It's Almost Christmas!

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. I mean, it is four days away. I have been purchasing gifts for Christmas since summer -- so the fact that it is actually here (and I can get stuff out of closets) it crazy.

I often find myself wishing Harper was old enough to understand Christmas (it's true meaning and how we celebrate it today), but then I feel guilty for essentially wishing time away. I don't want her to grow up too quickly -- so if that means we have another year of her not really knowing what is happening, that's great. So no, we didn't do an elf this year (I am not sure that we will -- for various reasons.) We took Harper to visit Santa at Lenox Mall. We went before Thanksgiving because a) waiting in line is not a favorite pastime of mine, and b) before Thanksgiving? After Easter? On her birthday? Taking pictures with Santa meant nothing to Harper so it didn't matter when we took her.

Harper - 2012 (8 months old)

Harper - 2013 (20 months old)

Although Harper doesn't know what is going on, she has really enjoyed all of our Christmas crafts, decorating the tree (or un-decorating, as it is a passion of hers), decorating cookies, going to see lights, decorating then destroying a gingerbread house, playing with Baby Jesus and waving to Santa. ("Hi Santa" is what she says to our Santa cookie jar as she waves to him -- all the time.) She also says "oooohhhh liiiiights" a lot. She will follow that up with a "pretty."

Harper is at a really fun age. She sleeps like an absolute champ (unless she has a cold or is teething...in which case she is a monster.) 8:30-8:30 most every day. She is more interested in animals than anything else. We practice colors and numbers. She will say colors -- but since we used to laugh when she always said yellow, she now says yellow expecting us to laugh. We are trying to remedy this. She will count to three using her hands (the best a 20 month-old can) and say "A...B..." but she really knows much more about animals. She is obsessed with our dogs (mostly Jackson) and Toby Jack, the mule.

I have always known that Harper liked books, but she is really starting to develop opinions and favorites. We have to read "Merry Christmas Splat" every day before her nap. She loves the book I gave her last Christmas "Daddy Takes me to a Georgia Tech Game." (She says YELLOW...JACKETS a lot.) "Move over Rover," "The Cat in the Hat," and "10 Gingerbread Men" are some of her current favorites. She will sit down on her own (in any room -- even if she is alone) and read to herself. She ends every book with an "Amen."

Aside from being the most adorable child (haha), she has started having some tantrums. Not full on ones -- but situations where I can see she is irrationally upset and she doesn't really know why and clearly I don't. We have taken to just talking to her calmly and trying to redirect her. It is working for now. Occasionally she will hit or throw something and go to time out. That's pretty special. Trying to keep her to sit in one place for a minute, let alone 30 seconds, is tough. She is very bright and can quickly develop bad habits. It is so hard not to laugh sometimes -- and it's even harder when other people laugh at her misbehavior because you don't want to correct them, but you certainly don't want your child thinking this behavior is acceptable. Ah, parenthood.

ok -- a few current things about Harper:
favorite time of day (for her): right when she wakes up (from nap or in the morning) or when daddy comes home from work
favorite food: cheese. raisins.
favorite book: Merry Christmas Splat or Puppy Boo
favorite movie: Toy Story. (will she sit to watch any show or movie from start to finish? No. but she likes Woody and Buzz)
favorite activity: painting (without ANY help from mommy) or playing on the playground
hidden talent: ability to dance non-stop regardless of the weather, time of day or her level of fatigue
best friend: she has a couple human ones and she says their names, but Jackson is probably her best buddy
favorite song: "Driving in my Car"
worst time of day: when mommy is cooking dinner or if H doesn't get a good nap (eek!)
new words: I wouldn't even know where to start. Her saying her friends names is probably the sweetest.

OK -- a few pictures and then I am off --

at the Pink Pig after seeing Santa

at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens

reading in her playroom

coloring with her BFF, Caroline

at the fire station with Brendon, Michael and William (and moms)

Brendon and Harper weren't big fans

ok she changed her mind

Merry Christmas to those of you reading this. I pray that 2014 is a prosperous year for you all.

Long time no see...

It seems like it has been SO long since the last post. Fall has been a blur. We had some great times with family and friends and we are looking forward to great times during the holiday season (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years.)

So -- what's happened the past few months? John's best friend's wedding (Spencer), one of my best friend's wedding (Meghann), a sister-in-law's wedding, my brother's wedding, a terrible cold, Halloween, a trip to Macon, two birthdays, several teeth, a 5k, and family pictures. I am not going to even try to post all the details from all of these events. I will post some pictures and try my best to stay on top of this lil' ol' blog.

Memaw with her youngest great granddaughter, Avery

Kelly, Philip & Avery (Ricky's wedding)

Harper at Ricky's wedding

David, Megan, Harper, John and Me

Keri and Ricky Perry

a sick Rosie the Riveter

Harper, Sarah, Caroline and Brendon

Baylee, Madison, Donna and Harper

Harper painting

Harper and Brendon

they did this themselves...I promise!

Time Out.

I feel like the last few weeks in August passed so quickly and before I realized it, we had entered the -ber months...my favorite time of year. The end of August had many activities -- my race in Roswell, a wedding shower, a baby shower, a cold (boo!), a trip to the zoo, toddler time at the museum...the list goes on and on.

I had a great time at my recent half marathon. I learned a lot about myself and about races. 1) If it is a night race, don't expect the whole course to have lights -- it became scary/interesting the last few miles 2) don't overdo it on the energy gels 3) be sure to eat before the race and not walk around for the few hours leading up to the race -- if you can help it 4) find a friend to run with and spend a couple of hours chatting away 5) listen to your body but also tell your body to lock it up and finish. This was the first time I have ever really RUN the last mile -- as opposed to jogging to the finish line. I put in my earbuds, asked Cheryl did she mind if I took off (haha -- she also took off -- our take off speeds are different. She finished a bit ahead of me) and off I went. It was probably my fastest mile. Well, 1.1 miles. I passed a lady on the bridge about .4 miles before the finish line -- she looked like she was in pain and I felt awful passing her, but I could not be stopped. I didn't quite make my goal -- but that's ok. I really did learn a lot and I can't wait for my next race. Fall races are sure to be awesome thanks to the fabulous weather.

LtoR: Cheryl, Jessica and me

post-race

Harper has been learning so much -- and she is just so active. She will be on the table or the counter in a matter of seconds. Climbing rocking chairs is a passion of hers. She still loves shoes -- going to the shoe basket and bringing a pair to you. Trying to put shoes on your feet. At one point we had four pairs of shoes (Harper's) on the kitchen floor. There is no stopping her. She puts on my high heels when we are upstairs getting dressed. Yellow is still her favorite color to say -- blellow is a close second. She can imitate many animals -- dogs, cows, lions, sheep, monkey, duck, snake, horse and gorilla -- the gorilla is just her hitting her chest. She adores walking to the front of our neighborhood and seeing the horses. We have made friends with the owners of both pieces of property -- some of the kindest people who encourage us to feed the horses and go play with the chickens. We haven't ventured to play with the chickens yet -- one day. Harper loves pointing out flowers, helping me water our plants and playing in dirt/mud. She loves to jump in puddles -- perhaps that is just something we are born with...unless John taught her to do it. He did teach her to jump on the tops of sewers which makes me cringe -- apparently he doesn't remember Baby Jessica. Am I the only one who remembers that? Slightly different than jumping on a sewer -- but still.

We start our educational play dates this Friday. The kiddos are going to start learning about shapes. Our music class starts on Monday. We have library story time on Tuesday and sometimes on Wednesday. Thursday is music class and open play at a gym. My goodness -- this is why I am tired. :)  We are a week into one nap a day -- and it is pretty magical. She is also sleeping longer at night. We have had about 4 days of post 8am wake up times. Amazing.

Harper has really enjoyed play time at the gym. She is a little braver (more brave?) each time we go. (Braver doesn't sound right -- but she is waking up soon so I will continue...) She will climb into the foam pit by herself. She will also climb up a ladder and go down the slide by herself. My stress level is typically sky high at the gym, but that little girl loves it. She is extremely friendly with other kids, handing them toys and playing with them. She has become apprehensive around new adults...she likes to scowl at them. We knew this point would come, but overall she is extremely outgoing and friendly...and talkative...and active.

We have also started implementing time out. Ha. It was working great until she figured out how to make us weak -- she would just laugh the whole time. Eventually we would start laughing and it would all fall apart. I have been reading a lot about it and we are doing better now. She sits for about a minute and when I come over she says "I sorry" and hugs me. I melt.

with B and C at the zoo.

post-zoo horse visit

so many animals in one day!

she loves the foam pit

I had to fight every urge to make her stop

get comfortable, Harper

In other news, John will be turning 30 this month. We (read Harper and I) started the countdown 30 days out -- so, we have been celebrating "30 Days to XXX." Roman numerals, folks. Stay classy. He has been given a gift a day, and this will continue until his birthday on September 26. His friend is getting married the weekend immediately following his birthday, so we will celebrate it in Hilton Head in early October. I am very excited about our first beach trip with just the three of us. We will be staying in Sea Pines. yayayayay! John has a softball tournament coming up in a few weeks. He will be in Raleigh, North Carolina for a long weekend. I know that he loves this time to himself. He has also been keeping busy with his various jeep projects. He purchased another jeep about a month ago. It was a CJ that someone had rolled. John just wanted it for the axles, so he bought it, took it apart and is now selling the parts. He is not the type of person to ever slow down, so when he isn't at work or helping around the house or with Harper, he is in the garage working on the jeep or finishing my patio furniture. Or mowing the lawn. Naps? Never. Early bed time? Forget it. He is my superhero.

I will end here -- but first you must see some precious pictures of Harper from last week. This is the same field where John and I had our engagement and maternity pictures. These will serve as her 17 month photos because yes, she turned 17 months old on September 2.

Out of Ideas

There comes a point in every day where I realize that I am out of ideas for things to do with Harper. We have colored, played with blocks, walked around the neighborhood, fed the ducks, played on the playground -- I feel like I don't know what else to do. I quickly remind myself that Harper doesn't need me to entertain her and I just need to let her find things to do. It can be pretty exhausting following a kiddo who is 16 months old around the house. We have fun, but most days I am exhausted. I try to run during her second nap (around 2:00) so that helps me get a little boost of energy. When I run during her nap, it is on the treadmill -- don't worry -- she is not alone.

One of my biggest struggles with staying home with Harper is that her first learning is up to me. The burden/pleasure of teaching her colors, manners, words, habits, etc. falls mainly on me. On one hand that is exactly what we want -- on the other hand, it puts a lot of pressure on me to know what is age appropriate, what she is ready for (developmentally) and making sure she is socializing with other children. That is not to say that people who don't stay home aren't teaching their children, all I am saying is that I have 10 hours a day (at least) where I have Harper all to myself. I mean, if she were to start saying curse words, people will look at me to blame. :)

The main reason that I feel that I am able to handle this daunting task is because I have found a great group of moms. Not only do we arrange play dates and field trips, we also text each other hundreds of times a week (not an exaggeration) about bumps and bruises, dinner ideas for picky eaters, educational activities and the ups and downs of motherhood. This fall we are starting a weekly educational play date and I can't wait. Harper and I will also be starting a 10-week music class this fall, and hopefully a gymnastics class this winter. I am looking forward to having set activities each week with her because sometimes I am just so tired. And those times are when we watch Curious George or Sesame Street. Haha. No television before the age of two I told myself. Things change. It is so strange how the exhaustion I feel from a day with her is so different from the exhaustion of teaching four classes of 30+ sixth graders -- and teaching them MATH. Harper is the cutest little energy sucker I know.

Here are a few moments over the past week -- this girl is expressive, passionate and brave.

"rock rock" in her room

leaning in for a kiss from Jackson

at the park

Stilesboro Biscuits

she loves books!

her baby cousin, Hudson Tanner Perry

coloring with BFF Caroline

bothering Reese

helping mommy bake cookies

our finished project -- I will get better!

lunch at Marietta Diner with mom and Popi

a little painting

no no no!

eating yogurt all by herself

oh this girl is dramatic

loves to climb

loves being outside IN the bushes

taking baby "meme" for a walk

drama drama

post-nap snack

we love visiting the horses!