Build-A-Bear

... or Build-a-Puppy in Buxton's case. When our little stud muffin turned two, he received a gift card to build-a-bear. Before this, I never even thought out having that experience with our children. Last night, Buxton and I had a date night and we spent a whole hour in the shop!

The first step in the building process is to select yourself an animal. It is no longer just bears. Our options expanded to an owl, monkey, horse, rabbit, and several types of dogs. This was an agonizing decision for Buxton. He spent several minutes telling me which animal he wanted. It went like this...

Buxton: "Mommy, I want the RABBIT!"

Mommy: "Are you sure, Buxton?"

Buxton: "Oooo HORSEY HORSEY!!!"

Mommy: "Buxton, are you sure?" (Really hoping he didn't want the horse, only one outfit fit the four legged creature, a baseball uniform. This Harrison family just simply isn't into sports).

Buxton: "Wow, MONKEY! Ooo ooo ahh ah"

Mommy: "Ok, let's go build your monkey."

It was then that Buxton threw the monkey down and ran toward the displayed animals that are already dressed and accessorized! He was very adamant that he wanted one of these animals. The limp, bare animals yet to be stuffed did not appeal to him at all. I then had to explain to Buxton the whole process of building an animal.

We were finally getting somewhere. We landed on the "Shaggy Pup"

Next was the Sound Station. This is where you had many sounds options for inside your animals arms or legs. After pressing all the noises available several times, I made the decision to do our own sound. My voice talking to Buxton, which I'll have you know, he thinks is very cool! We also picked up a blank one for Daddy to record on and we can insert into Shaggy later.

Next was the Stuffing Stations. Boy was this one fun. Buxton got to press this intimidatingly huge pedal that made a roaring sound as the stuffing flew out of the machine and into Shaggy. He would only approach the pedal if I did it first. I struggle with Buxton not being scared of me, what did this fluff have that I didn't?! Buxton picked out a very special heart for his pup, placing it in his belly. He understood this part very well.

Now for his favorite station of the night, the Bathing Station. Our little Shaggy was lucky enough to get two baths! This station had another one of those pedals, but as soon as Buxton realized he got to give his pup a 'bubble bath' (which consisted of compressed air spraying over a plastic bath tub with fake bubbles) he was absolutely thrilled. After he got Shaggy not only all 'washed' but brushed, we were ready to get him dressed. This is when Buxton then turned around and said "dirty, bath again."

The wall displaying the outfits was most overwhelming, taking over about half the store. We went to the boy section and I began pointing out the different outfits "... here's a uniform like Daddy, or swimming trunks, or..." Buxton screamed "swimming trunks, swimming trucks" (always repeating things). I told Buxton we should look at the other options first, and if he still wanted the trunks, he could get them. As I listed off such outfits as Spiderman and Police Officer, Buxton kept his eye focused on the trunks. He had his mind made up. We then dressed the pup into his swimming trunks and shirt. It was at this moment, I knew, Buxton was at some point going to put this poor animal into the bath! And it only took him about a minute to inform me that was his exact plan! And recalling the water fountain they have in the mall, Buxton got excited to take Shaggy for a swim. It's an ongoing battle!

Next was creating the animals Birth Certificate, that's right! The computer station wasn't as exciting for Buxton, however he did think it was pretty cool I was allowing him to press these computer buttons, unlike the ones at home! After many annoying questions about us and our animal, came the name question. Turning to Buxton, I asked "what do you want to call your animal?" "Doggy" he responded. Not bothering to ask him if he was sure this time, we type it into the name line. Before we had even left the store, he informed the sales clerk his pups name was "Puppy" and by the time we got home from our date, his name was, and seems to still be, "Shaggy!"

When we got in the car to leave the mall, I told Buxton we are going to Papa and Grandma's house now to get Sissy. I heard from the back seat "we going to Papa and Grandmas house, Puppy, OK!" But by the tone in his voice, this was far from a question, this was a firm statement. Buxton likes to tell you "OK" to a lot of things, thinking that makes it OK!

Shaggy has been a great addition to our family. Buxton has even been preparing Shaggy for our airplane ride. Which I am not to thrilled about, as if I don't have enough things to worry about on travel day! Overall, my boy and I had a wonderful date night. Buxton told Daddy all about it on the video camera. Matthew and I are looking forward to taking Sissy - together - in a few years.

Things You Don't Say To An Army Wife With A Deployed Soldier

*Loyal to the military wives who have kept this letter going*

It may seem harsh on our part, but we really do get asked these questions. Below is our real response, although we normally let you off easy, comforting you with a fabrication of the true for a response. 1. “Aren’t you afraid that he’ll be killed?” (This one ranks in at number one on the “duh” list. Of course we’re afraid. We’re terrified. The thought always lingers at the backs of our minds —but thanks brilliant, you just brought it back to the front. Maybe next you can go ask someone with cancer if they’re scared of dying.)

2. “I don’t know how you manage. I don’t think I could do it.” (This is intended to be a compliment. Though, its just a little annoying. Here’s why: it’s not like all of us military wives have been dreaming since childhood of the day we’d get to be anxious single moms who carry cell phones with us to the bathroom and in the shower. We’re not made of some mysterious matter that makes us more capable, in the name of love, we got asked to take on a challenging job. So we rose to the challenge and found the strength to make sacrifices.)

3.“Do you think he’ll get to come home for Christmas/anniversary/birthday/birth of a child/wedding/family reunion, etc?” (Don’t you watch the news? No! They don’t get to come home for any of these things.)

4. “What are you going to do to keep yourself busy while he’s gone?” (Short answer: Try to keep my sanity. Maybe there’s a military wife out there who gets bored when her husband leaves, but I have yet to meet her. For the rest of us, those with and without children, we find ourselves having to be two people. That keeps us plenty busy. We do get lonely, but we don’t get bored.) 5. “How much longer does he have until he can get out?" (This one is annoying to many of us whether our husbands are deployed or not. Many of our husbands aren’t counting down the days until they “can” get out. Many of them keep signing back up again and again because they actually love what they do or they VOLUNTEER AGAIN and AGAIN to go back to Iraq b/c there is work that needs to be done.) 6. “This deployment shouldn’t be so bad, now that you’re used to it.” (Sure, we do learn coping skills and we figure out ways to make life go smoother while the guys are gone. But it never gets “easy” and the bullets and bombs don’t skip over our guys just because they’ve been there before. The worry never goes away. You just pray you don't become numb to your marriage in the process of coping and doing what you can to make the year go by.) 7. “My husband had to go to Europe for business once for three weeks. I totally know what you’re going through.” (This one is similar to number two. Do not equate your husband’s three week trip to London/Omaha/Tokyo/etc. with a 12-15 month or more deployment to a war zone. Aside from the obvious time difference, nobody shot at your husband or tried to blow him up with an I.E.D., your husband could call home pretty much any time he wanted to, he flew comfortably on a commercial plane, slept between crisp white sheets and ate well, paying for everything with an expense account. There is no comparison. We do not feel bonded to you in the slightest because of this comment and, if anything, we probably resent you a bit for it.) 8. “Wow you must miss him?” (This one also gets another big “duh”. Of course we miss our men. There are some wives who do not and they’re now divorced.) 9. “Well, he signed up for it" or "You guys signed up for it" (Yes, ignorant, he did sign up. Each and every day he protects your right to make stupid comments like that. He didn’t sign up and ask to be hit by anything, he signed up to protect his country. Oh, and by the way, he asked me to tell you that “You’re welcome.” He’s still fighting for your freedom.)

10. “Don’t you miss sex! I couldn’t do it!” (hmmm, no I don’t miss sex. I’m a robot. seriously…military spouses learn quickly that our relationships must be founded on something greater than sex. We learn to appreciate the important things, like simply hearing their voices, seeing their faces, being able to have dinner together every night. And the hard truth is, most relationships probably couldn’t withstand 12 months of sex deprivation.)

11. “Well in my opinion…..” (Stop right there. I didn’t ask you for your personal political opinions. Hey, I love a heated political debate, but not in the grocery store, not in Jamba Juice, not at Nordstrom, not in a restaurant when I’m out with my girls trying to forget the war, and CERTAINLY NOT AT WORK. We tell co-workers about deployments so when we have to spend lunch hours running our asses off doing errands and taking care of the house, dog, and kids, they have an understanding. We do not tell co-workers and colleagues because we are giving an invitation to ramble about politics or because we so eagerly want to hear how much they hate the President, esp. while we’re trying to heat up our lean cuisines in the crappy office microwaves.

12. “OH, that’s horrible…I’m so sorry!” (He’s doing his job and he’s tough. Don’t be sorry. Be appreciative and please take a moment out of your comfortable American lives to realize that our soldiers fight the wars abroad so those wars stay abroad.) If you want to say anything, just say thank you.

The Extraction

No pictures to go along with this post! It was time for this Mommy to get her four wisdom teeth removed. Those of you who really know me, there are two things that stand out in my personality. Number 1 - I love FOOD! Number 2 - I am a WIMP! This week I am suffering with both. Oh how I miss food. I am so burned out on nasty, runny mashed potatoes and, although delicious, sorbet ice cream. Brayleigh and I are currently sharing food, spoons, and napping schedules. Now, just because I'm a wimp and pain hits me easily, doesn't mean it hurts any less! It's still pain for me! I'm struggling with the pain and the pain medication. It doesn't allow me to take full responsibility for my babies. I am truly blessed with such wonderful family and friends who have helped me immensely during this recovery week. The Moms have taken time off work and kept the kids over night, my sister ran Buxton tired for me, and Lorena and Pam helped take care of me. Thanks guys- you're all amazing.

I've still got a good week of discomfort and starvation ahead of me but I'm on my feet now, getting to normal routine.

Big Brother & Sissy

BIG BROTHER & SISSY

Big Brother Buxton has been potty training since April of this year. He actually initiated the beginning and we ran with it! I hate to say it, but it was pretty EASY! If anything, it was an annoyance. When we first started, Buxton thought it was so cool to go on the big boy potty that he wanted to go every ten minutes, literally. This was difficult, being on my own and with Brayleigh Ann only a couple months old. We started out with M&M's as treats, but sooner then later he didn't care about receiving a treat, so I didn't force it! The best part about the training was I didn't have to continually ask him if he had to go, he always told me when he needed to go. I'm not sure when the "training" part is considered over, but we have been accident free for several weeks now! Way to go B! Now I just want to know, when does he start going on his own?! We are still working on night time potty training, but being (day) potty trained at the age 2 sounds pretty good to me!

X

Mommy: Buxton are you sick? Buxton: No, Buxton two!

X

This was the response from my boy with a 102 temperature. The kids in the 2 year old nursery class at church all got a virus. Along with the temperature, he had a terrible cough. He lost his voice and you could hear his breathing. It was so sad to see Little Buck out of himself. By day 4, Buxton started feeling much better, just a slight cough. But of course, as it always happens, Brayleigh Ann got sick as well. It started out not too bad, just a slight fever and cough. But progressed quickly to terrible ear infection. This is my first experience with an ear infection. It is so sad, my poor baby girl. She is on lots of medication, and seems to be improving. (Good thing, we get on a plane in a week). The biggest struggle is having two needy whinny children! Boy what I wouldn't give for my husband back.

When she's a healthy baby girl, she is a sass! When she is mad, like when you tell her the n.o word, she tenses up and lets out one loud scream burst. Matthew, hearing about it, thinks it's quite comical, I don't agree. She is very naughty! He prefers to say "well she came from you Babe, what did you expect?!" We see where she gets her naughtiness.

So Little, So Sweet

Beautiful Baby Prentice!

At just a few weeks old, my nephew took a little nap on his Auntie! So little, so sweet.

Look at that face!

Jones-Taylor Wedding

Well the big day finally arrived. We have been so busy preparing for my best friends wedding. Buxton was the ring bearer for his 3rd time! I've known Jill since day one and I was honored to be her matron of honor. Due to the rehearsal dinner and wedding day, I've hardly gotten to see our babies. On top of that, Buxton was extremely sick. He was heavily medicated for his fever - pretty out of it - had no voice, but he still made it down the aisle. At the ceremony, I was already at the alter waiting for Buxton and the flower girl to make their way down the aisle. The poor flower girl biffed it and didn't make it down. Buxton... with his first step on top the runner (where rose petals laid) said "oh no, messy!" as he picked the petals off his shoe. He gets this OCD from me! The day was a blast, a tearful one at that! Part of my duties entailed giving a speech. YIKES! I just barely passed! The rest of the evening was filled with dinner and dancing. Seeing Jill and Daniel off was hard, I can't believe she's married!

Bachelorette Party

With the wedding just one week away, it was time for us girls to take the bride-to-be out for some girl time! Us girls had a blast! It was an exciting, bonding time for not only the girls in the wedding party, but close family. The theme was "little black dress" and "cabaret." It was just the girls night I needed, but of course, I couldn't wait to get home to my babies. I prefer the 'Mommy role' over the 'driver role' any day!

Another One From 'Ol Pops

Alright I'm starting this with a bit of a let down for my little one. Well, the bigger little one. I have a couple videos I shot from my new room of helicopters landing and taking off that he will LOVE. The thing is, the internet is too darn slow to load them. I'm sorry Buxton! I know I promised and I WILL get them up eventually. Moving on...

New room? Yes. We have a little tower that was mostly just being used for storage. We are receiving new troops so they are in need of more space. With that being the case, our First Sergeant asked ME if I wanted....The Tower. Some people call it "The Treehouse", I call it "The Penthouse". I think that's alot cooler. Some of the pessimistic types call it "The Rocket Magnet" but I stay away from that one. It's a spacious one bedroom, one bath studio apartment (the bathroom consists mostly of empty water bottles...mostly), two windows, A/C, built in shelves, a cot and a very questionable set of stairs. I love it. Oh yea, pictures.

This is the inside.

This is the outside.

On the outside shot you can see a hole in the netting. The window opens right there and this is a bit of the view.

Well, it is the holy month of Ramadan here in Iraq. I guess everywhere else with Muslims for that matter. For those of you who don't know what that is you should consider yourselves lucky. When soldiers hear that their reaction is usually "Aw crap". Those in the practice of Islam take this month to abstain from food, water, sex and other such things during the daylight hours. So what we have is a bunch of Muslim extremists celebrating a holy month while being deprived of their basic needs (yes sex is one...that's medical). That'll get 'em good and pissed. We've had a few run ins with them so far. Nothing too terrible but the aid station did get busy once or twice and there were some medevacs. Sorry to say it, but there's no time more exciting for a medic. That's a downfall to our job. We don't have much fun unless we are doing our job but we don't do our job unless a soldier is injured. Sometimes we get, I'LL say lucky, and come across a wounded insurgent. Though they are our enemy, we still are obligated to treat them. Darn Geneva Convention. To keep from wasting precious supplies for the regular I.V.'s, we tend to go the more...practical route - a 14 guage needle right into the sternum. We call it the FAST 1. All those needles you see are just for stabilization. The bread and butter, the one that punctures the bone and dives into the marrow, is in the middle. Does it hurt? Well probably. But the bullets we just put into him most likely already put him into shock so this pain probably won't bother him much. When will they ever learn?

Oh real quick. We had a pretty nasty sand storm the other day. It blew through quickly but watching it approach and then circle around and come back again was creepy. This is the best shot I found...

Along with the sand came about 17 seconds of a very light sprinkle. For 17 seconds, my world stopped, and I was in Seattle kissing on my beautiful little wife. I love the rain. I miss the rain. Good news is 137 degrees was where the summer topped out at in our corner and it's all been a downward slope from there. That is exciting. We go 4-5 months of constantly sweating. Ew. So glad it's over.

Four months left. Wowie. I don't like thinking about it because...well, then I'll think about it. Ignorance really is bliss in this instance. In these last months, Chels is going to be busy with...well, Bux and our little Rayray, as well as 1,345,321 other things. And yes that is a fairly accurate number. I did a bit of math. I will also be busy over here. Not only with math but packing up to get out of here is going to be a loooonnggg process. My next task is actually to escort an alleged user/abuser/distributer of various illegal narcotics to Balad. Assuming you don't know, Balad is a deployed soldier's Disneyland. They have three PX's, two swimming pools, a full size theater, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Popeyes, Burger King, and delicious chow halls with functioning A/C that are open 24 hours a day. We have slow, inconsistent internet and we sweat while we eat cardboard. I'm sure an exciting blog will be posted soon after my return showing me doing a cannonball off the high dive. Hopefully interrupting the sensitive tanning schedule of some spoiled Air Force pansies.

Wow I just keep writing. Done now, I swear. Hope all is well. Give yourself a smile today. If you haven't witnessed Brayleigh Ann walking while holding onto a table...well neither have I. But you should go check it out. The cuteness level on that feat is out of this world. She'll be a ballerina by the time I get home. Alright! Seriously done now. Kbye.

September Celebrations

On September 2nd Prentice Keith was born, on September 5th of 2007 his big brother Priest was born, and on September 8th (I'll leave the year out!) my mother was born! We have had many celebrations this month. As you saw a week ago, we had a big party for Priest birthday, well on his actually big day we had a family party. These kids love cake! Last night we celebrated my Mother! And yes, I had the pleasure of making another cake, flip flops! This one being my favorite. I love doing it.

Buxton has been saying he is 7 now, not 2. Matthew and I joke it's because how much cake hes had lately!

The Woodland Park Zoo

This was the highligh of Buxtons day. He thought it was so cool, and so intimidating!
 

His favorite, the elephants. The zookeeper wouldn't stop talking before the elephants got bored and left. We didn't get to see them eat apples. More of those dimples. Can you get those things fixed?!

Our beautiful baby girl

"Silly Mommy" He likes to say that to me.

Auntie Sue treated this little Harrison family to a wonderful morning adventure. Buxton never, ever gets tired of animals. He was such a good boy (no stroller needed) and Brayleigh took in all brother was teaching her about the animals. I was very suprised how well Buxton did with Auntie Sue. As you could imagine, being surrouned by boring me all day, he gets to be pretty attached and shy. But he ran off with Aunite, telling her all he knows! Buxton was very anxious to see the lions, elephants, and hippos this time around. He gets fixated on a few favorites. We had a BLAST!!!

Thanks Aunite Sue, we love you!

IMAX 3D

On Monday, not only did the Grandparents have the day off, but we had Priest for the day because my sister (at the time 9 months pregnant) had food poisoning, yikes. We took advantage of free IMAX tickets and took the kids to see Under the Sea 3D. But for our group, there wasn't much 3D going on. The glasses made Dad, Mom, and I nauseous and the boys wouldn't even keep theirs on for a second to see what it's like. It was quite hectic for us adults! Brayleigh Ann had no interest in sitting quietly and Buxton and Priest had the opposite agenda! They thought the movie was the coolest thing ever. The whole IMAX theater (that seats 400) heard this... "SHARK SHARK AHHHHHH!" and "NEMO FISHY YAHHH!" and "TURTLE TURTLE TURTLE" and "WOOOW" I know this video is dark, but you can see two adorable little heads jumping for joy! So cute. The vocals are the highlight.

Prentice Keith Palmgren

Born at 6:29pm 6lb. 5oz. 19in. long It's a boy! Little brother Prentice has arrived. He looks just like his big brother. Cara and baby are doing very well, healthy and happy! The labor was quick (us McCormick girls are luck)! I was able to be in the room with my sister during the birth. It was amazing. Such a different view! I prefer this one. Buxton and Brayleigh were at Grandma and Papa Harrison's house, it was so nice for me to be there without children, and not in labor! When Priest arrived to welcome his baby brother, he pointed out that Prentice has a nose. He was very sure of that. He was unsure if that was the baby that he'd been talking to for the past nine months though. "His baby" he calls him. A few people have asked if I got baby fever. NOPE! A big fat N.O! Not even a little bit! I've still got a baby, and sometimes even two (aw my little Mamas boy). Priest is spending the night here with us, we just finally got the two boys settled. This is one tired house. We thank God for a healthy, perfect little boy. (Well we all know where our babies get their dimples... from their Mama)

12 Month Deployment

Matthew only has 4 months left in Iraq. That's nothing in our world! Although, he may not say the same thing. His time has been moving much slower then ours lately. We've still got a baby and a wedding before we head back to Texas in a month. Then we have our best friends moving back, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Brayleigh's first birthday and DADDY! It should fly by. That isn't to say it always has, a year is a very long time.