Christmas Recap

Today my sister, Lisa, kindly reminded me that I had neglected to upload the Christmas videos/pics she requested. So, without further ado, here you go, Lisa (and the rest of the fam who wants to watch a kid open presents).
Christmas Eve at around 11:00 we realized we still had to bring the train table from our friends' house across the street over. THANK GOODNESS Ben had already put it together. Fortunately, the Matthews's door was wide enough for the table to fit through. Unfortunately, our door was not wide enough. So, we put the table down in the front and took the door off. Lucas didn't even wake up with all the banging. Without the door, the table fit through perfectly. After that ordeal we hit the sack....

After we went to bed Santa came. Thanks so much to our wonderful family for your kindness and generosity. We love you!

Coming Downstairs:
Lucas woke up and came in our room like he does every day. We had some dry cereal, an orange, and a water bottle set out for him (Brenna's fine advice). So, he watched TV for a few minutes and crunched on his cereal. He thought it was so cool that we had Fruity Cheerios waiting for him. After a while he asked, "What we gonna do today?" like he does every day. We couldn't believe that he forgot it was Christmas, but thought it was pretty awesome... (Notice how he thinks the doll house is for Audrey & Kate - they have the same one, though).


The Airplane: For Nana & Grandpa
This year when we asked Lucas what he wanted for Christmas he asked for an airplane, a train, and a doll house. We were caught a little off guard by the doll house, but we delivered. Lucas LOVES his new airplane and goes on many adventures each day. Thanks Nana & Grandpa!



The Train Table: For Grandma, Grandpa, and of course, Lisa.
I saw this train table on craigslist and fell in love. Sadly it was sold by the time I emailed. BUT, the very next week it went on sale at Toys R Us. I went to pick one up to find that they were sold out, and apparently so were the other stores in town. But with the magic of the interweb (and my mom's persistence), I managed to find one at the Babies R Us a few miles away! They put it on hold for me right before they were going to send it to Toys R Us. We took Lucas to pick it up. I went to get the train table and the boys went to World Market. I covered the box in black trash bags and had to lower the seat right next to Lucas for it to fit. The kid drove home right next to it and never even asked what it was.
Ben worked hard on his first parental gift building project so it wouldn't be stressful on Christmas Eve. The Matthews were kind enough to let us store it at their house. Lucas loves his train table. We told him not to take the tracks apart, but alas he has almost every day (but not today!). Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!


Other fun things: I got Ben Pat the Husband with a promise to stop hiding his stuff. I bought it online for less than $1.50, but then it was on back order, so I spent $10 at Border's. Now we'll have another one for a gift someday... it's a great book though. So, is this video about a man cold.
Ben and Lucas got me a bracelet using the $10 off coupon (for a $10+ item) from JC Penney's. This has always been a fun game for us to try to find something worth exactly $10. Lucas told me right when they got home that he got me a bracelet. He did, however, manage to keep the tape measure a secret from Ben.
Ever since I've been pregnant I've been whining that I wanted a muu muu. You know how when you're fat, hot, and lazy, you don't want to put real clothes on? Well, that was me. Ben set out to find me the muu muu/nightgown of my lazy dreams. The thing is, it's basically impossible to find an attractive nightgown without a slit up to there, spaghetti straps, or lace hoo hoos. IMPOSSIBLE. Poor Ben found a semi-cute one... in an XL... and bought it. He thought, what's the difference if it already looks like a tent. Then his good sense kicked in and he exchanged it for a different style in a medium. It wasn't too ugly... We went back to see if they had it in a small, but ended up just returning it in hopes of making or finding something cool someday.

We had a big Christmas dinner with our friends at the Baldwin's house. I made a ham and almost spilled the gravy all over the car. This added to my tardiness, so I wasn't in the happiest mood when we got there, but hopefully I didn't ruin anyone's Christmas. I'd also like to apologize to the Baldwin's entry way for the drips of ham juice on its tile and the possible bad word it heard upon my arrival.

All in all we had a wonderful holiday. As for New Year's Eve, we have no big plans. We'd like to get Lucas to bed by 8:00 or so. Then I'd like to dine on chocolate fondue, strawberries, bananas, and cheesecake. But, we'll probably watch a movie and eat cereal instead.
Speaking of getting Lucas to bed, he gave up his binkies this week. Ben & Lucas have been saying that he'd ditch them after Christmas, and a couple days after Christmas he threw them away. I dug them out of the trash, of course. They are stored with the spare keys in the kitchen, FYI. He had a hard time the first couple of days, but we let him pick out a binky replacement at the store - he chose a cuddly Triceratops stuffed animal. They're cute together. He's been a trooper the past few days. Ben has done all the work in this area, I should say. I don't do bedtime anymore. Way to go Ben!!!

Happy Holidays! And have a super-fun 2010. We'll introduce you to the newest Harmanator in a few weeks. He'll be freakin' cute, I'm sure.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Today was a busy day! We made homemade marshmallows. Then we made Christmas cookies with my grandma's old cookie cutters, did some last minute shopping, fixed up the house for our Christmas Eve Mexican Fiesta, cooked (while Lucas napped), ate dinner with our friends, left treats out for Santa & his reindeer, read a Christmas story, and went to bed... Well, we're still working on the bed part. See, when a kid eats mostly marshmallows for dinner, it doesn't make for an easy bedtime. Lesson learned.

Zzzzzzzz...

A few nights ago I went in to check on Lucas before I went to bed, like I do every night (because I'm still crazy that way) and I nearly stepped on the kid. I don't know if he fell off the bed or wanted to sleep on the floor, but his head was all wrapped up in the blanket and his feet were out. I picked him up and put him back in bed without incident.
Tonight I was in on the computer and I heard his door open. I went and looked around the corner and he lied down on the floor and went to sleep in the hall. I picked him up expecting him to say something, but he was totally asleep. I put him back in bed and he was fine.
Let's hope I don't have a sleepwalker on my hands...

'tis the season!

Ben has been off work this whole week! Except he actually worked every day, but he's been at home, which is what counts. SO, we finally had time to pick out a tree (a complete nightmare), decorate the tree, pick ornaments up from behind the couch multiple times, make popcorn balls, and do some Christmas errands. It's been pretty fun.

Lucas has had a pretty good week. He actually went on a trip to Toys R Us Wednesday night with Dad. Ben wanted to get some feelers for what Lucas really liked the most. Before they went Ben informed me on the phone, "I'm going on a suicide mission." I was worried, knowing that Lucas would for sure throw too many tantrums in the toy store, and have to be carried out kicking and screaming. Instead, Lucas was a good boy and didn't get in trouble at all. Unfortunately, his favorite toy is expensive and kind of lame, according to Ben - Thomas the Train. Honestly, these people want us to pay $15-$25 for a piece of a train? A piece? Well, okay, if it means we get to see this little kid smile on Christmas morning... (And we don't think trains are lame, we just don't understand how he can watch the Thomas movies/shows for hours and hours and not be bored. It's a miracle).

On another note, here is Lucas with his "Superhero Cleaning Glasses" on. At least that's what I called them the other day to get him to clean up toys so he could watch a movie. Chris wore these to our house last summer, paired with knee socks and sneakers for an intense game of badminton. That was the day we all realized exactly why Jamie married him. Then he left his broken goggles for Lucas (meaning he wanted to throw them away, and just left them here, but they haven't made the trash yet. Lucas loves those things!). He's in the zone... It's ok if you laugh. We did.

Flashback to July

My dad emailed me this picture the other day. It's from back in July when we bought the CR-V in ABQ and drove her home to Austin. I was 12 weeks pregnant and all I can think when I see this picture is "wow, what waist definition!" I forgot what it's like not to have a belly...

Speaking of the belly. The other night we had some friends over and I was lying on the floor. Lucas wanted me to get something off a shelf for him and I whined a little and told him to ask Dad. He went over to Ben and said, "Dad, are you fat?"
Apparently I've used the excuse, "I'm too fat!" a little too much lately. But it's true - things are harder with the belly!

Wise Words of Advice From Lucas:

As we pulled up to the farm a couple weeks ago, "If you see an animal, don't get in it's mouth!"

Last night in the kitchen after dinner, "Don't play with scorpions. Play with toys."

He's very wise for his age.

Some more from the trip...

After driving 2,677 miles we are back. Here are some highlights:




If you'd like to see a full slide show, go here. But, here are a few of my faves...

We had a fun and exhausting day yesterday! More details to come, including an awesome video of Lucas driving a race car. Until then, have a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. May you have some yummy food and a great nap!

A Day at the Beach

First of all, I would like to wish Ben and myself a happy anniversary. Seven years. SEVEN. That means we're growing up. Another sign of growing up is that I turn 31 tomorrow. Yikes.

Today we drove from the farm to Clearwater Beach. Lucas had tons of fun playing on the beach - he was much more of a fan this year than last year!
We decided to walk to the pier and Lucas started running and ran the whole way. We couldn't keep up with him, but luckily didn't lose him. Once we paid our $1.50 to get onto the pier, Lucas decided it was boring and wanted to go back to the beach.
After playing at the playground, running some more, and a long conversation with an old man, we headed to lunch at Frenchy's South Beach Cafe, which replaced my family's old fave, Julies. Ben and I both had Grouper sandwiches and they were yummy. We voted our day our best anniversary yet.
Lucas was exhausted and took a spill onto the floor from his stool before we left the restaurant. Now he has a big bump on his head... and another bump on the other side where he ran into a gas pump the other night.
Lucas managed a one hour nap as we drove to Orlando, which was nice.
He had a hard time going to sleep tonight, but I think that he's finally out... now that it's 10:00. We really needed him to get good sleep tonight, but it didn't quite happen.

Tomorrow is Disney World. My parents are flying in tonight and meeting us at our hotel. It should be fun.
Here are some pics from the trip so far...

Trip Update

Good Morning! We left for our trip yesterday morning at 9:15. I was instructed to take a baby aspirin and stop every two hours to walk around as to avoid blood clots. We HAD to stop every two hours to visit the potty, so that worked out well. Lucas was a true champ and managed to not have one fit the whole day. After a few hours, though, he did say he wanted to go home, "Let's go home. I don't want to go to Disney World anymore." Poor baby.

He did manage a little fun after dinner at the Chick-fil-A play area, so that was good. Ben was full of energy as soon as night fell so we kept driving while Lucas watched movies.

We pulled into Mobile, AL at around 11:00, argued over which hotel to stay in, and were tucked in bed by 11:45. It's almost 8:30 now and Lucas is still asleep. Poor kid has got to be exhausted.

Lucas has come down with a croopy cough/sore throat, and now Ben and I are getting it, too. We'll try to drink lots of noni and kick it in time for Mickey Mouse :).

As for the weather, it's rainy. We drove through TONS yesterday and hit a few horrible traffic jams due to road work. Thanks, Louisiana!

Lucas just woke up and says to tell everyone hello. We're gonna go get our free "hot breakfast" and then hit the road. We'll pull into the farm some time tonight...

What Happens When...

...Lucas finds the camera.

Thank goodness for big towels!

Or when you try to look through your PB&J.

More Adventures...

We've had a few adventures the past couple of weeks, so I'll get you caught up.
First off, Lucas generally doesn't take naps in his bed anymore. I can only get him to nap if he falls asleep in the car. Then I just park the car in the garage with the windows rolled down and the door open to the house, and I try to nap on the Love Sac until he wakes up. Sometimes we can bring him in and he'll fall asleep again on the Love Sac. He's very cute...

On another note, we're planning on losing the binkies after Christmas. He only uses them when he's sleeping, but he loves them and it breaks my heart a little to take them away. Let me know if you have any advice... poor little boy.

Last weekend we went to the San Antonio Temple. We got a couple cute shots of Lucas there. He mostly was excited to find nuts on the ground and have me step on them with the heel of my shoe. He also liked playing in the fountain.

This past Saturday we had wonderful weather so we decided to take a trip to Mt. Bonnel - the highest point in Austin - at a towering 785 feet. Basically you "hike" up lots of stairs to get to the top, where you enjoy a beautiful view. We had a little picnic and then walked around. It really was pretty and Lucas loved looking down onto the lake and watching the boats go by, wishing he could go for a ride. On the other hand, Ben and I looked down at the multi-million dollar houses and wished we could have one of those.

Pretty, right? Check out the shadows of the birds on Lucas in the shot on the bottom left. Pretty freaky looking...

And that's about it. Now we're preparing for our trip to Florida this weekend. We'll be driving - two days in the car - a toddler, a pregnant lady, and Ben. It's sure to be an adventure. We plan to spend a day at Clearwater Beach, Disney World w/ my mom and dad, and the rest of the time we'll be at my Grandma's farm outside of Gainesville. I haven't been in 10 years, so I'm really excited to go see where I spent the majority of my childhood vacations!

As far as a baby update.... I 'm 30 weeks now - 10 more and we'll have 2 kids! I feel fat, but I know it's gonna get so much worse. I passed my glucose test with flying colors, had my shot for being RH negative, and enjoy feeling this kid break dance inside of me. Lucas likes to talk to him through my belly button, "the baby's inside that hole" he says.
In other news, we were looking on Family Search the other night for cool family names. Instead, we discovered that genealogy work has been done for one of the lines in Ben's family all the way back to the year 6 AD. Insane, right? He's also related to Charlemagne, King Henry I, and royalty from practically every other European country. Pretty cool. We didn't find a baby name, though.

laser eyes make you dance better

The other day Ben found out he was a finalist to win Lasic surgery by The Mann Eye Institute. He submitted a video a couple weeks ago and now he just needs your votes.
Go here to find his video and vote. His video is titled, "Who doesn't want Laser Eyes, right?"
We are supposed to vote until the 25th. Thanks for your help!

Week in Review

I started to write this post on Monday to tell you all about our Halloween weekend. But then Ben emailed me about health insurance and our saga began. It was open enrollment at his work this week and they changed insurance companies, so I had some research to do. I decided to switch over since I'm about to have the baby... Anyhow, to make a painfully long story short, the Harmans are officially paying more for health insurance than their mortgage.

Then Monday night everyone got sick and within days so did all our friends who were at our house Sunday night. This week has been a real winner!

BUT, last week/weekend really was fun, so let's talk about that.

Last Thursday Lucas and I drove to meet Ben in San Antonio where he was doing a photo shoot. We got to stay in his cute boutique hotel by the Riverwalk, eat at some restaurant where Bobby Flay had a Throwdown, and feed a bagel to some ducks. We had a good time being together.

We asked Lucas where he wanted his bed to be and he chose the closet, which was good due to all the street noise downtown. It took him a while to finally settle down and go to sleep, but once he did he slept until 8:00. Here he is in his little bed.
Friday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and Lucas impressed the guests with his vast knowledge of all things alphabet and fruit related, then we checked out and headed to the Riverwalk in search of ducks. We had a lovely walk - much nicer than the night before when the sidewalk was full of people and I was afraid Lucas would be knocked into the nasty water. We found some ducks, pigeons, and fish in need of a bagel. Although, Lucas was not a fan of the pigeons. He thought they were going to eat him, too. Then we headed back to Austin, dropped Ben off downtown, and Lucas and I went home. Lucas immediately started whining about going back to San Antonio.
Friday night was our church Trunk or Treat party. I took Lucas and Ben stayed at work. Lucas had a good time getting candy from everyone. He was tuckered out and fell asleep on the way home with his balloon sword in hand.
Saturday we had a really nice day because it was the first Saturday in weeks that we didn't have anything going on, like work, or freelance. We made waffles and had a great time together, including a nap. That night Lucas got all dressed up in his firefighter gear again and we hit the neighborhood with our friends, then attended Sandra's most fantastic Halloween bash. Lucas had so much fun this year. Trick or Treating was much easier now that he could keep up with the other kids and he understood the concept. It was a good time. Here's the evidence:

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time. Hope you did, too.

How to be a Super-Hero

Yesterday morning I was telling Lucas how his friend, Ocean, broke her arm last week.
He asked if it was broken off or into little pieces, and I tried to explain that it was just a little crack and that she had a cast on her arm to help it heal. Then his cuteness came out:
L: "Oh, I should help Ocean!"
me: "Yes, you could ask Ocean if she needs any help. That would be really nice."
L: "Then I be like a super-hero because super-heroes always help people!"
As we were walking in to church a couple hours later he was really excited to see Ocean and ask her if she needed help. He made sure we sat right in front of her during church.
He never asked her if she needed help. Instead he fed Ocean and Eden dried cranberries and Pirate Booty the whole time, which I'm sure was helpful to Ocean in some way, even if the little kids ate most of the food.

Awesomer than AWESOME!

Check it out! That's Will Ferrell wearing Ben's Taking Tree shirt!!!!! Maybe now we can hope for some reprints. Congrats, Ben! Click here to see more pics.

Funny Quotes, Funny Boy

"Mom, don't forget to not crash the car." As I was leaving one night.

"Mom, is that Heavenly Father?" Pointing to one of the counselors in our bishopric as he conducted Sacrament Meeting. He's an older white-haired man.

Before bed, Ben told Lucas a story about dinosaurs - explaining the difference between carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores.
Ben: "Lucas are you a carnivore, herbivore, or an omnivore?"
Lucas: "I'm a boy!"

"I love you really really much."

"I don't want to take a nap. But, I don't take a nap, I be sad."

"I don't want you to be angry with me." - always sad coming from a sweet little voice... usually around the time he won't take a nap.

Me: "Lucas, what are you going to be for Halloween?"
Lucas: "I'm going to be a witch. What you gonna be? You can be a biiig Elmo." (Lucas was supposed to be Elmo).
Me: "I thought you wanted to be Elmo and you wanted me to be a fairy?"
Lucas: "No, I'll be a fairy/witch and you can be Elmo, and Dad can be a witch, too."
Me: "I think a boy witch is called a wizard. You can be a wizard."
Lucas: "No, I'm going to be a witch."

"Mom, what my poop color?" Every time I change his diaper.

Lucas: "Kate has a girl-brother."
Me: "Yes, Kate's brother is Simon."
Lucas: "No, her name Audrey."
Me: "Oh, Audrey is Kate's sister..."

This morning as Ben was getting ready to leave for work:
"Some day I be a man and I go to work, too."

"Mommy, you my best friend, Mommy."

My first commercial gig...

A while back I mentioned my acting debut. We'll, here you go:

"Expecting" :30 for King's Daughter's Clinic from Upstream Visual on Vimeo.

I had a fun time shooting. My TV husband was a guy named Clint and he was very nice.

Name Game

Anyone have any cool baby boy name suggestions? We only have a few months to decide (but if I were Andrea, I would only have a week)!
Leave a comment :).

Thomas, Painting, and ACL - a big fat 200th post

Alrighty then, it's time for some updates on this blog.
Lucas has been sick now for about a week and a half. I took him to the doctor last week suspecting H1N1 -- in the back of my head fearing that I would get it, be put on bed rest, steal my mom from the rest of my family, have to deliver early so I wouldn't die, etc. Luckily, Lucas tested negative for flu and strep. Friday night he woke up croupy, but we all managed through the night so that we could go see Thomas the Train Saturday night.
We bought tickets a few weeks ago and if Lucas filled out his chart, Thomas was his reward. Lucas was a trooper and got a star every single day. We drove 1.5 hours to Burnet where the big event was being held. It was a little cold, but it was fun to bundle up.
We had an hour to kill when we got there before our train ride. So, we got to play with toy trains, stamps, a little petting zoo, and a hay maze. Finally at boarding time Ben and Lukie went to get in line and I headed to the HEB right next door. (We weren't about to pay an extra $20 so all three of us could ride). I did some shopping for Sunday dinner AND managed to get a flu shot all before they even departed. After their 20 minute ride, we hung out for a few more minutes at the little petting zoo. Lucas was quite intrigued by the little bull's nether regions (as were some parents who were less educated in livestock), but Lucas still tried to feed him lots of hay that he stole from the hay maze.
We then headed to a small-town diner where Lucas just about lost it due to exhaustion. By 7:30 we were on the road and Lucas was asleep. AND he slept until 7:30 Sunday morning!

Monday night for family night Ben was brave enough to venture into the craft drawer and get out the watercolors. Lucas enjoyed painting more than any other crafty thing we've ever done. One of his masterpieces is hanging on the fridge now. My face (and his face) became his other canvas.

And let's see... I'm 25 weeks now with BBB2. Things are going well. My only complaints are that my hip hurts and that I wake up 3 times to go to the bathroom at night. I think it's Heavenly Father's way of helping you get used to waking up three times to feed a baby. Here's what I look like now, as well as a pic from a year ago. Remember when I was blond?

In other news, I had a really rough couple of weeks when Lucas decided to stop taking naps. I've decided to accept it now and move on. After all, an 8:00 bedtime is more fun than a 9:00 bed time.
Ben's childhood BFF, Chris, came to visit and attend the Austin City Limits Festival. They had a great time together. They got to see Kings of Leon, Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam, and many other bands. Sunday night when they got home from PJ at 11:00, they were as giddy as 10 year old boys. They stuck a pizza in the oven, ate other junk and played video games until 4:00am. When Ben finally made it to bed my last words of the night were, "You're such an idiot." He agreed, and was exhausted the next day, but wouldn't take that time back for anything.

The first pic is from Day 1, which was dry. The second is from Day 3, after it rained for 2 days. It was a muddy nightmare at Zilcher Park (that brown stuff in the background used to be beautiful grass).