Baby Harrison

On Thursday, Jessica had her first baby! Parker Conrad Harrison was born at 6:59pm weighing 7lbs 11oz. Parker is a name that Jess and Ken liked and Conrad is Ken's middle name. I'm not sure who came up with the Harrison part though. We've been expecting him for the past few weeks. Thursday morning she went to visit the doctor and he decided that the baby was coming out then. He sent her to the hospital around 12pm that day to start the fun. Marie and I were getting updates about every 1-2 hours and my dad called a little after 7pm to let us know our little buddy arrived. Everything went very well and there were no complications. Jess and Ken are safely back home with Parker. Here are some photos just after the birth.

A close second for highlight of the week was Marie establishing her domination in Board Games. So far she is undefeated in head to head match up with me in Monopoly, Life, Battleship and Jenga. Battleship was close, but all the others have been pretty significant victories. The more I try to win, the deeper hole I get myself in.

Not to neglect our little guy, Taylor has been doing very well too. He's been going on walks with us around Birkdale Village and being very good. He lets people pet him and hasn't barked or run after the other dogs. Taylor's newfound behavior is probably a direct result of being seperated from Deucey, Lexi and Spencer. Those dogs are the real troublemakers.

We'll be in Indianapolis in February to visit the newest member of the family. Before then, Amy Martin is coming to visit! Both events will definitely be blog-worthy.

Random Week

Okay. So this week really doesn't have much of a theme. Marie and I just ran around and did a bunch of fun stuff. My sister is about 11 months pregnant and literally going to have her first child any day now. I'm looking forward to being an Uncle to an actual person and not just a dog. When that happens, you'll get a good blog entry. Until then you're stuck with just Marie and I.

Last Sunday we traveled to Durham, NC to go watch the Duke Blue Devils play at Cameron Indoor Stadium. We drove to Chapel Hill and had lunch, then spent the day in Durham walking around the campus. Duke's campus is really nice and looks expensive. Cameron Indoor Stadium is surprisingly small though (Capacity is just over 9000 compared to IU's 17500). Duke is one of the top programs in the country and they have been known to be a tough place to play a game. It reminded me of an Indiana high school game with the vintage arena, ethusiastic crowd, and a court full of white kids doing lay ups.

We also hit up the Bowling Alley with a few friends of ours. There is an alley just a few minutes from where we live. We hadn't bowled in a while and were embarrassed to say that we were sore afterwards. I think everyone else was a little more sore than I was since I posted a 192 for my second game. I knew getting my butt kicked by my dad in bowling all those years would finally pay off.

Marie and I also went and saw a movie on Sunday. We went to go see "Marley & Me". It was fairly predictable, but still a funny movie and easy to enjoy. I would rank it somewhere in between the other canine classics "Turner & Hooch" and "Old Yeller".

This week also marked the official "gear up" for LOST season 5. We have been watching the previews and finishing up Season 4 (again). I've probably incorporated LOST into every conversation I've had this week. Speaking of which, go to abc.com and watch the previews.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=index

Alright, that's all for now. By the next post Baby Harrison won't be able to use the "I'm not born yet" excuse for why he isn't reading the blog.

- Jay, Marie & Taylor

Charlie

Ok so since Jay and I skipped two weeks of blogging for the holidays I thought we should add an extra update. Well I guess this won't really be an update but more informative about what my typical day with Charlie is like.

I arrive at the Stubbs' house anywhere between 7 and 8:30 depending on when they need me that day. Charlie is usually in his high chair chowing down on pancakes, this is his usual breakfast. This kid loves his carbs, he won't eat any fruits and the only vegetables he will eat are broccoli and cauliflower. The rest of the morning I follow him around as he pulls ALL of his toys out and plays with each of them for 5 seconds. He would much rather play with my phone or coffee cup.

He then naps from 9 to 10 typically. After he gets up and out of his pajamas he eats again. This time I feed him yogurt (usually plain or vanilla because he doesn't like fruit) and regular cheerios. On Wednesday we go to his Music Together class at this time. If you are like I was and have never heard of this class it is where moms bring their toddlers and a leader plays songs and the kids just run around with instruments or colored scarves. It is still very bazaar to me but Charlie seems to really enjoy it.

After that, you guessed it, he eats again. This is where I try to make sure he gets some protein and vegetables. He is pretty good about eating deli turkey, cheese, veggie burgers, chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, rotisserie chicken and broccoli. I have so far managed to combine these in different ways but this is a huge change from the Madden children. They would eat ANYTHING I decided to throw together.

By the time Charlie finishes lunch and I get everything put away he is tired again. I usually put him down around 1 and he will sleep until 2 or 2:30. This is when I try to clean up his toys because after his nap we listen to music or read books so that the place is not a mess for his parents when they come home.

Charlie is a very happy boy as you can see from the pictures. If you look close at his smile you can see his 7 and 10 upper incisors came in before the middle 8 and 9. I think it is cute!

So anyway, I will keep you updated as this coming year will hold a lot of changes for Charlie as he begins to speak, tries new foods and gets to know his new nanny better.