One down- 4 to go!

Thanks to our family trip to Gulf Shores, I was able to check one item off my 30 bucket list. Yay! (If you are confused, click here )

10 Months Old

So, it is hard for me to believe that in two (very short) months Harper will be a year old. Where has this year gone? Where has my tiny baby gone? I have been mourning her baby-ness for the past month (now I see why some people choose to have babies so close together- they stop being babies so quickly!) but I am so thankful for the times that she is still baby like- snuggling, sleeping so peacefully, her sweet baby voice. I am SO thankful for all the things she can do now as well (smile, laugh at us, give us kisses, etc.). Anyway, the past month has been especially hard for me since she has started walking- it seems to signal the end of babyhood. But it is also the beginning of an amazing little girl! Here is what she is doing at 10 months:
-walking (she started that a week after she turned 9 months old)
-dancing (thanks to Caedmon!)
-saying 'uh' and pointing up when we say "Harper, where is up?" and saying 'uh oh' after we say it when something falls (or, uh hum, is dropped)
-She loves opening and closing cabinets (especially forbidden ones), unscrewing drawer knobs, and climbing in and out of the rungs on the dining room chairs.
-She still loves giving us kisses and will do so virtually anytime we ask.
-She loves to 'swim' and will kick her legs and move her arms...but not at the same time. She also keeps sticking her face in the water which makes her mad, but she keeps doing it anyway. She also likes to drink the water.
-She FINALLY drinks from a sippy cup (we tried a new kind and it worked like magic) but she still takes her bottles, too.
-She is not as wary of strangers as she was a few months ago but still plays the staring game with people out in public...if they don't look at her she stares them down until she gets a smile!
-She is eating all sorts of finger foods now, any soft veggies or fruit (or soft cooked, like green beans or steamed carrots), she loves eggs (no salt or pepper, just scrambled and cooked in a little butter), her favorite food is still blueberries but she also loves her chicken with apple and sweet potato. She drinks water now in addition to formula and sometimes 'juicewater' at daycare just so she will drink something during the day (She went on a drink strike for a few weeks at daycare...not a food strike though!). She basically will eat anything we put in front of her and stuffs her mouth usually so we have to be careful not to give her too much. She doesn't growl as much as she used to but she still doesn't spontaneously use any of the baby signs ('more' and 'eat') that we are teaching her.

Well...I think that is about it for 10 month old Harper! We are still in awe of our amazing (notso) little blessing!

Adventures with Babies (also known as the weekend I 'witnessed' a miracle).

So, I am not sure how to even begin this post. I feel like I have got to write it down before the magic of this weekend goes away. And by magic I mean God's amazing provision in our lives. So, I think I might write this in bulleted points because otherwise I could get a little carried away (which you won't be surprised about if you've already read any of my previous posts). This past weekend I flew to Dallas to visit friends, help host a baby shower, and see my friend pregnant (because pregnant girls are TOO cute!). My dear friend Rachel flew with me and was my traveling companion/sanity saver/Harper's second mommy. THANK YOU Rachel for being such a help and being so sweet and patient with me and Harper...even when she woke you up every day of your vacation before 6:15am. Okay, gotta stick to bulleted points now...
1) flew in Thursday, got to introduce Harper to my Dallas friends and got to see how big their kiddos were (born and unborn)
2) Got to go to a crazy nice mall on Friday and eat French food from the mall food court and window shop. Oh, did I mention my friend's hubby watched our kids so we could have a girls day? He was a SAINT this weekend. Thanks Jeff!
3) On Saturday Harper inspired her friend we visited to walk. He had been kind of walking but I guess he thought "this little girl isn't going to come in my house and show me up!" or maybe "hey, that doesn't look so bad!". Maybe HG will be a physical therapist someday and inspire others....and in turn, the sweet boy taught her how to dance. I love it! All I do now is sing her a song and she bounces and shakes her hand. Poor thing. She'll probably dance like her daddy and I do.
4) Also on Saturday while in Texas we got word that my friend we were staying with was going to become an Aunt (her sister in law went into labor a week early!). It was a very exciting day, we were all pumped for the baby shower since we were all thinking in baby mode. The baby shower was lovely and such fun. Always nice to see old friends and meet new ones!
5) Sunday morning we were leaving for the airport. Harper woke up extra early and when I went out to the living room my friend for whom we threw the shower was awake (she hadn't really slept). She tells me she is having "cramps" and that her water has broken. WHAT!?!? Needless to say I was wide awake sans tea at this point. Sadly, I had no clue whether or not she was experiencing braxton hicks or real contractions, since I never really had any braxton hicks and since I was induced. So our Dallas friends headed to the hospital and Rachel and I headed to the airport. Thanks to Saint Husband Jeff who gave us a ride.
6) We are anxiously awaiting news while at the airport...it comes...our friend indeed is in labor and is progressing FAST. Oh. Did I mention her husband is 7 1/2 hours away in Middleofnowhere Texas? And that she is 3 weeks early? And that this isn't suppose to be happening right now? Yeah.
7) Stupid no phones on the airplane rule. It was excruciating waiting the 2 hour flight. We land and get word that her husband has made it PRE baby. What? How is that possible? They had to arrive at the hospital about 7amish. He probably didn't leave until after that. This was 1pm that we got word he had made it. To be able to drive all the way to the airport from Middleofnowhere, get on a plane, fly, drive from the airport to the hospital, all in that short time and all the while no baby has come. That is divine intervention. Also...her mom made it in town from many many miles away. Also pre baby.
8) 5pmish. A beautiful, healthy, baby boy arrives. :-) Praise God! HE knew what she needed and what her baby needed and provided a way for all of that to happen. Truly a miracle. If you aren't a believer in miracles, start looking for them. God is moving and working. As a brief aside, even if her husband hadn't made it, God would still be good. We would still praise Him. His perfect grace would still be enough. I know she would agree.
9) Our flight landed 30 minutes early. Miracle #2 for the day. Here are some pictures from our fun weekend.
S- sorry for telling your story...it is too amazing not to tell and since I was a tiny part of it, I felt I needed to share it!

Meredith's manners- travel etiquette with children

I love people watching. Here are some travel tips based on my observations this weekend.

1) Just because I have a child does not mean I like your children, nor do I want them climbing on me, my luggage, or my child, especially when said children have been coughing and crying.
2) When in a crowded public area it is best to actually keep an eye on your children. Otherwise they might wander off and meet strangers, get lost, or bother other people (see above).
3) Allowing your child to kick the back of someone's seat on a plane is NOT polite.
4) This goes for all travelers: while I do enjoy chatting with people next to me on the plane, I probably don't want to hear your entire life story the entire flight. Sometimes I like to sleep or read. This also goes for most other travelers. When you increase the number of alcoholic drinks consumed that does not increase the likelihood that I want to hear about your friends from when you were in high school. (This makes me sound anti-social...I really do enjoy chatting with people on the plane, but I observed a lady today who went on and on the entire flight to the guy next to her and she never got the hint that he didn't want her to keep talking!)
5)This goes for all adult travelers: consuming large amounts of alcohol, either in the terminal or on the flight, is probably NEVER a good idea. It results in quotes like this- said loudly on the large escalators at the Atlanta airport in front of a LOT of people "I had an epiphany today. I don't hate babies. I like them. I sat next to this 12 year old on the plane and it gave me hope." HAHAHA!

By the way, miraculously- our flight arrived home 30 minutes early!!!

Walk like a baby!

June 30, 2011...Harper took 4 steps in a row unassisted. Since then she has been standing up all by herself (without pulling up) and taking several steps (up to 8) all by herself. She still prefers to crawl, though, since she can get there faster. She is definitely proud to be walking, she gets the cutest look on her face when she does! I can't believe my baby is walking!

Sharing!

I have been in "house mode" for the past 3 months or so (Jason would say for MUCH longer). Since our contract was finalized on our house, however, I have been crazy about HGTV and looking at blogs about renovations, etc. We are fortunate in that our house had no immediate changes that needed to be made (no painting, no wallpaper removal, no appliance updates). I know that we will eventually update a lot of things (first...the kitchen, then the light fixtures...especially our horrible gold arrowhead chandelier- see it here). However, I love looking at renovations and gathering ideas for later dates. Here is a blog post that has some amazing renovations. I LOVE this kitchen, so much natural light and so functional but beautiful.

Harper's first Fourth!

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays...how could I resist a holiday that has celebrations that include yummy grilled food, WATERMELON, and blowing things up! This 4th Jason, HG, and I were lucky enough to get to go to Destin for a long weekend! We got to introduce Harper to the beach- one of our favorite places, spend some time with friends, and just enjoy some family time! Here are some pictures of our fourth. Our friend Kevin's parents took us for a boat ride to watch the fireworks from the boat. It was fantastic! Harper slept through most of it (thanks to the boat ride) but woke up during the finale and watched wide-eyed. She wasn't worried though, she was safe in her daddy's arms! Oh- we also got to see an air show- it was so fun! We didn't know it was going to happen but we walked outside the house and looked up and there were these cool old planes flying up and down and sideways and upside down!