Party like it's your birthday

I had a birthday shout hooray! As always my hubs makes it great. It's sort of become a tradition for him to trick  surprise me all throughout the day. Because this happens so much I should be able to tell when he's fooling me, but he's just so believable! 

He told me he had to go in early to work, no biggie.  Usually happens.  So he kisses me goodbye while I'm sleeping and I hear the door close.  He did go to work but came back before I woke up. When I was in the shower I heard a crash of pots of something downstairs...intruder!! Thankfully he came and scared me again in the bathroom so I would know not to get the gun.  He made me breakfast on kirk family tradition "your the best" plate. 

While I'm eating he says, so I've been really busy and haven't been able to get you anything yet. Totally fine, and totally believable.  But then when I walked back through the living room there was a big box with a nikon camera! D3200! AHHHH!  I have one I bought for my classroom but have to leave it at the end of the year.  I didn't want to part with it.  I was hoping for it as some sort of going away present??! But now I can leave it behind because I have an even better one! Yipeeee!!   Such an amazing quality with this instead of just my point and shoot camera.  I'm kind of obsessed with taking pictures and making photo books.  

He took me to Texas roadhouse where our friends were waiting, didn't expect that either.  He told me we could do that another day.  Got me again David. Got Harrison a side of veggies.  This kid loves broccoli! 

 The boys blowing bubbles on such a lovely spring day. So handsome!

 It wasn't just my birthday. I have a twin. His name is Todd. This face of his below says it all.  Always been a goober.  In all our 27 years together, wow I'm almost 30, he has been such a wonderful friend.  I admit growing up we weren't really friends persay, he was more like my competition that I got joy in beating.  He'd say I couldn't run faster than him, but I could.

When we moved to Lumberton in 9th grade and knew no one, we became insta-friends.  Most people thought he was my boyfriend since we were together all the time, eww.  But I'm so grateful for that move, even though I hated life at the time, it brought me closer to my brother.  Now he and his wife (my best-friend/roommate from college, PERFECT!) are our only family living close by.  I'm so glad they've stuck around.  I sure do love them. As much as I give Todd a hard time about his talking on the phone for hours, talking in general, and many other things... I love him.  Happy birthday baby a.


Because I'm the "family photographer," it's rare I'm actually in the pictures.  David did his best and took one. Thanks babe.

And this picture has nothing to do with anything I've just said, but I think baby butts are the cutest things on the planet. He might hate me one day for this.  But his future wife can admire his cuteness.

Yay for good birthdays.

Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured

I love this picture of my man and my boy so much.  A little peek into life at our house.  David is busy every day of the week.  

Sundays are pretty much all day for meetings, church, counting tithing, and then being with us.  

Mondays he's at school until 7pm.  

Tuesdays work and school, then I'm off to mutual with the young women at 7 and we don't see each other til like 8:30 pm.  

Wednesdays it's school + work and then he goes to bishopric meeting at night.  

Thursdays it's school + work and then a 2ft prosthetics meeting at 6pm. 

 Fridays it's school + work and then hopefully date night! 

Saturdays are all about studying and working in the ceramics lab on projects. 

 I'm busy too, working m-f and taking care of Harrison.  In all of it though, we have fun together in the minutes we get.  When David's home and Harrison isn't in bed, they're playing together and david is making him laugh.  We go on walks (when it isn't freezing), have family prayer together (harrison is working on the sitting still part), watch the office together (we are superfans), enjoy good company with friends and fam, support each other in our church callings, support each other in our school life.  Sure things aren't perfect, there are days I reach a boiling point and lose my patience with everything.

There are plenty of days I have no dinner planned, there are no clean dishes or underwear, I can't find my keys, there is food all over the floor where Harrison played the food drop game, etc.  Those days David is an anchor where I am the crazy waves flailing about. He helps me reminder to laugh about it and just flow with it. I feel like when one person is freaking out, the other is strangely calm.  It's this crazy balance that happens.  Thank goodness for my husband.    He is my best friend and I love him.

I've learned many times over the past few years that you need to enjoy the journey.  That "life is to be enjoyed, not just endured" -Gordon B. Hinckley.  That is on my wall now.  A good reminder each day.  Don't wait to be happy, choose to be now!

Other things that brighten my day, parties! Especially when your guest are willing to participate in games that make me laugh. Harrison's first birthday par-tay didn't go as planned since it SNOWED all day that day! But we still had fun =)  Cue pictures below.

11 months and counting

I can't believe our little man is almost one! This time last year I was massively pregnant and so uncomfortable! This morning I was thinking about what it'd be like to be a baby in a belly, swimming around in there.  I just couldn't comprehend it! Having children is truly incredible.

Update on our funny little guy...
he can walk around furniture, but not on his own
he turns around when we say his name
he has two teeth, no real signs of more any time soon
he crawls at lightning speed
sippy cups are his friend, no more bottles!
he has a little blue blanket that he looooves, he gets so excited when he sees it and wants to snuggle with it
he is not super interested in eating, but he loves french toast and bananas
most of the time he is saying "dadada" "mamam" "rarara" "nanana"
he has a small fear of the bathtub, this was sudden and I don't know why!
his eyes are still big
he finds phones like a dog finds buried bones, he can sniff them out
he has a little orange hot wheels car he "drives" on everything
he likes to push the trash can around, but sometimes pushes it on himself. gross.
he also has a thing for remotes
he laughs and laughs
his thighs are ticklish


In other news, David is in a ceramics class this semester. Suprisingly (to him and me) he is enjoying it.  He's never taken an art class, like ever. So this is way new territory for him! I don't think he would have had the gall to take it if he hadn't married an art teacher.  He's been doing it in our kitchen. It's so cute seeing him be artsy =)

Giving lots of Thanks

Wow I am so bad at posting. Last one Harrison was 7 months, now he is 8. I vow to be better.

It's Thanksgiving. We are stuffed. But I am thankful for so much AWESOME food.  David said if we add presents to this holiday next year, it will definitely be his favorite day.  Todd and Kristi are asleep on our couch. David is watching the Cowboys game. Harrison is napping. I am left to my own devices.

This is the third year we have fried a turkey.  This year's came out THE best.  A variety of things made it awesome: the pulley system David rigged up, perfect oil temperature this year, the right size bird, perfect blend of seasonings for the injection.  It was moist and delish.  Harrison liked it too.  That's pretty good coming from a harsh baby critic.

I put up our Christmas decorations and tree already. David indulged me this year and let me put them up early. I am so excited. Probably because this is Harrison's first.  We aren't going home this year which stinks.  Last year was so hard! We flew home, rented a car, drove to Austin, drove to Waco, drove to Frisco, drove back to Houston, drove to Dallas and flew home. Never doing that again. Sometimes I wish David and I were from different states so we could see one family at a time.  Because our families live relatively close, but not that close, we can't justify going to see one and not the other. Especially because we don't go to Texas very often anymore.  Next year we will have to go home.  Many of our family haven't met Harrison.  He'll be so big by the time we get there!

He has one teeth poking through his gums. It's adorable.

He crawls all over the place.

He really likes playing with the football. David is very pleased about this.
                                        

He says "ba ba ba" all the time, spits with his tongue, and says "da" and "mommmm" sometimes.

 Golden and beautiful

 Todd and Kristi look comfy

7 1/2 months

At 7 1/2 months Harrison....

--babbles all day long saying "da," "mammm," "ba," and alll other random noises

--can do a push up/belly flop to "crawl" around

--loves drinking water out of a cup

--has NO teeth, 2 seem to be appearing but not there yet

--rubs his blanket in his hands while drinking his bottle, so cute

--loves going upside down 

--is charismatic and loves everyone he meets (and they love him)

--except he is afraid of big old men who try to talk to him

--loves his daddy

--is pointing and poking at little cereal puffs, workin' on that pincer grasp!

oh we love him.

I tell him I be doin' like pilates, make me sound more educated

Things I have been schooled on at school

At the beginning of the year I thought I had been handed the easiest most well behaved students ever. My rose colored glasses broke about a month ago. All of my classes really go just fine until I get to 6th and 8th period. Holy cannoli. I thought I had good classroom management, but I honestly have no flipping idea what to do when it comes to 8 (yes 8) BOYS who all gang up on me and act ridiculous.  They truly seem to have no respect for adults.  It's not just me they are like this with, their others teachers deal with it too.  I have lost my patience with them, which a teacher cannnooot do. But I did. You have to be an actor and be "on stage" all the time. They have seen my weakness and now exploit it. Oh Rachel why did you do that.

 I'm slowing getting back the reigns.  Luckily I have an empty classroom co-joined with mine through my storage closet. Each day this week I have made one of the lucky students go sit in there by himself the whole class. Finally...peace. Well "peace" is a loose definition for that class.  But I'll take what I can get.

On Tuesday I had an inner meltdown at the end of class. My first year of teaching I never even had one. This week I did. I wanted to kick them in the rear as they left my room. I was literally on the verge of tears in front of them. But I kept my cool.  When I got home however my mind was racing with all the things I wanted to scream at them.  So angry! Arrrrrggh!  Plus it didn't help that my house was a total wreck.

Thankfully I have sweetest husband ever. 

On Wednesday he took SUCH good care of me. He says he didn't do it for the thanks he'd receive and shushed me when I tried to thank him. So I won't go into all that he did for me. Just that it completely and utterly changed my attitude.  I felt like I could breathe normally again.

Classroom management is seriously more than half the battle with teaching.  If you've got a good plan, things will run like clock work.  

Yep this week I got schooled.  I pray for patience. 

 

as of lately...

Over the summer, August loomed over my head. I knew I had to go back to work and so I waited til the very possible last second to change my calendar to August. Then I refused to look at it.  Now that I have been working for about a month now...I have to say it is...livable. I am learning how to do things fast and trying to slow time for the important things.  Harrison's picture is my background on my school computer and I honestly get teary eyed almost every time I see it.  However I am very grateful to have good people to watch him for me.  It's hard enough leaving your kid, so having people you trust makes it so much better.

For now we seem to be in the swing of things.  I wake up, get ready, get harrison up, feed him, and then get to play with him til 8:30 when I drop him off.  Thank goodness for those extra hours in the morning.  They have saved my sanity and my health.  David is still working at the MTC as senior missionary training coordinator. He loves it.  He goes to school in the afternoon and is doing an internship every 3rd weekend at the hospital. Last weekend was his first shift and he came home smiling.  He works with patients who have just had heart attacks.  He is loving it.  It has helped light the fire again for the path to medical school (which has been long and grueling). 

David is still serving as ward clerk, which keeps him busy all Sunday and Tuesday nights. I am a counselor in the Young Women so I am gone on Wednesday nights for mutual...after a long day working. I am so jealous of stay at home moms out there. Enjoy the peace of being in one place and of being with your children.

We are honestly busier than we have ever been in our whole life.  Add a kid to the mix and life gets interesting. These have been the hardest weeks...ever.  But as busy and stressful as it is, it has been the biggest blessing in our lives to have our little Harrison. He is pure joy.  We love him.  

In other news, my sister is coming this week with her little mymy. I know she is coming to see her husband's family, but I don't care. I'm just glad I get to see her period =) I sure do miss her.

Oh have I mentioned I am illustrating a book?! So excited. It's one of my life goals so I am pretty pumped.  It is for my dad's cousin.  I've only done one illustration so far, but it is grrreat. Add that to my daily list of duties and I have no time. But it's ok!

Harrison does this funny sucking in of his bottom lip now. I love it.

 He is not into solids anymore, he barfs them up. But if I let him play with his spoon first his seems much more into it =)

 He is sitting all by himself now! I know here the chair is supporting him. But I had to get a picture of this.  This green chair is the puss on the face of our living room. It is gross and ugly, but David got it for free helping a guy move.  He wanted a "man" chair. It reclines and yes is comfortable, I'll give him that. But it is hideous and I don't know how to save it. I will live with it for now until we give it to another guy and his poor wife.