Some of Peyton's Firsts

This is a random, cute picture of Peyton that I like.



Onto more important things...we have celebrated a couple of firsts with Peyton recently that I haven't gotten a chance to post about.


Peyton completed his first 5K with us recently - the Triangle Race for the Cure to raise money for breast cancer research. While I'm pretty sure that kid has the energy and stamina to run the 5K all on his own, we decided that it wouldn't be appropriate for him to show us up since it was our first 5K as well. Instead, he sat back and relaxed in his stroller and enjoyed the view as the trees blew by and his parents did all of the work. There were a lot of people lining the street with hoses and water guns to spray everyone down and keep people cool in the blistering heat. He did a great job of cheering us on, and I think we'll do it again (but not until the fall when its cooler outside!)
Kudos to my labmate Adam that ran the competitive 5K earlier that morning in 20:20(!) (after getting no sleep the night before) and then ran the family 5K with us afterwards to encourage me through to the finish. I think it was an effort for him to run it so slow with me (I'll refrain from giving out my time), but I appreciated Patrick, Peyton and Adam all cheering me on. I did have to slow down and walk part of it (but only a small part!), but it was my first 5K and I was pretty happy with the fact that I even did it.






Peyton also had his first haircut recently and this was quite an event. Patrick's grandmother, Big Momma, told me before Peyton was even born that she wanted to make the first cut, so I made sure to save it for her. He's got quite a bit of hair on that head of his, and the little ends of it curl so cute! But I agreed that it was time for a trim. So when we were in New Orleans back in May for Aunt Tobi's wedding, we went to the beauty shop where Patrick's aunt works to give Peyton his first hair cut. Big Momma made the first cut and then Aunt Lisa took over and cut the rest. We had to sing and keep Peyton entertained because he acted as though cutting his hair actually hurt. He kept trying to squirm away, which is exactly why I would never attempt to cut it myself at home. He'd end up with a botched hair-do by the time I was done with it. But he looked really handsome when Aunt Lisa finished. However, its been two months already and he's definitely due for another one. He's looking a bit like a hippy. Maybe a haircut will be one of our stops this weekend.

Short video of the squirmy worm (sorry about Patrick's off key singing. If he would have just matched my pitch, it would have sounded better.)

Animal Noises

I have recently discovered that our son can make all kinds of animal noises. I think he's been practicing with Mrs. Lauren.
Here's a video of us going over the animals in "The Very Busy Spider" by Eric Carle. Mrs. Lauren doesn't have this book, so its not just that Peyton knows the order of the animals or anything. He's just that smart!

Got Milk?

Part of motherhood is the fact that you can't remember anything: your short term memory is shot, you leave the house without essentials, you forget why you drove to the grocery store, you leave your wallet at home, etc. My sister calls it "momnesia". I have left the house on more than one occasion without the diaper bag. I have left the house with the diaper bag but without anything useful in it. I have left the house without - brace yourself - the sippy cup! Luckily, on these particular occasions there was milk available for my thirsty little one, but it required a little creative engineering to concoct a way for him to drink it. We've punctured a hole in the cap of a water bottle that we filled with milk and Peyton just sipped the milk through the hole. We've also dipped a straw in a cup of milk, covered the top with our finger, and transferred the straw quickly to Peyton's mouth and let it drip inside. I had no idea that there were so many creative ways to deliver milk to a child.
Tonight I thought ahead. I brought the sippy cup. We were going out to run errands and thought it would be wise to bring a sippy cup with water in it. I didn't actually realize that we would be out for such a long time, but it was getting to be around dinner time and we decided to stop in Moe's for dinner. I learned something very important tonight - not everyplace has milk. And let me tell you that that was not ok with Peyton. He drinks milk with each of his meals, and I guess I hadn't realized what an important part of his meal this actually was. We sat down to eat dinner, he ate a few bites and then he started signing "milk". I gave him his sippy cup of water and what I got in response was "Whhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!", which I translated to mean, "What are you, nuts? You think I"m going to drink water during dinner? HA! I WANT MILK!" And then he threw the sippy cup on the floor and pitched a fit through the rest of our meal.

Lesson No. 546: Make sure you have milk in the sippy cup at dinner time. Pack it in an ice chest if you have to tote it around. Or call ahead to any restaurant that you are considering to ensure that they have milk on their menu. At the very least, don't actually order a meal and sit down at a restaurant that doesn't have milk. Leave to find a more respectable eating establishment.

Harrell Family Update

So I'm told that its been awhile since I've updated the blog, and I see that indeed it has been since Mother's day. I've also been reminded that not everyone is on facebook, so not everyone can see everything that I post there. But the thing is, facebook takes a lot less time to update so I'm using that as my excuse.

Time is at a premium these days, as we run around after our 14 month old that is into absolutely everything. We can no longer sit him up next to us with a rattle to chew on while we fold laundry, read the newspaper, or type on the computer. Nope. Now, if we try to fold laundry, he comes and pulls it off the sofa and streams it across the living room. If we try to read the newspaper, there is suddenly bits of paper all over the place. If we try to type on the computer, he bangs on the keyboard and types illegible notes to random people in our address book. And if we try to close our eyes and ignore the mess, he runs over to hug us really tight and plant a big giant kiss on us to remind us of how cool he really is.

Peyton is getting bigger by the day and smarter by the minute. He imitates everything we do, from brushing his hair with my big brush to trying to put the keys in the door to open it up. His biggest obsession is trucks. Everything is exciting about trucks. Truck, truck, truck, he says it over and over again. And in case you missed it, he reminds you - Truck! Occassionally, he will mention another word or two - flower, momma, dada, book, more, milk, cracker - and he is also known to moo or squak like a monkey. He's also communicating through sign language - please, more, cracker, all done, bath, milk. And a lot of frustration comes out when he knows what he wants and can't seem to communicate it properly. He loves to go for walks in the evening, especially in his wagon! And of course he still likes to eat. A lot.

I was away last week for 5 days for a workshop in Maine, so Peyton and Patrick hung out all week together. They did really well - I think they barely missed me! We were able to skype a few times, so I was still able to see them everyday.


Before I left for Maine, my mom was visiting for the weekend and we went to pick strawberries. Peyton had a blast picking the strawberries and collecting them in his bucket. But every few minutes, he would decide he needed a break and would sit down and eat a few. The evidence is all over his face and clothes. He kept saying "Mmmmm...Mmmmm!"







Just a short video of strawberry picking:

Happy Mother's Day!

A fellow mom forwarded this poem to me, and so much of it rang true to me. I thought I would share it. (Original Author Unknown)

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
Or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
My plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
And my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
So doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
Watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put them down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
When I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
Could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
Having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
To feed a hungry baby..
I didn't know that bond
Between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
Every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
The joy,
The love,
The heartache,
The wonderment
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
Before I was a Mom .

Aunt Tobi Got Married!

We come from a big family and Peyton has lots of great aunts, great uncles, cousins, and everything in between. But I have just one sister and Patrick has just one brother. Patrick's brother Matt has been Peyton's only uncle up until a week ago. But Peyton now officially has two uncles because now he has another Uncle Mat. My sister got married last weekend and we went down to New Orleans for all of the fun and festivities.

Peyton got his first haircut while we were there and he got to spend some quality time with the Harrells while Patrick and I participated in all of the wedding festivities. They got him all dressed up and brought him to the wedding, and I realize that I'm a little partial, but I think he was the cutest thing there!







Patrick and I got to hang out together like the good old days and go to jazz fest with some friends.

We also went to the air show while we were in NO and got to see the Blue Angels. Peyton liked pointing at all of the airplanes.

It was also Uncle Bill's 50th birthday, so we got to celebrate that with him too!




It was a whirlwind trip but we enjoyed it and we're happy to add another Uncle Mat to our family!

This link will take you to the gallery of all of the pictures and I've separated them by category:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jharrell528

Peyton and Amelia

Just thought I'd share an adorable picture of Peyton and his pal Amelia that Mrs. Lauren snapped yesterday.