Back to School

My big girl started back to her last year of preschool this week.  I can't even believe she will be in kindergarten next year.  Doesn't seem possible.  She is loving school, and Harper is loving the extra attention she is getting without big sister around.  If I could just figure out a nap schedule that works for Harper, we would be all set.  She usually goes down for a nap around 1, and now we have to leave to pick up Izzy at 1:30.  Preschool hours were not set with baby brothers and sisters in mind, unfortunately.  I suppose the world will go on despite my naptime delimma.

Now for the obligatory first day of school pictures.  What you don't see from these sweet pics is Griff crouched down and sweating behind the camera  (it's still a million degrees before 8:00 am - that's just stupid) and me shouting a million commands to "smile," "look at the camera," "take a few steps back," "get your hands off of your face," "it's just a fly - it's not going to hurt you," etc, while juggling Harper.  Good thing photos don't come with soundtracks.  Can I get an amen?




I swear she looks 10 in this picture.  I can't even...
 

Walking in like she owns the place.



Life Lately

Looky who found her blog!  Forgive me.  It's been crazytown in these parts.  For starters, we are homeless.  For the time being, at least.  We decided to list our house in May, and it sold much faster than we anticipated.  We had two offers after the first week, and a contract within two weeks.  So, we are living the apartment dream for 6 months while the construction of our new home takes place.  It actually hasn't been too bad, and it wouldn't be bad at all if it weren't for the fact that we are constantly trying to keep the kids quite so as not to disturb our neighbors.  The only thing available was on the second floor, and even Harper sounds like an elephant running around in this place.  I'm pretending that the fact that our downstairs neighbors moved out had nothing to do with us.  I really think it was a coincidence, but they had to be glad to get out of there.  I pity the next fool who moves in downstairs. 

Here's a quick little recap of the past few months:

I've been trying to keep the girls busy this summer.  Izzy just finished a week of Zoo Camp, and she LOVED it!

Harper is such a ham.  Personality for days, this girl...

This is the last pic of the girls at the old house.  "Old house" still feels weird.  They are in pajamas because they were headed to Papa and Mimi's house for the evening so packing could commence.

 

Walking through the empty house made me so sad.  There may or may not have been a tear or two. 

Home sweet home.  First night in the apt.  There were definitely tears shed.  Can you blame a girl?  Chaos.

The current state of the new place.  As you can see, we have a ways to go.  Our goal is to be in before Christmas. 

And here is a picture from today.  This peacefulness lasted all of 10 minutes.  I'll take what I can get.

Best Friends

 

No better way to make this mama's heart smile than to see her two girls holding hands in the back seat.  And don't you just want to eat those sweet little knuckle dimples on Harper's chubby little baby hand?  Melt. My. Heart.

Birthday Fun

This is a big time of year for birthdays around here.  Harper and Izzy are 5 days apart, February 21st and 26th, and I turned the big 3-2 on Monday.  At least we made it easy for hubs to remember them.  Last weekend, the girls had a joint birthday party at Pump it Up.  It was the easiest party ever - I literally showed up with party supplies still in my Party City bag, handed them over the the girl at the front desk, and wrote a check.  They set everything up, and I didn't have to mess with a thing.  Worth every pretty penny.  I don't know how long the girls will let me get away with this double birthday thing, but I'm going to milk it as long as I can.  It would really be silly to have separate parties at this point, because we'd be inviting the same people to two separate parties, just a few days apart.  Everything went really smoothly until it was time for presents, and then it got a little crazy.  Two kiddos opening gifts at the same was a lot to take in, but we survived.  This two-for-one thing ain't so bad. Prepare yourself for lots of photos...

Harper loved sliding with Daddy

The motley crew - I promise they were having fun

My biggest fear has come to life...so dreading the day this happens for real



She is thisclose to walking

We tried to dress her in jeggings like Harper's, but as you can see, she had other plans.  Who am I to argue with a tutu (even if it doesn't match) at a princess themed party?

My awesome friend, Tracy, from Southern Baking Company, outdid herself once again!  Aren't these adorable!

She also made each of the girls their own personal cake.  Love!

It's a shame they didn't get any presents

Such a big girl.  Tear. :(

Eye on the prize



Sweet girl!

Harper has the funniest facial expressions

I think she looks so beautiful in this picture

....and this was the very next photo

The cake was a hit

Harper was not a fan of the big chair

The beginning of the chaos

Love my family

Happy 4th Birthday, Izzy!

How is it possible that I have a 4-year-old?  That's just crazy.  It seems like the baby and toddler stages flew by, and now I have this sweet little girl who can have real conversations.  Izzy is at such a fun age.  She says and does the funniest things, and there is never a dull moment with her around.  

 

Izzy is very big into imaginative play these days, and it's hilarious just to sit back and listen to the stories she comes up with.  I've noticed that a lot of her make believe scenes involve one friend hitting/being mean to/not sharing with/etc.... another friend and having to apologize.  Hmmm...could that possibly be because that scenario plays out about 100 times a day at our house between my children???  Why yes, I do believe so.  On the flip side though, they really do love each other.  Izzy is constantly giving Harper hugs and kisses, sometimes not so gently, but still.  And she is very protective of her little sister.  She isn't a fan of us dropping Harper off in the church nursery.  I have to assure her that the teachers will take good care of her baby sister.  Oh, my sweet big girl.

 

Izzy loves to sing, and is always singing songs she learns in church or at school.  She loves to listen to music and dance at home, but she always requests a "girl song."  If a boy is singing it, she won't have it.  So, that's where my good friend Pandora comes in.  If you listen to the Taylor Swift channel, you hardly ever get a boy song.  Now that she recognizes real, non-Disney songs that are played on the radio, when one that we've danced to at home comes on, she'll say, "That's our song, Mommy."  I love that. 

 

Griff and I have undoubtedly passed on our love of Mexican food to our 4-year-old.  If you ask her what she wants for dinner, there is a 99.9% chance she will answer quesadilla or bean burrito.  She also loves Spanish rice, guacamole, and chips and salsa.  A girl after her mama's heart.  We were driving on I-35 the other day, and she pointed and said, "Mommy, I see Rosa's.  I'm hungry."  Y'all, it was not even clearly visible from the interstate.  It was a block away, tucked away behind two other restaurants and a gym.  And yes, I take full responsibility.  Other favorite foods/snacks include chicken nuggets and french fries (surprise!), cuties, yogurt, cereal, pancakes, cheese, and pizza.  As you can see, she's a real health nut.

 

 

It has been awesome to watch her develop a love for Jesus in her sweet little heart.  She loves to "read" our bible and make up her own stories.  The cast of characters usually includes God, Jesus, and Sofia the First.  Our nightly prayers still include thanking God for play-doh, but she does include many family members as well.  And trust me when I say there is nothing cuter than a 4-year-old asking to read her "debotional."  Melt. My. Heart.

 

 

Izzy loves to play outside.  When the weather is nice, we walk to a little playground across the street from our neighborhood.  She gets so excited when other kids show up to play.  There is one little boy that we have seen there several times.  The first time we saw him, he was wearing a Cars shirt, so of course they were instant buds once Izzy saw that.  Every time they get to play together, he is Lightning McQueen, and Izzy is Holly Shiftwell.  It is the sweetest thing you've ever seen. 

 

She's also really into Thomas the Train, Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and anything remotely related to princesses.  If it is pink, sparkly, or has a tiara, she's all over it.  She is beginning to really have an opinion about what she wears.  Let's just say her taste leans toward fancier fashions.  She would wear her favorite blue tutu everyday if I'd let her.  And I usually do because let's face it, there are bigger battles to be fought.  The other extreme is wanting to wear pajamas everywhere.  She has lots of super cute, girly pajamas and nightgowns, and she never wants to take them off.  Again, a girl after her mama's heart.

 

 

I love my little sidekick so much, and I'm so thankful for her - she is one of God's miracles, and I don't take that for granted.  This little girl is growing so fast, and I just want to soak in this stage as much as I can because I know it will pass too soon.  Happy birthday, Izzybelle!  To the moon and back.

Sweet Baby Harper Turns One

Ummm, so I just realized the last time I posted a monthly update for Harper was 6 months ago.  I would like to make a public apology to my mother for giving her a hard time about the amount of pictures in my baby book vs. my older sister's book.  I get it now. 

Anywho, my sweet girl has grown quite a bit since the last time we chatted.  She is an absolute doll baby and immediately puts a smile on everyone's face - especially mine!  Harper has a sweet spirit and has filled our lives with such joy. 

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months



11 months

12 months

This girl loves music and dancing.  We have joked that her singing and dancing abilities will be a true test of nature vs. nurture as the rest of us lack those talents, to put it kindly. 

Harper loves to eat.  It's hilarious how fast she can put down a bottle or one of those squeezable food pouches.  She is beginning to try lots of new foods, and has recently decided that she is WAY more interested in what's on our plates than whatever nonsense we are trying to feed her.  She literally swatted Griff's hand away when he was trying to feed her some baby food and proceeded to stare down my plate until I shared my food with her.  Her typical day includes 4 bottles, 3 meals, and an afternoon snack.  A growing girl, indeed.

Harper has been standing on her own for months now.  She has completely mastered standing up unassisted, without holding on to anything.  She can even do some sumo squats while standing, but she hasn't decided to take off yet.  She loves to cruise along furniture and has taking a few "reaching steps" between the couch and loveseat.  (Do you say couch or sofa?  I say couch, hubs says sofa.  Coke or soda?  I say coke, hubs says soda.  To each his own I suppose.  As long as he knows I'm right.)  It could literally be any day now when she decided to take a few steps and doesn't look back.  I'm actually kind of surprised that she isn't already walking, but to be honest, I'm not exactly in a hurry.  She can take her sweet time as far as this mama is concerned.  She's already fast enough.  I can only imagine how fast she will be and all the new things she will destroy explore with her new found independence.

She's a good little napper - still taking 2 naps a day, usually at least 2 hours each.  Nightime sleeping is still hit or miss, but she is getting much better about sleeping through the night consistently.  We put her down at 8pm, and she wakes around 7am-ish, sometimes with a little surprise visit or two during the night. 

             

I thank God daily for the precious gift of Harper.  There was a time when Griff and I were hurting and in tears over the loss of our first baby girl, but we always knew He had more in store for us.  Our story was written specifically so that we would meet Harper exactly when we did.  She was meant to be ours from the beginning, and we were meant to be hers.  Happy first birthday, my sweet babydoll. I couldn't love you more if I tried.

                       

Help! I seem to have lost November

I can't believe it is already December 5th.  My last post was November 1st.  Oopsie.  My lack of posts wasn't due to lack of content.  November was a pretty packed month.  I just couldn't seem to ever make it to the computer.  When I actually had an opportunity to sit down and write, reality tv or sleeping would always win out.  Yep, that's the sad truth.

Here's what we were up to last month:

Harper got sick for the first time.  It was awful.  She had a really high fever and an awful cough.  We had to do breathing treatments and steroids to finally knock it out. 

I helped host my sister's baby shower for my sweet little nephew who will make his debut next month.  I will probably do a separate post on this eventually because everything turned out so cute.

My girlfriends and I took a little weekend trip (planned and booked by our sweet husbands...major points!) to Fredericksburg.  We had a blast indulging in all the food, wine, and shopping that adorable little town has to offer.  There will most definitely be a repeat trip in the future.

We went to Izzy's Fall Feast at school.  Her class wore the sweetest little Pilgrim hats.  Well, everyone except for my daughter, who flat out refused to have any part of it.  I'm willing to bet that if were pink or sparkly, she would have been all over it. 

We attended two birthday parties, both for Izzy and Harper's cousins.  The girls had a great time at both, and we of course enjoyed the cake. ;-)

Griff went on 2 out-of-town trips, leaving me as a single mother for a total of 7 days.  That's enough to make a girl go cray. 

Griff proceeded to grow out his moustache for Movember.  It was out of control gross. 

I ate entirely too much on Thanksgiving, but we had a great time with both of our families. 

My mom, sister, aunt, and I ventured out for Black Friday sales.  It was very low-key this year.  We didn't wait in any lines, got everything we went for, and marked lots of gifts off our list.  And any day that ends with a Jack in the Box sausage, egg, and cheese croissant at 2 a.m. is a good time in my book. 



Hopefully, this won't be my lone post for the month.  I hear two little girls notsopatiently calling for me from their beds who say otherwise though. :-/