Daddy Dearest

Harper LOVES her daddy!! And I LOVE seeing the two of them together. I knew soon after I met Neal that he would one day make an incredible father. He's awesome with my nephews and every kid we know flocks to him...probably because he's like a kid himself and would rather play than sit and have a boring adult conversation. Throughout my pregnancy, one of the things I looked forward to most, besides meeting my daughter, was seeing Neal with her. The first time he held her brought tears to my eyes. Hearing him talk to her is one of my favorite times of the day. When she's screaming (which is rare, but let's face it...it happens), and he offers to take her, she'll calm down and sometimes conk out immediately. I was right...he is an incredible father.

(The first time he held her...look at that smile...that's what I was waiting for my entire pregnancy. Priceless.)

Harper and I are so lucky to have Neal as a husband and father.

Playtime!

Harper is 16 days old. Now, like most newborns, she eats or sleeps most of the day; but she spends part of the day wide awake, taking in all of this new world she's suddenly been thrown into. The pediatrician commented that she's got a very "calm alertness" about her (I took that as a compliment, for sure).

But really, what do you do to entertain a newborn? She doesn't sing along to the show tunes yet, she's not doing any tricks like trying to walk or read...but she doesn't cry or fuss either...she just looks around and makes funny faces or lets us put her arms in funny positions and commentate on what she must be thinking.

So this is playtime...which is obviously playtime for us and not her...but playtime none the less.

Here are Nonnie and Ogee "playing" with her...and by "playing," I mean staring at her endlessly because they just can't get enough, while she stares back and occasionally makes a funny face or noise:

There are a lot of Hoosiers on the Dickson side, and the hat came as a gift from Great Grandpa in Bloomington, IN who is a former IU football coach. Obviously, Harper is also a Hoosier fan...I'm pretty sure she's doing a fist pumping "Oh, Yeah" in this picture...can you see it?

And this is our actual attempt at "playtime" for Harper. We put her on her mat and let her scream it out, while everyone else just stares at her and calls it adorable. Did I mention we just can't stop looking at her?!
Eventually, I figure she'll get bored of us just looking at her, and playtime will actually turn in to...well, playtime. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But until then, we're just soaking in all the goodness that is Harper.

Proof of Life INDEED

Well, if the last two weeks haven't been Proof of Life...I don't know what is.

Thursday, June 9, 2011 started like this:

And ended like this:

Harper Louise Dickson was born at 6:02 p.m., weighing in at 7.5 lbs.. All I can say is we are in LOVE. We are now two weeks in and still surviving.

We had Nonnie and Ogee with us...

(Can you feel the love? I bet they won't spoil her, what do you think?)

Aunt Sarah came from San Diego and stayed for a week...

(Are you seeing the theme in these pictures?? We can't take our eyes off of her...seriously...I could watch her all day.)

We had lots of other visitors too...and I can tell you this much, Harper is loved.

We are so blessed to have such amazing family and friends who have already shown Harper (and us) so much love. Thank you to everyone who came by the hospital, the house, who brought us food (and desserts), who said a prayer, or commented on our facebook status (sign of the times??). We can't wait for the rest of our family and friends to meet Harper...I promise...you'll be a fan! The cheeks alone will have you won over instantly!

Now I know the blog was MIA for basically my entire pregnancy, but I'm back, baby!! Not only is it summer and much easier to find time to take pictures, but now I'm obsessively taking pictures of the most beautiful baby girl and need a place to show them off! So the blog is back...I can almost guarantee that the majority of the pictures will be of Harper. Sorry. But really, who doesn't love a good baby pic. I'm also probably going to drop the photog tips...because really, who's reading those anyway?! If you want to know how I got a picture, ask...it was probably by mistake anyway. So bear with me as I get back into blogging; I'm not promising posts every day, but close. Some changes will come, but my goal is to continue experimenting with my photography and writing, while at the same time proving that LIFE IS GOOD. It is so GOOD!!