Pregnancy hormone induced post....

Life. Ain't it just incredibly grand? I find myself feeling pretty darn lucky these days...I have Todd, a wonderful, supportive husband, who not only makes me belly laugh but listens when I cry. I have Wade who holds my face in his hands, whispers 'I love you' and gives me a big fat kiss on my cheek. Just because. I have Brody who acts 5, takes charge of the household, all the while, stopping in for a long snuggle, telling me 'It's ok Mommy...It will be alright'...even when nothing in the world is wrong.

In fact it is good. Blissfully good.

And we all have Jack who will be joining our crazy family real soon. I know it is 4 months away...but we all know how fast 4 months zooms by. I cannot wait to hold the little nugget in my arms. There is something bittersweet, knowing that this one will be our last baby. The last one in diapers. The last one drinking from a bottle...the last one needing me to rock him to sleep. Will you look like your brothers Jack Jack???


Now on to real life stuff. The boys are obsessed with trains and train tracks. They will spend hours constructing and re-constructing the track until it is just so...Dora, Diego and Mickey are kind of on the outs this month and Toy Story 3 and Chuggington are fighting for the #1 spot. (These shows are referred to as Woody and Buzz and Choo Choo.) Currently, Wade's favorite food is talapia, while B's is spaghetti. Both love beans and rice and would eat rice krispie treats all day if we would let them.

It seems as though it is that time again...to seperate the boys at school and transition them into their own classrooms. Brody has moved up into the three year old room (basically 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 year old room) and Wade will remain in the two year old room, joining B in April. The teachers feel that this will give Wade a chance to be the 'star' of his classroom...because, well, let me explain. Wade is our laid back child (less dominant) who would rather sit back and let someone else steal the limelight...Brody takes a more leadership role (more dominant)...uh...bossy role...and tends to make decisions for the both of them and even talk for both of them. This is just who they are. Brody is the leader and Wade is the giver. Plain as that. (And please do not get me wrong...I know I am labeling my children while I write this blog, but I will try my hardest to not place labels on them in "real" life...I will celebrate the difference between them, continue to build their confidence to the best of my ability and give them the security of knowing that each one is valued as an individual!!) Brody will do well, being the 'small' fish in a 'bigger' pond, while Wade will be able to make decisions on his own, without the influence of the brother figure. Ms. Biz told me that Wade talks all of the time when Brody is not around. And Ms. Jamie, the 3 year old teacher, has said that Brody enjoys the more structured life of a 3 year old and has been doing a great job transitioning!! No matter what the sibling relationship may be, this 3 months apart will be great for learning and growing and learning to live without their twin by their side.

Darn pregnancy hormones induced the aforementioned. ha ha

Sand between our toes:

Todd and I took a much needed vacation to Aruba! We spent 5 days enjoying each others company, dining on exquisite foods, delicious cocktails (well Todd did anyways :), beautiful, warm weather without any humidity and waking up when ever we darn well pleased!!






To say that I missed the boys would be an understatement. I could hardly contain myself when the plane landed in good old Okaloosa County. The boys were fast asleep in their beds and I had every intention of waking them up...but Todd put the fear of God in me, and needless to say, I had to wait until the morning to squizzle my baby boys. Then, after about 5 minutes of reality, I was praying and wishing for an immediate transport back to Aruba for just a few more days :)

Grammie and Pop's ever so graciously came over and watched Bman and Wade the entire time we were away...they had an absolute blast together...thank you so much G and P for giving us the opportunity to escape reality!!! As you all know...Grammie does not take pics. Ever. But, I of course had my camera in my bag and snapped a photo of our "welcome home" sign on the front door when we arrived home. Talk about melting my heart...

Baby Jack update

We had our 19 week anatomy ultrasound a few weeks ago and Jack is growing and moving and developing perfectly! 10 fingers and 10 toes...and we re-confirmed that he, is still indeed, a baby boy. He was already weighing in at a whopping 12 ounces and was bouncing all over the place.

It's cold outside baby!

We have been burnin' through the firewood...at a very fast pace. Nothing better than snugglin' up with family with a huge fire roaring in the background. I absolutely love it. We have a gas/natural fireplace...makes lighting the fire easy as pie, and when the fire sets and lights its beautiful glow, all we have to do is turn the gas off, and viola! Check out this pic of the boys from way back when...


And check them out now. Enjoying a picnic on the family room floor with Daddy. They had such a great week at school that we zipped through McDonald's and got them their very first Happy Meals. (The simple pleasures in life can sometimes end up creating the most wonderful memories!)


When the temps allow, we try to get outside as much as possible. The swingset has finally arrived and was put together, with love, by Daddy and Pop's!!! Thank you both so very much for all of your hard work! And a HUGE thank you to Mimi and Grandmother for the swingset...what a generous Christmas gift! One that will provide hours and hours of fun for years to come!










And we have been doing lots and lots of bike riding. Seems the boys just do not notice the cold as much when they are peddling:

Sweet baby Jack

Happy 2011! Wow. 2010 is gone. Just like that...

This year will bring a new addition to our family. We have finally decided on a name...Jackson David Harrell (Jack, because we love the name and David after my brother David)! Very weird, that is the first time I have typed that name...a name that will be twined and wrapped around my heart and soul for forever. Baby Jack. Baby J. JackJack. JD...oh how we are all so very excited to meet you, little one. I went to the Dr. yesterday and all is looking perfect! Jack's heart rate was beating strongly, in the high 140's...he even kicked the doppler a few times, just to let us know he was in there. I feel him move all of the time...probably the very best feeling in the world!

We rang in the New Year with The Garber's! Let me just say that this year was VERY different from years past, celebrating with Brian and Elizabeth. That being said...we headed down to the Cotton's for a quick visit, as the boys were not into relaxing and taking it all in. I mean, come on, couldn't they just sit back, relax, a watch a little football?? While there, they explored smoke bombs and watched Cole bravely wave around sparklers. They tried to watch a movie...that lasted about 5 minutes...!!




After a wonderful visit with Brian, Eliza and Cole, it was time to take down Christmas, clean the house, do laundry, rake leaves (and remaining toilet paper)...



And decorate Daddy...


Happy New Year!!

Light at the end of tunnel:

So, we have been struggling with the boys' behavior at school.  It is a daily battle that has me biting my nails each and every day as I pull into the school in the late afternoon...90% of the time, they are very good boys.  They listen, follow directions and interact with each other and their friends appropriately.  But the other 10% of the time, they are pushing and pulling and biting and just not listening.  You can say, "Oh, they are boys."  or "They are two...", but when will this end?  Two days ago, Wade was pulled aside for pushing a friend...Ms. "Biz" was explaining to him how that is not nice and so on, and during that time, the B-man went up and bit the same friend.  Did he do it because Wade was getting attention and he wanted it as well?  Did he do it because they are brothers and he was just helping him out?  Whatever the reason, we have decided to take a different approach and encourage positive enforcement throughout the day and into the evening.  Right when we wake up, we tell the boys that if they try really hard and listen to their teachers all day long, that they will get M & M's when we pick them up. 

We tried on Monday...the M & M's remained in my pocket at pick up time.  I sighed.  Granted, the whole school was crazy, as everybody had just returned from Christmas break and all were a little out of whack...

We tried on Tuesday...the M & M's remained in my pocket at pick up time.  I sighed.  Again.  But the good news is that we almost had a break through.  There was only 1 inncident, but still...1 incident still equals no reward.

And then there was Wednesday.  We did it.  Me, Dad, Ms. Biz, all the other teachers, B-man and Wade.  We won!!!!  They had a perfect day and were rewarded with M & M's 2 times at school, on the way home and rewarded with HUGE praises and celebrations upon walking through the door at home!!!  They were both beaming and so proud.

We never talked about how they lost their M & M's, because that is giving negative attention, that we are trying to avoid...instead, we talked about how if we tried just a little harder the whole next day, how we would be rewarded.  And it worked.  It worked for 1 day, but hey, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Way to go B and W!!! (You both will laugh at this one day, as you did all of this for 3 mini M & M's!!)

Happy Birthday Jesus

I want that special feeling to last all year long. I want to feel the merriment of friendships and giving. I believe in Santa and the Christmas spirit. I love the dazzle of the lights and the twinkle in the children's eyes. Only 362 more days left until next Christmas!!

Our Christmas Eve afternoon was spent celebrating my 32nd birthday with Gator and Nana and making my annual request of homemade reuben's and salty, kettle cooked chips. We feasted on caramel cookies and had a blast opening presents!!


As soon as the grandparents headed out the door, the gears shifted from a birthday party to the anticipation of Christmas morning and Santa stopping at our house! The boys took a warm bubble bath, snuggled up in their footed pj's, left Santa milk and cookies and fell fast asleep, while the glow of Christmas lights twinkled above their beds!

This year was extremely different from last year. The boys tore into their presents, beamed with excitement with each rip of the wrapping paper and were happily overwhelmed when all was said and done.






After Nana and Gator got their Christmas morning fill of the munchkins, we got the car loaded up, the boys dressed and headed to PCB to celebrate with Todd's side of the family! (We were originally in the Suburban...all loaded up...and as soon as we got about 1/2 a mile from our driveway, the darn engine light came on and the engine went all haywire. Needless to say, we could not drive it to PCB...so back to the house we went and into the "the box" we climbed. Oh, the joys of traveling without a DVD player. I DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!!)


We were greeted by Grammie, Pop's, Mimi, Uncle Scott, Aunt Allie and Cousin Caden!! It was seriously the quickest 24 hours of our lives. I feel like we pulled in, opened presents and pulled back out. To say it was a whirlwind is quite frankly an understatement!!! I guess Christmas with 3-2 year olds will throw anyone for a loop!! We did not even have a chance to take a family picture, which has become a tradition for Grammie..she was bummed :( The meals, diaper changes, hugs and cleaning up was a joint effort among all who stayed at the Harrell household...it was a wonderful trip!!!






This Christmas was incredibly memorable!! Thank you to ALL of our Santa's, near and far...we appreciate you more than you will ever know! Thank you for making the boys' Christmas special and magical...!!