Tea Time

Harper and I sat today and had our first of many tea parties. We both got gussied up, courtesy of her ever growing dress up basket. Harper loves to clink glasses and Cheers! with others. She doesn't quite get the fact that you're supposed to drink after you cheers, she'd rather just knock cups over and over. But I'm okay with that, the more cheer the better, right?!

We're planning on getting Harper a play kitchen for Christmas, and I can't wait for more elaborate and Harper planned tea parties.

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Halloween Fun!

I'm not a huge Halloween fan. I hate dressing up. Hate it. I wouldn't even do crazy sock day when I was a teacher. I like candy, but the sorting and gorging that used to be my favorite part of this weird "holiday" has sort of lost its flavor for me.

However, I realize that I'm responsible for the traditions and excitement that each holiday will bring for Harper. So it's time we get a little festive up in here. Start early, I say, that way by the time she has an opinion and wants to be a part of it, we've mastered the art of pumpkin carving/costume dressing/advent calendaring/egg decorating/holidaying it up!

So Neal and I carved pumpkins this week. Neal is actually a very good artist. And he makes me settle down and be patient. Draw a sketch, put a rough sketch on the pumpkin, slow down and actually carve the sketch. Without him, my pumpkin would be a sad sad gourd.

I didn't dress up this year. The way I see it, one year in the not too distant future, Harper will want me to dress up. Or I'll have to dress up to get her to dress up. Regardless, I'm taking this year and hopefully the next couple to get away with just dressing up the babe. But you can bet your butt that my daughter had the cutest costume around. Ok, even though I'm competely biased to my own flesh and blood, she may not have had the cutest costume...there were some GOOD ones out there. Let's just say she was the cutest elephant around.

 

Last year, Neal was so disappointed because he only got one trick-or-treater (Harper and I were out of town). I just didn't understand. Where were all the kids?? This year, we were a little more in the know. Our neighborhood has a Halloween "parade" that starts at the end of our block, and all the little monsters and princesses walk down the street and trick or treat to all the adults standing around. It's pretty genius really. And turns out, we have a TON of kids in our neighborhood! There had to have been close to 100 kids. It was NUTS!

 

She may not have totally understood all the costumes, but she sure did get the candy. I've busted her with a Kit Kat and a Butterfinger today. I should be more careful where I leave her bucket lying around.

 

 

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A Cousin Trip to Philly

Sarah and Donevan came to town last week for a quick stop before we headed to Philly to see GrAnne. Harper was pretty enamored with her cousin. The first thing she wanted to do when she saw him was hold him in her lap. How does she already know that's a thing?

Then came the obligatory bath picture. They loved splashing each other.

And even though the bus driver at the Arboretum was a jerk, we still managed to make it to a church pumpkin patch for a photo shoot. My daughter makes taking pictures next to impossible, but we got a few (can't wait for professional family pics this weekend...).

 

Once in Philly, we mostly sat around GrAnne's apartment, but did make it out to Alvethorpe Park one afternoon.

 

Sarah, just being Sarah...

Our Philly trip was perfectly timed as GrAnne had fallen and bruised her ribs a few days before we got there. She needed the pick me up, and I don't think she stopped smiling the entire time we were there. It was not easy keeping Harper contained and entertained in the assisted living complex, but we did lots of exploring and elevator riding.

GrAnne is the most amazing 90-year-old I know, and I'm so glad we got to take her two great grandchildren to visit her together. A priceless visit.

 

 

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Sweet Adeline's Second Surgery

Okay, people...the Prewetts need your prayers again. Tomorrow at 8:15 Adeline Camille goes in for her second heart surgery. You guys...this is, seriously, the sweetest baby ever. And in her short little life has endured more than so many of us will have to go through ever. Tomorrow and the next 10 or so days will be long for the Prewetts. Please keep their entire family in your prayers. You can follow updates from the surgery on their blog: www.camilleprewett.blogspot.com. Pray for the surgeons and nurses, pray for strength and healing for Addie, pray for comfort and peace and strength for Camille and Scott, and pray for understanding and patience for sweet Ellie. These days away from her momma and daddy are hard on her too. I am in awe of this precious family, for their strength and faith in The Lord throughout this entire ordeal. They need us to lift them up in prayer. Thanks, friends and family! I know they appreciate all the love and support that has poured in since Addie's diagnosis. They need it now, more than ever.

Photo stolen from Camille's Facebook...courtesy of Britt Savage Photography.

 

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The State Fair

Ok, I admit it, the State Fair is cool. I never really understood the hoopla surrounding the State Fair before. I mean, people here love the State Fair. I have friends who go, like, well, more than once...and that seemed crazy to me. As an outsider making judgements without ever having been myself, it just seemed like it was a crowded, overpriced, dirty, loud, fairground. Why subject myself to that when I can have a corn dog from the freezer section at Kroger's for a tiny fraction of the price?!

But I get it now.

It happened sort of by accident. My friend Ashley and I decided we wanted to take our girls down to the Aquarium for a little adventure. They were advertising a lower price during the fair, which we assumed was to lure people away from the fair since surely no one would want to learn about water and a creatures while the fair was going on. So we loaded the girls up, and took the DART down to Fair Park.

However, the "lower price" was because you had to pay admission to the fair to even get to the aquarium. What!? It's pretty obvious now, in hindsight, but there was NO word of this on their website. Anyway, we chugged some Cokes so we could get a discounted admission, and once we were in, we were all, "why would we go to the aquarium and learn about water and sea creatures when we just got into the FAIR?!"

So change of plans...

Ok, I'll say it, I was wrong. I liked the fair. There are games, and animals, and actual things for kids to do!

The Barnyard was pretty crazy. It was packed with people and all kinds of animals. There was a giraffe, some cows, a hedgehog, animals that I had never seen before. And then there were the goats. And you can feed the goats from little cups that these crazy little animals would rip from your hands and swallow whole. I mean they should warn you about that. Because Harper loved the goats. But I was seriously scared that they would rip her hands off.

 

They also had this super cute farm where they teach the kids where their food comes from. Harper didn't care about anything except her bucket and playing in the dirt. But she sure looked cute!!

Oh, and that corn dog from the freezer section at Kroger's? That's trash compared to the cornY dogs from Fletcher's.

And come on, where else can you get fried Oreos??

The lesson here, people? Don't knock it 'til you try it. Seriously. Those Oreos were amazing. And I'll be back to the fair, no doubt.

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Rosemary Beach 2012

So I found a new favorite vacation spot. Although, you could have sent me just about anywhere and it would've been a new favorite vacation spot. We went to Rosemary Beach, Florida for a week with the Dicksons and it was glorious! I couldn't pick just a handful of pics for the blog, so here's a link to my photo journal I created (you'll have to copy and paste it in a new window).

https://www.icloud.com/journal/#8;CAEQARoQshE_35ZNqbvJnQr7s-YQhQ;F4FAC51D-956B-4018-82B7-9B7EB59DFA06

We rode our bikes everywhere, had a date night (thanks, Nonnie and Ogee!), ate ice cream almost every night, and became Kadima pros! Harper liked the sand a lot, and the water only a little. It was an incredible vacation, and the sunsets and rolling tides reminded me how good God is.

 

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Gentle Reminders

The last couple of days have been tough. Harper is getting her first two molars and a cold this week. Awesome. Did I also mention she's starting to perfect her already solid tantrum? Believe me when I say that I rely heavily on getting out of the house each day. Unfortunately, yesterday was a total bust. We were supposed to go up to visit my friend Dawn and her brand new, precious baby Stella. But with said cold, I called Dawn and told her we were staying far, far away from her and her three day old. I was really disappointed, and in all honesty, I don't know if it was with not getting to go visit a sweet perfect newborn, being a flaky friend to a new mom who could probably use some company, or the fact that my toddler (we're out of the "little girl" phase from yesterday just a for the time being...pigtails are out and the realization that she's still only 15 months was read loud and clear today) was keeping me from the only adult time I had planned for the next 8 hours.

Anyway, I needed some perspective after a long week and found it at Betsy's today while helping her in her hour of need. I'm going to start referring to her house as the Land of 1,000 Photo Ops.

Just a few, much needed gentle reminders on a rough day.

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Pigtails

I don't know how it happened. Yesterday afternoon, my toddler turned into a little girl. No really...

Actually, I know exactly how it happened...I gave her pigtails. How did something so easy, so painless, change everything?

In all honesty, it's freaking adorable. I love them. However, it changed something in us both (ok, she couldn't have cared less); maybe it just changed the way I saw her. She sat still while I combed her hair; she watched in the mirror as I wrapped the tiniest hair tie around the tiniest pigtail. And when I was done, she stood up and went and picked up the last toy she had been playing with, not even realizing something was different about her. But I see it now. A little bit more every day. She's becoming more independent, more opinionated.

She runs ahead and doesn't look back. She climbs into chairs without my help. She picks out a book and can flip through it, and when that book is Eric Carle's Head to Toe she can even pound her chest like a gorilla or raise her shoulders like a buffalo on the right page at the right time without any prompting from us. And if she falls and skins her knees? She doesn't even cry. She's a tough one, that little girl of mine.

But even after this transformation happened right in front of my eyes, I was given a little reprieve last night. I was reminded that even though she is growing up way too fast, she still needs her momma. Whether it's a cold or the two new teeth coming in, she needed me to rock her last night and I savored every second. In fact, I probably rushed in there a little too fast and stayed a little too long, but I needed those quiet moments in the dark last night, holding my baby, rocking her, and having her need me.

Maybe a bit dramatic, but those pigtails threw me for a little loop yesterday...can you tell?

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Fabulous!

So that's 1 hat, 1 headband, 2 necklaces, and 2 tutus...and her pajamas! The girl likes to get dressed up, even if it's just for breakfast.

 

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Mine

This denim jumper was mine. How cool that one morning I woke up to the sound of my daughter ready to start a new day, got her out of her crib, changed her diaper, talked gibberish to the babbling babe, and dressed her in this adorable Madewell jumper, just like my mom did one day many years ago. When I think about the one who made me a mom, I sure do miss my own. Thanks, Marf and GrAnne for saving a piece of history so I could feel my mom so easily on a day that I could really use her.

 

 

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Going Away

I'm going to try and write this post without bragging. Ah, hell...who am I kidding...Best. Weekend. Ever.

It's crazy to think that in the last fourteen months I have only spent a few hours here and there away from that sweet babe of mine. A few hours every couple of weeks for MOPS, an embarassingly few date nights out, sometimes leaving her with Neal for errands or Book Club...but none of these was more than three hours at time, and I always tried to get out when Harper was asleep. She'd never know. So in fourteen months, last weekend marked my first night away from Harper.

I have lots of excuses for why this hasn't happened yet. For some reason ready to put up some defense, like I'm the only one who hasn't left their babe for the night. I also have my line of defense ready for the people who might think I'm horrible for enjoying a night away. When in reality, why should I care either way? And are people really judging me for this...doubtful. I need to stop thinking so much.

It really was perfect timing for us. I'm finally done nursing, so I didn't have that to worry about. It's almost the end of summer, which means it's extra hot and West Nile-y, I'm quickly running out of indoor activities, but it's not quite time for our school year activities to start..all adding up to short nerves and very little patience or creativity. Plus, Harper has the absolute best Nonnie and Ogee so I was never worried about her. It was time to get away.

Friday we headed down to Austin, ready to leave Harper with Neal's parents for our summer birthday celebration courtesy of the best in-laws on this earth. When it was time to say goodbye Saturday morning, I was feeling a little torn. I knew I was going to miss my girl like crazy, but I couldn't get in that car fast enough. We had reservations at the JW Marriott in San Antonio with Andrew and Lindsey where the boys were golfing and the girls were spa-ing.

Group hug...

Wow...we really look like we need a vacation.

After an upgrade to a golf view suite (amazing) and the best massage I've ever had, we met up with the boys and acted like stupid kids, swimming against the current in the lazy river, dunking each other behind the lifeguards' backs, flipping out of the tube at the end of the super awesome water slide.

A delicious and over the top dinner followed and ended with a round of shots on the house to celebrate. Sunday brunch was amazing and included perfectly poached eggs, crab claws, oysters, and not one but TWO desserts.

Already looking better.

 

The best part of the weekend was spending quality, distraction free time with Neal. It also doesn't hurt that I really really like my brother and sister-in-law.

Harper didn't miss us at all, I don't think. I only snuck in one call at bedtime (totally got busted). I feel refreshed and rejuvenated. It's amazing what 24 hours of adult time can do for the soul.

 

Climbing the stars with Ogee=endless fun

 

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