Sickly and sore

Hey all. Sorry I have been absent for a few days, things have gotten a bit crazy at the Harmon household. On Wednesday night at church during my first AWANAs meeting (I'll be a second grade leader) I got a phone call from Gabriel's room downstairs because he was throwing up. Lovely. I felt so terrible for him and for those 2 poor workers having to deal with a puking 2 year old while watching 12 other 2 year olds! So he has been sick, slight fever and all. Bless his heart. But he is feeling much better today. See:

And my poor Kaden-man has got canker sores in his mouth! I don't really know how those happen (I get them when I am completely stressed out---I DO NOT have any so that is a good sign), don't know where they come from but I know they hurt like crazy! He has not eaten for 3 days! Seriously! I can hardly get the boy to drink anything either. I have been treating them with what I have but because of Gabriel I have not been out shopping to see if there is something else I can get for him. The chloraseptic helps a little but not enough. Bless his heart too. So needless-to-say I have not been getting much sleep at night between the 2 boys and my dog.

Flash has got this crazy "I-must-go-out-at-2:30-every-morning" thing happening. It's a good thing she is SO darn adorable!! I've realized I don't blog about Flash enough, she is a great dog and we love her. Someday I will do a Flash-only post, yeah, look forward to that :)

Michael called on Thursday morning! YIPPEE!!! Looks like a couple of extra days until he gets home. BUMMER!!! But what's 2 more days when you are already at 101!!!!!! Soon people, soon you will see the reunion pics!!!! I am surviving now on nervous energy. We are all so excited for Daddy to come home.
Everyone have a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Be safe!!!

Milestone!!!

A major milestone for my baby girl at 4 months and 3 weeks: Josie rolled over last night! I was on the phone with my Mom, she heard all the excitement! I ran and got my camera and here she is:

How exciting! Though I have to admit this particular milestone is a hard one for me. I don't really like it when babies start rolling over. I'll explain. After the boys learned how to roll over all 3 became tummy sleepers. And a new mom hears what over and over: "put the baby to sleep on their back, flat on their back, it's the safest way" SO when I go in to check on my baby and they are on their tummy, it makes me nervous. I flip them over, yep, I really do. But guess what, they will roll right back onto their tummies. I am a little freakish about checking on my children. I do it every night, I cannot go to bed without doing it. Luke is 6 and yet I will be in there before I go to bed making sure that everything is okay. A little freakish I know but it's just cause I love them all so much!

Where's the baby?

Josie has become quite the grabber, those hands are lethal--they grab on and refuse to let go. Ask my hair :)

The other day while I was putting the boys to bed Josie wrapped herself up in the blanket:

Didn't seem to bother her too much, huh?
So where's the baby? Thad and Jackie you can hear Kaden saying "There she is!" :)

Too much

Poor angel Gabriel, the stress of being a 2 year-old was too overwhelming for him yesterday, he could not make it through lunch. Notice the crumbs he left behind....

An Aunt Jackie surprise!

Thanks SO much, we got your package today! Aunt Jackie (who is a wonderful teacher) sent the boys some 'back-to-school' presents and they were a hit! The boys are all coloring at table as I write this. There was folders, notebooks, coloring books, stickers, markers, crayons, Spiderman, Diego, Wiggles, etc, etc, etc. How fun. I cannot tell you how excited they are! Thanks for thinking of them. We LOVE you Aunt Jackie :)Josie is looking mighty cute today and in a good mood as always. This onesie is from her Great Aunt Debbie. I know that Michael will LOVE these pictures!

Josie's first

Right before I left St. Louis we went to Sears to get Josie's pictures taken,
~~~yes they were her first official pictures, and yes she was 4 months old, and yes it was one month older then the boys' first "real" pictures...having 4 is hard, what can I say??~~~
My sweet baby girl that NEVER cries was hysterical almost the whole time we were there and she spit up on all 3 of her outfits! But never-the-less we did get some good pics of her. Which one is your favorite?I got a pretty adorable picture of Josie on her tummy the other night, she still doesn't like it very much but she is doing better holding her head up.And her newest trick, grabbing those feet! She likes to chew on her toes, babies are SO cute. (all you non-feet people out there, get-over-it! Babies+feet= absolutely adorable!)

Happy Birthday Momma!!!

Here it is again, August 22nd, time for my Momma's happy day :)

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Momma,

Happy Birthday to you!

I don't think I have to tell you how much I love you! I think you know how much I love you, I think that everybody who reads this blog knows how much I LOVE YOU!!!! You are the best! I could not ask for anything more, you are always there for me, always ready to listen, always ready for hugs, I can talk to you about anything, I can share anything (especially chocolate) with you. You adore my children, you are the best Grandmom to them. You are my best friend, you are my confidant, you are my support, you are my encourager, you are my mother, and I love you more then words can say!

Alright, now you and Mel bring us home a winner tonight! GO Cardinals!

90, Ninety, the BIG 9-0!!!

Today was another landmark day; day 90 of the deployment chain. Quite a different picture then back in May, huh? I even added the extra links to mark the day they think they're coming home to us.

My boys are in GOOFY moods and so taking their picture with the 90 link was pretty fun (as in crazy). The pics turned out so cute that I just have to post them all!!! Enjoy! Michael will love these pictures. Ms. Josie missed out on the link fun, for her own safety, but I did take her photo too. Today she is wearing this pink outfit for the first time. Adorable, don't ya think?? Daddy has a gorgeous baby girl to show off when he gets home!

I tried

This morning I took the kiddos to get haircuts and boy did they get them! I told them my usual, I want them to hair left, my husband is in the Air Force and I don't want my boys to look like they are. They need good "boy hair cuts" but with hair left. And yes, that is what I tell them. I want my boys to have hair. They all got a lot cut off but it's Kaden that was scalped. It's not a bad haircut, it's just REALLY short, but I think he looks adorable! The cute guy that cut his hair said he was going to give him a "Russell Crowe", and apparently in barber shop-talk that means really short. You'll have to tell me what you think. I tried to get pics of the boys with their new do's but no one was really cooperating...

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Gees you would think I was in their way or something:

Russell Crowe anyone?

Gabriel on the table, where every 2 year-old should be:

More Kaden-man pics:

And now, my sanity, my angel, my sweet thing, my girl:

(who did not get a haircut)

Two too cute babies!

Before I left St. Louis my cousin Brittyne (Fitz's blog--link to the right) brought over her 3 girls to play with us. Poor girls were a little overwhelmed with all the boy play, you know "let's run and I'll tackle you" kind of play. But all of them had a good time. We got our babies together on the couch and they took all the adult attention. The babes are less then 2 months apart, Josie was born at the beginning of April and Riley born the end of May. How adorable are these angel babies??

This was our first attempt to get both the girls smiling:

It's hard sitting up by yourself! And I honestly think Josie was sticking her tongue out at me:They are just gorgeous! I keep hoping that Josie will have my blue eyes since none of my boys do, but this photo is crushing that hope!Last but not least, this might be my favorite photo. They are both looking at their Great Granny who is trying to make them smile, look at Josie's face---hilarious!

Babies are the best, no wonder I kept having them! I am looking forward to Christmas this year, the great grandchildren will be 6, 4, 3, 2, 2, 8 months and 7 months! How fun will that be? Thanks Brittyne for bringing your girls over to play that day. I love these photos!!!

It begins...

First day of school has arrived. It actually came and went, it was yesterday for us. The boys had a GREAT time! Kaden wanted to go back again last night! (that does a Mom's heart good, I'm glad he likes it so much) At dinner we talked about the fun things they liked about school and both Luke and Kaden went on and on. It was awesome. I always loved school from Kindergarten to college and I wanted the same for my children. So far so good!

Here are their morning pictures:

Luke had just gotten out of bed. Here's my boys right before we walked out the door. Can you believe how OLD Kaden looks??? I just can't believe that's my 4 year old! Just gorgeous!

How was school? Thumbs up from both my boys!

Mr. Gabriel did NOT want to miss out on the picture taking events of the morning:

And let me say a Happy Birthday!! to my cousin Melanie! We love you so much!!!!!!

Oh Doctor, my Doctor

Let me just tell you how much I LOVE my Pediatrician! He is SO wonderful! I have really been blessed. Thank you God that Dr. McGann was on call when Kaden-man was born those 4+ years ago. What a difference it makes having a doctor that you trust and shows how much he cares for your children!!! What a guy, don't know what I would do without him!!!
Josie and Luke had their appointments this morning. I'll cover Mr. Luke first since you guys are probably all wondering what is up with him. It took all of a 1/2 a second to diagnose. Luke has erythema multiforme. Basically it is a NON-contagious rash with no symptoms that occurs mostly in children, it is an allergic reaction (probably) to nothing specific, they don't know what causes it and it basically doesn't do anything but sit there and then it goes away. There is no treatment needed because it doesn't bother the kids. Doc says it could last a week, a slight chance it will last for 2 weeks. Please let's all pray it doesn't. Poor Luke doesn't like the way he looks, that is really bothering him, but not enough to stop him for smiling for his Momma: I took his picture while blogging, his face actually looks pretty good right now!

And now for Ms. Josie Claire. She had her 4 month well baby today and she is a very well baby. She was 14 lbs on the dot and 26 inches long (though I think that number is skewed), measured 50% for weight and head, and 90th for height (see what I am talking about???) The doctor said she looks great, we all knew that though, right? She got her shots, cried for 2 seconds and has been a happy baby ever since. I am still walking on cloud nine. I love having an angel baby girl. Here are some more sweet photos of her:

Awww, come on now...

Friday morning I noticed that Luke had a little bit of a rash on his face. Now those of you that are around Luke know that he is prone to little reactions to grasses, some foods, etc, but I have never seen this one before. I was thinking through what he ate and what he touched and can't come up with anything weird. He has absolutely NO other symptoms at all. It doesn't itch or anything. I gave him a Benadryl anyway on Saturday and it didn't change anything. This morning when he got up it had gotten worse looking. It is still only on his cheeks and a very little bit on the back of his neck, no where else. I called the pediatric nurse and he said it probably something viral and he probably isn't contagious or anything. (He did say more then that but I figure you didn't need the play by play) I decided not to take him to church today because I thought he might freak out the teachers and kids in has class. This rash is NOT raised at all, I know it totally looks like it but I promise his skin is perfectly smooth, there's no bumps or anything, it is just blotches on his poor face. Look at the difference between Saturday's and Sunday's pictures.
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The left side:

And the right side is even worse:Bless his heart. I know it looks terrible--CROSS MY HEART it is not raised!!!! You cannot "feel" this rash!!! And like I said, there are NO other symptoms, he is acting fine and feeling fine. Josie Claire has her 4 month check up tomorrow and so our doc can take a look at Luke too. I will let you know what he says. All this with school starting Tuesday---bummer.

WHAT IS THAT?!?!?!?!

Any guesses?