rainbows

it was refreshing to my soul to look outside during dinner last week and notice this beautiful sight.
i didn't realize until seeing this that double rainbows are a mirror image of themselves. 

{nine months}

  9 months you have been with us, physically with us. you have now been in our home, in all your beautiful baby form, longer than i carried you inside of me. for 9 months now we have watched you grow. your legs have gotten longer and stronger, your hands and fingers went from mere appendages to controlled parts of your body, able to grasp, and grab and pick up anything and everything. most of what you handle goes straight to your mouth. your beautiful mouth that covers your 6 little teeth. teeth that were lurking under your gums. teeth that formed when you were still inside of me, just hidden, tucked away for later.  you are growing. your hair. your fine wispy, slightly red hair is getting longer. measuring time, like a calender on your little head. you lost pretty much all of the hair you grew inside of me. i remember finding tufts of it on your mattress every morning and wondering to myself where all the dog hair was coming from. only after you were almost bald did it finally dawn on me that these tufts were your baby hair. but this new hair. this soft as silk hair, is all yours. hair that you have grown in our home. i can't wait to put it in barrettes and braids and little buns. but what has grown more than anything my little pips is your understanding. your ability to comprehend your world. the other night i was giving you a bath. beatrix was already finished with hers and so i found myself sitting and just watching you. it was the first time you got down on your tummy in the tub and you looked right at me and then you put your face in the water. you quickly jerked your head out and took a gulp of air. then you smiled and did it again. and again. and again. 5 times you put your face in the water. you knew what would happen each time you did it. you are a risk taker. fearless. 

i sense that about you already. things i get to see because you are here. in our home. 

i love watching you grow. 

the days ,and nights especially, still seem to crawl by...drag some days even. 

but the months...well the months are flying. 

shooting by. 

 i loved watching my belly grow, knowing you were inside of me. 

feeling the heaviness and knowing it was because you were getting bigger. 

but this. 

this growing on the outside. 

it is by far the best. 

i am so thankful for you penelope surprise. 

happy 9 months pipi darling

orange chair {a series}

if you let one in...

...you inevitably let more into your house, right? 

one of micah's birthday presents was a book. the special thing about this particular book was that it was written by our friend ashlea's friend, josh. josh wrote a book on south florida snakes for part of his master's program. not only did she give micah a signed copy of the book, but she also included the following letter.  

Micah Patrick Harrison:

This entitles you to meet the author.

You will get to spend time with a guy

who watched Jeff Corwin when 

he was your age...

Now he is a researcher and 

spends his life hanging out 

with reptiles in the wild.

I hope that this inspires

you to chase your dreams

 and follow your heart!

Love you, buddy!

-Ashlea

So a few weeks after his birthday ashlea coordinated with Josh and his wife to come to our house for dinner. i thought it was going to just be that, but Josh came prepared with all sorts of curious creatures!

he brought a turtle named number two.

 he brought a pine snake,

  that even beatrix wanted to touch! 

 and he brought a pigmy boa constrictor. 

seriously jeff, look what you have invited into my house! 

 micah asked question after question and josh was so patient and kind and did his best to explain everything. he never once talked down to micah. he made micah feel intelligent and he encouraged his curiosity. josh really did inspire him. i kept looking at josh and thinking to myself, this really could be micah some day. i'm not sure if micah's passion will be with snakes, but i could visualize my son one day in the future sharing his wealth of knowledge with another excited kid. it was a beautiful thing to witness. 

we had a great dinner and wonderful conversation. 

it was a special special birthday gift. 

one that was pretty much free, just extremely thoughtful and perfect for micah. 

 thank you ashlea. 

thank you for knowing our kids and for encouraging them to explore, to create and to dream big. 

a word from beebs

beatrix - daddy! na nock

matt- who's there?

bea- o-ange

matt- orange who

bea - o-ange pees and poo poos and goes do do! 

micah, beatrix and matt dissolve in to full blown laughter. 

her ability to talk is increasing every day, it's mostly bathroom type words. 

she finds them ab.so.lute.ly hilarious.