Cookies

Last night Harrison and I made cookies together. It was absolutely so much fun. He helped me put all of the ingredients into the bowl. Then we got 2 mixing spoons and sat on the floor and mixed the dough. He had a great time doing that and feeling the dough in his hands. Then we pounded the dough with our fists and made halloween cut outs. Harrison loved the moon the best. He even helped me push the cookie cutters down. But he didn't want to put the cookie on the sheet, he thought that was for the actual cutters. When were down to the final cookies to be made he wanted to make one big ball cookie. I told him that we either had to make several smaller ones or make them into cut outs. He didn't like either of those choices so I just decided to make the smaller balls. Sometimes he is so funny...he took one of the cookie balls and was holding it up to his face and blowing on it with his nose. (I know kind of gross, but these were his cookies) and I asked him if he was making a "boogy cookie". Well that brought on so much laughter, I thougth he was going to fall down holding his belly he was laughing so hard. He kept saying "Boogy cookie" all night. He loved it.

When the cookies came out of the oven and were ready to eat I made 4 different colored frosting, Orange, Pink, Green and Grey. I called Harrison in to help decorate. He loved this part. I showed him how to spread the frosting on the cookies. He did one cookie and then decided he was just going to stand there and eat the frosting off of the cookies and the spreaders. He was having a blast. I also had colored sugar to sprinkle on the cookies as well (as if the frosting wasn't sweet enough). He liked it when I put the sugar on the cookies.

It was so much fun to make cookies with Harrison, I think we will make more again very soon!

Another day at the Mall

It was raining on Sunday and Cliff needed time to do some work so I took Harrison over to the mall to play at their indoor playground. He loves it there. To our surprise and happiness, Ken, Shannon and Abby had the same idea and were there also. Abby and Harrison played a bit together but mostly Harrison just ran around himself. He loves to climb on things and slide down slides. Ken, Shannon and Abby invited Harrison and I to join them for lunch. We went to Ruby Tuesdays. Harrison was such a good boy sitting next to Abby. For the most part they shared crayons and didn't fight at all. Harrison ate his whole lunch and even grabbed one of Abby's fries and ate half of it and then gave her the rest. I think he loved the surprise of seeing them there. At the end of lunch Harrison and Abby had a very fun game of Peek A Boo going on that even involved the hostess. They were both completely hysterically laughing. It was fun to watch.

Later that day, Shannon and I went to a craft fair in Roseville. They had alot of nice vendors. I was looking for some birthday and christmas presents and got a few taken care of. It was nice to be out with just girls.

New Shoes

On Saturday I took Harrison to go get his feet measured because I thought his shoes were a bit too small. We went over to the Mall of America. I like the Nordstrom shoe department. They have really good children's shoe sizers. I also needed to return a pair of sandals he never wore. When we got there he was so excited to go shopping. I don't know why but he was. Then when we were picking out his sneakers, he kept saying "New Shoes". He was really good and stood still when the sales lady was sizing his feet. He even wore his new shoes home. I also got him a pair of retro looking sneakers also. I wasn't surprised to find out that his foot grew a whold 1/2 size but when up a full shoe size. He is now a size 6 shoe. Such a big boy!!

Out in the cold

Last week it got a bit chilly in Minnesota so we went to put our heat on. We tried setting the thermostat to 70 degrees and put it on auto which is supposed to go on until it hit 70 and then just maintain it. But that wasn't working. So we tried the fan feature. That didn't work either. So I suggested to Cliff that we change the filter. He agreed so we took the filter out and it started to work so I was very much encouraged, especially because I was the one who figured out what to do. But when I fired that baby up...cold air...that is right, it was blowing cold air. I was so upset. So the next day I called to schedule a time when someone could come and fix it.
When we first moved in to the house we signed up for a appliance maintenance program and boy has that paid off. If you don't belong to one, I highly recommend it. Well each day until the repair guy could come it got colder and colder in our house. Each morning we would wake up and the house would be 5 degrees cooler than the day before. On Thrusday night It was the coldest. It was 60 degrees in the house when I got home from work and about 58 degrees when we went to bed. I was so worried about Harrison because he kicks off his blankets during the night. So I put on his regular pajamas with socks and dug out his old fleece feety pajamas from the too small bin...and Squeezed him in ther. He was this huge pajama sausage. But I felt much better that he had to be much warmer then if I didn't squeeze him in there.

Well on Friday they came and fixed the furnace and we are now warm and toasty.

12 hour rule

Last night I was cutting some squash for dinner. I wanted to roast it. Well, if you have never cut open a squash, it is very difficult. Well Although I though I was being careful, I cut my hand. Pretty deep. It didn't bleed much which scared me a bit but we decided because it wasn't bleeding that I would be fine and I just kept cleaning it. Well this morning, I thought I would go to the doctor because it didn't seem like it could heal because it was kind of open and the location of it. When I got there I found out I needed stitches - 5 of them actually. I also found out that I may not have been able to get them because they don't stitch wounds up after 12 hours because bacteria can get in the cut. But because I took such good care of it, they stitched me up anyway. Moral of the story: (1) be VERY careful when cutting squash and use a dish towel on the knife for leverage (2) if you are cut, go get it looked at right away.

Zoo Boo

On Sunday after the Vikings game we took Harrison over to Como Park's Zoo Boo. We went with Ken, Shannon and Abby. Harrison got to wear his costume. He was a dragon. The same as last year. It still fit so I might as well get another years use out of it. Harrison was a bit cranky because he just woke up from his nap when we went, so we pushed him around in the stroller. It was a crisp evening but not to bad. Instead of candy they gave out crayons, markers, stuffed animals, cereal, yogurt drink, pencils, stickers ect. Harrison liked seeing all of the volunteers dressed up as the different animals. He even got to climb on a real fire engine.

One of the cutest things he did was introduce Abby to the animals. He would say Hi to the animals and then point to Abby and say "That Abby". He really likes playing with her.

Pumpkins again!

On Saturday after our weekly Gymboree class, I took Harrison over to Country Sun farms to look at the pumpkins. They have animals and giant, and I mean giant paper mache scarecrows, spider and pumpkin. They were each like 20 feet tall. THey also had plenty of places for photo opportunities for the parents. But Harrison is at the age where he won't sit still for picture. But i think I got some good ones anyway. He was running around everywhere. He only slowed down to look at the animals or the scarecrow.

One of the animals was a calf and he went to it and was looking at him and softly started singing Old MacDonald. I wasn't that close to him because I was trying to take pictures, but I heard this and so did the woman standing next to him. We both just melted. The woman commented about how cute he was and that is when he got shy.

Before we left we picked out a few more small pumpkins and some gords and squash.

My Birthday Day

My birthday day was a great day. I had lots of hugs and kisses from Cliff and Harrison as soon as I woke up. Harrison even told me that it was my birthday. He has such a good memory. When I got to work my 2 friends, Erin and Erica were waiting for me with cupcakes and presents. I just love coming into work to find my friends and cupcakes and friends. Erin made the cupcakes. They were chocolate with Chocolate frosting. Erin also got me a very soft and cozy scarf. Erica got me an adorable plaque that read "Shopping is not a hobby, it's an occupation" and a Born to shop candle. I think she knows me too well. Anne left me the most beautiful flowers. It had gerbera daisies, an hydranga and some other really cute orange flower all in a tall red vase. It was so beautiful and she arranged it all herself. I just loved it! Barb brought me candy for my candy dish...which I have to say was very empty for a very long time. And Betty came down later and got me an autographed book which looks really good and some cozy socks. I can't wait to sit down and read it.

My friends also called, Anna and Risa left me voice mail messages because I wasn't at my desk. Eddie called first thing in the morning. My Mom called later in the morning and so did Merryl. My Aunt Carol called that evening as well. It was great to talk to her.

When I got home there were 2 flower packages waiting for me. My Mom and Merryl both sent me flowers. They were both very beautiful. Merryl's were a bunch of sunflowers. My mom's were roses and some type of yellow flower. I just loved the both.

Cliff also got me flowers (it was a very flowery day - I now have 4 bouquets at home and 1 at work) and a perfume set. Cliff also cooked me a scrumptious dinner of Salmon with an apple horseradish glaze, Asparagus and a Potato. For dessert he picked up some Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream...yum!!

It was a GREAT Birthday!!

On Being 35

So today I turned 35. I have been dreading this birthday for some time. I think after you turn 35 you are officially not young. I don't want to say old because I don't feel old, but I don't feel young either. At 35 there are more risks when you get pregnant, which I still want to do at least 1 more time. On any questionaire you now move brackets...no longer can you choose the 25-34 range...you are now in the 35-44 range....look at that range...the 40's are included in there. Now it is not like I am going to lie about my age because I still get a kick out of telling people how old I am because I don't look or fell like I am 35. I feel bad for those people who actually look older than their age...those 35 year olds who actually look about 45, now that would be hard. So I come to this birthday with the knowledge that I will have to do more tests when I get pregnant, that I have to choose another age range on forms, that I will make a noise when I get up from a chair and that I should and will stop watching the Real World on MTV because I have to face it, I am not their target audience.

Pumpkin Picking

On Sunday we took Harrison to Emma Krumbee's in Belle Plaine MN. They were having a scarecrow festival and had a bunch of things that I thought Harrison would love to do. It took about an hour to get there and Harrison and I played a game as to see how many signs for it we could find. He loved doing that. When we got there, Harrison was so excited. For a week he kept want to go to the "Pumpkin Patch". He even said it when he woke up in the morning.

After we paid, the first thing we did was climb the big mound of hay. Harrison loved it. He climbed it several times. He also loved just throwing the hay up in the air. We then decided to walk toward all of the scarecrows. Harrison loves those also. I have a scarecrow decoration in the house so he know what they are and likes pointing them out. But all of a sudden he wanted to go on a pony ride. So we turned around and went to the ponies. He was all excited and I even had him pick out which one he wanted to ride. Well that was where the fun ended. He wanted nothing to do with riding the pony. He screamed and clung to me with such force. So we took him off and just watched the other kids go around.

After that he climbed on the tractors and went to see the camel. We then walked over to the goats where he tried to feed them, but he desire not to have the animals touch him got in the way, so he had Cliff do it instead with him very close by.

We then saw a play ground area that has wooden cars and a house and a bridge. He loved climbing and running around this area. The area is supposed to be for riding these John Deere trikes but there were other little kids just running around. We then discovered the big slide. So we went up this mountain and Harrison fearlessly went down this huge slide. He loved it and did it about 6 more times. Cliff would wait for him at the bottom and walk him to the entrance and Harrison would walk up the hill to me at the top who make sure he didn't cut the line and waited his turn.

After the slide we decided to have lunch. The restaurant at Emma Krumbee's was so croweded, they had a 1/2 hour wait just to put your name on the list. It was crazy. But they also had a cafe inside the general store where we got hot dogs and brats. We also got ice cream for Harrison as a treat.

After lunch was over we went to buy our apples and pumpkins and then head home. Harrison loved picking out pumpkins. He is really into pumpkins right now. On the car trip down, he told us he wanted 2 pumpkins, so we got him 2. One really big one (28 lbs.) and a smaller one (7 lbs). He also picked out 3 pumpkin gords. Those he absolutly loves because he can carry those around with him. In fact he held them in the car, held them while we told stories that night, and brough them with him to day care this morning.

I think next weekend I am going to see if we could go to another pumpkin patch to try and get some more good pictures!

Grandma and Uncle Erik come for dinner

On Thursday we didn't go to swim lessons. Instead, Grandma and Uncle Erik came for dinner. Cliff's mom had a meeting in St. Paul on friday morning so instead of waking up super early and driving from Rochester, she stayed with us. We also invited Erik over for dinner. They both haven't seen Harrison for a while, especially Erik. Harrison just loves Erik. While he was eating dinner, he kept wanting Erik to stay in the kitchen with him while he ate so he kept screaming "Uncle Erik, come here!"

Cliff's mom tried to bring dinner with her. She brought this yummy soup from the city market in Rochester, Tomato Basil soup. We all love it. But as she took it out of the car one of the containers fell and spilled all over the curb. So there wasn't enough for dinner. I had already planned on making Risotto for dinner so I just made that.

We also tried to give Harrison a bath, but for some reason the tub kept leaking water, so he got a sponge bath.

In the morning, Harrison was so excited to see that Grandma was still there.

Our Anniversary

On Saturday Cliff and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. It was a very fun day. It started off the same as usual. Harrison and I went to gymboree and played there. We came home and had lunch and played some more. He really likes playing out in the front yard. He has taken to running up and down our walk way and then wanting to go see the "other beagle". It is another beagle that lives just 2 houses away. Her name is Gracie but Harrison just calles her "the other beagle". He also discovered how to open the gate on our fence. So we spent about 40 minutes opening and closing the gate. If you haven't figured it out, Harrison has a small obsession with doors...he just loves to open and close them. Cliff and I seperately went out and shopped for gifts for each other. Cliff got me an under the sink water purifier. It doesn't sound very romantic but I constantly complain that I don't like the taste of our water so I thought it was very thoughtful. Me on the other hand went out and got Cliff a new outfit. I got him a new pair of jeans (those darker kind - that look a bit dirty), and 2 shirts to layer on top of each other. I think he liked them. One of the shirst was an orange button down and the other one was brown with orange in it. He wore the whole thing out to dinner that night.

Later in the day a white van pulled up in front of our house and I thought it was a repair man of some sort, but I didn't know why we needed one. So I asked "What is he doing here?" Cliff said he was delivering something, I think flowers. I thougth maybe Cliff sent them, but it was actually from Brad and Merryl. It was a beautiful bouquet and it was really nice of them to think of us.

That evening Mallette came to watch Harrison while we went out. I think finally Harrison is getting used to her because he didn't cling to me as much and almost immediately started showing off for her. Cliff and I were able to get out of the house with out any problems.

We went to dinner at Zander Cafe in Saint Paul. It was a really good dinner. I loved the atmosphere there. It felt like an uptown restaurant right in Saint Paul. We started off with appetizers. I had a portobella mushroom appetizer that had field greens and goat cheese. It was very yummy. Cliff had this beet appetizer. It was amazing. It was roasted beets in an orange liquor reduction with blue cheese on top. I absolutely loved his appetizer. Then I had the boulibasse as a main dish and Cliff had a bison filet. Both were very yummy. We then shared Creme Brulee.

After dinner we went to a movie and Cliff let me pick so I chose a ultra girlie movie...In Her Shoes. I absolutely loved it. I had just finished reading the book so everything was really fresh in my mind. There was a bunch of parts left out, but I still loved the movie.

It was a great evening out and a very good anniversary.

Busy Saturday

Our Saturday started out like all of our Saturdays do...we went to Gymboree in the morning. And instead of running errands and going to lunch afterward, we went home because Abby was coming over to play for a few hours. Harrison was so excited to play with Abby. I really think that he loves playing with her. As soon as we got home he kept running to the window to see if "Abby here?" When she finally came he was so excited. They first showed each other their bellys. Then Harrison wanted to go through Abby's back pack to see what she brought. She had a book in there so we all read the book a few times. It was great having the two of them sitting next to me. Then they decided they wanted to play ring around the rosey. Boy did they have fun. Especially Harrison. He kept wanting to play and running and grabbing Abbys hands to play. Then Harrison wanted to make Abby laugh, so he would stand inbetween the front door and the storm door and close the front door almost all the way and then throw it open. They both laughed at this for over a 1/2 hour. Finally at 1:30, I put Harrison down for a nap and Abby and I made pumpkin apple bread. Abby helped me stirr all of the ingredients and helped me put the eggs in, one at a time, and helped me pour the liquids into the bowl. She was a great helper and the bread tastes yummy.

Swimming #2

On Thursday was our 2nd swim lesson. And I am very happy to say that Harrison did not cry at all during our lesson. That is not to say he enjoyed it either. He wanted to play more then he wanted to do the lesson. He absolutly didn't want to float on his back and he drank more of the water than he blew bubbles. But I am just glad he wasn't crying the whole time.

Mom Camp

Before Harrison and I went to NY we attended Mom Camp. Well I attended and Harrison stayed in the day care that they had available. This was a great event. It was a 3 day event but I only was able to go for 1 day. They had spa services available (for FREE), I got my brows waxed, make up done, mini facial, manicure, massage and a hand massage. They had lunch and snacks and food samples and break out sessions. I attended 3 break out sessions. My first was on How to Look like a Million with out Spending a Million. I really liked this one, they talked about colors that made you look better and where to go to get good deals. Then I took a Pedicure class. I was a bit disappointed because we mainly talked about pedicure products. Then was a class I was VERY disappointed in, How Birth Order affects yoru Closet. It wasn't about shopping or organizing your closet at all. It was about personality traits depending on what order you were born in. During lunch the key note speaker was Karen Neuberger. She was very interesting to listen to. She even gave away a bunch of stuff. She co-wrote a book which I got, of course, and had her sign it. I went with my friend Barb and I think we both decided we were definitely going next year.

Harrison liked it also. He told me he had a good time at Mom Camp. One of his teachers even wanted to take him home she liked him so much.

Back to NY

I got the opportunity to go to NY for work. I also was able to bring Harrison with me. So off we went. The flight out to NY was fine. Harrison fell right asleep and when he woke up, we watched a bit of the Wiggles and then we were there.

MJ, Brad's dog, was waiting for us. Harrison had been asking to see him so he was really happy to see MJ first thing. He also ran to give Brad a great big hug hello. That night we just had a very yummy dinner, courtesy of Eddie, with Brad, Merryl and Mom and Eddie. The next day we took Harrison to White Post Farms where they had pumpkin picking, hay rides, train rides, a petting zoo and a bunch of kid shows. It was great. Brad and Merryl also joined us there as well as my friend Risa. Harrison loved the animals. His favorite was the Camel. But he didn't want to touch any of them. So much for the petting part. I was all set with my purel just in case. Harrison and I then went over for a train ride. At first he cried and was scared, but he calmed down and enjoyed himself.

The highlight of the afternoon was when my little baby boy got up on the Kids Karoke stage and took the microphone all by himself and sung the ABC song. It was the single cutest, heart breaking moment of my life. He was so happy to receive a standing ovation from everyone. We also went up on the stage at another show and danced with all of the other kids. Harrison liked that until the snow maker machine started up. We ended our time at the farm with a visit to the ventriliquist. Harrison really liked the puppet.

When I went into the city to work, Mom watched Harrison and I am told they had a great day together. Harrison was happy and ate and slept. He was a really good boy. That night we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for Rosh Hashana dinner. We had a really good time. Harrison was so excited to see his cousin Ian and Emily. But especially Ian. He also gave Ian a big hug and wanted to play with him. He ran around their big house like he owned the place. He didn't eat much of anything but apparently ate really good earlier in the day. When we were leaving, he made sure he gave kisses to everyone. He even said to popper "I love Popper" and "Miss Popper".

We also took him to the huge playground at Christopher Morley Park. He really loved it there. He ran for the first 1/2 hour we were there. At one point, Harrison ran past me and I thougth I smelled something stinky. Low and behold, he had a poop. I told him I wanted to change his poop. He didn't want me to until finally he ran to me and then threw himself on the ground and said "Change Diaper". Right there in the middle of the playground. Well, I wasnt' going to miss this opportunity, so I changed him right there.

That night we celebrated Rosh Hashana at mom's house with Brad, Merryl and Hilary. Harrison was having a great time playing with Merryl and Hilary. After dinner when we were in the play room Harrison was playing with MJ a little too rough, MJ scratched his face and bit his shirt. It was a major comotion. I picked him up and made sure there was not major damage. I think MJ only bit his shirt. The scratch looked way worse than it was and by the next morning was just a small mark under his eye. It was a bit scary when it happend and I think Mom and Brad were more freaked out than I was. I made sure that Harrison wasn't traumatized and had Harrison pet MJ almost immediately after and he wasn't afraid to do so. He even asked to see MJ the next day.

If I hadn't already known that Harrison was my child, our trip to Kate Spade on Wednesday proved it. I was expecting the worse when I wheeled him in to my favorite store. I thought he was going to scream and cry...but no. He first started flirting with the sales girls. Then as we were going through the store, we passed 2 Kate Spade umbrellas. He said to me, "Want umbrella". I then replied, oh yeah, which one. Harrison then said "Want white one". There was in fact a white one with polka dots and another one with a bunch of colors. It also would have been the one I wanted. Well he really wouldn't let it go. He kept saying "Want White umbrella. So, being the Kate Spake aholic that I am, asked how much it was. I figured, if it wasn't soo spendy, why not. But of course it was, $100...for an umbrella. I told Harrison that it was too expensive. He kept insisting but settled for some Kate Spade stickers that the sales girls gave him.

That evening when we flew home, Harrison was so restless. He did not want to stay in his seat, nor did he want to watch his videos. So we walked up and down the isles for a bit. I then changed his diaper on our seat (because the dumb plane didn't have a changing table in the bathroom). When I finished and went to put Harrison back in his seat he exclaimed "Not Yet, Mommy!!". Well, I said ok. How could I fight with that. So we walked some more and made friends with one of the flight attendants. She was really nice. I chatted with her while Harrison did all of the seat belts in all of the empty seats. It was a frustrating yet fun flight home.

Swimming, Swimming in the Swimming Pool

We started swim lessons again with Harrison. This time in the Tiny Tots class instead of the Water Babies. We took the Water Babies back when Harrison was about 6 months old, so it has been a long time. This summer he wasn't the biggest fan of the pools so I thought we would get a head start for next summer. Well, as I suspected, he was not happy when we go there. He cried and clung tightly to me. He was the only one who was crying. When we got in the water he kept saying "all done". But after 5-10 minutes, he got used to it and even blew bubbles in the water. We go every Thursday night so we will see what the next lesson brings.