Has it really been 3 months??

I do not know where the time has gone. I cannot believe it has been 3 months since last posting. There has not been too much that has changed with Eron and I. Eron, still stays busy with work, as usual. I am in the process of applying for my Florida RN license and contemplating getting a job. However, Harper has changed SO much in the last three months. I have many words to describe her, but there are several that are very definitive of her: sassy, smart, silly, spunky, sweet, and kissy, to name a few! She is an absolute blast and joy to be around. We were out of town last week and of course, when we go out of town, her schedule goes out the door. So, we were trying to get her to sleep at about 1130 p.m., 3 1/2 hours past her bedtime, and Eron and I were in tears, because we were laughing so hard at this silly girl. I cannot even tell you what we were laughing at but, she is SO silly that we crack up at her most of the time! She has a ton of personality, and always has, but her personality has really blossomed lately!


She is talking up a storm, eating like a big girl, preferring a fork over a spoon, and growing tall, but not gaining weight. She has not gained any weight since her 15 month checkup in January, weighing in at a measly 22lbs. Her Dr. is not concerned with this and neither am I given, I know how much she eats! She is loving broccoli, frozen green peas, any meat, and her fruit of choice are strawberries, just like her mama! And the normal things, she can point to all of her body parts, she can tell you if her tootsies are stinky, or if her shoes, are stinky for that matter. She is learning to pray and bow her head and she says Amen, quite well. The other night we were saying her bedtime prayers and apparently my prayer was running longer than she thought necessary as, she started to say amen a few times in a row, guess she thought it was time to end the prayer! Her vocabulary consists of about 25-30 words! Some of her favorite daily words are bye, please, amen, poopoo, mommy, ah man, shoes, stinky, tootsies, to name a few! She loves to brush her teeth, too! And also, I guess she likes to eat rocks. She and Eron were "working" in the yard the other day while I was at a baby shower and he looked back at her and she was sitting on the ground with Hunter and they were both chewing rocks! I am glad daddy got them out of her mouth quickly. She must take after her uncle Ryan, because she also likes to eat dog food, while Ryan's preference was Tender Vittles, hers, is dog food.

Every time we pick her up from the nursery at church, her teachers tell me how much she has been kissing on her friend, Jesse and Jacob. Apparently, Jesse is her main squeeze, but as her teacher says, she has become a bit fickle lately and Jacob is receiving most of the affection these days. I have to say she is very affectionate and will love on anyone, but I am not sure why she has chosen these two boys to share her affection with!

Obviously, she keeps us quite entertained and very busy! We love this age and I am so thankful to be able to be home and watch her amaze me every day! We look forward to a busy few months coming up, and I hope to update sooner than 3 months!! Also, I have more pictures to add, but it wont let me, so I will add them in another post!
Hunting Easter eggs

On the Merry-go-round at Busch Gardens

Cousin Sarah and Harper at Busch Gardens

Getting caught in mommy's makeup!

Update

Well it has been almost a month since my last update, figured it was time for one.

We had a great Christmas. It was very relaxing, my dad came into town and we spent Christmas here at our house, just the four of us. It was nice to be home and not have too much going on, we were able to sit back and enjoy the holiday. Harper loved spending time with her Daddad. She got him a webcam for Christmas so that they can talk and see each other often. Then we spontaneously decided to head to Alabama for new years. We relaxed and got to visit with Eron's family and we saw some of his friends that we had not seen in years, so it was fun to catch up with them. Harper loved being there, she played outside a lot and rode the 4 wheeler with her daddy among other things.

Since we have been home there really has not been a whole lot going on. Eron has been staying busy at work, as usual and hasnt slowed down since the beginning of the new year. We have been working on picking out things for the new/old house next door that is being renovated a bit. They (volunteers and Joe, maintenance director) have made a lot of progress, the kitchen is empty of cabinets appliances, walls, and floors. Most everything out of the bathrooms has been taken out (tile, vanities, toilets, etc.). We have picked and exterior color as well as all of the interior colors! So, that has been keeping us busy!

I have started working out, exercising. There are a few ladies that I know from MOPs who have been getting together with early in the morning (5-5:30 am) for the last 2 weeks to run with. They are better runners than I but if they can keep me accountable for showing up then that works for me. I actually enjoy getting up early and being home early before anyone awakes so that I have time for myself and can get some things done, too. Today I started a spin class at 5am and it was so hard. It has been years since I have done spin and it will definitely take some getting used to. I am hoping to shed some pounds before I get pregnant again (hopefully in the next few months). This does not make sense to some people but perfect sense to me. I would rather lose some weight now and have that much less to lose after baby instead of going into the pregnancy with extra weight and have to lose that on top of baby weight. So, we shall see, I will keep everyone posted! We hope all is well and everyone is having a good new year so far!!

Much love,
Shelley

December photos

I have not uploaded many photos lately, so I added an album to the right on the bottom with a few random photos from this month so far! Hope you enjoy!

A few things Harper has been up to:

~Talking- her new phrase every time she sees a light, "the light" except she says it with a bit of a southern twang! (so, Christmas time is fun to say the least, she will say "the light" consecutively several times in a row)

~She can say "nose" and of course then proceed to point at it.

~ She can point to the tv when asked where it is

~She will "bark" when asked what Hunter or Bella say

~She will point when you ask her where her "tootsies" are

~A little dancing

~A little bit of tantrum throwing

~A little bit of getting into trouble

~She smiles real big right before she does something that she knows she isnt supposed to (we can't help but giggle inside when she does this)

~She just started waving (I have no idea why it took her so long to start that)

~She is a big tease, she will offer you something and quickly takes it back before you have a chance to take what she offers

~She follows directions very well most of the time. (ex: we taught her to just touch the tree, ornaments, etc. with one finger instead of forbidding her to touch anything. So, she touches everything on the tree with just one finger! It has made having the tree up very easy!)

~And, of course reading alot and pointing at certain things in each book! She LOVES to read!

~She gives great "high fives"

She is sooo much fun right now, however she definitely test her boundaries too! I love this stage, and we just can't get enough of her!! We have a lot of pictures to post soon!

Reminiscing

I was looking through pictures and reminiscing. I cannot believe this little stinker of a girl is older than a year! It seems like yesterday she was this small! I miss those days at times! She loved the sun from the beginning

Getting ready to go home

Look at those cheeks!

Resting on baby Ryland and Sherah! (She was preggo)

Busy Times (Meant to post on last friday, oh well)

Ok, excuse the pictures, they are all out of order as far as a timeline is concerned: Elle and Harper watching TV

My Dad on the big screen at the football game

Harper enjoying the game with Judy

Renner at the game, not sure if he was too thrilled to be there!

Harper and Timothy lookin at the football players lining up (cant see them from the pic)

Kissing cousins, ha!

Mark and Timothy

Cutting the ribbon

"Hall of Legends" buildingEating at our favorite mexican restaraunt (Avila's)

Harper and Aunty Jen at the Christmas Fair, Harper wouldnt sit with Santa by herself(thanks, Jen)

At the Miami Children's Home Campus

Harper by a Eucalyptus Tree at the Miami Tropical Gardens, this tree was gorgeous!

We have been super busy the past few weeks! Time for an update: We spent Halloween night in Miami. It was time for a FBCH board meeting and this time around it was in Miami. We ate great food the entire weekend. We ate Cuban food one night and then Argentinian the other night! Very yummy. Halloween in Miami is an interesting sight. We drove around South Beach with some of Eron's coworkers and saw some costumes that I am sure we will never see again! It was lovely to get back to Miami, the first time since we have moved, and I am glad to say that I enjoy visiting more than living there, just not for us and that is ok.

The following week, Harper and I made an impromtu trip to El Paso. New Mexico State University honored my dad and his business partner (cousin by marriage sort of) and their company (Clifford, Ross and Cooper, CPA's) by naming an athletic building in the end zone of the Aggie Memorial Stadium, in their name! It is called, "The Clifford, Ross, and Cooper, CPA's Hall of Legends". It was a lovely dedication and I was so proud of my dad that day. It was nice to have all of the friends and family and many other guests, including former coaches and even an NCAA Hall of Fame coach there as well. My dad has been an Aggie fan since he was in college and has been a basketball statistical crew member for almost 40 years. So, all in all it was a great honor and a proud moment for them.

While there we were thrilled to see my close cousin Mark, Sarah and their son, Timothy (Mark's dad is the "Clifford" part of the company). Harper loves Timothy and gave him kisses to prove it. She doesnt seem to care that they are cousins, ha! We spent 10 days in El Paso with family and friends. Harper really enjoyed playing with her big cousins Elle and Renner. She misses them. I think she missed Aunty Jen and Uncle Ryan, whom she was attatched to the whole time! Some of the things we did while in El Paso:

Breakfast with Santa at the Christmas Fair
Went back to the Christmas Fair 2 more times
Went to the doctor 3 Times
Went to an Aggie Football game
Went to an Aggie Basketball game
Played with Elle and Renner
Played with Timothy
Played with Merritt
Shopped
Slept horribly
Ate lots of yummy food (Ardovinos, Avilas, Ripe's sweet potato fries, just to name a few)

So, we were very busy and although we enjoyed the trip and spending time with family and friends, I do not wish to be gone that long from Eron! We missed him and I realized how much her helps when I have to do it for 10 days by myself for the most part (thanks Ryan and Jen for your help).

We got home on Sunday and have been getting back to normal. So glad that Harper is getting back on schedule! We have a busy week and weekend ahead of us: MOP's (which I have missed the last two weeks), Christmas decorating at the Children's Home, family photos, highschool football, church and then Monday my dad comes for the Thanksgiving week and then off to Jacksonville to celebrate with family.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I realize how much we have to be thankful for, we are so blessed in many ways! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Love,
Shelley

~Chickadee~

We had a fun weekend!! We enjoyed a fall festival outside at the Children's Home. Harper would not stay still enought for me to get a good photo. I loved her costume but I was kinda bummed that I was unable to find orange tights for her legs. I have never really seen a chicken with white legs, but oh well. I had no idea it was outside, I thought it would be in the gym, so it was very warm outside. Needless to say she did not keep the costume on the whole time.

It was a great time. She did not mess with her costume, and kept it on without trying to take it off! The butt of the costume kept getting her off balance, so she had a tough time walking sometimes. She also won the funniest costume contest!! It was a good time!