Christmas is Upon Us

Oh my goodness I am so excited about Harper's first Christmas!!!!  I am enjoying all of the cute Christmas firsts with our little one....

the outfits have been fun ;)... she is so great to put up with me getting her in her Christmas get-up all the time- bless her heart, but I'm having fun!

She loves the Christmas tree... well, silently pulling all ornaments and beads off within her reach- ha!

Christmas fun and dinner with her buddy Seth... so sweet!  So cute to see them playing- they chat and play together like they've been friends for years!

Stockings for Three!

Thank you mom for the beautiful stockings.... our hearth is complete for Santa ;)

We went to the town square here to see the amazing Christmas light display, reindeer, and Santa!  It was so cold, but Santa was wonderful- Harper wasn't quite sure what to think of him!

I hope you all have a safe, happy, and warm holiday!!!  We love you all so much- thank you to each of you for making this year one of the best!!!

Oh, she is SO wanting to move!!

Wow... my baby girl is 8 months old!!!  She is beginning to show us her age as she ATTEMPTS independence!  I'm not sure if I am looking forward to it or not: I'm so looking forward to her little self moving around our house but my GOODNESS I need to get my act together and start baby-proofing!!!

Here are a few snap shots of our little munchkin this month:

Just sit and talk with her and she's a happy camper: she's saying sounds.... Pete and I point to ourselves saying "da" and "ma"- Harper looks at us as if she's totally listening and then promptly says, "blah, blah, blah.." HA- really?!  I think the child is tuning me out already!

Our baby is anxious to move so much- wherever she is she wants to stand- I'm wondering when the crawling is going to happen?!

No matter how big she still loves her evening time with Daddy.... so precious:)

A tad mole-like!  Her hair is getting SO long, but I just can't find it in myself to cut it yet, so up in a pony tail it goes until I get the guts to chop off her newborn locks...;( tear

Who ever thought an 80 pound dog could be so soft and kind to a baby.... she loves Harper and Harper can't get ENOUGH of her.  Emma doesn't leave her side during play time and I kid you not, when Harper wakes up she is immediately scanning the ground looking for her Emma ;)

She's getting more steady each day.... my little baby is growing up!!!

What will next month hold?!?!?!

Harper's First Thanksgiving!

This year we were blessed with being able to make the trip back to Indianapolis!!!  It was wonderful to take the time and visit with each of our families and meet the new furry additions to my family:

This is Gracie (yes small enough to fit in a glass-ha) and Scotch.  They are truly the smallest living furry animal I have ever seen and absolutely PRECIOUS!  Welcome to your new home little ones:).

My brother and his wonderful girlfriend, Manuela.  They were so cute with Harper- thank you for all your help with her, guys!!!

The best family picture we could get!  Harper was NOT having the whole being in a dress, tights, and fancy shoe thing... ha!  She was BEAMING when she got to strip down to her diaper- crazy girl!

I love you, Grandma & Grandpa!!!!  

...and thank you for the YUMMY mashed potatoes!

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Wilson.... thank you for playing and playing and playing with me!

A family picture.... LONG overdue!!!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing, loving, and fun Thanksgiving holiday!!!

Love you all so much and wish you the very best this holiday season!!!!!

7 Months has Come and Gone

Wow, I cannot BELIEVE my baby is a couple days away from being 8 months old!!!  This month has been a CRAZY one to say the least, and lil miss thang has been growing so fast!!

Here are a couple moments from her 7th month ;):

She is rolling over- it's official (FINALLY!!!)  Being the teacher that I am, I was starting to become nervous when we hit the "rolling milestone" and baby girl was having NOTHING to do with it.  The doctor tried to ease my concerns by dubbing Harper "lazy" but also a baby that will do things on HER time;)- ha, but still I was nervous.  Then, all of the sudden, she's a rolling machine and I am a happy mommy ;).

Harper LOVES the Christmas tree!!  She was throwing a fit and I brought her in to watch Daddy put it together and she just loved it!!!  A girl that loves Christmas- love it:).

Her hair is getting so long!!  It now gets into her eyes, so I have begun doing her hair- makes my baby look older though :(.  Anyway, she doesn't seem to mind, but I love taking it out at the end of the day- ha, the mane resembles horns sticking straight out!

Playing with Dolly.... so sweet!  Wait, is she saying she'd like a baby sister?!?!  Ha!  Just kidding.... awww, but I think she'll make a great big sister some day!

Crazy Hair!

Sweet girl with her toys.... 

Thank you, Aaron for the great pictures over Thanksgiving!!!!  Can't wait for our next photo op. at Christmas!!!!

Harper's 1st Halloween- Flinstone's Style!

Harper's First Halloween!

Pebbles & Bam Bam have entered the building!  Our wonderful friends have a son about 2 weeks younger than Harper.  Seth and Harper are great friends ;), so of course we had to coordinate them for this holiday!!

They were GREAT sports through the pictures and Halloween craziness- so cute!

Harper paid a visit to her school for the Halloween Carnival!  She was a bit in rare form seeing we had to wake her to go- she managed a few smiles considering it was 30 min after her bedtime!!

We also enjoyed Trunk or Treat as a family... again, a post bedtime experience but she did great- just keep her bundled with pacifier in mouth ;)

Love you, Seth.... thanks for the fun play date and for being such a trooper as Bam Bam!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!!!!!

6 months Old!!!

My baby girl turned 6 Months Old, October 8!!!  I can't believe it... in just a few days she'll be 7 months old!!!!

From looking at this picture we see sooooo many differences!!!!!

Still an adorable sleeper;)

We are chewing on EVERYTHING these days!!!  Fingers are the BEST though... 

we hope to see some teethers soon!!!

She's holding her bottle by herself on HER terms... 

...were working on her terms to be more like ALL the time ;)

She is sitting like a champ... lounging is for the birds- sitting is where its at ;), although we're still a little freaked out if we fall over- this girl HATES her belly still- GR!

... but we do NOT hate our feet.... she rolls all around clutching those pups!

...I think she's getting used to cheezin' it for the camera that is forever in her face ;)

In her 6th month of life, our scrunchy muffin was SICK!!  October was dreadful with cold, which led to sinus infection, and allergy to 2 drugs, ear infection, and then croup.....

...poor baby girl met her match this month, but (as I cross my fingers) she seems to be on the mend- healthy and happy!!!!  November, please be good to us!!!

So 6 months in the books.... we're loving her more and more each day as she fills our lives with more laughter then we know what to do with- LOVE YOU, BABY!!!!

Fall Break Fun!!!

My youngest sister, Anna, decided to spend her Fall Break in good 'ol Arkansas- whohooo!!!!  I'm not sure if it was more for me or Harper Grace, but either way... we had a blast!!

They came during the week and decided they were in charge and ready for Harper!  So, no day care for this baby girl... she enjoyed a week of playing, dressing up in cuteness, grocery stores with prizes, rocks to sleep, and yep.... just about everything she wanted ;)

My mom edited this previously posted picture, but I just had to re-release;).... so cute!!!!

Thank you, Nana

Oh Auntie Anna pretty much ROCKS.  I won't walk about the absurd look my 6 month old was giving her AUNT, but lets just say we dubbed Anna "Portia" for the week- ha

... this baby is OBSESSED with her Aunt and I just loved it!  Wherever Anna was, Harper HAD to be, and if she wasn't she would strain her neck to get a visual of her adored Aunt ;).

Thank you for the ADORABLE shirt, Anna and all the love you gave Harper- MISS YOU!

We decided to visit our famous TLC neighbors while we were out one day ;)... love those Duggars!!!

...I was totally freakin' while taking this picture, I swore security was going to come after me- but what can I say, my MOTHER was encouraging me- hehe!

...speaking of Nana, there was no shortness of love for Nana here that week!  This baby adores Nana.... because she rocks me, and gives me treats, and never lets me cry, and yep.... she's pretty much the bestest!

In all seriousness, thank you Mom & Anna for an amazing week!  You both are WAY to good to us and we truly treasure the moments we share with you.  I look forward to those visits more than you know.... I love you guys so much- when are you coming back by the way?!?!?!  

Harper... we're home, baby girl!!

On October 15 we brought our baby home to her first OFFICIAL home :)!!  With the help of 6 of our closest friends me pretty smoothly moved all of our things to our new address...

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP!!

Here are a few pictures of our new home.... it is work in progress, but we just feel great after 6 WEEKS of painting, cleaning, and chaos... to be here!

Our Living Room

The "Kid Bathroom"

... minus the kids- but ONE day we'll have those cute tub pictures of little ones- ha!

Nook

Guest Bedroom

Harper's Nursery

Kitchen

Living Room

(another view but I HAD to show your beautiful paintings, Abby- love them always!:))

Pete & I's Room

Office/ Emma & Olivia's Room

Dining Room/Play Room

...ya, not much fine dining here.... but I see LOTS of Harper messes for now ;)

As with any new homeowner, there WILL be minor hiccups here and there and YES we have hit our first one!  I cleaned out the jets of our Jacuzzi tub with bleach solution like we were instructed.  After I finished and was cleaning up I did notice a quarter-size pool of water where the marble hits the tile, but didn't think much of it, until....

...Pete comes home from work and literally squishes his way through our bedroom to the bathroom- uh oh!

...we had a small leak that turned into a flooded bedroom :(  Luckily we were able to save the carpeting (Thank GOD!!!!!!!), but our friends at Mr. Rooter ;) paid us a visit to fix our issue!

Pete and I feel so blessed to FINALLY be settled in our home, but we know we couldn't have done it without all of you: thank you ALL for your kind advice, encouragement, homeowner wisdom, manual labor and sweat, and long hours of listening to us figure out this HUGE commitment.... we could NEVER have made such a "big kid decision" without you ;)