Better than a grandma?

What could possibly be better than a grandma? Duh, a great-grandma!

Getting some Gigi love!

   Last week Harrison got to meet his Gigi Thiele for the first time! Gigi is his only great-grandma but I know she loves him enough for all of the other great-grandmas that aren't able to meet him. (Side note: my cousin's kid's called my grandma, their great-grandma, Gigi. I love that name and it makes me think of my grandma.)

Gigi loved watching me play!

  Gigi lives in Harrison, Ohio. Yes folks, that's where Harrison's name came from! Adam and Harrison took an adventure down to see Grandma and Grandpa Thiele, Aunt Kara, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Kristofer and Gigi. Harrison had a TON of fun!! He loves seeing his Thiele family! They couldn't believe how big he's getting and how many teeth he has. (We're up to 6. I know, it's intense.)

Harrison can't wait to see his Gigi, grandma, grandpa and his aunts and uncle again!

~Emily

Just Pops & Me

It's just Pops and me!

By Harrison:

  This week I've been hanging out with Pops. I'm trying to teach him a new trick. When I need to talk to him or want to play, I squeak at him. I make this little one syllable noise and it means "Hey Pops, I'm over here!" Pops is getting better at knowing my squeaks but we still have some work to do. I have a lot of fun making faces at him (while eating) and pulling on his hoodie strings. We've also played football and watched Uncle Daniel play basketball. Yep, it's just been Pops and me!

I let Dad hang out with us too.

Written by Mom.

~Harrison

And a 1, and a 2, and a 3!

   Harrison is SO close to crawling it's ridiculous! He can get up on all fours. He rocks forward and backwards. He moves one hand out. And then.... tummy flop and he pulls himself forward one step. Back up on all fours and it repeats. Rock. Hand out. Flop. Scoot. Up. Rock. Hand out. Flop. Scoot. Geez, sounds like we're putting on a production of "Stomp!" or something.
  Here are some action shots from last night. (Beware, I get in black and white funks!)

And I'm up!

And now I'm down, but happy.

Now I'm (from left column to right column):
Mad, Kinda mad, Kinda sleepy, Sleepy, Really sleepy.

  So maybe next week is our lucky crawling week. Until then... Up. Rock. Hand out. Flop. Scoot. Sing along!

~Emily

All boy!

   Harrison is all boy. Today he played with his kitchen and his football... at the same time. It was awesome! (No need to mention that while I was taking pictures with my phone he spit up in the kitchen's oven...oops!)

What do you mean? Football and food totally go together!

Someone must have been inspired by the Super Bowl! Now if only our beloved Chiefs or Bengals could make it to that big game...

~Emily

The Ladies Man!

   Harrison really is a cutie. I know, I'm his mother. I'm biased. But still, isn't he sweet? As Grandma says, "Those blue eyes are going to break hearts."

I'm the Love Bandit. Call me LB for short!

Today we took some early Valentine's pictures and for once I got in on the action! 

Smiling with Mommy and Daddy!

And just when I thought I was ahead of the game, our Valentine's cards will be delivered to us between 2/12 and 2/17. Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right?

Happy Valentine's Day - there are those plaid shoes!

~Emily

Today's Agenda

   Today Harrison is 10 months old. In 2 short months, my little guy will be a 1 year old. That sounds so old! It's not that I feel he was just born, but I sure don't feel he's almost a year old either.

On today's 10 month birthday agenda:
- Meet up with Courtney and Tucker at Gymboree. Lucky us, Grandpa came too! (I know, I couldn't believe it either. Someone must have been a bit bored...)
- Play, play and play some more! I think we played with just about every toy we own.
- During Harrison's afternoon nap, I did some rough first birthday planning. I have a theme, food and decoration ideas, tentative guest list and created an invitation on TinyPrints. Yes it's a bit obsessive but I only have two months people and I wanted to do as much as I can on my own.
- Finally we ended the day with a much needed sushi dinner. Harrison spent the entire mealtime sliding out of the restaurant high chair and staring at the ceiling lights... I don't get it either.

Why look at anyone when I can stare at the lights?
Why eat on my keys when I can eat on this clip instead?

Until next time.

~Emily

Boy Clothes

   Let's face it - we're excited when we are blessed with either a baby boy or baby girl, but those baby girl clothes are ridiculously cute! I often find myself detouring by the girl stuff which isn't hard to do. Most kid clothing stores are 75% girl stuff and the boy stuff is shoved in a remote corner. And I'm not going to lie, sometimes the boy stuff just isn't as cute. Do I really want a lifetime supply of t-shirts, jeans and other athletic inspired wear when I know there's dresses galore just 2 steps away?
   However over the past few months I have noticed a change in my attitude. Yes, those tiny dresses are precious but tights, shoes, bows, headbands, bloomers.... There's a lot of accessories for those tiny pink bundles. Boys? Pretty cut and dry. Socks and shoes are where I show my creativity. Until Harrison asserts his own style, preppy casual is where I'm at. Who knew jeans with layered shirts and shoes could be so stinking cute!

My layered look while eating on my baby blue croc!

   Also, as the stores are finally starting to bust out the spring line, I'm getting excited again. Thank god for Old Navy. Seriously, why have I not been shopping there for Harrison?! I love the stripes, the "distressed skinny" jeans (yes, that is the actual description), vintage t-shirts (rice krispies, yoda, and the muppets), and ALL of those plaid shoes!
   So instead of being mopey I don't get to rejoice in the stocking of the cotton summer dresses, itty bitty bikinis (as if the tops ever stay on those poor little girls!), or those sweet cover ups, I can't wait to dive into the land of seersucker shorts, button down shirts and yes those darn plaid shoes (I'm obsessed)!!

So here's to the land of blue and boy clothes!! 

May each season keep getting cuter and may those sweet plaid shoes never leave!   

The boy's version of an accessory!

~Emily