THE HARRIS FAMILY: January 2010

Kaelyn has always been such a pack rat. She never wants to throw anything away or donate any of her old toys or clothes. Here are some of the examples of odd things she has BEGGED (even cried) to keep:

1. The plastic bag that her bedding came in.
2. EVERYTHING that she brings home from school.
3. ALL of her coloring pages from home.
4. Once I cut the bottoms off of my pants because they were too long. She pleaded with me to keep the scraps of material off the bottom.
5. She keeps her old underwear and uses them as dresses for her Barbies.
6. Candy containers
7. Box containers
8. She uses shoes that don't fit for Barbie cars.

She regularly finds items that I have put into the trash when she wasn't around. When she finds such items she will get them out of the trash can, come to me with the item (hand on hip), and request and explanation as to how I could possibly throw such a treasure away. Ha ha ha! It almost feels like I am in trouble as I scramble for an explanation that won't break her heart. Sorry to say, most of the time I just play stupid and act as though I have no idea how an old shoe box (or whatever else it may be) found its way into the trash. To which she would respond, "Mommy, I know you put it in there." I have gotten better in my old age! Now I either bury the item in the trash can or take it to the outside trash.

Usually I pick my battles with her "special condition" and throw things away when she is next door at the neighbors house. Yesterday I was shocked to see that her condition actually was getting carried over into school. Apparently her teacher had just used the last Clorox wipe and was getting ready to throw the plastic cylinder container away. Kaelyn immediately came to the container's rescue! She asked her teacher to please let her keep the container to use to put her small toys in. Her teacher said she could have it but needed to rinse it out first. She was so excited to reveal her treasure when she got home yesterday. You would have thought she had just won the lottery!

Love you Kaelyn!

Zane William Harris

December 18, 2009

9 lbs. 3 oz.

I am so excited that our baby Zane is finally here! He is an awesome little guy and we are all totally in love with him. He is a very mild tempered baby, just like Kaelyn and Zack were, and sleeps most of the time so far. We thought that after 2 good babies were were sure to get a pistol but to our surprise we have another sweet little angel! I have lots of pictures to post but here are some of the pictures from when we first brought him home.

Zacky's & Kaelyn's first time holding their baby brother.

Seeing the baby for the first time.

Here are a couple pictures of Zack and Kaelyn before Zane dominates the rest of the post. One of their favorite things to do is take pictures of each other posing around the house. Here are a few of the shots they captured! I'm not sure what's up w/ the props in Kaelyn's pictures but maybe she can be a Price is Right model when she grows up .. ha ha! Kaelyn's teacher asked her, "Does your mom have you practice smiling at home because you always smile so nicely in pictures?" To that all I can say is .. what's wrong w/ having your kids practice smile? And embarrassingly, I have to admit we do practice smile at home while snapping pictures and immediately checking the camera screen for the results.

Okay .... let's talk baby:-)

I was originally scheduled to have the baby on Dec. 21st. The doctor said that baby was getting a bit large and didn't want to risk any complications in the delivery room. When I went in for my doctor's appointment on the 17th, the nurse said I was dilated to 5 and should probably go straight to the hospital since I have a history of delivering babies in under an hour:-) Don't be jeolous!! I told the nurse that I had not given my students at school their Christmas presents yet and asked could I please do that first. She said it was my choice. I rushed back to school and gave my little treasures their gifts and said I'd seem them later. I had a couple kids that were so sad and cried really hard ... it really blessed my heart! How sweet they are in 1st grade!! I didn't want to admit it to the nurse but I also had to rush to Babies R Us to buy a car seat .. ha ha! I was planning to get one over the weekend, but I guess God had other plans. When I called the hospital to let them know I was coming they said all the beds were full and I'd probably end up in a triage room. They said I would wait until I went into active labor or come in the next morning. I ended up going to the hospital at about 8am on Friday (fully thinking I would not make it through the night). I opted for an epidural this time (first two kids were born w/o one .... what was I thinking???) and relaxed in bed until it was time to push. I really liked the epidural for taking away the labor pains, but I HATE HATE HATED not having control over my legs. I felt ... I don't know ... kinda panicky. It was agonizing for me while I waited to get my legs back!!! I guess it comes with being somewhat of a controlling person:-)

Mr. Smooshy face!

Good Morning Baby!

PS - Mike, my doctor, and I had bets going on how much Zane would weigh in at .... I would like to state for the record that I guessed EXACTLY right ... right down to the ounce! 9 lbs 3 oz! My logic ... Kaelyn was 8.2 .... Zack was 10.4 so naturally Zane would have to be 9.3, right in the middle!

A few hours before Zane was born.

Here are some pictures of my baby shower (close friends and family). The girls at work threw one for me too -- SO SWEET -- but I don't have the pictures yet.

My little family! Actually I should say my Big Fat Greek Family ... Mike said that we are now officially "inconvenient" for people to invite over for dinner anymore because there are 5 of us. But for those of you considering it ... don't worry, our kids eat off the floor so they don't need space at the dinner table! Ha ha ha ... just kidding!