Breakfast With Friends.

Last week we were able to get together with my best friends. 2 of them live here but the other lives far away in Texas. It was pretty nuts getting together with 2 toddlers, 1 baby, and 3 pregnant women. We had a wild time trying to entertain kids but it was super fun to see everyone together. Next time our size will be even bigger with 3 more babies coming in the next 3 months. Its really fun raising kids at the same time as your friends, it's great to get to talk about the same things and get advice and whatnot. I love my friends, they are like my sisters and it's so fun when we do get to see each other. Even all the husbands were able to come which is a big deal with school, work, and traveling! Can't wait until the next time it might not be until next year. Thanks Jill for sending me the pictures!

2011 Christmas Card

Merry Christmas!

We are so thankful to be spending the Christmas season with our family and friends. We have had a busy 2011. Larry finished up his first year of law school, got a job in Sacramento for the summer that turned into a permeate postilion and switched to a part time law program in Sacramento. It was a whirlwind of changes and challenging decisions, but we made it out alive and feel good about the choices we have made. We are happy to be fully employed and Larry was happy to finish off his first semester of his second year a couple weeks ago. We are pinching our pennies trying to save up for a house so when law school is over and done with many years from now we have something to show for it!

We spent the summer swimming, playing outside, and taking a family reunion for the Harris side to Utah. We camped in Utah with Max which turned into a nightmare but great stories due to the rainy camping days. Max turned 1 years old, learned to walk, then run and has been moving nonstop! He is our pride and joy and we love almost every moment of being his parents! We found out in early August we were expecting a surprise baby #2 and that is is another little boy. After the shock, and worry that comes along with a unexpected baby we are now thrilled to be welcoming a new baby boy early April.

Larry spends most of his time juggling a full time position at a law firm in Folsom and going to school 3 nights a week and some Saturdays. He has gotten into biking lately and is so excited for basketball season to begin to root for Jimmer/Kings and his beloved home team the Jazz. He is an amazing dad and loving husband. He does so well at making time for everyone and never complains about the burdens he carries.

AnnMarie (Me) is busy running after Max and getting larger by the day. I have been able to get my California nursing license although thankfully have not had to work yet. I love staying at home and being a full time mom. It's hard work and frustrating but I love knowing I am Max's main care taker. I have really gotten into sewing, couponing, and cooking nightly meals for everyone in the house. Its been a dream to live with my parents, save money, and never feel lonely while your husband is gone 90% of the week.

We feel extremely blessed this Christmas season to know the true meaning of Christmas and to celebrate Christs birth. I am grateful to get through the trials that were thrown at us this year and look froward to a fresh new 2012 year! We are so grateful for our health, growing family, and Larry's job. After some unstable years its great to feel like our adult lives are somewhat coming together. Hope everyone is enjoying the season and remembering to have Christ be the center of our lives. Merry Christmas- Larry, AnnMarie, Max and Baby Boy!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Max is asleep, the house is clean, and all the presents are under the tree. We had a fun low key chinese dinner with our Foell cousins and spent the day at the park playing on the swings, and throwing balls with our Martin cousins. Larry and I are now relaxing infront of the fire and I am so excited for tomorrow morning with Max. We do Christmas pretty small around here but its going to be so great and I love that Christmas is on a Sunday so we get to enjoy a sacrament service on the actual day, so special. Hope everyone has a wonderful night with their families, as for me I will be making out with my husband and drinking hot chocolate with a bit of tums because this baby inside me is giving me heart burn like no other!

Things We have Done This Week:

-Went to The Zoo to see the Lights-Max LOVED this! Will do again next year.

-Made lots of goodies and ate lots too.

-Went to Target almost everyday

-Went to the Park everyday and twice sometimes

-Worked on the Christmas puzzle

-Went to Dovewood Court to see the lights

-Went to another house to see the lights-Max tried to unplug them all.

-Had a pizza party after a long day of shopping

-Visited old friends

-Went to a funny white elephant party

-Stayed up way to late and got up bright and early

- Saw Santa from a distance-Max was not interested

-Played with lots of balls

-Made candy houses-Max ate his weight in candy

-Uncle Tom came home from VA

-Wrapped lots of gifts and drank some egg nog-yum!

We are loving our Christmas vacation. Larry had today off so we have been making the best of finally having him home. I wanted him to feel like he had some sort of break even though he is still working but done with school. We have tried to do things every night to make it feel someone like a vacation. I want him to know how thankful I am for all his hard work and letting him relax, watch sports, and eat whatever he wants is a good way to show him that! I think its the little things that make you remember special holidays. We really have loved taking Max to see the lights because his face lights up and he is so interesting in seeing the bright sparkling houses. He loves being in the hustle and bustle of crowds and gets excited when he sees other kids out doing the same thing. I will say it 100 times how much sweeter these holidays are with kids. I totally get it now! Hopefully we can cram in as much fun things as possible before it all ends.

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree...

Isn't this tiny little tree so cute? It is Max's tree. He helped me decorate it and it has been to distract him from the big tree. Really he doesn't need a distraction because we are smart and put the tree on a table so he can't really even reach it. A bit ugly maybe but a necessity with little kids it will be that way for many years to come. Anyway this tiny tree is perfect for Max. He rips the ornaments off and will put them back on or chuck them across the room. At the end of the day I clean it all up. He loves to touch the little lights and things the goose on top is so cute and will go around and pat it on its head.

A goose on top of a tree you are thinking? Well the goose is a funny story. My parents got it full size on to put on their tree when they were newly married and it came with this baby one. Well it has always been a joke for my brothers and I. We all hate the goose and think its so weird and funny when my mom pulls it out each year. Well when I found the baby one I had to put it on Max's tree its tradition and its hilarious. It is really fun to have a small child during the holidays. We have gone to a lot of different places to look at lights and even went to the Zoo at night with lights on which he loved running around the zoo and seeing the lights. The holidays are so much fun with someone little to share the magic with.

18 Months Old

Where has the time gone? Max is officially 18 months and is such a big boy. He still has baby moments but he is all boy. He loves to climb, jump, play outside, go to the park multiple times a day, loves balls and basketball. He has learned to move chairs to where he wants them and climb up on them then the table and get candy off of it. He loves to turn the light switches on and off multiple times in a row. He can run so fast and loves to jump and hop. He can climb up the play structure and go down the slides on his tummy all by himself. He loves to swing, wrestle and jump on the couches. He has had many bumps, bruises and cuts. If he has a chance to run outside he takes it and kicks and screams when I drag him back in. He loves living with his grandpa and grandma and has a lot of people to play with him. He is a big boy and goes right into nursery and loves playing with kids. He likes to share his food and shove it in your mouth. Anything that has a button that lights up and requires pushing he wants to play with. He Can Say: Mom, Dad, Baby, Ball, Outside, Juice. Thats about it haha. He does understand about 100 other words and its easy to comunicate with him which is nice. He talks all day long and sings to himself in his langage. He screams loud and has learned about throwing fits and time outs.

He really is a typical boy who wants to play and move constantly until its bed time or nap time. He is still a great little sleeper and napper its very nice for a pregnant mom. He is in the 50% for weight 30% for height and his head is in the 100% haha. He has 20 teeth that he uses to eat everything with and sometimes bite your feet if your not watching. He likes Curious George and Winnie The Pooh (because he has them as stuft animals) We LOVE him so much its hard to comprehend how much he has changed our lives for the better. He makes me laugh, cry, feel frustrated all in one day. Its challenging chasing after him but I really would not want to do anything else. He loves when his dad gets home to gobble him up and tire him out and they has special bath time where the bathroom looks blown up after Larry is done bathing Max. So glad we get to be his parents! Happy 18 months big brother Max!!

I 100% agree...

Winning the War but losing the battle...

So I am trying really hard to be a great mom. Trying to make memories for Max like going to the park, play groups, cookies, special things and somedays I think every things going great others not so much. Today is one of those days. We had an early morning and I was pretty tired by the time 9 am had rolled around. I am trying to get ready everyday because it makes me feel better about myself (wow she can get up early, get ready, be hugely pregnant, and cart around a toddler...ya know) anyways I turned my back as I was starting to get ready to curl my hair and the next thing I knew Max was screaming. One of those deathly something is so wrong screams I knew instantly what had happened. I scooped him up and ran his little hands under the cold water as he was kicking and screaming. I next put ice packs on them which he hated. Ever try prying a toddlers little hands open to put them on ice packs...pretty bad. With some quick thinking I busted out the Tylenol, then tried to calm him down by taking him on a walk...nothing helped.

With a frantic teary phone call to Larry pleading for some suggestions on how to calm him down I quickly decided I needed to go and purchase some burn spray to at least numb the area. Screaming the entire way to the store my poor Max was so upset. As I was driving/purchasing/applying spray I was on the phone with the advice nurse making sure I had remembered to do everything I'd been taught (yay for nursing school) as well as double check that he didn't need to be seen because of his age. His burn really wasn't that bad, in fact I think it was more red because of his constant screaming (he gets all red) and the ice packs. She reassured me I had done everything right and even let me cry on the phone for a couple minutes.

After a good 2 hours of constant crying he finally settled down. As I laid with him in the bed I said a silent prayer of thanks for the silence and that he was alright. It's the worst feeling knowing you could have prevented your child from getting hurt and all's you were doing was trying to get ready so you could take him out to lunch and the park. Deep breath! So now I'm sitting here taking a breather as he is hopefully sleeping for a while, not dressed, hair in a bun, no make up on, and feeling pretty defeated. I knew that this mom thing was sacrifice and hard work but sometimes I feel like I can do nothing right, and can please no one. Anyone else feel like they have no clue what they are doing? I know there are other days though that are perfect and blissful and they make up for the ones you screw up pretty bad.

25 weeks

I haven't documented much about this pregnancy yet, so heres the down low...

Im just about 25 weeks pregnant...15 to go!

I've gained 7 pounds. This is the most shocking I have already gained half of my entire weight from last time...I need to stop eating!

Small little belly similar to last time, people can't tell if I'm pregnant or fat. I think Im HUGE but its all relative.

Baby moves randomly mostly at night but not as active as Max was (yet).

Heart beat is strong and constant.

I am a lot more anxious about this delivery more then the last.

Fluid seems to be normal so far although I measure small.

Picking another boy name has been challenging.

Getting pretty excited to have a new baby around!

Christmas Max.

So I whipped up these PJ bottoms for Max. They came out okay being that I didn't have a pattern and made my own. I figure he can wear them all month long then they can become rags. I want him to feel the christmas spirit all month long even though he might not fully understand what is going on. He is so sweet and I hope he knows I try my hardest to be a good mom, even though it's so hard some days. I also decided to check out pintrest last night. Such a bad idea, there are so many crafty things on there I had to put a time limit on my web browsing because I would get addicted, one addiction to diet coke is enough.

Dinner Menu:

We have a busy busy week around here. What with finals being almost done, 2 play groups, a trip to the library for story time, tying baby quilts, getting things even more christmasy, some park going and maybe even the zoo to end the week. Tired? So am I an its only Monday! To keep me going and motivated we need some good food. Heres what we are eating this week:

Monday-Honey Lime Enchiladas

Tuesday-French Onion Sandwiches

Wednesday- Tacos

Thursday- Pasta

Friday- Grilled Pork Chops and Rice

I am always looking for new and fantastic things to make. Any fun ideas? Also I am baking up a storm for Larry to take treats to work. I love feeling busy and nothing makes me happier then a clean house, the fire going, and cooking in the kitchen with my su-chef Max, he's really such a helper..and he is getting really good at helping me unload the dishwasher. He hands me thinks one at a time, the bowl, the plate, a fork it takes about 20 minutes to unload when he is around.

The First Christmas Story: Told By Max Harris

Apparently our Christmas nativity involves a Santa Mr. potato head. Max always places him around the nativities constantly. I love this little nativity it allows him to play with it and still try to instill the spirit of Christmas. I turned my back for 10 seconds though and he was up on the table throwing the animals, baby Jesus, and stable before I knew it. This boy is constantly moving and is non stop. We have a special little tree just for him that he can touch and destroy and we redecorate everyday so he is distracted by the big one...that we have yet to purchase. It is so fun having a little toddler around for the holidays its so much sweeter and special to have him love the lights and the goodies that come to the door. But watch out for those presents he already unwrapped one and proudly brought me the paper to throw away.

Saturday Love.

This morning we woke up bright and early ready for the day. I have been sleeping extremely bad for a couple weeks now. My back is killing me so I am glad when morning comes and I can get up and move. This morning I got Larry up and Max and we went to the park. Everything was still damp so we wiped down the swings and slides and Max went wild. After about a chilly hour we packed Max up in the car and went to good old health McDonalds for breakfast. Max just loves those hash browns. It was are family date morning, we had a great time. We've been trying to really tighten our budget so we can get closer to our down payment so this was a big splurge for us! I didn't really want anything for Christmas but to do little things like this all month long and go out to eat a couple times so Larry is making it happen. The rest of the day Larry studied and was gone till late at night and Max and I played but for the morning we actually were together happy and worry free for awhile!

Also I made this PIE: Its delicious!!!

Grasshopper Pie

8 oz cream cheese, softened

8 oz tub Cool Whip

1 Oreo Crust (I buy premade but you can make your own if you prefer)

1/2 (of a 14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

16 Keebler Grasshopper Cookies

Green food coloring

Crush cookies in a large Ziploc bag. Some large chunks are fine, but you want mostly very

small, even crushed pieces.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat cream cheese on medium until smooth. Add sweetened

condensed milk and beat until combined. Mix in crushed cookies and fold in Cool Whip.

Add food coloring and fold in until desired color is achieved. Pour into pie shell and chill for

at least 4 hours.

High 50's....

The weather here has been extremely nice, yes its California but even for December its been beautiful in the afternoons. Max has been to the park everyday for a week, he even got Larry to take him before church on Sunday. Larry is almost done with finals which is a nice relief. Its hard having a husband work so much and then have to go study so much. Its completely different then undergrad days when we both were hitting the books, working, and childless. Law school in itself is such a beast and add on top a high stress litigation job and its just craziness. Anyways after Larry worked at the office for a few hours we met him for lunch and a quick trip to the park before Larry headed down to school and we went home for naps. Its so fun to be outside in the sun and watch Max run around, go down slides, chase birds, and play with his dad. He lights up when Larry is around because Larry will play rough with him, I'm more into kisses and discipline.

These days any small time we get with Larry is a miracle so its nice to be able to live close to his work and be able to take an hour out for our day to keep everyone happy. We will take full advantage of this beautiful weather, I keep thinking our days are numbered but we will see!

Sunday Best

It is so hard to get a good picture of this kid! I have a 100 of him running toward the camera, making a weird face, eyes closed, you name it and it's NOT photogenic...He's a really cute kid in person though. We love Sundays around here. Playing at the park in the morning, taking a nap and off to church which can be torture for a toddler and a pregnant mom just trying to make it through 3 hours tantrum free for the both of us! My favorite thing about his church attire is his cute little black church shoes. He looks like a little man all dressed up it's so cute.

Hurray For Fridays!

Things I am Happy About Today:

1. Getting Christmas decorations out.

2. Watching Max watch the christmas lights

3. Making peppermint cookies

4. Getting the 6th season of Bones on DVD for a killer deal on black friday!!

5. Scoring 97 cent jammies from Old navy for toddler and new baby boy!

6. Deciding on a baby name (maybe?)

7. Cool crisp winter air & a warm fireplace

8. Finishing dozens of sewing projects

9. My bath & body works wall plug-ins (candle free house with kids now)

10. The Panera bread restaurant opening up in Folsom!!

11. Figuring out the best place to put a christmas tree that Max won't destroy??

12. Listening to Max "talk" to himself and his stuft animals.

13. Our fisher price nativity that Max plays with all day. He loves to chuck the baby Jesus because its the most ball like :) haha

I am not sure what it says about my life that such simple things bring me such great joy. I think its a good sign because theres not much going on in it most of the time!

Memories Of Max.

Its been so sunny these last couple days its been so nice to play outside even though its pretty cold and windy. Every day Max bangs on the doors until we get to go play outside. He screams with delight once we reach the park and will run to the swings. Today we took a trip to the church and while my mom cleaned out the nursery cabinets Max played a good solid hour with bubbles and the small slide they have there. Its so funny to watch him go down the slide and then run back to climb up and do it again...over and over. Its so fun to watch him learn, and grow and laugh while he plays. He kept wanting me to turn on the microwave on the fake kitchen h'es so persistent he will take my finger and place it where he wants me to push, and gets frustrated when it doesn't work like the real one at home.

I know that nobody cares about these things but I want to remember them. He is learning and growing everyday its sad to see as the baby features disappear and he looks like a little boy. He is a dare devil and it really is a miracle at times he is still alive. He has learned to climb on the couches and jump off them or to other objects like the ottoman. He will climb up and teeter on the cushions or just look at me and then let go, like he is waiting for me to say NO. He still loves balls and playing with his basketballs for the better part of the day. He is also starting to walk up stairs instead of crawl. He knows when its bath time and where to go and that he gets naked (which he loves),and he knows where to get his shoes and put his dirty diapers. He even tries to wipe himself and hold his butt paste its hilarious. He screams bloody murder when we brush his teeth at night but its kinda nice because his mouth is open nice and wide. He loves bringing me things to open like crackers and drinks and is a very social eater. He gets mad when I give him a sippy cup but he really wants a bottle. Sometimes he will sit infront of the fridge until I give in. He thinks all little boys should drink diet coke and get to play on a real computer not his baby one.

I want to remember every little thing he does and every little laugh, roll, chubby body part I can before its all gone and hes grown up. He is so expressive with his blue eyes and will lift his eyebrows up and down and has the biggest smile ever. He is learning to throw tantrums and he is learning the reality of time out. He is active, smart, and has a great memory. Its amazing to see him everyday and I love being his mom. I hope he won't attack the new baby too much and that he will feel just as much love from me as before. My favorite part of the day is when he will come in my room and say "mom" over and over until I say "yes Max" then he smiles big and runs away, waiting for me to chase him and play.

{pictures taken October 2011}