Harlow - 2 Year Pictures

Photographs of my Very Busy Harlow Boy by Becca Laing

Bike Ride

Going on a bike ride with Daddy - "Awesome!" was Harlow's adjective choice for the experience. Harlow Loves his time with Nathan! The two of them have such a fun time together; they sure are buddies! Watching the two of them together, it's strange but it honestly makes me fall even deeper in love with My Nathan! Watching him be a Dad is totally romantic for me and I am just more and more awed by this incredible man I've married! I get to cuddle up with this hunk at the end of each day! He makes my world totally glorious! I am such a blessed woman!

Boys Room

This is what I've decided to do with the room. There is still enough room and we can get into all the drawers.  It won't have 2 little boys in it for a while but it's ready.  I had tried to put Harlow down, just for naps in his big boy bed but he wouldn't stay...One day I put him down and then went down stairs, after a few minutes I heard a little tinkering upstairs so I snuck back upstairs and found Harlow in my room playing with some toys....So into his crib he went.  Well one night a few days later I was busy with book group and Nathan put him down for the night.  Harlow got out of bed and came to find Daddy in our room. Nathan just told him to go back and lay down in his bed and go to sleep, and he did!  He hasn't gotten out of his bed when we put him down since.  He will sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and come climb into bed with us but that's getting less frequent.

Migraine

I got a text early this morning from Nathan, telling me that he was getting a Migraine...He hasn't had one for over a year and a half.  It starts with blurred vision and quickly escalates.  I have never had a migraine, I don't know what it feels like or what he is going through.  But I do know from watching him, the many times that he's had them since we've been married that it must be horrific!  I have to stand and watch him, completely helpless but desperately wanting to help.  Each migraine's different.   Sometimes there is noise and light sensitivity.  He's had to ask me to leave the room because any movement that I made on the bed spread (which was hardly anything) was making his head pound.  Migraines almost always lead him to violently throw up.  I wonder what makes him throw up.  It's not like a stomach bug or food poisoning where he needs to get something specific out of his system.  Many times it seems like it builds and builds and finally he throws up and then it levels off and he's able to sleep, still miserable but at least sleeping. Why is this?  Watching him throw up is horrible but somewhat comical too...his limbs shoot out instantly in different directions.  I call it the "Super Star" cause its like he strikes a pose.  If I could put him in a cartoon and show him throwing up the character would be flailing all over the place trying to hold on to the toilet but not being able to and puking all around the toilet because his body is just that crazy.  But I do have to say that I am so proud of him today... 

Today, when I got home from shopping at Sam's Club with Jessica Johnson, I saw his car was home instead of him being at work.  That's when I knew he was really feeling awful.  Harlow went to go play with Bailey and I ran in to find Nathan.  I looked everywhere but he wasn't there.  I went out to his car and there he was just laying on the front seat/bench, curled up.  He had a big ziplock bag by his face (What a good husband of mine, to think about throwing up in a bag for me instead of flat out puking in the body of the car...if you know Nathan, you know why this is such a big deal...I don't think he's hardly ever made it to a toilet and I end up cleaning the now totally yucky carpet.  I hate cleaning up throw up, especially out of carpet!)  I went inside and got the pink (the darkest bedroom) ready for him.  I helped him out of the car which seemed almost too much for him.  He was groaning and moaning and holding his body.  Making our way upstairs and into the room before he lost it and started throwing up.  With a hand on his back I stood by and watched my poor Nathan.  I was concerned but I also watch out of interest.  The bag was still in his hands and I wondered if he'd be able to hold on to it and get it all in there or just completely miss...He did it!!  I was so- happy! All in the bag that I was able to zip up and toss! I can't even express how awesome that was! :) One happy wife right here!

He felt quite a bit better after this.  We laid in bed for a while with my hand on him - he likes me to do that when he's not feeling good. He slept.

I picked up Harlow from the Johnson's house and brought him back to see his daddy.  Harlow wanted to curl up and cuddle with his Papa, it was so cute.  Nathan said "oh buddy, I dreamed about the day when my little buddy would want to come snuggle with him.  I love this! In a few years you won't want to do this with me anymore...but then again, I'll probably feel the same way" - I laughed, imagining Nathan asking to come snuggle up in bed with his Dad now, yea, that would be a little weird.  The two were soon fast asleep.

We had a fun time sitting on the couch, talking and laughing about all these migraine stories this afternoon.  I love my husband!  I love his cheerfulness!  I love that he is my very best friend and I am his!  I love how we can take life for everything it's worth and still love it! 

(Not the Clearest Pictures, but I wanted the memory)

The Boys

 

As you can see from their faces the boys are spending some intense time together playing games on the iPad.  Harlow loves playing with it, especially when Daddy comes and plays with him.

Harlow's 2 - Fun Things

Some fun things about our big buddy

~He loves The Lion King and Iron Man.  TV and Movies have become much more appealing it him...which I don't like (but to say I don't take advantage of that and use them to help me make phone calls or get a quick shower in would be a complete lie)

~Knows the sounds that cows, monkey's, pigs, sheep, dogs, cats, lions, chickens, frogs, bees make

~Gives "kisses" with his tongue like a Lion.

~Only wants to sleep in his big boy bed now.  He stays in it when we put him down but gets up in the middle of the night....sometimes mommy puts him down in his crib just for her sake

~Getting him to eat is crazy hard. He chews meat forever and usually ends up spitting it out.  Eating the food needs to be "his idea" or it doesn't happen. I'll hand him milk, he'll push it away then not 5 seconds later asks for the milk again.  Hotdogs are a hit, as well as tuna.

~He can now jump and actually get off the ground, even if it's only an inch.  He also has gotten brave enough to jump off the bed or stairs into Mommy and Daddy's arms.

~Talks and talks. "Mom, mom, mom, mom..." Until he knows he has my attention then on with his story. "Mom, watch this, watch this" and only when I am watching him continuously he'll do his trick or be silly.  He wants to share all his exciting discoveries with me, I love it! 

~Loves motorcycles most (also loves cars, trains, and airplanes)

~Loves Books!! Some favorites right now are: All You Need for a Snowman, No More Hitting, Follow the Prophets(the Goliath story), JoJo, Peek-A-Boo, Whinnie the Pooh and some Bees. 

~Still potty training. He gets to FaceTime with his grandma's when he poops in the toilet and also get a treat (a dum-dum sucker).  I noticed it was mostly Mommy Training so I have put it aside for a while.  We still put him on the potty a few times a day but its not the active intense training that I was doing.  That will just come later.

~Has learned that he has a weenie

~Loves bath time, this usually aggravates the eczema on the backs of his knees...

~Says "Baby Tummy" and points to my growing belly.  "Open it" and then he wants to lift my shirt up so he can see my tummy.  He likes to put his bare belly on mine, as well as give it kisses and stand on it...this last one is not my favorite, as you can imagine.  We put his hands on my tummy and he'll sit there waiting to feel it.  Every time I feel the baby move I ask him if he felt that too, he always says "yes" - who knows.

~He play bites

~Loves to be tickled, playing the tickle game on our bed and the squish the spider game.  He loves being chased around island on our main floor. loves to sing, wants to ride bike(too small and catches on legs or else it's the two wheeler and mom has to push him around...gotta find new bike for him )

~He loves to sing!  We sing together everyday.  When I put him down to bed I have started finding and singing songs he doesn't know just so that he'll actually go to bed instead of singing with me :)  His favorite songs are I love to See the Temple, Rock-A-Bye Baby, Let It Go, Do You Want to Build a Snowman, Inseey, Weency Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Happy Birthday Song, Silent Night
~Can unscrew lids-yikes

~Quickly stomps feet when he gets mad
~Has throw 2 terrible tantrums, both were over toy guns.  When we had to leave them at friends housesand had to leave the guns behind he started kicking and screaming, hitting my face and literlly pulled out chunks of my hair.  I set him down and tired to talk to him, that was no good.  So I picked him up and we kept walking.  When we got home I went and sat him down in the bathroom and asked him if he needed some alone time, to which he responded "Yes".  So I closed the door and waited while he went on.  About 3 minutes later he calmed down, stood up and knocked on the door, saying he was done....it was about the same the second time too.  Guess he just needs his space to work things out.

~Dances, can do straight somersaults on his own, calls it a "bouncy bridge" when he jumps on the couch.   I guess it reminds him of the bouncy bridge at the park.
~Really enjoys playing with others and plays fairly well.  The neighbor kids who are a few years older will ask if he can come play.  We laugh and think its a little weird but seriously, all the ward/neighborhood kids love him.

~Is going to make a Wonderful Big Brother! Loves little babies and wants to hold them.  When he does he has a look of complete bliss on his face.  (*haha he did want to pop that one baby's toes when we were down in Vegas.)

Oil Spill

What an afternoon...

Becca Laing came over with kids, and while Brielle and Harlow were playing I smelled a poopy diaper, culprit = Harlow, so I went to change him. Right then my next piano student Owen Boxx came to door, someone else had to answer it for me since I was a little tied up wiping a bum. I wiped, turned to put it in the dirty diaper and within that 1/2 period Harlow grabbed an oil, opened it and poured it on the lower half of face, and down his neck, puddling in his ear.  It was citrus bliss which is not a harsh one but oh man, it smelled so strong. I wasn't sure how much got in his mouth or went into his ear. (The mouth I wasn't worried about, I mean, sure it will taste bad but ingesting them is not a problem but I've read everywhere that you're not suppose to put oil in the ear...why, I'm not sure.) I grabbed a q-tip and cleaned at much out of his ear as I could then he started screaming and pulling at his ear. His neck and ear turned bright red.  What if's started going through my head so fast and I was pretty worried.  Becca held him while I tried to call handful of friends who also use oils but no one was answering.  My main question/worry was what if the oil burned the inside of ear and damaged it.  I finally got a hold of Bethany Davis and later Sabrina Lee helped too. I used coconut oil on his neck and ear.  I put some coconut oil on my finger and rubbed the inside of his ear.  He was still screaming but started to calm down. This whole time my piano students just sitting there waiting for me listening to all this happen, I felt bad for him but I had to figure this out and take care of Harlow.  Becca went and taught Owen part of his lesson. Becca talked to Danielle Kennington, got some advice and canceled my next lesson, which happened to be her daughter Ginny. The redness started going away and he calmed down a little more.  Harlow kept pulling at ear and crying like he was in pain. I prayed, I didn't know what else to do. We laid down together and watched the Lion King to get his mind off it and He was able to fall asleep.  I talked to mom Andersen on the phone for the rest of the movie and by then Harlow woke up again. He was still fussy (not screaming) but I just put more coconut oil on. I turned on Iron Man...man, I'm a bad mom, all these movies... but we cuddled to whole time and he was content in my arms. He finally calmed down completely. He didn't want to eat anything (which is not so unusual) but I got him to eat little things like swallow of milk, a bite of a tct, apples and peanut butter, yogurt and granola...maybe together it was enough for a dinner...

By that night he was running around being crazy, silly, and his happy self.  I am so glad that he's okay.  I learned a lot.  Primary thing, he now knows how to unscrew lids and quickly. Babyproofing is going up another level...

Itching

Last night was insane!  My calves, the tops and sides of feet were itching, it was unbelievable! This was Way Worse than I have ever felt it before! I literally felt like I was crazy. Was it all in my mind? or was it really this bad?  I remembered reading and experiencing that heat aggravates the itch of Cholestasis so I stuck my legs out of the blankets.  I also grabbed the Aveno lotion and slathered it on.  Those two things did cool my skin down, which helped but not all that much.  I was a mind game, like with Mosquito bites.  You know when you get a mosquito bit and you think 'if I scratch enough it will go away', we all know that's a lie! It doesn't make it go away and doesn't make them better.  I just had to keep telling myself that over and over, 'scratching my legs off won't do any good!'  I could have sworn that if looked down at my legs they would have been covered in thousands of bites or rashes or bumps, but I knew there was nothing...and there wasn't

This morning the itching has gone away, not completely but it only very light. Strange how it can be so intense and then not bad. Why? What made it flare up?  Was it aggravated by something I ate? Today I decided to get rid of possibilities. I shaved my legs, lathered up on lotion, and drank plenty of water...we'll see how things go.  I will call my dr tomorrow if I itch again tonight as bad as last night.  They say it's worse at night.  I wonder why that it.  I have found that to be true, for me at least. 

Doctors say the soles of your feet and palms of your hands are where it typically starts but that it can be anywhere.  I noticed it on the tops of my feet then slowly work its way up my legs/calves, then to the soles of my feet and palms. That progression took a few weeks.  With Harlow it was so subtle I didn't even realize at first.  I would be teaching and I'd slip off one of my shoes and rub my foot against my other foot or against the carpet without even thinking, then I realized I was doing that a lot.  Then at night I would be getting ready for bed and my ankles and calves would be itchy so I'd grab lotion but that wasn't helping.  I just had this mild, unquenchable itch, if you will.  I'm getting it earlier this time, 30 almost 31weeks.  I think it happened around 35-36 weeks with Harlow but I didn't mention it to the dr until my 38 week visit... I didn't want it to be what I thought it was...I had known about it because Becca gets Cholestasis too.  She got it at 30 weeks with Kolby and 16 weeks with Brielle!  16 weeks and on, I can't even imagine how horrible that would be!

PS- (Feb 21st) as an update, I am still itching but nothing as bad as that night.  I have not called the dr about it because it has been mild.  I will see him on Monday Feb 24th.  I figured I'd just bring it up then.  I will probably have my liver numbers tested then and we'll get a better idea of what's going on.  I don't know for sure but I have been thinking about it and I think I know what spiked it that night.  Not much is known about Cholestasis but greasy things and lots of protein are things that are hard on your liver.  The night I itched we had these big, greasy homemade hamburgers and tator tots for dinner.  I think that meal is what spiked my levels...again, I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure that's what did it.  So I'm thinking, YES, diet does have an effect on this condition! 

Grape Juice Uni-brow...Not Sure How This Happened

We were getting ready to head out to Grandma & Grandpa Henderson's house for Harlow, Afton, and Grandpa's joint Birthday Party.  Daddy had been drinking grape juice and had to run out the door for a quick church meeting, that's when Harlow snagged the now empty, except for the foam/froth, cup.  When I looked at him next I saw the stunning purple uni-brow my son was sporting.  I laughed so hard.  How on earth did he get it to do that?!  Oh Harlow!  You are just too darn cute my little man!!

Found

I have never "found" Harlow asleep, never had it been quiet and found him conked out in weird places or positions, never wondered what had happened to him and realized he had just found a cozy spot...not until today that is.  I had put on The Lion King so that I could go upstairs and make some phone calls.  When they were all finished I came down stairs to find the movie still going and my little Harlow man out cold, his piece of apple close by, just like this.  I guess there's a first for everything.  

Man I love this little guy!

Park

The park we normally go to is covered with hard snow/ice so we decided to come visit another one today.  (We had to get out of the house, we were both having cabin fever...you know those days in the winter time.  I really do feel like a hermit.  I want it to be spring.)  

We played on the playground then ran out in the field.  There was dog poop everywhere.  Harlow said "Poo Poo!  Yucky!"and was pointing at all of them.  We are still working at potty training so this was a big deal to him.  I told him that doggies poop on the ground and that's yucky.  WE still go poo poo on the toilet!  Then he wanted to clean them all up...ummm nope, sorry kiddo!  (*I will say that I am thankful for Harlow's example of wanting to clean and pick up trash and make this world a more beautiful place.  I need to bring a little bag with us more often so we can make our little bit of a difference.  Children can teach us such beautiful and simple lessons, if only we let them.)

Fort Fun

 Today Harlow and I made our first fort!  We pulled the chairs in my room together, draped them with blankets and had a blast pretending to be Lions.  It was fun to see him start using his imagination to "eat" the food.  We cuddled up and nuzzled in true lion style, he even started giving me Lion Kisses by licking me.  I was cracking up and you could tell that he enjoyed making me laugh.  It is so fun to have a little boy and buddy.  He makes my world such a fun place and makes life into an adventure.  I can't imagine my life without him and there is no place I'd rather be!  Being a Mom is incredible!

27 - almost to the 3rd Trimester :)

 6 Months Pregnant, 3 Months To Go

So excited to hold this little man.  I've gotten the baby's clothes out and into the drawers - Yes, can you tell I'm a little excited about this!  I went through the clothes and I think we'll be covered with everything.  So nice to have another little boy, I already have everything.  There will be a few differences with seasons and sizing of clothes but I think the clothes we have should work out fine.  And Thanks to Syd Whipple (Nathan's cousin) who introduced Fels-Naptha the clothes are still on great shape, only a few had stains on them when I pulled them back out.  Plus, people have been so extremely generous with hand-me-down's!  THANK YOU EVERYONE!!  Such a tremendous blessing!

The boys room has been moved around and everything is finding its place.  Harlow will stay in his crib at least until the baby comes, I've decided, there's no rush when he & I love it so much.  But the toddler bed is up and ready for him so he can get use to it being there.  

I feel like Harlow is becoming a little more attached to his Daddy which is fun to see & nice to know, with the baby coming in a few months.  Glad to see that he loves being with Nathan and doesn't always have to be with Mommy, because I am sure there will be many times that Harlow and Daddy will be hanging out together, doing "buddy" and manly men stuff :)

Braxton Hicks are becoming a good friend of mine, we spend quite a bit of time together.  With the early menstrual-like cramping and now the braxton hicks cramping I haven't been able to exercise nearly as often as I'd like, nor as I did with Harlow.  But for my sanity and baby's health we're just needing to take things a little easier this time around and I'm okay with that (most of the time - not gonna lie, some time's it hard, but I know it's for the best).  The Braxton Hicks usually don't hurt but they catch my attention, whereas with Harlow I'm not even sure I had any...I do get them fairly often in my lower back, along with the all-over abdomen and lower abdomen ones.  I am taking them as happy signs that my body knows what it is doing and is starting to prepare for what God made it to do - birth this beautiful miracle.  (*When I got induced with Harlow I worried that I would never get the chance to go into labor on my own or that maybe my body would never get the chance to learn it.  Maybe it sounds dumb but I am grateful that I had the miscarriage in regards that I let my body do it's own thing and It Did It, it knew what to do.  I know that my body does know what to do.  And because of the miscarriage it's had a chance to practice it, on its own, without pitocin.  I think it will help with this delivery.  So the Braxton Hicks are a good sign for me :) as long as they stay just braxton hicks and not preterm labor, yikes, which also can happen with cholestasis...crossing our fingers that I just don't have that problem this time.) 

Baby is wiggly.  Feeling the baby move is probably my favorite part of being pregnant (but I also just love looking pregnant, big belly and all! Call me crazy but I think it is so fun!!)  This pregnancy there have been times when the baby moves and it makes me feel like I am on a roller coaster, almost making me a tad bit sick and definitely feeling those roller coaster flutters.  He's still so little that I can't feel what part of his body is pressing into my side, but that will come.  I loved touching Harlow's little foot when it'd get pressed into my side...like as if he was in my arms and I was rubbing his real feet.  Nathan asks fairly often what it feels like to have a baby move inside of you and honestly, it's almost surreal and totally hard to explain.  But one way that I think is really accurate is to think about when you've gone fishing or caught a fish.  The second that fish comes out of the water and you told it in your hands (it has to still be very wet to understand the sensation) and the fish wiggles its slippery body in your hands.  or better yet, if you were to put a fish in a small bucket of water, put your hands in with it and feel is slide around between your hands.  That's what the baby's big movements or somersaults feel like.  Like the baby has just slipped around, like the fish, in your belly. The kicks...I don't know how to explain those, but I love them and they make me smile!

No itching yet! Yippee!!  But the pain in my bottom right rib is getting worse.  It is nerve or muscle related because it is on the outside of my ribcage.  If it was liver related it would be an internal pain.  So I'll be grateful it's not that!  But really that's the only thing I can complain about, life is truly wonderful and I am enjoying this pregnancy!  So excited for another little boy!  So excited for our growing family!  So excited for mine and the baby's health so far!   So excited I have this growing belly!

US Synthetic

We just got it all finalized, Nathan is being hired on full-time at US Synthetic!!

We are super excited about this; what a huge blessing!  Nathan has really enjoyed working here as a part-time 'Student Engineer,' but as of today he is hired on full-time with benefits available to him, Harlow and I!  This is an answer to prayers, literally and we are so grateful. 

Little Harvard

Harlow is starting a little preschool group called Little Harvard with some friends in our ward.  He is the youngest in there but I think he'll do well.  Mom and Harlow get to sit and work on things together, like today we sang the alphabet song and worked on the first letter of his name - H.  We made the H with dots, then traced them with different colored crayons.  Next we put M&M's on the dots.  Harlow put every other M&M in his mouth :)  The kids ate their M&M treat and then we glued on puff balls on the dots.  Multiple tracing activities - great.  We have this card in his room and we talk about it "That's an H, H for Harlow," with the sound.  He's getting it.  Last we drew roads on a big piece of paper  and had the kids drive their cars on them, another tracing/tracking activity that's great to help with their writing skills.

My Boys

Oh I love my boys and am so excited to have another scallywag on his way to our famiy!

We had a movie night and Harlow conked out on Daddy's lap.  I love family time, late night talks, cuddling up on the couch to watch a show, family dinner, games, tickle time...I am so blessed!!

Bailey's Birthday Party

 

For Bailey's 4th Birthday she wanted a Luau.  Harlow got to wear a skirt and lea... All these little birthday parties will sure have him ready for his birthday.  He knows and sings the birthday song and knows that presents and balloons come along with the birthday fun...his birthday will be fun this year because he'll actually kinda understand what's happening.  My little Harlito will be 2 next month, I can hardly believe that!  

We love the Johnson's and cute little Bailey is just a doll - glad and grateful to have them as such great friends

Thanks Monique

5 hand-sized Tractors

4 awesome dinosaurs...remember a year ago when Harlow was scared of dinosaurs?  He loves them now

Giving kisses to his new dinosaur friends

New Clothes

"Broken" is what he kept saying about the car shirt :) it made me smile

Trying to Figure out the New Room...

I was going to put the toddler bed where the desk is here in the last picture but Nathan had an idea to keep the desk there and put the bed next to it, where it will come out into the room.  I think I like this idea.  We'll have to see how it looks/feels  when its actually in there.  But it should still give us enough room to easily get into the drawers on the other side of his bed. 

When do you move a toddler from his crib into a big boy bed?  I am torn.  Harlow has never tried to get out of his crib yet, which I love.  In the mornings I'll hear him playing in his bed and when he finally wants to get out he'll call out for me or start crying.  I like that I put him in at night and he stays in.  He can't come into our bed in the middle of the night, escape at bed/nap time.  I really like all these wonderful things.  Some reasons to move him over would be that when he was done with his nap he can get up and come down stairs to me when he's ready and I don't have to go get him.  He waiting for a few minutes to go pee-pee after he wakes up but sometimes I don't get to him fast enough and he'll just go in his diaper.  Maybe if he could get out of bed on his own he'd go pee-pee in the toilet on his own, or come get me and we could go together....maybe that wouldn't happen for a while but I can always dream can't I...

I've heard a baby coming can be a hard adjustment for the older kid.  Getting "Kicked Out" of his bed is only one of those things.  (*today I was getting baby clothes out and putting the newborn stuff in the baby's dresser and Harlow found one with cars on it and wanted to put it on and was so upset that it wouldn't go on...I had to laugh, until he started stretching it out and biting/pulling it.  "That's for the baby" wasn't clicking for him)  So when do you move the older one over?  Before the baby is born?  After the baby is born and a month or so before you're ready for the new baby to be out of your room and into the crib?

I think I will keep Harlow in his crib as long as I can.  He loves it, but he loves nearly everything and I think he'll love the new bed too...I guess it comes down to what Mommy wants right now and Mommy sure likes him in his crib :)  but I do want this adjustment to go over well....us Mom's can wonder and fret all we want can't we, and it doesn't really seem to do much

Cheese Sandwich

This boy loves him some cheese sandwiches.  I slip a piece of ham in there on wheat bread so it's a little more healthy.  I'm just glad he'll actually eat something.  

"Eat your cheese sandwich Harlow" - wait, isn't this what you say to a big kiddo?  Holy Cow, my little man is growing up!

Happy New Year

New Years Eve at the Quarry with the Knapp gang. 

-Harlow's first Piñata & Rock Climbing adventures