Curt - Alexandra - Drew - Ben

A Fun Week and a Haircut (FINALLY!!)

2012-02-10T15:27:00.000-08:00

This week has gone by so fast. We've had something going most everyday. Monday was awesome, it was National Frozen Yogurt Day and we got a free cup of frozen yogurt with all the toppings we wanted! The weather has been great and we've played outside a bunch.

I made a red lunch for Andrew the other day. He thought it was fun. Please also note the hair...this is what it looked like up until today.

Ben is doing great, he's been sleeping through the night for about 3 weeks now which makes us all happy. He likes to wiggle and kick on the ground and sometimes he gets really vocal with shouts of joy. :D

This kid is all over the place. Here is another photo of how mobile can be. He started on the blanket with his feet away from the bed. :D

We taught Andrew how to play Uno last week and he loves it. We simplified the rules and don't play with the Reverse or Draw cards, so he can mostly play on his own. So awesome! Here is one of our recent games.

And now the big reveal. Here is our little man before. He just woke up before we left and he didn't want to smile. Despite the lack of smiles, he was an excellent boy for the hair stylist. She was so good with him and he listened really well.

Ahhh, sooo much better! He's not a shaggy mess anymore.

Miscellaneous Photos from this week

2012-02-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some fun photos of what we've been up to lately.

I got a gift card to Rainforest Cafe for Christmas so we went there last weekend for lunch. Andrew jumped right into this cute tent and wanted mommy to come in too.

I was taking photos of the boys together and Ben touched Andrew. Andrew pulled back and told Ben not to hit...and so begins the "Mom, he's touching me" phase.

This one is funny...In order to get dinner on the table now-a-days, Ben lays on the floor and watches. For whatever reason he prefers this to the swing. So I laid him on his blanket with his head on the left side of this photo. Each time I looked over at him, he had moved a little bit until he was completely off the blanket and turned quite a bit.

This was a cute moment the other day. Ben was just watching Andrew as he played and Andrew noticed Ben was drooling. He went into his room, grabbed a burp rag out of the dresser, and came back to wipe Ben's chin all without being asked. Such a good big brother!

A Poopy Day

2012-01-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have seen my status of facebook 2 weeks ago about my 'poopy day'; here is a photo and explanation for those who didn't hear about it.

It was just a normal day, only it happened to be laundry day. Our cloth diapers were being washed so we were using disposables. I'm not sure what set Ben off, but he erupted like an active volcano all day long. He ended the day with 3 explosive diapers, 2 of which necessitated a bath, and 1 additional blow out reserved for daddy while I was at Young Women's.

All over the white onesie, nice...

In addition to Ben's messes, there was also a blocked up toilet and 2 year old's diaper left for me to clean up. All in the same day!

Now some nicer photos

Toy Envy

2012-01-18T11:02:00.000-08:00

Ben loves to be held. He can't stand being set down for very long. So over the weekend, Curt was trying to get something done and every time he would put Ben down he would scream (hehe now he knows what everyday is like). Luckily Curt is a lot smarter than me and remembered we had this awesome toy stored away still...

Ben was in heaven! He didn't mind being put down because he could still see us.

Well Andrew, being the curious big brother that he is, wanted his turn...

Oh how it made us laugh. He still wants to get in it all the time and plays with the little piano even if he isn't in it. He sure is a funny one and getting funnier by the day!

Funny Things a 2 Year Old Picks Up

2012-01-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

Not a whole lot to report here. Just back to the day to day routine for us. I did want to share a couple funny things Andrew has said and done recently...(pictures have nothing to do with the stories, just thought you'd like something to look at )

Andrew loves to play with flashlights. Luckily we have those wind up ones so we don't go through batteries. He was playing with one the other day and shined it on me and said "Mommy, smile!" Then went to bear, "Bear, smile!" "Smile, ducky. Smile, frogs..etc..." He was pretending he was taking our picture.

We have a whole bunch of plastic Easter eggs from last year that he recently found and has started to play with. He started pretending there was food in them and would share with mommy and daddy. He pretends to pinch something, usually he says raisins, and then proceeds to hand it to us to pretend to eat. Then he says "Mommy eat raisin all gone." or "Raisin go bye-bye mommy's tummy."

Last week Andrew was playing at the bottom of the stairs. Curt was upstairs and began dropping small K'Nex pieces near Andrew. Well our smart little boy wasn't too entertained by this, but instead of crying or whining, he simply said "Hey, no throwing!" over and over again. Curt and I started laughing, it was too cute and I asked him if daddy should go to time out for throwing. Andrew agreed this was the right thing to do so he started yelling "Go timeout! Daddy go timeout!" It was hilarious because he just kept yelling it, even though we don't yell it at him. Anyway, Curt played along and had Andrew show him where he needed to sit. "O'r there." Curt sat down for a little bit then asked Andrew if he could get up and he said, "OK" but he used this voice this cute little voice that was just so sweet and forgiving.

Probably a day or two after putting daddy in timeout, I was trying to fix a drawer that Andrew had pull too hard on and broken the track. It just needed to be hammered back into the back of the cupboard so I was in there reaching to do just that. On my way out, Andrew was right behind me, blocking me from getting out. I asked him to move but he was just standing there patting my back so I started to nudge him out of the way to come out of the cupboard. Well he didn't like that and told me "Hey, knock it off!" hehe. I'll admit that I say that to him as an alternative to No or Stop.

It looks like we're at that point where we really need to watch what we say because he picks things up so quickly.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-31T14:21:00.000-08:00

We had a nice quiet Christmas with just the four of us this year. Andrew was definitely more excited about opening presents this year.

Mommy got a new can opener, ah the simple joys, but Andrew thought it was for him.

Andrew got a nice book/puzzle from grandma and grandpa Haralson

Lightning McQueen slippers

He totally knew what he was getting by the shape of this present... (oh and he's saying 'frogs' just to be clarify :D )

It was a LeapFrog learning DVD, if you were wondering.

The day after Christmas we went up to southern Utah to visit my family. Andrew had a ton of fun riding quads, playing in the dirt with his cousin Bhodi, and playing in the snow.

Christmas is Coming, Ready or Not

2011-12-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how quickly December has gone! I've been meaning to make new stockings for all of us this year, but haven't gotten around to it and I still haven't sent out our Christmas cards. Luckily Curt has some time off so we'll be able to divide and conquer the things that need to get done around here.

In other news, Andrew has been a little stinker about naps. Most days for about the past 2 or 3 weeks, he doesn't end up falling asleep when I put him in his room. He'll just play in there and have quiet time for an hour or two. It caught up to him the other day during dinner and although it's not surprising for him to fall asleep in a high chair, a Bumbo is another story. He reminded me of our college days, not that we ever fell asleep in class *wink wink* but all those other students falling asleep in lectures on itty bitty desks or just crumpled over. And the funniest part was when I moved him to his bed he woke up a little and brought his fingers to his mouth as if he was still eating his food.

Before Ben was born I found a bunch of really cute ideas of photos to take of him along the way. I really like the photos of the baby and the same object (ex: teddy bear) as they grow. Well I thought this one was cute: in a laundry basket.

source

Looks like my basket is already too small for Ben!

We got a new tree this year just after Thanksgiving. Our tree since we got married was a little 2 ft tree with no lights. Now we have a 6.5 ft tree that is pre-lit! yeah. I also got a ton of ornaments on sale last year after Christmas for a super cheap. Now I just need to get my act together and make a tree skirt and stockings!

I played with the settings on our basic digital camera to take some fun photos of the tree and the boys. It took a while to get a good shot. A wiggly baby and slow shutter speed don't go well together so these are some of the best I got of Ben.

I thought Andrew would be a bit easier, but even being bribed with a cookie he couldn't stay still long enough. This is the least blurred one of him. He flicked the ornament but at least he smiled.

Christmas Lights at the Magical Forest

2011-12-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

We got tickets to the Magical Forest again this year from Curt's work. We were originally supposed to go on the December 1st, but Curt's car broke down on his way home from Laughlin. Of all the times it had to break in the middle of nowhere. So we went last week and it was really busy, and FREEZING!

The lights were really pretty! Andrew definitely enjoyed the rides a lot more this year. He loved the train and asked to keep going on it. He also wasn't scared of the carousel.

Also, can you believe how big Ben is getting?!?!

(To explain the setting of this picture, Andrew has developed this weird habit of dragging his pillow, blankets, and his animals to the corner behind his door during naps and bedtime. Sometimes we have to push our way in with everything behind the door, including Andrew :-)

Another cute picture of Andrew...He discovered stickers. He's never had an interest in these ones that came with his flash cards, but the other day he decided they belonged on his face and in his hair. Such a funny man.

Lately...

2011-11-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

Well I haven't been so great at taking pictures but here are some from the last month. Can you believe that Ben is already a month old?

We've had a lot of visitors lately. Both my parents and brother's family and Curt's parents were able to come to town for Ben's blessing. It was a beautiful blessing and we're glad everyone got to meet Ben.

Ben is getting bigger and chunkier, chunkier than Drew was at least. He's been a good sleeper and only wakes up 1-2 times a night. Andrew is still such a good little helper and we're pretty used to having two wonderful little boys.

30 Years Later

2011-11-06T19:25:00.001-08:00

Hospital Photo Shoot

2011-11-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

The hospital that we delivered at had a photographer available to take photos. Here are the photos taken of Ben at only one day old.

Introducing Benjamin David Haralson

2011-10-23T20:17:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the world little Benjamin David Haralson, born October 21, 2011 at 10:54pm. He weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 19inches long.

So the day started normally. Andrew and I got breakfast, got ready for the day, and left to go to my appointment. We made a few stops on the way and got to my after lunch appointment a bit early. Curt met us there and brought me some fast food because I hadn't eaten yet.

The appointment was normal - heartbeat checked out fine, my body was making some progress toward labor, albeit very slowly, and measurements were fine. The doctor was concerned about me being overdue and had me to some extra testing, a bio-physical profile, to make sure the baby was still doing good and the placenta was still doing its job. So we moved to another room and got an ultrasound done to measure fluids around the baby and also sat on the monitor to measure contractions and baby movement. The results were okay. Nothing to be overly concerned about, but not great. After reporting this info to the doctor, the nurse let us know the doctor would really like us to go straight to the hospital (next door) and start going on the induction. Not what we had planned for the day, that's for sure.

Well we did as we were told and went straight to the hospital with Andrew in tow. Luckily I'd had my hospital bag in the car for about a week so I didn't have to worry about anything. The admission process took forever so Curt left to get some stuff for staying over night and to take Drew to a friend's house for the night. In the meantime, they started me on the pitocin and got my labor started. I wasn't in much pain, just some slight discomfort for a while. About 8 or 9pm it started to get really bad so I asked to get an epidural. Unfortunately the anesthesiologist was is a c-section so it took a while for him to get there. I have a love/hate relationship with the epidural. I love that it takes away the pain, but boy do I hate needles and the pain it takes to get the epidural (not to mention the lingering back pain after it's all said and done).

Once it was in and I was numb, which took about 30 minutes because it was only working on one side for a bit, the nurse checked my progress and said I was fully dilated!!! She broke my water and said the baby's head was very low! I was shocked when she told us that because one, I was expecting it to take longer and two, it would seem like I labored most of the way to 10cm without any meds. But really I don't know exactly since I have no idea how far along I was beforehand. Anyway, the nurse called the doctor and got the room ready. That took a while and the doctor seemed to take forever to get there. At one point the nurse asked if I wanted to practice pushing, I did and she immediately told me to stop. She said I was "too good" at pushing and the baby was right there so we'd better wait for the doctor. Once he got there he got the gloves and gear on and told me to push with the next contraction and he had to tell me to stop too because the head was out like that! He cleared the baby's airways and the rest of the baby slid out. A BOY! He held up the baby to show the both of us and he started peeing on the doctor. hehe. They set him on my chest, cleaned him off, and asked Curt if he wanted to cut the cord. He didn't really care to so I did. After that of course they took him to the warming table and did their thing.

Just like with Andrew, we hadn't picked out a name prior to seeing him. Curt must have some sort of baby naming gift because just a couple minutes later he suggested Benjamin as the first name. It, just like Andrew, had not been on our list of names we were considering, but it fit the little guy in front of us though so it stuck. The middle name David comes from both sides of our families. My dad, Curt's brother, uncle, and cousin are all Davids AND they are all the second born boy in their families. So it was fitting as well.

Well there you go, Ben's story. He's fitting in well with our family and Andrew is getting used to him. At first he didn't really notice him or want anything to do with him when he first came to the hospital, but now he tells us what Ben's doing: "Ben yawn," "Ben crying." "Momma feed Ben." "Dadda hold Ben.". etc etc. We're looking forward to many new adventures with our wonderful little boys and our newly expanded family. And here are some more pictures for your enjoyment…

Someone turned 2 and We're Still Waiting

2011-10-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Some how I forgot to mention someone had a birthday. This little man is now 2! I can hardly believe it. To celebrate we went out to a pizza buffet and then to a park where we played with glow sticks. Andrew had a blast!

This 2 year old loves jigsaw puzzles, yes the normal kind, not just shapes. He has a 12 piece puzzle that he does over and over again. He has a huge vocabulary and will repeat most anything back to you, he knows his numbers 0-9, and his colors. He also knows some letters by sight, but not in any kind of order.

Andrew loves to read books. His recent favorite is Cat in the Hat.

Other than that though, we're still waiting for the baby. That's right folks, this one is stubborn and is taking its own sweet time.

The silver lining is that Andrew and I have been able to spend a lot of time together while he's still an only child, but boy is it getting hard on me. Curt went out of town for a day last week for his great grandmother's funeral so we made sure to take it easy that day. We had to pick him up from the airport so we stopped by a mall down near there and played around. Mommy played around in H&M, my fav, and Old Navy. I thought this hat was fun, but there's really not a need here.

Andrew got to play at the playground at the mall. He had tons of fun and made a few new friends.

Today we played tigers - I chased him around on all fours roaring and after waking up wet from his nap, Andrew got to play with glow sticks in the bath tub. He loved it.

We've done lots of cuddling and read lots of books. Andrew is still a really good helper so I know he's going to be a great big brother when this little one decides to come out. On his own today after I rubbed my belly, Andrew said "Baby come out play." Of course it was a phrase we'd taught him earlier, but it was cute that he said it on his own in connection with my belly. That is all for now. Just going to do some more waiting...

Waiting Game

2011-10-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

Any day now we are expecting our newest addition. During the wait Andrew and I have been taking it easy. He got to watch a bit of Cars the other day while I showered alone, I know this will be a hot commodity soon so I'm not taking it for granted.

He loves his teddy and as you can see insists on putting a diaper on him too. I think he'll be a great helper when the baby gets here.

Here I am at 39 weeks. Very pregnant, very HUGE, completely ready to be have this little one out!

Andrew wanted his turn in front of the camera too...

Poor guy has to crane his neck back all the way to see mommy around the belly.

St.George Marathon

2011-10-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

Curt did something AMAZING this weekend. He ran his very first marathon! He's been training for a while and set this goal about a year ago and it finally came time. He'll be the first to tell you that before training, he seriously had not run in his life. Minus the mandatory PE and such, but he's never been a sporty person so this was HUGE for him.

We left Friday evening for the run. He was having a busy day at the office so we left as soon as we could get away. We picked up his race info and proceeded to look for something good to eat. All of the restaurants nearby were SUPER busy, especially the pasta places like Olive Garden, Brick Oven, etc. Luckily Applebee's didn't have a wait so we went there and Curt loaded up on carbs and we got to watch the BYU game too! Andrew loved that. (He asked me the other day, "Momma, more feetball, please." so cute)

After dinner we got a little lost on the way to the hotel. So we didn't get the best sleep possible for our 3:30am wake up to get Curt to the bus to get transported to the starting line.

After the drop off Andrew and I went back to the hotel to sleep a bit more. When we woke up in the morning I was super anxious to get to the finish line so I wouldn't miss Curt. I overestimated how fast Curt could run so we waited for a while. And wouldn't you know as soon as I find a shady place to sit down, he comes flying down the finish line. No finish line picture here. :-( Hopefully the race photographer got one.

Here's my awesome runner. I'm so proud of this guy!! Curt is too humble to tell people of this accomplishment so it's up to me to dote on him! :-D

We didn't stay too much longer in St.George. Just went home to relax. Andrew had a fun time on the drive back with his blanket in the backseat...

Now we're back home recovering. Me from the heat and standing around and Curt from, well running 26 miles! General Conference sure was a great way to spend the day recovering. What great messages!

And if you're curious...only 2 more weeks (maybe sooner) until this bun is done cooking! :D Oh and I cut my hair off!

Farewell Uncle Dave and Other Recent Happenings

2011-09-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

Well I know I've been slack at keeping this blog up to date. Since the last post some fun things have happened. Curt and I went to The Lion King Broadway show. It's just about to end its run here in Vegas so we found a good deal and left Andrew with some friends. It was such a good show, although it was surprising how it followed the movie almost completely word for word.

The costumes were fabulous and the dancing and singing were both beautiful! We loved it.

A couple days later we went up to Salt Lake to see Curt's brother, mom, and grandma. They came into town to take David to the Missionary Training Center (MTC). After a couple months there learning Spanish, he will be serving an LDS mission in the St. George mission, which actually covers everything south of Provo in Utah.

On Wednesday, Curt had to be in Cedar City to represent his firm at a career fair at Southern Utah University. Andrew and I spent the day enjoying the beautiful weather before coming home to the heat.

Since then it's been the day to day routine. Andrew is getting to be such a smart little man and the baby is growing like crazy. Not too much longer before he/she arrives.

This was cute. My parents got this cute night light for Drew and he just happened to learn the what a pumpkin was a couple days earlier. Well he just loves the light and parked himself in the hall to watch it and just kept saying his version of pumpkin over and over and then he would point to its nose and label the parts of its face.

Staying Fit

2011-09-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

Andrew likes to stay in shape by working out with daddy.

Who's The Boss?

2011-09-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

For about the last two weeks or so, Andrew has been a little bum when it comes to bedtime. I shared the pictures of him sleeping on the floor at his door. Well that has been where he's fallen asleep most nights. The battle comes when we put him in bed - he just won't stay. Then he slowly creeps out into the hall and usually just plays around with his blanket there for a little while. We usually just ignore him until he goes to sleep, but sometimes he'll wander further down the hall at which point we put him back to bed. Anyway, his sleep patterns have been super messed up. So he skipped another nap the other day and I tried my very hardest to keep him awake -with no luck.

I got tired of the fight so the other day I reasserted my position as boss and turned his door knob around. lol :D Now we're back in control :P

The other thing Andrew is into these days is flashcards. I got him a couple sets at the dollar store to practice his numbers and colors. He knows most of 1-9 and the basic colors. Here he is teaching his duckies. hehe

Gettin Comfy

2011-08-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Andrew is good at finding a comfy spot whether it's on the couch, on my belly, or laying perpendicular in between Curt and I. We don't usually let him sleep with us but every once and a while when we're too tired we pull him into bed. The other day he found the ground more comfortable during his nap than his bed.

He's also really good at stealing pillows or laying in our spot if you get up - and he knows it too. He'll say 'momma pillow' as he smiles and makes himself comfy.

Our Big Helper

2011-08-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

Andrew can be such a great helper sometimes. Today I asked him to transfer the laundry from the washer to the dryer while I made lunch. I came back and he was doing such a good job grabbing one piece at a time, until he got distracted.

That's What You Get...

2011-08-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

for skipping Sunday afternoon nap!

Well any nap for that matter. Andrew fought his nap on Sunday and it finally got late enough I let him out of it. Everything seemed fine for a while. He was eating really happy at dinner and finished his bowl so Curt got up to get him a second one and he started zoning out. hehe It was so funny to watch him fall asleep in front of us. Just a slow eye close here and there, then it turned into the middle-of-a-boring-college-lecture-trying-to-stay-awake head bob. It was hysterical.

We even tried keeping him awake but shouting his favorite things: "BUS! CAR! TRACTOR!" nothing.

Lucky for him, we only posed a couple photos before laying him down for bed.

The only down side to this fun show was he woke up at 1 am totally and completely confused. He got over it and went back to bed, then he slept until 9 am!

Funny Boy

2011-07-31T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well I've been back from girls camp for a week now and I think I've finally recovered. There was lots of laundry and sleep that I needed to catch up on. Girls camp was really fun and I even somewhat enjoyed being so cold knowing what I was coming back to in the valley.

Andrew is becoming such a silly boy. He loves to run around the house and sometimes when he's really crazy he screams, something I'm pretty sure he picked up in nursery. The other night, around his bedtime, he was running around and come into our room and climbed up onto the bed. He tucked himself into my side of the bed and said, "Mama's bed."

He then pulled the covers over his head and popped out saying Boo!

Another night Curt and I were sitting on our bed while watching a show and he tucked himself into the pillows on the ground by our bed. He actually made quite a nice fort for himself, but daddy helped him make an even better one. He loved it.

This is him saying BOO!

big grin at daddy

He does so many cute things its hard to keep track of them. Just a little bit ago he put my hat on backwards and was running around in circles. The hat was so cute on him, but he just wouldn't stand still for a picture. Or he won't usually get in bed or go to bed without kneeling by his bed and saying prayers. I love that one! I really have to write down more of the cute things he does because there is always something he's doing that makes us laugh.

Our Weekend Getaway

2011-07-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we got away from the heat and made our way to California. Curt has a couple different family members around the LA area so we were able to visit them. Andrew did great in the car. I came across a book he hadn't seen in a while and it kept him thoroughly entertained for hours, well that and seeing the semi trucks and buses on the road.

After a while he did finally fall asleep for a nap.

At some point when we got into the city we were listening to the radio on scan to find a radio station and Andrew started covering his ears and making noise. I don't know the radio was actually bothering him or if he was just having fun, but it was so cute!

We started by going by the beach. The weather was beautiful, only about 75 degrees!

Andrew didn't enjoy the beach though. It was a bit windy so the water was fast and loud, he wouldn't let daddy put him down.

After the beach we stopped for some lunch and Andrew found this cute shopping cart at the grocery store next door.

On Saturday we went to Santa Monica pier and the beach there.

They had a little kids aquarium and Andrew loved seeing all the fish and they even had hands on tanks to touch starfish and stuff, but he wasn't willing to do that.

After the pier and beach we drove around the city and saw Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive.

I had heard about a place that makes Belgian waffles, the Liege variety, and I had to check it out. They were pretty good, the closest I've been able to find since Belgium, but maybe the guy cooked them a little too long. Still they were a great treat!

We stayed at Curt's great-aunt Joy's house for the trip. She has a cute little bird named Cody that Andrew was fascinated by. He loved watching it play in its cage or fly around when it was out.

It was a quick trip, but we enjoyed the weather, it was amazing! We also loved just being able to wander and do whatever with no set schedule. Andrew and I really loved the time with daddy and the summertime fun we were able to have!

4th of July

2011-07-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

A little bit of catch up...

A couple weeks ago, Curt and I entered an Ugly Tie Contest at Krispy Kreme. Well Curt, being the super lucky guy he is, WON! The prize? A free dozen Krispy Kremes each month for a year!!!

For the weekend of the 4th, we didn't do a lot. It was a nice restful weekend. My good friend came to town and we went swimming with her at Mandalay Bay. Andrew loved the pool and had so much fun he wore himself out.

Later that night we went to our friend's house for kid friendly fireworks. Andrew loved it, Chase, his buddy on the other hand didn't like any of the louder ones. Chase did show Andrew how to stomp on the poppers and he picked it up really quickly.

On Monday we watched the fireworks from our bedroom window. There is a casino about 2 miles away that does a show each year. Andrew was thoroughly entertained and watched them well past his normal bedtime. Here is a video, you can't see anything, but the sound was what I wanted to share.

I told you he loves cars...

2011-06-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

So they're doing some construction in our neighborhood, behind our house a little ways and we live close to a small airport...Pure enjoyment for Andrew.

If you can't quite tell, there were 2 cement trucks and a bunch of work trucks out there. He can also see the main road from there so that's where he saw the bus.

Here is another funny moment from the other day. Andrew loves watching daddy get ready in the morning and in this video he tries to be just like daddy.