I is for...

   I is for ice cream! The way to any little boy's heart is hands down ice cream! It's also a great bribe... Not that we bribe Harrison... Do you want ice cream? Then you need to poopy in the potty. Ice cream for dessert? You need to eat all of your dinner. Have you been a good boy today? Ice cream for a special treat. Heck, there's a lot of things I'd do for ice cream too. 

   This was mainly because I wanted ice cream. And I'm pretty sure he had been a good boy that day.

You will never guess what color his ice cream was.
"I'm eating purple ice cream. It tastes like purple."

   Oh here's another one - dessert during Finley's baptism weekend.

Making a mess? No way!

   How about this favorite from going #2 in the potty. 

"I want ice cream with chocolate Mommy." Don't we all...

   Then there's an early summer treat from the ice cream man. Don't mind the potty back there...

"Pink and blue ice cream!"

Off to now find some ice cream!

~Emily

H is for...

   H is for happy baby! Seriously who doesn't love a happy baby!

Such a silly girl!

   Or a happy big boy?!

Popsicles make everyone happy Mommy!

Short but super sweet!

~Emily

G is for...

   G is for GRANDPARENTS!!! We love all of our grandparents! Harrison and Finley are very blessed to have 3 grandmas and 3 grandpas. Each set has their own "names." Harrison is very good about remembering what to call everyone. Lately he has started saying things like, "Nana and Pawpaw are my grandparents. They're my family." It's pretty darn cute.
   First up is one of our Ohio grandparents. This is Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma recorded a couple of Hallmark books for Harrison - it's the whole family reading the story to him. Harrison calls them Grandma's books. He loves them!

Grandma, Aunt Kara, Uncle Kristofer and Aunt Kelly. Grandpa had to work.

   Next we have our other Ohio grandparents, Pops and GJ. The first time they visited after Finley was born, I came downstairs to see them. Harrison had already been playing with them. He came up to me and said, "Mommy this is GJ and Pops. They're my grandparents." Thanks for introducing me. The stuff he says, it's just classic!

GJ, Pops and Uncle Daniel. Uncle Matthew had to work.

   Lastly we have Nana and Pawpaw. They live the closest to us and boy do we appreciate that! Nana babysits Finley two days a week and sometimes babysits both when we have places to be. Harrison loves going to Nana and Pawpaw's for his special Harrison time. Usually he goes for dinner and to play afterwards. Nana has lots of books for Harrison to "check out" too.

Uncle Jack, Nana and Pawpaw.

   Grandparents are very special people. Adam and I didn't know all of our grandparents since a few had passed away before we were even born. Harrison and Finley are so lucky to have all of theirs!

~Emily

Round 2: F is for...

   F is for Finley! Having a girl kind of scared me - way too many accessories, future drama. Ugh. However, I could not love her more! The headbands and bows are a little fun. Picking an outfit is very time consuming. (You should have seen her pile of clothes for our Hilton Head trip.) Shopping for girl clothes? I literally stand in the store for 30 minutes at a loss. But the smiles and snuggles are priceless!! She is definitely a mama's girl!

Cutest girl around!

   Finley is about 4.5 months old now. She nurses great, sleeps about 6-7 hours at night, naps off and on during the day and loves smiling/talking to you!

I'm into toys these days.

   She's just a goofy girl! Finley will be fussing one minute and then when I walk over to get her huge smile. I'm sure she won't be spoiled...

Mom, I'm still here!

20 more days to go!

~Emily

E is for...

   This is a toughy. E is for energy. This is something I've been lacking. Thank goodness Harrison has enough for the entire family! 

Big boy bike and helmet! Still working on steering.

   How does one burn all that 3 year old energy? We try to play outside. 

Flying his kite!

   Fortunately the weather cooled down a bit the last week so we've been able to get outside. Harrison loves playing in water - the sprinkler, water table or squirting water. He likes to draw on the driveway with chalk and the spray the colors around. He also loves playing hopscotch - I have no idea where he learned this. 

Hopscotch Mommy!

   And of course he loves the tried and true bubbles! PS - do not get the Crayola bubbles. Half of bottle ends up on you!

Orange bubbles. At least they were less messy than green

Over and out!

~Emily

D is for....

   D is for darn challenge!! JK. D is for dogs. Our first babies. Everyone that knows we have dogs always asks how they are with the kids. To be honest, as long as they have food they're good to go.

Eddie keeping watch in Harrison's room.

   When we first brought Harrison home, Eddie and Tootsie thought we were nuts. They would look at us every time he cried as if to say, "seriously guys, fix it." Now they barely budge.

Eddie is his stuck tongue sleeping mode.

   Eddie usually spends his day sleeping/snoring/dreaming while Tootsie is typically licking her feet or laying ridiculously close to her brother.

I think we live in our dogs' home. Seriously Eddie.

   I will say that both dogs do check on the babies. How many times have Adam or I gone in to check on either kiddo and their door is already open? And crazy Tootsie actually lays at Harrison's feet when he watches his cartoon in our bedroom.

Our craziest dog and her baby boy.

  Yes they leave us "presents" when we're not giving them enough attention but they are sweet dogs. They do love and protect their babies. Sorry there's not more Tootsie pictures. She's not one for cameras, or not moving.

I think Tootsie's saying "be glad I'm too tired to move."

Be sure to give your fur babies some love!

~Emily

C is for...

   C is for cheering!! This summer we have been cheering on Adam as he's started his running back up again.

Go Daddy!!

   Adam began running over a couple years ago. He'd run on the treadmill, around our neighborhood or on local trails. He tore a meniscus and took a break. Fast forward to when I was pregnant with Finley and we all were taking a break from doing much of anything! After Finley was born, Adam started running again. His first race was Four on the Fourth. A 4 mile race on the 4th of July.

Here comes our Daddy!

   We put on our red, white and blue, and packed up early to cheer for Adam.

He was so excited to see Daddy finish!

   Harrison was awesome! He clapped for the other runners and when we saw Daddy he held up the sign he helped decorate! Finley just slept. 

Sleeping Finley with Adam's medal.

   After we survived that race, Adam decided to sign up for a half marathon, Broadway Bridge Run. Why anyone would want to run 13.1 miles is beyond me. (I don't even understand running 1 mile.) This time only Harrison went with Pawpaw and me to cheer for Adam.

Good thing Mommy kept the sign!

   We got there a little early so poor Harrison was starting to lose patience. But as soon as we saw Adam he was yelling "Good job Daddy!" "Keep going Daddy!" And he went out to help Adam run his last bit.

Harrison looks so big and old. Stop time!

   We were so proud of Adam for finishing!

Good job Daddy!!

  And of course, just when I think race season is over, my darling husband has decided he wants to try a full marathon. In October. Seriously there is no fun in running 26.2 miles. Let's just hop in the car and call it good! Oh well. We will be there again. With our hand made sign. Cheering for our Daddy!

Not made for running,

~Emily

B is for...

   B is for Baptism! Over Labor Day weekend we had Finley's baptism. We figured a three day weekend gave family more time to travel. Harrison loved showing off for everyone and Finley didn't mind being held all weekend either!

I was such a good girl for Grandma!

   Our family came in Saturday and we really just went out to eat and played at home. Adam and I were actually productive getting last minute things done since the kiddos were being loved on. My floors were clean! A big shout out to my mom since she handled all the dusting. Dusting sucks. It's one of my least favorite chores.

Being silly with Pops at dinner.

   Sunday (Baptism day) it rained in the morning, which it did on Harrison's baptism as well. It cleared up before church thankfully. I ran around that morning getting all of Finley's stuff together. Girlfriend had a lot of pieces to her outfit. 

Finley's bib and booties embroidered/made by cousin Lindsey!

   Finley also wore my great-grandmother's baptismal gown. It's been passed down since 1890!! You have to admit that is really cool. 

Harrison wore this same gown too - just had blue ribbon then.

   My grandpa was a very detailed man and kept a list of everyone that wore the gown, their date of birth and for the most part, their date of baptism. Seriously - we wonder where my OCD qualities come from...

Pretty crazy. 1980 people!
PS - my brother's middle initial is wrong here. So weird.

   The ceremony went great. Finley didn't fuss and she was awake. Harrison only fell once hitting his head on the pew (Aunt Kara was in charge!!). Fr Richard kept it pretty short and to the point. 

I know exactly what you're thinking. She's ridiculously perfect!
Photo by: Cate Eighmey

   We headed back to our house for a reception. Harrison loved playing with his cousins Jacob and Kaitlyn! He kept saying "Jacob and Kaitlyn are my family, they're my cousins" after they left. He just says the funniest things. Love him! We are so thankful our family and friends were able to share this special day with us! 

Us with Finley's godparents: Kristofer, Kelly and Daniel.
Photo by: Cate Eighmey

I made it. Two days in a row. I have to admit I almost forgot. Thus it's 11:25pm. Oops.

~Emily

26 day challenge!! A is for...

   So I've been terrible at even pretending to keep up with our blog. Like horrifically terrible. It's been a joke really. I've decided I need some motivation. I'm starting a self-imposed 26 day challenge. I will go through the alphabet and write about something that starts with each day's letter. Pretty sure it's been done before, but I haven't done it. Here we go..

A is for ABSENT!! My poor blog. I do love you. It's just... well... life has gotten in the way.

The view from the couch.

   You'd think I have two kids, two dogs, a husband and a full time job or something... Okay fine, I do. I'm still trying to figure out how to balance it all. I'm not going to lie. It's really hard. My first full day at work I didn't relax at home until 9pm. I sat there thinking to myself "If this is my life now... it kinda sucks." Don't get me wrong, love the kiddos. Love my job. Just don't love running around like a crazy person taking care of everything. It's true when moms say they never have time for themselves. 

My favorite boy in the world!

   I am okay with no time for myself. I get to love on the sweetest babies in the world. It's just sometimes a mama could use a few minutes for herself. So as I embark on this new challenge my goal is to blog daily. Short blogs, long blogs, blogs of any length. Cross your fingers because here we go!

You have to admit. She's pretty perfect!

Well off I go. One of the littles is starting to fuss.

~Emily