She Takes After Her Father

So Harper has been all about this puzzle lately

 She loves all things animal so this was one of the few Christmas presents we bought her. I've been practicing animal names and sounds with her for a couple of months, but I just thought she might be too young to answer back.  Until last night.  We were playing before bed time with the puzzle and so I asked her, "What sound does a sheep make?"

 and she said, "Baa"

Can you tell from these two pictures she's saying "Baa?" cause otherwise there's no reason for me to have posted them.

 which totally caught me off guard.  So there I was thinking, My child is a genius!  What a brilliant girl!  No one else's child is as gifted as mine!  And I got so confident in her abilities that I emphatically asked her, "What sound does a cow make?" 

 and she said

I'll be getting this look for the next 20 years or so

 "Baa."

Yes, I Found the Pictures!

Somehow our last day's photos ended up in another folder, hiding themselves from me and giving me a heart attack.  Thankfully, I found them yesterday.  Granted, there weren't many and they aren't as good as my previous pictures (and my camera died early unfortunately), but they're still memories I want to be able to look back on.
We spent this day at Animal Kingdom and Harper loved it.  There were great shows, rides, and a safari.  Harper is really into animals so I had no doubt she would have a good time.

A Little Self-Help

My husband was the first man to make me feel beautiful.  Make-up or not, dresses or sweat pants, he loved me for me.  As cliche as it might be, it's true.  There are many of us who have gone through many horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad boyfriends before "the one."  And that's how it happens.  But to me, Wade was exceptionally special.  He not only made me feel good about myself in a way I had never before allowed myself to feel, but he made me laugh, he challenged me (in sooo many ways, more good than bad), he didn't put up with crap, and he was always 100% himself which made me do the same.  That's why I knew from very early on that he was the man for me forever and always.  And I also knew that I wanted to have 10,000 of his babies.

It was during my pregnancy that I began to feel myself change,  both literally and figuratively.  Being on bedrest obviously doesn't leave much time for exercise so my body was, and is, less than perfect.  Let me pause to say that I'm was a perfectionist.  I've never had good self-esteem and have always been extraordinarily hard on myself.  That includes my appearance.  Pregnancy offered a new challenge to my self image.  I'm not so vain that I would jeopardize my child's life in order to save myself from some jiggly thighs.  So, I had to let it all go.  And go it went!  And you know what?  I was completely and utterly okay with it.  Before she was born, my baby girl started to change me.  For the better, I might add.  (And that's just one way pregnancy changed me.  Of course the thought of a little, teeny person growing inside of me pushed me to new heights, but you knew that already I'm sure).

Now that she's been a part of my life for nearly a year, I can look back and see just how much I have evolved as a woman.  I feel stronger, more secure, more open and honest, more at ease with myself.  In the first few months of her life I had so many women tell me, "You're such a relaxed mom.  I don't know how you do it!"  The truth is, well, I had to be.  I had a child who screamed for hours on end, for days, until I was a blubbering heap on the floor.  But just looking at her, even screaming or crying or pitching a huge fit, can bring me back to reality.  It's not about me.  It's about her and "listening" to her tell me what she needs.  I've found it's easy to put her before me in everything, but in doing so I've found a side of me that has brought me a sense of peace.  I absolutely love being a momma.  There is nothing in the world that I would give it up for.
So, Harper, my love, thank you for changing me in ways I never thought possible and giving me the greatest role I could have ever hoped for!

11 Months

(Somehow the rest of the Florida pictures I uploaded this morning are missing.  Hopefully I can locate them soon and have Part 2 of our vacation posted!  My apologies!)

Sweet Baby Harper,
   While on vacation in Florida you turned 11 months old.  Actually, we had to "celebrate" this new month on March 1st because February didn't have a 29th day (darn non-leap year!).  But either way, we have moved on to yet another wonderful month in your life.  I believe, though you're not walking unasisted yet, you're pretty much a toddler.  You play games, you play with babies and toys and books, you laugh and giggle, you climb and roll, you bounce and jump, you dance.  You are such a little kid that I find myself just watching you wondering when it all started.  When did I miss the transformation?  You need me (or whoever is watching you at the time) to do less and less for you.  You can feed yourself (using your hands), you can drink from a sippy cup, you can get from place to place yourself.  It's really amazing how independent you are becoming.
   You are starting to know the names for EVERYTHING and are even starting to say what they're called.  This includes (but is not limited to):

*birds

*dogs

*bunnies

*toes

*nose

*clapping

*belly button

*momma milk

*drink

*bites

*up

*down

*done

*diaper

*book

*bear

*bye bye

*hi 

(hi/byebye also come with the appropriate waves)

*baby

*cat

*outside

I'm sure there are many more, but those are the ones off the top of my head.  It's truly amazing how many words you recognize.  Some of them (mostly words that start with B, D, or M) are easy for you to say.  For the rest, you make noises (usually a tuh tuh sound and everyone looks at me and says "What does she want?").  You have also started bringing books to us, sitting on our laps, and waiting for us to read to you.  Talk about a girl after my own heart!

   We're still nursing strong since you're still not really interested in food.  You'll eat bites here and there, but jar food is hit and miss with you.  I'm okay with this.  I wanted to make it to at least a year and it looks like we're going to!

   Since we're still in the midst of winter (spring is so close!) our days are spent in the house playing, reading, singing, cleaning, and occasionally watching one of your movies.  Since you've started to notice every little thing, though, I've been trying to branch out.  So we go to the library either to look at books and play for a bit or for story time (though it seems on story time day you like to sleep in and miss it.  Hmm).  We're still going to music class once a week which is really a lot of fun.  And as much as you love kids, you really don't interact much with them.  You really, really love your teacher.  In fact, you held out your arms and let her hold you last class!  That's not something you do to strangers (thankfully).

    You have started going through your "terrible twos" early, I believe.  You tighten up your hold body and kind of growl when you get frustrated.  Or you try to bite something.  Sometimes you flail your arms.  I have to remind myself that you're still so small and young and have no other way to express how you're feeling.  Hopefully we'll get past this stage unscathed and for the better.  If only you knew that when I say no or take things away (or move you or walk into another room, etc etc) it's for a good reason!

    I don't think I can adequately express how much fun I have with you, let alone how much I love you.  Even when you're being difficult or we're having a bad day, I feel like my heart might erupt with all the love I have for you.  You, my darling, are our everything.  We love you with all of our hearts, forever and always,

Momma and Daddy

Home Again, Home Again

We're finally home!  After a week spent in sunshiney Florida (not to mention a 24-hour period spent with horrible food poisoning the day before we flew back!) we're back to our routines once again.  It was a nice little getaway traipsing around Disney World theme parks and the beach.  A good time was had by all, but we were definitely ready to come home.
Here are just a few of my favorite pictures that I've uploaded so far:

 

As of today...

we are on vacation!  There may be updates during our time down here, but I make no promises as our days are going to be busy!  But I'll definitely be back next Monday with an update!

Have a wonderful weekend!

A First

I've been trying to introduce Harper to a variety of real foods (i.e. non-jar baby food).  I'm not big on lunch myself, unless I meet up with someone somewhere, so I've been at a loss at home for something as good as it is nutritious. And while some may debate the nutritiousness of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, let's skip over that, shall we? (Though for the record, everything in this sandwich is either all natural or organic).  Let's also skip over the fact that making this simple, tasty little sandwich didn't occur to me until yesterday.  Hmm.  So, here you have it:  Harper's first PB&J sandwich (monumental I tell you!)

 I'd say it was a hit, no?