Package from Yakima and the stomach bug...

Great G'ma and G'pa sent the boys the best birthday package in the mail...stuffed with all kinds of goodies!! Thank you guys so much! As you can see, they had a blast...




And then, all hell broke loose. The stomach bug infected our household and remained an un-wanted house guest for 8 days. Yep. 8 days. The only one who didn't get it was sweet baby J...thank the Lord!! Just a few pics from our days spent getting better and passing the time...










This last group of pics cracks me up. This was day 8...kept the boys home from school just to make sure they were completely over the bug, but they were raring to go. We played outside, inside, upstairs, downstairs...they even dressed themselves. Notice B-mans shorts are on backwards? I didn't have the heart to tell him... And W is wearing shorts 2 sizes too big? And they both picked jammie shirts to wear. I figured, why not let them?? And the flip flops and rainboats...could they be any cuter?? My sweet boys are growing up so fast. They made a batch of brownies all by themselves. Seriously!

This past Friday, we loaded up and headed out to Big Kahuna's for some little pirate fun! The boys' had a blast!

Happy 12 weeks baby!

JackJack...you are 12 weeks old! You smile and giggle all of the time, love to take your bath at night, are drinking about 4 ounces per feeding, sleeping from about 730p-6a most nights, love to be held tight against our chests, still love your paci and to be swaddled for nite nite...You can hold your head up while doing tummy time, you can roll over from front to back and we have just strated putting you in the bumbo. You have discoverd your hands and fists and love to coo and talk to everybody! Your eyes are a clear, bright blue, your smile is infectious and you, little one, complete our family!!



Playdate with Rylee.....ha!

Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Boys!

Has it really been 3 years??

Brody Lee at 3 years old:
You are our feisty little guy, who is quick witted and the sneakiest of them all. You love to challenge us on a consistent basis and enjoying testing your boundaries. You remain extremely intelligent and determined and have 1,000 questions about everything! Your bright blue eyes light up any room and your million dollar smile will take you many places in life, B-man! You always have to be fully dressed and love to wear your fast shoes. You show us how fast you are each morning by running laps around the dining room table! You rival me with your ability to talk non-stop and are bound and determined to be the first to do everything…You follow up conversations with, “See, I told yoouuu…” and you are constantly trying to persuade Wade to not like his snack and to give it to you instead. Brody, you are hilarious, very LOUD, can maintain a conversation with an adult and love it when Mommy and Daddy are proud of you. You have become quite the fish and love to hold your breath under water. You have an extreme sweet tooth and a strong love for your brothers. You wake up smiling 99% of our mornings and love Mr. Bear something fierce. You still prefer milk over any drink and will try almost any food. You, sweet boy, are our fun loving, blue eyed, clever and bright sunshiny day! Happy 3rd Birthday!


Wade Aubrey at 3 years old:
You are our loving soul, who remains laid back and a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. You are eager to please and love to figure out how things work. Your favorite word remains “Why?”, even though you know the answers to most questions. You are always the first to give up your last bite of snack to B-man and give Mommy and Daddy kisses all day long. Your sweet temperament shines 99% of the time, but watch out when you just don’t feel like being “messed” with…You are always grinning from ear to ear and could eat macaroni and cheese until the cows come home. You are a nudist at heart and let it all hang out everytime you come out of the bathroom. We are always telling you to pull your pants up, but you prance around the house naked without a care in the world! You are brave and strong and are always bruised and battered up. We think the last blow to your little forehead has left a permanent dent :( You bring laughter, softness and spontaneity to our family. You love to help in the kitchen, dragging the chair with you as we move around, asking to help stir and pour and chop. You have mastered the monkey bars and I think your love for daring jumps and dives off of the playground is going to give us a heart attack one day. You, sweet boy, are our giggling, mischievous, engineer kiddo who will move mountains! Happy 3rd Birthday!


We celebrated the boys' 3rd birthday with just family this year! Our visitors included Mimi, Grammie, Pops, Nana, Gator, Aunt Allie, Uncle Scott and cousin Caden! We even had a special visit from their teacher, Miss Jamie!

After the boys went down for their nap, I put on my decorating hat and let the transformation begin! I wanted them to go down for a nap with the house looking normal and wake up to decorations everywhere! I hung 26 helium balloons throughout the house, including a HUGE #3 balloon and a large happy birthday star balloon. We hung signs and banners and really "birthday-ed" up the house! Wade's favorite colors are orange and red and Brody's are blue and red...so those three colors where the theme to the party! We sang Happy Birthday to each one individually and they each had their own cake...we made their requested dinner of BBQ chicken, mac-n-cheese and green beans and flaky biscuits...we opened and played with tons of presents and loved having our families there with us to celebrate!!

LOVING their new basketball hoops, working tool bench, Toy Story Imaginex, Thomas pirate ship, Cars launcher, Lite Bright, Fingerpainting set, Handy Manny truck and drill, etc...

Three Harrell boys...all 3 years old!

Putting on their "Rock Show" for the family!  Mimi brought money to give the boys, and we decided that instead of them opening the cards with money, that it would be more fun for her to go to the store with the boys, watch them pick out their toys and play with them!  It was quite the experience to go up and down the toy aisles and let them pick out whatever they wanted.  To sum up the experience, Wade had 80 million things in his cart and wanted everything.  B-man would hold each toy for 1 minute or so, study it and then put it back (Well, Wade would add it to his pile!!).  He could not decide and was completely overwhelmed!  We ended up with a box of Trio blocks (my favorites!), drums, a guitar and a Diego jeep.  The boys even handed the cashier their money and were so proud to be paying for their stuff!  Thank you again Mimi for the fun experience!!

A special visit from Miss Jamie!  She came armed with hugs and kisses and presents...thank you Miss Jamie...that made their day!  And this is how Jack spent the ENTIRE party...sleeping.  Never budged.

They were also enamored with their new hermit crabs from Nana and Gator.  They named them Billy (Wade’s) and Freddy (Brody’s).  Poor Billy has already gone to heaven twice…………………. Wade has no idea that his crabs keep dying off - Guess we will be heading out to Pet Smart, once again, taking them up on their 2 week guarantee! 

We already miss you Mimi! 

3 exhausted boys after partying all day long...Happy 3rd birthday to Brody and Wade!!!

Playing catch up!

So much has happened in the past 2 weeks, and I am so far behind in blogging, that I am just going to summarize with minimal wording and lots and lots o' pics!

Great Grandmother came to visit PCB, so we headed to Grammie and Pop's house to get in some family time!:








We introduced Jack to a mirror:


Got in snuggle time with the Daddio:


We also had a visit from "crazy" Aunt Lowie!!:(as soon as she sends me pics, I will be uploading more from her visit...we used her camera 95% of the time!)






We found a new park and a new beach on the bay side:








And kept busy in between the visitors with coloring, painting and Playdoh:


Stay tuned for big Birthday post...the big brothers turn 3 on Saturday, August 13th!!!!

The Momma of three........

Todd attended his first week of the month Bowlegs meeting on Wednesday night, so that left me to pick up the boys' from school and our evening routine left to me. Solo. It is rare that I am alone with all 3. As I pulled into the school with a baby boy that just fell asleep in his car seat, I lug him out of the car and head into school to get my big boys. Every body oooh's and ahhh's over the sleeping babe while I learn that B-man bit 3 friends today. That has not happened in a very, very long time...After talking it over with him and explaining that we DO NOT BITE OUR FRIENDS...ever...he agrees, and we move on. We load up in the van, Jack starts wailing, the boys’ tell me how they pooped in the potty at school and B-man tells me that he is afraid to go poop in the potty at home, but not at school. Huh. I then decide to pull into Wendy’s to get chicken nuggets and fries. I just do not feel like cooking, so there. We get home, I feed Jack, pump, all at the kitchen table, mind you, while the boys eat their dinner. Such a sight, eh? While I fold laundry, the boys’ color and I move Jack from the crook of my neck to his swing. The boys’ tire of coloring quickly, so we move into the family room for yet another episode of Bubble Guppies. Ever seen it? (the chorus: Outside…Outside…line up line up line up, everybody outside….ok…got that out of my system…). I then move to the kitchen to wash bottles and sippy’s, reminding every 15 minutes or so to go potty, and peeking around the corner to check on JackJack, who has fallen fast asleep to the slow swinging motion and lullaby’s. I then quickly empty the dishwasher, swipe a bleach towelette over the counters, and plop down on the living room floor to finally enjoy my little family…until I realize it is already 7pm and bath time. After a quick bath, lotion, Q-tipping of the ears and fresh laundered jammies, the boys are all snuggled up on the couch enjoying shark week. Wait, I forgot to eat dinner...again. Sigh. Then, it is Jack’s turn. 2 down and 1 to go. I scoop his little warm body up from his swing and bathe his soft skin at the kitchen sink. Repeat…lotion, soft baby massage, and fresh laundered jammies and we finally set for the night.

I spend the next 30 minutes snuggling with my 3 precious sons, all lying across me. They smell of Aveno lavender lotion and downy dryer sheets. Their eyes start to tell the signs of nite nite time, and instead of putting them to bed at 8, I hold them a little tighter and let them stay up for another half an hour so I can snuggle and take them all in. They are all beautiful and healthy…and mine.

The Momma of 3……