Beware--2 yr old learns to ride bike!

This is the best pic that I could get of this little rascal! I knew that I wanted to blog about him learning to ride his bike so we went outside but Ezra was fussy--as usual! By the time I got my camera setting just right Elijah was done riding his bike and no longer interested in showing off for the camera! He actually learned to ride on October 5th. Funny..he is so much like Ben--he learned to ride at 2 years old and then the next year learned to ride without training wheels..it will be interesting to see if Elijah will do the same!

Frustrated!

Today, I decided that I would "capture" some good pics of the boys picking out their pumpkins this year! They simply would not cooperate! Ugh! You know how you have the scenario play out in your mind but your kids don't live in this fantasy world where everything goes smoothly, in fact it is usually the complete opposite with my kids! I am not patient with them either so it just turns out to be a flop most times! Then...in my mind, I am some great photographer too, in reality...not so much! I do like the pic of Ben holding Lij making his goofy hand gestures even though Elijah is out of focus--because it shows how he tries to imitate whatever Ben does! It's so sweet how much he looks up to him and wants to be like him in every way shape and form. I wish I would've thought the same way towards my sisters when we were younger instead of getting irritated with them--hindsight is always 20/20!

Kenny and Ben went camping tonight so I thought that I would try to go visit my mom but she has too much school work to work on--that is the second time this week that visiting her hasn't worked out! I'm bummed, I miss her, we've really become good friends and it is such a good feeling to feel that way about her! Oh well, I will just have to wait till Monday when she stops by after school to visit! So instead of going to her house I decided we will try to go to Target but when I got there Ezra was screaming so I figured I would sit there in the parking lot and nurse him and calm him down since the last few times we've been in stores he was fussy. I let Elijah roam around in the van and started feeding Ezra only to smell this horrendous odor moments latter and when I asked Lij if he pooped in his pull-up(we have been potty training) he popped his head around the seat and shook his head yes proudly with colored-chocolate spit running down his chin from a rogue m&m he found in the back seat! I sighed and realized that shopping wasn't worth the trouble and figured I would be so much more comfy being at home instead of in a cold van half exposed with a fussy baby and a stinky toddler! So many sacrifices come along with parenthood. But now I'm happy cuz I'm finally blogging while kids are fast asleep with the added treat of UFC 89...finally a free fight on Spike tv instead of pay-per-view! Now I only hope that Michael Bispbing gets knocked out in front of his countrymen, I can't stand him ever since his fight against Matt Hammil which was totally stolen from Matt!

A shout out to my BFF

(these pics come from Olivia's blog--our husbands shot them)


these are the contents of my care package:


I just hafta share how much I adore my BFF Olivia! She has always been so thoughtful and kind even though I haven't always deserved her kindness or friendship for that matter! I use to torment her in school (we went to school together in Minnesota grades 4-9). At lunchtime I always managed to put my food on her in some fashion or another...usually it was celery dipped in peanut butter and then I would stick it to her face! I don't know why I did this exacltly...she was passive and I was aggressive....until one time she had enough! We were walking to throw away our food trays and she hadn't eaten her food and I had done something awful like usual so on the way to the trash she threw her tray of food onto me and I just stood therein front of everyone, shocked and then busted out laughing which ticked her off even more! haha..it was funny but I really was relentless with her...now I torment my children. I just can't believe that she has stayed friends with me all these years...I'm so glad too, our friendship has grown tremendously over the years and distance..we've even managed to get in a few visits. Just a couple days after I had Ezra I received this care package from Olivia and it contained a baby towel, baby booties, a chocolate bar for me (I couldn't eat any chocolate my last half of pregnancy) Starbucks chocolate for Kenny, a stuffed monkey and the movie Dan in Real Life (I watched it three times in one week and laughed hystericallyeach time). I almost started to cry...she is so thoughtful! Everything was so perfect, I really don't deserve her friendship.
Olivia...I love ya girl and I'm so glad God placed you in my life, I truly am blessed by your friendship. Thank you for putting up with all my ridiculousness, I'm so sorry that I was so ruthless.

Photo Shoot Attempt!

Ezra is two weeks old in these pics and the first two were taken in hopes of making some birth announcements but Ezra wasn't very happy being naked outside! He let me know just how unhappy he was by pooping all over me when I was holding him before putting him in the bowl..oh well, I guess that's what I get for trying to be Anne Geddes and not just accepting the fact that I'm simply Nichole Harrison and far from professional! haha...besides people must drug their infants to get all those great poses or else I just have difficult children! Super cute and super ornery!

Life is the "Pits"

Lucy--around 9months old
Wild Streak (Streaky)--8 years old
--this is a typical scene around the house...these two are buddies!

Storm--11 weeks old (Streak's Daughter)

Storm--7 weeks old
Storm--5 weeks old

Most of you may know that we own Pitbulls but some of you may have never seen them, especially the newest one. Lucy, the red pit, isn't here ...yet! We are looking at getting her [back] soon...we had her for a few months and then traded her back to her original owner and got a puppy(Storm) from a litter that Streak sired. Kenny has always missed Lucy so when we recently visited her this past weekend Kenny and our friend Scott worked it out in order for Kenny to get his little girl back! Aaarrggghhhh! 3 dogs and 3 kids in a 1,000 sq. ft. home! Are we crazy or what? Yes, I agree...CRAZY! I'm not sure how it's gonna work out... I will take care of kids and Kenny will take care of dogs, haha!
The picture of Elijah and Streak reminds me of when we had our first pitbull and Benjamin basically treated her like a sibling. He and Halo did everything together and she put up with so much abuse fom him just like Streak does with Elijah! Despite what many of you may think about Pitbulls they really are excellent companions and really good with kids, especially because of their high pain tolerance!
Kenny is bummed that I chose not to crop Storm's ears but I think she's cute with them floppy!
Besides, it seems like people are less afraid of pitbulls when they have floppy ears, maybe cuz they don't realize they are pits?!

A Shout Out to My Husband

I just want everyone to know what a wonderful husband I have...and what an awesome father my boys are privileged to have! Kenny has been so great with Ben and Lij since Ezra was born. He has made sure to give them plenty of attention and affection so they don't feel like they aren't as important as the new baby especially since I'm nursing him which takes up a lot of my time. He provided such an easy transition for me Labor Day weekend that I absolutely dreaded that he had to go back to work on Tuesday the 2nd.
Kenny traded our '99 Grand Prix for a '79 Ford Truck and they (Kenny and the boys) couldn't be happier! They take a drive in it nearly everyday even if it's a spin around the block or to the auto parts store--to buy stuff and work on the new toy! I think it's ugly but they think it's tough! So the truck is usually a big source of their entertainment when Kenny comes home from work and because of that I can now see that it is beautiful! :)

Labor---details

FINALLY--I get a chance to get on here and blog!!! Life is a little busy these days and I just can't believe how fast time flies! Some of you have asked how labor went and I've really been wanting to blog it anyway so here I go. For those of you who know me realize just how much of a pain baby I can be so I went into this pregnancy dreading the labor to come! When I found out that I was getting induce 6 days early I was excited and nervous because I had decide to try to do this without the epidural because our insurance doesn't cover the $500+ that it would cost us. I told only 2 or 3 people this plan and had it in the back of my head that most likely I wouldn't make it. So they started pitocin--sp? at 11:30 and at 3:30 my doctor came in and checked me and decided to break my water (I was 3 cm). By 4:30 pm I was asking for an epidural! So the nurse came in and checked me saying I was at 4 maybe 5 and that she would get the anesthesiologist soon. He came in about ten minutes later and took about ten minutes to get everything in place and by 5:04 I was ready to be numb....fat chance at that! My left side was starting to get tingly but my right side was screaming in pain! I kept telling my nurse that I could feel everything on the right so she kept tilting me to that side to allow the medication to gravitate to that side and do it's magic! Again...FAT CHANCE! The nurse showed me the epidural pump and pushed the button saying that in 15 minutes she wanted me to push it again in order to control the pain---I quickly looked at the clock, 5:13. Next contraction hit and I started crying because the side laying position wasn't helping yet and I was scared because I could feel his head crowing and I tried to keep my legs closed, LOL, and I grabbed the nurses arm in a panic telling her that it still hurts and that I wasn't joking (obviously-haha) and that something was happening. She checked me and next thing I hear is Kenny saying excitedly, "You're at ten, Nichole!" What the crap...no way was I ready to push this baby out in all this pain after deciding to get the $500+ shot that wasn't helping yet! The nurse told me to roll over to my back at which time I really started to cry saying, "I can't do this with all this pain...not yet" but I remember hearing Kenny say, "you're doing it!"; I reached down and felt his head to my surprise, exclaiming, "his head, his head" and both Kenny and the doctor nodded there heads in agreement (thinking back they almost looked like bobble heads grinning a Duh! look-ha). Dr. Huey told me to give him a big push and he was out! Oddly enough that part wasn't painful at all, in fact it was just as my sister and others have told me but I couldn't understand them! It was just awesome that it happened so fast and he is so beautiful! He looks like a perfect combination of Ben and Elijah and I couldn't ask for anything more than that because I think I have the most handsome little boys...sorry to the rest of you who think the same of your own boys but I stand firm in my belief! Hehe!