Purple Gold!

Last year we didn't get to go to a single Pirate football game which was super sad and depressing. Harrison had NEVER been to a game. I mean, James went to his first game when he was 6 weeks old so needless to say Harrison was behind on this.  Thankfully now that we are just an hour away it makes supporting the pirates much easier. We made sure we were there for the first home game. I ended up letting James stay for the whole thing but I sent Harrison home with my mom for bedtime. Sorry Harrison!

Fast forward a couple of weeks and it was time for us to play UNC-Chapel Hill. I could write an entire blog post about why I REALLY wanted us to beat that team but in the interest of not offending anyone I will just leave it at that. Well we ended up winning and it was seriously one of the best games I have ever been to.  The weather was perfect. A completely full stadium.  Getting to be there with our family.  Looking over to the side of the football field to the outline of the medical school and realizing that we have actually finally finished that journey and are back in NC.  As the sun set it cast a gorgeous purple haze over the field. The atmosphere was incredible. Go Pirates!

Arrrgh!

New School

I will admit that one thing I was really sad about leaving in Shreveport was the boys' school.  The teachers were super sweet, the classes were small, and it was familiar.  One of the hardest things about starting over is that nothing is familiar anymore and everything is a transition.  We were excited to get James and Harrison into a school that is practically in our neighborhood.  Harrison is in the youngest class (15 months to 23 months) and James is in the 4 year old class. I love their philosophy of education and the emphasis on play-based learning. When the director said, "If you are looking for a preschool where the kids sit and do lots of worksheets then this is not for you." Music to my birth-kindergarten/elementary education degree ears! My biggest complaint about the school so far is that the boys go for less time but it costs more money! Oh well, I guess everything can't be perfect. 

We had a parent meeting the week before school started and then the next morning they hosted an open house for the kids to come meet the teachers and explore. One thing I love about it is that after spending two hours in their individual classes the kids take their "passports" and can visit any of the 10 classrooms, each of which has a different emphasis. Some examples are science, dramatic play, math manipulatives, literacy, art, etc. During open house the kids got to explore each of these rooms and it was fun to see James check it all out. 

Harrison thought he was hot stuff in the big kids room

This picture makes me laugh. Typical expressions and what can I say, I love for them to match! 

The first official day of school was finally here and I attempted to get that wonderful picture that every other mom seems to be able to get of their kids. Apparently I'm not that mom. 

Each day every class writes a summary of what they did. This was Harrison's class.

We decided to try one more time for a first day of school photo. 

Harrison 15 Months

Height- 30 inches

Weight-24 pounds, 13 ounces 

Wears 18-24 months, size 6 shoes

Harrison oh Harrison.  You are such a mess right now in a wonderful way.  There is no end to the destruction you cause around the house. Some of the things this past month include dumping over a new container of liquid washing detergent in our foyer, learning to open all of our doors which led to me finding you in the garage by yourself, learning to climb on furniture, and of course pulling out every single thing in every single cabinet in the kitchen.  You are now able to walk really well and rarely crawl. I say it all the time but you are so funny! Every day you make us laugh. Your expressions, your actions, your words. They crack us up!  Some of your new words are yellow, blue, bubble, baby, Nene, Nana, and my personal favorite "Jesus". I wish I could type the way you pronounce it but it is the sweetest thing. You get your bible book out and point out Jesus to us on every page.  You still love to read, especially Moo, Baa, La La La.    You call it "la la la" and you love to go search for it and bring it to us. The other day you slept till 7 (wow!) and when I went to get you you were sitting in your crib just looking at your books. This past month you started preschool two mornings a week (you do not seem to like it so far) and you also switched to one nap a day.  It has been nice having James in preschool because you and I get to do some things together. You still love to eat. You love fruit so much that I can't take you grocery shopping because you go crazy in the produce section. I mean REALLY crazy! You love to dance, to play outside, and of course to get dirty in any way possible. We love you so much!

Basketball lesson with Dad

Attempt at going to the library. Not going to be doing that again anytime soon!

Selfie after the pool 

This was my attempt to get him to take a nap in my bed one day out of desperation. Needless to say it didn't work. 

Wearing his daddy's pjs

Go Pirates!

I was at CVS and he went crazy signing that he wanted to eat. I bought these for him and shortly after this picture he dumped the entire bag on the floor of the pharmacy. I'm slightly ashamed to say that I looked at the pharmacist, said I was sorry and just left the store with that huge mess. 

Breakfast date at Chick-fil-a

Just trying on Mom's shoes

Shortly after taking this picture he started eating the raw sweet potato. Oh Harrison!