Somebody got a haircut...

And HATED every minute of it!!!

The crying instantly began!

Ms. Neda was SO patient with her!

I really was so impressed!!!

Dadda trying to keep her entertained while I checked the hair cut!

Her hair looks so much better in the back. It was uneven and mulletish, so it had to be done. She definitely looks more like a little girl now, but I am okay with that. Not only does her hair make her look older, her new car seat does too! Yes, she's been in her infant carrier until today. We still hadn't changed the straps to the largest position in the carrier, but we figured it was time to move to the bigger seat. She is still rear facing, and she will remain that way for a while longer. It doesn't bother her, so it works for us!

After her haircut, we walked around Snider Plaza for a while. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at Bubba's, and then we were going to get a cookie at JD's... but we didn't have any cash! Such a bummer! I was looking forward to that cookie all morning! We really had such a fun day together! The weather has been wonderful, so of course we spent our afternoon at the park! I love weekends!!!

Here are a few pictures I took yesterday at the park...

Giving me her best smirk

She prefers the regular baby swing...

but this worked for a while!

Hope that you're having a great weekend!!!

Best Friends

We went to "Tot Tuesday" at the Arboretum with Erica and Saylor yesterday. Harper will love this even more once she is older! They have a petting zoo, face painting (like...painting your entire face to look like a lion), a music class, and crafts. They do this whole line-up every Monday and Tuesday in the Spring and Fall. It is wonderful!!! Today, we went to the petting zoo and ate a picnic lunch. Harper loved seeing the "do-do" (dog-dog)- but really they were goats, and she thought their fur was HILARIOUS! She was very intrigued by the pony too. I think she would've stood there all day! After they ate, Saylor enjoyed running everywhere, and Harper followed as quickly as she could by crawling. They are so cute together!

Touching the goats

Harper was so interested in the pony!

Reading books, as usual.

Harper reaching her hand out to Saylor...

Saylor thought it was hilarious!

Completely unprovoked, they held hands on our way out.

PRECIOUS!

The 1 year stats...

Harper had her 1 year appointment today, and it was fairly uneventful. Because she was still running a fever today, we postponed the shots, so I know she was thankful for that! Her doctor wasn't convinced that it was an ear infection she had, since she was still running a fever. It appears she has some throat virus, and that explains her lack of desire for food! Poor thing... I just hope she feels better soon. She literally cried almost all day long, and the walls of our house felt as though they were slowly closing in on me. Hopefully tomorrow will be better! Other than that, everything else with her is right on track. We're having one thing checked out next week at the ophthalmologist, but it hopefully isn't a big deal.

Here are some things Harper is doing at 1:

- says dadda, momma, do-do (dog dog), dap (clap), ba (bath), and she says something for her baby but it doesn't sound like "baby" at all

-Cruises along everything with one hand, stands unassisted a little

-Eats 3 meals a day, with an afternoon snack

-Drinks whole milk in her sippy cup with every meal (I have had a few people ask what I did for that transition... We pretty much went cold turkey with the bottle- we did her night time bottle a few days but then stopped all together. I knew that she would eventually drink from the cup, and it wouldn't cause her harm if she didn't get very much milk one day. I did half formula and half milk in her cup for a few days, but then I just did milk. She has actually done well with this. At first the coldness of the milk bothered her, but she quickly got used to it. Obviously this may not work with every child, but it's definitely worth a try!)

-Still LOVES to read! She turns the pages of her books and laughs throughout "Head to Toe" and "Brown Bear"

-Sleeps from about 7:45pm-7:30am (Thank you time change!!!), takes 2 naps, about 1 hour each

-She gives open mouth kisses regularly, especially to her baby doll (so precious!)

-Loves to give high fives!

-Still has her paci, but only when she's in her bed... we'll probably get rid of it soon (she just doesn't know it yet)

-Still NO teeth... but I think that one is about to pop through! Her doctor said we'll get an ex-ray if she still doesn't have any at 18 months, but I doubt that will be the case.

Her stats:

Height: 29 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 20 lb 10 oz (40th percentile)

Head: 44.2 (25th percentile)

And finally, here are a few of my favorite pictures that LC took of Harper. I forgot to post them when I got them, so here they are!

The many faces of Harper!

I love this one because it has her name in the background!

This girl loves to clap!!!

First Day of Spring?

It was 73 degrees on Friday. We spent the entire day outside, playing in our front yard and then playing at the park. It was rather chilly on Saturday and on our way home from the Pediatric after hours clinic (fever of 104.3 resulted in the diagnosis of another ear infection! No wonder she cried/screamed for 3 hours straight on Friday afternoon) it started snowing. We went to bed and woke up to this...

So much snow... Everywhere!

And tomorrow the high is 65. I'm just thankful that we've actually had some spring-like temperatures lately. I feel like usually we have mild winter temps and then it reaches 100 by March. Yes, I am exaggerating, but Spring is rare around here. So we have been spending as much time outside as we can.

And now a note from Harper: Happy birthday, Papa G! I hope that you have a great day! I'll see you soon! Love you!

Eclectic

One day Harper is wearing a smocked cupcake dress, and then the next day, she's wearing...

THIS

She is definitely rocking her new Vans and black skinny jeans

I laughed every time I looked at her today... which was a lot!

I also had "Skater Boi" by Avril in my head all day long!

Perfecting her people watching skills!

We are trying to enjoy this wonderful Spring weather as much as we can, so yesterday afternoon we went out to the Arboretum. Not only are the flowers beautiful to look at, the people watching can be fantastic too! It seems Harper has my love for people watching, and it started the moment we sat down on our blanket. The arboretum is a popular place for girls to have their Quinceanera pictures taken. We saw at least 4 girls in their brightly colored dresses, and Harper was intrigued. Then her attention quickly moved to Dingjing. I'm not sure that's how you spell her name, but that's what it sounded like. She started a few yards away from us and slowly ended up sitting right on our blanket! She didn't say much, unless I asked her a question, but I think she really wanted Harper to be interested in her hula hoop. It was hilarious! Our time at the Arboretum ended with story time on our blanket. I was reading to Harper, and then suddenly we had 4 other kids on our blanket. It cracked me up!!! The moms were a little embarrassed, but I didn't mind. All in all, we had a great afternoon together!

Checking out Dingjing and her hula hoop

She was a really good hula hooper!

Harper read, Dingjing worked on her seated hula hooping

She did this a lot too, and that instantly had Harper's attention!

Then Brown Bear got her attention back...

but this was right before Dingjing joined us on our blanket!

I love her little profile

It's never too early to start practicing for Senior pictures!

I love when she sits on her knees!

Sweet little girl!

She loves bananas, but more than that...

She likes to rub her dirty hands all in her hair!!!

Harper's Baby Dedication

On Saturday, before her party, we had Harper's dedication. Our church doesn't do them during the services, and at first, that didn't sit well with me. I just thought they were lazy and didn't want to deal with it. I now understand their heart behind it. They want this time to be spent with the people who are actually in your child's life and are truly praying for them. I am so thankful for the thought that went into this at our church because this time was amazing (I have been to MANY wonderful baby dedications at churches, so please don't think I am knocking those. As our pastor always says, our way isn't better, it's just different, and that's how I view the baby dedications). Corby and I read the verses that we hope are evident in her life, and then everyone else got a chance to share some encouragement.

Here are our prayers for Harper:

Psalm 139:13-14- That she will truly understand the power and truth of being wonderfully made

Matthew 5:14-16- That through her life, other will glorify the Lord and not her or us

Colossians 3:23-24- That she will do everything for the Lord's glory and that we will encourage her in her talents

Proverbs 31: 25-26, 30- She will choose speaking wisdom over gossip and character over beauty

I Thessalonians 5:11- She will be a constant encouragement to her friends

Zephaniah 3:17- Recognize the Lord's love for her and that He is always there for her

She was encouraged by others to be a good friend and have a positive group of friends, to always rely on the Lord (especially in adversity), Jude 1:24-25, Jeremiah 29:11-13, Ephesians 3:17-19, to live a life untainted from the world, that her relationship with the Lord will be the most important thing in her life, and that she will find ways to remain unpolluted by the world.

I am forever thankful for this time that we had with our family and closest friends. We will continue to pray that in the Lord's time, He will turn her heart towards Him, and she will become a believer. And in the mean time, we will continue to pray that that day will be sooner rather than later! Here are a few pictures that Leah took... Harper was loving all of the attention.

She was very interested in the Bible

She was very busy the whole time!

Taking a break in Kay-Kay's lap

Entertaining everyone on the floor!

Back to momma and dadda

And she ended in Matt's lap.