdays to compliment his pre-Kindergarten classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Summer in Michigan

2007-08-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

We just returned home after spending the last three weeks visiting my family in Michigan. It was a fun-filled eventful trip and (of course) felt way too short! Above are some pics of Gavin and Alayna at Lake Michigan and a water park near my parents' house.

Gavin Turns 5!!!

2007-07-16T14:23:00.001-07:00

Gavin's birthday was a huge success! Friends and family gathered at Pietro's Pizza to celebrate the big 5 with a "Cars" themed party! Most of the event was captured on video, but I got a few pics of Gavin playing games. He even hit the jackpot on one!

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-04T19:50:00.001-07:00

Cooling Off

2007-07-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

Gavin has been waiting for a hot enough day to run through his Spiderman Sprinkler. Alayna wasn't quite sure what to think of the whole thing.

Introducing "Krista's Garden"

2007-07-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

I have decided to start a new blog completely dedicated to my garden and the things I am learning while growing vegetables and herbs. This will allow me to use our Harris Family blog for, well, more of our family activities. Feel free to visit me at Krista's Garden!

Watching my plants grow...

2007-06-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

...has become my new daily obsession. Call me weird, but to me, its just facinating! Here are my pole beans and bell pepper plants.

Garden Update

2007-06-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

This summer my pet project has been learning how to grow herbs and vegetables in my own garden. Its been a lot of fun and educational as well. I posted pictures about a month ago soon after I planted. Here are some updated pictures. Its amazing to look back and see the difference in size.....watching it every day I forget how small the plants were when they were originally planted. The green onions will probably be ready to harvest in about a month. I just harvested the lettuce which made an excellent salad! In the garden, you can see the bare spot where the lettuce was. I learned that lettuce grows best in cool weather, which is why it started getting wilty when the weather got warm. So, now I grow lettuce in pots (pictured with my newest herbs I have yet to plant, Thyme and Oregano) so that I can move it to the shade or even inside depending on the weather. My hope is that I will be able to grow lettuce year round, so I plant every 2 or 3 weeks so that I will always have a steady supply. I learned that marigolds are great at keeping insects away, so I planted several randomly around the garden. Since my last garden posting, I planted green beans, which are climbing plants, which is why they are up against a wood support. I also planted squash and cucumbers (see the picture with the water bottle turned upside down....my new make-shift continuous watering system). The squash (on the right of that picture) is growing much faster (or maybe its just a bigger plant) than the cucumber. I also planted bell peppers next to my beans. The plants are still very small and I don't think they actually are visible in any of my pictures. I'm really, really hoping this turns out well and I actually get a harvest. So far, it looks pretty good and I've really enjoyed spending time weeding and watering. My herbs are doing fantasticly.....the plants are growing so quickly that I can't use it fast enough!

Cake, Cake, Cake

2007-06-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pics I wanted to share. I wanted to make a special cake for Alayna, so Gavin helped me make both the big version and Alayna's special cake. Although its far from a professionally made cake, Alayna loved it!

Birthday Party in Washington

2007-06-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from Alayna's birthday party at her grandma's house in Puyallup.

Alayna's First Birthday

2007-06-10T14:53:00.001-07:00

It finally happened....Alayna turned 1!!! To celebrate, she received two parties; one with Chad's family in Washington and another with friends here in Portland. Here are pics of the party here which we had just yesterday. Originally, we had planned go to a park and have an outdoor event. However, the weather had other ideas and we moved our event to Papa's Pizza, a fun restaurant with a huge indoor play park.

A Great Year at Tree of Knowledge Preschool

2007-05-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

It completely amazes me that a whole school year has come and gone! Wednesday will be Gavin's last day of school and today Miss Bonni (pictured above with Gavin) sent home a CD with an assortment of pictures. I chose just a few that I thought were really great to share. They had a "Daddy and Me" lunch that Chad was able to attend. They picked pumpkins in the fall and have done many, many projects over the coarse of the year. Gavin has grown SO MUCH this year. He has made so many friends! I'm sad that the year is over, but happy that Gavin will be returning next year. Yes, that's right. We decided to wait another year for Kindergarten after debating the pros and cons and discussing it with his teacher. The great thing is that Gavin happened to be in a "young" class and 8 of the 16 students in his class will be returning next year and they will all be together again in the same class. These kids either didn't make the age cutoff for Kindergarten or they (like Gavin) have summer birthdays and their parents decided to wait a year as well. But it will be hard to say goodbye to Miss Bonni. As a parent, I truly appreciate her (and Miss Carrie, her assistant) and will miss the hugs she gives Gavin each day as he comes to school and the praise she lavishes on him. I know that next year he will have another set of wonderful memories, but in my heart and mind nobody will ever be able to live up to the standard Miss Bonni has set. I'm already telling her to just wait and in a few more years I'll be sending Alayna to her!

Improvised Waterslide

2007-05-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

This was my grand idea.....wouldn't Gavin just love having a waterslide? I wonder if we put his little slide in the pool and then he could slide down it into the water. Before I knew it, he was "surfing" down it (on his feet) and sliding down on his belly....HEAD FIRST! Fortunately there were no trips to the emergency room! Although the water was too cold for Alayna, the air was warm (another day in 80s!) and she loved having some diaper-free time.

Bath Time

2007-05-21T13:54:00.000-07:00

Alayna and Gavin love taking baths together! It is so fun to watch them interact now that Alayna is big enough to be in the tub with him. I wish these pictures weren't so blurry, but they just wouldn't sit still, not even for a picture. They are always moving, splashing, playing.

The Harris Family ~ Oregon Chapter

Alayna's New Costume

At The Ballpark

Alayna in Sprinkler & Gavin Gets A Hit

Gavin's T-ball Game

Gymstars Day at Imagination Station

More Videos

Trip to Michigan

Halloween 2009

Gavin Looses His 1st Tooth

Cade's First Haircut

Gavin's Favorite Sport

Alayna starts Preschool

Camping with the Harris's.....the other ones!

Birthdays!

One Yr Checkup at 14 Months

Introducing a New Blog!

Climbing Boy

Field Day at Arthur Academy

We Survived Our First Teeball Season!

Busy Weekend

Crashed Out

I Can Make Messes Too!

Stickers!

Cool Kids!

Spring is Here!

Diaper Love

January Pics

Vacationing in Michigan

New Year's Day in Michigan

The Snow Just Keeps Coming!

Portland Blizzard

Preparing for Christmas

~Happy Thanksgiving~

One More Election Post

Thoughts After An Election

Halloween Fun

Recent Pics

Single Mom for a Week

My Cute Boy!

Ghost with the Most!

Oh, Alayna!

Alayna's First Hair Cut

Alayna's having a tough time

Cade ~4 Months~

The Puyallup Fair

A Perfect Post about Birth

Gavin's First Day of School

The Cat House

Labor Day Project

The Countdown Begins!

Future Mary Kay Consultant

Recent Pics

Traveling Alone with Three Kids

Toddler Curiosity

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Let's Play Dress Up

The Terrific Twos!

Happy 4th of July!

~Garden Blog Updated~

Storytime with Daddy

One Month Down....And I'm Still Standing!

My Three Kids

Cade's Birth...in a nutshell

First Pictures

~Welcome Cade Thomas~

Sunday Activities

Still Waiting...

Patiently Waiting....

Where did that lid go?

Time for a Snooze?

I'm a Big Girl Now

36 Weeks and Counting!

Gavin is Accepted to Arthur Academy!

Spring has Sprung!

Two Kids in a Bucket

A Trip to Washington Park with Aunt Kelly

Woman VBACs at Hospital Banning VBACs

A Beautiful Day in February

~Alayna Helping Mommy with the Dishes~