The Blogness Monster

New Contnent

2011-05-06T11:56:00.001-05:00

Brax has started walking a lot more, but mostly at other people’s homes. That might seem odd as most children don’t perform for strangers. In this situation, I think it’s a case of preference to teeter and fall on his butt where there is carpet to pad the fall. We have hard wood floors. This video was taken at the mall yesterday, where he decided he would walk despite some tile flooring. Brax

Getting to Know You- Again

2011-04-11T16:43:00.001-05:00

Interview with an ALMOST Three Year-Old from Cecilia Harvey on Vimeo. I realize it's been a super long time since I've updated. So long, in fact, that some might feel like we are strangers- which is why I'm posting videos of our kiddies. *please note: Bella actually does have a friend named Isabella, she wasn't saying she is her own best friend. Interview with an ALMOST Fifteen Month-old from

Thanks

2010-12-07T10:37:00.001-06:00

Another delayed post... Here are the things we are thankful for as a Harvey Family. I didn't actually take any pictures of our Thanksgiving festivities, so you get our thankfull-ness collages instead.

Halloween....I know it was a Long Time Ago

2010-11-22T21:50:00.000-06:00

I know. Halloween was almost a month ago. Here are the pictures of our little celebration here in Texas Dancing Spider Witch from Cecilia Harvey on Vimeo. I thought all babies just had an innate sense of rhythm and liked to move it! move it! because Bella has been doing so since she was old enough to wiggle to a beat. Now I'm thinking Bella has a penchant for dancing because Brax is ten

Video Time

2010-10-13T16:24:00.001-05:00

Bella Singing from Cecilia Harvey on Vimeo. When I read books to Bella that are written in verse I usually make up a tune and sing it to her instead of reading it to her (it would be appropriate to thank Heaven that you aren't around our house to witness this). Now Bella demands that I sing every book, whether it rhymes or not. Apparently she likes to do the same. Many of you Seuss-ologists out

Birthday Time!

2010-10-11T15:40:00.000-05:00

Ryan and Bella did a better job making and decoratinga birthday cake than I have been known to. Yum YumFunfetti! Since my birthday was on Sunday we didn'thave the option of dining out. Ryan made a fabulous chicken enchilada dinner. He's beenhiding his cooking skills. I got several generous contributions toward my DSLR plus some snickers (Bella chose them) and some really cute sandals. Thanks

Labor Day Continuted...

2010-09-19T17:30:00.001-05:00

I know we are long past labor day, but I thought some family members might enjoy some pictures of our day with the Darley side. I would especially like to thank Shay, Ellie, and Chloe for queuing up to hold Braxton all evening, thereby supplying him with an endless supply of human binkies. Those are my favorite pictures of the evening. Brax misses that.

Labor Day Weekend Excursion

2010-09-17T00:11:00.005-05:00

Brax and I had a Mommy-Son adventure on Labor Day. We left the hubby and first born behind to go to Utah, for an extremely important wedding, but in the down time while we weren't at the wedding, Brax got to meet all the family members he's heard about since birth. He took a shine to them pretty quick. We also got to meet the newest Stodd, Calvin Ryan (He's named after my hubby-- it's just a

It's About Videos

2010-08-16T16:25:00.000-05:00

Brax is busy learning to be mobile, and does the army crawl better than I can.These videos of him performing were really hard to come by because Bella has gained quite a talent for shielding Brax from the camera. Every time I hit record- even if Bella is all the way across the room- she somehow puts herself between me and my intended subject. These are the snippets I managed to capture

Birthday Boy Hubby

2010-07-12T13:08:00.004-05:00

Ryan just had his birthday and can now rent cars without paying extra for his youth! Yay! Here in Sugar Land we were having flash flood warnings and pouring rain all day (fall out from Hurricane Alex), but that didn't stop us from venturing to Red Robin for his birthday dinner.Bella was excited to see Jayhawk there (she thinks the Red Robin mascot is a Jayhawk- Ryan has brainwashed her) and had

Blessing Suit

2010-07-01T13:12:00.004-05:00

I know this is a little out dated (in proportion to Braxton's life span thus far, 1 month is a long time), but here is a belated picture of Brax in his baby blessing outfit. My mom made it for him and he was super cute in it. I would love to tell you that his blessing was amazing and inspiring, but the truth is that I couldn't hear much of it over Bella yelling, "What eee Daddy doeee?" over and

Nice to Meet You

2010-06-14T17:14:00.002-05:00

My Dad had a connecting flight here in Houston on his way to, and from, Ireland. On his way there we went to meet him at the airport, but his flight came late and he had to run to catch his next flight, so we didn't get to see him. Luckily he missed his original flight on his way back through and his new itinerary included a 3 hour layover here. Ryan was recovering from driving 40 hours in the

Memorial Day Memories

2010-06-01T14:07:00.006-05:00

Sad news: my sister broke her hip.Good news: she had to take 3 weeks off of work and got to go visit her mother-in-law, whom the couple hasn't seen since their wedding, almost a year ago.Good news: her mother-in-law lives in Texas, just 4.5 hours from Houston.Good news: her husband has a brother and sister-in-law who aren't opposed to near-strangers staying in their house, and they also live in

Brax's 4 month check up

2010-05-24T21:00:00.007-05:00

I realize that many of my posts are Bella-centered, so here's one for Braxton.Saturday was his 4 month birthday and today we had his checkup. The stats look like this:Weight: 12 lbs 11 oz (10th percentile)Height: 24.75 inches (50th percentile)Head: I don't remember (25th percentile)Brax started rolling from stomach to back the other day. He did it about ten times in a row. He is still the best

Graduation!

2010-05-20T12:41:00.007-05:00

It's official! We're just waiting for the diploma in the mail!Doesn't my hubby look sexy in his cap and gown?These are his classmates. Congratulations to them too.These are his biggest supportersSince the graduation ceremony was in Kansas not many people were able to do the 15 hour drive to get there. Me, Bella, Braxton and Ryan's parents were enough excitement though! Congrats Honey! Rock Chalk

Party Animals

2010-05-11T14:54:00.005-05:00

We did a small birthday party for Bella while we were in Kansas- small, as in just one friend- because Bella seems to get overwhelmed by lots of kids. Asher was not only her honorary guest at her 2nd birthday party, but he was also her first friend ever. When he started playing with Bella more than a year and a half ago he called her "Bubba" and tried to share his sippy cup with her. Now he

Terrific Twos

2010-05-10T16:59:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned in the last post, our little princess had a blast on her second birthday. Bella Chased Asher around, we went to Mass St. and had pizza (Bella eats it upside down), had dessert at Silas and Maddy's, and she had a shopping spree. The breakfast lady at the hotel had a surprise for her too. She put two candles in a cinnamon roll and sang happy birthday to her. I'll post party pictures

Houston Weather, Nummy, Nummy!

2010-05-02T16:42:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite parts about living here is the gorgeous weather. It's fabulous about 8 months of the year. We've been going to the pool almost every day and Bella is in heaven. She starts putting on her swimming suit at about 10:00 every morning without any prompting. I can't hold back my laughs when she puts her legs in the arm holes and gets the bottoms around her waist like a belt.

Recent Major Events

2010-05-02T16:01:00.006-05:00

I've been delaying this post because I don't have any pictures of it yet, but I'll do it anyway. First item of business- RYAN GRADUATED! He now asks that we all call him "Master of Public Administration." His favorite part about having his masters is... No more homework. My favorite part about him having his masters is... No more tuition. You are amazing honey! Congratulations Sweet Heart I am so

Easter Fun

2010-04-05T15:23:00.005-05:00

Egg Hunt 2010 from Cecilia Harvey on Vimeo.Bella's Easter egg hunt was much more successful this year than last. Braxton didn't participate much though since he can't even roll over yet, let alone go searching for plastic eggs. Anyway, we decided to put stickers in most of the eggs instead of candy. That was the best $1.99 investment we have ever made.Those stickers kept Bella quiet through the

Another Trick up her Sleeve

2010-04-05T15:14:00.003-05:00

Cartwheel Attempts from Cecilia Harvey on Vimeo.We showed Bella how to do Cartwheels. I think she lacks the upper body strength, and a couple other things. I'm confident she'll figure it out sometime in the next couple years.On another note: I've felt 10 times better than I thought I would recovering from a C-section, but every now and again I discover things that I can't really do anymore, like

2 Month Results for Braxton

2010-03-25T13:09:00.004-05:00

Monday was Braxton's 2 month birthday. He spent part of it at the doctor getting shots and measurements. Here is the final result.Weight: 10 lbs 11 oz (up 15% from his 2 week appointment. Now he's in the 25th percentile)Length: 22.1 in (25th percentile)Head: 38.4 cm (25th percentile)According to to the numbers, his height, weight and head circumference are very proportionate. Way to go Brax!

Put Me in the Zoo

2010-03-24T14:47:00.006-05:00

We took Brax to the zoo for the first time a couple weekends ago. I can't say he got much out of it, but Bella sure enjoyed it. This time she not only knew the animal sounds, but she did the accompanying animal dance too. Her favorites are the monkey and tiger.The carousel was still her favorite part. The cougar wasn't her first choice. She wanted the tiger, but an ambitious little boy with the

Interview with Bella

2010-03-19T22:02:00.004-05:00

I set up an interview with Bella for those of you who want to know how Bella is these days. It was hard to get her to stay still very long, so I hope you don't get motion sickness. Bella was working hard doing somersaults before I did this (see the previous video), as is evident by her messy pig-tails. Also, this video is like four minutes long, so get your popcorn ready and go to the bathroom

Gymnast Bella

2010-03-19T15:45:00.003-05:00

I got a book yesterday called The Toddler Busy Book. I find that I don't have enough ideas to keep this girl busy. The book suggested gymnastics. I had no idea she could do somersaults at this age.

Terrific Two

2010-03-19T14:22:00.003-05:00

These two have been almost nonstop cuteness. Bella loves her baby brother. She likes to help him hold a pencil and write his name (at least HER version of his name), and give him hugs and kisses. She can't go to sleep until she does.I've got more material coming, including videos, so check back!p.s. I realize those pictures are a bit small, so you might need to double click to see it up close.

Welcome Little Harvey #2!

2010-02-01T20:50:00.005-06:00

Braxton John Harvey is here and he has a name too! Little Harvey #2 went almost 3 days without it before we decided what to write on his birth certificate.As many of you know, I was scheduled for a C-section on Feb. 1 but on Jan. 22, at 3:30 a.m. (yes, in the morning) Braxton decided he'd had enough of the womb and he started to come out. It's a good thing we were planning on a C-section anyway

Do as I'm Doing...Almost

2010-01-12T09:58:00.004-06:00

We sang "Do as I'm Doing" for the closing song in FHE last night. Bella wasn't too concerned about doing what we were doing, as much as dancing. She had more fun than most kids do with this song. Who wants to roll their arms when they could swing them, and twirl, and jump instead?

Up to Some Good

2009-12-17T12:30:00.005-06:00

It's been two weeks since my last post, but I have a good reason to be remiss in blogging. Bella has been wearing underwear since Friday the 11th, and between trips to the potty and trying do do anything else I haven't been able to really sit at the computer for more than a few seconds at a time.While the Harvey's were in town we got her a toilet to see if she liked it. She enjoyed dismantling

Happy December

2009-12-03T23:16:00.006-06:00

It's been December for a while now, but I haven't been able to sit down at the computer much in the last couple weeks. I was having way too much fun with Mark and Marlene (Ryan's parents), who came to Houston to do Thanksgiving with us. I won't go into details now, but we'll just say Bella was basking in more attention and play time than she is accustomed to. She now knows what the monkey says,

Fix it Friday 37

2009-11-20T12:51:00.002-06:00

Today is Fix it Friday at I ♥ faces! Today I used a layer with overlay blend mode and grayscale to paint brighter her face and the background darker. I then used coffeshop's bold pop action, adjusted brightness layer, flattened image then added skeletalmess's chaotic soul texture in multiply blending mode. at 50% opacity. Done!

i heart faces Autumn Beauty week

2009-11-17T16:26:00.005-06:00

This week's theme at i ♥ faces is "Autumn Beauty." Although I haven't seen any changing colors around here yet, I do have a picture of a little beauty wearing fall colors in October. I used some textures from skeletalmess to make it feel more autumny. If I recall correctly we had news of snow back west in our home state on this same day. Perhaps the most beautiful thing about this autumn is that

More Zoo

2009-11-13T13:52:00.002-06:00

Last time we went to the zoo we didn't dare try any more than the petting zoo, and even that seemed to be a little lackluster for our little princess. Although it's only been about 3 months since then, she has learned enough new stuff to make the zoo a fun place.This time Bella had been working on her animal sounds, her favorite being the cow. Every time she spotted an animal that day she shouted

Friday Night Date Night

2009-11-13T13:46:00.004-06:00

Last week we commenced our Friday Night Date Group. We found two other couples so far (we are still looking for another couple...) and we rotate babysitting every weekend so we can go out every Friday (less the one when we watch all the kids). Bella loved having two girls play with her all night. They thought she was their personal baby doll and passed the time wrapping her up in blankets and

I Heart Faces Fix it Friday

2009-11-13T12:44:00.005-06:00

Today's i ♥ faces challenge was fun. I started by sharpening the photo, then did the Coffeeshop action Bold Pop. I lowered the brightness on brightness/ contrast layer to -6 then flattened the image. I used spot healing for the little boogers near his nose, then graussian blur at .8 pixel radius to fix the ones inside his nostril. I added a new overlay layer with grayscale and used white paint at

Halloween Princess and FrankenRyan

2009-11-02T16:20:00.009-06:00

Bella was Snow White this year, in case you didn't notice, or don't know the Disney princess names (she got called Cinderella a couple times). She was quite the trooper, and just like last week, she wouldn't let go of her candy bucket until we put her in bed. By the end she opted to relax in the stroller while we did the work for her. She wouldn't even lift the bucket to make it easier for people

It's About Time

2009-10-31T20:49:00.006-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted new video footage. I apologize to those of you who resort to replaying the old ones over and over and over again. To make up for it, here's almost 2 minutes of something I recorded on Wednesday. Bella was just being her cute self when we went out on the stairs and I happened to bring the camcorder.Everyday Bella from Cecilia Harvey on Vimeo.Other

I Heart Faces Fix it Friday

2009-10-30T12:24:00.012-05:00

So, in case you are wondering what all this I ♥ faces business is all about, it's a photography blog that has weekly challenges and activities. Since I am newly obsessed with photography and photoshopping I've started doing the stuff and it's really fun!This week's photo was the one on the left and the one on the right is the one I "fixed." I use PhotoShop Elements 7 for my editing and these are

Back in the day... some Old Pictures

2009-10-27T22:21:00.004-05:00

These pictures escaped my photoshopping attention for several weeks, but I still thought they were worth posting. We took these at a park near our house.

Playgrouping

2009-10-26T15:19:00.004-05:00

Bella and I have been active in play group for the first time since we moved to Texas. I brought my camera this time and managed to catch a fun scene of her and Minnie playing together. I thought they were putting wood chips on the slide so I just took pictures of them going at it. It wasn't until both of them had brown water dripping down their fronts that I realized they were actually playing

I Heart Faces Halloween Dress Up Challenge

2009-10-26T11:45:00.007-05:00

This weeks photo challenge on I ♥ faces is to share a picture of somebody dressed up for Halloween. This precocious princess was Snow White for the evening, but her favorite part was hauling around the little pumpkin candy bucket. She wouldn't let go of it, even when it got so heavy that she had to drag it behind her.

Friends

2009-10-21T14:36:00.008-05:00

On Friday we watched two of Bella's friends while their parents went out. Bella and Darren got along really well. They transferred rocks into the play area together, sat together and shared dirt together. Way to make friends girls! Usually they just ignore each other.On another note- today was Bella's 18 month check up. She is now 19 lbs, which maintains her uninterrupted status in the 0

My Birthday Bash

2009-10-14T15:19:00.008-05:00

This year's birthday bonanza was as splendid an affair as last year's. Ryan started it out with the traditional eggo waffle and omlette breakfast in bed. We decided to find an acceptable fall type activity to do as a family to celebrate the occasion. It turns out that pumpkin patches are pretty scarce in the greater Houston area. By and by we did find one, but to our delight Dewberry Farm was

Dinner Party Disaster

2009-10-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

We had a family come over for Sunday dinner this week. It was uneventful if you don't count me asking them to go home and grab some ingredients that I ran out of, burning the cake AFTER taking it out of the oven by setting it on a burner that got left on, smoke flavored cake (because cutting off the burnt part isn't sufficient) not even disguised by copious amounts of frosting, a clogged sink (

Fairy Bella and an Eviction Notice

2009-10-09T16:25:00.005-05:00

I've been getting obsessed with PhotoShoping and photography lately and one of the blogs I follow- I heart Faces - had a tutorial on how to put a little fantasy into your photos. I had a blast making Bella into a fairy. In fact, I got a little over zealous with the glitter brushes and stars I found on Obsidian Dawn as you might have noticed. Thanks for the awesome tutorial Amanda!Besides photo

Random Pictures

2009-10-03T23:12:00.008-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Thursday. We went to the little playground in our apartment complex. I heard it snowed in Utah. It's been a fabulous 80 degrees all week here in Houston. I also want you to please note that we aren't bad parents. Ryan didn't really let her drive, and she was only in the front seat for the 30 seconds it takes to drive to the other side of the parking lot where the

Hangin' with little Miss Bella

2009-10-01T10:45:00.006-05:00

I just loved these pictures and wanted to post them. She gets obsessed with the most random objects and every day it's a new one. A couple days ago it was the hat, today it's the diaper box.

More Labor Day

2009-09-30T14:47:00.008-05:00

Here are some more pictures of our Labor Day extravaganza, posted by request. Marlene, I'm still waiting for you to send me your pictures so I can do a page for Darren (and kids) and Brad (and more of Amy).

Texan Jumping Bean

2009-09-22T18:10:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Bella started doing a strange squatting/ standing motion repeatedly and I couldn't figure it out. I think we know what she was up to, and the video says it all. Bella has had quite a busy week. Yesterday she turned 17 months old, and she has been adding words and phrases to her vocabulary in preparation for this event. It's just taken me a long time to figure out that she is

Labor Day Darley Barbecue

2009-09-14T22:46:00.010-05:00

As I noted in my previous post, we were in Utah for Labor Day. Our holiday began with packing and loading up the cars after a weekend up at a condo. By the time we left we were dressed and ready for a two and a half hour photo shoot in Salt Lake. Bella, however, had other ideas. She redecorated her outfit with throw up before we had escaped the canyon. We made an emergency stop to clean it up,

Labor Day Weekend Bliss

2009-09-11T13:47:00.006-05:00

Although we are 24 hours (by car) away from family, we still got to spend the weekend with them for labor day. I must thank the photographer for failing to take even one acceptable family picture in our June photo shoot. If he had, Marlene couldn't have persuaded Mark to fly us back out for another try before Travis leaves on his mission. Thus it is that we came to be in Utah last weekend and

Moving Up in Life

2009-09-02T21:54:00.007-05:00

After 4 apartments in 2.5 years of marriage, we've found one we love. Many of you may recall our humble beginnings with a "multi-purpose room" that functioned as front room, study, and bedroom (and there was no closet). Well I do. Now we are basking in the luxury of an apartment that includes not only an actual bedroom, but also a walk-in closet and a study that we converted into Bella's room. We

Pasty White Beach Bums

2009-08-25T14:28:00.009-05:00

We went to the beach for the first time since living here, and Bella's first time ever. She didn't mind the lack of water toys- we didn't bring buckets, shovels, floaties or anything else. She had a blast running from the sand to the water and back, scooting on her knees in the shallows, kicking the incoming waves, and hanging out in her old bouncer when she got tired. I think that's the most use

The Gulf Coast Beach Experience

2009-08-24T15:48:00.003-05:00

We took this video on Saturday down on Galveston Island. Bella had such a blast she didn't even mind missing her nap for it. As far as beaches go I would give it a 7 (1 being cold and ugly, 10 being Puerto Rico- warm and gorgeous). Ike didn't leave many trees standing when he came through last year, so there wasn't any shade. The water was a little brownish near the shore, but it was just as warm

She Needs some Dress-Ups

2009-08-21T17:48:00.009-05:00

Unless you have microscope vision, you'll probably need to click on the pictures to see them better. She was strutting around the house in my shoes- as usual- but when she saw me whip out the camera she started doing runway facials and throwing some cheesy grins.She wandered the house with the tube on for at least half an hour, bumping into things and getting stuck in tight places. She didn't

Ballarina Bella

2009-08-12T12:31:00.005-05:00

Bella was endowed with a great sense of rhythm at birth, but she is developing this talent more fully with the inspiration of Michael Jackson's musical talent. She was trying moves that I've never seen. I doubt anyone has.

Step Master in Training

2009-08-07T12:01:00.004-05:00

I tried exercising while Bella was awake yesterday. Bella was thrilled about her front row seat, and bobbed her head to the beat of the workout music. I resorted to weight lifting when my jumping and stepping on the bench didn't deter her from reclaiming the throne.

Now-a-Days

2009-08-06T11:40:00.000-05:00

Alicia's Wedding

2009-08-06T09:32:00.007-05:00

Alicia is married, and it happened more than a month ago.As you can tell, Bella really enjoyed it.This is the only picture I got of Bella in her dress.You might notice that the only pictures I have posted are at the Bountiful Temple. Although we also went to a fabulous wedding dinner the night before at The Tiburon, and the wedding reception held in my parent's backyard, my camera didn't see

Welcome to Houston!

2009-08-06T09:12:00.005-05:00

We're not in Kansas any more (I think that's the last time I'll use that line). We have been enjoying the 100+ degrees of Houston for more than two months now.This was Bella outside at the hottest time of day on the 4th of July. We were assisting Ryan as a city employee working at the Sugar Land celebration. No, Bella isn't sun burned. We took to pouring bottles of water over her to cool her down

Darley Days

2009-07-09T13:28:00.005-05:00

Thanks for the help with cake decorating, and the most beautiful birthday crepe papering job ever!Happy day at the park with Dad, Anika and her kids. Thanks for coming!

Harvey Time

2009-07-09T13:18:00.003-05:00

We enjoyed our time with the Harvey fam. Park City was a blast!(Yes, Bella decided to sample the sand castle turret just as I took the picture.)

Fun with Friends

2009-07-09T12:16:00.000-05:00

Yes I am aware that my last post was more than two months ago. Daunted by the amount of updates that I needed to do, I succeeded in procrastinating the dirty work until now. The only way I could convince myself to sit down and do the posts is by agreeing to only put up a few highlight pictures and not many details. So here are a few pictures of fun with friends in our visit to Utah.Stodd, Scott

Birthday Bows and Stats

2009-04-30T18:07:00.003-05:00

My sister Anika gave Bella adorable headbands with interchangeable flowers and bows for her birthday. Word has it she made them herself. Flowers seem to bring out Bella’s natural beauty, especially when it is as big as her head. I’m serious. She looks so fabthat I feel frumpy next to her.Well, at her 1 year check up she checked in at 15 lbs 9 oz and 26 inches long. She's still going strong in

Temple Trip Tornado

2009-04-30T16:50:00.004-05:00