California

We had such a great time visiting Shaun and Melisa and their 2 kids this week. I will say, going anywhere with the 7 of us is way more complicated than when it was the 4 of us! We all kept remembering things we did when it was just us, things we couldn't possibly do now with the kids. But I don't think any of us missed it that much. Having the kids is just so much better! Harper and Braelyn are finally getting old enough to start interacting with each other. They even gave each other hugs and kisses at random, which I regret to mention that I failed to get on camera. And sweet baby Brennan is such a good baby, and so cute, too. We went down to the Huntington Beach Pier and ate at Ruby's, a little tradition we have. Here's Harper and her daddy walking down the pier. 

Harper is starting to walk holding onto just one of our hands now. She would do it before, but it scared her and she would cry. Now she's gaining the confidence she needs, and she's getting much closer to her first independent steps. More California pics to come.

A Theory: How To Help Your Kid Stand On Their Own

I call this a theory, because as any mom knows, what works for one kid doesn't work for them all. But a friend of mine last week suggested that we give Harper something to hold onto while she stands. (For those of you who don't know, Harper has a fear of standing without touching something. Even if she's barely leaning on something with one leg she's ok, but otherwise she won't stand alone.) So Friday, Chris grabbed two sharpie markers and held onto each end in each hand while Harper held onto the others. Then he let go. Lo and behold, Harper kept standing...just like that! I wasn't convinced that it would work, since she's always got something in her hands anyway, but for some reason this was different to her. Now she's standing on her own for a good minute or two before sitting down. Her new confidence is helping her learn to walk, too. She only holds onto one of my hands now while she walks across the room. She's had the strength for a while, I'm just glad she's starting to conquer her fear. Hope this helps someone someday, it sure helped us!

Snow Day

I heard that we were supposed to get some rain and snow yesterday. I had no idea that meant we were getting several inches of snow yesterday and all day today! It's a beautiful winter wonderland outside again. At least, that is, until the snow begins to melt in a few days leaving our wonderful dirt roads a muddy slush. But for now it's very pretty, and I know I just need to enjoy it while it lasts. So here's some pictures of Harper in her cute little puffy vest and matching tennis shoes (thank you Carey Herrington).

I couldn't get her to look up in this second picture because she was so focused on the snow. And yes, she is standing by herself! I learned a secret just the other day and viola! The same day that we tried this new technique, she started standing on her own. I'll be sharing this tip tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Puppy Love

New Things

This has been quite a week! It's been busy, exciting, and filled with new things. On Valentine's Day, we got to stay at a friend's time share in Sedona...it was so nice to get away! We tried to find a sitter for Harper so that we could go just the two of us, but had no luck. However, she was an angel as usual. We had such a good time staying at the resort and feeling spoiled. Here are some pictures we took of the red rocks that make Sedona so beautiful.

On Tuesday I had my 31st birthday. It was a really fun day hanging out with Chris and Harper in Sedona. We went to some outlets and I got my first pair of skinny jeans! Yeah, I know I'm behind the times, I've just never felt comfortable enough to wear them. But I found a pair I really liked and took the plunge. I wore them today and actually felt good in them, so mid-life crisis or not, I think they were a good purchase. 

Wednesday morning I got a call from the McDougall's saying that Melisa was being admitted and Brennan was on the way. They called at 2:30am and I was in the car half an hour later. Chris couldn't go because of work, and in a last minute decision, we decided it would be better for Harper to stay with him. I drove for 6 hours and then got stuck in LA traffic. Luckily, Brennan waited for me. He was born at 1:47pm, and he and mom did excellent. I got to be in the delivery room and hear little Brennan's first cry...which made me and everyone else cry! Melisa did such an amazing job, and I felt so blessed to be able to be there with the McDougall family. Little Brennan Robert weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and was 20 in long. He was 2 1/2 weeks early, but considering Melisa has been dilated for about 4 weeks, she did a great job keeping him safe until he was full term. Like I said, she was amazing! Here he is...

Wednesday night was my first night away from Harper. Knowing that she was at home safe with her daddy made it easier than I thought it would be. I also knew that we did the right thing leaving her home. We did a lot of driving Monday and Tuesday, then driving 6 hours Wednesday and another 6 on Thursday would have been so tough on her. It was really fun seeing her yesterday when I got back.

All in all it's been a great week that has left me smiling. Congrats again to Shaun, Melisa and Braelyn on the beautiful addition to their family!

Love Bug

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

FROM OUR LITTLE LOVE BUG...

HOPE YOUR DAY IS FILLED WITH SWEETNESS!

MINE SURE IS!

The Cheerio Game

Harper came up with a new game yesterday. You know how babies like to give things to people...or at least pretend like they're gonna give you something and then take it back? She would give me a cheerio, so I held out my hand. When she put it in my hand I closed my hand so that she couldn't see it. She then tried to open my hand, found the cheerio, took it back, and ate it. That's how it all started. Now when she's eating cheerio-like snacks, she places it in my palm, then she pushes my hand closed, immediately pulls it open, grabs the cheerio and eats it. The same thing with the next one and then the next one. I've always thought babies were cute, but I never knew just how cute they really are. Seeing Harper do something new every day is greater than I could have ever imagined. If someone had told me this story of their kid before I had kids, I think I would have found it cute. But these days, something as simple as a cheerio game makes my entire day!

10 Different Ways to Wear Tights

For anyone who has ever tried to dress Harper, you know how much she's always hated it. I think I wasn't very good at it in the beginning and it traumatized her. Whatever the reason, she cries when you try to get her dressed. But we're starting to move past that...finally. Now she fusses a little when I put a shirt over her head (and only some of the time), and she's learned how to put her arms in the sleeves herself. That helps a LOT. Lately she's started taking any material and tries to put it on. Dishtowel, tights, my underwear when I was folding laundry yesterday...She's trying to put things on, and I think it's pretty cute. She really likes putting her tights on her head, and usually just ends up wearing them around her neck like a scarf. It's quite the fashion statement.

Camp Family

One of the great things about living at camp is that all of your co-workers are also your friends and neighbors. This is our friend Kris holding his niece Rennie and Harper. Harper and Rennie love each other! And Harper loves bouncing on her "uncle" Kris' knee. There are several families here, and together there are 18 kids. (There were 19 camp kids, but the oldest moved into her own place not too long ago. She's still a camp kid at heart though.) They range from 18 years old to 2 days old. Bailey Renee, the baby I talked about the other day, was born the night before last, and she is beautiful!

Harper is no longer the baby of the camp family, which makes her seem so big. I'm excited about seeing another little baby grow up here at camp. And now Harper has another girl that's close to her age. Rennie, Harper, and Bailey...fun will be had!

BABIES!

Michelle and big sister Savannah

I have two very good friends who could have a baby any day now. Both of these little ones could even be born today! My friend Michelle is having a little girl named Bailey. She lives here at camp with her family, so she's close by. My other friend Melisa is having a little boy named Brennan. She lives in Orange County, a 6 hour drive from here. I would love to be able to see both of these babies when they're born. I don't know how I'm going to make it in time for Brennan's birth, but I really want to try. We have winter camp this weekend, so there's no way I can get out to California from Friday through Sunday morning. I could leave Sunday after the morning session and probably stay for several days, I just don't know that Brennan wants to wait for his aunt RayRay to get there!

Melisa and big sister Braelyn

I was talking to Michelle last night about contractions and birthing balls and whatnot, and last night I was laying in bed just thinking about babies! I thought about all the feelings Michelle and Melisa are probably feeling right now, about the excitement and fear of child birth, the questions that go through your mind...I remembered the moment they brought Harper back to me after giving her a bath. She was wearing her little pink and white striped hat that the hospital gave her. When they handed her to me, Chris took the hat off and all this fluffy red hair just popped out standing on end! It was beautiful. Many of our camp friends were in the room with us and we all gasped when we saw it. It is such an exciting time. I am praying for these two brave women and hoping that everything goes smoothly and that they and their babies stay safe and healthy.

Dishwasher Fun

Harper does a pretty good job at entertaining herself. We play together a lot, but I also give her some alone time to play on her own. But one thing we both love is when Harper plays at the dishwasher while I'm either doing dishes or cooking. She still refuses to stand without holding onto or leaning on something, but the dishwasher door is a perfect height for playing when it's open. I give her some plastic-ware to bang on and she just has a great time. Lately she's started putting the dishtowel on her head. It's pretty adorable.

Childhood Best Friends

Are you still friends with anyone that you knew when you were 6 years old? See the little girl with the hat and sunglasses in the red jacket? That's Suzy. (And I'm the one in the awesome '80's outfit at the other end...the multi-colored heart shirt with the stone-washed jeans) We met when we were 6. We lived 3 doors down from each other, and once we met we were pretty much inseparable. We played Barbies every day after school, we built a "mall" in the woods behind our houses, and she was the one who invited me to go to church for the first time. Her family was like another family to me...still is actually, I just don't get to see them much. This next picture was taken at Suzy's high school graduation.

Melissa, Lynnae, Me, Suzy, and Becca

We went to the same college together, which is where Suzy met her husband Tim. Our husbands are also great friends and the four of us have so much fun when we get together. But it's been a while. They live in New York and we of course live in Arizona. They have two boys, Oscar who is 2 and Charlie who is not even a month old yet! And the saddest thing to me is that we have yet to meet each other's kids. We've video chatted on Skype, but it's just not the same.

Hanging out in Central Park post-college, pre-babies.

I love the Bomgardner's and I miss them very much. I think I'm having withdrawals actually. We really want to plan a trip out to see them soon. I don't know if it will work out, but it would be awesome if we could. I think this might be the latest picture of us that I have. It was taken at my sister's rehearsal dinner for her wedding several years ago. My dress has little black dots all over it that you can't really see. We bought them to "match." We're still 6 years old when we hang out together! 

WE LOVE YOU BOMGARDNER'S!

She Has Eyes For Me

I love how excited Harper gets when I come home from work! It's just crazy how even a few months ago she was still a little indifferent. Now her whole face lights up the way mine always has when I look at her. I love being important to her. There's nothing else like it.

Crossfit

CrossFit

I can now honestly say that I love CrossFit. I've never enjoyed working out before in my life until now. I never knew what to do in a gym. I was never athletic, so my coordination is definitely not the best. I would go to the YMCA and do some stretches that I learned from dancing and work on a few machines the best I knew how, and then the rest of my time was devoted to walking, not running, on a treadmill. (If you could see how I run, you would understand this) Now Chris and I are doing CrossFit, and it is not only a great workout, it's fun, too. It's a full body workout with a trainer in the class, and everyday you do something different. We do a lot of squats with barbells...overhead squats, back squats, front squats...and we also do push presses, dead lifts, etc. Who would have thought I could do any of that??? If you want to see the kind of stuff we're doing, click on the link above. And if you have one nearby, you should totally try it out! And even though Harper's a bit young right now, they have a CrossFit Kids that gets kids active and in shape. Someday Harper...

I'm Seeing Red

I'm sorry to say that I'm actually one of those annoying people that enjoys the month of February. I like Valentine's Day...there, I said it. But my birthday is also this month, which even though I'm getting older, I still enjoy birthdays. And what's better than a month of thankfulness? A month devoted to love. Even though the holiday is geared towards romance, I'm blogging about all the things I love this month. Starting with....french fries!

I love french fries. I actually love pretty much any fried potato product. When I got pregnant with Harper I wanted to give up fries and eat really healthy. It didn't last long, and I ended up eating so many french fries that I thought for sure she would come out looking like one.

Since we've lived in Arizona, it's been a birthday tradition to go to Red Robin for my birthday dinner because they serve bottomless fries. Yes, my heart is really that fat.

The problem is that Chris and I are trying to eat healthier. Fries don't really qualify as healthy...although given some time I'm sure I can come up with a few benefits to consuming french fries. But hey, everyone's allowed to splurge on their birthday, right? Two weeks of some good healthy eating, I'll be ready for a break. And yes, that is a strawberry lemonade with a ton of strawberry slices floating inside! You can come to my birthday dinner too if you want.