Month to Month

We are playing catch up for the past 3 months and posting the month by months. I can't imagine why I have not been able to do that yet. HAHA! I hope you enjoy Collins at 1 month.

Collins you are 1 month old today sweet boy!


You weigh in at 4pounds 2 ounces and growing! Today was a huge day for you. You were able to move out of your incubator and into your first big boy bed. Mommy and Daddy have been waiting for this day to come for what seems like forever. Ms. Erin even made you a special welcome to the one month club sign to hang on your bed. You are now part of the 1800 grams club too!

You are able to regulate your own body temperature and this means you are one step closer to being able to come home.

We have loved having this sweet baby in our family for the last month. It has been tough but we would not change a thing. We can not wait to get home and see what it is really like to be a family of four.



Carter and Collins look so much alike! It is so weird for us. Here is Carter at 1 month. I forgot about his really bad baby bumps at this age. Poor Guy.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful mothers out there! Those of you who this is your first time to celebrate mother's day, I hope this is the best day of the year for you. I still can't believe this is my 4th mothers day and that this year I am blessed to be the mom to two wonderful little boys. If you would have asked me last year if today would look the way it does, I would have told you no way. We had been trying to have another baby without being succesful after the loss of our angle baby. We had a rough month this time last year after two very long unsucceful rounds of doing IUI. Little did we know that 1 month from now 1 year ago we would becoming pregnant to our new little man. Tonight my heart hurts for all of you out there who have been longing to fill your life with a baby. No matter what never loose faith that the lord will fulfill the desires of your heart. Continue to hold true to knowing God has a plan for your life even if you can't see it right now. Tomorrow I will continue Collins journey home from the NICU.

On our way to the NICU...

After I had Collins all I could think about was what would come next. When would I be able to see him? When would he be ok? When would we get to go home? Little did I know that these questions and so many more would take weeks to figure out.

I had told Dr. C. and the nurses that I wanted to try and make it to where Carter could see the baby before they took him to the NICU. We knew this would be the only way for him to see him before he came home since children under 16 are not allowed in the NICU during RSV season. They had told our family and friends which elevator the NICU doctors and nurses would be taking Collins through to get from the delivery floor to the NICU floor. The hospital plays a little song when a baby is born so they said when you hear the song go to the elevator. You can only imagine how many people were at that tiny elevator. Carter was able to see his baby brother for a short time. It was so good for him to know the baby was not in mommy's belly anymore and that he was ok.

From 12:38 - 4:00 was the longest time ever for me. I had to wait until I had gotten back to my room and was able to move my legs before they would let me go to the NICU to see the baby. I knew he was breathing, at that point they had not intubated him, and that he weighed a whopping 2.15 pounds. That was it. All I wanted was to get down to see him. Later that afternoon I was able to go and visit for the first time. I was still on a lot of meds for my current condition so things were a little hazy. I found out later after becoming such great friends with the NICU nurses that they laughed at me the whole time. I was their entertainment that day. HA! When I got there he had been intubatedand was on C-PAP with lights for jaundice. Neither would last long but for me that was the worst thing in the world. I just wanted to hold him and tell him I was there. His little body would not permit it. It needed time to adjust to being outside in this world.
We knew right away what a fighter we had on our hands.

Collins' Birth story

Collins Birth Story: This is long warning :)



On January 13th I started having symptoms of high blood pressure at work. I went to the nurse to get checked. Sure enough I was running really how on both top and bottom numbers. I went to the doctor that afternoon and was 150/100. They decided to do a test over the weekend for pre-eclampsia. What a fun test that was! If any of you have ever had to do this you totally know what I am talking about.  When I went in on Monday it was negative. Woo Hoo we were all very excited. They told me to come back on Tuesday and get checked again. Tuesday, I was still running high. They said I should not go to work on Wednesday and see if that would lower it. I went in on Wednesday, January 18, and was 166/122. Then everything started happening really fast. They said we are admitting you to Labor and delivery. I heard the doctor call into the hospital and let them know I was coming. This is when I started to realize that things were not going to go as we had planned. Funny how things work out. My doctor and I have been together for the past 15 years. So, he knows me pretty well. I think he could see the panic starting to set in so he came in and told me everything that was about to happen. He said that he needed to admit me to prevent a stroke since my blood pressure was so high. He thought that he could keep it down and keep me on bed rest in the hospital for the next 6-8 weeks. My friend is a nurse there so she drove me over to the hospital and waited with me until Ryan or my mom could get there. My first concern was Carter. He was at his babysitter and needed to be picked up and taken care of. Thank goodness for great friends. Tiffany was right there to pick up the slack that day. She went and got him and later brought him to the hospital to visit before taking him home with her for the next few days. Ryan’s sister and Tiffany switched off watching Carter for the week we were all in the hospital.

When we finally got settled in at labor and delivery things started moving in fast forward. We would be told you will be here for a long while then that there would be a possibility they would take the baby. This went on for 48 hours. Ryan’s step-mom came in on Thursday morning and sat at the hospital with us all day. They monitored me every 30 min. Dr. C came in on Thursday and said he thought that I needed to go ahead and get 2 rounds of steroids to help develop the babies lungs in case of an early delivery. We had an ultrasound done around noon and saw the baby. He was measuring on time and was right at 3 pounds. Later that evening we were told by one of our night nurses to prepare to have the baby the next day. She was under the impression that they had decided to take him since my pressures will still running so high. (Freak out moment happens here) We went ahead and called all of our family to let them know what we had found out. We began praying that Gods will would be done. I had a friend that had both of her babies at 32 and 33 weeks who I called to get as many tips on delivering early as I could. Bless her heart she talked with me for hours just trying to calm me down and prepare me for the reality of having a 9 week early baby.

The next morning Dr. C came in around 9 and said it was baby time. They prepped me for a c-section and Ryan and my mom were there to hold my hands. The NICU doctor came and talked with us and said just pray he comes out screaming that means his lungs are working well. So, that is what we did. We prayed he came out mad. That was one thing we got good at during this whole adventure. We prayed for specific things everyday. We found that it was easier to think it terms of 1 thing at a time then all the things that were happening or could happen at one time. At 12:38pm On January 20, 2012, Collins Oran Harrison came out screaming at the top of his very efficiently working lungs.

Praise God. 2 pounds 15 ounces and 16 inches long

More to come……

A New Chapter....

Hello again blog world! After much debate and talking with so many of our friends and family through the past 15 weeks, we have decided that I will start blogging again to keep our loved ones updated. I am excited to share with everyone the past 15 weeks of our lives and the many more to come. I am working on putting together Collins Birth-Day post now and I should have it up today. Thank you so much to all of you for your kind words, thoughtful gifts, and many prayers. We could not have made it to where we are today without all of you. May God shine in your lives like he has in ours!

From this to this in 31 weeks :)

Yep! I am still here! Things have been CRAZY but I am still alive. Can you believe that Carter is going to be 2 next week? TWO! I can't believe it. He is such a big boy now. He is talking more every day and is becoming such an independent little man. He does not really want me to help him with anything. He thinks that he can do it all! So far he is not throwing fits really. Every once in a while he will not like something and cry and scream cry really. But that is really far and few between right now. I know that this might change here really soon so I am enjoying these days right now. I am hoping to get some pictures of him in the bluebonnets this weekend and will post those when I do. More to come this weekend my friends! Have a great Friday night.

Play Date Time!

Tonight we had a play date with our friend Lacey and her little next door neighbor. Carter LOVED playing with her and I think that she had a pretty good time too! I got a new camera for my birthday from all my family members and let's just say that I have already gotten my moneys worth in a week.

I thought I would take you through my week in pictures......................

                          Mommy wanted a picture but Carter wanted his dum dum!

                                      

Grandma Niece tells Carter a secret while he spent the night at her house!

I love to play in Uncle Jacob's room! It has LOTS of things I should not play with!

                                                            Acting like a puppy dog

                                                                 Mommy can I fit in here?

                                                            No! I can fit in here.

                                                                       Being silly!

                                                     Getting kisses from my doggie!

                                                              Play date Time!!!

                                          She wanted me to drive but I could not reach the pedals!

                                                             She was having a blast!

I pushed her to the door when Mommy said it was my bed time.

Come back soon!

Trunk or Treat

This week we went to a Trunk or Treat with Tiffany and her kids. It was held in a small town where she grew up in the downtown area. I did not plan on going and didn't have Carters costume with me so we borrowed one of her old ones and he was a little  monster. It was super cute and he really enjoyed seeing all the people dressed up. He used his manners and in his little voice said Thank you each time someone gave him something. I was such a proud Mama! They were all asking how old he was because he was so little to say thank you.

On another note........ I went to see Beth Moore two weeks ago and I will just say it was a life changing event for me. I love her and have always enjoyed her bible studies but seeing her in person was completely different. I felt like everything she said spoke right to me. I am sure that everyone felt that way but for me it was just what I needed to remind me of what is important in life. If you ever get the chance to see her go! I promise it will be worth it!

Today is Halloween and this year will be Carters first time to go trick or treating. We are going to take him to some family members houses and then out for a little while in our neighborhood with the Mashburns! We love hanging out with them so it should be fun.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM OUR LITTLE MONSTER!

October is here!

 

October is finally here and we are so excited! We went to the Texas State Fair to see the OU vs UT football game and had a blast. We left sad since our Horns lost but it was still fun for just the two of us to go and hang out. The weather has finally started to cool off and now it is only in the 80's mostly instead of over 100! This makes it easier to play outside when we get home for a little while which is Carters number 1 thing to do these days.

We are looking forward to Halloween this year and dressing Carter up in his doggie outfit and going to visit some of our friends and family. I know that he won't understand the whole night but at least it will be fun for pictures. And speaking of pictures I have finally talked Ryan into getting me a new camera for my birthday. I am choosing between a Cannon and a Nikon. Any suggestions?

Look what I learned how to do!!

I did some work to my blog today! I have a lot still to do but it is getting more personality!!!

Words, Words, and more Words........

Carter seems to be making leaps and bounds in his vocabulary this past week! It is super cute and we love it but it is just one more sign to me that he is no longer my little baby. He is not only learning to speak his words but he is also learning how to sign them. This week in sign language he mastered the words Banana, down, and cookie. He can speak the words more, shoes, down, and half way say Banana. He loves bananas can you tell?!

Each day he seems to get more interested in repeating what you say to him and then saying it over and over again. He is also still on his kick of grouping all his toys in sections of his play room and bringing some to put on the coffee table in the living room. I am not sure why he does this but it makes us laugh all the time.

Ryan did not have football on Friday this week since he had a Thursday night game and that meant we could hang out with Daddy all weekend!!!! That was really a special treat for all of us. What did we do? Well we watched the first two dvd's of Lost season 6 of course. We are hooked on this show and now we have to wait until Tuesday to get the next disc in the mail. We also watched our Horns get beat pretty bad on Saturday which changed the mood in our house to say the least.

Off to play with the little one now. Have a wonderful Sunday. I hope God shows you his love today!

Is it Fall yet?

Carter has a NEW best friend!!!

GRACIE

I love summer because I get to be off with Carter but boy am I ready for the Fall weather to hurry up and get here. Football season is in full swing now and we are trying to attend both nights of games but most of the time we only make it to the Friday night game. Carter loves going to the games and he is really into the noise of the crowd. Every time they yell he yells and every time they clap he claps. It makes me laugh to see him interacting with them so much. As soon as the weather gets a little cooler I think that we will make it to both of the games but until then it is just way to hot!

Carter has finally found a love for Gracie! Not that he did not love her before now but he really just was not that into her. He now thinks that she needs to follow his every move. He brings her with him by leading her around the house by her necklace. It really is the cutest thing. She goes with him 90% of the time and the other 10% she refuses by sitting down and not moving! He has also begun to use her as a stool to climb on the couch. When we see him do it we tell him that she does not want him to stand on her like that. We say that hurts her feelings but he just laughs and laughs and pats her head and does it again when we are not looking.

The hunt for this years Halloween costume has begun and I still have not found anything I just love. I am thinking that since his first word was DOG we should find a little doggie outfit so I will continue to search for one. What are your kids going to be for Halloween? I put up Carter's Halloween picture from last year so I could enjoy it all over again!!!

God is so Good!

Look who has some hair to work with now!!

Have you ever had a day where the words God is so good just ring in your heart and come right out of your mouth? This is how I have felt the past week. I have been full of joy not only for myself but for others as well. I started feeling like this when I decided to grow in my walk with the lord and it has continued from there. I have been doing pretty well with my quiet time, trying to spread the love of Jesus,and  not talking negatively about others or myself. I know that I have not posted about what I have done so far but I started a new job and things have been super crazy for me. The new job is awesome and I know that this is where God wants for me to be right now. Carter is adjusting well to spending the morning time with Ryan since I have to leave before him now and he is in charge of getting Carter to daycare. The drive is not much fun but I do get in a lot of quiet time during the morning drive.

Our house is STILL on the market and we continue to pray that the the lord will send someone to buy our house so we can start to focus on the new house we are building. Lets all pray hard about the house selling and moving in on schedule to the new house. This will make more time for Mommy and Carter.

Football season is here and that means Ryan is back at work all the time. We miss him but we know how much he loves his job so we will just hope December gets here quickly and they play well and win lots of games so he is in a good mood! :)

Enjoy your Monday! I am off to try and find some new recipes for our house. If you have any good ones or know of a good website let me know.

Kick off Day!

Kick off day is tomorrow! I am excited to start this journey but nervous about starting back to work and keeping up with everything. I think making time to do all the things on the must do everyday list is going to be the hardest for me. The fasting from certain things will be easier for me. However, not speaking negatively about things, people or myself will be a challenge. I am also going to try and redirect negative conversations so we will have to see people around me act towards that.

Today was a great day! Carter and I went to the water park with my mom and brother Tyler and my best friend Tiffany and her two boys. We had a blast! Carter loves the water park and going in the kid pool and lazy river. We both are sure going to miss being able to go all the time since I have to start my new job on Monday! After the water park Tiffany and I and the kids went to look for a daycare for her younger son that is closer to our new school. We had NO luck! She is really wanting a great pre-school type setting and just has not found the right one yet. I am really trying to be encouraging for her since she is getting very discouraged now that school is about to start.

To end the great day we all went and picked up Ryan from the house and we went to eat at one of our favorite restaurants Freebirds! It was great and Carter loved the beans which was a new food for him. We drove around for an hour looking for a coldstone creamery that has not closed down so I could have my last sweet for the next 60 days. It was yummy!

Hope everyone had a great Friday!

Fasting for me!

I decided to go on a spiritual fast to grow in my relationship with the Lord! I know that this might not be for everyone but this is what I think I need to do for me and since this is my blog I decided it was OK for me to blog about my experiences along the way. I am not going by any certain plan. I did read about some on the Internet but after reading about different ones I came to the conclusion that really it is about fasting from certain things, praying, and journal about your time fasting.
So I am giving up the following things...
1. Alcohol
2. Negative speaking- about others and about myself mainly because it causes no good outcomes and I feel bad after doing it
3.Sweets!

Here are some things that I decided to do everyday...........
1. Spend quiet time with God for at least 30 min
2. Make a positive comment about or to at least 3 people a day
3. Spread the word and love of God at least once a day
4. One Random act of Kindness a day

Everyday I am going to blog about how it went that day and if I was able to meet all the fasting requirements for that day. I am going to try my very hardest but I have never fasted before so I don't really know what I am in for. I do know that God and I are on this journey together and I am hoping that at the end of the 60 days I will have grown in my love of the Lord and he in his love for me. I am hoping you will want to join my on this adventure!

All my love,
 Jen

In need of a few things..............

1. A new look for my blog!
2. A new church home........... somewhere around Allen if you know any places to look let us know :)
3. someone to buy our home so we can continue our move to Allen
4. some new clothes......... bad!!!!! Mainly because all mine are big YEAH!!!!!!
5. some new things for my 6th grade classroom since I have taught 5th for the past 3 years
6. some mirrors to go in our bathrooms at the new house
7. RACHEL on big brother to go away

What do we have now?

This is what we look like all the time in the car now

Yesterday we went to see Aunt Lacey and go swimming! It was so much fun. Carter loved her community swimming pool and they had a splash park attached to it and that was fun too.

This morning we woke up with a slight fever and what I think might be an ear infection. Can you still get ear infections with tubes in your ears? He has been messing with his left ear and this seems all to familiar. So needless to say we are off to the doctor today at 4:30 to get him checked out. So today I am spending some time cleaning the house and then holding Carter a lot!!
We will see what the doctor says but hopefully he won't be to sick.

Disney World gone mad!!!!!!!!

WOW!!! We had a great time in Disney World and are finally back home. I was hoping to be able to post while we were gone but did not have Internet connection. Carter did way better then I had expected. He was awesome on the long 20 hour car ride both ways. Driving at night was what really saved us. He was able to sleep most of the way which saved us from having to entertain him for such a long ride. His very first ride was Haunted Mansion! He never cried on any of the rides and loved them all but his favorite was by far It's A Small World. He laughed and clapped the whole time we were on that ride. If the line had not been forever long we would have taken him on it again. Ryan and I enjoyed this trip more than any other time we have been to Disney mainly because we were able to see his little face light up throughout the whole trip. We know that he won't remember this time but we will and we will have lots and lots of pictures to prove how excited he was.

Here are some pictures of Carter's first time to Disney!

Eating at rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney

Taking in the wonders that are Disney!

Look Mommy I am sitting in my own seat like a big boy!

Is it time to go in the pool yet?

I LOVE THE SLIDE!!!

Silly boys!

Having a Blast

We love Disney!

This picture says it all!

Day oh Fun!

Today was a Day of Fun for Mommy and Carter! Grandma Necie came with us and we all went shopping!!! I know that I won't be able to lug him around and shop with me forever so it was fun to do it today. We went to get a new dress for the wedding rehersal tomorrow and my mom got a new dress for the wedding. Then we just went to look around and Carter was great the whole time. After we dropped off Grandma Necie, to finish cleaning out my younger brothers room before he gets back from church camp, we went to visit one of Carter's fav people. CRYSTAL!!! She is so great and her kids miss Carter so much that they played very well with him the whole time Ryan and I got our hair done. Ryan got his hair cut for the wedding and I got my color back!! It was fun to try something new for a few months but I just did not feel like myself so I went back dark.

I tried so hard to find my dress I got for the rehersal online and show you a picutre but I could not find it. I will take a picture in it tomorrow and post it. Still no clue what I will do with my hair but I know that most of it will be down. I am hoping to find a really great picture and bring it with me. I love weddings they make me want to renew my vows right away. There are so many great ideas that I have now that I am already married. Maybe I should just plan other peoples weddings in all the spare time that I seem to have. My friend Lacey who is getting married this weekend really does help plan peoples weddings on the side while her real job is teaching Kindergarten. She seems to love it! I know that she has prob. gotten tons of wedding ideas for her wedding! I can't wait to show you pictures from this weekend. I know that it will be a great wedding!

Wishing you a great FRIDAY!
JEN

On the other side of the rainbow

YEAH! Each day is getting better and Carter and I are able to get out and go play this week. Yesterday was a crazy busy day for us and I missed my blogging for the day. I was really bummed when we got home at 11pm last night and just had to go to bed.
We started our day by going and playing at Tiffany's house with her two little boys.Carter really enjoyed his time playing there even though we had to cut it short. It was so cute to see him play with the big boys. Then we were off to see Mason and play in the play in the water. He had a great time and Mason played so well with him. It is going to be so much fun with him getting to grow up with his cousins near by to play with. We went to Allen to hang out last night and have such a great time. By the time we got home Carter was out and had a great day playing and hanging out with mommy and friends.

I am still getting ready for the wedding I am in this weekend. I have not found a hair style that I just think would look great yet but I am still looking.
Tonight Ryan is going to make me a special hamburger that we saw on Man VS food. I have been waiting to have it since the surgery and now that I can eat better not great but better he is going to make it for me. It was on one of the episodes and has cheese cooked inside the burger so when you eat it the cheese flows out. We will see how it goes. I will let you know!

Any special hamburger recipies you love?