Matt Lisa Leah & Molly1

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Matt, Lisa, Leah, & Molly

L i s a H a r m o n A p r i l 1 3 , 2

0 0 9





Harmon Family Blog, Part 1

April 2006 - April 2007

We started this blog to keep family & friends updated on our

growing family and share what the Lord is doing in our lives.

It has turned into a great way for us to save memories - kind

of like our family scrapbook.

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Contents

Dedication


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4

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Wednesday, April 19, 2006

First Post!

Here are a few of the latest pictures ofour baby - they were taken at 19 weeks.

We got to do a 4D ultrasound, which was

amazing! We could see so much detail on

her and we even got a video of her mov-

ing. She's so adorable already! She

weighs 11 ounces and looks healthy. This

ultrasound was probably the most amaz-

ing thing I've ever seen! We give all

praise and glory to the Lord God, who is

creating this child and already knows

every detail about her. "For you createdmy inmost being; you knit me together in

my mothers womb." ~Psalm 139:13

Posted by Matt and Lisa at 10:16AM (-

05:00)

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Babies need so much stuff!

Well, we're almost done with the registering process! We've still got a few more things to

pick out (like crib, stroller, car seat), but we're mostly done. It's amazing how much stuff

babies need!! I'm learning a lot as I look at all these products. My friend Kacey, mother of

a one year old, came with me to Babies R Us yesterday to give me advice about differ-

ent products - she was a huge help!

We are registered at Babies R Us and Target.

If you want to see our registeries online, you can go to

www.babiesrus.com

www.target.com,

click on baby registry, and type in one of our names.

Posted by Matt and Lisa at 11:58AM (-05:00)4



Nursery Bedding & Colors

We picked out our nursery bedding! This

is a big step for us as we have been

thinking about it and looking around for a

while now. The pattern, which is KidsLine

Sienna Patch, is actually discontinued.

With my Mom's help, we found it on ebay

and bought it right away. We just love it!

We figure for our girl, we can use pink (or

purple, I haven't decided yet) accents and

if we have a boy later, we can use blue or

green accents. So it will last us a while.

We plan on painting the walls pale yellow,

so our room won't look just like this pic-

ture, but it gives you an idea.

This is a more upclose picture that shows

the pattern a little bit better. It looks like a

quilt basically.

Posted by Matt and Lisa at 12:13PM (-

05:00)

Monday, April 24, 2006

Annie

This is our sweet dog, Annie! Our blog

wouldn't be complete without her... she is

like part of our family. She is 2 years old,

w e ighs abou t 55 lbs and i s a

lab/chow/shepherd mix. She loves run-

ning around the backyard, eating, and

playing. Matt did a photo shot sessionwith her this weekend. These are two of

the best pictures. Doesn't she look so

pretty?! She was very well behaved while

he was taking the pictures. Annie can sit,

shake, speak, high five, roll over, stay....

and we're always working on new fun

tricks. I'm sure there will be many many

pictures of Annie on this blog. Most pic-

tures we take are of her!! 5



Posted by Matt and Lisa at 03:29PM (-05:00)

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Red Barn KennelEaster weekend we went up to Etowah to

visit the Harmons. These pictures are at

Aunt Pam & Uncle Bob's kennel - The

Red Barn Kennel! They take care of tons

of dog (and cats) each day! The first pic-

ture is Matt with 3 of Aunt Pam & Uncle

Bob's dogs Cheyenne, Jagger, and

Stormy. Uncle Bob was trying to make

them all sit pretty to pose for the picture.

The second picture is Sarah, Emily, and

myself with Cheyenne. We first met

Cheyenne & Jagger when they were tiny

little puppies and witin a few months,

they've grown so much!


05:00)

Re-arranging our House

In order to get the nursery room ready upstairs, we've had to move around just about all

of the furniture in our house! This is the room with the biggest change so far. Now, it has

our kitchen table and is our den. It's been an adjustment, but we like it. Annie dog was a

little confused at first with the new set up, but now she seems to like it.6




05:00)

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Rocking Chair

We went to Nashville NC on Saturday to see my sweet grandparents! It was a beautiful

day and we had a great time visiting with them. Mom, Dad, us, and my brother Jeff all

went. This picture is us, Granma, Granpa, and Jeff out in front of their house. We also go

to see some of my great aunts and other family members. It was a great day!!

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Our biggest treat of the day was that Granpa had made a rocking chair for our baby girl! It

is the cutest little rocking chair! Granpa has a "shop" where he does all kinds of workingwith wood. He has made us several other items (china cabinet, end table, bird house,

shelves..) for our house that we love. But this rocking chair is so special! Our little girl will

love using it and she will be amazed that her Great-Granpa made it just for her!

Posted by Matt and Lisa at 11:08AM (-05:00)

Growing Belly!

24th Week I had my checkup at the doc-

tor yesterday, which means it's time foranother belly picture! I know we have a

long ways to go, but my belly already

feels very very big. According to the doc-

tor, I gained another 7 lbs, which makes

my total of gaining 21 lbs! I did loose 5 lbs

at the beginning, so really my net gain is

16 lbs. They listened to the baby's heart-

beat and said all looks good! I go back in

another 4 weeks.

Matt and I are amazed every time we consider the work that God is doing in creating thisperson! We give Him all the praise and glory for it! We are learning a lot about trusting

Him during this time. As we think about the coming months, there is much change com-

ing and much to be anxious about... but we have to trust that our God is who He says He

is - our Provider, our Savior, and our Redeemer. He has been throughout time and will al-

ways be!


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Monday, May 08, 2006

Annie's Weekend

Annie spent the day on Saturday digging

around our backyard.... she even caughta mole (which we promptly took away

from her). This first picture shows her

dirty dirty nose and the second one

shows her head almost fully underground

while digging for another mole. I think she

enjoyed herself very much. She spent all

of Sunday sleeping inside while it rained

outside.


05:00)

Ceiling Fan

Matt installed a fan in the nursery room! This will help on the hot summer days when up-

stairs gets to be very warm. As you can see, our nursery has a long way to go to be

ready for baby. We do have our changing table, which our neighbor gave us, our crib

bedding (see pictures in an earlier post), and a few other things.

Posted by Matt and Lisa at 03:30PM (-05:00)9



Sunday, May 14, 2006

Mother's Day Weekend

Matt surprised me on Friday with an "Ed-

ible Arrangement"!! It lookes like a boquet

of flowers, but it's fruit. Fruit is one thing

that I have been craving (and it's good for

me and baby) so this was quite a treat. It

was such a sweet thing for him to do and

I loved it! What a fantastic memory this

will be for my kind-of first mother's day!

Matt's parents were in town this weekend

to move Sarah out of her dorm room at

Meredith. They brought Annie a special

new toy - a John Deere tractor! Annie

loves it - it has lots of parts for her to

chew on and it even squeeks.

And, to end Mother's Day weekend, we

had a yummy lunch with Lisa's parents

and brother at Southend Brewery. It was

a very fun way to celebrate Mother's Day.We are so thankful for all that both of our

Moms do for us!

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More Wilson Beach Pictures

The beach was so beautiful! Here are a few pictures

we took before we left on Sunday afternoon. It's very

hard to leave the beach on such a pretty day.

This is Lisa's Mom, Dad, and brother Jeff. We all

love the beach! In the second picture, Matt did some

fun editing and put this special effect on it... it looks

like a professional picture that fades to black & white!


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Annual Wilson Beach Weekend

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Each Spring, we have the Wilson Beach Weekend - it's a get together of Lisa's extended

family. It's a great time to catch up with folks and get updates on everyone. We had a

smaller crowd this year, but it was still a great time! This picture is on the deck of our

condo - we love those rocking chairs!! From left to right, it's Lisa's great Aunt Margaret,

Aunt Peggy, great Aunt Nita, cousin Tracie, and cousin Larry.

Despite the COLD water, Matt, Lisa'sDad, and Lisa's brother Jeff went into the

ocean! There water was pretty rough, but

I managed to get this picture of them all

waving back towards shore where Mom

and I watched. :) They had a great time!

Matt took this picture of my belly

shadow... we hope our baby girl sees

many days at the beach once she is born.

Time is flying by and she will be here in 3

months! Wow!


Friday, May 26, 2006

Ultrasounds Pics Again...

I was looking through the ultrasound pic-

tures we got back when I was only 19

weeks along (9 weeks ago) and I just had

to post them on the blog again. We got to

do a 4D ultrasound and it was so awe-

some! You can see so much detail on

her! With our due date getting closer and

closer (less than 3 months now), we're

amazed at how time is flying by. I can't

help but remember Jer. 1:5 "I knew you

before I formed you in your mother's

womb." We can't wait to meet our little 13



girl, but we take great comfort that our

God already knows everything about her!


05:00)


Harmons in town!

Mom and Dad Harmon came for the weekend! This is them saying hello to Annie dog,

who was very excited to see them!

We had a day FULL of shopping and doing baby stuff. These pictures are at Babies R

Us. We all enjoyed testing out the gliders! Matt and I are the middle two and Matt's broth-

er Mikey is on the far left and his wife Emily is on the far right. In the second picture, Dad

Harmon is taking a little snooze at Babies R Us. All of this shopping was after (along with

the Wilsons) moving a crib, changing table, dresser, and glider into our house!

After dinner, the 3 Harmon boys put the crib together! It's so beautiful! Even though they

were exhausted, they worked hard to get it all put together. (Thanks guys!!) This crib,

changing table, dresser and glider set were a gift from my boss and his wife. They gave14



us theirs since they won't be needing it

anymore. And, we love it!! I can't wait to

get the room all set up. Thanks again to

all the Harmons for putting in a very long

days work!


05:00)

Falls Lake with Annie15



Sunday afternoon, we took Annie out to

Falls Lake - Blue Jay Point. There is a

great little trail that takes you to a point

where you can get in the water. Annie

had SUCH a good time... and we really

enjoyed it too. :)

It was a beautiful day and the lake lookedso pretty! Matt did a great job working

with Annie. The last time we came here,

she was so scared of the water. She did

much better this time and seemed to

really enjoy being in the water!

After Matt worked with her for a while, I

wanted to get my feet wet. This is as far

as I went in, but Annie was swimming all

over the place!


05:00)

Tuesday, May 30, 200616



Week 28

28th Week

I had my doctor visit today and all went

well! I've only gained 2 lbs since last time

(4 weeks ago!). I find that hard to believe

because I feel huge! The doctor said that

from here on out, I should gain 1 lb per

week. I had my glucose screening test

today. I had to drink this sugary orange

drink and the wait an hour. I passed the

test and Dr. Groff said everything was

looking just like it should! I start going to

the doctor every 2 weeks now. Baby Girl Harmon is going to be here so soon!


Wednesday, May 31, 2006

More Nursery Pictures

Proud soon-to-be daddy Matt

My wonderful Mom, who did sooo much

to help get this all set up!Posted by Matt and Lisa at 03:52PM (-

05:00)

Nursery!

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We got our nursery room looking like a

nursery this past weekend!! My boss and

his wife gave us this amazing crib, chan-

ging table, dresser, and glider! They used

it with their babies, but are all done with it

now. It's beautiful and it looks so cute in

the room!! We're so excited!

Another view of the room.

Crib with bedding on it! :)


Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Trip to Columbia

My sweet Grandmother lives in Columbia SC and last Saturday we took a day trip down

to see her. She is leaving in a week to go to Israel for 10 days! It was great to see her18



and spend some time with her. The first picture was

taken in Grandmother's beautiful back yard - Grand-

mother, my brother Jeff, and myself. The second pic-

ture is me, Mom, and Grandmother inside Grand-

mother's house - soon there will be 4 generations!

Everyone - Matt, Lisa, Grandmother, Mom, Dad, and

Jeff


Monday, June 12, 2006

Sweet Asha

We got to babysit Asha Patel on Friday night! She is 14 months old and such a cutie pie!

We had a great time playing with her. When the camera is around and you ask her to

smile, she gives this great toothy grin! We just love her!


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William Elliot Gainor

William Elliot Gainor was born yesterday 6/12/06

around 5:45pm via C-section! He's 3 lbs 3 oz! He is

doing really well and even breathing on his own.

Mom Christina is also doing well. Jacob, his daddy,

is in the 2nd picture. Matt and I got to see and even

touch baby Will last night! He is so precious! Praise

the Lord!


Greensboro Shower

With all the excitement of baby Gainor coming (see pictures below), I hadn't had time to

post about my baby shower in Greensboro on Saturday! My former neighbors threw this

shower for me and I had such a great time. I got some great baby advice and so many

wonderful gifts!

Me with hostesses: Janice Kennedy & Maggie Gillis 21



Me, Elizabeth, Lisa A, and Sarah - good friends from high school!

Our baby girl got her NCSU collection started! Carol Feisler gave her an infant sized NC-

SU baseball cap, NCSU sleeper, NCSU sweater, and a red blanket for tailgating! I just

love it!

Bottles, Cups, bowls, and Baby Mozart

CD!

Mom and I

Thanks so much to everyone who came

and made this shower so much fun! It

was great to see everyone and catch up. I

truly had a wonderful time! And, baby girl

Harmon got so many wonderful things:

everything from bottles to cups/spoons to

wash cloths and onsies to a baby gate to

blankets and socks. Thank you!

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Thursday, June 15, 2006

Update on William

While I was there visiting Jacob &

Christina, the nurse brought in William's

birth certificate for them to review!

Christina seems to be feeling really good

and if that stays the same, she will get to

go home tomorrow! Little William is so

precious!

It's awesome to watch his little belly move

in and out as he breathes!! It has been a

real blessing to meet him and to watch

this whole thing unfold. Our God is so

good and faithful! These pictures show

Will in the warmer machine. He was be-

ing so squirmy while I was there - stretch-

ing out his legs and sticking his little bot-

tom up in the air! I felt like I could watch

him for hours. We just love him already!


05:00)

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Meredith Shower

I think this picture sums up the Meredith

shower well! Renn & Su-Anne hosted this

shower last night and we had a greattime. It was a joint shower for Christina

and I both. Since Christina is still at the

hospital, Jacob came in her place. And,

Matt came with me. It was actually quite

entertaining having 2 men there! We had

a great time. Renn & Su-Anne were fant-

astic hostesses!

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Jordan, Megan, my Mom, me, Renn,

Crystal, and Su-Anne... Jacob & Matt

didn't have their Meredith rings so they

weren't allowed in this picture. :)

Matching outfits for William & Leah.... For anyone who we haven't told yet, our daughter's

name is going to be Leah Grace Harmon.

William & Leah got lots of great stuff!! Everyone was so generous - hangers, bottles, pic-

ture frames, diapers, clothes, socks, etc!

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My lil' sis Jordan, me, and my big sis' Julie Anna!

My Mom wrote us a special poem with

her gift. She made me read it outloud (I

didn't cry, though!) and the gift was baby

Meredith clothes that I wore when I was

little! She even brought pictures of me

wearing them. It was so special and such

a thoughtful gift!

We did have 2 shower games.... and Matt won one and Jacob won the other one! Tohave the 2 men win the shower games is just too funny. Both Matt & Jacob were great

sports and it was so fun to have them there.



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Father's Day and babies!

After church, we spent Father's Day visit-

ing our friend's new babies in the hospital!

It was such a fun day!

Rachel Mae Giles was born on Saturday

June 17th at Western Wake in Cary. The

first picture is mom, dad, and baby. She

is 7 lbs 12 oz and is beautiful!! We got to

hold her, which was a fun treat for Matt

(and me, too) on father's day! Rachel is

so precious!

Esther Rebekah Franklin was born on

Sunday June 18th at Rex Hospital and

was 7 lbs 4 oz. The first picture is mom

and baby and the second picture is

Christina and I visiting them. Esther is ad-

orable and has lots of dark hair!

While we were at Rex, we got to go over

and see William Gainor again. Christina

gave him a passy in this picture, which

was so cute! He's doing really well and

even taking several bottles per day now!


05:00)

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Raleigh Shower

Our last baby shower was this weekend.It was for all the Raleigh folks and it was

wonderful! It was such an encouraging

time for me. We got some great gifts for

baby Leah - including her car seat and

Baby Papasan bouncer!!! Also, the two

hostesses prayed for Leah and gave

each person a card that had on it one

item to pray about for Leah in the coming

weeks. It is humbling and such a comfort

to know that people are praying for our

child already!!

Me with the two hostesses: Shannon Dodd (who just had surgery on Tuesday, but came

to the shower anyways!) and Urvi Patel (it was at her lovely house!). Thanks so much to

everyone who was there!

In other updates - William Gainor is going to get to come home this week! Maybe even as

early as Wednesday (Tomorrow!!). His doctors say that he is doing great, eating well,

gaining weight (he still only weighs 3 lbs 9 oz), and his body temperature is good.

Christina and Jacob have lots to do in the next few days to get ready to bring him home.28



This is so exciting!!


05:00)

Thursday, June 29, 2006

32nd Week

32nd Week! Here's the latest belly picture. My doctor visit went just fine yesterday and

everything looks good. Leah was being very active while I was there, so the doctor saw

her kicking and moving around. Not too much longer before she'll be here! Also, we got

our video camera yesterday! Matt did a lot of research and finally decided on this one. He

had fun playing with it last night. He's going to be a pro by the time we have a little one to

make videos of!

William Gainor got to go home yesterday!! He's so adorable and still only weighs 3 lbs 11

ozs. It's awesome that he is doing so well and able to be home this fast. Christina and

Jacob now have lots to learn about their little guy, but it's nice they can do that from home 29



and not have to go to see him at the hos-

pital everyday. He is just precious!


05:00)

Thursday, July 06, 200630



Swollen Hands & Feet

Our latest update is that my hands and

feet have started swelling this week. In

fact, it happened so quickly that I didn't

even think to take my rings off! Now, my

wedding and engagement rings are stuck

on my finger. Matt and I have been trying

for days to get them off. We've tried us-

ing soap, windex, floss, ice water, etc......

it just won't come off. We're going to

leave it alone on Friday and hope the

swelling goes back down so that we can

try again on Saturday to get it off.

For whatever reason, my left hand and

foot are much more swollen than my right

hand and foot. You can tell in this picture

pretty well the difference between the

two. All this swelling, decreased energy

level, and extra weight I'm carrying

around are making me very tired these

days. But, Matt and I know that it will all

pass and is all worth it for our daughter!

She is very active and it still makes me

smile every time I feel her moving around

in there. Matt has been so fantastic, also!

He's a huge help and does whatever he

can to make me more comfortable.


Monday, July 10, 2006

Saturday

Christina, Jacob, and baby Will came over on Saturday! Jacob & Matt played disc golf

while Christina, Will, and I stayed home and had fun looking at our nursery and all the

baby stuff we've gotten. :) Will slept most of the time, but Christina gave me some good

tips. Just before they left Will woke up and we took lots of cute pictures while his eyes

were open. He's in his car seat in these pictures. He's doing so well and is over 4 lbs

now!

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Saturday evening, our good friends from

church Lee & Amy got married. It was a

beautiful service and a great reminder of

Christ's love for his bride, the church! This

picture is from their reception, which was

at Exploris in downtown Raleigh. It was a

great celebration!Posted by Matt and Lisa at 08:41AM (-

05:00)

Ring!

Our good friend Claire, who works at

Fink's Jewelers and who is the one we

bought our wedding rings from, cameover on Sunday afternoon to look at my

swollen hand. Matt and I had tried

everything to get that ring off, but it just

wouldn't come and it was beginning to get

really uncomfortable. After getting over

the emotions of having to have my ring

cut off, I was really glad that Claire was

able to help us!!

Claire has this handy tool where part of it32



slides under the ring to protect my finger

from the blade. She slowly turned the

blade and it cut right through my ring!

Then, she had to use pliers to pull it

apart... then we were able to slide it off

my finger.

And here it is... my engagement ring cut

off!! After we got it off, we were able to

slide my wedding band off using soap

and cold water because it was sized a

little bit bigger. AND... Claire took us up to

the store where they stretched my wedding band so

that I can still wear it! I'll be taking it off every night

and keeping a close eye to make sure that my hand

doesn't swell even bigger. The engagement ring has

been sent off to be fixed and I won't wear it again un-

til after Leah comes. Claire said that when I get itback it will look just like before - no harm done!!

Thanks Claire! You're wonderful!


NCSU Girl & CamelsLeah got several gifts this weekend!! Uncle Jeff gave her this adorable "NCSU Girl" hat,

which will be perfect for next summer. And, it is soooo cute! Jeff's going to be a fantastic

uncle!

My Grandmother went to Israel and visited "the Holy Land" several weeks ago. She

brought us back these two camels. The one on the left is carved out of the wood of an

olive tree. And, the one on the right is a stuffed animal for Leah.


33



Stroller!!

Uncle Gene & Aunt Margaret gave us our stroller this weekend!! Matt and I were sooooo

excited! This was such a nice surprise and treat! Matt immediately wanted to take it out of

the box and put it together.

Annie was very unsure about what this thing was. She smelled it, walked around it, and

then just backed up and looked at it for a while. And, this is the stroller all put together!!

We had gotten the car seat at the Raleigh shower, so we went ahead and snapped it

right in. We have our stroller & car seat all ready to go!! Wow!!


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Tuesday, July 18, 2006

35th Week - Belly Picture

35th Week

Wow, it's hard to believe that we've only

got about 5 and 1/2 weeks to go! It's also

hard to believe that my belly could pos-

sibly get any bigger. (of course, wethought that a month ago and now look!)

Other than swollen hands and feet and

being tired, I'm feeling great. My last doc-

tor visit was a few days ago and

everything looked good. I also got to have

a pregnancy massage yesterday - it was

wonderful!

The Harmon's were in town this past weekend and we had a really fun time with them. 35



Mom Harmon made Leah a beautiful quilt! I'll take a picture and post it sometime in the

next few days. But, it was great to spend some time with them!!


Monday, July 24, 2006

Wedding in SouthportMatt and I got to spend the weekend in

Southport, NC! We went down there for

James & Katie's wedding on Friday even-

ing. We took the day off of work on Fri-

day - partly because it was Matt's birth-

day and we wanted to really enjoy the

day and partly because the wedding was

Friday night. This picture of us is just be-

fore the reception. The wedding and re-

ception were beautiful!! I think this is the

only picture of Matt and I dressed up with

me pregnant. Notice I'm wearing flip flops.

My swollen feet could not fit into any oth-

er shoes.

James & Katie's first dance. Aren't they

sweet?!

This is Southport - so pretty!


05:00)

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Oak Island / Wilmington

36



We spent Saturday morning enjoying Southport and Saturday afternoon in Oak Island,

which is about 20 minutes down the road. It was very windy, which you can tell by my

crazy hair! The first picture is out on the pier and the second one is at the sand dunes. It

was so beautiful.

37



The ocean water was pretty warm, but it felt so good on my feet!

On Sunday, we went to church in Wilmington and then ate lunch down by the water.

Wilmington is such a neat place. We really enjoyed being there and hope to go backsoon!


Saturday, July 29, 2006

Quilt from Mom Harmon

38



This is the beautiful quilt that Mom Harmon made for Leah! She made the six squares in-

dividually and then stitched them together. It is amazing!! We know that Leah will lovethis quilt for years and years.


Thursday, August 03, 2006

Bathroom & Foyer

Before......................... After

This is the downstairs bathroom.

Foyer


39





New Vinyl Flooring

Before................... After

Laundry Room

We've been in the process of getting our vinyl floor-

ing replaced for months now! After getting several

price quotes back in May, we picked a company.

And, it has taken a long time for them to completethe job! I'll spare you all the details on the blog, but if

you want the whole saga, just ask Matt or I.... we're

so happy it's finally done!!

Before................ After

Another angle of laundry room


41



Sunday, August 06, 2006Julie Anna

On Friday, Julie Anna cooked a yummy

dinner for Matt and I at her house. Julie

Anna is my big sis from Meredith, but

beyond that, she's been a great friend to

me for years! She did get to feel the baby

moving around finally.

Normally, JA and I are about the same

size, but in this picture, her foot is on the

left and mine is on the right... which

shows you how gigantic my swollen feet

are right now... yuck!


05:00)

42



Monday, August 07, 2006

Pregnant Pictures

While Julie Anna was over, she took some pictures of Matt and I... we really haven't

taken many of the two of us pregnant. These pictures show some good shots of my still

growing belly.

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Childbirth Class

Childbirth Classes -

Our first childbirth class was on Saturday

(the second one is next Saturday) at Rex

Hospital. We were told to bring a blanket

and 2-3 pillows. So, here I am bright and

early Saturday morning ready to go. The

class was actually really good and help-

ful. Our teacher was great and she spent

a lot of time talking to the dads in the

room about what they can do to help

mom during childbirth. Matt and I learned

a lot and I'm confident that he will be a

great helper to me during labor! We also got a tour of the hospital. After all that, Matt and

I both needed a nap!



Ashley Dew's Wedding

Busy weekend! On Saturday morning, we had our last Childbirth Class at Rex Hospital.

We had to go through a practice labor... sounds funny, I know... but it was helpful.

My good friend from college, Ashley Dews, got married Satruday evening in Greenville. It

was a beautiful wedding! Ashley had angel pins for all of the Meredith girls to wear. It was

nice to be there for Ashley's big day and we had a good time catching up with some

friends from college. I am 38 and 1/2 weeks pregnant (less than 2 weeks until our due

date!)

Us with Ashley & Chris....

44



.....Ashley & Chris's first dance

Sara, Lisa, and Su-Anne.......


45



Friday, August 18, 2006

One More Week!!

Our due date is one week from today!!

We are feeling more and more ready forLeah to arrive. Matt likes to let her listen

to music.... usually it's the Forrest Gump

soundtrack. Also, I had my last day of

work (until October, anyways) today! I'm

looking forward to getting some rest and

some things done around the house be-

fore this baby comes...... anyone want to

guess which day baby Harmon will ar-

rive??

In other news... our pink rose bush in thefront yard is blooming! There are 2 roses

already and several buds that will bloom

soon. Aren't they beautiful! We can't take

any credit for making them grow - we've

done nothing to help them. Praise God for

His amazing creation!


05:00)

46



Sunday, August 20, 2006

Move In Weekend

This weekend was move in weekend for

college students. On Saturday, Matt and I

helped his sister, Sarah move into

Meredith.... well Matt helped and I just en-

joyed being back on campus at Meredith.

We forgot to take a picture of Sarah's

room, but it is very cute and mostly pink!

My brother, Jeff, moved into his apart-

ment for the school year this weekend,

also. This picture is his awesome room -

of course it's red all over!


Baby Will

Christina & Will came over to my parents

house this afternoon.... he's getting so

big! He's over 6 lbs, has blue eyes and

even is getting lots of brown hair!

Mom and Dad had such fun holding Will!

Mom tried out all of the chairs in their den

to see which one she liked best for hold-

ing a baby. I think they enjoyed it. Hope-

fully Leah will arrive in the next week so

that Will will have a friend!47




05:00)


Family Picture

Lisa's Family

8/20/06


More Will Pictures

We just love taking pictures of Will Gainor.... he's so cute, we can't help ourselves. :)

I think my belly might just be bigger than he is..... wow!


48



Thursday, August 24, 2006Update

Well... tomorrow's our due date and still no baby yet so I thought I'd post a quick update.

I've been enjoying my time at home this week. I've gotten a lot done around the house

and I'm trying to go walking at the mall as often as possible (they say that's a good way to

get the baby moving). Matt is, of course, going to work everyday and getting things to a

good point for him to be out of the office for a week. So, we are both just hanging in there

and waiting!

Please pray with us that baby Harmon would arrive in the next few days! I have my doc-

tor appointment tomorrow (on my due date) and will update if there is any news after that.

Today is my mom's birthday, so it'd be kind of fun if Leah was born today..... :)

Thanks for reading our blog, we love you all! Stay tuned.


Friday, August 25, 2006

Go Wolfpack!49



Time for a non-Leah post! (In a few days she will begin her total domination of this blog)

On Thursday, Matt got to make a site visit to Carter Finley Stadium to review some new

signage that his company will be installing for the brand new A.E. Finley Fieldhouse. The

stadium was pretty much in chaos, as they are trying to get everything wrapped up in

time for the first home game. We can't wait!

Take a look at these pictures-

Here is a picture of the area approaching

the scoreboard and new gate. It's really

neat how they were able to make this

work. They added several concession

stands as well.

Below is what it looks like when you're

walking out of the new gate, and what it

looks like walking back in.

50




Sunday, August 27, 2006

Another Update

Here's the current belly picture! Little

Leah must be running out of room in

there and we are very ready for her to be

here!! We are 2 days past our due date

now, but hanging in there pretty well. Matt

and I are trying to be patient and enjoy

these last few nights of good sleep and

quiet around the house. :) I go back to the

doctor on Tuesday (if the baby doesn't

come before then) for an ultrasound andnon-stress test. If that all goes well, we'll

consider scheduling a day for me to be in-

duced. We're praying and hopeful that this baby will come in the next day or two on her

own! We'll keep you posted!


Thursday, August 31, 2006

Leah Grace Harmon

Leah was born August 30th, 2006 at 12:27 pm! Weighing in at 8 lbs 5 oz and measuring

21 inches long, she's a big girl! We are very excited, and can't wait to get her home. Both

mom and baby are doing fine, although mom is still pretty weak. Thank you for your pray-

ers of protection and peace during the past couple of days. We hope to see you all soon!


51



Monday, September 04, 2006

Leah Pictures

Here are a few pictures to tell the story of

the past few days. We'll post more soon.Leah is amazing! She's been a fantastic

baby and we love her so much! Isn't she

beautiful?!

This is our dog, Annie, meeting Leah for

the first time. It went really well and An-

nie seems very happy to have us home.

She continues to smell all the baby things

and we are letting her have a little bit of

inside time each day to get used to thebaby being around.

This first picture is when we first got

home from the hospital! Matt and I were

tired, but very excited. Matt's been an

awesome daddy and we have loved our

time as a new family the past few days.

The next picture is about 30 minutes after

Leah's grand arrival - my first time hold-

ing my sweet daughter!


05:00)

52



Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Some Updates

Momma and baby - I just love holding her!

First Sponge bath! Leah had her first sponge bath this week. She didn't seem to enjoy it

too much, but was very calm and clean afterwards.

53



My Mom has been wonderful! She comes over each day and helps me while Matt goes to

work. It's great because I get to take some naps and just get some much needed help

around the house. Matt and I aren't sure how we would have gotten through the past

week without her help!


Leah & Will

On Monday, Leah and Will met for the

first time! (Will is our good friends Jacob

& Christina's son... we expect them to be

good buddies). It was so fun to see them

together. And, as you can see in the firstpicture, they are already holding hands. :)

(we had to put their hands together to

make that happen... but it's still cute).


05:00)

54



Sleeping

Leah spends a lot of time sleeping during

the day. She's so precious! We are work-

ing on getting her to be awake during the

day and sleep at night time. Our nights

right now and pretty long and don't in-

volve too much sleep.

Leah likes to be swaddled (wrapped

tightly), but she enjoys having her arms

free. She's sitting on her daddy's lap in

this picture.

More pictures and updates to come

soon.... being a parent is awesome and

Leah is both more work and more of a joy

than we ever expected!


05:00)

Thursday, September 07, 2006Daddy Time

Matt took Leah on her first walk yesterday! Leah seemed to really enjoy it and she actu-

ally stayed pretty awake the whole time.

Daddy & baby Posted by Matt and Lisa at 03:53PM (-05:00)

55



Awake Time

We are trying to give Leah some awake time during the day in order to get her to sleep at

night. She had some great awake time today - it was so much fun!


56



Monday, September 11, 2006

Pictures

Uncle Jeff & Mommy holding up little Leah. Leah loves it when her aunts and uncles

come to visit!

Rachel Giles came to see us on Saturday. Rachel is now 3 months old. She makes Leah57



look tiny. We had such a fun time visiting

with Rachel and her mom. (Leah is on the

left, Rachel is on the right)

Leah in her baby papasan seat! Doesn'tshe look cozy?


05:00)

Great Grandparents

Leah's Great Granma & Granpa came to

meet her on Sunday afternoon! It was

amazing to have 4 generations all togeth-er. We had such a good time!

Great-Granpa

Great-Granma

58



4 generations! Great-grandparents, Gran-

D, Mommy, and baby Leah

Leah also got to meet her Great-Aunt

Nancy and cousin Amy. They were sweet

to come and bring Lisa's grandparents!

Leah was so well behaved and she had

some great awake time while meetingeveryone! Matt and I were so proud!


05:00)

59



It's a Girl

Family of 3!

Our good friends, Jacob & Christina, put this sign in

our yard for when we got home from the hospital last

week. We are just now getting around to taking a pic-

ture of the 3 of us with the sign.

Another adorable sleeping picture :)


Thursday, September 14, 2006

First Outing & Esther

Our friends from college, Dori & David, came to visit last night with their 3 month old

daughter, Esther! Esther is getting so big and we were amazed at the difference between

her and Leah.60



Our first outing! My mom helped us take

our first outing (other than to see Leah's

doctor a few times) on Monday of this

week. We went to the mall and spentabout an hour and a half there. It was

such fun to be out and about. I loved

showing Leah off. :) But, it was exhaust-

ing!! I was worn out!


Sunday, September 17, 2006Hands & Feet

We love Leah's cute little hands and feet. She already holds her hands together pretty

tightly like in the first picture. She's a strong little girl!


61



Dinners

Our church family has been so wonder-

ful to bring us dinners this month. It has

been a huge help to Matt and I as we areso tired by dinner time that cooking is the

last thing we want to do. This picture is

Robin Willis and Shannon Dodd and her

2 boys. They brought us dinner last night.

It has been such a wonderful service to

us! Thanks so much to everyone who has

helped us in this way!


05:00)

Big Eyes

Leah has great periods of awake time now! We think she is starting to understand the

difference between day and night. When she is awake, she is so much fun. She looks all

around and seems to really enjoy herself.


62



Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Great Grandmother

Leah with her Great-Grandmother (Lisa's mom's

mom)! Grandmother has been in town this week tomeet Leah and spend some time with us. It's been

so much fun to have her here. Leah is a lucky girl!

Four generation picture - Granmama, Mom, Great-

Grandmother, and baby Leah!


Faces & Daddy

These are some of our favorite faces that Leah makes right now.

63





tion.... and isn't she so cute!

Leah and her Dad - she loves to be held

this way!


05:00)

First Tailgate

On Saturday, Leah attended her first tailgate! Mom

& Leah went to the tailgate and then came home

while Dad stayed at the game. She'll attend her first

game very soon. We had a great time tailgating - the

weather was nice, the food was good... and it's al-

ways fun to be dressed all in wolfpack red!!

The whole tailgate crew!

Everyone was so nice and welcomed Leah as the

newest NC State fan. By the way, State won thegame! We played Boston College and won with a

fantastic touchdown in the last 30 seconds of the

game!

Leah did a great job and had some good awake time as she was meeting everyone.

Lisa's mom and dad were very proud grandparents!

Christina & Will with Lisa & Leah! It was baby Wills first tailgate, also.

And by the end, Leah was exhausted! She fell right asleep. 65





Pink Dress

After such a fun day on Saturday, we decided to try to make it to church on Sunday

morning. We were about 25 minutes late, but we made it there. It was great to be there -

to worship the Lord and praise Him for our sweet daughter was awesome! We dressed

Leah in her cute pink dress. She looks like such a big girl! She's growing up so fast.


67



Thursday, September 28, 2006

Sleeping

Just chillin' in her swing

Leah took her first nap in her crib this

week! ! Usual ly , she s leeps whi le

someone is holding her, in her swing, in

her bassinet, or in the baby papasan. On

Monday, after she was very asleep in the

afternoon, I laid her in her crib. She slept

there for about an hour!

I knew she was really out when the passy

fell out of her mouth!

Once she did wake up, I turned on the

mobile and she looked right at it while it

spinned around and played music!

This is Leah in her bassinet. The bassinet is right beside Mom & Dad's bed, so that we

can hear her at night. Pretty soon, we'll move her into her crib for night time sleeping. But,

for now, I like having her close by. In the second picture, she is waking up and has com-

pletely kicked the blanket off.




Monday, October 02, 2006 69



Smiles

On Saturday, we noticed Leah smiling!

When she is in a happy mood and Matt or

I talk to her, she lets out these beautiful

big grins! This just started happening, but

it is so much fun. This picture is the

closest we've come to capturing it in a

picture; it's kind of the start of a smile.

One day soon, we'll get a good picture of

her big smile!


05:00)

Annie

My Dad came over and took Annie for a

walk this weekend! Poor Annie has got-ten far less attention since Leah's arrival.

She loved going on a walk and after-

wards, she was worn out. This picture is

her sleeping on the deck.... well she put

her head up when she heard me. But she

was so cute and fast asleep before that!

She has been so sweet with Leah and

seems to have adjusted very well.


05:00)

Bath Time

Ever since her umbilical cord fell off, bath time is so

much easier! She doesn't even cry or fuss anymore.

She might even enjoy the warm water. It's great!

When she is all done, she's so cute and clean! And,

after she's all dried off and in her PJ's, she looks so

sweet while her dad is holding her! Based on thelook on her face, she'll be asleep in no time!


70



One Month Old

My mom came with me to take Leah to

her one month check up today. I was glad

to have Mom there because Leah had to

get her Hep B shot. Leah cried and cried!

It took me a while to get her calmed down

and it was nice to have my moms help.

This picture is after we got home. I fed

Leah and she fell right asleep - she was

worn out! I can't believe she is one month

old already! The good news is that the

doctor said she is looking great. She nowweights 9 lbs 6 oz!


Thursday, October 05, 2006

Bibs

"Future Meredith Alumnae"

This was a gift from the Meredith alumnae assoication. It looks great on Leah!! :) "Girls

Just Wanna Have Fun"

"L"

This fancy "L" bib was a gift at one of my showers. We also got a birp cloth and hooded71



towel that look like this with Leah's name on them!

So cute.


Monday, October 09, 2006

Back to Work 72



I (Lisa) started back to work today. My

mom watched Leah while I had my first

day back. Normally, Leah will come with

me to work (except for twice a month

when my mom will watch her). Mom got

some great pictures of Leah smiling! Leah

loves her Granmama!

Meanwhile, for me, going back to work

was very hard, but today went better than

I expected. Once I got there and got into

it, it went by pretty fast and before I knew

it, it was time to come home and see my

baby girl!

My Dad holding Leah so that everyone

else could eat dinner one night last week

when Mom cooked for us. So sweet!


Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Piano

Matt playing the piano for baby Leah and our sweet

dog Annie!


Leah at Work

All of our faithful blog readers are going to get tired of seeing pictures of Leah smiling....

but I just can't resist sharing them!

This is the set up at work. You can see my desk there and Leah is in her swing in this pic-

ture. I had to turn the swing facing this way so that Leah could see out the window. She73



loves windows!

This is the pack-n-play, which will be a

place where Leah can take naps. It also

has a changing table on it so I canchange her dirty diapers. Notice the win-

dow behind it.... that window made Leah

so happy!


05:00)

Saturday, October 14, 2006

3rd Anniversary

Oct. 4 was our 3rd wedding anniversary! We celebrated by going out to dinner. Lisa's

parents watched Leah (our first time leaving her for us to go out!!) and we went to Bella

Monica, a great local Italian place in Raleigh. Matt made reservations, so they were ex-

pecting us and had written "Happy 3rd Anniv. Harmons!" on the ground in front of the

front door. It was so nice!

3 years later, a family of 3


74



Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Another Tailgate

Leah attended her 2nd NCSU tailgate onSaturday! I think the ballcap is a little bit

large for her head, but it's pretty cute any-

ways. What you can't see in the picture is

that she is also wearing NCSU socks and

her sweater has the block S on it!

Lisa, Leah, and Carol. Carol is our good

friend from Greensboro. She's the one

who has provided Leah with much of her

State gear! Thanks Carol!

After the tailgate, Leah and I headed home. Our friends, the Giles family, came to the

tailgate also, so baby Rachel and her mom left with us. Rachel is in the green car seat

and Leah is in the brown one. Rachel is about 4 months old now. The babies loved tail-

gating!


75



Lifting Head

Leah is holding her head up so well now!

In the first picture - she was just laying

with her dad and she picked her head uplike that all on her own! He was talking to

her and she used her hands and lifted

that head and looked right at him. I set up

the mobile that goes on the pack-n-play

at work and Leah loved it! I don't know if

I've ever seen her so excited!


05:00)

76



Friday, October 20, 2006

Sleep Update

Sleep! We've been working with Leah on

getting her to take her daytime naps in

her crib (as opposed to someone holding

her or her being in her swing). During this

nap, she managed to kick right out of her

swaddle!

Speaking of sleep - great news! We

moved Leah's bedtime earlier last night.

We started the bedtime routine at 7:30pm

and had her in the crib asleep at 8:15pm.

She didn't wake up until 6:10am! 10 hours

of sleep! Of course, we got up several

time to check on her because we thought

for sure she would have woken up earlier!

Uncle Mikey & Aunt Emily brought us din-

ner last night. This is Mikey holding Leah

- she loved seeing them!

--Classic frown (she was sleepy and

ready for bedtime, but that frown is just

amazing!)


05:00)

77



Sunday, October 22, 2006

Jeans

Leah wore her jeans this weekend and

looked like such a big girlBig yawn... and then on her changing ta-

ble getting ready for bed. Posted by Matt

and Lisa at 01:26PM (-05:00)

78



Friday, October 27, 2006

Growing Girl

Leah's all wrapped up and ready to go in this cold

weather we've been having.

A new thing Leah has been doing this week is eating

her hands! She is discovering that she has hands - it's

so cute. She also is playing with her tongue pretty of-

ten now.

Big Smile!


79



Monday, October 30, 2006

Harmon Visit

Grammy & Grandaddy Harmon love Miss

Leah! They were in town this weekend to

visit us (well... really just Leah). Uncle

Mikey & Aunt Emily (who we fondly refer

to as Auntie Em) with LeahLeah's Grandaddy can really make her

laugh!


05:00)

80



Two Months Old

Leah is 2 months old today!

Our good friend, Julie Anna, painted this adorable

painting for Leah's room - it's alphabet blocks thatspell out "harmon." Leah loves it, as you can tell!

Thanks Julie Anna!


81



Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Halloween

A friend gave us this pumpkin costumeand we couldn't resist putting in on Leah

for her to help us greet the trick-or-treat-

ers that came to our door. She was so

cute! We took lots of pictures. Happy

pumpkin Granmama & Gran-D surprised

us by coming over to see Miss Leah all

dressed up! It was fun & we were happy

to show her off!

Great Granma & Granpa came to Raleigh

today. They came by Lisa's office to visitLeah. Leah was so happy to see them!


82



Friday, November 03, 2006

Cornhuskin'

Leah attended her first Cornhuskin' parade today and she did a great job... well she slept

through it (firetrucks and all!). Cornhuskin' happens every fall at Meredith and is a com- 83



petition between the classes. The main

event is in the evening, but the parade

was this afternoon.

-Class of '03: Hassie, Lisa, Beth Aunt

Sarah & her suite mates with Leah after

the parade.


Monday, November 06, 2006

Mom, Dad, & Leah

Mom, Dad, & Leah

This is Leah resting her head on her hand... being very thoughtful about something.


84




Favorite Toys

Leah's outfit says "I Love My Favorite Toys"... and this is her laying on one of her favor-

ite toys - her play mat. It has a blue money, a purple elephant, and an orange giraffe on

it!


85



Meeting the Newkirks!

Leah got to meet the Newkirks this week-

end! Matt Newkirk is one of Matt

Harmon's good friends from college. He

lives down in Florida, but was up visiting

this weekend.

Leah got to meet Mom & Dad Newkirk

also. She had such a fun time with this

sweet family!


05:00)

Aunts

Leah with her Aunt Emily & Aunt Sarah - Leah loves her aunts!


86



Special Moments

Leah is holding her head up so much

now. She is becoming such a big girl! I'm

holding her under her arms in this picture,

but she is holding her head up all on her

own. She loves to sit with me and hold upher head so she can look all around.

We try to arrange for Dad to give Leah a

bottle at least once a week. It's sweet

time for Dad and daughter to spend to-

gether. I tried to capture it in a picture this

time.


05:00)

87





Topsail Island

Leah took her first vacation this week-

end! We went to Topsail Island with Lisa's

parents and brother. It was very relaxingand Leah did great (despite having a

cold... more on that later). This picture is

Leah with her Dad and Gran-D when we

got there on Friday night. Uncle Jeff &

Leah talking Leah & Gran-D on the bal-

cony. We had a great view! Leah got a

cold on Friday before we left. The doctor

said it was fine to go ahead and take her

to the beach. They suggested giving her

a vapor bath, so we brought our little bathseat along. Notice that she stuck her leg

in the water. She seemed to enjoy the

bath and was less stuffy the next morn-

ing.


05:00)

89



More Beach Pictures

We got there right at Sunset Friday night.

It was beautiful! Our pit stop to change

Miss Leah's diaper.Leah in her Wilson outfit!

Happy that her Granma Wilson is holding

her!


05:00)

90



Thursday, November 23, 2006

Wilson Thanksgiving

Leah loved thanksgiving! Lisa's mom

cooked a fantastic thanksgiving feast and

Leah sat at the table with us in her

Bumbo seat as we ate. Dad, Mom, Leah,

Granma, Gran-D, Uncle Jeff - the whole

Wilson crew. Leah did a neat trick where

she spit up on Uncle Jeff just as mom

was handing her to him!


05:00)

91




Harmon Thanksgiving

Leah made her first trip up to Etowah this

weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with

the Harmons. She loved looking at theirfish tank with all the bright colors! Mom

Harmon cooked a yummy lunch and Leah

again sat in her Bumbo seat so she could

enjoy it with us! Grammy & Granddaddy

Harmon, Aunt Sarah & Jesse, Matt &

Lisa, Uncle Mikey & Aunt Emily, Great

Aunt Carole (holding Leah) & Uncle Jor-

gen, and Hanz Sleepy girl with her

Granddaddy!

Leah meeting her Great Aunt Pam &Uncle Bob Posted by Matt and Lisa at

10:57AM (-05:00)

92



Saturday, December 02, 2006

Cute Pictures

We are all ready for Christmas... wesaved the best pictures for the Christmas

card, so you'll have to be checking your

mailboxes in a few weeks, but we thought

you might enjoy a sneak preview.

Leah has learned that she loves sucking

her thumb!

Great Uncle Bobby & Aunt Joan gave

Leah this adorable purple hat!


05:00)

93



Sunday, December 10, 2006

Swing

Leah got an early Christmas gift from the Harmons - a swing for the front yard! This pic-

ture is Grammy & Leah in the new swing. Thanks Grammy & Granddaddy!


94





So big

Leah is getting so big! We're amazed

every day at the new things she is doing.

She is rolling over from her tummy to herback now and she loves to "stand." She

needs help balancing and her legs are

still pretty wobbly, but she loves standing

as tall as she can!


05:00)

BaptismLeah's baptism was on Sunday! It was such a special time and we are grateful to all the

family and friends that came, as well as to our church family who faithfully love Leah.

Us with our pastor, Elliot Grudem.

A big thank you to Sarah Keel for taking pictures for us - she did a great job and was a

big blessing! I'll post more baptism pictures on the blog next week when we get them all

from Sarah, so check back then.





Baptism Pictures Con't

Here are some more pictures from Leah's baptism....


97



Monday, December 18, 2006

Church Family

We had a wedding after our church ser-

vice this week. My friend Sarah Keel took

pictures and did a great job. Her web site

i s

www.michaelandsarahkeel.blogspot.com

if you want to see pictures. After the wed-

ding, we had a special church lunch/re-

ception. This is the Patel family! It seems

like yesterday that little Asha was born

and now she's over a year old! She

wanted to "hold" Leah and was so sweet

with her! This is Matt & Leah with Tom

Dodd and his son, Tae Dodd. Tae calls

Leah "my baby." It's so cute!


05:00)

Christmas Pictures

This is Lisa's Christmas dress from when she was a baby!

Mom, Dad, and baby

Granmama & GranD

Posted by Matt and Lisa at 09:01AM (-05:00)98



99




Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with Lisa's family and had a

great time!

100



Leah with her Gigi (great grandmother)

Leah & Uncle Jeff

Uncle Gene & Aunt Margaret gave Leah a John

Deere Tractor toy!


Greensboro

We went to Greensboro on Saturday for a Christmas party with some of Lisa's high

school friends. Here is Leah checking everyone out...

101



And here's her big smile... And here's her big frown...she got a little upset shortly after we got there. I think

everyone loved her anyways. :)


Monday, December 25, 2006

Christmas Day

Leah's first Christmas is off to a great

start - she had a great Christmas Eve

with Great Grandmother, Uncle Gene &

Aunt Margaret.... Then, after some time at

home this morning, we went to see Lisa's

other grandparents, aunts, and cousins.Tomorrow is our big day with Lisa's par-

ents & brother and Friday is our big day

with Matt's parents & siblings.

We pray that all of you are experiencing

the joy of Christmas - Glory to God in the

Highest!

102



Leah & Great Granma - Leah was study-

ing her watch.

Leah & Great Granpa - she gave him lots of big smiles!


Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Christmas - WilsonsOpening her gifts!

Uncle Jeff gave Leah an NCSU sippy

cup! She put it right to her mouth. Leah

was very interested in her new book from

Granma & GranD! She got lots of new

cool toys.

We had a great time celebrating Christ-

mas with Lisa's parents & brother. Thanks

Mom & Dad Wilson and Uncle Jeff for

everything!


05:00)

103




Christmas - Harmons

Our Christmas with the Harmons was

very fun. Leah got more toys, books, andclothes! She is one blessed baby! Here

you see her new feet rattles and she's

holding one of her new pink blocks! Of

course, nothing beats sucking on those

fingers right now. Uncle Mikey helped

Leah play in the leaves that cover our

front yard. She loved the sound the

leaves made!


05:00)

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Hapy New Year

Happy New Year! This first week of the year has proved to be a very busy one! It seems

like Leah does something new every day. She started really noticing Annie, our dog, this

week. Leah smiles at Annie when she sees her. The top picture is Leah and Annie play-104



ing today - Leah watched every move Annie made! Leah

also has grabbed her feet for the first time! It's so cute...

and I'll do my best to get a picture of it in the next few

days. We have Leah's 4 month doctor visit tomorrow, so

I promise to post another update then.

Annie and one of her new toys that she got for Christ-

mas!Posted by Matt and Lisa at 08:21PM (-05:00)

Friday, January 05, 20074 months old

Leah grabbing her foot... kind of...

105



Leah really grabbing her foot!

Leah's 4 month check up went well

today. She had to get 4 shots, though - 2

in each leg. You can see the band aids

on her little legs in this picture. She did a

great job and calmed down pretty fast

after the shots were over. She's now 2

feet tall :), (24 inches long) and weighs 11

lbs 12 oz. The doctor said she looks

great!


05:00)

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Overalls

Leah in her new overalls! "I'm so cute" :)


106



Tuesday, January 16, 2007

hanging out

Just chillin'(notice how she is holding her jeans

pocket with one hand and her dad's

thumb with the other hand.. and sucking

on her bottom lip)


05:00)

Rolling Over

Rolling over from her tummy to her back is an every day occurance for Leah now... and

she is close to going from her back to her tummy, too. It all starts with tummy time on her

fun playmat.....

107



Then she pushes with her hands...

And then she rolls right over!


05:00)

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Snow

We woke up this morning with much excitement! Leah's first snow!

108



On another note... here's our happy girl's

big smile!


05:00)

Saturday, January 20, 2007109



Meredith Outfit

This was Lisa's outfit as a baby!

Leah loves Meredith College already... :)


05:00)

Rice Cereal

Leah started eating rice cereal on

Thursday! She is such a big girl. She sud-

denly feels heavier and is acting so much

older. We think she is in the middle of a

growth spurt.

Daddy's turn to feed the baby!

110



It's kind of messy right now.... Posted byMatt and Lisa at 01:21PM (-05:00)

Sunday, January 28, 2007

New Things

Who needs toys when paper bags are so

much fun?

Leah's new pink overalls! Thanks Grammy - we love them!

111



Leah is doing so many new things! She can now roll

from her tummy to her back and from her back to her

tummy! She is giggling (when in the right mood), she

can sit for a few seconds, and she is even enjoying

tummy time now. Rice cereal is going great! She

eats it every night for dinner and seems to be enjoy-ing it! We weighed her today and she weighs 14 lbs!

That means she has gained 2 lbs in the past month.

Her sleep is not great right now as she is waking

twice a night to eat, but her daytime naps get better

everyday. She will be 5 months old on Tuesday... we

can hardly believe how fast the time has gone by.

We praise the Lord for our sweet girl!


Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Teething Ring

Leah loves this green rattle.... she shakes it and chews on it.

112



We gave her a teething ring to chew on

yesterday for the first time. I think she

loved it!

Chewing on teething ring AND holding

feet - pretty impressive for a 5 month old.

:)


05:00)

Monday, February 05, 2007113



Snow

Last Thursday, we had another snow

day!

Our house

Our sweet dog, Annie - she was running

all around the back yard in the snow!


05:00)

Super Bowl

This was our Super Bowl party... :)


114



Ready

Leah is ready for Valentine's Day! Her outfit has

hearts all over it and...

...check out her cute bottom. (Thanks Grandmama

for the outfit!)

Leah has a little cold right now, so we're trying to

nurse her back to health with lots of sleep and snug-

gling.


Monday, February 12, 2007

Toes 115



Leah loves chewing on her toes - espe-

cially that big toe.


05:00)

Leah & Rachel

I love seeing Leah interact with other ba-

bies! We went over to see Rachel Giles

last week and the two girls were so inter-

ested in each other. Rachel is 2 and 1/2

months older than Leah, so she can

already sit by herself, crawl, and lots of

other things that amazed Leah! Posted by

Matt and Lisa at 11:45AM (-05:00)

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Valentines Day

Daddy brought home one rose for Leah and one for mommy!

Leah wanted to hold hers Posted by Matt and Lisa at 12:22PM (-05:00)

116





Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Talking to Mr. Wolf

Leah had a chat w i th Mr . Wolf

yesterday. . . .Posted by Matt and Lisa at 04:34PM (-

05:00)

New Toy

This toy was a gift for Leah (thanks Aunt Nancy & Aunt Peggy) back when she was first

born. We've got it out this week and Leah has loved it! There is a part she can play with

sitting down and also lots of things she can do standing up. Posted by Matt and Lisa at

04:38PM (-05:00)

118



Friday, February 23, 2007

Upside Down Passy

There are several things to notice in these pictures: 1. Leah's passy is in her mouth up-

side down. She put it in that way and she always puts it in that way... I can only figure

that she likes it! 2. She is smiling under the passy. 3. She has no socks on her feet. I had

to take them off because they were getting soaked from having her toes in her mouth! 4.

Well, you can't see this, but she was making a nice large poopy for mommy to clean up at

this very moment. :)


119





Leah's 6 month check-up was today! We

can hardly believe she is already so big

and so old. She weighs about 14 lbs now

(which is actually on the small size of nor-

mal, but her length is proportional, so it's

no problem.... her head is on the big side

of normal, which means she's got a bigbrain, of course...). She got 3 shots

(hence the orange band-aids on her legs)

and was really a trooper. She got more

upset when the doctor cleaned the wax

out of her ear than for the shots. And, we

got the all clear to start veggies! So, we

are planning on starting them this week-

end. We can't wait to see her reaction

when she realizes that things can have

more taste than just milk and rice cereal.

I'll be sure to post pictures as she triesnew foods. First in line on her menu are

squash, carrots, sweet potatoes... and

even avocado! We have to try each one

for 4 days to make sure she doesn't have

an allergic reaction before we start a new

food. We're very excited to see how this

goes. Our little girl is growing so fast.

She's still very snuggly and she just gets

sweeter and more fun every day (okay, I

know that sounds cheesy, but it's really

true)!Posted by Matt and Lisa at 09:34PM (-

05:00)

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Squash

It was squash to start with for Miss Leah Grace. She had milk first and then some rice

cereal.... and then came the squash. For 4 or 5 bites, she didn't really make any reaction;

she just keep eating it like it was rice cereal. But then...

she started to realize something was different....

and she wasn't happy about it. She didn't want any more after that point. So, we'll keep

trying with the squash for the next few days. I think carrots are in line next and we'll start

them on Tuesday. Stay tuned...


121



Monday, March 05, 2007

Helping in the Kitchen

Leah likes to help me in the kitchen as much as possible :)


122



Food Update

I mixed her squash with her rice cereal

and she has liked it much better that way!

In fact, she ate 2 full bowls of the mixture

at lunch time today.


05:00)

Leah's spot on the couch

Leah is enjoying sitting up more and

more. This is her new spot on the couch

and one of her most favorite toys - the

Baby Einstein caterpillar!

Mom and Dad Harmon were in town this

weekend and believe it or not, this is the

only picture we took on our camera.....

but it's a pretty cute one! Leah and her

Granddaddy.


123



Saturday, March 10, 2007

After Bath Time

Bath time for Leah is now a very fun

time! She get a bath every Monday, Wed-nesday, and Friday morning. After bath

time, she gets a lit t le massage as

mommy rubs lotion on her skin. This is a

very happy time in our day.

I wanted to post this picture to show you

her new big girl passy! She has gradu-

ated to the 6 month and older passies

now. She seems to be really enjoying

them and will take her old one out of her

mouth and put the new one in. This one is

bigger so I think it fits her mouth betternow. She's a growing girl!

We haven't posted too many pictures of

Annie dog lately. She has been getting

used to having Leah around. She still

sniffs Leah each time she sees her. We

are trying to work with Annie as she has

become slightly disobedient since she

isn't getting as much attention. In this pic-

ture, though, she is sitting like a good girl!

Her favorite time of the day is after Leah

goes to bed. We let her inside and giveher some special attention and petting.


124



Great Granma & Granpa

We had a great day today visitng Leah's

Great Granma & Great Granpa! Leah is

truly a blessed little girl to get to know her

great grandparents. She really seemed to

enjoy herself today! This top picture is

Great Granma and Leah. Leah was

sleepy when we got there and sat very

still with her Great Granma, but when she

woke up, she sat right up and was ready

to look all around!

This is Leah and her Great Granpa. She

was amazed by both of her great grand-

parents. She just looked and looked at

them. I think she was telling her Great

Granpa a fun story in this picture... well

probably not, but she did say some gib-

berish. And, just before we left, she spit

up on Great Granpa leaving him with a

special treat to remind him of her the rest

of the day. :) She loves her Great Grand-

parents!

Leah with her mom on Great Granma &

Great Granpa's couch with their teddy

bear. I (Lisa) gave this bear to them when

I was in college. It says "Someone from Meredith College loves me!" I'm so blessed to

have both my grandparents on my Dad's side and my grandmother on my Mom's side

around. They've been a big part of my life and I'm more excited than I can put into words

that they are getting to know my daughter!


125



Go State!

Yay Wolfpack!

What a fun day - a great visit with great grandpar-

ents and then a great NC State win! We watched the

game with Lisa's parents and brother. Leah liked the

car flag we had on our car today. We actually have 2

of them and flew them all day long! A very excited

Uncle Jeff was showing Leah the flag up close in this

picture. We'll be pulling for the Pack as they face that

team from Chapel Hill tomorrow!


Monday, March 12, 2007

Maybe next year?

It was a tough loss for the Wolfpack on Sunday. We had a good time watching the game,

though, as our players kept at it the whole game. We were very proud of them and ex-

cited about how well our new coach has done this season. Just imagine what might hap-126



pen with the Wolfpack next year! Leah sported her

block S socks yesterday.


Carrots & Sweet Potatoes

Since Leah's first try at solid foods (seeSquash post below), she has gotten

much better at it. She seems to love car-

rots! And, we just started sweet potatoes

today. But, those seem to be a pretty big

hit so far. Also, yesterday she ate some

squash and liked it better than the first

time. So, squash, carrots, sweet pota-

toes, and rice cereal are Leah's current

food options! yummy.

I decided to try making some of Leah's

baby food. The container to the left is theGerber brand sweet potatoes. The con-

tainer to the right is my homemade sweet

potatoes. I used an organic sweet potato

and it's yellow, not orange. What could be

the difference here? Any ideas?


05:00)

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

I love mommy


127



Play Time

Leah loves to play in her crib. She especially loves those sheep stuffed animals. I often

let her play in there while I'm picking out her clothes for the day. Is there anything cuter

than that?


128



Thursday, March 15, 2007

Sleeping Beauty

Leah took an amazing 2 hour and 45

minute nap this afternoon! I checked onher twice because this is just so unusual

for her. She had rolled onto her belly from

her back to sleep. She's been rolling this

way for a while, but never in her crib to

sleep before. She must have been pretty

comfy to sleep that long!


05:00)

Big Girl Stroller

Leah had her first walk today in her big girl stroller!

Before, she was in her car seat that hooks onto the

stroller. That has been really handy while she was a

little baby. But now that she is bigger, I decided it

was time to try it the big girl way. Now, she gets to

face frontwards, which I think she really enjoyed. At

first she looked slightly confused (top picture)...

... but by the end of the walk, she had her foot all

propped up and was really enjoying herself!


129



Sunday, March 18, 2007

Big Girl Toys

These are toys that Leah got for Christ-

mas, but she is just now really starting toenjoy them! I had to take a few pictures of

her playing with them.


05:00)

Food Update

Leah can now eat squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, and peaches! And, boy does she

love to eat. She opens her mouth big and wide and grins in between bites. Sweet pota-

toes are by far her favorite. So far, she's not too crazy about peaches. I think that will

change as she learns how good they are. Right now, they are just really different than

anything she has had before. One way that she signals me that she is all finished is by

grabbing at the spoon (see below). That means she is full and ready to play! I have made130



squash, sweet potatoes, and peaches,

which has actually been really fun (my

only disaster in making Leah's food was

the sweet potatoes). All of the other foods

have been either Gerber or Beechnut. It's

fun giving her all these new foods!


Our walk

From our house, we can walk to Mill-

brook Exchange Park. This will be great

as Leah gets older because it's great en-

tertainment within walking distance. Thistop picture is the path from our neighbor-

hood to the park. It is just about a 5

minute (or less) walk to this pathway.

That path leads out to this awesome

playgroud, several baseball diamonds,

soccer fields, horse shoe court, com-

munity center, pool, and great walking

paths!

Another awesome thing at the Exchange

Park is the dog park. www.millbrook-dog-

park.com Annie used to love cominghere, but we haven't been lately. Leah's

not quite ready for that yet. But it is a

huge fenced in area where dogs can get

off their leashes and run around!

Isn't this fantastic! I'm excited that the

weather is starting to get nice so we can

take lots of walks.

Posted by Matt and Lisa at 05:52PM (-131



05:00)

We love Sundays

This has been one crazy weekend! Matt

has been out of town fishing with the men

from our church. Many thanks to my

friend Julie Anna, who kept us companyon Friday night, and to my parents and

brother, who really helped out on Sat-

urday. Matt is safely back home now and

we are very happy to have him back.

Needless to say, we missed daddy! We

love Sundays because they are a day to

worship the Lord and rest in Him. We

truly did that today. We had a great time

at church, a great walk, and then happily

welcomed Daddy home. It was chilly out-

side, so I had to bundle Leah up a littlebit. I was even brave and took Annie with

us. This top picture was the best one I

could get of the 2 of them. Notice Leah is

staring at Annie - she loves her puppy.


05:00)

132





We got to celebrate my Grandmother's

birthday while she was here! We had

such a good time visiting with her during

her stay. Leah seemed to really enjoy be-

ing with her. It's so special that they are

getting to know each other. We'll see you

again soon, GiGi!Posted by Matt and Lisa at 01:36PM (-

05:00)

Will & Leah 2

Aren't they sweet? Will liked the ribbon

on Leah's overalls.

A lunch date!


05:00)

Will & Leah

We got to play with Will Gainor this afternoon. Leah and Will haven't seen each other in

a while, so this was a happy reunion for the two of them. Will is 9 months old and Leah is

almost 7 months old, so it's fun to see them interact. I love seeing Leah play with other

babies. Will is getting so big - he can crawl around on the floor, is working on pulling him-

self up to stand, and has a tooth coming in!


134



Sunday, March 25, 2007 135



Daddy's Blackberry


05:00)

Taking Walks

We are loving our almost daily walks.

The weather is so nice and it's great toget out of the house. Leah has decided

that her sunglasses are more fun as a toy

than on her eyes.


05:00)

136



Trip to the Mall

All three of us got to go to the mall on

Saturday. Leah seemed to love all of the

sights and sounds. We have transitioned

Leah to 2 naps per day, which actually

gives us more time to take outings. Her

first nap is around 9am and the second

one is around 2pm. So in between naps

and after the second nap, we get to go for

walks, go to the mall, play with toys, have

play dates, you name it! Leah is making

the change very easily, which makes me

think that she's been ready for this

change for a while. Glad Mommy finally

figured it out. :)


05:00)

New Daddy?Before

After

Matt shaved his beard off on Saturday! He did it during one of Leah's naps, so when she

woke up and he went to get her, she seemed a little bit confused. The winter beard is his-

tory for this year!


137





Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Big Girl in Red


05:00)

Green Beans

Leah's doctor told us to have Leah try the

yellow veggies first, yellow fruits second,

and green veggies third. So, today it was

finally time for her to try green beans:

Big open mouth (she loves to eat!)

But then she realized that this was differ-

ent than her other foods...

She did not like them - not at all. In fact,

she pretty much refused to eat them after

a few bites. So, our first experience with

green beans was pretty much a disaster.

She was fussy and not pleasant after that. I have to remember that she really didn't like

squash the first time she tried it, but now she loves squash. So, surely over time, she'll

learn to enjoy her green veggies as much as her yellow/orange ones.... right?


139



Thursday, March 29, 2007

Spoon

My friend Anna often talks about her 9 month old daughter's "non-toy toys" - babies are

very creative in finding things to play with. Leah's newest non-toy toy is this spoon that

she got for Christmas. It is softer than most of her spoons, so I think it must feel really

good on her gums. She chews and chews on it! And smiles when I pull it out to let her

play with it.

The other thing that really makes Leah smile right now is her puppy! She just loves An-

nie. Every time Annie walks in the room, Leah lights up. She watches Annie everywhere

she goes. It's so cute and I love seeing them enjoy each other.




Today

Leah woke up from her second nap

today with her hair sticking straight up.

You might have to click on this picture toenlarge it so you can see it better... but

the hair on the top of her head is straight

up! This is because she was on all fours

pushing her head up against the bumper

on her crib. It was so cute and sooo close

to crawling. It's not going to be long be-

fore she is all over the place. You can tell

she's still sleepy in this picture - such a

sweet face!

Green bean update - at lunch time today, I mixed them with peaches and she didn't likethat too much. But at dinner time, I mixed them with bananas and she gobbled them up.

She ate a whole stage one size tub of them! I was so proud (it's the little things that make

you smile when you're a mommy)!


141



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