Careful of the Carnies...

...they'll steal your soul. At least, that's what James says. But the Gwinnett County Fair is totally worth the risk. We visited the petting zoo (they had a three-hour-old baby donkey which had been born in front of a live studio audience...talk about getting your dollar's worth), ate some roast corn, rode the merry-go-round (well, James and Harris rode the merry-go-round), saw the first place squash, and watched the goat show. All in all, a pretty quality afternoon. And it only cost us half of our monthly earnings.

Here's Harry petting the calf...as we all know, the cow says "BOOOO..."

And here are my boys at the beginning of the $3.00 per person ride...

And more toward the end...

He was smiling when they got off. I promise.

And, of course, the random pic of the week. Cassidy (the LIFE group baby sitter) in Harry's new tent.

Shout Out #2

Here's a new shout out to Big T...he's got 22 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and 6 QB hurries so far this year! This week's game is televised on CSTV...the Lobos take on BYU for Homecoming at 8:30 Eastern time. They've actually started the season at 3-1, probably for the first time ever, so we're super pumped. Check him out if you get a chance!

And don't worry, I'll post my fair pics soon...I've got a great one of Harry crying on the merry go round.

Peace out.

These Boots Were Made for Walking...

And that's just what they'll do...finally! My baby can walk!!! Now, in all honesty, he's only taking about six steps before falling, but they are an awesome six steps! He's even learned how to get into the standing position all by himself (without pulling up on anything around him). I wish I could say I taught him how to walk, but if I'm going to tell the truth, then the following is pretty much what happened during those first precious steps:

Harris is in his playroom (think dining room with no furniture), I'm in the kitchen chowing down on some Bagel Bites after a long day at work, James is upstairs in the shower...Harry comes over to the gate and starts whining because he wants a Bagel Bite. I pretend not to hear him because I don't want to share. He stops whining, I look over, and he's walking across the floor. And that, folks, is how it happened. I get in the playroom with him and get him to walk to me a few more times, and then I take off upstairs to get James out of the shower. I'm so excited, and I'm trying to move quickly because I don't want James to miss any of it...I make it very close to the top of the stairs before tripping over something (I think my own foot) and landing pretty hard on my hands and knees. The entire upstairs shakes. I jump up, run into the bathroom, say James' name, and hear "What just happened?" I respond, "Harris can walk!" He responds, "But what just happened up here?" I respond, "Um, that was me. I fell. But Harris can walk. Hurry up." And I head back to downstairs to laugh and smile and love on my walking baby.

These pics are all from Tuesday evening...obviously one day of walking is not enough practice.

And yeah, my grass is pretty much dead. We're just pretending it's winter. Or that we're doing our part for the environment by not wasting our most precious natural resource.

And here's the fun extra pic for the week...he loves the park. Nothing beats cheap (or free) fun.

You Dropped a Bomb on Me, Baby

So it's come to my attention that I have yet to officially post anything whatsoever about this new baby taking up residence in my womb. I have no idea why...unless it's the fact that the little booger is sucking every ounce of energy I have managed to somehow store away from Harris, thus rendering me very, very close to comatose. Poor James. As my energy is depleted, so is all sense of courtesy and respect. I'm trying...I really am.

Anyway, we're excited (and nervous, crazy, anxious, and finally over our initial shock) to be welcoming a new baby in mid-March. My due date is actually March 20, but because I ended up having a C-section with Harris, I now get to choose how I'd like to bring this new baby into the world...and I was seriously leaning toward a VBAC until I learned that a scheduled C-section would take place 7-10 days before the due date. Sweet!! That might seriously influence my decision...that and the fact that a C-section means having a catheter for 24 hours. I'm not kidding. The catheter was the best part of my previous birth experience...after all those months of having to pee every hour on the hour (at least), it was GREAT to be able to drink as much as I wanted and never have to leave the bed. Definitely worth the twenty-something staples in my uterus. There is a lot to consider in the decision, though, and it's not one we'll take lightly. I'll keep you posted.

And now back to Harry. Here are some great pics of his adventures this week. I love this little guy. Please keep the following in mind when viewing the next couple of pictures: his teeth are still growing. The current snaggle-tooth stage he's experiencing is most likely not related in any way whatsover to my childhood dental predicament best known as the "Shredder" years. Yes, I had some funky teeth. Yes, they made my mouth look like a can opener. Yes, I am reminded of that time period every time I go to Mom's and see big family pic hanging on her wall. No, that is not happening to my little baby. And yes, he's always this happy when he eats. He's part Donaldson.

He's also generally happy during bath time. And he's got a ton of hair. And he pees in the bath every night. Without fail.

Thursday was a particulary energy-draining day for me. I'm not sure why; I was just beat by the time I got home. James and I decided to try out Harry's Baby Einstein video, "Neighborhood Animals," and all I can say is "On what planet have I been living on that I have not ever done this before?!?!?!?!?!" This was awesome. He actually sat still for 20 minutes. TWENTY MINUTES!!! Thank You, God, for Baby Einstein!!

And here's the final pic of the post...I had to work today (yuck!), so James took Harris to the snake and lizard show (don't ask, I don't know any details) here in Dacula. This will never live as a pet (or in any other form, for that matter) in my house. I wonder what he's thinking...

Waycross=Way Cool!

So, this past weekend we were off to Waycross (which is in South Georgia). My Mema's family lives in Waycross, and my great aunt and uncle were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary with a shindig on Saturday night, so me, James, Harris, Mom, Cassidy, and Cody loaded up in Prof Plum (that's the name of my van) and headed down. It was a long trip.


We had a good time, though. We got to see a lot of family we haven't seen in years. Saturday afternoon we went to my Uncle Ray's (Mema's brother) for lunch. He lives in this super cool house that is 101 years old and is huge...it could totally be a bed and breakfast. I wish I had taken more pictures of the architecture, but the following were all I got.


This is Harris and his cousin, Quinn. Quinn lives in Decatur, so we see her a little more often, but unfortunately not much. I love Quinn. When she was leaving her preschool class one day last year, her dad (my uncle) told her to tell the kids "bye," and she looked at them all, waved her arm in the air, and said, "so long, suckers." It doesn't get much better than that. On Saturday night we were watching the Georgia game on a big screen at the party, and she wanted to know when The Simpsons were coming on. Too bad she's only four and not twenty four, or James might have married her. He loves The Simpsons.




And so here's another excellent picture to document the trip. This, actually, pretty much sums up the whole weekend. These are the only two pics I have of the interior of the place.



Uncle Ray also had a pretty neat garden, in which he grows figs and melons and many other types of horticulture crap. Here's the fam trying some muscadines from his vine...I guess Cody's laughing at how his relatives look because he has yet to see the previous pic.



The only other point of interest from Uncle Ray's is that James and Cody both got invited to be members of the "Hurricane Viagra Club." They were given little business cards and everything. When James first showed it to me, I laughed, and then I laughed even harder when I realized the cards were serious. They really have a "Hurricane Viagra Club." It meets every Wednesday from 11 until 2. Don't ask. Anyway, here's a picture of the boys flashing their membership cards before leaving for the anniversary party on Saturday night. They could also be a couple.

On Sunday morning, we went over to my Uncle Roy's farm. Uncle Roy is my Mema's other brother. We ate a huge breakfast, looked at some old pictures, and let Harris sit on his tractor. Here's a picture of Aunt Marlene (Mema's sister), Cody, and Mema. Talk about Hurricane Viagra.

And here are some pics of Harry on the tractor. He's so cute. And, I guess, a lil' bit country. He makes his Daddy proud.








And even though this pic is far away, it's of Harry, me, Mom, and Mema...four generations of my family. On a tractor.



And then here's your random pic of the week...on Monday, Harris found James' dog tags. Somebody, somewhere, has taught this kid what a neckalce is and and how to put it on. He put these on himself and would not let anyone take them off or put them on correctly. He was so proud.

God Bless America!