Park Pals

These are just some fun photos from the playground this week. Enjoy!

Future photographer???

Isn't this a great photo of Nathan? GABRIEL took it! Yes, that's right! My little 5-year-old sweetheart! When Nate showed me this, he was rather proud of Gabriel, and I must say ... so am I! It seems we'll have another little photographer on our hands soon!

Sacked out!

Ohhhh....I'm tired today. But it's worth it!!
Nate took me to see Harry Potter last night at midnight, and I must say -- it was awesome!!! Despite the fact that we were surrounded by teenage girls who were, quite literally, drooling over Daniel Radcliff (Nate said he heard the girl next to him say she wanted to have Radcliff's children). It was too fun! The best of the Potter movies yet! Actress Imelda Staunton (who also had small roles in Much Adu About Nothing, Sense and Sensibility, 12th Night, Shakespeare in Love... and even voiced a chicken in the animated film Chicken Run) did a phenomenal job as the irritatingly evil professor Dolores Umbridge.... the villain you love to hate! Helen Bonham Carter even had a small role as the witch Bellatrix Lestrange... a role she pulled off with a disturbing mixture of madness and pure evil .... her part eventually grows larger in future movies, or so I hear. (the one thing I really love about these movies, beside the fact that they're just FUN, is the fact that they get these major stars to stick with the whole series, even if they are reduced to only one or two scenes in a particular film....such as Emma Thompson in this one...) This movie was amazing -- and moved quickly, which was a nice change from some previous Potter films...with a very cool flying scene done over the city of London and the Thames River, and of course, the epic showdown (finally!!) between Lord Voldemort and Dumbledoor. (tantamount to the Star Wars flik where Yoda FINALLY takes up a light saber and kicks ass against the baddies) What a film!!
The photos of Ash, are just cute ones I took yesterday while he was sleeping. He sleeps with all his might, truly. It's too cute. And ever since he's gone down to one nap a day, that nap is a HARD nap, lasting several hours after lunchtime.

Me versus Three

Nathan had to work this morning, so I took the boys to church by myself today. And my baby girl (who, if anyone is interested, is about 3 lbs now, and would survive if born, huzzah!). So it was the three of them, versus me.
And I lost.
Let me give you a little rundown of what my morning in the back pew was like.
-- Asher sits content for a few minutes on mommy's lap, making everyone beleive he's a cherub. (when in Rome...) Gabriel unzips mom's purse and then asks loudly for a green crayon, getting a nasty look from mommy and a "shushhhh!"
Mommy, still in her grrrl-power moment of zen, thinks things aren't going too badly. Ohhhh ... mommy has so much to learn. Asher starts calling for cookies like a haggler at an outdoor fish market. Mommy shush's him.... he calls louder ... mommy gives him a granola bar, which he licks, begins to wave wildly about, and then regurgitates onto mommy's chest. Asher spots mommy's necklace. Shouts "PRETTIES!" and begins to eat the necklace with enthusiastic exclamations of "Mmmmmm!" Mommy begins to get frazzled as we are nowhere even near the sermon. The praise band takes their places and Asher starts calling out "Daddy!" and then looks confused because this is NOT daddy's praise band. He stubbornly refuses to dance or clap to the music. Asher climbs on mommy, and knees her in the tummy, to which the baby kicks back fiercly. Mommy hands Asher a toy airplace which he throws under the pew, making Gabriel manuever on his belly under the pew to find the plane. Mommy starts sweating and wondering how tacky it would be to leave this early in the service. Gabriel starts asking for fruit snacks in his outdoor voice and poking mom with a pen. Mom gets out goldfish crackers. Gabe tells Ash loudly to "Share!!" The snacks and the juice begin to run out. Mommy sees that the end is near....mommy senses panic and impending doom...the final song starts to play...Asher starts to scream uncontrollably....mommy makes a fast grab for cups, books, toys, diaper bag and purse and makes a frantic beeline for the back door -- kids hanging off each arm, her big belly bowling aside anyone who would be stupid enough to get in the way.
And that, folks, was my wonderful morning. Now here's the question ... how will I handle it with three????

Fun Fourth of July

We had a fantastic Fourth of July! We started the day by waking up, eating breakfast and saying bye to dad (who played in a volleyball tourney all day down on the beach, eventually winning third place! Yay honey!). Then the boys and I got on our bikes and headed downtown to check out the parade. You can see the boys in the photo, waiting for the parade. I tried to get them to look at me, but Asher was more concerned about the slowly approaching bands and fire trucks. It was a new experience for him! Then, afterwards, we visited Nathan down on the beach. The boys had fun playing in the shallow water at the beach, jumping in the waves. Neither of them had really experienced real "waves" before and they had a blast -- especially Asher, who would shriek and giggle everytime a wave would wash against his chest as he stood in knee-deep water. Then we had hotdogs on the beach for lunch. (thanks to all the food vedors which were already set up on the beach for the fireworks) Afterwards, it was home again, and a long nap for all three of us (yay!!!) and then we were up, prepping hamburgers, corn on the cob, and a patriotic berry trifle for dessert. (which tasted much better than it looked...thanks to Martha Stewart!) The photo of Asher is his first encounter with corn on the cob, which we discovered he loves as much as Gabriel. He ate an entire ear all by himself! Gabe had about 2!) Nate's dad, Bruce, joined us for dinner and afterwards, for fireworks, which we enjoyed on the rooftop of my work building -- at Gabe's insistence. It's perfect because there are no crowds, plenty of parking and a PRIME view of the fireworks. What a wonderful day! Happy 4th everyone!

An Asher Post

Asher has been having a lot of fun this summer, as you can see! In the first photo, he's exploring the garden, which has grown by leaps and bounds in the recent warm, sunny weather we had. In the second photo, he's watching "Monsters Inc." (his new farvorite movie, which he asks for by name "Monsters! Monsters!") He always watches it with HIS monster....a floppy puppet with big teeth that he loves. In the last photo, he's pretending to play cowboy. He did this just yesterday, and I just HAD to take a photo. Too cute! His latest discovery has been the raspberry bushes out back, which are now in full bloom. He loves finding berries and munching on them whenever possible!

Fun in the Door

We spent all day Sunday with my family up in Door County. They rented a beautiful condo for this week, and unfortunately, we didn't have enough vacation time and/or weekend time (since I had to work Saturday, joy!) to spend more than a single day with them. But we managed to pack a lot of Door County favorites into one day.... shopping in Fish Creek, lunch at Wilson's Ice Cream Shop, a few hours at the beach where the water was PERFECT.... a family barbeque for dinner ... and then back to Wilson's for dessert and a relaxing sunset on Eagle Harbor. Then me and the boys reluctantly drove back to Sheboygan to let the rest of the family enjoy their week of solitude and relaxation. Sigh! We wish we could have stayed longer, but we are indeed thankful for the day we had!
In the photos: Nate and I outside of Wilson's .... Gret, Nate and I outside of Wilson's ... Gret and I pose in front of some flowers (our mom used to always make us do this when we lived at home, so we had fun giving her a hard time as we deliberately posed here in a sort of "mock" salute to bygone days! We love ya mom!) :)

Father's Day recap

This is just a quick post to recap our father's day. The first photo is a picture of my boys all piled together in bed on Sunday morning. They woke up their daddy -- not too bright and early, which was nice for Nathan. Then it was off to church, where Nate played in the praise band for two services. We bought Nathan a cool new shirt, new cologne, grill tools and of course, artwork courtesy of the boys. Gabe made a father's day cup for Nathan and both boys put their handprints on paper for their daddy. Gabriel also made a list of why he loves his daddy -- it was too cute! We finished the day by going camping at Kohler Andrae State Park -- the first time for Asher. I wish I could say it was a perfect experience, but Ash decided to wake up at 4 a.m. and that was that. He was up for the day! Ohhhhh....what a long day Monday was! But all in all, I think we had a rather nice Father's Day! We love you Nathan!

Gabe rides a 2-wheeler

Enjoy this short video of Gabriel learning to ride a bike without training wheels! We took him to the parking lot of the local high school on June 4, and 12 days later (and only one practice later) he was zipping up and down the street on his own. I have to say that this was an odd feeling as a mother -- letting go. I felt left behind for the first time! But he's doing awesome and loving every minute of it! (Note: The "blurry" quality in the beginning and end of the video is because I did a "vintage footage" effect, which looks great when the video isn't compressed for the web! Oh well!)

Pool play

Here are a couple shots of Gabriel enjoying his new pirate pool. His farvorite part is the cannon that actually shoots water, once you hook it up to the hose. It finally got really warm this weekend, so he's been outside playing in his pool every day!

Asher gets his ears cleaned

Check out this funny video of Asher getting his ears cleaned. Now, we are barely touching his ears with the Q-tip of course -- but ever since he was about 12 months old, whenever we would do this, he would utter a disgusted "ewwwwww!" We didn't teach him this, so I'm not sure how he picked up on it! Oh well! Too cute!

A possible addiction...

I've only known about the gender of baby-girl Harrmann for a matter of weeks now, but I'm already becoming addicted to the (girl) clothing sections in any store I happen to be in. My friend Heather started my addiction when she came to my house about two weeks ago and gave me two ADORABLE little dresses (with matching bloomers!!). Now, I can't seem to stop myself from finding the most adorable, and usually pink, outfits for our baby girl! To give myself credit, I haven't actually BOUGHT all that much yet, but it's not because I haven't been finding stuff! I've just been trying to show restraint!! So far, however, I've managed to find some cute stuff that she'll fit into next summer -- I just can't resist these girlie outfits with the cute little bows and detail stitching! TOO much fun!!!

Treasure Hunt & Last day of School

Lots of pictures today! Today was Gabriel's last day of school. (the first photo in the series.) We made it extra exciting by forgetting his and Asher's car seats in Nate's truck. So Nate went to work, and the boys and I realized, belatedly, that we had no way to get to school. So we started walkin'! Nate turned back around and made it back in time to pick us up about halfway there and drive us the rest of the way. So it was an adventurous morning! To keep up with that theme, while Gabe was in school, I drew up a detailed treasure map on a piece of paper, and went into the garden to mark the last spot on the map with a big X where I had buried a new toy I had bought for him as a "last day of school" treat. Then I placed the shovel in the dirt nearby. When he got home from school, he quickly dressed up in full pirate gear, and we followed the directions on the map....10 paces to the porch stairs, to the pirate "ship" (the hammock) where we had to sail 256 miles due Northwest to the deserted island. Then it was a trek through the jungle to the lookout tower (his playground...where I had already taped signs with skulls and crossbones that stated "PIRATES, YE BE WARNED!!!) to scan through our pirate looking glass and look for treasure ... then 10 paces due west, and .... the treasure! I can't even begin to explain to you how thrilled he was by this whole setup. He dug up his "treasure" all by himself and was sooooo excited by the Ninja Turtle action figure that was buried there. (He loves Ninja Turtles, especially Raphael, which was what this one was). His exact statement? "Maybe we can do this at the end of 5K (kindergarten) again mom!!!) The photos tell most of the story. But my little pirate king certainly had an afternoon to remember!

Pirates...arrrr!!!

Today, for some unknown reason, Gabriel rediscovered his fascination with pirates. And not just any pirate ... but Captain Jack Sparrow. He's been enthralled with the idea of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies...which we haven't let him watch yet ... well, maybe only the non-scary parts ... but today, he decked himself out in full pirate gear (thanks to an old Halloween costume) and even wanted to wear the red sash in his hair "just like Jack Sparrow." He also spent time drawing a picture of Jack Sparrow, as seen in the photo. Nathan and I both thought he did a great job! Three cheers for pirate Gabe!!! Yo ho!!

Gret's Visit: Part 2

Here are a bunch of photos that Gret and I took of the boys in the park yesterday. My personal favorite is the one of the boys hugging a tree. Gabe was having fun hitting trees with sticks, so we suggested he try hugging them instead. He took us at our word, and proceeded to hug the nearest tree -- Asher quickly copied him and joined in the fun! I also like the photo of Asher with the hat on -- he stole it from Gabe and put it on all by himself. He likes to wear hats backwards -- with an attitude! :)

A visit from Gretchen

This is the first post of photos from our visit with "Auntie Gretchen." My sister, Gretchen, made the trip to Wisconsin this weekend to spend a few days hanging out with us -- what a fun time!! These photos were taken yesterday, when we went hiking at Kohler Andre State Park and had a picnic on the beach. For some reason, I just LOVE the photo of Ash sitting in his little lawn chair munching on his PB&J sandwich. Man, that kid can pack it away! He ate more than Gabe.... an entire sadwich, a banana, and some hard boiled eggs...not to mention a hefty helping of cookies at the end of the meal! More photos to come!

"Hogzilla"

I can honestly say that this photo made everyone shriek in the newsroom today. I really don't know if this picture can be believed, but according to the AP, an 11-year-old boy shot this PIG 8 times with a pistol while hunting with his father in Alabama. Apparently, it replaces the former big pig, "Hogzilla," who weighed about 800-1,000 pounds. That's a lot of bacon!! What do you guys think? Hoax or not? They say it weighs 1,050 pounds and will produce 700 lbs of sausage. All I know is that is one scary-ass pig. And I can't imagine being in the forest with something that large charging out at me from behind a tree. I mean, if that sucker were standing, he'd be taller than that kid! Just one more weird thing in the strange world that we live in.
Photo courtesy of the AP. Check out the story here.

First photos

For anyone who's interested, here are some pictures of "baby girl" Harrmann. She looks like she's doing some sort of yoga move in the one picture -- either that or the start of a somersault!

It's a ...

My sister and I were chatting on the phone today, asking ourselves "who are the 'old wives' who come up with these famous 'old wives tales' and how did they get to be so smart???
I was honored this past weekend to be the godmother of baby Olivia, my good friend Heather's baby. Heather and I have been friends since the 7th grade. Talk about a long-standing, awesome friendship! Well, when we were back at Heather and Carl's house for the post-baptsim luncheon .. YUM! ... when I was sitting at a table with some of the women in Heather's circle of family and friends ... grandmas, friends of friends ... etc. One of the women claimed to know a trick for telling the gender of a baby ... she said she's NEVER been wrong ... so she asked for my wedding ring and tied it to a piece of string, and proceeded to dangle it over my palm. Now, the ring is supposed to spin around for a girl, and sway back and forth for a boy. Well, the ring spun MADLY around in circles, each of the three times that she did it. Which had every woman in the house convinced I was carrying a baby girl.
Well today we had our ultrasound.
We asked the ultrasound techie to just put the picture on the screen and let us guess the gender. He laughed and said OK! So he did. I was sitting there, not really sure what the heck I was looking at when Nate said, with confidence, "It looks like a girl!" Pause. Pause. Finally the ultrasound tech said "Yes, I think you're right." And my doctor soon confirmed it.
Now I know there's always the chance that an ultrasound can be wrong -- but I'm pretty darn excited! I started to cry, right there on the table. Asher started shoulting out "Baby! Baby!" as soon as he saw the ultrasound on the flatscreen. And Gabe was pretty thrilled as well. (Althought he didn't see any reason to "find out" the gender since he had already "ordered" a girl!)
We are so completely thrilled and exited!!
And I must admit, as nervous as I am about "how to handle" a girl (I'm so used to hanging out with little boys!!) -- part of me is really very happy that Asher will still by my "little baby boy." I wasn't ready, I don't think, for another baby boy to come along and replace my sweet Asher so soon. (although I'm sure I would have adjusted just fine) And Gabriel ... well, my darling Gabriel is in a league all his own!
As Nate and I ate lunch together, getting used to our wonderful news ... slowly.. I suddenly spouted off all the reasons I'm so excited to have a girl "Just think of all the fun, frilly dresses, pink things, pierced ears, Barbie dolls, tea parties, princesses, makeup, prom dresses, boyfriends and the wedding!!" His eyes looked huge when I had finished and he quickly began listing the firearms he was going to need to buy posthaste to keep the boys away. Awww... my little girl is so lucky to have such a loving daddy!!! She'll be the apple of his eye, I'm sure of it!

Boy, girl? Girl, boy?

Ohhhh, I can't decide!!!
Nathan and I go in for our ultrasound on Monday afternoon, and I'm very torn. I can't make up my mind if I want to know the gender of the baby! Does anyone have any convincing arguments? One part of me really wants to know -- just because! The other part of me really wants to be surprised -- like we were with Gabriel. And since I already pretty much know the exact day I'm having the baby (c-section again, hurrah) it seems that a little bit of mystery might be nice. So I guess I'm leaning towards NOT finding out. Although a coworker of mine wisely suggested that we ask the technician to write the gender on a piece of paper, seal it in an envelope, and take it home -- so that if I change my mind in two months, I still have the option of knowing one way or another. I'm not sure if the sight of that sealed envelope everyday would drive me crazy -- or give me peace of mind?! But it sounds like an interesting idea!!

Mother's Day Weekend

Okay, so Nathan and I have always spoiled each other on mother's/father's day. After you become a parent, you understand why all of this is necessary. Especially while your kids are young. For all the sleepless nights, early mornings, cleaned spills, kissed boo boos ... it's always nice to splurge and make the mother/father feel special on their special day. It's just plain FUN. But Nate went over the top this year, and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to outdo him! :) When I came home late from work last night at about 1:15 a.m. and (dead tired) stumbled into our dark room -- I noticed a curious shape on the wall. A brand new flatscreen television for our bedroom! We've been wanting to do that for a long time, mostly so that we can enjoy SNL on Saturday's and fall asleep when it gets dull instead of sitting on the couch downstairs muttering sleepily to eachother "Why are we still up? We should go to bed!" The other reason is because with baby number three, I've decided watching a little TV quitely while nursing at 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. would be a nice way to pass the time, instead of just sitting in the dark trying not to fall asleep. So this was a pretty groovy mother's day present. And I have it on good authority that the remote "IS MINE." How long do you think that will last ladies? :) As if that wasn't enough, when I awoke this morning, Gabe presented me with a "Map" to find my second present. The map directed me outside, where I found the gorgeous new hammock that I had wanted!! The whole family piled in, and we had fun swinging in the crisp spring afternoon. LOVELY!! I can't wait to sit there like a beached whale all summer with my big baby belly!! (I hope I don't get stuck!) Gabriel also painted a flower pot (complete with flower!) at school for me. This was the best gift of all, and made me puddle up when I realized how lovingly and painstakingly he had worked on the painting on the flower pot. He also made me a homemade card. Sniff!! So, even though it's not mother's day yet ... I've had quite a wonderful mother's Day Weekend! Thanks family!!!

PS: you might notice how nice and green our lawn is in the one photo -- I'm being totally snobby about it and I don't care -- because compared to LAST year ... if you will remember my scary dandelion post of last May, when the little buggers were taking over our yard --- you can see that things have improved MIGHTILY!! And I am deliriously happy about that. In fact, I defy anyone to find a single dandelion in that photo!!! I guess winterizing your lawn actually works! HUZZAH!!

Week 19

So, for anyone who is interested, this is what my belly looks like in week 19 of my pregnancy. I'm almost halfway done! (only one week to go!) My ultrasound is scheduled for May 21, and we're super excited about it -- we keep wrestling with the idea of whether or not we should sneak a peek at baby's unmentionables and find out the sex -- I think we won't -- it's so nice to be surprised after all! Anyway, when I saw this photo of myself I said "My belly looks so small!" which was astonishing, because to me ... it seems ginormous! :) The second photo is a picture of my lollipop boys at the park this past week. Asher discovered he likes DumDums. Well, what's not to like, really??