A Day at the Arboretum.... again

This membership to the Arboretum is really useful! We only went out for an hour today to eat lunch, but it was a nice break away from the house. We probably would've stayed longer, but a pesky squirrel was feeling too comfortable with us and getting WAY too close for my liking. Let's be honest, squirrels kind of freak me out. So when he almost stepped onto our blanket, I packed things up, and we just walked around. And then when I was sweating buckets, I decided it was time for us to head home.  It is only May 29, and it is blazing hot outside! Things aren't looking up for our summer here in Dallas! Here are some pictures from our short time outside today. Enjoy! 

I love her sweet little smirk! 

Who doesn't love the open mouth smile?!?! 

Our new friend... the brave squirrel

I took a lot of flower pictures, and this was the only one I was actually proud of. I know NOTHING about my camera, so having that blurry background was honestly a mistake... but I loved it! 

Not from the arboretum... just capturing a tired girl. 

She fell sleep while being burped after her night time feeding. 

Sweet thing didn't make a peep when we put her in bed! 

Introducing...

Maddox Warner Pardue

5/28

10:28pm

7 lbs, 15 oz

21 inches

We are so excited for Jeff, Kacy, and Lake!!! And we can't wait to meet Maddox soon (hopefully!). How precious is that picture?!?!?! I know that Lake is going to be a great big brother! 

Splish, Splash... Harper loves her bath!

Bath time is such a fun time here at our house. Harper definitely loves it so much, and I think she looks forward to it every day! Yes, I know babies don't need baths every day... when you see her splashing around, you will see why we do it. It has established a good night time routine for her, and I know that has contributed to her fabulous sleeping ability! Here are some pictures of her favorite part of the day!

            She loves her hair/head massage...just like her momma!

                Corby brushed all of her hair forward... ridiculous!

These videos aren't as great as the first one. It's as if the washcloth was restricting her movement or something. Oh well... you get the idea... she likes her bath! 

It's a bird...It's a plane...

It's Super Harper! Clearly, my face looks more excited, but I promise she really liked this. It was one of the activities from Productive Parenting, and we've continued to do it every day! She is proving to be "Super Harper" with her sleeping the last few days. She has been going to bed a little before 9 each night and most mornings not getting up until 8:15ish!!! This is quite an accomplishment... one that I hope lasts for a very long time. 

On a very fun note, Harper is about to have another cousin. My sister-in-law Kacy will be induced tomorrow, so we are praying that everything goes well. Lake is going to be a great big brother!!! We can't wait to see pictures of sweet Maddox!!! 

A creature of habit

It is definitely a good thing that Harper prefers to sleep in her own bed, but that doesn't work out very well when we're out of town. She thoroughly enjoyed meeting her great-grandma, great aunt and uncle, and cousins... but they might have enjoyed it more had she not been so grumpy! She simply wouldn't nap for very long, so she was very fussy all day Saturday. And then since I bragged about how well she sleeps at night to my aunt and uncle, she chose to not fall asleep until I was finally in the room. So naturally, last night once we were home, she slept from 9pm-7:30 this morning! She was a tired girl!!! But she did have a great time, and I'm so thankful she got to meet that side of the family... especially my 93-year-old grandma! Since her health isn't the greatest, I wanted to make sure she got to meet her! Here are some pictures from our time in Oklahoma City. Enjoy! 

Aunt Jeanie loving on Harper

Harper was in a good mood for a while since she was in only a diaper, 

so we snapped some pictures with Mee-Maw!

Taking a cat nap on her great aunt

She LOVED falling asleep in her Mee-Maw's arms

She loved swinging on the porch swing with her Papa G

Very worn out from the day's festivities

And clearly, she wasn't the only one who needed some rest!  

10 weeks... that sounds SO old!

Our sweet little girl is already 10 weeks old. She is doing more each day, and I love every minute of it. She is smiling so much, especially in the mornings. I think she's a morning person thanks to her mom and dad. And thanks to one of my blog readers, her stomach issues have gotten a little better this week. We've tried a little something that has helped so far, and we are ALL grateful for that! So far this week she has slept from 9-7 every night but last night- what a blessing! Although I enjoy being with her, even at 3 am, I do prefer the nights when she sleeps all night. She is much happier during the day (and so am I!). This weekend we are traveling to Oklahoma City to visit my dad's side of the family. She finally gets to meet her great-grandma (shout out Mee-Maw).  I also have high hopes of her learning her spices. Learn her spices, you might ask??? Well, when I was little (probably 5), my cousin Brent taught me a bunch of spices and I recited it for the whole family. Even at a young age, I clearly enjoyed performing. I thought it was the greatest thing I had ever done. So... I'm counting on Brent to do the same for his cousin Harper. He has been preparing all week for it. It's going to be a fun time with family! We're all really looking forward to it. 

The pictures have nothing to do with anything in this post... oops! But yesterday, we went to the Arboretum with Erica, Saylor, Mare, Emme, and Luke. We had a picnic lunch and watched Emme and Luke run out all of their energy. :) I didn't get very many pictures of Harper and Saylor, but since they are going to be/already are best friends... we'll be able to get some more! 

Harper and Saylor enjoying the outdoors

Emme LOVES to wear Mare's sunglasses

Luke wanted in on the picture-taking action

And since I'm from Arkansas, I must say, you would've thought I had won something last night when they announced Kris Allen as the winner...Double fist pump into the air and a very loud scream. Way to make Arkansas look good, Kris. Let's be honest... this is a first in a very long time. 

A sweaty 2 month check-up...

Harper would've preferred to have taken a nap rather than spend her afternoon at the doctor's office. She wasn't pleased the entire time. And although I am very used to her crying, something about being in that tiny room just made me sweat. I know she was crying because she was so tired, so I felt bad for her. We discussed a lot of things about her stomach issues and are trying some new things. So hopefully something will work and our baby girl will be a little more regular! :) She also did well during the shots. Of course she let out a scream, but it didn't last long- especially since I had a bottle ready for her when she was finished! But since she didn't nap well yesterday and the added sleepiness that comes with vaccines, it is 7:30am and she is still asleep! We put her down at 9 last night, so I am SHOCKED! Way to go, Harper! I wish she would do this every night! Here are her stats and a few pictures from the week...

Height: 23 1/4 (75th percentile)

Weight: 10lb 9 oz (50th percentile)

Head: 37.6 (25th percentile)

Enjoying the outdoors at the Arboretum

The infant size hat on her TINY head.... it's huge! 

Not a huge fan of the bumbo yet, 

but she did have a few happy moments in it

2 churches coming together

Last night Corby and I went to a prayer meeting at Northway Baptist Church. If the vote goes through on May 17th, this church will become The Village Church at Dallas. I can't tell you how excited this makes me!!! If you don't know, our church is about 40 minutes away, and that makes it very difficult to be very involved. We worked in the nursery before having Harper, but driving up there for anything during the week is nearly impossible. It felt so right walking through those doors last night. We prayed for so many things, but the one that has stood out the most to me today is praying for the hearts of the current members. The pastor had them stand up and every single one was my grandma's age.... I loved it! The Village is a very young church, especially the Dallas crowd, so it is going to be a huge change for them. I have cried several times thinking about how hard this must be for them. If they are anything like my grandma, they are resistant to change! I know the Lord's hand is fully in this, and I'm simply praying that they will trust Him. I am really excited about the variety in ages and how that will play out in reaching the city of Dallas. I know that the Lord has huge things planned for this church, and I'm thrilled that we'll get to be a part of it.

You can see it in my eyes...

If you have seen me in the last week, you may be wondering why my eyes are red, puffy, and peeling. Well, the answer is simple....we went to Little Rock. I am slightly allergic to my mom's cat, and since it doesn't appear that Daisy is going anywhere, it's something I have gotten used to. Just kidding, mom. I would never want you to get rid of that cat! I really do like her; I just wish I could touch her. Someone else who would really like to touch her is Eliana. Sweet thing just wants to love on Daisy, and sadly, Daisy doesn't share the same desire. 

We had a great time in LR. Harper got to meet so many people!!! She loved being in the arms of her Kay-Kay, Papa G, Aunt Lindsey, and Tia Leah (along with everyone else that held her!). She did great at the wedding reception too. I think she was on her best behavior because her future boyfriend Sawyer was there, and she was out to impress him.  Here are some pictures from our week there... Enjoy! 

Meeting Yang and Lindsey- amazing friends from college

All she wanted to do was lay her head on Daisy

I wasn't there for this, but I assume they made her kiss Harper

Yes, we're color coordinated. 

Eliana covered Harper with all of her blankets.... 

we assume she wasn't trying to smother her

Neither one was a single bit interested in this situation

Relaxing in Chelsea's arms- another great college friend

Safe in the arm's of her name sake, Aunt Ann.

Already showing off at 2 months old...

Yesterday was such a great day! Corby made my first mother's day so special. One of the best gifts was Harper sleeping from 9:30pm-6:30am!!!! I think she knew  I needed the extra sleep! She has been sleeping that long for the last week or so, and I couldn't be more proud of her! I can't believe that she is 2 months old today. Her check-up is on Thursday, so I'm looking forward to seeing how much she weighs and how long she is. I am not, however, looking forward to the shots. Corby has a busy day at work, so I will be alone... I hope I don't cry too. Thankfully she isn't old enough to hold it against me, like Annalise did one time! The nurse asked me to hold her leg still while she gave her the shot (she was about 2 years old), and when we got to the car, she glared at me from the backseat. She wouldn't talk to me the whole way home... it was pretty hilarious! 

Okay, back to my little girl being a show-off. Whenever I give her a bottle, which is every feeding- we're experiencing technical difficulties that don't seem to be getting better, she likes to put her hands around it. She is definitely discovering her hands now, and I think she just likes to feel everything that she can. Well, on a few occasions, I've let go of the bottle for a few seconds and she has held it herself. Now, clearly, she isn't doing this on purpose, but I'd like to think we have a genius on our hands. :) Corby grabbed the camera and caught her in action yesterday. 

She is also smiling so much (when she isn't crying due to constipation). Every morning, she lays on my propped up legs and smiles so much. I love our little ritual, even singing the same songs over and over. I caught one of her smiles while she was looking at Corby yesterday. She is SO sweet! 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to both of our wonderful mothers!!! We hope that y'all have a wonderful day! We love you!!!

(I realize it's been forever since I last posted....I have tons of pictures from Little Rock and will do a post about our trip soon!)

Changing the lyrics...

I'm not a big Dolly Parton fan, but I would like to change "9 to 5" from "working" to "sleeping". That's right, folks, Harper has slept the last 2 nights from 9-5 (one day was 5:30!). She goes right to sleep when we put her in her crib, which makes me so happy! Our days are pretty random, but we have established a night time routine and the product is her sleeping so well at night! And since Corby gets up at 5 for work, I don't feel like it's in the middle of the night, so I usually feel rested. She does go back to sleep after she eats but not for very long. By the time I get back in bed and finally fall asleep, she's up again. Oh well... I won't complain. I feel like a whole new person with all of this sleep! And speaking of sleep, Corby caught us in a nap the other day, and I just had to post these pictures. I don't like what my hair is doing, but she is so sweet holding her bunny... I just had to share them with you! 

Today is a big day for us...our first road trip! We're heading to Little Rock for a wedding, and I'm so excited for all of my friends to finally meet Harper. I'm also really looking forward to being with my family. I also was really excited about today because the pacifier clips I ordered were coming to me today. Well... they got here and I'm slightly disappointed. I ordered 2 monogrammed ones. I chose to get them pretty plain because I wanted them to kind of match her clothes. Well, the buttons are HUMONGOUS- much larger than the pictures revealed on the website. And the monogramming is off on one of them...the perfectionist in me can't handled when things aren't centered. Oh well, I'll try to not let it get me down. :) Just kidding! It's not going to ruin my day. I just thought I'd share my thoughts on them before you see them on her clothes and think the same thing. Feel free to speak poorly of them... I will probably agree with you! 

Okay, enjoy the pictures and have a great weekend!!!