Harper - 2 and 3 month pics

Well, three months have come and gone, and I've already fallen behind on these monthly updates.  That didn't take long.  But hey, I was always late on Izzy's updates, too, so I'm just keeping it even.  That's my story at least. 

Harper is such a sweet baby!  She is growing like a weed, and getting cuter by the minute.  She still loves to eat, as evident in her pictures.  Love those sweet cheeks!  She is sleeping really well these days, taking several 45 min - 1 hour naps throughout the day, and usually at least one longer nap around 2 hours.  She usually sleeps at least 6 hours a night, and those wonderful 8-hour stints at night are becoming more and more frequent...I like where this is headed! 

Girlfriend is wearing size 1 diapers (probably not for much longer though), and mostly 3-month clothing, but she can wear many 6-month outfits, too.  Baby sizing is kind of crazy in that way.  At her last appointment, she weighed in at 13 pounds 7 ounces.  She is smiling all the time now, making even more coos, squeals, and little chuckles.  She gives me and hubs good smiles, but I think she saves the best ones for her big sister.  She is smitten with Izzy, and I think the feeling is mutual. 

Month 2

Month 3

Mother's Day

This was my first Mother's Day as a mom of two, and it was just about perfect.  I had the whole day to myself on Saturday, so I got a massage and then met up with my girlfriends for lunch, drinks, and shopping.  Did I mention I have the best husband ever?  It's true - I gotta good one!  Spending all day with the kids must have caused him temporary insanity though, because he forgot that I was out shopping (while I was out shopping) and so I was surprised with shopping money on Sunday morning.  I'm not going to argue with that!  I also got some cute little bath goodies from the girls and a sweet card with both of their handprints in it. 

Our day started off when we went to Blue Mesa with Griff's parents for brunch.  Everything was delicious, and I ate entirely too much.  Nothing new there.  I squeezed in a solo run Sunday afternoon, which is a luxury these days, then got cleaned up to meet my family for dinner.  After dinner, we took the kids to the park so they could burn off some energy.  Then we headed home, hubs bathed both babies, and I watched 4 episodes of Girls on HBO.  Highly inappropriate, but quite possibly my new favorite show.  Mother's Day is quickly becoming my favorite day of the year. ;-)  Oh, and please note the pasta necklace I'm wearing proudly in the last photo.  Sure did wear that bad boy to dinner.  Mother of the year?  I think so.

The Belated Easter Post

A little late, but couldn't leave it out...

We had a very busy Easter weekend last week.  We were thinking about returning to church, but talked ourselves into waiting because we figured it would be extra crowded, and not an ideal time to take Harper for the first time.  So, our morning was pretty laid back.  Izzy found a bunch of candy, bubbles, and new Thomas trains in her Easter basket (the girl is obessesed with anything Thomas or Cars lately...what??), and Harper ate, slept, and pooped.  Typical morning.

We headed to Nanna and Pop-Pop's house for an egg hunt and lunch.  It started raining during our hunt, so it was pretty quick.  We had some yummy lasagna, and the kids played for a while before we headed home. 

Izzy and KK

Mr. Tyler was not scared of a little rain.  He wanted to go look for more eggs.

Got one!

Sweet cousins watching a movie together

Baby Harper slept through her first Easter egg hunt.  Sweet baby.

The plan was for Izzy to take a nap, and we would chill for a few hours, then head to my aunt and uncle's house for our second celebration.  Well, the electricity in our neighborhood went out while we were gone due to some storms, and because we were rushing out the door as usual, all we had with us was our garage door opener - no key.  Genius move, right?  So, after about 30 minutes of us sitting in our driveway, and hubs walking around the house a few times, hoping a window would unlock itself, we met my mom who had a spare key to our house.  By the time we made it back home, it was time to leave again.  Oh, and the electricity had also turned on by then.  Figures. 

So, we did a 10-minute speed trip through the house - got the girls dressed in their second set of matching outfits, changed diapers, got Harper's bottles, grabbed the desserts we were suppposed to take with us, and we were off to our second egg hunt.  Izzy got a ton of eggs and had a great time playing with all of her cousins, and Harper had people fighting to hold her, as usual. ;)

The crew ready for eggs!

So excited

She likes to inspect each egg as she finds it.  Not the most efficient egg hunter...

I finally remembered to get a family picture at the end of the day.  Humidity had taken its course by that point.

I got a late start on my Easter/Spring decor, so we only got to enjoy it for a week or so, but it was cute while it lasted. 

Outside decor was pretty slim - just some eggs and a little sign.  And a cute little girl in her pajamas.

Hubs did plant some pretty flowers.

Entryway table

My candelabra all jazzed up for Easter

The Spring mantel

I had planned on making a banner similar to this, and then I found this one at Target for $6.99.  Duh, no brainer.

My most recent crafty project, and I'm kind of loving it.  All supplies from Hobby Lobby (except ribbon). I just bought a cheap wooden letter, a grapevine wreath (obviously), and a sheet of moss.  Then I traced and cut the moss to fit the letter, hot glued it into place, painted the back of the letter with green paint to match, and hot glued the finished letter to the wreath.  Easy cheesy, and I love the way it turned out. 

This really doesn't even fit here, but whatev.  This little ditty hails from Tarjay.  I saw it a few months ago and didn't purchase it, and then regretted it.  I didn't see it for awhile, and then I saw that they brought it back at my local store.  I can only assume it was fate that brought us back together, so I had to pull the trigger on the purchase this time.  We are living happily ever after now. 

Hope you all had a happy Easter!

Sunday Funday

My sweet husband watched the kids on Sunday so I could have some good girl time with my friends.  We try to get together once a month or so, and we always have so much fun.  It's just good for the soul.  So, of course we had to go see The Hunger Games.  I really liked the movie.  There were a few cheesy spots, but overall, I thought it was a lot better than the Twilight movies, which I would totally hate if I didn't love the books so much.  Sidenote - I went to the restroom 3 times during this movie. Who does that??  I must have the smallest bladder in America.  Hot, I know.

We went to lunch after the movie, and aside from a sweet, but very confused waitress, we had a fabulous time.  At some point, pirates made their way into our conversation, so I thought this photo was appropriate.  And by the way, is it sad that I'm the only one awake, and I'm making pirate pictures in photoshop when I could clearly benefit from some sleep?  Delirium has set it.

It's kind of hard to see, but we are wrestling a gator. Just your typical Sunday lunch.  No big deal.

Harper's First Month

I feel like I've just been treading water lately, trying to stay afloat, and I've finally got the shore in my sights!  I could have easily changed the title of this blog to The Crazy Life, The Chaotic Life, The Sleepless Life, etc., etc., but I think the most appropriate title for this past month would be The Blessed Life.  Yes, it's been crazy.  Yes, it's been busy.  Yes, we are sleep deprived.  But don't think for a second that we don't see this new baby who has joined our family for what she is...a gift.  God has blessed us with this child.  She is perfect.  She is ours.  And we couldn't love her more. 

Our hearts were opened to the idea of adoption immediately after Izzy was born.  I won't sugar coat it.  It was a struggle to get pregnant, a struggle to stay pregnant, and a struggle for Izzy to stay alive.  It was scary.  Obviously, we wouldn't change a thing, but we certainly wouldn't want to relive that time in our lives.  Adoption was a decision that came easily and naturally for us.  We just wanted another baby to love, and let's be honest...love makes a family, not DNA. 

Hubs and I went to an adoptive family orientation last May, and we applied shortly after.  Next came lots of paperwork, background checks, and a home study.  It took awhile to complete all of that, and we got our official approval letter in late September.  We were told that the typical wait time, from approval to baby, is 13-17 months, so we were extremely surprised to be chosen and matched with birth parents after only 4 months.  We only had about a month to prepare before Harper's arrival, but we were so excited to meet her!  We had the pleasure of meeting both of her biological parents, and I even got to attend one of the last prenatal appointments.  We brought her home when she was two days old, and we just couldn't have asked for a better, more positive adoption experience.

Harper is doing great, and has stolen all of our hearts.  Her big sister, Izzy, is completely smitten.  She has adjusted so well to having a baby sister.  She is always giving her kisses, holding her hand, and saying, "I love her."  Melts this mama's heart!  Harper is such a sweet, mostly mellow baby.  This experience has been so different than the first time around.  It's been a smoother adjustment.  Obviously Harper is much healthier than Izzy was, so that makes a huge difference.  But I also think hubs and I are more relaxed and confident as parents, so we aren't freaking out over every little thing.  I haven't had to call the doctor once with Harper, and I probably had about 25 calls into his nurses by this time with Izzy.  Ya live and ya learn, right? ;-)

Harper was one month old on the 21st, so we took her first monthly pictures.  Look how precious my sweet baby daughter is!

We'll track her growth with this sweet little giraffe.

I know I'm her mama, but she is just precious!

Sweet baby

Look who else wanted her picture taken?  Too bad she doesn't cooperate like this when we are actually trying to take pictures of her.  She was hanging out in this shirt and pull-ups, with no pants and messy hair.  Lesson learned.  I'll dress her up and fix her hair next month.  Watch, then she won't want anything to do with the camera.  Stinker!

The sibling rivalry has begun.  I have a feeling this photo is indicative of many years to come. ;-)

Introducing Harper

It's been awhile, so I thought I better knock some dust off the ol' blog today.  We have been super busy lately with Izzy's birthday, my birthday, Griff's busy season at work, attempting every bribe possible to get Izzy to use the potty, taking care of our newborn, etc., etc....  Wait, what??? 
Yes, my friends, you read that correctly.  Our family has grown thanks to the wonderful blessing of adoption, and we have a new tiny princess at home!  I realize I haven't even mentioned the adoption on this blog, so how is this for a surprise?!  I will write more later, but I wanted to get some pictures up of my new precious daughter, Miss Harper Rose.  Both the girls are napping right now, so I am using precious nap time to post this.  Yes, I am nuts.  Oh, and you're welcome.

Izzy's Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

We hosted Izzy's Minnie Mouse-themed 3rd birthday party at the house yesterday.  This was the first home birthday party we've attempted for Izzy, and I'm not going to lie - it was a lot of work.  It turned out pretty darn cute though, and Izzy had a ton of fun, so I'd definitely call it a success!  This party planning stuff is right up my alley, and Minnie was such a fun theme.  I very kindly gave my friend, Katie, the job of taking pictures at the party, and she took her job very seriously (thank you, Katie!), so prepare yourself for a LOT of pictures!

I ordered these invitations, with our info obviously, from Etsy and got them printed at a local print shop. 
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80796531/minnie-mouse-birthday-party-invitation

The front door sign - saw a smilar sign for sell on Etsy and made my own.  Paper from Hobby Lobby.

Another banner and sign I made - and I put some of Izzy's Minnie toys up for decoration

 I had lots of fun with the food!  I made all the food labels using a Minnie font I downloaded for free online.

super cute bowl from Target!

....which is actually Pirate Booty.  Oops.

I have to give my husband full credit for these.  Nice job, huh?!?

Cupcakes I made for the kids.  I got crafty and made the cupcake pics and the sign for the top, too.

I wish I could take credit for this, but nobody would believe me anyway - ha!  My extremely talented friend, Tracy, owns her own business: www.southernbakingco.com, and she made this awesome cake.  Is that not the cutest cake you've ever seen?!?  And it tasted just as good as it looked.  Trust me, I may have had a few pieces. :-/ 

I decided to rent a bounce house at the very last minute, and I'm so glad I did.  It was a big hit with the kids!

The birthday girl.  I ordered her cute outfit from Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LilBugsClothing.  Poor thing woke up this morning, walked out to  the back door and said, "Go see the bounce house."  I had to break the sad news to her that it was only here for her birthday party and we couldn't keep it.

I set up a little craft table in the garage where the kids could decorate a sack for the candy they collected from the pinata.  I also printed out a bunch of coloring sheets of all the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters from disneyjunior.com

There are crayons, markers, and glitters in the little buckets.  Stickers, confetti cut-out, and glue along the table. 

After crafts, it was time for the pinata!

Birthday girl got the first swing

She was not happy to give up the bat. 

 

The kids swarmed the candy like a bunch of vultures!

Look at my sweet girl!

Next up was "Pin the bow on Minnie."  I made the poster and had it laminated at Staples.  The bow is laminated too, so I just used double sided tape on it. 

Time to sing happy birthday!

She was too excited!

LOVE this picture!

Love that face.  How you doin', cupcake??

nomnomnom

Presents were up next!

She got so many fun new things from all her friends and family!

She's telling everyone thank you.  Sweet baby!

Her friends picked up their party favors on the way out.

Everyone got a little Minnie/Mickey play pack and a cookie.

Look how adorable these are!  The same friend who made the cake also made these cookies.  I'm telling ya...she's crazy good!

 And there ya have it.  No spills, nothing broken, no injuries, and (I think) everyone left happy.  Girlfriend was so exhausted that she passed out during her breathing treatment around 6:45.  I think that's definitely a sign of a good party! ;-)

I can't even believe this sweet baby doll is going to be 3 next week.  Sure do love her!