Friday, June 24, 2011

Around the House Yesterday...

Right now we're into necklaces (pretty!), hair accessories, and wearing no pants while at home.  Love this age.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

At the Park

Yesterday I took Harper to the park.  It was our third time there, but her first time as a walker.  She had a blast.  I don't think she stopped moving the entire time we were there.  We also met another Harper, which got to be a bit confusing for her when the other Harper's grandma and mom were calling her name (and they were constantly!  they didn't want her to do anything by herself even though she was like 3 or 4 years old).  I was able to take a few pictures with my phone, but only while she was on the swings.  Otherwise she was moving too fast for me to whip out my phone!  



 I really like going to this particular park.  They have two areas: one for little tykes and one for bigger kids.  This area was much quieter and less packed than the bigger kids area and there was plenty for her to run around and climb on.  And it wore her out big time.  She was asleep well before 9:00 and didn't wake up until 9:00 this morning!  Guess we'll be going back there more often :0)

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Three Years Ago

Today Wade and I celebrate our third wedding anniversary.  Three years and one baby girl later and those two happy people have created a lovely little family.  Happy anniversary, my love.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Harper at 14 Months

I know it's not necessary to say that I've always loved (and always will love) Harper.  The moment I got two pink lines, I loved the little ball of cells that she was.  But this love I have for her is ever changing, ever growing.  Each day I find something new to love about her.  Each day I see something that wasn't there before and my heart grows a little bit more.  I've loved every stage of her life so far: the newborn, the colic, the hold-me-all-the-time, the crawler, and the walk-between-everything stage.  But out of all the stages she's been through, the one she's in now is my favorite.  She is so much fun.  She's constantly learning, mimicking, repeating, discovering, laughing, and loving.  She's into imaginative play (giving stuffed animals or babies her binkie, sippy cup, or food and rocking them to sleep.  Love.)  She's trying to put on and take off her clothes.  She knows pretty much everything we're saying to her (like trying to take off her clothes when MiMi asked her if she wanted to take a bath).  She still loves music and dances all the time (we call it "dancey, dancey feet!")  She rubs our heads and says "kay-zee!" for "Crazy, crazy hair!"  She tries to put on shoes (which she calls "shoo-zies").  She can mimic animal sounds.  She can point to her eyes, ears, mouth, nose, eyes, hands, toes, and head.  She says "mah-mah" (more more) for food and "dee!" for drink.  She loves outside and swimming and playing with dogs.  She sits on Charlie (our English bulldog) and says "go go go" like she's on a horse.  She covers her mouth when she burps, trying to say "excuse me," and says thank you in her own sort of way.  She likes to be scared and loves hide and seek or peekaboo.  

It's amazing to watch her develop.  She's an amazingly smart little girl (gah! no longer a baby!)  I (try to) say that not with a mother's bias or without trying to brag, honestly.  I'm so proud of her and so deeply in love with her.  I still get all emotional at least once a week over how much I just completely love her.  I look at her and can't believe that I have such a beautiful daughter.  Yes, I've always loved her, but oh how much fun we're having now!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Pictures! (sorta)

I know what year it is.  I know there have been advances in technology that have brought about the iPhone and other so-called smartphones.  I could write a whole post about why I've chosen not to get an iPhone (I did have the first Droid and HATED it) and why I think everyone who has one is addicted to them (my husband being a prime example. ahem.)  But anyway, my point is that I have an ancient phone that I can't upload pictures from.  But my mom does (she's not really addicted to her phone, but forget I mentioned that in case I decide to write a post about people addicted to their phones).  So, since this blog has looked severely neglected (both words and pictures) I am going to post a few pictures that she has taken of Harper on her phone.  Thank you, mom!

I wanted to also mention this post by Sarah.  This is how I've been feeling lately and I wish I had been smart enough to write a post about it.  It's true, though, we've been doing so much living around here that some things just get put on the back burner.  This blog has been one of those things.  Especially since I haven't been able to post pictures.  I'm sure people would much rather look at pictures of Harper than read what I have to say.  I know I would!

Anyway, here are some pictures of my beautiful girl:


Monday, June 6, 2011

Book Challenge Update

Despite all the craziness of cleaning up after the storm and getting things back to normal, I have been doing a lot of reading.  I finished The Quilter's Apprentice which was a warm and fuzzy little book.  It started off a bit slow, but quickly picked up and I finished in within just a couple of days.  I am happy to know that there are two other books in this series!  It was a really fell-good kind of book, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a calm, relaxing, G-rated book.

What I am most excited about sharing with you is something that I was hoping would come of this little book challenge.  After finishing The Quilter's Apprentice I went to the library to check out the other two books, but got side tracked when I came across The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott: A Novel by Kelly O'Connor McNees.  I've not been big on books that take letters and things of real authors and create a part of their lives in a book.  Usually because I'm so disappointed that it didn't really happen!  This book takes letters from Alcott's actual life and McNees creates a story that proves that Alcott could have actually been in love and had a romance.  McNees pieces together this lost summer in Alcott's life in a way that is completely believable.  I was a bit disappointed at the end that this didn't really happen, but I couldn't put the book down!  But I am completely engrossed in all things Louisa May Alcott now!  I have always loved Little Women (who doesn't??) but it never dawned on me to research her life.  So now I'm reading Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reiser.  I'm about 100 pages into it, but I have already learned so much about Alcott and her family.  I'm so excited to get back to the library to get more books that Alcott wrote and I'm also deeply interested in getting books on Transcendentalism (which is what Bronson Alcott, Louisa's father, was into along with Thoreau and Emerson).  I can't adequately express how happy I am that I discovered these books!  I am even considering doing something with Louisa May Alcott for my graduate projectCall me a nerd, but I don't care!  

If you have come across any good books lately, let us know!  If you'd like to join in, feel free!  I would love for someone else to tap into this energy and excitement that I found!  And I'd love to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience.

Happy reading!