Puerto Vallarta or bust!

We recently had the amazing opportunity to go on vacation to Mexico...without Emily. I know she would be in good hands but I couldn't help but think and worry about her. I thought I would be a tougher mom, but it seems like I'm weaker than I thought...4 days away is plenty!

On the positive side, the weather was great!! We enjoyed time by the pool and beach. In fact, after only half a day in the sun Patrick and I were both sporting a true Minnesotan sunburn. I need to remember that while 30spf might be fine in MN, I definitely need more when closer to the equator!!

Thanks, again, to REACH Marketing Group for jetsetting us away to a warm place and time to sleep in!

Emily, living it up while mom and dad are gone!

First plane ride!

Last weekend we went to Chicago to visit Karen, Marcus and baby William.  I thought it would be a good idea to fly because we were only going for the weekend.  Emily did great on the way down; slept the whole way! On the way back she also slept until about 10 minutes before landing.  At that point she woke up confused.  Pair that with popped ears and lots of new teeth coming in, you will get one frantic 15 month old!  She was inconsolable, good thing it was only 10 minutes!

Prepping for our trip!

Watching for planes at the airport!

Once in Chicago, we had a great time visiting with Karen, Marcus and cousin William. 

Cousins!

We also checked out the Chicago Children's Museum which Emily loved!!  

She loved playing in the water station

The toddler playroom, the toddler treehouse and she also liked playing in a kitchen in the "City Scene" room.

William has grown so much since we've seen him last and will only get bigger in the next couple of months until we see him again.  We are so lucky that we were able to make it to Chicago to visit!!

The Harrisons

One eventful weekend!

What an exciting weekend!!  Yesterday Patrick ran his first half marathon of the year.  He plans to run many more this year culminating with a full marathon or duathlon.  He did great despite the cold weather.  My brother, Pat, also ran and got his best time yet.  Emily did great spectating again and we're looking forward to Patrick's "Get Lucky" half in about a month!

On Sunday afternoon we put up a backsplash in the kitchen.  We've been in our house for 5 years and we've been kicking around the idea of a backsplash for all of those 5 years.  We realized that it was one of the least expensive, shortest duration and biggest impact projects we can do. Turned out it was very simple and we're very happy with the results.  All we have to do is grout the tile tomorrow and we're done!

We had a great weekend and Emily and I are looking forward to our day off tomorrow.  We have a haircut and a few errands lined up.

More to come!

The Harrisons

Happy Valentines Day!!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  We're so lucky to have Emily to share our love with and hope your day is filled with love too!

The Harrisons

Exploring utensils!

Emily has been using baby spoons to help her eat for a while now.  By using, I mean experimenting.  She's still figuring out which end is the one to use and how to get food on the spoon but she's making progress!  Emily's getting pretty good at using the spoon to eat yogurt and applesauce though!

Lately she's become interested in forks.  And not some silly baby forks, real forks.  We're letting her explore and she's beginning to figure out how they work as well!  I can't believe how much she's growing up and so quickly!

Hope you are staying warm!
The Harrisons

One year photos

Thanks to Lee Vang of Jubilee pictures for taking such lovely pictures to document Emily's transition from baby to toddler and from counting her age in months to years!

Another holiday season in the books

This was probably definitely the best holiday season we've ever had!  We did the normal family activities but they were extra special with Emily there to join in this year.  She was around last year, but only 3 weeks old so she didn't do much.

On December 23rd we were able to spend some time with the O'Leary's.  Thanks to Bruce and Michelle for arranging such a nice gathering!

Our Christmas celebration continued at home on Christmas Eve morning.  Patrick, Emily and I opened our gifts to one another.  We all must have been very good last year because we all got lots of great gifts!

We headed over to grandma and grandpa Harrison's house later on Christmas Eve for dinner and gifts.  We always have a wonderful time celebrating with everyone and this year was no exception!

Christmas morning came and off to grandma and grandpa Mulforts we went!  We spent Christmas morning and early afternoon opening gifts, enjoying breakfast and lounging around.  Christmas morning is still as magical as it was when I was a kid.  I can't wait for Emily to get a little older and really enjoy the holidays.  She wasn't too into gift opening but this year but did love all the attention!

New Years eve came and thanks to Tracey we were able to go to our friend Tricia's house to celebrate without taking Em with.  I think everyone had a much more relaxing, fun evening that way.  Thanks Tracey!!

Cheers to a great 2012 and to an even better 2013!
The Harrisons