Harper's First Swim Lesson

Today, Erica and I took the girls to their first swim lesson. We are doing lessons this summer at Emler Swim School, and I'm hoping Harper will enjoy them more and more each week. She wasn't interested in the teacher taking her away from me, so the whole pool heard about it a few times. The room was also really warm, so her glasses kept fogging up, and I know that annoys her. She went under the water several times for 1 second at a time. By the end of the summer, she should be able to stay under for 10 seconds... I'll believe it when I see it. I don't have any pictures because we were in the water together. Hopefully Corby will be able to come one time to watch her and take some pictures. I'm excited about this time together, with her learning something new.

Little Leah is Married!

To say that we are exhausted from the big wedding weekend is an understatement! We didn't have any tasks to accomplish the week of her wedding, but I still feel like we were always doing something! Harper was sick in the middle of the week with a fever and an upset stomach! Therefore, the sleeping in my room was very interrupted! While the girls were getting manicures on Thursday, Mike took care of Harper and Eliana. We assured him they would nap the whole time... oops! Harper definitely threw up everywhere in her bed, and poor Mike was the only one there to take care of it. That probably wasn't the "welcome to the family" he was looking for!

Lindsey and I hosted Leah's lingerie shower on Thursday night, and it was so much fun! Our evening ended with karaoke... so obviously it was a fabulous night! Leah and I entertained everyone at the restaurant with "A Whole New World" from Alladin. It was really special!

The rehearsal went well, except Harper cried the whole way down the aisle. After her horrible night of sleep on Friday night, we decided on Saturday that it would be best for her to walk with me and Eliana would walk with Lindsey. That was the best decision we have ever made! I wish I had Harper on video because she was so precious. She walked very slowly, looking at every row of chairs. Once we got to the end, she turned around and tried to walk back up the aisle to look at the other side of the room. She joined me by the stage, but when she slipped on the stairs and hit her face... it was ALL OVER! I scooped her up and the babysitters were at the front to get her. But I was so proud of her... and Corby was too! He just cried and cried watching her come down... it was precious!

The actual wedding was just perfect. We had a few issues during the getting ready process, but everything ended up working out. We had a missing bridesmaid's dress for about an hour (probably longer), and Leah was so stressed about it. But Corby and Brandi (a family friend) ended up finding it buried in the corner of my closet at my mom's house! My dad did a beautiful job with the flowers! I don't have any pictures of the sanctuary. By the time I got my camera during the reception, it had all been taken down! My mom's best friends did all of the catering, and it was fabulous. They graciously did this as Leah's wedding gift from them, and let me tell you... best gift she's ever received! I wish I had individual pictures of everything they made! It was truly spectacular! I'm sure everyone thought it was professionally catered! All in all, the day was just what Leah had dreamed of! They are now in Mexico, enjoying their week together! Here are a few pictures from the weekend... somehow I didn't get very many at the wedding!

The wedding party at the luncheon on Friday

Mom, Lindsey, Leah, me, and Gran-D

The only family picture we have from the week!

How did I not get one at the wedding?!?!

Leah and Michael enjoying their rehearsal dinner

Corby, Leah, and Chris...

They love her so much!

Sisters!

The BEAUTIFUL bride!

Eliana did this while everyone else got ready!

Kickin' her feet up before heading down the aisle

Her Bridal portrait

Part of the reception food table

Eliana was enthralled by all of the dancing

Annalise came for the big day!!!

It was so fun getting to be with her!

The newlyweds

This is what Harper did during most of the reception

Eliana was obsessed with taking apart the roses!

Heading off from the reception

Most hilarious part of the day... one of the guests, a good friend of Leah's,

was wearing our bridemaid's dress and almost identical shoes!!!

Something borrowed, something blue...

I guess Harper wanted to make sure her Tia has "something blue" for her wedding. Today at church, a sweet little boy (seriously... I shouldn't have favorites, but I do and he's one of them!) slid on his knees over by where I was standing, however, I didn't see this happen. So as I took my next step, I tripped over him and fell forward to the floor, all while holding Harper. I thought I had protected her from getting hurt, but as the day has gone on, I realized that her glasses must have hit her eye pretty hard. She now has a swollen and black eye! Thankfully her glasses cover it, but I just feel so badly for her.

Sweet girl with a black eye

And because she looked so cute for church...

She has grown quite an attachment to "buh"

And because this is hilarious...

All night while we played in Harper's room, she continually pointed at her diaper box and said "Dadda"! Usually she says "baby" when she sees any age child, but not this time.

What do you think?!?! See any similarities? HA!

Giants of the Savannah

The Dallas Zoo opened a new exhibit last weekend, so we went this morning to check it out! It is AMAZING! There are several sections of this one exhibit, and they are all so neat. The animals have so much room to move around... it is so much better than what these animals were in before! She especially loved getting to see the elephants so close. She made her elephant noise the whole time!

Hanging with dadda in front of the elephants

This elephant was cooling off by throwing dirt on itself

The ostriches and antelopes

They live in a large area but preferred to stay close

You can buy "giraffe food" to feed them

These were the only 2 brave enough to come close

Harper getting an up close view of the lioness

We were thankful for the extremely thick glass between us!

But Harper LOVED her!!!

She sort of looks like a grandma with that hat and her glasses!

But I thought this was a pretty cute picture!

Playdate Thursday

Harper had such a fun day on Thursday! Mary Lawrence came over in the morning, and Saylor was here in the afternoon! These two girls kept her very busy! Mary Lawrence was so precious! She called Harper, "Parket", and played so well with her. We sure hope ML comes again soon!

Playing in the house

They had a lot of fun with the farm

Saylor came for the afternoon for our babysitting swap. It was fairly pleasant outside, so we played outside several times. However, their favorite activity was playing in front of the fan! Our kitchen has some insulation issues, so it gets really hot in the summer and rather cold in the winter (convenient, I know). So I bring the fan out and it stays on most of the day! They had a blast with it!

She thought it was hilarious!!!

Harper is more cautious, since it seems to take her breath away at first

Coloring on the floor... we might need to invest in a children's table!

Busy, busy, busy

May flew by so quickly for us... probably because we were out of town for most of it! The days are getting hotter and hotter (and even longer!), so we're trying to find ways to keep cool and occupied. The spray park near our house is finally open, and Harper loves it! She doesn't last too long, but that's just fine with me!

My friend, Erica, had a great idea for the summer. We're doing a babysitting trade-off on Tuesdays and Thursdays. One day she keeps Harper and the other, I keep Saylor. Yesterday was my morning off, and it was fabulous! I enjoyed a fabulous pedicure and uninterrupted lunch. I am so glad she had this idea! It's going to be so great for everyone!

And finally, I was in a wedding last weekend. It was a wonderful college friend, so I absolutely loved getting to be with my best friends from school! Harper was quite a hit too! She only went to the reception, but received a lot of attention when she danced. I definitely saw strangers taking her picture! It was hilarious! That was just her warm-up... she is now fully ready for her Tia's wedding next week!

Harper and Saylor love being together!

A rare family photo

The 711 crew!

And... my most favorite picture of all time.

Could they be any more gorgeous?!?!

Up next, we're heading to LR for Leah's big wedding week!!! We can't wait!!!

Making New Friends!

Harper and I went to the park with some new friends today. She had such a fun time playing with Aaron, a precious little boy who was born the same day as Harper. And she was rather interested in Braysen's toys and constantly calling him "Baba" (baby). Playing outside must have really worn her out, because she is on hour 3 of her nap. Of course, we had somewhere that we needed to be this afternoon, but I cancelled when I realized she was sleeping so soundly! Here are a few pictures... it can be difficult to get a good one of all 3 when 2 are very mobile and 1 wants to be!

She fooled her new friends into thinking she just sits quietly all the time!

Group shot... at least they are all sitting!

And the photo session is done!

Thanks for playing with us, Aaron and Braysen! We're already looking forward to next week!