Good Morning!!

Still here

We are still here, just slacking on the posts. Our computer hard drive is maxed out, so I haven't dumped photos since October, and who wants to read a blog without pictures. So I am trying this post from the phone. I'll add a pic from our night of running around town. Maybe over the holidays I can get the computer cleaned up.

A trip to the zoo

Way back in early October Ginny and the boys came to town and we decided to take a trip to the zoo.  We had a blast!! The kiddos had fun playing and the weather was gorgeous!

This picture cracks me up!! Don't tell Ryan I posted it!

We had a blast!!! They all play so well together!! It is funny how the recognize each other and know each others name.  I think we will have to visit the Montgomery Zoo next!  We love you Will & Hoke!!

15 months, almost 16 months

Harpsy, Harpsy, what a fun little girl you are becoming!  Your laugh is contagious and you are gaining quite the little sense of humor.  You think it is so funny to be silly and often the smallest things can be funny to you.  You laugh when we tickle your feet, count your ribs, or even when we blow on your food to cool it off.  You are also are getting better and better at dancing and you will literally dance at any hint of music or sounds that could be music.  It is pretty funny to watch you stop whatever you are doing and start dancing.

Lately you are really learning about the word "no."  You are starting to remember things that you know you can't or aren't supposed to do.  For example, one afternoon at the doctor's office we told you "no" when you started to play with the drawers.  You would stop playing with them but every once in a while you would walk over to them shake your head and look at us and say "no," as if to ask if you still couldn't touch them.  You like to shake you head and say no to pretty much every question we ask you.  I guess we need to start saying "yes" more.

Your hair is getting really long!  The back of it is forming a rat tail and touches the bottom of your neck.  It will pretty much do whatever we tell it to do, and daddy likes making you have crazy hair.

You are adjusting to your new school, but not as fast as we would like.  You still cry a little sometimes when we drop you off, which makes us really sad.  We are working praying for you to learn self-control.  It seems that you get very overwhelmed and territorial at school and bite.  You are a very determined little girl and will do whatever you can to get what you want.  I cried the day when your  teacher told me that sometimes they have to just keep you from playing with others.  I want you to have friends and enjoy playing with others, but I have to remind myself that you are learning.  This big classroom environment is all new to you, so it will just take time for you to learn how to play nicely with others.

Words you say: momma, dada, dog (og), book (ook),  more (no mo), thank you (ank you), night night, bye bye, no no, bubble, ball, nose, bath (ba)

We figured out that no mo is your word for want and more.  Anytime you want something you say "no mo."  I guess "more" and "want" are a little confusing.

You do the sign language for  "more" and "please."

You LOVE veggie straws.  You get so excited when you see us pull out the bag.  You could care less when you walk all over dropping cheerios for Maggie to eat, but as soon as Maggie snags a veggie straw, you get very very mad at her.

You try to bark when we tell you to make the doggie sound, which is pretty cute. Your go to toy right now seems to be any of Maggie's collars.  We don't know why but you try to clasp them around your neck and wear them like a necklace.  Ryan loves to watch you put your arms up when he says "touchdown Auburn."    We are starting to work on animal sounds and body part names.  You can point to your nose, belly, feet, and mouth.  You make the motions for wheels on the bus and patty cake.  You still LOVE to be outside, and often cry at the door to go out there.

You have become a picky eater.  You still love to eat, but only what you want.  Some days you refuse something only to gobble it up the next.

You LOVE books.  I mean they have become your favorite toy.  Of course the attention span is about 15 seconds, but you love to turn the pages by yourself or sit in our laps and read.  We love it when you get a book and then walk backwards towards us like you want to sit in our laps.  Sometimes in the morning you want to join us in reading the newspaper, you always think it is funny.  You and daddy like to let Maggie out and walk down the driveway for you to pick up the paper.  You always are so proud when you come inside and hand it to mommy.

15 (almost 16) month check up stats:
length: 30 1/2''   50th percentile
weight: 22 lbs 3 oz  40th percentile

We love you Harps!!

It happens to all of us...well, a few of us...

Probably one of my favorite episodes of Modern Family.
Thank you Cam for making me laugh as I remembered this episode yesterday and didn't panic.
Yes, I admit that I am one of the many moms who can say, "I locked my child in the car."
Thank goodness for OnStar...

14 months

She hates wearing shoes and socks.


She likes to brush her hair, and your hair.


She says "uh" after she gives you a kiss.


She still loves the wheels on the bus song.

She is learning how to brush her teeth.  

She calls everything that has 4 legs is a "dog."

She climbs UP the slide.

She is tough, yet also sensitive.

She loves to press the button to close the garage door.

She loves to turn the light switch on and off.


She loves books.

She puts a phone to her ear and says "hello."


She loves when you blow bubbles for her to pop.


She loves sleep.


She'll squeeze around your neck to give you a hug.


She can dance.


She can take her left shoe off very fast.


She loves strings.


She can point to your nose.


She has 12 teeth.


She no longer takes a paci.


She eats a banana every morning.


She will wear a bow for about 5 seconds.


She likes popsicles.


She likes to put our shoes on her feet.

She is a sponge.


We love you Harps!

First Day of School

Today was Harper's first day at her new school.  We will miss Mrs. Kristen, but look forward to the new adventure too.  She was all ready for her big debut.  As you can see, Harper has graduated to a backpack instead of the diaper bag, and she loves it!

She is a little unsteady with it on her back, but she'll get the hang of it!

Here is a face that we have come to know over the past few weeks / month.  We are starting a tantrum phase for sure.  Apparently once we started watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, all the school talk was for the birds and she let us know she did not want to leave the house this morning, she wanted Mickey and his hot dog dance time!

We were definitely worried this attitude might spell trouble for her new teachers on her first day.

Lucky for us (and them), she recovered and seemed to adjust pretty well.  They gave us a good daily report, and the first thing the teacher said to Emily when she picked Harper up was "She sure likes to eat!".  We are proud of her great appetite and love of most any food.  We hope it continues and she doesn't become a picky eater.

Anyway, in addition to the little report which tells us how much she ate and when she had a wet diaper or a "BM", we got this little gift showing her day today in photos.

 Apparently, she did pretty well, and at least today didn't seem to be the kid that cries constantly.  Somehow, they even got her to nap on the cot, which is astounding considering we can't get her to sit still for 2 seconds on the floor, let alone try to lay down in anything other than her crib.  Although we did notice someone in the photo is sitting beside her so maybe they had to hold her down at first!!!  HA HA.

She must have played hard because she was one tired monkey when Emily picked her up and she took a power nap on the way home.

Here's hoping day 2 goes as smoothly!!

Beach

After we got home from the lake, Harper and I turned around and left  the next day for the beach.  I took 2 weeks off, and we spent most of it away from home.  I was nervous about the ride down by myself, but we bought a new car seat right before so hopefully the new scenery would buy me  a few hours.  I checked some Baby Einstein videos out at the library and rigged up the laptop in the backseat and off we went.  The 4 hour trip took 5 hours and we only stopped about 5 times.  

Harper really did not like the beach. She didn't like the sand and I think the waves made her a little nervous. 

Jacob enjoyed digging and playing in the sand. 

This little cutie had a blast!!

We spent most of our time at the pool.  Dad gave us this fabulous tent that was perfect!

Since we just got back from the lake, Harper got pretty tired of the water by the end of the trip.  10 days straight in this raft was enough for her.  

Jacob loved jumping off the side of the pool.

Thanks Mimi and Poppy Steve for letting us come stay.  We had a blast! 

Harper's first 4th of July at the lake

Last year we weren't able to attend the annual fourth of July "blastoff" celebration at Lake Oconee because we had just been given the precious bundle of joy, Harper.   We had been to the lake a couple times this year already with Harper, but when everyone is there for the the 4th, funny things / stories tend to happen so we were excited to take her for her first experience of the fun, and to meet Wes, Renee, Matthew, Jesica, and Fran.

Harper got to meet and hang out with a new canine friend Scruffy, in addition to Maggie and Jack.  While she was happy to meet Scruffy, Wes & Renee's dog, we're pretty sure the feeling was not always mutual.  There were occasions of friendliness though and lounging by a beautiful lake on a hot summer's day creates a strong sense of camaraderie (yes its French, but it sounds Russian, so here's a shout out to Matthew, our Russian expert) that no baby or dog can resist.  Good times.

Harper even went "tubing" for the first time!  Hopefully, this was in preparation for many years of laughable fun when she gets older and wants to partake of the real deal.  Needless to say though, there was some nervousness amongst all the women when this this redneck tubing operation was hatched with a one year old.  It did go off without a hitch and Harps loved it!

With so many floating options at her disposal, during the heat of the day, she often chose the covered "barge" for her floating adventures.

Harps loves her Nonni!

Of course, the Long Shoals Junior/Senior Professional Golf Tournament was a big hit, even with the canine caddies.  The dogs hate for the guys to hit golf balls into the water (as you can see from the snarling Jack).  Maybe they are sad that a perfectly good ball is being dropped into the water, never to be heard from again.  It is funny to watch them go nuts though.

The new boat lift = Sandbar Jr.?  At least we don't need to go very far to lounge!

Harps even liked riding in her boat inside the boat lift too.  It was shady and she could let her hair "up".

Ryan had the fun idea to see if the giraffe baby pool would float in the lake when we were dumping out the old water and he was successful.  Is this thing towable?

Fran cooked a delicious low country boil for everyone one night on the dock.  Good eats, good friends, good times...this is the life!

Even Harps got to participate!  No shrimp for her, but she devoured the rest.

"GIMME SOME MORE SAUSAGE!" - Harper

Riding in a boat is fun, even if you do have to wear this awful, bulky life preserver.

We made our usual fun trip to the sandbar hangout area in the lake, but then a storm quickly arose forcing us to leave soon after we got there.  We tried heading back to the house to beat the storm, but it caught us, as can happen when you are motoring in a pontoon boat, and we had to "abandon ship" at the Ritz Carlton on the lake.  No doubt, there are worse places we could have had to wait things out.   We hung out at the little lakeside bar area waiting on the lightning to subside.  It was a pretty neat little part of the resort, very much like a lodge type setting.  Unfortunately, we did not get the treatment that Carrie Underwood or President Bush did when they visited the Ritz, but it was nice nonetheless.  Dan determined that we needed to make another addition to our "lake emergency kit" on the boat, a debit card or emergency cash.

I don't have any photos of the fireworks of course, but they were great this year as always. Ryan and I made our usual stop at Stateline Fireworks before we crossed the Alabama border into Georgia so we could get "real fireworks" instead of the dinky Georgia ones.  After all, what is fun about fireworks without an element of danger, as Dan can attest to.  No doubt, we put on the best show in the slew and possibly even the lake (at least we might complete with the Ritz or Reynolds Plantation for five minutes or so).  I think I have a video of some of the show, and I'll try to post it later.