Update Time

This post is LONG overdue and I must admit that I have sort of been posting things on facebook because it seems like that is where most people are, but I am going to update our family blog and TRY to be better at doing so.

Too much time as passed since my last post, so I will keep my update to the fairly recent events in our family. Brad is now 6 years old!!! Crazy!!! Big Brad is 33 today!!! He still looks pretty good, even if he is getting a little long in the tooth if you ask me! :-) Gabi is 3 3/4 and she is so our tiny dancer! Sam is 14 months which is also insane to think and is a wild man! I turned 30 this year and feel as though my life is as good as over (just kidding, but I wanted to add a dramatic flair to this long overdue post)! :-)

This is only pic of me I could find...see me in the mirror! :-)

I will start with me since I am the narrator here and work my way down. I am still teaching part-time. I love the break it gives me from the kids 1 night a week this summer and I love all the exciting things happening in accounting right now! International convergence and changes to the CPA exam keep my mind in motion. I have fallen in love with reading, reading my scriptures (currently studying the old testament), reading great books like "Pride and Prejudice, Anne of Green Gables series, Twilight, and even Dr. Seuss books like Oh the places you'll go and Hooray for Diffendoofer day" and reading the conference talks from this last conference. The talks were amazing and I read each one and more and more thankful for the gospel and for the Savior! I am SOOOOOOOOO excited my kids are out of school. I was wondering what in the heck I was going to do with them all day, figuring I would bore them at home, but I love waking up and having absolutely nowhere to go. Each day just an adventure. We can stay home, play games, do a craft, go to the park, go to the library, ride bikes...we can pretty much do whatever we want and I am stinking loving it!!! Now with that said, lets see if I hold these same sentiments at the end of the summer! :-)

the kids made him the shirt he is wearing! He loves it!!! :-)

Big Brad is working working working! He is always at work, going to work or on his way home from work. He stays busy with 5 days at his residency, Wednesday nights and Saturdays moonlighting at the Bresslers office and on Tuesday nights he has the kids when I leave to go and teach! He is very deserving of a nice and much needed break, but I am not sure when this will change. In the Fall he will cut back because I will work more, but I do feel bad he has to work so hard for us! We are blessed to have him and know he loves us so much and works so hard to provide for us! He took Brad to play 18 holes of golf for his birthday and Brad II was over the moon! He brings up the fact he played golf and had so much fun with dad on a regular basis during the day and Gabi can't wait for her birthday because she wants a full day with daddy too! Sam totally loves his daddy and is constantly laying his head on him and running to him and laughing. In fact, when he walks in the door, we all scream because we can't wait to tell him what happened...he just wants to have a moment of silence but we are too excited!!! Poor Brad!

Little Brad is 6 like I said and is getting big too fast. On his birthday I read him from his journal the day he was born and I cried like a baby. I remember the day he was born and holding him and it is amazing to me how fast they grow and learn. Brad is a sweet kid and is full of energy. Sometimes he gets off track with his behavior when he gets excited, but he has such a great heart. Lately, I have been misplacing things (losing them really). We have been saying a prayer with the kids each time this happens and asking for Heavenly Fathers help in finding the mis-placed item. We had talked about this one night when the kids after reading with them that they could pray to Heavenly Father about anything and he would listen to them and help them. Brad and Gabi both starting asking us objects Jesus might be able to help them out with like if they wanted a puppy, or lost something. To date, I can say Jesus has helped our family find a glove, a frog, a cell phone, a wallet, and a DSi case just today! The last two things have been particularly funny because the wallet I was really upset about and Big Brad had us say a family prayer, he included my wallet in our night time prayer and then Little Brad wanted to include it in his prayer with me that night (I normally don't pray with them individually at night, but Brad wanted me to this night). In the morning, I told them dad had found my wallet and little Brad said, "I knew Jesus would pull through!" He was so excited and full of faith...it was an awesome moment. Then today, his DSi case was missing so we said a prayer, and when we went downstairs and started looking Little Brad wasn't helping and his dad told him he better start helping to which he replys, "mom already asked Jesus and you know he will do it!" So we told Brad, we have to do our part in looking that we can't ask Jesus to do it all!

Gabi is about the cutest little girl and is about the size of a peanut. She answers to lots of nicknames such as "Lu, Lulu, or peanut" somestimes I even call her Louise and I don't have a clue why! She is very stubborn and when I say she says the funniest things I am not lying to you. In fact, at the end of the day, Big Brad and I laugh more about what has come out of her mouth during the day than anything else. She is a perfect angel in public and is very shy and doesn't say much but at our house, she lays down the law! In fact, on the way home from church today I had gotten sick so we left early and Big Brad was trying to talk to her and she screamed, "I'm not talking to you right now, I want mom!" She has been doing dance at a place in Wayne, PA called Contempra Dance. She is so cute in her tutu and just recently had her first recital. if I can get the video on here, then I will because if you watch it I am sure you will witness first hand her raw talent for dance! I think it comes from the Dawson side, specifically my dad but I don't want to take all the credit for those moves so I am sure the Harris side has a little to do with it as well! I love that I have a daughter, I love how sweet my little girl is and I also love her spunk and flavor (that's a nice way to say it)! I also love that one day she will hopefully be a wife and mother and we can each have a better understanding of what the other feels.

Sam is yummy. He is such a great baby. He is all smiles and full of life. He makes me remember each day how fast this phase goes because he will do something and I think, oh I remember when Brad did that or when Gabi first did that. He is like Brad 100%! He will climb on anything, jump off anything and wants what he wants. He is spoiled by everyone and all he has to do is smile and we instantly are over whatever it was he did...so long and short of this story is Sam is going to be one spoiled rotten toddler and we are in for it, but with that yummy smile and sweet disposition I welcome the memories he will make for me to journal about.

So that is our update! It is long overdue! We miss all our old Philly friends and think about you alot! We are still stuck in school mode and you all have moved on to new adventures in your life, but we just miss you and wish we could see you more!

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot my super creative, awesome, talented friend Betsy helped me with this craft the other day and it turned out so cute! She is the best and I will miss her so much when we finish school!

Family Picture

Below is our recent Family picture. The picture of Brad is from his 5 year pictures that we did in June, and the ones of Gabi and Sam are their 3 year and 6 month pictures! This is going to be my last family picture in my twenties!

Sam

Our Sam or as Gabi likes to call him (Sammie Whammer) is getting so big so fast! He is crawling around the house and not just crawling...he is zooming. In fact if crawling was a competitive sport, I am pretty sure he would have a gold medal. It is like all the sudden a force unknown to man is propelling my sweet, cute, adorable, yummy little guy forward at a pace not even a mother of one could keep up with...let alone a mother of 3!

Just today I found him in the bathroom twice, the hall once (scary), and he even scooted into the kitchen while I was doing stuff in there today.

He has discovered cords in outlets and has made best friends with them. He likes to tug on them and try to put them in his mouth. I promptly move him away and try to distract him, but ladies...you know what its like to have a man on a mission and they are not easily swayed. Sam is determined to hang out with those cords and no toy is going to satisfy that hunger!

It makes me remember all those trips to the park with Brad that involved me chasing after a little boy who couldn't decide what to play with next and constantly moving from one end of the park to the other. I daresay I am about to be one busy momma! I can only pray he crawls for a long time and doesn't decide to walk anytime soon. Although I just can't seem to stop smiling when I see him or hold him and think we are so incredibly blessed to have this little motor butt propelling around our home!

At the request of Lynnette I am posting some more pictures of my little guy. I sure wish you all could see him, because in person he will make you melt...you can't even begin to stop smiling when you see those cute cheeks, blue eyes and old man hair...I would bet anything on it!

I promise to update more about Brad and Gabi but it is late and I have to do some work, but please rest assured that the things that come out of their little mouths and minds is constantly keeping us in stitches. Seriously, I think my kids may be the funniest people I have ever met in my life!

Love to all!

Catching Up

Okay so it has been TOO LONG since I updated my blog. I have been reading other people's blogs and keeping up with all of you because I love and miss all of you very much, but I have not kept anyone updated on what is going on with us.

First, Gabi is 3! I mean how is this possible. There are too many things to love about Gabi to possibly list out here, but suffice it to say she is still sassy and sweet and we love her so very much. Last night we were saying things that make us happy and Gabi said, so sweetly, "I am happy when daddy is home!" I guess that tells you how much we see Brad! He is working hard for our family, during the week at his residency and then on Saturdays at another pediatric dental clinic so our kids are missing their time with daddy! It was so sweet.

Gabi has started preschool and the 1st week she liked it, but then she was over it. She cries and cries when I leave her and she actually almost ripped my hair from my head yesterday when I dropped her off. I am seriously considering not taking her next semester if this keeps up, because it is breaking my heart. She says/screams "I want to stay home with you and Sam!" Its not like I am doing anything...so she could be home with me, we just thought for socialization it would be good, but 2 days a week for 2 hours is proving difficult. She is happy when I pick her up so I will keep this under evaluation.

Gabi is also in gymnastics again and she likes it. It is a small class of kids and she has a hard time walking away from me, it takes a minute, but then when she is sure I am going to stay and watch she does better. I think it is really strange that my children have no problems leaving me to go with their dad or go play at Mrs. Welsh's but if I leave them anywhere, that is a completely different story. Gabi really struggles with this. I feel bad for her.

Brad is in a 5 day pre-k program at a really good program called Footsteps. He is doing so good and making alot of friends. His teacher seems pretty great and he comes home with tons of stories about his day! This is a first for me to have Brad so talkative about school. He tells me what they did and what they made and he will even get upset if he doesn't have any crafts or worksheet in his bag to show me. The school is very big on positive reinforcement and Brad is really thriving with all the positivity he is getting! I think he is such a pleaser, he loves to help me around the house or to hear that he is doing a good job. He does get upset if Gabi gets praise for something she does, and immediately will try and either do the same thing or do something different to try and get it equal praise.

Brad is really a good big brother. He and Gabi do fight, but if anyone else had the nerve to mess with her, he would be all over them. Even us...if she gets in trouble for something he just looks at us as if he is going to pounce on us at any moment.

Sam is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO stinking cute! I mean seriously, I can't believe he is 6 months old and in so many respects I wish you could have your 3rd kid first. I look back on the things that stressed me out with Brad and think how ridiculous I was. I stressed and worried and was tired about everything with Brad...and it wasn't Brad after all....IT WAS ME! Poor Brad...he will always be the trial and error kid I guess...but we do love him so, and I pray we do somethings right!

Sam is starting to get on all 4's and rock back and forth...I don't know how I feel about this. I don't know what 3 kids will be like once he can walk/run from me. Right now it has not been bad. It is more work, sure, but I don't know how to describe him other than just yummy and sweet and we are soaking up every minute of his yumminess! He has a smile that will literally just make your heart smile wide and big!

I have noticed more with Sam how for the most part, people love babies and can't stop smiling when they see them. When I take the kids to the store, normally Sam is in the bjorn and people just make over him, or will give me a smile and tell me how sweet my family is. Of course, there is the occasional 'you are crazy look' or 'your kids are too loud' look, but I normally just ignore those! He really is such a sweet baby and it makes me sad that our family doesn't get to experience our kids moments because I can tell you they are the funniest people I have ever met in my life hands down. Being their mother is pretty wonderful. Although as any mother knows, having children can feel like a contradiction, because while you love them to pieces there are moments/days when you can't seem to get away from crying/fighting/screaming/fits and the bliss of motherhood is harder to feel! As you can probably tell it is quite in my house right now so I can really relish in how happy my kids make me, the trick is trying to remember that when they are screaming! :-)

All in all we are doing well. We are liking our new townhouse and the area. It is getting colder and I do not look forward to the winter in the next couple of months, but nothing beats the Fall. I would live in the North forever just for the Falls if I could transplant our family up here with us.

So there is our update! Much love to you and your families!

Cute Huh?

This is Sam 99% of the time. He is 4 months already and so stinkin cute, who knew how much fun a 3rd baby would be!!!! :-)

We are moved, YEAH!!! Now we just have to get used to sleeping in a new place...funny how all our stuff is here, but it doesn't quite feel right just yet. Everyone is doing good, we are trying to find parks and stuff to do closer so the kids and I are busy with that!

My brother and sister in law came up to help us move and it was so much fun...they were loads of help and we had a great time. I plan on posting pictures and about our trip to NY soon.

I think my days as a poem composer are over, although we do get to move again in 22 months so I might get the creative juices flowing around that time again.

Moving

So we are in the process of moving, and I thought I would take the opportunity to write a poem about my thoughts, feelings and experiences with moving 1 hour down the road. I hope you enjoy it and get the full scope of how I feel about moving.

Moving
By: Katie Harris

It Sucks!

In the Family

This is Sam looking so stinking cute! He is a great baby and we love him so much. Brad and Gabi love him too and it is really fun to see them play with him. The love to make him laugh and smile and coo...and as a mom its so fun to see my kids get excited like I was excited when they did those things.

This is Betsy and I at Bounce U watching our kids bounce! I am going to be SO sad to move away from the Lees Family. They have been such wonderful friends to us and it makes me sad to know we won't be able to hang out with their family as much! We love the Lees!

Tonight when we got home, I was closing the blinds and when I came back upstairs, Little Brad had put on his daddy's scrubs and shoes and was running around pretending to be a Dentist! He thought it was so funny and then Gabi wanted to do it and after I took their picture, we put scrubs on Sam and got a picture of all 3!

I am one blessed wife and mother!

We are moving and Gabi and Brad are ALL about helping me out. I felt so bad for Gabi the other day because she was trying to help and I had just asked her to not pick up a certain box and when I walked back in she had picked it up and when she saw me she dropped it! It happened to be fragile and so I yelled, 'Gabi, I just asked you not to pick that up' to which my poor emotional roller coaster daughter started crying and said, "I just wanted to help mommy!" Now seriously, how can you stay mad at that...I felt so sorry for her.

So I am trying hard to let them help me...and for me to have more patience with them because they do really want to help out and they are just kids, but it is frustrating when I could do it so much faster without these little hands. I guess when they are teenagers I will long for the days when they wanted to help me do everything, so I am going to try and take it all in stride!

Child Abuse, Sam, & Swimming Lessons

So below you will see pictures of my poor son who looks like he has been beat up. The poor kid had a rough few days and his face and body have the marks to prove it. We started out with a goose egg just below his eye when Gabi punched him on the trampoline!!! That's right my sweet little Gabi hit him in the face. She admitted it without hesitation and I am not sure if that is because all the kids had already said she did it or if she did not think it was that big a deal. Either way I have no idea how she managed to give him a black eye, but she did. Then she bit him the following day because she wanted a toy he had and he told her she couldn't have it. that was on his stomach!!! Then I scratched him taking a piece of paper from him, in the nose, you can't see that mark, but its there right in the front part of his nose. My thumb got him. Then the last instance was also yesterday when he was pretending to be a horse with Gabi and he ran into the wall. He came to me crying and said the wall hit him...then I saw the big slice on his nose where he lost the skin! He has really been thru it the past few days. I told Brad at swim lessons everyone would think he had been beaten!!! His eye looks so bad now that it is bruising up...I think this may be his first black eye. I figured if one of my kids would give the other a black eye it would have been the other way around.

I just wanted to add a few pictures of Sam. He is smiling all the dang time!!! He is such a sweet little baby. He coos and makes noise all the time now like he is talking to us and laughs in his sleep. It is a cute little chuckle!

We started swimming lessons today and both the kids did great. I was a little worried, but I think there is safety in having your sibling there. Gabi was totally fine and walked right over with no hesitation and Brad did the same. It was fun to watch them. Gabi wanted to be by Brad and they both have friends in this class this year. Ben and Belle are twins and Brad and Gabi have been very fortunate to have made friends with them this year. They are great kids and we have had lots of fun with them so it is nice to have them in our swim class as well. Gabi is in a tiny weenie yellow polka dot bikini, but tomorrow we have to wear a whole piece because her shorts kept falling off of her!!!

I think they looked hilarious in these goggles at the house!

Time for an Update

Well so much for keeping pictures of my every changing, yummy, and sweet new baby Sam on my blog! Life with 3 is busy so normally when it is bed time for the kids I am running around trying to get done everything I didn't during the day. Here's a little update of the Harris Family!

Sam:

Is 2 months old!!!! How can this be! The picture of him in his diaper is from his 2 mo check up. He was 13 lbs. 9oz! He is bigger than both Brad and Gabi at this point. he is really filling out and I love a chuncky baby!!! Cute as can be. Not a great sleeper, but yummy little cheeks and a smile that will literally brighten your day no matter what is going on. He makes us laugh when he crys, when he poops, when he just lays there doing nothing. We love this little guy.

Brad:


5 years old!!! That is right my little baby, my first, our trial and error child is 5! He wanted a Lightening McQueen themed party so we did a lightening McQueen cake and race track with cupcakes around it! It turned out pretty dang cute and Brad kept telling me while I was icing it, "mom this is wonderful, I love you, thank you." Nothing makes me happier than to hear this from my kids! My good friend Betsy Lees did the party favors and sign for the party and they were so stinking cute! Thank you Betsy you are AWESOME!!! We had races outside for the kids and played a little baseball at his party and served the infamous Brad Harris hamburger and hotdog on a grill! Brad is getting so good at grilling and I love it because he is cooking and I'm not!!! :-) Brad is done with pre-school and we are excited about Pre-K next year. Hard to believe my baby could be ready for pre-k next year...where is the time going?

Gabi:

She loves to get her toe nails and finger nails painted. She first had this done by Mamaw and then Mrs. Welsh bought her all kinds of paint and so now she is constantly asking me to paint them. I really like doing it even though anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a girly girl. So far we have done purple and pink in the last week and she is so stinking cute about it. Gabi is what I would call the perfect girl. She can kick butt but she still wants to be cute doing it. She takes nothing off of anyone, and she trys to keep us all in line by telling us what to do, how to do it and when....she will also let you know if you didn't do it right! We love our Gabi!!! Our house would be so dull and quite without her.

Big Brad:

3 weeks left of his residency at Sacred Heart and then he starts his Pediatric Residency at Temple in Philadelphia! He is really excited to get started and it feels so good to know that in 2 years we will be done with school and Brad will have achieved his dream of being a Pediatric Dentist. He turns 32 tomorrow and so me and the kids baked a cake and took pizza to his office today to surprise him. He looked confused when we got there, but he was really happy with his birthday surprise. Brad has been working on getting his license in PA, he has his license activated in Texas, but now he is trying to get it here in PA so he can moonlight while in his residency. There is so much paperwork to fill out and fees to pay it is hard to keep track of it all, but hopefully he will get approved when the Board meets in July without having to take the NERBS.

Me:

I am trying to keep up with my kids! Take them to the park, get them lunch, dinner, bathes, read with them and my favorite time of the day is bed time! I love bed time!!! I get to hold Sam without anyone asking me for something and kiss on him until he finally goes to sleep which at this point is whenever he feels like it. I look forward to a schedule for him. I am working on developing a new course at Arcadia, getting ready for Audit and Intermediate Theory in the Fall (these are 2 of my favorite classes to teach so I am so excited to get started in the Fall), teaching for Becker CPA review a couple of times this month and several times in August. I try to do my work at night when the kids go to bed, which means sleep is like a long lost friend, but it keeps me active in my field and I get a small break from my kids 1 or 2 nights a week which is a win win for everyone. I love teaching and each time after a class I have a stronger desire to go back to school and get my PhD, but then I come home and play with the kids and I think...it can wait...my kids are growing fast and I don't want to miss it...and school will always be there right. Plus with Brad in school it's not the right time...but I digress.

I hope everyone is doing well. I see alot of you are facebook now, and I am not facebook savy...but I am going to try and check it to see what everyone is doing.

Our 3 Kiddos

We had pictures of the kids taken when Sam was two weeks old. He looks like little Brad with blonde hair although I do see my dad in him as well!

The kids did so good for the pictures it was almost dreamlike...I was worried no one would cooperate, but all was well! I think the pictures were super cute and wanted to share.

We are doing good adjusting to life with 3 kids. I think we mainly just move alot slower and are a little more tired, but he is a good baby and it is fun to have a baby again. It is funny to me how different it feels this time. It's like the crying, diaper changes, and sleepless nights are not as big of a deal. I guess because you have done it before. The biggest challenge for me has been figuring out how to be a mom to a newborn and still keep the other two entertained. The kids are doing great with Sam so that helps.

Brad has said several times that he is so happy that Sam is here and not in my belly anymore! He also says, "Mom when you eat alot and get big again with a baby, can we name him Brad because we need another Brad!" I have no idea why he thinks you have a baby when you eat alot because he has never asked how we got Sam in my belly...he just came up with this on his own and I am fine with his logic as long as he is!

Gabi loves to kiss him...constantly! She wants to hold him or kiss him! She tells us, "Sam is cute or Sam is crying, or mom Sam wants you to give him milk!" A little mommy already!