Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

A little Thanksgiving morning love from Lucy before heading to Columbia for lunch at Mimi and Papas!

Black Friday ads, a staple on Thanksgiving Day!

Austin's 1st piano solo

Really lovin' the piano...

Playing with one of mommy and Aunt Catherine's toys from when they were little.

Tickle kisses from daddy!

Another oldie but goodie....the creepy hot pink ride on bear.
Back at home and ready for bed! Since Thanksgiving is almost over, time to pull out the Christmas sock monkey jammies!!

And just for fun, Thanksgiving last year, this was my little one month old!!

To whom it may concern...

Dear Austin's tooth #6:

Please go ahead and break through the gum already and quit causing us ALL so much pain! Austin is tired of having such a pain in the mouth and it is causing him to be a pain in the rear! We would all appreciate a happy and whine-free baby over the Thanksgiving holiday and in the Bahamas next week. Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Austin's Mommy & Daddy

Silly Faces

Morning play time on the couch is SO much fun!!

The Game!

What a bittersweet day in Clemson! Saturday was our last home game of the season (boo!) but the Tigers pulled out a win against the Cavaliers from Virginia which allows them a chance to play for the ACC title in Tampa!! We'd certainly be there if it wasn't for the fact that we'll still be in the Bahamas when the game takes place. We can only hope that we win our conference title and get to head to Miami for the bowl game in January!!

We took Austin to this game since the weather was nice and it was being played at 3:30. He was into everything at the tailgate and wouldn't hold still for a moment and I was worried he'd be the same inside the stadium...but he did FANTASTIC!! We could hardly believe it!! He played with his vibrating teething toy for about the entire first half while Ryan and I switched off holding him. He was engrossed in the game and the people around us...and that miracle teether! He had a snack, drank his milk and ate some soft pretzel during the game as well as flirted with all the women around us, played peek-a-boo with our neighbors, and laughed at the silly kids sitting beside us. About 4 different people commented on how well-behaved he was and we were honestly just as surprised as they were!! I think the fact that we've been taking him to sporting events since he was a newborn really helps and the fact that he loves to people watch and be outside. Our seats are in a very animated section where almost no one sits during the game. Both mine and Ryan's arms and backs were minutes away from snapping after holding our 25 lb. baby boy for the better part of 4 hours. I feel like we should both have the biceps of a bodybuilder by now!

Austin took a good morning nap before the game but his afternoon nap time fell during the middle of the game. (By the way, we're back on a 2 nap schedule now) He was a trooper and stayed awake until there were about 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Ryan was holding him and his head was bobbing around, eyes were glazed over and I wasn't sure if he was about to be sick or fall asleep! I laid his head on Ryan's shoulder and his eyes immediately shut. Since an impending celebrating was about to take place, I took him in my arms and we sat down so he could continue to sleep and Ryan's cheering wouldn't wake him. I was somewhat grateful for the chance to sit down and rest and I always love a chance to snuggle my sweet sleeping baby!

Austin slept in my arms through the rest of the game and post game celebration, he stayed asleep when I transferred him to daddy's arms for the walk back to the car, he continued to sleep all the way back to the car and didn't move a muscle as we took off his jacket and put him in his car seat and drove home. Talk about one worn out baby!!

Austin supporting the Tigers and his favorite candidate!

I was trying to get Ryan to get a picture of Austin giving me a kiss...but he was more interested in daddy holding the camera...since that's quite the rarity! :)

Ryan made me do it...

The buddies hanging out...even if only for a few seconds before Austin went running through the lot checking out all the other tailgaters.

CJ at the top of the hill...look sideways...I don't know why I can't get this picture right side up...

"Balloons, balloons, balloons make me happy..."

Game time action!

Austin with his trusty teether. 30 minutes of straight entertainment right there!

Me with my sleeping baby at the end of the game.

Post game celebration!

Clemson Tigers...Atlantic Division ACC Champions!!

Thursday Night

Let me just preceed this post by saying that parenthood is not for those with weak stomachs...and if you have a weak stomach, make sure you have a strong and take charge kind of husband to help out when needed!!

So, last night we drove out to Liberty for the Pickens County GOP meeting to hear our friend Neal speak about his campaign. In case you've missed his other mentions on the blog, Neal is a close personal friend of ours who is running for Congress. Austin went with us and boy were we surprised at how well he did sitting in a small, quiet room with about 40 adults for an hour while 3 politicians got up to speak! We did, however, have to revert back to the pacifier because keeping him quiet is a lot harder than keeping him still, believe it or not! But he did great much to our surprise and we now have faith that our 2.5 hour plane ride next weekend will be a piece of cake! (Ha!) At least we don't have to keep him still AND silent on an airplane!

Anyway, after the meeting we headed back to Greenville and decided to stop at McAlister's for dinner since none of us had eaten yet. I got Austin out of his car seat and we headed inside. We stood at the counter and the cashier asked if we were dining in. Ryan said 'yes' and at that exact moment, Austin turned his head into my chest, coughed and then projectile vomited down the front of us both. As I stood there stunned, Ryan turned to the guy and said "Uh, nevermind!" and at the same time, Austin vomited a second time. We were rushing towards the bathroom by the time he started up again and we had just made it through the door for the fourth and final blow. I was just standing there clinging to my little boy, covered in vomit and feeling quite a bit queasy myself when Ryan came through the door. Luckily he knew what to do because I was still frozen in a state of shock, worry and feeling (I hate to admit it) pretty grossed out. Now, if I had to choose anyone it the world to have throw up on me, I would choose my son, but it was still a bit hard to handle. Pee and poop I've grown used to, but I haven't made it that far with blood and vomit just yet...

Ryan stripped Austin down and headed to the car but since half naked babies are much more accepted in public than half naked women...I had to walk out into the restaurant covered pretty much from head to tow in baby throw up. It was a lovely sight for those enjoying their dinner, I'm sure. We quickly apologized to McAlister's for coming in just in time to gross out their guests and use their floor as a splat mat...and they were very kind about the whole thing, although the guy with the mop didn't look too thrilled...

We made it home, cleaned ourselves up, got Austin ready for bed and tried to give him a little applesauce since the poor thing STILL hadn't had anything to eat by 9:30pm and he wasn't acting sick in the least. The applesauce came right back up and thus we settled in for a long night. However, 30 minutes later he kept down some Pedialyte and in another 15 minutes took some more with no problems. We kept him up for observation until the poor little thing couldn't keep his head up anymore and then I sat in his room for another half hour to make sure he was sleeping safely.

He woke up at 8am his happy and usual self and has kept down 2 meals and 2 cups of milk so far. I don't know if my child just has a stellar immune system and kicked a stomach virus to the curb in less than 6 hours or if the throwing up was caused by something else I can't even imagine right now...but thank the Lord it's over and he's ok!

And here's to hoping that daddy is holding him the next time he gets sick since he joked with me all night about how bad I handled the whole thing... :)

By the way, the pictures below are the "Before" pictures of Austin after the GOP meeting playing around while we were waiting to speak to Neal. He loved climbing the steps to get on stage and walking around and beating on every chair in the room.

This is the way we drink our milk...

...we drink our milk, drink our milk. This is the way we drink our milk, so early in the morning!

Hummer for Youth

This was just too good not to pass on...

Our neighbors, The Atkins, started a church here in the upstate a few years ago and Ryan and I started attending shortly after Austin was born. The Atkins are an amazing family whom we have had the priviledge of getting to know over these past 2.5 years we've been living in Greenville and they are working so hard to spread God's love and His word through their ministry.

Recently, a 2003 Hummer H2 was donated to the Atkins from a church supporter and they were told to do with it what they wished! As a family with 3 young children and another one on the way, the logical thing to do would be to keep it for themselves...but they felt that this generous donation would be better suited for a higher purpose.

So, The Atkins and Discover Church are holding a raffle and the winning ticket holder will receive a Hummer for Christmas!! Tickets are $100 for the first one and $50 for each additional one. All proceeds will go towards funding a Christian teen center in Simpsonville, SC for area teens.

To learn more about Hummer For Youth and to purchase your raffle tickets, please visit: http://www.hummerforyouth.com/

To learn more about the Atkins and Discover Church, visit: http://discoverchurch.org/

16 weeks!

As of Saturday I am officially 16 weeks pregnant! Things seem to be moving along so fast this time around and I can't believe our new little peanut will be here in only 6 more months!

I had another doctors appointment this morning and everything is going smoothly. All the genetic tests we've had done to date have come back negative, baby's heart rate is consistently staying around 155-165 bpm, my blood pressure is great (so maybe I can avoid that nasty hypertension problem this time around), and get this...I haven't gained a single pound!! By this point with Austin, I think I had gained about 5-7 lbs. so I'm hoping that means I'm on track for a 15-20 lb. weight gain instead of the 35-40 lbs. I gained with Austin. I think it's much easier to watch what you eat the second time around because you realize that all that weight doesn't just magically melt off once the baby arrives like it does in celebrity world. In fact, when I got pregnant again I was STILL struggling with those last stubborn 15 lbs. Ehh, the story of my life!

At the end of my appointment I finally got my H1N1 vaccine (mom, I know you'll be proud) since my OBs office had some in stock. It's my first shot since I can't even remember when and I was shocked that it was relatively painless. So, yay for no swine flu!

Anyway, on to the bigger news....we will find out the sex of baby Harris #2 on December 7th at 9:30 am! Only 3 more weeks, I can't believe it!!! I'll be 19 weeks which was the earliest they would let me schedule the ultrasound and I can't wait! I'm so ready to know if Austin is going to have a little brother or a little sister and so is Ryan!

So, with that news, take a look in the right column of the blog to vote in the Baby Harris #2 gender poll!! Can't wait to see what y'all think it is!!

Into the wild!

Today Austin turned 13 months old and we thought we'd celebrate the occasion (and the gorgeous day) with a trip to the Greenville Zoo! Being from Columbia, I have become accustomed to the large and diverse Riverbanks Zoo, but I like the Greenville Zoo even though it's much smaller. You can see the entire thing in about 1.5 hours and it's not usually very crowded. The animals are in smaller enclosures and you can see them up very close which is a wonderful thing to experience. Of course, the fact that they're in such small enclosures does bother me, I have to admit.

Austin enjoyed looking at the animals, the big ones he could actually see, that is. I still think that mom and dad enjoyed it a bit more, but I have a feeling he'll be a big fan in a few more years. He did, however, really enjoy getting down to walk around the zoo himself, and since it wasn't so crowded, we let him. However, he got a little too excited at one point and took a minor spill on the concrete and got a little scraped up. He was such a big boy, though, and was back to his happy self in no time, but Ryan and I felt extremely guilty! I had to keep reminding ourselves that he's an active boy and he's going to fall down more than a few times in his life....especially if he's anything like his daddy! I just don't think I'll ever get used to the injuries, even the tiny bumps and bruises give me a sick feeling in my stomach.

Anyway, it was a fun trip and a great way to spend a beautiful afternoon. Happy 13 months Austin! You're just growing up right before our eyes!!

That's a pretty large hand print!

Admiring the giant elephants, my favorites!

The reptile house...probably our least favorite exhibit...which I'm sure will end up being Austin's favorite!

This one is for Ryan, he's completely freaked out by snakes!

The Lion King!

Whoa! Glad we were behind some thick glass. This guy looks hungry!

Austin was most amused by the tall giraffes.

Looking for the orangutan family!

Again, very glad this guy was behind glass!!!

What's a trip to the zoo without gazing at a few goats?

Go Tigers x 2!!

Not only did our Tiger football team have an AWESOME win today against the Pack from NC State...but let's talk for a minute about our Clemson's basketball team! I am so proud of and happy for our basketball program and I look forward to receiving those season tickets in the mail almost as much as our football ones. What a long way they've come in the last few years and I've really enjoyed watching them grow and win over these past few seasons. I am definitely a member of the OPP (Oliver Purnell's Posse)!!

Friday night was the season opener against PC and we were so excited to take Austin back with us to Littlejohn to watch our Tiger basketball team for the first time since he was only 4 months old. Austin was such a trooper even though he was up quite a bit past his bedtime, he loved watching all the action and had a fun night. He even boogied along with the pep band and clapped when the Tigers made a basket. I think we've got a little sports fan on our hands!!!

Success!!

Austin is off of formula for good and on to organic whole milk!! Hooray for the bank account!!

Ok, so I'm a little late with this, but I wanted to post about it anyway in case any other mommies out there have the same type of problem I had. At Austin's 12 month visit it was recommended to me that I go ahead and make the switch from formula to whole milk because infant formula can apparently be harmful to a toddler and with the nutrition he was already getting from his 3 meals a day, he just didn't need it. I figured the switch would be simple since he transitioned from breast milk to formula with no problems...but I was wrong!

My first mistake was that I tried to give him straight milk in his sippy cup, which he just plain refused to drink more than a couple ounces of. Considering my boy could probably beat some seasoned college students at a chugging contest, I was baffled when he only took a few sips and tossed his cup to the side. So, then I tried it in the bottle and he certainly drank more, but still wouldn't take all he needed. I was frustrated by this point and convinced I'd be buying expensive toddler formula until he was 2. Finally, I sought out some advice and was told to mix a few ounces of formula with his milk and give it to him in his bottle to see how that worked. He took down that mixed bottle with no problems...and I breathed a sigh of relief!

We mixed his bottles for about 2 weeks, gradually using less and less formula than before. Two weeks ago I gave him a bottle of nothing but milk and he chugged that think like it was a delicious sugary drink! Success!! Now he will drink straight milk out of his sippy cup without any problems and he takes about 16 oz. a day. He would probably take more if I gave it to him!

And another great tip for those bargain shoppers out there, we LOVE the Kirkland brand organic whole milk you can buy from Costco in a 3 pack for around $9....and it insures we have about a 2 week fresh supply in stock at all times. Also, because I'm not a milk drinker, I'm not sure if this is because it's whole milk or because it's organic...but a carton of this milk we buy will stay fresh (if unopened) for about 2 months at a time!!

I am seriously loving the milk transition now! Goodbye formula!!

So, to recap real quick, if you're having trouble making the switch here are my tips:

1. Give your child the milk in whatever he prefers to drink out of the most. Austin still prefers his bottle so he was more willing to drink milk from a bottle instead of his cup.

2. If they initially don't take to the straight milk, mix it with a few ounces of formula or breast milk and gradually reduce the amount used until it's nothing but milk.

3. Finally, something I forgot to mention earlier, if your child is used to room temperature or warmed formula/breast milk...try heating the milk up in by setting the bottle or cup in some hot water for awhile. DO NOT microwave milk because not only do you risk burns, but microwaves can change the composition of milk and eliminate some of the good vitamins and minerals.

Cuteness & a Question

Just because I think they're cute, here are 2 more pictures of my adorable little boy. I took them yesterday when I was trying to get him to smell the flowers for the camera. :)

Look at those 2 bottom teeth! This is probably the best picture I've gotten of his 2 bottom ones so far. Here we are at almost 13 months old and still only 4 teeth to speak of. The way this boy drools and chews, however, there have got to be more ready to make an appearance any time now!

By the way, I want to take a poll...who thinks Austin is ready for his first haircut??

I know he's getting shaggy but I just don't know if I'm ready! It took him so long to grow all this hair to begin with, I hate to chop it all off! Not to mention I'm wondering how in the world I'm going to get him to hold still long enough to get a sharp pair of scissors near his face. Who thinks I should just go ahead, suck it up, and cut it...and who thinks I can get away with waiting a few more months?

I'm really curious to hear some opinions!!!

Smell the flowers

I think I've mentioned this before, but one of Austin's favorite books is Pat the Bunny, and in that book there's a page of scented flowers and you're supposed to smell them. Austin has been able to do all the activities in the book for several months, but on that particular page he would always kiss the flowers instead of trying to smell them.

Not long ago, he finally caught on, and now every time we ask him to smell the flowers, he does! Even without the book around, as soon as we say "smell the flowers," he wrinkles up his cute little nose and starts sniffin'! It's so precious and I can't help but kiss those little pursed up lips every time he does it!