Seven Years Ago Today...

...Harrison Rhys Toler entered the world at 3:45 a.m. November 27, 2001 to be exact with the date. After a scary pregnancy and a looooooong, drug free labor/delivery, Harrison made his entrance weighing 9 lb 2 oz and 22 inches long. Hard to believe that this baby..

is now this baby, all 50 lbs and 51 inches of him ...

My! What a handsome boy you have grown into!! (TONS OF PHOTOS BELOW!!!)

We went to my mom's house for Thanksgiving Lunch and since all the family was there, we had a birthday party and let him open presents after we ate. Maia made him the card he is proudly holding above. So sweet. She worked so hard on it because she knew he would like the dinosaur picture she drew.

So much has happened in Harrison's 7 years of life that I could NEVER capture it here. He has grown into quite the dinosaur/space loving little boy. He is ALL BOY too. His first year of life he went to stay with my friend Shannon while I went to work, then alternated time with his two grandmothers those days as well. He spent all day with Grammie, aka Judy, and 3 1/2 days with Shannon and my Mom. He got lots of love! I remember driving by Shannon's house on my lunch break and seeing him playing with cars in her bay window that is right on the front of the house. Some days I would drive by just to brighten my day a little.

When Maia was born, I was lucky enough to be able to get my private daycare up and running and was able to stay home with both of them. Harrison has always been a Mommy's boy. I love it! He is such a loving, sweet child, with a devilish side on occasion. He holds a special place in my heart, and always will, as only a Mommy's boy can do! I hope that I am lucky enough to celebrate many many more birthdays with my boy through the years as I watch him grown and change from the little boy he is now into a teenager and man.

Things I love about Harrison: the way he rubs his head on me showing affection much like a cat does, the way he tells me I am the best Momma he has ever had, his blue eyes, the way the hair at the crown of his head always sticks up, that he STILL loves his baby he got in the hospital when he was born, they way he takes care of me when I am sick or sad, his artwork, watching him get excited over little things, the way he says "oh snap", the way he loves stuffed animals and gives the all names. Today, I got a photo of this ( how cute is that??)...

The stuffed cat is nursing it's kittens. This was learned from watching Milo and Otis over and over and over and over.

It is amazing to go back and look at photos over the years and see how he has changed. From birth ...

Age 1 - ( don't have any in between since this was LONG before I had a digital camera and relied on a scanner to get my images online)

Age 3 - (professional photos, here and directly above, taken by Jack Henley)

Yep, I caught them on the kitchen table with a jar of Vaseline. Fun times!! You can just see the devil in Harrison's face in this photo!

They are some big shoes you have to fill there my boy! Here is the baby mentioned above in "things I love about Harrison". Gotta love that he still had a pacifier at age 3! This is right before we took them from him and Maia.

Age 4 - Dinosaur Party!!!! This was the last party I had for him at our house, at least to date!

He has TWO babies, thanks to ebay. A backup is ALWAYS a good thing. You can tell how ragged the older one is in this photo. Look at the difference!! He still has them both, but they both look equally bad now.

Age 5 - Party at McDonald's with his preschool buddies

We had just gotten our Siamese kitten, Louie the day before this photo was taken. Harrison was so proud of him and still loves him to pieces.

Age 6 - Party at Nature Zone

Age 7 - Today, November 27, 2008 at Grandma's House for Thanksgiving Lunch.

We will have a party at FunQuest on Saturday for his buddies from school and church. Should prove to be a fun day. I am excited. It is a roller skating rink and has games and all kinds of fun stuff to do. Stay tuned! More photos to come, if you haven't had enough already!!

Happy Birthday Harrison! I love you!