Rookie Mistake

Saturday Cason and I had a little girls birthday party to go to in Southlake. I throw him in the car and the present and his diaper bag and head out. About 1/3 of the way there I notice his little hand reach over and grab the bag. How stupid am I? I put a wrapped present next to a child. I'm asking for it to get opened. I start praying that he won't discover the tissue paper. As if he's not going to see the mound of beautiful hot pink crinkly tissue inches from his hand. No such luck, hand grabs tissue paper. Is there any possibility he will just enjoy the crunchiness and not put it in his mouth and completely destroy it so my scant wrapping job becomes really scant? Nope, in the mouth it goes. Now I'm in a quandary. Do I pull over and remove the tissue? Since my brain left when C got here I had taken the wrong way to Southlake and was now on a 2 lane no shoulder road passing rich peoples houses with only their driveways to pull in to. Driveways that are monitored by a security system that would make your local bank look like an easy target. Didn't think that would be a good place to pull in to. So, I opted to just say in a kind voice "don't put that in your mouth sweet baby". I'm pretty sure he just grinned. If the carseat had been in the middle I could have reached him but it is behind the passenger seat right now and I have short arms. When I attempted to reach him the car started swerving. Then I began to wonder how long I could use the excuse:
"Sir, I just had a baby." when the officer pulled me over.
"Oh, how old is he?"
"8 months."
"Um, I wouldn't consider that JUST having a baby"
"Well, it FEELS like just yesterday and I haven't fully recovered yet."
Don't think that's going to work. I got nothin.

This is the scene I found when we arrived. You can't see it but there's pink tissue in his mouth. I fished out what I could, the rest I guess we will discover later.

Oh well, I just spread out the 1 tissue that was left to cover the present and took it to the party. There's no excuse for me.

Here are some pics of our post-party shopping. I think he likes Southlake!

Funny Sleeper

Cason and his dad sometimes chill in the afternoons and doze off. Lately we've had a laugh at his sleeping positions. Yes, he's asleep. Mike said he was looking back up at him and just fell asleep. Doesn't look like it would be comfortable!

Don't try and turn your head around, the picture is rotated correctly. Don't know how he got in this position.
I know you have to be wondering "who is taking the pictures if it's naptime in the Harvey house?" Let's just say not everyone gets a nap at the Harvey house. :-)

Tea Time

I love America but there's one thing I think they got wrong... the tradition of afternoon tea. I wish the Brits had brought that over with them. Luckily a few places have caught on and serve it. I started a tradition at my office of "tea time" and we make a cup of tea at 3:00 and enjoy our 15 minute breaks. The tea I had to day was much better than a 15 minute break at the office.

My aunt had a birthday recently and to celebrate we went to high tea at the Adolphus hotel in Dallas. It was by far the best tea experience I have had in Texas. One of the best things was the tea captain. She was very knowledgeable and very interesting. She helped us select the three teas we would be served through the 4 course meal.

First course, savories. About 5 different tea sandwiches. All of them were very good and served with a red tea. Next up, scone and cream with an orange jasmine tea.


Next up a selection of tiny sweet pastries. We picked a pear caramel tea to go with that. Lastly we had some truffles.

There's my Aunt Pam and her husband Mike.

Birthday girl aunt Marsha and her husband John. For the sweets course they put a candle on her plate and the piano player played happy birthday. It was so elegant and we were treated like queens (and kings). I highly recommend this experience and of course, I'm happy to join you!
The food here is wonderful but while we are on the topic (and because I'm KNOW you must be curious) here are some of my favorites. The best scone is at Montgomery tea room in Fort Worth. Totally random because their actual tea service isn't that great. I mean, it's fun and girly but it's not fancy. Their scones are fantastic though. As for food, the Savannah Tea Room has some of the best. I remember leaving there completely stuffed and the food is delicious. My favorite tea is from there too. It's called Emperors Bride. A friend recently brought some back for me on a trip and it's everything I remember. As for best experience- I have to say The Claridges hotel in London wins. Check out the web site so you can imagine you are there! That's what I do when I need a fix!

I'll never eat a meal in peace again.

That's the title of my new book.
No, just kidding. But it's kind of how I feel. I try to feed Cason his solids when we are eating as well, you know, get in the habit of eating together and get him in the habit of sitting in his highchair while we eat. Well, it sounds simple enough but it's typically a little more hectic.
First of all, Cason wants to hold his own spoon so he grabs it with much force and is delighted when he gets it all to himself. I am not so delighted with the mess. Our typical meals involve a plate of food for me and a bowl of food for Cason. I am shoveling food in his mouth trying to avoid him taking over the spoon, shoveling food in my mouth when possible. If I wait too long C is fussing to go to another activity. It's a similar experience at restaurants. Don't tell me, I already know... It's going to get worse before it gets better. Every day is interesting that's for sure.
It's really funny when he does get the spoon from me. He pulls it close and smiles this evil/happy grin. I laugh every time which is probably encouraging him to spread the sweet potatoes all over.

Bye Bye Breastfeeding... Sort Of

I'm pretty much done with Breastfeeding. With the exception of the last feeding before bed, it's all formula now. I have to admit, it's a great feeling. Sure I would have liked to go a year but it had become such a source of stress and resentment in my life, I made the decision that was best for us. Now no rushing home from work afraid he's going to starve if I don't get home in time, no pumping at the office, no planning every time I leave the house around feeding time, no more stressing about making enough milk, the list goes on. I don't like the smelly poop and all the extra bottles we need but I'm working through that.

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of encouragement out there for moms. When I decided to stop breastfeeding, I went to google to find the best way to wean a baby. The first 3 articles that pulled up were moms saying that you should NEVER wean a baby early and you would become depressed and your baby would never be the same if you did and anyone who doesn't breastfeed for a year is pretty much a horrible mom. I got a little angry. No wonder so many moms have a hard time. There are so many people out there who just want to tell you their opinion and not let you figure out what's best for you. So I gave up on google and just figured it out. And what do you know, Cason is still doing okay!

Pumpkin Photos

LOVE these photos. We took C to Calloways to sit him around some pumpkins to get some photos. He was totoally tired and not interested yet these pics tured out really good. I think the key to good pictures is a good camera. My mom and sister have one... I don't. So, one of them took the photos.

Yummy, Pumpkins.

Yummy, Hay.

Little Visitor

This morning I was outside with Lil C and the littlest dog started playing with something in the grass. He wouldn't stop so I went over to see what it was. Whatever it was it was moving around too quickly for me to see at first. Hmmmm, that's either a big worm or a snake. A snake? That's weird. So, I did what any other woman would have done who has an un-natural fear of bugs. I sat C on the patio and went inside to see what I could use to scoop up the snake. A trash bag? No. Salad tongs? No. BBQ tool? No. A stick, that's it, that's the smart thing. So I went outside and found a stick that was a bit shorter than I had originally hoped but it would do. I draped the snake over the stick and placed it on my outdoor table. I scooped up Cason and we ran inside for the camera and cell phone. Snake was still in the same place, no doubt stunned from his run in with the dog. I started snapping photos with the camera, then with the cell phone so I could post to facebook (of course). Then I poked him a couple of times to see if he was alive and he poked his tongue out at me. Then I called Mike and asked him what to do now. Killing him sounded a little messy and I really didn't want to move him again in case he got angry and attacked me so i just left him and he slithered off the table and on his way.

See how HUGE he is?

Here he is in proportion to my table decorations.

Bye Bye Snake.

Baby Sock Monkey

The Foys had us over for a Halloween party last night. Their neighborhood has a parade and tons of kids so it's the perfect place for a celebration.

Here's Lincoln- chillin after costume.

Cason and Carsyn are playing. Carsyn teaches the boys how to share. I tried to get her to teach Cason how to crawl but he had none of that. Girls are just more advanced... they can't help it!

4 babies under 1 yr. Pretty much the cutest babies ever, I'm sure of it. Carsyn was an M&M, Lincoln was a pumpkin, Cason was a sock Monkey and Jack was a Baylor track star. I was a princess in everyday clothes. The other girls are princesses too but they forgot their crowns. It's hard to remember everything when you are dressing your super cute baby.

Precious.

My little sock monkey chillin. I'm wearing my bling bling princess shoes- all princesses have them.

This actually isn't a costume, it's an outfit we found in Southlake but it worked for Halloween, and it's going to work again next time there's cold weather!

Jack looking at all the trick or treaters. There must have been over 100 kids.

They have police on horseback leading the parade. How cool is that?
Playing with black and white colors.

Daddy and the sock monkey.

This setting is called "seventies" and I thought it fit this picture nicely. So fun!


Baby sock monkey is pooped. It's hard being so cute... it's hard being a princess too but princesses don't get naps.

Sunshine Parade

Cason's school had a costume parade and Cason went as a football player (aka- easy, not hot and already in the closet). They pushed the kids around and all the parents took pictures. Very fun.

This is Cason on the first go-around having a blast.

He's making his best football face (to go with his super cool football hair).

Cason's car got stopped and this is him letting them know it's time to move on. You should hear his grunts!

I wish I had a better picture of Shiloh the flapper- she was so cute!

Church Carnival

We had lots of costume opportunities this year and this was the first. Fall Festival as we call it and Cason got dressed up and ready to go. We inherited this costume from my cousin and as I found out when I poured him into it in the car in the carnival parking lot, it's a little small. The snaps were too tight and his feet were touching the end. Needless to say, he didn't stay in it for long... long enough to get some photos!

Mike and some of his Merge students.Julie and Lincoln- he's a baby monkey

This is how Cason sits in his stroller. Partly because we are missing the piece that straps him down and partly because he loves to sit up. I'm sure the fine print says he must be strapped in at all times but that would take all the fun out!

Grown Up Boy

I thought he looked so handsome in this outfit. So grown up! I took about a million pictures of him wearing this so there may be more...

Teething Advice

Cason's top teeth are so close to coming in and I know he's in pain and no amount of teething tablets or orajel is helping. He was up crying late last night and we are all exhausted. As if the first year wasn't hard enough you then have to throw in teething. Is it this bad for all the teeth or just the front ones. Scratch that, I don't want to know. I'm just going to pretend it's just the front ones that are bad.

New Stuff

I have had most of these crosses for years but I finally got around to hang them in this house. A cross cluster isn't exactly "modern" design so eventually I want to have so many crosses that the whole wall is full and they are very tightly spaced. That will be my "modern" twist on it.
I want my crosses to have stories. Many are from vacations or made from friends. My most recent purchase is the beaded cross purchased from my friend Dina. You can check out her blog here. She made it with colors that match my den. So beautiful!

Bottle freedom

I'm trying to teach Cason to hold his own bottle so I can do other things while he's eating. This morning I did my makeup. So great!







-- Posted from my iPhone

This kid loves the remote!

-- Posted from my iPhone