Hunter William Harmon

Here are a few pictures of our precious, little guy. He is so sweet. It's funny, sometimes I feel like I'm having a flashback, as he looks just like Braden. But he definitely has his own look and personality that is also very evident. Hunter is a true, little blessing!


Mama's first kiss.

So glad to have Mimi here to help with Braden and snuggle with Hunter.

Sweet, little boy.

Braden loved meeting his little brother! He wants to tickle him and pat him.

A family of 4! Me and my boys!

Hunter's first bath. He liked it.

One week!

We've made it to one-week 'til baby Harmon! Things have started to become a bit more real. The past 2-days I've woken up at 5:30am to go to the bathroom and both mornings it hit me that that's the time we'll be checking into the hospital next week for the birth of our son! I still haven't gotten to the point of feeling like I can't wait for this kid to get out of me, but we have 7 more nights. Who knows, maybe I won't get there, which is just fine with me! Anthony and I have been talking about what he'll look like (we had more ultrasounds with Braden and had a sense of his little face before he got here), what his name will be and all that fun stuff. I am predicting less hair on this little guy because I've had a lot less heartburn this time. We'll see if that little "fact" is true or not! I am so grateful for this pregnancy and how it has gone. We're hopeful that the birth and transition into "outside" life will be as easy!

Our new house is close to the airport that Anthony flies out of. He often flies over us and the other morning Braden, Mimi and I got to go out in the yard and watch as he flew over! Braden thought it was pretty cool to see Daddy's bing-bing (his word for airplane) fly by!

Worms and things.

Braden loves the backyard. He gets to do lots of exploring and lately has had a great time finding worms and other bugs. Daddy helps out with the shovel and that makes it even more fun! Today he was enthralled with a few tiny ants he found! Oh the joy of children.

The final harvest and other signs of Spring!

The last "load" of oranges that Anthony was able to get from the very tops of the trees today! They are sooooo good and we'll be looking forward to next year! Although the awesome smelling blossoms are the next thing we get to look forward to. Too bad I can't share that on the blog.




Nicole climbed the ladder and got a few when she was over on Saturday, too.


Braden learned how to make fresh squeezed orange juice. He loves the orange trees and will be sad when there aren't anymore that he can ask for when he's outside playing. His, and our, vitamin C consumption definitely went up since the move!


Braden went to a Spring Training game with Mimi and Poppa and really liked this baseball.

He loves his Mimi and Poppa!

He spotted the train at the Spring Festival at our local elementary school! It was a fun event and Braden played a couple of games (fishing - check out his form in the video below, sand digging...) and won some prizes. We are really excited about the fact that the elementary and middle schools are 4 streets away. And the fun neighborhood park!

Riding the train...

Watching the train...

Watching the big boys play basketball.

He gave it a bunch of good tries to get that big ole basketball in the basket! I'm guessing it will be pretty easy for him one of these days!

Then he decided to settle for the swing.

I think Daddy will be proud of his early fly fishing skills!

Go Duke!

We got this picture of my brother and his kids watching Duke win the ACC Championship in Virginia in their matching Duke hats...


while Braden had on his Duke shirt (that they got him for Christmas) and we were watching them win in AZ! Now if they would just do well for March Madness! By the way, I won $2500 at Best Buy in a raffle at a meeting and we'll finally be upgrading from the TV we got when we got married! We don't really watch much tv, but it will be nice to get one we can mount on the wall at least!

Baby Update!

I had my doctor's appointment today. I'm finishing up my 36th week, which is considered full term. Thankfully he's still high and doesn't show any signs of "heading towards the light" as my nurse practitioner likes to say! She did the "Leopold Method" which means feeling my belly to guess how big he might be... she estimated 8 1/2 lbs! And then reminded me he has 2 more weeks to go to get to the 9lb mark (although it's not like I'm aiming for that or anything!). We'll see... he will have one less week to grow than Braden and he was 9lbs 12oz. I will be glad when he drops a bit because he still likes to try to escape through the top of my belly, but I'm hoping for no kind of early entry to the world! My boss told me to go sit down yesterday because he looked like he was trying to push his way out! I am glad that both of my babies moved a lot. I can't imagine being pregnant and not feeling the baby moving around... I think it has to be one of the coolest (and strangest) things ever.

I have to admit that it still hasn't hit me that we'll have a new member of our family in 2-weeks from Monday. I don't know if it's just the second baby thing or if it's the moving combined with 2nd baby thing or if it's just me. We don't even have a crib in his room yet and haven't bought a single diaper! I finally made a list and plan to get it all crossed off this weekend. We'll have a nice, long stay in the hospital to help adjust too (totally could relate to Jim and Pam on The Office! The male lactation consultant was hilarious, too!).

People keep asking if Braden is ready for his new brother to arrive. I think he gets it to an extent, but, just like us, he won't totally get it until it's reality. He definitely knows Mama's belly is bigger and he says the baby is in there and gives it kisses... but how can an almost 22-month old really know what THAT means?! He does pay more attention to babies when we see them and likes to read the book about his new brother, but it's going to be an adjustment for us all, that's for sure! I'm cherishing these last 2 and 1/2 weeks of being pregnant, but also looking forward to getting rid of these maternity clothes!

Some pics.

Braden got an up close and personal view of Daddy's elk when it came down for the move. He's always been intrigued by the elk (even when he was a newborn it was one of the first things that caught his eye - along with the fan) and seeing it so close was pretty cool. The new house doesn't have any high ceilings, so the elk is living in the backyard for now!


Napping in his pack and play in the laundry room. As long as he has his bear, he can pretty much sleep anywhere! He was so flexible and good during the move. Made everything so much easier!

The Minnick's were our first "house guests!" Gotta love friends who don't mind eating pizza off paper plates without much else around.

Who cares if there's no furniture!

Our little cutie!

Helping Daddy put his crib back together... no more pack and play!

Helping Mimi wash the mirrors. He loves being a helper lately. Perfect timing for the arrival of his baby brother! Let's hope he wants to keep helping when the baby gets here!

Checking out a hot air balloon from Poppa's shoulder's in the backyard.

Playing with his new kitchen set. Mimi and Poppa got it for him and there is room for it in his room!

Lots of fun boxes to play with!

We love the orange trees in our backyard. Braden has loved picking oranges and eating them. We also have a little lemon tree. He thinks it's fun to squeeze them into juice, as you can see here!

Asking to pick an orange!

We have a bush with red berries along the back wall of the yard and Braden likes to pick them and put them in his truck or wheelbarrow. Thankfully they aren't poisonous!

Well...

the big news since our last post is that we've moved! It all happened pretty fast and has been a bit of a whirlwind, but we are very excited and feel very blessed in how it all worked out. We've talked in general about moving and wanting to get closer to friends and schools we want the boys to go to, but never gave it too serious of thought. Some friends of ours live in the neighborhood where we moved and some other friends are planning to move here, so that gave us some incentive to take a look. We put our house on the market to see what would happen and it sold that weekend! Then, long story short, we found a house we loved right in the square block where we wanted, put in an offer and they accepted it! We were able to close on both houses at the same time and get moved in with a month to spare before baby Harmon arrives! We are so excited to make this house our home!

Braden has been such a trooper through all of this. As things started getting packed up at our old house he would just say "uk-oh" and then "new house." We stayed in a hotel for 5 nights after we closed while we had some painting and work done and he was great about that. He developed quite a following at breakfast each morning! We ended up moving in before the painting was done and he slept in all different places in the house, including the laundry room. He did so great sleeping in his pack and play, especially considering he pretty much fills the thing up! And let's just say I'm so glad that I don't have to change diapers on the floor anymore! He absolutely loves his new room and the new house - including the 3 orange trees in the backyard (that I love, too!). Here's a video of him (at the old house) talking about the new house. One of these days I'll get caught up on downloading pictures and posting to the blog... I have 3 whole weeks before the baby arrives, so that should be plenty of time! :-)