Pray not to miss this!

I heard some of the best advice regarding motherhood this week ... to pray not to miss "this" - whatever stage "this" is. In the early days, pray at night when you are up feeding them to not miss the sweetness of a hungry newborn that can only be nurtured by his mother. And, pray in the wee hours of the morning when the little one decides to start the day early, not to miss the play time in your pajamas as the sun comes up. Well, today I found myself praying not to miss the moments where Ryan reaches up for my hand without looking (to lead me to where he wants to go) ... knowing that I am there to help him and to keep him safe.

You see, Mom and I took Ryan to the Yellow River Game Ranch this afternoon for a few hours. For those of you that have never experienced this cool place, it is a mile-long trail through 24 wooded acres where you will encounter birds and animals indigenous to the state of Georgia, including white-tailed deer, bunnies, buffalo, sheep, kid goats, and black bears, all waiting to be fed, admired and petted on a "nose-to-nose" basis.

Ryan LOVED feeding the animals, especially the sheep and deer. He held onto our hands (or more like a finger) and led us from one animal to the next all the while motioning for some more carrots or graham crackers to give out. It is so much fun to watch him explore the world around him and experience new things such as all these exciting creatures!

I love being able to be in the moment (not distracted by the computer or the phone) and soak up this time with my sweet little guy! I pray not to miss this!!

18 months!

My sweet little boy is 18 months old today! I cannot believe it ... where does time go? My heart continues to melt for this little guy more and more with every passing day. I truly never realized how much I could love someone before he came into my life. He brings me so much joy everyday {even when he is throwing tantrums}! I love you, sweet Ryan! Happy half birthday to you!

I just so happened to be updating some things in Ryan's baby book last night and it is just amazing how much he has changed in the last 18 months. Watching his development has been and continues to be so much fun! He currently loves to imitate whatever we are doing and is adamant about feeding himself with his own fork or spoon even though the food doesn't always make it to his mouth. He also wants to go up and down the steps "normally" rather than on his hands and knees as he has done for months. This is a little scary although he is pretty cautious right now and wants to hold someones hand as he does it. He is able to say several words now {ball, dog, hi, oh, wow, more} with ball being his favorite ... he probably says it at least 50 times a day. Thankfully, "no" hasn't been added to his repertoire quite yet, although I am sure it is coming. On the other hand, we are anxiously waiting to hear "ma-ma" or "da-da" come out of his mouth, hopefully sometime soon. He really enjoys taking Riley for walks around the neighborhood, and runs the entire way! He also loves to read books, and regularly gives out hugs and kisses {and I gladly soak up all that I can get!}. And, he no longer has a baby's body, but looks like a little boy now too (i.e., his hands, wrists, ankles, and feet have all thinned out, if you know what I mean).

Right on schedule, Ryan went to see Dr. Silverman today for his 18 month check-up. Luckily, he doesn't seem to mind going to the doctor even though he always gets loaded up with vaccines on such visits. And, today was no different - he got 3 shots in his thighs - but he did so well and didn't even cry until the third one! We were glad to find out that this was the last set of vaccines he will have to get until he goes to Pre-K/Kindergarten {unless of course the powers that be change the recommendations in the mean time}. They also conducted a pediatric vision screening test to check for abnormalities in his vision {he had this done at 6 months of age as well} and we are happy to report that everything looks great!

Now for those of you who are on the edge of your seat wondering just how big the little {or should I say big} guy now measures ... he is 35 inches long {which puts him back into the 98 percentile, which he hasn't been since April 2009} and weighs 28 lbs {which is in the 77 percentile}. Bottom line - he is a beast with the exception of his head circumference which is only in the 6 percentile (and we are certainly not complaining about him not having a large head as is common at this age). Hopefully, he's going to be tall like Pop, Papa Tony, and Uncle Alan!

After Ryan's appointment, we took a little trip to my favorite bakery, Cakes by Darcy, and got him a little treat in honor of his half birthday ... an iced sugar cookie in the shape of a cupcake! He thoroughly enjoyed it {after he ate his lunch, of course}, as did I. Good iced sugar cookies are my favorite! There is one for David downstairs as we speak so I must practice some self-control this afternoon so that it is still here for him to enjoy when he gets home :)

Fun in the Sun

We are home from the beach and had a fantastic time {although I wish that we were still there}. As expected, Ryan LOVED playing in the sand and water all week, and now looks like the Coppertone sunscreen baby!

However, I do think that Ryan is glad to have his bed back as he didn't sleep nearly as much while we were gone as he does at home ... or maybe he was just having so much fun he didn't have time for sleep! Either way, he was more irritable and ornery than usual, but seems to be back to normal now after two good nights of sleep in his cozy bed. And, I am thrilled about this as I was not ready for the terrible twos to have set in completely quite yet!

We enjoyed spending time with the entire Morrison side of the family {there aren't very many of us} during our vacation. Dad rented the condo right next door to Pop's and we enjoyed visits from Alan, Susan, and Andy throughout the week.

We frequented the beach and pool daily, and had fun playing bocce ball, shuffleboard {David is still upset that I beat him twice!}, riding bikes, playing at the park, going on a boat ride {during which David ran us aground as we quickly learned that the water gets very shallow in parts of the river behind the condo at low-tide ... it made for a good laugh once we paddled our way back to deeper water}, and eating good food {and, if your name is Ryan, this also includes lots of Pop's candy - Hershey's kisses, peppermint patties, and spiced gum drops, Uncle Alan's chocolate milk, Aunt Laura's Cocoa Puffs, and chips, especially ones dipped in cheese dip or salsa ... for those that don't know, Ryan is the dipping king!}.

The ocean was absolutely beautiful while we were there, too ... clear, green water the entire time. I have been to New Smyrna Beach many times in my life and have never seen the water look this pretty {at least that I can remember}. It was more like what you would expect on the Gulf rather than the Atlantic. Everyone said that it was because there hadn't been any storms yet this year to churn the water all up. Whatever the cause, it was so lovely and I am glad that it stayed that way all week {as I don't particularly like being in the ocean when I cannot see what is swimming around me}.

We also were glad that we were able to attend Jessalin's wedding and spend time with some members of the Harris family - Pat and Dave, Grandma Harris, and Marge, John, Jessalin, and James - for a few hours during our trip.

Now we are back to reality and already looking forward to our next beach trip ... although Ryan and I did pretend that we were still on vacation for a few hours this morning as Mom came over to visit and we went to our neighborhood pool and out to lunch :)

Happy Father's Day

to all of you fathers, but especially to my wonderful husband. I have really enjoyed watching him become a Dad over the past year and a half. And, David, I can tell you that Ryan loves you to pieces {even if he currently is a mama's boy}!

One of my favorite times of the day is seeing the big smile form on Ryan's face when he hears the garage door go up and knows that Da-Da is home. I also love watching my boys bond in their very own way ... normally wallowing on the floor with Ryan laughing hysterically. Seeing them together makes my heart smile and also makes me love them both more than I could ever have imagined!

Thank you, David! Ryan is a lucky little boy and I am so thankful that he has such a great father to look up too {and that I have such a great partner on this parenting journey}! We love you lots!

Catching Up

Happy first Monday in June! Where did May go? And while we're at it, where has 2010 gone?

To catch you up ...

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and are so thankful for David's, and all those who currently serve or have served in the Armed Forces, service to our country! David and I started off the weekend with a date to dinner and the movies while Aunt Laura spoiled Ryan :) It was so nice to get away for a few hours and just be able to focus on each other.


On Sunday after Ryan finally took a nap {as detailed in the 'Naptime' post below}, we had a cookout at Pop's house - the food was fantastic as always! Ryan even tried a delicious rib for the first time.


Then, on Monday {Memorial Day}, we had a cookout at Grammy's house and enjoyed visiting with everyone! Ryan especially enjoyed playing with all the toys that Grammy has at her house for him.


Although we didn't really do too much the rest of the week, it still seemed to fly by {maybe because it was a short work week for David}. For a few of the highlights: Ryan and I made a Father's Day present for Daddy {hopefully he likes it}. And, on Friday, I took Ryan to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast to get a free donut in honor of National Donut Day. This was his first donut and he thoroughly enjoyed it. Then, we went to lunch with Aunt Laura at Souper Jenny in Buckhead - I have been dying to try this place ever since I saw Jenny Levison, the owner, on the Today Show a few weeks ago. It was really yummy, and Ryan and I look forward to going back sometime soon! {David would hate this place so we will never be taking him there.}

This past weekend, we spent a lot of time at the pool, but the highlight of the weekend was our trip to Zoo Atlanta on Saturday night for the Northside Hospital Baby Alumni Club Birthday Party. It was a blast! I heart Northside Hospital and informed David that I was delivering our next baby there even if I had to drive two hours to get there. Ryan loved seeing all the animals, and as the event was planned perfectly, the animals were all being fed by their keepers while we were there so they were all out on display. My favorite was the monkeys - they were fed apples and caught them in the air like baseballs. There was also a two week old baby monkey who was being carried around by its mother ... pretty amazing! Besides seeing the animals, Ryan also enjoyed a train ride, petting goats {although he was slightly scared of them}, decorating a cookie to eat, and playing a triangle, you know the musical instrument from elementary school.

This week, Ryan and I are participating in Vacation Bible School at AFUMC. I am a Kindergarten crew leader, and Ryan will have fun playing with the kiddos in the nursery for a few hours each morning, hopefully! Today there was a volunteer luncheon and the real fun officially starts tomorrow. I am excited but am slightly worried about Ryan. He has gotten quite attached to his Mama and doesn't do well when I leave him in an uncomfortable place with people he doesn't know ... and this is not an understatement! He doesn't just cry when I leave him either, he cries for the ENTIRE time I am gone. It is pitiful! Today that was for an hour but the rest of the week, it will be for more like 4 hours. I am praying that he adjusts quickly tomorrow and does alright the rest of the week!

As soon as VBS is over on Friday, we are headed to New Smyrna Beach, Florida for about 9 days. We cannot wait and are sure that Ryan will have a ball playing in the ocean, pool, sand, and riding on the boat!

Now you are all caught up in the lives of the Harries :) Hope you have a great first full week of June!