Thanks to Kallie.....

Ok, so my friend Kallie, who was able to capture Harper's party moments for us, did a great job! She has put a sampling of some of the pics on her blog: dkbuckmaster.blogspot.com. Please check them out. She will have more up next week!! Thanks so much Kallie!

Happy Birthday our sweet Harper!!

Birthday pancakes, this morning...

Where has the year gone?? It honestly just seems like yesterday that they pulled her from my belly and I saw those sweet chubby cheeks for the first time! Her cheeks are the one thing that stands out when I first saw her, I was way out of it but I will always remember the first time I saw her! We are so thankful for a very blessed year and a very healthy baby, but I cannot help but feel a little sad as I look at her right now, walking, tearing up a magazine (ugh, after I have told her a million times not too!) watching Jack's Big Music Show, that the time has gone by way too fast!!

Who would have known that last year in the hospital with our brand new baby (hang on, time for some discipline about the mag)ok, that she would have lived in 4 cities by the time she was 1! She has lived in El Paso, Portales, Miami and now Lakeland, Fl. She has had quite an eventful year and she has been the best baby through it all. I guess God new we needed a very laid back child given all we went through the first year of her life!

We are so thankful for this little baby, she has truly blessed our lives and the lives of others. We are also thankful for our family and friends that have supported us through this first year of her life and for all the transitions and new experiences that Eron and I have had as well!

She has reached many milestones! She now walks even better than when she started a month or so ago, she now drinks whole milk (yea no more messing with formula), she is almost off of the bottle, she claps, waves, plays patty cake, talks ALL of the time (her own language of course), now sits front facing in the car (which she loves), she can pick up very tiny objects with her thumb and forefinger, still only says "daddy" (this doesn't hurt my feelings at all, yeah right! after all I am only the one that she is with all day), understands and usually (and I mean usually, there are the exceptions more times that not, ha) obeys "sit down" and "no"! She loves to be outside, play with dogs, reading books and she loves her daddy!! Harper is very affectionate and gives kisses and hugs all of the time. When Eron recently came home from a business trip she hugged him and snuggled with him for at least 5 minutes, no joke!

Thank you, God for a very special, loving and sweet girl, we are sooo blessed! Thank you, Harper for all of the laughs and special moments you have brought us this first year! We love you so much!

Blowing out her candle with daddy's help of course
Her new favorite chair, a gift from Daddad! Thanks Daddad!!
And, this is one of those times that she did not obey when I asked her to "sit down", but doesn't look like she seemed to care!


We love you and hope you have a great first birthday!

Daddy and Momma

Party...

Well, all that planning and it is over just like that! The party was lots of fun! I was having some camera issues that day and did not have my camera available, so, no pictures to show for all of the hard work!! Just kidding! My friend Kallie came through for a girl in the clutch! She had her camera with her and I know there will be some fantastic pictures taken!! She is having computer troubles and she is also going out of town for the week, so I am sure when she gets everything worked out and returns from her trip there will be pictures to show for the party!! I can't thank her enough, so THANK YOU, Kallie!

So, when I get pictures up I will explain in more detail about the party, but I think it was a hit and have to say I had more comments about the corn dip and the Etsy party supplies! Yea for ETSY!! Harper was great and we had a dedication ceremony for her too! It was very special. She had fun and really enjoyed her cake!

So, this means Sherah and Jen you must be patient, remember it is a virtue!

Much love,
Shelley

Some party supplies for Harper's party!

So, I have been planning away for Harper's first bday party that takes place this weekend. I think I have most things in order. I have used the best site ever to order most of her things for the Party, Etsy! Well, one of the girls that I ordered a lot of fun stuff from blogged about what she made for Harper's party. So you will have to go here: polkadots-pirates.blogspot.com and check her out! She was so great to work with and you all must check out her Etsy shop for cute things. Also, there is a bib and a hat that were made from another Etsy shop(goldenshop.etsy.com) and she is fantastic, too! So, have fun and take a looka round on both sites!

Eron has been out of town and Harper and I have been getting things ready for the party and just hanging around the house. Today, we went to Lake Bonny Park with friend who is in my MOPS group and some of her friends and their kids were there! It was nice to get out of the house for a bit! We then ran some errands, and came home for a nap! Eron comes home tonight and we are both ready for that! I think the dogs have missed him as well. They have misbehaved terribly the past two days. They have gotten in to 2 bags of trash, and got it all over the yard...then a bag of dirty diapers, all over the yard...and I have had to chase Bella around the house constantly because she always seems to have one of Harper's toys. Ugh..they are so high maintenance, and I know they dont get that from me, must be Eron!

So, tomorrow we have MOPS and then come home to get ready for company from out of town! I will post pictures of the party after it is all said and done, hope it all turns out well!

We're back!

Well, we are back from our trip to El Paso. We had an interesting time. It was not a usual trip to EP. Harper was sick, Eron was sick and so was my cutie patootie niece Elle. The trip started out great! We flew to Dallas and I spent the day dear friend Sherah and her daughter Ryland, whom we had not met yet. Sherah had met Harper when she was 5 weeks old, so to say the least it had been a while! We hung out at her house while my brother Ryan and Eron played golf. Eron then met us, including Kyle, Sherah's hubby and her sister Talitha at a yummy restaurant for dinner. It was so fun to catch up and spend time with Sherah like the good ol days in Portales! It was neat to see Ryland and Harper playing. Harper is about three months older than Ryland and it is funny to see the difference 3 months makes in the way they interact! Harper was definitely on the move while Ryland seemed to be in slow motion, it was so cute and funny! They had fun together to say the least! (I will be posting pics of them tomorrow). So, then later that night we went to my cousin, Mark's house to see his son and wife, Timothy and Sarah. He is 1 month older than Harper and was celebrating his birthday the next day. We did not get to stay long but it was so good to see them, we miss them sooo much! We left Dallas on Sunday and helped my brother move some stuff out to El Paso! We did not do much while in EP, like I mentioned everyone seemed to be sick, Eron did not even make it to his favorite restaurant Maries, the whole time we were there. It was nice to spend time with Jennifer, Ryan, Elle, Renner, my dad and Judy! We did enjoy our time while we were gone, just a little more relaxed and not so busy! Harper love, love, loves her cousins Elle and Renner and loves, her uncle Ryan and aunt Jennifer! She had a lot if kisses to give out to all of them. She loves her daddad too!

We had an early 1st birthday party for Harper so that my family could celebrate with her since they will not be able to make it to her party at the end of the month. Judy was so nice to let us have it at her house. It was a small family gathering and it was very fun. I made her a mini red velvet cake (daddy's suggestion, bad idea), and my dad's friend Jerry catered some yummy chicken and rice. We had salad and rolls to go along with it! The food was great! She opened presents, dug into her cake, literally, took a bath to wash it all off and then enjoyed the time with her family!! We had a great time! Pleas click on the following link to view pics of her party:http://picasaweb.google.com/shellgr/HarperS1stBirthdayInElPaso.

A few more things about our trip. It was the hubby's 31st birthday on Sunday and we had a mini celebration at State Line restaurant with the fam! Happy birthday, love you and cannot believe you are 31 and thanks for being the best daddy to Harper and a great husband! We did also make a trip to Roswell, NM to see our friends who we still stay in touch with at the least once a week, Phillip and Cari. Cari was preggo with their first child and she was induced on Thurs morning, so we made the three hour trip to see them and meet their precious baby girl, Abigail Sue Jowers! We were glad to spend a few hours with them before heading back to EP, wish we had more time!


We got home Monday night and now it is settling down into a routine. It has been a busy week, Jr. League meeting, Harper and I joined some girls from the Home for an etiquette class of sorts at one of the social workers home, it was a fun experience and I actually learned a few things too! Then we had church and bible study and dinner after lastnight, and this morning I went to my first MOPS meeting, which I think is going to be wonderful and then tonight we went to one of Eron's basketball games. So, the house is a wreck from getting home and unpacking but not having time to tidy up. So, tomorrow will be dedicated to housework and then hopefully we will have a relaxing weekend!