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!

Our Little Pumpkin

Picking out just the right pumpkin
Harper and her buddy Jake, not such a nice face she is making at him

Harper giving Jake a kiss...I think we are in trouble, she'll probably be the girl in elementary school that will get in trouble for kissing the boys at recess, oh goodness!

So, I haven't blogged in a while, but there has not been too much out of the ordinary going on! We did go pick out pumpkins today with some girls from my MOP's group and their kids! We had a great time and we fed the swans at the lake right next to the pumpkins and ate lunch by the lake too! It was a fun day and Harper and her buddy Jake kept myself and Jacob's mom, Amy very busy! Needless to say they had about worn us out by the end of it all. They both headed straight for the water many times, SCARY!

I have to say that fall is my favorite time of year and it absolutley does not feel like fall out here at all! I mean we were picking out pumpkins in 90 degree weather! So, I really miss the cooler weather and the leaves turning, but I guess I can't complain too much, since we will probably be going swimming tomorrow towards the end of OCTOBER!!!

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!

Pictures of Harper walking!

Bear crawling..

Taking a step, she took about three this time..
She loves to smile for the camera! and yes, I let her play on the ground and get dirty, nothing that a good bath can't fix..

She smiles with her mouth, eyes and nose, love these smiles!
Sitting in Eron's grandmother's old, old rocking chair!
On the screened in porch!

2 Teeth and 2 Steps

Well, Harper has been on one for a few weeks! Her naps are totally messed up, the only way she will get to sleep these days is with me or daddy and her rocker (love that part), but I hate that she is not getting good naps! Well, as I had suspected, she is definitely teething and her top front teeth are breaking as we speak! So, this will explain the nap situation, I believe! I am thrilled that these teeth are coming in! When she gives kisses now, she likes to kiss our lips and then head for our noses where she decides to bite our nose! That doesn't feel too great. So, now she is giving more and more kisses than we even ask for just to get a bite at our noses. Silly girl!

On another note, I was such a proud mommy today. We were out in the backyard and she stood up several times from a squatting position all by herself and proceeded to take two steps forward with her arms and hands way out in front of her! I was so excited, now I realize that she is not "walking" but she is certainly getting brave and taking steps on her own!

Well, we are getting ready for tropical storm Fay! I have never had to prepare for something like this and although it is not supposed to be too bad if it turns into a hurricane, there is a part of me loves the idea of having to stay cooped up and safe indoors while it pours rain outside! It is supposed to come right over us tomorrow, so Eron will be home and so will Harper and of course the dogs!

Oh, one more side note, Bella had shots today and we were told the obvious, that she is "obese". Yes we already knew that, but still kinda take offense to it! Oh well, looks like someone is going on a diet! Poor girl!

Homemade Pretzels~

We had a lazy Sunday. I have been having some issues with my eye. I think that I am allergic to my contact. We got up this morning to get ready for church and I could not keep my eye open, it was runny and burning and any light or focusing hurt it. So hubby went to get my some drops to hold me over until I can get to the Dr. to see what the deal is. So, I took a nap after that and it seemed to be a little better.

So, I decided to be somewhat productive and decided to make some homemade pretzels, here http://http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/2008/05/homemade-pretze.html, they looked and sounded so yummy! So here is the process, they were super easy and really good.
So, here is what you need: 1 1/2 tsp. of active live yeast, 1 1/2 c. hot water, 1/2 tsp. brown sugar, and a dash of salt. Combine these ingredients and let sit for 5 minutes.
Harper supervised!
Yeast and above ingredients sitting for 5 minutes...
Then you add four cups of white flour, mix well and knead for 5 minutes...
Then, place in a greased bowl and lay a damp towel over the top and let sit for 1 hour in a warm spot...
Divide dough into 8-12 pieces, roll into rope and shape. ( I made some classic shapes and then some sticks that I added garlic and Parmesan cheese to go with our pizza tonight)...

Harper tested out the dough..
After you shape them, dip them into 1/4 c. warm water with 1 Tbsp. of baking soda and then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 500 degrees for 8 minutes...
After taking out of oven, brush liberally with butter. I added cinnamon sugar to some of them and then garlic salt and Parmesan cheese and we dipped them in marinara sauce...
Then enjoy! Yummy....
Oh, we halved this recipe and there were just enough for us~