Happy Birthday Justin!

Yesterday marked 33 years (yes 33!) since Justin came into this world . . . and we are so happy that he did! We have a wonderful husband, daddy, fix-it man, V-rod rider, chef, playmate & friend and love him very much! He celebrated by spending the day with his baby girl, enjoying some dinner/dessert with friends and watching Strange Brew (not my kind of movie, but he liked it!). His present from Brenna was more for her, but reflected something about her special daddy! Had to post the adorable picture. Happy birthday babe!

Fairy princess

Brenna was invited to three birthday parties this weekend. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to all of them (who knew that a 2 year old would be so booked on one day) so we opted for the closest in proximity (sorry Courtrights). Brenna's daycare friend Maya turned 3 and had a fairy princess party, which included skirts and wings for all the girls. The boys got to dress up like pirates with eye patches and hooks. There were special crafts to correspond with the costumes and even the food went with the theme! It was a fantastic party - Brenna had lots of fun. She wore her wings and skirt the rest of the day

After Maya's party, we celebrated Conner's 1st birthday with his family. We enjoyed watching him dig into his cake and eating all the frosting he could get to his mouth (as opposed to his legs, belly, etc). We can't believe how fast Brenna and all of her little friends are growing - what a remarkable thing to witness.

Big girl bed

Brenna has officially been in a big girl bed for a week now. We converted her crib last weekend and she LOVES it. The first few nights were a small struggle - we think she was a bit scared at how open everything was. Anyhow, she has gradually become more used to the idea. She still comes up with a large list of things that she wants (techniques to delay sleep of course) like more blankets, a drink of water, her monkey, her babies, a book, a kiss, a hug, a kiss & hug from whatever parent isn't putting her to bed (although we have already both kissed/hugged her), her fan on, a wipey, etc. But overall, she is doing great with the bed and feels like a big girl when she wakes up and comes out to the living room on her own in the morning. It definitely makes for a more pleasant morning for all of us when compared to crying to have someone come get her.

On the potty training front, we thought we had made a lot of progress. We even bought a package of pull-ups this weekend instead of diapers. Unfortunately, that must've been our mistake. She reverted a bit this weekend but we'll get back on that horse......uh, potty, and just keep trying!

A new look!

Ok, I finally figured out how to upgrade to the new version of blogger (thought I already had, but apparently not) so I gave us a new look! I'm still working on figuring out some of the other fun tools (slideshows, etc) and will try to get an update soon. Meanwhile, enjoy the new and improved Harvey family blog!

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year with our friends and neighbors this year and had a great time! Brenna got to play with some little friends and was so wired, she actually made it to midnight again. She wasn't a big fan of the horns and noise that came along with midnight, and not long after, she was ready for bed. Mom and dad continued to have fun though and were thankful that we could avoid being out on the roads that night - just a walk next door and we were home. We are looking forward to a fun year and have resolved to get more organized in all rooms of our house and I am really looking forward to that. Hopefully we can decorate them while we are at it - after all, 5 years in a house should be enough time to paint and decorate don't you think?

Happy and healthy new year to all the bloggers (and blog readers) out there!

The most wonderful time of the year

I think that Christmas time is the most wonderful time of the year - hectic, yes - but really just wonderful! We had a great Christmas this year and got to spend some great family time with each side of the family and even see some friends!

The holiday really got started on Saturday morning. We had our own Christmas at our house before heading up the mountain to Show Low. Brenna was very excited to see that Santa had eaten the cookies/milk that we left out and that he left her some gifts. The first words out of her mouth were "Thank you Santa!" it was adorable. We proceeded to open the gifts and then got packed up and headed out. We arrived at Grandma and Papaw Pearson's house and spend the afternoon making cookies and decorating the small tree planted just for Brenna out in the front yard. That night, Aunt Jamie and Uncle Josh arrived and we enjoyed dinner and some games with them. The next morning, we headed over to Grandma and Pepaw Harvey's house. We had quite the adventure as we went out into the woods to cut down a Christmas tree! We all had some new snow boots to wear (we didn't have any living in the desert) and it made the trip that much more exciting. In fact, the boots were such a hit for Brenna, that was all she wore the entire weekend. It was the first time cutting a tree for Brenna and me - although it was cold, it was fun. We found a good one, cut it down, had some lunch and then headed back home. The next day we visited our friends Mark and then the Penrod family. We went back home and watched some movies, and painted cookies. Brenna didn't make the most attractive cookies, but she had a blast! That night (Christmas Eve) we enjoyed a great meal and then heard the sleigh bells and sure enough, Santa had come. Brenna said "thank you Santa" after seeing each gift and really seemed to enjoy watching everyone else open gifts too. After gifts, she conked out fast, but the adults stayed up and watched more movies. Early the next morning, we loaded up and headed back to the Pearson house. We opened more presents (Santa found us 3 times!) with the family and played the rest of the day. Brenna even got to practice cooking now that she had a new kitchen! It was nice and relaxing to hang out and play with new toys. That night, we drove around the town to look at all the pretty lights on houses and in the city park. Wednesday we made the trip back home, stopping for a visit with Grandad and Aunt Sandy (and some great Globe mexican food). Then it was back to our regularly scheduled programming of work and daycare. We had a very magical Christmas seeing things through the eyes of our baby and loved every minute of it! Stay tuned for tales from new years eve.