Cole Harrison

Our sweet new baby has arrived...

Cole Harrison Dieckert
November 8, 2010
7:57pm
9 pounds, 3 ounces
22 1/2 inches




Yes, it was already almost a week ago. Yes, I know Graham had at least seven days worth of blog posts at this point. And sweet Evan had at least one picture circulated to all of the family members. But when it comes down to it, I have spent every free moment just staring and snuggling with this sweet new baby that has finally joined our family, and I don't regret it a bit!

Soccer boys

Our minivan is now content in it's role as our family vehicle these days. I swear the first time it was loaded up with soccer balls, juice boxes, and three of my favorite boys in their red jerseys, it sighed a happy, contented sigh. Kind of like the tree in The Giving Tree.

So come Saturday morning, we load up the ol' van and head to the soccer field. Grady is coaching Graham's little U-6 team, on which he is the second youngest player. Grady would have me tell you that their record is currently 4-1... in a league where no one keeps scores... or come to think of it, maybe I am the only one who never knows what the score is. Hmmm, I'll have to think about this. Anyways. All of the kids are really improving and seem to be having a great time. Grady comes across the field after the games, all smiles, really excited about how well the team is doing. Graham is, of course, my favorite thing to watch at the games. He is starting to look less shell shocked at all of the commotion and kids running towards the ball, and is actually beginning to sprint towards (instead of away from) the ball. I think he is disappointed that he hasn't scored a goal yet, but he is all smiles from the beginning to the end of the game.

Or at least I think so... if you can imagine sitting next to this and trying to follow any of the action on the field each week:

At first Evan really considered himself to be part of the team, insisting that he have a red soccer jersey, "cleats" and soccer socks. Now he is content to sit in the chair next to me, eat snacks and play games on my iPhone. But the second the whistle blows at the end of the game, he takes off for "Coach Gwady," as Evan refers to his father while in soccer regalia. This is possibly my favorite part of each game.

Grady realizes that Ev is trying to get his attention as he tries to get 11 squirmy soccer players to line up and shake the other teams hands. "Coach Gwady, Coach Gwady..."

And then scoops up the sweetest two year old around and leads his team towards the other team!

This kid.

This kid makes me smile all day long. Seriously. Even tonight, after an hour of trying to get him to go to sleep, we came downstairs, and he learned this.

For weeks, he has been saying, "P-M-O-P. That spells my name." And then defending that his name was in fact spelled that way.

But tonight he finally caught on. Make sure you turn up the volume so you can hear him!

Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy

When people ask me how the boys are, I always answer, "Busy." I don't think the realize how truthful (and kind) I am being. Case in point.

While I was making dinner tonight, I heard these sweet giggles coming from the living room.

But really they were breaking rules I didn't even know I had to state.

Where should I even begin??

• "Don't put the beanbag on the coffee table."
• "Don't sit on the beanbag if it is on the coffee table or any table for that matter."
• "If you convince your little brother to get on said beanbag on said coffee table, please make sure and hold onto him so he doesn't fall off."

It's raining, it's pouring!

We've been looking for rain for a while now, and it finally arrived! The boys were so excited to get out their raincoats and go play for a while!

"Mine, all mine"

As I walked around the corner into the living room recently, I walked straight into this picture.

When I gasped and asked Evan what he was doing, he started rolling around repeating, "Mine, all mine. Mine, all mine."

And of course, when he was done, he needed a drink of milk.

Summer fun and a growing belly

We are living up the spring weather these days... it is a shame it is almost time for the summer heat to begin!

And when you ask Evan to smile, this is what you get these days. Notice the nice censorship job he did in the chair.

And here is the new baby at 15 weeks. After a Mexican food lunch. Graham took the picture after I refused to give him more pears until he did so... so you could say that it was probably better that you don't see my face scowling at him...

Best Friends

This is Tim.

Well, actually this is Graham and Tim being Graham and Tim.

If you have talked to Graham in the past few months, you have probably heard about Legos. And Tim. But definitely Legos.

Tim is Graham's best friend, and I am pretty sure the feeling is mutual. Tim also comes with a twin brother, Sam, and although I have actually seen Graham run past Sam with acknowledging him just to get to Tim, I know Sam is part of the reason Graham loves these boys so much.

I can always be assured that if Sam and Tim are there, both of my boys will be exhausted when we get home and probably for the next day as well. The four of them (as they are so sweet to include Evan in all of their adventures) go from the minute we get out of the car until it is time to head home. It is pure boy heaven.

And it is a good think I like their mom a little, too.

And this is sweet Evan P at the children's museum putting on "boots like Daddy."

Spring in the strawberry patch

One of my favorite parts of springtime here is the strawberry patch just a few minutes down the road. There is nothing quite like eating the warm strawberries right off of the plant.

I think my favorite part is watching Grady smile every time he finds another perfect strawberry. the boys and I work quickly for quantity, while Grady wanders through a few rows looking for the most glorious specimens of strawberry goodness he can find.

money well spent...

The boys have been lusting after a baby pool for a while now. And after the hot spell we had a few weeks ago, I had to give in. Probably the best ten bucks I will spend all summer!

And look at this sweet, cold face when the sun started fading!

Did I mention we have a four year old now?

Graham B turned four a few weeks ago. Four. We didn't go through terrible twos with him. We blew right through the threes with a smile. And then we hit four. And I just don't know where this new attitude has come from. He is no longer the very pliable baby of the past few years. But he has opinions. And wants. And a desperate whiny voice.

But he is still our sweet Graham. He is starting to get excited about the new baby, loving on me and my baby belly a couple of times of day. He protects Evan with the fierceness of a lion... don't even let Ev look at the street or Graham will tackle him into the grass. He's helpful and caring and full of energy. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful kid in our lives!

at least he followed the directions...

Yesterday, after the boys got soaked playing in the yard, I told them they had to have at least underwear and shorts on if they were going to keep playing outside.

Evan did just as I asked.

I need to learn to be more specific.

Cherry Blossom Festival

We moved to the east coast in 2004 (has it been six years, already??), and every year since, we have tried to go to see the cherry blossoms in DC. And every year, something has been in the way. You know, things like Graham being born, or Grady being overseas. Little things.

But the stars aligned this year, and we were able to make the trip up. Apparently, however, the stars aligned for everyone else in America as well, and the place was mobbed. (Of course we didn't consider this when planning the trip!) Regardless, we had a great time.

I guess we've kind of started a tradition of taking a long weekend trip with just Grady, the kids and I in the spring and fall, and I'm really loving it. We spend so much of our vacations traveling back home to reconnect with grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, it is nice to take a few days and just reconnect with each other. So we go. We eat good food at kid-friendly places. We visit something we've had on our list for a while. And although it is usually only a three day trip, it takes me two weeks to get the bags unpacked and the car unloaded...

We started our weekend at the Air and Space Museum. Graham has been interested in space ships and Star Wars and the such for a while now, and since it was the weekend before his birthday we billed it as part of his birthday celebration. We didn't expect both boys to be so excited. In some ways Evan is so grown up, but in others we still think he might act a little like the one-year-old that he is.

And look at that spike hair. He is constantly putting things in his hair as we get ready in the morning. You know, things like hand lotion, tooth paste, face wash. Anything he can get his grubby little hands on. So this day, we just fixed the greasy, lotioned hair... and he was so proud, looking in the mirror every chance he got!

After a wholesome McDonalds lunch (I told you we eat good on our trips!), we headed outside to the blossoms. As you can see, the boys could hardly contain their excitement.

And they were so excited that we took them out of the stroller and drug them through the crowds to the water. (And yep, Ev still fits, and sleeps, in the sling. The thing is worth it's weight in gold!)

We also headed out to Dulles Airport to the other Air and Space Museum the next day, and if you haven't gone, you should. It is great! So great that I took one whole picture the whole time we were there.


And that was that. On the way home we had to stop and pick up birthday surprise balloons for Graham, but we wanted them to stay a surprise. So while Grady brought them out the the car and stowed them in the back, Graham wore this:

And after his mother's heart, he did it happily so he could have a surprise the next day!

Really, it's been four months??

I was shocked when I uploaded the pictures from the camera and found that I hadn't done it since NOVEMBER. Really? Time is flying right now. Seriously though. I can't even remember what we've done since then. So we'll just skip December through March. We celebrated. We skiied. We visited with plenty of friends. And now we're here.

Technically speaking

We've had some technical difficulties around here lately, and by technical, I mean as both "technical problems with the computer" and that I am "technically lazy." So before I flit off to bed (by way of folding the giant pile of laundry "resting" on my bed), here are some pics of our trip last week (or maybe the week before, but who's counting??)

I think (and hope) that this is one of the ways I will always remember Graham at this age.

At the end of our first hike with the boys. Graham's legs got tired so he stopped walking. Completely stopped. So poor Evan got evicted from the super baby carrier, and back into the [best thing in the world, but not ideal for hiking] sling. Next time, we won't go look for a waterfall in the freezing rain. Rookie mistake.

Each night of vacation ends with ice cream. Always. And Graham reminds us throughout the day that we will have ice cream for dessert. This is a rule.

I'll be back soon with more, I promise.

Happy Halloween!

We are pretty safe around here... especially with two SUPERheros in our house. We've had these costumes for a few weeks, and they are almost worn out!

I have to say, I'm not really into the whole scary Halloween business, but I do love seeing all of these kids dressed up.

Evy runs around singing, "Nananananananana, Batman!" And whenever someone says Batman, even if he isn't in uniform, he looks down and points to his shirt where the bat sign should be.

And watching Graham (and all of his sweet little friends) using their imaginations! I don't know where he has picked it up (because obviously he hasn't seen the spiderman movies at this point), but Graham shoots "webs" out of his hands and runs around the house protecting us. I love it!!


Yes, I also think that the Spiderman mask looks like something someone might wear to rob a bank, and I assure you that the mask is going to disappear by the end of the weekend!

Two pictures I have finally caught on "film"

I have been trying to get a picture of Graham actually smiling for weeks now. Not his cheesy smile, or his "photo" smile (which is really more like a smirk), but his joyful, loving life as a three year old smile.
And Evan P. He leads everything with his eyes, and it makes his face just a great thing to watch. Oh, I love these eyebrows!!

Evan's funny dance

This video will make you laugh... or at least it makes me laugh every time I watch it!

Fall Fun

We headed out the the pumpkin patch on Saturday and as you can see from the pictures, the boys we're a bit out of sorts. It was a beautiful crisp fall day, and I had a hot cup of coffee in my hands, so it really couldn't have been much better.

I promise, Thursday will be the beginning of the alphabet...

Well, I'm already failing...

I went to check my e-mail this morning about a play date that we have today, and when the computer screen lit up, I realized that I had stopped my A post for yesterday, and the boys never napped, so I never got back to it. Hmmmpf. Already behind.

Being already behind, I figure I'll just put some pictures up to take up space. Funny thing. Although I have just committed to getting back into blogging, I have find myself daydreaming about what to write about next...

Back to the play date we have today. Not only am I excited because I adore the ladies who will be there and all of their kids (which is not always the case, indeed), but it is also an impromptu birthday party. Graham loves birthday parties. The sweet sugar deprived child loves any excuse for cake and maybe a little ice cream. We talked about it for most of the day yesterday, and on into the night. It was even the last thing he asked about.

G: "Momma, can I wear my skeleton socks to the birthday party tomorrow?"
M: "Of course. It's time to go to sleep. Good night. I love you."
G: "I will wear my skeleton socks. Does Evan have skeleton socks?"
M: "Nope, only you. It's time to go to sleep. Good night. I love you."
G: "It's ok if Evan doesn't have skeleton socks. Maybe he could just wear clear socks. But he can't wear red socks. No red socks at the party."
Clear socks?? No red socks at the party? Apparently I have missed some of the mores regarding childrens birthday parties.

Back to today. Birthday party day. Graham woke before everyone else. Ran to sleeping Evan's room, opened the door, peeked in and said something, slammed the door, and ran into our room and said (in a stage whisper), "Mom, it is birthday party today, and I'm wearing skeleton socks! And Evan is looking for you because he is awake."

I love my kids. And now it is after bedtime, and I am finally posting yesterdays post, breaking all of my own rules. And here's some pictures of the boys to win you over. Graham is wearing his skeleton socks above. He also decided that he needed to wear his (blue) sandals with said socks. As one of my friends said, "He just needs a metal detector or something."

And Evan just wanted in on the picture taking.