Easter dresses past

Growing up, my mom made many of my sister's and my dresses. Currently, several of the ones she made for us as babies and toddlers are hanging in Charlotte's closet waiting for her to be big enough to wear. For Charlotte's first Easter, Mom made her a dress all her own. How precious is that little poof of purple? I just want to eat her up like an Easter Peep.

But I digress. Her dress made me think back on all of the Easter dresses and many others that I wore growing up. Here are just a small percentage of the dresses Mom has made us for various occasions over the years.

There was always lace — lots of lace. Even our tights were lacy, and Courtney and I often stripped them off in the car after church, unable to take one more moment in that itchy, lacy prison.

Another key accessory — the bow. The bigger, the better it seems. And, in dresses such as these, the curtsey pose is a must.

This one always sticks out in my memory. I thought the lace sleeves were extremely sophisticated for a fourth grader such as myself. But the real winner here is Courtney's dress. The Victorian collar, the broach! Nothing can compete with that. 

Remember in Anne of Green Gables how Anne Shirley so desperately wanted puff sleeves? Well, Anne would have died to have this dress and its incredible puff sleeves.

I feel like this was near the end for me and the handmade Easter dress. By about the sixth grade I requested a store-bought one, but not before Mom made us these coordinating linen dresses. The turkey decoys are just an added bonus because what woman doesn't want to be flanked by her daughters and fake turkeys on Mother's Day?

Elsewhere on the blog: The awesome Pink Power Ranger costume my mom made

Hello again

Whoopsy daisy. Looks like I took a bit of a break from blogging. It wasn't because I didn't have much going on. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I had too much happening and not enough time, energy or motivation, really, to blog it. But I plan on resolving that posthaste.

So, allow me to catch you up with what's been happening.

When last we spoke, I was pretty pregnant. There is no photographic evidence of this, which is no accident. I felt so cow-like this time around, I didn't want any photos taken. I kind of regret that now, especially for Charlotte's sake. If ever she wants to know what I looked like pregnant with her, she'll just have to picture my face on a blimp. That's pretty accurate.

However, it's too late for pregnancy pictures now because in October, the little lady arrived.

Our family went from three to four with the birth of sweet Charlotte. And life is grand.

We're slowly figuring out this "two kids" business and loving watching them get to know each other.

We've also celebrated seven years of marriage ...

... and Christmas.

Poor Preston got sick in the midst of all that.

And suddenly two months had passed. (More on that later. I can't drop the ball on doing monthly updates on Charlotte like I did with Preston. Then she'd really have a second child complex.)

Things are wonderful, busy and a little more spit-up covered, but we're so happy and slightly sleepy. It's a good little life we're living.

Fourth in four

While last year's Fourth of July consisted of moving and boxes and more boxes and boxes within those boxes, this Fourth was a lot less cardboard heavy and a lot more kick your feet up and eat some more. I will always prefer the latter. Here's what we were up to in Instagrams.

1. While bomb popsicles are definitely marketed to a younger crowd, I was the one who requested them for the weekend. (Really, I passed it off on baby girl. She's quite demanding.) They were the perfect accompaniment to sitting outside (With highs in the 80s, it was heavenly!) and watching Preston splash in the wading pool his Gran got him. Preston was hooked at first bite, but a little confused by the word popsicle. After he finished his bite, he said, "Oh! Ice cream!" Now we were speaking his language!

2. We kept Preston up way past his 8:15 bedtime to venture to the next town over for their fireworks show that Friday night. The noise and the lights frightened him a bit, so he and my mother-in-law watched from inside the car. (Once again, when on any other Fourth of July in recent memory could you sit in a turned off car and not pass out from heatstroke two minutes in?) Afterward, Preston said the fireworks were "Too bright!" and "Too loud!" but "Better in car."

3. We capped off Saturday by roasting the biggest marshmallows you've ever seen for s'mores. From the moment we got to Scott's mom's Thursday night to the time we left Sunday afternoon, I was never hungry. I ate, but it was never because my stomach growled and let me know I was running on empty. I mean, you've got to try at least one rib fresh out of the smoker, even if it's 11 p.m., right?

4. Since we were outside most of the weekend, it was obvious that the Rhino would make an appearance. Preston loved it, but you couldn't tell by his face. He took it all very seriously with the little crease between his eyebrows present for the entirety of his ride. Scott let him sit in his lap and "steer" while they made slow loops around the yard, and I thought after that we'd never get either one of them back inside.

Lots to celebrate

Birthdays, hoodings, graduations — oh my! We had a very busy couple of days this past weekend as we traveled to Nashville to celebrate my sister's graduation from pharmacy school as well as Preston's second birthday, which means we not only had a lot to celebrate, but also a lot to photograph, so please excuse the overabundance of pictures.

On Friday, after we had gone to Courtney's hooding ceremony and Preston had taken a very lengthy nap, we celebrated our boy turning two (even though it feels like we just brought him home). He woke up to find a giant Elmo balloon waiting for him, and I'm pretty sure he would've been happy with just that. But he also got a couple of things from my parents and sister. He was elated when he opened the little computer my parents got him, but the biggest hit was probably his own little set of golf clubs. When Mom brought them out, he shouted, "Golf!" and the rest of the afternoon was spent hitting and chasing the plastic golfballs all over the house.

After dinner, it was time for cake — a super blue Cookie Monster cake to be exact — and Bubble Guppies masks. The cake left us all extremely blue in the mouth region, so it was best that it was shared among family only. I was very proud of Preston for actually taking a bite of the cake, even though I think the blue icing frightened him a bit. It's a huge step from where he was this time last year.

Saturday was graduation day, and in addition to the ceremony itself, Mom and Dad had planned a party at their house afterward with most of our family and friends coming for both. We had quite the cheering section for Courtney as she crossed the stage. We were just a few rows back from where she crossed to return to her seat. When Preston saw her, he shouted, "Hi, Coco! I watched you on the steps!" Since most of the arena was quiet so that each person's name could be heard when called, he was heard by everyone in our general area and got a laugh out of them.

Let me just take a minute to brag on my sister. While she was in school these past four years working to get to this point, she's really been working much longer than just her time in pharmacy school. She has been determined to do her best for as long as I've known her, and all of that determination paid off. I'm so proud of my sister, Dr. Courtney Harris.

Back at my parents' house, we ate lunch and celebrated the new doctor and new two year old. Courtney's cake congratulated her "Breaking Bad" style. After lunch, Everyone ended up outside while Preston and others tested out his collection of bubbles that my grandmother gave him for his birthday. We were all a little pollen- and bubble solution-covered when we came back inside.

It was wonderful to spend time with family and celebrate these two occasions!

It was even better to take a nap afterward.

Easter 2014

I hope you had a very happy Easter weekend! I was able to snap a few pictures of Preston hunting eggs after church. Getting pictures of him has gotten increasingly difficult for me because he wants to come and grab my camera from me and point it around saying "Cheese! Cheese!" So the eggs were a good distraction — and a big hit, too! When we walked out the front door, he squeezed his little fists together in excitement and squealed, "Ay-ggs!" He kept shouting that to Scott, "Daddy! Eggs!" And while he understood the concept of finding the eggs, he didn't get the "put them in your basket" part. He would just pick them up and set them back down.

We were also able to celebrate a huge milestone in Preston's eating this weekend. I put some Annie's graham bunnies in Preston's Easter basket, and with much cheering and fist pumping, he actually ate them — chewing, swallowing and even asking for more! He's making such progress with therapy, and Scott and I were so proud of him. It was an Easter miracle!

I'm always a little sad that, because of Scott's job and how busy this weekend for the university, we're never able to visit family and have to stay in town. But, over the years, I've come to enjoy a holiday that's just ours. We get to make some new traditions and memories while carrying over pieces from our past. I always make my mom's hash brown casserole because it has always been a staple on Easter Sunday for as long as I can remember. And watching Preston hunt eggs was a fun first that I look forward to doing in years to come.

I loved the day with our little family and look forward to many more Easters that we can make our own.

P.S. I just had to include this picture. Scott was coaching Preston to pose by leaning against the tree, and this was Preston's translation.

How we spent our snow days

We were gifted an extra long weekend thanks to Sunday night's ice storm. I was most excited to get the phone call that campus was closed early in the evening so I could stay up late watching the Oscars (11 is very late for me) and not feel like morning Jennifer was going to hate me later.

Sure, there were things that needed to be done around the house and, with those two extra days off, we could've been very productive people. But Preston had been sick over the weekend, so he was still recovering from that. And I would much rather stay in my pajamas watching Netflix cuddling a sickly boy than any other "productive" activity. That's the true gift right there.

Preston has been stuck on his sunglasses for a little while now, and he started requesting the pairing of "gasses" and hat for around the house. Sometimes the glasses end up on his belly. March to your own drummer, little man.

Poor Scott had to venture out briefly on Monday, so Preston and I colored and worked on color recognition. I was completely surprised when he was able to name most of the colors he saw, something he'd been working on with his sitter. Anything with stickers is a hit with him, so he enjoyed it. Most of the stickers ended up on his face or my hand toward the end.

Thanks to Netflix, I was able to introduce Preston to the wonderful world of Disney and the word "movie." He was enrapt in "Lilo and Stitch," especially the musical stylings of Elvis, doing the finger guns dance he learned from Aunt Coco. (Please note the Guy Fieri-way of wearing his sunglasses he's sporting here.) I hadn't seen him sit still for that long in quite sometime. Later, Scott and I took advantage of nap time and watched some "House of Cards" (we're up to episode 6 in season 2).

While I'm incredibly ready for much warmer temperatures and much less ice, I was thankful for the days off and the time we got to spend together. Pajamas are always preferable to work attire.

Gingerbread house building ... and destroying

One of the nights we were at my parents' for Christmas, we gathered around the table to decorate gingerbread houses. I mean, is there anything more quintessentially Christmasy than that? And, as my family is known to do, it quickly turned into a competition between Scott, Courtney, and my dad. Preston was more interested in taste-testing than competing. 

It was interesting to see each person's take on decorating. Preston opted for the place and clap approach. Dad slathered his house in almost an inch of icing ("It's a snowy chapel!"), while Courtney incorporated a candy straw roof and peppermint walkway. Scott hoarded all of the candy wreathes for his windows and used M&Ms as shingles (they ended up sagging, much to his dismay).

Each accused the other of stealing key design elements (they were worse than the designers in the workroom on "Project Runway"). More than one time did Scott throw in the towel only to rally back, claiming he was back in the lead (his orange slice awning was pretty impressive).

Once they were all finished, though, we wondered what to do with them. In true, Southern tradition, we decided the best way to see them off was with firecrackers. So, we took them to my grandmother's where my uncle has plenty of ammo to choose from and set aside time one afternoon for their demolition. 

Not only did decorating the houses bring us together, but destroying them did, too!

Gingerbread demolition from Jennifer Hannigan on Vimeo.

Christmas 2013

Christmas Eve in our new Christmas pjs

My favorite part about the holidays is remembering the years prior while in the midst of making new memories to look back on later. This year didn't lack old memories or new ones.

Saturday when we got in, we had our traditional holiday dinner with our longtime family friends. In the midst of banana-less banana pudding and catching up, we monitored the tornado warnings in the area. I can remember white Christmases but never one with tornados. Luckily nothing came of the warnings, only jokes at my expense because I'm jumpy at the mention of tornados.

Sunday night after church, we drove Preston to a nearby house that went National Lampoon-style on their Christmas lights. We pulled over to take in the waving Santa and illuminated Christmas Elmo while Preston ooh-ed over them.

Christmas lights galore/checking out the lights/playing with Charlie Brown

Shopping selfie/coloring while Daddy shops/Preston enjoyed J.Crew's mirror

Watching "A Muppet Christmas Carol"/stealing my cousin's iPod/this rocking chair was my great-grandmother's/Dad and the elusive toaster

We all sat around in the living room Christmas Eve eve watching "A Muppet Christmas Carol" while Mom wrapped her gag gift for my uncle (this year a camo-wearing, gun-toting Santa who would've fit in perfectly with the Duck Dynasty family). Courtney gave Dad his gift from her early because it would be difficult to take with us. It was a new toaster oven, but not just any toaster. Dad had particular specifications — the toaster needed a toast button. Courtney had scoured Amazon and other retailers, zooming in on photos of toasters in search of a toast button and was victorious in her seemingly fruitless quest. Dad was more engrossed in his toaster's owner's manual than the movie, and it lead to much discussion over how to properly toast an Eggo waffle. All the while Preston was sucking up to anyone with a smartphone or iPad, running up and hugging them, saying, "Hey!" while snatching it from their hands. He's addicted to Candy Crush, too.

Lots of card games were played. Few were won by me.

Preston helped set out cookies for Santa. He even helped eat a few.

Opening presents/smiling with Pops/Mimi's Christmas tree/posing with his new tricycle from my grandmother/he also got this cute name puzzle

The biggest highlight of Christmas though was on Christmas Day at my grandmother's when my 13- and 14-year-old cousins decided to get baptized. My family of 11 plus a few members from church whom my cousins had invited gathered in the quiet church and watched as they committed their lives to Christ. Scott led a few songs, and Daddy baptized them. It was amazing to me, watching these two girls who were just tiny babies seemingly days ago become my sisters in Christ.

Checking out the cows

My cousins, Katie and Lauren, with my mom and Preston

I hope your Christmas was just as memorable!

Thanksgiving, according to Instagram

I always have so much to be thankful for when this holiday rolls around, but I was especially thankful that I was able to have a whole week with my family due to "inclement weather" closing the university on Monday and Tuesday. We packed a lot in this week, mainly just relaxing and eating, but I didn't Instagram that. Here's what I did capture, though.

1. Soaking up the tree in all its glory
2. Preston got his first haircut right before we left town for Thanksgiving. We didn't do anything too drastic, and he handled the whole process very well.
3. Enjoying his tent from Gran. (We alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas between our two families, so we exchange gifts at Thanksgiving.)
4. Turkey Day = turkey bib
5. A mandatory family Thanksgiving photo
6. He was happy to be outside; I was happy he got one more wear out of the turkey hat I made him last year.
7. Cheesing it up coloring on the chalk table
8. A Throwback Thursday shot of little Scott. It's crazy how much Preston looks like him!
9. Preston helped make salt dough with Gran, but he wouldn't cooperate when it came time to make a handprint.



And here's a little video of Preston playing his drum with Scott. They had creative differences over who should be the drummer.

I'm so very thankful for my family and these times together!

Toes in the sand

We just got back from our family vacation to Florida, and we had a blast! While it wasn't Preston's first time on the trip, it was his first time to actually get to experience the beach. Last year, he was only 6 weeks old, so he spent his time in the room and only spent about 15 minutes at the beach one evening for pictures.

This year, accompanied by a small fleet of inflatables, Preston got to come down and enjoy the beach in the mornings. (He napped most of the afternoons away. The beach can be tiring!) He loved the pool and floating in the ocean with his daddy and grammy, as I expected of the child who cries when taken out of the bathtub. In an unexpected twist, though, he loved the sand, too! (This is also the child who cried because he had cake frosting on his hands for his cake smash pictures. I mean, who hates frosting but loves sand?)

^^^ Cool and shady in his inflatable pool at the beach.^^^

^^^ Sandy hands, sandy toes.^^^

^^^Flying high with daddy.^^^

In the sappiest of ways, it melted my heart to see Preston love the beach so much. Our family vacations to Florida are such a long running tradition — my mom and her parents went when she was a girl, and then my dad was added to the group, then my sister and me, and then Scott and now Preston — and I loved watching him take to it so well. And I look forward to getting to share more of these summer memories with him!