Happy Birthday, David

We took John Harrison for his 2 year check-up and Elise for her one week check-up at the same time. John Harrison's pediatrician gave him a red sucker (first sucker John Harrison has ever had)---the red goo from the sucker oozed out of John Harrison's mouth....helping to make David's shirt a patriotic red, white, and blue. You can see in the pictures above that John Harrison wasn't feeling well at all:(.

Elise went home from the hospital at 5 lbs, 13 ozs and was up to one ounce below her birth weight at the check-up. She is nursing really well so far! John Harrison is still sick, but seems to be feeling better each day. We have had him back at home with us since Monday morning and are praying that the rest of us (especially Elise) do not come down with his viral infection.
Grandpa and Elise
Uncle Jon and Elise


David's birthday was this past weekend. Elise dressed up for the occasion and wanted to take pictures with everyone. John Harrison was sick and staying at my parents' house so he had to miss the party:(.

Swaddles and Bows

Several days ago, I wanted to show John Harrison how we would swaddle Elise so I swaddled him.....he kept handing me the swaddling blanket, saying "baby," and wanting to be swaddled. The pictures below show day and a half old Elise swaddled in the same blanket and wearing a cute bow:).

John Harrison meets his baby sister

John Harrison giving baby sister a kiss
the baby has tiny feet!
Great Grandmama, Grandmama, and Elise
John Harrison and Grandad
Another sweet family picture
Great Grandmama and Elise

Adoring grandparents...Grammy and Grandpa holding Elise

Introducing John Harrison to Elise
Last night before we went to the hospital, we dropped John Harrison off at David's parents' house. They brought John Harrison up to the hospital today to meet Elise. My parents and Grandmama came up at the same time and my mom took a bunch of great pictures. John Harrison gave Elise kisses and showed some interest in her, but was mainly interested in exploring the hospital room and going on walks down the hall with Grandmama. We were excited about introducing John Harrison to his sister, but were not expecting much different of a reaction than the one he gave considering he is a typical busy 2 year old boy:). I'm sure John Harrison is going to quickly move into his role as a protective, helpful, inquisitive, and loving big brother!!

Baby Elise Arrives!

Last evening at around 6:45pm Catherine began having intense/regular contractions and by 8:15 we were on our way to the hospital. Thankfully labor progressed quickly and without complications and at 10:36pm on 3/16 God blessed our family with Miss Elise Marie! I am so thankful that both Catherine and Elise are doing well!

Catherine, Me, and Elise about 30 minutes after the birth

Elise is 6lbs 3ozs and 19.5" long. We are so happy to have this new addition to the family! I am sure Catherine will be uploading additional photos/information in the near future.

Memories from one year ago....

John Harrison has changed so much over the past year. I love going back and looking at pictures from John Harrison's first birthday. Right up there with the day David and I were married and the day John Harrison was born, John Harrison's first birthday was truly one of the best days of my life. I know that I will always treasure and enjoy John Harrison's (and Elise's and future children's) birthdays! Over the past year, John Harrison has developed such a vibrant personality. He is a very loving little boy who is quite adventurous, detail-oriented, inquisitive, and highly energetic. We look forward to seeing John Harrison interact with and grow to love his little sister.

Remembering 2 years ago....

3/10/09...one of my favorite early pics of our new family:)
early morning 3/6/09 getting ready to go to the hospital to have John Harrison
getting ready to go home from the hospital.....3/8/09
3/7/09...early am....Dad with John Harrison....after a sleepless night.....
our sweet new boy
3/10/09...day of first doctor's appointment, first trip out of the house, and day when John Harrison first met his Aunt Lisa
I thought it would be fun to post some pictures from 2 years ago....although a lot of memories about John Harrison's birth are very vivid in my mind, many things in the days, weeks, and months following have become blurry in my mind.......chronic sleep deprivation will do that!! Thankfully, we have lots of pictures that help to make memories clear again. I truly treasure the past 2 years that the Lord has given us with our precious John Harrison.
The teaching elder at our church has been leading our church through the book of Hebrews. During our study of Hebrews 11, the famous "faith" chapter of the Bible, Louis talked in depth about the significance of Abraham's faith in being willing to trust the Lord with his only son Isaac's very life. One thing that I clearly remember from the sermon was Louis speaking of how Abraham clearly loved God, the giver, more than the gift, Isaac. The application is very far-reaching and I spent a lot of time thinking about my love for John Harrison, who is very much a gift from God, vs. my love for God Himself who gave John Harrison to us. My self-examination was quite humbling and I really have to submit my heart to the Lord to ensure that I value and love the Lord far above any thing He chooses to give to me. Christ clearly tells us that following Him must require that we be willing to forsake everything for the sake of the Gospel. David and I pray that John Harrison will grow up desiring to follow Christ with that kind of abandonment and obedience....we know that much of that will depend on what John Harrison sees in his parents' lives.

John Harrison is 2!

Mom and Dad with our birthday boy
playing with his new garbage truck from Uncle Jon
giving Dad a kiss
Reading a new scratch and sniff book from Great Grandmama
birthday smiles with Grammy and Grandpa

John Harrison's second birthday is today, but we had his party yesterday. Our little boy LOVES trucks so I made a truck cake and we bought truck mylar balloons to tie to the dining room chairs. John Harrison picked out Sesame Street plates and we also bought an Elmo mylar balloon at the store, so we kind of had an interesting mix of themes.
Grandmama and Grandad, Great Grandmama, Grammy and Grandpa, Uncle Jon, and Uncle Matthew and Aunt Sarah came to the party. For lunch, we had tacos/taco salads, fresh guacamole, and fruit salad. David and I tried to think of John Harrison's favorite foods and have them for him on his special day....he ate chips and guacamole, fruit, and honey-roasted peanuts (he thinks that peanuts are small almonds (which he calls "almees") and so he calls peanuts "babies"). When it came time for cake and ice cream, we sung to John Harrison, blew out the candle, and put the entire cake in front of him. John Harrison poked around at the frosting and quickly determined that he loved the chocolate frosting (the truck's wheels) on his cake, but really didn't care about eating the cake itself. He ate a decent amount of frosting and had a few bites of ice cream. Next year, I think I will make a cake with mounds of chocolate frosting:). After lunch, he opened gifts. I think he may be more excited about his new birthday toys then he was with his Christmas toys. After he woke up from his nap, we took John Harrison to Chuck E. Cheese. John Harrison liked a few of the games/rides, but the place was really, really crowded---I think we are going to wait a few months till he can enjoy it more and then return in the middle of the day on a weekday. We got John Harrison a kid's meal at Chick-fil-a and brought it home for a late dinner to finish the day. I guess we threw nutrition out the window for one day......birthdays only come once a year, though:). All in all, we had such a wonderful day with John Harrison and look forward to the same today!